11 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jan 1)

Downs...

4. Production Issues Remain

Christopher Daniels Sammy Guevara
AEW

While much of last night's Dynamite felt like a concerted effort to right some of AEW's recent creative wrongs, familiar production demons bogged much of the broadcast.

The first example came as Darby Allin was making his entrance for his opener with Cody. Ring announcer Justin Roberts' microphone wasn't hooked through the televised feed at first, meaning we only got the in-arena audio for a few seconds before he cut in. Not enough to warrant a Down in itself, but when you take the poor sound mixing for every single backstage segment on the show and this mess into account, it becomes a bigger problem.

The way the backstage stuff was presented is particularly frustrating, as there was some good content between Britt Baker blasting Riho's lax schedule, Scorpio Sky's "nobody likes it when spooky perverts show up and ruin their finish" line, the Hangman Page/Private Party setup, and Penelope Ford's low blow of former flame Joey Janela. Regardless, it was all undermined by subpar production that left each feeling small-time compared to what was going on elsewhere in the show. Definitely another area for improvement.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.