6 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite (15 Mar - Review)
Ups...
6. A Unicorn Of A Good Promo Train
Famous conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once quipped that one should try everything once, save for incest and folk dancing.
A wrestling booker should try everything once, save for the invisible camera and the impromptu match.
The promo train isn't quite as dismal as the very worst "This stuff is all fake and you're stupid for watching!" WWE devices, but while it is contrived, it's still possible to execute a good one. This was a good promo train, the second in as many weeks. MJF's Re-Bar Mitzvah was very fun.
He was in smug, sh*t-eating grin form, high on himself with his exaggerated enunciations, behbeh. He put over Shawn Michaels in Canada, got off with a lass and literally celebrated his Revolution win over Bryan Danielson and his birthday with a dance. In the one flaw of an otherwise improbable success of a segment, Jack Perry interrupted MJF first. It should have been Sammy Guevara. Fans seemed to resent Perry for ruining the fun, and his promo suffered as a result until he dropped the "hokey sh*t" line. That line of dialogue worked very well against the backdrop of the set; this was AEW having its sports entertainment cake and eating pro wrestling.
Guevara interrupted next, followed by Darby Allin, and all three men argued their case for a World title shot. The rankings system was better than this, truthfully, but it still exists in an informal way. All three men boast an impressive record ahead of the presumed Four Pillars Four-Way match. Guevara went too inside and too babyface early, yes, but he eventually struck the correct balance. Going in this very WWE direction was a high-wire act and, really, it all hinged on Darby's performance. He was fantastic.
MJF possesses the most useful skill imaginable as a heel World champion, in that he makes every babyface stood opposite him look like the champion elect. Here, Darby has never looked closer to playing the part. One of the most underrated wrestlers on the planet, he was a revelation. His promo was a cathartic roar in defiance of certain incredibly exhausting AEW wrestlers and their Twitter activity, and his comedic timing came out of nowhere. Saving the reveal of MJF's haematoma, so that Darby could deadpan "You look like sh*t," was a great choice.
Comedy segments aren't inherently bad. They just have to be funny. This was funny, if a bit scripted. The fans were behind Allin as the man who could dethrone MJF in the end. It ended with MJF taking a header into the cake, and a match with origins dating back to the very formation of the company in the offing.
It should be impossible for a never-ending weekly wrestling TV show to feel like a series, with such a robust approach to continuity, but between the opening segment and the incredible closing angle, AEW achieved precisely that.