Opinion
Cook’s Top 5: AEW Dynamite Moments (Year One)
Steve Cook celebrates one year of a legit #2 in American TV wrestling with his Top 5 AEW Dynamite moments from their first year!
Steve Cook celebrates one year of a legit #2 in American TV wrestling with his Top 5 AEW Dynamite moments from their first year!
Whether you love or hate All Elite Wrestling, it can’t be denied that the company has made the wrestling business more interesting. It’s given us all sorts of new things to talk about and kept us from getting bored. Maybe it’s just me, but all these years where WWE was the undisputed #1 promotion with other federations nowhere near them in relevance were pretty damn boring.
Sure, you could write about Impact or ROH, but who was going to care? Japan could draw some Internet eyeballs, but it was still quite the minority compared to WWE. I don’t mean to totally bury WWE, as they’ve produced plenty of outstanding content through the years. But sometimes you gotta switch it up, right? You can’t have McDonald’s everyday, you have to mix in some Popeye’s every once in awhile to keep things fresh.
AEW Dynamite is having their anniversary show this week. It’s been a little over a year, but we all know anniversaries can be held whenever. Let’s celebrate by looking at my five favorite AEW Dynamite moments of the first year.
5. Eddie Kingston Debuts
I’ve been an Eddie Kingston fan for a long time. In my opinion, he was the best promo on the indies for most of the twenty-first century. He had a couple of things keeping him from getting to the next level. Some of it was that nasty physique bias that promoters (and a lot of fans) tend to have that makes it take much longer for certain people to make it big. Some of it involved personal demons.
Eddie seems to have kicked all of these things aside in recent years. He’s appeared on Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling & NWA Powerrr, but AEW Dynamite on July 22 marked his biggest TV shot to date, as he answered TNT Champion American Nightmare Cody’s open challenge. He got to speak his mind on the microphone and have his match, and you knew that AEW was going to bring him on board. Unless WWE snuck in there and signed him first, which they tried to do! King went with AEW, and now he’s got his own crew to go after world champions with. It’s amazing how life can change within weeks.
4. Jake “The Snake” Roberts Emerges
Those of you who have followed my journey as a wrestling fan know that Jake “The Snake” Roberts was my very first favorite wrestler. He had a knack for being involved in interesting stories back in the day, had a snake & the DDT. What wasn’t to love? Well, a lot. It’s somewhat amazing that Jake is still with us after years of drug abuse. Fortunately, one of Jake’s best friends is Diamond Dallas Page, who excels at helping folks who are addicted to drugs kick the habit. Roberts got clean and has done his best to stay that way for the past several years.
Even if Jake returned as a bad guy intent on taking Cody’s share of AEW, and now has Lance Archer focused on taking the AEW Championship, you still have to root for the guy. I do, anyway. It’s great to see Jake Roberts on my television in any capacity in 2020, and his return on the March 4 edition of Dynamite, one of the last before the pandemic set in, was a sight to see.
3. Darby Allin Attacks Chris Jericho on a Skateboard
You have to go to 4:27 of the above video to see the moment that made Darby Allin a star with AEW fans. Episode 2 of Dynamite saw Allin win a match against Jimmy Havoc to earn a shot at AEW Champion Chris Jericho on the next week’s episode. It was fair to wonder what Allin or Havoc had done to earn a title shot at that point. Allin had wrestled Cody to a time limit draw at Fyter Fest, so he did have that going for him, along with a unique look & persona.
Things were breaking down at the end of the show, as is wont to happen during wrestling television shows. Jericho & his friends were busy fighting off the Elite, but Allin needed to make his impact felt to set up the next week’s match. What better way than to ride down the ramp on a skateboard and jump into Chris Jericho? It established Allin as somebody that would do damn near anything at his own personal expense in order to get the job done, and he would do crazier things going forward.
2. Cody brings backup to fight the Inner Circle
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hosted the fourth episode of Dynamite. While the Inner Circle wasn’t booked for any matches that evening, they still had tickets! Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Santana & Ortiz used airhorns to drown out Cody’s planned announcement, which drew Cody to the barricade. Jericho was confident that Cody wouldn’t run into a 4 on 1 assault and kept insulting his upcoming challenger. Dustin Rhodes came out, followed by MJF, then Diamond Dallas Page (with a Road Warrior pop, no less).
Unfortunately the videos leave out the part where Jericho turns from an overconfident asshole into a worried asshole. They do capture Cody wrapping MJF’s scarf around his hand to smash the glass window, open the door and drag Chris out for a fight. Just classic pro wrestling drama throughout this segment, and as usual Jericho was saying things that would end up on t-shirts.
1. Parking Lot Fight
Recency bias? Maybe! But this brawl involving the Best Friends taking on Santana & Ortiz was just a tremendous piece of business the likes of which TNT Standards & Practices never would have allowed back in the day. It was a classic CZW-style brawl, topped off with an Orange Cassidy appearance & Sue driving her boys away…
and flipping Santana & Ortiz the bird. Does pro wrestling get any better than that?
You may have different favorite Dynamite memories than I. Shoot them into the comments or let me know on the Twittah!
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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