I'm definitely interested in your feedback when you get home.
Overall, excellent evening. As I mentioned, last Dynamite I went to was a bit of a slog. The product was fine, but it was kind of a transitional show a bit after a pay per view and all the matches were kind of random and not in service for an angle. It was also one of those shows where all of the matches (save one) there was absolutely no doubt who would win. Given the length of the show, it's hard for a crowd to stay engaged over 4+ hours without stakes established.
The crowd last night was way hotter, and a little bigger. I think having the blow off (maybe?) to a big angle in the main even really helped. Having a couple matches you don't know the outcome of helps as well.
Overall, the product was good. The Dark Matches, even being squashes, were much better than the last one I went to. A few observations...
- Toni Storm (dark match) was way more over than it comes across on TV. Also, maybe because it was the first match, people were just hyped for anything
- Ricky Starks is WAAAAY over, at least in Georgia. No credible way to book him as an actual heel at this point
- Got to see a couple of the bigger stars wrestle on Rampage which we were not expecting, which was a nice surprise
- The barbed wire match was not as unpleasant as I was fearing. I don't like guys getting thrown into barbed wire and Aubrey Edwards having to dislodge barbed wire from their backs. But it wasn't the kind of thing that escalates...forks, tacks, glass, etc. Nor really dangerous bumps. I'm sure it was painful, but neither guy was taking bumps that would get them seriously hurt, like swantons off ladders or unprotected chair shots to the skull or whatever. The entire crowd stood for the whole match
- Probably too much "sports entertainment" stuff if I was watching it on TV, between the busy shenanigans in the main event, and the Acclaimed/Gun Club rap battle on Rampage. However, in person people were really into it, so it was fun.
- Rampage main event was quite anti-climactic, as it was a guy that's been retired for two years against a guy that's never won a match on AEW TV, purely to hype a match on PPV for "another promotion". Both guys are pros and it was a perfectly fine match, but nobody gives a shit almost five hours in. It's fine, its not like people were there to see that match or anything, but I'd say people were pretty damn engaged all the way through up to that.
Overall, good night, lots of bang for the buck, fun crowd. Much better than the previous Dynamite I went to, so that's what I was hoping for.
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