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    Home > Yuji Nagata > Reviewing the Elite (5/12/21): Let it Linger

    Reviewing the Elite (5/12/21): Let it Linger



    It’s AEW Dynamite! You know what that means…

    Tony Khan and QT Marshall: Do we have to? Do we have to? Do we have to let it lingeeeeeer?

    Me: Yes, you do have to let your stories linger if you want them to mean anything.

    This week’s stick of Dynamite was a mixed bag for me because there was plenty of excellent wrestling and promos, but all of them were cut abruptly so we could get to the next segment, making everything feel rushed. 

    Were you emotional over The Young Bucks permanently disbanding SCU? TOO BAD, we have to show you Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston messing The Elite’s dressing room. Did you find Miro ending Darby Allin’s TNT Championship reign shocking? Screw that, here’s Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky attacking Sting, again, even though they already did that during the match.

    AEW. Please. Slow down. Let your stories breathe or else we’ll forget about them. 

    Seeing all this rushing around in Dynamite is really disappointing as an AEW fan, since I remember how fresh the product’s stories were in 2019 and early 2020 because they let things linger. MJF turning on Cody, Hangman Page separating himself from The Elite, Jon Moxley’s feud with The Inner Circle, all of those stories had moments that stood out because the camera lingered on these wrestlers and the emotions they were going through.

    Granted, the ridiculous pacing in AEW isn’t exactly new but it felt particularly egregious in this stick of Dynamite. Honestly, I feel bad for bitching because there was still plenty of good stuff in this episode, but most of them were rushed through and that can’t be ignored. 

    Jon Moxley coming out to "Wild Thing" and retaining the IWGP US Championship against New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Yuji Nagata was great. It was a hard-hitting match and didn’t go overly long, with Moxley retaining after a Paradigm Shift. They even bothered to show Moxley giving the 53-year-old Nagata respect after the match, which is a stark contrast to the time everything else on this show got.

    Miro finally ending Darby Allin’s TNT Championship reign was this week’s highlight, as it was a brutal affair with plenty of dramatic moments. Darby was still feeling the after-effects of his fall from last week and Miro took full advantage, giving him power move after power move. While Darby did fight back against The Best Man, even landing the best suicide dive I’ve ever seen, it just wasn’t enough and he knew it. Even Sting knew it.

    That fist bump Sting and Darby shared, knowing that he would go down fighting? Chills man. 

    Of course, there’s that SCU match I keep bringing up. Like most Young Bucks matches, this was a banger with everyone working their asses off and there were times when I thought we would get new AEW World Tag Team Champions. I’m still mad that Kazarian didn’t pick up the win with that Styles Clash.



    Final Grade: There was a lot of good stuff in this week’s Dynamite, I just wish they were given more time to stand out. B.


    Bullet Point Party

    • The Inner Circle spray The Pinnacle with a little bit of the bubbly, get challenged to a Stadium Stampede match: It looks like Jericho’s stable is getting the win here. I like how MJF made the stipulation “The Inner Circle disbands if they lose” because it adds some gravitas to the match. AEW tends to skew towards babyface wins (unless it’s Cody) so I’m expecting a happy ending here unless The Inner Circle is really breaking up.
    • Cody Rhodes is The American Dream because I dunno: They rushed through SCU’s permanent breakup but gave plenty of time for Cody to be a real American who fights for the rights of every man? Bullshit. Cody delivered his promo well but I’m not digging this pro-America shtick.
    • Orange Cassidy gets hurt, AEW improvises: Just an unfortunate bit of luck here, with reports saying this was supposed to be a double count-out before the injury. Shame too since the match with PAC was shaping up to be something special but I give props for the improvised ending. The triple threat match for Double or Nothing should be awesome.
    • Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. is hard to kill: I bet AEW wishes they got that pay-per-view name before Impact Wrestling did. Very good promo from Baker here and I even like the photoshoot angle that was shown.
    • Thunder Rosa squashes someone: Come on AEW, how can you give us back-to-back great matches like Hikaru Shida vs Tay Conti and Kris Statlander vs Penelope Ford then give us back-to-back squashes like this? AEW’s women’s division is in a better place now and I hope they don’t get complacent.
    Images from AEW

    *****

    Nico Parungo is a freelance contributor for Geeky PH and previously wrote for Epicstream. He provides weekly recaps of AEW Dynamite for Smark Henry and has contributed several reviews for PWR and MWF shows. When he isn't frustrated about the WWE, he's playing video games at home and is bugging his friends with glorious puns. He's new to the world of Twitter drama but is quickly getting hooked.
    By at May 14, 2021
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    Item Reviewed: Reviewing the Elite (5/12/21): Let it Linger Rating: 5 Reviewed By: Nico Parungo
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