As For Dynamite: So Many Bad Takes...

I guess I just like this show more than a bunch of the people who actually write about it for a living.  I mean, I don’t know what else to make of it, nor why anyone would dedicate that much time to talking about something they’re lukewarm about.  I read one review this morning where the guy literally said of every match on the card: “I liked it, but…”

What are you doing, guy?  Is this shit really making you that much money?

Okay, so I made a header for the column. I guess we're serious now.

Find another hobby.  This one is making you miserable.

So many of these guys said something like, “They did the best they could with the fallout from the non-explosion, but Kenny Omega’s line, ‘Quick! Sixty-nine me, Don!’ was ‘regrettable’”.

This storytelling is not subtle.

Guys.  I don’t know how to tell you this, but you -- all of you -- were the butts of this particular joke.  And it was fucking hilarious.  My daughter and I laughed our asses off.  Because not only was this over-the-top ridiculous, but also, Omega is intentionally calling out homophobia here.  That is not subtext.  He’s just gone right after it, as he’s done throughout his career.  You would think guys who write about this for a living would get that, but…  Well, here we are.

Kenny Omega, the performer, has said many times that it doesn’t matter what his personal orientation is.  Dude has made a real effort to keep his private life private, which is great.  His character, though, that’s a different story.  The Cleaner Kenny Omega, that character is not straight.  He’s never been straight.  He is not pretending to be straight.  He is the Freddie Mercury of professional wrestling.  Seriously, put these presentations side-by-side.  The similarities have got to be intentional.  Omega is a cerebral, sophisticated performer.  He knows exactly what he’s doing.  He’s just not explaining it to you like it’s a paint-by-numbers piece.

Again, though, this is not subtext.  The man has been known to kiss his male partners right in the ring.  In Japan!

I don’t have much else to say about last night’s show, save that it was super-cool that we got a real match involving Lee Johnson on Dynamite.  The guy is terrific.  Ethan Page, who I’d never heard of before Revolution, was also really good.  I loved the match (but turned the audio off).  I mean, we see all this bellyaching about AEW signing older stars, but if you look at who’s actually wrestling, it’s still the same kinds of young, rising stars that the company’s been using since its inception, plus Chris Jericho.

All I need now is more Sammy Guevara, and I’ll be all set.

* "Función de Lucha Libre callejera durante el festejo anual 2017 en el pueblo de la Candelaria, Coyoacán” by Joe Hernandez. Public Domain via Unsplash.