AEW Dynamite 5/1/24: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Posted by admin on May 2nd, 2024

Tony Khan opened Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite”/”AEW Rampage” three-hour extravaganza with the sobering news that he could not produce the show in-person, since a neck brace is not exactly travel-friendly. As Khan began to speak, the screen flickered in and out, but before anybody could even begin to theorize about what the broadcast interruptions could mean, The Young Bucks appeared on screen, and announced that they were taking over AEW programming.

Regardless of what you may think about AEW’s executive vice presidents and Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks played their part as cocky and corrupt executive-wrestler hybrids beautifully, and in doing so, made for quite the chaotic broadcast. First of all, having a sort of line of succession for AEW production is absolutely hilarious. While it does make sense — Khan is out with a storyline injury, after all — the idea of a line of succession in the first place was a way to get people talking, because it is so absurd. This is not the United States presidency; treating Khan’s injury like he is a dead president so that the Bucks can hijack the show gets funnier the more you think about it.

The Young Bucks popped in and out of segments in the broadcast, and notably gave Renee Paquette unprompted feedback. They reassured her that she was doing a good job, only to interrupt one of her backstage interviews via text message to tell her to “smile more”. There is a certain flippant-ness to their actions — it doesn’t feel like they’re evil because they’re invested in enacting some spectacular revenge, they are so casual with their evilness because they are just evil. It takes so little out of them to make these little comments (or beat up Kenny Omega to close out “Dynamite”, but we’ll cover that soon) and to make these oppressive executive decisions, and they’re just a bit more cool or funny because it takes them so little. Heels normally are invested in their maliciousness — it takes AEW’s EVPs just two seconds to be cruel, and they move on with their evil plans. They are so unserious. This whole hijacking of “Dynamite” was so unserious.

“Unserious” is the perfect word to describe a Bucks-produced “Dynamite”, and it’s also a way to describe current AEW programming. Whether their increasingly flippant booking is something to be praised or condemned is up for debate, but there is this certain disregard for sincerity that feels like it’s permeating AEW programming. There is this energy that AEW production knows how the professional wrestling world perceives them, especially amidst dwindling ticket sales and general criticism from the wrestling community, that they simply don’t care to please everybody anymore. It’s kind of like when a senior in high school or college realizes that the opinions of their peers don’t matter, so they are free to do what they please when they please, regardless of the social consequences. In AEW’s eyes, the viewers that get it get it, and the viewers that don’t don’t, and AEW is no longer concerned with trying to cater to that latter category.

The Young Buck’s hijack of this week’s “Dynamite” is definitely a part of their vicious, corporate corruption storyline, but it could also be seen as a microcosm of the general air of AEW programming. The Bucks don’t care what Swerve Strickland or Kenny Omega think — in fact, they’ll put obstacles in the way of their detractors, and have fun doing it. They are so unserious in their abuses of power, because AEW is so unserious. After all, the people that get it — Jack Perry, Okada — get it, and the people that don’t get it — you, at home — just don’t get it. There’s something to respect about that freedom. It’s not that serious.

Written by Angeline Phu