The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
AEW top show ‘Dynamite’ comes to Cleveland arena
Performer on card says joining WWE competitor was chance ‘to be part of something special’
The newest contender in the professional-wrestling television landscape is bringing its flagship show Jan. 29.
The newest contender in the professional-wrestling television landscape is bringing its flagship show to Cleveland on Jan. 29.
All Elite Wrestling’s “Dynamite” will air on TNT from the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. It will be AEW’s first foray into Ohio after the company launched in January 2019 and took to the TNT airwaves in October.
Christopher Daniels, whose wrestling career has spanned more than 25 years and multiple promotions in the U.S. and abroad, was among the company’s first signees. Daniels said he was recruited by brothers Matt and Nick Jackson, who compete in the ring as the tag team the Young Bucks while also serving as executive vice presidents behind the scenes.
Daniels, having worked with the Jackson brothers and fellow executive vice president Cody Rhodes in the promotion Ring of Honor, said he didn’t need much convincing to get on board.
“This was an opportunity to build something from the ground up, and I felt that they had the golden touch,” Daniels said. “Basically, anything they had put their hands on or put their mind to had come true and been successful. This was an opportunity to be part of something special from Day 1. … Sharing a locker room and being on shows with (the Young Bucks) where they’re the hottest thing on the show, I knew they had the crowd support that they needed to get this rolling.”
Since debuting “Dynamite,” AEW has carved out a niche as a viable alternative to WWE, which has dominated the U.S. wrestling landscape for the better part of two decades. The upstart company has mixed familiar faces, such as former WWE champions Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley (who wrestled in WWE as Dean Ambrose) and New Japan headliner Kenny Omega, with a colorful cast of young, rising stars such as the “Spanish God” Sammy Guevara, goth, skateboardwielding Darby Allin; MJF; Kris Statlander; and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry, son of the late actor Luke Perry.
Jericho, Rhodes, Allin, Moxley and the Young Bucks are among those on the card in Cleveland.
“Some of us have had television experience before, but there are a lot of fresh faces, a lot of people who haven’t worked on national television before,” said Daniels, who doubles as AEW’s head of talent relations. “So it’s a matter of introducing those new names to a wrestling fan base that was primed to see something different. That’s the key: just being different from what people are normally used to for their professional wrestling. That’s been our hook. That’s what has brought people to watch us on Wednesday nights. That’s what we’re promising every week.”
“Dynamite” has performed well enough since its debut that TNT earlier this month announced it was extending the show into 2023 and giving AEW a second weekly TV slot. WWE, meanwhile, hasn’t conceded Wednesdays to the new promotion: Weeks prior to the start of “Dynamite,” WWE struck a deal to move its weekly “NXT” show, a popular staple featuring its own developing stars, from its streaming services to the USA network, which airs “Raw” on Monday nights. “Dynamite” and “NXT” have gone headto-head for four months — an interpromotional battle reminiscent of the “Monday Night Wars” between
WWE’s “Raw” and World Championship Wrestling’s “Nitro” a generation ago. But while WWE proved to be a decisive winner at the turn of the century, AEW thus far has held its own against NXT, drawing higher ratings most weeks, particularly in the coveted 18-to-49-year-old demo.
“Every week, we’re committed to making this work and building the legacy of what AEW can be,” Daniels said. “I think we said it from the beginning: We’re going to change the world. The wrestling world at the beginning of 2020 is completely different than the end of 2018. You look at the changes in just that Wednesday night has become a destination for wrestling fans on television. That’s awesome to be a part of, and we’re looking to do even bigger and better things as 2020 kicks off.”