On the most recent edition of AEW's flagship weekly television show Dynamite, veteran wrestlers Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian ceased to be a tag team. Known collectively as SoCal Uncensored, Daniels and Kazarian had been a tagging together since in various capacities since 2011. On the latest Dynamite, they battled the All Elite Wrestling Tag Team Champions Nick and Matt Jackson, aka The Young Bucks. SCU had promised to part ways with each other if they failed to win. And fail they did.
The End Of SCU
In a thrilling match that featured an abundance of both blood and near falls, Daniels and Kazarian were beaten thanks to interference from the Young Bucks' Elite cronies Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Don Callis. When the match was over, The Elite gloated and made their way back up the ramp, leaving the dejected Daniels and Kazarian in the ring ... and then the action immediately cut to a backstage segment in which Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley trashed The Elite's locker room.
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian have been a tag team for over 10 years. They started tagging together in IMPACT as member of the Fortune stable. They eventually broke away from Fortune and started competing as Bad Influence. The duo left IMPACT in 2014, but continued to team together in Ring of Honor under the name The Addiction. They adopted the name SoCal Uncensored when they joined forces with Scorpio Sky (who recently broke away from SCU to team up with "All Ego" Ethan Page). A team with that much history deserves more than a few seconds of on-screen time to commemorate their split.
By immediately cutting to the next segment, AEW did a huge disservice to both SCU and the audience. SCU's breakup should have been an impactful moment, but fans weren't given any time to contemplate it. It was an emotional moment that had no time to breath. Few things in the world of pro-wrestling are final, and it wouldn't be wild to suggest that maybe one day, the two men will team up again. But for now, as dictated by stipulation, they can no longer exist as a team in AEW. But before fans could even begin to process the outcome, their attention was redirected elsewhere.
Dynamite Moments
The same episode of Dynamite concluded with Miro defeating Darby Allin for the TNT Championship. A title changed hands. Miro became a champion, and Darby Allin ceased to be a champion. These are big moments that need time to marinate in the minds of people watching. But instead, a bunch of other stuff happened involving Sting, Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky and The Dark Order. And then Lance Archer came out and confronted Miro which had nothing to do with the Dark Order thing. It was a lot.
Obviously, there are time constraints to deal with. Pro wrestling can be unpredictable. Orange Cassidy reportedly sustained a concussion on the episode in question, which caused an on-the-fly change to the finish of his match with Pac. It's possible that this incident caused the segment to run long, which meant they had to cram three separate angles into the final 30 seconds of the show. What's more, it's easy to forget that AEW is still a fledgling promotion. Dynamite debuted on October 2, 2019. It's highly likely that, as time rolls on, the production and creative teams will improve and learn from their mistakes.
Faith In Tony Khan
It's worth mentioning that this is minor quibble with an issue that can be easily rectified. AEW has been absolutely killing it lately. The roster is stacked and the product is consistently entertaining. They produce thoroughly enjoyable shows which often feature several captivating matches. They just need to give some of their big moments a little bit more time to breath. Currently, AEW produces three weekly shows: Dynamite for TNT, and AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation which stream on YouTube each week. Back in January, AEW President Tony Khan spoke about the benefits of having multiple weekly shows. Khan also confirmed that a third hour of televised AEW content is on its way, but that Dynamite will remain a two hour show.
“Yes, it will not be a third hour of Dynamite and it will not be on Wednesday but it will be a third hour with Warner Media, it will be a third TV hour and it will be great exposure for us. We got Dark, which has been a great platform for our up and comers on YouTube and I think there are other streaming options and other shows we can do with YouTube or other streaming platforms," Khan told Renee Paquette on her Oral Sessions Podcast. "So there’s going to be more opportunities, there’s going to be more real estate for our wrestlers without over-saturating. I definitely don’t want to do three hours of Dynamite, I feel really strongly about keeping our big four pay-per-views, the core, big four, we may develop other shows, we’ve got other streaming specials and things and big episodes of Dynamite but I think just expanding our calendar will be a big thing in 2021,” he added.
Dynamite is a weekly two hour show. The temptation to cram as much action into those two hours as possible is evidently huge, and plotting out a well-paced show is no easy task. As WWE's flagship show Raw has shown, adding an extra hour would be a huge mistake, but the company needs to find the sweet spot where the show can be action-packed and thrilling while also given its audiences time to fully absorb the impact of the big, emotional moments. Hopefully the situation will improve when AEW finally gets its third weekly hour of TV. Although it would be nice if they could fix the issue before then.