FanPost

AEW Dynamite intro analysis, 2022 edition

Year ago, I did small fanpost about the content of the intro video package of AEW Dynamite. And one year later, it is time to do it again. Point of course being, that wrestlers that are included in the intro video are supposed to be the most important guys for AEW so we can see whose popularity went up and whose popularity went down - simply how the fortunes changed.

Last year edition can be found here.

Of course - certain changes are basically a lock and everybody can guess them without any problems (CM Punk or Bryan Danielson weren't in AEW last year and Cody was), but let's see if there is something that will surprise us.

I worked with three episodes: Dynamite 14, 15 a 16 of 2022 to see how it changes from week to week (and there were a few changes), but in the last one, Dynamite 16-22 edition ending with Darby-Andrade coffin match, intro video goes like this:

  1. Keith Lee
  2. Miro
  3. CM Punk
  4. Kenny Omega
  5. Sting
  6. Darby Allin
  7. Jungle Boy+Luchasaurus
  8. Powerhouse Hobbs
  9. MJF
  10. Wardlow
  11. Jade Cargill
  12. Jon Moxley
  13. Samoa Joe
  14. Bryan Danielson
  15. Adam Cole + reDRagon
  16. JAS (Jericho, 2point0, Garcia, Hager)
  17. Orange Cassidy
  18. Britt Baker
  19. Hardys
  20. Chris Jericho
  21. Hangman Page
  22. Sammy Guevara + Tay Conti
  23. Thunder Rosa

So, first thing first: 2022 edition of intro package is way shorter than it was. In 2021 there was actually 37 entries (few wrestlers more than once), now we have just 23. And only Chris Jericho is now being showed twice, since he is there alone at #16 and in JAS faction (view from pretty afar) at #12.

So, who stayed popular and stayed on the list?

Miro, Kenny Omega, Sting, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, MJF, Wardlow, Jon Moxley, Orange Cassidy, Britt Baker, Chris Jericho, Hangman Page and Matt Hardy.

All of them were used in storylines whole year, I see no controversy here. Miro and Omega are injured, but I think both will be used after return (and Miro specifically has a great visual of his entrance jump)

Who is new in the list?

  • Bryan Danielson is a no brainer, as is Adam Cole (complete with reDRagon) and Keith Lee with CM Punk - all the biggest signings. Absolutely no surprise there.
  • Samoa Joe is the newest addition. At the time of the writing, I worked with episode 16 of 2022, and Samoa Joe was introducted in episode 15. Also, Sammy Guevara is new on the list as champion in episode 16, but he wasn't included in episode 15 at all, when he wasn't champ.
    • Powerhouse Hobbs gets his own entry on very nice 4th position, last year he was there only as a part of Team Taz.
    • Jade Cargill is new (of course) as is Thunder Rosa (of course) but I did not expect Tay Conti to also be here. In last episode, Conti is actually included with Sammy Guevara in second to last championship position, but in episodes before that, she had her own place in intro.
    • JAS is a only full faction in the list this year. Last year there was also Team Taz (and Inner Circle, but JAS is its successor).

    And who fell out from the list?

    • Cody and Brandi for obvious reasons.
    • Yeah, it is all about the EVP's - but hey, Young Bucks are actually also missing this year. I did not expect that. But maybe it is just about shorter video and less time, since last year, there were 5 tag teams in the list. This time, it's only the champions and reDRagon..
    • So: FTR, Lucha Brothers and Private Party are also out.
    • No announcers this time, sorry Paul Wight and Tony Schiavonne.
    • No Hikaru Shida and Nyla Rose on the women's side.
    • Deleted guys: PAC, Christian, Lance Archer, Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager. Special case is Scorpio Sky - he was there until episode 15 as a champ, but since he lost the title, he isn't there anymore in episode 16 (he was replaced by Sammy Guevara).
    • Also, Team Taz as a whole unit. Ricky Starks is surprisingly also not here, so only Powerhouse Hobbs representing Team Taz now.
    • As a whole, they actually changed and shortened the format a lot and I'm pretty sure that in the new format, they do not have enough time to really include everyone they want. Probably most surprising is no Ricky Starks as pillar of AEW. I would also really expect for example El Idolo, Malakai Black, Penta or Eddie Kingston to be there just from the visual standpoint, or maybe some backstage WWE legends (Regal, Henry, Wight) to have at least cameos.

    And now let's look at different categories and their representation in video (comparing it to the last year).

    Champions
    All of them. Hangman Page, Sammy Guevara/Scorpio Sky (depending on the episode), Jurassic Express, Powerhouse Hobbs as FTW champ and Thunder Rosa with Jade Cargill.
    6 times (26%) - on par with last year.


    Exchampions
    Kenny Omega (AEW, tag), Darby Allin (TNT), Jon Moxley (AEW), Chris Jericho (AEW), Britt Baker (AEW)
    5 times (21,7%) - also on par


    EVP's
    Actually, just Kenny Omega this time. Big difference, last time there was all 4 of them.
    1 time (4,3%) - way lower

    Tag Teams
    Jurassic Express, reDRagon. I mentioned this earlier, last year there were 4 tag teams.
    2 times (8,6%) - lower number

    Legends
    CM Punk, Jericho, Sting, Hardys. I'm not counting Samoa Joe here, although I was on fence with that. So similar to last year.
    4 times (17,4%)

    Women
    Jade Cargill, Tay Conti, Britt Baker, Thunder Rosa - percentage-wise, that is actually increase of 4% over last year, where women were included just in 13% of entries.
    4 times (17,4%) - increase

    Factions
    JAS
    1 time (4,3%) - decrease

    Announcers - 0 (there were 2 last time)
    Owner Tony Khan - 0 as last year

    Homegrown AEW stars
    Darby Allin, Jurassic Express, Powerhouse Hobbs, MJF, Wardlow, Jade Cargill, Tay Conti, Orange Cassidy, Britt Baker, Hangman Page. Actually, very big increase over last time (it was just 30% then)
    10 times (43,4%) - big increase

    WWE guys
    CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, Chris Jericho, Hardys, Miro
    7 times (30%) - similar

    Not mentioned elsewhere
    Samoa Joe, Keith Lee - they replace Lance Archer in this category
    2 time (8,6%)


    Enjoy!

    And of course disclaimer: Sorry for my english and mistakes/errors I did, english is not my first language.

    The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.