All Elite Wrestling

[GD]

Glad to see Jericho as well.

[slik]

I want to see Jericho and MJF as rivals or tag partners. They could work gold together imo.

[slik]

Is that the Chinese promotion someone made a thread about a while back?

Yes, I made that thread

What I watched of OWE it was pretty cool. Production values were insane.

[slik]

What does MJF stand for



Maxwell Jacob Friedman and he will want you to know he is better than you

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE is turning away people from buying tickets who are wearing AEW merchandise</p>&mdash; Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1082783738625429505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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[Emperor Smeat]

Seems its everyone in general who attended the rally getting turned away regardless if they bought or wore AEW merch.

Would explain the stuff from the sheets last week about WWE sending hidden officials for this rally.

[erickman]

Seems its everyone in general who attended the rally getting turned away regardless if they bought or wore AEW merch.

Would explain the stuff from the sheets last week about WWE sending hidden officials for this rally.

I would figure most of those people would already have tickets those are the few wrestling fans left.

[slik]

OWE clips:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'Shaolin Monk' Zhao Yilong is just awesome! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ORIENTALWRESTL1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ORIENTALWRESTL1</a> <a href="https://t.co/9yRTXZ5kXi">https://t.co/9yRTXZ5kXi</a> <a href="https://t.co/HoxLywFKlG">pic.twitter.com/HoxLywFKlG</a></p>&mdash; LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1000210521839292416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CIMA lends a helping hand.... Uh back... and Gao happily 450s off it! <a href="https://twitter.com/supercima1115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@supercima1115</a> l <a href="https://twitter.com/ORIENTALWRESTL1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ORIENTALWRESTL1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FSWVegas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FSWVegas</a><br><br>Follow us for more! <a href="https://t.co/5EEXZhfLrm">pic.twitter.com/5EEXZhfLrm</a></p>&mdash; ORIENTAL WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT (@ORIENTALWRESTL1) <a href="https://twitter.com/ORIENTALWRESTL1/status/994325965357568000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[slik]

OWE is a very lucha style in general, the head trainers are mostly former luchadors. Pro Rasslin hasn't ever been real popular in China so there weren't any Chinese pro wrestlers of notoriety to choose from so the billionaire who started OWE hired Luchadors to bring pro wrestling to China.

[xrodmuc316]

Not impressed with Jericho going there, only because he ran his mouth patting himself on the back for YEARS about how he would never work for anybody but Vince.

Just don't brag about something like that and I would be fine with him signing there, but as it is him signing there just means he is full of shit and nothing he says means anything.

[Evil Vito]

WWE seem to be pissed off about it.

Apparently he was still listed as being part of the SmackDown roster all the way up until this morning. And he got moved to the Alumni second almost instantly after the announcement.

[Fignuts]

Not impressed with Jericho going there, only because he ran his mouth patting himself on the back for YEARS about how he would never work for anybody but Vince.

Just don't brag about something like that and I would be fine with him signing there, but as it is him signing there just means he is full of shit and nothing he says means anything.

He’ll probably just use that to heel it up if anyone mentions it to him.

[xrodmuc316]

He’ll probably just use that to heel it up if anyone mentions it to him.

Oh I'm sure Jericho will have a successful run, dude is as close to a sure bet there is in pro wrestling.

That said, it does hurt his credibility.

Neville signing does nothing for me. He is just a rehash character of what he was in WWE, with the addition of WWE held me back. That is the same gimmick every new Impact wrestler had from like 2005-2014.

Neville didn't move the needle as NXT champ, he didn't move the needle upon his WWE callup, and he only moved the needle as a cruiserweight because he actually had a character instead of being a spot monkey guy from the CWC.

If I am being honest, if they want to do something interesting, they need to sign some people that werent already "All In". Otherwise just say off the bat its gonna be the same people and move on.

[xrodmuc316]

Ehhh maybe I'm just cynical from years of WWE being lazy and even more years of Impact being absolute garbage.

Most importantly, these guys are basically all the same to me. Workrate and superkicks. I can see those guys in WWE with Ziggler and Rollins and the Usos and a few others. I am gonna want more then the "hey we are all friends and we believed in ourselves enough to make this happen and yay".

[Loose Cannon]

Jericho signing is definitely a big deal for them. To me it says the top level talent are trusting Cody to do a good job. Jericho wouldn't just sign with anyone is he felt the gig would suck.

It gets people talking at least. hopefully they can continue building on the momentum they have right now.

[Fignuts]

Ehhh maybe I'm just cynical from years of WWE being lazy and even more years of Impact being absolute garbage.

Most importantly, these guys are basically all the same to me. Workrate and superkicks. I can see those guys in WWE with Ziggler and Rollins and the Usos and a few others. I am gonna want more then the "hey we are all friends and we believed in ourselves enough to make this happen and yay".

The slow dissolution of the bullet Club followed by the reconciliation and creation of the elite was a good story that brought lots of eyes to NJPW and BTE. So they have the potential to have entertaining stories. That said creating a storyline and juggling numerous storylines for an entire promotion are two different things, so we’ll see.

[rez]

https://media.giphy.com/media/qtzL55CiNwSuk/200.gif

https://i.gifer.com/KTwM.gif

They need Bruce Campbell as an on air personality. I don't give a shit if he knows a lick about the business.

[xrodmuc316]

Jericho signing is definitely a big deal for them. To me it says the top level talent are trusting Cody to do a good job. Jericho wouldn't just sign with anyone is he felt the gig would suck.

It gets people talking at least. hopefully they can continue building on the momentum they have right now.

It really doesn't mean any of that. It doesn't mean anything more then Jericho agreed to be affiliated and have a few matches in exchange for talent getting booked for his booze cruise once or twice a year.

[Vastardikai]

https://media.giphy.com/media/qtzL55CiNwSuk/200.gif

https://i.gifer.com/KTwM.gif

They need Bruce Campbell as an on air personality. I don't give a shit if he knows a lick about the business.

He can be a ring announcer. He has experience in that. :shifty:

[Triple A]

MJF rules imho! Really good "cocky heel"

[Evil Vito]

I gotta say, I’m way on board for the teases Hangman/PAC feud. I fuckin loved what I saw out of Hangman in the G1 last year and I think he can be a star. I adored PAC’s 205 run. Could be an interesting dynamic with some killer matches.

[rez]

Oh, man. I forgot about his Spiderman cameos.

[rez]

I've been watching the AEW rally off and on. the fuq is with Neville interrupting with wrestling gear on? lol fucks sake, man.

[Loose Cannon]

It really doesn't mean any of that. It doesn't mean anything more then Jericho agreed to be affiliated and have a few matches in exchange for talent getting booked for his booze cruise once or twice a year.

cool :y:

[rez]

Damn...the pyro and fireworks for the rally probably equaled a year of WWE's.

[rez]

Don't think Wrestlemania will be coming to Jacksonville anytime soon...

[Malfeitor]

I told my wife that the Double or Nothing event is happening in Vegas and the first thing she said was “Can we go?!?”

Vegas is about four hours away.

Party time.

[RP]

Who's MJF?

[Fignuts]

Joey Janela

[RP]

Joey Janela

Who?

[Fignuts]

I don’t fucking know, Jesus leave me alone!

[Tom Guycott]

Oddly enough, Jericho's appearance made me think of Terry Funk; in that I would imagine he will be with AEW in a similar capacity to how Funk was in ECW - spreading knowledge, adding name rub, and putting over future stars. But that's just a guess.

[Tom Guycott]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE is turning away people from buying tickets who are wearing AEW merchandise</p>&mdash; Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1082783738625429505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Seems its everyone in general who attended the rally getting turned away regardless if they bought or wore AEW merch.

Would explain the stuff from the sheets last week about WWE sending hidden officials for this rally.

I would figure most of those people would already have tickets those are the few wrestling fans left.

So, let's piss off the fans who likely watch *everything* for being spoiled for choice anymore and actively punish them by not letting them pay you money to see your show? This is a bit different than shitcanning Jimmy Jacobs for taking a selfie over something their company did almost two decades previously... this is way more petty. And it is a petty that tangibly can bite them in the ass.

It also feeds the trolls who will now be trying to "sneak in" signs and shirts to specifically get on TV with. If they continue down this road, they will do nothing but give them more pub than they did with the "cease & desist" business over "Suck It". AEW shirts will go from being just a shirt in the crowd that fans have like actual Bullet Club shirts to a statement of anti-WWE that WWE will themselves stoke the flames for.

Streisand Effect divided by self-fulfilling prophecy with a remainder of that time WWE event staff moved a row of cosplayers off camera and The Rock got them on TV anyway.

[xrodmuc316]

Man that rally was cringe as all hell.

1. Jericho coming out was supposed to be a big surprise, Conrad even acting like it was unknown who it could be. Except dude came out to who own music. Who the fuck else would be coming out to Fozzy?? Lol
2. So their first show is May 25th, 4 and a half months away. Why the fuck is Neville wearing his gear already?. The match is 4 and a fucking half months away!
3. Since everybody has dual roles, does that mean Britt Baker is the official fentist?
4. Christopher Daniels is way to old to be acting "funny giddy cool"
5. Can the Khans not afford microphones that don't pick up the hard P? Sounded like garbage.
6. Can they also not afford a sound stabilizer of any kind? Went from dead silence to normal to could barely hear to trying to blow out my speakers
7. Maybe next time they should get a podium short enough that the young bucks don't look like kids at.
8. Jericho wants to change the Universe!!! They were so close to getting through the rally without going full TNA and alluding to WWE. Oh well
9. Oh no, WWE didn't let in anybody who went to the rally. All 200 of them couldn't be jackasses on WWE TV WAAAHHHHHH.

[Tom Guycott]

9. Oh no, WWE didn't let in anybody who went to the rally. All 200 of them couldn't be jackasses on WWE TV WAAAHHHHHH.

That's the thing. By simply assuming that 200 people were going to "act like jackasses" and denying them entry, they've ensured more people will do exactly that in the future in an intentional act of trolling. That's some wrestling 101 shit; tell the fans not to do something, and that makes them do it harder. If WWE would have no-sold this rally, they remove the potential to make it a thing. Like when they tried to quell CM Punk chants by saying he was a quitter instead of just letting it run its course.Fans prolonged that shit do to spite that they brought upon themselves because, by addressing it, they made it seem like what was happening was a work and leading to some grandiose return - and if it was, in fact, the shoot it ended up being, just cast the company in a super petty light that, once again, the fans can rebel against.

[Fignuts]

You seem like you want this to fail.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mayu Iwatani is supposed to work MSG but Elite is trying to convince her to join them and leave Stardom.<br><br>Also Elite tried to sign Viper but she's WWE bound.</p>&mdash; luchablog (@luchablog) <a href="https://twitter.com/luchablog/status/1082788429493080064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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That last one could be an potential ominous sign for World of Sport's future considering she was one of the talents signed there and its on even shakier ground than Lucha Underground has been the past few years.

[Fignuts]

Well WWE already got Kairi and Sharai. AEW might as well try for Iwatani before WWE gets her too.

[Emperor Smeat]

Newest rumor going around the net hints at AEW being very close to getting a tv deal signed and in the range of around $100 million in value.

[Tom Guycott]

If nothing else, AEW will hopefully help poke a hole in WWE's "toy collecting". WWE can't sign everybody just to not use them and only push their own Vince-made stars.

[Emperor Smeat]

Also rumored is Impact being worried of a mass exodus occurring in March since that is when the next batch of contracts expire. Rumored to be trying to get a partnership done beforehand so they can keep some potential access to whoever leaves for AEW.

[Mr. Nerfect]

With Jericho jumping, you have a HUGE signal to just about anyone anywhere that this is a legit option. Whether or not that's true, it's a HUGE sign of belief in it.

Can't be understated how big of a deal that is for them.

Also yet another interesting bargaining chip in getting NJPW to play ball, in tandem with Omega surprising them by going "Ehhhh... I'm good man. Gonna go play with my friends." (Presumably)

Those two posts are right on the money. This is an amazing sign of faith from Jericho (since Vince is now going to be heartbroken), and it’s a huge “look at how serious we are”. Great bargaining chip for negotiating with New Japan too. Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi will also provide that if they sign.

Not impressed with Jericho going there, only because he ran his mouth patting himself on the back for YEARS about how he would never work for anybody but Vince.

Just don't brag about something like that and I would be fine with him signing there, but as it is him signing there just means he is full of shit and nothing he says means anything.

1. Jericho is a worker.

2. I don’t know if that’s “bragging.”

3. It might have been true at the time.

4. This says how big his move is

Oh I'm sure Jericho will have a successful run, dude is as close to a sure bet there is in pro wrestling.

That said, it does hurt his credibility.

Neville signing does nothing for me. He is just a rehash character of what he was in WWE, with the addition of WWE held me back. That is the same gimmick every new Impact wrestler had from like 2005-2014.

Neville didn't move the needle as NXT champ, he didn't move the needle upon his WWE callup, and he only moved the needle as a cruiserweight because he actually had a character instead of being a spot monkey guy from the CWC.

If I am being honest, if they want to do something interesting, they need to sign some people that werent already "All In". Otherwise just say off the bat its gonna be the same people and move on.

What do you mean “move the needle”? That seems an odd expression to use for a dude in NXT and on 205 Live when receiving his pushes. Also, he wasn’t “All In”, and they got him. More will come.

Newest rumor going around the net hints at AEW being very close to getting a tv deal signed and in the range of around $100 million in value.

$100 million is about as high as I thought they could possibly go. Good on them if that is the case. I wouldn’t even want to go as high as Vince, because I think it’s a more effective strategy to make his product overpriced so networks come down on him. That’s going to hurt him (if “hurt” is the right word) way more than anything else.

[Ultra Mantis]

I wouldn't put any stock on Ibushi signing a contract for anybody, especially a foreign company. He doesn't speak any English and is notorious for having constant travel nightmares whenever he goes to the US, including getting on the wrong flight and ending up on the opposite side of the country, locking himself out of the hotel, forgetting which hotel he checked in at, losing his phone and wallet, generally not having a good time. If he's going to be working for AEW it would most likely be freelance.

[Mr. Nerfect]

We’ll see.

[Franco Vazquez]

This Shad and Tony Khan are really shady. They wanted to buy Wembley as well but couldn't. The year he bought Fulham, they got relegated for 5 years so this guy has got that bad luck charm attached to him

[slik]

What do you have against people wearing AEW merch or are you saying F*** WWE?


https://i.imgur.com/YeCS5eN.png

https://i.imgur.com/1LwQ3bE.png

[Evil Vito]

SlickyTrickyDamon will never say a bad word about WWE

[slik]

Maybe he h8s Jericho

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think STD is implying that trying to block AEW is going to backfire.

[xrodmuc316]

EDIT:

Is this what TPWW has come to, editing people's post?

[Mr. Nerfect]

On Busted Open Radio, Chris Jericho explicitly stated that there were two (and then changed it to three, so who knows?) TV deals on the table, and he suggested that the collective wrestling consciousness would say “Holy shit, that’s what they need.” That’s a far cry “it’s something we’re thinking about” or some other evasive language. Given that standards for TV rights fees have been set so high and very publicly by Vince, I can’t imagine their TV deal being anything other than massive.

[slik]

I read it's rumored at 100 million, no idea the length, which when you think of WWE getting 200 million for RAW and SD each year, is pretty impressive for a company that hasn't had a single event outside of a rally thus far.

I've also read TNT/TBS are possibilities.

[Mr. Nerfect]

TNT and TBS would be the goal. Their size and the history of them and wrestling just make sense. They obviously want to run Tuesdays, but I can see Cody being nostalgic for the 6:05 TBS slot. Honestly, I think TNT just suits. Can they get them to the table? I was reading up on how many people watch TNT during prime time. They get just under 1 million on average. If they get can get even just the numbers TNA had on Spike, they would be doing some good for the network. TNT generally seems to show a movie in that slot. TBS just has Big Bang reruns.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t know how cable operates in the US, but in Australia cable channels that show movies don’t usually interrupt them with commercials (that’s more a free network thing). If it’s the same in the US, being able to block out two hours on a Tuesday that you can sell commercial time to could be a grab.

HBO has been dropped by people recently too. I’m actually kind of surprised they have never done anything with wrestling.

[Tom Guycott]

HBO has been dropped by people recently too. I’m actually kind of surprised they have never done anything with wrestling.

Eh. On one hand, it kinda makes sense with things they've done historically - like comedy specials, their own shows, etc. - but on the other, they were all about boxing, and they recently even quit that. I doubt they'd seriously go all in (pun unintentional, but still present) on wrestling if they haven't by now. I could be wrong, but it feels unlikely. But hey, maybe they're looking to hitch to a new and potentially limitless wagon with the imminent end of Game of Thrones to power their subscriptions for HBO GO.

[Tom Guycott]

I don’t know how cable operates in the US, but in Australia cable channels that show movies don’t usually interrupt them with commercials (that’s more a free network thing). If it’s the same in the US, being able to block out two hours on a Tuesday that you can sell commercial time to could be a grab.


It basically depends on the station. There's different "tiers" of service, but at this point, just about everyone has the 22/8 min ratio of broadcast to advertisements from free TV to most of your cable stations unless it is on a historically "premium" channel, like HBO, Showtime, or TMC, or strictly PPV. Even some non premium channels that used to not show commercials (like AMC or Turner Classic) have pretty much given up that model years ago, and have gone to interspersed commercials. A few channels even have this weird intermission-like 20 minute infomercial section mid-show instead, but I don't see how that works well when you lose viewers who go surfing for what else is on or go play on thier tablets and phones for that long of a break.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I decided to finally start watching All In. Besides some obvious down points, I’m generally enjoying the show. Stephen Amell put in a hell of an effort for a celebrity. I really got into Cody vs. Aldis. Ian Riccaboni is really impressing me as a commentator. I REALLY like his calls. It’s a shame he’s signed to ROH.

The women’s match was sloppy and the penis stuff is like from another world where bad is supposed to be good, but overall I like it. Oh, a few tech errors and such. That will come with time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Some more AEW news via The Meltz:

* They’re negotiating with two “major” cable companies for a two-hour prime time show. It’s looking like Tuesday night might not be a thing for them.

* They’re unlikely to get Mayu Iwatani, just because ROH got her her work visa, and they feel it would be rude to get her to work opposite them. They’re apparently planning on bringing in Japanese women though, including Aja Kong.

* The Young Bucks reportedly received major offers from WWE to block AEW. It was allegedly AJ Styles money with Being the Elite continuing on the WWE Network. They also had what Meltzer says he’s never seen before: a six-month out clause if they don’t like their creative direction. People in WWE were shocked they didn’t take them. Triple H and The Bucks talked for about 12 hours.

* Tony Khan seems to be heading up creative.

* Jacksonville in July; Chicago in September.

[Evil Vito]

Some more detail on the contracts that were offered:

Paul Levesque worked hard at getting all four into WWE. Page was offered main roster money to work NXT, where he’d have been pushed as one of its top stars. The Bucks & Cody were offered strong deals. The Bucks deal was for money roughly the same as WWE champion A.J. Styles, which would have also included BTE being made a regular weekly show on the WWE Network, as well as something I’ve never heard WWE concede on, which was a six-month window where they could have left their three-year contract if they wanted and weren’t happy with their push.

Of course, WWE was fully aware of the Khan deal as this was going down, which was one of the reasons they went so hard in locking up talent of late. The great offer with the six-month window was with knowledge that Khan was not doing the promotion without The Bucks & Cody and signing them would keep them from being opposition. Without them, Khan wouldn’t have the star power and stars of All In, meaning he’d likely not have the openings to everything from television to top talent that was necessary.

Those who work in WWE with knowledge of the deal were certain they wouldn’t turn it down, and outright told me that they would be debuting at the Rumble, and had a Rumble-to-Mania significant storyline. When they made the decision to go to AEW, they remarked that it was mind-boggling that they would ever get an offer at that level, and even more that they were turning it down. But they did roughly 12 hours of talks with Levesque, who they heavily praised in how he handled everything, in particular seeing the comedy aspect in the skit they did where they superkicked Kazarian dressed up as him over-and-over in what was the public turning down of the offer on BTE.

[Evil Vito]

Fairly clear WWE are concerned about the prospect of another wrestling company with legit funding opening up. Now they might actually have to try to make themselves better instead of just signing everyone under the sun.

[Innovator]

Hangman does have some sweet music

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hangman is a very good looking guy. Has grown into himself. Looked a bit “bland” when I first saw him, but carries himself very well now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jericho’s deal is said to be the best in his entire career.

[Jordan]

I bet it's because he only has to to actually wrestle a handful of dates this year and limited for the remaining two while getting to work a similar if not smaller schedule for NJPW and get paid comparably. I read or herd that he made 500k for his first year in NJPW.

[dronepool]

Awesome. Hope it gives WWE a nice kick in the ass.

[slik]

Dronepool sightings are the best sightings

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In case anyone's still wondering where Kenny's going <a href="https://t.co/8xhCikksJN">pic.twitter.com/8xhCikksJN</a></p>&mdash; fully grown ninja turtle (@emilyofpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyofpratt/status/1083802064369512449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

Cody & The Young Bucks’ Responsibilities

As executive vice presidents, Cody will be focused on singles wrestling, while the Young Bucks will be focused on tag team wrestling, though their responsibilities and decisions will also be shared.

The tag team division will be given a much higher priority than it’s given in WWE.
Considering the dire state of WWE's tag divisions and Vince despising tag wrestling, that's already one thing AEW will have as an advantage. Even NXT goes back-and-forth every so often with the quality of their tag division.

Only other real area they can get a big advantage is with lucha style wrestling considering WWE's historic struggles handling it and creating big Hispanic stars on their own.

[ClockShot]

Still want to know what the "major" cable networks are.

[Mr. Nerfect]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In case anyone's still wondering where Kenny's going <a href="https://t.co/8xhCikksJN">pic.twitter.com/8xhCikksJN</a></p>&mdash; fully grown ninja turtle (@emilyofpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyofpratt/status/1083802064369512449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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I don’t really understand this. I’m guessing AEW is claiming on Kenny Omega trademarks? That seems premature if he’s still with New Japan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The wording of the tweet I read was a bit ambiguous, but OWE (the Chinese promotion AEW is working with) have either invested $30 million into AEW or have received $30 million of extra funding themselves from outside parties. Either way, the announcement of this relationship has made someone $30 million.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Meltz is apparently now reporting on the Styles/AEW speculation. I don't think this really changes the likelihood of whether or not Styles considers jumping, but it's now a story that is floating out there, I guess.

Honestly, given how much I, as a wrestling fan, hate the WWE product, I would consider signing with AEW for five years if the money was good enough that I knew I wouldn't need to work for Vince again. Just saying.

[Evil Vito]

If they're willing to shell out for a special attraction for Double or Nothing, I'd strongly consider giving Big Dave a call. He'd been frustrated about WWE not bringing him in for a program for years, his planned Hunter match for WM is evidently cancelled, and he's tight with Jericho.

[slik]

More from OWE/AEW signing CIMA

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ja" dir="ltr">OWE毎週日曜日上海長江劇場�� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#中国</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#上海</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#未来</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%8B%A1%E6%95%A3RT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#拡散RT</a> <a href="https://t.co/rfG6jKJDtB">pic.twitter.com/rfG6jKJDtB</a></p>&mdash; owecima (@supercima1115) <a href="https://twitter.com/supercima1115/status/1061685696308473856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

More from OWE/AEW signing CIMA

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ja" dir="ltr">OWE毎週日曜日上海長江劇場�� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#中国</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#上海</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#未来</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%8B%A1%E6%95%A3RT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#拡散RT</a> <a href="https://t.co/rfG6jKJDtB">pic.twitter.com/rfG6jKJDtB</a></p>&mdash; owecima (@supercima1115) <a href="https://twitter.com/supercima1115/status/1061685696308473856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Holy shit.

[Mr. Nerfect]

JR made some recent statements about AEW:

Jim Ross on the AEW Double or Nothing rally: “I watched it all from start to finish. I thought that the message that the new promotion wanted to tell was told. In other words, the validation that this is a real entity and another global wrestling brand will develop over time thanks to the Khan Family is a reality, so I thought that it tied a bow around everything and there’s no more speculation. There’s no more this or that. It’s a matter of reality. It’s real, so I thought that was very good. I thought that the presentation, by and large, was entertaining to the degree that the close of the event with Chris Jericho was outstandingly booked. It was well placed, well produced, if you will, whatever your term might be, because Jericho was the biggest star on the show!” Ross explained, “I’m not knocking anybody! It’s just that Jericho is the longest tenured global star that appeared on that presentation. End of story! So I thought that was a great way to end it. He’ll be a great asset, no doubt, in any role that he’s put in. I don’t see Chris being on a weekly television show every week though. He’s just that kind of guy. He likes to do a lot of different things. He has varied interests and that includes his band and other projects that he’s working on.”

Jim Ross with his thoughts on the presentation for the rally: “I enjoyed the presentation. I thought it was nice. They introduced everybody. It looks like Cody’s the guy that’s going to ramrod the single [male] wrestlers. The Bucks I’m sure will oversee, to some degree, the tag teams. And apparently, Brandi Rhodes is going to oversee the women.” Ross continued, “So there’s a plan coming about and I respect the commitment of the Khan Family. I know that this company is not going to run out of money tomorrow. They’re not going to have a problem getting the ring to the next town. It’s all going to work out real well. I’m being facetious here. I’m sure that other talents… this is like recruiting in college [athletics]. When you sign a five-star recruit out of high school, and you sign him early in football, for example, then you find out that one of your star players becomes one of your best recruiters. And others in the star player’s world of high school football, graduating, and going to college, they become very interested in what their buddies are doing. So that’s kind of what I see in this scenario, talents who are not happy in one regard, for one reason or the other, usually because of one of the two Cs, and occasionally both of the two Cs, meaning cash and creative, so some of those people I’m sure will be making inroads or inquiring about getting a jersey for the AEW team.”


Jim Ross on Tony Khan speaking on how wins and losses will be emphasized in AEW: “They’re telling me in wrestle-speak that wins and losses are going to matter, then it tells me they’re going back to a retro presentation where it’s more of an athletic event, but drama, timely comedy, bigger-than-life personalities, but above all, amazing athletes doing amazing things in the process of structuring a pro wrestling match. That’s what I got out of ‘wins and losses are going to mean something.’ Ross noted, “it meant a lot more than that one short statement.”

“They have a challenging scenario, in my opinion, where you have active talents involved in the administration, the booking, and all the creative because generally it creates, or can create an area of discomfort for some talents that don’t have the confidence that they’re not getting the attention they need, the good old boy system, or ‘he’s buddies with this guy and he’s buddies with that guy’ or whatever. Whatever. That’s going to be interesting to see how those younger guys in administration make that happen. I’m not saying you can’t because you can. They’re all smart guys and I think they’ll all be fair and objective. But they’re going to find out sooner than later when you start making creative decisions that effect somebody, and wins and losses, again, are going to be significant again, then people are going to learn how to take some losses, so the only thing I’d tell those guys is learn how to lose.” Ross said, “no, really, there’s an art form in that!”

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm reading between the lines here, but listen to what JR isn't saying. There's no skepticism or overt criticism of anything they're doing. He's clarifying things that would be speculative if he were speculating (who is heading up what and that they will be going to a more retro philosophy). He's kind of hinting at the recruiting strategy behind hiring a guy like Chris Jericho. He's endorsing the bookers while giving advice to the talent.

It was rumored right from the start, but I do think that JR will be "All In" later this year.

[Mr. Nerfect]

CIMA, El Lindaman, Takehiro Yamamura and T-Hawk have been added to the AEW roster page. Who knows if that is from people who know and is deliberate or just fans editing? BJ Whitmer has quietly been sitting in a producer position there since before the rally too. Could be more fabrication, but you'd think someone would be monitoring the AEW page.

[RP]

What time does AEW come on guys?

[slik]

Here's a link to the first ep of OWE btw, just ignore the dance break at the beginning of the ep


https://v.qq.com/x/cover/zx2aovefnitm0ik/l0549ytagvm.html

[rez]

Here's a link to the first ep of OWE btw, just ignore the dance break at the beginning of the ep


https://v.qq.com/x/cover/zx2aovefnitm0ik/l0549ytagvm.html

I had no idea Cadillac was sold in China.

[rez]

Not sure how I feel about play by play piped to the crowd but i don't speak the language so fuck it.

[rez]

I'm liking this so far. Thank you for sharing.

People who hate flippy won't like it though.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It seems a lot more "focused" and purposeful than a lot of the flippy shit I see on independents, where they seem to lose sight of the goal that they are supposed to be wrestling each other. Like, I can suspend my disbelief enough that I can imagine a dude who can do kung fu trying to use it in a wrestling match. It's when things get overly co-operative and all psychology is lost that I personally zone out.

[rez]

Even when WCW went down the gutter, that cruiserweight division was on point.

TNA used to have the best womens' division in the business.

I'm all in on AEW. Honestly, I think they can bring it all in.

I also think they can bring back tag team wrestling to mean something.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I'm excited to see what this can do.

[slik]

Tony Khan is definitely going to need to get better at not responding to negative tweets from fans after AEW kicks off. Even if it's a big hit, there will absolutely be people who say offensive things about it.

Otherwise, wrestling twitter will eat him alive.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Never. I’ll die at this club. Go to hell.</p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1084150167878729729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm sure he's great, but shouting &quot;HEY NERD&quot; at me repeatedly as a catchphrase is acting like a schoolyard bully. I work hard; I want to win <a href="https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ">https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ</a></p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/793527124971835392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

The wording of the tweet I read was a bit ambiguous, but OWE (the Chinese promotion AEW is working with) have either invested $30 million into AEW or have received $30 million of extra funding themselves from outside parties. Either way, the announcement of this relationship has made someone $30 million.

So AEW can do business with our greatest enemy without repute but WWE gets shit on for doing business with an ally?

[slik]

WWE does business with China too, STD.

[slik]

But not Chyna, RIP


#Chyna4HOF

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Well, he could be a snowflake eh? If he can put up with hooligan tweeters and the losers who call themselves Jags fans he should be fine. Maybe not. Will be funny anyways.

[erickman]

Tony Khan is definitely going to need to get better at not responding to negative tweets from fans after AEW kicks off. Even if it's a big hit, there will absolutely be people who say offensive things about it.

Otherwise, wrestling twitter will eat him alive.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Never. I’ll die at this club. Go to hell.</p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1084150167878729729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm sure he's great, but shouting &quot;HEY NERD&quot; at me repeatedly as a catchphrase is acting like a schoolyard bully. I work hard; I want to win <a href="https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ">https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ</a></p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/793527124971835392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

just hope he does not turn into another dixie

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Well, he could be a snowflake eh? If he can put up with hooligan tweeters and the losers who call themselves Jags fans he should be fine. Maybe not. Will be funny anyways.

okay. So do you want WWE to be the only game in town you fucking loser?

[thecc]

So AEW can do business with our greatest enemy without repute but WWE gets shit on for doing business with an ally?I refuse to believe you're a real person.

[screech]

okay. So do you want WWE to be the only game in town you fucking loser?

Well he has said that Japan and TNA "don't count" in the better wrestler threads, so you may be on to something.

[Evil Vito]

I’ll never understand rooting against the idea of there being other places for wrestlers to viably make a living.

[Jordan]

Yeah fuck the haters I’m feeling very optimistic about AEW.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Yeah fuck the haters I’m feeling very optimistic about AEW.

As am I. It certainly sounds like they've sat down and thought this over before everyone jumped in and committed.

[Blonde Moment]

It will be an interesting few years but I think it will depend on the patience of the fans and they are not know for having much anymore

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Well he has said that Japan and TNA "don't count" in the better wrestler threads, so you may be on to something.

I don't think I've said anything different than I'm a lifetime WWE fan. NJPW needs time to develop a real fanbase in the USA that isn't just diehard fans. They are a well rounded company but the loss of so much American talent will hurt their expansion greatly. They and ROH were foolish in lending talent to All In.

AEW seems just geared to the hardcore fans. I don't think anybody other than fans of Cody and the Young Bucks will give a shit.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Yeah fuck the haters I’m feeling very optimistic about AEW.

Why? They only have talent that have marginal appeal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tony Khan is definitely going to need to get better at not responding to negative tweets from fans after AEW kicks off. Even if it's a big hit, there will absolutely be people who say offensive things about it.

Otherwise, wrestling twitter will eat him alive.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Never. I’ll die at this club. Go to hell.</p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1084150167878729729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm sure he's great, but shouting &quot;HEY NERD&quot; at me repeatedly as a catchphrase is acting like a schoolyard bully. I work hard; I want to win <a href="https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ">https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ</a></p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/793527124971835392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's fair if he does get carried away with it, but he might just be "picking his spots." Standing up for yourself in the right circumstances can be good for your public image.

So AEW can do business with our greatest enemy without repute but WWE gets shit on for doing business with an ally?

Normally I defend you, but this is just a joke.

I’ll never understand rooting against the idea of there being other places for wrestlers to viably make a living.

Well, I can understand wanting promotions like TNA to fold so that the talent worth a damn can get out of their contracts and go somewhere that will benefit the wrestling industry. But rooting against actual promotions that could be good? I'm with you there.

Why? They only have talent that have marginal appeal.

Their logo has been out there for two weeks, dude. Chris Jericho is a huge get. We'll see if they do work something out with Goldberg and Jim Ross. That's not marginal appeal. Besides, even if they decide to market themselves with guys that aren't known yet, the key word there is "yet." WWE, given how cold that company is, doesn't have anyone that would be that widely recognized in 2019.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Why? They only have talent that have marginal appeal.

Other than Ronda Rousey, name one full timer in WWE today that has more than a marginal appeal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dZh8yGNUd_4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Interesting interview.

* There was no truth behind JR and Jericho starting AEW when those rumors popped up.

* Vince emailed Jericho about it when he first heard those rumors. So yeah, Vince cares.

* Life changes and life on the other side of WWE woke him up to the possibilities and getting the biggest offer of his career "by far." He "couldn't say no."

* Jericho is signed with AEW for three years.

* He doesn't sound too fussed about ending his career in WWE.

* Jericho talked to Vince before jumping. "Business is business" and he'd be stupid to have turned down AEW's offer to avoid upsetting someone, and Vince understands that better than anyone.

* You go up and down, up and down, up and down in this business as far as being a main eventer goes -- especially if you stay in the same place.

* He's not fussed about going into the WWE Hall of Fame either. He said it would be a huge honor, but he'd consider not showing up ala Guns 'n' Roses.

* You don't have to worry about being in a box. You have to move to stay happy, to stay motivated. He wouldn't sign with AEW for the money to be miserable. The money is great, but he's excited about this.

Reading between the lines of this interview, Jericho is talking to WWE talent. He really took aim at the WWE's schedule and seems to be winking about the money, the miles and the creative of WWE.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I do see WWE battling AEW whenever their TV deal is announced. I can see WWE creating a third brand to run opposition to try and stunt its ratings.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Joey Ryan is under contract to Lucha Underground! Oh god, I finally have a reason to root for Lucha Underground! And please have him locked down for ten years or something.

[slik]

@STD

The Khan's have vast production and advertising experience and the show might have a different look and feel than WWE or ALL-IN.

It would be like writing off the NWA transforming to WCW back in the 80's because "they just have Ric Flair, who cares". WCW made a ton of new stars. I agree new fans are needed, but that applies to all of wrestling, including WWE, for it survive into the future.

[Mr. Nerfect]

WWE are also closer to promoting an "indy style" than they've ever been. Love it or hate it. Look at who their top full-time stars are. They've got Mustafa Ali as a focal point of SmackDown at the moment, haha.

[rez]

All the podcasts are hot hot hot on AEW.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's the most interesting story in wrestling right now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Like, I honestly don't care at all about WWE or anything going on there.

[XL]

I do see WWE battling AEW whenever their TV deal is announced. I can see WWE creating a third brand to run opposition to try and stunt its ratings.

NXT to TV? Could be a way to catch that “hardcore” fan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That’s a possibility. They are already producing the show. I’ve got this weird feeling that they might just keep Tuesdays and give it a new name, hiring new crew members to work Friday or just make that a new TV date. If AEW gets a Saturday or something, I could see them taping something after SmackDown. That might be a little late for kiddies though. I dunno. That just seems like the most “Vince” thing they could do to drown AEW out. I could see that being where they put some smark favourites. Could see that being the Becky Lynch/Daniel Bryan/Rusev/Johnny Gargano show. For talent that gets accidentally over or that Vince doesn’t quite get.

[Volare]

<iframe width="1144" height="609" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sxnAXR1Ekbg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MJF is great. Awesome stuff here. <a href="https://t.co/885WDEqrhC">pic.twitter.com/885WDEqrhC</a></p>&mdash; Fightful Wrestling (@FightfulWrestle) <a href="https://twitter.com/FightfulWrestle/status/1084884915043397634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mr. Nerfect]

I really don't like Being the Elite videos, haha. Can someone summarize if there is any new information in them?

[Fignuts]

No, just behind the scenes stuff

[Mr. Nerfect]

No, just behind the scenes stuff

Ah, cool. Thanks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Goldberg is teasing something on either his Instragram or Twitter. He says a big announcement is coming and he just signed 2000 photos of himself.

[Mr. Nerfect]

From some angles, Hangman Page makes me wonder if he's the result of Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler having so many matches together they somehow spliced and created an entity that looks like their offspring.

[Fignuts]

Who is also much more likable as a personality.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Actually, probably, yeah. :lol:

[Tom Guycott]

Hangman is a very good looking guy. Has grown into himself. Looked a bit “bland” when I first saw him, but carries himself very well now.

From some angles, Hangman Page makes me wonder if he's the result of Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler having so many matches together they somehow spliced and created an entity that looks like their offspring.

I kinda agree with the first quote, but the second one gave me a chuckle.

I seriously couldn't tell a handful of guys in ROH apart for a time, and those guys were Adam Page and all three guys in The Kingdom (Cole, Taven, and that one guy married to Maria. I remember his name now, but I'm sticking to the joke). A good part of Page breaking away from that is in no small part thanks to BTE, but with and without it, he has grown beyond voiceless lackey and been given room to breathe. If situations were different, I could have made the same mistake with interchanging he and Chase Owens in Japan. Instead, he has succeeded in making himself stand out.

[Evil Vito]

Cody mentioned during the rally, but he's said again that win-loss records are going to matter in AEW and he and the Bucks are still kicking around ideas for how to implement that. He hinted there might be some sort of a formal ranking system, or G1-style tournaments that are points-based.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I appreciate the impulse, but they've got to be careful that win-loss records and rankings don't inhibit them and book them into corners and such. Might just be a better idea to keep people protected and if you are pushing someone, don't job them out to your mid-card champion or whatever.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently WWE managed to fool themselves big time in regards to signing Jerry Lawler to a new deal with the company. His previous deal expired on January 10 and it didn't seem like they were going to renew prior to AEW's official debut announcement.

WWE assumed AEW was going to make an attempt to sign Lawler and rushed to get a deal done first just to keep him away from AEW.

Turns out AEW was never interested nor did they ever contact Lawler and WWE is now stuck paying him for another 2 years out for even more money than his previous deal due to their pettiness.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

All the podcasts are hot hot hot on AEW.

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

[Evil Vito]

I appreciate the impulse, but they've got to be careful that win-loss records and rankings don't inhibit them and book them into corners and such. Might just be a better idea to keep people protected and if you are pushing someone, don't job them out to your mid-card champion or whatever.

Yeah, I remember Gabe Sapolsky saying several times that EVOLVE was going to be W-L centric but he kept backing down from it probably because it becomes a bit prohibitive from a booking standpoint.

It definitely works for a Round Robin type thing, the G1 in particular does a great job of setting up programs for the champions. But a constant awareness of the W-L records I think would be hard to do unless they are super creative with it. Maybe the months in between each big show is a new "season" where everyone's record starts anew? I dunno.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

Dude, it's a promotion that had its logo unveiled, like, just over two weeks ago. Who do you expect to be into it right now? Ooh, a Kardashian hasn't gotten the logo tattooed onto her yet. Wtf?

[Tom Guycott]

It is fine if they can find a way to present hard records well, but I'm hoping it was more of a shot at 50/50 booking to where nobody cares about anyone where nobody is better in anyone else in what is supposed to be a world of competition.

I've always hated the "wins don't matter" sentiment. Yeah, it's scripted, but it still matters... if not, then what is the point of watching? Why crown champions if your entire roster is on equal footing?

[Mr. Nerfect]

A Portuguese woman named "Shanna" has signed. Cody said in an interview that he signed four people that day. She may or may not have been one of them.

[Fignuts]

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

So what? Let people be excited.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I honestly don't know what the perception of them is supposed to be before they announce a televsion deal and we even know what the roster and card of their first show is going to look like. People are more optimistic about this than other start-ups, like, say, GFW, which was in a similar boat, because of the people that are involved and the implication that the money is huge, which is such a big factor with something like this.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Every time Noid splices 'haha' into one of his sentences I want to reach through the screen and throttle the fuck out of him.

[Jordan]

How damn GOLD was MJF in his BTE spot? He makes me LOL.

[Sixx]

So what's elite about it?

[rez]

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

You're replying to someone who doesn't even know who 90% of the NXT call ups are each time.

Podcast, YouTube channels, whatever discussing AEW that are showing up in my news feeds at an alarming rate compared to other wrestling news just caught my eye. Granted, it is the new hot thing. We'll see, I suppose.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

I know you’ve dug your heels into this take but this is quite the odd hill to die on.

How is this news affecting you negatively at all?

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Someone is trying to improve a thing that I care about at no financial or emotional cost to me? Fuck those guys! I hope it fails!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jericho's new podcast is all about All Elite. The only real news from it is that Tony Khan paid for his private jet at All In so it wouldn't clash with a Fozzy date and that Jericho wanted to work with Tanahashi and Gedo suggested Naito.

[Evil Vito]

I definitely see Jericho/Tana happening once Tana drops the belt.

[xrodmuc316]

Someone is trying to improve a thing that I care about at no financial or emotional cost to me? Fuck those guys! I hope it fails!

I can't speak for anybody else, but it is not AEW that is annoying. It's the level of hype that some fans are giving it. They have decided this is the greatest thing ever, and can't even entertain an actual discussion.

I made a post about fanboys rallying around the idea that WWE wouldn't let 20 people acting like assholes into Smackdown who also had AEW match on.

Instead of having a conversation that MAYBE it was about the way the people were acting and not what they were wearing, a mod edited my post into a poo poo joke.

That is the perfect example of why people are annoyed with all things AEW already.

Will I watch it when it starts, of course. Do I hope they succeed and put on great shows, of course. Do I need to be blindly loyal to a company that has not had a single show and argue with anyone who isn't, of course not.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Please link to one post in this thread of someone being an irrational AEW fanboy.

[Fignuts]

I can't speak for anybody else, but it is not AEW that is annoying. It's the level of hype that some fans are giving it. They have decided this is the greatest thing ever, and can't even entertain an actual discussion.

I made a post about fanboys rallying around the idea that WWE wouldn't let 20 people acting like assholes into Smackdown who also had AEW match on.

Instead of having a conversation that MAYBE it was about the way the people were acting and not what they were wearing, a mod edited my post into a poo poo joke.

That is the perfect example of why people are annoyed with all things AEW already.

Will I watch it when it starts, of course. Do I hope they succeed and put on great shows, of course. Do I need to be blindly loyal to a company that has not had a single show and argue with anyone who isn't, of course not.

I’d wager most of the people who are geeking out over it a bit too much are doing so because they are just so exhausted with the wwe product letting them down. I’m not going to get angry or even annoyed by it. Let them be happy. Doesn’t affect my life in any way.

[rez]

So much talent drives 200 miles just to sit in a fold up chair somewhere to maybe get a pie in the face by the new day. meh...wwe product sucks. we all know it.

[rez]

*by pie i meant free shitty pancakes

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I know you’ve dug your heels into this take but this is quite the odd hill to die on.

How is this news affecting you negatively at all?

Just want to make sure they have a fair chance. If the fans overhype themselves it'll be a failure which will be blamed on WWE and never on the fans for overhyping it.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

how will it be blamed on WWE

[Mr. Nerfect]

It won’t and he can’t.

[Simple Fan]

I'm sure he'll come up with a reason. Should be interesting.

[Tonya Harding]

AEW will take a crowbar to WWE's knee.

[slik]

Cody says AEW will not have writers at this time

https://www.sescoops.com/aew-not-hiring-writers-cody-interview/


https://i.imgur.com/7w3ZoZJ.png

https://i.imgur.com/zXZbJdl.png

[Emperor Smeat]

While they don't need a team of writers for the short term, they'd benefit a lot just by hiring a continuity and/or storyboard writer since that is a huge glaring weakness WWE has when it comes to their writing and long term planning post-Attitude Era.

NXT pretty much just has 1 main writer, a few people that help out the writer, and wrestlers helping pitch stuff whenever needed. NJPW follows a similar system but with 2 head writers and more priority towards long term planning. Both result in shows being a lot more focused than WWE's main roster shows where its impossible to do any real long term stuff because of Vince and continuity gets routinely ignored.

[erickman]

how are they going to do a show without writers, they so need to take over impact for there backstage people.

[Fignuts]

I'm a bit worried about that approach. Giving the guys working for you that much freedom and control, while not having a Vince type to definitively approve or deny stuff without question sounds very reminiscent of WCW.

[erickman]

it would be worse wcw had writers and bookers, now this looks like it has a money mark and spot monkeys, I want to see the tv deal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is how wrestling works best, guys. There’s a creative direction and guys are free to move within it within reason. Like, isn’t this what people have been craving for years? A booker and some authentic promos and organic gimmicks?

[Fignuts]

We'll see. Not saying it can't work, but that's a slippery slope.

[slik]

This is how wrestling works best, guys. There’s a creative direction and guys are free to move within it within reason. Like, isn’t this what people have been craving for years? A booker and some authentic promos and organic gimmicks?

Yes

[Simple Fan]

I actually agree with Noid on this one. No writers is a good move.

[XL]

WWE’s most lauded period was written by 3-4 people, not a panel of writers.

[Fignuts]

The lack of writers is fine. You don’t need them that badly. But I don’t think you can deny that part of wwe’s success was due to having a guy like Vince with the balls to tell these larger than life egos, “This is how we’re doing it, like it or not”.

Like I said, it could end up working out. But it also has dangerous potential. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

[erickman]

yeah you need some not none writers. I am thinking there tv deal won't start for a while so they will wait till closer to tv till they try to get the backstage people.

[Mr. Nerfect]

There is going to be creative direction, guys. They’re looking to be a TV show. There will be bulletpoints, time restrictions and talent is not going to be able to go out there and try and literally suck their own dick as a segment. Unless Joey Ryan gets hired. This is how wrestling worked FOREVER until Vince hired a team of writers to script everything.

I’m actually kind of gobsmacked as to how many people on here are opposed to this.

[Ultra Mantis]

The Elite showed up at Joey Ryan's promotion last night and did a bit with him to close the show, they teased signing him to AEW but joked that his release from Lucha Underground won't be granted until 2028.

He's definitely going to be part of this thing one way or another.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That’s a blow to my excitement.

[slik]

Joey Ryan is entertaining imo

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, a rumored partnership between Impact Wrestling and AEW likely won't happen any time soon or at all due to issues it could cause for a potential AEW-NJPW partnership.

Main reason is Impact is currently partnered with AAA while NJPW is partnered with CMLL and NJPW doesn't like to work with companies who have deals with or are their partner's rivals. Its a big reason why they've been hesitant on partnering with AEW since it could negatively affect ROH the most.

[Mr. Nerfect]

TNA also sucks hairy testicle sacks.

[Fignuts]

What

[Mr. Nerfect]

What

They do fights in forests to music videos and have lost even more of that 10% of that audience they have retained. They had Okada and made him Okato. It’s just not a product anyone can reasonably trust to be good exposure.

[Fignuts]

lol you know what I was referring to you post editing mountebank.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What

[Fignuts]

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/422/286/cfc.gif

[Mr. Nerfect]

Will do

[Fignuts]

HE DID IT AGAIN

[Mr. Nerfect]

You’re losing it, Figgy.

[RP]

Guys??? What time does AEW come on?

[Simple Fan]

Guys??? What time does AEW come on?

For now Monday around noon is when the next Beinv The Elite will drop. They've already started to set up stuff for Double or Nothing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Reading between the lines:

* In Jericho's podcast he talked about Omega like he was basically AEW. Unfortunately, he talked about Ibushi like he was New Japan. It doesn't necessarily mean that things aren't being worked on and wheels aren't being greased, but if I had to guess where Ibushi goes, I'd suggest he's staying with New Japan and maybe doing guest spots with AEW, which could still be cool, but might not make him the most popular guy in New Japan.

* In JR's podcast with Jim Cornette, which seems like it was recorded a while ago, JR either misspoke or made a Freudian slip. He said "I"ve been affiliated with..." which he then corrected, but didn't edit out, to be "associated with." There have been lots of rumors and some pretty good indicators that JR is going to be doing something with them, and that's just more to stoke the fire.

* Maria's Twitter spasms seem to suggest that she Mike Bennett have been very appreciative of their time in WWE and that the internet doesn't know anything. I don't know why you would be, but that would seem to lean against them leaving. I can't say I'm disappointed by Mike Bennett not jumping ship. It is a shame about Maria in the skimpy gear again.

[Fignuts]

WWE probably paid for Bennet’s rehab, as well as whatever medical bills came from Maria’s pregnancy. All the while on paid leave.

I’d be pretty appreciative of that.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh yeah. You probably wouldn't tell that employer to fuck off.

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Classics.<br><br>It would be cool to see a use of this game engine again, but with a modern roster. <a href="https://t.co/CqZahwldO0">https://t.co/CqZahwldO0</a></p>&mdash; Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1086286579658764288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'll be "all in" for this game if it happens.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, I have a friend that hates wrestling that still busts out WCW/nWo Revenge.

Honestly, video games are a great way to get the brand out. Game shops are still frequently visited and by an increasingly wide demographic, and a game is going to be displayed and people are going to pass it like a poster every day. Game reviews that praise it are going to comment on how the wrestling itself stacks up to WWE. If you do online PPVs, you can include a code that lets you review an old PPV for free, or something.

[BigCrippyZ]

Lol, I have a friend that hates wrestling that still busts out WCW/nWo Revenge.

Those WCW and WWF 1998-2000 games by THQ for N64 were great, and the first couple of Smackdown Playstation games were really good too.

[Tom Guycott]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Classics.<br><br>It would be cool to see a use of this game engine again, but with a modern roster. <a href="https://t.co/CqZahwldO0">https://t.co/CqZahwldO0</a></p>&mdash; Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1086286579658764288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'll be "all in" for this game if it happens.

And as a condition for said game, one of the AEW talent will have to use Diggity Dog as their entrance theme.

[rez]

There's never ever going to be a good licensed wrestling game again. There will never ever be a college bball/fball game.

[Evil Vito]

Not with that attitude.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Retro is coming back. What's old gets new again and gets called new, which fits the AEW aesthetic. They could very easily do a retro-style game that would stand-out and get a fair bit of attention. Especially considering Nintendo's next classic release is logically going to be the N64 Classic.

[Fignuts]

Fire Pro Wrestling World featuring New Japan Pro Wrestling says hello.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Classics.<br><br>It would be cool to see a use of this game engine again, but with a modern roster. <a href="https://t.co/CqZahwldO0">https://t.co/CqZahwldO0</a></p>&mdash; Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) <a href="https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1086286579658764288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'll be "all in" for this game if it happens.

Yeah a game with a 20-year engine. Too sweet....not!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Dolph Ziggler is the latest guy rumored to be throwing his name into the hat. Rumors suggest he could be done with WWE and turned down a producer role with them. He tweeted "big, if true" the other day.

I'm just annoyed by him spelling his name "Nic." I might get used to it.

[Rammsteinmad]

As much as I hate when TNA jump on ex-WWE guys etc, I'd be happy to see someone like Ziggler head to AEW and get a prominent/main event position.

[Rammsteinmad]

Losing the 'Dolph Ziggler' moniker may hurt him a little though, since that's basically who he's been for the last ten years. But I'd still be happy for the man.

[Splaya]

Not if he debuts in AEW under the name Zolph Diggler :shifty:

[RP]

Ralph Diggler

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think losing the name and all its baggage would help him at this point.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

How would constantly jobbing to the Elite like they were the second coming of the Von Erichs help him?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Why do people assume that Cody and The Bucks are going to put themselves over everybody? :lol:

[Evil Vito]

Don't mind STD, he has a bit of a condition

[Mr. Nerfect]

If Vince freaked out about AEW about half as much as STD is, then it would mean great things for the industry.

[rez]

If the Patriots lose in the Super Bowl, STD should change his avatar to the AEW logo.

Probably wouldn't, though.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sasha Banks and The Revival kind of teased something on Twitter that suggested that all parties were unhappy. It's not really a surprise coming from Sasha.

[Emperor Smeat]

It looks like All Elite Wrestling are on the verge of boosting their growing roster with the acquisition of two new wrestlers currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, according to Voices Of Wrestling's Patreon show (paywall).

The specific identities of said wrestlers are yet to be confirmed, though Dave Meltzer has hinted at similar news recently, and the current working rumor has midcard tag team Chuckie T. and Beretta (also known as Best Friends) as the signees.

Neither are under full-time NJPW or Ring Of Honor contract, so AEW would be free to approach them. On top of this, Best Friends were booked to lose their last ROH tag match (versus Juice Robinson and David Finlay) decisively, and they've been working a tension angle in New Japan, suggesting they might be on their way out of the promotion.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not exactly major signings, but Beretta can be pretty exciting in the ring. I guess they're more bodies for the tag division.

[Sepholio]

Dunno if anyone else has mentioned this, but they should let Jericho be the booker if they are going to have talent handle booking. The other talent should all have some kind of avenue to voice what they want to him and have it taken seriously to an extent, but he should get the final call. I think he could put on a really good show.

[mike adamle]

This seals it for me. This promotion is gonna be indyriffic at it's most cringeworthy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Dunno if anyone else has mentioned this, but they should let Jericho be the booker if they are going to have talent handle booking. The other talent should all have some kind of avenue to voice what they want to him and have it taken seriously to an extent, but he should get the final call. I think he could put on a really good show.

Jericho is a good shout. I've thought about that myself, but he's come out and said he's got no real idea how to book. And some of his ideas have sounded pretty terrible, to be honest. Jericho knows what he is doing when it comes to positioning himself against an opponent, but he was seriously pitching him vs. Seth Rollins in an IC Title vs. IC Title program in WWE that would end in a DQ, and he said he'd put the WWE Title on Ryback. I know some people here are going to love that, but eh.

Seems like Jericho would be must better served as a guy to sit in on production meetings, offer his two cents, help guys develop in the ring and maybe agent some matches. As far as bookers go, I wouldn't mind JR getting a proper shot at actually booking. The guy's got so much experience and what he wants sounds pretty logical, but he seems to give guys a chance to present themselves even if he doesn't always like their style. If he's going to be on commentary, him knowing where he wants stories to go and who he really wants to get over would definitely help with the overall tightness of the presentation.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm also not against guys rotating as booker. There's no reason you can't have JR get a shot doing it for six months, then move onto someone like Jericho, and then Cody, then maybe back to JR, then to The Bucks or even Khan. If guys know what their start and end date with the book is going to be, they can tell deliberate arcs that last a certain time and maybe pass on some angles to other guys. JR can be a mentor to guys who get the book, as a perpetual assistant booker, or something like that.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

This seals it for me. This promotion is gonna be indyriffic at it's most cringeworthy.

Welcome to the Resistance. :lol:

[Evil Vito]

We get it. You’re not interested in AEW. So get the fuck out of the thread.

[Jordan]

I personally like the idea of Cody taking the majority of booking responibilites but I do think it will be a team effort. It's said Cody is in charge of singles, Bucks the tags, and Brandi the women, with Tony as the big boss role. So I think having a final say filter who has subscribed to the observer and sent in results for years is a positive thing. At least for me, a fan of the same ilk as Khan.

[Jordan]

Just asked Tony on Twitter if he ever played TEW/EWR. Will report if he responds.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

We get it. You’re not interested in AEW. So get the fuck out of the thread.

Nope. Fuck you.

[screech]

STD loves WWE so much, he has to come in and shit on anyone who enjoys other rasslin promotions - even if they aren't "official" yet.

It's very strange.

[Evil Vito]

Yep. Honestly I feel sorry for him because he has no self awareness of how ridiculous he sounds.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

The only ridiculousness is the overhype of the company.

[screech]

But why do you care so much that people are excited? You don't have to watch it, spend money on it, or even read about it. You can just keep scrolling past the thread. I've been doing it for weeks.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Because if it is overhyped and under-delivers the next company that tries it will fail. I don't like these idiots and who associate with garbage wrestlers like Joey Ryan and Chuck Taylor.

[Evil Vito]

STD be like:

https://i.imgflip.com/2s5vh0.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/2s5vh0)

[Volare]

lmao!

[screech]

So because you think it might fail, you have to let everyone know how much you hate it instead of just letting people be excited about a new thing.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Seen too many "dey gonna compete against WWE"'s fail.

[Maluco]

Even if your only perspective is that you love WWE and always have done, you should be rooting for this company and supporting any type of competition. It is the lack of competition that has enabled WWE to hoover up too much talent and not put any effort into their mundane, boring TV.

Even if it just forces them to think about people on the roster who are unhappy, it’s a good thing

[Ultra Mantis]

Because if it is overhyped and under-delivers the next company that tries it will fail. I don't like these idiots and who associate with garbage wrestlers like Joey Ryan and Chuck Taylor.

Did you know all of your favourite NXT wrestlers have willingly been involved in a dick flip, grenade and / or thumb up the butt spot? Many even consider Chuck Taylor and Joey Ryan to be good friends. Are you still going to watch NXT?

[screech]

Seen too many "dey gonna compete against WWE"'s fail.

So because you think it might fail, you have to let everyone know how much you hate it instead of just letting people be excited about a new thing.

[Jordan]

AEW is already making millions baby!

[Mr. Nerfect]

I personally don’t mind STD coming into the thread and speaking his honest feelings, but that style of criticism is just unreasonable. It’s very easy to see how different a company with potentially hundreds of millions in capital is different to GFW, TNA or whatever life Corgan has tried to breathe into the NWA. “They’re going to fail because people are excited” is silly too. That there is excitement is a good thing.

[Innovator]

Did you know all of your favourite NXT wrestlers have willingly been involved in a dick flip, grenade and / or thumb up the butt spot? Many even consider Chuck Taylor and Joey Ryan to be good friends. Are you still going to watch NXT?

The current NXT Champion put his thumb in the bum of Jushin Liger

[Droford]

Seen too many "dey gonna compete against WWE"'s fail.

When HHH basically lets them do their thing it's at least interesting

[Emperor Smeat]

NJPW president Harold Meij said about potentially partnering with All Elite Wrestling: “AEW is a new organization to start from now and I do not know what kind of relationship we would make. I think that it is necessary to figure out what policy they would develop on pro wrestling.”

Feel if NJPW ends up ditching ROH, its going to happen by next year's Wrestle Kingdom. Probably by World Tag league unless ROH forces them to make a decision sooner.

Right now, ROH still holds a lot of value due to their upcoming G1 Supercard show and having enough notable talent to help fill in the Super Jrs and G1 tournaments.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm not sure where I see New Japan ending up. I do think that TV deal is going to be a major factor in what they do. If they feel like their guys are going to get way more exposure with AEW, they are going to mend fences there. But I think they are going to show ROH (and Sinclair) as much loyalty as possible.

Part of me wants to see them try and keep things going with ROH for as long as possible, because there are some talents in ROH that could develop through that relationship. When you take the top AEW talent and put them back in New Japan, it kind of top heavies the card too. Well, I'm talking about Omega and Jericho (and Jericho's probably going to work with them anyway). I'd like to see New Japan try and get guys like Jeff Cobb and The Briscoes a bit more notoriety (although The Briscoes are probably as familiar as they are), and then next cycle it can be interesting to see what New Japan/ROH/AEW does and what moves they make.

[Emperor Smeat]

The thing I found interesting was NJPW didn't have a ROH title match on the card for this year's Wrestle Kingdom and instead went with the RevPro title match. They didn't have one last year either but that was due to storyline reasons in ROH.

Even in terms of reps, ROH had just Jeff Cobb since The Elite no longer counted.

[Jordan]

No way will NJPW discard their ROH relationship for the same with AEW. ROH just saved NJPW’s American tour, ROH GOT NJPW American exposure, booked at MSG. Plus even without The Bucks, SCU, and Omega, ROH has tons of talent that could be of value to NJPW. ROH is one of the longer reigning promotions in the country and has more than solid financial backing. I can see AEW working with NJPW in the future as Harold said but it won’t affect the ROH relationship which by the way is a three way dance with CMLL.

[slik]

Meltzer confirmed on the Wrestling Observer messageboard that AEW will likely have a full-time roster of around 30, not including people with short-term deals or deals with other companies (like OWE, I assume).

[Emperor Smeat]

No way will NJPW discard their ROH relationship for the same with AEW. ROH just saved NJPW’s American tour, ROH GOT NJPW American exposure, booked at MSG. Plus even without The Bucks, SCU, and Omega, ROH has tons of talent that could be of value to NJPW. ROH is one of the longer reigning promotions in the country and has more than solid financial backing. I can see AEW working with NJPW in the future as Harold said but it won’t affect the ROH relationship which by the way is a three way dance with CMLL.

I could see it happening but only if ROH plays hardball on being associated with AEW since they likely are going to be direct rivals in the US. If NJPW does open up their partnerships to include more than 1 per region, that could cause some potential issues to pop up.

Right now, ROH is the safer option of the two since ROH is a known quantity and AEW is still in the planning stages. A year from now, its possible that might not be the case and AEW ends up being the better option in terms of future benefits and roster, especially if ROH ends up losing Bandido, Dragon Lee, and anyone else who only signed a 1 year deal there. If AEW ends up being successful early on, that could open up the valuable Chinese market for NJPW via OWE.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I could see it happening but only if ROH plays hardball on being associated with AEW since they likely are going to be direct rivals in the US. If NJPW does open up their partnerships to include more than 1 per region, that could cause some potential issues to pop up.

Right now, ROH is the safer option of the two since ROH is a known quantity and AEW is still in the planning stages. A year from now, its possible that might not be the case and AEW ends up being the better option in terms of future benefits and roster, especially if ROH ends up losing Bandido, Dragon Lee, and anyone else who only signed a 1 year deal there. If AEW ends up being successful early on, that could open up the valuable Chinese market for NJPW via OWE.

:y:

That's basically it. I don't think they're going to say "see ya" to ROH maliciously, and everything Jordan X said about that relationship thus far is true (way too many people on the internet don't credit Sinclair hard enough for getting that MSG date for them). That being said, if AEW is going to be much more "active" in the marketplace, especially if that television has got a lot more penetration, then in time those AEW and ROH ties might weaken if Sinclair doesn't start throwing more money in and start getting those New Japan guys the same level of exposure.

[dronepool]

AEW!
AEW!
AEW!
AEW!
AEW!


!:wave:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Meltzer is reporting that Paul Heyman is negotiating Brock's latest deal, and that AEW is actually a contender, along with the usual suspects in WWE and the UFC. Interesting times.

[Emperor Smeat]

Between the rumors of Vince willing to do anything to keep Lesnar and his current contract rumored to be somewhere around $6 million, would not be surprised at all if Lesnar's next WWE contract hits closer to Wrestlemania gate level money.

Last year's Mania made around $14 million for its gate.

[slik]

Sounds fishy to me that Heyman would negotiate anything for Brock 'irl'. Wouldn't Brock's agent do that, not his fictional manager on WWE television?

[Sepholio]

I hope Brock goes elsewhere tbh. I'm tired of the only showing up every 3 months schtick and as long as he's around he will either be champion or in the hunt and I'm just over that.

Also agree with Slik that Heyman negotiating seems fishy. Also isn't he pretty much guaranteed to go to UFC? I thought he was going to fight Cormier and that it was on the table for him to compete in UFC and WWE? What happened to all that.

And while Brock would be a huge signing for AEW, I don't wish that on them. You know he will want the same limited schedule, which would honestly probably work better there in the early stages, but then they'll just end up with the same shitty Brock that WWE has had for the last few years. Feel like he would end up boring people away from the product and probably back to a suddenly Brockless WWE with a fresh title program.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sounds fishy to me that Heyman would negotiate anything for Brock 'irl'. Wouldn't Brock's agent do that, not his fictional manager on WWE television?

I think Paul actually does serve as some sort of "advisor" to Brock. I think he's helped negotiate book deals and stuff with the UFC before. I can't be entirely sure of that, but I'm sure I've read something along those lines. He's like what Paul Ellering was to the Road Warriors.

I hope Brock goes elsewhere tbh. I'm tired of the only showing up every 3 months schtick and as long as he's around he will either be champion or in the hunt and I'm just over that.

Also agree with Slik that Heyman negotiating seems fishy. Also isn't he pretty much guaranteed to go to UFC? I thought he was going to fight Cormier and that it was on the table for him to compete in UFC and WWE? What happened to all that.

And while Brock would be a huge signing for AEW, I don't wish that on them. You know he will want the same limited schedule, which would honestly probably work better there in the early stages, but then they'll just end up with the same shitty Brock that WWE has had for the last few years. Feel like he would end up boring people away from the product and probably back to a suddenly Brockless WWE with a fresh title program.

Brock is so fucking amazing. He's one of the best workers in the industry right now, and the reason he works so few dates is because he is good enough to call his shots -- and that goes into helping him feel special anyway.

You see people on the internet talking about who the "Face of the Company" is going to be. It's Brock. It's been Brock since he beat Undertaker in 2014. He appears on television probably more frequently than Hulk Hogan did. He defended the Universal Title more than Okada did during his first reign. We have a modern western perspective on how Brock is used, and we're a bit spoilt, but Vince has actually shown great restraint in not blowing the Brock Lesnar TV match yet. He's got firm plans with Lesnar.

He's also a big name. He resonates in that way that a real sports star does. If AEW are trying to secure themselves TV, PPV, merchandising, action figure and video game deals, then having Brock Lesnar on your payroll is a great start. People are going to take you legitimately. He can pummel Cody, have a match with Jericho, possibly do something with Goldberg, have a fresh thing with Omega and if they get Punk there's that. That's 5+ PPV caliber matches. Plus, then you get Heyman.

Heyman could provide excellent commentary, some great creative insights, cut some phenomenal promos and would generally be a welcome addition to any promotion. Honestly, the fishiest thing about the tease here, is that I thought Heyman was under WWE contract. But maybe there's some sort of "Brock out" opt out clause. If Brock leaves Heyman gets to renegotiate. Or maybe he just timed it so they could leave together?

Re: UFC: I thought that was the go too, but I read that Brock had not paid a fine to allow his suspension to be lifted for failing that drug test. I imagine it was just hype to leverage a better WWE deal or create UFC hype for Dana. Cormier also took another fight, and I heard he was hurt, so it's possible that they just went another direction and putting him against Brock, while blockbuster, was just something they didn't want to either blow right now or risk Brock winning against a hurt and exhausted Cormier.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sounds fishy to me that Heyman would negotiate anything for Brock 'irl'. Wouldn't Brock's agent do that, not his fictional manager on WWE television?

Based on the stories about the two, he pretty much is a real agent for Lesnar. Think he also helped out the last time Lesnar had contract talks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Shinsuke Nakamura posted something interesting on his Twitter on January 29. It simply says "WCW"

[Mr. Nerfect]

NXT spoilers:

Kassius Ohno came out and said he had “options” and then got destroyed by Keith Lee. Could be an angle, but some are speculating that he might be finishing up too.

[xrodmuc316]

Shinsuke Nakamura posted something interesting on his Twitter on January 29. It simply says "WCW"

He is the guy I could see making the jump and having the biggest splash. I know some people disagree, but to me that dude is a top level star. With how WWE has booked him he should be out the door the second he can.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Nakamura is excellent. He’s adapted to a much different style for the most travel he’s ever had to do. Things would be different in an AEW. I do think WWE took care of him in their own way, but Nakamura really doesn’t owe it to them to stay.

[Vastardikai]

I heard that Fenix and Pentagon have signed with AEW.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Good signings.