All Elite Wrestling

[Mr. Nerfect]

The WarnerMedia upfront is being held in MSG. Amazing...

[Emperor Smeat]

Right now the leading candidates would be either Tuesday or Wednesday night, probably 8-10 p.m. Eastern. The idea would be to air the show live in the U.K., which would be 1-3 a.m., if such a deal can be put together.

[Droford]

Wednesday would be a bit ballsier since it's against nxt but wwe doesn't release NXT viewer numbers

[rez]

FUCK YES

[rez]

WRESTLING BACK TO TNT. SHIT GOT REAL

[Emperor Smeat]

Wednesday would be a bit ballsier since it's against nxt but wwe doesn't release NXT viewer numbers

Also prevents the situation of their shows being preempted or delayed during NBA playoffs since TNT airs games on Tuesdays.

[Emperor Smeat]

Now that we are less than two weeks until All Elite Wrestling's Double Or Nothing PPV, program guides for services like Xfinity and Cox that use iNDemand are now listing the PPV as airing on Saturday May 25.

The Xfinity guide lists a price of $59.95, which is really, really stiff in my opinion.

[ClockShot]

Oooof.

That might just drive me away from buying. All In was $10 bucks cheaper, right?

[Emperor Smeat]

$20 cheaper since All In was $40 on Fite.TV

What does boxing and UFC usually charge for their events? I could see that just being a placeholder till AEW announces the real price soon.

If that's legit, no way are they going to be successful right out of the gate at $60 since Impact struggles to sell ppvs at $40 and ROH are in the $30s-$40s range for non-HonorClub. Not even WWE did that outside of Mania and took a long while for their prices to creep up.

[ClockShot]

Well now, AEW got a solid 2 weeks to hopefully knock the price down to reasonable levels.

I understand the concept of "double or nothing". But that doesn't mean jack up the price the 2nd time around.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">$49.99 <a href="https://t.co/up2HCHLhIo">https://t.co/up2HCHLhIo</a></p>&mdash; Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1127668885698727937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Meltzer also mentioned that its very likely the prices are being set by cable providers and not by AEW themselves due to how the cable PPV industry typically works.

[slik]

I hope they get a streaming service w/ a better price because that is too steep for me for an untested brand

[Emperor Smeat]

Most likely they are going to be using Bleacher Report Live for streaming since Turner owns it.

In terms of prices, $20-$30 is the sweet spot for monthly PPVs these days mainly because of the WWE Network and WWE's constant free month offerings have really devauled PPVs.

AEW could probably follow ROH's model for streaming and offer multiple tiers if they want pricey PPVs. Cheapest tier gives a discount on monthly PPVs purchased separately and most expensive tier includes all PPVs at no additional cost.

[Lock Jaw]

Actually have a smidgen of interest for this.... but not willing to pay more than $20.... and even at $20 I'd have a tough time deciding to do it.....

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’d probably have gone as high as $30. I don’t think I can justify $50.

[Big Poppa Pauly]

UK price is £14.95. And I've got in early and have already ordered. :yes:

[Evil Vito]

I really want to support this but I can’t justify $60. If that’s the price it’s a huge mistake.

Gonna hold out for an official announcement from them though. They don’t seem like they’d be dumb enough to charge something that would price out a lot of people for their very first show..

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re back in the wrestling business! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AEWrestling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AEWrestling</a> <a href="https://t.co/1DVRLRdQgd">pic.twitter.com/1DVRLRdQgd</a></p>&mdash; TNT Drama (@tntdrama) <a href="https://twitter.com/tntdrama/status/1128632147248668673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

Press Release says all AEW ppvs will stream on B/R Live

Site looks really user friendly:

https://live.bleacherreport.com

[#1-norm-fan]

Also says they will “introduce statistics into pro wrestling for the first time ever.” Wins and losses will be tracked.

[Droford]

Also says they will “introduce statistics into pro wrestling for the first time ever.” Wins and losses will be tracked.

http://wrestlecrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/tcs01.png

https://i1.wp.com/impactwrestling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/bffc2f462422f3d9-600x400.jpg
ripping off AWA and TNA seems like a good start

They should rip off WCW and have a spin the roulette wheel make a deal match at the PPV

[#1-norm-fan]

Pretty sure the point was that wins and losses will be tracked constantly and not just as part of a certain gimmick competition.

[#1-norm-fan]

I actually made sure to put “introduce statistics for the first time ever” in quotations to make it clear that I was quoting the press release before the inevitable STD unnecessary correction. He’s gonna be pissed that Droford beat him to it.

[Droford]

https://media.giphy.com/media/m7DEwkk9ID7ag/giphy.gif

too lazy to figure out how to edit AEW over "Whos line is it anyway" and JR over Drew Carey.

https://i.imgflip.com/3111qb.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

No TNT in Canada..... wonder if they will get a deal here somewhere.....

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Woo hoo. BR Live has a roku app so I'll be able to watch this. Pretty stoked.

[Innovator]

I actually made sure to put “introduce statistics for the first time ever” in quotations to make it clear that I was quoting the press release before the inevitable STD unnecessary correction. He’s gonna be pissed that Droford beat him to it.

Cody means "% of times this move wins the match/% of times this guy gets taken out by this type of move" stats

[#1-norm-fan]

It mentioned that, too. Which could be cool I guess. An NFL type "next gen stats" thing for wrestling. I'm more interested in the wins and losses being tracked though. Instantly forces them to actually care about the outcome of every match and forces long-term booking or else the whole system falls apart.

[Droford]

Wrestling fans complaining about WWE calling wrestling "SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT"

vs

Wrestling fans embracing AEW using sports style statistics in wrestling

does not compute

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Wrestling fans complaining about WWE calling wrestling "SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT"

vs

Wrestling fans embracing AEW using sports style statistics in wrestling

does not compute

Dude, what in the fuck point are you trying to make?

[Droford]

calling it sports entertainment is awful when WWE does it but its innovative when AEW treats wrestling as a sport with statistics

[xrodmuc316]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Later this year we’re introducing some real superheroes with a new live franchise: All Elite Wrestling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> - a brand-new league - with a new style and a new generation of talent. <a href="https://t.co/Vdc3nS1H6u">pic.twitter.com/Vdc3nS1H6u</a></p>&mdash; TNT Drama (@tntdrama) <a href="https://twitter.com/tntdrama/status/1128669254734229504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Does anybody else think TNT's tweet is funny? "A new generation of talent" yet they show Jericho who was on their last wrestling show lol.

Gotta love Jericho taking all the credit though, I miss the Jericho invented everything memes!

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

calling it sports entertainment is awful when WWE does it but its innovative when AEW treats wrestling as a sport with statistics

how is this inconsistent? People - within the 'smarky' community - have wanted wrestling treated like more of a sport for eons. Why are you so retarded?

[Droford]

what happened to all the "its not sports entertainment its wrestling" people then?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

What are you fucking talking about? You are the dumbest motherfucker in the world.

[Loose Cannon]

Exciting times. can't wait to watch!

[Droford]

If AEW is wrestling with sports statistics then to me its considered sports. but people hate vince for calling wrestling "sports entertainment". which is fucking exactly what AEW will be.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don’t think you get why people don’t like the sports entertainment euphemism.

[Emperor Smeat]

If AEW is wrestling with sports statistics then to me its considered sports. but people hate vince for calling wrestling "sports entertainment". which is fucking exactly what AEW will be.

Difference is if AEW actually follows a sports-like model, then they are using the phrase correctly.

Vince mainly uses the term as if he's been ashamed he's only ever been successful in wrestling and to rebrand his style of wrestling as something different when it isn't.

NJPW is a lot more sports-like than WWE but don't use the term "sports entertainment" because they don't hold a petty view of wrestling.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

If AEW is wrestling with sports statistics then to me its considered sports. but people hate vince for calling wrestling "sports entertainment". which is fucking exactly what AEW will be.

Wrestling is entertainment. But it only functions at its creative best when you treat it like a shoot sport. Putting too much focus on the entertainment aspect makes it nearly impossible to suspend your disbelief. Putting the focus on the sports aspect makes it much easier to suspend your disbelief because people are wrestling over sports reasons instead of over shampoo deals or because HHH made a match in the opening segment because he was cranky.

People's problem with sports entertainment was never the sports part. Why would you ever think that? You're a moron.

[Evil Vito]

B/R confirmed it's $50.

They just priced out a lot of people who were looking forward to this show for months. Not a good look.

[Evil Vito]

Also 95% of the viewers will be using B/R for the first time so it’s $50 and hoping the server can hold up.

I wish the event well but that price point is unjustifiable.

[#1-norm-fan]

People's problem with sports entertainment was never the sports part. Why would you ever think that? You're a moron.

It seems you answered your own question.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

It seems you answered your own question.

lol I did that on purpose.

[#1-norm-fan]

I'll never understand people who just LOVE sandwiches but when it's a dog shit sandwich, suddenly they hate it. Hypocrites.

[xrodmuc316]

Randy Orton wins 100% of his matches with an RKO. Knowing that percentage doesn't really make wrestling anymore interesting.

I don't get why this aspect is supposed to be innovative for AEW.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Randy Orton wins 100% of his matches with an RKO. Knowing that percentage doesn't really make wrestling anymore interesting.

I don't get why this aspect is supposed to be innovative for AEW.

It's about the presentation. There's no guaranteeing that it works, but it's the kind of analysis that goes into other sports, so it's meant to establish a 'legitimate' feel. That, by itself, isn't a particularly huge deal. But, as one moving part of an entire company vision and mission, it's an interesting idea.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Plus, you're oversimplifying what they'll do. Which is somewhat dishonest.

[xrodmuc316]

Plus, you're oversimplifying what they'll do. Which is somewhat dishonest.

I am not trying to, that is just how I understand it. I'm not trying to knock it, maybe it will end up being interesting, but having analytics in wrestling doesn't really excite me.

[Malfeitor]

It’s an opportunity for the company as a whole to be more creative with their finishes.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

It also makes kicking out of a finisher more interesting. If Randy hits the RKO and wins 100% of the time, the guy that eventually kicks out will make it mean something. Unlike when Roman kicked out of 23 F5s at Mania.

As far as the sports aspect goes, watching old matches from the AWA and NWA are refreshing because they're presented and called like an actual sporting event as opposed to the grand and campy spectacle of wwe. Both are fine, but presenting their product as a sport is a way AEW can differentiate itself as a true alternative.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

B/R confirmed it's $50.

They just priced out a lot of people who were looking forward to this show for months. Not a good look.

Indeed it is. Thankfully I'll be splitting it with my buddy. But jeez that's a big ask for a company trying to build good will

[Emperor Smeat]

Randy Orton wins 100% of his matches with an RKO. Knowing that percentage doesn't really make wrestling anymore interesting.

I don't get why this aspect is supposed to be innovative for AEW.

Assuming they handle it correctly, it would fix the issue of finishers being devalued and spammed that's been a problem in WWE for years.

In theory, signature moves would get a stronger emphasis since those can be spammed without hurting the finisher (ex. Omega wearing down opponents with the V-Trigger).

Also benefits submission-based finishers a lot since your no longer building them to just be broken once and then be treated as an afterthought afterwards. WWE's habit with submissions is to just treat them as simple throw-away spots and something that gets constantly broken unless your name was Cena.

[#1-norm-fan]

Randy Orton wins 100% of his matches with an RKO. Knowing that percentage doesn't really make wrestling anymore interesting.

I don't get why this aspect is supposed to be innovative for AEW.

Randy Orton winning 100% of his matches with an RKO might not matter. If you know that he wins 100% of the time he hits it though, suddenly every “almost” RKO is an edge of your seat moment. I don’t think the idea is to have useless stats for stat nerds. It’s to build stories within matches.

[Emperor Smeat]

John McMullen of TSN is reporting that TNT will be covering the production costs of AEW's weekly series, that the series will fall under the entertainment banner for WarnerMedia but presented as a sports property and that currently, there are no rights fees but that the two sides will share in ad revenue with AEW getting a great deal in that regard. McMullen pointed out that a deal of this nature is unprecedented for a start-up and that it took WWE 35 years before they hit the level of money they make today off TV rights. I'd credit it getting done to Tony Khan's relationship with WarnerMedia.

So basically something similar to what the XFL got with the ability to turn into a normal tv deal after a few years.

[Droford]

B/R confirmed it's $50.

They just priced out a lot of people who were looking forward to this show for months. Not a good look.

It's $5 less than what Directv wants for MITB which makes no sense itself and word is cable will be $10 more than B/R so it'd cost more than WWE for something Directv is already charging 5.5x more than you pay for the network. All in was $39.95 on fitetv

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Randy Orton winning 100% of his matches with an RKO might not matter. If you know that he wins 100% of the time he hits it though, suddenly every “almost” RKO is an edge of your seat moment. I don’t think the idea is to have useless stats for stat nerds. It’s to build stories within matches.

This. It was like when Austin used to hit the stunner. Shit was over. And every time he went for the boot to the gut, you got that anxious feeling that the end was near. It meant something.

If Austin was around nowadays, he'd have to hit 2 or 3 stunners a night to win a big match. And not just at Mania, where it makes sense to throw in a kick out. But every ppv. Guys would he kicking out at TLC.

[Droford]

Just aired

<iframe width="932" height="524" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vuww0hB96fo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Tom Guycott]

Randy Orton winning 100% of his matches with an RKO might not matter. If you know that he wins 100% of the time he hits it though, suddenly every “almost” RKO is an edge of your seat moment. I don’t think the idea is to have useless stats for stat nerds. It’s to build stories within matches.

This. It was like when Austin used to hit the stunner. Shit was over. And every time he went for the boot to the gut, you got that anxious feeling that the end was near. It meant something.

If Austin was around nowadays, he'd have to hit 2 or 3 stunners a night to win a big match. And not just at Mania, where it makes sense to throw in a kick out. But every ppv. Guys would he kicking out at TLC.

Tangentially related; it was one of the reasons why the end of Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe was so "bad".

In truth, it really wasn't a bad finish... until you consider that the problem goes back to all the matches WWE had with 800 spammed finishers. And now, suddenly, one F5 puts out the guy who was built to be this badass threat in the center of the ring for a clean pin? In fact, Joe should have been one of the few guys who could take multiple F5s given how he was built to that point. Even if he had still lost, he took everything the champ had to give to get that victory. Instead, you basically just told everyone this guy was a sack of shit and didn't deserve to be there. Because they didn't bother protecting finishers up to that point, a match where it was done right buried the guy doing the job.

And that's the issue with wins and losses. The idea that wins and losses "mean nothing" doesn't quite mean what WWE tries to make it sound like. I'm not 100% behind the stat-tracking thing AEW wants to try, primarily because anyone who has done this before always eventually does away with it... but at the same time, we prob'ly won't get shit like hotshotting the brown guy for an India tour after telling everyone for years through actions that he wasn't worth a damn, or jobbing your next big thing into oblivion but paradoxically expecting him to stay over with the fans. People tend not to back losers unless there is something charming or redeeming about it... and even that is a rarity.

[Evil Vito]

UK are only being charged the equivalent of about $20 USD

So US is paying more than double. It's horseshit.

[Volare]

Love PAC's nickname lol.

https://www.allelitewrestling.com/roster

[slik]

Meltzer 'making excuses' saying it's part of the ppv deal that they could only offer a streaming service if it wasn't cheaper then ppvs.

If that is the case just do the streaming service alone...

[slik]

I will still probably order the ppv this time but I am not forking out $50 each ppv they have unless they only have 1 or 2 a year.

[slik]

LOL @ Pac nickname

[#1-norm-fan]

Love PAC's nickname lol.

https://www.allelitewrestling.com/roster

Conrad Thompson is listed as part of the broadcast team. Interesting.

[#1-norm-fan]

Also, they couldn't get a picture of Jerry Lynn? lol

[slik]

Good Ol JR looks drunk

[Lock Jaw]

Half the people on that roster look like "right wankers". Less excited for it now.

[slik]

which ones u h8

I think MJF, Joey Janella, Hangman Page all could be 'breakout stars'

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Hangman Page looks like a million bucks in his pic

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Hey Hey Conrad Thompson is on the roster :0

[Lock Jaw]

Hangman Page looks like a million bucks in his pic

Looks like one of the best pics.... don't like the rope though.... just imagining him coming out with a rope in a noose and continually saying "I'm the hangman!"

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, seems the goal for AEW is to be able to hit in the 400k-500k range for viewers during its first year since TNT would be very happy with those numbers.

TNT would also be very happy if AEW leads to a sizeable growth for their streaming service similar to ESPN's plans with UFC.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Interesting comments from Dave on AEW. 400,000-500,000 viewers would be considered a success to start, and streaming sounds like as big a reason behind the deal as anything else. <a href="https://t.co/ax9fT7PAkp">pic.twitter.com/ax9fT7PAkp</a></p>&mdash; Trevor Dame (@TrevorDame) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorDame/status/1128688049531961346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

That streaming growth ain't happening if PPVs stay $50

[Gerard]

Earl Hebner knocking on the door of 70 and still reffing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Earl Hebner isn't a great ref at this point. I was hoping for Brian Hebner, Jimmy Korderas and Jack Doan from WWE memory lane. Katie Hebner for a women's ref. Rick Knox was obviously going to be signed. Jerry Lynn could have done his "Whole Refin' Show" thing and you could have given James Maritato another shot (not sure if he dropped out of WWE because he couldn't do the job though).

Don't really want to see old man Hebner getting in the way anymore.

[slik]

Just aired

<iframe width="932" height="524" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vuww0hB96fo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Good ad IMO

[xrodmuc316]

Conrad Thompson is listed as part of the broadcast team. Interesting.

I could be wrong, but I think he is part of the broadcast team the way Mean Gene was, in that broadcast team is all talking positions, not just guys at the broadcast table.

He will probably be a backstage interviewer.

[xrodmuc316]

Earl Hebner isn't a great ref at this point. I was hoping for Brian Hebner, Jimmy Korderas and Jack Doan from WWE memory lane. Katie Hebner for a women's ref. Rick Knox was obviously going to be signed. Jerry Lynn could have done his "Whole Refin' Show" thing and you could have given James Maritato another shot (not sure if he dropped out of WWE because he couldn't do the job though).

Don't really want to see old man Hebner getting in the way anymore.

They should hire referee Brad Maddox!

[slik]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iqDHZVvmYS4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Droford]

wrestlemania would have triggered a ton of people like that

[#1-norm-fan]

I could be wrong, but I think he is part of the broadcast team the way Mean Gene was, in that broadcast team is all talking positions, not just guys at the broadcast table.

He will probably be a backstage interviewer.

Well yeah. Didn’t think he’d be at the announce table. It’s just interesting because he’s been adamant about the fact that he doesn’t actually work for AEW, he just kinda piggybacks off of them for Starrcast. I wonder if he’d be listed as a broadcaster if Vince hadn’t already pulled Taker and Angle from Starrcast due to the perceived AEW link.

[Simple Fan]

Downloaded the Bleacher Report app and bought the show.

[Droford]

https://m.imgur.com/a/n2tWx8S

[Mr. Nerfect]

I can get it on FITE for $20.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That is well within the scope of what I'm willing to pay to support a new product. I am keen.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The card isn't something that, alone, gets me super-hyped. But breaking it down, it looks really, really good:

* Not really excited at all about Sammy Guevara vs. Kip Sabian, but those non-existence expectations might allow it to impress me.

* I'm not a big fan of multi-person matches, but the women's three-way is going to be interesting because I've never seen any of them before, plus I'm sure they are all going to be busting ass to impress.

* SoCal Uncensored vs. Strong Hearts is probably going to be a lot of fun. Daniels is a guy I've got a lot of time for.

* The women's tag could be really interesting.

* PAC was one of my five favorite workers when he was in WWE. I think he'll bring the thunder. Hangman Page is getting better all the time.

* Cody vs. Dustin has got a great story behind it.

* Not a biggest fan of The Young Bucks, but I'm sure their tag will be a spectacle.

* Jericho vs. Omega should be pretty great.

It's not only probably going to be very good, but it looks like it might actually have the chance to build. I miss cards with a variety of different matches.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't know why I've got this feeling, but I'm thinking Nic Nemeth shows up and wins the Casino Battle Royale on the pre-show. He seems like a pretty good choice to be a stop-gap challenger for whoever the first AEW World Champion is. He'd be a big enough name to get some people's attention, but being on the pre-show won't be disappointing even if you figure in "Dolph Ziggler fatigue."

[xrodmuc316]

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/05/cody-rhodes-helps-lost-dog-photos-654223/

Sorry to cross promote, but I'm too lazy to embed all the tweets here.

Bottom line, Cody Rhodes deserves nothing but success just based on this alone. Such a good dude!

[#1-norm-fan]

I don't know why I've got this feeling, but I'm thinking Nic Nemeth shows up and wins the Casino Battle Royale on the pre-show. He seems like a pretty good choice to be a stop-gap challenger for whoever the first AEW World Champion is. He'd be a big enough name to get some people's attention, but being on the pre-show won't be disappointing even if you figure in "Dolph Ziggler fatigue."

Wait... Is Dolph out of WWE???

[Fignuts]

No he's signed.

[Evil Vito]

PAC/Hangman has been cancelled due to “creative differences”

PAC is refusing to lose singles matches while he’s still the Dragongate Champion

[Fignuts]

Fucks sake.

[erickman]

an he just beat the crap out of hangman page at a houseshow wonder if they are doing a work.

[mike adamle]

I don't blame him he shouldn't be losing to Hangman. Hangman isn't anywhere near in PAC's league.

[xrodmuc316]

PAC/Hangman has been cancelled due to “creative differences”

PAC is refusing to lose singles matches while he’s still the Dragongate Champion

If true, doing a job for Enzo but not Adam Page??? Not a good look Neville, not a good look at all.

[Evil Vito]

Meltzer going way overboard in defending AEW for what was a clear lack of planning.

Dude’s clearly in their pockets.

[xrodmuc316]

Meltzer going way overboard in defending AEW for this.

Dude’s clearly in their pockets.

Since day one, and I wouldn't mind it if he was just overjoyed for them, but he is so biased in both aspects, AEW can do no wrong, and WWE, New Japan, ROH, they are not just bad, but he gets so happy they are bad he pops a boner every time he gets a chance to report they are bad.

I guarantee Meltzer creamed his pants when he got to report about how the Bucks said ROH and New Japan messed up by not taking care of them with better offers. Meltzer would say it's cause AEW is great and those companies are going out of business because they don't know anything about wrestling.

It's a joke calling him a journalist, he is a fan boy hype man.

[Evil Vito]

PAC went to time limit draws with Ospreay and ZSJ for much the same reason. He doesn’t want to lessen the moment when he loses the Dragongate title, and NJPW didn’t want their talents losing.

The problem is AEW (understandably) don’t want to do so a bullshit finish on their first ever show. But they don’t want Hangman losing when he’s likely on the shortlist of guys being considered to be the inaugural champion.

So the match never should’ve been done until PAC was free and clear of the Dragongate title.

[erickman]

now hangman can have a surprise guy to compete with. wonder who it will be.

[Evil Vito]

My money’s on Moxley

[Evil Vito]

Thinking about it though, Moxley’s gonna be a similar problem.

I love Hangman, but don’t think I could justify Moxley doing the job in his very first match.

[Mr. Nerfect]

PAC should have beaten Page anyway. This is a pretty bone-headed situation to get yourself into. I hope they work it out, because I was looking forward to that match.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

So is this gonna be our very first #lolAEW?

[Damian Rey 2.0]

And for the record, I don't blame PAC. This is something they should've detailed and figured out before booking.

[#1-norm-fan]

Yeah, unless PAC agreed to job and then backed out, this is all on AEW. Don’t book a match if you don’t have a finish.

[Emperor Smeat]

PAC/Hangman has been cancelled due to “creative differences”

PAC is refusing to lose singles matches while he’s still the Dragongate Champion

They should have held some talks with Dragongate beforehand to find a way out of that situation. Its not like PAC had just won the belt and needed to legitimatize his status as champ.

PAC pulling a "creative control" this early probably also going to hurt the chances AEW will be as open in the future to working with talent who are champs elsewhere since last thing they need is a repeat situation happening.

[Mr. Nerfect]

So is this gonna be our very first #lolAEW?

It's kind of appearing that way to me, sadly.

I'd seriously just run the match and put PAC over. Emphasizing wins and losses is a good thing, but you can't be so fucking rigid that you book yourself into these corners paranoid to have any of your guys take losses ever. Page can cut a promo saying he let his "bosses" down and he's going to get back on the horse and en route to the championship, and the next time he gets PAC in the ring things are going to be different.

That they're cancelling this because they don't want Adam Page losing? It's really sending up some signals to me that I don't want to be seeing this early.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Haven't seen enough so I'm legit asking is Page big enough that losing kinda dulls his shine? Does a loss hurt him that bad? I understand if he's going to be their future centerpiece but does a clean loss to a guy like PAC hurt him to the point they have to cancel?

[Mr. Nerfect]

I like Page, and I think he's got a ton of potential, but I think he's a "in 3-5 years" sort of guy. He's getting better all the time and growing into himself, but I don't think he's the sort of guy you start building around right now. Omega is the obvious ace, and to be honest, Cody is probably more important to them right now. As far as singles babyfaces go, he's #3, tops. And that doesn't factor in their emphasis on tag teams and women. And even a guy like CIMA is probably more important right now.

I can understand why they wouldn't want him losing all the time, and this is his first match out the gate with the promotion, but I don't think him losing to PAC would be that big a deal.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

I can get it on FITE for $20.

It's not even listed yet.

[Lock Jaw]

Gotta say.... PAC is a dumb freakin' name..... but, they should just book him to win, as he should probably be one of their top guys out of the gate anyways.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's not even listed yet.

It is in Australia, you dumb dick.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Glad I didn't already buy though. Re-considering it, because PAC was a big attraction for me watching.

[Evil Vito]

Yeah I’ve seen more than a few people say they’re out now due to this match getting cancelled.

Between that and the price in the US, this looks like it is turning to a shitshow.

[Droford]

"creative differences" will be a recurring theme of AEW

[xrodmuc316]

Thinking about it though, Moxley’s gonna be a similar problem.

I love Hangman, but don’t think I could justify Moxley doing the job in his very first match.

With all due respect to Pac, compared to Moxley in terms of star power, there is no comparison whatsoever.

It's part of the reason I have a hard time believing he will go to AEW, because why would he go just to put over the AEW core? It's not for the money, and unless he is gonna be the top guy, he is gonna be just as unhappy with his booking there, and there he won't have his wife.

As far as Pac, after thinking about it more, I don't blame him at all. If AEW is supposed to be all about wins mattering, why would anybody want to do jobs? I mean Goldust will for his brother, but other than that you are gonna get a bunch of Rybacks who won't job unless they are getting just as much money as the winners so as not to devalue their worth by taking losses.

Pac is a bigger star than Page, so why should he take a loss?

This is what happens when you give talent the option of calling their own shot, you get guys who will take advantage of that for their own benefit.

[slik]

I don't think this is that big of a deal tbh

It's unfortunate PAC backed out - but until the show airs and I see a product I am not going to judge AEW in a negative light. And even then, if the first show, or couple shows have some tough bits I am going to chalk it up to growing pains.


I do agree w/ the pricing being too high but I am sure I will spend the $ regardless.

[Jordan]

That sucks about Pac, I was looking forward to seeing him in the big time
.

[Emperor Smeat]

Rumor going around the net hints that it wasn't just "creative issues" for PAC's removal from Double or Nothing and more changes might be on the way for the event's card.

Supposedly AEW got hit with similar visa-related issues that plagued NJPW's recent US shows and all due to how strict the US government has become under President Trump for allowing foreign wrestlers to work in the country.

Also seems AEW's partnership with China's OWE is once again not as strong as previously assumed since OWE recently partnered with Canadian based SMASH and might be considering plans for their talent to work in Canada instead of the US.

[slik]

I already have someone I am probably doing w/ this -- but if anyone is curious -- up to two different devices can stream a BR Live live event at once per their site.

So if any of y'all wanna pay $25 just team up to stream:

https://support.live.bleacherreport.com/answer/category/101

[Mr. Nerfect]

With all due respect to Pac, compared to Moxley in terms of star power, there is no comparison whatsoever.

It's part of the reason I have a hard time believing he will go to AEW, because why would he go just to put over the AEW core? It's not for the money, and unless he is gonna be the top guy, he is gonna be just as unhappy with his booking there, and there he won't have his wife.

As far as Pac, after thinking about it more, I don't blame him at all. If AEW is supposed to be all about wins mattering, why would anybody want to do jobs? I mean Goldust will for his brother, but other than that you are gonna get a bunch of Rybacks who won't job unless they are getting just as much money as the winners so as not to devalue their worth by taking losses.

Pac is a bigger star than Page, so why should he take a loss?

This is what happens when you give talent the option of calling their own shot, you get guys who will take advantage of that for their own benefit.

I agree that there is no comparison to general audiences, or to whatever casual WWE audience there is, but we're talking about a hardcore wrestling crowd. The traditional "he's a star"/"he's not a star" metrics are kind of null and void with this audience at this point in time. PAC is someone that they should build as a star for whatever audience they hopefully grow.

It's not always about winning and losing when it comes to happiness. Moxley can make good money with AEW and probably get to cut his own promos and have a say over the direction of his own gimmick. And he probably will be treated as one of their biggest stars early out the gate. I don't have problems seeing him there at all.

I think you might be taking the wins and losses thing a bit too seriously. But then again, I think AEW might be doing that too. I also don't think it's a problem giving talent more autonomy over their creative direction. Wrestling has needed that back for a long time.

This is just bad planning and perhaps a bad overarching philosophy.

I don't think this is that big of a deal tbh

It's unfortunate PAC backed out - but until the show airs and I see a product I am not going to judge AEW in a negative light. And even then, if the first show, or couple shows have some tough bits I am going to chalk it up to growing pains.


I do agree w/ the pricing being too high but I am sure I will spend the $ regardless.

It's really cool you are willing to cut them that slack and spend that money. You're not wrong for doing so. It's just not a guarantee that other people will be as patient and forgiving as you. I'm not sure if I'm willing to pay even less than 50% of what you yanks are paying for this show now, and I've been highly positive about them. $50 is just way out of the question for me. Nope, not happening.

I accept that they are going to have growing pains, and if this were an injury or some sort of wanky contract thing that has blind-sided them, I'd be more forgiving. But if this is just them being dumb fucks and having an impossible planned finish, then I chalk that up to stupidity as much as I would WWE.

I do hope fans are more patient with them than they are WWE. Especially early days. But they're not entitled to that, nor guaranteed it.

Rumor going around the net hints that it wasn't just "creative issues" for PAC's removal from Double or Nothing and more changes might be on the way for the event's card.

Supposedly AEW got hit with similar visa-related issues that plagued NJPW's recent US shows and all due to how strict the US government has become under President Trump for allowing foreign wrestlers to work in the country.

Also seems AEW's partnership with China's OWE is once again not as strong as previously assumed since OWE recently partnered with Canadian based SMASH and might be considering plans for their talent to work in Canada instead of the US.

I would be a bit more forgiving if there were visa issues, because that's administrative legal stuff way out of their hands. The OWE thing is weird, because I don't know why they would choose a small-time Canadian promotion over something going to get TNT exposure.

[Mr. Nerfect]

They need to announce something pretty big for Hangman Page, and they should make an angle out of the visa thing, with Page suggesting that PAC didn't file the right paperwork to get in the ring with him. There needs to be some sort of thread to this so there's the implication it's going somewhere.

[Droford]

And clearly Trrump knew AEW was working with China so hes like, "fuck them they can't work with China if China won't work with me on Tariffs" and is trying to wreck their promotion because Vince McMahon paid him off to do it. Someone call The democrats to launch a conspiracy hearing in Congress

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't think anyone is suggesting it's an active agenda against AEW...

[Emperor Smeat]

I would be a bit more forgiving if there were visa issues, because that's administrative legal stuff way out of their hands. The OWE thing is weird, because I don't know why they would choose a small-time Canadian promotion over something going to get TNT exposure.
They still have a working relationship with AEW but likely will be working more often with SMASH in order to build up their North American exposure and minimize on-going visa issues from hurting those plans.

Someone like CIMA will be treated less harshly for visa stuff since he has a full-time contract with AEW unlike PAC. Same for Lucha Bros likely won't have any problems even though they will be splitting time with AAA since they have also full-time contracts in the US.

[slik]

And clearly Trrump knew AEW was working with China so hes like, "fuck them they can't work with China if China won't work with me on Tariffs" and is trying to wreck their promotion because Vince McMahon paid him off to do it. Someone call The democrats to launch a conspiracy hearing in Congress

Plz no politics in the wrestling forum

Politics thread in casual often enough to keep me away from there

[xrodmuc316]

I agree that there is no comparison to general audiences, or to whatever casual WWE audience there is, but we're talking about a hardcore wrestling crowd. The traditional "he's a star"/"he's not a star" metrics are kind of null and void with this audience at this point in time. PAC is someone that they should build as a star for whatever audience they hopefully grow.

It's not always about winning and losing when it comes to happiness. Moxley can make good money with AEW and probably get to cut his own promos and have a say over the direction of his own gimmick. And he probably will be treated as one of their biggest stars early out the gate. I don't have problems seeing him there at all.

True, but Ambrose/Moxley is that big time star to the hardcore fanbase/crowd also. My point being is AEW would be crazy not to hitch their horse to him if they got him.

Pac is a great hand to have, he is amazing in the ring, but nobody would be surprised that he isn't instantly booked in the top matches, whereas we would all be saying what the hell is AEW doing if they brought Mox in to job to like Christopher Daniels or Jimmy Havoc.

[Jordan]

I am truly excited to see Moxley and Havoc cut each other up, they need to have an Abudullah/Brody, or Cactus/Vader level rivalry. Just with lots more light tubes, thumb tacks, barbed wired and the like.

[Mr. Nerfect]

True, but Ambrose/Moxley is that big time star to the hardcore fanbase/crowd also. My point being is AEW would be crazy not to hitch their horse to him if they got him.

Pac is a great hand to have, he is amazing in the ring, but nobody would be surprised that he isn't instantly booked in the top matches, whereas we would all be saying what the hell is AEW doing if they brought Mox in to job to like Christopher Daniels or Jimmy Havoc.

Don’t disagree with you on PAC, but I’m not sure I get where Mox coming in to lose to Daniels and Havoc comes from.

[Mr. Nerfect]

ITV will apparently be showing an AEW: Before the Bell special or something of the like. Their programming is not restricted to ITV4.

[Fignuts]

Apparently the match with Page wasn't the issue, but rather an upcoming match with Omega in September.

Plan was for PAC to beat Hangman, lose the DG belt sometime before September, then lose to Omega.

However DG office now wants to keep the belt on PAC through september which fucks up AEW's booking.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't really buy that. I mean, I'm sure that's the story, I just don't buy that as a good reason to pull the match. Just put PAC over and then don't do the Omega match?

[Fignuts]

I imagine their thought process is that they don’t want Hangman to job right away if it’s not leading to something for PAC.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I...get that. I just don't like it.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Exactly what I was thinking. Page is a full time guy. If they think he has a future, jobbing him to a guy who's going to be a one off doesn't do them any good.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's not the end of the road for Page if he loses though, lol. He can cut promos about how devastating a loss out the gate is when he has his sights set on championship glory. It can build to an eventual redemption match with PAC when the DG belt isn't involved.

I'm happy that they want wins and losses to matter, but this was always going to be the problem: taking that too rigidly and booking yourself into corners because you are too petrified to have guys take losses. You can always bounce them back.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Just not there with them on this one. Them fucking around with their card has done more damage to my interest as a viewer than Hangman Page losing one fucking match.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Like, they don't need to book Omega vs. PAC either. Just don't book the match.

[xrodmuc316]

Just not there with them on this one. Them fucking around with their card has done more damage to my interest as a viewer than Hangman Page losing one fucking match.

The biggest issue is it seems this has nothing to do with Page himself, meaning he didn't refuse to do the job. The company not wanting to book him to lose, draw, win by DQ, or have a no contest to the point they would pull the match a week out is just poor management.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The biggest issue is it seems this has nothing to do with Page himself, meaning he didn't refuse to do the job. The company not wanting to book him to lose, draw, win by DQ, or have a no contest to the point they would pull the match a week out is just poor management.

Oh, I don't put this on Page at all. Nor PAC. This is really AEW's fault, as far as I'm concerned.

[Fignuts]

AEW is fine.

[Emperor Smeat]

It's not the end of the road for Page if he loses though, lol. He can cut promos about how devastating a loss out the gate is when he has his sights set on championship glory. It can build to an eventual redemption match with PAC when the DG belt isn't involved.

I'm happy that they want wins and losses to matter, but this was always going to be the problem: taking that too rigidly and booking yourself into corners because you are too petrified to have guys take losses. You can always bounce them back.

Seems its a lot more of their long term plans being wrecked because of Dragon Gate and no assurances Dragon Gate wouldn't ever do this again with their talent in AEW.

They've made it clear in a bunch of interviews that they value long term planning to avoid the problems that plague WWE's Creative and want to avoid repeating TNA/Impact's problems when it came to botching the development of Styles as their top star.

Supposedly their creative mindset is a lot similar to Gedo, who is well known to plan things out as far out as a couple years in advance and then tweak things to keep those plans on course.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm still not buying it. They just can't have PAC lose. Good? At some point he won't be Dragon Gate's champion and he can lose. They might even be able to get him under exclusive contract then.

Long-term planning is good, but this is just inflexible and lacks creativity. Cancelling a match in May because you can't put over someone in a particular match in September, even though it's not hyper-critical that be the scenario? This is just a mess to me.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Imagine the shit WWE would get if it cancelled AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins this month because they couldn't put Roman Reigns over Seth at SummerSlam because 2K don't want Seth losing big PPV matches since he's on their cover or whatever. People would be bitching non-stop.

AEW has a lot of good will because they present themselves as babyfaces and they're the other and we all need something else, but they can't be pulling this shit all the time because they've booked themselves into corners.

[Mr. Nerfect]

FFS, just have PAC beat Page and then don't do Omega vs. PAC in September. Easy.

[slik]

Why do you think you need to tell them how to book a show when you have no idea what their plans are.

Stop playing fantasy booker for a product that hasn't aired. D o N will be just fine. People need to chill more & bitch less.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Why do you think you need to tell them how to book a show when you have no idea what their plans are.

Stop playing fantasy booker for a product that hasn't aired. D o N will be just fine. People need to chill more & bitch less.

Because they advertised something they aren't delivering and now I'm not going to give them my money. I'm the dude who started this thread with all the optimism I could muster. I want something different. This is WWE-type shit.

[#1-norm-fan]

Apparently PAC vs Hangman happened last night at a show in England. PAC got himself DQed and then cut a promo saying he isn’t going to AEW.

If it’s not a work already, they could make a decent angle out of it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd be fine if they turned it into an angle and actually delivered some stuff out of this.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And the next entrant to draw his <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CasinoBattleRoyale?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CasinoBattleRoyale</a> card is..........<br><br>subscribe now to watch the Buy In Live <a href="https://t.co/jROCViJ2e1">https://t.co/jROCViJ2e1</a> <a href="https://t.co/s4J0m7KLa3">pic.twitter.com/s4J0m7KLa3</a></p>&mdash; All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1130979376131133442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[xrodmuc316]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And the next entrant to draw his <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CasinoBattleRoyale?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CasinoBattleRoyale</a> card is..........<br><br>subscribe now to watch the Buy In Live <a href="https://t.co/jROCViJ2e1">https://t.co/jROCViJ2e1</a> <a href="https://t.co/s4J0m7KLa3">pic.twitter.com/s4J0m7KLa3</a></p>&mdash; All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1130979376131133442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice! I am a fan and glad he landed in AEW, hopefully he gets over again, dude deserves a good run.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not surprising seeing Shawn Spears in. He's hardly a huge signing, but the perception is that he was misused by WWE. It does make AEW's general "we're not going to take everyone" stance on former WWE talent pretty silly, but that was always the case. It's a good spot for him.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

He's perfect for them honestly. Solid, over midcard talent that can help get talent over and be a useful hand. As long as they don't push every ex wwe guy to the moon, picking up the lesser guys here and there are fine.

[Evil Vito]

Eh, I wouldn’t say AEW is at TNA level yet in terms of signing WWE castoffs. WWE haven’t released all that many people in the past few years.

If they sign TJP or some shit then yeah, that’s a problem.

[Volare]

He just opened his school too in Florida. So now AEW has more connections to things.

[Destor]

AEW isn't taking cast offs. Its taking defectors. Thats what makes this new territory. Highly talented performers in their prime back by real money and a seasoned creative.

[Emperor Smeat]

When AEW starts signing "WWE rejects" solely to have them hog the spotlight or be put over at the expense of their own home grown and/or developed stars, then people can start to become worried over AEW's future.

Impact's problem was never them signing stars released by WWE but their constant habit of tossing their own stars to the side just to cater to whatever was the newest shinny toy dumped by WWE or old star(s) looking for an easy paycheck. Joe's star status in Impact took a big hit when they signed Angle and Hogan's notoriety with hogging the spotlight once caused a TNA title change to be delayed because he refused to be outshined at an event.

[Triple A]

Curious about how they will deal with the lower card guys if they have true win/loss records. Like if someone has a 5-25 record or something, going to "look bad"... I guess they could always just have them have a winning streak if they want to give them a push.

[Destor]

Curious about how they will deal with the lower card guys if they have true win/loss records. Like if someone has a 5-25 record or something, going to "look bad"... I guess they could always just have them have a winning streak if they want to give them a push.
I miss the days when you could say you had some matches in a made uo town and everyone went with it

[Emperor Smeat]

Curious about how they will deal with the lower card guys if they have true win/loss records. Like if someone has a 5-25 record or something, going to "look bad"... I guess they could always just have them have a winning streak if they want to give them a push.

Streaks would be the easiest way. Doesn't even need to be a pure win streak, just have to make the wrestler be on a hot streak of sorts to justify their rise in status.

If done correctly, you would have built up a new star and have the end result be meaningful. You also avoid a Curt Hawkins type situation where a jobber suddenly has gold out of nowhere or make their push feel like a big joke in the end.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Eh, I wouldn’t say AEW is at TNA level yet in terms of signing WWE castoffs. WWE haven’t released all that many people in the past few years.

If they sign TJP or some shit then yeah, that’s a problem.

Oh, definitely not. I'm just saying that the whole "we're only interesting in, like, maybe 8% of the WWE roster" is bullshit. If you could take half the WWE roster, Tye Dillinger probably wouldn't have made the cut.

He's a fine addition. It's a reasonable signing. I think stars would be a lot more valuable, but showing misused talent in a different light without giving them too much emphasis until it feels right is a good way to go about things.

Streaks would be the easiest way. Doesn't even need to be a pure win streak, just have to make the wrestler be on a hot streak of sorts to justify their rise in status.

If done correctly, you would have built up a new star and have the end result be meaningful. You also avoid a Curt Hawkins type situation where a jobber suddenly has gold out of nowhere or make their push feel like a big joke in the end.

They can choose to emphasize whatever statistics they want. That's the great thing about wrestling -- you get to book that shit and produce it in a way that benefits you. If a guy's win/loss percentage is impressive, use that. If they've never lost at all, use that. If it's that they haven't taken a fall in a tag team match, then use that. Just use whatever is going to make the point for selling the person.

[Emperor Smeat]

AEW announced they will be crowning their first ever champ at a later date and the title match will be winner of Jericho/Omega vs. winner of Casino Battle Royale.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Alright, they must have someone pretty big planned for that Battle Royal then. Jon Moxley is probably going to be the name on the tip of everyone's tongue, but I'm hoping for someone from New Japan as a shocking reveal, given the apparent downturn of their relationship. TNT is a heck of a lot of potential exposure for New Japan talent.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I hope it isn't going to be Jericho vs. Hangman Page. Not a knock on either guy -- I want to see that program. I just don't really feel it for an AEW Championship story.

[slik]

AEW announced they will be crowning their first ever champ at a later date and the title match will be winner of Jericho/Omega vs. winner of Casino Battle Royale.


I like that idea a lot!

[Mr. Nerfect]

I still want the first match on Dynamite to be Brian Pillman, Jr. vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger as a call-back to the first Nitro.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Cody Hall left NOAH earlier this year. He's a big kid, really young. Is he any good? I heard he has heat with some people in the industry, but it says he was a former member of The Bullet Club. Would he be a decent signing for AEW?

[Fignuts]

He's not great from what I've seen. Also has an attitude problem.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That's a shame. Got a great look.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Alright, they must have someone pretty big planned for that Battle Royal then. Jon Moxley is probably going to be the name on the tip of everyone's tongue, but I'm hoping for someone from New Japan as a shocking reveal, given the apparent downturn of their relationship. TNT is a heck of a lot of potential exposure for New Japan talent.

Seems crazy that they would do a mega reveal on the free show before the PPV

But I guess it makes sense if they’re trying to attract customers

[Ultra Mantis]

Cody Hall was Bullet Club's young boy, basically a jobber, except unlike all the other young boys he was tall and a shit wrestler. He's a much, much worse version of Hikuleo.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Seems crazy that they would do a mega reveal on the free show before the PPV

But I guess it makes sense if they’re trying to attract customers

Yeah, I'm iffy on it. Feels very slapped together. They could have milked intrigue out of who is going to be the first champion for quite a while.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

They could've. But on the other hand, they can now build a feud around likely Omega and whoever wins the battle royal.

I wouldn't be against Jericho beating Omega, only to lose to the first champ.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

If Kenny Omega is going to be your first champ, which he probably should be, then he’s either got to beat a really good heel or an established name.

Probably just gonna have MJF win the battle royal

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've got a feeling that Hangman Page is going to be in that Battle Royal and the #21 guy is Joey Ryan doing a bit of a troll entrance, because they think it's funny. Page wins the Battle Royal. I do think that Omega is going to beat Jericho, but I can see Page beating Jericho at Fight for the Fallen and then facing Omega for the belt in Chicago. I hope they prove me wrong.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Not gonna lie, probably gonna have a good chuckle about how much bigger Billy Gunn is than the rest of the participants in the battle royal.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Is there any big name other than Moxley from outside AEW it could be?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Kind of seems weird to me that Glacier is just two wins away from being the first AEW Champion.

[mike adamle]

I hope Joey Janela wins and faces Jericho for the belt. That would be insane

[Mr. Nerfect]

Nah, it's got to be Moxley, right? They're going to need someone to hook people into the PPV. Moxley is about the only guy it can be.

[mike adamle]

Fuck that. Janela-Jericho would be ten times better. Janela is motivated. Ambrose has phoned it in for years. Give it to Janela.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Unless it is Punk in a Luchasaurus mask somehow.

[slik]

Is there any big name other than Moxley from outside AEW it could be?

CM Punk

[mike adamle]

You guys do realize they're trying not to be WWE-lite right?

[Supreme Olajuwon]

The more I think about it, I guess I could see Jericho as inaugural champion despite what he said about Brock. Jericho beating a young babyface for the title via shady tactics would work but it would poop all over the idea that AEW is different than WWE

[Mr. Nerfect]

CM Punk

He's supposed to be somewhere else doing commentary, but if it's possible to get him there, I'm sure they would.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The more I think about it, I guess I could see Jericho as inaugural champion despite what he said about Brock. Jericho beating a young babyface for the title via shady tactics would work but it would poop all over the idea that AEW is different than WWE

After watching the Before the Bell special, I'm thinking the same thing. Jericho presents himself really well in his segment on there. Omega kind of comes off in his own hype as rusty and like it's his match to lose. Jericho was setting up stories, introduced a new finishing move and really did set himself up as the heel to beat. His promo really sent the message of "I need to win," which doesn't mean he will, but I'm sure that's not accidental.

More pumped for Omega vs. Jericho having watched it.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I don't think Jericho being inaugural champ shits on what he said about Lesnar. If Jericho wins, there's likely a long termgoal at play to ultimately get a new guy over and give him the rub of beating Jericho and being the company's 2nd ever champion.

That's different than just putting the belt on Lesnar and having him defend 4 or 5 times a year with no plans of using him to make someone.

[Mr. Nerfect]

No doubt. Jericho is excellent. I think it just feels a lot better to have the belt on Omega, who is the obvious ace.

[Vastardikai]

An upstart promotion needs to have their biggest star become their first champion. And Jericho is their biggest star.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Jericho is their most recognizable star. As much as many of us may love Cody, Omega, etc., the casual wrestling fan that these guys are going to be trying to galvanize aren't likely to know who they are. Or maybe they do. I dunno. But as far as name recognition, Jericho is their biggest chip.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't think anyone denies that Jericho is the most recognizable guy they've got. I'm not sure that's who you go with as champion though.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Personally, I'd have put Omega over him at DoN and then gone to Omega vs. PAC and Jericho vs. Hangman Page at Fight for the Fallen. Kind of books itself. Omega could have beaten PAC (presuming PAC wasn't still Dragon Gate Champion) and Jericho could beat Page with his wily veteran tactics.

[#1-norm-fan]

I like the idea of putting it on Jericho and then building someone up to take it off of him. They’ve only got one chance to have a “first ever champion “. Make it a legendary name.

[#1-norm-fan]

I think Jericho, Omega and Cody are the only three guys who are big enough deals to make the title seem like a big deal from the get-go. Anyone else would have to be building up their credibility AFTER winning the title which is a shitty WWE tactic I hate.

And considering Cody and Kenny’s positions in the company, they might see it as a bad look to make themselves the first champion. So Jericho is the perfect choice for me.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m not going to be upset if it’s Jericho, but I’d rather Omega for that very reason. You’ve got one first-ever champ. Omega is going to be wrapped up in this thing forever and a day, most likely. He’s a great choice.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Given that they're announcing the championship stakes, I think we'll get a glimpse of the AEW Title belt at DoN.

[Triple A]

Here is a v small glimpse of the belt

https://www.tpww.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/aew-title.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

You obviously can't see much, but it looks classy. I'm sure that's the route they will go.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Cody posted an image on Twitter of him, Dean Malenko and Tony Khan about to board a plane heading to DoN.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I like the idea of putting it on Jericho and then building someone up to take it off of him. They’ve only got one chance to have a “first ever champion “. Make it a legendary name.

Not to mention, the chase is where the money is at. Put it on a piece shit heel like Jericho. Build up a babyface to chase him and make that kid a star in the process. I'm all for Jericho being the first champ. Also gives him the gimmick similar to the "first undisputed champion" schtick.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think "the money is in the chase" is a bit of a myth. Especially in modern wrestling when people's immediate interest seems to be in the performance. I can already hear the bitching if Jericho wins the belt first, with people tuning out because it's "just like WWE" (regardless of whether or not they have a plan for Jericho or not).

What would make potential fans the happiest? Would it be for Jericho to be a heel parading around for a few months as champion, because he's the guy with the most recognition to people who aren't watching, or him being shoved on his ass and being humbled up and sent back to the drawing board?

[Mr. Nerfect]

If they can find a babyface that people definitely want to watch, then that's probably more beneficial than having the belt on a heel just to mimic what used to work in territory wrestling, because you'd have a bunch of territory babyfaces that were built up. Omega is your territory babyface -- build him up. Hangman Page could be that guy in a few years, so while he shouldn't lose all the time, he can be the young guy with potential a heel like Jericho walks over to re-build him for title matches and the like -- eventually putting the guy over down the line, when you've pumped stakes and story into it.

I don't think there's one way to skin the cat in this situation. Jericho would not suck, from my perspective, as first champ. I just think it would be colder than people think to viewers that stopped watching WWE when Jericho meant something there.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Modern wrestling still uses the heel being chased. We just saw it with Kofi and Rollins. Other than Omega, who may not want to book himself as champ given his stature in the company, they don't have any babyface stars. They're going to have to create them. Trying to do that on your second ppv in your first 4 months or so is a big ask. Putting the belt on a guy and expecting them to be over doesn't typically work. Jericho is useful here. Putting the belt on him to start doesn't automatically mean people are going to think it's just like wwe.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, Rollins and Kofi aren't exactly setting the world on fire, are they? I'm not sure you create these babyfaces stars by booking everyone under Jericho for months. I think it comes with an element of risk.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Not to mention Jericho winning doesn't necessarily not make fans happy. They shouldn't jump the gun and hot shot a guy strictly to make fans happy. We'll see what they do but given how unknown their roster is I can't see why putting the belt on an established star who you know will put a young guy over well and try to make him would be a bad start.

[Mr. Nerfect]

But that's what they've got a chance to do at Double or Nothing, lol -- use Jericho to make a guy. It's not hot-shotting to put a babyface over in the main event of your first PPV.

[Mr. Nerfect]

People tuning it may not know who Kenny Omega is, but they might ask "Who is Kenny Omega?" And the answer might be "Oh, he's the best wrestler in the company." You can't really say that with any sort of honesty if you've got a 50-year-old Jericho walking around with the belt because Omega done goofed. Keep it simple.

[Fignuts]

I think it's a situation where it doesn't really matter which way they go. You could do a lot of great stuff with either direction.

Personally I'm in the Jericho camp. It is indeed great to see a character like Jericho get humble. But I also think it's even better when it's built up really well. Jericho is their biggest and best heel. I think for a guy so good at being a shithead, the payoff should come a little later.

Also, Kenny is kind of a weird guy. He may not click with everyone in the mainstream audiences right away. But Kenny chasing the belt being held by one of his arch rivals and certainly his arch nemesis in AEW, is a story that will adhere him to people very well. Because I do believe Omega should be the one to dethrone Jericho.

While I don't believe the money is always in the chase, I think in this case, it's a really good option.

But like I said before, given the talent involved I'm confident they can make it work regardless who wins.

[Jordan]

I think Jericho is gonna screw Kenny and get his win that way we can get a rubber match down the road. And as far as Jericho's tweet to Lesnar, who cares.

[Jordan]

Further explanation of my thinking...

AEW "wants" to develop something with NJPW so they can exchange talent. They've already got some talent with verbal deals like Jericho and Omega. Perhaps giving Jericho a win over Omega makes Gedo happy so that Jericho comes in strong against Okada for their IWGP Championship bout in June, soon after Double or Nothing.

Also leaves the door open for the third match, which could take place on an AEW show or perhaps even on an NJPW show. And then there is the outside chance that Jericho is getting a run with the IWGP Championship, in that case it would be a great idea to have Omega lose to Jericho at Double or Nothing when neither of them have a championship, but AEW has announced the winner of Jericho/Omega at Double or Nothing will be #1 contender against he winner of the Battle Royal. And I think it would make the AEW championship match mean a hell of a lot more if the IWGP Champion was apart of it, and even won it to become a dual champion. And that would be so Jericho wouldn't it?

[Sepholio]

Let me preface this by saying Chris Jericho is one of my legit 3 favorite wrestlers ever, and I personally think he is the best I've ever seen in terms of pure talent. My other 2 favorites are not in the same league as him (Tazz and Kevin Nash) and are just people I enjoyed for whatever reasons.

Jericho should not be the first champion. No way in hell. Really bad look for them to have a 50 year old ex-WWE main eventer as their first champion when they are trying to be an alternative. You could do it by having Jericho when via shenanigans, but then you have your first main event not being a clean match and ending fuzzy and again, is that really a way to present yourself as an alternative to WWE?

Then there's Jericho's recent comments in regards to Lesnar. The ones about a 40 year old taking spots from the younger guys......and then just a few days later he's going to win the title in a new companies first major event? And he's 50??? Talk about taking spots from the younger talent. Not a good look there. At all.

If they are going to go the route of a dirty finish of some type and not have Jericho do the job I would hope they would find some way to end it in a double KO. Not a count out outside the ring, not a DQ. A double KO. No one leaves as champion, you have an excellent match, everyone looks strong, the fans are left wanting more and to see who is going to get that belt in the end. And it's not stereotypical WWE.

Edit: Forgot the winner faces the winner of that battle royale and it's not for the title directly. So I dunno what you would do here honestly. I take back the double KO finish idea because I don't want the eventual first title match to be a triple threat. I'd still say Omega has to go over unless Jericho goes over dirty and they have a rematch for the title shot as a blow off match.

[Volare]

<iframe width="1439" height="557" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PWWShSOkqXA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sepholio]

And with the winner facing the winner of the battle royale at a later date that would mean making Jericho champion would require him to go over 2 younger talents. Uhg on that idea.

Maybe they could have Jericho go over Omega in their match and then have Omega enter the battle royale later and somehow manage to survive and win it. That could potentially work.

[Evil Vito]

It sounds like the planned booking was meant to be Omega/Jericho and Page/PAC being the two matches to determine the first title match. And then Omega was going to go over PAC.

But with Dragongate deciding they wanted PAC to keep their belt longer, and PAC is refusing to lose singles matches while he's their champion so as to not cheapen it for whoever takes that belt off of him...that forced them to alter their plans so that now the battle royal winner faces the winner of Jericho/Omega instead.

At this point I think Hangman might simply enter the battle royal and win. Letting him hang with Kenny will help establish him fairly quickly, and if the plans were always for Kenny to be the first champion they can continue to go that route.

Given the stipulation, if it's not Hangman it surely has to be Moxley. Can't imagine their first ever title match would just feature some random scrub.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AEW Has The Next '6 Months To A Year' Worth Of Storylines Planned<a href="https://t.co/EfobtQHBAT">https://t.co/EfobtQHBAT</a></p>&mdash; PWStream (@PWStream) <a href="https://twitter.com/PWStream/status/1131571904312217601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Refreshing. Let's see if they can maintain that long termapproach.

[#1-norm-fan]

Let me preface this by saying Chris Jericho is one of my legit 3 favorite wrestlers ever, and I personally think he is the best I've ever seen in terms of pure talent. My other 2 favorites are not in the same league as him (Tazz and Kevin Nash) and are just people I enjoyed for whatever reasons.

Jericho should not be the first champion. No way in hell. Really bad look for them to have a 50 year old ex-WWE main eventer as their first champion when they are trying to be an alternative. You could do it by having Jericho when via shenanigans, but then you have your first main event not being a clean match and ending fuzzy and again, is that really a way to present yourself as an alternative to WWE?

Then there's Jericho's recent comments in regards to Lesnar. The ones about a 40 year old taking spots from the younger guys......and then just a few days later he's going to win the title in a new companies first major event? And he's 50??? Talk about taking spots from the younger talent. Not a good look there. At all.

If they are going to go the route of a dirty finish of some type and not have Jericho do the job I would hope they would find some way to end it in a double KO. Not a count out outside the ring, not a DQ. A double KO. No one leaves as champion, you have an excellent match, everyone looks strong, the fans are left wanting more and to see who is going to get that belt in the end. And it's not stereotypical WWE.

Edit: Forgot the winner faces the winner of that battle royale and it's not for the title directly. So I dunno what you would do here honestly. I take back the double KO finish idea because I don't want the eventual first title match to be a triple threat. I'd still say Omega has to go over unless Jericho goes over dirty and they have a rematch for the title shot as a blow off match.

Jericho signed for 3 years so he’s in it for the long haul. I don’t think his age should be an issue. HBK was the best wrestler in WWE by far in the mid 2000s. But since he was “old”, he was treated like an over the hill legend who existed to get others over when he should have probably been getting serious world title reigns. It was stupid. Age should not factor in.

And as far as the hypocrisy of his Lesnar comments, it fits right in with his heel character. Troll the internet and be a hypocritical bastard. It’s harder and harder to make a heel nowadays. If you’ve gotta can me off as a scummy guy online to do it, so be it.

Also, the fact that he was a WWE main eventer shouldn’t factor in. He’s a star. Showcase him while you’re building homegrown talent. This isn’t TNA taking anyone who ever had a cup of coffee in WWE and making them champion over all their guys for a decade +. It’s a new company putting the title on their biggest star and then, hopefully trying to build up their own guys organically instead of just throwing the title on a midcard guy and crossing their fingers ala WWE. Make the title a big deal and THEN put it on the star you made.

[Volare]

<iframe width="1439" height="557" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N8EK2osMg08" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This Battle Royale just got better.

[#1-norm-fan]

And are these recent Jericho comments more than just that sarcastic tweet he sent about Lesnar? Has he said more on the subject that I missed?

[Volare]

He has cut plenty of promos about being in the ring makes soandso a bigger deal because of Jericho's name. Can easily run that.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Holy shit I thought reddit was kidding. XFINITY’s preview image for Double or Nothing really is a WWE 2k created arena <a href="https://t.co/m4jOxMWhfV">pic.twitter.com/m4jOxMWhfV</a></p>&mdash; Soundwave (@LocalSoundwave) <a href="https://twitter.com/LocalSoundwave/status/1131392616317247489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Volare]

https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61191564_2657561450924684_807313462051995648_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent.ffcm1-1.fna&oh=6dde071a37f70fd8ddc372a28bdc9e04&oe=5D647AA2

[Sepholio]

Jericho signed for 3 years so he’s in it for the long haul. I don’t think his age should be an issue. HBK was the best wrestler in WWE by far in the mid 2000s. But since he was “old”, he was treated like an over the hill legend who existed to get others over when he should have probably been getting serious world title reigns. It was stupid. Age should not factor in.

And as far as the hypocrisy of his Lesnar comments, it fits right in with his heel character. Troll the internet and be a hypocritical bastard. It’s harder and harder to make a heel nowadays. If you’ve gotta can me off as a scummy guy online to do it, so be it.

Also, the fact that he was a WWE main eventer shouldn’t factor in. He’s a star. Showcase him while you’re building homegrown talent. This isn’t TNA taking anyone who ever had a cup of coffee in WWE and making them champion over all their guys for a decade +. It’s a new company putting the title on their biggest star and then, hopefully trying to build up their own guys organically instead of just throwing the title on a midcard guy and crossing their fingers ala WWE. Make the title a big deal and THEN put it on the star you made.

I thought we wanted AEW to be an alternative to WWE. Not more of the same. WWE gets shit on when they bring in legends and thrust them into the main event. Everyone whines about it.....but hey this is AEW so it's fucking awesome to bring in an old legend and thrust them into the main event. WHAT?

And we're just going to dismiss the shit Jericho said on twitter because hey it conveniently fits in with him being a heel? LOL that's rich. Do we give Lars a pass for saying racist shit because it's totally a heel move and he was just setting up his character to be hated?

It's like you're picking and choosing when certain things are acceptable based solely on the company/person doing them. People/companies you like get a pass, the ones you don't get grief.

I'm probably just too high and reading too much into this. You're probably just shilling for Jericho (can't blame you, he is the titties) or AEW.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Jericho made himself relevant on that scene with his awesome performances in New Japan. He didn't just get 'thrust' into the scene OUTTA NOWHERE

[Sepholio]

Also age does matter. Let's not pretend it doesn't. When competing at the highest levels of any physical event it usually tends to be age that causes people to start dropping off in skill/strength/speed at an ever increasing rate. There is a huge difference between Jericho now at 50, and Jericho 10 years ago or 20 years ago. I wouldn't have an issue at all with a 40-42 (give or take here, but not much older) y/o Jericho being in this spot at the onset of AEW. But he's 50 now. He's not the same guy he was. 50 is.....pushing it to be acting like he's the best you've got when you have a bunch of physically superior guys that are 10-25 years younger.

[Sepholio]

Jericho made himself relevant on that scene with his awesome performances in New Japan. He didn't just get 'thrust' into the scene OUTTA NOWHERE

And Jericho is always in the main event or adjacent to it in WWE. But he isn't universal champion. I just don't think he should be the first champion. It's not a good look to me. I'm probably using the term main event too liberally here because I don't mean it as in the whole main event scene, I mean it as in the main event of this particular show. That's the context I'm talking about here.

And I'll reiterate because of your point; I take issue with how Jericho recently talked about Brock. Brock didn't just randomly get thrust into the main event; he's the most credible guy in the business just because of his UFC run, like it or not. Brock is far more believable as a credible champion at this point. FAR MORE.

AEW needs to be presenting itself as something entirely different. I have no issue with Jericho being at the top of the card in terms of programs he's working. But I want that first champion to be someone awesome that is different, that hasn't been a long time WWE guy, that isn't old and nearing the sunset of his career, someone AEW can build into THEIR guy. Taking legends from WWE and making them your champion for a quick draw is so TNA.

[Lock Jaw]

Just found out the PPV is on Saturday.... working anyways... not that I'd get it for 50 bucks....

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hangman Page Says He's &quot;Not Allowed&quot; To Wrestle At AEW Double Or Nothing <a href="https://t.co/8qxLuP2p0J">https://t.co/8qxLuP2p0J</a></p>&mdash; Fightful Wrestling, MMA, Boxing (@Fightful) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fightful/status/1131631903553933312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[xrodmuc316]

Anybody read the latest Jim Ross bullshit interview with ESPN??

Sits there saying the people who run WWE are "administrative" but don't know wrestling.

Could this asshole be gripping any harder???

He is legit turning me off on him having any involvement in AEW.

Does this dumb prick really not realize he is working for a dude that used his daddy's money to subscribe to the fucking wrestling observer newsletter, and that somehow means he "knows wrestling"??

I want AEW to stand in its own, not be the newest place ex WWE people go to bury WWE because they aren't as important to WWE as they think and WWE did them wrong.

JR trying to turn this into TNA version 2.0 because he has an axe to grind. Boomer Sooner blaaaaaah

[xrodmuc316]

Jericho signed for 3 years so he’s in it for the long haul. I don’t think his age should be an issue. HBK was the best wrestler in WWE by far in the mid 2000s. But since he was “old”, he was treated like an over the hill legend who existed to get others over when he should have probably been getting serious world title reigns. It was stupid. Age should not factor in.

And as far as the hypocrisy of his Lesnar comments, it fits right in with his heel character. Troll the internet and be a hypocritical bastard. It’s harder and harder to make a heel nowadays. If you’ve gotta can me off as a scummy guy online to do it, so be it.

Also, the fact that he was a WWE main eventer shouldn’t factor in. He’s a star. Showcase him while you’re building homegrown talent. This isn’t TNA taking anyone who ever had a cup of coffee in WWE and making them champion over all their guys for a decade +. It’s a new company putting the title on their biggest star and then, hopefully trying to build up their own guys organically instead of just throwing the title on a midcard guy and crossing their fingers ala WWE. Make the title a big deal and THEN put it on the star you made.

Shawn Michaels retired at 44 years old.

And as great as Jericho is, he was never 'The Top Guy".

It's really not an Apple to Apple comparison saying a 48 year old is the same thing as the guy many consider the best ever was at 44 when he retired.

And no it doesn't play into his heel character, he is trying to be a babyface to AEW fans despite being a heel within the company, by bashing WWE, because like I just posted about JR, the BEST WAY to get a new company over is by having EX WWE guys talk about how bad WWE is.

WWE is frustrating as hell, so why would I go out of my way to watch a DIFFERENT show that is talking about WWE. It is the dumbest business model I have ever heard of.

[Emperor Smeat]

Observer confirmed the rumors from Jericho's recent podcast show of AEW being on ITV for the UK market.

Still waiting for AEW to officially decide which day of the week to run their weekly show before the deal can be made official.

The move will come three months after what is expected to be AEW’s debut on ITV 4 in October with a regular live television show. The AEW deal is not official, but Cody strongly hinted at it on Being the Elite and Chris Jericho has talked about it on his podcast. ITV 4 will be airing both a Countdown like show for Double or Nothing on 5/24 and the one-hour Buy In show, as well as handle the PPV show in the U.K. market on ITV Box Office. The final deal is said to be not official until TNA decides whether to run the weekly two-hour live show on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. The hope is for ITV 4 to run the show live.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Anybody read the latest Jim Ross bullshit interview with ESPN??

Sits there saying the people who run WWE are "administrative" but don't know wrestling.

Could this asshole be gripping any harder???

He is legit turning me off on him having any involvement in AEW.

Does this dumb prick really not realize he is working for a dude that used his daddy's money to subscribe to the fucking wrestling observer newsletter, and that somehow means he "knows wrestling"??

I want AEW to stand in its own, not be the newest place ex WWE people go to bury WWE because they aren't as important to WWE as they think and WWE did them wrong.

JR trying to turn this into TNA version 2.0 because he has an axe to grind. Boomer Sooner blaaaaaah

Dude, why are you looking for reasons to hate AEW? It's bordering on creepy at this point. Don't understand your 'deal.' Your posts are annoying as fuck and you add little to no insight.

[Fignuts]

Anybody read the latest Jim Ross bullshit interview with ESPN??

Sits there saying the people who run WWE are "administrative" but don't know wrestling.

Could this asshole be gripping any harder???

He is legit turning me off on him having any involvement in AEW.

Does this dumb prick really not realize he is working for a dude that used his daddy's money to subscribe to the fucking wrestling observer newsletter, and that somehow means he "knows wrestling"??

I want AEW to stand in its own, not be the newest place ex WWE people go to bury WWE because they aren't as important to WWE as they think and WWE did them wrong.

JR trying to turn this into TNA version 2.0 because he has an axe to grind. Boomer Sooner blaaaaaah

He’s not wrong.

And if you watch interviews with Tony Khan, it’s clear that he has a genuine love for pro wrestling. He may not know wrestling as well as someone who’s worked in the industry but I’d bet money he knows a lot more than the execs in WWE.

[Emperor Smeat]

More details on PAC-Page being pulled from Double or Nothing:

The feeling here is that beating Page had to be a big deal and lead to a major main event, because they are positioning Page as a big star. If it’s not to set up a match with Omega, Jericho or Cody, nobody should be beating Page. You could do a DQ, and many would, or a draw. They made the decision that they wanted winners and losers when you pay for a PPV. To not adhere to that concept on the first show basically ruins the concept they are pushing right out of the gate. They were not going to sacrifice the entire concept of what they were building to get out of a match.

As far as the draw idea goes, that had problems as well. They could have done it, but there were a number of reasons why they didn’t. First, Tony Khan was at the Revolution Pro show where Pac and Will Ospreay did a 30:00 draw in what was an easy ****3/4 match. But as great as the match was, the fans booed the draw. Khan didn’t want that reaction on his show, and also noted it wasn’t just that match, but other Pac draws in the U.K. had gotten similar reactions, noting another great match with Zack Sabre Jr ... He didn’t want a negative reaction like that on the debut show.

Also seems they already timed out the matches for DoN's card so a draw result was out of the question unless more changes were made. Also wanted to save their first draw result for a much bigger match in the future.

[xrodmuc316]

Dude, why are you looking for reasons to hate AEW? It's bordering on creepy at this point. Don't understand your 'deal.' Your posts are annoying as fuck and you add little to no insight.

Exactly what did I say about AEW? I said JR and Jericho. Just because they work for AEW doesn't mean I said anything about AEW.

In fact I literally said JR is making me wish he had nothing to do with AEW, because I don't want his negativity and bullshit bitterness at "The E" to give AEW the perception they are like TNA.

Quite frankly it pisses me off that you equate what I said about 2 people running off at the mouth means I hate AEW, and feel the need to attack me. maybe if you weren't so far up their asses you wouldn't be so blinded by loyalty that you can't handle any negative aspects about anybody associated with AEW.

I'm sorry I'm not willing to blow JR or Jericho just because they are in AEW, and when they say stupid shit I'll say it's stupid regardless of what Wrestling Company they work for. Stop being so biased and maybe you won't get such "hurtfeels" every time somebody post something other than how they are busting a nut in their pants while thinking about AEW.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I'm sorry I'm not willing to blow JR or Jericho just because they are in AEW, and when they say stupid shit I'll say it's stupid regardless of what Wrestling Company they work for. Stop being so biased and maybe you won't get such "hurtfeels" every time somebody post something other than how they are busting a nut in their pants while thinking about AEW.

hmm nah I think you should just stop being a dipshit.

[Seanny One Ball]

I saw some promo for this with Jericho acting like it was real cage match stuff. He did some weak kicks and a back elbow called Judas something...

Then he swore.

He has Ric Flair tits now.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I've seen his matches with Omega and Naito. Both were the fucking tits (not his saggy man tits, just v good).

[Lock Jaw]

Don't like Jericho using foul language..... also dislike his long hair nowadays..... also really dislike his Shannon Moore look......

He'll prob keep the hair, so hoping he does away with the other two things....

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Watched the "Judas Effect" video. Jericho looks thick but not as fat as he did at Wrestle Kingdom. Granted they didn't show his stomach so maybe/prob still fat.

[#1-norm-fan]

I thought we wanted AEW to be an alternative to WWE. Not more of the same. WWE gets shit on when they bring in legends and thrust them into the main event. Everyone whines about it.....but hey this is AEW so it's fucking awesome to bring in an old legend and thrust them into the main event. WHAT?

WWE booking is shit and none of the matches matter. I'd like an alternative where the booking isn't shit and the matches matter. Bringing in legends has fuck all to do with it. In fact, I make it a point to say that guys like Lesnar SHOULD be the champ because they've done such a shitty job building their full-timers that Lesnar is by far the best option. So... yeah. You're gonna have to make that argument to the "everyone" crowd you're referencing. I'm not part of it.

And we're just going to dismiss the shit Jericho said on twitter because hey it conveniently fits in with him being a heel? LOL that's rich. Do we give Lars a pass for saying racist shit because it's totally a heel move and he was just setting up his character to be hated?

It's like you're picking and choosing when certain things are acceptable based solely on the company/person doing them. People/companies you like get a pass, the ones you don't get grief.

I'm probably just too high and reading too much into this. You're probably just shilling for Jericho (can't blame you, he is the titties) or AEW.


I give no fucks what Jericho said on Twitter when it comes to what should be happening in a wrestling story.

If the hypocrisy makes his heel character more unsavory, awesome. I'm not gonna go all "butthurt mark" and call foul and want a story that could be entertaining changed because it makes the guy playing the character a hypocrite. lol

And judging from the fact that you tried to make a comparison to Lars Sullivan's situation, I'm gonna say yes. You are too high.

[Simple Fan]

Something I just noticed and isn't really AEW related but with this thread about to be killed I thought I might throw it in here.

Not sure if many of you are familiar with Steve Earle but I was watching the video to Copperhead Road and realized he looks just like Nick Jackson in it.

xvaEJzoaYZk

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I don't how or why people would look at Lesnar showing up a handful or so times a year to barely defend a belt and get no one over in the process and Jericho being the first champion of an upstart company so they can build a new babyface star to dethrone him and make a guy and think to themselves that it's one in the same and makes Jericho a hypocrite.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AEW Double or Nothing shoutout on TNT �� <a href="https://t.co/S9JFa6XiQ1">pic.twitter.com/S9JFa6XiQ1</a></p>&mdash; Chris Montano (@gswchris) <a href="https://twitter.com/gswchris/status/1131746641176813568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 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">Double or Nothing ad during the NBA game. <a href="https://t.co/ypgRE9hQ1V">pic.twitter.com/ypgRE9hQ1V</a></p>&mdash; Fightful Wrestling (@FightfulWrestle) <a href="https://twitter.com/FightfulWrestle/status/1131746526760439808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DoubleOrNothing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DoubleOrNothing</a> has taken over Ceasar's Palace! Both stairwells are covered with Double of Nothing logos! �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starrcast?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Starrcast</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STARRCASTII?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STARRCASTII</a> <a href="https://t.co/G2Kq5AW0g5">pic.twitter.com/G2Kq5AW0g5</a></p>&mdash; Amy O (@Phoenixnjpw) <a href="https://twitter.com/Phoenixnjpw/status/1131697408432197632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Fignuts]

lol "Chris Jerecho"

[slik]

From reddit - first look at Double Or Nothing stage from AEW. Double Entrances (one for faces, one for heels maybe?)


https://i.imgur.com/ZCnIhFh.jpg

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Is that chandelier looking thing over the ring or the stage