All Elite Wrestling

[weather vane]

Excited to see where it goes.

[xrodmuc316]

DADDY!!!!! I NEED NEW TOYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
https://i.imgflip.com/812n9k.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

MJF should come out and announce that he has struck a deal to swap titles with Christian.

That would be a start.

[Mr. Nerfect]

FTR vs. Adam & Christian has potential, but I don’t trust AEW.

[Sepholio]

You know we'll just end up with E&C vs The Hardyz vs probably Team 3D from Impact in an exploding death ladder match.

[weather vane]

I’d love that.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You know we'll just end up with E&C vs The Hardyz vs probably Team 3D from Impact in an exploding death ladder match.

By the time it gets to ring it’s Edge & Christian vs. Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy vs. Bully Ray & Scorpio Sky because it’s just a series of disasters.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, Wikipedia already says AEW has signed Edge and he’s competing under his real name. They’ve got it wrong. He’ll be wrestling under his pre-WWE name…Damon Striker!

[Mr. Nerfect]

It will be hilarious if Edge doesn’t sign.

[GD]

Assuming Noid's post has to do with Adam Copeland and how he should work in NXT or TNA instead of ghey AEW

[Sepholio]

Assuming Noid's post has to do with Adam Copeland and how he should work in NXT or TNA instead of ghey AEW

Hey we shortened that term at the board meeting last night. It's just GheyEW now. Maybe you'd know these things if you bothered to grace us with your presence from time to time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hey we shortened that term at the board meeting last night. It's just GheyEW now. Maybe you'd know these things if you bothered to grace us with your presence from time to time.

Lol, weren’t they going to block me for the good of themselves and everyone? Please hurry the process along.

[Mr. Nerfect]

AEW’s top individual merchandise mover in the month of September was…

CM Punk.

[xrodmuc316]

So Collision only got like 350k against No Mercy, what are they going to get against Fastlane? :rofl:

[Sepholio]

lol FTR got straight squashed tonight by Starks and Big Bill

[Mr. Nerfect]

Collision is dead.

[rez]

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/czBHXYJ" data-context="false" ><a href="//imgur.com/a/czBHXYJ"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Lock Jaw]

Looks like he's in great shape.

Not to mention 7 foot tall.... AND YOU CAN'T TEACH THAT

[rez]

What if WWE came up with a, "What if..." series like Marvel? lol....I'd pay good money.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Dave Meltzer admitted that AEW is cold. Edge didn’t help ticket sales for Collision at all.

[Splaya]

Remember when I said people were not going to care about going to Collision or watch it because of there being college football on and no one giving a crap about watching wrestling on a prime time slot for college football or where people would rather go out to a bar or the movies??

[xrodmuc316]

What if WWE came up with a, "What if..." series like Marvel? lol....I'd pay good money.

I mean, they basically rewrite their own history ever few years anyways, that is kind of like "What If" :rofl:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Remember when I said people were not going to care about going to Collision or watch it because of there being college football on and no one giving a crap about watching wrestling on a prime time slot for college football or where people would rather go out to a bar or the movies??

Wow, lucky we’ve got you saying these things. I think you might be the only one. Is college football a factor on Wednesdays? Because it’s happening on Wednesdays too. Plus, numbers actually suggest it’s WWE that cuts into them more.

AEW just isn’t very good. The button-mashing worked for a while, but now it’s starting to get punished for it.

[weather vane]

Hahahaha Tonyyyyyy. Love it.

[Tom Guycott]

What if WWE came up with a, "What if..." series like Marvel? lol....I'd pay good money.

I mean, they basically rewrite their own history ever few years anyways, that is kind of like "What If" :rofl:

(dammit, I have a template for this on my phone, but not here... so I need to improvise poorly)

<a href="https://imgflip.com/i/821793"><img src="https://i.imgflip.com/821793.jpg" title="made at imgflip.com"/></a><div><a href="https://imgflip.com/memegenerator">from Imgflip Meme Generator</a></div>

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If Sir Vince McMahon said this, it would be the least of his alleged misdeeds. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWTitleTuesday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWTitleTuesday</a> on TBS<br>Tuesday <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWDynamite?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWDynamite</a> Tonight!</p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1711599850905911787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://media0.giphy.com/media/mvNExt19DqFJS/giphy.gif

[drave]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/CxZwfzM5LqqpcdghbT/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9520kq6p5ykq6aw6lx1ivl7rpyf4e6j5vx2o6buqxlr&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

[Mr. Nerfect]

Alvarez has given TK the hint to stop spurting off on social media. Nick Hausman reported that CM Punk’s camp has reached out to them and are like “This is why the guy is happy to be out of that shithole.”

[Mr. Nerfect]

Thunder Rosa wants out of AEW, to the surprise of no one.

[Splaya]

Thunder Rosa wants out of AEW, to the surprise of no one.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Maybe we’ll just say the names of talent that wish they could be getting paid as much to be anywhere else?

Edge

[Sepholio]

lol Edge and Ricky Starks drama now. Womp.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s a good thing Tony Khan is there to lead.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wait, drama is a good thing according to him, right?

[Mr. Nerfect]

You knew it was going to go poorly, but maybe just not so fast. Usually the talent tries to wait a month before they start sabotaging the show around the veterans.

[xrodmuc316]

So if I read correctly, Ricky Starks said Edge has bug eyes, and Edge got pissed and called him a vanilla midget ripoff of The Rock.

He is totally there to give back to the business it seems! LOL

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m on Edge’s side on this. He’s coming in to work with a bunch of green guys and help and (hopefully) their shows out so they don’t go extinct (I know, ironic for a fossil to do). You go over a plan, likely for your mate’s creative. Danielson’s pushing this guy even though everyone is pretty sure he’s leaving. That guy goes off the plan to actively throw the segment out and get themselves over at the expense of the guys who are going to be, ideally for him, putting him over. Fuck him.

It’s Adam Page all over again. But hey, at least this is another news story.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I dunno, Edge is kind of ass.

[Evil Vito]

lol Edge and Ricky Starks drama now. Womp.

I feel like calling it drama is overblowing it. Tons of people on Twitter talking like it’s a fact that there’s legit heat between them now yet literally nobody credible has indicated there is. It’s very easy to just tweet a rumor and add “-Dave Meltzer” or whatever to the end of it because the guy is never gonna bother to respond to every single fake rumor attributed to him.

I think it’s clear Edge wasn’t expecting the insult, and that’s not a surprise given he’s gotta adjust to an environment where promos are a lot more unscripted and free flowing. So he shot back since he felt it’s what his character should do. It came across as a bit awkward and hopefully he and Starks can sort shit out for their next promo if there is one but I think that’s about it.

If Edge actually got mad at an insult as tame as big-eyed then he’s being a bit of a bitch tbh. But I don’t think that’s the case here.

[Evil Vito]

My biggest issue with it was just that it came across awkward and didn’t really achieve anything other than two guys insulting each other and basically telling each other they suck. Ok, so then if they fight, the winner just beat a guy who he told everyone sucks?

MJF’s best quality in his promos is no matter how vile and personal he gets with his insults, he always throws in some sort of acknowledgment that he knows how good his opponent really is. Never write the guy you’re gonna fight totally off as a bitch.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I dunno, Edge is kind of ass.

Yeah he is. But he’s not wrong if he’s frustrated about young talent ambushing him and going into business for themselves.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I feel like calling it drama is overblowing it. Tons of people on Twitter talking like it’s a fact that there’s legit heat between them now yet literally nobody credible has indicated there is. It’s very easy to just tweet a rumor and add “-Dave Meltzer” or whatever to the end of it because the guy is never gonna bother to respond to every single fake rumor attributed to him.

I think it’s clear Edge wasn’t expecting the insult, and that’s not a surprise given he’s gotta adjust to an environment where promos are a lot more unscripted and free flowing. So he shot back since he felt it’s what his character should do. It came across as a bit awkward and hopefully he and Starks can sort shit out for their next promo if there is one but I think that’s about it.

If Edge actually got mad at an insult as tame as big-eyed then he’s being a bit of a bitch tbh. But I don’t think that’s the case here.

It’s the perception they’ve fostered. You expect talent to get at each other’s throats. And it’s literally how the Punk stuff started.

I can’t remember/don’t care where you stand on Meltzer, but just to make a hasty generalization: It is funny how people will report anything negative he says about WWE as gospel (Smeat style), but when it comes to potential bullshit in AEW, the company is still somehow getting the benefit of the doubt.

[xrodmuc316]

Yeah he is. But he’s not wrong if he’s frustrated about young talent ambushing him and going into business for themselves.

Maybe if he was so concerned about that he shouldn't have went to AEW to begin with. It is not some unknown industry secret that AEW is not exactly a professional workplace.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Maybe if he was so concerned about that he shouldn't have went to AEW to begin with. It is not some unknown industry secret that AEW is not exactly a professional workplace.

Agreed. It isn’t a surprise at this point. It is hilarious though. But that is where ego kicks in. I think everyone likes to think they are “above it.” Their experience, salary and stature in the business is supposed to carry some weight. But it’s so jarring how unprofessional the environment is.

William Regal couldn’t even make it a year.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tony Khan also probably pleads and makes a lot of promises to these guys too.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Yeah he is. But he’s not wrong if he’s frustrated about young talent ambushing him and going into business for themselves.

I could understand the young talent being pissed at being called a vanilla midget by a hack who's never really cut a good promo in his career.

I'm being a bit hard on Edge here. I like him as a "wrassler." Has good matches and great charisma. But he's never been a great promo and isn't a draw. He shouldn't be "big dogging" the younger talent because he plainly isn't a good enough talker to do so.

[Splaya]

Tony Khan also probably pleads and makes a lot of promises to these guys too.

:rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol::rofl::lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

I could understand the young talent being pissed at being called a vanilla midget by a hack who's never really cut a good promo in his career.

I'm being a bit hard on Edge here. I like him as a "wrassler." Has good matches and great charisma. But he's never been a great promo and isn't a draw. He shouldn't be "big dogging" the younger talent because he plainly isn't a good enough talker to do so.

I think you are being a little unfair on Edge here. I’m not his biggest fan, but I don’t think it’s fair to say he shouldn’t be big-dogging while Ricky Starks is there doing that (whether it’s out of ignorance or what).

Think I’m most amazed at is that Edge is surprised. It’s kind of what he signed up for.

[drave]

People who work in a business fed by ego get mad with one of them calls the other one names.


MORE AT 11!

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s how it creeps on air, spirals out of control and overshadows the product.

[Mr. Nerfect]

People say that it’s more interesting than the content, and while this is often intended as a “joke,” it is true and really is a problem for them lol.

[drave]

My absence of social media hampers me from the nonsense.

The only place I see TK Tweets is here.

[Vastardikai]

People who work in a business fed by ego get mad with one of them calls the other one names.


MORE AT 11!

For all we know, they got to the back, had a talk about it, and quashed everything. But since Starks is almost certainly going North, and COPEland is a threat to the Elite, this is getting made into a bigger story than it is.

[Mr. Nerfect]

For all we know, they got to the back, had a talk about it, and quashed everything. But since Starks is almost certainly going North, and COPEland is a threat to the Elite, this is getting made into a bigger story than it is.

Well, a bigger story than it might be. This is AEW, so it’s possible the executives are gathering firewood and pitchforks.

[xrodmuc316]

For all we know, they got to the back, had a talk about it, and quashed everything. But since Starks is almost certainly going North, and COPEland is a threat to the Elite, this is getting made into a bigger story than it is.

I certainly doubt Edge has the temperament to hold a grudge ala CM Phil, nor do I think Ricky Starks was intentionally trying to goad Edge ala Hangman or the Bucks, but I still think Edge needs to maintain his composure better than he did. No reason to go right to the killshot of burying the guy because of a bug eyed comment.

[Splaya]

Well, a bigger story than it might be. This is AEW, so it’s possible the executives are gathering firewood and pitchforks.

:rofl::rofl::lol::lol::rofl::rofl::lol::lol:

[Lock Jaw]

Stop it with the annoying posts with those emoticons

[Destor]

Its honestly the worst trend on the board, ironic or otherwise

[Mr. Nerfect]

I certainly doubt Edge has the temperament to hold a grudge ala CM Phil, nor do I think Ricky Starks was intentionally trying to goad Edge ala Hangman or the Bucks, but I still think Edge needs to maintain his composure better than he did. No reason to go right to the killshot of burying the guy because of a bug eyed comment.

Starks may have not intended what was interpreted, but I can understand why it is frustrating for a veteran. And Starks is supposed to be one of the good ones!

It may not have been the comment itself. For all we know, Starks was explicitly told not to do it, or that idea in particular was knocked back for being juvenile. If it was impromptu, I totally understand why a babyface feels annoyed being put in the position of being a punk by a guy that you were intending to give the rub to later.

[drave]

I certainly doubt Edge has the temperament to hold a grudge ala CM Phil, nor do I think Ricky Starks was intentionally trying to goad Edge ala Hangman or the Bucks, but I still think Edge needs to maintain his composure better than he did. No reason to go right to the killshot of burying the guy because of a bug eyed comment.

It's also true tho....


https://media.tenor.com/B3AzS4cRGxQAAAAC/edge-wide-eyes.gif



It's kinda like The Rock and his "pain face" whenever he was in a submission hold, or even the one applying the submission hold. I get exaggerated expressions, but he'd yell out like HE was the one in the hold and it cracked me up.


https://therockgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/sharpshooter.jpg

[Splaya]

Starks may have not intended what was interpreted, but I can understand why it is frustrating for a veteran. And Starks is supposed to be one of the good ones!

It may not have been the comment itself. For all we know, Starks was explicitly told not to do it, or that idea in particular was knocked back for being juvenile. If it was impromptu, I totally understand why a babyface feels annoyed being put in the position of being a punk by a guy that you were intending to give the rub to later.

Or....

There was a small disagreement that was over after 5 seconds, a handshake, and an agreement to watch what they say.


Then Meltzer completely blows it out of proportion.

[Evil Vito]

Sting is probably announcing the beginning of his retirement tour tonight. Hopefully they can find a way to get him in the ring with anyone left he might want to face, even if he's mostly just gonna do tag stuff until his final match.

My best guess is that he'll have his final tag match with Darby at Revolution 2024 (no date announced yet but March 3rd would track with recent years) and then his actual retirement match, presumably a singles match with Darby, on the March 20th Dynamite.

March 20th is Sting's 65th birthday, would allow him to headline a show on a Turner network which makes for a logical conclusion for him. And TK will hopefully do what he has to to let it be a commercial-free main event.

[#1-norm-fan]

March 20th is Sting's 6th birthday

Insane how much he’s accomplished already.

[Evil Vito]

Insane how much he’s accomplished already.

:lol: fuck

[Evil Vito]

65 though, god damn. glad he's had this last run

[Evil Vito]

plot twist: Sting doesn't announce his retirement, instead just says he was thinking about diving off of a roof

[Mr. Nerfect]

Or....

There was a small disagreement that was over after 5 seconds, a handshake, and an agreement to watch what they say.


Then Meltzer completely blows it out of proportion.

It could be small or large. It’s AEW, so you know it’s going t be handled well by adults.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, Jericho has gone out there and made an ass out of himself and AEW again re: ratings.

[xrodmuc316]

Jericho literally said what the Cultist said lol

WWE HAD TO USE THEIR STARS ON THEIR OWN SHOW, COWARDS!!!
THAT IS NOT FAIR FOR THEM TO USE WWE STARS TO GET RATINGS! BESIDES OUR SHOW WAS BETTER WE HAD ME CHRIS JERICHO, EDGE, CHRISTIAN, SARAYA, STING, ADAM COLE, AND RUBY RIOT!!!!

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s not doing them any good.

[xrodmuc316]

Another thing for Jericho to spin...

A81hEBaIDXA

[Mr. Nerfect]

One of the weirdest things as a wrestler has to be performing in front of small crowds and pretending they are big. And it’s got to be hard as a wrestling fan to go to shows hardly anyone is at and pretend it’s hot shit.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Brock Anderson is reportedly gone from AEW. Add him to the list of guys with tons of potential that AEW has no clue how to develop. I think it’s pretty likely he goes to NXT and Arn ends up back in WWE, possibly being used to forward Cody’s “story.”

[Verbose Minch]

Brock Anderson is reportedly gone from AEW. Add him to the list of guys with tons of potential that AEW has no clue how to develop. I think it’s pretty likely he goes to NXT and Arn ends up back in WWE, possibly being used to forward Cody’s “story.”

Brock Anderson does not have "tons of potential". He looks like a high school shop teacher.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Brock Anderson does not have "tons of potential". He looks like a high school shop teacher.

Yeah, what a shame an Anderson looks like that.

[screech]

Brock Anderson does not have "tons of potential". He looks like a high school shop teacher.

You have to remember that Noid has fantasy booked both Val Venis and Doug Basham to win the world title so he's not the best judge of talent lol

[Splaya]

You have to remember that Noid has fantasy booked both Val Venis and Doug Basham to win the world title so he's not the best judge of talent lol

As someone who is currently watching RAW's from 1998, Venis had the potential to be pushed to the moon...

So while I don't normally agree with him, A Val Venis world title run I would not have hated. He needed to be pushed in the 2004-2007 range, not when he was pushed.

Doug Basham though??? HARD PASS

[Mr. Nerfect]

You have to remember that Noid has fantasy booked both Val Venis and Doug Basham to win the world title so he's not the best judge of talent lol

Lol, didn’t your Paul Heyman faction have Test and Big Show in it?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Doug Basham was great. 2/3 Falls with Nick Dinsmore. Would get over 4.5 stars if it happened today. That whole OVW period was really good. Critically lauded but overlooked by many because a lot of the key players got lost to history.

Basham knew how to work and carry himself as a heel. Would add lots of great detail to what he was doing. If he was up against a jobber, for example, he would walk up to them and slap them with his left hand, which is cheeky as fuck because they’re not expecting it from that side.

That whole period is full of guys with really great bases. You don’t get that much these days. Most wrestlers can’t even throw a punch.

A lot of people also confuse what someone gets to show off with what they could potentially do. A 10-minute TV match was not “get your shit in” like today. And wrestlers back then were still calling it in the ring.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If Doug Basham had come up with the whole Revolution gimmick — Victoria or Nikita by his side as a valet, long hair, cool entrance, etc. — he could have at least been an IC or US Champion in the 2002-2004 period. Could have had a nice little feud with Ric Flair while he was doing the running Raw thing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

So it seems like no one cares, but AEW is doing a December 30 PPV called “Worlds End.” I don’t know which worlds are ending, but they’re putting it in the Nassau Colosseum. Isn’t that an infamously cold place for wrestling events? And they’re taking it to New York in winter around Christmas and New Year? Does this seem like a bad idea to anyone else?

Or is the hope that there will just be so many people local for Christmas that they can toss a net and half-fill the place?

[xrodmuc316]

They have been consistently running 10,000 seat arenas and only making about half the seats available, and most time they are only selling 3000-4000 of those tickets.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tony needs to start paying people to go to AEW shows and pretend the product is cool.

[Splaya]

Tony needs to start paying people to go to AEW shows and pretend the product is cool.
He already does that

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sorry — he needs to pay *more* people to go to AEW shows.

[Lock Jaw]

The roster is big enough already

[Mr. Nerfect]

Good point. Plus it’s not like a lot of them wouldn’t blend right in.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Daniel Bryan orbital bone injury - legit?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Seems he’s going to require surgery.

[xrodmuc316]

I am going to say work based on the diagnosis.

Danielson got a broken orbital bone from an Orange Punch from a 150 pound guy, out the rest of the year.

Undertaker got a broken orbital bone from a 500+ pound guy landing on his face, just wore a opera mask and missed no time.

[Vastardikai]

I am going to say work based on the diagnosis.

Danielson got a broken orbital bone from an Orange Punch from a 150 pound guy, out the rest of the year.

Undertaker got a broken orbital bone from a 500+ pound guy landing on his face, just wore a opera mask and missed no time.

Maybe the orbital bone is a cover for his concussion.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It’s probably a number of things — age, severity, awareness. You just don’t want to see anymore careless injuries. People seem to be blaming Okada. I dunno if it should just be one of those “shit happens” things, but the company does put a lot of people in the line of fire because TK doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

[Ben Rodrigues]

This company can't catch a break. I've completely stopped watching AEW but its sad to read about their continued issues/decline.

On the plus side - WWE is better than it has been in years. Smackdown is must watch TV (although I do fast forward many of the matches).

[xrodmuc316]

Maybe the orbital bone is a cover for his concussion.

Yeah I would believe that

[Mr. Nerfect]

Most of AEW’s issues are self-imposed. It’s hard to feel sorry for them.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Don't feel sorry for them as agreed it's their own doing (how do you fire your top star in favour of ones that don't draw?). More sad considering how much potential it had. Oh well :)

[Mr. Nerfect]

AEW as a concept had potential, but the execution has always wasted it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Dave shared a quote from AEW talent about how the creative process in AEW has changed. They don’t find out as many things ahead of time anymore, and often it’s day of a show or the day before. It’s beginning to feel a lot like WWE.

Jerry Lynn then confirmed it was the case, but it’s done because they don’t want any of these precious plans being leaked. Which would make sense if that was ever the issue with AEW creative.

[xrodmuc316]

Daniel Bryan orbital bone injury - legit?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">*About to expose Pro Wrestling*<br><br>Yeah, it was 100% not the Orange Punch-Rainmaker combination, but it's fantastic that they played right into it<br><br>Builds up not only Claudio vs Okada/OC, but also Okada-Danielson II<a href="https://t.co/zs37gfQyVV">pic.twitter.com/zs37gfQyVV</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y0d7GuIqrX">https://t.co/Y0d7GuIqrX</a></p>&mdash; P.eps. #MaikaStyle�� (@Peps_Wrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/Peps_Wrestling/status/1718990661674824145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Looks like Bryan may have a legit injury, but when it actually happened was before the angle on tv.

[Mr. Nerfect]

He probably got an injury in both. Then got injured drinking his morning coffee.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Also, so fucking ridiculous they put Orange Cassidy in the Danielson/Okada program. You know what a program about who the best wrestler is? A dude who actively mocks pro-wrestling as fake. You have a comedy wrestler and then expect there to be drama in the “high impact” of the stuff you want to sell as real. This is objectively bad storytelling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

They should add Oklahoma to The BCC and Vince Russo to Chaos. Would totally fit. They were fake wrestlers and one even held the World Title.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Holy shit, Tony Khan is going to make an “important announcement” on Dynamite this week.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Nice! Can't wait to read all about it!

I saw on the main page that MJF vs Omega didn't draw (although faced stiff competition).

What do they have left?

[xrodmuc316]

I hope his announcement is that Shad fired him

[Sepholio]

This is the one guys. I can feel it in my soul. This is the announcement that will change everything.

[drave]

it's only big, not huge this time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Nice! Can't wait to read all about it!

I saw on the main page that MJF vs Omega didn't draw (although faced stiff competition).

What do they have left?

Do it again, but this time it’s a Texas Deathmatch. When that doesn’t work, go to space.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Do it again, but this time it’s a Texas Deathmatch. When that doesn’t work, go to space.

:lol: I do enjoy a good last man standing match that pretends to be a Texas death match. Maybe this will be the thing that gets me watching the show again!

[xrodmuc316]

Who could have guess exploding your payroll to sign a bunch of ex WWE guys would lead to a decrease in viewership amongst a fanbase that hates WWE. Remember Tiny saying he learned from WCW's mistakes, but then is still making all the exact same mistakes? That is all ok though, TINY HAS A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT TONIGHT!!!!!! #dynamite #tonightonwednesday #wedneadaynightdynamite #tbsdynamite #tonight

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m sure absolutely none of them were cut loose with the intention of them being Trojan horses either.

[Sting Fan]

I'm not normally a fan of the belt being stolen thing unless its fairly quickly resolved but I am enjoying this angle with BC Gold and MJF. Lots of layers with the devil stuff although the reveal will make or break that, Jay White looks good with the belt and the BC gold revolving around holding it leaves them looking like good dastardly heels.

I would have happily never seen the Gunns again pre BC gold, when they joined I cringed but its working now. Not sure who should get the praise for that but someone should.

[xrodmuc316]

How come Tiny's YUUUUUUUUGE announcement couldnt get a million viewers? Or 900,000 viewers? Or even 850,000 viewers????? Poor Tiny Khan :'(

[Mr. Nerfect]

No pity spike.

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I think people are down on what AEW has become because they were so high on what AEW originally set out to be. They were the company that said &quot;We want to change the world&quot;. Now they're the company that says &quot;This is just how wrestling is now&quot;. They conformed, and that sucks.</p>&mdash; Gran Akuma (@__AKUMA) <a href="https://twitter.com/__AKUMA/status/1720302327549112503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

this feels spot on

I still enjoy more about AEW than I don't. the wrestling is still very much to my tastes and I know that part will give me my fix for the time being. but this is easily the most "WWE" its ever felt

the anti-AEW crowd were always getting on the "wrassling journalists" acting like TK was paying them off for not being critical enough of AEW. well they are now. even Meltzer and Alvarez. they're not saying it sucks or whatever but a lot of what made the company feel special to its fans is getting increasingly homogenized and it's gradually feeling more like just another wrestling company

[Mr. Nerfect]

It was like that from the start. They dropped “change the world” thing very quickly when it was apparent that it wouldn’t change much of anything. It doesn’t help that they lied about things, but the chief problem is that it is bad.

[XL]

Who’d have thought signing 200+ talents and having to pump out 5 hours of TV a week would lead to a downturn in quality?

[xrodmuc316]

I can say one thing about AEW, even with all the embarrassments and money lost, Tiny Khan has made lots of fun friends!!!!!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Somehow I doubt many of them are picking up the phone if Tony isn’t paying them.

[xrodmuc316]

Somehow I doubt many of them are picking up the phone if Tony isn’t paying them.

Yeah but he is paying like 200 people lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

It wouldn’t surprise me if Tony Khan doesn’t value real friendship, because he knows it’s all phoney. But it’s going to be a bit sad if AEW ends and he can’t get people to hang out and drink White Claw with him anymore.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Someone’s going to get thrown under the bus for this mess. It’s almost definitely going to be Tony Khan when the wrestlers all have their say.

[Ben Rodrigues]

He needs to do something to boost that live attendance. Has he thought about walking around with the AEW World Championship before shows and taking photos with the fans?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Maybe he could just not charge people for entry?

[Ben Rodrigues]

Maybe he could just not charge people for entry?

Ooh. That's not bad!

As the face of AEW he needs to be in angles with top talent. Maybe a romance with Hikaru Shida?

[Mr. Nerfect]

They can pluck a Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleader to accuse Tony of doing the deed.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Under 2,200k tickets distributed for their Chicago show later this month. Wow.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The card for Dynamite looks fucking awful this week:

* MJF vs. Daniel Garcia for the AEW World Title
* Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe
* Samoa Joe vs. Keith Lee for the ROH TV Ritle
* Red Velvet vs. Julia Hart
* Swerve Strickland vs. Pentagon, Jr

[Lock Jaw]

<table class="tborder" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="1" border="0" width="100%" style="background: rgb(64, 81, 116); color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border: 1px solid rgb(64, 81, 116); font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, &quot;lucida grande&quot;, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><tbody><tr><td class="tcat" colspan="2" style="background: url(&quot;images/gradients/gradient_theadblue.gif&quot;) left top repeat-x rgb(51, 102, 153); color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font: bold 10pt verdana, geneva, lucida, &quot;lucida grande&quot;, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Who Posted?Total Posts: 15,128
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[Mr. Nerfect]

You’re welcome.

[Verbose Minch]

The card for Dynamite looks fucking awful this week:

* MJF vs. Daniel Garcia for the AEW World Title
* Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe
* Samoa Joe vs. Keith Lee for the ROH TV Ritle
* Red Velvet vs. Julia Hart
* Swerve Strickland vs. Pentagon, Jr

The Garcia thing is so frustrating. Like why is this happening? Garcia has never drawn a dime, and never will unless he gets on the gas.

Swerve VS Penta is oood though, looking forward to that

[Mr. Nerfect]

Garcia’s not w/o talent. He’s just not there yet and has been presented like a joke. People aren’t going to be invested in the idea of him challenging for the World Title, especially when everybody knows the belt is no danger of changing hands.

Swerve vs. Penta isn’t my thing. If it’s yours — cool. But again, there’s no drama in this because they’re just going to flip for 20 mins before Swerve wins because he has a match against Hang-on Page coming up.

[Verbose Minch]

Garcia’s not w/o talent. He’s just not there yet and has been presented like a joke. People aren’t going to be invested in the idea of him challenging for the World Title, especially when everybody knows the belt is no danger of changing hands.

Swerve vs. Penta isn’t my thing. If it’s yours — cool. But again, there’s no drama in this because they’re just going to flip for 20 mins before Swerve wins because he has a match against Hang-on Page coming up.

Agreed. Garcia just needs to hit the weights, big time. He used to be presented as this Benoit style rassler, but you see him and it's just not impressive. He needs to put on mass, and he'll get there

Swerve has been growing on me recently, and Penta is usually entertaining (his overuse of Canadian destroyers aside)

[XL]

Remember when they had a ranking system to determine who got a shot at the champ? Now Garcia has a title shot because reasons.

[screech]

Not a fan of Garcia. The dancing thing is dumb and he's boring as fuck. He shouldn't be challenging for the World Title.

[screech]

lol the rankings! CM Punk was still listed as number one like 6 months after he'd been suspended.

Update: he still is number one because the rankings haven't been updated since August 31, 2022.

[Evil Vito]

All 4 of the men’s matches on dynamite this week seem like they’ll be great in-ring matches and we have a fucking numbskull who doesn’t watch saying the card looks awful

[Evil Vito]

Groan @ Red Velvet being back though. Never saw anything with her in ring, was kinda hoping she was gonna be one of those talents that got quietly non-renewed

[Evil Vito]

I think the rankings were a cool idea to begin with but also think they became something of a hindrance as the company got older. You started having everyone and their brother wrestling squash matches on Dark because they wanted to inflate records

They would intentionally bench guys if they didn’t want them winning too many matches to justify a title shot. Ditto for the tag division. Guys would suddenly get booked in 6-man and 8-man tags so their tag records didn’t get too good

[Ben Rodrigues]

That's not how rankings should work. Almost always you should beat someone ranked to move into the rankings. Beating nobodies shouldn't get you ranked.

Back when I cared I noticed CM Punk beat numerous people when he first joined AEW some of whom were ranked. Quite frustrating to see that he wasn't getting ranked. This changed when he said at the press conference that he wanted to be AEW Champion.

[Destor]

If Gabe couldnt get rankings over no one can

[xrodmuc316]

I think the rankings were a cool idea to begin with but also think they became something of a hindrance as the company got older. You started having everyone and their brother wrestling squash matches on Dark because they wanted to inflate records

They would intentionally bench guys if they didn’t want them winning too many matches to justify a title shot. Ditto for the tag division. Guys would suddenly get booked in 6-man and 8-man tags so their tag records didn’t get too good

Ill never forget when Tony Nese was a top 5 contender for the World Title based on a bunch of dark wins lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ill never forget when Tony Nese was a top 5 contender for the World Title based on a bunch of dark wins lol

:lol: Holy shit. The rankings were always a bad idea. Was always going to force them into corners. Limits the stories you can tell and makes it hard to shift gears and directions with guys.

[Mr. Nerfect]

All 4 of the men’s matches on dynamite this week seem like they’ll be great in-ring matches and we have a fucking numbskull who doesn’t watch saying the card looks awful

MJF vs. Daniel Garcia will be “fine” in the ring. Maybe “good.” But I’ve already laid out why it’s a bad idea to do it for the World Title now, and look — a bunch of people seem to agree with this “numbskull.” And why don’t I watch? Oh yeah, because of a shit product like this. Some people want more substance than a bunch of dudes flopping around.

Samoa Joe is a talented guy. Great worker. Booked fucking horribly. He’s held the irrelevant mid-card title of a dead promotion for almost 2 years that they sometimes forget even exists. He was a breath of fresh air being inserted into the main event scene despite this, but has prematurely been taken out. He’s now going to “wrestle” Keith Lee — who absolutely sucks. Lee’s finishing move would be heart disease if he could make it contagious. Most people accept he’s a big ol’ bust in AEW, and hey — who could have guessed that from the start?

Swerve has talent. But when he’s against flippy guys he just flips. Plus he’s involved in an all-time bad story right now, breaking into peoole’s homes (is it because he’s black, Tony?) and cutting promos on babies. Pentagon is overrated as hell. Pantomime presentation, spams Canadian Destroyers and other nonsensical bullshit. But even if you like this shit (as I said: “cool”), you can’t pretend there’s any drama in the context of the match.

I can’t even remember what the 4th match is. Oh, Jay White and Mark Briscoe. Both talented guys. Somehow TK dropped the ball with Mark even despite there being a death to exploit. Jay White has lost something with Punk booking him. He’s in over his head on this main event story. He’s not used to cutting promos and he and MJF don’t match up well visually. It’s surrounded by all this Black Scorpion bullshit and again, there’s no drama in the outcome because Jay White is going to a PPV title match, Mark Briscoe is irrelevant and has been booked as such.

Where is the fucking lie?

[xrodmuc316]

I don't understand why Mark Briscoe cares so much that Jay White has MJF's Championship. As far as reasons to make a match, that is even weaker than the "I walked into your backstage interview so now we must fight" trope (which is how we got the Joe vs Lee match booked).

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol at the reasoning behind Joe and Lee wrestling.

Is that really why Mark Briscoe is going after Jay White? This company.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Did Keith Lee ever get even with Swerve Strickland for crushing his head with a cinder block?

[Verbose Minch]

Did Keith Lee ever get even with Swerve Strickland for crushing his head with a cinder block?

He doesn't remember it because of the concussion

Also, Keith Lee stinks and looks/speaks like an autistic grandpa

[Sepholio]

He was better as the BEARCAT. Yeah, I said it. So what? Wanna fight about it? :shifty:

[Verbose Minch]

He was better as the BEARCAT. Yeah, I said it. So what? Wanna fight about it? :shifty:

Nobody would dare dispute the power of BEARCAT Keith Lee

[DaveWadding]

He doesn't remember it because of the concussion

Also, Keith Lee stinks and looks/speaks like an autistic grandpa

I don't know how someone who describes themself as verbose cannot identify the indubitably insatiable verbosity of the indescribable, incomparable Limitless Keith Lee.

[Vastardikai]

I don't know how someone who describes themself as verbose cannot identify the indubitably insatiable verbosity of the indescribable, incomparable Limitless Keith Lee.

This feels like what me on the best (?) Booking posts.

Also, last Keith Lee match I saw was the one where Zicky Dice bounced off of him and put himself into the Spirit Bomb.

[Verbose Minch]

I don't know how someone who describes themself as verbose cannot identify the indubitably insatiable verbosity of the indescribable, incomparable Limitless Keith Lee.

I've identified it because I'm also an autistic grandpa (and I stink)

[Tom Guycott]

This is the one guys. I can feel it in my soul. This is the announcement that will change everything.

They should just hire Dixie Carter, and repeatedly have Tony make an announcement that she has an announcement, and then have her announcement be that TK has an announcement. Just bounce it between the two of them, ad infinitum.

They also haven't done anything like the borderline bait & switch announcement yet - like that time "Chris Jericho will appear on Impact"... and it was just a one-time airing of a Fozzy video at the end of the show, even though everyone knows that wasn't what was being implied.


It was like that from the start. They dropped “change the world” thing very quickly when it was apparent that it wouldn’t change much of anything. It doesn’t help that they lied about things, but the chief problem is that it is bad.

"Sports-Based presentation!" - legless guy in a battle royal.
"Wins and losses matter!" - rankings and wins are only mentioned when convenient for the here-and-now, and after a specific match happens where it was a big deal? Very small print in the entrance lower third.
"Faces and heels are tired old tropes!" - almost everyone that is even in an angle is in an angle about who is and isn't friends anymore. Because being a saint or an irredeemable shithead doesn't matter in this morality play; only if they're still friends or not in a very slow burn that goes nowhere and nobody cares...

I had more shit written here, but I lost interest. I agree with you: chief problem is that it is bad. Followed closely by they don't know it's bad.

He needs to do something to boost that live attendance. Has he thought about walking around with the AEW World Championship before shows and taking photos with the fans?

No, seriously, Tony should hire Dixie.

The Garcia thing is so frustrating. Like why is this happening? Garcia has never drawn a dime, and never will unless he gets on the gas.

Swerve VS Penta is oood though, looking forward to that

Garcia’s not w/o talent. He’s just not there yet and has been presented like a joke. People aren’t going to be invested in the idea of him challenging for the World Title, especially when everybody knows the belt is no danger of changing hands.

Swerve vs. Penta isn’t my thing. If it’s yours — cool. But again, there’s no drama in this because they’re just going to flip for 20 mins before Swerve wins because he has a match against Hang-on Page coming up.

These two things perfectly encapsulate major AEW problems - low stakes matches you can predict the outcome for and repeated flip-o-thons where the winner doesn't matter as long as everyone goes through tables or into thumbtacks for a "holy shit" chant and everyone "gets their shit in".

Remember when they had a ranking system to determine who got a shot at the champ? Now Garcia has a title shot because reasons.

lol the rankings! CM Punk was still listed as number one like 6 months after he'd been suspended.

Update: he still is number one because the rankings haven't been updated since August 31, 2022.

That's not how rankings should work. Almost always you should beat someone ranked to move into the rankings. Beating nobodies shouldn't get you ranked.

Back when I cared I noticed CM Punk beat numerous people when he first joined AEW some of whom were ranked. Quite frustrating to see that he wasn't getting ranked. This changed when he said at the press conference that he wanted to be AEW Champion.

If Gabe couldnt get rankings over no one can

Ill never forget when Tony Nese was a top 5 contender for the World Title based on a bunch of dark wins lol

:lol: Holy shit. The rankings were always a bad idea. Was always going to force them into corners. Limits the stories you can tell and makes it hard to shift gears and directions with guys.

I disagree. They were a great idea... but here comes the qualifier... IF they were consistent.

Similar to how WWE has been off and on again with the idea of a Brand Split, or whenever they decide that Tag Teams are in any way important enough to actually push beyond two teams specifically having a feud for a few months then all the teams fucking off to obscurity or fighting against randomly thrown together teams of singles, AEW just never follows through with anything worth following through with for future use. They want to spend all their currency of "set up a potentially cool moment" without earning the moment by making people that fans want to see in and of themselves.

If they maintained consistency on rankings and win/loss records - two of the things the company sold themselves on - they should have some folks there to keep track of this shit and help book longer term than some random match in the next two weeks at Daily's Place. Folks who are getting positioned to be stars should be getting more wins than shitheads who are middling or jobbing... and the only consistent "jobbers" are Fuego Del Sol and the dudes from Bear Country. Everyone else they pretend are all upper midcard to main event when that can't even work in the loosest of theories. Nobody gives a shit about The Best Friends, but they're boys with Orange Cassidy, so they're all unilaterally supposedly championship material. Whatever you feel about guys like Tony Neese or Keith Lee, they came in with a bunch of buzz that was pissed away by AEW inside of a month. Same with guys in-house like Hobbs and Wardlow.

At this point, after 4 years, a Powerhouse Hobbs and Wardlow collision (no pun intended) should have been considered a must-see inevitability for the AEW Championship. Instead, both guys are spinning wheels, have met in nothing matches and battle royals umpteen times with meh results because "that wasn't important right then" (and what I mean is like, Wardlow tossing Hobbs from one such battle royal because Hobbs was just some random obstacle in the way of the then-angle Wardlow was in with someone else. So, instead of teasing or placing the seeds for a showdown one day and being denied because it was inturrupted, it became evident to fans that Hobbs wasn't worth Wardlow's time from the presentation).

They consistently find new and unique ways to make people not care about any of the talent, be it from Tony or the person's own creative dumbness. Or both.

[Tom Guycott]

He was better as the BEARCAT. Yeah, I said it. So what? Wanna fight about it? :shifty:

Nobody would dare dispute the power of BEARCAT Keith Lee

I don't know how someone who describes themself as verbose cannot identify the indubitably insatiable verbosity of the indescribable, incomparable Limitless Keith Lee.

This feels like what me on the best (?) Booking posts.

Also, last Keith Lee match I saw was the one where Zicky Dice bounced off of him and put himself into the Spirit Bomb.

I've identified it because I'm also an autistic grandpa (and I stink)

I can't believe I'm about to defend Keith Lee. I already made my feelings known since he got plucked from Ring of Honor to a NXT developmental deal, but for the uninitiated: I could not tell the difference between him and Shane Taylor. They were both just two big black "former NFL" fuckers that were respectively shaped like a pear (Taylor) and an upside down pear (Lee). They had nothing of note: no real gimmick besides being big, no visible charisma, and aside from the tried and tested "agile for a big man" shit done to death since Bam Bam Bigelow, nothing of note. I didn't get why WWE bothered to sign one and not the other. To me, it should have been both or neither.

Then, Keith Lee started getting over in NXT. I even said then that I personally didn't get it, but I could see by reaction that the fans obviously wanted to see him. His entrance was over. His matches were over. Him talking was over. Fans ate all of it up.

So, WWE did what WWE does; and fucked all of it up. Changed his name. Changed his music. Changed his ring gear. Tried to change how he talked. Essentially, everything that was already over: blow it up and start again. For no real fucking reason.

So, then AEW. He comes in with all that behind him in terms of smark knowledge. Fans basically get the NXT Keith Lee that was over... just for him to disappear in short order. Then randomly tagging with Swerve. Then beaten to hell by two guys who end up released, so, guys that essentially don't exist. Both he and Shane Taylor now work for TK, and, unless there is something currently going on from Rampage or the unwatched ROH online shit, still haven't addressed their history in spite of having a random-ass six man tag on opposite sides for one of the handful of AEW PPVs that happended fairly recently. Don't even remember which one.

All of this that I mentioned is all stuff that isn't Keith's fault. There's prob'ly other things that is. Whatever. Again, never really been my cup of tea. He was always the poor man's Mark Henry to me. But to go from everyone loving you to nobody knowing you exist outisde of the recent internet drama where people confused him with the food critic Keith Lee. How the fuck does a company do that? Repeatedly? It isn't a one off, because the same thing happened with The Hardy Boyz. And Tony Neese. And Undisputed Era... etc., etc. Feels like only a matter of time before they find a way to fuck up <s>Edge</s> Adam Copeland and Christian.

Even people the AEW community consider "big stars" of the international variety never show up in big star capacity. Guys like Okada or Osprey look like they just rolled in off the flight they crossed the pond in in travelling sweats so it takes less time to get through security instead of anything identifiable. The few times they appear, any New Japan guy looks more like a guardrail hopping fan than RoH Kevin Steen did.

[Vastardikai]

My primary issue with Keith Lee isn't even his fault. COVID fucked him up bad. WWE wanted him to get into better shape, he didn't or couldn't. He also couldn't adapt. Meanwhile, we have an Indy darling who did adapt and went from pudgy badass with an awful ring name to a brutal killer with a slightly less awful name, and he will be the measuring stick for both IC Champions and foreign heels for years to come. But, if what I'm hearing is true... poor Walter... (Famous last words.)

The match with Dice was sad.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wait, what’s this with Gunther?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Keith Lee has never been good. He doesn’t have it mentally, never mind physically. His psychology is awful. He’s a fat dude who flips. The insult used to be levied at Samoa Joe back in the day just because he could fly. But Joe can put together a match. Keith Lee is spot, spot, spot. His promos suck too. I don’t think he needs to sound like The Hulk like Cornette suggested. But he needs to sound like someone who is in the world of physical competition trying to promote a match. You can be intelligent and not sound like a fucking waste. Again, Joe.

Then factor in that the guy gives off the visual impression he is about to have a heart attack when he goes out there. I’m not trying to be morbidly funny. He starts heaving and he goes clammy. He fucking sucks at this. And if he drops dead on the job, no one is going to be surprised.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Here are the problems with rankings:

What’s LA Knight’s record like? Do you want to smack people in the face with him having won maybe one match in 2023 before SummerSlam? What kind of title challenger for Roman Reigns is that? Yet he’s hot and people want to buy him.

Conversely, look at Gunther’s record. How do you justify not giving him a title shot?

It always gets in the way of your creative agency. Always. If someone is getting over, they’re getting over. The rank becomes redundant.

[drave]

Gunter has "it" from curtain to curtain, and makes it look effortless.

[Mr. Nerfect]

He gets it.

[Lock Jaw]

Gunter is not going to really go anywhere once his big long title reign is done. He'll either fade away quick or get repackaged into foreign comedy face when Imperium breaks up. There is a chance he doesn't fade away and just stays midcard for life.

[drave]

Terrible take, and sounds like Blue Dot Man's career tbh.

[Lock Jaw]

Unless he has shown some outside the ring charisma I have not seen due to not watching outside major PPVs, dude has a ceiling.

I will say last time I tuned in to RAW was especially for Gunter/Gable... but again I probably would not have done so if it wasn't for the length of the title reign.

[xrodmuc316]

I think Gunther is very clearly the next heel World Champ, whether that is him beating Rollins or more likely about a year from now he ends Cody's WWE Championship reign.

I still think at some point they are going to separate the Universal and WWE Title again (they still have them listed separate on their website).

Could do a story where Roman defends the Universal Title on night one and the WWE Title on night two.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Gunther will be some sort of World Champion either heading into or coming out of Bash in Berlin. Yes, I know he is Austrian, but he’ll be pretty over.

[XL]

Here are the problems with rankings:

What’s LA Knight’s record like? Do you want to smack people in the face with him having won maybe one match in 2023 before SummerSlam? What kind of title challenger for Roman Reigns is that? Yet he’s hot and people want to buy him.

Conversely, look at Gunther’s record. How do you justify not giving him a title shot?

It always gets in the way of your creative agency. Always. If someone is getting over, they’re getting over. The rank becomes redundant.

There’s ways to work it, albeit they might also add “barriers”.

Have separate “divisions” like weight classes in fight sports. You can’t compete in 2 divisions at the same time. You have to “climb the rankings” in each division separately pretty much like in the video games. If Gunther decides he wants a shot at the World title he either vacates the IC belt or can’t move off until someone beats him for the belt. Then he has to climb the rankings in the “heavyweight” division.

The thing with Knight is interesting as there were some that felt like the title shit came too soon anyway. You have the conundrum of how do you build someone that’s already got the crowd behind them. Equally it stops you rushing someone to the top. Or you can do the occasional tourney where the rankings give you seedings or the top ranked guys get a bye to the next round. Or you do a “wild card” battle royal where the winner gets a shot despite not being the #1 ranked guy.

There’s ways to thread it in.

The easiest thing AEW could have done was to say wins on Dark don’t count to your record, or keep the top guys off the show.

[Vastardikai]

Wait, what’s this with Gunther?

I was comparing them due to an infamous tweet that Keith Lee made. After said tweet, their careers went in opposite directions.

[xrodmuc316]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SCJerk/comments/17q58wo/scjerk_presents_fed_world/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Best thing I ever saw lol

[Mr. Nerfect]

I was comparing them due to an infamous tweet that Keith Lee made. After said tweet, their careers went in opposite directions.

Lol, what did he say?

[Mr. Nerfect]

There’s ways to work it, albeit they might also add “barriers”.

Have separate “divisions” like weight classes in fight sports. You can’t compete in 2 divisions at the same time. You have to “climb the rankings” in each division separately pretty much like in the video games. If Gunther decides he wants a shot at the World title he either vacates the IC belt or can’t move off until someone beats him for the belt. Then he has to climb the rankings in the “heavyweight” division.

The thing with Knight is interesting as there were some that felt like the title shit came too soon anyway. You have the conundrum of how do you build someone that’s already got the crowd behind them. Equally it stops you rushing someone to the top. Or you can do the occasional tourney where the rankings give you seedings or the top ranked guys get a bye to the next round. Or you do a “wild card” battle royal where the winner gets a shot despite not being the #1 ranked guy.

There’s ways to thread it in.

The easiest thing AEW could have done was to say wins on Dark don’t count to your record, or keep the top guys off the show.

Too complicated. Totally unnecessary. If a guy is going to get a push, get them winning and insert them where it works. Take them out if it’s not working. Don’t create more work for yourself.

[Tom Guycott]

Here are the problems with rankings:

What’s LA Knight’s record like? Do you want to smack people in the face with him having won maybe one match in 2023 before SummerSlam? What kind of title challenger for Roman Reigns is that? Yet he’s hot and people want to buy him.

Conversely, look at Gunther’s record. How do you justify not giving him a title shot?

It always gets in the way of your creative agency. Always. If someone is getting over, they’re getting over. The rank becomes redundant.

Didn't say it generally doesn't. My point was that if you're going to do a thing, commit to it. If you're going to drop it, drop it. But don't start doing rankings, quit doing rankings, then start pretending rankings matter again but only sometimes.

I go back to the WWE brand split, because it is the same principle - it only matters when there is a supposed "blockbuster trade!" or when they beat everyone over the head for it for about every 2 out of 3 Survivor Series down to talent wearing red or blue t-shirts every appearance. Then, they conveniently stop giving a shit and it goes back to being unimportant even to themselves and half the roster shows up on either show at any time because fuck it. Right up until a few years later when they act like they're starting it all over again, and there is strict adhearance... for a few months, maybe a year, then they mandate that all the talent are supposed to show up for both RAW and SD even though they aren't "booked" for the opposite show. Until they are. Then the veneer falls away again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Or, similarly, the idea of having two world champions. They are large enough and have enough people in "creative" that they should be able to focus on two different people with two lineages and trajectories. Right up until they inevitably want to put both belts on one guy. Then, when they get bored with having one dominating persona instead of two, they have to contrive a reason to have the champion drop one title instead of both. The simplest form would be to treat it more like boxing, and a contender is battling for one OR the other... but nope, the person wins both. Again, unless there is some arbitrary reason why they don't. And even with the split belts, they focus on one or the other again. Then pull gymnastics on ground rules like Roman not having title defenses for months at a time, but then, for someone they "need the belt off of", the company will dust off the old "...needs to be defended every 30 days or you're stripped" stipulation that magically was forgotten about when Brock Lesnar defended three times in a year. Either use the rule all the time, or retire it. Don't do both.

Which leads me back to rankings. Or tournament points. Or win/loss records. Or any sort of tangible recordable heirarchy that anyone tries to make a thing... if you are going to do that, you have to keep doing it. If it goes away, it needs to stay away. Its the seesawing that really kills everything.

LA Knight is pretty over and earning his spot. Which would make this a really bad time to decide the company would start a ranking system. Especially one that would lock him out of the main event picture... only to scrap it six months later and have someone like, say, in total ass pull fashion, Trick Williams leapfrog everyone and become a main roster big belt champion. The first thing would be bad, but if it's "the way of the world now", can be dealt with. But to fold the tents later - and not even in an appreciable amount of time later - makes it demonstrably worse from inconsistency and give people bad feelings for wasting time trying to get emotionally invested just for the rules to keep changing.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Under 2,200k tickets distributed for their Chicago show later this month. Wow.

Lol.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Just don’t do it. It never works lol. It’s always a pain because you book yourself into a corner. Every time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Sorry to be brief, I just have no sympathy for this company and what was an identifiably bad idea from the start.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Unless he has shown some outside the ring charisma I have not seen due to not watching outside major PPVs, dude has a ceiling.

I will say last time I tuned in to RAW was especially for Gunter/Gable... but again I probably would not have done so if it wasn't for the length of the title reign.

lol LJ you're so brainwashed by Vince. Someone not doing songs and dances doesn't mean they don't have charisma. Smooth brained bullshit.

[Lock Jaw]

No, but to get over in North America they do need a rudimentary grasp of the English language and how to do a promo. I guess Nakamura gets the very occasional main event push, so Gunter could be like him... but he doesn't have as much non-verbal charisma as Nakamura either

[Mr. Nerfect]

Gunther has been excellent in all the interviews I’ve seen him in. When it comes to WWE promos, he’s seemed “fine” at the very worst. I actually love Nakamura and don’t shit on his WWE run, but I wouldn’t give Shinsuke the clear edge in charisma either. Gunther’s got a lot of appeal in basically being the best worker going today.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’m getting pretty horny at the idea of Gunther vs. Dominik Mysterio. The crowd is going to be so into Gunther chopping the shit out of Dom Dom.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Trying to work out whether I’d most like to see Gunther take the WHT off Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Sami Zayn or Brock Lesnar.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Outside option: Dominik somehow ends up in possession of the MITB title shot. Maybe Priest gets kayfabe injured in War Games to sell the concept. But Dom ends up as Senor Money in the Bank.

Dom wrestles CM Punk at WrestleMania. Lots of talk about how disrespectful CM Punk has been to Dom’s family over the years. Punk can beat Dom, but Dom still cashes in and becomes World Heavyweight Champion for Money in the Bank. Judgment Day vs. Imperium. Then at Berlin Brawl, Gunther beats Dom 1-on-1 to become WHC.

Then it turns out Rhea Ripley has been taking REAL good care of Damian Priest while he’s been injured.

[drave]

No, but to get over in North America they do need a rudimentary grasp of the English language and how to do a promo. I guess Nakamura gets the very occasional main event push, so Gunter could be like him... but he doesn't have as much non-verbal charisma as Nakamura either

The non-verbal charisma is there too, it just isn't the same as Nakamura.

He is a big dude and knows how to silently be imposing with his mannerisms. Again, from curtain to curtain, he has it - no questions.

[Sepholio]

lol LJ you're so brainwashed by Vince. Someone not doing songs and dances doesn't mean they don't have charisma. Smooth brained bullshit.

How would you know he's wrong? You don't even watch the product lol.

Keith Lee is not charismatic. I can't remember if he ever was at this point.

Oh wait, we're talking about GUNTHER. Yeah, fuck off LJ you smooth brain.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not going to lie: Christian vs. Gunther could have been a classic.

[Lock Jaw]

How would you know he's wrong? You don't even watch the product lol.

That is why I clarified with unless he has shown more on TV or lesser PPVs I haven't watched....

Whatever... I'm just enjoying the ride... and in a funny way I am now more invested in whoever eventually takes the title from Gunther than I am Roman since with Roman they literally just said "dunno" and made a whole other belt.

[Mr. Nerfect]

To their credit, they’ve also made the other belt boring.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Brandon Thurston has stated the obvious, in that AEW isn’t profitable and they’ll need a large TV deal to get them there. Like I’ve been saying, Collision probably exists because Dynamite isn’t worth it on it’s own. It’s a good thing AEW have tried their best to sabotage that for themselves.

AEW are reportedly doing 3-for-1 tickets and managed to get their Portland show over the 4k line.

[xrodmuc316]

NXT just got a 5 year deal from Network channel The CW, worth somewhere between $25.5-$35.5 million a year. If WBD is going to use that as a price point, AEW is going to be really hard pressed to get that $200 million per year deal Thurston said they need to become profitable.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tony’s gonna need to do some splaining to daddy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Just realized that with Tony being so desperate, Goldberg is probably due for a truck to pull up to his house any minute.

[Evil Vito]

On Dynamite last night they made a few references that could maybe be construed as Punk references and it's now got a segment of the fanbase speculating that he's gonna be revealed as The Devil and that maybe the firing was all a work. And I don't get that at all. It's nearly impossible to fathom a work of that magnitude actually being pulled off.

One thing about wrestlers is that they're notoriously bad at keeping secrets. That's what made even Jim Cornette applaud AEW with the Brodie Lee stuff because it was completely unheard of for an entire locker room to actually keep a secret like that. But the AEW locker room back then was half the size it is now, there was very much the "big happy family" vibe at the time and most of all, it was a very real-life situation involving the tragic illness of a beloved colleague.

Can't imagine 200+ wrestlers + refs/agents/production + office staff all being in lockstep with a worked angle and corroborating the same story when asked by dirt sheets. I also can't really buy the idea that only those involved or some of the big names know it's a work and everyone else is in the dark, if that were the case I'd expect it to actually not be great for morale because, well, generally people don't like being lied to by their employers.

Oh and WBD would've needed some level of involvement too. Remember that SRS and Alvarez reached out to people there directly to gauge the reaction on Punk's firing. Can't really imagine a scenario where they would've been happy with a top star a new show is built around being taken offscreen 2 months in, let alone right as they were about to lose viewership to the college football season.

So even if somehow it was Punk as The Devil I'd think it would've been a fairly recent return agreement. Even that would be tough to keep under wraps with how Online the guy is and how many other people would've presumably needed to greenlight it and keep it in the dark. There's just no way in hell it wouldn't have leaked from somewhere.

More likely to me is that they've seen that WWE are continually dropping vague little Punk references themselves even while office staff there also deny he's coming in. It's obvious there's still a lot of people who think he's gonna be at Survivor Series and I'm sure there are people in AEW who feel the same way. If these even were Punk references last night they're probably just doing it because of all the ongoing speculation about where he's gonna end up.

[Evil Vito]

Logically a worked firing would make zero sense/be of very little value to AEW anyway given the ripple effects resulting from it.

Tony Khan always wants to present himself as the babyface promoter. That was a lot easier to do when everyone was down on WWE and Vince was still the public face of it.
WWE have got better, Vince is more or less out of the picture, a lot of people have moved on from the Saudi Arabia stuff even though it's still happening.

WWE aren't, right now, the "heel" promotion. AEW aren't a heel promotion either but they've clearly lost their grasp on being the babyface promotion where everybody wants to work. They've been a bit chaotic this year, and their booking is a bit of a mess. CM Punk has a lot of fans, and Tony Khan had to know that firing him risked losing his fans with him, and why would you take that gamble for an angle?

When attendance is down, when AEW are running directly opposite NXT, when TV deals need renewing, all of that, why would they keep one of their biggest names off TV for months, let his departure derail the company's momentum and overshadow the success of Wembley? And do it all in a way that suggests it's very much not a storyline, and that he won't be coming back, if everything's actually fine and he's still working there?

There are a million ways you could've gotten to a potential Punk vs. MJF feud with the roles reversed - choosing a route which involves taking one of your most popular guys off of TV for months and objectively hurting numbers in the process would be a really dumb way to get to it.

To put it simply, why not make money from somebody when you could be making money from them?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Rumors that WWE is negotiating an ECW/TNN type situation and that they’ll snag a deal with WBD for Raw. :lol:

I’ve had the thought. AEW is floundering. Raw would bring more eyeballs and profits for WBD. From a promotional “war” aspect, the move makes sense on WWE’s side. But that’s exactly the sort of reason someone might make it up. They would have obviously talked to WBD though.

[xrodmuc316]

Seems like it would be a lot of trouble for a shock reveal. If the point was to get to Punk vs MJF, they could have got just with what they already had setup.

To take Punk off TV, to take Jack Perry off tv, to embarrass the company again, and to ultimately burn their fans for a twist that would pop a youtube number and trend on Twitter, (because they won't pop a ratings number because they wouldn't without spoiling it) would be pretty bad booking, even for Tiny Khan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, CM Punk’s situation with AEW is not a work. It’s made the company look terrible and has done (possibly irreversible) damage to them. It would get groans from so many fans. You can’t keep “going back.” Even if Punk was their biggest draw and one of their best performers, that’s compromised now.

Punk wouldn’t take it anyway. You can’t trust Tony Khan. He’ll take one side of an issue at Collision, take another at Dynamite (or All In with the glass). He is not a leader. Even if he promised Punk a stake in the company, there would be suspicion that TK would fuck him over.

AEW is desperate though. But it’ll take A LOT to get Punk to drop his plans. I imagine Punk would need to be given the authority to remove some of the problems backstage in a more permanent sense. Even then, is that enough to challenge the perception that AEW clearly has no idea what they’re doing if they flip-flop with Punk?

[xrodmuc316]

Also let's not forget, if it was some big work, you think the Bucks wouldn't leak that, just to stick it to Phil.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Goldberg will be the desperation move from Tony Khan.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Also let's not forget, if it was some big work, you think the Bucks wouldn't leak that, just to stick it to Phil.

Remember when they exposed the Cody/Shawn Spears angle? And when they tried to sabotage Collision days out?

[Mr. Nerfect]

I’d love to make a joke about having doubt because AEW is really fucking stupid, but this would possibly be the stupidest work ever.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tony’s reaction if WWE programming ends up replacing AEW on TNT/TBS is going to be hilarious. He might have a meltdown if the rumors pick up steam. Starting the rumor might be enough to achieve the goal of the actual move.

[Mr. Nerfect]

WWE never officially amalgamated the WWE and Universal Championships. They’ve got the hardware to go to a “fourth brand.”

[Mr. Nerfect]

Raw and Main Event can go to wherever they go. Let’s say…Amazon Prime.

NXT and Lvl Up can be on the CW Network. Tuesdays can be NXT Prime, Lvl Up can be a Saturday morning show.

SmackDown can stay on Friday nights on USA with the specials on NBC. They can have the Universal Title.

WCW or a new show can go Wednesdays and maybe Thursdays with the Rampage slot on Fridays. WCW/World Heavyweight Championship.

[screech]

Punk being the devil would be fucking hilarious

[Sting Fan]

Punk being the devil would be fucking hilarious

I'm thinking Adam Cole and it will be the most interesting thing hes done if it is. But its nice to see so much conjecture and no ones seems to be fully sure which is a nice change of pace.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Why are they concealing their identity?

[Mr. Nerfect]

My prediction is Don Callis. I think Ric Flair and Britt Baker will tempt them. If it has to be an active wrestler, Juice Robinson is really the only option that makes sense.

[Lock Jaw]

It was me, Noid, it was me all along!!

[Mr. Nerfect]

It was me, Noid, it was me all along!!

Can you interrupt all future Tony Khan announcements and get Tony Schiavone to make an announcement during the announcement pls?

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Bunny has left AEW for OnlyFans.

[screech]

I'm thinking Adam Cole and it will be the most interesting thing hes done if it is. But its nice to see so much conjecture and no ones seems to be fully sure which is a nice change of pace.

I'm meh on Adam Cole but I could get behind this, I think.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Why would Adam Cole be concealing his identity to attack his rivals?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Adam Cole is also injured. Which means he’d be kayfabe lying. But he had surgery, presumably on the company’s dime. So he’s magic. So he’s a magically healed/time-travelling Adam Cole who attacks the bad guys under a mask so…people don’t know it’s him?

Why is he eventually going to unveil himself to the world and be like “It was me, Austin!” Like, what reason does he have to go from being Mystery Magic Adam Cole back to Black, Gold & Old Adam Cole?

[Ben Rodrigues]

It was me, Noid, it was me all along!!

Tony Khan is the devil!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Stephanie McMahon is the devil. She’s here to kickstart a Women’s Revolution.

[Sepholio]

The Bunny is no longer All Elite and I'm no longer watching!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Gran Metalik allegedly refused to job to Komander on Rampage, cutting the show down in terms of number of matches.

[Verbose Minch]

The Bunny is no longer All Elite and I'm no longer watching!

Big mistake by AEW. She's super hot despite the fetal alcohol syndrome, and she out drew Roman on Friday when they went head to head

[Verbose Minch]

Gran Metalik allegedly refused to job to Komander on Rampage, cutting the show down in terms of number of matches.

Addition by subtraction. The less flippy shitters, the better

[Mr. Nerfect]

Addition by subtraction. The less flippy shitters, the better

In theory you’re correct, but it seems like they’ve lost Metalik and kept Komander. :lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wait, so apparently the devil’s group are dressed like ninjas and are attacking anyone who helps MJF?

Please, please, PLEASE don’t miss the chance to have Samoa Joe team with MJF so we can have ninjas attack Joe and toss him in the back of a van.

[Vastardikai]

Adam Cole is also injured. Which means he’d be kayfabe lying. But he had surgery, presumably on the company’s dime. So he’s magic. So he’s a magically healed/time-travelling Adam Cole who attacks the bad guys under a mask so…people don’t know it’s him?

Why is he eventually going to unveil himself to the world and be like “It was me, Austin!” Like, what reason does he have to go from being Mystery Magic Adam Cole back to Black, Gold & Old Adam Cole?

I mean, it isn't like Tony Khan hasn't brought someone back way too early before (CM Punk, Danielson) It isn't like Tont Khan has folks on his roster who can't get cleared to wrestle anywhere else (Saraya, Shibata). It isn't like Tony Khan hasn't endorsed the bullying of someone who wouldn't or couldn't work injured (Rosa).

That said, I think it's gonna be someone stupid. Either Jack Perry (as a thank you for Punk), Ric Flair (a throwback to the Black Scorpion), or MJF himself (because who said this should make sense? This is AEWTF!)

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh, I’m not saying it won’t be Cole. I just don’t think it makes any sense as to why he’d conceal his identity to perpetrate these things and then reveal himself. What’s the difference between being Adam Cole in a few months and Adam Cole doing it now? It’s just got MAJOR plot holes. Doesn’t mean that won’t be the route they go.

MJF I thought about. I’ve kind of dropped that now, just because he’s watching the attacks on video and they’re not just going after his enemies. But it wouldn’t be shocking.

Definitely agree with Ric Flair and Jack Perry as possibilities. Perry’s replaced Britt Baker on my list. I’ve got Don Callis, Jack Perry & Ric Flair.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Butcher and Blade gone from AEW. Butcher seems to be someone peoole liked. Off to TNA they go, I guess.

They just won a dark match apparently. People are finding it weird talent with expiring contracts on their way out are getting that treatment. It could be TK being incompetent or it could indicate that there’s more to the story. But we’re entering that period where a lot of contracts are coming up, so look for people to leave one way or another.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Tony Khan is the devil!

The more I think about it... the more I think this is a real possibility. Making himself the #1 heel in AEW. it's Austin/McMahon!

[Mr. Nerfect]

Santana wants out of AEW. Jericho beat Takeshita in DDT Pro and a bunch of nerds are so angry. Santana is retweeting their outrage at Jericho’s politics.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Santana wants out of AEW. Jericho beat Takeshita in DDT Pro and a bunch of nerds are so angry. Santana is retweeting their outrage at Jericho’s politics.

Punk already provided the guide on how to do that with ease. Just make Tony fear for his life at a wrestling event.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Turning down one of his hugs should accomplish that.

[Ben Rodrigues]

:lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, AEW is doing its own G1 tournament. Just what they need to do — take 12 of their guys, pull them out of feuds and put them into heatless matches for the sake of it, only to get a singles match that could have been achieved in a more direct way.

Look for a portion of the field to end up injured too.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I've always liked tournaments.

[Evil Vito]

I'm excited at the possible belters for this tournament but have to give it some pause until I see the field. The whole thing with a Round Robin tourney is that pretty much everyone has to lose at some point or another, and TK is extremely protective of certain guys. That gives me pause that he's actually gonna involve 12 top guys in this.

At the same time, TK also knows people are gonna be pissed off if he throws some obvious dreck in there. Like I fucking love John Silver and know he'd probably give you 5 fun in-ring performances but it would also be super obvious that he's only in there to eat pins and go 0-5 because TK was afraid of letting anyone important lose.

[Mr. Nerfect]

There’s no context to this tournament to have it make sense. This isn’t in a time where Wrestler A vs. Wrestler B is rare. The blocking of this thing is going to leave obvious names out (by necessity). Stories are going to be sacrificed in lieu of mindless action.

It’s going to be another example of how AEW puts an idea on paper that some fans are going to excuse, but when it comes time to execute it all the problems are going to become immediately apparent.

[Evil Vito]

Here's my best guess on how Tony might structure this thing:

A BLOCK
Bryan Danielson
Buddy Matthews
Claudio Castagnoli
Keith Lee
Kyle Fletcher
Penta El Zero Miedo

B BLOCK
Andrade El Idolo
Brian Cage
Daniel Garcia
Kenny Omega
Konosuke Takeshita
Wheeler Yuta

That feels like the kind of field I could see Khan running out there. There's enough opportunity for the big names to lose a match in here believably, but at the same time everyone can find a win somewhere too. The closest things to pin eater in the whole thing is Fletcher but he feels like someone Khan would love to get some shine in this tourney. Maybe he finds his win over his countryman Buddy or over Penta or soemthing.

A Block would come down to Danielson vs. Claudio in an all-BCC clash. Stable mates fighting is part of the fun of a Round Robin and when else would they get to do this match? I know Danielson loves putting guys over but let's be real, this tourney is for him so he'd have to go to the finals.

B Block naturally should conclude with Omega vs. Takeshita part 2. Takeshita I'd think being 4-0 going into that would make sense. Maybe Omega is 3-1 (Callis screws him over against Brian Cage or something) but in a spot where he could advance if he finally can beat Takeshita. I mean you're getting either Danielson/Omega or Danielson/Takeshita out of this at Worlds End so I'd guess the fans will be happy regardless.

[Splaya]

It will basically be something that NXT just did recently.


But for once, I am going to give Tony Khan the benefit of the doubt and see what he can produce here.

I find that when I go in with no preconceived ideas about what will happen, I will enjoy it more. Going to give him a chance here.

[Splaya]

See I would rather he do something like this.

6 man blocks with the top 4 in each division making it out of their group. Have a points system where a submission is 4 points, a pin is 3 points and a time limit draw is 1 point.

Once you get out of the round play, re-seed the tournament into a single elimination 8 wrestler bracket where the highest point total is the 1 seed and the lowest point total is the 8 seed.


1
8

3
6

2
7

4
5

Then just let the wrestlers complete the bracket and it ends with whoever wins the elimination bracket.

I would have the #1 seed advance and face the 7 seed, even if the 7 seed is someone like Bryan Danielson. You could run it like the 7 seed is this fantastic wrestler who had a string of bad luck early, rallied to make the bracket, and then turned it up to make it to the final.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It will basically be something that NXT just did recently.


But for once, I am going to give Tony Khan the benefit of the doubt and see what he can produce here.

I find that when I go in with no preconceived ideas about what will happen, I will enjoy it more. Going to give him a chance here.

Going in with no preconceived ideas sounds like a lot of work on your end though. It’d be better if he just made his programming consistently good.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Just give two wrestlers are reason to fight that isn’t an arbitrary tournament. And no, in theory, a tournament doesn’t have to be arbitrary, but this one is going to be.

[drave]

It will basically be something that NXT just did recently.


But for once, I am going to give Tony Khan the benefit of the doubt and see what he can produce here.

I find that when I go in with no preconceived ideas about what will happen, I will enjoy it more. Going to give him a chance here.


Staying away from "dirtsheets" altogether, or the IWC, can increase the enjoyment of what you see on-screen.

[Lock Jaw]

Ideally I think the round robin tournament idea should be used for exclusively low-card guys. Then instead of having random matches on Heat/Velocity, they are having random matches with a semblance of "purpose", and can push the winner beyond the low-card if they want.

[DaveWadding]

Here's my best guess on how Tony might structure this thing:

A BLOCK
Bryan Danielson
Buddy Matthews
Claudio Castagnoli
Keith Lee
Kyle Fletcher
Penta El Zero Miedo


Every match in this block would be 5 stars or better. I'm going to be disappointed now when it's not set up like this. :lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ideally I think the round robin tournament idea should be used for exclusively low-card guys. Then instead of having random matches on Heat/Velocity, they are having random matches with a semblance of "purpose", and can push the winner beyond the low-card if they want.

That’s a better idea.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Here is the best way I think you can set up this thing using main talent. It’s not perfect, but it can’t be.

BLOCK A:

Bryan Danielson
Claudio Castagnoli
Hangman Page
Kenny Omega
Konosuke Takeshita
Swerve Strickland

BLOCK B:

Adam Copeland
Chris Jericho
Christian Cage
Jon Moxley
Powerhouse Hobbs
Ricky Starks

* Block A allows you to put Danielson and Claudio against each other without story. Adam Page can have matched against Omega and Swerve. You can play off Danielson and Swerve’s history. Omega can get his win back or put over Takeshita. You’ve got Takeshita and Hobbs on opposite sides, same with Jericho and Omega.

* Block B has got a lot of veterans working with each other. You can do Edge vs. Christian. Edge vs. Starks gets a payoff. Powerhouse Hobbs and Jericho can finish their thing. Mox will probably put over Christian. There’s some potential for passable stuff in there.

No one talks about the winners in these things because it doesn’t really matter. Copeland wins Block B with his losses being to Christian. He ties with Hobbs who has 8 points too, but his loss is to Cope. Christian has 6 points, losing to Hobbs and Starks. Mox beats Jericho and Starks for 4. Starks ties with Mox on 4, but Mox’s win over Starks places him higher. Jericho’s only win is against Starks, finishing on 2 points.

Danielson gets 8 points, his only loss being to Takeshita. Omega also gets 8 points defeating Swerve, Hangman, Claudio and Takeshita. Danielson’s win nudges him over. Takeshita loses to Omega and Claudio, which means 6 points. Claudio beats Page and Takeshita for 4. Swerve beats Page and Claudio also for 4, so he finishes above Claudio, I guess. That leaves Page in dead last having beaten no one because he sucks.

Danielson vs. Cope is the finals at Worlds End. I guess.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I guess you can just not have Edge and Christian in it and let them wrestle for the TNT Title. Takes out two top guys so you don’t need to make room for that. But then what’s the point?

[xrodmuc316]

What is the purpose of the tournament? Does the winner get anything? Is it going to be like Owen where somebody wins and they mention it like 3 times over the next year and literally nothing else?

Isn't every single AEW show just random matchups already? Do they really need a tournament to come up with randomly paired matches?

[xrodmuc316]

Also, they should ripoff Impact and do a shoot Feast or Fired tournament, where Tiny fires half the roster.

[Splaya]

Also, they should ripoff Impact and do a shoot Feast or Fired tournament, where Tiny fires half the roster.

He should just fire himself.

[Splaya]

Wait that would make the Elite in charge...


Fire the Elite then himself.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What is the purpose of the tournament? Does the winner get anything? Is it going to be like Owen where somebody wins and they mention it like 3 times over the next year and literally nothing else?

Isn't every single AEW show just random matchups already? Do they really need a tournament to come up with randomly paired matches?

They’ll probably get a title shot or something, but I’m not sure why a wrestler needs to go to those extremes to earn a title shot. Like, why not just ask?

And last point is exactly the problem. Nothing from this tournament is actually novel. Lock Jaw’s idea of using underneath guys is actually a good one, because then at least there’s the promise of on-screen commitment.

[screech]

Bring back the six-sided ring

[Evil Vito]

If his recent tweets are anything to go off of you can add Danhausen to the list of people who seem unhappy(hausen). Granted he always tweets in character so it's easy to construe his tweets as joking around but he does sometimes pepper in stuff that even in character is clearly venting/passive aggressive (his friendship with Punk, the perception that he's injury prone etc). Most recently though he's been strongly hinting that his return to television has gotten bumped multiple weeks in a row and he's taken pretty clear swipes at TK.

First and foremost - if the dude actually has been getting bumped then that's just shit in general. That'll piss off anyone. But I actually think he might've been given a disservice by being off-screen the entire time. The Danhausen character feels like the kind of one that would arguably be better when he has an excuse to not wrestle.

I've actually never seen a "normal" Danhausen match. His AEW matches on TV have been 2 minutes or less and pretty much every ROH/indy match I'd seen since he got popular was short and gimmicky. I have no idea if he's capable of going the Orange Cassidy route of "evolving" beyond wrestling strictly a comedy style. If he can do that more power to him but his body's betrayed him quite a bit and maybe the company should've found a workaround to keep him involved somehow.

I don't think the injury prone accusations for him are too off base. He first got popular online when he started his YouTube show at a time he was injured in ROH. He was injured when he signed with AEW. He's been injured twice more since he got there. But his character is one that could've been used without wrestling. Even if it was just him popping up once or twice an episode from his "lair" to riff on whoever was in the ring at the time, kinda like those old Shane Helms pop-ups from 2008 SmackDown.