The belt has always been defended. I'm talking about the "Cody won the NWA Title and now it's gonna mean something" crowd.

How'd that work out

Lol we are not heading towards the days of Territories. Stop. It's the a WWE and everyone else

Haha, did anybody really buy Cody beating Magnus as some sort of return to glory for the NWA? I don’t remember reading that here. The only thing I saw was people saying it felt old-school and serious and that it should have been the main event.

Still can't believe that Corgan's grand plan for the belt following All In was to just give it right back to Aldis a month later.

Like a textbook example of what not to do with all the new interest and hype that was built up for the belt coming out of All In.

Lol its so ridiculous

I didn't expect Cody to hold the belt for long anyway. It was a cute little moment for him at All In. Was Corgan going to be super-stoked about having his "World Champion" work as a mid-carder in New Japan anyway?

To me, this AEW project depends greatly on how much money the Khans are going to put in. It's very exciting whenever something new comes around, because WWE is objectively bad television. It's filmed bad, it's redundant, the acting is terrible and the scripts are Razzie worthy. It sucks. People want something different. Okay.

Vince getting a $2.1 billion deal for his TV is a huge deal that has switched people on and made things look possible. It's a different climinate to how it has been since 2001. Anyway, we all know this.

If this is just Tony Khan plunking down a few million to have an indy promotion built around Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, then I'll agree with people who project grim things for it and a ceiling on AXS or WGN America. I'm really hoping that people with that much money trying to get into the game see the potential to secure huge television deals by offering a viable alternative to WWE. If you spend a few hundred million, you can make that back in TV rights money over the next five years.

In the history of wrestling, I don't think there has ever been a billionaire that has privately gotten involved in wrestling. You can talk about the NWA, GFW and WCW -- but they either don't have the same conceivable funds or were run publicly.

I’m rooting for this to be a success and provide a true alternative but they’ve an uphill battle on their hands because...

Kenny Omega confirmed to be leaving NJPW.

WWE are said to have offered him comparable money to what AJ Styles got, which would presumably make it the highest offer they've made to him in the several times they've tried to pry him away. He's said in interviews previously that he feels WWE would be stifling creatively, and nothing they've done of late would suggest that isn't still the case, so it's really just a question on whether or not there's a pricepoint where he's willing to sacrifice the creativity.

Meltzer's been saying for a few months that the Elite guys' pact to stick together wasn't just lip service. With Cody and the Bucks creating AEW and Hangman joining them, I think that's going to be where Kenny winds up. With Khan backing it, they can probably pay him quite well.

If he does sign with AEW, likely just a matter of time before Ibushi follows him afterwards considering how close those two are as buddies and Ibushi is only working as a freelancer in NJPW.

If rumors are to be believed, Kenny and Kota are more than just buddies and the Golden Lovers angle is based off an element of truth.

But yeah, I think Kota would do some AEW work, but he seems to enjoy being a freelancer regardless of what company it is.

I don't think Kenny is done with NJPW in the long term. I do see him doing something in the US for a year before returning to NJPW. That leaves alot open though. I dont think WWE would offer a 1 year deal but AWE, ROH, and Impact could all be options for Omega during his rebuild year.

He's part of the Elite and makes since he would join his friends in AEW

He's also close to Don Callis who could sway him to Impact for a year before returning to NJPW.

ROH still has the working relationship with NJPW which could allow him to stay close to NJPW while being closer to home as well.

Ibushi likes his freedom for now, but elements to consider there is the creative freedom versus the money on the table. He might not have wanted to sign with “corporate wrestling” for the money on the table. AEW seems more to his speed, but they might also be offering better money than what was previously there. Ibushi might actually get to keep his freedom too.

<iframe width="1206" height="678" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sADnhR8NyNQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Poor Marty, Villians Enterprises is bad ass though with PCO and Brody King.

I ship them

Omega’s stock would plummet if he went to Impact any time soon.

Why? Impact is putting out a good product and if he wants a cool down year it makes sense. I don't think he'll go there but I also don't see how it would hurt his stock.

Simulcasting on Twitch was a smart move.

Probably a good idea seing as alot of people don't get Pursuit, which shocked me. Pursuit use to be free on Direct TV.

If you see a burning house, is your initial reaction to go inside for a lie down? Unless their are trapped babies in TNA, Omega is not going to sign with them. I’d rate that as being much closer to 0 than AJ Styles signing with AEW.

New Japan has categorically ruled out working with AEW.

How is Impact a burning house exactly? I know you don't watch so you have no clue what you are talking about but he doesn't have to sign with them. A few appearances isn't out of the realm of possibility. I just hope he doesn't sign with WWE, would probably be great financially but I feel he'd fall into the same position Shinsuke has.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SoCal Uncensored Sign All Elite Wrestling Contracts: <a href="https://t.co/DDyGZzWn0Q">https://t.co/DDyGZzWn0Q</a> <a href="https://t.co/hj8FrVHWSJ">pic.twitter.com/hj8FrVHWSJ</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1082369478787256320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2019</a></blockquote>
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SCU

Makes sense because of the G1 Supercard show they have coming up in a few months with ROH. Observer mentioned NJPW probably didn't want to risk anything happening to that show and might rethink everything afterwards.

Even though its a step down in terms of appeal, AEW could get a partnership done with Impact Wrestling to fill in the void for the time being. Impact's boss is still open to working with anyone.

Not really sure why NJPW would want to keep the agreement with ROH going when ROH seem to lose a few talents a year to WWE, they've now lost the Elite and SCU to AEW, and who knows who else AEW will be bringing in that could've made a working relationship more attractive to NJPW.

If nothing else, I hope this somehow leads to PCO in the G1.

It's not like it can't happen down the line. Like Smeat said its probably to keep the G1 Supercard together for now.

njpw could be waiting for the tv deal too, an they can't leave roh till after the msg thing.

Seems MLW might be partnering with AEW soon since both sides are rumored to be on very good terms with each other. Add in the potential of a deal with Impact and that's a pretty good partnership to fill the void of losing out on NJPW for the time being.

MLW vs Impact vs AEW would be a cool Wrestlemania weekend show. Alot of crossover on the Impact and MLW rosters.

that's better then the bidding war they were talking about, aew. needs what impact and mlw have backstage people to help run the shows.

Because it’s TNA and it keeps losing viewers, time slots and network deals. How is that not a toxic brand? It’s got nothing to do with me hating the garbage hoke I’ve seen. By the way, I don’t think I can watch TNA in Australia, because they lost their fucking TV deal. Just sign the talent worth a shit (like Morrison, Brian Cage and TPWW’s own Paul Titan) and let the rest crumble into the ocean.

I do imagine that New Japan are quite upset by AEW’s inception. It’s not a wound that won’t heal if All Elite ends up with a great time slot, but if it’s just further competition on AXS or WGN America, it takes a lot away from New Japan and redistributes it elsewhere. The MSG deal is also probably a factor. And general loyalty.

Losing viewers is just part of TV, everyone is losing viewers because they're going to other platforms. Fact is they're still on national TV and soon to be simulcast on Twitch as well. Probably a better deal overall getting off the female dominated Pop and onto a male dominated Pursuit. Said to also allow for an edgier product. TV is just part of it though, they're doing well in most other aspects, live crowds, PPV receptions, and multiple successful partnerships to name a few. It was pretty toxic a couple years ago but it had a good turn around last year and just needs to continue the momentum. Just seems weird to me to shit on this new Impact for once being TNA.

Speaking of the NWA, they've got a former WCW champion in the fold.



They could also be a possibility for a partnership with AEW I think. They're not a true promotion and don't really have any talent other than their champions but could see them as a possibility for Double or Nothing at least.

Impact has had a real good run of shows. I'm definitely attending the next set of t.v tapings that are coming to my city in March. I had a blast last time. It's found its little groove.

You also don't think it is weird to not care about murders when they happen a certain geographical distance from you, as opposed to an arbitrary distance you consider close. And you're an Eli Drake. I don't know which disqualifies your perception of weird more.

We've had this discussion before. Ratings do matter. Television changing is obviously going to be a factor, except some TV deals are going strong, aren't they? Not TNA. They went from 300,000 viewers to 200,000 viewers. They will probably dip even further. But that's 33.3% of these fans tuning out during the "good times." They are on late. Too late to improve. Edgier content is not going to help them. They were already rough around the edges. They were TNA for crying out loud. They have characters that try to murder each other in the woods and Scarlett Bordeaux simulating oral sex on microphones.

They are not doing well in live crowds and they had PPV but lost it. How many do they produce a year? One? How well did that do? Which successful partnerships have been announced? Twitch?

There's a reason Chris Jericho has not shown up for his bestie. It's because he knows he's hot right now and he doesn't want any of that dirty, dirty stank on him.

Lol, Gerty -- you just want to bump into Scarlett Bordeaux again.

Dude as I've said before you really don't understand the wrestling landscape. The GWN has probably 10-15 promotions alone that air on it. Those are successful partnerships. Then you have the major partnership with AAA which has been good to both. They did 3 actual PPVs last year plus their One Night Only PPVs and Twitch specials that were usually done with other promotions.

I don't know why you say they're not doing well with live crowds. Obviously it's because you haven't seen what they are doing. Every PPV and taping had a sold paying crowd. That's alot different than letting everyone in for free at Universal.

Jericho and crew will come eventually. They are not going for a fast rebuild. They've went back to the basics and its been successful, I never thought Jericho would show up last year. That was mostly alot of internet hype from a Jericho interview.