AEW Fight for the Fallen

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott For fuck's sake, people... talk about missing the point. I wasn't comparing Excalibur as a whole to Lawler as a whole. I wasn't comparing their announcing, or what they did in the ring, or any of that shit. I said Jerry had been sitting at an announce desk for about twenty years in full wrestling gear and a fake crown and nobody gave one flying fuck. This guy wears a mask and people are flipping the fuck out about it being "unprofessional" or "offputting". I don't ever remember hearing "Ugh, Lawler's not a real monarch, that shit just takes me right out of the show" or "he should wear an actual suit instead of a gimmicked blazer over his singlet". That specific thing is the same difference, but Jerry gets a pass just because he's Jerry. Ventura was gimmicked out when he was an announcer; feather boas and sunglasses and everything. Macho Man was still in full gear when Vinice planned on keeping him in the booth. If Rey Rey retired from the ring tomorrow and became a commentator for Smackdown, nobody would insist he went back to his Filthy Animals look because he's sitting in a chair. He would still be in his mask. If you have a problem with one but not the other just because one guy is a "nobody" and the other is a legend, I feel like you may be a bit too dense to actually explain how you're being hypocritical about the subject.

Lol it’s not hypocritical by any means. People aren’t trying to explain the difference between Excalibur and Lawler/Ventura to say “They’re cool so they get to do it but fuck this guy, he doesn’t.” They’re saying it’s fucking silly to compare a commentator making his debut in a company making its debut to guys who have established themselves as known stars carrying over their gimmick to the booth. It’s not just some “he hasn’t earned it.” nonsense. It’s the fact that one had been established for years and years before shifting to commentary so it made sense and the other showed up on day 1 looking ridiculous with no explanation.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan Lol it’s not hypocritical by any means. People aren’t trying to explain the difference between Excalibur and Lawler/Ventura to say “They’re cool so they get to do it but fuck this guy, he doesn’t.” They’re saying it’s fucking silly to compare a commentator making his debut in a company making its debut to guys who have established themselves as known stars carrying over their gimmick to the booth. It’s not just some “he hasn’t earned it.” nonsense. It’s the fact that one had been established for years and years before shifting to commentary so it made sense and the other showed up on day 1 looking ridiculous with no explanation.

Yeah, my issue is it's "HE HAS A MASK BECAUSE WRESTLING."

Don't get me wrong, I understand excalibur was a big deal in cheesedick-ville, USA but I literally have no idea who the fuck he is, much like other audience members won't.

I will say, where I might be wrong is that people can literally look him on their cellphones as they watch the product. But, some context within the framework of AEW instead of looking it up on Wiki is still a nice touch.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by The Dastardly One Yeah, my issue is it's "HE HAS A MASK BECAUSE WRESTLING." Don't get me wrong, I understand excalibur was a big deal in cheesedick-ville, USA but I literally have no idea who the fuck he is, much like other audience members won't. I will say, where I might be wrong is that people can literally look him on their cellphones as they watch the product. But, some context within the framework of AEW instead of looking it up on Wiki is still a nice touch.

I would agree with that context part, but I think a problem with that is more of a logistical one. Kinda like that Kenny Omega "losing streak" makes zero sense if you aren't already aware that this stems from his last matches in New Japan, since they sorta-kinda can't acknowledge that but have to leave it up to inferences as to it meaning that. Pretty sure they could expound upon letting more people know he's in a mask because he was in ring talent (was/is? Is he retired, or did he just kinda settle into desk gigs?). Since Excal's matches were places like ROH, it isn't like they can just show film.

At the very least, what will likely happen is short pepperings of relating what is happening in the ring to experience, sort of like Matt Striker (maybe without the beating people in the head with it like Matt was prone to do, though... more subtle, like Nigel does occasionally). "Oh, he wrestled. That makes sense." I don't think people will dwell on that so much once they know that he isn't just some random dude who just showed up off the street in a La Parka mask. JR would be pretty good about leading into something like that.

Let the TV show get here to give them the opportunity to clear that up, though.