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Yes, it should, but people online (and even people here) are under the impression that somehow AEW should be able to sell 40-50k tickets or something just because they did that in England for the previous two shows. Which are starving markets for wrestling, whereas: Texas isn't, tickets are expensive, traveling to America from outside the country is dangerous (not a narrative, it's fact) and AEW just isn't that hot outside of the primary fanbase. Again, I don't think WWE cares if AEW sold out the entire stadium or does what they're doing right now. These three shows this weekend aren't designed to siphon money away from AEW. The very nature of how easily you can watch all aspects of WWE's product on demand is counterproductive to that. If they wanted to siphon money away from them, they'd be running all of these shows in Texas. This is about controlling the conversation this weekend. I like both companies. Why would I watch Great American Bash over All In? I can just watch it after, or the next day, or literally whenever I want. Same with SNME (even though it'll be on after All In is over).

given all the CGI likely to be used, both?

I mean, shouldn’t their marquee show outdraw a bunch of random wwe shows? If this is their Mania (maybe it’s not, watchers can correct me), it should draw. Or is there a narrative about foreign fans not coming to the US for it, like how that’s one of the explanations given for the poor attendances at the club World Cup?

Plus, the 'ALL IN' number is going to grow a lot this week while the three WWE shows seem pretty much tapped out. Think about this, AEW is going to outdraw Goldberg's retirement match, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Rhea vs. Iyo and the rest of that card and whatever they are doing in NXT. Combined.

FYI the casting isn't speculation, all of this is coming from Hollywood trades. Except Cody Rhodes, actually. But that same place did have casting rumors that turned out to be true. Mortal Kombat has the dark & gritty market cornered, I suspect this Street Fighter movie would go in the opposite direction and just be bright and silly and fun.

Evolution is the night after All In, on a service that costs like $6 with ads, and is up for VOD immediately. I don't think their plan is to take away PPV buys. They want to dominate the online conversations. Triple H might say that the internet is bullshit or whatever, but with as much as they flaunt social media impressions (and have for YEARS), he's lying through his teeth. And they absolutely do play to internet fans, Punk is proof positive of that (and others obviously). I'll watch SNME live because it's after All In, and I'll catch Evolution since it's the next day. I do not give a single fuck about NXT so that's a swing and a miss. This is a good point, actually. AEW is getting bent over a barrel online by the anti-AEW contignent because they "only" have sold 20k so far for a stadium show. All In has sold more tickets than all of the WWE shows this weekend combined.

If this is a Bond who grew up in the 90s or later, I presume that wouldn’t just involve the stereotypical English boarding school hazing of the last 100+ years. If they did it, I’d bet on “seduced by older posh woman”, potentially using the modern equivalent of Sylvia Kristel.

People are going to accuse me of things but so be it. Mercedes was not advertised for 'Big Business'. Yes, it was pretty obvious she would show up with the hints but they never outright said it. The whole show was built around her and 10,000 fans showed up to that arena. Here's my point: this event has Rhea, Becky, Charlotte, Bayley, Alexa, Iyo, Jade, Naomi Trish, pretty much all of the stars of the division and it's sitting at 4,800 sold and no buzz. I don't think it's because they aren't stars, I think it's because WWE sandbagged them and it's really unfortunate. Women's wrestling can be huge when given a proper chance.

I'm just glad he doesn't stare at his own hands for us to understand how violent he is.

to clarify, 3/10 was the Piper promo at Club La Vela where he ranted about Howard Stern and the WWF. The week before was the tryout at the Omni.

Treating your nearly underage wife like dog shit is 'politics' here, I guess? (I'm still convinced he beat her and we don't know about it.)

I know it couldn’t be avoided, because he was so over as a heel that he had to be turned, but Piper was just the dirt worst as a babyface.

Considering that joke about the glass table he cracked, I wonder if Boogie had actually recognized there wasn't a bell and yelled that on purpose. (If it was me I would've found something for someone to hit the ringpost with.)

I was at that show. As bad as it was on tv, it was SO MUCH worse being there live. You know an event is boring when a 14 year old Drew is thinking "I could've been at home getting a jump on my French homework"...

That team tryout sketch goes on so long I half expected piper to demand someone put on the glasses

Adam Cole’s promos bug me in one very specific way. There’s this stammer that he does and I swear it’s not real, that it’s an affect he puts on in a misguided effort to sound real and natural. I swear he never did it before his NXT run, so I blame WWE’s acting coaches.

But... puppy-dog eyes! If Acclaimed clean out Billy Gunn bigtime, like he goes into a producer's role and never returns, that would maybe get them close to where they used to be. It'd be a start, anyway.

Paying for water is ultimate enshittification. Just give people a cup out of the fucking tap for free, or a dollar, or something. Bottling water is the biggest and most horrendous scam in a hundred years probably, for real -- Lewis Black was right.

Exactly.

Katarina/Kara was pretty good, surprised to see Katarina get the win there. Love to see Sprout back with Scout! But as soon as I saw the opponents, I knew there was no hope for them. Main event was a wild brawl. Love when a match gets a longer showcase like this as it always stands out. Thought for sure Miami Sweet Heat would regain here, but I dug the chaotic crazy finish there, I'm down for more from this feud.

I'm finally getting to watch Collision, and holy hell is Adam Cole bad. Just zero attempt to evolve his style or presentation at all. I hope Kyle Fletcher squashes him flat at All In.

I'm certainly not the only person to share this theory online, or even on this site, but I really don't think TKO wants Evolution to be successful. I don't think they see women's competition in WWE or UFC as a worthwhile investment, and these poor women are being sent out to get creamed, both locally by a concert and on TV by a superior (if less known) product. If Evolution tanks, now TKO and HHH can say "see? We told you this wasn't profitable on its own." Conversely, if they DO manage to siphon off a few hundred buys from All In, HHH and Nick Khan can crow about how they've stymied AEW and uncle Tony again. It is crazy to think about how 18 months ago, TK was melting down regularly over what WWE was doing and now WWE is the entity acting like a jilted lover.

I've seen this exact feud play out in real life. I loved it then and I'd gave loved it in WCW.

So the first indie show I was ever at, someone forgot the bell. There were explicit instructions, do not reference that there is no bell, like the fans aren't gonna notice there's no bell. Jimmy Valiant is in the main event. I forget who he was against. It doesn't matter. He takes like ten minutes to get to the ring because he's going around and shaking every hand, as he is a man of the people. The first thing he does when he gets in the ring? Yell out "HIT THAT BELL, DADDY!", because like hell he would have been paying attention to the fact there was no bell. It also didn't matter that there was no bell, as he was too busy clapping and stomping to have heard it anyway, nor did anyone care. Anyway, Boogie is great, but his act is not a TV act for sure.