Gramsci

I think there is a problem with booking and perception. But the quality of the product does not usually correlate with good/bad ratings. WWE's product is bad as hell and they are in the most successful period of their history. The discussion about TV ratings is a bit tricky. I think it was Meltzer who calculated that AEW's current ratings are the equivalent of 1M viewers in 2019. People underestimate these things, or even other stuff like shows moving from network to cable tv. Look at SmackDown, since it moved from FOX to USA it averages almost 1M fewer viewers, and they're more popular than ever.

From what has been reported, Danielson's win at All In was planned since at least January 2024. There were some leaks in July saying that Moxley was tired of US Wrestling TV and that if he could be convinced to return, he would win the title from Danielson in Tacoma. The plan has always been: Swerve - Danielson - Moxley.

In his latest interview, Danielson talked about how excited he gets when he talks about possible matches against Darby Allin, Kenny Omega or Orange Cassidy. The guy loves this too much and he'll be back as a wrestler. That's for sure. Plus, he still has an apuestas match in Mexico on his bucket list. For me, his booking hasn't been all that satisfying (that endless feud with JAS, some defeats...), but I think his in-ring run has been one of the best I've ever seen, especially in 2021 and 2024. My only issue with Danielson's booking, and this is a general issue in AEW, is that I think they didn't capitalize on his arrival and CM Punk's. I understand the stories they wanted to tell with both of them, and they didn't want to let the end of the Omega/Page storyline go, but the fear of being told "LOL, you're like TNA with the ex-WWE guys" was detrimental to them. Hangman Page looks much more prepared to be world champion now than he did 3 years ago, MJF's reign exposed him as someone who was not quite ready for that position, and we lost months of Danielson and Punk as legitimate Main Eventers who could move the needle.

I don't think it's comparable to the Benoit situation, Danielson has not taken steroids in his entire life. I think sometime we exaggerate about Bryan's health. I'm not saying that he is perfectly fine, but it is not much different from the state of health of the average wrestler. His retirement in 2016 was completely forced, he was forced to retire by WWE decision and could have continued wrestling if he had been released. In a podcast with Edge and Christian, he talked about how he and everyone misinterpreted some of his brain test results. Since his return in 2018, he has been cleared by every neurologist in the country, and he checks his brain health once a month, according to him. In one of the results of the scans he took on his brain one or two years ago, they certified that he had the oxygen levels in his brain of a 25-year-old brain without any head trauma. I am not a specialist on the subject, I am simply collecting some of the things that Danielson has been saying in recent years. It is okey that we worry about his health, just like we should worry about the rest of the wrestler's health. Regarding the injuries he's had, in the last year and a half he has referred to injuries where he has fractured some part of his body (labrum, arm, orbital bone..). He's said that he is aware that at 43 years old he is no longer able to have physically demanding matches every week on TV, and that his body is warning him. At no point he talks about him having concussions every time he gets in the ring. The guy is telling a story where he combines legitimate and kayfabe elements, and we don't really know where the line is that differentiates them, and that's where the magic of pro wrestling is. If he wasn't healthy, he wouldn't wrestle anymore, but he wants to keep wrestling until he dies or turns 80s or is old enough to quit. He invests a lot in his body and health, and that should put us at ease. So don't worry, whatever he does in his run as World Champion between All In and WrestleDream is not going to cause him to end up doing a Chris Benoit.

From what I remember, Tony Khan had conversations with Punk and Edge in 2019 when AEW started. Conversations with Punk continued and they reached a pre-agreement during the pandemic but they agreed that it made no sense for Punk to return to wrestling without the live crowd. I don't know what champions Tony Khan had in mind after Adam Page's reign, but I wouldn't be surprised if the possibility of eventually having CM Punk was a factor there.

Bryan is not as fucked up as people say, he has had some pain in his neck since April and no one wants him to get injured considering that he is going to be in the Main Event of All In. His run as a full-timer will continue until WrestleDream. Knowing Tony's booking style, he definitely wants The Final Countdown to play at Wembley to close the show, especially with Bryan winning the last title of his career. It's perfect and we are going to enjoy it. The only reason Danielson is going to wrestle for the World Heavyweight title at Wembley instead of having another random Dream Match is because he is going to win it. Swerve's drawing power and the vision of his championship reign won't change because he's losing to Danielson, in fact it will allow the creation of other narratives that will be much more interesting for his character. It must be normal, narratively speaking, that someone in his first reign as world champion cannot handle the pressure of wrestling in the Main Event of a show as big as All In, especially against someone much more experienced and who is a 6-time world champion.

I'm glad Danielson won, Hangman's character is much more interesting if he loses from time to time. That ending with Mariah May and Toni Storm is some of the best stuff they've ever done, incredible.

I loved the final angle, not the execution itself but the idea. The best thing was that Okada was there, doing nothing but being the one with the greatest presence in the whole segment. Nice touch that Mr. Khan was out there. We'll see if it's a smart move or not, they need to start with this angle on Collision, they'll probably have their biggest lead-in of all time from the NBA playoff game.

It is a work, he has said more than once that he will never retire and plans to wrestle until he’s 70 years old and that he doesn’t want to have a retirement match. Also, how much time Tony will have to add to his contract after he has missed all that time because of injuries? I think he plans to be more of a part time wrestler, which is basically what he is now. Maybe he’ll do 15 or 20 matches a year, who knows, but he will not retire and I’m sure Tony wants to keep him in AEW in some capacity. It’s funny how wrestlers talk about wanting to be home more often, maybe it is because they have never had a real job in their life, but they work like 1 day a week (+ 1 or 2 if you count travelling), they can spend more time with their children than anyone who has a regular office job.

We will see tonight on Dynamite, but if he is not ready to wrestle at FD it would be terrible if AEW made him appear days before the PPV to say that he has not been cleared and that he will not be competing for quite a while. That's one of the reasons that makes me optimistic, they can't be that stupid, right? It's like "hey, we planned to do Danielson vs Sabre but you are not going to have it! And rembember, order the PPV this sunday!"

I'm also worried about Danielson, but I want to think that if he wasn't ready to wrestle at Forbidden Door, Zack Sabre wouldn't have challenged him to a match.

Danielson should be in for a big match at this event, one of the reasons he signed with AEW was to wrestle in Japan and against the NJPW guys. It would be stupid to have him stuck in a trios match when Tony had him face Suzuki in a Youtube match months ago. Like, it doesn't make sense to me that you book a DREAM match for youtube and then, in the biggest event of the year, you put him in a trios match. When he was asked about his preferences a few days ago, he named a bunch of guys like Okada, Tanahashi, Saber, Ospreay, Shibata and Ishii. I doubt that he wants to be in any Tag or Trios match, he is the best wrestler in the world and this is a historic event. I would love to see Danielson vs. Shibata, but given the circumstances, I think it will be Danielson vs. Sabre. I agree that they can do the matchagainst Okada at WrestleKingdom at some point, especially if he makes it to G1 this year and wins it. Tanahashi is the perfect opponent for Punk and I understand why they are going to do the Okada vs. Page match, at the end of the day, they're the two young aces for each company and Hangman needs to do something relevant after losing the title.

Let me say this and I'll go. No one freely signs a contract, in capitalist conditions there are always relations of domination and oppression. People sell their labor power because they need to cover their basic needs, thus becoming part-time slaves. I think Sasha has always been seen as someone who is injury prone and can't be counted on long term plans.

It is a bad decision to have signed Bryan to a three-year contract and have him fight in trios or in a tag team with Mox. The idea of the stable is cool, but they should do their thing individually while they are protecting each others back. Hangman vs Punk, Rosa vs Deeb and MJF vs Wardlow are the only matches that I'm sure are happening at the PPV.

If the card is full of tag and trios matches, it will be a big disappointment. It will be the biggest show in AEW's short history in terms of attendance, and after all the buzz created, they need to live up to the hype. Punk and Danielson need to be in singles matches against the likes of Tanahashi, Okada, Ibushi, ¿Shibata?, ZSJ, Shingo, KENTA... For example, it doesn't make any sense that they are giving away matches like Danielson vs Suzuki or Moxley vs Suzuki on TV (or Youtube), and in the PPV they book a trios match for the BCC, that would be a disaster.