AEW - DECEMBER 2022

[The Natural]

14 hours ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

Who said anything about WWE? You claimed Dax was having the "time of his life" in AEW when he just said a few days ago that he'd rather leave

 

14 hours ago, porksweats said:

That's okay, he can take the year off tv wrestling by remaining with ROH.

[twiztor]

i want to live in the world where Coach Tony addresses it in this way:

"William Regal is no longer a part of AEW. He has accepted a much larger role with a different wrestling promotion. Now, I am pleased to announce the new head of Ring of Honor, William Regal!"

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, twiztor said:

i want to live in the world where Coach Tony addresses it in this way:

"William Regal is no longer a part of AEW. He has accepted a much larger role with a different wrestling promotion. Now, I am pleased to announce the new head of Ring of Honor, William Regal!"

 

6 hours ago, The Natural said:

 

 

[Curt McGirt]

I actually really like that idea. He's already great at coaching younger guys, let him work with the indie talent there. Plus he's a fucking draw.

[Dolphman 3000]

On 12/5/2022 at 10:09 AM, odessasteps said:

Don't know why Jericho would give up his spot as the company's Iago (and I don't mean the parrot. RIP Gilbert) 

[Ace]

Watching Abadon on Dark today, they've really grown a bit as a character and a wrestler. I'd like to see them get more exposure next year.

 

[Craig H]

14 hours ago, Ace said:

Watching Abadon on Dark today, they've really grown a bit as a character and a wrestler. I'd like to see them get more exposure next year.

 

Wait, I thought they were seriously injured? That's cool if they're still able to wrestle.

[colonial]

Just now, Craig H said:

Wait, I thought they were seriously injured? That's cool if they're still able to wrestle.

The match was taped a few weeks before the injury. Dark had some leftover matches from the Atlantic City tapings that had yet to air.

[The Natural]

@Casey.

[The Natural]

 

[Craig H]

Hey! So I think TK is starting to get the message - https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/tony-khan-responds-criticism-introducing-new-talent-aew-tv?amp

Quote

When I was a young wrestling fan, that was one of the things I liked about WCW Nitro. I think it would be very ironic now that the same promoter [Eric Bischoff] would tell you, you don't want to see these faces or introduce new people on TV because they were the ones who did that. A lot of times these new faces or read in a magazine, I'd never seen before and they would just walk out and wrestle on Nitro like it was perfectly natural and I thought it was the coolest thing. I guess that's not acceptable anymore even though its much much easier to access information on the internet than it was in 1996

Yeah man, I don't know, we live in the golden age of TV where shit that happens on screen needs to actually matter. So anyone new coming in is sort of a big deal. Like Shane Taylor just randomly showing up to talk to Keith Lee is cool because there's history us nerds know about, but the majority of the audience doesn't. So maybe just don't have Shane Taylor randomly show up to talk to Keith Lee? And part of what TK is saying is fine. Like wrestlers being brought in and their actual debut is wrestling in a match like, hey, here's this new hire, this new hand, and this is their first match here, isn't that cool? That's fine. Where you stumble is when you debut a wrestler without any explanation and have them jump right into a storyline.

Here's another example to show how a little bit backstory works. EVERYTHING with Malakai Black and the House of Black has largely worked. People knew who Malakai was from WWE and the indies and so they popped huge for him kicking Cody's head off. So when you then bring in Brody King, and Brody King is a fucking monster who draws a ton of attention, it's going to work when he's brought in to be this huge dude with a way cool dude like Black. Then when they're all on the shelf for a weeks or a couple months and show back up in Chicago, it's maybe the most memorable part of the night. It's a real holy shit moment.

Build to holy shit moments. Or look to how you debuted Eddie Kingston. Even though that was the COVID era, that still worked with the way he was brought in. Stop randomly dumping new wrestlers into storylines.

[Matt D]

Khan definitely hears criticism. But he also hears it in his own way and he has his own mental lines in the sand which may not be the same as what others see/feel. Like the ROH stuff. He's very firm that ROH stuff has been 100% kept off Dynamite except for when it comes to Jericho because he'd be on there anyway. That it's been relegated to Rampage mostly. But I don't think the fanbase necessary remembers what was on Rampage and what was on Dynamite when it comes to the midcard.

[John from Cincinnati]

14 minutes ago, Craig H said:

Hey! So I think TK is starting to get the message - https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/tony-khan-responds-criticism-introducing-new-talent-aew-tv?amp

Getting, maybe. But what's clipped there doesn't hit me as taking it in. The conclusion of what's clipped there puts focus on the "overall... positive reception." Reads to me like "I hear you and your stupid shallow thinking, but I don't agree and it's mostly working fine."

But it's TK and he may have rambled around the point another five times in the next two minutes, so who knows.

[twiztor]

also, there's a difference between WCW bringing in former WWF stars and, to a lesser extent, ECW stars versus some of the AEW appearances.  ROH from 2015 (when Taylor debuted on there) to current has a much, much smaller fanbase, so a guy from that era is more likely to receive a "who's that guy?" reaction than a "whoa, THAT guy's here?" response.

make the debuts matter. 

[JohnnyJ]

The randomness of AEW was working until it wasn't. It's as simple as that. For a time it did feel like amidst the chaos there was a big picture plan. Due to so many personnel issues/injuries the randomness has sort of lost its appeal. It just feels like a promotion without a direction.   

 

 

[JLowe]

23 minutes ago, JohnnyJ said:

The randomness of AEW was working until it wasn't. It's as simple as that. For a time it did feel like amidst the chaos there was a big picture plan. Due to so many personnel issues/injuries the randomness has sort of lost its appeal. It just feels like a promotion without a direction.   

 

 

They just put the World Title on the guy who, when things first started to fall apart in mid-Spring, was the guy who would have been wearing the belt at this point. Multiple feud possibilities here being set up.

They did an audible and put the Tag Belts on possibly the hottest act in US wrestling with multiple feud opportunities tied in to their build, along with the FTR angle.

They put the Women's World Title on the hottest wrestler in that division, who was built over the course of the year and now has two built-in feuds.

They did all this while finding a way to keep one of their most recognizable performers hot feuding over a second-tier belt.

Oh and all are people who would be considered "homegrown" acts.

As others have pointed out, they've done a huge course correction while dealing with a massive number of injuries, tampering, and performer petulance.

[Zimbra]

The Final Battle media call is going on and TK confirmed that Regal asked him not to renew his contract so he could go back to WWE and Khan agreed, so I guess that's settled.

[John from Cincinnati]

9 minutes ago, Zimbra said:

The Final Battle media call is going on and TK confirmed that Regal asked him not to renew his contract so he could go back to WWE and Khan agreed, so I guess that's settled.

Probably some wrestling media people who are entitled to apologies they're unlikely to receive. 

[Dog]

Some specific stuff about Regal from the call here. Tony also talked about personal stuff about his mom being sick, hence the "hospital" comments in the following quotes.

https://prowrestling.net/site/2022/12/07/aew-media-call-report-live-notes-on-tony-khan-speaking-with-the-pro-wrestling-media-ahead-of-saturdays-roh-final-battle-pay-per-view/

Quote

Khan said he received a phone call around that time. He said Regal had contacted AEW executive Megha Parekh. Khan said Regal asked that AEW not exercise their renewal option. Regal spoke about his son working for WWE.

Quote

 

Khan recalled getting a message from Regal, who asked if they could talk. Khan said he made time to talk to Regal. He said he sat outside the hospital on a park bench and they had a good talk. Khan said Regal had good intentions for wanting to go back. He said it made sense to him that Regal wanted to work with his son. Khan said it made sense to him, particularly given what his family was going through. Khan said he had to think about Full Gear and family. He said it made a lot of sense to try to accommodate Regal’s request. Khan told Regal he would consider it. He said it required a creative overhaul.

Khan said he sat with Regal after the AEW show in Jacksonville. He said it’s the longest conversation he’s had with Regal. Khan told Regal that AEW is a family first company and they would work to accommodate his request. He said Regal is with the company through the holidays.

 

 

[Dolphman 3000]

3 hours ago, Craig H said:

Like Shane Taylor just randomly showing up to talk to Keith Lee is cool because there's history us nerds know about, but the majority of the audience doesn't. So maybe just don't have Shane Taylor randomly show up to talk to Keith Lee?

Nah man, all of wrestling is a multiverse and you just need to buy the 2022 CHIKARA Yearbook to really understand and appreciate everything

[John from Cincinnati]

Tony says there will be less Ring of Honor on AEW TV post-Final Battle. What that looks like with many important people on the AEW roster holding ROH titles is anyone's guess. Presumably less official title defenses and angles about said titles but people still walking around with ROH belts? 

[Krone]

3 hours ago, Matt D said:

Khan definitely hears criticism. But he also hears it in his own way and he has his own mental lines in the sand which may not be the same as what others see/feel. Like the ROH stuff. He's very firm that ROH stuff has been 100% kept off Dynamite except for when it comes to Jericho because he'd be on there anyway. That it's been relegated to Rampage mostly. But I don't think the fanbase necessary remembers what was on Rampage and what was on Dynamite when it comes to the midcard.

Joe's been on Dynamite a fair bit with that TV title and now TNT title as well. RoH "stuff" has kind of been kept off Dynamite but Garcia still shows up and is the RoH Pure champ, FTR show up and are the RoH Tag champs. I think that's where the problem lies. Everyone who's a RoH champ is an AEW guy so it just leads us to a bunch of blurred lines. Now play that track Robin Thicke.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Krone Meltzer

[Casey]

3 hours ago, The Natural said:

@Casey.

This just reminds me that I need to order that comp tape of Punk’s AEW run. Some of those matches were… *chef’s kiss* 

[StuntmanCrowley]

4 hours ago, The Natural said:

@Casey.

I am so fucking happy that guy is gone

[Matt D]

11 minutes ago, Casey said:

This just reminds me that I need to order that comp tape of Punk’s AEW run. Some of those matches were… *chef’s kiss* 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/search/label/CM Punk

Basically ever 2022 Punk match reviewed here. I am in agreement.