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February 2023 AEW Discussion


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5 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

I was curious and did a quick Wiki - I'm reading TIAA's capacity is 67K-82K. It's gonna be awesome when it happens, but idk if we're there just yet - those are Mania numbers, let's get to the Goldberg Nitro first

The Superdome is a BIG stadium and WCW always did barely enough where it looked impressive despite likely curtaining/tarping off about 3/4 of the stadium. You have to be at bare minimum 15k. However, at that point, just run the biggest indoor arena there and not the stadium. WWE just did Mohegan Sun the other week for TV. That's not a big arena. Sometimes you have to play the cards you're dealt.

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1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

The Superdome is a BIG stadium and WCW always did barely enough where it looked impressive despite likely curtaining/tarping off about 3/4 of the stadium. You have to be at bare minimum 15k. However, at that point, just run the biggest indoor arena there and not the stadium. WWE just did Mohegan Sun the other week for TV. That's not a big arena. Sometimes you have to play the cards you're dealt.

I was going by the (possibly fabed) 40K number that's always been bandied about. I suppose they could always tarp half the stadium off like SummerSlam recently had, but i agree entirely, just fill Daily's next door or whatever the indoor arena is down there instead at that point. 

I'm a little butt hurt about the Mohegan thing, and here's why: that's actually one of my home arenas, I live about an hour from there, give or take - I've mentioned before, but the attendance at Rampage/Dark from there on Halloween weekend was downright embarrassing.

This last Smackdown (which btw, I was told drew WWE's highest attendance in that building, ever) had two pretty hefty advantages IMO, beyond just being on Titan home turf:

1) Rampage was the Friday of Halloween weekend, so that cuts out a ton of your HS, college, and young adult fans who are out partying - tough to compare to do-nothing-ass January/February. The whole casino was dead that night 

2) The week before Smackdown, there was a massive sold out show at the same arena (Exodus, Black Label Society, and headliners Anthrax celebrating 40 years together) -  I was in attendance, obviously, and I am not kidding you, this show had exactly four ads on a loop for nearly the entire time between sets: Coke, Bud Light, Smackdown, Truly. Coke, Bud Light, Smackdown, Truly. Coke, Bud Light, Smackdown, Truly. Over and over again. Definitely a smart move to take advantage of both a) the obvious heavy metal/wrestling crossover, and b) what is basically a captive audience waiting for the next set. Really hoping that local advertising, coordinating with venues and local vendors, radio stations, newscasts etc. is an area that Jeff Jarrett can help them improve upon, and hopefully they can put together a good local promotion infrastructure in the future - I've said it before a bunch, but they really need like a Zane Bresloff-type figure 

Edited by Zakk_Sabbath
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Going back to the Gator Bowl and some of those old stadiums like the Liberty Bowl and Fulton County Stadium, a good crowd necessarily isn't indicative of the strength of the business. That's the trials and tribulations of a touring property. The Great American Bash tour series turned out to be a bad idea even though in some of their stronger markets and strongholds, they did reasonably okay to good. They did horrendous in some of those other places (IIRC Memphis and Jacksonville in the aforementioned stadiums above were two of them). And 1986 was their last great year. Look at WWF. 1995 going into 1996 was a terrible time. They did Royal Rumble in Fresno in probably the smallest arena they will do a Rumble before or since. A year later, they did a great crowd at the Alamodome. However, 1997 still wasn't a great year. Now, they did a lot of things that would help contribute to their future success in 1998 and 1999. UWFi did 40k at Jingu Stadium in September 1996 (for context, I believe they did 10k for Takada vs. Anjoh months earlier) and then had their farewell show 3 months later.

I would love AEW to be on an upswing and be able to do quarterly big shows (TV or PPV) in much bigger venues. Consistency will always be the key though. If they can consistently find a way to do 7k-10k and then move on to 11k-15k, then they will be on their way. However, they aren't at that point yet.

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On 2/10/2023 at 4:41 PM, Doc Townsend said:

I thought it was interesting that Meltzer has gone from saying Punk would never return to saying AEW might or might not use Punk when he’s healthy in a couple months, but that bringing him back has some potential pitfalls.  I guess they never did fire him?  Too bad.

i don’t see an enough of an upside to bringing him back, but he’d probably still draw well and the initial period after his return would probably do huge numbers, so it will be interesting if they try it.  AEW seems to be cooling off, so Tony might be desperate enough to try it even if the Elite aren’t on board.

When they Brought in Punk he Debuted on Rampage the second or 3rd week of the show, I thought they should've kept Punk almost exclusively on Rampage. The first several months Rampage was like first few weeks of WWE Main Event where they would feature a RAW or Smackdown Main Event to start the show, it was booked like a one hour Raw without a bunch of backstage segments. If they would have kept Danielson and or Punk almost exclusive to Rampage then I think they would have maintained strong numbers for that show. They still feature strong Main Events occasionally but I think people have given up on looking at it as anywhere close to even as Dynamite. The only way to build it back up is to have Punk only on that show if he comes back

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17 hours ago, Rev Ray said:

 

Chicken has been signed

I think Mark could wind up becoming a pretty big star in AEW. He's so different than anyone else with his mannerisms and his look, and dude can definitely hold up his end of the work against anybody. It's such a shame it took Jay's death for this to happen.

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I can't stop thinking about the spot in the last Joe/Darby match when Joe picked Darby up off his feet and threw him over the top. Not a hip lock, not a biel, just one human being internally saying "fuck this" and hurling another human being to the ground lack a sack of garbage. It was somehow the least pro wrestling thing ever and the MOST pro wrestling thing ever.

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AEW was clearly building to Punk vs. MJF for the title as their big program. That all got flushed away, and they made it MJF vs. Moxley, and that worked for a while. But they pulled the trigger on MJF and now what? 

Wardlow, who about a year ago, looked like he was about to become AEW's hot new act has lost all his heat. You have guys seldom appearing on TV. What is even going on with the House of Black? 

And now they are investing all this time and effort into ROH, which how does that even work now? What AEW guys are really going to want to be ROH guys now? You didn't sign with WWE wanting to stay a part of 205 Live or NXT. 

They had no idea what they were doing when they bought ROH, and the results prove that. It didn't help or improve the product at all. And then they signed a bunch of guys they don't know what to do with or have room on TV for anymore. 

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8 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

They had no idea what they were doing when they bought ROH, and the results prove that. It didn't help or improve the product at all. And then they signed a bunch of guys they don't know what to do with or have room on TV for anymore. 

Tony Schiavone Names The Problem That Both WWE And AEW Have

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"WWE has it, we have it in AEW, we had it back in WCW ... guys that'll show up and just go to catering, they've nothing to do," he said. "I think it's a problem with sports teams, and I consider us a sports team. I bet you there are problems in the NFL, I bet there are players that think they should be playing and don't get to play."

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6 minutes ago, Dolphman 3000 said:

Acknowledging you have a problem is a start, but what next?

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House of Black is about to feud with the Elite

Then book them and give them matches on TV.

Also, Powerhouse Hobbs hasn't even been on Dynamite since September I think.

 
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33 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

Acknowledging you have a problem is a start, but what next?

Then book them and give them matches on TV.

Also, Powerhouse Hobbs hasn't even been on Dynamite since September I think.

 

I assumed he would be having a big match at revolution. Now there’s only two dynamites left before the show. I’m pretty underwhelmed with everything that’s going on actually. There’s plenty of good stuff but not much that has me genuinely excited. 

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Does AEW still allow their wrestlers to do indy bookings? I like the fact they can rotate their guys to keep them fresh on TV and perhaps a bit more injury free. Lance Archer is a good example, you can feature him in the main-event as a top TV feud. He’s big and imposing enough that you don’t have to build him up every time. On the other hand you need regular top guys on your roster to engage the audience.

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Very curious to see how this ROH roster shapes up. Does the gone but not forgotten lost stars of the past (Miro, Archer, Ogogo etc.) come off the bench? I have a hunch the 'Bloated Roster' theorists might receive an answer to their bellyaches. Obviously there's a lot less prestige and exposure working a streaming service compared to Turner Television, but I kinda assume this is where ROH starts to potentially earn a slot. That Friday Night Rampage slot is looking more and more like a nice place to transition to. 

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5 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Very curious to see how this ROH roster shapes up. Does the gone but not forgotten lost stars of the past (Miro, Archer, Ogogo etc.) come off the bench? I have a hunch the 'Bloated Roster' theorists might receive an answer to their bellyaches. Obviously there's a lot less prestige and exposure working a streaming service compared to Turner Television, but I kinda assume this is where ROH starts to potentially earn a slot. That Friday Night Rampage slot is looking more and more like a nice place to transition to. 

It's certainly possible, but I think having ROH be streaming-only is actually kind of good for AEW in that it doesn't dilute the main brand as much for the average viewer. It's there for the hardcores who want it, its not a huge extra cost to run at Universal since they were doing Dark there anyway. And if you stumble on something great and you can start filling buildings in like an NXT Takeover kind of fashion, great - if not, fuck it, keep running it til you recoup the cost of the library, and move on with your life 

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It's ironic, ROH is going to be to AEW what NXT used to be to WWE.

Should have put the show on Tuesdays. Perhaps if it does well on streaming it will get upgraded to telly in the same way... although the reason OG NXT became a hit was because people were starving for good wrestling. Which is no longer the case.

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Update on Schedule Conflict for Jon Moxley, Booked For AEW House Show on Same Day as OTT Scrappermania 7

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It was reported back in January that Jon Moxley would appear at OTT Scrappermania 7 in Dublin, Ireland. A month later, AEW announced a new live event tour called House Rules, with the first event in Troy, OH also featuring Jon Moxley. The problem is that both events are scheduled for March 18.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that OTT found out about Moxley being booked for AEW at the same time that everyone else did, when AEW announced it in a press release. There’s been no word on Moxley’s status yet. OTT contacted Moxley about appearing and he said he would if AEW approved it, which they did. Then the house show was announced.

In a statement, promoter Joe Cabray said: “We understand there is some confusion on Jon Moxley’s appearance at ScrapperMania. We are working with AEW and should have news coming soon.

Edited by Dolphman 3000
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17 hours ago, zendragon said:

Actually a weekly ROH show would alleviate some of that, "Hey we don't have space on Dynamite for you but we can feature you on ROH" and I'm sure plenty of guys would rather be signed to ROH than just working exclusively VFW halls

How could it be viewed by the wrestler as anything other than a demotion? 

Edited by TheVileOne
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