Kevin Wilson Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I mean this in the nicest way possible but I can tell when wrestling fans haven't worked a corporate job before or don't have to deal with travel for one. The company I work for is worth probably half a billion dollars or so. When I fly to job sites, sometimes they send me to a cheaper airport and have me rent a car and drive two hours to save a couple hundred bucks. If I eat a $9 lunch and want to expense it, I have to take a picture of the receipt, make it into a PDF and attach it to my expense report to prove I really spent the money. $9! Its nothing on their budget but I still have to do it. As EVA said, its not that Shad Khan is sitting down at night looking at ways to save $1,600, its the managers of departments looking for ways to keep their budgets at a certain number so they don't get fired. TK deserves criticism for firing someone that was out injured due to a job-related injury, and he seems to see that now (not sure why he didn't realize it before doing it). And he probably shouldn't give an interview saying 'yes I fired those people because I want to sign big free agents' (or in essence), its not good optics. But big companies sweating the dimes and nickels is the American way, AEW isn't doing anything different then any other company in the country in that regard. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanChessgame Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 3 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said: I mean this in the nicest way possible but I can tell when wrestling fans haven't worked a corporate job before or don't have to deal with travel for one. If you're lucky you had a cool boss who would give you something form petty cash because you knew that after you submitted all your mileage and other receipts it would take about two pay cycles to get the actual reimbursement check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 6 hours ago, odessasteps said: Wouldnt want the billionaire’s kid spending any more of his money than he has to. So is he spending TOO much money or not ENOUGH money? You for example call him a "money mark". Yet, he's a cheapskate. I don't think I understand that. There is two different narratives here that I don't really understand about Tony. You cannot have it both ways. I, however, do know that for the past 40-50 years that "your ass betta be here before bell time" has been universal thing in pro wrestling no matter the promoter. Whether it's been by plane, train, or automobile, you gotta be there. And from The Boys perspective or anyone else who has ran into non performance related issues that cost them their job in wrestling, I can definitely sympathize to a certain degree. Shit happens and it can snowball. This goes especially if this is really your first time working for a company where it's essentially a traveling circus. IMO it was likely they saw a trend in missing shows or being egregiously late and not just one time. Again, in their position where they are extremely expendable, something like that isn't going to lead to a positive outcome. If it was a being cheap issue, we would have heard countless stories of people not making AEW shows. However, we haven't. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 (edited) Prob has to do with them being expendable and the same issue with a main event talent would not have happened. was it Jimmy Johnson who said something like “if a backup guard falls asleep in a meeting, he gets cut. If Emmitt Smith falls asleep, I give him a pillow.” and I think it’s certainly possible to be both a money mark and a cheapskate, depending on the situation . You could have said it about Dixie and TNA. Edited April 6 by odessasteps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 16 minutes ago, odessasteps said: and I think it’s certainly possible to be a money mark and a cheapskate at the same time. You could have said it about Dixie and TNA. Not really. I mean she wasn't really the only one running wrestling operations. Prior to Panda Energy, TNA was running through money at a ridiculous level. If Bob Carter doesn't want to be a part of that, then it doesn't happen. Now if you want call Bob a "money mark" far enough, but everything I can gleam especially from what Jeff has relayed from his own podcast, there wasn't essentially one issue/person to place all the blame on. Dixie's lack of wrestling creative acumen and relationships with talent contributed to the problems certainly, but cheapness certainly wasn't an issue. And historically, especially from what we seen in sports going back to the days of pre multi billionaires owning franchises in the NBA and NFL, the cheapskates are true cheapskates. There is very little vacillation. Tony Khan has been AEW from the beginning essentially. This begins and ends with him. That said, when you have a certain departments where they have budgets in place and you as an independent contractor are just one of the line items, The Tate Twins are one of many faceless people. It wasn't them, it was going to be something other guys pretty fortunate to have found themselves to be employed. In a corporate environment that is fairly common. So on one hand, he is a money mark for hiring them. Yet, on the hand, he should keep them employed as to not to appear frugal. Yeah, that's fairly ridiculous. If they're truly talented, they will show up somewhere else and ASAP. Happened with damn near every other wrestling company who released people. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 3 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said: Tony Khan has been AEW from the beginning essentially. This begins and ends with him. but I’ve been told, on this board, that there’s no AEW without Omega, Hangman and the Bucks! It’s even in the name! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesterCopperpot Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Quote I think that this year I have been very active not only in the free agent market, but in the production budget. There are things tonight, like for example, on one song alone, I spent like a year's pay for most pro wrestlers in this business. Probably not the best thing to mention in an answer about how these releases were due to budget cuts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 48 minutes ago, Casey said: but I’ve been told, on this board, that there’s no AEW without Omega, Hangman and the Bucks! It’s even in the name! It got counteracted. When Kingston started doing his ALL Japan tributes it became fair game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 23 minutes ago, ChesterCopperpot said: Probably not the best thing to mention in an answer about how these releases were due to budget cuts. Ooooooof. What a goober. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJ Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 (edited) On one hand it seems ridiculous to fire people over miscommunication/ misunderstanding. On the other hand, the Boys are two people on the payroll to accompany an act on the company’s D- show. Unless there was a real plan to turn Dalton into a draw why were they even there in the first place? The whole thing is AEW in a nutshell. Edited April 6 by JohnnyJ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SovietShooter Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 8 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said: Most fans don't care about any of this stuff, as general wrestling fans are used to the occasional cullings since WWF/WWE has been doing it since the dawn of time, I think its just the vocal small minority of online fans that care that The Boys were cut and why. I take no personal pleasure on people losing their jobs, and TK getting some side eyeing since he said he wouldn't do this is justified, but in the grand scheme of things this is just normal business. The lesson he needs to learn here is to never discuss the "why" part and just keep it moving, and probably don't cut people that were injured wrestling as its just poor optics and not very nice. I think a healthy portion of the criticism of these releases (not necessarily here, but in the wider IWC social media landscape) is being done in bad faith, like many AEW criticisms. TK having said in the past that he wouldn't cut anyone early, was just enough for the stans to dog pile on him for hypocrisy, despite the fact that was never a statement he was going to be able to honor. Even releasing Punk was going back on that, despite that being for cause. The fact of the matter is that AEW doesn't run house shows, and doesnt have TV time to showcase everyone they have under contract. In general, these releases were of folks that never really should've been signed in the first place. Especially since ROH isn't really working out as a separate brand. In reality, there are probably 10-20 more folks that could be let go and no one would ever notice if it wasn't for a dirtsheet reporting it. Remember, we are the sickos that knows who guys like Gravity, the Boys, and Slim J are to begin with... your average AEW viewer has no fucking clue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SovietShooter Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 (edited) Double post... Edited April 6 by SovietShooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 12 minutes ago, Octopus said: Ooooooof. What a goober. For Prince's Controversy, I would fire half of you ingrates. Except Stefanie Sparkleface. ...that is until I get the rights to the Earth, Wind & Fire catalogue. Then, I can make no promises. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 8 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: For Prince's Controversy, I would fire half of you ingrates. Except Stefanie Sparkleface. ...that is until I get the rights to the Earth, Wind & Fire catalogue. Then, I can make no promises. If my dad owned the Minnesota Vikings my wrestling company would be so cool. All Octopus Wrestling Instead of tunnels we’d have a two entrance ramps on opposite sides. Kayfabe is alive and well in AOW. Separate locker rooms for the heels and baby faces. Saying this, I don’t want the girls to be uncomfortable dressing so near the fellas. Boys stink, amiright ladies. Here, but yourself something nice *hands over a $Twenty* FOUR ENTRANCE RAMPS. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 42 minutes ago, JohnnyJ said: On one hand it seems ridiculous to fire people over miscommunication/ misunderstanding. Not directed at you, just using this as an opportunity to ask people to go back and read that text exchange and really take note of the entitlement oozing out of what the Tate’s are saying/doing. Also keep in mind that the person they’re whining to ISN’T EVEN IN TRAVEL and it’s not their problem to even be able to fix. You can even kinda hear that person’s frustration creeping in through the second batch of texts. “When you didn’t hear back from someone in THREE DAYS, did you follow up?” No. No, they did not. It may have been the first time they missed a booking, but I would bet money it wasn’t the first time they were a headache to deal with. Final straw, etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 1 hour ago, Elsalvajeloco said: For Prince's Controversy, I would fire half of you ingrates. Except Stefanie Sparkleface. ...that is until I get the rights to the Earth, Wind & Fire catalogue. Then, I can make no promises. This seems like a fair deal to me, tbh. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Just now, Stefanie Sparkleface said: This seems like a fair deal to me, tbh. YOU ELSALVAJELOCO SHILL!!!1!!1 By the way, I’m now accepting independent bookings. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 1 minute ago, Octopus said: YOU ELSALVAJELOCO SHILL!!!1!!1 By the way, I’m now accepting independent bookings. Gonna book you to take a chill pill here in a moment! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Just now, Stefanie Sparkleface said: Gonna book you to take a chill pill here in a moment! Most people book me for birthday parties and bat mitzvah, but I’m game for anything for a crisp ten dollar bill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 While I do think transparency is... nice, I also think TK can keep some things to himself as it just opens him up to criticism. Its going to come anyway but giving people ammunition like this: “I think that this year I have been very active not only in the free agent market, but in the production budget. There are things tonight, like for example, on one song alone, I spent like a year’s pay for most pro wrestlers in this business." Just isn't a good idea. To say right after firing ten people "I spent more than a year's salary for most wrestlers on one song" isn't going to impress anyone, its going to do the opposite. Cut people if you have to for whatever reason but any questions about it should get the most PR responses ever. If I got fired tomorrow, my company's CEO wouldn't go on X and say "we had to fire Kevin, I needed new cushions for my yacht". It may be true but doesn't need to be publicly said. Also what fucking song was on ROH's show that cost $100K+ for one time use??? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Just now, Kevin Wilson said: Also what fucking song was on ROH's show that cost $100K+ for one time use??? They used "Gimme Back My Bullets" last night, I think? The Lynyrd Skynyrd library is not cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 2 hours ago, Casey said: but I’ve been told, on this board, that there’s no AEW without Omega, Hangman and the Bucks! It’s even in the name! Well, it was always Tony Khan's plan to start a money mark promotion at some point. It was just the first All In doing what it did that convinced him that the iron was hot and it was time to strike. If he hadn't started AEW in 2019, he would have started a Wrestling promotion eventually. But it wouldn't have been called All Elite Wrestling, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 10 hours ago, EVA said: Tony Khan doesn’t give a fuck about $1600. But the person running AEW’s travel, who wants to be seen as running a financially efficient department, probably does! No, Tony runs everything. Every single decision AEW has ever made was a unilateral decision by Tony, or at least the ones I don't like. Tony. TONY. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 43 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said: No, Tony runs everything. Every single decision AEW has ever made was a unilateral decision by Tony, or at least the ones I don't like. Tony. TONY. So you’re saying Tony Tony TONY has done it again? 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 Raphael Saadiq is in a constant state of doing it, I assume in every sense of the phrase. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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