AEW - NOV 2020

[Craig H]

BTW, where is Brodie?

[The Natural]

9 minutes ago, Craig H said:

BTW, where is Brodie?

Good question. Hope Brodie Lee isn't injured.

[The Natural]

Tommy End and Zelina Vega together.

[EVA]

Rumor according to Meltzer is ankle injury.

[Jiji]

I have been of the same mind since the pandemic limited who they could use and maybe even prior to that. 

The source is a Q&A after Full Gear apparently. I may try to watch that to see if she expands on that. 

[Coletti]

I think "must-sign" can mean lots, but absolutely agree with your points, @EVA. I was thinking in exactly the way you described - an extremely talented vet who can still go, coming in to make the younger folks look great and teach/spread the knowledge. To me, Claudio is somebody you can NOT let pass by for those reasons - maybe only D-Bry would be a bigger "get" for that purpose (although obviously Bryan would be a huge signing for far more than experience/putting over folks).

[John E. Dynamite]

If all the wrestling companies on Earth disintegrated and I had to "draft" a top pick to build a new company around, I would very, very strongly consider making Aleister Black/Tommy End my ace. He comes of as one of the nicest and most intelligent people in the industry, looks like a wrestler, works at a super high level, can talk, lives his gimmick... I guess I wish he was five years younger but it's not like he's injury prone or anything. At the end of the day, love it or hate it, pro-wrestling's greatest heroes are decided by the tastes of middle school boys who hang out at the mall. The tatted-up occultist sweetheart who has the same accent as their favorite Twitch streamers, sweet kicks + a Dracula entrance is that fucking guy a thousand times over. Pay him whatever he wants. Push him to Pluto.

Edited November 15, 2020 by John E. Dynamite

[Coletti]

I tried a "who would you yank from WWE" post not long ago but the timing was poor... But honestly, I'd looked through their wildly bloated roster and very few names stood out. Really, it would be interesting to see a lifer like Kofi or Big E jump, even if dudes like Black, Ricochet, and Cesaro are easy picks. 

[John E. Dynamite]

1 minute ago, christopher.annino said:

I tried a "who would you yank from WWE" post not long ago but the timing was poor...

Timing? I think it's the phrasing. My yank list would be Orton, Vince, Shinsuke, Zayn... they make the best faces, and I don't mean baby.

[Coletti]

9 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Timing? I think it's the phrasing. My yank list would be Orton, Vince, Shinsuke, Zayn... they make the best faces, and I don't mean baby.

I mean at the time, maybe a few weeks ago, there was some whole other discussion going on that dominated the thread. 

[John E. Dynamite]

i'm just day drinking and making handjob jokes, brother~

[Coletti]

Just now, John E. Dynamite said:

i'm just day drinking and making handjob jokes, brother~

Take my laugh react and LIKE it!

[John E. Dynamite]

There, I liked it.

I wonder how high I would draft Claudio. I think in the past decade his in-ring consistency is only rivaled by guys like Bryan Danielson or Tomohiro Ishii, the top one percent of the top one percent. Working heat segments and catching modern flippy guys, he reads as one of the Greatest In Ring Performers Of All Time. Anybody else and he only reads as one of the Greatest In Ring Performers Of His Generation. Huge drop-off, I know. But what's his high point in terms of character work? In terms of telling a bigger story? BDK? Him and Hero beating everybody for that year or two? His work with/against Sheamus? I really don't know. Any locker room, any fan base would kill for him, but what's his ceiling as a draw? I think he's invaluable in a WWE setting, where he can be plugged in to any TV show or PPV and give you an instantly good match. AEW, I don't know if they have as much of a need for that.

Edited November 15, 2020 by John E. Dynamite

[EVA]

Honestly, given the state of the AEW women’s division, I think Thea Trinidad is a borderline “must sign.”  She would instantly help in a lot of different ways—not just being competent in the ring, but someone who brings legit, current star power.  Only real caveat to that is she’s quickly approaching the age at which most women start looking to step away from the ring full-time.  But he would certainly help a lot in the near term.  She would be coming in HOT, too, given the way things went down.

However, given recent trends in female acquisitions, she’ll probably sign with Impact while Coach Tony keeps playing moneyball with the division.

[Technico Support]

6 hours ago, christopher.annino said:

Edited to say Claudio vs Fenix alone would be fucking AMAZING to see. 

Reminds me of Claudio vs Generico from 10 years ago.

[Big Z]

1 hour ago, EVA said:

Honestly, given the state of the AEW women’s division, I think Thea Trinidad is a borderline “must sign.”  She would instantly help in a lot of different ways—not just being competent in the ring, but someone who brings legit, current star power.  Only real caveat to that is she’s quickly approaching the age at which most women start looking to step away from the ring full-time.  But he would certainly help a lot in the near term.  She would be coming in HOT, too, given the way things went down.

However, given recent trends in female acquisitions, she’ll probably sign with Impact while Coach Tony keeps playing moneyball with the division.

All props to Tony Khan cause I'd be the same way, but Thea Trinidad's acrimonious departure makes it more likely that she will end up in AEW, and there may be some fuck WWE dollars going her way. Outside of the Good Brothers, who at least temporarily burned their AEW bridges, all of most vocal anti-WWE departures (Brodie Lee, FTR, Miro) have ended up with AEW. Plus, the fact that her husband is a potential huge star in the company is an added bonus.

Going back to who do you wish you could steal from WWE (and a lot of obvious ones have already been mentioned), Drew McIntyre would be at the top of my list. Absolutely complete wrestler at this point (can talk, go in the ring, and work comfortably as a face or heel). Damn shame that AEW wasn't around when he was available, but I'd already be throwing out feelers out there. I'd love New Day in AEW also, but Kofi just signed a five year deal at the end of 2019. If not for the neck injury, I'd also have Tommaso Ciampa very high up on the list because of his versatility. His heel run in 2018-early 2019 was unbelievable, and he's also a badass face if needed in that role. It would also be real cool to see a DIY reunion in AEW. And to continue of the injury theme, I'd love to see a healthy War Machine in AEW. That said, a serious neck injury really could hurt Hanson's ability going forward, as his agility and ability to take bumps as a big man were what made him so unique and awesome. I think that AEW has done a great job in acquiring guys that have strong overall packages (Darby, Starks, MJF, Jungle Boy), and the WWE has successfully made their company into a robotic, monotonous machine with very few individual parts worth mentioning. 

 

 

  

Edited November 15, 2020 by Big Z
Grammatical Errors

[Coletti]

Oh I totally forgot about Jungle Boy (which says something about Dynamite, sadly). Gimme a best of 7 series with Claudio please. 

[Casey]

5 hours ago, EVA said:

Only real caveat to that is she’s quickly approaching the age at which most women start looking to step away from the ring full-time.

Man, you have a real fascination with predicting the remaining years of someone's career based on their age, don't you? She's not even 30 yet, and I mean, if what you're saying is true, then a lot of the WWE women on the main roster/AEW's women's division are about to retire, over the hill or only have a few years left.

Edited November 16, 2020 by Casey

[Infinit]

I wonder if Alistair will start going through tables every week if Thea signs with AEW lol

[Casey]

2 minutes ago, Infinit said:

I wonder if Alistair will start going through tables every week if Thea signs with AEW lol

But that isn't punishment for Lana, it's just the storyline!

[J.T.]

I love Claudio and Tommy End, but I'd rather see AEW spend money to develop the diamonds in the rough that they have on the roster.   I'd like to see more organic champs like Allin in the fed.   End and Castagnoli might make decent replacements for whomever turns face and defects from the Inner Circle if this MJF bullshit doesn't result in a swerve.

1 hour ago, Casey said:

But that isn't punishment for Lana, it's just the storyline!.

If Vince's idea of punishment is to put me on television every week, that doesn't really feel like punishment even if I'm stuck working with sloppy Nia Jax.

Edited November 16, 2020 by J.T.

[Casey]

And that's half of the problem right there. Yeah, sure, you're on TV every week, but that doesn't mean much if you're being trounced every week, likely no comeuppance in sight, and working with someone with a history of injuring others. But you do you.

[Big Z]

4 hours ago, J.T. said:

I love Claudio and Tommy End, but I'd rather see AEW spend money to develop the diamonds in the rough that they have on the roster.   I'd like to see more organic champs like Allin in the fed.   End and Castagnoli might make decent replacements for whomever turns face and defects from the Inner Circle if this MJF bullshit doesn't result in a swerve.

If Vince's idea of punishment is to put me on television every week, that doesn't really feel like punishment even if I'm stuck working with sloppy Nia Jax.

I think that AEW needs to develop "their own" guys like Darby, MJF, Sammy, Jungle Boy, Starks, and Wardlow over the long-term (and The Elite still have some decent time left at the top, especially Hangman, who just seems to just be entering his prime and is just 29 years old). Also, while I think that Claudio has some value for AEW, I would not argue that he's a must add. Tommy End is another story. He is extremely versatile, has not been overexposed (only on TV for 3 1/2 years, and the first two years of that was on NXT TV on the Network), and I think has a potential to be a main event player in a major company like AEW. And at this point, Vince overlooking a unique talent in 2020 is almost a positive on their untapped potential. AEW will have to strike the balance as to not solely rely on ex-WWE guys (they have not yet, and should not in the future), but as a major company whose chief goal is to put out the possible product to make the most money, it should not pass on ex-WWE guys just cause of their former employer. 

[Serious Darius Bagfelt]

7 hours ago, Casey said:

And that's half of the problem right there. Yeah, sure, you're on TV every week, but that doesn't mean much if you're being trounced every week, likely no comeuppance in sight, and working with someone with a history of injuring others. But you do you.

Don't worry she will get her release soon and AEW will snap her up so she and Miro can duet I've Had The Time Of My Life on Dynamite so you guys can pop and call it the best thing you ever saw.

[Eivion]

8 hours ago, Casey said:

And that's half of the problem right there. Yeah, sure, you're on TV every week, but that doesn't mean much if you're being trounced every week, likely no comeuppance in sight, and working with someone with a history of injuring others. But you do you.

Except its come out that for some reason Vince thinks this will work as way to get her sympathy and put her over big. She has been the focus of Raw's female Survivor Series team. I'm just waiting for him to realize it won't work and/or get bored.

Edited November 16, 2020 by Eivion