Gordi the former AEW fan Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said: Meltzer has seen the firm data. He says they're making a profit and have been from day one. I don't think it's out of line to assume the things that have been reported are true. Especially since he's buddies with all the EVPs. As such it was always reported that TNA never got a rights fee from Spike TV, just help paying for the big names. So their best years can't even come close to comparing to AEW's revenue. $43 million dollars a year is a lot of money, especially vs $0 a year. This isn't a multi-experimental media start up. You're still viewing it in carny indy wrestling terms. This isn't Jimmy Hart's XWF. This isn't an energy company buying a tiny Nashville wrestling territory. This is a start up business venture started by a billionaire family with TONS of professional sports and media connections. I'm not trying to pick a fight. I understand your point. I haven't seen the facts and figures myself. But it's a pretty safe assumption to go with what's been reported in my opinion. TK & AEW haven't been shown to be a company trying to deceive the public. In contrast, to me, assuming they are giving Meltzer fake numbers seems like a stretch. I checked it out, and it seems your math is good there. 43,000,000 is indeed more than 0. Also Tony K's dad is a legit billionaire. 234th richest person in the entire world. Made his money making and sellibg car bumpers. A legit "American Dream" story. AEW could lose ten million dollars a year for a hundred years and that family would still be one of the richest in the world. In terms of stuff we need to worry about w/r/t AEW, money is very low on the list. Maybe not on the list at all. tl/dr: 43,000,000 > 0 5 hours ago, TheVileOne said: The goal here shouldn't be beating WWE. It should be building your own brand, product, and stars and cement AEW as a viable long-term, mainstay wrestling product. Couldn't agree more. What's the damn rush to get to #1. Slow and steady wins the race. AEW is already a success story, and as we discussed above they aren't about to run out of funds any time soon. Not too long ago, there were serious questions about if these guys could draw 10k fans without the WWE machine behind them. They are way ahead of schedule doing this well one year in, with the world the way it is today. Absolutely. Take your time, Tony K! Make AEW the best AEW it can be. (And I was gonna make the Ricky Bobby joke, but No Fists beat me to it). Edited February 26, 2021 by El Gran Gordi 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: It'd be hilarious if they use him like giants are suppose to be used: seldom and there for feats of strength and to win battle royals. Since we were discussing blading in the other AEW thread, I would be completely fine with if they redid the Andre battle royal thing from the SNME before WM III. Who would be Lanny Poffo in this situation and willing to bleed a gusher and do a stretcher job? Papa Buck? Serious answer: Austin Gunn edit: @El Gran GordiIIRC, TK stated he only got the green light because he pitched this as a viable business enterprise to his father. I think they said they'd not be around for long if it were a money pit, but that was prior to a global pandemic. Edited February 26, 2021 by Jiji 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordi the former AEW fan Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Jiji said: Serious answer: Austin Gunn or Joey Janela? Edit: Hat tip for the Khan family insight. Thankfully, AEW has already proven itself viable, even in pandemic times. Edited February 26, 2021 by El Gran Gordi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Austin Gunn and Janela seem like the best answers possible. Maybe one of the Varsity Blondes, but they seem to have plans for them down the road. Damn Lanny was stretchered out like someone in a Civil War movie who had been shot in the face with a cannonball at Antietam. We need that energy for this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordi the former AEW fan Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) Who should play the Hart Foundation role? Would you use NFL players again? Or maybe Shaq and Snoop and... what other sports stars or celebrities? I guess you could use all the famous guys on the Jacksonville Jaguars like... ... ... uh... (Too bad Calais Campbell isn't still on the team. That dude is a genuine physical freak of nature. I'd love to see what he could do in the ring with some training). I'm seriously hoping they do this now. Edited February 26, 2021 by El Gran Gordi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Who was that NFL player that was legit amazing on his debut for TNA a few years back? I was blown away and immediately wanted more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Austin Gunn gives you the nepotism connection, though Poffo was good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamBroken Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 7 minutes ago, Jiji said: Who was that NFL player that was legit amazing on his debut for TNA a few years back? I was blown away and immediately wanted more. DeAngelo Williams. Great performance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 If we're using NFL players, I just hope that Yannick Ngakoue or any other disgruntled ex-Jag TK pissed off on Twitter doesn't have a shoot run-in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) I love that bit in BTE so much. Anna, Annaa, Annnaaa, An-na, Ann-aa, Annn-aaa! Edited February 26, 2021 by The Natural 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Faulconer Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 I thought someone would have mentioned the most qualified candidates to fill Lanny’s boots. It absolutely has to be either member of the underrated and short lived teams - The Initiative (Cutler & Avalon)! They could each fill a role whether you want a heel or babyface to be Lanny du jour. I think one’s appreciation for Dark runs parallel to your appreciation of the team and/or the individual wrestlers Two battle royales are being conflated here. WMII had the football players in it. The pre-WMIII match had Hogan and Andre in it. IIRC, the one from 87 is on the SNME set WWE put out many moons ago. I remember staying up late to watch it. I think HNIC that evening was Toronto/ Calgary and my Flames lost as the lead-in to SNME. I have so many vivid memories like that one...and I remember watching the SNME with Bret/Savage was the same night I had a shunt surgery. I remember staying up late in my hospital bed as I tried to keep my eyes open long enough to stay up. I was watching it on one of those little TVs that hospitals used to have for rent individually. I loved those little TVs on a swivel that you could pull right up to your face if you so desired. I am legally blind so I desired it whenever I spent a night in the hospital. Anyway...staying up late, watching my favourite show and hearing the wurrrr of the I.V. providing a most relaxing ambience. It is seriously one of my favourite childhood memories. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordi the former AEW fan Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 26 minutes ago, Ryan Faulconer said: I am legally blind... You should apply to be an AEW referee! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianS81177 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 6 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said: I gotta agree. Dreamer is 1000000% right if you're talking about a physical person you can fight. You'll look bad if you lose to the guy you shit talked as a bum. But when it's a promotion, no ones gonna give a shit if you build up the other promotion. Oh gee Impact has some fun stars and a great product, I think we're better but we're both good gee golly. That shit's boring. When it's a promotion vs promotion feud you need conflict you need controversy you need realism. And dudes that used to work at Impact, by and large, did not enjoy their time there. And everyone knows it. Plus it's not like one promotion is gonna lose to the other. Impact is not in a fight with AEW, they are partners right now. But as adversaries they are closer in weight to MLW & ROH than AEW & NXT. This makes me think of the story Jericho told on his podcast about Bulldog Bob Brown. Jericho cut a promo about how Brown was an old man, should retire, etc and when it was done Brown pulled him aside and told him he shouldn't shit on his opponent because "When I beat you, and I WILL be beating you, you'll have lost to a pathetic old man who should have retired. How does that make YOU look?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKothoga Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Sorry for changing topics, but I thought this discussion was more suited here and not in the R-Evolution II thread. On 2/23/2021 at 11:10 PM, A_K said: OK, but out of all those names (and there are probably going on 30 there), do any more than 5 or 6 have sincere, genuine potential to be anything other than jobbers or soon-to-be-retirees in the grand scheme of things? Do the ones who actually have any chance of drawing a dime for them (think Starks, Perry, MJF etc.) have anything whatsoever to be gained by being locked into these programs? And given so many of these are novelty acts anyway, do they really need a belt to build their shtick? Why submerge the gems when you can instead focus in on them in competitive singles actions? Leave the rest to the tag division, which has always been the preserve of a solid mid card for a reason. Okay, let's say the tag title picture 2021 consists mainly of Young Bucks, FTR, Jurassic Express, Miro & Sabian, Santana & Ortiz, Jericho & MJF and Lucha Bros. These teams are the main challengers for one year. Plenty enough for meaningful programs. That still leaves Dark Order (Hangman/Silver/Reynolds), Dark Order II (Uno/Grayson/Cabana/Five/Ten), Team Taz, Kingston with Butcher & Blade, Best Friends, Hardy with Private Party or TH2 and Nightmare Family (Cody, Dustin and their team of protégés) as teams just for the trios title. Again, just the main challengers for the title, the pay-per-view options. AEW has enough teams for two divisions. And again, these are just teams you could run some meaningful programs with. You could still have The Acclaimed challenge for the Tag titles on a Dynamite after they went on a little win streak, you could still have the Young Bucks and Brandon Cutler fail to win the trios titles because the Young Bucks are always credibly contenders and won’t be defending or challenging for the tag title every week. Now, yeah, you could say that Hangman or Starks or Jungle Boy are meant for more than just the lowly potential trios title. Yes, I’m with you. But Jurassic Express won’t be challenging for the tag titles the whole year. Jungle Boy won’t be challenging for the TNT or AEW title the whole year. A few months with the trios title and victories over the aforementioned teams really would do more for him than just be there regularly on Dark and one Dynamite every few weeks. Same with Starks or Hangman. But Jericho, Cody, Darby, Moxley, Omega, Archer, Miro, MJF, Pac and Sammy are also still there and probably will be featured prominently. TLDR: AEW has enough (male) talent to give us meaningful programs for a Tag, a Trios, the TNT and the AEW title. And I haven’t even mentioned Wardlow once. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_K Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 49 minutes ago, MrKothoga said: TLDR: AEW has enough (male) talent to give us meaningful programs for a Tag, a Trios, the TNT and the AEW title. And I haven’t even mentioned Wardlow once. Good post - I think where we differ in opinion is that all the tag-team contenders you've posted are great & potential superstars, whereas other than some Dark Order novelty value the trio-contenders you've posted are largely deadweight (imo). If we look at, say, WWF late 90s/early 00s when tag division was at its commercial zenith, they had what 6 or 7 teams who would fill out 4 or 5 prime-network hours on Raw/Smackdown a week (Hardys/E&C/Dudleys/APA/RTC/Hollys .. some misc). Given AEW has way less airtime to fill, I don't know why they need so many acts, and certainly shouldn't be thinking of creating another title simply to keep those who can't cut the tag scene busy. They may have enough teams for two divisions .. but is that a good thing? Personally I'd like to see them put laser-focus on the core talent and stop jumping around so much wasting airtime on chaff that hasn't (and imo won't) amount to much with under-developed or inconclusively ended programs. Way too much for 120 minutes a week. They keep adding more & more names .. but we're not seeing the unproductive set cut loose. I think adding Trios title here just adds more to the clutter & detracts from what counts. Just my perspective. Edited February 26, 2021 by A_K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Except they don't just have 120 minutes a week, unless you're just willfully ignoring Dark (and it's upcoming spin-off, plus the other show on TNT/TBS/whatever that's coming later in the year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_K Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Casey said: Except they don't just have 120 minutes a week, unless you're just willfully ignoring Dark (and it's upcoming spin-off, plus the other show on TNT/TBS/whatever that's coming later in the year). Yeah .. I'm not counting a low-revenue generating Youtube show in the same way my post didn't count Heat/Velocity etc. as vehicles through which WWF/E would develop their core & commercially meaningful talent. Hope they get that second network show - let's see when it comes. Edited February 26, 2021 by A_K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKothoga Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 To be fair, I also think that AEW really needs to stop adding new names every two weeks, but here we are now with a bloated roster and too many people aimlessly winning squashes on Dark but I'd rather see a nice Trios title match between Hangman, Silver and Reynolds and Hardy Party opening a pay per view than another impromptu battle royale or six men ladder match for some before unknown red herring. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) On 2/24/2021 at 8:00 PM, NoFistsJustFlips said: This is a common talking point so don't think I'm picking on you here. But do people really not understand what JR brings to the show? I understand he's grouchy, he's a curmudgeon, sometimes he doesn't like what he sees and he lets you know about it. But he's also the most famous wrestling announcer in the history of the business. He was the lead voice when they were doing 6 million viewers a week. He brings credibility. People that are only casual viewers flipping through the channels will recognize his voice and be like wait is that JR on a different wrestling show? Counterpoint: casuals knew and loved Ed Whelan. The guy was a Calgary institution. But he had a way of crapping all over any bit of Stampede booking he didn't like, and it hurt the product. Now has Ross gotten to that point for people outside of me, @Jiji, and other guys here who have no patience for JR to begin with? I'm not sure. Probably not. But he's definitely not helping. Your lead announcer should be helping get the storylines across, not crapping on the stuff that doesn't fit his narrow view of wrestling. On 2/24/2021 at 9:10 PM, GuerrillaMonsoon said: His on-screen role should be the Lloyd to Hangman's Jack Torrance. I LOVE IT. "You've always been the Hangman, sir." On 2/25/2021 at 4:28 AM, Custos said: And that’s the other part of it. Without seeing the inner workings of the promotion, there’s little evidence in the last 18 months that AEW’s vision has been honed by the output of consultation with JR in his official capacity. Seriously, outside of telling guys like Chuck Taylor to add some mass through purely non PED related means, I wonder what JR does backstage. 21 hours ago, El Gran Gordi said: In all seriousness, if AEW starts building their show around "big name" wrestlers from the past in an attempt to court "casual fans" they will lose me and I would have to imagine they will lose a significant percentage of the 700k who watch week in and week out now. And I entirely doubt that they will attract anywhere near enough eyes to match the number they will drive away. Really great point. Just wanted to call attention to this. 16 hours ago, Go2Sleep said: Fun thought experiment: What if when Hogan went to WCW, he booked himself like Cody Rhodes in AEW? Depends. What kind of truck does Hogan drive? Does he have any hobbies or interests that have nothing to do with wrestling or his character that he could put on TV anyway? How does he feel about Star Trek? Though I have to say having a Hogan T shirt as your Black History Month/BLM awareness merch might be problematic. Edited February 26, 2021 by Technico Support 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 11 hours ago, El Gran Gordi said: You should apply to be an AEW referee! I could do that too (legally blind) except I got bad knees and am totally out of shape so I'd have to stand there and count like Bronco Lubich 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoFistsJustFlips Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 4 hours ago, A_K said: Personally I'd like to see them put laser-focus on the core talent and stop jumping around so much wasting airtime on chaff that hasn't (and imo won't) amount to much with under-developed or inconclusively ended programs. Way too much for 120 minutes a week. They keep adding more & more names .. but we're not seeing the unproductive set cut loose. I think adding Trios title here just adds more to the clutter & detracts from what counts. Just my perspective. This may just be a generational preference and depends on how old you are. But me personally, I loved when WCW had 200 dudes under contact and out of nowhere you'd get a Marty Jannetty vs Rick Martel match on Nitro. If you're younger and have really only grown up on post 2000 WWE I get your perspective. But having a deep roster you can rotate and keep it fresh is a plus in my opinion and not a negative. To that point, I personally loved Cody defending the TNT title against random surprise indy dudes every week. Now if you don't follow the indys and didn't have any idea who these guys were I can understand that reflecting poorly on your personal enjoyment of the show. Like I really enjoy TH2. They don't have matches often on Dynamite. But that's okay with me. I prefer that to them being on every single week to the point I don't enjoy them anymore. As it is now I'm always happy to see them. There's this narrative that you have someone under contract you should use them a lot. That's how modern WWE has been for the most part. But 80s & 90s syndicated shows were not like that. Nitro wasn't always like that. Just because rotating guys is different... doesn't mean it's worse. The chaff you consider wasted airtime, others may view as breath of fresh air. Neither perspective is totally right nor totally wrong, it's just perspective. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo2653 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Someone else who loved the random WCW matchups! It annoys me that WWE doesn't do this instead of using the same group of people week in and week out. Throwing a rando like Dolph's brother or Cromoto is great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 As long as you're not overpaying for the rarely on Dynamite folks, it's fine. TH2 at least usually gets on Dark every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 I love how Ryan Nemeth somehow became the only guy regularly on Dynamite who is a true squash match jobber. Sub-five minutes, one flurry of offense, eats the finisher, done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryArchieGus Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 The establishment of terrific jobbers is an underrated success for the AEW 'brand'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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