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AEW - MAY 2021


Casey

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I don't think they should hire Tessa Blanchard because I  believe racism, especially allegations from the victims of said racism, and examples of the racist person using their power within a company to make their victim's work environment much worse, should come with repercussions, and the only way to exact those repercussions is not to hire the people that do it. Especially when they are unrepentant. Seems pretty simple

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13 hours ago, alstein said:

AEW isn't lacking in good babyface women- Tay, Anna when she comes back could be a face easily, Riho, Shida's a good face, Ryo, and Rosa.

 

It’s not a lack of women it’s a lack of ability to book the women. If one of these women doesn’t just catch on the women in this company will just continue to tread water like they have since the company’s inception. 

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56 minutes ago, RRR said:

It’s not a lack of women it’s a lack of ability to book the women. If one of these women doesn’t just catch on the women in this company will just continue to tread water like they have since the company’s inception. 

Yeah, totally! Treading water! For sure! ?

I challenge anyone to name one single female pro wrestler who is way, way, way, way, way more famous and popular now than they were at AEW's inception.

Other than Britt Baker, Abaddon, Tay Conti, Kris Statlander, and maybe half a dozen others... you probably can't!

Did Maki Itoh get over in her short time in AEW? Well... yes, yes she totally did... 

Ummmmm...

If this company had any idea how to book women, if Tony Kahn really were the "booker of the year" then how come there aren't a whole bunch of women most of us could not have picked out of a line-up a year or two ago but whom we are now excited to watch wrestle? Like say, uh, Jade Cargill, Leyla Hirsch, Ryo Mizunami...

OK, well... Have AEW put on an undeniably great women's match, like, ever? Have they ever booked a women's match as a headliner? Have they ever let the ladies steal the show?

Oh, right. Baker vs. Rosa. That was pretty great. 

OK, so maybe that particular talking point doesn't exactly hold water any more. 

Aaannnd... maybe they don't really need to bring in Tully's daughter. Seems to me the division's actually looking pretty strong right now.

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The women's division can be growing and improving at a quick pace but I still wouldn't turn away a generational talent like Blanchard without thinking about it. I'm not in any way condoning her behaviour but I also know that most of our favourites from the past were likely abhorrent racists, misogynists, or whatever and we turn a blind eye. I don't think we're going to solve racism by freezing out one wrestler when our culture is based on white supremacy. You can argue that this is a part of combating that, but I think that's naïve. If she fucks up, she's out. But even that is easy for me to say when she could very well cause somebody on the roster trauma. It's tricky but I don't think it's as all or nothing as a lot of people portray. 

I agree that if they make her past into a cheesy storyline then that's not an auspicious sign. But if she's to come in and show some intent towards contrition and move on from there, I can see where they're coming from. We'd like to think Tully would be there to babysit and I'm sure he's matured a lot over the years, but his career petered out due to personal problems (and politics too). 

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They're gonna do what they're gonna do, but I'd rather see them save the money for a potentially huge signing down the road - an Asuka, Bayley, Sasha, etc. Tessa might have "it," but how does that affect the rest of the women's locker room and morale?

Or, shit, save that money and sign multiple other women like Jordynne Grace and Solo Darling. 

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36 minutes ago, Jiji said:

The women's division can be growing and improving at a quick pace but I still wouldn't turn away a generational talent like Blanchard without thinking about it. I'm not in any way condoning her behaviour but I also know that most of our favourites from the past were likely abhorrent racists, misogynists, or whatever and we turn a blind eye. I don't think we're going to solve racism by freezing out one wrestler when our culture is based on white supremacy. You can argue that this is a part of combating that, but I think that's naïve. If she fucks up, she's out. But even that is easy for me to say when she could very well cause somebody on the roster trauma. It's tricky but I don't think it's as all or nothing as a lot of people portray. 

I agree that if they make her past into a cheesy storyline then that's not an auspicious sign. But if she's to come in and show some intent towards contrition and move on from there, I can see where they're coming from. We'd like to think Tully would be there to babysit and I'm sure he's matured a lot over the years, but his career petered out due to personal problems (and politics too). 

1: People in the past being racist/misogynistic is all the more reason to give consequences now that we are able to. We are less tolerant of this behaviour, this is how you show it.

2: I find it hilarious to say that expecting someone who was outted as a person who was racist both in a personal level and a business level, to face repercussions for that is 'naive'. No one said it would 'cure racism' and of course we live in a culture that is built on white supremacy, but we don't start deconstructing that culture without real efforts to hold the people who deserve it to account. Also she's been gone for less than a year, if you actually show the consequence to other wrestlers, that behaviour like this is not tolerated and has an effect on your career, maybe that is how you slowly start guiding things towards more equitable reality.
 

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4 hours ago, El Gran Gordi said:

Yeah, totally! Treading water! For sure! ?

I challenge anyone to name one single female pro wrestler who is way, way, way, way, way more famous and popular now than they were at AEW's inception.

Other than Britt Baker, Abaddon, Tay Conti, Kris Statlander, and maybe half a dozen others... you probably can't!

Did Maki Itoh get over in her short time in AEW? Well... yes, yes she totally did... 

Ummmmm...

If this company had any idea how to book women, if Tony Kahn really were the "booker of the year" then how come there aren't a whole bunch of women most of us could not have picked out of a line-up a year or two ago but whom we are now excited to watch wrestle? Like say, uh, Jade Cargill, Leyla Hirsch, Ryo Mizunami...

OK, well... Have AEW put on an undeniably great women's match, like, ever? Have they ever booked a women's match as a headliner? Have they ever let the ladies steal the show?

Oh, right. Baker vs. Rosa. That was pretty great. 

OK, so maybe that particular talking point doesn't exactly hold water any more. 

Aaannnd... maybe they don't really need to bring in Tully's daughter. Seems to me the division's actually looking pretty strong right now.

I guess it's just a difference of definitions, but there's a very defensible position for the division "treading water." 

I like Leyla Hirsch a lot. She's wrestled on Dynamite twice this year. Red Velvet looks like she could be something. She's wrestled on Dynamite twice this year. Ryo's wrestled twice on Dynamite and had her PPV match. Abaddon has had one Dynamite match this year. It's cool that you seem excited by almost everything, but these people barely exist to the majority of AEW's audience. 

There are bright spots. Conti is coming along well. Britt's act is great. Her match against Thunder Rosa was one of the high points in the company's short existence. Serena will be the kind of solid veteran presence that can really help them when she's healthy. But the sentiment exists among some that Shida's reign over the division has been a little flat. Britt taking the belt will hopefully be the shot in the arm that title needs.

I know the argument will always be that there's only so much TV time to go around and they can't push everyone. That's fine. But the bench isn't that deep when you're listing all these people who really have been treading water padding their record on the Darks. 

Definitely keep the scare quotes on "booker of the year" though. You nailed that one. 

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J From C's post and Gordi's combined actually make for a pretty solid argument against bringing Tessa in - on one hand, they have all this homegrown talent and on the other hand, a lot of that talent barely gets time on the main show. If Tessa comes in, doesn't that immediately throw water on the small fires folks like Abadon and Red Velvet are building? They'll have even less chances at Dynamite time because they've signed somebody who's been a fucking asshole. Plus where does Britt Baker fit in? She plays the asshole but is actually a sweetheart. I'd rather see her at the top, not Tessa. 

Edited by christopher.annino
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1 minute ago, John from Cincinnati said:

A logical continuation of the "No room at the inn, so why am I looking at Matt Sydal?" type discourse. 

I mean if they treat Tessa like Sydal - a perpetual "almost was" who can both roam the under-mid card and occasionally challenge higher but come up short - okay, cool. 

Do you think they'll sign Tessa for such a role?

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Don't sign Tessa Blanchard because AEW have Abadon and Red Velvet. In terms of mechanics and aura, she's better than the large majority of men on the roster and does laps around all of the women AEW have right now. 

43 minutes ago, Freudian_Slap said:

Also she's been gone for less than a year, if you actually show the consequence to other wrestlers, that behaviour like this is not tolerated and has an effect on your career, maybe that is how you slowly start guiding things towards more equitable reality.

Hulk Hogan just hosted Wrestlemania. AEW has questionable people all over their payroll. "We" are changing nothing.

Like, if you really want to weed out all of the shitty people in wrestling that have a spotless record, that's one thing, but this isn't what is happening. You'd also be left with a handful of people wrestling after the purge too.

Edited by Jiji
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Never seen Tessa Blanchard compete before. This piqued my interest. YouTubed to see her vs Brian Cage in a 1v1 of all things. Replete with the sort of hammy facial expressions the likes of Omega could only ever dream of. That was ... something. As you were.

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6 minutes ago, Jiji said:

Don't sign Tessa Blanchard because AEW have Abadon and Red Velvet. In terms of mechanics and aura, she's better than the large majority of men on the roster and does laps around all of the women AEW have right now. 

That's not the argument, though. It's, "is it worth further pushing back the development of growing talent to sign somebody who's got so much baggage." Bringing up that WWE keep trotting out Hogan doesn't help your argument - essentially nobody here thinks that's a smart choice. 

Plus I'll throw this out there - if Tessa is actually growing as a human and a professional and it's not just a possible angle? Well that's fucking cool, people deserve second chances. 

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3 minutes ago, christopher.annino said:

That's not the argument, though. It's, "is it worth further pushing back the development of growing talent to sign somebody who's got so much baggage." Bringing up that WWE keep trotting out Hogan doesn't help your argument - essentially nobody here thinks that's a smart choice. 

Yes. Yes, it is worth stalling Abadon's development to bring in Tessa in my opinion. I think most of the women aside from Jade, Britt, Shida, and maybe a couple of others is pretty limited. Fine roster members but I don't think Abadon will be a draw. Unless the NHL deal (grrrr) screws up their second TV show, there will be more time to feature wrestlers and I think even in an ideal world Khan will be cycling wrestlers in and out of prominence with few exceptions.

4 minutes ago, christopher.annino said:

Plus I'll throw this out there - if Tessa is actually growing as a human and a professional and it's not just a possible angle? Well that's fucking cool, people deserve second chances. 

I mean, yeah. Now signs point to that probably not being the case and I don't know how much you can commit to her until she shows she's grown up, but it's a novel thought. 

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11 minutes ago, A_K said:

Never seen Tessa Blanchard compete before. This piqued my interest. YouTubed to see her vs Brian Cage in a 1v1 of all things. Replete with the sort of hammy facial expressions the likes of Omega could only ever dream of. That was ... something. As you were.

Speaking of Tessa on Youtube, you've reminded me about some of Impact's absolutely eye-rolling "What the fuck are you doing?" thumbnails.

Spoiler

maxresdefault.jpg

maxresdefault.jpg

 

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Just now, christopher.annino said:

If she's not gonna piss off the entire group of women who've been working their asses off then totally, by all means bring in more talent!

I think this is also important. Speaking with the talent, getting a sense of where Tessa is at, things we will not be privy to should also factor into whether this is a good idea or not.

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5 minutes ago, Jiji said:

I mean, yeah. Now signs point to that probably not being the case and I don't know how much you can commit to her until she shows she's grown up, but it's a novel thought. 

What signs? Because she's not posting self-progress updates on Twitter? I mean, really, how do we know this to be the case? It's entirely possible she's changed as a person.

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2 minutes ago, Casey said:

What signs? Because she's not posting self-progress updates on Twitter? I mean, really, how do we know this to be the case? It's entirely possible she's changed as a person.

The people she aggrieved certainly don't sound like she has reached out to privately apologize or make any amends from my understanding. I may be misremembering but I remember a while back people who were around for her shitty behaviour were having to remind others why Tessa is the shits. Again, I may be wrong here but that is what I'm basing it on.

Edit: and I think her silence is actually the best method. The last thing I want to hear is bullshit public apologies without having actually apologized to the offended parties.

Edited by Jiji
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1 minute ago, Jiji said:

The people she aggrieved certainly don't sound like she has reached out to privately apologize or make any amends from my understanding. I may be misremembering but I remember a while back people who were around for her shitty behaviour were having to remind others why Tessa is the shits. Again, I may be wrong here but that is what I'm basing it on.

I understand that, but if Tessa maintains that she didn't do what she was accused of... then reaching out to apologize would kind of make her denials kind of moot, no?

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Just now, Casey said:

I understand that, but if Tessa maintains that she didn't do what she was accused of... then reaching out to apologize would kind of make her denials kind of moot, no?

Wouldn't still being in denial mode even after so many people have backed up the accusations be a shitty look? I'm a little confused here. I will completely understand if they choose not to bring Tessa in either way.

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