AEW - JUN 2021

[Jenalysis]

I agree, even though I said I'd prefer Mojo to Braun ,the right answer is "neither".

 

At this point, AEW has enough rising stars that they don't need WWE folks unless they are really, really good.  You don't want to clog the rise of all the young stars like Hobbs/Sammy/Ricky/etc. 

 

That said, you need to have a reserve for when Vince manages to snatch some of your top young talent ,and some folks are going to take that WWE money.  I think AEW has that reserve, and it's important to show you can elevate folks- as that is what would make ambitious talent hungry to be in AEW.

 

If I belt I was going to be a star one day as a young wrestler, I'd rather take my chances as a jobber on Dark than go through the NXT system.  At least there's evidence of folks moving their way up in AEW quickly if they're good enough- Eddy and Ricky being the best examples.

 

[tbarrie]

Are we certain they're talking about signing Braun as a wrestler?

With Wight and Henry, AEW was already clearly trying to amass the biggest, strongest commentating team in wrestling history. Braun would be a natural next step.

[Shartnado]

The possibility of signing Strowman (or anyone bringing him in for a shot, really) reminds me of any time Brock Lesnar became available in EWR (was that the acronym of that game?) You jump at the chance, sign him and make room for him at the top, and three rounds later he gets creative control and starts ruining your booking plans. It was hard to resist the temptation, but it was inevitably a trap. I'd think really hard about the pro's and con's (in more ways than one) before making any big decisions regarding him.

[Ultimo Necro]

The only good thing about TK hiring Brawn is surely he would rename him each week using the million different names that he’s been called on here

Week 1 - “oh my god, it’s Bong Snowman”

Week 2 - “here comes Prawn Slowman”

ad infinitum

[The Natural]

Now that's a shirt.

Edited June 14, 2021 by The Natural

[Goodear]

12 hours ago, AxB said:

Not only that, Henry's pushing for Dean Muhtadi to come to AEW too. Mojo Rawley.

Rawley would be one of those guys who needs to completely repackage himself to the point where he's barely recognizable. That's a dude that needs a complete makeover to get the WWE run out of people's brains.

[AxB]

Braun arguing with a random about Raquel Gonzalez:

 

[Craig H]

I don't want Braun in AEW. I sure as shit really don't want Mojo. 

Mark Henry fucking sucks. He had, like, 2 good years. Fuck all of the air bills and that shit. And post wrestling he's been something of an idiot. His thoughts on signing these guys when Danielson and other way better guys are out there is annoying. 

[Wyld Samurai]

Mark Henry on Busted Open and his in ring with Tony really did make me think he doesn't understand AEW. His comments about how he's "not here to fix AEW" was a glaring red flag that he truly only knows one way of pro-wrestling.

[Technico Support]

11 minutes ago, Craig H said:

I don't want Braun in AEW. I sure as shit really don't want Mojo. 

Mark Henry fucking sucks. He had, like, 2 good years. Fuck all of the air bills and that shit. And post wrestling he's been something of an idiot. His thoughts on signing these guys when Danielson and other way better guys are out there is annoying. 

Mark Henry has always grossed me out in his role of veteran black wrestler who would always tow the party line and put young black wrestlers in their place when they acted the way the company wouldn't like.  See Lio Rush, ACH, etc.  So I already have zero use for him. 

Henry pushing for AEW to sign big useless choads reminds me of the goofy theory that Vince had sent Hall and Nash to WCW to kill it from the inside. 

Bruan is beyond useless.  He's bigger than AEW's monsters but is also less talented than all of them.  He's also an asshole.  So what's the point?

Edited June 14, 2021 by Technico Support

[Log]

If AEW's going to back up the proverbial money truck for anyone, it should be Danielson.  He's the only non-signed person out there right now that might legitimately get some new eyes on them.  

I'd personally be cool with Black/End, too.  He'd fit right in style-wise.  I feel like he falls under the Miro-type guys who'd be a revelation to a lot of people who'd only seen their WWE work.

Mojo would be fine if he came cheap.  He's someone that we've only seen in a WWE setting.  Who knows if he'd be better with Dustin or someone working with him?

Fuck Braun.

[John from Cincinnati]

I've been led to believe we're not meant to concern ourselves with roster space or Tony's wallet. In fact they have a second show coming. They're expanding. Sign the man.

Keeping the ramp attached to the ring might impact his ability to go choo choo. So we might end up finding out how smart a worker he is after all. 

[NoFistsJustFlips]

One aspect not mentioned about Barun yet... he lost his aura when he cut his hair.

Wrestling is a cosmetic business and your look matters. When he first showed up he had a bad look, giant Baby Huey. But once he broke off from The Wyatt Family and did the shaved sides ponytail he looked badass. That coincides with his squashes and building him and him becoming a big deal. Once he shaved his head he lost his look. Aesthetically he went way down hill. Bald didn't suit him. Even less so now that he's completely clean shaven. Plus he started wearing like that weird military green and work boots and work gloves. Couple that with the choo choo noises and he was basically a train conductor by the time he left. No aura left what-so-ever.

He was solid in the ring for a few years but he's had injuries and regressed sharply. So he's bad in the ring now. Has an awful look. No aura. Shiity attitude. Plus AEW already has Archer & Wardlow, two monster hosses that don't have the negative baggage. Braun would be a terrible signing.

@Zakk_Sabbathhad the right idea. If he wants to stay in the business, call up Rowan and create a hoss team if New Japan will have them. Repair that bad reputation and rebuild that missing aura by having a good run as a scary monster team.

[John from Cincinnati]

16 hours ago, Eoae said:

If you ever wanted to find out how tall Luchasaurus really isn't, this will be your chance.

The one they'd really need to keep him away from is Wardlow. 

[Technico Support]

38 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Keeping the ramp attached to the ring might impact his ability to go choo choo. So we might end up finding out how smart a worker he is after all. 

On the plus side, with TK shelling out money to license real music, at least Quad City DJs would get paid.

[Goodear]

19 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

The one they'd really need to keep him away from is Wardlow. 

Unless Wardlow can snatch him into the air and F10 him in which case, fucking go for it.

[John from Cincinnati]

5 minutes ago, Goodear said:

Unless Wardlow can snatch him into the air and F10 him in which case, fucking go for it.

 

[Goodear]

2 hours ago, Craig H said:

I don't want Braun in AEW. I sure as shit really don't want Mojo. 

Mark Henry fucking sucks. He had, like, 2 good years. Fuck all of the air bills and that shit. And post wrestling he's been something of an idiot. His thoughts on signing these guys when Danielson and other way better guys are out there is annoying. 

Henry took a long time to develop into what he did around 2008 after debuting in 1996. He figured it out finally and developed into a good super heavyweight who figured out what he could and couldn't do. He was good at projecting an aura of impending violence and intimidation. His run faltered when his body broke down. 

These are the first two people that have been mentioned with Mark Henry since his tenure with AEW started. If this comes as a shock to his new employer, they made a bad hire. They'd have to be absolutely stupid to hire a guy as a talent scout and not ask who he thinks is any good before doing that.

Secondly, do you think that complete unknown Bryan Danielson just slipped under the AEW radar and that they need Mark Henry to advocate for him? Come on man. 

[Craig H]

That's the only reason I'd sign Braun, to put Wardlow over. Sign him for something like 2 months to build to Wardlow vs Braun, Wardlow wins, Braun goes bye bye. Unfortunately, we're probably still a year or more out from Wardlow being DA MAN in this company. 

[The Natural]

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by The Natural

[The Natural]

I also don't want But sun Strowman in AEW.

I'm keeping that autocorrect in.

[Bryan]

14 hours ago, alstein said:

I agree, even though I said I'd prefer Mojo to Braun ,the right answer is "neither".

 

At this point, AEW has enough rising stars that they don't need WWE folks unless they are really, really good.  You don't want to clog the rise of all the young stars like Hobbs/Sammy/Ricky/etc. 

 

That said, you need to have a reserve for when Vince manages to snatch some of your top young talent ,and some folks are going to take that WWE money.  I think AEW has that reserve, and it's important to show you can elevate folks- as that is what would make ambitious talent hungry to be in AEW.

 

If I belt I was going to be a star one day as a young wrestler, I'd rather take my chances as a jobber on Dark than go through the NXT system.  At least there's evidence of folks moving their way up in AEW quickly if they're good enough- Eddy and Ricky being the best examples.

 

Who they bring in isn’t as important as what the plans are for who they sign. I didn’t think they could get the jobber stink off of Brodie Lee but he ended up exceeding my expectations with the new character.

I’m skeptical but if Tony Khan had an idea for Braun, I’d at least give it a shot.

I also think Mark Henry could just be doing his friend a favor and trying to drum up the value of Strowman elsewhere.

Anyway, AEW has already proven they don’t push the former WWE guys to the top immediately like TNA. And with big guys, it’s often the opposite. So I don’t think they should not add talent just because it’s WWE guys.

And AEW definitely has some weak links. For example, Joey Janela is so bad that he busted open one of the promotions top baby faces and came dangerously close to suplexing him into the ropes right before a ppv. Lucky he wasn’t fired.

No one can tell me AEW wouldn’t be better off with someone with proper training that looks like a physical threat filling in his jobber to the stars role. Current AEW guys would look better beating someone like Mojo Rawley before a big ppv match, and almost certainly be safer in the ring.

[Log]

With a lot of AEW's bigger signings from WWE, it was cases of guys who never really got a shot to show what they could do or were saddled with dumb things.   My thing is, Braun did and it wasn't that great.  Sure, he got saddled with some dumb things, too, but he was heavily pushed and only had flashes of looking great, IMO.

[John from Cincinnati]

17 minutes ago, Goodear said:

These are the first two people that have been mentioned with Mark Henry since his tenure with AEW started. If this comes as a shock to his new employer, they made a bad hire. They'd have to be absolutely stupid to hire a guy as a talent scout and not ask who he thinks is any good before doing that.

As I understand it, Henry helped get Strowman a look from WWE back in the day. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to see him sticking up for one of his guys who he thinks has really come along professionally and has a lot of value to offer. 

He also apparently helped open the door for Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. Sounds like the kind of guy I'd want as a scout. 

[John from Cincinnati]

4 minutes ago, Bryan said:

Anyway, AEW has already proven they don’t push the former WWE guys to the top immediately like TNA. 

With the exception of Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose. I see this idea bandied about quite a bit, but it's never really been tested. With the exception of Ambrose, they've never really lured away a perennial headliner or someone on the cusp of that. I'd be interested to see how well this thinking held up if they managed to land the equivalent of an '05 Christian or an '06 Angle.