Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

AEW - AUG 2021


The Natural

Recommended Posts

I seriously hope nobody is telling Max Caster that this could work in his favor for a WWE contract.   Look at the list of people in the last 4 months who have been fired for "budget cuts".   Easily half of the talent on that list was better than Caster in the ring.  It isn't like he can work the same gimmick as Hit Row unless they are bringing him as a 4th guy.    The only benefit Max would have is that Vince would be almost more clueless about his references than Tony Khan was.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, The Natural said:

 

I immediately thought of whoever it was here hoping to see their match at Arthur Ashe Stadium when I saw this.  Needless to say I got incredibly excited.

Side note:  I only went to Pittsburgh once but if that store has that kind of stock on a regular basis I'm gonna need to win the lottery and go nuts.

  • Like 2
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No idea what's happening with the Max Caster situation, but if he did get suspended without pay or if he did get fired over this, it is total bullshit. @John E. Dynamitetotally nailed it with his post.

AEW clearly wants to be the edgier and adult product. They pride themselves on no scripted promos. If that's the case, then you can't start clutching pearls when things like this happen. Max Caster did mess up with his lyrics, but he shouldn't be fired over this or be suspended without pay. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, christopher.annino said:

That rap from Caster was abhorrent but if he's being 100% thrown under the bus for it, when it was almost assuredly okayed AND aired by the company, well that's some fuckin bullshit and I don't blame him for potentially washing his hands of the industry. If it's a work? I mean great but who gives a fuck and what's the end goal? He comes back on TV to a round of applause from fellow edge lords? 

 

I thought the endgame was going to be Max comes back and doing something truly vicious to someone, and declares that he's too edgy for AEW, and so we're going to make this place hell, or something along those lines.  Think MLW's Injustice, but more vicious, less whiny, and higher up the card.  Perhaps alongside some debuting new act.


If Max was thrown under the bus, TK deserves hell for it.  If Max is being a whiny child, well, it's probably good to get rid of him, though it sucks for Bowens who is hurt massively (I think AEW would repackage Bowens).   Fact is, we don't know- I'm hoping this turns out alright in the end, cause I found Max funny and he entertained me, and I didn't see him as an IRL edgelord, just one playing a character.  Hopefully I'm right on that, but if I'm wrong, well, then he deserves to be let go.

 

If Max did walk, only MLW would take him.  Impact likely wouldn't because of the bad blood with AEW (and there would be in this scenario) , WWE definitely wouldn't except perhaps as an attempt to convince AEW folks that WWE will push them if they flip, he doesn't fit ROH.   With MLW hope he likes $50 and a hot dog.

I think Max has more sense than to kill his career, but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

 

Edited by alstein
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They can either bring him back as an angry, vengeful version of himself. OR, they can bring him back as a parody of a Notes App Apology celebrity, where he's being a disingenuous psuedo-face who acts like he's all nicey-nicey but is clearly full of hate and venom.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

No idea what's happening with the Max Caster situation, but if he did get suspended without pay or if he did get fired over this, it is total bullshit. @John E. Dynamitetotally nailed it with his post.

AEW clearly wants to be the edgier and adult product. They pride themselves on no scripted promos. If that's the case, then you can't start clutching pearls when things like this happen. Max Caster did mess up with his lyrics, but he shouldn't be fired over this or be suspended without pay. 

I wouldn’t call AEW “edgy” .. it’s a very “safe” environment and usually a pastiche of something that came before. A little bit of ECW, a little bit of WCW, a little bit of contemporary indie-riffic style. It doesn’t really reference contemporary pop culture all that much, more the past. Above all else it yearns for inclusivity & political correctness. Which is absolutely fine. Caster’s stuff was one of the rare pieces to feel actually ‘cutting’ or realistically barbed on the show (for better or worse) and clearly it’s what they want to stay clear of: typically they’re traversing puerile (Good Bros penis jokes) to screamingly guffawing (Jericho screaming down the microphone) to the “omg isn’t this surreal” folks riding lawn mowers. A heel can be a heel so long as they’re acting in a totally fantastical way (bringing Tony Schiavone’s almost middle aged son into the ring for a “beat down”) .. but bring the heat in a way that actually cuts to the bone and evokes hate, finito, you’re done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, A_K said:

I wouldn’t call AEW “edgy” .. it’s a very “safe” environment and usually a pastiche of something that came before. A little bit of ECW, a little bit of WCW, a little bit of contemporary indie-riffic style. It doesn’t really reference contemporary pop culture all that much, more the past. Above all else it yearns for inclusivity & political correctness. Which is absolutely fine. Caster’s stuff was one of the rare pieces to feel actually ‘cutting’ or realistically barbed on the show (for better or worse) and clearly it’s what they want to stay clear of: typically they’re traversing puerile (Good Bros penis jokes) to screamingly guffawing (Jericho screaming down the microphone) to the “omg isn’t this surreal” folks riding lawn mowers. A heel can be a heel so long as they’re acting in a totally fantastical way (bringing Tony Schiavone’s almost middle aged son into the ring for a “beat down”) .. but bring the heat in a way that actually cuts to the bone and evokes hate, finito, you’re done.

Not sure “safe” is a word I’d use to describe a promotion that brings in a convicted bank robber and former (?) drug addict to cut up one of your biggest stars with a pizza cutter and light tubes (costing you a blue chip sponsor) on national tv. Never mind letting Joey Janella wrestle one of your top babyfaces right before a ppv.

Also, not sure why they would have hired Caster and approved his “edgy” promos if they wanted to avoid that.

I’d just say AEW is really sensitive to criticism. And unfortunately a small but vocal portion of their fan base consists of those people that pretend to be upset about things they’re not actually fully aware of. See e.g. The numerous people that didn’t know the outcome of the Duke Lacrosse situation.

As far as Caster to WWE goes, I vaguely recall Tony Khan mentioning they had WWE offers but chose to stick with AEW after he signed The Acclaimed. 

That was before the reported edict to go back to the young juiced up looking guys, so I don’t know if they’d still be interested but they apparently did at once.

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Caster thing seems like a work to me, but AEW is starting to gain mainstream visibility and, from what I know of Caster's rap, it seems like the sort of thing that could blow up in your hands if mainstream media outlets got ahold of it.  I'm not quite convinced that Tony Khan wants quite that type of attention.  I doubt Khan wants to find himself on CBS explaining that they either let a talent go out and make misogynistic comments or that they's putting on a show where they fool the audience into thinking that the company didn't know what Caster was going to say and the company is pretending to discipline him for it, all so they can bring the guy in question back as a bad guy wrestler.  If you don't watch wrestling, that second option probably would sound even worse to you.

Of course, it's possible the thing was supposed to be some sort of work and got a little more out of hand than people envisioned.  For the most part, though, this seems like some sort of angle.  

 

Edited by Eoae
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Caster and Bowens could have been  a really good first night confrontation for a certain returning Chicagoan on Friday’s Rampage.  

Punk taking out Caster  would be really low stakes for his first night in AEW.  Punk cutting off one of Max’s “controversial” raps would kill a lot of birds while using very few stones. This is only the first idea to come to mind when thinking about both Caster’s predicament and Punk’s impending debut.  If Caster isn’t “working” us then he has bungled his future success in AEW.  His maturity combined with his rap subjects have dove-tailed and show the world how immature and stubborn he can be.  

There are probably at least ten wrestlers in AEW that they can team with Bowens as Max’s replacement in The Acclaimed or whatever new gimmick they use now.  The rapping gimmick has reached its peak potential.  Caster was putting more effort into being topical rather than antagonistic towards his opponents anyway.  Only Julia Hart got any focus and really…He couldn’t make any rhymes about a pretty girl without gunning the engines and going for something that was just plain tacky and ridiculously inappropriate for television.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

I bet he comes out with like tape over his mouth or something wack

There are no new ideas under the sun.  This gimmick has already been done in MLW, but Injustice was the saving grace of their mid card.

997d4-15757385595998-800.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

AEW clearly wants to be the edgier and adult product. 

AEW strikes me as neither edgy nor adult.  They want the feel of an NWA major territory that is cooperating with other organizations rather than an island unto itself, so things feel unscripted and raw as if AEW were some ragged indy fed running at National Guard armories and high school gymnasiums when in actuality it is probably far from it.

Tony Khan has the marketing down to a formula and the ratings indicate that he knows exactly who his customers are.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ryan Faulconer said:

Caster and Bowens could have been  a really good first night confrontation for a certain returning Chicagoan on Friday’s Rampage.  

Punk taking out Caster  would be really low stakes for his first night in AEW.  Punk cutting off one of Max’s “controversial” raps would kill a lot of birds while using very few stones. This is only the first idea to come to mind when thinking about both Caster’s predicament and Punk’s impending debut.  If Caster isn’t “working” us then he has bungled his future success in AEW.  His maturity combined with his rap subjects have dove-tailed and show the world how immature and stubborn he can be.  

There are probably at least ten wrestlers in AEW that they can team with Bowens as Max’s replacement in The Acclaimed or whatever new gimmick they use now.  The rapping gimmick has reached its peak potential.  Caster was putting more effort into being topical rather than antagonistic towards his opponents anyway.  Only Julia Hart got any focus and really…He couldn’t make any rhymes about a pretty girl without gunning the engines and going for something that was just plain tacky and ridiculously inappropriate for television.

Except he didn’t actually even insult Julia. You could tell where he was going based on the rhyme but Bowens snatched the mic and yelled breath.

And forming a tag team that people actually care about isn’t as easy throwing guys together. There is an element of chemistry and needing to see matches similarly for it to work. 10 out of 10 random guys on the roster being thrown with Bowens aren’t going to make as good of a tag team as the Acclaimed were.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Bryan said:

Except he didn’t actually even insult Julia. You could tell where he was going based on the rhyme but Bowens snatched the mic and yelled breath.

Come on, dude.  Splitting hairs on intent vs entendre really makes it acceptable?

RICK EM RACK EM WRECK EM RUCK EM, GET THAT BALL AND.... SCORE SOME POINTS!!

You do bring up an interesting point though.  Anthony Bowens was clearly in on the gimmick but so far Max Caster has born the cross alone.  Also, it's been a week and the whole deal isn't even an issue anymore.  Just give Max his talking to and let hem get back into the ring.   No need to suspend the guy for more than a week.

Edited by J.T.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

MDK Gang doesn’t stand for Magical Disney Kids.
 

Obviously AEW tries to be more violent than the standard WWE product with the more frequent blading, weapons and crazy bumps. They also enjoy using the word shit once an episode and throwing up middle fingers whenever they can. They’re just on the typical American standard of violence is fine and sexual references are bad. To say they aren’t trying to be more ‘adult’ is frankly crazy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Goodear said:

To say they aren’t trying to be more ‘adult’ is frankly crazy.

They aren't trying to be adult.  Max Caster's shit was pretty juvenile. 

Edited by J.T.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m personally a snob so I find it to be a bit juvenile but it’s clearly a reach for 20-30 something males as opposed to WWE trying to hook youngins. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...