The AEW Brawl & Its Fallout

[RIPPA]

2 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

This. They gave a live mic to a guy who tried to embarrass Adam Page because of a personal slight when he had a live mic. 

I have no idea how going off-script like that would not get someone fired right away. Imagine if someone on Saturday Night Live just started improvising some stuff on air? Let alone in a way to make someone else on the cast look bad? They'd get fired as soon as the show ended. Is their any difference? 

I feel like I have to bring this up at least once a year but there is a reason someone like The Miz is so valuable to the WWE

Outside of John Cena - I don't think they have a better person to represent the company with "normal" media

[JLowe]

36 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Go with Claudio. Worst case there is dad jokes in six different languages. 

Sounds like a best case to me! But I would have Regal do it.

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

Problem will all kayfabe press conferences is you have embarrassing things like Roman Reigns demanding all the reporters "acknowledge" him

The credentialed reporters at MMA press conferences are usually somehow more embarrassing than that. It's usually pretty bad unless they have something that's easy to lock in on as a topic (who X is going to face after a giant upset, when is a rematch going to take place, or some controversial stoppage or scorecard).

Otherwise, it's Johnny Hot Take from MMAPunonPun.com asking when the UFC is going to come to Paducah, KY or asking one of the fighters if they eat hot wings before a fight. Hell, even those fake questions are giving them too much credit.

It also doesn't help that UFC and boxing post event press conferences don't start at the earliest an hour and fifteen minutes or an hour and a half after the event. It's all based on if the fighters went to the hospital, went to the medical tent in the arena, or just feel like plain showing up. That itself is brutal.

Other than fight announcements and Dana ranting on something, post event pressers are fucking useless. Boxing press conferences in general are pretty useless.

[Log]

21 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

The credentialed reporters at MMA press conferences are usually somehow more embarrassing than that. It's usually pretty bad unless they have something that's easy to lock in on as a topic (who X is going to face after a giant upset, when is a rematch going to take place, or some controversial stoppage or scorecard).

Otherwise, it's Johnny Hot Take from MMAPunonPun.com asking when the UFC is going to come to Paducah, KY or asking one of the fighters if they eat hot wings before a fight. Hell, even those fake questions are giving them too much credit.

It also doesn't help that UFC and boxing post event press conferences don't start at the earliest an hour and fifteen minutes or an hour and a half after the event. It's all based on if the fighters went to the hospital, went to the medical tent in the arena, or just feel like plain showing up. That itself is brutal.

Other than fight announcements and Dana ranting on something, post event pressers are fucking useless. Boxing press conferences in general are pretty useless.

Post-game pressers in any sport are usually pretty useless.  Especially with the home team media being scared of getting their credentials yanked at the first sign of a "hard" question.

I covered quite a few University of Louisville and Kentucky sports pressers. They mostly bordered on "Can you talk about why the team is so awesome and what a great coach you are?" from every local fanboy with a sports blog.

Anyway, luckily for the college sports (especially football) media, most head coaches are so thin-skinned, that the slightest question to their greatness can set them off on a rant. Makes for a fun week when that happens.

I used to joke that press conferences were the lowest form of news gathering. Only a step above the producers who just copy and paste a press release and call it a story.

I don't know what my point was. I do know that if anything as remotely entertaining as Punk's rant had happened at any press conference I'd covered, I'd have been so happy.

[supremebve]

My favorite and/or least favorite thing about post fight MMA interviews/press conferences is how often they are talking to someone who just got knocked unconscious. I remember Chris Weidman got knocked out and Rogan started asking him questions and he sounded like he was gargling maple syrup. They aren't just unnecessary,  they're probably actively harmful. 

[Unnatural]

With all the talk Bobby Fish has done this week, is this guy working, trying to stir up buzz for interest to maybe get another payday? I mean, given he's talking on Punk so much this week, I'm guessing he's airing his own gripes now that he's not with the AEW roster any more? Not one fucking clue hahahaha

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Hayabusa

[Elsalvajeloco]

15 minutes ago, supremebve said:

My favorite and/or least favorite thing about post fight MMA interviews/press conferences is how often they are talking to someone who just got knocked unconscious. I remember Chris Weidman got knocked out and Rogan started asking him questions and he sounded like he was gargling maple syrup. They aren't just unnecessary,  they're probably actively harmful. 

To be fair, that tradition kinda started in boxing. I watched the Evander Holyfield vs. Bert Cooper fight a couple weeks ago. Evander Holyfield in general gives nonsensical interviews. They interviewed Bert Cooper who probably took the most punishment I've seen in ANY fight in my time watching combat sports, and he somehow sounded more lucid than Holyfield (granted, again, it's Holyfield). Bert probably suffered five concussions in as many rounds and needs to be rushed to the nearest hospital in Atlanta ASAP.

Same with Mayweather vs. Arturo Gatti. How in the fuck are they interviewing Arturo Gatti after that fight? If Buddy McGirt didn't make the right decision and that fight had lasted two or three more rounds, Floyd may have legit killed this man in the ring. 

Same with James Toney vs. Iran Barkley. That's another one except replace McGirt with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

And then they want to hold the fighters for another hour or so just to ask them stupid ass questions at a press conference. Thankfully, especially nowadays, the commissions (the reputable ones at least) force the affected fighters to go to the hospital. They take it out of the promoters' hands.

[supremebve]

Asking someone who just spent the better part of an hour being punched in the face a bunch of questions is so absurd to me. The winner probably has a head injury that needs to be looked at, the loser, especially someone who was knocked out, needs to be at a hospital. 

[Jiji]

No, they need to be needled at by shithouse Jim Gray about judging or their next fight! 

[Greggulator]

1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

I feel like I have to bring this up at least once a year but there is a reason someone like The Miz is so valuable to the WWE

Outside of John Cena - I don't think they have a better person to represent the company with "normal" media

Geez, I wonder why a guy why a person you can trust to reach out to a mainstream audience to sell tickets, is actually known outside of wrestling, has a track record of getting everyone he works with more over than they ever have in their career, gets actual heel heat because he's a really good mic worker and is at least a solid worker would get a WrestleMania main event and is constantly in the mix. 

Maybe The Miz is a tool backstage. I have no idea. But if Punk or whoever hate on him because of how he got to the WWE instead of slumming it in the indies first then they need to check themselves because that guy clearly worked hard to get good at wrestling and loves it, too. 

[JohnnyJ]

41 minutes ago, Hayabusa said:

With all the talk Bobby Fish has done this week, is this guy working, trying to stir up buzz for interest to maybe get another payday? I mean, given he's talking on Punk so much this week, I'm guessing he's airing his own gripes now that he's not with the AEW roster any more? Not one fucking clue hahahaha

At least now that the locker room lines are becoming clearer I can make sense of why Kyle O'Reilly was positioned the way he was in the company. 

[Jiji]

Just now, JohnnyJ said:

At least now that the locker room lines are becoming clearer I can make sense of why Kyle O'Reilly was positioned the way he was in the company. 

What do you mean by that? 

[Elsalvajeloco]

6 minutes ago, Jiji said:

No, they need to be needled at by shithouse Jim Gray about judging or their next fight! 

I give Jim Gray credit for one thing: When Tyson did the infamous rant about eating Lennox's children, he didn't cut Mike off. Probably should have, but he didn't!

Larry Merchant would have and tried to change the subject, and we would have never gotten that moment. Merchant was probably the only interviewer who talked more than the actual fighters.

[Octopus]

2 hours ago, Matt D said:

Go with Claudio. Worst case there is dad jokes in six different languages. 

He’d have a great time at Six Flags

[odessasteps]

2 hours ago, Matt D said:

How much would they have to pay you to portray a worked reporter?

Question for Tony, Matt Brock, Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Do you think CM Punk has anger management issues and would benefit by talking to Dr Sidney Basil? 

[Matt D]

I, like everyone else, am still a little bummed out by all of this.

BUT

I'm still looking forward to hearing what new match or two they announce for Dynamite tonight.

That says a lot, I think.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Matt D
Or even for Rampage next week.

[supremebve]

What would be the going rate to be a worked reporter? I'm only asking so I can submit my resume. I would be a AEW stooge reporter for pretty cheap. Can I sit in the press box and eat free food? If so,  I'll ask whatever bullshit questions Tony wants. How do we handle travel? If Tony's paying, I'll go anywhere. If not,  I'll go anywhere within a 6 hour drive(that would include as far north as New York and as far west as Cleveland).  So,  pay for my travel and let me sit in the press box,  and I'll do it for free. If I have to drive I'll need a per deim.

[Log]

1 hour ago, Greggulator said:

Geez, I wonder why a guy why a person you can trust to reach out to a mainstream audience to sell tickets, is actually known outside of wrestling, has a track record of getting everyone he works with more over than they ever have in their career, gets actual heel heat because he's a really good mic worker and is at least a solid worker would get a WrestleMania main event and is constantly in the mix. 

Maybe The Miz is a tool backstage. I have no idea. But if Punk or whoever hate on him because of how he got to the WWE instead of slumming it in the indies first then they need to check themselves because that guy clearly worked hard to get good at wrestling and loves it, too. 

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'm not gonna eat the filthy motherfucker.

Miz may be a model employee, but that doesn't mean I wanna watch the motherfucker.

[Gorman]

7 minutes ago, supremebve said:

What would be the going rate to be a worked reporter? I'm only asking so I can submit my resume. I would be a AEW stooge reporter for pretty cheap. Can I sit in the press box and eat free food? 

Unfortunately, the free food is also a work. You get an empty tub of popcorn and you have to kayfabe eat it, like a Jerry Lawler phantom foreign object.

See you in Cleveland!

[Elsalvajeloco]

17 minutes ago, supremebve said:

What would be the going rate to be a worked reporter? I'm only asking so I can submit my resume. I would be a AEW stooge reporter for pretty cheap. Can I sit in the press box and eat free food? If so,  I'll ask whatever bullshit questions Tony wants. How do we handle travel? If Tony's paying, I'll go anywhere. If not,  I'll go anywhere within a 6 hour drive(that would include as far north as New York and as far west as Cleveland).  So,  pay for my travel and let me sit in the press box,  and I'll do it for free. If I have to drive I'll need a per deim.

If you will do it for travel and food or a per diem, then you're basically not working for free. Hell, UFC barely pays a per diem to the actual fighters and the hotel accommodations usually aren't that great. Now, the food spread for the press is probably great but that's usually what the venue put together. However, you're still working on your own dime.

If you're a stooge reporter, you're basically going to have to work all that shit out yourself. So basically, if you're a stooge, you're really dedicated to being one.

Keep in mind, guys like Kevin Iole and John Morgan live in Vegas where UFC puts on 80% of their shows now so there is no travel expense really. 

[Matt D]

20 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

If you're a stooge reporter, you're basically going to have to work all that shit out yourself. So basically, if you're a stooge, you're really dedicated to being one.

I'm all for this Brandon Cutler, Ace Reporter gimmick that you're fantasy booking here.

[Elsalvajeloco]

12 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I'm all for this Brandon Cutler, Ace Reporter gimmick that you're fantasy booking here.

Sadly, it doesn't work as well unless it's some guy living on his girlfriend's futon or an inflatable mattress making below minimum wage just so he can verbally fellate the promoter and/or the performers once a month. 

It has to be a Kip Sabian thing where you basically forget he is there until you see a box on his head. Although, one can argue people forgot he was there when he WAS actually there.

[JLowe]

1 hour ago, supremebve said:

What would be the going rate to be a worked reporter? I'm only asking so I can submit my resume. I would be a AEW stooge reporter for pretty cheap. Can I sit in the press box and eat free food? If so,  I'll ask whatever bullshit questions Tony wants. How do we handle travel? If Tony's paying, I'll go anywhere. If not,  I'll go anywhere within a 6 hour drive(that would include as far north as New York and as far west as Cleveland).  So,  pay for my travel and let me sit in the press box,  and I'll do it for free. If I have to drive I'll need a per deim.

I worked for the UT college paper (at the time the largest printed daily college paper in the US) back in the ‘90s, specifically in the entertainment department, so I have experience with softball interviews designed to promote an event/album. I’ll cover the Texas market, willing to go as far as OKC and western Louisiana.

[Peck]

Bringing back the territory system.. one DVDVR interviewer at a time.

[zendragon]

6 hours ago, Greggulator said:

1) I have no idea why AEW even wants to have press conferences right after an event for something that is a staged performance. I get that "real" sports have post-game press conferences but wrestling is more like a Broadway play. I know there are a lot of differences, but what the hell are they trying to do? There's no upside in having these press conferences that I can see (the Wrestling Observer is the main trade publication covering the industry and they were going to skip because the past ones were so worthless) and the downside risk is this. 

 

Tony Khan loves to see his name in print, and loves to make sure everyone knows he's the brains behind the show. There's been issues with this before like not leaving well enough alone with the Big Swole thing. Its gonna be a problem and this is just the biggest and latest example

 

6 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Boys Will Be Boys is a fun read (it is done by Jeff Pearlman who is the same person who did the Lakers Showtime book)

And too be fair - I think the book coming out is when the story came out

Skip Bayless back when he was an actual writer and not just a tv character wrote a pretty good book called Hell Bound about those early 90's Cowboy teams and all the insanity 

 

4 hours ago, Greggulator said:

This. They gave a live mic to a guy who tried to embarrass Adam Page because of a personal slight when he had a live mic. 

I have no idea how going off-script like that would not get someone fired right away. Imagine if someone on Saturday Night Live just started improvising some stuff on air? Let alone in a way to make someone else on the cast look bad? They'd get fired as soon as the show ended. Is their any difference? 

This is why Norm Macdonald got booted from SNL. I don't think it was a one time incident but apparently he kept going off script during weekend update