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2021 The WWE Purge, Part 2


Pete

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1 hour ago, KidNatural said:

And let's just remind people that Marko Stunt, Brandon Cutler, Peter Avalon, Luther, Nakazawa, Jade Cargill and QT Marshall are on national television for no reason whatsoever.

Everyone released today is better than them.

AEW has some serious fatal flaws, but because some people want an competitor to the WWE so badly that they are willing to whistle past the graveyard and pretend that nothing is wrong.

You sign End, Lana, Murphy and Ruby immediately. No if ands or buts.

Well, this is a take...

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AEW is a privately held company so we'll never get to take a look at their books. But LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL if you think it's even 1% as profitable as the WWE. 

Here is how much profit the WWE made during the past bunch of quarters, which will weed out some noise from any one-time transaction. Can someone please tell me why the WWE's television ratings matter one bit to anything?

1Q 2021 - $65 million

4Q 2020 - $36.2 million

3Q 2020 - $63.4 million

2Q 2020 - $55.7 million

1Q 2020 - $53.3 million

4Q 2019 - $99.8 million

3Q 2019 - $6.4 million

2Q 2019 - $17.1 million

1Q 2019 - a loss of $6.8 million

4Q 2018 - $53.4 million

3Q 2018 - $18.1 million

2Q 2018 - $21.2 million

1Q 2018 - $21.8 million

That's really friggin' impressive when you think about what the WWE's niche in the world of commerce is. It's a media/content company that makes a niche product of fake fighting. Yet it is a consistent generator of profitability and cash flow through its business streams. The WWE is absolutely not dying. It's thriving. 

But on the other hand: Anytime the WWE claims people are released because of budget cuts is an absolute lie. The company literally has $500 million in cash it can access anytime it wants. They cut people they don't think can help make them money, have issues that we don't know about, taking up space on the roster, etc. But it has nothing to do with budget cuts. They probably do have a set budget for how much they pay talent, but that's a budget that's completely flexible.

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2 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Imagine if they paid their athletes even close to the percentage players get in North American salary cap sports. ?

Vince McMahon would shut down the WWE if that happens. Any sort of profit for the WWE is going to him.

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20 minutes ago, Matt D said:

DEAN thought Melina was the best wrestler in the world in 2009. Wait, no, that was Bret Hart.

Lana is fucking awesome and I can't wait for her AEW Women's title reign.  YESSSSSSssss!

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AEW would be stupid not to pick up Black and Riott. Joe's a bit less of a no-brainer because he's older and injury prone, but they should sign him too. Fuck, if they signed Big Show and Mark Henry to be announcers there's no reason not to sign everyone under the sun. 

TK got a billion god damn dollars and I think his primary motivation to play Fire Pro IRL and if he turns a profit doing it that's gravy.

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1 hour ago, KidNatural said:

And let's just remind people that Marko Stunt, Brandon Cutler, Peter Avalon, Luther, Nakazawa, Jade Cargill and QT Marshall are on national television for no reason whatsoever.

 

Brandon Cutler, Marko, and Nakazawa are seconds, Jade is a prospect, QT Marshall only exists for this current Cody feud, Luther hasn't been on Dynamite since 30 years of Jericho and Peter Avalon was last seen jobbing to Cody on Dynamite.

 

The issuse isn't keeping these guys or Janela or Serpentico vs Tommy End, ect but if those guys show up who who's regularly featured do you take time away from? They only have two hours of TV time. (so far)

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2 minutes ago, Hail Sabin said:

Lana/Miro vs. Kip/Penelope is a easy ready made feud that can be built up on various media between the 4 of them. 

Lol, I watch aew about once every 10 weeks and this potential match makes me think I should cut back.

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Wait. On what planet is Jade Cargill not good? That's idiocy of the highest order. She's green, but she understands what she's good at and plays the part well. She doesn't do "movez," which I know doesn't endear her to the Omega/Bucks fans around here, but she seems to have a really advanced understanding of what she's supposed to be. Having said that, working with women like Heidi Lovelace would only help her get better, and AEW should facilitate that as soon as possible. 

Sign them all. If that means some undercard folks go, then they go. The idea that AEW needs to stick with "homegrown talent" is asinine. You field the best possible team you can afford, and the Khans can afford the team they want. Sign Andrade to add a big time latin star to your roster, which desperately needs another one. Sign Samoa Joe to bring some hard-hitting change of pace to your TNT Title division. Sign Tommy End to chase down and kick the head off Kenny Omega. Sign Buddy Murphy to have bangers with everyone on the roster. Seriously. I'd watch Murphy & Darby, Jungle Boy or Hangman Page as many times as they want to run it. Sign Heidi, Thea, Cassie, and Jessie to thicken your improving women's division. This isn't hard, and the idea that they shouldn't sign these folks is pretty inane.

Edited by just drew
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2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

You really think so little of him? I mean Impact is a fine company when it wants to be now but still.

I was literally the first person on this board on the Samoa Joe bandwagon.

Impact will treat him like a legend, and have openings for him in NJ and AEW if he wanted to. And if he isn't able to go anymore, he'd be excellent for commentary.

 

 

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There is, of course, nothing intrinsically wrong with signing more "talent." 

"You can never have too much talent" type arguments are not without merit.

However: The "AEW needs to cut the deadweight so that they can sign people with more talent" argument being made here (and elsewhere) are nonsensical. They are a pretty good sign that the person making those arguments in not really paying attention, or maybe just doesn't "get" AEW.

Brandon Cutler is a close, "real life" friend of Nick and Matt Jackson.

QT Marshall is a close, "real life" friend of Cody Rhodes.

Michael Nakazawa is a close, "real life" friend of Kenny Omega.

Doctor Luther is a close, "real life" friend of Chris Jericho.

All of them play important off-screen roles in the company. All of them play on-screen roles as lower-card guys or jobbers, which is an important role in any wrestling company. None of them are taking up massive amounts of TV time. Presumably, none of them are on huge money-draining contracts. 

Even if you do not at all buy into my oft-repeated assertion that it is a very good thing that AEW provides a workplace where the wrestlers who entertain us can have fun with their friends: You are unlikely to save enough money by cutting those guys to sign any big names. You are going to have to replace them anyway, both on and off screen, and it's unlikely that you are signing any big names to work as undercard guys and comedy jobbers. And, even if you don't care about Matt, Nick, Cody, Kenny, and Jericho being happy... I'd have to imagine that Matt, Nick, Cody, Kenny, and Jericho care about that and (I hate to break it to you but) their opinion holds more sway in AEW than yours does.

tl/dr: Cutting those guys doesn't make room, and they are not going to get cut anyway.

So, then the argument is maybe that Tony Khan needs to start running AEW like a cold-hearted capitalist and not care about anyone's feelings and sign the guys who will make him the most money. You know: Needle-movers!

You know who actually moved the needle for AEW? Maybe the only guy we can definitively say moved the needle a lot? Shaq! Shaq moved the needle. And... Jade Cargill is real-life friends with Shaq. 

Are, say, Aleister Black or Buddy Murphy going to really move the needle for AEW? Are there really 100,000 ir 200,000 people out there who are not watching AEW now who will tune in and keep tuning in because they are on the roster? Are we confident that Braun Strowman would bring in enough new eyes and move enough merch to balance out how much it would cost to sign him?

Even if you think wrestling is a purely capitalist venture and you lack empathy and compassion, how much pure money value is there in signing up all of the best WWE cast-offs? I think the prudent move from a business sense would be for Tony Khan to show restraint and patience here. 

Once AEW starts touring again, they are totally going to sell out every building they run for at least a year. No new signing is going to improve on that. They have around 7-800,000 fans who are regular same day live TV viewers in America. That drops below 700k if you are running on a Friday with no must-see matches or if there's something really important on another channel. That rises above a million if you have a very special attraction and there is nothing too important on the other channels. I don't think even Bryan Danielson or Samoa Joe would change those numbers all that much. Shaq moved the needle because he brought in eyes from outside the wrestling bubble. 

And: We all clearly heard the live crowd cheering more loudly for "home grown talent" Jungle Boy than for "WWE legend" Christian Cage at DON 3. 

The real value I see here, the only real reason to sign any more wrestlers, is all of the potentially great match-ups we could get. Signing pretty much any of the pro wrestlers who are no longer employed by WWE gives us that. That is obviously a good thing. Potentially it's a good long-term business investment because it helps generate "content" for some future streaming service or whatever, presuming that bubble doesn't burst too soon.

So, yeah, no problem if AEW wants to sign anyone. Let's have all the good matches.

But: Does AEW need to sign anyone in order to grow? 

Nope.

Is AEW going  to "cut the deadwood" to make room for those signings?

Oh, hell no. Quit being ridiculous.

 

Edited by El Gran Gordi
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FOr the record, I’d be just fine with AEW not cutting anyone. I’m just saying if it’s between Andrade or Tommy End and fucking Luther, I know which choice should be made...

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I'm feeling some surly and belligerent feelings regarding these Bad Opinions on the Value of Good Jobbers. Any company in the world should be humbled by the presence of a Peter Avalon losing a dualing losing-streak angle so valiantly. Leading his cadre of cads into bad results against bad mamma jammas. Michael Nakazawa should not be on Dynamite, but he played American football because his dad played American football and thus speaks good enough English to translate Kenny's Japanese into perfect Japanese. Marko Stunt exists as a hype man and human projectile. 

If you're bitching as a fan wants to see a roster of nothing but potential champions, that's Your Prerogative. You don't need my permission to make your own decisions. If you're telling me why your ideas are good and why AEW's are bad? Stop Humpin' Around.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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I think there is a problem in WWE that there is a lack of good job guys right now. People like Mike Sharpe and Jim Powers.

There is certainly value to having guys like that in your roster.

At the same time, I don't think you need to sign everyone who was in WWE either just because they had experience in WWE for a few years. Hypothetically, someone like Ruby Riott? Definitely. The women's division could really use her. And they could start a women's tag division at some point with a further infusion of talent.

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