AEW - JULY 2022 - THREAD 2

[Dolfan in NYC]

 

Hopefully this thread won't break the board.   Guess we'll see. 

[DreamBroken]

 

[grilledcheese]

That's rad as fuck, and holy shit does Darby get his ass kicked better than damn near anybody.

[For Great Justice]

So they’ve pretty well botched this MJF thing, right? Instead of the desired reaction of “will this be the week he shows up? What’s he going to do next?” It’s “welp, don’t really miss that guy”

He has the talent to get his heat back as soon as he returns, whenever that is, but there’s just zero anticipation. He’s forgotten.

[Jiji]

16 minutes ago, For Great Justice said:

So they’ve pretty well botched this MJF thing, right? Instead of the desired reaction of “will this be the week he shows up? What’s he going to do next?” It’s “welp, don’t really miss that guy”

He has the talent to get his heat back as soon as he returns, whenever that is, but there’s just zero anticipation. He’s forgotten.

Isn't this the mentality that led to Punk returning a week after leaving with the title at MitB? The whole point of the worked shoot is that they are making it seem like he's gone gone so it'll be a big shock when he returns. If they were building him up in any official way, would that not defeat the whole purpose of him being seemingly let go? 

There's no perfect way of doing this stuff and the risks are almost always higher than the rewards but I'd rather them show restraint and patience than to rush it or build it up in a way that doesn't make sense. 

[For Great Justice]

8 minutes ago, Jiji said:

Isn't this the mentality that led to Punk returning a week after leaving with the title at MitB? The whole point of the worked shoot is that they are making it seem like he's gone gone so it'll be a big shock when he returns. If they were building him up in any official way, would that not defeat the whole purpose of him being seemingly let go? 

There's no perfect way of doing this stuff and the risks are almost always higher than the rewards but I'd rather them show restraint and patience than to rush it or build it up in a way that doesn't make sense. 

I definitely hope they pull it off, but I dunno. It feels different than Punk in terms of the anticipation. Like if MJF shows up 4 months from now, is it gonna be “oh shit, it’s MJF!” or “oh boy, it’s MJF”. It kind of feels like the latter right now to me. Probably depends on how they execute it, but yeah.

[Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie]

31 minutes ago, For Great Justice said:

So they’ve pretty well botched this MJF thing, right? Instead of the desired reaction of “will this be the week he shows up? What’s he going to do next?” It’s “welp, don’t really miss that guy”

He has the talent to get his heat back as soon as he returns, whenever that is, but there’s just zero anticipation. He’s forgotten.

Part of the problem is twofold, I think:

1) People's attention spans are complete toast, and with so much going on in the world week to week, it's unlikely anyone was going to retain interest in this aside from people heavily invested in MJF.

2) Do worked shoots actually ever... y'know... work? I mean from start to finish in terms of execution. Most people remember the start of CM Punk, but they don't remember him squabbling with Kevin Nash weeks later. Or they choose not to. Most people remember Brian Pillman saying "I respect you, bookerman", but they don't remember much else after that (admittedly due to the circumstances surrounding his accident, but still). Worked shoots almost always start great but die on the vine because there's no way to land them successfully.

[Jiji]

I was wondering what the end goal is here. Logically, MJF will probably come through the crowd and jump somebody or steal a mic or something. But then what? How do you reintegrate him back into the fold in a way that makes sense, doesn't abandon his complaints, and would make sense from the fans' perceptions of Khan's point of view? I would hope that they'd have that stuff planned out in advance, but it's definitely a tough one. His main targets in the shoot were Tony Khan being a mark and not paying him and the influx of former WWE wrestlers. Does he target them? Why would Tony Khan the character pay him more money? 

[HarryArchieGus]

I understand the idea of pulling MJF from TV for this type of angle, but I don't quite understand MJF disappearing from all media entirely? This is why he and it's forgotten. A non-AEW youtube account with promos or some sort of MJF activity could surely help bring some buzz to his name. Appearances on pods working the hosts might help. The cold disappearance is clearly failing to create any buzz, but it still seems pretty likely he'll pop some interest upon returning. But yeah, how you close this one out in any sort of logical fashion remains to be seen? Tho, some of the shit that's been appearing on TV as of late suggests logic is less a priority in these creative meetings (see Mark Sterling and Tony Nese lobbying to have Swerve fired. Or better yet somehow needing an Orange Cassidy signature to have him removed. Or pretty much anything involving Danhausen and the steam-reducing effect it's having on Hook).

[Wyld Samurai]

2 hours ago, For Great Justice said:

So they’ve pretty well botched this MJF thing, right? Instead of the desired reaction of “will this be the week he shows up? What’s he going to do next?” It’s “welp, don’t really miss that guy”

He has the talent to get his heat back as soon as he returns, whenever that is, but there’s just zero anticipation. He’s forgotten.

I really don't care if he's forgotten. He's good in the ring- but I'm not enamored with his mic skills like a lot of people. He's a forced can of cheap heat. He's a copy of a copy of Rogue Brian Pillman. 

[HarryArchieGus]

14 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

I really don't care if he's forgotten. He's good in the ring- but I'm not enamored with his mic skills like a lot of people. He's a forced can of cheap heat. He's a copy of a copy of Rogue Brian Pillman. 

There's been weeks where I would completely agree with this assessment, but it's easy to forget his age and level of experience. He's still in a maturing stage - especially for the average pro wrestler. This on screen heel character 'MJF' tends to suggest he's above further learning his craft, but from what is known in actuality of his work ethic and desire to succeed, the opposite seems to be true. This is also why his (fair to say 'sometimes overrated...) mic skills are evaluated as if they're where they'll be the rest of his career, and he can't or won't improve. All that said, certainly he's had some moments where his mic acumen either met or was somewhere near the praise given. I liked when he ppl talked about him for his potential. He leap frogged the ranks quickly and, for pretty good reason, the talk was about where he is currently, which is fine and fair, but the longer game is where MJF's real value shines.

Edited July 10, 2022 by HarryArchieGus

[JLowe]

2 hours ago, Jiji said:

I was wondering what the end goal is here. Logically, MJF will probably come through the crowd and jump somebody or steal a mic or something. But then what? How do you reintegrate him back into the fold in a way that makes sense, doesn't abandon his complaints, and would make sense from the fans' perceptions of Khan's point of view? I would hope that they'd have that stuff planned out in advance, but it's definitely a tough one. His main targets in the shoot were Tony Khan being a mark and not paying him and the influx of former WWE wrestlers. Does he target them? Why would Tony Khan the character pay him more money? 

It does seem like the only way to bring him back is by having Tony Khan as an on-screen character feuding with MJF and I really really really really really really don’t want that.

[Jiji]

34 minutes ago, JLowe said:

It does seem like the only way to bring him back is by having Tony Khan as an on-screen character feuding with MJF and I really really really really really really don’t want that.

What? Why?!

Spoiler

 

[HarryArchieGus]

35 minutes ago, JLowe said:

It does seem like the only way to bring him back is by having Tony Khan as an on-screen character feuding with MJF and I really really really really really really don’t want that.

Seemingly that would be the way, but thankfully Tony is much more aware of his on screen abilities than those in his position prior or currently (ever seen Impact's Scott D'Amore act?). He deserves continued gratitude for not having an on screen authority figure. Sooo pleased for the implementation of this small but monumentally important break from wrestling cliche.

[DEAN]

OH NO!

 

[porksweats]

I think it's fine that MJF is radio silent, there's plenty of other things to focus on week to week and trying to cram MJF in there still... why?

[Lawful Metal]

hey where's samoa joe

[Casey]

He's playing Sweet Tooth in the Twisted Metal TV show for Peacock (and Will Arnett is the voice). It started filming at the end of May.

[Octopus]

Give me Tony Khan’s middle school play acting ability as an on screen character and give me it yesterday. 

[Leonidas]

3 hours ago, Octopus said:

Give me Tony Khan’s middle school play acting ability as an on screen character and give me it yesterday. 

[DragonZombie]

Riho's new gear

[DEAN]

12 hours ago, Octopus said:

Give me Tony Khan’s middle school play acting ability as an on screen character and give me it yesterday. 

He was GREAT as a heel with Tony Schiavonne when Kenny Omega took over IMPACT!  That was awesome.

[Technico Support]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:28 AM, Stefanie the Human said:

Part of the problem is twofold, I think:

1) People's attention spans are complete toast, and with so much going on in the world week to week, it's unlikely anyone was going to retain interest in this aside from people heavily invested in MJF.

2) Do worked shoots actually ever... y'know... work? I mean from start to finish in terms of execution. Most people remember the start of CM Punk, but they don't remember him squabbling with Kevin Nash weeks later. Or they choose not to. Most people remember Brian Pillman saying "I respect you, bookerman", but they don't remember much else after that (admittedly due to the circumstances surrounding his accident, but still). Worked shoots almost always start great but die on the vine because there's no way to land them successfully.

I said it when MJF cut his worky shooty promo...Pillman's work shoot stuff is legendary with a certain segment of smart fans, I guess, but it didn't make any money and didn't have any kind of satisfying payoff.  Its only appeal was that it was a peak behind the curtain in an industry that had seen very few of those, so it was interesting in that regard.  But as part of a wrestling show?  Useless.  If you went to a play and an actor broke character, said unkind words to his fellow actors, and walked off, it would be a wild thing to see and would get some press.  But I don't think anyone would "book" that to happen again because there's nowhere else to go with it and nobody would believe it anyway.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Technico Support

[Dolfan in NYC]

2 hours ago, DEAN said:

He was GREAT as a heel with Tony Schiavonne when Kenny Omega took over IMPACT!  That was awesome.

So, we're expecting 'Mister Khan' on AEW TV by the end of the year or so? 

 

[DEAN]

5 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

So, we're expecting 'Mister Khan' on AEW TV by the end of the year or so? 

 

Oh, I want him to invade IMPACT! again, but with Sammy and Tay.