Official WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA talk, or whatever v2

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by rubecube

WWE still does that. Where the #### is Nakamura?

His last program was a long-term feud with Rhodes. He doesn't just show up for one or two matches, then disappears. Big difference there. Being off television is fine, showing up randomly then disappearing for months on end is poor booking.

Edit: We're also speaking for only Nakamura, who has been shown on Raw, and has been on the house show circuit during their tour of Japan. It's not like he's been sitting at home collecting cheques for all of 2024.

[mile]

Nak might’ve also requested time off. Punk recently mentioned the company has an app where time-off is given with the push of a button

Seems like Triple H likes to rotate his talents in and out after each major PLE, depending on availability and whether they fit in the current storylines. Like with Roman (who is also treating leukemia for the rest of his life and would benefit from a reduced schedule) and Vinci recently returning after being off all Summer

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

The Mount Rushmore of narcissists in wrestling is incomplete without The Rock... Jericho, Hogan, Dwayne. Who would be #4? Maybe Warrior before he passed. Bischoff is pretty bad. So is Flair, and technically Bret Hart Hart is a mark for his own work. There are many in that conversation, but I think those too three are locks.

Punk is a mark for his own work too, but not quite at the level of Bret. Bret was an incredible worker, maybe the best to lace them up... Yet the way he talks makes it seem like he was the only one in the ring for many of his matches.

Punk and Bret are from the same cloth. Is Bret a narcissist? I don't know if that's too strong of a word. I'd say he's very old school, and he see's himself as a bit of a guardian of the game.



He's also pretty fiercely protective of his name and reputation.



Bret also has had some very negative things happen to him in the game that have made him a bit bitter.



I don't think what he says about Hogan, Eric, Vince Russo and Michaels is without merit.

[CaptainCrunch]

Wonder if Bobby Lashley makes a surprise AEW debut? Or even a TNA deal.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I think most reasonable fans want to see Ricochet just do a few big matches with Ospreay, Hangman, Swerve, Pac. AEW fans are smarks, so they'll know immediately who he is and what his limitations are.

Some of you need to relax. He hasn't been anything more than he is. Not even WWE could get a good promo out of him, so if AEW could do it I'll be surprised.

But frankly, AEW fits him better than the story-oriented WWE anyways, so I'm going home happy with this one.

I think AEW fits him better in terms of putting together matches with similar talents on a week to week basis.

But I actually think he was a more unique draw in WWE.

Not that they were using him properly for most of his time there though anyways (especially with Vince) - although I do think between NXT and his more recent usage on the main roster that HHH knew how to utilize him pretty well.

I think my point is probably that it's a bigger loss for WWE than it is a win for AEW...if that makes sense.

[rubecube]

Looks like Dynamite's ratings have been slowly getting back to what we expect them to be. Crazy what happens when you're actually doing long-term storytelling and not just booking "dream matches" with no backstory every week.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/20...-in-go-home-uk

[Ozy_Flame]

All In was awesome. Also, Seek and Destroy is one of the greatest stadium anthems in the business.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah AEW consistently puts on good PPVs and you can't really argue that.

Main event was awesome, although I wish they just Swerve "pass out" in the hold instead of tapping. They built Swerve up as a guy who wouldn't quit in that fued with Hangman and the Texas Death Match, him tapping seems almost out of character.

Mariah May and Toni Storm also told a great story and end to their fued. They deserved the spot in the card that Mone and Baker had, didn't love them going on 2nd when they have been the best story all year in the Women's division (maybe in history of AEW's women's division). Mone vs Britt was a bit of a dissapointment IMO, something still just seems off with Mercedes.

Perry vs Darby was a bit weird in that it almost came out feeling a bit like a squash for Perry...seems like Perry is going to be getting a bit of a big push here. As fun as Sting coming out is...not sure I love it for Darby here, they need to build him back up as his own guy now because it feels like he's relying on Sting too much.

Rest of the card was good. Felt like Ricochets debut was actually lost in the Gauntlet match, feel like they almost should have just had him interrupt Ospreay's title celebration and have a quick build for Ospreay vs Ricochet at all out. Christian seemed like a surprising choice to win that match.

Honestly not sure I would have recognized Hayter if they didn't have her name on the screen, she looked great and a huge return for the women's division.

I'm happy the crowd was hot and that it filled up. At first it looked pretty empty and I was worried it would potentially take away from it, but in the end the 55k or so that were in Wembley were loud and into it.

[CaptainCrunch]

The Perry vs Allen thing was stupid and felt like a squash, which is what it was. And having Sting come back was cringe worthy.



The whole Saraya backstage rant attempt at a uninged promo just didn't work simply because Saraya is so bad.


The rest was ok Hayer should be good if they don't feed her into Mone

[Ozy_Flame]

Cap just stick to WWE lol

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

The Perry vs Allen thing was stupid and felt like a squash, which is what it was. And having Sting come back was cringe worthy.



The whole Saraya backstage rant attempt at a uninged promo just didn't work simply because Saraya is so bad.


The rest was ok Hayer should be good if they don't feed her into Mone

Pretty awful take IMHO Saraya started off getting the crowd into it and this PPV was fairly solid, with BD winning it in the end. Like Ozzy said, just stick to the WWE. Not a good thing to say about a PPV that (again) is getting universally lauded, and a ton of stories reached their crux. Great show again!

[trackercowe]

Guessing this means Garcia signed a new deal. Where does that leave the other three (Penta, Phoenix, and Starks)?

I can't see Danielson hanging onto the belt for long... Yet I dunno if it makes sense to have Christian as a World Champion in 2024. Love the guy, and he's been their most consistent WWE signing... but at this stage of his career he's no longer World Champion material.

Personally I would love for Darby to turn heel on Sting and take the belt off Danielson. They could push Allin to the moon with the right booking.

Worst case scenario is Christian wins the belt, only to lose it to Copeland when he returns in a few months. There's no need to pick that feud back up again in 2025.

[Blaster86]

If this is all building for Edge and Christian to have another match over a belt, I.... just can't. I didn't even consider that was an option until you said that just now.



It doesn't need it and neither of them should be carrying belts in AEW (or anywhere).

[Muta]

I dunno, I'm super interested in Christian potentially holding the top belt. The man's body of work with the Patriarchy is some of the finest #### he's ever done in his career. Him an MJF are tied for the two best promo men in AEW right now.

I doubt they drop Danielson's title run to Christian though. It is entirely possible that the way this is going to work is that a) Danielson beats Christian so that he can drop it to a younger talent later so he can put them over (which is something that he's always advocated for), b) this gets Christian into the main event scene, and possibly screwed over by a returning Edge in the eventual title match, setting up a final future PLE match between Edge and Christian.

[Ozy_Flame]

Danielson will not drop to Christian. He'll have a title defense, look strong (Christian will take him to the brink), and then he'll drop the strap to one of their aces, like Hangman, MJF or Ospreay.

They've done enough of Christian and Edge without an AEW title strap, it ain't going to happen with Danielson, who will dictate the terms of his title run (and will pass the belt onto a successor that can carry the brand). Danielson knows the importance of getting the young guys into the main slots, he's going to be a producer and backstage guy for AEW for years to come.

In fact I'm pretty sure Danielson's title reign is the fans wanting to see it as a bucket list item more than Bryan himself wanting it. He's even said in the past he's here to push the younger guys and make them look good.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Danielson will not drop to Christian. He'll have a title defense, look strong (Christian will take him to the brink), and then he'll drop the strap to one of their aces, like Hangman, MJF or Ospreay.

They've done enough of Christian and Edge without an AEW title strap, it ain't going to happen with Danielson, who will dictate the terms of his title run (and will pass the belt onto a successor that can carry the brand).

He had mentioned wanting to drop/face another local Washington wrestler at Wrestledream IIRC.

Darby hasn't been booked strong enough for him to deserve that spot.

Him dropping to Swerve in a re-match (Swerve probably should get that win back), and then Hangman finally getting his revenge and beating Swerve eventually makes the most sense probably.

Ospreay should carry the international title for a bit now.

MJF probably tied up with Daniel Garcia for a little bit here as they try to convince Garcia to re-sign.

[TheIronMaiden]

Glad all in went well, I only watched some highlights, but I think some momentum for that company is a good thing.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Glad all in went well, I only watched some highlights, but I think some momentum for that company is a good thing.

Things have really turned around. It's always been really good, but when they had a ton of injuries and some growing pains, it was pretty tough as I think they shifted to be a wrestling company with a few stories. Now it's a nice mix of great storytelling, some matchups, and a nice variety of wrestling styles. Also, Hologram. I f'in love Hologram, such a weird throwback. That's who is going to have a dream match with Ricochet.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Yeah AEW consistently puts on good PPVs and you can't really argue that.

Main event was awesome, although I wish they just Swerve "pass out" in the hold instead of tapping. They built Swerve up as a guy who wouldn't quit in that fued with Hangman and the Texas Death Match, him tapping seems almost out of character.

Mariah May and Toni Storm also told a great story and end to their fued. They deserved the spot in the card that Mone and Baker had, didn't love them going on 2nd when they have been the best story all year in the Women's division (maybe in history of AEW's women's division). Mone vs Britt was a bit of a dissapointment IMO, something still just seems off with Mercedes.

Perry vs Darby was a bit weird in that it almost came out feeling a bit like a squash for Perry...seems like Perry is going to be getting a bit of a big push here. As fun as Sting coming out is...not sure I love it for Darby here, they need to build him back up as his own guy now because it feels like he's relying on Sting too much.

Rest of the card was good. Felt like Ricochets debut was actually lost in the Gauntlet match, feel like they almost should have just had him interrupt Ospreay's title celebration and have a quick build for Ospreay vs Ricochet at all out. Christian seemed like a surprising choice to win that match.

Honestly not sure I would have recognized Hayter if they didn't have her name on the screen, she looked great and a huge return for the women's division.

I'm happy the crowd was hot and that it filled up. At first it looked pretty empty and I was worried it would potentially take away from it, but in the end the 55k or so that were in Wembley were loud and into it.

Good call on this stuff. Some odd moments, but some of it less predictable than I thought. I do wish Shirikawa got involved in the Storm/May match but they can kick that can down the road, and it was a solid story and match leading up to it not needing a cheap payoff. Mariah May's eulogy at the press conference was great, I'm a big fan of hers.

[SuperMatt18]

Just realized that Christian winning the Gauntlet match, and them changing the rule so the Gauntlet winner can challenge at any time was done so that they could have a transitional heel champion while allowing Danielson to win his "last match" at Wrestledream.

So likely outcome will actually be Danielson vs Darby...Danielson retains...Christian comes out and cashes in his title match on a worn out Danielson...Christian wins.

Then if Christian loses that belt quickly (Full Gear is 6 weeks after WrestleDream) it's not really a big deal because he won it in a shady way, and really it's Christian so doesn't hurt them that much from a kayfabe perspective.