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

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Lucha Bros WWE debuted delayed for atleast a year as AEW tacks a year onto Rey Fenix's contract for time missed to injury

Tony doing what he criticized the WWE for when he positioned himself as a different kind of owner

[Blaster86]

Meh. He shouldn't have said it because in the end he was always going to do it.

[Ozy_Flame]

WWE, TNA, and AEW all do it. Contract is a contract.

[SuperMatt18]

Tony Khan tried to act like he wasn't a carny, but in the end every promoter in the wrestling industry ends up being one.

And extending contacts to cover injury times has always been a ####ty practice, whether it's WWE, AEW, TNA or anyone else doing it.

[trackercowe]

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Penta in the meantime. He's the one that's (speculated) wanted to bolt to WWE all this time. Rey wanted to stick, as he's had more individual success in AEW. Would WWE want to book the Penta solo act?

Also what's up with the Daniel Garcia negotiations? I assumed he had already re-signed with how he was booked to take down MJF... yet apparently he hasn't put pen to paper yet. Absolutely bonkers if he leaves anyway. I don't see why WWE even wants him. He's fairly average, and feels like another Lexis King NXT midcarder.

[Blaster86]

Same reason Drew waited until the last second to re-sign with WWE. If you are actually a threat to leave, you will get paid.



I doubt Garcia goes.

[Ozy_Flame]

WWE can make bank off Penta. Fenix? I doubt as much. Too much of a ret Mysterio or gran metallik clone. I say go it alone with Penta. But WWE should resist the temptation to put him in the LWO, even though that's the kind of stuff they like to do with lots of Latino wrestlers.

[trackercowe]

They need to rehab their tag divisions. Nearly everything is running on full motor in the WWE, but the tag divisions have slipped. Last year it was red hot with the Uso's holding down the belts... but now the belts are rarely defended. Having JD McDonagh and Tonga Loa holding onto one of the few titles isn't a great look... DIY, Street Profits, New Day, A-Town Down, and American Made are decent contenders, but they've all taken quite a few losses and need to be built back up. It honestly feels like there are not enough tag teams, and even NXT is lacking in quality.

I bet the Lucha Bros would have been given a run instantly as a reward for going across the street. Maybe they can have Dragon Lee or Mysterio fill in for Phoenix for the time being. Or better yet why not have Judgement Day bring in Penta and have him tag with Dom? Dom needs a belt more than JD and Balor. So to me that would be an ideal pairing, rather than throwing him into the LWO. Penta would get tons of heat being paired with Dom... he wouldn't need to do many promos with Dom and Liv shouldering most of the work.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Penta in the meantime. He's the one that's (speculated) wanted to bolt to WWE all this time. Rey wanted to stick, as he's had more individual success in AEW. Would WWE want to book the Penta solo act?

Also what's up with the Daniel Garcia negotiations? I assumed he had already re-signed with how he was booked to take down MJF... yet apparently he hasn't put pen to paper yet. Absolutely bonkers if he leaves anyway. I don't see why WWE even wants him. He's fairly average, and feels like another Lexis King NXT midcarder.

Garcia is way better than Pillman Jr. Good wrestler and he’s decent on the mic.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

They need to rehab their tag divisions. Nearly everything is running on full motor in the WWE, but the tag divisions have slipped. Last year it was red hot with the Uso's holding down the belts... but now the belts are rarely defended. Having JD McDonagh and Tonga Loa holding onto one of the few titles isn't a great look... DIY, Street Profits, New Day, A-Town Down, and American Made are decent contenders, but they've all taken quite a few losses and need to be built back up. It honestly feels like there are not enough tag teams, and even NXT is lacking in quality.

I bet the Lucha Bros would have been given a run instantly as a reward for going across the street. Maybe they can have Dragon Lee or Mysterio fill in for Phoenix for the time being. Or better yet why not have Judgement Day bring in Penta and have him tag with Dom? Dom needs a belt more than JD and Balor. So to me that would be an ideal pairing, rather than throwing him into the LWO. Penta would get tons of heat being paired with Dom... he wouldn't need to do many promos with Dom and Liv shouldering most of the work.

He can’t go LWO at all. I think they want him for what he could do in Lucha Underground once they’re on Netflix. Gonna be weird to see him on WWE TV and the Dom link would be a cool idea.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Tony doing what he criticized the WWE for when he positioned himself as a different kind of owner

Probably the way they used the dirt sheets and Konnan kinda ruined how they could be booked to leave AEW. Seems like someone was trying to take advantage of TK’s goodwill and he decided to send a message.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Penta in the meantime. He's the one that's (speculated) wanted to bolt to WWE all this time. Rey wanted to stick, as he's had more individual success in AEW. Would WWE want to book the Penta solo act?

Also what's up with the Daniel Garcia negotiations? I assumed he had already re-signed with how he was booked to take down MJF... yet apparently he hasn't put pen to paper yet. Absolutely bonkers if he leaves anyway. I don't see why WWE even wants him. He's fairly average, and feels like another Lexis King NXT midcarder.

Comparing Garcia to Pillman Jr. might be one of the worst wrestling takes made in this thread. Garcia is already a supremely talented technical wrestler, a great worker, charismatic, and consistently puts on great matches. He needs to work on his mic skills, but I would say they're above average and miles ahead of the charisma vacuum that is Pillman.

He's also only 26 and has improved every year since joining AEW, despite being stuck with some pretty bad creative. I don't know that his style really meshes with WWE's paint by numbers style, but they'd be insane not to sign him if he wants to make the jump.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by LIP MAN

Probably the way they used the dirt sheets and Konnan kinda ruined how they could be booked to leave AEW. Seems like someone was trying to take advantage of TK’s goodwill and he decided to send a message.

Lol. TK has held people back due to injury time more than once. It has nothing to do with "Good will" and everything to do with how to properly run your business. Him saying he wouldn't do that was up there with saying he would let his guys unionize or something to that effect. He shouldn't have said it because it was an insane thing to say in an industry where entire years of time they are contractually obligated to work for you are lost due to the type of job it is. It would be bad business to just let them go, even if they weren't a threat to walk out the door.


Should Penta have been very openly one foot out the door? Probably not. But I don't think it changes Ray Fenix's time being extended. I also don't think it was "petty" or "being an #######" of Tony to do it. Bosses, even bosses we like, have to do things we don't like to keep things moving. This is one of those things that is just part of the business.

Originally Posted by rubecube

He's also only 26 and has improved every year since joining AEW, despite being stuck with some pretty bad creative. I don't know that his style really meshes with WWE's paint by numbers style, but they'd be insane not to sign him if he wants to make the jump.

Probably time to let the "WWE just does the same match with every wrestler" trope go. They've been excellent over the last year and a half of letting almost everyone work matches that work to their strengths and style. If Garcia went to WWE they would probably find a spot for him that works very well.

[trackercowe]

Nvm

[Blaster86]

Tony Khan out here signing a TV deal and adding more toys to his toy box. At least with Lashley, if he's used correctly, is a needle mover.

[Ozy_Flame]

Tony Khan made a profitable company that continues to grow. Started out with lots of hype, and gets granted a massive TV deal. I think at the time he said by year 2 or 3 he was looking for that bigger TV deal situation. He got it in spades.

Dynamite also going to eclipse the number of shows Nitro had in its existence some time next year, and still going strong. Already outperforming WCW on the whole by a long shot.

[The Familia]

AEW will never come close to being in the same stratosphere WCW was in during their 82 week heyday.

[Ozy_Flame]

And neither will WWE today compared to the Attitude era.

So in terms of longevity, profitability, and corporate support, AEW is doing far better than Eric Bischoff's fleeting brand.

WCW's big days were during the Nitro years. The first Nitro was in September, 1995. The last Nitro was in March, 2001. That's 5.5 years. At this five year point in their tenure, WCW was collapsing rapidly. The whole thing was bought for a couple million bucks at the end of it all.

AEW on the other hand, at their five year mark of Dynamite, is signing new TV and streaming deals worth hundreds of millions, was valued in the billions earlier this year, continues to be profitable, and showing no signs of collapse a la WCW.

82 weeks was awesome. So was the Attitude era. But that was almost 30 years ago.

[TheIronMaiden]

I think that it is awesome that AEW is sustainable, I mean if the rumors are right it would be sustainable as long as Tony Khan wanted to spend money on it. All the same, I am happy for the wrestlers and for the die hard fans.

[SuperMatt18]

It's good for the business to have a second competitive player for sure.