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

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Classic AEW overbooking. My wife even said "too many things in the ring". She doesn't watch wrestling, but questioned me for watching the main event.

Did the lights just go out... or was that the feed?

First "I Quit" match you've ever watched? Pretty standard fare for those.

[SuperMatt18]

Due to factions AEW can at times fall into the WCW trap of "too many people".

Don't think it really hurt it overall last night...but in the end what was supposed to be the final 1:1 battle between Copeland and Christian ended up with 5 different people interfering.

Part of it is the huge roster requires stuff like this to keep people involved and in storylines but I do think AEW is at it's best when it's tight and crisp storylines focusing on 1:1 or 2:2 tag matches.

The bigger factions, and even the trio's titles have really taken away from their formula for success IMO.

[Muta]

I will say, it's been fun watching Swerve reach new levels. He's 100% a future champ and he'll be amazing one when he is.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Muta

I will say, it's been fun watching Swerve reach new levels. He's 100% a future champ and he'll be amazing one when he is.

He was over AF last night. Dude has presence. Also, Prince Nana had the whole place dancing, it was great.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by rubecube

First "I Quit" match you've ever watched? Pretty standard fare for those.

Looks like many had the same complaints as I had. Just a flat finish with handcuffs. I actually can't recall an "I Quit" match with that much interference.

Here's a ranking of WWE's top "I Quit" matches. None of which had any outside interference.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...harlotte-flair

Unless you count Jimmy trying to save Jey as outside interference?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Due to factions AEW can at times fall into the WCW trap of "too many people".

Don't think it really hurt it overall last night...but in the end what was supposed to be the final 1:1 battle between Copeland and Christian ended up with 5 different people interfering.

Part of it is the huge roster requires stuff like this to keep people involved and in storylines but I do think AEW is at it's best when it's tight and crisp storylines focusing on 1:1 or 2:2 tag matches.

The bigger factions, and even the trio's titles have really taken away from their formula for success IMO.

I used to really love factions when they were done right, and there was really only one at a time and usually they were villains.


You look at Karachi Vice or Foley's Army in Stampede where they ran roughshod over everyone and you were screaming for justice, and it eventually happened.


Or the 4 horsemen or the Freebirds. Or the Dangerous Alliance (who were awesome).


Even the NWO, though it eventually ended up being completely awful and split like a cancer cell and then just coming back.


But I agree, AEW has gone way over on the factions, and I was looking at their roster page the other night and its just really WCW like.



I really think that Tony even just for the finance side has to chop his roster down.



On the men's side I lost count at 120, on the woman's side its like 40.



I know some of them on per appearance, but that's a lot of dead money.

[CaptainCrunch]

BTW anyone still watching Dark Side of the Ring.

I was surprised at the Buff Bagwell one. What a messed up life and career he had.

When he was a kid he shot his dad who was threatening him mom. The same Dad that would give coke to him and his friends so they would um stay out of trouble.

On the wrestling side he was actually really talented, but the booking decisions in his career and bringing in his mom as a character just killed his career.

The broken neck lead him down the road to serious addiction issues. Then he gets a shot at WWE and completely blows it and ends his caeer. He ends up on a reality show that was actually a soft porn shoot. Falls into major addiction, nearly dies in another car accident.


On a side note talk about terrible booking decisions. The guy breaks his neck and nearly dies, he perseveres and comes back and the crowd goes nuts, then while Scott Steiner is doing his heart felt apology after Buff tells the audience he owes them everything, turns heel attacks Steiner and the WCW fan base craps all over him and he gets the wrong type of heat.


But it sounds like DDP saved another life, and Buff actually comes across as someone that you want to succeed.

[Ozy_Flame]

Well, maybe not Shane Helms.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I know some of them on per appearance, but that's a lot of dead money.

Tony has a tonne of money to blow and doesn't really seem all that concerned about wasting it on AEW. I think unless AEW starts doing under 1000 attendance regularly to the point that wrestlers are embarrassed to be there, he's going to stick with it.

[rubecube]

This is kinda interesting. I'll be honest, it's the most Rampage I've watched since CM Punk debuted.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/20...christian-mone

The ratings and viewership data are in for this week’s (Mar. 20) episodes of AEW Dynamite and Rampage. The two shows aired back-to-back on TBS last night, essentially giving AEW a 3-hour block of live television on Wednesday night.

Per Wrestlenomics, Dynamite netted 800,000 viewers and a 0.27 rating with the 18-49 year old demographic. These numbers are nearly identical to last week’s 801K and 0.27, so it would appear the Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage “I Quit” match, Kazuchika Okada gunning for the AEW Continental championship, and week two of Mercedes Mone in AEW weren’t enough to juice the numbers.

Then there’s Rampage, which brought in an average of 541,000 viewers and a 0.18 rating in the key demo. For comparison’s sake, that’s the same exact demo rating as this week’s NXT and well above Rampage’s average Friday night range of 371,600 and 0.12 in those respective metrics over the last 10 weeks.

[SuperMatt18]

I do personally think adding Rampage and Collison actually hurt Dynamite a bit.

AEW was easy for casual fans to follow when it was a tight 2 hours of TV each week.

Then they added 3 more hours of TV and even though not a lot always happens on those shows, it does do enough for people to sometimes lose track of storylines.

Although that might be more of a personal issue due to Collison not having the best deal with TSN.

[trackercowe]

I think they should do a brand split. I wasn't a huge fan of it at first, but it kind of works out. It's easier to make logical storylines when you can maintain a unique roster on each show. The problem is that Collision/Rampage are obviously B/C shows, whereas Smackdown has almost overtaken Raw as the main show. They need to find a way to differentiate the two shows.

Back in the day Raw was the "entertainment" show, and Smackdown was for wrestling, when Heyman was booking. I think it remained that way throughout the Ruthless Aggression era.

Also I have been watching Legends and Dark Side of the Ring. That Buff Bagwell piece was interesting. I do wonder how much if it was true, but everything was backed up by another person. So the gun story, and Judy juicing up her son in the buttocks must have been true. What a crazy life most wrestlers seems to have led.

It was nice seeing something different with John Tenta, someone who was more straight and narrow. It's a shame with his size and frame he was destined to die young. It seems to be almost impossible to avoid temptation while you're on the road most of the year, even if it's just something as simple as overeating. You would hope the road agents would help manage these situations, but they often take part in the activity. I would hope today it's different, and addictions are handled in a more professional matter.

I liked the Scott Hall biography as well. It was sad how the pandemic changed his life for the worse. It was shocking that someone with that big of a profile suffered alone in a small house seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They almost need to set up some kind of retirement community former professional wrestlers can reside at, just like DDP was offering to Hall and Jake. They were doing much better within a group as opposed to being in the world on their own.

[trackercowe]

Also what is going on with the Jack Perry situation. From the Wrestling Observer:

"The way we've heard it, was that he was sent home after Wembley and never heard back from Tony Khan. He apologized, kept texting him about he never meant to cause any trouble and was sorry. He did hear from the company through lawyers. Then they talked and he apologized to Khan. But he still hasn’t been brought back. What they are doing now in Japan is storyline to lead to an eventual return"

I get that Khan is pissed at Perry, and rightfully so... but surprised he won't even return Perry's apology texts.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I think they should do a brand split. I wasn't a huge fan of it at first, but it kind of works out. It's easier to make logical storylines when you can maintain a unique roster on each show. The problem is that Collision/Rampage are obviously B/C shows, whereas Smackdown has almost overtaken Raw as the main show. They need to find a way to differentiate the two shows.

Back in the day Raw was the "entertainment" show, and Smackdown was for wrestling, when Heyman was booking. I think it remained that way throughout the Ruthless Aggression era.

Also I have been watching Legends and Dark Side of the Ring. That Buff Bagwell piece was interesting. I do wonder how much if it was true, but everything was backed up by another person. So the gun story, and Judy juicing up her son in the buttocks must have been true. What a crazy life most wrestlers seems to have led.

It was nice seeing something different with John Tenta, someone who was more straight and narrow. It's a shame with his size and frame he was destined to die young. It seems to be almost impossible to avoid temptation while you're on the road most of the year, even if it's just something as simple as overeating. You would hope the road agents would help manage these situations, but they often take part in the activity. I would hope today it's different, and addictions are handled in a more professional matter.

I liked the Scott Hall biography as well. It was sad how the pandemic changed his life for the worse. It was shocking that someone with that big of a profile suffered alone in a small house seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They almost need to set up some kind of retirement community former professional wrestlers can reside at, just like DDP was offering to Hall and Jake. They were doing much better within a group as opposed to being in the world on their own.

Yeah, I'd like to correct one thing, because it was so disfunctional.


But Judy was literally holding Buffs junk and shaving the balls.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Yeah, I'd like to correct one thing, because it was so disfunctional.


But Judy was literally holding Buffs junk and shaving the balls.

Ah yes, you're right. I remembered the preview in which I thought she was giving him injections... although I'm sure there was some of those as well.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I get that Khan is pissed at Perry, and rightfully so... but surprised he won't even return Perry's apology texts.

You're getting worked. Gotta be careful to not work yourself into a shoot now, brother. much love

Hh

[Buff]

Originally Posted by king_amonte

AEW looks like it’s sold about 1,000 for dynamite in Calgary so far. Yikes!! Also have heard rumours that Collision the Saturday after will be in Lethbridge.

That's Street Machine Weekend in Lethbridge. Probably the busiest weekend of the year. I don't know how many people would buy tickets to Collision.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by king_amonte

AEW looks like it’s sold about 1,000 for dynamite in Calgary so far. Yikes!! Also have heard rumours that Collision the Saturday after will be in Lethbridge.

1. the tickets seem pretty expensive. Wouldn't they be better off selling a bunch of $30 nose bleeds and filling the place than gouging $80 for decent seats.

2. stampede week is the worst time to go to the dome. super inconvenient

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

1. the tickets seem pretty expensive. Wouldn't they be better off selling a bunch of $30 nose bleeds and filling the place than gouging $80 for decent seats.

This has been one of the biggest criticisms of AEW. Tickets are too expensive, but if you are a huge fan and buy a ticket your reward is usually tickets being half price closer to the event.

There's no reason to buy AEW ticket before a week or two out.

[Ozy_Flame]

Yup. I think they'll correct it, but no need for alarm, especially when the event is in July.

My guess is lots of day-of and walk-up purchases for the event too, due to the Stampede being right there.