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

[Muta]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

To me, they should just stop bringing anyone in for a while, and actually maybe start dropping people and tightening up their card.

I agree, there needs to be some trimming. Hell, talented guys like PAC and Lance Archer aren't even on TV right now, and the roster still feels bloated.

Here's who I'd cut (guys that AEW can live without): Matt Hardy, Jake Hager, Brian Cage (what a charisma black hole), Jimmy Havoc, Colt Cabana, Sean Spears... some others too.

Hell, even I think Orange Cassidy is getting too much TV time these days... and he's my favourite wrestler. He needs to bulk up further if he is to be taken seriously as a title contender.

[Ozy_Flame]

I also think AEW needs a partner promotion in the worst way. NWA or MLW would be interesting (talent swaps to build characters), but ultimately I think an association with a Japanese or UK promotion is probably the best way to go. NJPW doesn't have to build a U.S. expansion on their own, they need to have tournaments with AEW. NJPW has a big enough profile in North America to draw that kind of interest. That said, I think NJPW is too proud to get into an agreement with the Elite, which IMO will hurt them too in the long run.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Kenny's booking has been absolutely baffling. The guy has a reputation for 45+ minute epic bouts with great storytelling and they have him mired in the tag division. Why?

I'm hoping his eventual feud with Hangman will be the start of a long singles run where he can get back to being "best bout machine" Kenny.

I think, or maybe hope, they are just holding it back, along with a few other things, for the crowds

Theyve slowed down a bit on the hangman causing issues with the elite a bit, no point to pay that off and have him or kenny turn yet without the crowd is my guess as to what they are thinking

Then once that's over him and hangman both go full time singles

[d_phaneuf]

Also dont understand the rush to fire guys, they are adding in a 2nd show this year on tnt, and not seeing everybody every week isnt a bad thing, keeps things fresh

Also dont mind ryder, hes gotten over with almost every gimmick hes been given, and done it on his own too, hes not a top level guy but hes perfectly fine as mid card

Everyone else has said it, but that MJF promo was incredible

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Also dont understand the rush to fire guys, they are adding in a 2nd show this year on tnt, and not seeing everybody every week isnt a bad thing, keeps things fresh

Roster bloat takes away from the over all show.

[CaptainCrunch]

And its not even like its great bloat, when I look at that roster there are a wrestlers that they could realease and nobody would care.


Its like WCW where they paid Lanny Poffo a quarter million to stay at home. The first question was they were paying Lanny Poffo a quarter million in the mid 90's. And second to stay at home.


BTW it was weird, but I loved the end segment on Smackdown with Bliss and the Fiend. Bliss just over achieves on everything she does and she sold that fear really well. I want to see what's going to happen next week.

[CaptainCrunch]

Tay Conti in the AEW tag team whatever it is. I've been saying that she's a wrestler that they should be targetting. She's very entertaining, she's got a great style with her back ground and can make her stuff look really brutal.


the AEW woman's division really needs focus, its just not great right now.

[CaptainCrunch]

Ugh

Spoiler!

Sounds like the WWE is announcing a shoot fighting tournament tonight. Remember the dark side of the ring and the Tough enough tournament.


WWE is panicking their main roster shows are stuck in the rating.

[Inferno]

It looks like they’re just using it to hype a new character.

[CaptainCrunch]

Maybe, but I feel like this whole episode of Raw is one long acid trip. Its just weird and not even in a amusing way.

[Inferno]

The stupidest thing was the end of Sasha/Bazler. Why ring the bell when Bayley and Asuka are fighting outside the ring? Who cares as long as they aren’t interfering in the match?

[CaptainCrunch]

That whole thing was bizarre, it was almost like watching a Nitro in 2000 when the desperation was palpable.


I wonder how happy the sponsors were with soppossedly real fighting and stripper like girls dancing in the background.



It was awkward and the whole episode was bizarre. I'm sure Cornette is losing his mind.

[CaptainCrunch]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1290773753694126081

[Senator Clay Davis]

Marty Jannetty just confessing to murder, because....????

[Ozy_Flame]

Jannetty is just such an odd, self-destructive case, this doesn't surprise me. I hope the authorities have been notified.

[CaptainCrunch]

Its not unusual remember Marty posted a rambling series of posts a few years ago about wanting to do his sister.


Its tough to separate the truth from the fiction with him,

[rubecube]

Thought Dynamite was pretty good. The 12-man tag was absolute madness and has me hyped for Hangman vs. Brodie Lee.

I was never really a huge Best Friends fan, but they've grown on me and been one of the more entertaining acts during the pandemic. I would however like to see AEW stop jobbing out Santana and Ortiz. They're too good to be mid-card tag-team fodder. Ortiz especially is one of the most underrated sellers in the company.

Cardona and Cody vs. Dark Order jobbers was meh but I'm looking forward to Cody vs. Scorpio Sky next week.

MJF continues to be the most entertaining heel in wrestling and just a top notch #######.

Thought Mox's promo was decent. Got away from the Stone Cold cosplaying and back into his "purveyor of violence" gimmick a bit more. The match against Darby was good but Darby is falling into a bit of a trap where his matches are becoming a bit too predictable. He fights like a maniac but always comes up short.

The OC/Jericho debate was entertaining. Hopefully they do the smart thing and have OC go over next week.

Highlight of the night was Sammy's insane flip off the stage onto Matt Hardy.

[Ozy_Flame]

I loved the episode this week, it had all the action and fun I could want from Wednesday night wrestling. My highlights was the debate with Jericho/OC, with Jericho really carrying that segment well - dude can be relied to do a great job on the mic especially with a character that doesn't speak much. I can't help but think this segment would have been way better in front of a large crowd though.

Additionally, the Mox/Allin match was great. I think these two have great chemistry, and you can clearly tell Mox is going out of his way to put Darby over as a vicious "no fear" threat.

[rubecube]

Really happy to see that Dynamite's strong showings lately are paying off in the ratings department. I think this is one of the better stretches they've had since their January and February stretch leading up to and including Revolution.

It's all the more impressive when the lack of a live audience is factored in.

Per#Showbuzz Daily,#Dynamite#netted 901,000 viewers for a .36 rating point in the 18-49 demographic. NXT checked in with 753,000 viewers for a .20 rating point in the same 18-49 demo.

For AEW, this is an increase of about 128,000 viewers from the prior week, and a big spike from last week’s 0.30 demo rating. For NXT, viewership increased by about 46,000 viewers from the prior week, and the demo rating was up from last week’s 0.18.

[CaptainCrunch]

Yup,


NXT didn't get the boost they thought they were going to get by having Cole kicked through the uprights, in a other wise solid by but a leap forward show.


I still contend that Raw was a really confusing show where they debuted a weird underground fight club that is confusing to me, a new Antifa faction, and other things in the hopes that something fit.


I feel like I'm re reading the book Death of WCW. Now I don't think that WWE is dying at all, they're just repeating so many things from that era that was just bad.


Smackdown, I'm intrigued with tonight because of the really strong closer to last weeks show.