This is where I think AEW excels with veteran talent. They don't overexpose them every week in the ring, they play to their strengths on the mic, and they let their star power do the talking.
CM Punk can still go, but they make all of his matches feel big - because they give him carte blanche on the mic. And he doesn't have to wrestle a ton to get over.
On a related note, I have a hunch we're going to see Johnny Gargano in AEW post-Dec. 10, and possibly on Dynamite on the 15th or New Year's Smash on Jan 1. He signed a one-week extension to finish out NXT for their PPV. AEW's roster is stacked, but you don't miss out on a talent like that. The only thing I can see delaying his AEW arrival is the arrival of his first kid due next year.
This is where I think AEW excels with veteran talent. They don't overexpose them every week in the ring, they play to their strengths on the mic, and they let their star power do the talking.
CM Punk can still go, but they make all of his matches feel big - because they give him carte blanche on the mic. And he doesn't have to wrestle a ton to get over.
On a related note, I have a hunch we're going to see Johnny Gargano in AEW post-Dec. 10, and possibly on Dynamite on the 15th or New Year's Smash on Jan 1. He signed a one-week extension to finish out NXT for their PPV. AEW's roster is stacked, but you don't miss out on a talent like that. The only thing I can see delaying his AEW arrival is the arrival of his first kid due next year.
Yeah, I fully expect Gargano to be gone, he hasn't shown all that much interest in going to the main roster for WWE and has become a mainstay of NXT which is going against the direction that NXT is looking at.
Whether he goes to AEW or not is a question.
Too bad I like Johnny, though we know that Candice is the star of that family
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Viewership for AEW and WWE is really declining now.
AEW Dynamite dropped again down to 864,000 (lowest since May). Rampage is just a disaster at 431,000
WWE Raw was 1.69 which was down from the week before. Smackdown for last week was a bit of improvement over the week before at 2.149 and was the only show up in the key 18-49 demographic the other above shows lost in the key demographic.
nxt hit 637,000 which was a small increase as well as a small increase in the key demographic.
wrestling is seriously stagnating right now, Viewers aren't flocking to it anymore, and its not the primary form of entertainment that it used to be.
I'm not watching a whole lot of it anymore, neither company is all that great right now.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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I don't mind AEW right now but really I'm not that big on Hangman Page.
Cody doesn't deserve the TV time or position he gets, even though he wants nothing more than that to be true.
Him beating Black and now Andrade has hurt both of those guys IMO.
Danielson is still the best wrestler / character in the World when given the opportunity though. As a face or a heel.
I was watching and saw that stupid flaming table spot between Cody and Andrade, and thought it was such a pointless spot. There's still too much gadget booking, or as Jim Cornette calls it, Indy Sh%t.
And can we get more Tay Conti please, put a belt on that girl
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Those WWE shows that were scheduled for western Canada in January have been postponed to September. I don't think I would've gone even if they had been in Calgary this time (and I've been to the last 3 house shows they had here). I have zero interest in WWE these days.
The only thing that I find strange and makes me not yet convinced is them letting him do a "tell all" on Tuesday. That just doesn't sound right for someone leaving for another promotion.
Maybe he's taking some time off until his child is born but is still open to coming back. Or maybe they're using it for a big pop and he announces he's staying when everyone thinks he's leaving.
DIY would be a lot of fun in the AEW tag division if Ciampa eventually were to leave too.
Honestly the first iteration of the DIY story where they had the amazing battle in the Cruiserweight tournament, to becoming a great tag team, to the Ciampa betrayal is probably still my favorite wrestling storyline in recent history.
I have my doubts that Ciampa is going to leave NXT. I think he's going to start transitioning to a backstage style of role. He also seems to be a NXT for life guy.
Plus the AEW roster is just looking incredibly crowded and we're starting to see a bit of grousing about it ie Brian Cage.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I would actually like to see DIY as a WWE tag-team, as they would be a huge boost to the depth of that roster. That said, Vince wouldn't let them wrestle the way they used to, so I think they would just ruin them like many other NXT talent. They already had a cup of tea on the main roster and it was brief. Without Triple H there going to bat, who knows how they would be packaged or used.
looking at the video from after last nights NXT show that Gargano and KOR are gone.
The WWE is doing the NXTNIL now, they've announced a new group of recruits that are college athletes etc and are going to train them from the ground up, so it looks like NXT is pushing away from the Indy Wrestlers that are satisfied with being in NXT.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Not surprised. On that trajectory, the fact that Roddy Strong's crusierweight title is on the line to anyone (with an upcoming re-brand of the title), and his challenger is Bron Breakker who is on fire right now, I wouldn't be surprised to see Roddy's position start to wane as well with a title loss and an eventual move to a backstage coach over the next few months.
Who else is left really that is from the old guard? Ciampa, Dunne (even though he's young AF), Imperium, GYV . . . . All of those guys can still go, so it will be interesting to see how they're handled.
The Next in Line stuff - that is a turning point moment for NXT, and confirms they are changing direction.
Unfortunately for the WWE, if they're hoping to build/mold new talent that will follow WWE standard, they're going to realize in due time that these trained wrestlers are going to have the same grievances as indie talent - booking, usage, gimmicks, schedule, pay, and backstage politics.
