Television Tho Prop Grops Throps

[Shane88]

You can be sure WWE will be even more aggressive in their poaching of wrestlers now even though their roster is bloated to bursting point.

 

[Ekeke]

I think Jericho is more than a star attraction. I think he be involved in creativity and behind the scenes more. Jericho is a smart man, Cody and the Bucks are smart guys too. So it won't be like TNA with Hogan.

Their main problem is that apparently ROH and NJPW are not willing to work with them. That may affect their talent recruiting.

NJPW are willing to work with them, but have loyalty to their ongoing partnership with ROH. If ROH dont want to work with them they arent going to and thats how it is. NJPW would love to have all of them back they just cant make that happen right now without upsetting ROH

 

[Ekeke]

Jericho or not, theyre not competing with the WWE any time soon.

Nobody will compete with WWE financially or in terms of being the mainstream "Sports Entertainment" promotion

But they can and already are competing with them to sign talent. Bandido was featured in "All in" and AEW wanted him. WWE wanted him. ROH outbid both and he signed with them.

Several of those who are already signed with AEW were approached by WWE. So there is already competition there on that front. And we'll just have to see what kind of tv deal AEW gets.

But again its just a wait and see thing because it all sounds amazing but it might not be in practice. Regardless its changing the industry because finally people will have proper financial options and wont need to do whatever WWE wants them to do in order to support their families.

 

[Ekeke]

You can be sure WWE will be even more aggressive in their poaching of wrestlers now even though their roster is bloated to bursting point.

Whats more aggressive than signing the entire ROH roster of the past 10 years?

 

[R.E.D.]

Jericho or not, theyre not competing with the WWE any time soon.

Of course they can't compete with WWE yet, but Vince does not want them to reach any kind of success. That's why he's all in for Omega now. He also didn't want Jericho to work with them.

NJPW are willing to work with them, but have loyalty to their ongoing partnership with ROH. If ROH dont want to work with them they arent going to and thats how it is. NJPW would love to have all of them back they just cant make that happen right now without upsetting ROH

Yeah that makes sense.

 

[Name Changed]

Nia Jax might the worst thing in WWE this decade.

Hopefully losing to Banks will be the end of her push. She's so boring.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Of course they can't compete with WWE yet, but Vince does not want them to reach any kind of success. That's why he's all in for Omega now. He also didn't want Jericho to work with them.

Source?

 

[Alex99]

Source?

Vince's history of preventing competition?

 

[SalfordRed18]

Vince's history of preventing competition?

Sure he's taken talent, but that's just business rather than not wanting competition to have any level of success.

WWE did nothing to TNA as such, has done nothing to ROH other than a few NXT shows going head to head as such. Think that's more of an assumption rather than actively seeking no competition, it's just business.

Think it's silly to assume Vince would want omega, just because of AEW. Omega is one of the biggest draws in the world currently, you would want that on your show regardless, wouldn't you? AEW or not.

He wouldn't want Jericho to go to any other major US promotion, but that's because he's a WWE guy and will always been seen as a WWE guy. 'I imagine he'd have the same feeling if he were going to impact. I imagine he had the same feelings in the past with Hogan, flair, Kurt angle etc.

Other than losing out on talent, I really don't think WWE is concerned with what AEW is doing.

ROH on the other hand, and impact, they're the ones who will be interested.

 

[Castia]

I can’t wait for AEW, it’s an exciting time for wrestling.

 

[Castia]

AEW will be done in 18-24 months.

48 year old part time rock star Jericho was their star attraction at that rally, for feck sake. Omega could've joined WWE and shown just how good he is on the biggest stage against Styles, Bryan, Rollins, Finn, Roman, Brock, Joe, Cena etc but will choose to stay the giant shark in a garden pond by signing with them. But less dates and probably equal pay, I can understand it.

They rinsed the Khans with those 5 year contracts so props on playing a billionaire and getting paid.

The Roster is already stacked with talent and if all the stuff is true about similar pay to WWE with a much reduced schedule and health insurance you’ll soon see more WWE wrestlers make the switch.

Don’t get me wrong it will take years to even get close to WWE but it’s nice to see some real competition.

 

[Mystry]

Depending on if they have a relationship with NJPW, AEW will just spell the end of ROH. Thats the company that will be hit the worst in terms if losing talent and audience, especially with it not being great for a while.

Nothing will change much with WWE other than a few guys who are missused will fancy their chances outside the company but theres a massive line of uber talented guys to take their place.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Depending on if they have a relationship with NJPW, AEW will just spell the end of ROH. Thats the company that will be hit the worst in terms if losing talent and audience, especially with it not being great for a while.

Nothing will change much with WWE other than a few guys who are missused will fancy their chances outside the company but theres a massive line of uber talented guys to take their place.

I strongly doubt that.

 

[R.E.D.]

Think it's silly to assume Vince would want omega, just because of AEW. Omega is one of the biggest draws in the world currently, you would want that on your show regardless, wouldn't you? AEW or not

Of course you want Kenny Omega on your company AEW or not but the offer they have made to him is something that you don't see from Vince. It's obvious he doesn't want Omega to sign with AEW. That's why he's made such an offer. If Omega's other option was NJPW he wouldn't made that offer, just like he never made it before.

He also does not care about Cody or the Bucks but he did not want Jericho there because he believes Jericho is a superstar unlike them. Dave Meltzer talked about it a while back.

Vince tried to force Madison Square Garden to back out of their deal with NJPW and ROH for their super show.

Also In NXT UK they banned their wrestlers to compete in other indy promotions.

So of course nobody will touch WWE anytime soon, but they see and pay attention to what's happening in their territory and if they feel it's needed they will do anything they can.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Of course you want Kenny Omega on your company AEW or not but the offer they have made to him is something that you don't see from Vince. It's obvious he doesn't want Omega to sign with AEW. That's why he's made such an offer. If Omega's other option was NJPW he wouldn't made that offer, just like he never made it before.

He also does not care about Cody or the Bucks but he did not want Jericho there because he believes Jericho is a superstar unlike them. Dave Meltzer talked about it a while back.

Vince tried to force Madison Square Garden to back out of their deal with NJPW and ROH for their super show.

Also In NXT UK they banned their wrestlers to compete in other indy promotions.

So of course nobody will touch WWE anytime soon, but they see and pay attention to what's happening in their territory and if they feel it's needed they will do anything they can.

If there was a credible offer from another north American company, he would be making that same offer to omega. It's about WWE having the best, not stopping other companies from having the best. It's a different mindset.

His reasons for not wanting Jericho there is beyond simply not wanting AEW to succeed though, he'd have these same reasons with other companies too, that's the point.

Unless it's companies they're affiliated with, why would they want wrestlers wrestling in other promotions? If anything, theyre more relaxed than ever about talent appearing in other companies.

Fair point about MSG I guess.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

If I don’t see an Omega vs Rollins match at a Mania in the near future I’ll be deeply hurt. There are actually loads of great matches there. Omega vs any of these. AJ, Balor, Owens, Bryan heck just put them all in a ring and see what happens, probably wrestling magic.

 

[Mystry]

I strongly doubt that.

Well not completely obviously, but a massive fall from being the number 2/3 promotion in US.

 

[paulscholes18]

I think Jericho is more than a star attraction. I think he be involved in creativity and behind the scenes more. Jericho is a smart man, Cody and the Bucks are smart guys too. So it won't be like TNA with Hogan.

Their main problem is that apparently ROH and NJPW are not willing to work with them. That may affect their talent recruiting.

They will bend over backwards if (more likely when) Omega goes to AEW

 

[Gambit]

Sorry I'm much more excited by the Indy scene than the WWE right now. If Aew can recruit enough of these Indy lads and replicate njpw's success then Vince and the gang are going to have to pull their fingers out to compete. I'm also really chuffed with the amount of great British talent out there now as well.

 

[Bojan11]

Big mistake giving Rhodes and Co executive spots. And they given his wife a senior role too. The Khans got played.

Wrestlers in key booking roles never works well. Also has Rhodes actually improved? His spell in WWE he was just average and if it wasn’t for his second name nobody would pay attention to him.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Sorry I'm much more excited by the Indy scene than the WWE right now. If Aew can recruit enough of these Indy lads and replicate njpw's success then Vince and the gang are going to have to pull their fingers out to compete. I'm also really chuffed with the amount of great British talent out there now as well.

This is what I mean though, there's a buzz around this because the elite are attached, running things, that's it. Other than Jericho, it's the same indy guys who have been appearing in the Indies for however long. How are they going replicate NJPWs success? The companies 50 years old and probably the 2nd biggest in the world. How's that going to be simply replicated?

What I will give the elite, they've announced this at a good time. The product WWE is giving us is shite bar NXT, general consensus is that Raw especially is poor and nothings changed since the McMahon announcement.

With that in mind, a new, fresh product is exactly what the fans need, and is exactly what WWE needs to an extent. But they have a long way off before they're anything close to a threat towards WWE.

 

[SparkedIntoLife]

I'm excited by AEW in many respects. However, my big concern is that it will be self indulgent and will cater predominantly to hardcore fans rather than following time tested ways of attracting casuals. Here's my hopes -

• Hire a more varied roster than the abundance of 5 foot 9, 180 pound high flyers that seem to dominate the independents. We need some wrestlers that truly look like they can beat the average person up.
• Keep the meta humour, Young Buck stuff to an absolute minimum
• Don't just book long match after long match after long match. Just because WWE doesn't always do in ring segments, backstage skits etc too well, doesn't mean they can't be done well and aren't necessary to attract casual fans.
• Make sure basically everyone has a character and solid motivations beyond 'I just love wrestling'
• Keep the self referential, back slapping, 'we're revolutionising this business' stuff to a minimum. Show that rather than constantly self affirming it.
• Keep kayfabe and a strong sense of competitive importance. I want to believe at least the majority of the wrestlers hate each other rather than best buddies doing a ballet together.
  
• Don't hire lots of WWE castoffs unless they are uber talented. If their brand has been damaged greatly, reinvent them rather than presenting them in the same way but with just more wins.
• Sign one or two more mainstream stars such as Batista (temporarily) and move heaven and earth for CM Punk
• Don't have too many non-exclusive wrestlers. Just wait for them to become available. Talent sharing is good to a degree but a booking nightmare.
• Have a mixture of non-US talent but not a raft of them. It's harder to relate to talent that can't speak English and limits the stories you can tell.
• Sign Killer Kross the second he becomes available from Impact. Dude is the future IMHO.
• Edgy, intelligent and aggressive adult orientated content would be great. Just not much of the tasteless and cringeworthy stuff like tampons and inflatable penises.
• On screen authority figures used sparingly. Neutral figures or consultant types would be a better way of using non wrestling talent (i.e. Steve Austin as an on screen 'Creative Consultant' whose job would be to mentor young talent, DDP as a 'Health and Wellness Coach', that sort of thing).

 

[Shane88]

Big mistake giving Rhodes and Co executive spots. And they given his wife a senior role too. The Khans got played.

Wrestlers in key booking roles never works well. Also has Rhodes actually improved? His spell in WWE he was just average and if it wasn’t for his second name nobody would pay attention to him.

Rhodes is still bang average and dull in the ring, he is just a brilliant self promoter now. His match at Wrestle Kingdom was widely shat on.

 

[Ekeke]

Big mistake giving Rhodes and Co executive spots. And they given his wife a senior role too. The Khans got played.

Wrestlers in key booking roles never works well. Also has Rhodes actually improved? His spell in WWE he was just average and if it wasn’t for his second name nobody would pay attention to him.

Completely incorrect. Brandi is completely qualified for her role and has the unique perspective of being an active wrestler and around the business for years. She has also wrestled in Japan where the best women in the world are (Stardom) so her other role of taking care of the womens division is also something where she has good experience.

Cody, along with the Young Bucks, put butts in 10k seats. Something nobody other than WWE have done for a long, long time. The funny part about your comment is that he doesnt even use his 2nd name.

 

[Gambit]

This is what I mean though, there's a buzz around this because the elite are attached, running things, that's it. Other than Jericho, it's the same indy guys who have been appearing in the Indies for however long. How are they going replicate NJPWs success? The companies 50 years old and probably the 2nd biggest in the world. How's that going to be simply replicated?

What I will give the elite, they've announced this at a good time. The product WWE is giving us is shite bar NXT, general consensus is that Raw especially is poor and nothings changed since the McMahon announcement.

With that in mind, a new, fresh product is exactly what the fans need, and is exactly what WWE needs to an extent. But they have a long way off before they're anything close to a threat towards WWE.

Disagree. A new company to rival WWE has been needed for a while. One that signs up the incredibly exciting talent out there and can develop proper story lines with them on a regular occurrening TV and shows. They should be able to financially compete on a level with the talent and the fact that they are also including health insurance into their package is something that will turn many a head. NJPW may be 50 years old but they fecked it up royally in the late 90's and the 00's that they had to pretty much start over. We're yet to see what the AEW will do. Who knows it might be a disaster but if it can succeed then great.

 

[Sylar]

Brandis matches have been horrible for the most part imo so calling her a wrestler is a stretch, imo.
Cody has been ok, but yeah his self promotion has been fantastic since leaving WWE (starting with the list he put on Twitter)

I would be interested to see who they get as commentators.

From their first (well can probably call it second) show, they need something really hot and captivating that will make you think, holy shit, need to watch the next one.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Cody, along with the Young Bucks, put butts in 10k seats. Something nobody other than WWE have done for a long, long time. The funny part about your comment is that he doesnt even use his 2nd name

Everyone still knows what his last name is even though the WWE own him and the WWE is part of the reason they were able to put so many butts in seats as a lot of what they did was just a big F you to the WWE and it got them clicks and laughs and popularity. They basically pulled off a master stroke publicity and even mentioned the fact that WWE own his last name so in a round about way he kind of does use his name.

The question will be can they put on consistently good shows with good stories and angles and create new stars whilst being producers and performers whilst also trying to grow the show.

 

[Ekeke]

Everyone still knows what his last name is even though the WWE own him and the WWE is part of the reason they were able to put so many butts in seats as a lot of what they did was just a big F you to the WWE and it got them clicks and laughs and popularity. They basically pulled off a master stroke publicity and even mentioned the fact that WWE own his last name so in a round about way he kind of does use his name.

The question will be can they put on consistently good shows with good stories and angles and create new stars whilst being producers and performers whilst also trying to grow the show.

No, its disenfranchised fans. People WWE drove away looking for an alternative because they arent satisfying what they want from wrestling. Its not a joke, its people who dont like what WWE has become because usually if you want to watch good matches your best bet is watching an indie over WWE.

There are lots of people who enjoy the alternatives, the indies, NJPW etc. But The Elite are the ones who attract the most interest with the highest numbers. Plenty of people started watching New Japan because of them. Now those fans are likely to at least try AEW. They might still stick around for NJPW too.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

No, its disenfranchised fans. People WWE drove away looking for an alternative because they arent satisfying what they want from wrestling. Its not a joke, its people who dont like what WWE has become because usually if you want to watch good matches your best bet is watching an indie over WWE.

There are lots of people who enjoy the alternatives, the indies, NJPW etc. But The Elite are the ones who attract the most interest with the highest numbers. Plenty of people started watching New Japan because of them. Now those fans are likely to at least try AEW. They might still stick around for NJPW too.

So essentially you just agreed that it’s due to the Elites great marketing of their own brand and using WWE as part of that by tapping in to those disenfranchised fans.

He’s used who he is, his name and the fact that another company owns his own last name and he has cashed in on that and found himself in a great moment in time to take advantage of that.

Should add I’m not disagreeing that lots of people enjoy the i does but you also defeat your own point by saying The Elite have drawn attention to such shows and events by in part using WWE as the villain hence getting clicks, likes and so on.

 

[Rolandofgilead]

Big mistake giving Rhodes and Co executive spots. And they given his wife a senior role too. The Khans got played.

Wrestlers in key booking roles never works well. Also has Rhodes actually improved? His spell in WWE he was just average and if it wasn’t for his second name nobody would pay attention to him.

Ric flair and dusty rhodes strongly disagree that wrestlers in booking roles always fail. As does HHH.

Personally I'm pretty excited about AEW. i feel the people involved are smart enough to understand that what we crave is a genuine alternative to WWE, which let's be honest has been stale for years. With Jericho saying he wouldn't have joined if there wasn't a serious TV deal in place or almost in place and Khan saying that he believes win loss records should count for something, they are very much hitting the right cord with me so far.

 

[Ekeke]

So essentially you just agreed that it’s due to the Elites great marketing of their own brand and using WWE as part of that by tapping in to those disenfranchised fans.

He’s used who he is, his name and the fact that another company owns his own last name and he has cashed in on that and found himself in a great moment in time to take advantage of that.

Should add I’m not disagreeing that lots of people enjoy the i does but you also defeat your own point by saying The Elite have drawn attention to such shows and events by in part using WWE as the villain hence getting clicks, likes and so on.

They havent used WWE as the villain. The WWE were already the villain to these people. There are more former wrestling fans who no longer watch WWE than people who watch WWE. And thats been something they've accomplished with years of their own work. The ratings are so far down from what they used to be.

The Elite just did something different, something that a lot of those people thought were cool. They provided an alternative. They didnt make WWE the bad guy, WWE made themselves the bad guy to those people.

But yes I'm sure it helped that they were seen as the alternative and doing something different and thats part of the reason so many people flew out to support the show and will continue to do so. If WWE was satisfying what those people want then there would be a lot less of a fanbase.

 

[SalfordRed18]

They havent used WWE as the villain. The WWE were already the villain to these people. There are more former wrestling fans who no longer watch WWE than people who watch WWE. And thats been something they've accomplished with years of their own work. The ratings are so far down from what they used to be.

The Elite just did something different, something that a lot of those people thought were cool. They provided an alternative. They didnt make WWE the bad guy, WWE made themselves the bad guy to those people.

But yes I'm sure it helped that they were seen as the alternative and doing something different and thats part of the reason so many people flew out to support the show and will continue to do so. If WWE was satisfying what those people want then there would be a lot less of a fanbase.

Source?

I ask, are impact and ROH not already alternatives to WWE? Other than paying talent more, what will they be doing differently from the rest?

 

[Ekeke]

Source?

I ask, are impact and ROH not already alternatives to WWE? Other than paying talent more, what will they be doing differently from the rest?

Meltzer/WOR, google

In the attitude era the ratings were 6.0+ and 5 million viewers

In the past few years its been down to 2.2

The most recent RAW's viewership average was 2,877,000. In December RAW had its lowest rating in the history of the show with 2,285,000

WWE's main viewership comes from 50+ men - Meltzer


ROH lost most of its talent to NXT. They are owned by wealthy owners but they havent spent their money on signing wrestlers. This has just now started with ROH outbidding WWE and AEW for Bandido, a mexican wrestler who worked the "All in" show for Cody/Bucks. But till that point they werent splashing cash, they were just seeing their talent walk away and sign for other companies. Financially 2018 was their best year but their roster is gutted from what it once was and so the match quality is far down from what it was. So now its not really an alternative. There's no Daniel Bryan Vs. Nigel McGuiness from 2008 or anything. With the Bucks and Hangman Page leaving they only have Jeff Cobb and Bandido to make a big deal out of.

New Japan Pro Wrestling was the main alternative. The match quality and sometimes the storylines too, were better than WWE for the past several years. I've only watched it myself for just over 2 years, since Wrestle Kingdom 11 and Omega - Okada.

A big part of ROH's popularity in the past few years was The Young Bucks, Cody, Marty Scurrl and to some extent Hangman Page - Bullet Club's ROH members. Scurrl is the only one still working ROH because his contract didnt expire when the rest did and they started AEW. Most likely when Scurrl's deal with ROH is over he joins AEW too.

But it wasnt just the case for ROH. ROH and New Japan have a talent exchange partnership (Along with Rev Pro in England) and so ROH talent worked New Japan and New Japan talent would work ROH shows at times as well.

Internationally the most popular members of NJPW were again Bullet Club and particularly Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks - The elite. Kenny also has a tag team with Kota Ibushi a freelancer who doesnt have a contract with NJPW or anyone so he'll be available too. Omega's contract expires at the end of Jan and having just lost the title to Tanahashi at this year's wrestle kingdom and his comments to tokyo sports that he doesnt fit at NJPW anymore, its expected that he'll be leaving. WWE have made what is rumored to be a huge bid for him but going with his friends seems more in line with what he has said his ideals are. Hangman Page also turned down a big offer from WWE according to Meltzer, though I'm sure Kenny's is as big as it gets.

So basically the past few years ROH and NJPW have had a partnership together to use some of the same talent. Internationally the most popular and money making wrestlers were "Bullet Club" and specifically The Elite subgroup.

That is the group that have now left ROH and NJPW and started AEW with the last remnants that are under contract with ROH and NJPW widely expected to join them. If Kenny Omega didnt in fact join them it would be a huge deal, because he'd be the marquee signing. So its still wait and see on that one but it would be more of a surprise if he didnt at this point.

One more note, Chris Jericho did a radio interview a few days ago and said that he knows of 3 tv deals which, if any of them are sorted and accepted people would say wow AEW are the real deal. And thats why he signed on already. So while its not been finalized yet and anything could happen, it sounds like AEW will have a very good TV deal in the US and that will be one of the major things that separate what they do from the other companies.

ROH doesnt have a good deal, a lot of people who used to watch it cant get the channel anymore. New Japan just has its big events on AXS TV live, with most of their events being taped and having new English commentary dubbed over later on. So tv viewers in the US dont tend to have that direct line to watching NJPW even if they are aware of it.

All In's 10k crowd at a live event was obviously enough to get interest from major tv channels. We'll have to see which they end up on

 

[Andersons Dietician]

They havent used WWE as the villain. The WWE were already the villain to these people. There are more former wrestling fans who no longer watch WWE than people who watch WWE. And thats been something they've accomplished with years of their own work. The ratings are so far down from what they used to be.

The Elite just did something different, something that a lot of those people thought were cool. They provided an alternative. They didnt make WWE the bad guy, WWE made themselves the bad guy to those people.

But yes I'm sure it helped that they were seen as the alternative and doing something different and thats part of the reason so many people flew out to support the show and will continue to do so. If WWE was satisfying what those people want then there would be a lot less of a fanbase.

They used WWE in so many of their promos, they did use the WWE they even used very similar stuff to DX whilst going on about crowd papering, gag orders, not being allowed his name, not being allowed to use too sweat. They used WWE then as the bad guy compared to them. There is nothing wrong with that they just tapped in to the market and people’s boredom of WWE. So saying he hasn’t used his name or associations is completely wrong. Part of the hype behind the Elite is simply due to going after the WWE.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Meltzer/WOR, google

In the attitude era the ratings were 6.0+ and 5 million viewers

In the past few years its been down to 2.2

The most recent RAW's viewership average was 2,877,000. In December RAW had its lowest rating in the history of the show with 2,285,000

WWE's main viewership comes from 50+ men - Meltzer


ROH lost most of its talent to NXT. They are owned by wealthy owners but they havent spent their money on signing wrestlers. This has just now started with ROH outbidding WWE and AEW for Bandido, a mexican wrestler who worked the "All in" show for Cody/Bucks. But till that point they werent splashing cash, they were just seeing their talent walk away and sign for other companies. Financially 2018 was their best year but their roster is gutted from what it once was and so the match quality is far down from what it was. So now its not really an alternative. There's no Daniel Bryan Vs. Nigel McGuiness from 2008 or anything. With the Bucks and Hangman Page leaving they only have Jeff Cobb and Bandido to make a big deal out of.

New Japan Pro Wrestling was the main alternative. The match quality and sometimes the storylines too, were better than WWE for the past several years. I've only watched it myself for just over 2 years, since Wrestle Kingdom 11 and Omega - Okada.

A big part of ROH's popularity in the past few years was The Young Bucks, Cody, Marty Scurrl and to some extent Hangman Page - Bullet Club's ROH members. Scurrl is the only one still working ROH because his contract didnt expire when the rest did and they started AEW. Most likely when Scurrl's deal with ROH is over he joins AEW too.

But it wasnt just the case for ROH. ROH and New Japan have a talent exchange partnership (Along with Rev Pro in England) and so ROH talent worked New Japan and New Japan talent would work ROH shows at times as well.

Internationally the most popular members of NJPW were again Bullet Club and particularly Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks - The elite. Kenny also has a tag team with Kota Ibushi a freelancer who doesnt have a contract with NJPW or anyone so he'll be available too. Omega's contract expires at the end of Jan and having just lost the title to Tanahashi at this year's wrestle kingdom and his comments to tokyo sports that he doesnt fit at NJPW anymore, its expected that he'll be leaving. WWE have made what is rumored to be a huge bid for him but going with his friends seems more in line with what he has said his ideals are. Hangman Page also turned down a big offer from WWE according to Meltzer, though I'm sure Kenny's is as big as it gets.

So basically the past few years ROH and NJPW have had a partnership together to use some of the same talent. Internationally the most popular and money making wrestlers were "Bullet Club" and specifically The Elite subgroup.

That is the group that have now left ROH and NJPW and started AEW with the last remnants that are under contract with ROH and NJPW widely expected to join them. If Kenny Omega didnt in fact join them it would be a huge deal, because he'd be the marquee signing. So its still wait and see on that one but it would be more of a surprise if he didnt at this point.

One more note, Chris Jericho did a radio interview a few days ago and said that he knows of 3 tv deals which, if any of them are sorted and accepted people would say wow AEW are the real deal. And thats why he signed on already. So while its not been finalized yet and anything could happen, it sounds like AEW will have a very good TV deal in the US and that will be one of the major things that separate what they do from the other companies.

ROH doesnt have a good deal, a lot of people who used to watch it cant get the channel anymore. New Japan just has its big events on AXS TV live, with most of their events being taped and having new English commentary dubbed over later on. So tv viewers in the US dont tend to have that direct line to watching NJPW even if they are aware of it.

All In's 10k crowd at a live event was obviously enough to get interest from major tv channels. We'll have to see which they end up on

fecking Meltzer. The guys a fan with the bucks on speed dial, take everything he says with a pinch of salt. Ratings and viewers are down, but that's pure speculation that there's more former fans then fans.

That's a nice post and all, but I don't need a history lesson, I know all that stuff already. I asked what will they be doing differently from the rest? To warrant all this hype. TV deal? Have to wait and see on that won't we, but in terms of pure wrestling, it's just a new indie promotion with the bucks attached, isn't it?

The elite are smart. They've used the WWE to make themselves bigger, it's naive to think they haven't. The piggy backed onto the success of bullet club to. You have to wonder where they would be without bullet club. They're now using another guys money to start a promotion. There's a trend there, they're users for self promotion.

People who think this show is going to be some sort of rival to WWE straight of the bat will be deeply disappointed. Theres only a buzz because the elite are attached, you take them away, and would anyone be saying half of the stuff they are about AEW? Jericho or not?

 

[Ekeke]

fecking Meltzer. The guys a fan with the bucks on speed dial, take everything he says with a pinch of salt. Ratings and viewers are down, but that's pure speculation that there's more former fans then fans.

Err no, its numbers. There were 5 million viewers for the Attitude Era in 99, theres barely over 2 million now. Wrestling is nowhere near as popular as it used to be

That's a nice post and all, but I don't need a history lesson, I know all that stuff already. I asked what will they be doing differently from the rest? To warrant all this hype. TV deal? Have to wait and see on that won't we, but in terms of pure wrestling, it's just a new indie promotion with the bucks attached, isn't it?

The elite are smart. They've used the WWE to make themselves bigger, it's naive to think they haven't. The piggy backed onto the success of bullet club to. You have to wonder where they would be without bullet club. They're now using another guys money to start a promotion. There's a trend there, they're users for self promotion.

People who think this show is going to be some sort of rival to WWE straight of the bat will be deeply disappointed. Theres only a buzz because the elite are attached, you take them away, and would anyone be saying half of the stuff they are about AEW? Jericho or not?

Yes Dave Meltzer the most respected Wrestling journalist and historian with AEW's president Tony Khan, WWE talent, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Jim Cornette among others who subscribe and are sources of his. You will not find a better source in Wrestling, at least in the west. His information on Joshi wrestling isnt as good as it was in the 90s.

Bullet Club werent that popular before The Elite. Balor wasnt a main eventer, Styles wasnt doing anything as big as Omega. Its not Bullet Club that made The Young Bucks popular, its PWG. The Elite made Bullet Club something big enough that Hot Topic noticed it and saw all the shirts at WWE live events. They called up WWE to see if they could sell Bullet Club shirts not realising it had nothing to do with WWE. So you have that the wrong way around.

And yes you're right, its about The Elite + Jericho. But why would you take them away? They're signed to the company. Thats the whole point.

Anyway some of the latest information from WOR :



"AEW opened picking up sizable talent and there are very serious negotiations with two major cable stations for a weekly two-hour live prime time television show

The second AEW show will be during the summer in Jacksonville, with a large percentage of proceeds going to benefit victims of gun violence. There is still a lot to work out for the show, but it will most likely be in July or closely related to that.

The third show, as yet unannounced, is likely to be in Chicago, possibly back at the Sears Center, over Labor Day weekend with the idea of being the anniversary of the first All In, and would also be a PPV show.

Several Japanese women have been talked about for at least certain dates, including Hall of Famer Aja Kong, but that deal is not believed to be completed. But the Japanese women are being heavily scouted.

While Tuesday Night Dynamite was trademarked and that obviously meant Tuesday was the plan at that time, it is up to the station they sign with and right now Tuesday looks highly unlikely, but two hours of live prime time is still the plan with either deal.


Paul Levesque worked hard at getting all four into WWE. Page was offered main roster money to work NXT, where he’d have been pushed as one of its top stars. The Bucks & Cody were offered strong deals. The Bucks deal was for money roughly the same as WWE champion A.J. Styles, which would have also included BTE being made a regular weekly show on the WWE Network, as well as something I’ve never heard WWE concede on, which was a six-month window where they could have left their three-year contract if they wanted and weren’t happy with their push.

Of course, WWE was fully aware of the Khan deal as this was going down, which was one of the reasons they went so hard in locking up talent of late. The great offer with the six-month window was with knowledge that Khan was not doing the promotion without The Bucks & Cody and signing them would keep them from being opposition. Without them, Khan wouldn’t have the star power and stars of All In, meaning he’d likely not have the openings to everything from television to top talent that was necessary.

Those who work in WWE with knowledge of the deal were certain they wouldn’t turn it down, and outright told me that they would be debuting at the Rumble, and had a Rumble-to-Mania significant storyline. When they made the decision to go to AEW, they remarked that it was mind-boggling that they would ever get an offer at that level, and even more that they were turning it down. But they did roughly 12 hours of talks with Levesque, who they heavily praised in how he handled everything, in particular seeing the comedy aspect in the skit they did where they superkicked Kazarian dressed up as him over-and-over in what was the public turning down of the offer on BTE."

 

[Ekeke]

They used WWE in so many of their promos, they did use the WWE they even used very similar stuff to DX whilst going on about crowd papering, gag orders, not being allowed his name, not being allowed to use too sweat. They used WWE then as the bad guy compared to them. There is nothing wrong with that they just tapped in to the market and people’s boredom of WWE. So saying he hasn’t used his name or associations is completely wrong. Part of the hype behind the Elite is simply due to going after the WWE.

Too Sweet was a turkish wolf hand gesture that Xpac saw once. He stole it, the Cliq started to use it and it was popularised by the NWO in WCW. Not WWF/E

But yes they used WWE in their storyline as a humerous villains to play off all the rumors. They were already super popular before that.

 

[Shane88]

I have a hard time believing anything from Meltzer where it concerns the Elite. Anything else, okay he might have sources but he is more or less a hype-man/promoter for the Elite.

As for Japanese women, I don't watch Stardom etc it but gifs of Mayu Iwatani are regularly posted on Reddit and they should get her, she looks awesome. Could be their Asuka.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Err no, its numbers. There were 5 million viewers for the Attitude Era in 99, theres barely over 2 million now. Wrestling is nowhere near as popular as it used to be



Yes Dave Meltzer the most respected Wrestling journalist and historian with AEW's president Tony Khan, WWE talent, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Jim Cornette among others who subscribe and are sources of his. You will not find a better source in Wrestling, at least in the west. His information on Joshi wrestling isnt as good as it was in the 90s.

Bullet Club werent that popular before The Elite. Balor wasnt a main eventer, Styles wasnt doing anything as big as Omega. Its not Bullet Club that made The Young Bucks popular, its PWG. The Elite made Bullet Club something big enough that Hot Topic noticed it and saw all the shirts at WWE live events. They called up WWE to see if they could sell Bullet Club shirts not realising it had nothing to do with WWE. So you have that the wrong way around.

And yes you're right, its about The Elite + Jericho. But why would you take them away? They're signed to the company. Thats the whole point.

Anyway some of the latest information from WOR :



"AEW opened picking up sizable talent and there are very serious negotiations with two major cable stations for a weekly two-hour live prime time television show

The second AEW show will be during the summer in Jacksonville, with a large percentage of proceeds going to benefit victims of gun violence. There is still a lot to work out for the show, but it will most likely be in July or closely related to that.

The third show, as yet unannounced, is likely to be in Chicago, possibly back at the Sears Center, over Labor Day weekend with the idea of being the anniversary of the first All In, and would also be a PPV show.

Several Japanese women have been talked about for at least certain dates, including Hall of Famer Aja Kong, but that deal is not believed to be completed. But the Japanese women are being heavily scouted.

While Tuesday Night Dynamite was trademarked and that obviously meant Tuesday was the plan at that time, it is up to the station they sign with and right now Tuesday looks highly unlikely, but two hours of live prime time is still the plan with either deal.


Paul Levesque worked hard at getting all four into WWE. Page was offered main roster money to work NXT, where he’d have been pushed as one of its top stars. The Bucks & Cody were offered strong deals. The Bucks deal was for money roughly the same as WWE champion A.J. Styles, which would have also included BTE being made a regular weekly show on the WWE Network, as well as something I’ve never heard WWE concede on, which was a six-month window where they could have left their three-year contract if they wanted and weren’t happy with their push.

Of course, WWE was fully aware of the Khan deal as this was going down, which was one of the reasons they went so hard in locking up talent of late. The great offer with the six-month window was with knowledge that Khan was not doing the promotion without The Bucks & Cody and signing them would keep them from being opposition. Without them, Khan wouldn’t have the star power and stars of All In, meaning he’d likely not have the openings to everything from television to top talent that was necessary.

Those who work in WWE with knowledge of the deal were certain they wouldn’t turn it down, and outright told me that they would be debuting at the Rumble, and had a Rumble-to-Mania significant storyline. When they made the decision to go to AEW, they remarked that it was mind-boggling that they would ever get an offer at that level, and even more that they were turning it down. But they did roughly 12 hours of talks with Levesque, who they heavily praised in how he handled everything, in particular seeing the comedy aspect in the skit they did where they superkicked Kazarian dressed up as him over-and-over in what was the public turning down of the offer on BTE."

I don't watch raw or smackdown live, but i still view it. There's a lot of factors you need to take into account before making statements like there's a lot of former wrestling fans then wrestling fans. The main one being accessibility in content now, and back in 99 is a lot different.

Yep, and he's still just a superfan essentially. He gets bits of information, that may or may not come to fruition. Nothing more nothing less.

Bullet club wasn't that popular? Syles wasnt doing anything as big as omega? So winnng the heavyweight title wasn't big then? Or was it not big because that fits your narrative? Hell Balor was challenging for the damn thing. Youre literally just making things up now.

You're a massive elite fanboy aren't you?

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Too Sweet was a turkish wolf hand gesture that Xpac saw once. He stole it, the Cliq started to use it and it was popularised by the NWO in WCW. Not WWF/E

But yes they used WWE in their storyline as a humerous villains to play off all the rumors. They were already super popular before that.

Yes but now they the bullet club and The Elite aren’t allowed to use it and made a big song and dance about how the WWE had stolen yet another thing from them. It’s like your dancing in circles right now bringing up things that have no relevance to what you were initially saying.
Right now Balor, Anderson and co are wearing OGBC T-shirt’s and use too sweet as WWE now own the rights to that.
Did I just also see you say The Bullet Club wasn’t that popular before The Elite? And Balor wasn’t a main eventer?
They Cody, The Elite all prospered off the back of these disputes with WWE, showing up outside WWE events and making videos. They marketed themselves very well and used WWE to take them to a new level. So he has used his association with WWE and his name to his advantage to take them to another level.

It will be great to have another show hopefully more adult themed and not as restricted by health and safety but if Cody and co are producers they need to create new stories, catchy phrases and so on for it to be successful not just for them but for others and that will be the challenge or will they just keep using WWE.