Imran from Huddersfield
What does it say that Tony Khan - a man who as far as I’m aware had never previously booked a wrestling promotion, or ran a weekly TV show before 2 years ago - can suddenly run a very well booked and consistantly entertaining AEW? Is he just gifted at it, or does it show that wrestling booking is actually a simple practice at its core? or is it down to the talent having more freedom? Or a mixture of all the above?
Luk from Quebec!
My question is about kayfabe. Back in the old days, wrestlers went to great lengths to “protect the business”. Nowadays, with news sites, documentaries, podcasts, every wrestler on twitter, kayfabe is almost entirely dead. Yet when fans discuss moments of the last decade that made them jump back in, they’re things like CM Punk’s pipebomb, Becky and Ronda’s beef, etc. where the lines between kayfabe and reality were blurred once more. How important do you find the correlation between kayfabe and wrestling’s success and can wrestling ever recapture its popularity of the 80s and 90s now that we know everything that goes on behind the scenes?
Amit from London
I’ve recently become a dad to twins. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We are currently going through a milk aversion where they basically refuse to feed and it’s so tough. John, if it’s not too personal, I wondered if you wouldn’t mind sharing some stories from your dad journey and some of the challenges you may have faced and how you overcame them? Hope the children are doing well! Wai, any thoughts of children in your future?
Wishing you both a happy Christmas and new year!
If Sinclair (or whoever) wants wrestling as an inexpensive filler hour of content, wouldn’t acquiring it be cheaper than producing it? Whether running ROH as its own promotion with an exclusive roster or reopening it as a super indie with no one signed full-time, I feel like buying TV-ready content would still be a cheaper alternative than either aforementioned option.
So, wouldn’t an IMPACT or NJPW take virtually any deal from a non-WWE company with Sinclair-type reach for, say, an Xplosion or a Strong just to get that content out to a wider audience? Obviously IMPACT or NJPW would need to get paid, but couldn’t Sinclair acquire programming from either (or both) for way cheaper than managing their own major promotion or super-indie in ROH?
Was there any specific reason to live stream the Daily Update only on Youtube and not Twitch as well?
What’s your favorite wrestling memorabilia both of you own?
What are your opinions on the work of Bam Bam Bigelow?
The guy had a great career in WWE, WCW and ECW, including a Wrestlemania main event, but it seems like he’s been basically forgotten about by both WWE and AEW. What’s the deal?
Any chance of a Shibata vs Danielson match in NJPW? Wrestle Kingdom would be great but probably not realistic.Also a Danielson vs O’reilly feud is going to be awesome.
Alexander from Portland
Where do you think ratings for WWE will be at come December 2022? For almost every WWE show where you talk about ratings you mention that ratings and viewership were higher a year ago, two years ago, five years ago. Is it a foregone conclusion that ratings for WWE will be lower in December compared to today? If your answer to that is Yes, what do you think is an acceptable decrease in viewership where WWE is still happy?
Sal from California
What are your guys’ personal opinions of Triple H as a performer? Do you feel his legacy is more important as a wrestler or as the mind behind NXT?
Branavan from Ajax:
What do you think is more likely: An NJPW wrestler becoming AEW Men’s World Champion or an AEW wrestler becoming IWGP Heavyweight Champion?
Anthony from Melbourne
When AEW started there was an emphasis on not doing wrestling tropes, things like DQ finishes, count-outs, etc but now 3 years in, AEW seem to have developed their own crutches.
I find they constantly go to the well for things like the lights going out and someone appearing, the masked member of the crowd or crew attacking someone, interrupting an interview to lead to a feud or their favourite, outnumbered beat down on the baby face where someone comes out for the save.
I found the above logical and refreshing to begin with but do you think they rely on these methods too frequently? If so, what could they do differently to make things less repetitive?
Brandon from Oshawa
What are your thoughts on a potential WWE/NXT vs AEW story taking place on AEW television? They have a lot of top names that they would look stronger than the WCW side did during that invasion.
Could they pull off something good and how do you think ratings would reflect? Would WWE or NXT fans be more likely to tune in, if they aren’t right now?
Who does the tech and post-production on your shows? Can you describe your processes and roles?
Hey guys, that was an interesting discussion on physical media. As someone who couldn’t imagine not buying music on cd I was wondering was there a specific point where you decided your done buying physical media?
Also do you remember the first and last bit of physical media you bought? Always remember my first was Michael Jackson - Bad on cd with my birthday money as a 5 year old
Thanks both!
Two-part question …
Who’s more likely to receive a big singles push (midcard champion bare min.) in their respective companies. Montez Ford or Santana?
The second question is to get a personal opinion on it if the first answer only reflects what you really think will happen. Who do you think you’d rather see and is more deserving of a singles run?
Thanks,
Jamie
Hey guys!
Anthony from Detroit
It appears that the NXT reboot was because of the failures of males on the main roster. The female main roster is dominated by black and gold NXT alumni. How will the NXT 2.0 change the future for females on the main roster?
Thank you!
Hey there - thanks for all the content during an incredibly busy January!
I wondered what your thoughts and feelings are concerning the Gracie family’s problematic history: Hélio’s close links to fascist ideology, Rener’s BJJ training of police officers, Renzo’s praising of Bolsanaro etc. The Gracies hold such importance within combat sports but I wonder if the sport or its fans will ever reckon with their legacy outside of the ring. Many thanks.
What up gents what’s crackin anywhoo a serious question “if I can be serious for a second” do you think Pat McAfee is the sports version of Joe Rogan? I ask this cause of the way he lets his guest go autopilot mode ala Aaron Rodgers. Kay Adams from good morning football said in a slightly joking matter “hey you changed the way we have to interview him” is this good or bad. I’ll hang up and listen also what’s your Wordle score John? All dug out eh
Brandon Frm NJ
I don’t know if this has been asked before, so, sorry if it has.
Do you think WCW still would have gone out of business had they existed in the current landscape of TV deals? If they theoretically were in the same spot on television today that they were back in the day I imagine they would be making close to what WWE is making with Raw and SmackDown these days. So in a way could you maybe even say that WCW would still be around today if they had made it a little longer until TV deals exploded the way they did?