Happy New Year everybody! Here’s a thread for everybody to share their initial thoughts and new information on AEW.
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Cool logo, not much of an actual BTE Episode, more an announcement but still no dates which is what I was expecting.
I suspect we could get another Episode tomorrow of the Marty new years day party and some Kenny involvement.
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count me as ahem All in on this thread
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Will they be able to reach a reliable distribution model is the biggest question.
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According to Meltzer he’s almost certain it’s immenent and multiple parties interested. I keep saying BR Live with big shows on TNT it demand is there (based on Turner Sports early reported interest). Then there is ESPN+ which this would be great for subscription only content.
Marty was partying with the dead Adam Cole BayBay so I would love to see an episode or Marty spin off.
Kenny probably can’t be included til February the earliest plus it sounds like a lot is still up in the air with New Japan and The Elite.
Ultimately I just don’t want BTE to go away. It’s become the best storytelling vehicle this year and pushes matches in ways no traditional programming could this year. Will be interesting how other talent get incorporated in the All Elite world.
I am super happy to see SCU on equal footing with The Elite. Those guys have been so integral to expending the BTE world beyond just the core group. They are proof that this kind of story telling vehicle can get other talent over.
My biggest questions in the next few weeks:
- Who else is All In - Kenny, Ibushi, Jericho, others
- How will he structure of the company work - who is head of talent who is booking and how are the main cast set apart (or not) from the rest of the roster. I’d love to see them avoid the pitfalls of a McMahons and everyone else syndrome where The Bucks and Cody feel like the suits
- Will it be a few tentpole events with weekly storytelling and/or wrestling? Might we just get the current structure with guys still able to work elsewhere and then a few All In events a year (like a new Big 4)
- New Japan (and other promotions) involvement and how talent sharing mayb(or may not) exist. I think it’s too disruptive in the wrong way to just sign guys to beyond the core group to exclusives. A big draw for All In was the everyone-coming-together element. It felt like a celebration of everyone and not a forced push of a few. They need to keep this as organic and true to its origins as possible.
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My first thought about this is, if they are smart, they would go on a try to be the official number 2 promotion in north america. The last thing they need to do right now is go after WWE because WWE isn’t going anywhere and that the mistake that a lot of other promotion did and that’s why they are either closed or are hanging by a thread.
As far as the promotion itself, it’S a big blow to other super indy fed like ROH who will have to work real hard to keep they number 2 space. Also, it will all depends on with which promotion, New Japan decide to make a deal with or if they decide to not make a deal at all and just go on they’re own.
Cornette made a good point on talk is jericho last week. The only way you could give WWE a run for their money is if a bunch of other federations decide to have some sort of partnership and the exchange talents between the company. So let’s say that instead of being in competition with ROH, the NWA and PWG. These federations all get to a understanding and you could include IMPACT and some international company as well and they all share talents from one company to another and they do supershows like what ALL IN was. With the talent that you have on the indy scene right now, you would get enough star power to actually make WWE that they’re somebody that can actually give you a run for their money.
If All elite wrestling go alone especially if they wait too long before getting a tv deal, they are done before even starting. Yes they have cody and the bucks and they are the hottest thing on the indy scene right now, but the fact that you don’t have a big mainstream stars to help them launch the thing might not help them especially if they want to compete right away with WWE.
Personally, i really hope that this venture become a success and not just another failure like their as been a lot of in the wrestling business mostly because i respect Cody Rhodes and really wants him to succeed with this. He’s probably the smartest guy in the wrestling business right now and it would be ashamed is by this time next year, this become the biggest failure of 2019.
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Looks like Joey Ryan is in the fold. And wouldn’t it be something if Joey Janella left Game Changer (another one making comments about no contract this year).
I 100% agree with @psykohurricane about the need to (quickly) figure out the talent share.
I could totally see the idea of AEW using Dragon Gate to maintain a Japanese extension. Particularly because of the contract status of Ibushi and Omega, who live in Japan. Would New Japan capitulate if they feared those two as domestic competition should NJPW not work with AEW.
I know it’s just wrestling but this is some Game is Thrones shit!!
Then you have an entire crop of guys who signed with NXT who I bet are second guessing it seeing what’s happened to main roster and what would be a potentially bigger opportunity in AEW.
Undisputed Era guys - all with personal relationships with the AEW group - could literally be making as much money as they currently do and not have to fear getting crushed by the machine and be main event players. I’d suspect the same with Zayn who can’t love the WWE’s geopolitical endeavors. We’ve seen merch money can be just as real outside WWE and were talking about guys who have already gained massive exposure in “this big leagues”. But there’s always that glass ceiling.
I think we’ll see Anderson and Gallows go, and the Revival. If the money is all the same, and it’s creatively more fulfilling, and there is TV - are guys going to value their spots in WWE that much?
The Kahn’s have more money than the McMahons, let alone WWE and it’s not like the massive deals WWE has come into has trickled down to wrestlers. A huge mistake by the WWE in my opinion and one that should they have to reverse course on would flip the script entirely.
Their money marks can’t even spring for a decent QB…Who actually think they’re going to sink real money into this,
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That’s kinda the other problem with this, it’s how much money they are willing to put in this. All we have right now is a really bare plan of what this thing will be. They don’t have a start date or a tv deal announce. We don’t even have a full roster announce yet or if they will associate themselves with somebody else.
All we know is that Cody and the bucks are attach to the project and that they have a Ppv in the works.
That’s not enough for me to fully get excited about the project yet because the way they did the announcement, it make me feel like how Jeff Jarrett made is announcement for global force wrestling a few year’s back and how fans where super excited about the project only to see it blow up in jarrett’s face. I’m not saying that AEW will be like GFW but I would have waited to have a more concrete plan in place before announcing it.
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Don’t you dare talk about the 2017 AFC South Champions like that!
As for TV. Take it with a grain of salt but I’ve now seen two different sources confirm several places interested and it’s a matter of time before something is inked.
Kahn is also 1 of the most exclusive clubs in the world - an owner of the NFL. It’s amazing to me that people underestimate what kind of weight and influence that carries. If you know anything about sports media history you know the NFL and it’s owners have influenced major TV decisions for decades. Add the fact he owns a Premier League team. This guy doesn’t just have massive bankroll (listed over $bn), he’s part of a small boy’s club that basically can blackball or target a network. TV execs and advertisers know what is up. Whether it does well on TV an entirely different story but it will at the very least get a shot, in some form.
If they can go live at least once every other week with their TV show, it will make a huge difference. When a show that is airing is weeks old and in the can, it just feels less “must see” and the “anything can happen” vibe is lost. No offense to NXT, Impact, or MLW, but I just can’t get into those products as much because their shows that air often were taped weeks ago.
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If AEW is looking to be a major “mainstream” player a la WWE, I think the most interesting thing will be their ability to grow an audience. Obviously, their broadcast setup (TV, stream, etc.) will tell us a lot about their immediate goals, but as far as the long-term goal of being the #2 (or #1… but, baby steps) in North America, developing a larger audience is huge.
There’s no doubt that the Young Bucks, Cody and company can draw a house. They have a rabid audience that wants them to succeed (a novel concept) and will likely overlook the negatives and accentuate the positives. But if AEW wants to become the clear “number two” at some point, they will eventually need to tap into the audience that larger knows Cody from his WWE run and maybe recognizes the Young Bucks in name only. Otherwise they’ll be another ECW and will only go as far as the hardcore audience will take them.
Part of me wouldn’t be surprised if the plan for now is to be a mid-sized company and not immediately go for the jugular of Impact, ROH, etc. Make sure that you can draw consistent houses in different markets and multiple times a year without building it up as “your Wrestlemania” (i.e. All In) or piggybacking on the actual Wrestlemania to do it.
But even under those circumstances, they can’t just rely on the folks who will retweet every GIF and pop for every inside joke (I’m old enough to remember when the nWo used to do that… it was initially treated as cool and edgy but now it’s remembered as a business killer).
Honestly sounds like Vince trying to get an NFL team.
If Jerry Jones couldn’t get a decent slot for his proposed reality series…I’m just saying.
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You make some great points. I think the novel concept you called out is a big catalyst of this. People want them to succeed and will be patient/supportive. Then again, I can’t wait for the backlash to these guys going out on their own to create something that isn’t WWE (likely from the same people who complain about WWE all the time 
)
It will be interesting what “superstars” leave WWE to join them. If the money is relatively equal to somebody’s downside right now and the creative opportunities are there to give guys a platform to shine and earn more (whether it be with other promotions or sponsorship), it’s going to be a real decision for some guys who are confined by the glass ceiling in WWE and may have relationships with these AEW guys. A perfect example of this is Sami Zayn. Same can be said with some NXT guys who see the log jam of talent, aren’t getting paid top dollar, and probably wouldn’t mind making better money with room to grow as a star in AEW.
I know people who won’t even watch NXT because it requires learning new guys non-main roster talent, as dumb as that may sound to fans like us, it’s a big hurdle to convert casual wrestling fans into the next tier of fan. But it’s a real thing…and if AEW gets talent you know from WWE and they are used in creative interesting ways, people may migrate as well as the learning curve is less to get into a new promotion.
Do any of you have thoughts on whether AEW should have titles, or other tropes of a wrestling promotion.
For example, I’d be very happy to see them do away with real belts and simply build to big matches people want to see based on good story telling or match-ups.
I’d also like the NXT approach to tentpole shows and do away with monthly PPVs and the idea that only one show a year can be the biggest. As a fan, if I am asked to spend money, I want to know the show is being treated by those in charge as a big show, and not just going through the schedule which is what a WWE PPV feels like almost every month except one.
The most interesting thing to me is if they give the wrestlers benefits - that could force WWE to do the same.
And how dumb does ROH look for bending over backwards to help the Elite put together All In? Makes no sense.
Competition will be good, but it really depends on what kind of TV deal they can get.
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I’m also interested to see how many guys actually leave WWE. I mean, Daniel Bryan signed a new deal, and he seems to love wrestling more and care about money less than anyone. Does a team like the Revival really want to give up their stable, high-paying jobs with name recognition as Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, to go be Dan Wheeler and Dave Harwood (or whatever new gimmick names they choose) for AEW?
Some guys will leave. But my guess is that, while I do think you have to love it to stick with it, wrestling is a career and WWE is currently the highest-paying job with the most exposure. And, unless AEW blows up or the money is much better from the get-go than I’m assuming, I think the majority of guys will have a hard time turning down or walking away from that.
I don’t think AEW needs to blow the offers out of the water. Just simply matching downsides and letting guys go earn more elsewhere or via Merch or deals elsewhere.
Serious question I don’t know we can get a real answer on but who made more from merch this year, the Revival or SCU?
This would truly Change The World. It’s somethning is really love to see this group so, especially since we know who the guys behind it are (wrestlers themselves)
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You need titles. Wrestling is a competition and all competitions have some kind of championship or title to strive for. If you dont have that, then what are you wrestling for? No one dreams as a child to have a big match. They dream of winning a championship.
They need 5 titles I think…
World Title(Main Eventers)
-Insert Name Here-(Upper midcard)
TV Title(Midcard)
Tag Team Title
Womens Title
I agree that you need titles. But considering they’re currently sporting a roster of like five guys: World Champ. Tag Champs. Women’s Champ if there’s enough of a roster to warrant it.
When you’re starting from scratch, all that the midcard titles do is label a guy as “midcard” from jump street. Let the roster develop and then add a midcard belt if/when you need one.
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All they need right now is a world title and tag titles. Work on establishing those first and add as you go along.
They could always feature champions from other promotions if they wanted more title matches.