MoS

TK takes the top guys off TV and puts them on the YT shows all the time. We might dislike it, but his approach is consistent in this respect. I get the feeling he looks at some metrics for the YT shows that we're not privy too and decides organically. Booking a C-level/D-level show has been a challenge for wrestling promotions for decades now. The precursor to Sunday Night Heat, Sunday Night Heat itself, Worldwide and Pro, the newly revamped superstars, it almost feels like they're chasing a balance that just cannot exist.

In fairness, I think Starks has been particularly snake-bit when it comes to injuries.

A double turn seems the most logical step. Except that would put a spanner in the elevation of Jamie Hayter, who has got organically over and fans have been ready to cheer her destroying Dr. Baker for weeks now

I might be the biggest Saraya fan on this board but even I think she should do the job to the Doctor

The crowds are still rabid, and Yuta, Sammy and Garcia get consistently loud reactions. Given how many complaints we see about WWE crowds being dead every week, I am sure the AEW wrestlers are quite happy with their reactions. The ROH stuff needs to go though, that just plays out in front of dead crowds while losing TV viewers.

The booking of Eddie Kingston has been criminal. I have a feeling Britt gets cheered against Saraya in their match. The fans did NOT like Saraya telling Britt that she's not a star. I don't think any AEW fan would appreciate someone who was released by WWE cuz they were no longer wanted there talking down to a homegrown star.

I mean, we all know that the philosophy of booking for the boys in the back always leads to historically bad results. Surely TK could have done something to boost morale without subjecting us all to a Colt Cabana championship match in 2022.

The under/mis utilization of Eddie Kingston has been downright criminal

I did not initially comment on this, cuz statistics like all kinds of figures need context to be meaningful. The absolute number of viewers gained or lost isn't nearly as relevant or important as judging how a segment performed contextually compared to recent trends, because there are so many extraneous factors involved. Well, Wrestlenomics have done the analysis for me, God bless them, and yeah, you were right: not only did they lose viewers, that quarter performed significantly worse than what that quarter has been doing recently. The following is a nerdy chart detailing how each segment of this Dynamite behaved vis-a-vis general segments in that time slot. The answer is clearly that it did terribly, not just absolutely but also relatively. It lost far far more viewers than what that quarter generally does. It's really really difficult to argue that this Colt surprise thing did not work out business-wise. Maybe TK will draw some conclusion from this. Maybe he won't. Maybe he wll analyse all significant factors here. Maybe he won't. Maybe he will disagree with us saying these are significant factors. Maybe he won't. But a stats nerd like TK should surely appreciate this information. Honestly, the best possible way out of this is to pit Punk against the EVPs in an actual proper money-drawing feud, and let them come up with the details. Call me a mark, but I feel that despite their diametrically opposite philosophies, they will make so much money and provide fans with so much excellent pro wrestling that the alliance will be worth it, regardless of personal feelings felt by each side.

Look for Meltz's Observer and couple of Radio episodes immediately after Punk cut that promo, should be in one of them

I know you are not going to believe what Dave reported, but he has said clearly that after Page's promo, Page, Punk and TK had a meeting behind closed doors where they all discussed this and Hangman apologised to Punk and everyone thought that was the end of it. Except it was not the end of it, Punk could not get over it because, well, he is CM Punk and that's just who he is, and it culminated with him taking a cheap shot at Page that was 100 times worse than anything Hangman had said. Like, you can argue that Page started this, but proportionality is a thing, both legally and morally.

Also, FWIW, Meltz says that Tony Khan wanted to start a promotion when he found out that Omega, Jericho and Punk were available. The Punk thing did not work out, but Omega and Jericho, according to Meltz, were imperative in TK even deciding that this entire pro wrestling thing was worth the time and trouble. Of course, your mileage might vary as to how astute and on-point TK was.

As somebody who once saved and then spent his entire semester's spare money in early 2013 on getting a Punk t-shirt shipped to my part of India (WWE did not have deals with local Indian merchandise stakeholders back then, and shipping charges from the US would be about 5 times as expensive as the actual cost of the merchandise item), I agree with this. I just really really wish and hope things were different. I know Punk acted in an extremely unprofessional way, and at least in my line of work (corp law firm), behaviour like his on that weekend is grounds for immediate termination of your contract. He absolutely fucked up. He was still the best thing in pro wrestling since August 2021 though, and I am going to miss him so much. I was just going through his weekly promos last weekend, and it is striking just *how* good he was. I wish very much that things had turned out differently.

I get what @Embrodak is trying to say, but I will push back against Punk's 2011 run being an all-time run. It *could* have been an all-time run, but sadly, it was not, and at that time, fans on the internet were talking about his title reign exactly like they've spoken about Hangman's reign: never the focus of the promotion, having matches lazily built to or that play second fiddle to shit storylines and sometimes literally the number one contenders' match to Punk's title, booking not doing the champ any favours, the champ's character losing all its complexities and losing a lot of support and momentum, etc. I guess 2012 Punk-Jericho would be 2022's Hangman-Cole.

Many congratulations! Oh yeah and Dynamite will be good. Wish it would have more Starks on it.

I would be interested in reading your posts regarding these items

That Swerve segment was very stupid

Renee is awesome. Best in the world at what she does, really the best in that role since Gene Okerlund. I think the MJF thing is a swerve. I think he teases going face, but then doubles down on his heel shtick. Not to draw the Rock comparisons into the ground, but that would be very appropriate, like Rock in 1998 during the brief time he was teased to be turning face, only to become the corporate champion. MJF's face run is inevitable, but he has a lot of juice left in his heel run yet. Once he turns face, it will be very difficult for him to turn back again I feel.

If all reports are true, then I don't see how Punk's position is tenable at all tbh. Double standards for your biggest star is one thing, completely losing the respect of your peers is another. As a fan, I am gutted. Punk's stuff on TV was almost always the best thing ongoing on wrestling TV, his angles were almost always the hottest, he was the most compelling character in all of wrestling for the one year he was back. If only he had not got in his own way.

Willow is THE One, yeah agreed

Really happy and relieved that Page is doing okay. Also, Punk's biggest legacy might just be elevating MJF as a performer; the latter got visibly better every week he feuded with Punk. He is finally beginning to find his identity as a worker.

Yeah, I think we all need to realize, regardless of our personal feelings about their work, that Jericho, Danielson and Moxley are literally the main reasons why the ship did not sink after Punk and the Elite got suspended. They are fundamental to AEW's existence, they are why AEW thrives. Tony Khan would be the biggest idiot in the world if he does not get back all three of them. They have been there when AEW strongly needed a strong ancher, a solid rower to trammel past the troubled waters. Much as we might hate to admit it (each of us in respect of different people amongst those three), they really are the heart and soul of AEW.

Love Mox, love Hangman, I am hyped as fuck for their match. Also, some backstage news -

I thought Hangman's promo was excellent. He has quietly stepped up his game after All Out. I think I would preferMJF as a face tbh. Fans clearly want to cheer for him, and being a face would mean not aiming for cheap heat as much as he does. After all, Piper was a face for far longer in his career than he was a heel. He is winning the title at Full Gear, let's see how he does once he gets the ball