Flyin' Brian

I'd like to 2nd the Dalton Castle love. Hate that injuries derailed him as he's still a fun act. With all the other ROH belts being defended in AEW hopefully we'll get an ROH 6 Man Tag Title match at some point. I'm having a hard time too seeing anyone that can credibly beat Jade at this point. It would have to be a surprise appearance of someone like a Sasha Banks if they could somehow get her, or build up someone credible but that hasn't gotten a chance to shine yet like Jamie Hayter. Disappointed that Bryan Danielson didn't win the title, but I understand for Mox to give up his vacation they probably promised him a decent run with the belt. As much as I don't want to see Adam Page in the main event at this point, I'll be there for Mox making him his bitch. Maybe they can heat him back up, but they had something special there with Eddie Kingston for a while and now he's starting to feel like just a guy and getting lost in the shuffle. Maybe they are heading somewhere with him always losing or never really getting a decisive victory even when he wins, but I don't see an end point.

How do we know Punk was upset at the wrong people for being gossips, when we don’t know who the gossips were? No one has revealed who was doing the talking. If Dave and others are protecting their sources I can’t really trust them to tell the truth when they say someone isn’t leaking them info.

I was a 16 year old fan when the turn happened. Wasn’t online yet so I don’t know about the behind the scenes stuff, but Hogan was always the #1 choice to be in the NWO. Even though Sting was considered, and I love Sting, it wouldn’t have worked out in the long run with anyone but Hogan. He had to be convinced it would work, but after he saw the reactions Hall and Nash were getting and that business was picking up he was in. It was the smart play, but it was also the right play for WCW.

I can't think of any other two guys that would have been available that could have done what Hall and Nash did. Owen and Davey Boy, while being good wrestlers, just would not have fit that angle at all. From the moment Hall comes out of the crowd, grabs a mike, and starts talking shit it was on. I can't see Davey Boy or Owen doing that.

Hall debuted from WWF in WCW on May 27th, 1996. Nash came in on June 10th, 1996. That was the last week WWF beats WCW before the 83 week streak of WCW beating WWF in the ratings starts the very next week on June 17, 1996. Hogan doesn't join the NWO until Bash at The Beach on July 7th. The wave had already started before Hogan turned.

They were both good talkers, and the attitude, look, and personality of both fit perfectly. I don't think they could have picked three better people for the initial NWO. I think it was the perfect combination at the perfect time. Davey Boy Smith and Owen weren't as high on the card in WWF or had as much history with WCW (Davey Boy was there for a cup of coffee in the early 90's) While the gimmicks weren't great, Nash and Hall had been in WCW for several years before and were recognizable for that as well as what they did in WWF. The aspect that it was an invasion storyline can't be overlooked. There were people that really thought WWF was invading WCW, so much so that they had to go out of their way to state on air that Hall and Nash were not with WWF to keep from being sued. These were guys who up until recently had been a big part of WWE programming, and them showing up in WCW was huge at the time.

Hogan's turn was huge, but I have to disagree with you that Hall and Nash weren't a big part of that. You can't run that angle with say Jim Duggan and Brutus Beefcake or pick any two of Hogan's friends he brought in with him from WWF. It worked so well because both Hall and Nash were former WCW guys that the audience was reasonably familiar with from their time in WWF and had been booked as upper card guys in WWF. I can only think of a couple of people in WWF like Bret or Shawn, possibly Undertaker, who could have made that big of a difference and pulled off what they pulled at that time.

AEW Dynamite is on it’s longest streak ever of consecutive episodes over 1 million viewers. I don’t think that can be explained away just by the time of the year.

If I said avoids then I’m sorry, that’s not what I really meant. He uses them sparingly and when he does use them they mean something.

Two hands then. Someone did this last year for AEW vs WWE rematches. I’d like to see one for this year. I think it would look similar. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ph3znz/comparing_the_number_of_tv_ppv_rematches_this/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Off the top of my head I can think of Punk and Moxley which was part of an angle. Page and Danielson because the first one was a draw. Are there any others that were even done in back to back months? I’d have to go back to look at all the cards but I’d bet the rematches with less than 6+ weeks in between could be counted on one hand.

Is Rampage two hours this week? That’s a lot of matches for a one hour show if not.

After Chicago I think they have to. AEW doesn’t book immediate rematches too often after a loss, that Tony did in this case speaks volumes I think. Swerve and Lee would have to go full on heel and cheat to win is the only way I can see the Acclaimed losing and become babyface chasers. But I think it’s the Acclaimed’s night.

Maybe we will never know what really happened, maybe it just depends on who you believe, but right now neither the Bucks and Omega nor Punk are on tv or attending any AEW events in an official capacity. Being the Elite is currently on hiatus. Omega is not allowed to wrestle at AAA Triplemania XXX next month. Punk is currently scheduled to do commentary at an MMA event next month unless he gets pulled or decides himself not to do it. That’s the only official appearance scheduled by any of the four currently.

Perhaps there wouldn’t have been a fight if a large group of people hadn’t barged into Punk’s dressing room in the middle of the night. I don’t know how anyone could expect that situation to turn out positively. ‘All sides’? I haven’t seen anything that was an official statement or release related to the investigation yet. It’s all speculation and second and third hand accounts at this point. We’ll see what the investigation says. The facts at the moment are Punk, Omega, and the Bucks all got stripped and suspended. Omega got pulled from AAA Triplemania XXX next month. He was pulled from being part of any official AEW presentations in Japan last week. Strange to do that to someone who doesn’t deserve any of the blame for what went down.

And yet a fight broke out. Punk isn’t innocent in all this, as him being suspended and stripped of his title shows. But Omega and the Bucks were suspended and stripped of their titles too, so anyone claiming they are innocent and completely professional and were just acting as EVP’s are deliberately ignoring all the facts.

Lol Tony Khan the owner of the company was sitting right beside Punk when he did it. I’m pretty sure he didn’t order anyone to go confront Punk in his dressing room that you refer to as ‘hiding in a closet’. The EVP’s and others took it upon themselves to confront Punk in a way that looked like an angry mob looking to gang up on one man. Aside from the fact that any discipline related to contract clauses would and should have been handled by Tony Khan, you’re assuming that EVP is anything more than a show title without any real power. Cody was an EVP too and he’s gone. In any other job, the boss would be the one to handle this situation and it certainly wouldn’t involve sending a bunch of people to confront the guy Khan just shared the stage with in the middle of the night. I think someone may be exaggerating about Punk’s history. If he had such a reputation as you claim of backstage fighting and punching innocent fans surely that would have kept Tony Khan from hiring such a dangerous and unstable individual. The mob came to him in his dressing room, one person against at least 3 or more, without the permission or blessing of Tony Khan the owner. I’d expect and be ready for a fight too.

Omega got pulled from AAA’s Triplemania XXX. Disciplinary or something else?

Punk is going to be doing commentary for Cage Fury Fighting Championship’s event on October 8th. I’m curious enough to watch to see if he might say anything about AEW, unless there is some agreement in place that he can’t.

I’d imagine so being an NFL owner if nothing else. NBC has the Sunday Night package, so there would be familiarity there. It’s interesting to think that some networks might court AEW as an inroads to getting an agreement for NFL games with the Khan family being a possible gateway.

Page in his promo said he had been waiting months to come out and destroy Punk face to face about what he had been doing in the back, which was apparently daring to offer Adam Page and other wrestlers advice because Punk was not involved in the decision to reassign Cabana to ROH. Page would have known this if he had asked Tony Khan about it during all those months. It looked like Page was taking a small or perceived slight and turning it into nuclear warfare against Punk by saying that he had to defend AEW from him. The crowd was cheering for Punk and turning against Page in that segment, which also might have played a part in Page choosing to go all shooty and turn a fight over the title into one for the heart and soul of AEW and making it personal.

Which is why Colt got moved to ROH. And apparently it wasn’t a problem for months until Page decided to bring it up on a live Dynamite right before he was supposed to drop the title to Punk. Khan had a plan to deal with it that just involved reassigning Colt, so he still has a job, but that wasn’t good enough for Page. Maybe someone else had a problem too, but no one else is willing to put their name to it. And Page cared so little that he apparently didn’t address it with anyone either until he had to lose to Punk then suddenly he had to stand up for the honor of Colt F’N Cabana in front of the live audience.

I remember Stone Cold Steve Austin mentioning several times on his podcast how good Kenny Omega was and how big of a star he could be and that WWE should sign him back before AEW started. Sometimes I get glimpses of that guy that Austin talked about like when Omega and Ospreay interact. I’m excited for that match. Other times I wonder what happened to that guy. Maybe he is too focused on other things or has different interests.

Yeah, looks like viewership fell as the show went on but the average for the entire show was over 1 million. https://wrestletalk.com/news/quarter-hour-viewership-breakdown-for-aew-dynamite-after-all-out-2022/

Everything I saw said 1.035 million. That may be an average of the whole show though. It’s very possible it fell under a million at times.