joeg

I've been wondering about this, what exactly is it that AEW is doing to make their shows sensory inclusive? Are they distributing noise cancelling headphones and fidget toys? Do their shows have safe rooms? Just curious.

I was wondering how this works exactly. GCW is running Shin-Kiba 1st ring later this week and I don't understand how the revenue generated from the shows could come close to covering expenses. Could somebody with more insight into the workings of the business fill me in on how GCW, CZW, Chikara, and ROH all run shows overseas without losing an arm and a leg doing so.

Yep. And the occasional Pac 12 game as the late game.

It really was, the thing is with all those shows you knew when you went that you were going to sit through an hour or two of absolute drizzling shits before you got to see some of the best workers in the world pulling out 4 and 5 star matches. Its the same with AEW, every show has an hour or two of unwatchable, absolute drizzling shits followed by some absolutely great stuff. I think its a fair comparison.

With each signing this roster is looking more and more like the roster of a small time East Coast indy circa 2002 rather than a major national promotion. There's 6 to 8 big names on top and a bunch of guys who suck underneath. Its no different than ECWA or JAPW or MCW where you got Low Ki vs American Dragon vs Christopher Daniels and the Hass Brothers on top but Chetah Master, Prince Nana, Ring Crew Express, Japanese Pool Boy and Mr. Oolala on the undercard. There's going to be people here that defend Orange Cassidy, just as they defended every other terrible talent that AEW has signed and I cant wait to hear how Orange Cassidy belongs as a wrestler in a major national promotion.

The line up for the Super J Cup looks pretty good. Its got 10 NJPW guys, 3 CMLL guys and 3 American indie guys. Its not exactly on par with the 5 or 6 promotion super cards of the 90s but its better than what they had done the past few tournaments.

Something I don't understand about AAA is how a company that is so good at long term booking and long term story telling, can be so disorganized with everything else.

The thing is CMLL knows they can sell out the anniversary show with a shitty match up. The past 3 years have proven that. I kinda expect them to either go cage, Ciber vs Ultimo Guerrero for the hairs either 1 on 1 or in a tag, or NGD vs Sky Team for the masks.

The thing with Stunt is he can work and he has some personality, so if he were the lone guy of his stature it would work because he would stand out. Instead they've got a dozen other small, pasty, unathletic white guys just like him. So instead of standing out because of not having conventional size or athleticism, he blends in with the rest of their of their undercard.

I dunno, Enzo and Cass were both college athletes, and Enzo knows how to really talk and get heat. They struggle to put matches together and both look green at times, but that's too be expected from two guys who were put on national television after less than two years in the business. The problem with both of those guys is their baggage. As for the Janela Enzo thing, I honestly think Janela should have been let go over that. Not that he got into a drunken fight. I want wrestlers who have a gimmick as being a wild crazy guy to be getting into drunken fights, makes the whole thing more believable. Janela is supposed to be this wild crazy guy who was a jueville delinquent and credits wrestling for turning his life around. The one thing I liked about Janela was that he was somebody I honestly bought into his character and his schtick. That fight just made him look like such a pussy that is completely unable to handle himself. It shatters the image I had of him as this bad dude.

Monday Night Raw is borderline unwatchable, but that's not the point. Point is there aren't any non athletes in WWE, or NJPW, So looking like an athlete or having an athletic background is still very much a requirement for being a pro wrestler in a major promotion. And if you think Chuckie T is credible as a professional athlete or that Chuckie T is a good worker, and just a generic indie mid card guy, I don't know what to say to you.

Yes, I have unfortunately. And no its not, turn on Monday Night Raw, name a single man or woman on that show who isn't credible as a professional athlete. Maybe Kevin Owens, but not looking the part is his thing. Tune into the G1, name one guy in that tournament who doesn't look like an athlete or have an athletic background. A big chunk of AEW's roster is a lot more like the roster aiming to run head to head with Chikara or GCW than WWE and NJPW.

You're missing, Chuckie T, Joey Janela, Brandon Cutler, Dark Order, etc. Thats 10 of the 20 some men they have under contract. Misfits would be a good word for it. You can have one or two of those guys the way ECW did, where that's their thing ie Spike Dudley or Mikey Whippereck, but you can't have those sort of guys be the norm. Guys like that, just makes a joke out of wrestling. Then there is another dozen guys who don't exactly look the part but can work and get over. They really only have four or five guys on the roster who look like athletes. Its incredibly indie. Not every guy needs to be 6 foot plus and a former college athlete, but you need more of those type of guys than 5'8" with no athletic background to make things look credible.

Like a lot of people here, I'm desperate for a quality main stream wrestling program in America. AEW has the opportunity to be just that, yet they sign Marko Stunt. Half their roster is made of unathletic, undersized, comedy acts, which would be great for casting the Big Bang Theory not for a pro wrestling company.

@SirEdger

Can I hop in on this?

First taping is scheduled for my hometown Washington D.C. on October 2nd. I'd say I'm 50/50 to go. For every great Cody Rhodes or MJF segment, I expect there to be two or three bathroom break level bad segments with the librarians, The Dark Order, Micheal Nakazawa, Jimmy Havoc, etc

As a little kid in the Washington suburbs, it was just WWF and WCW. However by 7th grade ECW was being shown in our area with MSG Network and later TNN. About a year later NWA Wildside was picked up by local cable access. Some old reruns of AWA would sometimes show on ESPN Classic. By 10th grade ECW and WCW were both done but I was able to get early TNA off of a buddy's hotbox and a couple of the local Spanish stations were airing CMLL and AAA.

Briscoes vs Rush and Dragon Lee was amazing. Definately should check it out.

I turned the show off when they came on and never turned it back on. The gimmick would work with two different workers. Dark Order is low rent because they suck. They sucked as Super Smash Brother. Both guys look like somebody who would lose in a fight to your average wrestling fan. Thats my number one pet peave in wrestling- wrestlers I could beat in a fight or any athletic contest for that matter. And AEW has a lot of those sort of Chikara / Jersey indie kinda guys on their roster and it makes large portions of their show unwatchable. Anyways that gimmick would work with two guys over 6 feet who actually look scary and can actually work.

MJF is getting over in spite of the booking. On both shows so far he's been put in throw away multi man matches working with some absolute garbage and he's still managed to get over. He's just that good.

The thing I like about Cody is everything he's involved in feels like it matters. I can't say the same about anybody else in wrestling right now.

^^^bingo. They've got me pumped for a Blue Demon Jr. match, I mean come on

Match of the Year- Cody vs Dustin Rhodes Show of the Year- Bloodsport Best Promotion- New Japan? Best on Interviews- MJF Feud of the Year- Blue Demon Jr vs Dr. Wagner Jr. Most Improved- Jon Moxley Wrestler of the Year- Daniel Bryan

Wotan and Fly Star had a banger back in March. Its up on cubs'fan and youtube. It is exactly what you expect.