All Elite Wrestling

[SirEdger]

Based on what we saw not that long ago, it might look like they're gonna move Jay Lethal into the mentoring spot for Dante Martin in place of Lio Rush.

As for Lio, he's probably not gonna be the only one who'll want to tie himself to a specific promotion. Looking at what we're seeing with Matt Cardona right now, he's probably the hottest guy on the independent scene and he's everywhere. So more people might want to try and replicate that formula too.

[sek69]

Hey,  nothing wrong with betting on yourself. Lio has a budding music career, I can see him not wanting to be tied down if that starts panning out for him as well. 

Also I was thinking, would it be worth it for AEW have their TV partner carve them out a section of HBO Max?  They don't really have the back catalog to do a full WWE Network style streaming service, but as a section on an already established service they could get out in front of a bigger audience and don't have to deal with the headaches of making their own. 

[Zoo Enthusiast]

37 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Hey,  nothing wrong with betting on yourself. Lio has a budding music career, I can see him not wanting to be tied down if that starts panning out for him as well. 

Also I was thinking, would it be worth it for AEW have their TV partner carve them out a section of HBO Max?  They don't really have the back catalog to do a full WWE Network style streaming service, but as a section on an already established service they could get out in front of a bigger audience and don't have to deal with the headaches of making their own. 

Tony Khan has hinted at something along the lines of this in the past.

[strobogo]

Lio is very talented but seems like he's going to cause headaches for those in charge no matter where he goes. For right or wrong reasons, it seems like there's always some kind of controversy or drama around him.

[Loss]

I would think AEW would love to get on any emerging streaming service. That's guaranteed money. They probably wouldn't get anywhere near WWE-Peacock money because of the difference in both brand recognition and archive depth, but it would still make a lot of sense. I don't know how much their deal with FITE complicates that, or what the conditions are with TNT and TBS when it comes to streaming archived content. Right now, I believe all the episodes are in the TNT (and maybe TBS now too) app.

[Johnny Sorrow]

2 hours ago, Loss said:

I would think AEW would love to get on any emerging streaming service. That's guaranteed money. They probably wouldn't get anywhere near WWE-Peacock money because of the difference in both brand recognition and archive depth, but it would still make a lot of sense. I don't know how much their deal with FITE complicates that, or what the conditions are with TNT and TBS when it comes to streaming archived content. Right now, I believe all the episodes are in the TNT (and maybe TBS now too) app.

They're missing out on those of us who have cut the cord and only stream and watch network on antennas. The TNT and TBS aps only work if you type in your cable/ Satellite info. It's only for people with cable. 
I'd watch Dynamite if I could, but that's the big difference still between AEW and WWE that no one talks about. AEW Dynamite is only available to people with cable.
I can't imagine Khan isn't trying to figure out a streaming deal with some service. 

[El-P]

Peter Avalon's contract has expired. Remember when The Librarians were gonna kill whatever chances AEW had to be successful and how this was the worst thing ever and the proof the company was a joke ? Fun times (no).

Except more of these "contract has expired" as we reached the three years of the company (I mean, does anyone think Kip Sabian has a secured spot with all the new talents signed ? No offense to him of course, but he strikes me as a guy who won't get renewed while Penelope will). This could mean these guys and girls will mean more on the indies now too, so that can be a positive influx on the scene.

[Coffey]

6 hours ago, El-P said:

Peter Avalon's contract has expired. Remember when The Librarians were gonna kill whatever chances AEW had to be successful and how this was the worst thing ever and the proof the company was a joke ?

This feels hyperbolic to me. It was more "hey, this is the drizzling shits & you should stop wasting TV time on it." Which was a fair criticism, same with the Dark Order. And them letting Peter Avalon's contract expire, if anything, just makes it feel like those criticisms were justified to me.

Of course, also the roster is a lot stronger now than it was when AEW first started if I'm being completely fair. 

[El-P]

28 minutes ago, Coffey said:

And them letting Peter Avalon's contract expire, if anything, just makes it feel like those criticisms were justified to me.

It really had nothing to do with it honestly. He was always gonna be an enhancement talent, he's actually been in that super fun loser feud/tag team with Brandon Cutler which led to that epic draw, which is more than guys like Kip Sabian and most people only featured on the Dark shows can say. But he was just part of the first batch of talent that won't get renewed because the company is bloated right now and really even on Dark there isn't a spot for so many contracted people. 

Brian Cage is probably gonna be one of the next contracts not renewed too.

[Boss Rock]

Joey Janela is another one expected to not be re-signed. I never disliked him and he seems like a creative guy, but he was already getting lost in the shuffle even during the Daily's Place era.

It does seem like some of them not being re-signed may continue to be used here and there on a per-appearance basis. Probably what they're doing right now with Bear Country, J.D. Drake, and Skye Blue.

[C.S.]

Leva Bates is one of the rare wrestlers WWE used better than AEW, even if she was only a Hack Myers mascot type in NXT as Blue Pants.

Andrade might be on that list too, as he's been completely uninteresting and directionless, and he hasn't had any matches in AEW that come close to his NXT Title Match against Johnny Gargano (IMO).

[Timbo Slice]

Neither has Gargano, though, for that matter. Or most other wrestlers in WWE. 

[Big Pete]

9 hours ago, Coffey said:

This feels hyperbolic to me. It was more "hey, this is the drizzling shits & you should stop wasting TV time on it." Which was a fair criticism, same with the Dark Order. And them letting Peter Avalon's contract expire, if anything, just makes it feel like those criticisms were justified to me.

Of course, also the roster is a lot stronger now than it was when AEW first started if I'm being completely fair. 

That's how I remember it as well and the majority of those acts were relegated to Dark and then quietly taken off of television.

Orange Cassidy and The Dark Order are really the only acts of that kin that managed to get over.

[sek69]

Peter Avalon is like Janela in the sense his biggest value is outside the ring, He promotes on the west coast and could be someone who could funnel any up and coming talent their way.  Not saying they should have re signed him, but there's more to him than the Librarian Guy. 

At least the people who will be allowed to lapse have a healthier indy scene to go to now.

[El-P]

Most of Leva's work is backstage though. She has barely been an active in-ring talent forever (I know she just been on Dark, but it's been a long while).

[Alucard]

Leva is actually working a tag on tonight's Dark: Elevation, her first in-ring AEW appearance since March 2021

[KawadaSmile]

18 hours ago, Timbo Slice said:

Neither has Gargano, though, for that matter. Or most other wrestlers in WWE. 

True, that match was top shelf stuff. Saying Andrade's AEW is bad when you compare it to one of his best matches ever seems unfair. However, he did have a better match output in WWE - being paired with Rey Mysterio and having Zelina Vega to speak for him surely helped.

Still, I think there is hope. He is a great wrestler with presence, and it feels like he is one or two things away from putting it all together.

[Migs]

Amazing that you could sign a contract for 3 years and get to be in that place for 3 years!

Janela seems like he's going to seamlessly transition back into being an indy guy. (They set up him and X-Pac vs. Cardona and Myers last night at GCW.)

Cage didn't get signed until 2020, so if it was a 3 year deal, they've got a long way to go on that one.

I also wonder about the contracts of some of the guys who were much hotter at the start of AEW than now. Like, is Kaz taking a pay cut? Was his salary not enough to be worth negotiating him down in the scheme of things?

[Flyin' Brian]

On 1/23/2022 at 3:33 PM, Boss Rock said:

Joey Janela is another one expected to not be re-signed. I never disliked him and he seems like a creative guy, but he was already getting lost in the shuffle even during the Daily's Place era.

It does seem like some of them not being re-signed may continue to be used here and there on a per-appearance basis. Probably what they're doing right now with Bear Country, J.D. Drake, and Skye Blue.

Bear Country is a team I really like for some reason. I honestly wouldn’t mind them in the Varsity Blonds place at this point. 

[El-P]

9 hours ago, Flyin' Brian said:

Bear Country is a team I really like for some reason. I honestly wouldn’t mind them in the Varsity Blonds place at this point. 

The same. I would enjoy a team of big maulers to be pushed, plus they look different.

Funny how after that match with the Young Bucks, you had people going about how the Varsity Club should be pushed and given the belts, as they looked like stars and how their work had improved so much... totally not seeing the obvious reason why. I still think they have potential, although Pillman has not looked very good lately, but that one occurence where they looked a hundred times better than they actually are was all the Young Bucks being the greatest US tag team ever and working their magic. Like, it was so obvious. 

[KawadaSmile]

Tay's family made this vlog worthwhile. It's a shame not much was said about Brazil, specially considering they went to Recife, which is one of the country's most important cities. 

[Log]

On 1/23/2022 at 3:20 AM, Johnny Sorrow said:

They're missing out on those of us who have cut the cord and only stream and watch network on antennas. The TNT and TBS aps only work if you type in your cable/ Satellite info. It's only for people with cable. 
I'd watch Dynamite if I could, but that's the big difference still between AEW and WWE that no one talks about. AEW Dynamite is only available to people with cable.
I can't imagine Khan isn't trying to figure out a streaming deal with some service. 

You can stream TBS and TNT on apps like YoutubeTV, Hulu Live, etc.  

Or, just do what we did for years and get someone's cable login to use on the TBS/TNT apps.

[Boss Rock]

9 hours ago, El-P said:

The same. I would enjoy a team of big maulers to be pushed, plus they look different.

Funny how after that match with the Young Bucks, you had people going about how the Varsity Club should be pushed and given the belts, as they looked like stars and how their work had improved so much... totally not seeing the obvious reason why. I still think they have potential, although Pillman has not looked very good lately, but that one occurence where they looked a hundred times better than they actually are was all the Young Bucks being the greatest US tag team ever and working their magic. Like, it was so obvious. 

I think Griff Garrison has a ton of potential. If anything replace Pillman.

[sek69]

It's a "me problem" for sure, but I can't stop thinking Griff is the love child of Lenny Lane and WCW era Jericho. 

[sek69]

3 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Tay's family made this vlog worthwhile. It's a shame not much was said about Brazil, specially considering they went to Recife, which is one of the country's most important cities. 

She was posting pics on Twitter of her Dad just completely bro'ing out with Sammy and it was just adorable. Like I wanted them to adopt me because every shot of her family looked like they were all the nicest people on Earth.