All Elite Wrestling

[NintendoLogic]

Power Slap got beaten out by 1000-lb Best Friends in the ratings. I'm honestly flabbergasted that TV executives would think there's an audience for something that's barely a step above Ow, My Balls. I suppose it's a relief that Idiocracy isn't actually a documentary...yet.

[El-P]

Well, it says that the guy knows nothing about pro-wrestling, for one. But it also says something about how pro-wrestling fans are perceived, for sure. And you know, it's not exactly completely undeserved either, let's be real. 

The fact it's already a complete flop is kinda comforting though.

[DMJ]

Definitely a 50/50 comment from the WBD COO. On one hand, it seems like they're happy with AEW's ratings on both networks (which surprises me because Rampage is far from the hit that Dynamite is). 

On the other hand, it shows that the people at the top don't really know a single thing about wrestling and its fandom, how broad the fanbase is and how many fans there are across the socio-economic spectrum, race and ethnicity, and age. Hell, I'll readily admit myself that I still largely ignore the number of women who watch wrestling and have always assumed that the audience is 90% men and 10% their wives/girlfriends/mothers. 

As was summarized in the Nitro book, they did studies at one point and found that so many of the preconceived notions of what a wrestling fan is were incorrect. This genius didn't even realize that families watch wrestling, I'd hate to know what he thought the average median income level was when, if you look at the prices of tickets (and even to watch AEW via cable), being a pro-wrestling fan has never been more expensive.

[Blehschmidt]

Running Man and Battle Royale will be big hits for TBS in a few years.

[MoS]

SO happy that WMD got their head out of their ass and have allowed Mark to appear on their network. Although I wish the opponent was someone who wasn't a complete mid and a perennial midcarder like Jay Lethal. But Lethal has a long history with the Briscoes, so it does make sense.

[Al]

5 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

Power Slap got beaten out by 1000-lb Best Friends in the ratings. I'm honestly flabbergasted that TV executives would think there's an audience for something that's barely a step above Ow, My Balls. I suppose it's a relief that Idiocracy isn't actually a documentary...yet.

Ow, My Balls would be a step up. More self awareness, less CTE and less chance of procreation.

[MoS]

8 hours ago, DMJ said:

Definitely a 50/50 comment from the WBD COO. On one hand, it seems like they're happy with AEW's ratings on both networks (which surprises me because Rampage is far from the hit that Dynamite is). 
 

I think this might be due to the context that ratings must always be measured against: 10 PM on Friday nights might be the worst timeslot for television ratings in the entire week, so just a terrible time for a channel to be airing any program. Combine that with what I am sure is the relative cheapness in producing and airing Rampage - unlike major sports or prime time dramas - and it might actually be a commodity WMD are very impressed with. 

[Migs]

3 hours ago, MoS said:

SO happy that WMD got their head out of their ass and have allowed Mark to appear on their network. Although I wish the opponent was someone who wasn't a complete mid and a perennial midcarder like Jay Lethal. But Lethal has a long history with the Briscoes, so it does make sense.

I think we're all ready for a good cry.

[sek69]

Mark is a stronger person than I am, I don't think I'd be emotionally capable of performing on national TV a few days after losing a close family member on their birthday. 

[The Thread Killer]

6 hours ago, Blehschmidt said:

Running Man and Battle Royale will be big hits for TBS in a few years.

I would totally watch the hell out of The Running Man. Especially if there was a celebrity version, like where you could get people that had been on Big Brother.

[delacroix]

9 hours ago, DMJ said:

On the other hand, it shows that the people at the top don't really know a single thing about wrestling and its fandom, how broad the fanbase is and how many fans there are across the socio-economic spectrum, race and ethnicity, and age. Hell, I'll readily admit myself that I still largely ignore the number of women who watch wrestling and have always assumed that the audience is 90% men and 10% their wives/girlfriends/mothers. 

As was summarized in the Nitro book, they did studies at one point and found that so many of the preconceived notions of what a wrestling fan is were incorrect. This genius didn't even realize that families watch wrestling, I'd hate to know what he thought the average median income level was when, if you look at the prices of tickets (and even to watch AEW via cable), being a pro-wrestling fan has never been more expensive.

Hasn’t it been a familiar refrain/punchline, pretty much forever, that TV executives don’t know shit? 

Honestly, at least in this case, I can easily imagine their thinking: Dana White is widely credited with making UFC into a hugely successful business, and one notable part of how he’s seen to have made that happen is with a reality show that came on right after wrestling. So now here Dana White comes with a new combat sport that he wants to build, and oh look, he’s got a reality show, and we just happen to have a popular wrestling show. It makes sense. Well, business sense. I won’t attempt to justify the moral aspect. Pretty sure television executives aren’t known for their morality, either.

[Coffey]

12 hours ago, MoS said:

 

Jay Lethal has looked nothing like that picture for a long, long time. 

[Cowboy Hats 4.0]

Was skimming Eddie Kingston's wiki and couldn't help but laugh/sigh:

 

Quote

Kingston made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the July 22, 2020 episode of Dynamite, where he faced against Cody for the AEW TNT Championship in a No Disqualification match, but lost. On July 31, it was announced that Kingston had signed a contract with AEW. On the August 22 episode of Dynamite, Kingston created an alliance with The Butcher and The Blade and the Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix). At the All Out pay-per-view, Kingston participated in the Casino Battle Royale, where he was lastly eliminated by eventual winner Lance Archer. Despite this, Kingston would claim that he was never eliminated from the match as he went under the bottom rope and began touting for an AEW World Championship match. On the September 23 episode of Dynamite, Kingston received his AEW World Championship match against his former friend Jon Moxley, where he was defeated after passing out to a chokehold. Kingston would later attack Moxley after the latter's match with Lance Archer on the October 14 episode of Dynamite, protesting that Moxley had never made him submit. Due to this, an "I Quit" match between the two was set up for the Full Gear event on November 7, which Kingston lost.

On the November 18 episode of Dynamite, the Lucha Brothers would turn on Kingston after he and Butcher and Blade attacked Pac. At New Year's Smash on January 13, 2021, Kingston was defeated by Pac. At Revolution on March 7, Kingston rescued Jon Moxley after Moxley's main event match against Kenny Omega, turning face in the process. The two would later resume their friendship and begin an alliance. Furthermore, Kingston would end his association with The Butcher and The Blade, after they were hired by Matt Hardy as part of his entourage. Over the next weeks, Kingston and Moxley feuded with Omega, as well as his allies The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). At the Double or Nothing event on May 30, Kingston and Moxley challenged The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but were defeated. After Moxley took an absence for the birth of his first child, Kingston allied with Pentagón Jr. to face The Young Bucks for the championship in a Street Fight at the Road Rager event, but they were defeated. Kingston eventually began a feud with Miro, whom he challenged for the TNT Championship at All Out, though he was defeated.

After his loss to Miro at All Out, he participated in an eight-man, single elimination tournament for an opportunity for the AEW World Championship, where he would be eliminated in the semi-finals by Bryan Danielson in a critically acclaimed match.

 

[NintendoLogic]

On 12/17/2022 at 12:17 PM, NintendoLogic said:

There's also a good chance someone at WBD saw a picture of them wearing Confederate flag jackets and decided that was the last straw. Incidentally, have either of them apologized for that?

I wanted to come back to this since the latest Observer confirms that the Confederate flag ring gear was a secondary reason for the ban, which is why it extended to Mark. It also reports that Mark is now cleared to appear on WBD stations going forward and Wednesday wasn't a one-shot deal. In addition, his belief that his brother is in a better place is the reason he's been able to hold it together. I'm far from a believer in any kind of religion, but even I can hardly fault someone for finding comfort in it in a situation like this.

[Jmare007]

Jeff Jarret's role in the company continues to grow bigger

If they keep it small and simple this could help a good number of wrestlers.

[Embrodak]

On 1/27/2023 at 6:46 PM, NintendoLogic said:

I wanted to come back to this since the latest Observer confirms that the Confederate flag ring gear was a secondary reason for the ban, which is why it extended to Mark. It also reports that Mark is now cleared to appear on WBD stations going forward and Wednesday wasn't a one-shot deal. In addition, his belief that his brother is in a better place is the reason he's been able to hold it together. I'm far from a believer in any kind of religion, but even I can hardly fault someone for finding comfort in it in a situation like this.

Yeah I was thinking this was probably not a point in their favor. The Confederate flag is always a racist symbol, but based on the rainbow coalition of wrestlers singing Jay’s praises, I think they’re maybe the rare breed that truly bought into the “heritage not hate” propaganda.

[KawadaSmile]

Please TK let this man cook. PLEASE

[Sean Reedy]

I'm choosing to start consuming AEW like it's 1998 Worldwide at this point and enjoy the crazy matches. Very excited for Bryan and Rush in that context 

[Jmare007]

Has there been any conversation about if or how The Elite has lost their drawing power? Since Omega returned there hasn't been any real difference in business and TV rating for their segments are just like anyone else's. Haven't heard about merch sales in a while too.

Y'all think they can get it back once they get into a real feud/angle in the coming weeks/months or did they peak and that's about it?

 

It's a fascinating contrast with Cody, who has become a legit big ass draw for WWE in a way we haven't seen anyone do (not named Cena/Rock/Reigns) in long, long time.

[Migs]

35 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

Has there been any conversation about if or how The Elite has lost their drawing power? Since Omega returned there hasn't been any real difference in business and TV rating for their segments are just like anyone else's. Haven't heard about merch sales in a while too.

Y'all think they can get it back once they get into a real feud/angle in the coming weeks/months or did they peak and that's about it?

 

It's a fascinating contrast with Cody, who has become a legit big ass draw for WWE in a way we haven't seen anyone do (not named Cena/Rock/Reigns) in long, long time.

I don't think they've really been put in a position to draw since coming back. But I think the ultimate answer is different for Omega and the Bucks.

Based on the US numbers for Wrestle Kingdom and tickets sold, Omega is absolutely still a draw for a big match. Presumably they'll go back to ones with him at some point, and I think there's a lot still on the table for him.

The Bucks I'm less sure. When Omega took time off, they burned a lot of time in an ultimately directionless angle with Undisputed Era. The engagement in their character work has fallen off (is anyone watching BTE anymore?) and they're mostly out of dream matches unless someone jumps from WWE. They've teased going back to a story with Hangman, but I'm not even sure that would be a "draw" since I'd think most of the people who'd care about that are still watching AEW (that's part of the issue for them as a measurable draw - their fans were the baseline). I still love their work, and they're still an overall valuable part of the show (I'd be less likely to watch if they were gone for good), but I'm not sure they can drive things upward much now.

[El-P]

18 hours ago, Migs said:

I don't think they've really been put in a position to draw since coming back. But I think the ultimate answer is different for Omega and the Bucks.

Yep. 

Plus, there are trying to establish a championship that really doesn't have a history of being seen as a big deal in US wrestling. And it's been an uphill battle. I loved every second of the best of 7 series, but the truth is, these championships should be made akin to legit main event material to really matter and they are far from it right now. It's like the audience is rather taking it as a transition period for the Elite, having awesome matches in the meantime while waiting to go back to the actual main event scene in more meaningful feuds (for Omega at the very least).

[Embrodak]

I think there’s also a possibility that maybe some portion of the very online audience sees them as the ones that pushed CM Punk out.

[Timbo Slice]

It’s a way for Tony to get the best of both worlds. The ability to run Punk/FTR when Punk comes back, and at All Out, if everyone is healthy, finally, Elite/Undisputed Elite. 

[NintendoLogic]

Step 1: fuck around

Step 2: find out

[Cowboy Hats 4.0]

Apologies if this has been covered here, but I didn't see reference to it. Marc Maron has had wrestlers on his podcast in the past (at least Punk, Cabana, Foley, and AJ Lee), though those were probably like eight or nine years ago now. He's 59 and despite those guests and starring in GLOW, has never been interested wrestling, but for some reason, whether it's a need for content for his new subscription service and/or something nice to do for his ~40-something producer, a lifelong fan, Marc is leaning into wrestling a bit. He attended the AEW show in Los Angeles last month and is apparently doing a weekly podcast looking at the wrestling of the week (I've been listening since 2010, but not subscribing to this, at least yet). And from the AEW show comes one of this week's podcast...condensed versions of interviews with TK, Jericho, MJF, Kingston, and a few others.

WTF Episode 1408

Quote

As documented in the Wrestling With Marc series on The Full Maron, Marc undergoes a full immersion into the world of professional wrestling when his producer Brendan suggests Marc explore something totally new to him. With help from All Elite Wrestling, Marc learns the ropes and everything in between. Featuring talks with wrestling legend Chris Jericho (9:20), AEW owner Tony Khan (59:40), returning WTF guest Colt Cabana (1:33:30), referee Bryce Remsberg (1:37:35), AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (1:45:40), and the Mad King Eddie Kingston (2:01:25).