All Elite Wrestling

[joeg]

On 8/17/2019 at 9:39 AM, ...TG said:

IIRC, FS1 runs a Big East college basketball doubleheader on Wednesday nights. If they're unwilling or unable to break that contract for NXT, that may explain offering it to USA.

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

[El-P]

5 hours ago, PeteF3 said:

Meltzer is reporting that AEW has signed Tony Schiavone. 

The "WWE bound" Tony Schiavone.

5 hours ago, Migs said:

This has been quite the couple of years for Tony.

Yeah, and I'm so glad. When I was watching MLW last night I was thinking how cool this was to have Tony back in the field and how he would fit perfectly with AEW. Really cool signing. Tony at his best is probably my favourite play-by-play guy (I realize he probably won't do that though).

[FMKK]

Ah great news for Tony if it all turns out. He'd be perfect for those backstage/control centre segments and the odd guest commentary position, presuming he isn't going to be in the booth full time.

[goodhelmet]

We have discussed getting those lapsed fans. Putting Tony in a booth on TV with JR and Excalibur makes sense. AEW can't be deaf to the criticisms that Marvez has been receiving so i can see Marvez moving to the backstage role. With JR, you have the face and voice of wrestling at its biggest peak. With Tony, you have the voice of WCW on TNT for so many years. Excalibur is the darling voiceof the indys. That team would be the perfect mix of having your cake and eating it too. 

[Migs]

59 minutes ago, goodhelmet said:

We have discussed getting those lapsed fans. Putting Tony in a booth on TV with JR and Excalibur makes sense. AEW can't be deaf to the criticisms that Marvez has been receiving so i can see Marvez moving to the backstage role. With JR, you have the face and voice of wrestling at its biggest peak. With Tony, you have the voice of WCW on TNT for so many years. Excalibur is the darling voiceof the indys. That team would be the perfect mix of having your cake and eating it too. 

I actually think Tony would be great paired with Excalibur - he has all those years of experience working with Ross, who worked a very similar style where he ate up a lot of the conversation.

[FMKK]

Pittsburgh and Charlestown, West Virgina for the next shows

 

https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1163473610025160704?s=20

[sek69]

Welp, looks like I'll be one of those chumps trying to get tickets for AEW when they go on sale. 

BTW, the Petersen Events Center is a great venue for them. It's in the city on the Pitt campus, it's a newer building, and it's one of those "not a bad seat in the house" kind of places. 

[FMKK]

Running campus venues is obviously a concerted strategy for them

[El-P]

AEW Monday Dynamite Parties. Soon on Youtube.

[sek69]

While I get the argument that Dave has made that running secondary venues makes you look second rate, Running mid-sized building that are full of people comes off much better than WWE having to tarp off the top level or two every week to keep up the illusion.  If they were running in that venue next to the Jaguars' stadium every week that  might come off as second rate, but it's as if everyone forgot what made Nitro the cool show to watch before the nWo showed up was that they would be in places the WWF wouldn't go to and in buildings they wouldn't run in. It looked different, and provided a visual hook to grab people who were flipping by. 

[Ricky Jackson]

I like the idea of running college campuses and developing an atmosphere for their TV shows that makes them seem hip, while the outdated WWE style becomes the modern equivalent of the smoke-filled hall Vince supposedly rescued fans from back in the 80s. Yes, I've been, to varying degrees, a lifelong WWE fan, but deep down I want their arrogance and complacency to bite them in the ass big time in the war with AEW. 

[Log]

18 hours ago, Ricky Jackson said:

I like the idea of running college campuses and developing an atmosphere for their TV shows that makes them seem hip, while the outdated WWE style becomes the modern equivalent of the smoke-filled hall Vince supposedly rescued fans from back in the 80s. Yes, I've been, to varying degrees, a lifelong WWE fan, but deep down I want their arrogance and complacency to bite them in the ass big time in the war with AEW. 

My sentiments exactly.  I don't know how a rational wrestling fan can be happy with what WWE has put out the last few years.  I don't mean in-ring action.  There's been a ton of great stuff there.  I just mean in terms of storytelling and presentation.  I hope AEW succeeds for a couple reasons: 1) More good wrestling for me to watch for free and 2) Hopefully, an improvement to Vince's product.  

 

Wrestling, in general, needs a kick in the pants, IMO.  I've said here before, I feel that the presentation of wrestling has gotten really stale.  Everyone has a heel authority figure.  Everyone has a Titantron-type screen on their entranceway.  Commentators sound the same.  Every wrestler has a designated pose they have to hit on their entrance.  Now, unfortunately, AEW is falling into a couple of these things already.  I hope they can find some actual unique ways to present themselves.  Let's get a shakeup already!  C'mon!

[sek69]

AEW: We're here to present an alternative to wrestling fans tired of WWE's product!

WWE: *puts out even more product as a counter*

I mean....I'm not going to claim I know more about professional wrestling than Vincent Kennedy McMahon, but how can he not see this plays directly into their hands? This isn't 1986 where you can burn out the market for a Crockett show by running a 6 hour Superstars taping the day before. 

[Slasher]

55 minutes ago, sek69 said:

AEW: We're here to present an alternative to wrestling fans tired of WWE's product!

WWE: *puts out even more product as a counter*

I mean....I'm not going to claim I know more about professional wrestling than Vincent Kennedy McMahon, but how can he not see this plays directly into their hands? This isn't 1986 where you can burn out the market for a Crockett show by running a 6 hour Superstars taping the day before. 

Because he is operating under the premise that you can only watch one thing at a time. If he can pull 1 out of the 10 people that was going to watch AEW out of curiosity on Wednesdays, that is worth it to him. Will it work in the long run? Eh he won't be putting AEW out of business this way, but actually developing NXT as a third brand to make serious cash on? Maybe.

 

I mean, I assume that was the intent when he made it live. That restricts the fans' ability to watch AEW and catching NXT later that night on the Network. He is forcing them to make that choice. And I can't picture AEW winning that battle in EVERY home.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Slasher

[sek69]

Yeah but he's acting as if we're in a world where DVRs don't exist. I work Wednesdays and I'll be recording AEW to watch when I get home and catch NXT on the network the next day. 

He got USA to give them more money for NXT, so good on him for that at least. The idea that running live opposition means folks are locked in to only watching one or the other in 2019 might be the biggest "Vince is out of touch" moment so far, since it's feeding directly into the narrative he's trying to combat. 

[Slasher]

Can't disagree with that.

[El-P]

To me the odd thing is that people seem to forget that AEW's audience, for now, at its core, is a total anti-WWE crowd. It's not like there's a fight to get "these" people. They are ether people who are pro-wrestling fans who are not WWE fans (aka me for instance) or guys tired of the WWE product. It's not like putting NXT face to face with AEW is gonna drag *those fans* away.

And as far as grabbing the mainstream audience, for AEW we don't have any idea yet, but for WWE things are very clear at this point : they don't draw the mainstream audience at all. They can't even keep their own audience. So, I dunno, to me the whole NXT move should not worry AEW too much as of now. There is gonna be a saturation of WWE product on the airwaves, and that can't be any good for a company who already has this "uncool" feel about it from the hardcore audience. Not to mention the risk of destroying what was NXT's special appeal to the hardcores with turning it into just another WWE weekly night of TV. 

[Slasher]

El-P, I did not realize you took polls and had focus groups that confirmed what the core of AEW's audience is made of. Any chance you can share?

[sek69]

I mean, it's not hard to gauge what their audience is there for. It's why Cody did the throne smashing bit, it's why they do references to Vince's out of touch mindset on Being the Elite. It's why Cody has been doing everything to shape AEW as a modern-day update of NWA territorial wrestling. He would know better than most there were millions of wrestling fans in the past who weren't into the WWF/E product. He knows (and the ratings bear out) more and more people are tiring of current WWE. 

Obviously they weren't the first group to try to tap that market, but the stars aligned for them to be in the right place at the right time with a financial backer equal to Vince who actually has an understanding of the business. 

[El-P]

9 hours ago, Slasher said:

El-P, I did not realize you took polls and had focus groups that confirmed what the core of AEW's audience is made of. Any chance you can share?

Actually, Meltz mentioned several times statistics about either AEW PPV buys or tickets sales (not sure which one, so don't quote me on that) and how it barely overlapped at all with WWE buys. The overlap was mostly with UFC events and also partly with NJPW events. But basically, the people who bought AEW PPV/tickets were not the same people who would buy WWE events.

And yeah, add in to that the approach by Cody, Omega & the Bucks on BTE, which is from where the audience has been built in term of the core of the core. 

[Slasher]

Interesting. As sarcastic as I sounded, I was genuinely curious about this. Thanks. 

 

I was thinking there would be some bored WWE fans who might catch AEW on TV, but the more I think about it, it isn't likely. The fanbases have done a good job, I think, of alienating the other, and so AEW will have their fans and WWE theirs. 

[DMJ]

Its anecdotal, but I liken it to the "major indy" here in Cleveland - AIW (Absolute Intense Wrestling). 

AIW runs well-attended shows that bring in people I'd consider "non-wrestling fans" - basically hipsters and heshers who hear about the experience and go see it one time, have a blast with the people-watching and beer-drinking and chanting, and end up going to at least one show a year. These people don't follow WWE or really even AIW - they're people who get caught up in the entirety of the experience.

There's also another category - the small percentage of AIW "converts" (these would usually be WWE fans who go to AIW shows) who actually, over time, become mega indie fans that practically stop following WWE entirely. I have two buddies who started a wrestling zine (Wrestle Void) that I'd put into this category. While they still keep abreast of WWE stuff, they're much bigger fans of the indie scene and they're "all in" on AEW. (In fact, they're hosting a party for All Out at a local restaurant/bar, which is something they'd never do for a WWE PPV, even Mania)

In summation, even in a microcosm like Cleveland where the WWE is king, there is a healthy alternative promotion here that runs successful shows and has been doing it with mostly homegrown talent for years. On a national level, AEW can absolutely exist as an alternative in the same way. And while there will always be an overlap - just as there was with WCW and WWE - AEW also has the possibility of bringing in some eyes (the hipsters and heshers) that have zero interest in the WWE and never will.

[Slasher]

That's terrific that now there's truly something for everybody now.

[sek69]

I know I keep banging on it, but lets not forget there was a whole generation of fans who grew up watching and liking non WWF/E wrestling and they didn't just cease to exist when WCW went away. 

[Coffey]

I wonder how many people will check out AEW solely due to them being more all inclusive?

I imagine the Saudi Arabia deal at least bothers some people as it pertains to WWE. And that's not mentioning a lot of the other things over the years that haven't looked exactly stellar for them as a business.