All Elite Wrestling

[joeg]

On 3/23/2021 at 11:22 PM, MoS said:

There's a definite overlap between who used to post at DVDVR 15 years ago and who posted and post on this board. Plus, this board is easily the closest spiritual successor modern online wrestling discussion spaces have to the old DVDVR. So he is probably at least aware of Loss and Will and their board 

Yeah. I was never on DVDR but I was on puroresufan, crazymax, and puroresu.tv and couple of others. When those places went down, everybody from there sort of migrated here. I feel like this is the last surviving public forum of informed wrestling discussion thanks to Charles.  

[MoS]

 

Hopefully he powerbombed the kid right through the cashier's table 

[El-P]

You wouldn't call Kip Sabian a geek IRL. Because Penelope would kick your ass.

[MoS]

57 minutes ago, El-P said:

You wouldn't call Kip Sabian a geek IRL. Because Penelope would kick your ass.

Harsh but fair 

[Dav'oh]

I love the "you wouldn't say that to Brock's face"-type comment you find on the social medias. Like pro-wrestlers have diplomatic immunity when it comes to assault and battery on the man on the street a third their size. And like Brock's willing to do jail time over some gimp laughing at the phallus on his chest...same for Penelope (although I think El-P's comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek): some wrestling fan calls Sabian a geek (!!!! the ironing is delicious), she's gonna launch into a physical assault? Nah man. She'd say "show me your cock" and the fan would go red in the face and scurry off.

[sek69]

Yeah but...I wouldn't say shit to Brock's face though. Yeah he'd face consequences but I don't think whatever settlement I'd get would be worth the probable lifetime pain and paralysis lol.

[Dav'oh]

Do you not think the days of wrestler-on-fan violence (and fan-on-wrestler violence) are long gone? And I'm not talking, "telling Meng or a Watts employee wrestling's fake in a bar at night", just a simple "shit tatts, 'roidboy" (or "Sabian's a geek"). I just think a) a pro-wrestler's first reaction to copping grief from sek69 or Dav'oh is not violence. I'm pretty sure that's their last resort. Because b) there's too much to lose by punching a person-in-the-street's nose through the back of his skull.

If I strutted over to Brock and asked "is that a cock on your chest or are you just happy to see me" (I know, it doesn't quite work...), Brock would point to his wife and laugh, he'd point to my physique and laugh (unfairly, I must say), he'd ignore it and continue ordering his stanazabol, or whatever. He's not wasting his time or energy on a non-starter like me. And if pain (me) persisted, he'd call for security to deal with me.

Go for it, I say (if you're that way inclined ).

[El-P]

4 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

 (although I think El-P's comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek)

Oh, you think ? ...

Funny story about "You wouldn't tell that to Brock Lesnar" is how Marc Mero tells the story of him finding out who Rena was dating. He goes like "I"m gonna kick that guy's ass ! Then I find out it's Brock and I'm like, Hey, you guys got my blessing !"

[NintendoLogic]

It wouldn't surprise me if wrestlers in WWE and AEW were specifically instructed to stand down if some idiot tries to get in their face. These days, laying a finger on someone outside the ring is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

That reminds me of something I've always wondered about. Are there any actual documented incidences of Bill Watts firing someone for losing a bar fight?

[TheDuke]

 The first 4 minutes or so of this video is a promo from Darby Allin followed by a promo from JD Drake about their match on Wednesday.  I like this and wish they did this for more matches. It also helps because I haven't heard JD Drake before and helps for me to know more about them.

[MoS]

 

Some good points raised by Meltzer about how they often do teases and then not follow up on them at all 

[MikeCampbell]

I think one of the biggest issues with AEW's booking is that they have so many guys on the roster, and only two hours of TV. And before anyone starts talking about Dark, it does a fraction of what Dynamite does as far as views go. Dark Elevation's numbers are a bit better, but still a long way off. If Dynamite is Raw, Dark and Dark Elevation are Heat and Velocity, not Smackdown.

 

My cousin and I came up with a list of people that AEW could probably cut tomorrow, and most fans probably wouldn't bat an eyelash about it.

Joey Janela

Sonny Kiss

Dr. Luther

Serpentico

Pineapple Pete

Billy Gunn (as a wrestler, keep him in the school or have him manage his kids)

Peter Avalon

Leva Bates

Bear Country

Jack Evans

Angelico

Christopher Daniels (again, only as an active wrestler, keep him backstage doing that stuff)

Michael Nakazawa

Mel

Big Swole

Evil Uno

Stu Grayson

Colt Cabana

Ivelise

JD Drake

[TheDuke]

I'm pretty sure Pineapple Pete was only there short term and has been gone for months.

[C.S.]

4 hours ago, MikeCampbell said:

Sonny Kiss

Sonny is money - I definitely wouldn't cut him.

Mostly grossly underutilized talent in AEW.

I'd also keep Daniels in an on-air, in-ring role.

Ivelise seems good, but I guess the dreaded "backstage heat" has derailed her here too like it has everywhere else.

[Badlittlekitten]

JD Drake and Bear Country look different from everyone else. Like men. I'd definitely keep them. And Stu and Uno are probably in the three best tag teams in the company. Wouldn't miss anyone else on your chopping block. They DO need to let some people go. Are at least find a better way to consistently and effectively manage what they've got.

[Coffey]

I would keep Leva Bates as a valet & Angelico. I don't think Uno/Grayson are bad, their gimmick is just the shits.

[Ryan Faulconer]

AEW could just decide not to use all the non-contracted guys and that would tighten up the lower card extensively.   The fact that they have kept the roster at the size it is may serve as advertising aimed at prospectively unsigned or those currently signed elsewhere. If they cut a bunch of wrestlers off their roster it doesn’t look like the happiest place on earth for any sexy future signings.

They probably also do not want to trim the roster during the pandemic.  On the outside Tony K sounds like a different kind of boss in the pro wrestling game.  They might also just be waiting to have fans back at a healthy capacity before they stop using so many unsigned or lowest tiered performers.

[Ryan Faulconer]

I didn’t want my post to go on and on like a Young Bucks match.  Here are some reasons to keep those recommended for the unemployment line.

Joey Janela - He seems like someone more important for live crowds.  He is probably the least talented guy in AEW. I like  the team with Sonny as a Dark mainstay.

Sonny Kiss is unique but unlike Joey he is uniquely talented.  He could be spun into a different tag team by throwing darts at the AEW roster blindfolded.

Chaos Project is slept on. They are just undercard guys.  Serpentico can do double duty.  I always understood that Luther is also helping book or run the locker room, although I can’t recall where I heard that.  They have had a lot of good matches on Dark and “play their role”.  
 

Billy Gunn is well liked as a trainer.  It never hurts to have someone with his success in the organization and mingling with young talent.  He should do that as a trainer only though.  He is much larger than 98% of the roster and he has far too many wins for what he brings to the AEW table.  I’d get rid of his kids pretty quickly which might be his sole motivation for the job.

Peter Avalon feels like another guy hired to do multiple things.  He should make for a quality cult jobber.  Maybe his Pretty Picture stable will suit him better than his Christopher Walken/SNL character.  His pageant felt like it was written on the way out the heel tunnel.  He is simultaneously under developed and over developed.

Leva Bates definitely has more than one job.  I loved The Initiative but her character should have been so much more... and the team could have won the “Dark tag titles”...or the regular ones too, why not?

Bear Country and JD Drake are each so new.  I would make them all elite as soon as they want to sign.  
 

ivelisse might be on her way out anyway.  If she isn’t dangerous or a locker room cancer she deserves a spot talent-wise. 

This is going a bit long.  I’ll do the rest later, hopefully.

[MikeCampbell]

Just to be clear. I’m not advocating anyone being cut. I’m just saying these people are used so sporadically that most people probably wouldn’t notice or really care. 

[strobogo]

Seriously like 70% of the roster is exclusive to the Youtube shows. And both versions of Dark get so few viewers, it seems like such wasted money and effort. It's good that a lot of these young talents are getting a place to work and get paid during all this, but also....why are you signing Big Show to do commentary for a show that gets maybe 30,000 viewers on Youtube? This is definitely a WCW style lol what did they spend money on type of decision. Big Show is probably getting paid more than the entire roster on the show any given week. Show's signing in general is weird to me. It's always helpful to have a vet and all, but I'm not sure what he has to offer to a roster where the biggest monster is about the size of Jake Roberts and they all do moonsaults and dives every week.

 

Even among the people that are on TV regularly, most are either doing the same angle for 10 weeks or floundering around in mini angles that go no where and are dropped with no explanation or blow offs. AEW's booking is as dull, repetitive, and dumb as WWE's they just have talent that are happy to be there and haven't had the passion pounded out of them so it has an energy that still makes it mostly enjoyable if you just tune in every 3-4 weeks. 

[Enforcer]

First time poster here. Really looking forward to discuss AEW with you. 
 

Judging by the results from The house always wins, we ca now add DDT to the list of promotion that AEW are working with. 

[Boss Rock]

I'd love if they could bring Takeshita in full time.

[Enforcer]

I love Takeshita, would also love if they could bring him in full time but I would settle for a small run if they can’t. 

[joeg]

On 4/9/2021 at 5:00 PM, MikeCampbell said:

I think one of the biggest issues with AEW's booking is that they have so many guys on the roster, and only two hours of TV. And before anyone starts talking about Dark, it does a fraction of what Dynamite does as far as views go. Dark Elevation's numbers are a bit better, but still a long way off. If Dynamite is Raw, Dark and Dark Elevation are Heat and Velocity, not Smackdown.

 

My cousin and I came up with a list of people that AEW could probably cut tomorrow, and most fans probably wouldn't bat an eyelash about it.

Joey Janela

Sonny Kiss

Dr. Luther

Serpentico

Pineapple Pete

Billy Gunn (as a wrestler, keep him in the school or have him manage his kids)

Peter Avalon

Leva Bates

Bear Country

Jack Evans

Angelico

Christopher Daniels (again, only as an active wrestler, keep him backstage doing that stuff)

Michael Nakazawa

Mel

Big Swole

Evil Uno

Stu Grayson

Colt Cabana

Ivelise

JD Drake

Lets remove Daniels, Ivelise and Drake and add-

Alex Reynolds

Alan Angels

The Acclaimed

Brandon Cutler

The Gunn Club

Top Flight

Kip Sabian

Lee Johnson

Matt Sydal

Preston Vance

Nyla Rose

Abandon

 

You don't need a dozen job guys and a dozen small flippy guys. A handful of each will do. 

[Zoo Enthusiast]

On 4/9/2021 at 9:17 PM, Badlittlekitten said:

JD Drake and Bear Country look different from everyone else. Like men. I'd definitely keep them. And Stu and Uno are probably in the three best tag teams in the company. Wouldn't miss anyone else on your chopping block. They DO need to let some people go. Are at least find a better way to consistently and effectively manage what they've got.

It’s such a shame that SSB had those visa issues right as they were starting to take off in the states.  If they had been able to work in the US during those pre-AEW years, there’s no way Stu and Uno would be on anyone’s cut list.  They’re an awesome team.

I also like Drake and Bear Country.  If I was a wrestling company, I don’t think I’d release Joey Janela but at the same time I don’t think the AEW aesthetic works with him at this point and I’d be thrilled to go see him consistently on the independent scene again.