Coffey Posted April 1, 2021 Report Share Posted April 1, 2021 30 minutes ago, Loss said: I would like for them to take a step back and stop chasing moments that people forget as soon as they happen. I don't have any real sense of where AEW would like to be a year or even six months from now in terms of what they're setting up. It will hopefully not be a case where we reach the end of 2022 and Jungle Boy, Will Hobbs, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara and others are still being groomed for a future that never seems to arrive. This is such a good point. Even Darby Allin, whom seems to be really popular right now, just feels like the host body for the parasitic vampire Sting to suck the sustenance from. I say fuck it, turn Sting heel & have Darby topple him. You have to pull the trigger. You can't just always dangle the carrot. AEW does have some pretty cool moments, even the bathroom brawl from this last AEW Dynamite was good. The popcorn & dipping dot brawl from like a year ago was great, too. There's a lot of good stuff but none of it really feels like it's sticking & a lot of the time, the good shit is bookended with two different goofy segments like the fucking Best Friends getting dropped off by their mom in a minivan or whatever-the-fuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted April 1, 2021 Report Share Posted April 1, 2021 I'm an Omega fan but I have such a bad TNA taste in my mouth still that I just can't really get into that aspect of things too much. Like, I haven't watched a single episode of Impact because of it, and I don't watch AEW every week either I like the belt collector aspect, but it feels like they haven't really played that up as much as they should be. I don't watch BTE, Dark or Elevation on a regular basis either, but I know Omega rarely comes out with the AAA Mega belt and they don't seem to hype up him going for the Impact title much on Dynamite, which is the one part of the cross promotion stuff I actually care about, capturing f'n belts!!! I do think they probably should have changed plans and kept the belt on Mox until fans were back. I'm sure they had years of booking for the world title planned already, but they could have adjusted. Omega as champ seems like it would have worked better with crowds of diehards and on the timeline they were on pre-pandemic. As a TV product it feels like they should have gone with the "if it ain't broke...." principal. I seem to recall Khan talking in interviews about how they have years of macro booking already mapped out and have had to pick and choose when to change things I also think the explosion dud def hurt them, but they just need to soldier on. What's done is done, it hurt them short-term, if they put on a good product it won't matter long-term Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 9 hours ago, Loss said: I would like for them to take a step back and stop chasing moments that people forget as soon as they happen. I don't have any real sense of where AEW would like to be a year or even six months from now in terms of what they're setting up. It will hopefully not be a case where we reach the end of 2022 and Jungle Boy, Will Hobbs, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara and others are still being groomed for a future that never seems to arrive. I fear its going to be like WCW. Jungle Boy, Hobbs, Starks, Guevara, MJF, Darby, etc spend the next several years cutting their teeth in AEW but never get above the upper midcard and end up jumping to WWE ala Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Saturn, etc. did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Anything could happen, but I would bet against it going the WCW route if for no other reason being the guy in charge has specifically noted WCW as something he learned from in terms of not following the footsteps of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 The doom & gloom talk about AEW gets so ridiculous sometimes. Darby Allin already has the n°2 Title in the promotion. And Sting isn't "leeching off", like Sting needed to leech anyone off at 62, they put him together with Darby because they think he's still got a superstar aura and that it helps Darby. MJF is leading the N°1 heel faction in the promotion. He's feuding with the former N°1 heel faction in the promotion, led by former AEW champ & legend Chris Jericho. Guevarra is obviously gonna come off this one as a hot babyface (and Wardlow as a hot heel) Jungle Boy looks ready for bigger things for sure. He's 23. He's gonna be ok if his pig push comes at 24/25. Ricky Starks is also ready for bigger things. They seem to go toward a feud with Cage. Not everyone can work at the top of the cards, they are stacked. Will Hobbs is green. He's nowhere ready for anything but midcard stuff, and honestly I don't see why he should do more than he does now, he's not a great worker nor a great talker nor a great character yet. The AEW title is not gonna go to any of these dude anytime soon you've also got guys like Eddie Kingston & Fénix who could be pushed at that level and quite frankly they are much more ready. Not to mention Hangman Page, who's been the designated "AEW original" for the job eventually. AEW has too many talent for the time they have on their TV show (not considering Youtube). WWE has taught so many bad lessons over the years, but people need to be patient too. Plus, AEW obviously would want the return of the crowds to really gauge who is actually getting over, not to mention it helps the perception on TV. Also, the idea that any young talent would go to WWE because they are unhappy with their push is the most hilarious thing in 2021. Apart from ridiculous money, (which they don't give to everyone either), no young talent working in AEW now would gain anything from going to the opposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 At this point, I think Darby has to be the one to take the belt off Omega tbh. He’s the only guy that feels ready to be pushed to the top considering how special his matches feel and how over he is. He also has that Foley quality where he can remain strong in defeat because it takes so much punishment to actually pin him that he wouldn’t lose much if Miro took the TNT title off him and completely murdered him in the process. Then he could come to Moxley’s aid against Omega by doing a 360 Benihana from the roof of Dailly’s Place and he’s good to go. As for Jungle Boy, Jurassic Express feels like an albatross round his neck now. I think he doesn’t need to split from them per se but I think he should be positioned as a predominantly solo act who teams with the others rarely. I actually agree that the MJF/Jericho thing is designed for Sammy to be the guy who comes out of it the strongest. Wouldn’t surprise me if he gets the win in whatever big match is coming up with the factions. These guys are all positioned well enough and kept strong but there definitely needs to be steps made to remind people that these sorts of guys are the future and feature them more often. I’d have thought an easy tap-in would have been to do vignettes showing Page growing into the leader of the Dark Order, maturing out of his insecurities and gaining that mentality he needs to win the big one which he’s been missing. Instead, they had him ride a lawn mower around and waste time with Matt Hardy’s Midcard Maniacs. Britt Baker getting more promo time out of a loss feels like the right step to me. Reminds me of when Austin would always be allowed a good chunk of time to speak and get over on Raw in 97, even when he’d been beaten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 8 minutes ago, Stiva said: As for Jungle Boy, Jurassic Express feels like an albatross round his neck now. I think he doesn’t need to split from them per se but I think he should be positioned as a predominantly solo act who teams with the others rarely. Agreed. Luchasaurus is going nowhere. He's a cool little gimmick but not a good worker at all, but he can tag team with Marko and they're both better off that way. I think they are waiting for the crowd to come back though to trigger a serious Jungle Boy push (for the audience heat translating through TV). 8 minutes ago, Stiva said: At this point, I think Darby has to be the one to take the belt off Omega tbh. He’s the only guy that feels ready to be pushed to the top considering how special his matches feel and how over he is. He also has that Foley quality where he can remain strong in defeat because it takes so much punishment to actually pin him that he wouldn’t lose much if Miro took the TNT title off him and completely murdered him in the process. Then he could come to Moxley’s aid against Omega by doing a 360 Benihana from the roof of Dailly’s Place and he’s good to go. I don't think he's totally there yet in term of status. Also, to me it's much better to establish the TNT title as important on his own instead of it just being a stepping stone for the AEW title. Having two strong titles like NJ used to have with the IC title (or ECW with the TV title which, when Douglas or RVD had it, was basically as important if not more than the ECW Title). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 On 3/31/2021 at 9:29 PM, MoS said: The rollercoaster ride of AEW's inconsistent booking continues. This week we have Christian's first match, and I, much like everyone else, expect it to die in the ratings You were of course badly wrong about this: Quote Christian Cage’s in-ring debut against Frankie Kazarian was the star performer for AEW doing 844,000 viewers and 396,000 in 18-49. It was AEW’s peak in viewers, 18-49, male 18-49, female 18-49 male 35-49 and female 18-34. NXT opened with Roderick Strong vs. Cameron Grimes which did 678,000 viewers and 255,000 in 18-49. It was NXT’s peak with women 18-34. Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 I should be clear that I think AEW is handling all of those guys just fine right now. My point is that I hope they pull the trigger on all of them when the time comes to do it instead of them being like Sting where they spent 10+ years as "future stars" and are never actually booked to get all the way there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Well, that's unfortunate. Apparently people tuned in to see if Christian still had it, and well, quite frankly I thought he looked sloppy and the match went way too long, and then they turned the show off, which only got better after that match. I love AEW, and I want nothing more than for them to be a viable alternative to the absolute garbage that WWE has become, but unless live crowds returning increases interest in the product, I just can't put my finger on what they can do to make that happen. Wrestling isn't "cool" anymore (not that it really ever was, but that mid to late 90's surge had some steam) and while I have no issue with the Rhodes Reality Show, I can't think that's gonna do it. Maybe the NXT move will help, if the people watching it who aren't the WWE Elitist Mouth Breathers give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 If the star quarter is not getting any viewer to watch the show after the first quarter is done, then I am not sure that's a positive for Christian's signing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Quarter 2 was the QT thing. Quarter 5 was the Omega match. I do not remember what the 3rd quarter had, but clearly, for whatever reason, there was a drastic decline in viewership in the 3rd quarter, which declined even more in the 5th and 7th quarters. If the street fight main event had not brought back viewers, Dynamite might very well have lost to NXT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 56 minutes ago, MoS said: Quarter 2 was the QT thing. Wait wait wait ! The QT thing ? ..... You mean the Cody Rhodes segment with QT. Of course, since it lost tons of viewer, it's the QT thing ? (hey, I'm not blaming anyone, like I said I pretty much loved the entire show) Also, funny how the perception of some was "aww, that ending is just bullshit with Best Friends & Sabian who are geeks and more ECW style brawling they do every week".... yet it drew the best quarter after the first one. So there is why no one should ever correlate bad or good ratings with what they like in an attempt to rationalize their opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 1 minute ago, El-P said: Wait wait wait ! The QT thing ? ..... You mean the Cody Rhodes segment with QT. Of course, since it lost tons of viewer, it's the QT thing ? (hey, I'm not blaming anyone, like I said I pretty much loved the entire show) I meant the full QT heel turn. Yes it did lose a ton of viewers, but the next quarter lost even more viewers, so I was thinking more about that quarter and absentmindedly typed the QT thing lol. I am honestly not sure what happened. Clearly I was wrong about Christian's segment doing poorly in the ratings, but then something happened that just turned off like 200,000 viewers, most of whom didn't come back until the final quarter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 6 minutes ago, MoS said: I am honestly not sure what happened. Clearly I was wrong about Christian's segment doing poorly in the ratings, but then something happened that just turned off like 200,000 viewers, most of whom didn't come back until the final quarter Maybe they got bored by the Christian match after it was done. I mean, I can picture some people watching that first match, think it was boring (disclaimer : I enjoyed the match quite a bit) and switch off the show, especially since the following announced segment was QT (... against Cody !). One thing is obvious, those people who left were not 18-49... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Wasn't Moxley's match vs Cezar Bononi in Quarter 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 18 minutes ago, SirEdger said: Wasn't Moxley's match vs Cezar Bononi in Quarter 3? Looked it up and yeah, quarter 3 was a Page/Sky video, a Red Velvelt interview leading to a beatdown by Jade, and a Mox promo and the jobber match. The match honestly went way longer than it needed to, including through a commercial break, so it makes sense that viewers would tune out by the droves. Not sure why none of them came back though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Just watched the show and the main event put a huge smile on my face. Jim Cornette and people like him can eat a fat dick, I love post-modern wrestling when it's done well. I marked out huge for the Legos and Tony putting over how painful they are if you step on them, "reminds me of the 90's, bunch of rugrats running around" lmao. They did fail on commentary to point out that Kip at one point had several Legos stuck into his flesh ala thumbtacks......that was surprising that between the 3 of them nobody realized they should put that over them using the Pixies is so weird. I'm a huge Pixies fan but I feel like a song that well established, that's already associated with the end of Fight Club by so many people, maybe shouldn't be used as rasslin theme music. time will tell. It'll definitely be a sing along crowd pleaser when live crowds are back, and maybe it'll get Kim Deal on tv in 2021 Christian-Kaz was good. Christian looked a little rusty on a few spots, but I enjoyed the match. Really strong show beginning to end. Loved the trios match, I think Kenny's selling of the Michinoku driver might have been my second favorite thing on the show. It fired him up and pissed him off which led to the finish and he continued to sell it after the match and talk shit to Laredo Kid. I hope Laredo Kid becomes a regular, he's looked great in these matches What's up with Pac? I heard he's injured but are they still going to do him and Fenix vs. the Bucks? Fenix mentioned Death Triangle in their promo but there wasn't any mention of Pac that I noticed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 15 minutes ago, cm funk said: and maybe it'll get Kim Deal on tv in 2021 Paz Lenchantin. She rules too. 15 minutes ago, cm funk said: I hope Laredo Kid becomes a regular, he's looked great in these matches What's up with Pac? I heard he's injured but are they still going to do him and Fenix vs. the Bucks? Fenix mentioned Death Triangle in their promo but there wasn't any mention of Pac that I noticed Laredo Kid is one of the best AAA guys. I sure hope he shows up regularly. Pac is injured, so I guess that has been put on hold sadly. Guy can't catch a break. 15 minutes ago, cm funk said: I marked out huge for the Legos and Tony putting over how painful they are if you step on them, "reminds me of the 90's, bunch of rugrats running around" lmao. What was interesting is that when they dropped Legos on the mat, you could almost hear JR going into his old grumpy mode and here's Tony flying to the rescue putting it over big time in a super smart way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 I'm looking forward to finally checking out Christian's big debut match this weekend. To no one's surprise, it scored huge ratings. 45 minutes ago, cm funk said: What's up with Pac? I heard he's injured but are they still going to do him and Fenix vs. the Bucks? Fenix mentioned Death Triangle in their promo but there wasn't any mention of Pac that I noticed What's up with Pac? Who knows. This has to be one of the "big signings" Tony Khan regrets the most - unless Khan got Pac for a bargain price, like one of those memes with pictures of wrestlers where you have $15 to spend and can blow $7 apiece on two main eventers and get Pac for the remaining $1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Tony talked at Bash at the Beach '96 about how the damage you can do with a rubber shark compared to other weapons. He also famously said that hay can be abrasive to the skin. That doesn't surprise me in the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 The reason the QT / Cody angle lost so many viewers is because it is one of the worst beatdowns I've saw on any wrestling show since the lockdown. Cody has too much heart to fight his friend, oh look a deeply week right hook knocks out Arn Anderson somehow. Arn. Then the fight after it, is there a single blow that looks like it would hurt at all? Really poor execution on that one. Anyway I am still watching for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 There are a few things that I find curious really. why is the sound compression on the MJF/Jericho segment 8 or 9 times worse than that of the Team Taz one directly before it, why is everything garden furniture, is JR commentating from a different location to everyone else? Or did they just give him a shit headset The polish isn't there is it. Main event pretty cool though love the lucha bros Edit- not the main event Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Of course Kenny Omega got the pin Hope moxley stiffs him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted April 2, 2021 Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 Probably more of a general comment than anything to do with this show but it's surprising how few people have taped wrists or elbow pads now & I think it's often to their detriment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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