Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[strobogo]

I really think the main issue is too much talent. NXT went through this when HHH was in full hoarding mode and it would take sometimes a year or more for even bigger name indie guys to get worked into the show, let alone unknowns and PC grads. There are only so many people that can fit into top spots at any given time.

[Migs]

12 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

If this truly happens, they have lost the plot. How can you drop the ball this bad? When he's easily getting great reactions, can speak very well and be charismatic for days? Like, compare the amount of Dynamite screen time and the reactions he gets in contrast to Danny Garcia, who they clearly have tried and are still trying to get over.

He's a Cody guy and wants to jump as soon as possible? That would be the explanation if they're not pushing him.

[Jmare007]

13 hours ago, Lukeless said:

 

To be honest, I think Starks might be leaving the company.  They take his title off him, have him get squashed in 5 minutes, and then when Hobbs cut his promo on Dynamite he said he was moving on and commentary didn't bring up Starks and only said what will Powerhouse Hobbs do next?

Oh man that would be terrible on some many levels.

[NintendoLogic]

1 hour ago, strobogo said:

I really think the main issue is too much talent. NXT went through this when HHH was in full hoarding mode and it would take sometimes a year or more for even bigger name indie guys to get worked into the show, let alone unknowns and PC grads. There are only so many people that can fit into top spots at any given time.

AEW booking has always centered around cycling guys in and out of the main event to prevent wrestlers and matchups from getting stale. And it was working quite well before the injuries started piling up. I'm not sure there's a better booking model for a national promotion.

[MoS]

Also, for what it is worth, Starks told Joe Lanza and the VOW group that he has re-signed for a number of years. So I do not even know why they decided to bury Starks like that. He is one of their greatest, most talented rookies. He should be getting spoilt, not looking after his own shoulder for safety reasons. 

[C.S.]

I hope AEW goes scorched earth and makes douchebag rape fantasy Spanish Justin Bieber lookalike and Jericho underling Sammy Gueverra the World Champion, just so I can sit back and soak in the lulz from the internet as it loses its collective shit.

As much as Sammy has channel-changing heat with everyone (including me right now), at least the little shit is halfway decent in the ring. 

The reign would flop harder than Randy Orton's first, but it would make for an amazing MJF coronation if he finally leans into the cheers and lets Jericho teach him how to be a face (lol).

[sek69]

I know he would be good at it, but man does babyface MJF feels weird. Like that dude is like pure essence of heeldom. 

[C.S.]

3 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I know he would be good at it, but man does babyface MJF feels weird. Like that dude is like pure essence of heeldom. 

The "Jew Boy" promo, even though it was ultimately a swerve, proves that MJF has the chops to be an amazing babyface. He just needs to turn his vitriol toward the heels. 

[sek69]

The fans seem to want him to turn too. Everyone gets the "hey, that guy's back" pop at first, but you would think the massive "You Were Right" chants speak volumes. 

[Jimmy Redman]

The MJF situation reminds me of The Miz.

Completely hateable heel character, total asshole, and very good at projecting that they are an asshole. BUT also has a compelling real life story that works as a babyface origin story, and they can even come off as "right" at times, because of how hard they work and how convincing they are.

To follow the logic, we might find that while MJF has a lot of genuine goodwill now and will get cheers and what not, that doesn't necessarily mean that the MJF character can or should be a babyface.

Even when he was doing the OTT fake babyface routine last week, I just kept thinking how bizarre he would be as a face. I think that was a decent way to handle it actually, do the cheap pops for the crowd to get it all out of their system, and he goes back to being MJF. 

[Jmare007]

One of the most underrated parts of the post All Out media scrum was Jericho talking about MJF. How they were texting back and forth after Max's last promo before he was gone for months, with Jericho telling him he was going to become a huge babyface and MJF telling him he didn't want that because he didn't even know how to be a big face, lol. Jericho told him that it wasn't that hard and he could teach him how to do a babyface comeback in the ring and that was basically it

[C.S.]

Reading this interview with Matt Cardona about AEW not signing him made me wonder if that was one of many little things that frustrated Cody Rhodes in AEW.

https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2022/09/13/no-aew-deal-led-to-death-match-cardona/

While in hindsight it was a blessing in disguise for both AEW and Cardona that he wasn't signed (he would've been relegated to Dark and Elevation duty by now, if even that, instead of refreshing his character and revitalizing his career with a hot indie run), it wouldn't surprise if me it chapped Cody's ass to see a bunch of useless geeks who are friends with Omega and/or The Bucks get signed while his buddy and a proven name got passed over.

 

[strobogo]

Cody had a dozen useless trainees get signed and like a 6 month vanity feud with his co-trainer. One dude not getting signed probably was no skin off his back.

[sek69]

48 minutes ago, strobogo said:

Cody had a dozen useless trainees get signed and like a 6 month vanity feud with his co-trainer. One dude not getting signed probably was no skin off his back.

People forgetting "All Friends Wrestling" really became a term thanks to Cody and pals. All the EVPs were guilty of getting their pals signed, but it seemed like Cody was especially bent on his guys getting featured as much as possible.

[Tetsujin]

14 hours ago, MoS said:

Also, for what it is worth, Starks told Joe Lanza and the VOW group that he has re-signed for a number of years. So I do not even know why they decided to bury Starks like that. He is one of their greatest, most talented rookies. He should be getting spoilt, not looking after his own shoulder for safety reasons. 

I don't think Khan believes he's burying Ricky. Yeah he was squashed (which was dumb) but the rivalry seems to continue and now Starks is more pissed off than ever, and Hobbs is his personal mountain to climb. Time will say.

[Coffey]

Man, that segment with The Firm was brutal. The women's tag wasn't much better - felt like they botched the finish. I don't know if Athena was supposed to stop Baker during the chair set-up or what but something got fucked up. 

[Embrodak]

4 hours ago, Tetsujin said:

I don't think Khan believes he's burying Ricky. Yeah he was squashed (which was dumb) but the rivalry seems to continue and now Starks is more pissed off than ever, and Hobbs is his personal mountain to climb. Time will say.

This is the problem with trying to get two guys over off of feuding with each other. Not only does one’s advantage necessarily come at the other one’s expense, but anything that gets bumped or shaved down for time screws with *both* of their pushes, instead of one.

A major problem here is they don’t really have a lot of people in the Ziggler or Balor stratum (not talking about their booking here, just their position), where they are big enough that feuding with them could theoretically get a guy over, but not big enough that it’s leaving money on the table to do so. Who could Starks feud with other than Hobbs right now, fucking Jericho? How has *that* worked out for anybody? Archer? Andrade? I guess Sammy Guevara could be fun, but he’s not exactly securely over, himself. If Adam Cole were healthy, he’d be a good option, but I’m not confident Tony would have Starks go over in the end.
 

Same for Hobbs, who’s he going to feud with? Orange Cassidy? Pac? Eddie Kingston could work, here, but he’s not as over as he was circa the Punk feud; he needs rehabbing, not being a stepping stone on someone else’s journey. Claudio is not a bad option, esp since Hobbs needs more improvement in the ring, but Claudio is not exactly a scintillating character you can have a blood feud with. Miro vs Hobbs would be fun if Miro were allowed to leave the timeout God has put him in more often - is he still hurt?

People are shitting on Jay Lethal in the other thread, and I understand the “sex pest” concerns, but this is *exactly* where he and others like him could be insanely useful to this company right now. They need guys with some name value who can go both in the ring and on the mic, who can work with the younger talent and help them get over and learn how to be stars.

[Flyin' Brian]

1 hour ago, Coffey said:

Man, that segment with The Firm was brutal. The women's tag wasn't much better - felt like they botched the finish. I don't know if Athena was supposed to stop Baker during the chair set-up or what but something got fucked up. 

Yeah, the Firm segment was one long information dump of exposition that didn’t really do much for anyone. Don’t know if it’s really necessary to say ‘this guy is going after this title, and this guy is going after that title’. Just do it. I don’t see any of those guys winning any of those titles anytime soon. 

[Dale Wolfe]

Miro is fit and healthy, for once, has tweeted a few times about not being used on TV, and has been shelved it seems

[KawadaSmile]

They should start making MIRO DAY tees 

[Flyin' Brian]

24 minutes ago, Dale Wolfe said:

Miro is fit and healthy, for once, has tweeted a few times about not being used on TV, and has been shelved it seems

Since Black left that feud fell through, guess they haven’t decided what to do next. He would make a great opponent for MJF when he wins the title. 

[Embrodak]

10 minutes ago, Dale Wolfe said:

Miro is fit and healthy, for once, has tweeted a few times about not being used on TV, and has been shelved it seems

Meanwhile, Tony can’t get enough of Garcia and Yuta.

 

Do Dark and Elevation actually generate any revenue for the company? Because they don’t seem to be doing a lot as developmental shows, and I was looking at the roster page and amazed at how many people seem to only wrestle there except for when Tony needs a squash match, like at least two million dollars of salary for YouTube shows that can’t be solvent from the ad revenue alone.

I was also amazed how many people were on the roster page that I can’t imagine what they’d do with. For all the talk of bloat, I have to say that the number of people I can imagine them squeezing good television out of is actually pretty small. Even including people I don’t like, like Best Friends or Andrade, I’m left with the notion that Tony does need more wrestlers, once some of these contracts run out.

[Dale Wolfe]

Before the injury they were treating Miro like a star, i can't get my head around him getting sidelined considering he's been fit for 6-8 weeks now

[KawadaSmile]

It's VOW, but what they say at the end falls in line with the "rough" or "tough love" remarks made about Omega's speech.

[C.S.]

Being "legit" means nothing in professional wrestling, Anthony, NOTHING. Try being entertaining, you bleeding wanker!