AEW TV - 11/8 - 11/11: Insert Veterans Day Joke Here

[Timbo Slice]

Looking forward to seeing how not full the Oakland Arena will be on Friday for whatever weird combo of talent Tony uses. 

[The Thread Killer]

20 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said:

Looking forward to seeing how not full the Oakland Arena will be on Friday for whatever weird combo of talent Tony uses. 

Hopefully they can draw more fans than the Oakland A’s did this past season. Whenever I watched a game from Oakland, it looked like the pandemic was still in full swing. Either that, or TK can threaten to move AEW to Vegas.

[The Thread Killer]

LOL when Hangman attacked Swerve as revenge for invading his home…there were noticeable and audible boos for Page. He’s just not a sympathetic character. Mostly thanks to shitty booking.  Plus, people just want to cheer Swerve…and Nana is helping with that. The dance is over, Bubbas. 

[The Thread Killer]

How often is Joe smaller than his opponent?

[SirEdger]

Looks like TK is gonna book his version of Trish & Mickie with Toni Storm & Mariah May.

 

And finally, some developments with The Devil storyline.

[sek69]

I'm starting to think the Devil is going to end up being Jack Perry. Clearly any time out for whatever the hell happened with Punk should be done with by now, and it would be a way to work him back in as a top guy. 

[Johnny Sorrow]

I'm currently laid up with a work injury and decided to try and watch Dynamite for the first time in awhile. I tapped out during the Jericho/ Omega and Bucks backstage bit that was the topper of shitty acting. The show sucks. Swerve and Nana ruled and jumped off the screen as the only performers with any sort of pizazz.

[sek69]

I love how Swerve's gimmick is like a psychopath and Nana somehow makes it even better. The crowd doing the Nana dance got a pop from me.

 

Speaking of the crowd, based on reports I was expecting a late era AWA crowd but it looked......fine? Last minute walkup? Creative camera work?

[WingedEagle]

Didn't the masked guys at the end look like Strong, Taven & Bennett? 

[Blehschmidt]

I'm going to laugh my ass off when the Devil ends up being Britt Baker, pissed off cause Max stole her man.

[Jmare007]

4 hours ago, sek69 said:

Speaking of the crowd, based on reports I was expecting a late era AWA crowd but it looked......fine? Last minute walkup? Creative camera work?

According to Wrestle Tix (which has become the source for attendance numbers) the had 4.7k last night and were running a Buy 1 got 2 Free promotion in the last couple of days. The number is slightly below what they did last time in the same building for a live Rampage in January (5k).

 

I've seen Collision shows that had 2-3k in attendance that sounded like really hot crowds, I think AEW just got better at miccing up the crowds.

[Timbo Slice]

They’re running arenas but only really selling camera side tix. 

[MoS]

They booked these arenas a long time back, at a time when the promotion was really hot, and now if they try to cancel and move to smaller venues, I am guessing it will cost them a significant chunk of money (deposits and all)

[Dale Wolfe]

Is there any sign of future shows going to smaller venues yet? I think it'd be interesting to see them in a Hammerstein ballroom or something even if it's a bit of a step-down fiscally 

[El-P]

19 minutes ago, Dale Wolfe said:

I think it'd be interesting to see them in a Hammerstein ballroom or something even if it's a bit of a step-down fiscally 

I was thinking about that. I would love to see AEW in smaller places with truly hot crowd. That would give them this "cult" atmosphere which is much more fun than them having a "WCW circa 1991" feel. Hell, bring me AEW in the old IMPACT Zone (which they used for the early ROH tapings). Give it a very distinctive look and feel. They are in a TV rights business, not a live event business. Make big live events an event every time and make the TV the best and most cool they can. I loved the early AEW shows at Daily's Place. 'member, when AEW was cool, young fresh and new ?

[Jmare007]

As long as they can be creative enough to make the show look cool and top tier, I don't see the harm in booking smaller places for a while.

There's got to be places that can hold 2,000 to 4,000 seats that can be made to look special/cool on TV, you add a hot crowd to that setting and it will give a better impression than a half empty NBA/NHL arena. Now, I don't know if there's enough creativity to make those venues look that way, but I'm sure that can be done if enough effort is put on it. The problem would be downsizing and immediately looking like a 2nd tier promotion.

 

[El-P]

Lucha Underground was basically a studio wrestling show and it looked like the coolest shit ever. AEW does not even has to do that, but the issue with pro-wrestling is that the presentation is always the same, pretty much has been for 25 years. The first AEW design looked a bit different from WWE and it was cool, with the TNA tunnels and such, but they never went back to the WCW themed show production either (although I understand it takes money to throw out). When they switched to blu and red with a giant screen, they felt more than WWE-lite even from a visual standpoint, and now that they book half-empty building, well they definitely look second rate. We're not even talking about reinventing the wheel here, but there's no out of the box thinking in term of pro-wrestling presentation, because WWE has just monopolized not just the market, but the minds too. It's kinda boring. Maybe the new TNA will try new stuff, it's not like they have the same pressure.

[EnviousStupid]

Hated the Dynamite opener with MJF/Garcia. I appreciate them trying to make it feel like something noteworthy in the short span of time they built to it, though seeing the story going in be Garcia showing up as the 'professional wrestler' and then watching MJF consistently get the better of him feels so disgusting. It's great if the intent was for Maxwell to live up to the HHH comparisons, but idk if they could've gone about the match in a worse way with the time they were allotted. 

[Stiva]

I say this quite regularly but the Daily’s Place look was the best and probably the most I’ve ever dug AEWs presentation. They made the most of every single inch of that place

[El-P]

The Bunny gone. Talk about a waste. She did a few things early on, but they never even began to tap into what she was able to be. That's the perfect picture illustration of what has been one issue with the women division focusing on only two of three names at a time because there's just no TV time for more. I hope she goes back to TNA where she can actually shine as a character.

[El-P]

1 minute ago, Stiva said:

I say this quite regularly but the Daily’s Place look was the best and probably the most I’ve ever dug AEWs presentation. They made the most of every single inch of that place

Yep. That was peak AEW in term of feeling uniquely different. Totally got me through the pandemic too.

[Coffey]

Man, not just The Bunny but they missed a goldmine, imo, with The Butcher & Blade too. That whole group felt like old school pro wrestling. 

[El-P]

I like Butcher & Blade quite a bit, but they did get a lot of TV time for a while, more than anyone would have expected at first really. I always enjoyed them as that gatekeeper team, and with ROH around, I sure would have enjoyed them being featured over there more prominently. In AEW though, it's as far as they were gonna go. No idea for how long they are around still, I sure would not mind to see a reunion in TNA, the big fish in small pond stuff would work wonders there, especially against smaller guys who would make them looks like monsters.

All things considered, and despite the big missteps with the first weeks of Copeland being over-focused on and *gasp* Flair showing up, this has been a really solid build-up to Full Gear. I feel like getting more PPV will make things easier for booking toward a goal, which is something that has hurt them in the past (including having to wait forever to do such and such match that was supposed to happen but did not because of injury). Dynamite was high quality of matches and focused promos toward very clear match-ups at the PPV. Can't ask for much more really. Swerve looks like a surefire world champ more and more with each passing week. The Gunns have to be some of the most improved of the year, ditto Julia Hart & Skye Blue. Glad to see Red Velvet back too. Mariah May is an excellent catch, hopefully used well (more TV time for women Coach TK. That's still much needed. Making progress in term of character work though).

[Mr Wrestling 2000]

On 11/10/2023 at 3:07 AM, El-P said:

The Bunny gone. Talk about a waste. She did a few things early on, but they never even began to tap into what she was able to be. That's the perfect picture illustration of what has been one issue with the women division focusing on only two of three names at a time because there's just no TV time for more. I hope she goes back to TNA where she can actually shine as a character.

On her blogs shes talked openly about how she struggles with mental stuff that makes it hard to wrestle, Shes also had a few concussions and broke her orbital bone recently so maybe shes retiring. If she can live on an onlyfans all the more power to her, this is not a dig or a joke she just started one. I personaly also hope she goes back to TNA because im a big fan and would miss her.

 

 

[El-P]

Mental health issues suck. Hopefully she does what's best for her.

That Rampage crowd was pretty hot. Roddy Strong is all about saying words with intensity. Talk about a creative shake-up for the guy who had the "great worker, no character" stigma for most of his career. I'm totally behind the 2.0 & Outcast sitcom drama. FTR vs Vikingo & Komander was terrific and much better than I expected considering the clash of styles. Wheeler (Cash, not Yuta, damn, and AEW got three ADAM too ?) seemed more at ease doing lucha spots than Dax. He also has been hitting the gym hard lately it seems, look at the guns on this guy (see what I did ?). FTR vs House of Black is also something I can get behind yesterday.