Tetsujin Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 White vs Darby was fucking great man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 It's wild that 2 matches in as an AEW talent, Okada is more interesting than he's been in like 5 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Super disappointing rating at first glance. Yes, a big NBA night but this show had been hyped for weeks and presumably a sizeable audience knew what to expect. https://x.com/wrestlenomics/status/1768393297083445342?s=20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Presumably, yeah, but why wouldn't you advertise Mercedes Moné ahead of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 Let's wait for the quarter hour breakdown. Mercedes was in the opening segment, so I'm willing to bet viewership fell off a cliff between Q1 and Q2 and never recovered. Either way, it was still #3 on the night for cable, so there's no need to press the panic button just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 26 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Let's wait for the quarter hour breakdown. Mercedes was in the opening segment, so I'm willing to bet viewership fell off a cliff between Q1 and Q2 and never recovered. Either way, it was still #3 on the night for cable, so there's no need to press the panic button just yet. Â I wouldn't press the panic button for a long time. They're essentially rebuilding with a lot of new faces on top and shouldn't overreact to anything. But I still find this number disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 The only number that mattered was the attendance, which was at the very least 7.7k paid (probably ended up at 8k) and close to 10k total in attendance. Ratings were never going to move for something that was never advertised. This is not 2021 anymore, AEW is cold as fuck when it comes to weekly TV, they were not debuting a new show and even the not announced return of Punk was better promoted with waay more wink wink silly stuff (plus, him coming back after 7 years + all the drama during his time out was bigger than Mercedes simply debuting in another company). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 53 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Let's wait for the quarter hour breakdown. Mercedes was in the opening segment, so I'm willing to bet viewership fell off a cliff between Q1 and Q2 and never recovered. Either way, it was still #3 on the night for cable, so there's no need to press the panic button just yet. The start of the show had a slightly higher start (it's been in the mid to high 900's since late January). The Young Bucks continue to be ratings death. Okada gonna have to do some heavy lifting with their carcass. Â Main event did horribly as expected too. It will take a long ass time for a match like that one to not make AEW fans chance the channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 LOL at everyone, attending fans and viewers at home being SICK of Jericho. Why is this man this heavily featured? It's 2024, man. I struggle to think of a reason why AEW needs this man at all right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 3 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: LOL at everyone, attending fans and viewers at home being SICK of Jericho. Why is this man this heavily featured? It's 2024, man. I struggle to think of a reason why AEW needs this man at all right now. Jericho is a key factor in AEW existing since he was a name TV execs remembered from WWE. Without him and JR, they probably don't get a TV deal or at least not one near the level they got with TNT/TBS. As such I'm assuming TK is keeping him around as a sign of gratitude since as stated there's fuck all other reason to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Yeah, booking the United Center and not announcing Punk's debut and just being cute about it works when you are hot. It doesn't work when you are cold and in your rebuilding phase. They should have had ads about her debut running on every TV space they could find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 7 hours ago, Jmare007 said:  Main event did horribly as expected too. It will take a long ass time for a match like that one to not make AEW fans chance the channel. Should have sold it strongly for two hours like "We have been told Mercedes might appear! She has a massive interest in this match!" As it is, there were hints, but @Loss has pointed on Twitter multiple times that presenting wrestling and promoting wrestling are two separate things. That's a lesson TK needs to learn. In any case, as brother NintendoLogic pointed out, they were still number 3 for the night, so while the number is definitely disappointing, it's not disastrous or bad. Eric Bischoff panicking about a few disappointing ratings was how the downfall of WCW really started after all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 While not a good thing, this show's ratings decline over the course of the night was basically me, the perfect encapsulation of my own preferences when watching AEW. - I was psyched for Mercedes' debut. I didn't necessarily love the promo, but whatever. It felt like a big deal to me and I tuned in for it. - I'm a Samoa Joe mark. Love him as champion. Was hoping for and did get a Swerve appearance to continue their feud. Again, no complaints really. I'm going to tune in for a Joe match whether his opponent is Wardlow or some jobber. - Okada wasn't just the missing ingredient in the Young Bucks' new act, he's the star of it now. I'm here for it. - Ospreay/Danielson hype? Yessir. - Jay White vs. Darby Allin. Again - I'm pretty much game for anything that Jay White does these days and Darby Allin always brings the goods. I'm not changing the channel at this point. And then.... Jericho is just so, so, so overexposed. I'm not nearly as down on him as others, or, maybe a better way of saying it is that I haven't been off the bandwagon as long. There were still times in the past 3 years where I've found him interesting or enjoyed his stories and promos. But he's been cold for a long time now and really needed to disappear at least 6 months ago. In fact, had he disappeared 6 months ago, him returning on a show like this would've probably been a pretty cool moment. He is moldy. He is wrestling mold. He has just been in the environment too long for anyone to not only miss him, but to feel excited to see him. No aura. No momentum. And, personally, I think HOOK has been overexposed a bit too and clearly needs to be working with very, very good workers to make him look better than he is - which is HOOK vs. Joe worked and HOOK vs. Brian Cage didn't, at least for me. Willow vs. Riho probably wouldn't main event an episode of Rampage, let alone Collision, let alone one of the biggest TV shows you've put on all year. That match was going to tank the rating because it is not a legitimate offering as a main event. Also, even if you're teasing Mercedes' appearance all night, I don't think a Mercedes/Willow showdown is "must see." Now, had this been a Toni Storm vs. Willow match, for example, you'd have had the title on the line leading to Mercedes showing up - with appearances by Julia Hart, Statlander, Thunder Rosa, Deonna, Deeb, etc. - and that could've been a cool closing segment where you basically have all your top women in the ring together, the champion (and maybe the audience too) now realizing that the AEW women's division landscape has changed and that you're cooking with gas. But that wasn't it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Sometimes you need to do things like the Willow/Riho main event as a way of establishing the women as main event level stars in AEW, even if there are some early pains. Feels like AEW has been staying the course well since the CC when it comes to getting their male roster sorted out and it’s reaping results now (they’re using talent across the three shows really well now IMO) and they have to do similar for the women. Especially if Baker and Hayter are to come back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 35 minutes ago, Stiva said: Sometimes you need to do things like the Willow/Riho main event as a way of establishing the women as main event level stars in AEW, even if there are some early pains. Feels like AEW has been staying the course well since the CC when it comes to getting their male roster sorted out and it’s reaping results now (they’re using talent across the three shows really well now IMO) and they have to do similar for the women. Especially if Baker and Hayter are to come back i get that, but at the same time, there's more prominent matchups than that one to chose for a main event spot for a show like this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 15 Author Report Share Posted March 15 Danielson/Shibata on Collision. Because why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Considering Ospreay is probably gonna be the most dangerous one Dragon is gonna have this year, make sense he wants to have the Shibata one out the way ASAP just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 2 minutes ago, Jmare007 said: Considering Ospreay is probably gonna be the most dangerous one Dragon is gonna have this year, make sense he wants to have the Shibata one out the way ASAP just in case. You say that as if Bryan isn't itching to test his CTE against Shibata's own CTE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said: You say that as if Bryan isn't itching to test his CTE against Shibata's own CTE. Oh for sure, but my point is that Dragon probably wants to have that test first instead of waiting till after him and Ospreay do dumb shit (to our delight) for 30 minutes in April, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnviousStupid Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 On 3/14/2024 at 12:02 PM, NintendoLogic said: I'm already sick of the "CEO" chant. 2 mins of her entrance was enough for me to hate the song choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnviousStupid Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 It's far too early to say this seriously, but Okada may end up being their best signing in terms of taking a high-profile star and doing something completely distinct from his previous work. Putting him with the Bucks does well to hide the weaker aspects of his in-ring game nowadays, while also highlighting things that had been seen only sparingly like his comical side or speaking primarily English confidently. For me, it's probably the most interesting story to come from AEW this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 17 Author Report Share Posted March 17 Jesus CHRIST what a match that was. More than lived up to the billing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 17 Report Share Posted March 17 40 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said: Jesus CHRIST what a match that was. More than lived up to the billing. Bryan's shit eating grin after the finish was amazing, his face was like "yeah we fuckin did that". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 17 Report Share Posted March 17 On 3/15/2024 at 7:54 PM, EnviousStupid said: It's far too early to say this seriously, but Okada may end up being their best signing in terms of taking a high-profile star and doing something completely distinct from his previous work. Putting him with the Bucks does well to hide the weaker aspects of his in-ring game nowadays, while also highlighting things that had been seen only sparingly like his comical side or speaking primarily English confidently. For me, it's probably the most interesting story to come from AEW this year. Heel Okada is the greatest thing I never knew I wanted. Being a cocky dickhead with the Bucks was a brilliant move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted March 17 Report Share Posted March 17 Does TK have the balls to book Okada vs Shibata rematch in 2024 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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