Will be interesting to see who long term is in the AEW title picture.
They've thrown Christian in there, but in reality he wasn't going to have Omega's number twice.
I could make cases for any of; Black, Rhodes, Page, Punk, Allin, Archer, Jericho, Cole, Danielson, Miro and more, all based on different things, some of them being the best wrestlers around, a couple of them to make them absolute stars you can build an empire on, obviously a couple of names that would make sense in a marketing perspective, and some older stars that could get one final run before handing over the torch.
I look at WWE and I don't see who will dethrone Reigns, other than Lesnar, and most of the other big names just aren't a draw, or are stuck in tag team purgatory
Wild prediction, but I can see a situation where Reigns holds onto the belt for 2-3 years.
Will be interesting to see who long term is in the AEW title picture.
They've thrown Christian in there, but in reality he wasn't going to have Omega's number twice.
I could make cases for any of; Black, Rhodes, Page, Punk, Allin, Archer, Jericho, Cole, Danielson, Miro and more, all based on different things, some of them being the best wrestlers around, a couple of them to make them absolute stars you can build an empire on, obviously a couple of names that would make sense in a marketing perspective, and some older stars that could get one final run before handing over the torch.
I look at WWE and I don't see who will dethrone Reigns, other than Lesnar, and most of the other big names just aren't a draw, or are stuck in tag team purgatory
Wild prediction, but I can see a situation where Reigns holds onto the belt for 2-3 years.
And drops it to The Rock at WM 39 in California?
I still couldn’t see that happening. Is The Rock realistically going to stick around to defend the belt…?
About 5 years ago I was adamant that WWE had a potential megastar main-eventer on their hands with Finn Balor.
His ability and background appealed to the die-hards. He’s an incredible looking lad who you could put on a billboard. And he had a superb gimmick (the demon), which perfectly fits WWE’s model of selling merch, appealing to younger audiences, and you could build storylines around it. Literally had everything.
And after he had his injury, they just didn’t seem to want to bother with him.
Will be interesting to see who long term is in the AEW title picture.
They've thrown Christian in there, but in reality he wasn't going to have Omega's number twice.
I could make cases for any of; Black, Rhodes, Page, Punk, Allin, Archer, Jericho, Cole, Danielson, Miro and more, all based on different things, some of them being the best wrestlers around, a couple of them to make them absolute stars you can build an empire on, obviously a couple of names that would make sense in a marketing perspective, and some older stars that could get one final run before handing over the torch.
I look at WWE and I don't see who will dethrone Reigns, other than Lesnar, and most of the other big names just aren't a draw, or are stuck in tag team purgatory
Wild prediction, but I can see a situation where Reigns holds onto the belt for 2-3 years.
Will be interesting to see who long term is in the AEW title picture.
They've thrown Christian in there, but in reality he wasn't going to have Omega's number twice.
I could make cases for any of; Black, Rhodes, Page, Punk, Allin, Archer, Jericho, Cole, Danielson, Miro and more, all based on different things, some of them being the best wrestlers around, a couple of them to make them absolute stars you can build an empire on, obviously a couple of names that would make sense in a marketing perspective, and some older stars that could get one final run before handing over the torch.
I look at WWE and I don't see who will dethrone Reigns, other than Lesnar, and most of the other big names just aren't a draw, or are stuck in tag team purgatory
Wild prediction, but I can see a situation where Reigns holds onto the belt for 2-3 years.
And drops it to The Rock at WM 39 in California?
I still couldn’t see that happening. Is The Rock realistically going to stick around to defend the belt…?
About 5 years ago I was adamant that WWE had a potential megastar main-eventer on their hands with Finn Balor.
His ability and background appealed to the die-hards. He’s an incredible looking lad who you could put on a billboard. And he had a superb gimmick (the demon), which perfectly fits WWE’s model of selling merch, appealing to younger audiences, and you could build storylines around it. Literally had everything.
And after he had his injury, they just didn’t seem to want to bother with him.
I think Big E is a potential giant star. Fergal Devitt off to AEW!
Strowman had mad heat a few years ago and that wasn't capitalised on. Who else is there? Sheamus is a great worker but her won't life the title again. It'll be reins and Lesnar on repeat
Strowman had mad heat a few years ago and that wasn't capitalised on. Who else is there? Sheamus is a great worker but her won't life the title again. It'll be reins and Lesnar on repeat
Orton will get another couple of runs with a world title, maybe they'll try and heat up Drew again, if they work on his in ring ability Vinny Mac won't be able to resist putting the belt on Omos at some point, Seth Rollins is probably my favourite wrestler on the whole roster, but every time they put him at the top it just doesn't work, and they've managed to completely fuck up people like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor and Cesaro, Karrion Kross looks like the next one to be cast aside by Vince after a couple of weeks too
His podcasts are too long for me and i find reviewing something you don't like tedious. I just watch the YouTube section of the bits i'm interested in.
RK-Bro is a class angle. If you want to talk about childish angles lets start with the stadium stampede.
The stadium stampede matches were ridiculous, but I’d give a little bit of leeway on the basis of it being during the middle of a pandemic and AEW needing to be creative without a crowd full of fans. I wasn’t a massive lover, but at least it was something new that they were willing to try.
His podcasts are too long for me and i find reviewing something you don't like tedious. I just watch the YouTube section of the bits i'm interested in.
It's one thing I miss about commuting, I used to listen to both of his, Jr's, Bruce's and sometimes Bishoffs. I don't really get time for both of Jim's any more.
Although I actually have more time to watch wrestling, swings and roundabouts I suppose.
83 weeks is my favourite podcast, being someone who loved WCW it's nice to hear the record being set straight after 20 years of history being written by the victors. Also Eric is very open with his mistakes, apart from Starcade '97! JR can be a tough listen, he's clearly still heart broken and won't get over what happened. Jeff Jarrett's is class and Bruce can be over protective of his current employer.
Can't seem to post the video from Facebook, but saw a video this morning of Mick Foley saying he thinks WWE has a big problem because their creative is so poor & up & coming wrestlers now have a legitimate alternative.
He finished the video by saying if he was a young wrestler now & had the choice, he wouldn't be signing with WWE.
Can't seem to post the video from Facebook, but saw a video this morning of Mick Foley saying he thinks WWE has a big problem because their creative is so poor & up & coming wrestlers now have a legitimate alternative.
He finished the video by saying if he was a young wrestler now & had the choice, he wouldn't be signing with WWE.
Can't seem to post the video from Facebook, but saw a video this morning of Mick Foley saying he thinks WWE has a big problem because their creative is so poor & up & coming wrestlers now have a legitimate alternative.
He finished the video by saying if he was a young wrestler now & had the choice, he wouldn't be signing with WWE.
He's not wrong
It's totally irrelevant though.
There is firstly a limit on how many people AEW can actually use.
The WWE put on about 1000 live shows a year, I doubt AEW does 10% of that? Nor will in the foreseeable future.
Vince is in his late 70s and WWE made nearly $100 million profit in the first quarter of this year. They don't see poor "creative" as a problem. They (Vince) didn't see poor creative in the early 90s as a problem, it nearly put him out of business then.
If Vince thought creative was a problem he could fix it tomorrow. He doesn't think it is, the P&L doesn't think it is. It won't be fixed.
The narrative that Vince crushed his opposition in the 80s and 90s is nonsense. The only time he has ever cared about his opposition is when they nearly put him out of business or when Crocket tried to run a free to air show against his PPV.
It’s just odd though that they seemingly make zero effort to try and improve the quality of the product. Do they not want more people to watch?
The creative process wouldn’t be an expensive thing to fix. If you can find a way to keep the current fanbase but bolster it by even 25% by putting in a bit of effort, surely it would be worth it in the long run?
It is increasingly clear that the biggest problem is Vince himself. There is no way that multiple people and teams could all look at this product and continue to back it, unless there was just one person at the top calling all the shots.
We could see a situation in a few years time where AEW grows in fanbase simply down to kids who are invested in WWE getting older and wiser to the content and want a more adult product. Whereas the current adults who love AEW probably won’t outgrow it - they’ll stay dedicated fans
It’s just odd though that they seemingly make zero effort to try and improve the quality of the product. Do they not want more people to watch?
The creative process wouldn’t be an expensive thing to fix. If you can find a way to keep the current fanbase but bolster it by even 25% by putting in a bit of effort, surely it would be worth it in the long run?
We could see a situation in a few years time where AEW grows in fanbase simply down to kids who are invested in WWE getting older and wiser to the content and want a more adult product. Whereas the current adults who love AEW probably won’t outgrow it - they’ll stay dedicated fans
It's not odd though is it?
Mcdonalds don't make the best burgers do they?
Apart from a brief period at the turn of the century WWE/F has never had the best in ring product, apart from by default.
It’s just odd though that they seemingly make zero effort to try and improve the quality of the product. Do they not want more people to watch?
The creative process wouldn’t be an expensive thing to fix. If you can find a way to keep the current fanbase but bolster it by even 25% by putting in a bit of effort, surely it would be worth it in the long run?
We could see a situation in a few years time where AEW grows in fanbase simply down to kids who are invested in WWE getting older and wiser to the content and want a more adult product. Whereas the current adults who love AEW probably won’t outgrow it - they’ll stay dedicated fans
It's not odd though is it?
Mcdonalds don't make the best burgers do they?
Apart from a brief period at the turn of the century WWE/F has never had the best in ring product, apart from by default.
Point taken. I’m not necessarily expecting them to have the best product (because that would involve them appealing to a niche, hardcore fan).
But I’d like them to try and have something vaguely watchable. They have the resources to improve their viewership if they wanted to, but one man in his mid seventies just can’t see any opinion outside of his own seemingly.
An argument could be had that AEW wouldn’t even be around had the gap in the market not been created by WWE’s sanitised output, and the way they seemingly drain happiness from a long list of talented workers.
It’s just odd though that they seemingly make zero effort to try and improve the quality of the product. Do they not want more people to watch?
The creative process wouldn’t be an expensive thing to fix. If you can find a way to keep the current fanbase but bolster it by even 25% by putting in a bit of effort, surely it would be worth it in the long run?
We could see a situation in a few years time where AEW grows in fanbase simply down to kids who are invested in WWE getting older and wiser to the content and want a more adult product. Whereas the current adults who love AEW probably won’t outgrow it - they’ll stay dedicated fans
It's not odd though is it?
Mcdonalds don't make the best burgers do they?
Apart from a brief period at the turn of the century WWE/F has never had the best in ring product, apart from by default.
Point taken. I’m not necessarily expecting them to have the best product (because that would involve them appealing to a niche, hardcore fan).
But I’d like them to try and have something vaguely watchable. They have the resources to improve their viewership if they wanted to, but one man in his mid seventies just can’t see any opinion outside of his own seemingly.
An argument could be had that AEW wouldn’t even be around had the gap in the market not been created by WWE’s sanitised output.
I would like it as well. I miss watching and enjoying RAW.
If AEW stops people paying for WWE stuff you'll see a reaction. Until then you won't.
We both don't watch WWE for the same reason. You watch AEW for the reason I don't. I might now there are people there that can do the sort of stuff I like.
Wrestling has been vanilla for so long, now someone has thrown chocolate into the mix. I'll be happy when there is a neopolitan option on the table, preferably two.
Thing is, apparently the WWE TV deals were so lucrative, they don't need to put out a good product because VKM could just sit at home and sniff his cash all day.
BUUUUUUT, he's a control freak, apparently he despises sneezing, whether it's him doing it or someone else, and he hates it so much because sneezing is an involuntary action, and because you can't control it, and he tries to control every aspect of his life, it really annoys him.
He regularly tears up scripts and rewrites them, sometimes only a couple of hours before RAW goes in air, and has been known to change scripts, matches and results on a whim backstage. That's why the product they put out is shit, it's written for an audience of 1, VKM, and even he doesn't know what he likes.
(Apparently he's also a huge toilet humour fan, hence why we've had so many toilet gags over the years, including the time Big Show got counted out for shitting himself in a match after eating someone else's burrito)
Vinces sense of humour is legendarily lowbrow. Remember that royal rumble when Titus ONeil fell over and slid under the ring? That was apparently the funniest thing Vince has ever seen, and it had to be repeated about 20 times
Thing is, apparently the WWE TV deals were so lucrative, they don't need to put out a good product because VKM could just sit at home and sniff his cash all day.
BUUUUUUT, he's a control freak, apparently he despises sneezing, whether it's him doing it or someone else, and he hates it so much because sneezing is an involuntary action, and because you can't control it, and he tries to control every aspect of his life, it really annoys him.
He regularly tears up scripts and rewrites them, sometimes only a couple of hours before RAW goes in air, and has been known to change scripts, matches and results on a whim backstage. That's why the product they put out is shit, it's written for an audience of 1, VKM, and even he doesn't know what he likes.
(Apparently he's also a huge toilet humour fan, hence why we've had so many toilet gags over the years, including the time Big Show got counted out for shitting himself in a match after eating someone else's burrito)
None of that is new though. The problem, if you think it's a problem, is since Stephanie left college its be written by writers. It's not booked.
There is no Pat Patterson to agent the main event, to nudge Vince in the right direction. Bruce won't ever say no, even though he knows it's horse shit. Which he does.
I think I am right in saying that Bruce and Paul E are they only two people in the company, not wrestlers, that come from another wrestling background. Maybe you could include HHH ad HBK. Although Shaun hasn't worked anywhere else since 1988!
If they wanted a good wrestling product they would give Hunter "the book" answerable only to Vince. They won't.
But if Vince is a control freak, then surely he must be enraged by the fact that he has big names rejecting him at all costs to stay with the company (Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan)?
He’s now starting to lose control over his own talent whose heads are being turned very quickly to what AEW are doing.
There are now rumours circulating around Kevin Owens too, who is up for renewal in January and has put out a tease of his own…
But if Vince is a control freak, then surely he must be enraged by the fact that he has big names rejecting him at all costs to stay with the company (Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan)?
He’s now starting to lose control over his own talent whose heads are being turned very quickly to what AEW are doing.
There are now rumours circulating around Kevin Owens too, who is up for renewal in January and has put out a tease of his own…
Why?
How many people stopped watching RAW, or cancelled their network subscription, or didn't buy a live event because Bryan left?
How many people do any of the above because Kevin Owens is on the card?
The 50/50 booking over the last few years is very deliberate.
I think Bryan is probably the best in ring worker of the last 15 years. I think CM PUNK is probably the best "total package" (sorry lex) in that time as well.
They will make me watch AEW, they didn't/wouldn't make me watch WWE.
If AEW sign Owens, Rotunda, Stroman, Rollings or anyone else will it hurt WWEs bottom line?
But if Vince is a control freak, then surely he must be enraged by the fact that he has big names rejecting him at all costs to stay with the company (Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan)?
He’s now starting to lose control over his own talent whose heads are being turned very quickly to what AEW are doing.
There are now rumours circulating around Kevin Owens too, who is up for renewal in January and has put out a tease of his own…
Why?
How many people stopped watching RAW, or cancelled their network subscription, or didn't buy a live event because Bryan left?
How many people do any of the above because Kevin Owens is on the card?
The 50/50 booking over the last few years is very deliberate.
I think Bryan is probably the best in ring worker of the last 15 years. I think CM PUNK is probably the best "total package" (sorry lex) in that time as well.
They will make me watch AEW, they didn't/wouldn't make me watch WWE.
If AEW sign Owens, Rotunda, Stroman, Rollings or anyone else will it hurt WWEs bottom line?
I don’t think those stars leaving will hurt their bottom line. The biggest star of WWE is ‘WWE’ itself.
The point I’m making is that Vince must be emotionally affected by what AEW are doing (or at least he will be soon), if he is indeed the control freak he is widely perceived to be.
Otherwise, what was the need to shake up the NXT format? The widely suggested theory is that he would have felt pissed off by losing the Wednesday battle to AEW, and is therefore just resetting the whole thing altogether.
Comments
About 5 years ago I was adamant that WWE had a potential megastar main-eventer on their hands with Finn Balor.
https://mobile.twitter.com/FreddyInSpace/status/1435286900609277963?s=08
They have Reigns and will ride him into the ground against the heel of the month, year after year until he leaves.
Seriously, what is this crap? It’s unwatchable. Nickelodeon would have more edge than this.
Cornette on the debuts.
If its something I want to watch I like to do so before I get Jim's take as to not scew mine.
Although I actually have more time to watch wrestling, swings and roundabouts I suppose.
He finished the video by saying if he was a young wrestler now & had the choice, he wouldn't be signing with WWE.
He's not wrong
There is firstly a limit on how many people AEW can actually use.
The WWE put on about 1000 live shows a year, I doubt AEW does 10% of that? Nor will in the foreseeable future.
Vince is in his late 70s and WWE made nearly $100 million profit in the first quarter of this year. They don't see poor "creative" as a problem. They (Vince) didn't see poor creative in the early 90s as a problem, it nearly put him out of business then.
If Vince thought creative was a problem he could fix it tomorrow. He doesn't think it is, the P&L doesn't think it is. It won't be fixed.
The narrative that Vince crushed his opposition in the 80s and 90s is nonsense. The only time he has ever cared about his opposition is when they nearly put him out of business or when Crocket tried to run a free to air show against his PPV.
It is increasingly clear that the biggest problem is Vince himself. There is no way that multiple people and teams could all look at this product and continue to back it, unless there was just one person at the top calling all the shots.
We could see a situation in a few years time where AEW grows in fanbase simply down to kids who are invested in WWE getting older and wiser to the content and want a more adult product. Whereas the current adults who love AEW probably won’t outgrow it - they’ll stay dedicated fans
Mcdonalds don't make the best burgers do they?
Apart from a brief period at the turn of the century WWE/F has never had the best in ring product, apart from by default.
An argument could be had that AEW wouldn’t even be around had the gap in the market not been created by WWE’s sanitised output, and the way they seemingly drain happiness from a long list of talented workers.
If AEW stops people paying for WWE stuff you'll see a reaction. Until then you won't.
We both don't watch WWE for the same reason. You watch AEW for the reason I don't. I might now there are people there that can do the sort of stuff I like.
Wrestling has been vanilla for so long, now someone has thrown chocolate into the mix. I'll be happy when there is a neopolitan option on the table, preferably two.
BUUUUUUT, he's a control freak, apparently he despises sneezing, whether it's him doing it or someone else, and he hates it so much because sneezing is an involuntary action, and because you can't control it, and he tries to control every aspect of his life, it really annoys him.
He regularly tears up scripts and rewrites them, sometimes only a couple of hours before RAW goes in air, and has been known to change scripts, matches and results on a whim backstage. That's why the product they put out is shit, it's written for an audience of 1, VKM, and even he doesn't know what he likes.
(Apparently he's also a huge toilet humour fan, hence why we've had so many toilet gags over the years, including the time Big Show got counted out for shitting himself in a match after eating someone else's burrito)
There is no Pat Patterson to agent the main event, to nudge Vince in the right direction. Bruce won't ever say no, even though he knows it's horse shit. Which he does.
I think I am right in saying that Bruce and Paul E are they only two people in the company, not wrestlers, that come from another wrestling background. Maybe you could include HHH ad HBK. Although Shaun hasn't worked anywhere else since 1988!
If they wanted a good wrestling product they would give Hunter "the book" answerable only to Vince. They won't.
He’s now starting to lose control over his own talent whose heads are being turned very quickly to what AEW are doing.
There are now rumours circulating around Kevin Owens too, who is up for renewal in January and has put out a tease of his own…
How many people stopped watching RAW, or cancelled their network subscription, or didn't buy a live event because Bryan left?
How many people do any of the above because Kevin Owens is on the card?
The 50/50 booking over the last few years is very deliberate.
I think Bryan is probably the best in ring worker of the last 15 years. I think CM PUNK is probably the best "total package" (sorry lex) in that time as well.
They will make me watch AEW, they didn't/wouldn't make me watch WWE.
If AEW sign Owens, Rotunda, Stroman, Rollings or anyone else will it hurt WWEs bottom line?
The point I’m making is that Vince must be emotionally affected by what AEW are doing (or at least he will be soon), if he is indeed the control freak he is widely perceived to be.
Otherwise, what was the need to shake up the NXT format? The widely suggested theory is that he would have felt pissed off by losing the Wednesday battle to AEW, and is therefore just resetting the whole thing altogether.