Paid Members BomberPat Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 Jericho is to AEW what Terry Funk was to ECW, only perhaps moreso. The appeal of much of the promotion is that it's people without a ton of TV experience putting together an alternative product, but they need the old-timer who knows the ropes there to be the glue that holds it all together. I remember the promo where he first introduced the Inner Circle, and just thinking how he in one promo gave every guy in that ring, and everyone they were opposed to, more character and more motivation than AEW had managed for anyone outside of maybe Cody to date. He's probably the only guy in the company bar the likes of Jake and Arn who will have come up through a system that had people saying to him, "you've got thirty seconds, give me a promo selling the PPV" for live TV and without a script, so he's the best they've got in terms of fitting a lot of necessary information into a very short space, and making it all matter. I think without him they'd have even more of an identity crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Had Jericho not signed when he did I think they’d have had to push either Omega or Cody as the top star because they didn’t have anyone else until they brought in Moxley. Had they done that though, it would’ve been hard to avoid accusations of it being a vanity project, something which I had reservations about when they launched. There have been suspects moments with that still, but not the point that I thought there would be. The signings of Jericho & Moxley have proved to be very important, and while they’ve done a great job with guys like Hangman and Sammy Guevara, that roster at launch was wafer-thin in terms of proven star power Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) yeah, they needed Moxley. Jericho was a huge deal, but he'd already done NJPW and All-In, so it didn't have the biggest "I can't believe he's working somewhere other than WWE!" impact that it might have done otherwise, and ran the risk of making it look like he was too washed up for WWE and making them look low-rent - obviously from the performance he's put in at AEW, we know that's not the case, but optics-wise, it was a risk. With Moxley they had someone they could point to as choosing to walk out of a main event spot at WWE and straight to AEW, which was an immediate credibility boost, coupled with the sense of intrigue around "okay, what's Moxley going to do now the chains are off". Without Moxley, their next high profile guy would have been, what, Jake Hager?  I've said it since the beginning, but the most exciting things from that initial press conference were all things they've largely failed to deliver on. Working relationships with OWE and AAA, working closely with Joshi promotions to present a great and unique women's division, PAC showing up wearing his Dragon Gate belt - none of that came to much of anything, did it? Edited August 10, 2020 by BomberPat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Given since March international travel has been a no go, we don’t know how much of the Mexican and Japanese relationships would have worked. The OWE one fell apart as that are shady as fuck are they not? I remember half a scandal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 It's an interesting point to consider actually. I do wonder how different the landscape of AEW may look if they'd had access to wrestlers from other countries etc. It's certainly no bad thing that they've been forced to limit their attention to those already on the roster, or at least those based locally. Coverage of the entire roster is a struggle as it is, let alone adding any crossover feuds or whatever else. I guess the only place that may benefit is the womens. On the whole a lot of their home talent are going to come out of this benefitting from the extra booking and attention for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) The value of Jericho can’t be overstated. The amount of rub he’s given to so many guys on that roster is truly amazing considering Dynamite isn’t even a year old yet. Even in the early days of Covid, when no-one really knew what they were doing, he was the glue keeping everything together on commentary. That’s what I find so interesting. When you’ve got a guy as valuable as Jericho, how do you handle something as bad as this? I don’t know how Tony Khan or any of the EVPs can see a video like that and think it’s a good idea for him to fly in for Dynamite. Unless he’s already recorded stuff for the next few weeks, and plans to go into isolation, this is a recipe for disaster. Edited August 10, 2020 by Supremo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) What's laughable about that video is the earlier claim that capacity was capped. What's the point in capping crowds if they're still cramped up like sardines anyway? Prick. Edited August 10, 2020 by garynysmon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 Jericho is like Glenn Hoddle. Great player, has a good footballing brain, thinks he can sing and has poor real world views. Because he's talented in his chosen field, he genuinely thinks he's anything more than an old bloke lip synching and cheating on his wife with groupies that Robert Plant once kicked off a tour bus for looking knackered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: Jericho is to AEW what Terry Funk was to ECW, only perhaps moreso. Funnily enough, I said that to him about two years ago before AEW started and he was doing the odd Japan match and appeared at All In. I can't remember what triggered it, but I said - you're the new Terry Funk, the guy people recognise and remember, there to facilitate everyone else, but like Funk, the talent shines through and it made Funk a relevant player. Edited August 10, 2020 by Liam O'Rourke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) 42 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said: It's an interesting point to consider actually. I do wonder how different the landscape of AEW may look if they'd had access to wrestlers from other countries etc. It's certainly no bad thing that they've been forced to limit their attention to those already on the roster, or at least those based locally. Coverage of the entire roster is a struggle as it is, let alone adding any crossover feuds or whatever else. I guess the only place that may benefit is the womens. On the whole a lot of their home talent are going to come out of this benefitting from the extra booking and attention for sure. I can't imagine what the state of AEW would've been like today if they hadn't their TV roster cut by Covid. Ignoring the show of a thousand matches Dark, Dynamite's roster feels pretty much spot on right now - enough intriguing storylines that one can take a week off, the right amount of enhancement talent and lower-card acts to keep the uppers fed without exhausting feud options, and genuine development and old-school building to half-a-dozen big draw matches. Piling on the extra overseas talent on top of all that would've meant matches upon matches upon matches, and turning into a workrate wankathon is the last thing AEW should do. Covid definitely forced their hand to go a certain way, plus I always think a bit of adversity and limitation is the key to genuine creativity. If things do ease up to the point they want to bring in hundreds of indy guys from overseas, they could do worse than compartmentalise the roster into different shows, with Dynamite as your big showcase. Yes, it sounds like the WWE model, but I heard the term "AEW Worldwide" in my head and it made me smile. Edited August 10, 2020 by CavemanLynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) Jericho has definitely been the glue holding everything together and probably will be for at least another six months. Without him as the focus and constantly delivering I think AEW would be probably finished already. They are getting into a position finally now where they are establishing enough other homegrown stars who will be able to carry the company but I don't think Jerichos importance to AEW's initial survival can be stressed enough. Edited August 10, 2020 by LaGoosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Well that was the point of having him wasn't it? Jericho as the focus and giving guys the rub around him while also being the most entertaining guy in wrestling. He has been a superb signing for AEW. I know Jericho has a high opinion of himself and his place in wrestling history, but to be honest he might be justified somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Ironic that Jericho is the saviour of AEW when he's out there trying to kill everyone with Fozzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted August 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted August 10, 2020 14 minutes ago, Factotum said: Well that was the point of having him wasn't it? Jericho as the focus and giving guys the rub around him while also being the most entertaining guy in wrestling. He has been a superb signing for AEW. I know Jericho has a high opinion of himself and his place in wrestling history, but to be honest he might be justified somewhat. Jericho is literally a main-event talent. Signing anyone of that level who is available should be of a priority to any promotion. There's no way anyone could be as good as Jericho thinks he is, but he's definitely world class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 5 hours ago, Louch said: Given since March international travel has been a no go, we don’t know how much of the Mexican and Japanese relationships would have worked. The OWE one fell apart as that are shady as fuck are they not? I remember half a scandal The OWE thing was really odd, had a quick Google a while back and couldn't find anything concrete outside of some resignations and cancelled shows. Granted I wasn't interested enough to look too hard into them so may have missed something. Think some of them showed up in DDT or NOAH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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