Paid Members Jesse Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 Yeah, I was totally wrong about it. I've never been that bothered about him - never got the love for him in ROH, thought he was awful when they brought him in to WWECW and had mostly checked out of WWE by the 'Summer of Punk'. I thought he'd be good for a return pop and then go back to boring the piss out of me but he's fantastic in AEW. Clearly having the time of his life, making everything he's involved with meaningful, and looking every inch the megastar his fans have always said he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 15 hours ago, Chili said: I just clocked spangly jacket lass and cowboy hat cunt. They looked devastated when Hook shook Danhausen's hand. Delightful. They were on last week too being equally as fucking irritating. Dynamite is in Texas next week whereas they’ve been in the North East for the last couple of weeks, so hopefully that’s the end of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 I genuinely think this place is the only corner of the internet where you can actually have a constructive discussion around wrestling (well, constructive in a wrestling sense), the replies to this tweet are like two sets of rival football fans going back and forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 minute ago, Nick James said: I genuinely think this place is the only corner of the internet where you can actually have a constructive discussion around wrestling (well, constructive in a wrestling sense), the replies to this tweet are like two sets of rival football fans going back and forth. It deffo is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Nick James said: I genuinely think this place is the only corner of the internet where you can actually have a constructive discussion around wrestling (well, constructive in a wrestling sense), the replies to this tweet are like two sets of rival football fans going back and forth. I’ll admit I didn’t get too far in those comments before wanting to get out, but I always love it when you get one like “people are switching off because of the awful booking”, which of course they don’t provide a single example of. The demo talk is past the point of tedium, but surely an 840,000 average has to be considered good considering they’re up against the NBA Play-Offs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 2 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said: I’ll admit I didn’t get too far in those comments before wanting to get out, but I always love it when you get one like “people are switching off because of the awful booking”, which of course they don’t provide a single example of. The demo talk is past the point of tedium, but surely an 840,000 average has to be considered good considering they’re up against the NBA Play-Offs in context, NXT did under 600,000 this week which is about what they were doing against Dynamite when they were on Wednesdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted May 13, 2022 Author Share Posted May 13, 2022 I honestly don't think there's anything interesting that has happened with the ratings for AEW or WWE in recent years. Nothing of any significance in terms of shifting or growth etc. AEW's ratings are steady. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to solidify themselves in the wrestling world and have a strong fanbase. I don't think we live in a world where anyone was going to come in and cause a HUGE upsurge in viewing figures or anything. All of that is proven in how granular and pointless the arguments get about the ratings because really there's fuck all else for them to discuss. It's 2022. It just doesn't work that way anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 TNT wanted half a million viewers, they're still well over that so I think AEW are pretty fine right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Nick James said: I genuinely think this place is the only corner of the internet where you can actually have a constructive discussion around wrestling (well, constructive in a wrestling sense), the replies to this tweet are like two sets of rival football fans going back and forth. I feel like I need to clarify, my post was not about ratings (Ratings chat bores me to death), but about the arguments that seem to go on outside of here, its absolutely feral in most places and just makes you appreciate this place that bit more. Edited May 13, 2022 by Nick James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 21 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said: AEW's ratings are steady. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to solidify themselves in the wrestling world and have a strong fanbase. I don't think we live in a world where anyone was going to come in and cause a HUGE upsurge in viewing figures or anything. Holding steady is a kind of growth in this day and age when it comes to traditional TV. While any kind of ratings system will be flawed, factually the TNT/TBS networks have seen roughly 10 million households cut them in the last few years. Which is common across the board with those cutting the cord completely or simply cutting costs. The area of growth these days is in streaming and on demand. Where people will binge watch heading into a big event so they don't get spoiled or try to catch up after the fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 This is all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 Hook is gonna be world champion before MJF and it honestly makes my life complete. Just let Hookhausen win the tag belts off Hobbs and Stark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 I love the way wrestlers have persistent alliances in AEW. Moxley's new gang helping Moxley's old gang makes so much sense but you'd never see it in WWE for fear of... I don't even know. Confusing the viewer or something? Because it might make the wrestlers seem like real people for a few seconds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 26 minutes ago, Pinc said: I love the way wrestlers have persistent alliances in AEW. Moxley's new gang helping Moxley's old gang makes so much sense but you'd never see it in WWE for fear of... I don't even know. Confusing the viewer or something? Because it might make the wrestlers seem like real people for a few seconds? It is a weird thing wwe have done is that big stars don’t have friends. If other wresters don’t like them, Why should I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted May 13, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 13, 2022 (edited) Due to work and family commitments, I had to watch this show in two halves. I figured the formation of Hookhausen was as good a point as any to finish the first half on, assumed nothing would top that anyway, and I could catch up when possible. Turns out I was wrong. Having finally seen it, @Hannibal Scorch is spot on. That MJF/Wardlow segment is one of the best things they’ve ever done. You could write a thesis on how great that was. Pitch perfect in every single way. Punk and Hangman need to start worrying that they aren’t going to be able to follow the inevitable MJF/Wardlow match at the PPV, this story has been so brilliantly told. But yeah. The gold standard for AEW television has always been early 2020, just before the pandemic hit. This was the most February 2020 thing they’ve done since then. It might have even been more February 2020 than February 2020 itself. Echoes of that run throughout. The sense of momentum. The sense of everything clicking perfectly. Everyone firing on all cylinders. Guys having the time of their lives, in the best form of their careers. A complete home run. Let me count the ways. The Dark Side of the Ring skit was the cleverest, funniest thing they’ve done since those early Inner Circle skits where Chris Jericho was calling himself the youngest World Champion in AEW history. A huge rarity in pro-wrestling; genuinely funny comedy. Fucking Barry Horowitz calling him a jobber! Amazing! Perfect reference to that glory period, too. The best thing Cody ever did and the best thing MJF ever did until CM Punk came in was the whipping angle. Calling back to it, but with Wardlow, someone who’s absolutely on fire, and with far more upside than Cody ever had, is fucking genius. Add to that the fact that MJF is now ten times the performer he was back then. Man alive. Just imagine it! If Wardlow taking the whipping has even half the drama of when Cody did it, this is going to go down as one of my favourite feuds ever. Given everything thus far, and the way they reference back to all this great stuff, MJF as the guest referee probably means a riff on Stone Cold, Dude Love and Vince too, with Spears hitting Max with a chair by accident and Wardlow counting the three with Max’s limp hand. The hit ratio, week-on-week, is insane. Somehow, it’s getting better and better! The dream for years has always been that when Wardlow eventually turns he can hopefully be something similar to Batista when he turned on Triple H. It’s not even close at this point. This is way better and has had far more hits than the Batista turn ever had. Didn’t need a dumb angle where Wardlow was hiding behind a door to trigger it, either. And then just when it couldn’t get any better they go full 1997 and exploit the cheers MJF got in his home town, not only making it far more enjoyable and memorable, but also completely feeding into the characters of both men. MJF is a snivelling, insincere prick, milking the reaction but still being a complete twat. Meanwhile, Wardlow is cool as ice, doesn’t let the reaction have any effect whatsoever, and just raises the sexy eyebrow wherever needed. What a man. Anyone who truly thinks MJF is jumping to WWE is fucking nuts. He’s too good and he’s too smart. Unless they offer him something absolutely bonkers like 20 million a year, he’d be beyond stupid to even consider it. Especially after this. A two-year plus storyline that’s organically evolved and grew, interconnected all these different characters, had all these twists and turns, teased and delivered, riffed on all this history, is sticking the landing and genuinely benefitted everyone involved. Even Tye fucking Dillinger is a star thanks to this. Unbelievable. Now imagine this in WWE. MJF and Wardlow would form a tag team one week, then after three weeks of bickering they’d immediately split up. Cue a handful of boring TV rematches to really get the juices flowing. A couple of DQ finishes just because. Then they’d do the big promo but with Max being forced to turn on his hometown and deliver the typical heel nonsense, refusing to explain himself, blaming the fans for everything. Wardlow would go into the pay per view already looking like a prick, then probably lose because we need HEAT, goddamit. And then they’d boil Max down to as little as humanly possible, find the one, tiny thing they can print on a T-shirt, and then he’d go on to do that forever. Nothing new. No evolution. Nothing funny or exciting. No callbacks, references or riffs. Nothing that makes MJF one of the best in the world right now. Just go out and fill twenty minutes doing that thing every single week until the end of time. So yeah. Bollocks to recency bias. This holds up against anything this company has ever done. It’s up there with anything any company has done. What a triumph. Edited May 13, 2022 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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