AEW Dynamite Thread 2023

[LaGoosh]

20 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Well it's now confirmed that Jade has signed with the WWE, AEW dropped the ball so fucking hard there.

Not really. AEW just doesn't have the exposure, prominence, connections or star making infrastructure that someone like Jade demands at this time. Yeah she didn't wrestle Britt Baker or whoever but what difference would that have made? Considering how shit she was when she started I'd say they did remarkably well with her considering both her and the companies limitations.  People are going to leave AEW for WWE to become bigger stars, that's how wrestling works. It doesn't necessarily mean any ball was dropped.

[TildeGuy~!]

I’d assume she go straight to the main roster, she has too much star power to be thrown into developmental.

[d-d-d-dAz]

They’re going to do Cody/Jade vs Seth/Becky and fill it with snide in-jokes and insider remarks. They’re not going to be able to stop themselves.

Edited September 26, 2023 by d-d-d-dAz

[FLips]

Jade Cargill was a perfect superstar that had a perfect run. She was presented and pushed as a big star and had the charisma to hide her shortcomings. She had a huge celebrity tag match, a Goldberg undefeated streak without killing the entire women’s roster doing it and then put the next in line over huge on her way out. She went to a bigger company I would imagine on a better deal.

In terms of what a wrestler should want from the business she got all of it.

[69MeDon]

On 9/25/2023 at 4:57 PM, RedRooster said:

Punk didn't have any on air clangers during his most recent stint, and he didn't attempt to start any feuds that couldn't happen - outside of the "counterfeit Bucks" comment, I can't think of any on air digs at people who weren't his opponents.

He did mention the Bucks ("Counterfeit Bucks") and The Elite ("I always make my towns"), although that second one probably flew over almost everyone's head unless they knew The Elite had an issue making a town.

[Chris B]

1 hour ago, FelatioLips said:

Jade Cargill was a perfect superstar that had a perfect run. She was presented and pushed as a big star and had the charisma to hide her shortcomings. She had a huge celebrity tag match, a Goldberg undefeated streak without killing the entire women’s roster doing it and then put the next in line over huge on her way out. She went to a bigger company I would imagine on a better deal.

In terms of what a wrestler should want from the business she got all of it.

And she came out of AEW bigger than she went in. Which, considering there were questions about how AEW could build stars, wasn't a given. Yes, it would have been nice to get more time out of her in AEW, but - much like with the recent releases - there's a point in there about how good competition is for the performers, after years of a monopoly.

[HarmonicGenerator]

I hope Jade does well. She has star power like almost nobody else in AEW and she’ll be a miss, but could do great things in WWE. 

[Supremo]

Jade jumping to WWE is brilliant. The perfect example of what a healthy industry we now have, where people can jump back and forth, build or prove themselves where the opportunity allows them, keeping everything fresh and exciting. Built properly, Rhea vs. Jade feels like it could headline Wrestlemania.

On the subject of people jumping ship and getting a fresh run, I’ve decided I want Edge to debut in the middle of a Roddy Strong in-ring promo, where Roddy is shouting for, “ADAAAAAAM!” over and over again. It’s gonna feel weird enough him coming in as Adam Copeland, so they may as well have some fun with it.

[The King Of Swing]

Is there any actual evidence that Edge is making the move to AEW? Or is it just theories? I tend to avoid the wrestling news sites and youtube channels.

[Infinity Land]

Jade and AEW ended up being mutally beneficial. Keep in mind she was just one of many random low level former college athletes trying out for WWE early in 2019.

https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/article/wwe-performance-center-tryout-april-2019

She was in a fortunate position to turn down the entry level type NXT deal thanks to her financial circumstances, and at a time when a new upstart company was coming along looking for pet projects to develop.

It's easy to forget/overlook now, but being on the cusp of winning the TBS title really did dig Tony Khan out of self-inflicted PR nightmare after Big Swole was let go.

The only what if I have over her AEW career was Statlander winning the TBS title at last year's Grand Slam. If that had happened the last 9 months of her active run would have looked very different. Instead there was the holding pattern that did have a couple of reasonable feuds like Nyla and Taya. But the Baddies break-up, Bow Wow, and repeating challengers in squash matches was dire. Although she did carry herself as a star through out.

WWE seems to have been a goal. Otherwise she wouldn't have been trying out once upon a time. Not sure on the crossover star idea. Since its not like WWE have really produced many, and if Hollywood had been the end goal i'd imagine she and her husband would have moved to LA and started acting classes long ago. Not taking bumps in wrestling school. WWE is still the biggest stage and payday.

News about Serena Deeb has also come out today. Doesn't clear anything up really, but is more than the "nobody's talking" that's existed for much of the past year. Had me looking at the women's roster on the AEW website. I don't know if they've whiffed on signings or just not interested, but they really need some fresh blood.

 

[DavidB6937]

Do they need fresh blood though? Arguably half their problem is they sign people, do stuff with them for a bit and then move on to the next one. They need to learn how to build up who they've got first or its a constant cycle.

[Infinity Land]

1 minute ago, DavidB6937 said:

Do they need fresh blood though? Arguably half their problem is they sign people, do stuff with them for a bit and then move on to the next one. They need to learn how to build up who they've got first or its a constant cycle.

That's the men's roster.

Apart from Taya and Billie Starkz has the women's division really had any signings this year. Billie Starkz so far been more of a ROH signing just now.

Here's the fairly active AEW/ROH talent just now. Not exactly a ton of fresh exciting match ups or a ton of viable champions/contenders.

1. Anna Jay
2. Athena
3. Billie Starkz
4. Britt Baker
5. Diamanté
6. Emi Sakura
7. Hikaru Shida
8. Julia Hart
9. Kiera Hogan
10. Kris Statlander
11. Leyla Hirsch
12. Marina Shafir
13. Mercedes Martinez
14. Nyla Rose
15. Penelope Ford
16. Ruby Soho
17. Saraya
18. Skye Blue
19. Taya Valkyrie
20. The Bunny
21. Toni Storm
22. Willow Nightingale

The MIA/Managers/Injured list has some names you'd want back in rotation like Hayter (out until the new year), Deeb (outs with management). and Rosa (37yrs old with a bad back still not cleared for a return). Riho and Sakazaki 4 years into the company have never been weekly talents even when injury free.

1. Abadon
2. Harley Cameron
3. Leila Grey
4. Jamie Hayter
5. Maria Kanellis-Bennett
6. Paige VanZant
7. Rebel
8. Red Velvet
9. Riho
10. Madison Rayne
11. Serena Deeb
12. Tay Melo
13. Thunder Rosa
14. Yuka Sakazaki

[Merzbow]

23 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

Riho and Sakazaki 4 years into the company have never been weekly talents even when injury free.

They were when Omega was supposedly booking the division, it wasn't perfect but more enjoyable than it is now.

[Infinity Land]

21 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

They were when Omega was supposedly booking the division, it wasn't perfect but more enjoyable than it is now.

Sakazaki was never over in the states weekly. Despite being an "AEW original" she's worked 23 matches. 5 of which were the Japanese bracket of the Women's title eliminator and a gaming convention. There's some slight hope with the ROH appearances earlier this year before injury, that she was going to become a regular for who knows how long. 

Riho despite being the 1st World champion missed a ton of shows between Oct '19 - March '20. Her most consistent run was when things opened up again in '21. Where she was usually relegated to the youtube shows, like Shida and Sakura.

 

[RedRooster]

7 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Not really. AEW just doesn't have the exposure, prominence, connections or star making infrastructure that someone like Jade demands at this time. Yeah she didn't wrestle Britt Baker or whoever but what difference would that have made? Considering how shit she was when she started I'd say they did remarkably well with her considering both her and the companies limitations.  People are going to leave AEW for WWE to become bigger stars, that's how wrestling works. It doesn't necessarily mean any ball was dropped.

I mean, I agree with some of this. Jade seemed happy in AEW, so there may well have been a long term plan for her that we never got to see. The jump may have felt out of the blue.

On the other hand, I’m not sure it’s fair to judge Jade’s motivations, or what she ‘demands’. Tony Khan’s booking of the women’s division surely makes a switch a no-brainer for any female star. As @Supremo rightly points out, you could absolutely see Cargill vs Rhea headline a Wrestlemania. But it’s hard to see Cargill ever headline an AEW PPV, through no fault of her own. Even her last match - the final match of AEW’s most dominant female star ever - was given very little fanfare; kind of blowing the chance to elevate Statlander more. 

If AEW’s women’s division was treated as more than a token inclusion by Tony Khan, perhaps the decision would have been a much harder one for her to make. As it stands, I don’t see why any female performer with potential wouldn’t want to make the jump to WWE.