AEW Rampage Thread 2023

[TobyK]

I think when the women in AEW really feel the need to produce a banger, they can, even Toni Storm. But 75%ish of the time it feels timid and the performers are unsure & slow/rigid to react. I'm pretty much fast-forwarding a fair amount of the division....until Hayter comes back and joins BCC. 

I also skip through FTR and Rodrick Strong matches. 

[69MeDon]

13 hours ago, RedRooster said:

Every time I see Willow I feel a bit disappointed. Not because of anything she does, but it’s because of the potential she has - and the fact she’ll likely never meet it in AEW given how they treat female wrestlers.

She’s NXT-era Bayley, infectiously likeable and incredibly marketable; hindered by the fact that there’s a boss around who seemingly doesn’t ‘get it’.

At this point there’s really no excuse for AEW not to have a women’s division to rival what WWE and Impact has to offer - with title matches in the conversation to main event PPVs. Aside from Willow; you have Athena, utterly wasted in ROH; the massively underrated Shida, Riho, Emi Sakura and Nyla Rose; Thunder Rosa; Jade Cargill; Kris Statlander; up-and-comers in Anna Jay and Skye Blue; and, regardless of what you think about her, Britt Baker. That’s a bloody good division. Tony Khan deserves more criticism than he gets for how he treats it. 

Honestly, I just don't think Tony Khan values or enjoys women's wrestling. I can't think of any other reason they treat the women's division as they do. And, by extension, that means I don't value of enjoy the women's wrestling I see in AEW, meaning I pretty much skip every women's match these days. If I know the guy writing the shows doesn't care about it, why would I?

[The King Of Swing]

Storm and Taya setting up a nothing title match by bickering like children, pretty much sums up the women's division.

Been saying since almost day one that TS doesn't give a shit about women's wrestling.

Probably hard to motivate yourself when you know your efforts will amount to little if anything. I don't blame anyone for phoning it in. 

The likes of Maki Itoh (or maybe TJPW have finally smartened up after Mizuki got the jobber treatment) seems to have caught on and spends more time on the US indies lately.

Edit. 

And on that note. Maki Itoh and Nick Gage is a team that I didn't know I needed in my life until now. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by The King Of Swing

[Infinity Land]

1 hour ago, 69MeDon said:

Honestly, I just don't think Tony Khan values or enjoys women's wrestling. I can't think of any other reason they treat the women's division as they do. And, by extension, that means I don't value of enjoy the women's wrestling I see in AEW, meaning I pretty much skip every women's match these days. If I know the guy writing the shows doesn't care about it, why would I?

As a wrestling fan, i'm sure he enjoys it. As an owner he clearly doesn't value it. You can probably count on your hands the number of times Dynamite or Rampage has had two women's matches on a show. The Women's Tag Tournament they did during lockdown and the Japanese side of an Eliminator tournament were ideas pushed for by from others. Both hidden away on Youtube. The Owen tournaments have been a bit of an afterthought.

Jade Cargill and Saraya have been a couple of people he really got behind, but I've always seen that more as a marketing exercise than to do with wrestling. Britt Baker being the original poster child that mixes both marketing and wrestling.

Toni Storm might have been the only signing that ticked the analytical box for wrestling. She's only been in the company in the company for a little over a year and has probably had more TV matches than any other woman in the company.

[TildeGuy~!]

I think they were expecting more Joshi wrestlers to move over full time but  obviously that hasn’t worked out, I think Yuka Sakazaki will be returning at some point after she recovers from injury as she has confirmed she’ll be leaving TJPW.

Utami Hayashishita was wrestling for GCW last week and I was expecting her to turn up in AEW for a couple of matches before she went back to Stardom for their version of the G1 but that didn’t happen.

Guilia won the NJPW Strong title recently so she’ll be taking more dates in America so hopefully she’ll pop up at some point too.

Edited July 16, 2023 by TildeGuy~!

[Hannibal Scorch]

Tony is a stats guy. He looks at breakdowns per segment and their ratings. If the ratings didn’t drop during woman’s matches they would be featured more. I’m not saying he’s right or that the focus is in anyway sufficient, I’m just pointing out why it’s likely treated that way. He clearly cares about the woman he signs, but the division will always be an afterthought whilst presented in its current state.

[RedRooster]

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Tony is a stats guy. He looks at breakdowns per segment and their ratings. If the ratings didn’t drop during woman’s matches they would be featured more. I’m not saying he’s right or that the focus is in anyway sufficient, I’m just pointing out why it’s likely treated that way.

I have no idea what ratings are for women’s matches in AEW, but if they do indeed drop, to look at a rating and conclude it’s female wrestlers that are the problem and not AEW’s presentation of them or arrogant bordering on sexist. That theory - if it is indeed what he believes - can easily be torn apart; you can easily point to WWE’s highly successful and marketable women’s division, or Impact’s women’s division - which was a ratings winner even before WWE started to make an effort.

For clarity, Hannibal, I know that’s not what you’re suggesting - but if Khan really did believe that, I would hope that someone internal would call him out.

Whatever the case, it’s such a shame because the potential of that division is so obvious. It started in a rough place, but the components are there to have women’s feuds and matches that rival what WWE and Impact puts on. Given that AEW presented itself as a company of equal opportunity on launch, it needs to do better.

[Guest]

I haven’t seen anyone go crazy for a wwe woman’s feud in years, we still talking about the nxt purple patch here of wwe being leaders in women’s wrestling? 

[The King Of Swing]

1 hour ago, TildeGuy~! said:

Guilia won the NJPW Strong title recently so she’ll be taking more dates in America so hopefully she’ll pop up at some point too.

Wouldn't count on it. Giulia is probably just keeping that belt warm for when Mercedes, recovers. 

Hell I don't think Mayu Iwatani has even defended the IWGP Women's Title since winning it. TS can at least take some comfort in AEW's women's division not being as big of a shit show as New Japan's. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, Louch said:

I haven’t seen anyone go crazy for a wwe woman’s feud in years, we still talking about the nxt purple patch here of wwe being leaders in women’s wrestling? 

Everyone, rightly, gave plaudits for WWE having their women’s only PPV. That was in 2018 and even though WWE have “Premium Live Events” now instead, have never done another. The first woman’s Wrestlemania main event was off the back of that, and because Rhonda Rousey was a crossover star still at that time. 
 

Every wrestling company has at one time done a decent go at pushing woman’s wrestling, whether that is headlong PPV’s or Weekly TV shows, more tv time, larger rosters etc. But there has to be a reason as to why it’s still seen as a second or 3rd tier of relevance in 2023. But wrestling isn’t the only sport with un-equal positions when it comes to sexism. 

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Credit to Kahn, at least he's pushing the women more visibly on the ROH show. Athena is having a great run as ROH Women's Champion.

Sadly as much as we may want, and it be righteous, for women to get even representation on these shows, the sad reality is that the larger fanbase do not get behind it as much as the male wrestlers. 

I also believe the more divisions you have the harder it's got to be to juggle all your long term programs. So even if you wanted to split it evenly 50/50, the reality is that it will impact the build for the other fueds.

It's a horrible no win situation.

Edited July 17, 2023 by andrew "the ref" coyne

[RedRooster]

9 hours ago, Louch said:

I haven’t seen anyone go crazy for a wwe woman’s feud in years, we still talking about the nxt purple patch here of wwe being leaders in women’s wrestling? 

Perhaps not, but outside of The Bloodline the same could be said for male wrestling feuds. And we’ve certainly seen people go crazy for female wrestlers. Rhea Ripley is one of the hottest acts in wrestling, Bianca Belair’s star has risen significantly in recent years; and whatever you think of them, Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Bayley are among the biggest stars in the company.

3 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

Sadly as much as we may want, and it be righteous, for women to get even representation on these shows, the sad reality is that the larger fanbase do not get behind it as much as the male wrestlers.

Based on what metric? I don’t avidly digest ratings, but WWE and TNA/Impact both disprove any perception that women’s matches/segments lose viewers. When it comes to crowd reaction, there’s no argument to be made either. They’re on a par with men’s matches in both WWE and Impact. If the performers are presented well, the audience will react. If they’re lower card acts, the reaction may be more muted. 

3 hours ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

I also believe the more divisions you have the harder it's got to be to juggle all your long term programs. So even if you wanted to split it evenly 50/50, the reality is that it will impact the build for the other fueds.

It's a horrible no win situation.

I’m sure, in their 5-hours of weekly programming, AEW could just about manage to give their female wrestlers a more prominent role. 

At one point, you could legitimately argue that AEW’s women’s division lacked the depth to be featured prominently, but that just isn’t the case anymore - it’s packed with talent. While I absolutely believe that representation matters, it’s not just about that. They have a women’s roster packed with wrestlers that are interesting and fun to watch, and deserve better than they’re getting.

[Vamp]

I think the writing was on the wall after they didn't follow up on the Thunder Rosa/Britt Baker lights out match. There was a real buzz around that point. 

AEW couldn't give two shits about their women's division. There's no reason they couldn't be a draw for the company but they've decided not to push them. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Everyone, rightly, gave plaudits for WWE having their women’s only PPV. That was in 2018 and even though WWE have “Premium Live Events” now instead, have never done another. The first woman’s Wrestlemania main event was off the back of that, and because Rhonda Rousey was a crossover star still at that time. 
 

Every wrestling company has at one time done a decent go at pushing woman’s wrestling, whether that is headlong PPV’s or Weekly TV shows, more tv time, larger rosters etc. But there has to be a reason as to why it’s still seen as a second or 3rd tier of relevance in 2023. But wrestling isn’t the only sport with un-equal positions when it comes to sexism. 

Why does it have to be sexism? It’s not unfair to say there are many more better men’s wrestlers than female, forcing equality in terms of time given doesn’t make their matches more watchable. If they where all having banging matches and giving killer promos they would be all over the show. 

[WyattSheepMask]

7 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Everyone, rightly, gave plaudits for WWE having their women’s only PPV. That was in 2018 and even though WWE have “Premium Live Events” now instead, have never done another. The first woman’s Wrestlemania main event was off the back of that, and because Rhonda Rousey was a crossover star still at that time. 
 

 

They gave plaudits yes but it’s important to remember as well that it was held in part as a make-good for them not being allowed on the Saudi show that occurred later in the week. Since then the women have been “allowed” on the Saudi shows more and more in the years since, but that’s  a bigger conversation to be had. I seem to recall it also had strong opening day ticket sales but then struggled to shift many more afterwards, leading to the event playing out to a mostly dark arena