Jump to content

AEW Rampage Thread 2023


Merzbow

Recommended Posts

To answer Red Roosters multiple points... if I didn't have a three year old I could spend age pulling stuff up. 

But according to Wrestlenomics the top merch sellers in 2023 for AEW are as follows:

Overall for 2023:
1. The Acclaimed
2. The Elite
3. AEW generic
4. MJF
5. Danhausen & FTR
6. The Briscoes
7. Kenny Omega
8. Hangman Adam Page
9. Blackpool Combat Club
10. Sting

Wwe are similar in that most positions are male.dominated, but Rhea Ripley and Bianaca Belairs are in the top 10 (credit to wwe for that).

Was going to try and find more but my evening just got busy. Follow Wrestlenomics, they come up with tidbits like this all the time.

Edited by andrew "the ref" coyne
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

To answer Red Roosters multiple points... if I didn't have a three year old I could spend age pulling stuff up. 

But according to Wrestlenomics the top merch sellers in 2023 for AEW are as follows:

Overall for 2023:
1. The Acclaimed
2. The Elite
3. AEW generic
4. MJF
5. Danhausen & FTR
6. The Briscoes
7. Kenny Omega
8. Hangman Adam Page
9. Blackpool Combat Club
10. Sting

Wwe are similar in that most positions are male.dominated, but Rhea Ripley and Bianaca Belairs are in the top 10 (credit to wwe for that).

Was going to try and find more but my evening just got busy. Follow Wrestlenomics, they come up with tidbits like this all the time.

That’s unsurprising - my point is that AEW’s women’s division isn’t being presented in a way where it could make a difference, but it easily could be. I also don’t think merch sales is a particularly good metric to use to judge whether people care or not. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think its much to ask with 5 hours of TV to get 4 matches a week every once in a while.

Maki Itoh got name checked earlier. She has actually wrestled for the company a couple of times in June. Tagging with Willow against Emi Sakura & Megan Bayne and a Trios with Abadon & Riho v. Nyla Rose, Marina Shafir & Emi Sakura.

Either one would have been suitable Rampage filler. Especially as one of those weeks had a Rampage with Hobbs in a squash and Acclaimed v. SAP taking up 10 minutes of ring time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
57 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

To answer Red Roosters multiple points... if I didn't have a three year old I could spend age pulling stuff up. 

But according to Wrestlenomics the top merch sellers in 2023 for AEW are as follows:

Overall for 2023:
1. The Acclaimed
2. The Elite
3. AEW generic
4. MJF
5. Danhausen & FTR
6. The Briscoes
7. Kenny Omega
8. Hangman Adam Page
9. Blackpool Combat Club
10. Sting

Wwe are similar in that most positions are male.dominated, but Rhea Ripley and Bianaca Belairs are in the top 10 (credit to wwe for that).

Was going to try and find more but my evening just got busy. Follow Wrestlenomics, they come up with tidbits like this all the time.

With the exception of Danhausen and Sting, who are exceptions for obvious reasons, which women get comparable TV time to any of the above?

If the women were presented as stars, then they may be perceived as stars. If you don't get behind them properly, and treat them as the piss-break match, then that's how they'll be perceived.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I honestly think a lot of the problems with the women's division is buyers remorse over Saraya. It seemed TK saw her return as his 'female return of CM Punk moment' but it turned out very different and now they are stuck with her so they've had to create this heel faction to compensate her short comings. Toni should be top face, you won't get a more marketable person for American Audiences, she should be the wrestling world's version of Margot Robbie.

 

My memory may be way wrong here but I remember reading at the start Omega was to have a big hand in the Womens division? The feeling was he was going to build a division that was a mixture of Indy and Joshhi wrestlers, whatever happened to Omega's involvement?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay so here's your next stat; YouTube views.

The lowest YT views from battle of the belts 7 is Storm vs Valkyrie.

The lowest viewed match from Collision is Nightinggale vs Riot.

The lowest viewed match on Rampage is Athena vs Nightinggale.

The 2nd lowest viewed match on Dynamite is Soho vs Blue (lowest was the opening men's tag).

Previous weeks Collisions lowest viewed match was Julia Harts match.

Previous Rampage lowest was Hikaru Shida.

Previous Dynamite 2nd lowest viewed match was Baker vs Soho (lowest was trios match Acclaimed vs House of Black).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now to follow up many are saying "well if they were presented as equal they'd be bigger draws."

Absolutely. Don't necessarily disagree with you, you COULD be right.

But its a gamble, and when its the alternative to shoving on a Chris Jericho vs Kormander match which is near enough a guarantee to attract more eye balls, that a tough decision to make when you have to appease stakeholders.

I don't want it to be the case, and we can argue "woulda shoulda coulda" all day, but historically women typically don't draw as well, regardless of the reasons and it's a shit reality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

Now to follow up many are saying "well if they were presented as equal they'd be bigger draws."

Absolutely. Don't necessarily disagree with you, you COULD be right.

But its a gamble, and when its the alternative to shoving on a Chris Jericho vs Kormander match which is near enough a guarantee to attract more eye balls, that a tough decision to make when you have to appease stakeholders.

I don't want it to be the case, and we can argue "woulda shoulda coulda" all day, but historically women typically don't draw as well, regardless of the reasons and it's a shit reality.

Well yeah, because historically women were treated pretty poorly. Using history as a reason not to push women would be pointless given that there is clear contemporary evidence women’s wrestling is a draw. All I need to do is point to WWE and Impact. Heck, TNA’s women’s division was drawing the company’s best ratings back when their roster was packed with stars. Becky Lynch, relatively recently, was the hottest act in wrestling. 

It’s demonstrably not ‘a gamble’ to push women in 2023. If anything, it’s a gamble to pursue the current approach - eventually someone will call AEW out on this or a well-organised social media campaign, and that’s a PR issue Khan would presumably rather avoid. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I always find that women’s wrestling works best when you don’t make a song and dance out of it and just present it as an integral part of the show as you would any other feud.

Whereas WWE were often guilty of making a big fuss of their ‘women’s revolution’ and “look at us, we’re main eventing women”, its best to just do it quietly and without fuss and it will be accepted by the audience.

There have been multiple occasions when women have main evented Impact PPV’s because they were legitimately the best or most built feuds on the card.

There was an argument that Deonna Purazzo v Trinity could have closed Slammiversary on Saturday, and if they had no one would have complained.

Its not a token gesture any more. Deonna Purazzo can legit go as well as any man on the roster.

The general quality of women’s wrestling is such now that if people aren’t watching women’s matches in the same numbers as men’s, then its down to how they’re being presented rather than the audience being against it.

Edited by garynysmon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just wrestling where women are equally as capable, but not given the same exposure.

 

Take that huge night of boxing from the o2 with Marshall v Shields headlining. Could you see a comparable mens card being given away on TV? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, we're well past the argument about whether women's wrestling can draw, now, aren't we?  If you have the right stars and present them properly, it can.

I'd also argue that merch sales are a great way of knowing who's popular.  I saw Rousey wrestle in her first WWE run at the O2 and EVERYONE including half the men were wearing her shirt.

AEW just isn't committed to women's wrestling really and so if you half-arse it, you get commensurate results.  They have, imo, 3 properly bankable female stars - Jade, Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.  Three people you could legitimately put in a headline position at a PPV, properly supported and with good opposition.  That's enough to build a real division around, but it means putting their storylines and their matches front and centre on tv.  Opening position, closing position.  Yes, maybe Tony's stats show the main event slot doesn't have the most eyes, but it's the MAIN EVENT SLOT.  It says something to the fans about the importance of the wrestlers.

Hayter v Baker
Hayter v Jade
Jade v Baker

Those are your three main events to build around for the next 12 months.  Go to it. :)

Edited by Loki
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...