The King Of Swing Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Finally got around to watching Dynamite, expecting the worst. Wasn't great but nowhere near as bad as people are making out. That'll teach me for coming into this thread before actually watching the show, like an idiot. Wembley footage was obviously the low point and I really hope that's the end of the whole, sorry affair. To their credit, I think FTR did their best to salvage the situation. Dax is a solid promo. Okada being visibly bored in his squash match was fun. A Storm/May/Mina triangle could be a good laugh. But I'm worried that Mina will vanish into the void until we get closer to Forbidden Door. Hopefully she can stick around a little longer. Fuck it, I'll say it. Delusional mentor Jericho has legs, imo. At least it seems like he's finally fucked off Judas. Could have done without the Triple H dig but Osprey's promo was fine outside of that. Mercedes is much more suited to pre-taped promos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 15 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said: That’s not quite true, although optics. Flair was supposed to be signed and once the Darkside of the Ring episode aired. Sting wanted him to come in during his final run and AEW did a deal with Woo Energy which they would pay Flair to appear. And he only appeared 3 times. Optically, still looked shit to have him in, but I guess they weren’t paying for the privilege. Jay Lethal is probably the best (worst) example I think that’s irrelevant. You don’t have to accept the cash - especially when you’re a billionaire who can afford to spend one wrestler’s salary to license a song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 14 Paid Members Share Posted April 14 22 minutes ago, RedRooster said: I think that’s irrelevant. You don’t have to accept the cash - especially when you’re a billionaire who can afford to spend one wrestler’s salary to license a song. Are you saying you’d rather he paid for Flair himself because he can afford it? I think this goes to Tony being a people pleaser. He wanted to give Sting everything he wanted. He should have turned around said Ric Flair ain’t coming in because he’s a dirty old man who should be blackballed from the industry. But he instead asked what Sting wanted to round out his career and checked it off. It pretty much backfired, Flair was booed each appearance and no one seemed to be for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 7 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: Are you saying you’d rather he paid for Flair himself because he can afford it? That’s clearly not what I’m saying. I’m saying he’s rich enough to say no to the sponsorship, and keep Flair off television. He could also have said no to Sting’s request to work with Flair on AEW television. If Sting really, really wanted to work with Flair one last time, I’m sure there’s an indie show somewhere that would have been happy to accommodate this. 10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: I think this goes to Tony being a people pleaser. He wanted to give Sting everything he wanted. He should have turned around said Ric Flair ain’t coming in because he’s a dirty old man who should be blackballed from the industry. But he instead asked what Sting wanted to round out his career and checked it off. It pretty much backfired, Flair was booed each appearance and no one seemed to be for it. I mean, I hate to say it, but Flair wasn’t really booed. If anything, the response was tepid at worst; but a lot of people were still willing to cheer him. As far as being a ‘people pleaser’ goes, surely this is more a case of Khan being unwilling to say ‘no’ to his idols. Because I’m sure there were plenty of women backstage who felt uncomfortable with the idea of a serial flasher coming in. Same goes for Lethal, while there are members of the AEW roster who would have been happy to see him get that opportunity; there would have been others who felt massively upset by it. Then there’s the Kylie Rae situation. I’m not sure an NDA is pleasing anyone; aside from the person it’s designed to protect. To me, it simply points to an environment where people of higher status and pay are protected, and people of a lower status are going to feel unwilling to speak out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 14 Paid Members Share Posted April 14 @RedRooster Re: Kylie Rae. That’s a completely speculative situation. The details have not been confirmed as anything more than speculation (and I’m not trying to defend Jericho, not really a fan, just trying to go on what we do know). The journalist who made the allegations said he did so because he had a personal grudge and not long after quit due to other statements he made which were called out. I’M NOT SAYING IT DID OR DIDNT HAPPEN, I’m just saying all we have is speculation which I don’t think is helpful. Back to Flair, he wasn’t getting booed like a Dominic Mysterio level, because some wrestling fans will always cheer for the old boys, but he basically stopped appearing after this because of the backlash, and he had suggested before he would be by Stings side for every appearance. Would I have done it if I was Tony Khan? No, and regardless of the whys I still don’t agree with it and it was a mistake. I even hate they still have shitty Wooooo Energy as a sponsor, maybe that’s an indicator of the level of sponsorship they are getting offers on over WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 (edited) To desperately drag this away from chat that should probably be in the Tony is a Twat topic, one thing I genuinely am struggling with (real life means I'm watching less and just Dynamite) is the roster needs streamlining a bit, or having it's house in order more. I don't mean get rid of ROH, but just keep who you want on there. I would have kept that Continental Crown together and had that be the bridging link between AEW, ROH & NJPW. You don't really need that many titles prattling about. Sweet wholesome WWE is bad for it too. Generally wrestling has too many belts. But yeah, I'd have who I wanted on AEW and really focus on that, and if I was bringing people in (not Forbidden Door guests), I'd at least try and give a reason. I still don't know if Shane Taylor Promotions for example are ROH or AEW, or are they both? Has Griff Garrison (not that it's important, poor lad) left AEW to ROH because he's mostly there? Little things like this make me wrinkle the nose a bit. I think I just like things clearer. Or maybe just having this open border works for other fans, it's better than brand splitting and having that awful Wildcard bollocks WWE had for a bit. Nothing wrong with mentioning ROH on TV etc, I just want things more clear and to understand who people are like that Japanese lady who popped up on Dynamite and snogged Mariah May. Don't explain everything to me obviously because that's twitter wrestling fan duh brain look no fans isn't AEW shit discourse, but gimme a wee hint guys. You've got the time, get RJ City directing some vignettes I dunno. Anyway Moxley is IWGP Champ and is popping back next week. Death never takes a holiday and seemingly neither does Mox. Edited April 14 by Chili Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 Tony doesn't really know what he wants AEW to be. He doesnt seem to have a single focus. It's very much trying to please the talent across the board plus being liked by other companies too and the fans. And there will always be issues with trying to please that many people and giving them everything they all want. Mostly the fact that it's just not possible. I'm not sure if that'll ever change because he's just a fanboy with a shit ton of money who is able to do whatever he wants. And what he wants is to be everything to everyone. So we'll keep coming round to these issues like inconsistent booking and bloated rosters and random crossover distractions. Spinning that many plates at the same time will never allow the cohesion to be any more than what they are. And he sounds happy with what they're doing anyway so that's that really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 14 Paid Members Share Posted April 14 (edited) @Chili I think you nailed some crucial points (although WWE and AEW have the same amount of weekly TV and same amount of titles, it just feels worse on AEW). But the roster is bloated. Normally a great problem to have, but the spending spree he went on in 2020 due to WWE’s roster cuts ment that even with ROH as a satellite brand, too many people. Although at times that’s helped. When you’ve lost people like Kenny to long term injury you had people you could replace him with a the top end. And with people like Adam Cole, MJF, Miro, Kenny and Darby all out injured and they still have top talent, it shows how vast it is. I mean can you imagine if Seth, Cody, Roman, Drew and Priest were all out at the same time. Who’d be stepping up for the ’E? But he can definitely trim the fat and I think you either need to make ROH its own thing with no crossovers (unless they are being called up permanently to AEW), or just start not renewing contracts. Especially with people who don’t appear to want to be there anymore. They could lose a good 20/30 people across the company and still have a great roster (and even free space for people to step up). Edited April 14 by Hannibal Scorch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyAnderson Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 The bloated roster comes from one of the things that Khan has been praised for - he's given so many wrestlers a place to earn a few quid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 11 minutes ago, JimmyAnderson said: The bloated roster comes from one of the things that Khan has been praised for - he's given so many wrestlers a place to earn a few quid. I was more thinking post ROH buy out. One thing I think Tony Khan did that was great was giving loads of people work on AEW Dark during the pandemic, but also they all weren't signed up immediately after or part of a buy-out. I think the ROH stuff is different and more the vagueness of who is where etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 There's definitely a benefit to opportunity and roster depth. But it does also mean that TK's booking often jumps all over the place depending on who he's into that week and there's so many you could argue are capable but never capitalised on. Or ones that have breakout performances but either get forgotten about or there's no room for them to move up. Having too many is arguably a good problem to have but it does also mean you get a lot of sitting around and waiting for something. Treading water will lead to a lot of unrest, especially with the more ambitious ones. If they're just in it for the money and they're happy for any role then it's not such a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyAnderson Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 4 hours ago, Chili said: I was more thinking post ROH buy out. One thing I think Tony Khan did that was great was giving loads of people work on AEW Dark during the pandemic, but also they all weren't signed up immediately after or part of a buy-out. I think the ROH stuff is different and more the vagueness of who is where etc I wasn't disagreeing with you mate, I feel the size of the roster is at the heart of what is wrong with AEW right now. It causes creativity to be spread a lot thinner to include as many people as possible rather than focusing on a select few, it causes momentum to be lost because instead of capitalising on something there's somebody else who needs to be showcased (example Trent's heel turn two Dynamites ago but nothing this week unless it's on one of the other shows), attendances suffering because fans can't guarantee getting a glimpse of their favourites and instead it's more pot luck so people don't take the risk and, as you mention, the murkiness of the ROH since it's rebirth under Tony Khan. It obviously has it's good points as well, given the injuries they've got at the minute but still allowing them to put out some top name wrestlers. It is given a lot of people to earn a few quid. And it does allow a lot more rotation to keep people feeling fresh (or at least it used to, I think that's becoming less noticable now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 16 Paid Members Share Posted April 16 I’m so glad we got Tony back into wrestling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 16 Paid Members Share Posted April 16 Chris Jericho has trademarked, “The Jericho Vortex.” Because of course he fucking has. All this time and effort to try to play into it and make it a meta character. Surely it’d be easier to just fuck off for a bit, like everyone wants you to? If he’d accepted this six to twelve months ago it’d already nearly be time for him to come back and feel fresh and exciting again. Someone should send him this on Twitter. Try and inspire him to take a break and achieve new goals. Not that it matters though. I’m more convinced than ever he’s trying to burn through his contract to go back to WWE. Any time away is more time he needs to pay back before his contract can expire. He’s probably already sniffed around Hunter about a Hall of Fame induction to get him back in the fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 43 minutes ago, Supremo said: Chris Jericho has trademarked, “The Jericho Vortex.” Because of course he fucking has. All this time and effort to try to play into it and make it a meta character. Surely it’d be easier to just fuck off for a bit, like everyone wants you to? If he’d accepted this six to twelve months ago it’d already nearly be time for him to come back and feel fresh and exciting again. Someone should send him this on Twitter. Try and inspire him to take a break and achieve new goals. Not that it matters though. I’m more convinced than ever he’s trying to burn through his contract to go back to WWE. Any time away is more time he needs to pay back before his contract can expire. He’s probably already sniffed around Hunter about a Hall of Fame induction to get him back in the fold. He's a guy in his mid-50s, if he goes away he ain't coming back in any meaningful way. He's just desperately clinging to his spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.