Pro Wrestling Contract Season

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Miro is great but he was born in the wrong era. He would have been far better suited to the territory days where he could go from place to place, have a great run as a monster heel for 6 months then fuck off to the next town with a tour of Japan in between. Modern day though he has a limit.

The same thing happened with him in AEW as it did in WWE. In WWE he had a fantastic run as the Russian Beast or whatever he was called until he put over the top babyface (Cena) and after that he was done. They tried a few things, the "Rusev Day" chant got over but it was all going nowhere. Then in AEW he came in, had that absolutely great TNT Champion run as "God's Champion" but once he lost it it was the same thing of "well, now what?". He didn't seem to know either because he basically did the exact same nonsensical promo every week for months afterwards.

The man is extremely talented but he's a classic case of too good to be a mid carder but not good enough to be a main event player and it's always impossible to know what to do with those acts, I assume he'll end up back in WWE and have a bit of a nothing run. If he was so inclined he could probably do extremely well for himself in New Japan but I don't think he'd be bothered.

He's very much like Bronson Reed for me. It doesn't take much to heat up a guy like that if you need to. But it's extremely tough to have a consistent long run at a high level like that. Short bursts look great and you can have an incredible monster run but once you're toppled, it's a struggle to then go anywhere.

[tiger_rick]

From an AEW POV, it's a shame that Miro and Starks haven't worked out but no loss. Miro had his moments and the guy is really, really good. He's obviously had some injuries, personal issues and ego problems that have ruined things. He's a no brainer of a pick up for WWE though. He's a name familiar to the fanbase, he has the "misused by Vince" thing that Trips can play off and on his day, he's brilliant. I'm not convinced he'll end up near the top but he'll bolster their TV.

Starks is not someone I'm high on. He'll get picked up by WWE and he'll get over. I'm sure of that because LA Knight has and he's absolutely garbage. Starks is another who had his moments but him and Knight are birds of a feather. Modern day Mr Kennedy acts who's greatest hits style I'm not a fan of. He's another no brainer of a signing though.

Black is no loss to AEW and no use to WWE. Trips will sign him because he's one of his guys but he has Andrade written all over him. 

It's great for wrestling that AEW exists. This is exactly what was missing all those years post-WCW. Two places people can work, earn good money, and jump to the other place feeling fresh and new. Good stuff.

[Carbomb]

I'd say it's an even better time than the WWF/wCw era - there are now three valid companies to work for. TNA are the smallest of the three, but they're a solid company, and a good third option for wrestlers if they run out of steam in the bigger two. I thought it was a very good idea that Ziggler/Nemeth went there instead of AEW. It felt like a fresh move in a time where everyone leaving WWE went to AEW.

Edited February 11, 2025 by Carbomb
Ibrahima Bakayoko

[tiger_rick]

7 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I'd say it's an even better time than the WWF/wCw era - there are now three valid companies to work for. 

Given all the people those two took from ECW, that was surely more the case back then.

[Chili]

BUt Giyz, WWE reLeASED sOmE DeadWOOD. TOOOwwny MArk rELRASd sUM REul sTarz. AEW iZ dyUNNN.

I'm poorly, I'm just taking the piss.

Malakai to Smackdown (such a funny coincidence Isla Dawn got released on the other side btw, just find the parallel interesting). Starks to NXT, and I reckon Starks will do alright for himself because his mouth is his best talent above his In-ring, if Ethan Page is still Ethan Page, then Ricky Starks ain't getting a name change IMO.

Miro even though I don't watch the shows, I would happily never hear of in a major promotion again. Doesn't add what someone like Punk does even though he's difficult and only has the two storyline modes. Monster with his own religious purpose and cuck bitch. Seen both, nobody really needs to see either again.

I don't think WWE much like AEW need to hire EVERYONE.

[Devon Malcolm]

Rusev released just in time for him to bust out his tank for Wrestlemania. I am determined this happens.

[Chili]

5 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Rusev released just in time for him to bust out his tank for Wrestlemania. I am determined this happens.

If he gets cucked by the tank then I'll accept it, then I want him released in the spring clean immediately after, AND on Rusev Day.

[Carbomb]

26 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Given all the people those two took from ECW, that was surely more the case back then.

Was thinking more from the wrestler perspective - I'd venture to assume that TNA, being a much more stable and "legit" company than ECW, are most likely a much better and more reliable payday.

[Chili]

With their relationship now with WWE, TNA is very much in the ECW role aren't they. I guess WWE ID and the Evolve show coming would make them OVW/HWA/Power Pro.

[Carbomb]

I also had a hope that, with this age of streaming narrowing the visibility/accessibility gap between the bigger companies a bit, we might see a "third tier" comprised of the NWA and MLW. 

One thing that's definitely different from thirty years ago is that going to NJPW is now not only a viable alternative payday, but even a viable way to boost your profile and career in the wrestling business.

[BomberPat]

There's also Maple Leaf Pro gearing up for another couple of shows, and they seem pretty comfortable working in a space somewhere between TNA and AEW, and come with a lot of contacts given Scott D'Amore's history. It will be interesting to see where they land more generally.

NJPW are in an awkward position at the moment; with the Yen the weakest it's been in a long time, I'm not sure how viable it is as a third option for western wrestlers to make big money right now, and the non-Japanese audience isn't as strong as it once was either, so I'm not convinced it's the space for career reinvention that it used to be. One of the stranger developments of the last year has been CMLL going from arguably the most isolationist promotion in the world to almost filling the niche NJPW did a decade ago of the cool foreign promotion to watch, with hot acts from there brought in to sell tickets elsewhere.

[SaitoRyo]

17 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

There's also Maple Leaf Pro gearing up for another couple of shows, and they seem pretty comfortable working in a space somewhere between TNA and AEW, and come with a lot of contacts given Scott D'Amore's history. It will be interesting to see where they land more generally.

As an aside, I can definitely see Gallows and Anderson working with Maple Leaf Pro, given their history with D'Amore (they worked together in TNA/IMPACT and I believe D'Amore helped Gallows get his NJPW gig back when). 

[Carbomb]

That's interesting; I've often wondered how much of an industry there is left in Canada. I remember, back before Dale Gagner was finally forced to stop using the AWA brand, hearing some really good reports about AWA: Quebec in the early 2000s. And, of course, the IWS was one of the first places where El Generico and Kevin Steen gained visibility on the indie scene (it was definitely a rather crappy, small-time promotion, but in that era, any alternative to WWE would have had more attention solely by virtue of being able to produce videos and DVDs).

[SaitoRyo]

1 minute ago, Carbomb said:

That's interesting; I've often wondered how much of an industry there is left in Canada. 

The only thing left to do there is get booked by Hannibal...of The Hannibal TV...do a six-minute brawl and let him stab you in the head with a spike. 

In all seriousness, I don't really know and that's a good question. Maple Leaf Pro are relatively new, while a couple of Bret Hart's kids have been running Dungeon Wrestling out of Calgary over the past couple of years. Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure. 

[Carbomb]

1 minute ago, SaitoRyo said:

The only thing left to do there is get booked by Hannibal...of The Hannibal TV...do a six-minute brawl and let him stab you in the head with a spike. 

In all seriousness, I don't really know and that's a good question. Maple Leaf Pro are relatively new, while a couple of Bret Hart's kids have been running Dungeon Wrestling out of Calgary over the past couple of years. Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure. 

I looked up MLP, and their website does not appear to be functioning. They've announced shows in March, but who knows? D'Amore's got a good reputation, so I really hope he's able to build something; I'd be genuinely interested in a Canadian promotion, from a cultural perspective. Also, I've always enjoyed regionally-oriented stuff; there's something inherently likable about promotions that know their limits and know that their audience know them too, so they don't claim to be "world" promotions.