Pro Wrestling Contract Season

[Kamran]

6 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

But as a fan, I'm concerned with the general perception of the product from the fans attending and the workers and I just don't think this stuff is helping the perception that AEW is a distant number two at the moment.  

I get that, maybe it's because I don't ever really see anyone coming close to WWE, I feel like whoever is 2nd is always going to be a distant second. With all the decades behind WWE, the mainstream appeal in the 80s/late 90s etc it feels almost insurmountable that anyone could come close.

19 minutes ago, DEF said:

There is a real issue with perception becoming reality to people. Now Vince is gone a whole industry of "media" has spawned that exists purely to profit off burying Tony Khan and AEW.

There was survey done for AEW fans on twitter that they were talking about on Post Wrestling (the one source I genuinely think does a good job) it was only about 200 fans but they said overwhelmingly they like AEW home grown younger talent but also when AEW comes to there town they wouldn't go and see them. There own fan base has been convinced it's second class.

I'm not sure the best way to combat all the negativity, however I do think AEW could do a better job of showing off some of their highlights on social media more. After Revolution, they aired an excellent package of the Storm/May feud on Dynamite but they never put it up on youtube or anywhere else that I noticed. It's that kind of stuff that they should be showcasing everywhere.

35 minutes ago, DEF said:

They have to be careful who they bring in from WWE. Upper midcarders being paid big bucks to do what they have been doing in WWE won't help that perception.

I do worry that we won't see many younger stars leave WWE (unless released) whereas you're more likely to get younger AEW stars making the switch to WWE.

Back on topic, this just appeared on my facebook feed:

[DEF]

35 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

As for the second part. That isn't AEW exclusive. People will say anything for money now. Media these days is anyone with a YouTube channel, and there seems to be an infinite amount of them. I found my mum watching a YouTube video the other day titled "Is King Charles a Muslim?" Nearly 300k views, and it was surprisingly longer than the one second it should take to say "No' So everyone gets slagged off, I don't think Tony gets it any worse than anyone else. 

Yes it's everywhere but in the wrestling space at the moment that IS the predominant FB / IG click bait/hot take and those ideas are penetrating into real life fan perception.

If it's in 'the medias' interest to write negative spin on TK and AEW then they will continue to do so for the money and it will continue to actively hurt AEW's fan perception and they click the links more. It's the bad faith cycle and if it continues it will almost certainly damage the brand permanently.

Assuming AEW is profitable now with the Max deal I think they should really put some money behind marketing. Many many casual fans don't know them and if they do it's in a negative context. 

Just yesterday a friend said 'I give AEW two years tops' which made me chuckle considering the running joke about TNA on here. Again nonsense but that's his perception.

 

[Chili]

With something so bedded in to the pop culture and general awareness that WWE is with their decades in the industry, being the No.2/Alternative/Burger King of wrestling when you've got a big network behind you and a streaming deal, finally profitable and actually being able to bring in big names if you so wish is a great place to be in the industry IMO. I'm happy for them to always be the other place regardless of their brand awareness to the casual man on the street as long as they are still around. It was how I felt about TNA until it really dropped off, but TNA was never in the position AEW is in. Gotta thank a billionaire Dad and his wee nepo baby for that bit.

Edited April 16, 2025 by Chili

[DEF]

1 minute ago, Chili said:

With something so bedded in to the pop culture and general awareness that WWE is with their decades in the industry, being the No.2/Alternative/Burger King of wrestling when you've got a big network behind you and a streaming deal and actually being able to bring in big names if you so wish is a great place to be in the industry IMO. I'm happy for them to always be the other place regardless of their brand awareness to the casual man on the street as long as they are still around. It was how I felt about TNA until it really dropped off, but TNA was never in the position AEW is in. Gotta thank a billionaire Dad and his wee nepo baby for that bit.

Absolutely. Pepsi are huge brand in their own right after all. My concern is that the way the narrative is being told it's more like AEW are becoming perceived as Happy Shopper Cola. They need to strengthen their marketing. I see them much like you do. A genuine alternative and a great one at that.

[Hannibal Scorch]

I think TK is already planning for life after the Elite. The question is who satays. They negotiated the last 2 deals as a unit, I think the Bucks definitely want out, Omega maybe looking at a few years at WWE is the way to close out his career. Hangman is the one I have no idea of

[LaGoosh]

10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I think TK is already planning for life after the Elite. The question is who satays. They negotiated the last 2 deals as a unit, I think the Bucks definitely want out, Omega maybe looking at a few years at WWE is the way to close out his career. Hangman is the one I have no idea of

The Bucks are basically half retired already and will definitely be done with wrestling when their current contract ends. Likely Omega too, he's already looking pretty physically knackered. Hangman could go either way I suppose but it'd absolutely break my heart to see him in WWE. I think I'd probably quit watching wrestling altogether if that happens.

But anyway pretty sure they signed 5 year deals so they're not going anywhere for awhile.

Edited April 16, 2025 by LaGoosh

[WyattSheepMask]

12 hours ago, Supremo said:

Charlotte Flair already thinking up the worst promo you’ve ever heard to cut on Mariah May.

”You might be English…but I’m the real Queen!”

If she thought Tiffy went too far standing up for herself against all the bullshit meta burials, wait until Mariah just pulls a knife like Tank Abott.

And all Mariah would need to do is say “yeah, and just like your run at the top, the Queen’s dead”

Cue Charlotte throwing a wobbly because she’s got fuck all to throw back. Book it

[The Gaffer]

12 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

The question is who satays. 

Could be a run on the sheets for Curry Man.

[garynysmon]

2 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Hangman could go either way I suppose but it'd absolutely break my heart to see him in WWE. I think I'd probably quit watching wrestling altogether if that happens.

Watching TNA is great for toughening up anyone’s soul.

Anyone you like is bound to fuck off eventually.

[RedTwoster]

15 hours ago, Kamran said:

I do worry that we won't see many younger stars leave WWE (unless released) whereas you're more likely to get younger AEW stars making the switch to WWE.

 

This isn’t a dig at WWE, but I’m not sure there are many young WWE wrestlers on their male roster that AEW would even want at the moment. They’d certainly sign Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu, but I’m not sure either are Tony Khan’s kind of wrestler. I could see Carmello Hayes moving over and making an impact, same goes for Montez Ford - but neither are ‘must-sign’ prospects for AEW. They’d sign Dom Mysterio I imagine, but he seems more suited to WWE.

On the women’s side of things, WWE has an abundance of talent - particularly in NXT. But wrestlers like Liv Morgan and Chelsea Green strike me as people who could go to AEW and immediately become enormous stars for the company. Chelsea and Harley Cameron sharing screen time? Yes please. 

[LaGoosh]

19 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

This isn’t a dig at WWE, but I’m not sure there are many young WWE wrestlers on their male roster that AEW would even want at the moment.

Agreed. Pretty much everyone in WWE right now is a product of the Performance Centre and AEW has never shown much interest in any of those guys. Pretty much all the ex-WWE people they've picked up have always been someone who had a wealth of experience before they went to WWE, with the only exceptions being Big Bill, Shelton, Cope and Lashley who are all experience veterans who were notable stars before the current era.

I don't think the PC really teaches people how to wrestle the way AEW wants their talent to wrestle, it just teaches them how to do the WWE house style. AEW seem much happier getting their new talent from the indies, Japan and Mexico and it works for them. They want people who are ready to go and can get over from day 1.

Edited April 17, 2025 by LaGoosh

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

15 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

This isn’t a dig at WWE, but I’m not sure there are many young WWE wrestlers on their male roster that AEW would even want at the moment. They’d certainly sign Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu, but I’m not sure either are Tony Khan’s kind of wrestler. I could see Carmello Hayes moving over and making an impact, same goes for Montez Ford - but neither are ‘must-sign’ prospects for AEW. They’d sign Dom Mysterio I imagine, but he seems more suited to WWE.

On the women’s side of things, WWE has an abundance of talent - particularly in NXT. But wrestlers like Liv Morgan and Chelsea Green strike me as people who could go to AEW and immediately become enormous stars for the company. Chelsea and Harley Cameron sharing screen time? Yes please. 

The thing is Twoster that all the young talent in WWE is working WWE style. That's not a knock, that's how they have to work to keep their jobs. Any of them could really fit in AEW, we just don't know. It's not quite the same, but look at Ricochet. No one was enthused by his signing yet Tony has sprinkled some sort of booking magic onto him and made him entertaining. 

[RedTwoster]

28 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

The thing is Twoster that all the young talent in WWE is working WWE style. That's not a knock, that's how they have to work to keep their jobs. Any of them could really fit in AEW, we just don't know. It's not quite the same, but look at Ricochet. No one was enthused by his signing yet Tony has sprinkled some sort of booking magic onto him and made him entertaining. 

While that’s true, my point isn’t that there aren’t younger wrestlers who would fit in, it’s more that there aren’t many younger wrestlers who you would consider a coup for AEW.

Jacob Fatu is the closest to being that, but he’s also not the kind of wrestler Tony Khan would typically push. Oba Femi has bags of potential and probably could be an enormous star for AEW, but again, he’s very different from the style of wrestling AEW favours.

A more obvious coup, I would say, would be bagging a big name female wrestler - if they somehow snared Rhea, Belair or Liv Morgan, that would be enormous for their women’s division and a real signal of intent in ensuring it remains credible.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, RedTwoster said:

A more obvious coup, I would say, would be bagging a big name female wrestler - if they somehow snared Rhea, Belair or Liv Morgan, that would be enormous for their women’s division and a real signal of intent in ensuring it remains credible.

Would any of them be a bigger win than signing Mercedes was, and do you think it would do them as much good or more?

[RedTwoster]

39 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Would any of them be a bigger win than signing Mercedes was, and do you think it would do them as much good or more?

Maybe Rhea Ripley? I actually think it would do them more good as would signify that they are serious about women’s wrestling and the cost of signing someone like that would surely mean they’d be heavily featured.

Adding another big name like Ripley or Belair(or even someone like Bayley) would be beneficial in that it creates an added layer of depth and momentum which might persuade rising female prospects to join AEW over WWE, in the same way that a young male wrestler might opt for the company because they’re a fan of Ospreay, Swerve, Hangman or Omega and aspire to wrestle them and at their level.