AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[RedTwoster]

2 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

This bit is a bit sensitive but I'm going to say it anyway and I hope people realise where I'm coming from. Hobbs being a black man is important too. He's a brilliant role-model for a lot of people of colour and without being too cynical, you have to capitalise on that. Adding Hobbs to Swerve, Mercedes. Lashley, Shelton, MVP, etc as real stars of this promotion who are black or mixed race is a great thing for representation and for attracting fans to the product. It's win/win.

I don’t think this is sensitive at all, so don’t worry about it come across as cynical. There’s that whole idea of ‘if you can’t see it, you won’t be it’, applicable to a number of jobs; but I think it’s enormously important that entertainment companies represent people of colour and people from minority groups prominently. AEW has been really good at that in recent years, after having an upper card that was all male, and had little diversity to it. 

In the current political climate, I think there’s a danger that people from minority groups won’t get hired even if they’re the best candidate, as companies look to avoid being accused of ‘DEI hires’. For whatever reason, wrestling doesn’t appear to get pushback from bigots when it comes to this, so I absolutely hope both AEW and WWE continue to take positive steps as far as diversity is concerned.

[DavidB6937]

Race is always going to be a tough thing as the majority of people watching and in charge simply aren't in the position to understand the nuisance of the situation historically and presently.

Are token hires a good idea? Is pushing someone for diversity a good idea? Many of us are absolutely the wrong people to be answering this. It's not just what is done but how it's done. Finding that proper balance is an incredible difficult thing to do but it must be done. It must be looked at from hiring policies all the way through to what happens on screen.

It's a nice thought that everyone would get the same chances based on their talents but we all know that's a fantasy. Same with gender equality. Arguably a lot of audiences have to be completely reconditioned because they're so used to seeing what they see and being comfortable with that.

It's similar to conversations I've seen about Doctor Who. The old guard suggesting everything new and diverse is "woke" when realistically they're just trying to show representation in a better way. Especially for a show that's meant to show all of time and space!

Diversity hires are, in my opinion, simply a way of forcing something that should unfortunately be natural but clearly isn't. I'd hope the more any company does it, the more diversity will actually become second nature and there won't be any need to have additional processes in place. Again, the same should be the case for women as well.

Truth is we've got a hell of a long way to go and unfortunately living in a world where old school white men are generally in power, these positive moves in regards to diversity will often be lacking or at the best incredibly slow. Change starts from the source and if it's always ruled by those unaffected by the issues, we'll only ever see baby steps.

[RedTwoster]

48 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Are token hires a good idea? Is pushing someone for diversity a good idea? Many of us are absolutely the wrong people to be answering this. It's not just what is done but how it's done. Finding that proper balance is an incredible difficult thing to do but it must be done. It must be looked at from hiring policies all the way through to what happens on screen.

I know you’re not suggesting this, but I think you’d struggle to find a wrestler of colour in WWE or AEW who anyone could credibly argue was a token hire. Both companies have done a good job of identifying talented wrestlers of colour in resent years, pushing them at a level that their talent merits. WWE could certainly do better on the main roster with their men, and AEW could probably do better with their women’s roster; but with Trick Williams, Oba Femi, Aminata and Athena waiting in the wings alongside several others, there’s cause for optimism.

I had the good fortune of working alongside one of the leading academic experts in DEI in Scotland recently, and I found her expertise absolutely fascinating; particularly when applied to the current climate.

In short, her research clearly shows (and this is simplifying it quite significantly) that ‘if you can’t see it, you won’t be it’ - if you don’t see a role model in career path x, you won’t pursue it. This becomes everyone’s problem as it means skill gaps form - take nursing; through a lack of male nurses. Primary school teaching (a lack of male role models), women in engineering and cybersecurity and even journalism (if you live in Scotland, how many times have you seen a person of colour as an on-screen reporter?) 

Apply that to wrestling, and if people don’t see themselves in the industry, they won’t pursue it and maybe we miss out on the next Swerve Strickland or Bianca Belair. With that in mind, there’s clear value in ensuring your roster is diverse.

Bit of a lengthy explanation, but hopefully you get my point!

[Carbomb]

Exactly. The entire point of affirmative action/positive discrimination was not to deprive highly-qualified white people in favour of mediocre people of colour, it was to compensate for the fact that so many highly-qualified people of colour had been deprived of jobs in favour of mediocre white people.

Like the Twoster, not saying that that is what DavidB is doing, but the most frequent use of terms like "token hire" is by people who haven't understood that.

[The King Of Swing]

10 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

I don't mind a non-finish that makes sense but I think the time-limit draw is the better option here if you're not putting Cole over.

See it's the opposite for me. I think the no contest was the better option. 

Put some heat on the STP lads, giving fans a target for their annoyance.

[DavidB6937]

22 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Exactly. The entire point of affirmative action/positive discrimination was not to deprive highly-qualified white people in favour of mediocre people of colour, it was to compensate for the fact that so many highly-qualified people of colour had been deprived of jobs in favour of mediocre white people.

Like the Twoster, not saying that that is what DavidB is doing, but the most frequent use of terms like "token hire" is by people who haven't understood that.

Absolutely get that. I suppose from a company to company perspective, not seeing their hiring decision process, it's hard to believe they're all doing it for the right reasons. Although you can absolutely argue that the end result can be beneficial even if the underlying initial motivations may be questionable.

Definitely depends on the industry too as has been covered here. Funnily enough the majority of my company is from Asian backgrounds or black people and I'm in the minority as a white male. And I've learnt so much from everyone over the years. It's truly opened my eyes to what people go through, the different cultures and how they see the world.

So not only can it be a benefit to those looking in and seeing inspiration in those similar to them, but it's a massive education opportunity for those working within a diverse company also.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Talyn Token is in NXT at the minute. She must count as a token hire?

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Just thinking on thr womens roster and kind of 'ranking' the wrestlers and thinking on some of the others that we've 'forgotten' are the likes of Kamille (really don't think she has 'it' to be making it), Ruby Soho, Marina Shafir (although she's around the top level, she's not doing anything) Emi Sakura, Riho, Saraya. It's an incredibly strong roster when you think about it. 

[Chili]

3 hours ago, Tim Healys Chutney Spoon said:

Just thinking on thr womens roster and kind of 'ranking' the wrestlers and thinking on some of the others that we've 'forgotten' are the likes of Kamille (really don't think she has 'it' to be making it), Ruby Soho, Marina Shafir (although she's around the top level, she's not doing anything) Emi Sakura, Riho, Saraya. It's an incredibly strong roster when you think about it. 

Well Ruby Soho has had the mild inconvenience of pregnancy and becoming a mother. I think Riho has been injured for ages with something. Unfortunate that as I've always really enjoyed her.

[Supremo]

This weekend saw something seriously big happen in pro-wrestling. It’s all anyone is talking about. Mainstream news. It finally happened. Something we never thought we’d see.

Of course, we’re talking about Daniel Garcia’s mesmerising synchronisation with his own Titan Tron! A moment no-one will ever forget!

 

[JLM]

You think it’s his Titantron but it’s actually Danny from the future who already knew exactly when he’d do it. Khan will be TimeCopping for real before the end of the year. Or after the beginning of yesteryear’s tomorrow. Some time around when. 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

One thing I noticed on last week's TV was when Hangman walked in from parking his truck there was a rail of different wrestlers attire. At the end of it appeared to be Nana's beloved robe. If it means that much to him, why would he just let it go with general transportation and if he knew it was there, why not just go and take it back? 

 

[RedTwoster]

Storm/May should 100% close Revolution. The build for that match was by far the best thing on this show. 

I don’t think they’ll do that, especially if the plan is for Copeland to win, or for Christian to cash in, but I really hope that they do.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah it's the most important match on the show as far as I'm concerned. The best build, the best story and it'll probably be the best from an in-ring quality perspective too. A big shame.

[DavidB6937]

It's one of those times where - probably sounds stupid - but I forget they're women. I don't think "oh this is pretty good for the women!" or whatever. It's just a genuinely fantastic storyline by two wrestlers who are great performers as well. And shows what is possible when they're given proper opportunities and storylines, something which is often lacking especially in WWE. There needs to be far more consistency in giving women actual feuds.