AEW Thread: A Real Alternative To WWE?

[OrangeDW]

Jeff Hardy was arrested again (last night-- 3 days before the ladder match)...

It has been said before, but he still needs help. WWE tried before he jumped ship to AEW.

In the age of Uber, there’s even less excuse than before.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I'm sure he's violated his AEW contract with this latest transgression. He should be, and will be, gone.

Tony HAS to stop with his WWE fixation.

Whether it's a work or shoot, MJF is right about that.

 

[orangenauburn]

I'm sure he's violated his AEW contract with this latest transgression. He should be, and will be, gone.

Tony HAS to stop with his WWE fixation.

Whether it's a work or shoot, MJF is right about that.

He won't get rid of him. Probably will take him off TV.

They are done as a team.

Have Matt work behind the scenes as an ambassador or agent.

Time to move on from them.

 

[jordville]

AEW has had it's run of bad luck and negative stories of late...
- injuries (Punk, Danielson, Cole, Sky, Bowens, Cassidy, Omega-- still on the shelf)
- Andrade & Lucha Bros not being able to wrestle at their next big PPV (Forbidden Door) b/c of AAA/CMLL/NJPW politics
- wrestlers sandbagging (latest one was the women's champ Thunder Rosa) for opponents
- Hardy's arrest (rumor was they were going to win the belts and defend them at Forbidden Door)

 

[OrangeDW]

AEW has had it's run of bad luck and negative stories of late...
- injuries (Punk, Danielson, Cole, Sky, Bowens, Cassidy, Omega-- still on the shelf)
- Andrade & Lucha Bros not being able to wrestle at their next big PPV (Forbidden Door) b/c of AAA/CMLL/NJPW politics
- wrestlers sandbagging (latest one was the women's champ Thunder Rosa) for opponents
- Hardy's arrest (rumor was they were going to win the belts and defend them at Forbidden Door)

Hate to say it because he’s one of my all time favorites, but Jericho has been pretty crappy since his “Le Champion” run ended.

Hoping they push Samoa Joe to the moon. Just like I thought he was WWE’s best guy - I think he’s right there with Bryan and Punk (and MJF) as AEW’s best guy, and 2 of them are hurt.

Might be forgetting someone, but off the top these are the guys I would tune in the most for:
Bryan
Punk
MJF
Joe
Darby Allin
Sammy (with the right angle)
Christian
Moxley

I think those are the top card guys the show should center around. Throw Jericho in too, with the right angle/character. Intrigued by Wardlow, we’ll see where he goes from here.

Cole, Page(is his character ever not being a whiny, sulking bitch?), and Omega don’t quite do it for me.

I like the Butcher and the Blade as midcarders, as well as guys like Kingston, Kazarian, Santana, Ortiz, Hager, and Pac. Not sure yet on Scorpio Sky.

Britt Baker is still the only women’s wrestler I’ve really gotten into. They need to get Banks and get that division cranking.

 

[jordville]

Hate to say it because he’s one of my all time favorites, but Jericho has been pretty crappy since his “Le Champion” run ended.

Hoping they push Samoa Joe to the moon. Just like I thought he was WWE’s best guy - I think he’s right there with Bryan and Punk (and MJF) as AEW’s best guy, and 2 of them are hurt.

Might be forgetting someone, but off the top these are the guys I would tune in the most for:
Bryan
Punk
MJF
Joe
Darby Allin
Sammy (with the right angle)
Christian
Moxley

I think those are the top card guys the show should center around. Throw Jericho in too, with the right angle/character. Intrigued by Wardlow, we’ll see where he goes from here.

Cole, Page(is his character ever not being a whiny, sulking bitch?), and Omega don’t quite do it for me.

I like the Butcher and the Blade as midcarders, as well as guys like Kingston, Kazarian, Santana, Ortiz, Hager, and Pac. Not sure yet on Scorpio Sky.

Britt Baker is still the only women’s wrestler I’ve really gotten into. They need to get Banks and get that division cranking.

I'm with you on Jericho. He's one of my all-time favorites too. Le Champion was great. I liked the Inner Circle faction-- not into the JAS.

I'm thinking they go Mox for the interim champ until Punk is back. Joe could certainly do the job though although I think they want him to headline the ROH side. I still wonder where they go or what they do with MJF. He has made himself the top heel in the wrestling world.

We got to see Will Ospreay wrestle in AEW last week. Many consider him the best (or one of the best) in the world. Not so sure on that one as I don't watch the overseas promotions... only catch highlights here and there.

Wardlow said he wants to wait for Punk, so his focus is on the TNT strap. He is a monster and keeps getting better.

AEW hands down has the best tag team division in the business.

Britt Baker needs the strap back from Thunder Rosa (she isn't it). Tony loves Jade (undefeated streak is 30+). She looks the part but is still green and learning on the fly. Sasha Banks is a WWE addition Tony should make.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I'm with you on Jericho. He's one of my all-time favorites too. Le Champion was great. I liked the Inner Circle faction-- not into the JAS.

I'm thinking they go Mox for the interim champ until Punk is back. Joe could certainly do the job though although I think they want him to headline the ROH side. I still wonder where they go or what they do with MJF. He has made himself the top heel in the wrestling world.

We got to see Will Ospreay wrestle in AEW last week. Many consider him the best (or one of the best) in the world. Not so sure on that one as I don't watch the overseas promotions... only catch highlights here and there.

Wardlow said he wants to wait for Punk, so his focus is on the TNT strap. He is a monster and keeps getting better.

AEW hands down has the best tag team division in the business.

Britt Baker needs the strap back from Thunder Rosa (she isn't it). Tony loves Jade (undefeated streak is 30+). She looks the part but is still green and learning on the fly. Sasha Banks is a WWE addition Tony should make.

Thunder Rosa needs a strong opponent to bring out the best in her. Her match with Britt was incredible. But you can see she's unsure of herself, especially on interviews. Maybe Kris Statlander beats her? She's built up quite a following.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Jeff Hardy blew a 0.294 and a 0.291 on his Breathalyzer tests, according to Meltzer. 3.7 times the legal limit.

 

[jncuse]

These AEW Fans vs WWF Fans Twitter feuds are pretty intense and idiotic at the same time. They will create a stir over everything.

I saw a number of people saying leave Jeff Hardy alone he is going through mental health issues. I will 100% be empathetic to those with drug or alcohol addiction issues.

But I will not condone nor have empathy once it involves drunk driving Addicted or not, you should have the common sense to make plans before hand before you head out.

 

[jordville]

Tony's decision...

 

[Knicks411]

Hate to say it because he’s one of my all time favorites, but Jericho has been pretty crappy since his “Le Champion” run ended.

Hoping they push Samoa Joe to the moon. Just like I thought he was WWE’s best guy - I think he’s right there with Bryan and Punk (and MJF) as AEW’s best guy, and 2 of them are hurt.

Might be forgetting someone, but off the top these are the guys I would tune in the most for:
Bryan
Punk
MJF
Joe
Darby Allin
Sammy (with the right angle)
Christian
Moxley

I think those are the top card guys the show should center around. Throw Jericho in too, with the right angle/character. Intrigued by Wardlow, we’ll see where he goes from here.

Cole, Page(is his character ever not being a whiny, sulking bitch?), and Omega don’t quite do it for me.

I like the Butcher and the Blade as midcarders, as well as guys like Kingston, Kazarian, Santana, Ortiz, Hager, and Pac. Not sure yet on Scorpio Sky.

Britt Baker is still the only women’s wrestler I’ve really gotten into. They need to get Banks and get that division cranking.

Samoa Joe is the man. Not sure if I ever told this story, but the night of the first NXT show in Brooklyn me and some of my buddies ended up at the same bar as the whole NXT crew and we were hanging out with them all night. Samoa Joe was probably the coolest of them all.

 

[jordville]

Samoa Joe is the man. Not sure if I ever told this story, but the night of the first NXT show in Brooklyn me and some of my buddies ended up at the same bar as the whole NXT crew and we were hanging out with them all night. Samoa Joe was probably the coolest of them all.

Sounds like a good time.

 

[jordville]

Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) was the mystery wrestler for Forbidden Door last night. He joins the Blackpool Combat Club (Regal, Mox, Danielson-- still out/hurt, Yuta).

 

[OrangeDW]

Christian is the best promo in wrestling right now.

 

[jordville]

Christian is the best promo in wrestling right now.

Heel Christian is great.. and even better with a heel/Kane-like Luchasaurus.

 

[jordville]

That Dynamite last night was like a bonus PPV.. especially the main event (took an hour).

 

[jncuse]

Christian is the best promo in wrestling right now.

I agree those segments are great, and AEW has to get back to more storyline development and character development, good promos, like they are doing in this feud. That along with good wrestling is what made AEW a great product.

AEW, in the last 2 PPV cycles and especially the last PPV cycle was too much "Dream Match" or "Random Very Good Wrestlers thrown together having very good matches". The wrestling was excellent, but this foray into NJPW with minimal storylines didn't help with the more casual fan (even some that are more than casual),. I think the more casual fan needs more heat -- need more character and storyline development.

It also helps with developing stars. For the last six months, with the exception of Wardlow, not enough of the "next" tier has been given the opportunity or storylines to distinguish themselves to rise to the top. Just a bloated roster of good wrestlers getting thrown into random good matches, but nobody is elevating themselves because of this.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I agree those segments are great, and AEW has to get back to more storyline development and character development, good promos, like they are doing in this feud. That along with good wrestling is what made AEW a great product, not that its that bad right now.

AEW, in the last 2 PPV cycles and especially the last PPV cycle was too much "Dream Match" or "Random Very Good Wrestlers thrown together having very good matches". The wrestling was excellent, but this foray into NJPW with minimal storylines didn't help with the more casual fan (even some that are more than casual),. I think the more casual fan needs more heat -- need more character and storyline development.

It also helps with developing stars. For the last six months, with the exception of Wardlow, not enough of the "next" tier has been given the opportunity or storylines to distinguish themselves to rise to the top. Just a bloated roster of good wrestlers getting thrown into random good matches, but nobody is elevating themselves because of this.

They did over a million last night. Surprised me. #1 on cable.

 

[jncuse]

They did over a million last night. Surprised me. #1 on cable.

Interesting.

I found the shows leading into Forbidden Door a bit messy and confusing and I wonder if the rating suffered because of this. Now a more traditional roster show and they recover.

I know that NJPW wrestling / wrestlers are highly respected, but its not something I follow. And it made some of the episodes hard to follow since guys were just thrown in with not much introduction (assumed that the viewer knows who they are and should be marking out). I think the majority of the AEW crowd is highly familiar with it, but it did probably alienate a minority and I don't think it was that small of a minority . Probably hurt the ratings..

 

[Symphony Steve]

Interesting.

I found the shows leading into Forbidden Door a bit messy and confusing and I wonder if the rating suffered because of this. Now a more traditional roster show and they recover.

I know that NJPW wrestling / wrestlers are highly respected, but its not something I follow. And it made some of the episodes hard to follow since guys were just thrown in with not much introduction (assumed that the viewer knows who they are and should be marking out). I think the majority of the AEW crowd is highly familiar with it, but it did probably alienate a minority and I don't think it was that small of a minority . Probably hurt the ratings..

The lead-up to the Forbidden Door was a mess, largely due to the spate of injuries that caused the matches to be changed so much.

New Japan was really hot before COVID, arguably the best wrestling promotion anywhere in the world. The pandemic caused the product to go cold--absence of live crowds and a prohibition on cheering and booing. Not to mention, several AEW wrestlers came from New Japan, including Kenny Omega. If politics had been different three years ago, this would have been a smash.

As it was, it was pretty good. I hope this will become at least an annual event. Okada, Osprey, and Zack Sabre Jr. all belong in the upper echelons of the world's best wrestlers. And Tanahashi is a total Hall Of Famer.

 

[jncuse]

Tony can't stop himself.

 

[OrangeDW]

Jericho is a total hack now. I’m stunned by this - the guy I was talking about as the GOAT a couple years ago is channel changing wrestlecrap on a weekly basis now.

At least Christian is on fire.

 

[two3zone]

Jericho is a total hack now. I’m stunned by this - the guy I was talking about as the GOAT a couple years ago is channel changing wrestlecrap on a weekly basis now.

At least Christian is on fire.

I think the opposite, Christian is a bore, now Jericho throwing fireballs and calling the audience a nerd while proclaiming he’s a wizard, gold.

When he smashed the soundboard during wild thing at the ppv, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.

 

[jordville]

Took the fam to Dynamite earlier tonight... and we actually got 3 shows in one night. First, they did 8 matches for Dark. Then, they went live on TBS for Dynamite. After Dynamite was over, they did the taping for this Friday's Rampage. Fun but long night. About 5 hours of wrasslin' (about 20 matches, about 3 or 4 in-ring promos, and a rap battle)...

 

[cusefan88]

Took the fam to Dynamite earlier tonight... and we actually got 3 shows in one night. First, they did 8 matches for Dark. Then, they went live on TBS for Dynamite. After Dynamite was over, they did the taping for this Friday's Rampage. Fun but long night. About 5 hours of wrasslin' (about 20 matches, about 3 or 4 in-ring promos, and a rap battle)...

How did they like Eddie/Jericho barbed wire match?