AEW Thread: A Real Alternative To WWE?

[jncuse]

Danielson would be best for the locker room, think Jericho getting one last run would be best for the TV and building up the next guys.

Jericho could have a fued with a handful of young guys to get them to the top level.

My dark horse is Sammy. I think Tony is a huge fan of his and having him win will be one of the pillars getting over the hump to carry the torch.

It could also set up a Sammy fued with a handful of other guys who could get elevated or given the final push (MJF).

Say it's Sammy, then he gets in a fued with MJF as who is the best pillar or something along that line. Then MJF and Wardlow can retorch their fued. Etc etc.

There are a lot of intriguing options if they go with a dark horse.

Doesn't Sammy rub some people the wrong way?
I think Khan might be cautious about going that route again.

Then again the other big option is MJF and he probably does the same.

 

[OrangeDW]

Forgot to mention earlier but Jericho randomly bringing “drink it in maaaaaaan” back had me cracking up.

Gun to my head, of his many catchphrases over the last 25 years, that might’ve been the funniest one to me so I loved seeing him find a chance to bring it back out of nowhere.

 

[two3zone]

Forgot to mention earlier but Jericho randomly bringing “drink it in maaaaaaan” back had me cracking up.

Gun to my head, of his many catchphrases over the last 25 years, that might’ve been the funniest one to me so I loved seeing him find a chance to bring it back out of nowhere.

Jericho saying that Lenny Lane (twice) stole his Loverboy tape may be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen/heard in my life.

 

[Knicks411]

I’m loving the idea of a potential Jericho-Garcia feud. Makes me think of the classic Jericho-Malenko feud from WCW when Lion Heart was just an absurdly obnoxious character, and he and the straight shooter Malenko played off each other so well.

Could see a similar dynamic with Garcia and Jericho, and it would be great for Garcia’s career IMO.

Jericho’s facial expressions were hilarious when Garcia and Danielson were posing in the ring together last night. I posted a little while back at how I thought he was stinking it up, but he’s really been amazing the last month or two IMO.

I started watching wrestling in the fall of 97, and this feud kicked up around March or so of 98; I remember thinking it was the greatest thing in the world. I thought Jericho at that time was the funniest guy I had ever seen. The pop when Malenko is unmasked at Slamboree 98 is incredible.

 

[OrangeDW]

This man STAYS in character, lmao.

 

[OrangeDW]

Gotta say, I’m pretty pumped for next week’s episode. Wondering if Bryan steals the win despite his injury and MFJ takes advantage by beating Bryan soon after? That’s what I’d do.

Also, I think I’ll sacrifice Punk if it gets rid of those other goofballs.

More TV time to give others who deserve and need it,

 

[jordville]

Sounds like the EVPs and Tony blew it with Malakai...
Get well. Hope to see him in a ring (AEW or WWE) again. He is a good worker with a great character.

 

[jordville]

 

[Knicks411]

Gotta say, I’m pretty pumped for next week’s episode. Wondering if Bryan steals the win despite his injury and MFJ takes advantage by beating Bryan soon after? That’s what I’d do.

Also, I think I’ll sacrifice Punk if it gets rid of those other goofballs.

More TV time to give others who deserve and need it,

I'm going to the show tomorrow. Pretty excited to see Danielson live again

 

[Symphony Steve]

Gonna be a VERY hot crowd. Hope Tony delivers.

 

[jordville]

I'm going to the show tomorrow. Pretty excited to see Danielson live again

Should be one of their top TV shows thus far.

 

[jncuse]

I didn't like the way it started from a booking perspective. Why did they need to put Jericho over Cesaro at this point?

EDIT - See that they made the Acclaimed Tag Champs. That made sense - they are so over. Not sure if Lee/Strickland was clicking at 100%.

 

[Symphony Steve]

I didn't like the way it started from a booking perspective. Why did they need to put Jericho over Cesaro at this point?

EDIT - See that they made the Acclaimed Tag Champs. That made sense - they are so over. Not sure if Lee/Strickland was clicking at 100%.

I'm not a big fan of Lee. He's ponderous. Sure, he can do some spectacular moves, but he slows down the matches. And I don't think that Swerve and he complement each other.

 

[OrangeDW]

I didn't like the way it started from a booking perspective. Why did they need to put Jericho over Cesaro at this point?

EDIT - See that they made the Acclaimed Tag Champs. That made sense - they are so over. Not sure if Lee/Strickland was clicking at 100%.

I’ve read that they may be trying to get a ROH TV deal and putting the big name star doing a super heel sports entertainer gimmick in the “pure wrestling” company could be the way to get the most interest in ROH to make that TV deal a reality?

 

[Symphony Steve]

I’ve read that they may be trying to get a ROH TV deal and putting the big name star doing a super heel sports entertainer gimmick in the “pure wrestling” company could be the way to get the most interest in ROH to make that TV deal a reality?

Yep. I love Claudio, hopes he gets a run with a belt. But Jericho is ratings and box office. Plus, you have the ready-made story of an ROH champion who doesn't respect the rules of a promotion built on respecting the rules. He's got ready-made programs with both Claudio and Garcia.

Just hope Tony can offload some of his responsibilities.

 

[jncuse]

I’ve read that they may be trying to get a ROH TV deal and putting the big name star doing a super heel sports entertainer gimmick in the “pure wrestling” company could be the way to get the most interest in ROH to make that TV deal a reality?

I heard the same thing on a podcast today.
In that context, making Jericho makes a lot of sense. I was not looking at it from that perspective last night - seemed like some silly 50/50 stuff at the time.

 

[OrangeDW]

I heard the same thing on a podcast today.
In that context, making Jericho makes a lot of sense. I was not looking at it from that perspective last night - seemed like some silly 50/50 stuff at the time.

I was pretty critical of Jericho not too long ago - even though he’s basically my #2 favorite of all time. But I LOVE how he’s booked to actually win in AEW.

Vince basically making him a jobber for the majority of his 2012-2017(?) run was soooo stupid. He was like their best overall guy whenever he came around. But he never won anything. Doesn’t do anything for the other guy when you KNOW he’s beating Jericho. That Fandango crap was arguably the stupidest thing of all time.

So I’m all in for Jericho winning titles and being booked like a superstar.

Love Cesaro too. He’s a guy I’d get behind as AEW champ if booked well.

Jericho bringing shine to ROH and eventually losing to Garcia could be amazing.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Gotta give Jericho credit for dropping the paunch. Nobody reinvents himself like Jericho.

 

[OrangeDW]

Gotta give Jericho credit for dropping the paunch. Nobody reinvents himself like Jericho.

Lol, yup. He looked horrible not too long ago, but he did something about it.

And it’s helped his performance. At 50+ he’s never going to be elite in the ring anymore like he was when matched with the right opponent at his peak at this point, but he can still put on perfectly solid matches from an athletic standpoint and with the right angle and opponent could probably pull off an occasional classic as he knows what he’s doing in there from a psych. standpoint and isn’t a flippy kicks goofball.

Edit:
Though that’s now making me think….who was really doing it like this at 50+? Flair was 50+ in the 2000’s and he had a few great matches and angles - Orton, HHH in 2005. Michaels in his last match/angle. But he was a midcarder.

That’s the only guy I can even think of? Actually pretty incredible that Jericho is still at the level he’s at.

 

[jncuse]

Gotta give Jericho credit for dropping the paunch. Nobody reinvents himself like Jericho.

The gut and just as bad was the bloated face.
He looks good now - and of course he could always talk, adapt his character and wrestle.

To be clear I had no problem with Jericho as champion and there is rationale.
Its just unfortunate that Cesaro gets jerked back and forth before getting any momentum

 

[jordville]

Jericho is still great in and out of the ring. He is best for business-- in this case for ROH. I remember when the Twitter-verse was saying things like Chris got ab implants. Good read here...

Also this...

 

[jncuse]

Didn't have a chance to watch the show yet tonight, but did note there is still a bunch of drama in AEW. This time Sammy and Andrade.

 

[OrangeDW]

Didn't have a chance to watch the show yet tonight, but did note there is still a bunch of drama in AEW. This time Sammy and Andrade.

I want to rip on these idiots…..but there was a time where exchanges like this happened and wouldn’t be public.

Blows my mind why these guys think nothing of sending all this publicly and don’t just air it out privately. But they came up very differently. Gen Z is basically some weird ass robots.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Andrade is doing his utmost to get fired. He's as well-liked in the AEW locker room as his wife (Charlotte Flair) is in the WWE locker room.

 

[OrangeDW]

That MJF - Regal promo….good grief. MJF is so good.

“You still have a lot to prove.” This is why I Wade through all the crap. For gems like this.