ColdBloodedSausageMaker

AEW has several main eventers with extensive injury histories and/or in their forties. Even if they were running a WWE sports-entertainment product, AEW would do best saving their big stars for big shows. AEW is running against a bigger, more established promotion. They had to bring in older guys to draw a rating. Because of age or other reasons, a lot of AEW guys are injury prone. Bryan Danielson is on the wrong side of 40 has spent a bunch of time on the shelf -- to the point where he's retiring largely due to injuries. He probably shouldn't be wrestling a bunkhouse match on Collision. Will Ospreay (relatively) recently considered retiring at 30 due to extensive injuries. He shouldn't be going 15 minutes against midcarders on free TV. Kenny Omega and Adam Cole also have spent a lot of time on the shelf. When they come back, AEW should definitely book them better. Chris Jericho is 53 and has to be considering retirement soon. Eddie Kingston is 42 and has spent a significant part of his career working death matches. Samoa Joe is 44 and has been wrestling for 20 years at a high level. There's a better way for AEW to do things.

AEW really should've stepped in to prevent Jericho from working with Hook. Jericho is clearly toxic right now, and needs to go away -- not drain momentum from one of the company's biggest stars. If they're going to make a match between the two, have it be a one-off where Hook beats Jericho cleanly in six minutes and move on. (Hopefully, it was Jericho's idea to work with Hook, and not AEW's. AEW setting that up would not reflect well on the company)

Like Angle said, Hendry's musical talent really sets him apart -- he could do the same musician gimmick as Elias or Max Caster but better. And unlike them, Hendry starts with a high-level amateur background. I'm shocked that Hendry isn't a major player in AEW or WWE -- he's like Dalton Castle in that way, I don't know why someone hasn't pushed him given his pedigree and talent.

Hendry would be perfect for AEW (or WWE). He has an old-school style and has previous work on the UK scene -- which would come in handy for AEW when they run the UK next. For now, Impact have to be happy to have him. He's super believable and pretty stiff -- probably from his world-class amateur background. He'd have a great match with someone like Danielson or Kingston. Plus, Hendry looks great and has a ton of charisma. And on top of that, Hendry's a talented musician -- at one point, Hendry almost got signed by Sony. When you get the Kurt Angle co-sign, you're good. Hendry is good.

AEW definitely does chase TV ratings -- similar to what Vince Russo did in WCW -- on their shows. Overall, I think the company would do better building storylines and characters slowly even it means a ratings drop in the short-term. (Obviously, AEW isn't nearly as bad as Russo's WCW. But they do sometimes book with some of the same logic -- hence why WCW 2000 was trending on social media during AEW Dynamite)

Love Julia Hart's character work here. She's become the top star in the Women's division -- she's absolutely someone who could headline a PPV one day for AEW. The production here was great as well.

(Not using the AEW official clip because AEW cut the fight footage from their official Youtube channel. Hope this doesn't mean AEW is risking potential legal issues to show this footage) I don't hate the concept here, I do think the execution here was flawed. The angle wasn't very good and the footage itself was underwhelming. There was also no sound on the footage at all. Matt and Nick dragged the promo out far too long. The Bucks could've easily summed up in one minute what took them four. I think Matt and Nick were trying to compensate for the mediocre fight footage. I don't think them dragging the angle out worked. I also think Matt and Nick could've taken a more serious approach to the angle. I think playing the EVP characters this way came off as "cheap heat".

Wrestling media often criticizes AEW too much. Bischoff and Cornette are very entertaining, but they're also wrong a lot. AEW (probably) made mistakes here. All promotions do.

Couldn't Tony get anyone else other than the heel authority figures to discuss this footage? I think either way (at least) some fans will assume this is an angle. If nothing else, AEW shouldn't have the young bucks in their heel authority figure gimmick outfits for the promotional material. Wasn't Danielson on the disciplinary committee? Why not have him present the footage? (I hope this isn't an on-screen angle).

Man, Anthony Bowens can really work a crowd like few others in wrestling right now. When he's on, his promos are a joy to watch. I love The Acclaimed, but I think the money for AEW will be with Bowens as a singles star. He's just on another level than Max.

His crowd reactions were always really good, even if the content wasn't always there. Fans really lapped up that Jay White promo even though admittedly the content didn't land. That Tofu chant was over for a bit. When you take away a major star, it hurts crowd reaction, which in turn will make it harder to keep viewers. Plus, he was at the center of the biggest storyline in the company (Adam Cole vs. MJF) and fighting with both the biggest heel factions (Undisputed Kingdom and Bullet Club Gold). If nothing else, AEW would be hurt essentially having to put those two storylines on ice until MJF heals. They're definitely missing Max.

Given that the main event was A) an AEW woman's division match and b) both women were in the midcard and 3) it was a face vs. face match, the main event drew better than expected. AEW has started to book the women better and we're starting to see results. AEW will lose ratings when MJF is off TV. You'd expect to see a drop-off without MJF -- AEW has done good to keep most their audience intact. (Also, AEW's 800,000 for big business doesn't include the overrun. With that included, the number probably would've been a smidge higher)

AEW has done well to keep ratings relatively consistent with MJF off TV. I have to think Riho vs. Nightengale drew viewers (relatively) well. Toni Storm and Julia Hart probably are the most over in the women's division right now, and neither were involved in that match. AEW deserves major credit for keeping business stable without their biggest star.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender's Tournament (WINNER FACES MATT CARDONA FOR THE NWA WORLD TITLE AT NWA REVOLUTION: Matt Riddle vs Bryan Keith Jacob Fatu vs Timothy Thatcher Mustafa Ali vs Shawn Spears Nic Nemeth vs Chris Hero NWA World Women's Championship Tournament: Mercedes Mone vs Megan Bayne Kenzie Paige vs Tenille Dashwood NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament: The Von Erichs vs Violence is Forever HEAVY METAL MAYHEM vs MxM

For me, the bigger deal was Hook taking his first clean loss by submission with little or no build on free TV. Hook deserved better than to have his momentum squandered like that to get a 40-something transitional champion over. If you're going to have Hook get a surprise title shot like that, at least have him win. I hope this sudden change in plans for Hook doesn't mean Hook is hurt -- that's why AEW similarly changed MJFs plan. The fans love Hook and his intensity is a genuine highlight. I wish they would build up his MMA credibility more -- maybe enroll the guy in Judo if he doesn't have a Black Belt in something.