The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[Eternal Phoenix]

7 hours ago, Matt_Black said:

Well, now, that is simply not true. While AEW has more emphasis on matches than WWE, to say they don't focus on characters or stories is incorrect. From the start, you had Jericho, Omega, the Bucks, Cody, Hangman, MJF, Darby, PAC, Mox, and several others who were both great in-ring talents AND had personality to spare.

I meant precisely what I said. "Not focused on" does not equal "ignored". Matches are pretty routinely more than half of each AEW TV show runtime. Perhaps emphasis is the better word for it. I don't know, man.

5 hours ago, Wrestling Machine said:

🤝

 

I don't think we have the same opinion on how good that is, and that gives me mixed feelings about this. 😐

To be clear, I think AEW being run by wrestling nerds has benefits and drawbacks that grow increasingly obvious as time goes on, but it's not an inherently bad thing that needed to be corrected in order for the company to thrive.

[Wrestling Machine]

11 hours ago, Eternal Phoenix said:

I don't think we have the same opinion on how good that is

I know it man! 😅 But at least we agree on that! lol

[Jaysin]

Just saw a thing that TK is considering a 3 hour Dynamite. On one hand, the extra tv time could do wonders for the roster, but holy hell, 3 hour television shows are so damn hard to watch.

[Dalton]

Claudio Castagnoli (AEW)
Hechicero (CMLL)
Jay White (AEW)
Lio Rush (NJPW)
Mistico (CMLL)
Orange Cassidy (AEW)
PAC (AEW)
Shota Umino (NJPW)
Will Ospreay (AEW)

That Casino Gauntlet match was one of the craziest, most star-studded matches I've ever seen. Immaculate vibes. The type of match that only AEW can do. No other promotion on the planet can do anything like this. It's why AEW is so frustrating sometimes; they could be that promotion all the time instead of mucking up the show with talk show-esque segments, interference spots, and listening to people who beg them to be something they're not. AEW is at its best when they put world-class wrestlers in the ring together and let them go at it. And the crowd agreed! They were on their feet for the entire main event! More please!

[aXminster]

The Casino Gauntlet was incredible. The guy from CMLL only had a few spots but left a great impression. Would love to see more of him down the road. Ospreay is the best wrestler in the world at the moment and the match at Forbidden Door is going to be a guaranteed banger.

[Matt_Black]

Since he'll be on Collision this week, could someone explain to me why Kyle O'Reilly gets at least one segment or match every week while Danhausen hasn't been seen on AEW TV at all in 2024?

[Big Roguey]

Presumably on the basis it’s easier to slot a character type like Kyle O’Reilly (for however bland you may or may not think he is) into a show that it is for someone like Danhausen at this point. A lot of Danhausen’s premium stuff is heavily shtick dependant. 

[milamber]

On 5/28/2024 at 9:53 AM, CQI13 said:

Her promos are an even worse look. What made no sense to me is why the company makes this big to do about Mercedes...she does nothing of value for a month or however long...and then she goes for the SECONDARY belt?

She wanted revenge on Willow, who happened to be TBS Champion so Mone took the title off her. Storyline makes sense and because they didn't rush it the storyline had time to develop. If she came in and beat Toni right away everyone would be rightly annoyed.

Edited May 31 by milamber

[milamber]

On 5/27/2024 at 12:21 PM, Dalton said:

This is the first time I've ever seen someone refer to Swerve Strickland as just an ex-WWE guy

I remember him most from Lucha Underground (and knew of his reputation on the indies). I used to watch NXT but he was booked like an average midcard guy who didn't stand out. Barely remember his time there. Thank goodness he got the chance to retool his entire character in AEW and got pushed to the top.

Edited May 31 by milamber

[milamber]

On 5/29/2024 at 12:24 AM, FellaLibby said:

Lovely conversation you lads are having.

And now for something completely different 

Can we all agree that Copeland really should've thought that top steel cage nothing through? I mean the spot was gnarly and something we don't often see. According to him, his mind panicked and he realized "I'm 50 years old and doing this!" In the heat of the moment, what do you think he should've done? Personally I'm with that he should've tried to splash Black, at best he probably would have a few bruised ribs but not a broken tibia.

Combination of adrenaline clouding his mind and an unstable cage (I think he lost his footing a bit). They need to tether the cage on the bottom for better stability even if it takes longer to set up.

[Matt_Black]

13 hours ago, Big Roguey said:

Presumably on the basis it’s easier to slot a character type like Kyle O’Reilly (for however bland you may or may not think he is) into a show that it is for someone like Danhausen at this point. A lot of Danhausen’s premium stuff is heavily shtick dependant. 

A) Toni Storm and the House Of Black are equally shtick dependent, and they get tons of TV time.

B) They just did a very long storyline where the people that Danhausen hung out with all broke up. They couldn't find ANYWHERE to slot him in, even briefly?

C) They just had the Casino Gauntlet Match, the whole point of which is "put a whole bunch of popular guys in the ring at once". I mean, Ospreay was going to win regardless, why not prove one of the company's proven top merch movers in there?

[Mootinie]

10 hours ago, Matt_Black said:

They just had the Casino Gauntlet Match, the whole point of which is "put a whole bunch of popular guys in the ring at once". I mean, Ospreay was going to win regardless, why not prove one of the company's proven top merch movers in there?

"Where The Best Wrestle" probably doesn't include Danhausen coming in to do some cursing.

I don't know, I don't get the gimmick to be very honest and AEW have never done anything to explain it. I have been confused every time he appears. He was just some mascot for Orange Cassidy who wore face paint, he wrestled once, it kind of sucked and that's really been the sum of his time in this company.

It's obviously some dumb funny thing from the indies that AEW assumed all their viewers would be familiar with. For those of us who are not, he's just a total goofball and a stupid novelty act. I'm pretty sure he's just waiting for his contract to expire now.

[aXminster]

4 hours ago, Mootinie said:

"Where The Best Wrestle" probably doesn't include Danhausen coming in to do some cursing.

I don't know, I don't get the gimmick to be very honest and AEW have never done anything to explain it. I have been confused every time he appears. He was just some mascot for Orange Cassidy who wore face paint, he wrestled once, it kind of sucked and that's really been the sum of his time in this company.

It's obviously some dumb funny thing from the indies that AEW assumed all their viewers would be familiar with. For those of us who are not, he's just a total goofball and a stupid novelty act. I'm pretty sure he's just waiting for his contract to expire now.

I feel exactly the same. Never got it, never will. For me, Danhausen is just a skinny white guy with face paint that tries too hard to be funny.

[milamber]

Liked the Swerve & Mone matches. Main event was surprisingly the best match. Didn't expect to see Lio Rush again. Ospreay didn't need to win. Big match for sure but kind of devalues the International title if Will's already looking past it.

Stat & Stoke pairing is good. I hope Trent joining DCF means Take & Fletcher stop losing so much. Stephanie Vaquer hype. Enjoyed her recent match against Giulia in Stardom even though it was short. I hope the Rush promo was pre-taped and he wasn't there at the same time as Steph (google the wrestler El Cuatrero if you don't what I'm talking about).

Edited June 2 by milamber

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

15 hours ago, Mootinie said:

"Where The Best Wrestle" probably doesn't include Danhausen coming in to do some cursing.

I don't know, I don't get the gimmick to be very honest and AEW have never done anything to explain it. I have been confused every time he appears. He was just some mascot for Orange Cassidy who wore face paint, he wrestled once, it kind of sucked and that's really been the sum of his time in this company.

It's obviously some dumb funny thing from the indies that AEW assumed all their viewers would be familiar with. For those of us who are not, he's just a total goofball and a stupid novelty act. I'm pretty sure he's just waiting for his contract to expire now.

I like Danhausen. He does some really enjoyable work in the midcard as AEW's resident comedy guy.

I think every promotion benefits from a comedy guy like Disco Inferno or a Shark Boy -- as long as they aren't pushed as a main event talent. 

Tony's done a pretty good job limiting Danhausen to the right spots on the show. He's been kept away from the main event picture pretty reliably and been used sporadically to keep from getting stale. 

Now, if Tony did decide to push Danhausen like Orange Cassidy and have Danhausen win every week, I'd get tired of Danhausen real quick.

[Big Roguey]

I think the big difference between OC and Danhausen is that OC can actually go and hang with the likes of an Ospreay or a PAC whereas Danhausen doesn't have a body of work to support that. OC's been killing it for ages and it's a shame the early days of his work are tied up under the Fire Ant mask. 

[milamber]

Collision main event was PPV quality. Swerve promo was great.

[guyver3]

Question for people who have gone to AEW tv shows do they advertise at all before the show? I found an email from Ticketmaster earlier today but sent about a week ago that apparently Collision is happening on Saturday about 20 minutes away from me and I had no clue. I wouldn’t have gone regardless as I have other things going on but I haven’t seen any ads online nor has anyone else I know seen ads on TV or the radio otherwise they would’ve mentioned it to me. Contrast to that I’ve seen plenty of ads for Smackdown coming to my city next month before and after tickets went on sale and it’s been brought up by people I know. I know the Nebraska/Iowa area isn’t a huge market but had I not been on the lookout for a particular email the show could’ve easily passed without me knowing so I imagine plenty of others are in the same boat. 

[milamber]

1 hour ago, guyver3 said:

Question for people who have gone to AEW tv shows do they advertise at all before the show? I found an email from Ticketmaster earlier today but sent about a week ago that apparently Collision is happening on Saturday about 20 minutes away from me and I had no clue. I wouldn’t have gone regardless as I have other things going on but I haven’t seen any ads online nor has anyone else I know seen ads on TV or the radio otherwise they would’ve mentioned it to me. Contrast to that I’ve seen plenty of ads for Smackdown coming to my city next month before and after tickets went on sale and it’s been brought up by people I know. I know the Nebraska/Iowa area isn’t a huge market but had I not been on the lookout for a particular email the show could’ve easily passed without me knowing so I imagine plenty of others are in the same boat. 

Poor advertising (aisde from wrestlers going on local TV/radio shows) and overpriced tickets are common complaints.

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

CW: Language - Jericho does use some cuss words in his promo and also the fans like to cuss Jericho out, I don't use any bad language in discussing Jericho.

Tony really needs to get Chris Jericho off television. The fans hate the guy, Jericho has the worst go-away heat that I've ever seen in wrestling. He makes X-Pac look like Stone Cold when it comes to crowd reaction.

When you get "Please retire" and "Shut up" chants for an entire 7-minute promo, the fans are screaming for you to go away for a while. Please, Tony, send Jericho to New Japan.

I can't be the only one really upset to see Jericho once again dragging a potential star down into the muck with him. Keith is a good promo and has a great look, the guy could be huge in AEW, but right now he's doing comedy with Chris Jericho and that's not going to get Keith over.

The "Thanks, guys" catchphrase is some of the worst "smart" IWC promos that I've seen in wrestling. It started as a phrase used by detractors to mock Tony Khan, but went "viral" when Jim Cornette's co-host used it to mock Tony Khan on twitter. It's like when Hulk Hogan lit a wrestling observer newsletter on fire in WCW in 1995 bad. The few AEW fans who get that reference probably will want to turn off the TV as most AEW fans despise Cornette.

This is embarrassing, even for a Jericho segment.

Does Jericho think year-old IWC twitter beef will attract fans to AEW? 

You can't really justify the way Jericho has booked himself in AEW. First booking himself over one of the hottest AEW talents Hook and now burying (another) hot new AEW signing Bryan Keith by association? Jericho's segments aren't even good TV, this is awful!

Tony needs to put Chris Jericho in his place -- preferably, on a plane to Tokyo with a Bullet Club T-Shirt. The fans will appreciate Tony for it.

 

Edited June 13 by ColdBloodedSausageMaker

[MightyDavidson]

Big Bill's team with Ricky Starks was pretty hot for awhile, if memory serves.  Then they take the belts of them and now Big Bill is spinning his wheels with another Jericho vanity stable.  AEW can't really think that gets people over can it?

[bhalbur]

Has AEW ever done right by a big guy? 

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

2 hours ago, MightyDavidson said:

Big Bill's team with Ricky Starks was pretty hot for awhile, if memory serves.  Then they take the belts of them and now Big Bill is spinning his wheels with another Jericho vanity stable.  AEW can't really think that gets people over can it?

AEW doesn't understand the difference between go-away heat -- also known as "X-Pac heat" -- and heat. The fans don't want to see Jericho to get beat up.

AEW fans want Jericho off TV. But AEW interprets Jericho's go-away heat as "heel heat" and thinks Jericho deserves even more TV Time. 

That's why we're seeing the Young Bucks so much on TV. AEW interprets the Young Bucks go-away heat as heel heat, so they book the Young Bucks like the top heels in the company.

The Bucks have fans, but they aren't nearly the top heels in AEW.

Edited June 13 by ColdBloodedSausageMaker

[juan_historico]

We are watching the Young Bucks so much on TV?

[Mootinie]

Before this Learning Tree thing, Bryan Keith was a newly signed free agent who couldn’t get on the show. Big Bill was off TV whilst Ricky Starks tries to figure out whether he wants to work here or not. Hook was stuck on the Buy In and tagging in meme teams.
 

Yes, the creative could be better but none of these guys were tearing it down before Jericho pulled them into his vortex. He does, at least, give other talents something to do.