The Wrestling Thread

[Raging Justice]

So I guess it's just a coincidence that NXT copied Bryan/Ospreay here at 13:40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_4n5yT4UHY

Just read this post on Facebook. It's an interesting timeline of events.

AEW Dynamite's main event angle was a masterful long-term storytelling, blending kayfabe and reality!

Courtesy of Air Gold:

"Outside of the first two years in AEW, where they had the first 4 Champions mapped out and told Hangman's Tale, this story with The New ELITE is the most thought out story in a long time! Let me explain:
- Nov 18 = Young Bucks lose at Full Gear to Golden Jets and leave pissed off at Kenny
- January 10 = Young Bucks returned to AEW and proceed to assume the status of serious EVPs
- January 14 = Jack Perry appears in NJPW, rips up his AEW contract, and assumes the moniker of 'Scapegoat'
- March 6 = EVPs suspend Hangman and fire Kenny Omega
- March 6 = Okada makes his AEW debut and joins The Elite
- the dirt sheets all report that Jack Perry has heat with Tony Khan, then Jack presented his own side of the story, so we're all led to believe that both TK and Jack are adversarial, that there are real, unresolved issues!
- April 6 = Jack pays tribute to the Young Bucks and Okada by doing all their moves in a match in Japan
- Young Bucks and Jack exchange pleasentries on Instagram, comment on each other's pictures, showing that the EVPs have a soft spot for Jack
- April 10 = Young Bucks air the All In footage
- April 12 = Jack wrestles in Chicago
- Kenny says on stream that his favourite storyline in AEW is the one of him getting fired
- Kenny also said on stream that he doesn't think he should be EVP because his method for resolving issues is fighting, and not everyone likes to do that
- April 21 = Jack returns at Dynasty and helps the Young Bucks win the Tag Team Championships, throws up the Elite sign
- April 24 = Jack returns to #AEWDyamite, gets reinstated, attacks Tony, and The Elite take TK out
- NFL write an article about the whole angle
- May 1 = Kenny Omega returns to AEW for the first time since December 13

So from November to now (even All In), you can connect every, single thing that's happened to this one storyline. AEW has done a masterful job of blending kayfabe and reality. Long term storytelling that has gotten mainstream attention, and set AEW up for a huge summer!"

That's pretty cool. Hopefully, it does get them some attention. I saw a video of Pat McAfee and a couple of guys talking about it on a sports show, which is surreal because Pat McAfee is a regular WWE commentator. They were kind of poking fun at Tony, and how he's moving his head around despite wearing a neck brace. Roderick Strong had a funny tweet about Tony, referencing the months where he had a neck brace on

[Raging Justice]

TNA's on hard times, heard the buys for their last PPV were really low. So let me post something positive about them as I'm getting tired of all the profuse and deserved praise WWE is getting these days and want to root for the little guys

This should be good, TNA getting one of TJPW's best on their next show:

[Reprise]

Yeah, they did 500 buys, which is an insane drop, since Hard to Kill apparently did 22,400! I am not sure what is/was normal for them these days. Maybe they got a lot of buys for the first PPV as part of their rebrand. Maybe all the negativity that followed with Scott's firing soured a lot of people's excitement. Nic Nemeth doesn't seem to have got more people on board. It's a shame they can't get another TV deal.

I like TNA, but don't really keep up with it. The last PPV I watched was Bound For Glory last year, right before the rebrand. It was a great event. I like that they just knuckle down and continue to put on great matches and feuds, despite the struggles they have had over the years.

It's insane to think, by the way, that at one point this company had huge stars like Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash and so on. I rewatched Turning Point 2009 last month and it was such a good show, but it was so weird watching it after seeing what TNA is like now. They had Tazz on commentary, I think Earl Hebner was a referee, the main event was an incredible triple threat involving AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels (almost as good as their 2005 encounter). Kurt Angle also had an amazing match with Nigel McGuiness. They also had a huge promotional piece about their hottest new signing... Hulk Hogan! This was right before they moved Impact to Monday nights to go head-to-head against Raw, I think, which only lasted a few months I think, before they admitted defeat.

[Raging Justice]

Yeah, they did 500 buys, which is an insane drop, since Hard to Kill apparently did 22,400! I am not sure what is/was normal for them these days. Maybe they got a lot of buys for the first PPV as part of their rebrand. Maybe all the negativity that followed with Scott's firing soured a lot of people's excitement. Nic Nemeth doesn't seem to have got more people on board. It's a shame they can't get another TV deal.

I like TNA, but don't really keep up with it. The last PPV I watched was Bound For Glory last year, right before the rebrand. It was a great event. I like that they just knuckle down and continue to put on great matches and feuds, despite the struggles they have had over the years.

It's insane to think, by the way, that at one point this company had huge stars like Kurt Angle, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash and so on. I rewatched Turning Point 2009 last month and it was such a good show, but it was so weird watching it after seeing what TNA is like now. They had Tazz on commentary, I think Earl Hebner was a referee, the main event was an incredible triple threat involving AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels (almost as good as their 2005 encounter). Kurt Angle also had an amazing match with Nigel McGuiness. They also had a huge promotional piece about their hottest new signing... Hulk Hogan! This was right before they moved Impact to Monday nights to go head-to-head against Raw, I think, which only lasted a few months I think, before they admitted defeat.

This is why some people worry for AEW. I'm talking about legit AEW fans, not the haters who WANT to see it fail. TNA has fallen A LOT from where they once were and some people think the same could happen to AEW. I don't see it happening though. For all of Tony Kahn's mistakes, he has made some very smart moves that I think have set AEW up for long term success. Plus, in just five years AEW has had some big milestones (like Wembley) and have drawn out a level of aggression from WWE that I don't think TNA ever did. That says something about how WWE views AEW. Hell, WWE has made moves in response to AEW. They took one of its founders and gave him the biggest baby face push we've seen in a long time. Like Cody is now Hogan and WWE is in the role of WCW/TNA. Crazy

I saw some people claim that 500 is a typo and that it's 5000, that is still pretty low though. I feel bad for TNA, because it feels like they were building up a little momentum and then Scott got fired.