The Wrestling Thread

[RCBH928]

Is AEW any good ? I feel like watching a recent wrestling show, is there a recent good ppv or weekly show?

Farewell WWE Network. It dies this month. Looks like I can get special access for just £4.99 for the remaining time and then from 1st Jan it will be all on Netflix. Might get it so I can catch on Survivor Series and anything else I missed.

wait, the whole pro-wrestlng WWE library will be on Netflix inclusive of the netflix $15/ month ? It really surprise me how that $15 is enough for all those shows. A single VHS movie was like $40 and thats in 90s money!

[Reprise]

wait, the whole pro-wrestlng WWE library will be on Netflix inclusive of the netflix $15/ month ? It really surprise me how that $15 is enough for all those shows. A single VHS movie was like $40 and thats in 90s money!

Internationally in large parts of the world, yes. Not in the United States. In the US only Raw is going to Netflix.

Here in the UK, the Network will close 31st December and from 1st Jan everything will be on Netflix. That's Raw, Smackdown, NXT and PPVs, all airing live and of course the back catalogue will be available to stream. It remains to be seen how much of the back catalogue they will have on there though. For example, I don't think they have said anything about WCW or ECW. And will they literally have every old Raw and Smackdown ever? I don't know.

Is AEW any good ? I feel like watching a recent wrestling show, is there a recent good ppv or weekly show?

I watch it more than WWE. The weekly shows have been pretty boring recently. It's been all over the place this year. They have had some great stuff going on, but also a lot of very weak inconsistent storylines and feuds. It's been ice cold with dead crowds, heatless feuds and nonsensical storylines the past month or so.

The PPVs have been great. My three top PPVs of the year have been AEW All In, Revolution and Dynasty in that order. Way above what WWE has put on, other than maybe Wrestlemania.

That said, going back to their television shows, they just started the Continental Classic tournament, which was great fun last year. Last week's episodes of Dynamite and Collision had the first initial matches in the tournament and were a solid start. So now might be a good time to give it a try. It will conclude at the World's End PPV later this month.

[Reprise]

Can fans stop referring to everything in wrestling as "cinema"?

That's got to be 2024's most overused phrase within the wrestling fandom.

[Raging Justice]

Can fans stop referring to everything in wrestling as "cinema"?

That's got to be 2024's most overused phrase within the wrestling fandom.

It's annoying because rarely do we ever see anything that's even worthy of being called that. Possibly the only thing this year that would qualify is Hangman burning down Swerve's house.

On a more positive note, this is some of the most heelish shit I've seen in a long time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWTKnZ2IAZA

[Reprise]

Yeah, that was great. I can only assume Big E is cleared for a return or will be cleared soon...

Damn, I just found out that Dynamite got 500,000 something viewers last week. Remember when people laughed at Collision when that first dropped into the 500 thousands? We all knew Saturdays were going to be difficult for them though. But now their flagship show is getting Collision ratings and god knows what Collision gets these days.

AEW has effectively lost half their audience and judging by their ratings decline this year, they have lost them for good. It has been a sharp decline. If you look at the ratings last year, they were getting mostly around 800,000 ish per episode. Blood and Guts nearly got a million. This year they were getting between 600 and 700 thousand and over the last couple of months it has declined further.

I usually don't dwell on numbers or trends, because I generally don't care, but it's getting so bad that there really isn't any way it can be ignored. They are going to struggle to ever regain their lost audience. Once you lose them, it's hard to get them back. Even if they fixed issues and improved their product, it isn't necessary going to translate into a ratings boost. They don't even get the occasional pops or rating boosts anymore for their special episodes.

I mean, what are the numbers going to look like next year? 400,000? 300,000!?

They already had to move Grand Slam Australia from a 52,000 stadium to a 13,500 arena, because tickets weren't selling.

AEW is dying.

[Raging Justice]

Tony Kahn really needs a Vince McMahon's back against the wall because WCW is trying to put him out of business moment.

Sad to say, the TNA comparisons don't seem so crazy anymore. I hate saying that, but sometimes you have to face hard truths in life.

I don't really like hot shot booking, but doing something crazy like having Bobby Lashley show up and immediately becoming world champion gets eyes on your product because everybody is like, "Hoy shit! Did they really do that!"

AEW really NEEDS to get crazy right now. The lackadaisical booking and creative isn't working. They need to get ballsy. YOU...NEED...TO...CREATE...BUZZ

[Reprise]

I don't really like hot shot booking, but doing something crazy like having Bobby Lashley show up and immediately becoming world champion gets eyes on your product because everybody is like, "Hoy shit! Did they really do that!"

AEW really NEEDS to get crazy right now. The lackadaisical booking and creative isn't working. They need to get ballsy. YOU...NEED...TO...CREATE...BUZZ

Exactly.

Give people a reason to want to tune in. You have to make your shows unmissable.

Hell, Christian should have been world champion by now.

[Raging Justice]

Whenever I see a post on reddit criticizing AEW and offering potential solutions, you see a million people come to AEW's defense and put down the person who created the post. I imagine Tony Kahn probably acts the same way every time he gets constructive criticism. We've seen some of his immature responses to criticism on social media. This is why things will never improve. AEW fanboys refuse to acknowledge criticism and it feels like this is who Tony caters to.

[Raging Justice]

AEW is getting criticized like never before. This is just some ideas to get the product better

AEW needs to get some compelling feuds going for Okada and Takeshita. You're literally wasting two titles and two of the best stars on your roster.

At least one face needs a super push right now. I'd go with Ospreay, while similarly giving Hangman a monster tweener push. AEW needs to start establishing some kind of hierarchy on their card. They need stars.

Christian needs to be world champion ASAP. It's time to establish that contract as important and something to shoot for in this company.

I think AEW should consider having the Hurt Syndicate destroy the BCC if you really want to establish them. The Hurt Syndicate is fresh and new and one of the few things AEW hasn't fucked up yet. Lashley is a guy who used to manhandle Brock Lesnar and was in a feud involving Donald Trump and Vince McMahon. He's a big deal and should be protected with his booking at all costs.

Mina needs to be women's champion and then you throw EVERYONE at her. I want multiple women coming after her at once. Thunder Rosa, The Virtuosa (what happened to her faction?), Shida, Queen Aminata, a debuting Athena, Julia Heart, EVERYONE in the division gunning for that title, including international challengers getting promoted on Dynamite. There NEEDS to be a heavily promoted Mina/Tam Nakano title match. There's history with those two and Tam is currently the Stardom world champion. If possible, save that for Forbidden Door. Mina's first title match needs to be her absolutely BURING a returning Toni Storm. That's a STATEMENT victory. I hate the fact that AEW doesn't understand the value of burials. IT GETS PEOPLE TALKING.

Mone needs a compelling story line that is ultimately going to end with her dropping the title. I would throw Anna Jay at her and let this be sink or swim time for Anna. I want to see some kind of backstage segment with her and Perry, with Perry showing his support. Just because he's a heel doesn't mean he can't have a face moment. These characters shouldn't be one dimensional. I would have Kamille get involved in the eventual title match, screwing over Mercedes

I know we hear "too many titles" all the time, but I think AEW needs women's tag titles. There's never anything for women to do in AEW. They're all sitting on the roster being useless.

Harley Cameron needs to start getting pushed on Dynamite and not be stuck on Collision

[Raging Justice]

AEW needs to clearly define who is:

Main eventers - These people are always surrounding the world title or getting the biggest angles and story lines

Upper mid-card - These people are on the cusp. Occasionally they flirt with the main event scene before dropping back down to the upper mid-card. Christian is a perfect example

Mid-Card - These guys know their role. They are mid-carders and will ALWAYS be mid-card

Jobbers - Understand that in a thriving wrestling promotion, jobbers should always have fun or interesting gimmicks so that audiences want to see them despite the fact that they never win. For all the hate I give Cody Rhodes, I loved his Fuego Dos gimmick

Tag people - These are tag division people. That is their only role