WWE

[Padjeq]

3 hours ago, jump said:

So CM Punk is back 🙂

I'm glad they didn't try to make it into a shit angle where he gets attacked mid-speech or something like that and just let it feel real.

He hasn't lost a step.

[Andre91]

I am absolutely elated right now. 
 

CM PUNK 😄 

[kingbadger]

AEW have been knocking it out of the park recently, not surprised Punk has been lured back into wrestling. So glad they just let the moment happen organically, just so great to have an actual wrestling company trying to put out the best actual wrestling product for fans. 

What's more is that there's still so much talent out there either unsigned or in the indies that someone else could easily join the game and create/expand a company into another major promotion. 

[DareToDibble]

That crowd was unreal for Punk. Been a long time since I've seen a reaction like it. His promo was absolutely fantastic, really do believe he's there to help the younger talent and build the company up like he helped do at ROH. It will be fantastic to watch over the coming weeks and months.

As for WWE. I watched Summerslam. A couple of great match, especially Rollins v Edge. The Brood entrance was amazing! Brock being back was great, although you feel like it was a last minute reaction to AEW/Punk.

However, once again WWE have absolutely fucked it. WHAT was that Womens championship match? Absolutely buried Bianca for the sake of someone who has been out of the company for a year. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if they actually had a match but a punch and finisher to have it over in 30 seconds is pathetic. Also, what do we think is up with Sasha? 

[kingbadger]

2 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

That crowd was unreal for Punk. Been a long time since I've seen a reaction like it. His promo was absolutely fantastic, really do believe he's there to help the younger talent and build the company up like he helped do at ROH. It will be fantastic to watch over the coming weeks and months.

As for WWE. I watched Summerslam. A couple of great match, especially Rollins v Edge. The Brood entrance was amazing! Brock being back was great, although you feel like it was a last minute reaction to AEW/Punk.

However, once again WWE have absolutely fucked it. WHAT was that Womens championship match? Absolutely buried Bianca for the sake of someone who has been out of the company for a year. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if they actually had a match but a punch and finisher to have it over in 30 seconds is pathetic. Also, what do we think is up with Sasha? 

Only catch bits and pieces of WWE buy sounds like most of the Summerslam booking was atrocious, Lynch back as a heel. Apparently. Need to catch Rollins v Edge and also WALTER v Dragunov from Takeover.

Punk must have so much left in the tank, he'll be putting the likes of Darby, MJF, Jungle Boy etc well over just by being in the ring with them. He'll be pushed out of the gate as the superstar he is, but I imagine the plan will still be Hangman to go over Omega for the World title. With Danielson set to debut next month as well, could see Dynamite really creeping up on Raw's demo rating. So much talent on the roster, wouldn't be surprised to see Rampage go to 2 hours in the near future, especially if they plateau out with a decent demo rating. Booking 2 hours of Rampage would make it a much easier ticket sell for a separate live venue than the 1 hour plus Dark/Elevation tapings. 

[DareToDibble]

8 hours ago, kingbadger said:

Only catch bits and pieces of WWE buy sounds like most of the Summerslam booking was atrocious, Lynch back as a heel. Apparently. Need to catch Rollins v Edge and also WALTER v Dragunov from Takeover.

 

See this is the thing. I’m really not sure. The ONLY heel thing she did was a sly punch before her finisher. It was pathetic. If she went full on heel it might have been a little better but it was just typical WWE shit. I haven’t been watching RAW/SmackDown and after SummerSlam I don’t think I will. There are very few storylines I’m actually interested in. Brock/Roman the obvious one.

What I don’t get is why so many fans keep giving WWE the benefit of the doubt. It’s been terrible for a few years now. You’d think AEW would make them up their game.

[DareToDibble]

Actually thinking about it - WWE kinda don’t need to as they’re so rich from the Peacock/Fox deals. 
Even still, the networks will surely start asking questions if their ratings aren’t where they’re meant to be.

[kingbadger]

3 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

See this is the thing. I’m really not sure. The ONLY heel thing she did was a sly punch before her finisher. It was pathetic. If she went full on heel it might have been a little better but it was just typical WWE shit. I haven’t been watching RAW/SmackDown and after SummerSlam I don’t think I will. There are very few storylines I’m actually interested in. Brock/Roman the obvious one.

It's that they spent pre-Rumble all the way to Summerslam building Belair as a star and champion, then pissed it all away in a minute because 'the real talent' is back. There's no money in any sort of rematch between the two now, it's been killed. 

But yeah, between the Peacock deal and the Saudi blood money, WWE can shit out whatever product it wants and it won't matter. As far as I last checked Raw still pulls in the top demo rating on Monday night cable so the network will still be fine with it. There'll always be a core audience of old people and kids, with enough in-between to keep it a viable leader in cable TV. 

Up until now AEW really haven't been in competition with WWE, but now with Punk, almost certainly Cole and Danielson and likely Wyatt too, that could draw a lot of eyes away from WWE. Eyes that would then be convinced to stay as they see the likes of Young Bucks, Omega, Hangman, Darby, Jungle Boy, MJF etc putting on bigger and better performances than WWE has managed in years. Add in the big familiar names like Sting, Jericho etc and all of a sudden AEW's star power is right up there with WWE's.

This is far from a case of 00s TNA who were picking up WWE rejects and has been. WWE are losing extremely talented performers still in their prime, and AEW have shown they're a creative playground that the likes of Miro, Black, Brodie (RIP) etc can tear shit up in. Shit look how awesome 2.0 have done in just a few short weeks - gone from an NXT afterthought to getting over huge already in AEW and into a program with Sting. 

[pink_triangle]

I don't watch and just follow online for the last few years. If I was someone like Adam Cole I would be a bit reluctant to jump if you end up being the lowest profile person of 4 or 5 others all joining at a similar time. AEW is no different to any wrestling organisation in they can't focus on everyone.

If I was him I would use his position to try and get the best deal out of WWE or wait untill his move may have more impact.

[DareToDibble]

I've decided I'm going to watch the AEW weeklys. I just can't do it with WWE anymore. They have a couple of great storylines but the vast majority is just unwatchable.

AEW seems great in what I've seen so far. I've been dipping in and out a lot over the last few months but will try and catch every Dynamite and Rampage going forward. Has anyone also seen CM Punk's latest promo where he hints (gives away) about Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson?

 

[jump]

All Out was one of the best PPVs I've seen in year although one small thing, I don't like Bryan Danielson's new music. 

[Andre91]

All Out. Oh. My. God. 

[kingbadger]

5 hours ago, jump said:

All Out was one of the best PPVs I've seen in year although one small thing, I don't like Bryan Danielson's new music. 

Imagine it's a placeholder until they finish wrangling over the Final Countdown rights.

But yes, holy shit. Best wrestling event I can remember ever watching live (as opposed to next day on tape). Next few months is going to be insane. Last couple of weeks has felt like a real watershed for AEW, and I've been a fan since day 1. 

Think I'm more excited by AEW right now than I was as a kid in the Attitude era. Can really see the last few weeks and what is to come drawing in a lot of fans, both brand new to wrestling and lapsed fans. 

Can't think of a better top to bottom PPV/event since Wrestlemania 17?

[jump]

So The Undertaker is back in an interactive movie on Netflix where he’s trying to scare The New Day in his haunted mansion...Jebus this is so dumb but is it so dumb it’s brilliant?

https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2021/9/7/22661215/wwe-netflix-interactive-new-day-escape-the-undertaker-halloween-special

[A-Rob]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:37 PM, kingbadger said:

Imagine it's a placeholder until they finish wrangling over the Final Countdown rights.

But yes, holy shit. Best wrestling event I can remember ever watching live (as opposed to next day on tape). Next few months is going to be insane. Last couple of weeks has felt like a real watershed for AEW, and I've been a fan since day 1. 

Think I'm more excited by AEW right now than I was as a kid in the Attitude era. Can really see the last few weeks and what is to come drawing in a lot of fans, both brand new to wrestling and lapsed fans. 

Can't think of a better top to bottom PPV/event since Wrestlemania 17?

 

Have you seen any of the NXT takeover of the last 4 years ? Such as Takeover Brooklyn or Takeover New Orleans. They were excellent wrestling PPVs.

 

 

[Andre91]

I’ve watched All Out again and it’s one of the greatest PPVs I’ve ever seen. Unreal stuff from beginning to end. 
 

Anyway, looks like we’re going to be hearing KILL STEEN KILL again pretty soon 🥰

[The Nal]

AEW beat Raw in the ratings. 

[jump]

2 minutes ago, The Nal said:

AEW beat Raw in the ratings. 

Sort of, it was just certain demos rather than overall ratings.

I look forward to WWE countering it by brining back some legends like Hornswoggle, The Great Khali and that terrorist wrestler. 

[The Nal]

9 minutes ago, jump said:

Sort of, it was just certain demos rather than overall ratings.

I look forward to WWE countering it by brining back some legends like Hornswoggle, The Great Khali and that terrorist wrestler. 

Haha. WWE has been so competition free for 20 years it must be a shock to them.

[Andre91]

12 hours ago, jump said:

Sort of, it was just certain demos rather than overall ratings.

I look forward to WWE countering it by brining back some legends like Hornswoggle, The Great Khali and that terrorist wrestler. 

THAT TERRORIST WRESTLER HAHAHAHA

[kingbadger]

On 9/9/2021 at 8:37 PM, Andre91 said:

I’ve watched All Out again and it’s one of the greatest PPVs I’ve ever seen. Unreal stuff from beginning to end. 
 

Anyway, looks like we’re going to be hearing KILL STEEN KILL again pretty soon 🥰

The pop when Steen actually hits a package piledriver is going to be huge. Give me Penta v Steen just beating the shit out of each other and exchanging pildrivers. That's such good shit.

Funnily enough was saying the other day the only real big names I can see realistically coming across from WWE now are Owens/Zayn given their indie history, and funnily enough it seems like they're the next available. There's not really any space left on the roster given the vast amount of talent that AEW have but I think those two will be too good to turn down. 

[kingbadger]

On 9/10/2021 at 9:08 AM, The Nal said:

Haha. WWE has been so competition free for 20 years it must be a shock to them.

Not sure they're actually that fussed. Their revenue streams are pretty much guaranteed regardless of how shite the product they put out is. Looks like Vince etc are getting ready to sell up anyway. They'll keep chugging along coasting on previous merits for the foreseeable. There's enough of a core audience that will watch regardless that I don't think will ever be swayed by AEW.

[jump]

57 minutes ago, kingbadger said:

Not sure they're actually that fussed. Their revenue streams are pretty much guaranteed regardless of how shite the product they put out is. Looks like Vince etc are getting ready to sell up anyway. They'll keep chugging along coasting on previous merits for the foreseeable. There's enough of a core audience that will watch regardless that I don't think will ever be swayed by AEW.

I remember arguing with someone in the thread about how The WWE Network may not be the money maker people think it is and they still need TV money and PPVS, a few years later it turned out the Network was costing them money and the money was always in TV.  lol

The reality is WWE got those TV deals because to most people wrestling is WWE so now that their market share is shrinking and dispelling the belief that WWE and wrestling are not actually the same thing when it's time to renew those deals may not be as big or may not even go to WWE when AEW are cheaper and get the same kinda ratings. The same with selling the company, a company that was a monopoly is more enticing than one that is losing ground.

In any case this is all smart mark nonsense, people with far more insider knowledge have speculated on this and got it wrong and it all gets a bit boring talking about these demo ratings I don't really get and all that. I just want to see Bryan Danielson and CM Punk in a tag match against The Young Bucks!

 

[jump]

I’ve just started watching the new season of Dark Side Of The Ring, the episode about Jake The Snake’s Dad is fucking grim. 

[Andre91]

1 hour ago, jump said:

I’ve just started watching the new season of Dark Side Of The Ring, the episode about Jake The Snake’s Dad is fucking grim. 

I watched that the other day. Definitely a hard watch. If you haven’t already, check out Jake on Joe Rogan. He mentions some of it there and it’s shocking but there’s also plenty of funny moments over the couple of hours. He’s a real interesting character and I was gripped the whole time.