Monthly News Thread (December 2018)

[Cor]

What I'll be curious is will AEW have relationships with NJPW, ROH and Impact. Will there be a network of indy/second tier promotions sharing talent. A lot of guys have established relationships with certain promotions but will it be a quasi-territory thing with belts going between the promotions and continue to do joint shows like ROH and New Japan do. All-In and the Jericho Cruise were just joint venture shows. If they build a strong network of those promotions, I think the can be the best alternative/opposition to the WWE machine.

As much as I like the guys in the Elite, I don't know if I'd watch a promotion of just them. Kenny still being IWGP champ and being a part of AEW would be fine with me.

AEW seems to have A TON of money behind it. Khan is worth over double what Vince is.

So, they are going to be able to secure a lot of top talent, and I doubt, just like WWE, they will want those investments to possibly be injured working elsewhere.

I think AEW will continue to do joint shows, All In could be pretty awesome if AEW, NJPW, ROH etc all go in and bring their top talent (Almost like if WWE did Survivor Series with ROH rather than Raw vs SD) but I'm pretty certain any Wrestlers who sign with AEW will be on exclusive deals.

It seems like January will be the month when we see if AEW is for real, and what it entails. If they have a TV Deal, and speculation is they do, this could be a massive thing for the industry.

 

[Paris in Flames]

There's a lot of WWE talent you'd think is prime to be poached.

Revival, guys like Tyler Breeze, hell...maybe even a Bray Wyatt...should, in theory, be frustrated. Whether they'd want to make the leap is another thing.

 

[Conrad McBenis]

AEW seems to have A TON of money behind it. Khan is worth over double what Vince is.

So, they are going to be able to secure a lot of top talent, and I doubt, just like WWE, they will want those investments to possibly be injured working elsewhere.

I think AEW will continue to do joint shows, All In could be pretty awesome if AEW, NJPW, ROH etc all go in and bring their top talent (Almost like if WWE did Survivor Series with ROH rather than Raw vs SD) but I'm pretty certain any Wrestlers who sign with AEW will be on exclusive deals.

It seems like January will be the month when we see if AEW is for real, and what it entails. If they have a TV Deal, and speculation is they do, this could be a massive thing for the industry.

Coming in at the right time with Vince going to focus on the XFL too. Really going to kick HHH and the creative team's ass to increase the quality of their promotion.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

There's a lot of WWE talent you'd think is prime to be poached.

Revival, guys like Tyler Breeze, hell...maybe even a Bray Wyatt...should, in theory, be frustrated. Whether they'd want to make the leap is another thing.

From their tweets, I think The Revival will be out the door. Apollo maybe. Tyler seems fine with collecting a pay check and doing nothing.

Anderson and Gallows have been underused and wanted to be closer to their families, I wonder if they’d make the jump. Probably not though since they’re much closer to AJ and Finn and AJ even told WWE that if he was going to sign, they had to come with him.

They’re really lucky they got Bryan to re-sign.

 

[GKJ]

Coming in at the right time with Vince going to focus on the XFL too. Really going to kick HHH and the creative team's ass to increase the quality of their promotion.

I think we're putting the cart before the horse when it comes to Vince's involvement in the XFL. He's hired Oliver Luck to handle a lot of that. Vince will be around both, but it's not going to be handed to Hunter and be left on his own.

 

[Conrad McBenis]

I think we're putting the cart before the horse when it comes to Vince's involvement in the XFL. He's hired Oliver Luck to handle a lot of that. Vince will be around both, but it's not going to be handed to Hunter and be left on his own.

Oh, definitely. But any distraction away from WWE is a good thing product wise.

 

[Cor]

From their tweets, I think The Revival will be out the door. Apollo maybe. Tyler seems fine with collecting a pay check and doing nothing.

Anderson and Gallows have been underused and wanted to be closer to their families, I wonder if they’d make the jump. Probably not though since they’re much closer to AJ and Finn and AJ even told WWE that if he was going to sign, they had to come with him.

They’re really lucky they got Bryan to re-sign.

Heck, with AJ's deal expiring in April, if this gets announced in January, and if AJ/WWE haven't signed a deal yet, I wonder if AJ waits until March to see what AEW would offer before signing with the WWE. AJ apparently wants 3 years, and a part-time schedule, but the WWE wants 5 years and still a relatively full-time.

If Cody, and AEW are willing to give AJ the contract he wants.....

I agree with The Revival, but who knows how long they are signed until. Gallows/Anderson I could see making the jump.

Honestly, a lot of it depends on how much AEW is able to spend on Salary. If Khan is giving them the funds to make very competitive offers, we could see some guys jump ship.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Heck, with AJ's deal expiring in April, if this gets announced in January, and if AJ/WWE haven't signed a deal yet, I wonder if AJ waits until March to see what AEW would offer before signing with the WWE. AJ apparently wants 3 years, and a part-time schedule, but the WWE wants 5 years and still a relatively full-time.

If Cody, and AEW are willing to give AJ the contract he wants.....

I agree with The Revival, but who knows how long they are signed until. Gallows/Anderson I could see making the jump.

Honestly, a lot of it depends on how much AEW is able to spend on Salary. If Khan is giving them the funds to make very competitive offers, we could see some guys jump ship.

AJ’s said he wants to retire in WWE and train at the PC when he’s done. I’m sure WWE will cave eventually.

 

[Cor]

AJ’s said he wants to retire in WWE and train at the PC when he’s done. I’m sure WWE will cave eventually.

Oh, I agree. There's a 95% chance Styles re-ups.

But, I just wonder.

 

[ColePens]

What I'll be curious is will AEW have relationships with NJPW, ROH and Impact. Will there be a network of indy/second tier promotions sharing talent. A lot of guys have established relationships with certain promotions but will it be a quasi-territory thing with belts going between the promotions and continue to do joint shows like ROH and New Japan do. All-In and the Jericho Cruise were just joint venture shows. If they build a strong network of those promotions, I think the can be the best alternative/opposition to the WWE machine.

As much as I like the guys in the Elite, I don't know if I'd watch a promotion of just them. Kenny still being IWGP champ and being a part of AEW would be fine with me.

This is the future of wrestling I'm most interested in. AEW will only work if all these places work together and open up avenues for wrestlers to make money. But it seems to be bothering many business owners. So if all we are getting is a new company and it will be restricted, then it has no chance to be great. It will be good, but not great. The way to pull talent is to give them a launching pad to go all over and make money everywhere. I just feel we are heading towards a more restricted indy scene.

I also think Cody is a very smart businessman. I do not think he's targeting WWE. The gap is just too insane. But I think he's targeting to be a #2, but what will that look like that he's building it knowing his direct competition is NJPW and ROH. That's sort of interesting.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

JR says he feels like none of the men have the momentum to main event Wrestlemania 35.

Honestly, he’s been wrong a lot lately but he’s not wrong here.

 

[GarbageGoal]

I still feel Vince will want Brock going on last.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Brock could be wrestling a footlong sub and he'll still main event Mania.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

This is the future of wrestling I'm most interested in. AEW will only work if all these places work together and open up avenues for wrestlers to make money. But it seems to be bothering many business owners. So if all we are getting is a new company and it will be restricted, then it has no chance to be great. It will be good, but not great. The way to pull talent is to give them a launching pad to go all over and make money everywhere. I just feel we are heading towards a more restricted indy scene.

I also think Cody is a very smart businessman. I do not think he's targeting WWE. The gap is just too insane. But I think he's targeting to be a #2, but what will that look like that he's building it knowing his direct competition is NJPW and ROH. That's sort of interesting.

What I'm curious about is will they be able to do what MLW has and be able to put CMLL and AAA talent on the same show...

I'm guessing that depends on if they end up trying to keep a working relationship with NJPW or not (if they do, no AAA talent).

 

[AshleyN]

Balor just loves being there. He doesn’t just like it.
Saw those pictures from the Latino America tour, he was wearing matching gear for every country and their flag.

I never give up on the guys I like. Bad booking doesn’t take away the reason I like them. It is depressing. But hopefully it comes back, sooner than later, a balor with attitude. (Demon or not)

There was a post somewhere after last week's RAW that Balor's new gimmick should be just appearing at random to even up the odds against heels, and I actually really liked the idea? Aside from giving his character some much needed definition, it would be refreshing to see a face who comes to the aid of other faces, which never seems to happen these days outside of established teams. It even makes sense on a character level, given how much time he spends getting screwed over by heels -- this would be a way for him to respond to that while still keeping him in the role of a fundamental good guy (something the company is in short supply of) as opposed to the usual "turn him heel/tweener" course of action.

Of course it's highly unlikely that it'll actually happen, but it's fun to think about.

 

[FultonReed]

Brock could be wrestling a footlong sub and he'll still main event Mania.

from Jimmy John's TM

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Brock could be wrestling a footlong sub and he'll still main event Mania.

Don't let Vince see this post

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Seth did an interview and said the writers miss basic storytelling points a lot and used the Becky/Charlotte angle as an example (and i bet he wanted to use his own angle with Dean as an example too...)

 

[Cor]

Redacted.

 

[Disclose]

i know the thread is up. can we please put the WM rumors else where? (please please please)

 

[Cor]

i know the thread is up. can we please put the WM rumors else where? (please please please)

ok

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Meltzer confirmed the Rock/Roman rumour for WM35 to be false btw.

 

[tony d]

That new promotion sounds intriguing. I think if the WWE had viable competition the quality of the product would skyrocket.

 

[Disclose]

impact and wwe have had their own worst viewing ratings ever this year. interesting time to cash in. a tv deal would be more than huge for them.

 

[GKJ]

That new promotion sounds intriguing. I think if the WWE had viable competition the quality of the product would skyrocket.

My concern with this is actually the spreading out of talent and resources. Some should (and do) pool their resources. But if AEW can score a TV deal, that will mean everything. Vince won't be scared of them (yet), but they're trying to gobble up as much talent as possible, and I'm sure the offers he's giving the Elite are pretty substantial.