AEW's Booking & General Data

[LiamMcDuggle]

I just want to disclaimer this, and say I don't mean they should book who wins/loses on data, but they should use it as a tool to determine who needs more help getting over. Below are just screen grabs to support the data points I am bringing up.

In terms of social media interactions, the Swerve/Joe feud was the lowest performing World Title feud in AEW history. The two lowest viewed videos from Dynamite in the last month are interviews with Joe and Swerve. Their feud regularly finished in the bottom 3 of videos after each Dynamite. Hey (EW), and Sammy Guevara and Matt Cordona's blogs did about 3-4x times better in terms of views. While everyone here liked Joe and Swerve, the feud was not landing with the general public.

The good news, AEW still has stars who pull in better views than much of WWE's social channels. Omega's return was the top performing video in all of wrestling in the last two weeks.

When just looking at data for YouTube, Twitter and TikTok, AEW's numbers are bipolar. Either they do generally better than WWE, or they pull in a fraction of what a segment on RAW/SmackDown does. The guys who are pulling in really low numbers are typically 'internet darlings', but have never really had exposure to a mainstream audience.

When looking at who has been the most consistent in terms of pulling numbers for AEW (just talking social media views), it's Cassidy, Baker, Guevara, Darby, Punk, Bucks, Omega, Jericho & MJF.

Only 3/9 of those performers have been on TV consistently during this ratings slide. The people who replaced them on TV are averaging a fraction of a fraction of what those guys get. It does not matter what form of media you're presenting, if you lose 6 important stars, you're going to get a ratings dip.

Excluding the Omega return, the guys getting the most views right now are Copeland, Christian & the Bucks. Copeland is leading the way in terms of consistency, yet has been mainly in the middle of the card during his run. 

I personally think Swerve can easily be a mega star (I mean we all do), but he needs to be around the guys drawing the biggest numbers. Samoa Joe's social media numbers have been less than half of the women's champion (Toni Storm). 

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I really don't think social media views on Youtube or Tiktok define a star or what's working or what isn't at all times

Like is it good to get a social media spike sometimes? Yeah sure, but it doesn't mean something is or isn't working in the grand scheme

If we start following Youtube and Tiktok patterns worse than we do weekly ratings threads, I'm gonna be honest, we're gonna go completely off the deep end. It's really not that serious imo.

[daaave]

Swerve isn't a draw but they are trying to make him one. Giving him the best quarter hour spots, the countdown clock etc. It doesn't happen overnight though. You can't just magically pair him with someone and suddenly he's a draw. You have to train your audience and it's gonna take the length of his reign. And throughout the length of that reign it's gonna have ups and downs, he's gonna have feuds which aren't the hottest things in the company etc.

This isn't a 'let the booking playout' excuse. Because I think they have made some misteps so far but I'm just prepared not to judge until we at least get to All In. And specifically once he's truely involved with this Elite angle


And just to reference this to OP, you using Omega as an example of drawing clicks but for first 3 years or so of AEW's existence he didn't draw. It took years of him being a regular featured tv star before it translated into what he is now. Which is what they are trying to build with Swerve now

[yokohamacpfc]

I don't think it can be understated how much out of nowhere Swerve came from. He was kind of a loser before he unexpectedly made the All In card and then after emerging from the coffin the Hangman feud started, he made his bones there, had a decent showing in the CC, then it was time for 2024, and his world title push.

Interestingly Toni, OC, and Darby went through bouts of loserdom before getting a big push out of nowhere that took them to the next level. Makes you wonder who will be next.

[stan1337]

May 19, 2024 3:28:14 GMT -5 yokohamacpfc said:

I don't think it can be understated how much out of nowhere Swerve came from. He was kind of a loser before he unexpectedly made the All In card and then after emerging from the coffin the Hangman feud started, he made his bones there, had a decent showing in the CC, then it was time for 2024, and his world title push.

Interestingly Toni, OC, and Darby went through bouts of loserdom before getting a big push out of nowhere that took them to the next level. Makes you wonder who will be next.

?? Is this for real? Swerve and Lee won the tag titles long before All In and were mad popular during their run. Like do you just not recall that whole thing occuring?

Your post compared to the reality I experienced watching the storyline play out makes it impossible for me to believe that you actually watch the product.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

May 19, 2024 7:33:47 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

May 19, 2024 3:28:14 GMT -5 yokohamacpfc said:

I don't think it can be understated how much out of nowhere Swerve came from. He was kind of a loser before he unexpectedly made the All In card and then after emerging from the coffin the Hangman feud started, he made his bones there, had a decent showing in the CC, then it was time for 2024, and his world title push.

Interestingly Toni, OC, and Darby went through bouts of loserdom before getting a big push out of nowhere that took them to the next level. Makes you wonder who will be next.

?? Is this for real? Swerve and Lee won the tag titles long before All In and were mad popular during their run. Like do you just not recall that whole thing occuring?

Your post compared to the reality I experienced watching the storyline play out makes it impossible for me to believe that you actually watch the product.

Lee and Swerve had a less memorable title reign then the Ass Boys, yes there is a damn good chance he doesn't recall that. I've never missed a Dynamite or PPV and I CONSTANTLY forget that. Swerve was floundering in the midcard until the feud with Hangman.

[polarbearpete]

May 19, 2024 7:33:47 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

May 19, 2024 3:28:14 GMT -5 yokohamacpfc said:

I don't think it can be understated how much out of nowhere Swerve came from. He was kind of a loser before he unexpectedly made the All In card and then after emerging from the coffin the Hangman feud started, he made his bones there, had a decent showing in the CC, then it was time for 2024, and his world title push.

Interestingly Toni, OC, and Darby went through bouts of loserdom before getting a big push out of nowhere that took them to the next level. Makes you wonder who will be next.

?? Is this for real? Swerve and Lee won the tag titles long before All In and were mad popular during their run. Like do you just not recall that whole thing occuring?

Your post compared to the reality I experienced watching the storyline play out makes it impossible for me to believe that you actually watch the product.

To be fair, Strickland and Lee lost the titles in September 2022. He didn’t really get much of a push in 2023 until the Darby/Sting program the poster was referring to in July/August.

[Kalmia]

I'm not surprised that a sit down interview with someone who's on TV every week did less than the return of someone who's been off TV for months.

Swerve needs more time and to be treated as the main guy for longer before you can start even beginning to compare his numbers to Omega's. As a solo wrestler, Omega has consistently been one of AEW's biggest draws.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I don't see the point in comparing a short interview segment with the return of a star in a major angle. But also I would just caution against the term "internet darling" in 2024. I just think those phrases have lost a ton of meaning in 2024 both with how essentially everyone has access to social media and how niche the wrestling audience is now.

[daaave]

Swerve and Keith had some banger matches during their tag run. But I didn't think 'wow, Swerve is a future world champ'. Maybe TNT champ but the World Title run has come from pretty quickly from nowhere IMO

This time last year Swerve was curtain jerking DON in a battle royal and next ppv he was in a nothing pre show 6 man tag

[Final Countdown Jones]

Interestingly re: the remark above about how a short interview is a bad comparison, the Swerve match this week sitting at 232k is only somewhat behind the Okada vs. FTR Bald video (248k), both of which lose to the Mercedes and Willow contract segment (310k) but by margins that seem a lot more normal and expected. Hell, for that matter, the week before's Dynamite has the Swerve segment has 386k, which blows that week's Elite promo video (310k) out the window. But Megadraw Ultimate Numbers Guy Kenny Omega in a hospital bed only pulls 111k at present.

Which is all I guess to say, it's easy to find numbers in Youtube views to support a hypothesis, but it doesn't mean you have a hard conclusion in the data. Especially when you have precisely one data point you're looking at that is supposed to qualify the 'general public's' reception to something.

[stan1337]

May 19, 2024 8:27:11 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

May 19, 2024 7:33:47 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

?? Is this for real? Swerve and Lee won the tag titles long before All In and were mad popular during their run. Like do you just not recall that whole thing occuring?

Your post compared to the reality I experienced watching the storyline play out makes it impossible for me to believe that you actually watch the product.

Lee and Swerve had a less memorable title reign then the Ass Boys, yes there is a damn good chance he doesn't recall that. I've never missed a Dynamite or PPV and I CONSTANTLY forget that. Swerve was floundering in the midcard until the feud with Hangman.

Bro if you're watching everything and forget that match in which Swerve in Our Glory won the titles I don't know what to tell you. Some of us actually remember what we watch.

Either way, homie said Swerve was a "loser" prior to All In and that is objectively not true.

[yokohamacpfc]

The first tag champs were Kazarian and Scorpio Sky so winning them isn’t a guarantee that they have big plans for you.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

May 19, 2024 16:10:58 GMT -5 yokohamacpfc said:

The first tag champs were Kazarian and Scorpio Sky so winning them isn’t a guarantee that they have big plans for you.

Nah, AEW has always wanted to push Scorpio. He got a title shot not long after that, got a Sting match and some TNT title reigns, then has been on the shelf ever since.

The promotion having plans for someone is not the same thing as those plans working out.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Anyway if people wanna know why the phrase 'casual fans' gets so many eyerolls it's because someone can call themself a 'casual fan' while also going off to hunt down patterns in and track the individual performance of social media metrics. Words can just mean whatevery ou want them to.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

May 19, 2024 11:18:02 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

Some of us actually remember what we watch.

And some of us actually respond in threads without being a total douche about it. I’ll take the heat on this, but that’s twice in this thread that your response has been insanely condescending and insulting. I’m not cool with that. Be better.

[Mozenrath]

May 19, 2024 16:15:04 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

May 19, 2024 16:10:58 GMT -5 yokohamacpfc said:

The first tag champs were Kazarian and Scorpio Sky so winning them isn’t a guarantee that they have big plans for you.

Nah, AEW has always wanted to push Scorpio. He got a title shot not long after that, got a Sting match and some TNT title reigns, then has been on the shelf ever since.

The promotion having plans for someone is not the same thing as those plans working out.

Yep, he was their earliest answer to the issue of not having main event black wrestlers, and unfortunately, I don't think he had it for that level in this big a company, though I don't think bad angles helped him.

[longtimelurker29]

May 19, 2024 2:30:24 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

I really don't think social media views on Youtube or Tiktok define a star or what's working or what isn't at all times

Like is it good to get a social media spike sometimes? Yeah sure, but it doesn't mean something is or isn't working in the grand scheme

If we start following Youtube and Tiktok patterns worse than we do weekly ratings threads, I'm gonna be honest, we're gonna go completely off the deep end. It's really not that serious imo.

What defines a star then? What can we use to define stardom if all the other metrics are down?

You need some baseline to figure it out.

[stan1337]

May 19, 2024 16:37:06 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

May 19, 2024 11:18:02 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

Some of us actually remember what we watch.

And some of us actually respond in threads without being a total douche about it. I’ll take the heat on this, but that’s twice in this thread that your response has been insanely condescending and insulting. I’m not cool with that. Be better.

I'll be better about watching my tone when y'all be better about recalling what you "watch".

[Final Countdown Jones]

May 19, 2024 19:44:45 GMT -5 stan1337 said:

May 19, 2024 16:37:06 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

And some of us actually respond in threads without being a total douche about it. I’ll take the heat on this, but that’s twice in this thread that your response has been insanely condescending and insulting. I’m not cool with that. Be better.

I'll be better about watching my tone when y'all be better about recalling what you "watch".

bruh