AEW and a question about the Elite

[Mozenrath]

We're coming up on the fourth show, All Out, fifth if you count All In, though that wasn't an AEW production proper. So far, so good, we've seen them make tweaks as they go along. Right now, all five Elite guys in the company have been faces, or arguably tweener in some cases.

I do not think any of the guys is big on the "EVIL AUTHORITY FIGURE" trope, so I imagine, even if one of them does turn heel, it's not going to go that overdone direction, but they're not likely going to be face/tweeners in perpetuity. Who turns heel first?

Cody seems like the obvious choice. Brandi's a heel, anyhow, and he definitely looks the most heelish. He's also played on the heel side of tweener in his matches with Dustin and Darby, but his conflict with Spears, he's definitely the face here. Do you think they continue those shades of grey, or does he drift to the dark side of things, with his wife and sycophant MJF?

The Young Bucks were the heel side of the match with the Rhodes brothers, and to be frank, they seem more the heel side of the feud with the Lucha Bros, but they are still nominally faces, it seems like. Still, though, we also get them showing grace in their win with the Rhodes brothers, and they haven't done anything too untoward, even with their egos.

Hangman Page has been the face-iest of the group, but he's also the least established. Does he stay the course, or does he take a shortcut and compromise himself to get ahead?

Kenny Omega seems the least likely to go outright heel, but then again, Moxley might be too cool for the crowd to not side with him over Kenny.

You also have Marty Scurll as unlikely to renew with Ring of Honor, and when he's free, he'll come to AEW, because no shit he would. Does the Villain turn on the rest? And if he does, does he divide them by bringing one of the guys to his side?

It could be they'd all turn heel, but that strikes me as the least likely scenario of all. What do you folks think?

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Yeah, if Marty shows up, I'm betting he turns on his friends. Dude came out wearing a t-shirt that says "All my friends are dead," but I don't think that was ever meant in the literal sense.

[cabbageboy]

If you watched ROH and saw these guys you realize they enjoy trying to be the top heels AND the top faces at the same time. From what I gather Cody doesn't even believe in a traditional heel/face dynamic, but likes to veer as a storyline takes him.

I find it comical that Melzer keeps doing this silly song and dance about not knowing what Marty is going to do come the Fall. The guy literally did a running gag with Okada about how he'd end up on 205 Live if he ever signed with WWE. He knows he has zero shot of getting over there. He also knows ROH is a sinking ship.

[Glitch]

Cody would make a great heel authority figure if paired with the right opponent.
Especially once Flip joins.
They could do a soft reboot of the BTE storyline, and have Cody welcoming him and telling he has a place in Aew. When Flip starts to complain that he's low on the card, Cody could tell him that's his place in Aew. Followed by Flip fighting his way up.

[sportatorium]

Cody will find belief in the good/evil heel/face or whatever you want to call it once some inertia sets in &they don’t have a top babyface. Most of the audience doesn’t want to boo the Elite and they are all smart enough to know how to give fans what they want. I could see Hangamn and eventually Marty turning heel on the rest of the group at some point.

[Mayonnaise]

So you got:

Cody (w/Brandi)
Kenny
tYB
Hangman Page
Marty (late this year)

Flip Gordon (maybe? Contract with ROH ends in 2020)

Page and Kenny are the only ones I can see having a solid alignment and that is as a face. YBs and Cody seem like they'll be what works at the time. Marty, I think he comes in as a heel and they slowly build a stable around him that forces the others to team up and face them.

[Dub H]

Cody played heel both in his single matches even if he is a face

And obviously Bucks can play dickhead heels.

I think Cody will keep this "Heel In the Ring,face outside" thing going for most part,basically a tweener.

Bucks eventually will turn heel, their character are natural dickheads.

I find unlikely Omega will turn him anytime soon.

I can easily see Scurll debuting attacking a champion Page or attacking The Elite as a whole if he brings The Villain Enterprise.

[Deleted]

Marty Scurll calls himself The Villain. Of course he should be a heel. And Cody has been a tweener pretty much since leaving WWE. It's working, so I expect him to stick with it. It allows him to logically have a heel wife, a face brother, and both face and heel friends.

[salz4life]

With Tully being involved now.... what if he were to "turn" at All Out and join up with Tully Blanchard? Just an idea if this isn't a one-off with Tully.

[Nr1Humanoid]

I will literally skip any segment and match involving authority figures, heel or otherwise.

Life is too short.

[toodarkmark]

I think they will do heel or face whenever they feel like it. Segment to segment even. That's just the kind of thing they like.

They're all authority, and everyone knows Tony Khan is owner. He could do an evil authority figure, but I don't think they will do it. If anything they will make fun of the evil authority figure trope. Like make the two Librarians the evil bosses who actually have no power.

[Mozenrath]

Jul 20, 2019 8:23:38 GMT -5 toodarkmark said:

I think they will do heel or face whenever they feel like it. Segment to segment even. That's just the kind of thing they like.

They're all authority, and everyone knows Tony Khan is owner. He could do an evil authority figure, but I don't think they will do it. If anything they will make fun of the evil authority figure trope. Like make the two Librarians the evil bosses who actually have no power.

Given Tony and Cody are big oldschool WCW fans, it'd probably be some offscreen, faceless championship committee or board of directors, maybe some acknowledgment that of course the Elite have power, but cannot exercise it in their own interests without going through the committee, so you sidestep a lot of the bullshit.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

I think there’s room for face, neutral authority figures for major announcements and promotions, or to solve a dispute. The problem with a scheming heel authority figure on air today is it’s hard to tell that story without indicating “this company sucks.”

If AEW wants to empasize a realistic atmosphere like a sport, then they need competent management in kayfabe. I’m okay with Tony Khan (or Harold Meij in New Japan) as Jack Tunney style characters, I just don’t want to see them pull a Dixie Carter and try to screw the faces that are making them money.

[toodarkmark]

Jul 20, 2019 17:33:38 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 20, 2019 8:23:38 GMT -5 toodarkmark said:

I think they will do heel or face whenever they feel like it. Segment to segment even. That's just the kind of thing they like.

They're all authority, and everyone knows Tony Khan is owner. He could do an evil authority figure, but I don't think they will do it. If anything they will make fun of the evil authority figure trope. Like make the two Librarians the evil bosses who actually have no power.

Given Tony and Cody are big oldschool WCW fans, it'd probably be some offscreen, faceless championship committee or board of directors, maybe some acknowledgment that of course the Elite have power, but cannot exercise it in their own interests without going through the committee, so you sidestep a lot of the bullshit.

This works pretty well. And they have a reason to hire DDP, Glacier, Arn Anderson. That would be fun.

[Cyno]

Kenny is a guy the fans really want to root for, even when he's done some really good work as a heel during his Bullet Club days. He's probably the biggest name they have outside of the former WWE big names like Mox and Jericho.