|
Post by ChitownKnight on May 27, 2022 21:36:51 GMT -5
I think I listed all the major ones. I gotta go with Punk since it was 7 years and nobody really expected him to return to pro wrestling
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 235,471
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on May 27, 2022 21:39:03 GMT -5
Punk to AEW, and I don't think it's even close
AJ Styles to WWE was a big one, but Punk coming, and then Danielson shortly after, felt like it really started cementing AEW as THE place to be, a true alternative
Jericho and Moxley going to AEW definitely mattered big time too, but Punk coming back after seven years? Putting on the clinics he has? That to me puts him as the clear number one. Also his return video still gives me chills, was perfectly executed.
|
|
|
Post by Tiger Millionaire on May 27, 2022 21:49:34 GMT -5
Goldberg to WWE.
|
|
|
Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on May 27, 2022 21:53:55 GMT -5
Punk was a MASSSIVE deal after 7 years of being out, I went with that but I was mixed between this and Jericho signed with AEW was also a game changer. He really made AEW really legitiment and Moxley coming did the same effect.
|
|
|
Post by Hypnosis on May 27, 2022 22:01:54 GMT -5
Punk. The opening of the first AEW Rampage had a thrilling atmosphere to it when he actually appeared, and the whole time he was on camera really.
|
|
|
Post by ppl591 on May 28, 2022 6:10:59 GMT -5
Based solely on box office and recognition I gotta go with lesnar in 2012. That was huge 10 years ago
|
|
|
Post by ianriccaboni on May 28, 2022 8:40:39 GMT -5
Cody to ROH in 2016.
Tripled business two years in a row, meaning when he left the company's revenue multiplied by nine (!), which led to All In, which led to AEW, and now he's steadied and has sometimes grown WWE's audience.
All of this likely doesn't happen if he doesn't leave WWE and ultimately choose ROH in 2016.
|
|
krozor
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,356
|
Post by krozor on May 28, 2022 12:21:22 GMT -5
I agree that Cody's various free agent moves have ended/will end up as the real story of this era, creating the idea of betting on yourself and convincing others to do so as well.
As a single move, though, voted for Jericho. AEW needed him as a big established name outside the founders at the start, the call to put the belt on him first was right, and I really do think he put the company on his back during the pandemic era by figuring out how to keep Dynamite consistently entertaining without crowds in ways that other shows couldn't during a time where AEW absolutely could not have afforded to go stagnant.
|
|
fw91
Patti Mayonnaise
FAN Idol All-Star: FAN Idol Season X and *Gavel* 2x Judges' Throwdown winner
Tribe has spoken for 2024 Mets
Posts: 38,960
|
Post by fw91 on May 28, 2022 12:25:17 GMT -5
To me it’s Brock in 2012 and it’s not even close. After the way he left in 04 you’d thought you’d never see it, and this was fresh off his UFC run where he became a badass mega star.
I feel like with Punk it was a matter of time he’d show up somewhere after his run on Backstage.
|
|
MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
Posts: 13,962
|
Post by MolotovMocktail on May 28, 2022 12:30:43 GMT -5
Sting to WWE. It ended up a complete disaster, with him losing his 2 major matches and getting injured, but this was the one signing pretty much everyone said would never happen.
|
|
|
Post by Instant Classic on May 28, 2022 12:34:36 GMT -5
Styles to WWE to me was way more shocking than Punk to AEW.
|
|
|
Post by greyfmdan on May 28, 2022 13:05:08 GMT -5
I think this is one of those cases, for me at least, where it depends on whether I’m looking at it with my heart or my head.
Heart: Punk to AEW. I’d say it has to be the emotional winner, for reasons others have already stated.
Head, in terms of impact: Jericho to AEW. It gave AEW instant credibility, and Moxley’s jump punctuated that. Though I do think a fair argument could also be made for Cody’s jumps, as they laid much of the groundwork for what would come later. Angle to TNA could have also been in that discussion, as it instantly increased TNA’s credibility but, in typical TNA fashion, they didn’t know what to do to follow up.
|
|
|
Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on May 28, 2022 14:54:13 GMT -5
The first AEW buyrate after Punk joined AEW was like 50,000 higher and the Rampage rating for his debut when nobody had even outright said he was debuting was like double
There really isn't an argument for anybody else as far as numbers go
|
|
|
Post by eJm on May 28, 2022 15:11:03 GMT -5
The first AEW buyrate after Punk joined AEW was like 50,000 higher and the Rampage rating for his debut when nobody had even outright said he was debuting was like double There really isn't an argument for anybody else as far as numbers go Also, the whole “selling out a 20k venue based on barely an inkling that he’d be there and literally nothing else” thing because that’s a pretty strong case for Punk. I will say, the difference Jericho made to TV ratings for the first few months of Dynamite’s run can’t be understated but, yeah, it’s Punk.
|
|
|
Post by Jindrak Mark on May 28, 2022 16:27:52 GMT -5
I know he’s a shithead but Hogan in 2002. It led to some of the greatest crowd reactions of all time and one of the most iconic matches ever. The way he went out getting killed by Lesnar was great too. Plus the fact it’s literally the biggest wrestling star of all time returning home after a decade to the company he helped turn into a powerhouse after leaving for their rivals and almost putting them out of business.
|
|
|
Post by GodzillaIsMyMonster on May 28, 2022 20:59:01 GMT -5
I know people say Punk. But he hasn't done anything for AEW ratings. He's just not and never really been, a draw.
|
|
chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,959
|
Post by chazraps on May 28, 2022 21:04:39 GMT -5
Moxley in AEW. It was a huge gamble leaving WWE for wholly entirely untested waters in so many ways and played such a huge part is making AEW seem like a viable second company.
|
|
|
Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on May 28, 2022 21:31:18 GMT -5
For one reason or another…none of them.
|
|
|
Post by eJm on May 29, 2022 0:55:27 GMT -5
I know people say Punk. But he hasn't done anything for AEW ratings. He's just not and never really been, a draw. Two things 1. As mentioned, there are more metrics than ratings for a draw and looking further than TV would show you that (and has been mentioned already). 2. By that logic, 99% of these signings have been abject failures. Hogan in 2010 practically tanked TNA’s reputation and standing and it’s just been the last few years that they’ve built some kind of rep back.
|
|
|
Post by ANuclearError on May 29, 2022 8:01:21 GMT -5
I have an outside choice: AJ Styles signing with New Japan, a very important part of their Western boom which went on to both influence WWE and eventually AEW's creation.
|
|