Can The Elite Stop Being Buried At Every Corner?

[romanstylesiii]

First time I and a lot of other people have seen these guys, and they either lose or get beat down every week.

[sportatorium]

They aren’t as Teflon as they think.

[MolotovMocktail]

With Page, it at least looks like it’s going in a storyline direction. And with the others, it seems to be a case of not wanting to look like they’re burying the rest of the roster.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

They're in a tricky little bind here. This whole promotion got off the ground because of how strongly they marketed themselves across the wrestling industry, but then in founding their own promotion, they come across the same conflict of interest that always comes up when booker and active performer are one and the same. Most cases, that person just goes "F*** it" and books themselves strongly, often to resentment because the audience doesn't see that person as the top star they imagine themselves as (Jeff Jarrett in TNA). But this may be the first instance in a while where fans truly buy that person, or in this case people, as the top stars... Only to find that they're NOT booking themselves that way. They're trying to spread the wealth and bring other talents up to their level. Cody Rhodes has even made it a storyline stipulation point that he is not allowed to challenge for the world title.

I suppose the question there is... Is it bringing those talents up, or is it dragging The Elite down?

[Mozenrath]

They're not really getting buried, though. They still win more often than they lose, and people were practically drooling at the opportunity to call Cody "Jarrett".

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

So now we're bringing the ol Buried hyperbole to the AEW board? Fantastic.

[Brian Suntan]

If they'd signed for the WWE and were being booked as they currently are, there'd be riots. So it's mad that they're choosing to book themselves this way.

Even if what they're going for with Kenny is some kind of crisis of confidence... it only works if you know who the guy was beforehand.

[clifford]

I don't think he is getting 'buried', but I feel that Omega is in danger of becoming quite ordinary with the fans and viewer, and not the mega star he should be.

He was the consensus best wrestler in the world, and the guy that could 'change the wrestling world' (his own view along with many others) and since leaving NJPW he really hasn't done much to keep up this image. I'm hoping he starts hot in 2020 and goes from there. When the three biggest stars in your company are all ex-WWE guys, and your non-WWE mega talent's star is waning, that IS worrying.

Bucks and Cody are super over though. Not worried about them in the slightest.

[DSR]

They built this company off of the fact that they were the hottest IN RING non-WWE act/acts in pro wrestling. I expected the first 6-12 months of AEW to be something of a victory lap to show the uninitiated why they were so special to begin with.

Admittedly I now enjoy a bunch of people I was unfamiliar with before this show started. But the Elite themselves, except for Cody, feel like "just guys" right now.

[Deleted]

I can only imagine the backlash if Cody won the world title, The Bucks won the tag titles and Omega beat everyone weekly. They can't win in this situation.

They all still get great reactions from the live crowds. Once that stops then it's time to worry. 

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

The thing is...how exactly do you make Kenny Omega look "special" without it being obnoxious or soul-crushingly underwhelming?

Go over everyone? Looks bad, makea a lot of promising wrestlers look bad, and would give him Roman Reigns vibes fast even with the match quality.

Get a lot of promo time? Not a bad thing, but probably not getting it done overnight.

Burn all of the best matches that he has available? Terrible idea from a long term booking perspective.

I don't see any of those ideas clicking with people who aren't already way into Kenny.

What they have been doing is: book him strong in the midcard, put him in a main event with their hottest name (with a gimmick to potentially impress the lapsed fans who loved Foley and ECW), and feuding him with a tremendous worker who is big with the NXT audience. On paper, that seems like a realistic strategy for letting him actually win over people who don't know him yet. It isn't guaranteed to work, but very few things are.

[Deleted]

If I start to headbutt a brick wall, maybe this idea of the elite getting buried will make sense. Probably not. I’ll probably just suffer some brain damage. Please look up the definition of being buried in pro wrestling on Wikipedia.

[Deleted]

Tony could've given them their salaries and health insurance without making them EVPs

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I think the Bucks are fine, they are always exciting, get a great reaction, can believably win the titles at any time.

With the conclusion of whatever is in store for Hangman Page vs Omega though, it is time to start Omega's redemption story.

In a perfect world, Ibushi would show up for a guest appearance to give him a pep talk and hug, and then it is time to climb the ladder back up.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I think the Bucks should be fine even if I would have had them win this past week. Cody is definitely doing well. Kenny has been an interesting story. Each major loss he has had has either elevated someone to a title program (Jericho/Moxley) or led to a program of sorts (Pac). I do wish he had more single wins on TV but he has also been a pleasure to watch on Dark. I do think he needs to win his eventual match with Hangman. To me, you do Moxley/Jericho at the next PPV and then Omega challenges at the May PPV and gets the title if it's against Jericho. If it's against Moxley, I'm more torn but I still would be good with Kenny getting the belt.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Bucks weren’t exactly world beaters before AEW either, I’d say there win/loss really wasn’t any better in 2017 and 2018. They’re dudes who were capable of beating any team, but it’s not like they were booked as the Tag Team John Cena.

Also:

Kenny Omega 5-2 singles, 9-5 overall

Cody 4-1-1 singles, 6-3-1 overall

Matt Jackson 5-4 Tag, 9-5 overall

Nick Jackson 5-4 Tag, 9-6 overall

I believe are their records after this weeks Dynamite. These guys aren’t jobbers.

Mox 5-0-1 Singles, 5-1-1 Overall

Penta 4-4 Tag, 6-6 overall

Fenix 4-4 Tag, 7-5 overall

Santana and Ortiz 3-2 Tag, 4-3 overall

Just to put it in perspective, other then Jericho and Mox nobody has been overly protected. And they’re building Jericho/Mox as the next big title program so they need to be protected right now.

[Zone Was Wrong]

Really want Omega to start heating up to the point he and Mox are on a warpath for Jericho at the same time. Really needs to be put on the same level as them. I'd kill for a three way with them. Other than that I don't see much burying. Bucks are a constant threat, though they should have won the titles the other night. Cody is a main eventer who is making others seem higher on the card just by wrestling them. Page is going through a storyline. Seems like, for the most part, they are spotlighted very well.

[chrom]

If I had a dollar everytime that word was thrown around I'd buy FAN 10 times over

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Just because you lose doesn’t mean you are buried and they are not buried

However, what they aren’t is important and that’s a big sin. For as much as people complain about WWE making people feel normal, those boys feel normal and that’s not really good

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Right now they’re a young company, so I can understand them wanting to build up the characters and rivalries before they push a babyface/Elite member to the moon, but I think next year they need to go ahead and pull the trigger on someone.

Not to where they’re invincible because that gets boring, but maybe keep both their singles and tag losses annually in single digits.

Separating a “hero” from the pack in wins and building up strong challengers for them is always proven to do good business.
So right now AEW has done a good job in building up various people, but they haven’t had a breakout ace yet, Elite or otherwise.

Jericho is kicking ass as the first champion, but once a Moxley, Omega, Cody or whoever wins the belt, it shouldn’t be a quick reign. Let them go on a hot streak. The heat they’re building up now is fine initially, but there’s a risk in getting to an MLW territory where the heel characters and factions are obviously getting the harder pushes (not to knock Jacob Fatu, he is incredible).

That’s a bit of a bummer, and we all know how badly too much heat affected Raw.