|
Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Mar 23, 2021 16:00:31 GMT -5
I could understand the complaints if they gave him the 'Gabbo is coming' treatment, but it is what it is.
Christian is a hell of a talent, we'd all be buzzing if he'd just made a surprise run in at the event, Like most underwhelming AEW debuts though, they'll absolutely turn it around because they've proven time and time again they can do just that, and hell, it's Christian, he's a hell of a talent and he's going to have some great feuds with rising heels. Starks vs Christian? MJF vs Christian? Heck yes. If Jericho's going to be away for a while, licking his wounds, Christian is the perfect veteran to fill his shoes, without any of the baggage to boot.
|
|
|
Post by smokinvokoun86 on Mar 23, 2021 16:02:13 GMT -5
Ultimately the biggest mistake was over hyping him. I think ultimately once he gets in the ring and shows he’s still got it, people will forget all about it honestly.
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 232,683
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Mar 23, 2021 16:06:19 GMT -5
I mean if Christian isn't sweating people who wanted someone like Punk, Lesnar, or Cena, then I don't think anyone else should
Wrestling fans play themselves, that's all these is to it. You could say AEW overhyped it but the fans in the end who made those unattainable expectations were always, and I mean ALWAYS, going to lose.
|
|
|
Post by The Trashman on Mar 23, 2021 17:03:38 GMT -5
I'm fine with him being the signing but the catch phrase is awful and calling him the workhorse is even worse. Didn't a lot of fans consider Christian a workhorse for years? I have never heard that, even before he got injured it wasn't something people said. I'm sure he works hard and is in great shape but its not something he is known for.
|
|
|
Post by toodarkmark on Mar 23, 2021 17:45:29 GMT -5
I mean if Christian isn't sweating people who wanted someone like Punk, Lesnar, or Cena, then I don't think anyone else should Wrestling fans play themselves, that's all these is to it. You could say AEW overhyped it but the fans in the end who made those unattainable expectations were always, and I mean ALWAYS, going to lose. I thought it was going to be Mephisto, personally.
|
|
Celgress
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Superior One
Posts: 19,001
|
Post by Celgress on Mar 23, 2021 21:00:23 GMT -5
Didn't a lot of fans consider Christian a workhorse for years? I have never heard that, even before he got injured it wasn't something people said. I'm sure he works hard and is in great shape but its not something he is known for. I'm going to say something that will likely offend people. I guess I've become the Corny of this board (without the blatant racism, sexism, and homophobia). Here goes, one of my friends who never watched much TNA growing up when Christian cut his promo last week said "why is the spot monkey from Edge & Christian saying he is the best worker of all time? He's a spot monkey who takes insane bumps in TLC matches he ain't no Daniel Bryan or CM Punk" I was like *ouch* but then I realized unless you were familiar with Christian's later work which this friend is not that's the impression you'd have.
|
|
bog
Team Rocket
Posts: 977
|
Post by bog on Mar 23, 2021 21:03:46 GMT -5
It's who I was expecting, so I really didn't care. But I do think announcing it was a mistake. I think, much like other hyped "ex-wwe" guys (such as Miro and Brodie to an extent), he will have a middling reaction at first but will hit is stride in a month or two
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Mar 23, 2021 21:06:23 GMT -5
I have never heard that, even before he got injured it wasn't something people said. I'm sure he works hard and is in great shape but its not something he is known for. I'm going to say something that will likely offend people. I guess I've become the Corny of this board (without the blatant racism, sexism, and homophobia). Here goes, one of my friends who never watched much TNA growing up when Christian cut his promo last week said "why is the spot monkey from Edge & Christian saying he is the best worker of all time? He's a spot monkey who takes insane bumps in TLC matches he ain't no Daniel Bryan or CM Punk" I was like *ouch* but then I realized unless you were familiar with Christian's later work which this friend is not that's the impression you'd have. It's a reasonable point. Christian is most famous for the TLC days, when he was an OK worker who had arguably the least individual presence of the six wrestlers involved at the time. He bloomed into a world-class ring general and worker...in TNA and WWECW, with far fewer eyes on him. He's the sort of guy that someone in deep like Tony Khan will recognize how great it is to have him around, but he's not really famous enough to be exciting for his own sake. Even as a hardcore fan, I'm impatiently waiting to see him have some sort of direction.
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 232,683
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Mar 23, 2021 22:26:17 GMT -5
I'm going to say something that will likely offend people. I guess I've become the Corny of this board (without the blatant racism, sexism, and homophobia). Here goes, one of my friends who never watched much TNA growing up when Christian cut his promo last week said "why is the spot monkey from Edge & Christian saying he is the best worker of all time? He's a spot monkey who takes insane bumps in TLC matches he ain't no Daniel Bryan or CM Punk" I was like *ouch* but then I realized unless you were familiar with Christian's later work which this friend is not that's the impression you'd have. It's a reasonable point. Christian is most famous for the TLC days, when he was an OK worker who had arguably the least individual presence of the six wrestlers involved at the time. He bloomed into a world-class ring general and worker...in TNA and WWECW, with far fewer eyes on him. He's the sort of guy that someone in deep like Tony Khan will recognize how great it is to have him around, but he's not really famous enough to be exciting for his own sake. Even as a hardcore fan, I'm impatiently waiting to see him have some sort of direction. I still think "Out Work Everyone" works as a catchphrase As a face, he's a ring general with a huge chip on his shoulder, and despite being a decorated veteran he has everything to prove As a heel it could work down the line as him being pompous and thinking he's better than everyone else In the end it's just a catchphrase and when he starts wrestling it'll make more sense I would think for people who are less familiar with Christian's later career.
|
|
|
Post by Pgarodactyl on Mar 23, 2021 22:42:28 GMT -5
Was coming here for this
|
|
|
Post by Ecks Ecks Ringout Ecks Ecks on Mar 24, 2021 0:11:54 GMT -5
Re: Christian as a workhorse, can't speak to how widespread the perception was, but I've always thought so. Here's a dirt-ancient post I made mentioning my favorite house show match: officialfan.proboards.com/post/10035643/threadPeople still give me funny looks when I tell them the best non-televised match I saw live was Christian versus Tommy Dreamer, but seriously, the guy would always bring it. I think he's one of wrestling's unsung heroes when it comes to consistent match quality.
|
|
|
Post by smokinvokoun86 on Mar 24, 2021 0:15:18 GMT -5
Slightly off topic. I guess it’s just the passage of time, but I remember the time when Randy Orton beat him for the title a couple of days after winning it, and this message board had a total meltdown. And now there are a lot of people down on him now. I guess it makes sense, just kinda funny how things turn.
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 232,683
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Mar 24, 2021 0:34:02 GMT -5
Slightly off topic. I guess it’s just the passage of time, but I remember the time when Randy Orton beat him for the title a couple of days after winning it, and this message board had a total meltdown. And now there are a lot of people down on him now. I guess it makes sense, just kinda funny how things turn. Ah the Sandwich Era of Smackdown Spoilers... Only reason people are down on him is it's been 7 years since he worked. Hope he shuts people up the second he does.
|
|
|
Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Mar 24, 2021 1:11:30 GMT -5
I mean if Christian isn't sweating people who wanted someone like Punk, Lesnar, or Cena, then I don't think anyone else should Wrestling fans play themselves, that's all these is to it. You could say AEW overhyped it but the fans in the end who made those unattainable expectations were always, and I mean ALWAYS, going to lose. That was my impression of the matter from my limited perspective on AEW. I feel like that section of ultra fans are waiting for something or someone that would be a massive dagger blow to WWE, something that would be like "Yeah, we f***ing got you now, you bastards". To me, the only people that could possibly do that are The Rock and John Cena, maybe Brock Lesnar. Christian Cage, with all due respect to the man, isn't that level of guy. But to the average AEW fan, I think they would have been satisfied because that audience by and large respects Cage for his abilities, generally are aware of his struggles to find main event level success in WWE and would be interested in seeing him have another shot outside that system, seven year absence or not.
|
|
|
Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Mar 24, 2021 1:21:38 GMT -5
It's a reasonable point. Christian is most famous for the TLC days, when he was an OK worker who had arguably the least individual presence of the six wrestlers involved at the time. He bloomed into a world-class ring general and worker...in TNA and WWECW, with far fewer eyes on him. He's the sort of guy that someone in deep like Tony Khan will recognize how great it is to have him around, but he's not really famous enough to be exciting for his own sake. Even as a hardcore fan, I'm impatiently waiting to see him have some sort of direction. I still think "Out Work Everyone" works as a catchphrase As a face, he's a ring general with a huge chip on his shoulder, and despite being a decorated veteran he has everything to prove As a heel it could work down the line as him being pompous and thinking he's better than everyone else In the end it's just a catchphrase and when he starts wrestling it'll make more sense I would think for people who are less familiar with Christian's later career. On the note of the potential heel run for Christian Cage, I can just see him using the idea that the fans thought he wasn't worthy of being such a hyped arrival, and wanting to win titles and hurt fan favorites to throw it back in the fans' collective faces. It's almost a corrupted interpretation of "Out Work Everyone."
|
|
Celgress
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Superior One
Posts: 19,001
|
Post by Celgress on Mar 24, 2021 9:23:22 GMT -5
I mean if Christian isn't sweating people who wanted someone like Punk, Lesnar, or Cena, then I don't think anyone else should Wrestling fans play themselves, that's all these is to it. You could say AEW overhyped it but the fans in the end who made those unattainable expectations were always, and I mean ALWAYS, going to lose. That was my impression of the matter from my limited perspective on AEW. I feel like that section of ultra fans are waiting for something or someone that would be a massive dagger blow to WWE, something that would be like "Yeah, we f***ing got you now, you bastards". To me, the only people that could possibly do that are The Rock and John Cena, maybe Brock Lesnar. Christian Cage, with all due respect to the man, isn't that level of guy. But to the average AEW fan, I think they would have been satisfied because that audience by and large respects Cage for his abilities, generally are aware of his struggles to find main event level success in WWE and would be interested in seeing him have another shot outside that system, seven year absence or not. I don't think it is "ultra fans" so much as causal and lapsed fans this doesn't appeal to. These fans were expecting a Rock, Lesnar, or Punk level talent and they received Christian. The people I find who are the most disappointed are causal and lapsed fans the exact groups AEW needs to appeal to for growth. AEW doesn't need to appeal to dire hard fans anymore they already have us we're locked in. On a related note. The same people I know who are disappointed with the Christian reveal feel TK is "wasting" Big Show by having the guy host "yet another web show full of (mainly) jobbers".
|
|
|
Post by toodarkmark on Mar 24, 2021 9:44:30 GMT -5
That was my impression of the matter from my limited perspective on AEW. I feel like that section of ultra fans are waiting for something or someone that would be a massive dagger blow to WWE, something that would be like "Yeah, we f***ing got you now, you bastards". To me, the only people that could possibly do that are The Rock and John Cena, maybe Brock Lesnar. Christian Cage, with all due respect to the man, isn't that level of guy. But to the average AEW fan, I think they would have been satisfied because that audience by and large respects Cage for his abilities, generally are aware of his struggles to find main event level success in WWE and would be interested in seeing him have another shot outside that system, seven year absence or not. I don't think it is "ultra fans" so much as causal and lapsed fans this doesn't appeal to. These fans were expecting a Rock, Lesnar, or Punk level talent and they received Christian. The people I find who are the most disappointed are causal and lapsed fans the exact groups AEW needs to appeal to for growth. AEW doesn't need to appeal to dire hard fans anymore they already have us we're locked in. On a related note. The same people I know who are disappointed with the Christian reveal feel TK is "wasting" Big Show by having the guy host "yet another web show full of (mainly) jobbers". These casual and lapsed fans you know sure are an opinionated bunch. They sound hard to please. I kind of hear this "who TK has to appeal too" mentioned sometimes and I think it's wrong. TK should appeal to hardcore fans, because creating and maintaining a base is how anything in this world succeeds. TNA kept trying to appeal to some fictional "lapsed or casual" fan, over and over, and it didn't work. AEW is usually a top 5-10 show in the demo every week, that's out of 200 shows. They're appealing already. They try to appeal to casuals and lapsed fans in moderation. Also, Shaquille O'Neil was a draw to casuals, and so many people on here complained about it. People complain about everything. AEW has a way of hearing real issues, and ignoring the fake ones.
|
|
|
Post by sfvega on Mar 24, 2021 9:49:26 GMT -5
Christian and Edge are some of the most well-adjusted dudes of the "smash each other in the head with a chair" era. Down to earth guys, make a lot of sense, don't talk a bunch of drama into existence. They're good guys, and I agree wholeheartedly with his statement. Are fans entitled to their own opinions? Of course. Did a segment of the internet set their expectations sky high? Also of course.
|
|
Celgress
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Superior One
Posts: 19,001
|
Post by Celgress on Mar 24, 2021 10:00:41 GMT -5
I don't think it is "ultra fans" so much as causal and lapsed fans this doesn't appeal to. These fans were expecting a Rock, Lesnar, or Punk level talent and they received Christian. The people I find who are the most disappointed are causal and lapsed fans the exact groups AEW needs to appeal to for growth. AEW doesn't need to appeal to dire hard fans anymore they already have us we're locked in. On a related note. The same people I know who are disappointed with the Christian reveal feel TK is "wasting" Big Show by having the guy host "yet another web show full of (mainly) jobbers". These casual and lapsed fans you know sure are an opinionated bunch. They sound hard to please. I kind of hear this "who TK has to appeal too" mentioned sometimes and I think it's wrong. TK should appeal to hardcore fans, because creating and maintaining a base is how anything in this world succeeds. TNA kept trying to appeal to some fictional "lapsed or casual" fan, over and over, and it didn't work. AEW is usually a top 5-10 show in the demo every week, that's out of 200 shows. They're appealing already. They try to appeal to casuals and lapsed fans in moderation. Also, Shaquille O'Neil was a draw to casuals, and so many people on here complained about it. People complain about everything. AEW has a way of hearing real issues, and ignoring the fake ones. TK already has the base locked he should be trying to grow the audience now. I call BS when people say Wrestling is a niche product. It isn't historically a niche product (look at the boom periods of the 1980s and the Monday Night Wars) rather it has become a niche product due largely to the actions of one man Vince once he monopolized the industry. These same people loved Shaq and were disappointed Show did not make a cameo during that segment. I as a diehard fan had no problem with Shaq either and enjoyed him.
|
|
|
Post by toodarkmark on Mar 24, 2021 10:14:59 GMT -5
These casual and lapsed fans you know sure are an opinionated bunch. They sound hard to please. I kind of hear this "who TK has to appeal too" mentioned sometimes and I think it's wrong. TK should appeal to hardcore fans, because creating and maintaining a base is how anything in this world succeeds. TNA kept trying to appeal to some fictional "lapsed or casual" fan, over and over, and it didn't work. AEW is usually a top 5-10 show in the demo every week, that's out of 200 shows. They're appealing already. They try to appeal to casuals and lapsed fans in moderation. Also, Shaquille O'Neil was a draw to casuals, and so many people on here complained about it. People complain about everything. AEW has a way of hearing real issues, and ignoring the fake ones. TK already has the base locked he should be trying to grow the audience now. I call BS when people say Wrestling is a niche product. It isn't historically a niche product (look at the boom periods of the 1980s and the Monday Night Wars) rather it has become a niche product due largely to the actions of one man Vince once he monopolized the industry. These same people loved Shaq and were disappointed Show did not make a cameo during that segment. I as a diehard fan had no problem with Shaq either and enjoyed him. Again, I disagree with the premise that "TK has the base locked." There is no such thing. It's a new company and they could all disappear tomorrow. Fans are loyal to the product because the product tries to be loyal to the fans. It's a company that loves professional wrestling, from top to the bottom, and is trying to make the fans happy. The second they start ignoring that, they will lose their fans. This happens to TV shows, comic books, musicians. You have to ALWAYS and FOREVER care about your base fans, they can be gone overnight. It's not a niche product. Again, AEW does amazing in ratings, finishing sometimes number 2 in Males 18-49. That's out of 200 shows on cable. That's a mainstream product. They're not getting more mainstream by being #1, they're already there. I think this thing about "growing" the audience, as if AEW is finishing #150 in cable ratings, when it is a top 10 show, is ignoring their numbers. They're doing PPV numbers unseen since the 90s. When there were live audiences, they were doing numbers unseen since the 90s. The best way to "grow" the audience is when the world opens up again, they can tour, and friends take other friends to shows. Or Shaq has a match, or they do some cross promotion with some other Warners' property, like DC comics or NBA on TNT. I think anyone who thinks signing CM Punk will help them "grow", or Brock Lesnar, really doesn't understand what makes a business popular and what doesn't. Signing veterans with name recognition who are beloved backstage is a good thing, signing assholes who only care about a paycheck because they have a "name" is a recipe for disaster.
|
|