|
Post by 06vwgti on Jul 27, 2021 16:53:25 GMT -5
Wrestlers having freedom, making more money, more companies getting exposure, and seeing stars at your local indie show is a good thing. WWE created a fake brand split to fool people into thinking they're not a monopoly, and now actual free enterprise is seen as a weird version of the fake brand split. It shows how much WWE has really warped professional wrestling in the last two decades, into something that's so anti-wrestler and anti-variety. Oh well. More open, more titles, more wrestlers. This is the most exciting time to be a wrestling fan in 20 years. And they are much closer to an "Independent contractor" too, it was great seeing Moxley on the local weekly newspaper bleeding during his GCW appearance during Mania weekend or seeing Smart Mark Sterling also being the lawyer for Cardona this past weekend
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2021 16:58:29 GMT -5
I personally love it. It feels nice to have a company not only acknowledge the larger wrestling landscape but be apart of it. Guys who show up didn't just build there reputation in "Japan" or "on the indies/ in bingo halls" like WWE treats it. NJPW, AAA, TJPW, NWA, Impact are all treated as real places and not just out there.
Also helps that AEW plays homage to all of wrestling past & present as well. acknowledging other companies current stars and legends, Tag team & Memphis appreciation nights, bringing in names who took part in historic matches like Valentine & Onita. AEW is saying wrestling is bigger than itself, compared the WWE who say it is "wrestling" (or sports entertainment...)
|
|
|
Post by Natural Born Farmer on Jul 27, 2021 16:59:47 GMT -5
Nah, I'm cool with it.
|
|
chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
Posts: 27,849
|
Post by chazraps on Jul 27, 2021 17:00:24 GMT -5
No, next question.
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Jul 27, 2021 17:14:20 GMT -5
Hell no.
|
|
|
Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Jul 27, 2021 17:18:42 GMT -5
I get what you're saying but AEW is executing it near-perfect right now. No need to fix what isn't broken.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2021 17:43:43 GMT -5
No I love the wrestling extended universe. AEW, Impact, ROH, NJPW, AAA, NWA, MLW, GCW, all sharing talent and titles. You can see it smaller shows like OVW, SWE, CWFH, and youre favorite bigger local indies as well. It feels like anyone can show up anywhere. I cant wait to see where this goes going forward. WWE had five brands and really could make things interesting mix them up a bit more instead we get Kross looking like as goober. The GCW thing is a good example because I could easily see Excalibur going "Over the weekend, Nick Gage got screwed out of the GCW title by Matt Cardona" and Tony going "Oh man, he must be riled up about that" which makes the audience think "Oh no, he's somehow angrier than before" which feeds into the story of the match against Jericho. There's no requirement to watch any Homecoming show because of it but even so, if you're any kind of online wrestling fan, it'd be hard to not have heard of all that. And you can watch as much or as little as you want. I don’t follow much new Japan but I still said “oh shit” when Jay white showed up.
|
|
|
Post by smokinvokoun86 on Jul 27, 2021 17:44:10 GMT -5
It makes the wrestling world feel bigger. Heck, in my opinion, all these companies working together in some fashion makes the wrestling world outside of WWE feel larger than WWE. Like, I know WWE is the biggest in the world. But there is a vast world outside of WWE and everyone seems to have joined in to some degree.
|
|
|
Post by smokinvokoun86 on Jul 27, 2021 17:45:38 GMT -5
The GCW thing is a good example because I could easily see Excalibur going "Over the weekend, Nick Gage got screwed out of the GCW title by Matt Cardona" and Tony going "Oh man, he must be riled up about that" which makes the audience think "Oh no, he's somehow angrier than before" which feeds into the story of the match against Jericho. There's no requirement to watch any Homecoming show because of it but even so, if you're any kind of online wrestling fan, it'd be hard to not have heard of all that. And you can watch as much or as little as you want. I don’t follow much new Japan but I still said “oh shit” when Jay white showed up. I agree with this. I don’t really watch much wrestling outside of AEW, but I feel like I know almost everyone out there and I feel like a better fan because I’m aware of everyone and the companies.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2021 17:46:40 GMT -5
At first it worried me, because AEW is what I watch predominantly, with a bit of New Japan thrown in from time to time.
I'd hate it if a star get injured in another promotion and it deep-sixed a title program, but they can just as easily get hurt on AEW's time as anyone else's.
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 232,680
Member is Online
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 27, 2021 18:02:25 GMT -5
This is the most exciting and unpredictable time to be a wrestling fan ever. The titles being defended yield to more storylines and exposure for dozens of wrestlers in other promotions and beyond. Moreover? Everyone is happy and getting more money and exposure for their careers
I see absolutely nothing wrong with this and only hope it continues. This is something that has been sorely missed in the wrestling climate for DECADES.
|
|
Kalmia
King Koopa
Happy to be here
Posts: 11,489
|
Post by Kalmia on Jul 27, 2021 18:17:03 GMT -5
Nope! I love seeing lots of people show up, regardless of whether it's leading to something full-time or is just a one-and-done deal.
I don't want to drag the WWE into this (but I'm going to, haha), but one of their main problems is how stagnant most of their shows are. So many characters are TV old and doing the same thing they've been doing for years. Having a bit of a revolving door keeps AEW's shows fresh. Even guys who've been in AEW since day one seem like they still have years of things to do, because there's always someone new to wrestle.
|
|
|
Post by toodarkmark on Jul 27, 2021 18:25:33 GMT -5
At first it worried me, because AEW is what I watch predominantly, with a bit of New Japan thrown in from time to time. I'd hate it if a star get injured in another promotion and it deep-sixed a title program, but they can just as easily get hurt on AEW's time as anyone else's. Well, the worst that happens is what happens with Penta and Fenix, who have gotten hurt in Mexico. People complain Penta is underutilized or whatever, but thats the worst of it, the non quantified complaints. AEW is really good about allowing people to heal and cycling them back in, and giving other people shine. I do wonder about Omega and Moxley getting hurt in Impact or GCW, but if they did, you just go on with the show.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2021 18:33:37 GMT -5
I’m the opposite Seeing all these people on aew, I don’t feel the need to watch whatever company they came from if they’re on dynamite or dark all the time And that is other side of the double edged sword of this wide open door policy. You effectively let the audience know you can just watch our show to see these guys and gals no need to watch anything else because inevitably other people from those companies will also show up. Not me. Because of AEW I started following Impact again, I started following NJPW more often again, and I even watch AAA when on the rare occasion it has English commentary. I already loved GCW.
|
|
Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
Writer, Lover of all things Wrestling. Analytical, Critical, Lovable (hopefully). Lets all have fun!
Posts: 232,680
Member is Online
|
Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 27, 2021 19:29:25 GMT -5
And that is other side of the double edged sword of this wide open door policy. You effectively let the audience know you can just watch our show to see these guys and gals no need to watch anything else because inevitably other people from those companies will also show up. Not me. Because of AEW I started following Impact again, I started following NJPW more often again, and I even watch AAA when on the rare occasion it has English commentary. I already loved GCW. Can guarantee Nick Gage appearing on Dynamite made a ton of people check out GCW Homecoming and his match with Cardona. It trended number one at one point.
|
|
|
Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Jul 27, 2021 20:07:16 GMT -5
Thunder Rosa and Varsity Blonds are both situations where people tied up in other companies' contracts clearly wanted to make AEW their home and the very moment they were legally free to, they put pen to paper. I don't think that's a problem with it; if anything that's an argument for their open door policy because it led to them finding and signing what are now some really over stars the company has under contract and can move forward with.
|
|
|
Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jul 27, 2021 20:09:01 GMT -5
I look forward to the thread where we ask if the crowds are in fact too loud.
|
|
|
Post by Yamashita Enforcement Division on Jul 27, 2021 20:13:10 GMT -5
Let me put it to you this way, for all of its many problems... I don't think anyone thought that the real killer problem WCW had was the New Japan and AAA talent that would be showcased. I don't think it detracts form AEW's importance by showing that your stars sometimes work in other places. Boxing has had different organizations for decades and seems to be doing just fine. In short, I think AEW is taking the opposite approach of WWE in that the stars come first, the name of the promotion comes second. Makes sense to me, because if you have stars people want to see, then they're going to come watch your show even if it's called "Tony Khan's house of spotmonkeys" or something ridiculous like that. If the stars are there it could be World's Best Wrestling and still be cool and good.
|
|
|
Post by King Devitt: Scrum Guzzler on Jul 27, 2021 20:13:38 GMT -5
I'm quite the opposite. I think AEW should be doing more.
When it was Omega vs Swann, why did Swann never come to Dynamite for revenge after all of the attacks?
When it was Callihan, he should have been THE guy to show up, he's a loose cannon crazy type. Him coming to AEW and going ape shit fits his character to a tee.
I love that it's happening, but it's not being utilized enough in my opinion. It's been one of my biggest criticisms of AEW. Our guys can go there but your guys can't come here. I'm sure it's not intentional, but it feels weird. AEW can still use the Impact women's roster to their advantage, there's tons of matches there. And their Womens Tag Division. There's so much they could be doing with crossover, but it's only gone one way.
But then we see someone like Nick Gage getting national TV exposure, and that's just a "the stars aligned perfectly" moment b/c no one thought that'd ever happen. Did we think Kingston blew his chances? Yeah, but there was always a maybe with him.
Gage just doesn't fit into "typical" US wrestling, and always seemed like he'd be an indie legend of sorts. Hell I just knew OF the guy, and I still marked the f*** out.
Shit like that makes it awesome.
|
|
|
Post by HMARK Center on Jul 27, 2021 20:26:36 GMT -5
I don't think I can really see the argument that it'd cause people *not* to check out the other companies getting representation on AEW cards; maybe that'll be the case for some people, but I imagine for a lot more it's a chance to say "Hey, I liked that wrestler/match/etc., wonder if I should check out some more of it?"
Beyond that, it's as close as we're going to get to a new territory system: wrestlers can work in multiple visible promotions and work different gimmicks or characters, try out different things, face different opponents, etc. It's a great way to avoid stagnation, to have a hyped up one-off match now and then that grabs attention, all of that.
And honestly, it's something that's not uncommon in other parts of the world. The relationships between NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, and DDT (well, NOAH and DDT are now owned by the same company, but still) sometimes are strained and sometimes are healthy, but things like crossover shows and matches involving wrestlers from different promotions are far from unheard of in Japan. Like, Shinya Hashimoto and Mitsuharu Misawa were massive draws for NJPW and AJPW, respectively, so there wasn't much business need to do a crossover dream match with the two of them...but it eventually happened, anyway.
|
|