*Nick Gage cuts up Jericho with a Pizza Cutter...*
Jul 31, 2021 21:37:52 GMT -5
kidkamikaze10 and Dub H like this
Post by markymark on Jul 31, 2021 21:37:52 GMT -5
I've seen a story floated around that claims WWE was pushing outlets to write about Domino's being unhappy about the AEW Death Matches. I thought Vince McMahon said AEW wasn't competition, so why would they even do such a thing? Do you think this is a case of garbage writers making sht up?
Mike Johnson: No, in this case, I absolutely do believe there may be smoke to the fire here. There's no way to say 100% it's true, but I can say that I'd heard the same stories floating around that day well before that began became a talking point online. So, at the very least, it's certainly possible for a lot of reasons.
What Vince McMahon said on the earnings call was odd to me, because everyone knows WWE has reacted to the existence of AEW from the second it became known that the Khan family was going to deeply invest in wrestling. They were the ones who had executives running around at TV tapings pulling talents into rooms offering them big money five year deals to sign new contracts. The Edge documentary two years ago tells the truth - that WWE decided to put Edge through testing to clear him after he received an offer to go work for AEW. So, WWE has always acted reactionary towards AEW.
Therefore, I don't think anyone should be shocked if WWE flipped the coin and went on the offensive. I know that there are those within WWE on the exec level who have never liked that AEW "takes shots" at the company, dating back to Cody Rhodes smashing the throne at the first AEW PPV. So, if you don't think there are some in the company who feel AEW is owed a receipt, you don't know how prideful and how competitive WWE can be. I wrote and told everyone that when NXT moved to Tuesday, it would not be the end of the battle between the two, but just that the fight would be waged in a different way. If you don't think for a second that WWE would leverage every relationship and every bit of power they have, publicly and privately, to push back, you need to take a step back and look at the horizon.
The timing of Vince saying AEW isn't competition just one of those strategies. He downplayed AEW to try and not give them weight and validation before an audience of his own stockholders. He obviously didn't know he would be asked about AEW but the timing does comes off so weird that the same day he was claiming that to stockholders, some in the company were, at the very least, pointing out the Domino's story as it emerged, at least to see if others would write about it. Movements like that are how wars are waged behind the scenes, not just in wrestling, but in entertainment, in politics and at times in life. Look at the Disney vs. Scarlett Johansson story this week. I am sure this won't be the last time such a thing may have happened.
Mike Johnson: No, in this case, I absolutely do believe there may be smoke to the fire here. There's no way to say 100% it's true, but I can say that I'd heard the same stories floating around that day well before that began became a talking point online. So, at the very least, it's certainly possible for a lot of reasons.
What Vince McMahon said on the earnings call was odd to me, because everyone knows WWE has reacted to the existence of AEW from the second it became known that the Khan family was going to deeply invest in wrestling. They were the ones who had executives running around at TV tapings pulling talents into rooms offering them big money five year deals to sign new contracts. The Edge documentary two years ago tells the truth - that WWE decided to put Edge through testing to clear him after he received an offer to go work for AEW. So, WWE has always acted reactionary towards AEW.
Therefore, I don't think anyone should be shocked if WWE flipped the coin and went on the offensive. I know that there are those within WWE on the exec level who have never liked that AEW "takes shots" at the company, dating back to Cody Rhodes smashing the throne at the first AEW PPV. So, if you don't think there are some in the company who feel AEW is owed a receipt, you don't know how prideful and how competitive WWE can be. I wrote and told everyone that when NXT moved to Tuesday, it would not be the end of the battle between the two, but just that the fight would be waged in a different way. If you don't think for a second that WWE would leverage every relationship and every bit of power they have, publicly and privately, to push back, you need to take a step back and look at the horizon.
The timing of Vince saying AEW isn't competition just one of those strategies. He downplayed AEW to try and not give them weight and validation before an audience of his own stockholders. He obviously didn't know he would be asked about AEW but the timing does comes off so weird that the same day he was claiming that to stockholders, some in the company were, at the very least, pointing out the Domino's story as it emerged, at least to see if others would write about it. Movements like that are how wars are waged behind the scenes, not just in wrestling, but in entertainment, in politics and at times in life. Look at the Disney vs. Scarlett Johansson story this week. I am sure this won't be the last time such a thing may have happened.
