Oak: Certified Jade Hater
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Edgier than Wayne Brady, Harder than Chinese Arithmetic, and Higher than the ratings for Blade: The Series
TOP ROPE CATCH A VIBE YEAH I SWERVE WHEN I DRIVE
Posts: 15,412
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Post by Oak: Certified Jade Hater on Jan 22, 2022 11:20:48 GMT -5
And nothing of value was lost I wouldn’t go that far. Lio's objectively one of the best high fliers in the industry right now and, perhaps more importantly, he can talk. He was also part of the Dante/Team Taz story, which now leaves a hole that Matt Sydal is awkwardly trying to fill. He wasn’t a huge part of Dynamite, but he was a part that’s hard to replace easily, if that makes sense. Also I liked his wrestling more than Dante’s.
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Post by Hurbster on Jan 22, 2022 11:25:19 GMT -5
I'll be interested in seeing what he does next.
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markymark
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,586
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Post by markymark on Jan 22, 2022 11:33:17 GMT -5
Khan has been liking a lot of Lio tweets recently, so my assumption is that Lio was the one wanted to leave AEW...
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Post by Harry The Arrow was Wrong! on Jan 22, 2022 11:34:29 GMT -5
If all this Swole stuff is the reason he's leaving then yeah, I can't really blame him. Lio is a passionate guy and sticks to what he believes in and if he isn't happy with the whole situation then I'm not surprised he's leaving.
It's a damn shame it didn't work out but I'll follow wherever he goes. The dude is just too good to ignore.
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Tiiulicious
Bubba Ho-Tep
Not much upstairs, but what a staircase! :)
Posts: 591
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Post by Tiiulicious on Jan 22, 2022 11:35:56 GMT -5
I'm sure Lio will share what went down, he's never been shy about expressing his views. I think AEW signed him on a short-term deal and Lio decided not to renew it. It's been an on-going pattern with him. He never stays anywhere for too long but time will tell.
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Blindkarevik
Grimlock
Rock... Paper... Straight-edge!
I Like To <blank>
Posts: 14,343
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Post by Blindkarevik on Jan 22, 2022 11:50:45 GMT -5
Listen, I'm glad he's a guy who isn't afraid to speak up, regardless of the outcome. I'm glad he sticks to his guns. If he doesn't like the way AEW is going, that's absolutely fine.
But realistically... he's getting so close to Davey Richards level, where he'll only do short deals or claim retirement to get out of of existing deals. I get it, if you can't be 100% happy where you are, it's time to look elsewhere. But, he's setting himself up to always be kinda frustrated because I can't see any promotion wanting to make long term plans for him until he's proven he's there for the long haul.
That said, I hope his next home is a better fit for him because he's very good and could become a guy we talk about for a long time. Just he never seems to stay put long enough to make that a reality.
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Post by nihilismizhawt on Jan 22, 2022 12:03:01 GMT -5
I think they had worked it out. Lio spoke about their positive talks, TK was liking Lio's tweets, but people on social media weren't letting Lio move on. There will be a crowd now that will forever use the Swole situation to attack TK, AEW, and POC who work for them, no matter what their experience might be. Lio cares greatly for his career outside of wrestling, and this decision makes perfect sense.
Also, he has left AEW before. In the last year. This was not unforseen.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jan 22, 2022 12:06:41 GMT -5
Listen, I'm glad he's a guy who isn't afraid to speak up, regardless of the outcome. I'm glad he sticks to his guns. If he doesn't like the way AEW is going, that's absolutely fine. But realistically... he's getting so close to Davey Richards level, where he'll only do short deals or claim retirement to get out of of existing deals. I get it, if you can't be 100% happy where you are, it's time to look elsewhere. But, he's setting himself up to always be kinda frustrated because I can't see any promotion wanting to make long term plans for him until he's proven he's there for the long haul. That said, I hope his next home is a better fit for him because he's very good and could become a guy we talk about for a long time. Just he never seems to stay put long enough to make that a reality. The fact he did go back and say he and Tony where good. Its hard to book a guy who only signing short deals in a role that would really make him happy. You can't build a good storyline when he gone so fast. I mean was he even around in AEW for six months on this run? I'm not counting his one off and injury retirement. But his run after it when he cameback.
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Zone Was Wrong
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Currently living off the high that AEW brings every Wednesday and Friday
Posts: 16,378
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Post by Zone Was Wrong on Jan 22, 2022 12:08:15 GMT -5
I think, whether or not this has anything to do with Swole, by not making a public apology it is always going to look like Tony screwed things up with Lio to the point where he couldn't extend his contract. Unless Lio puts out a statement saying that is not the case, there will always be that shred out doubt on if Tony's post had something to do with him leaving. This could very well be detrimental to Tony hiring black wrestlers from here on. Something I mused about when that post was originally made. Regardless, this whole thing is something to rightfully take Tony to task over.
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markymark
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Posts: 18,586
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Post by markymark on Jan 22, 2022 12:16:01 GMT -5
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Post by smokinvokoun86 on Jan 22, 2022 12:20:51 GMT -5
Reading what he said about Tony, this does feel like less of a Tony thing and more of a him just wanting to leave thing.
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Fade
Patti Mayonnaise
Posts: 38,306
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Post by Fade on Jan 22, 2022 12:22:52 GMT -5
Who fricken knows. Part of Lio in AEW sucked but part of it started looking good when it seemed like everything fell apart. Still think he’s immensely talented.
There’s a lot of Indy wrestling out there and if not for his past bridge burning with WWE, I wouldn’t be shocked if they brought him back as more of a character/mouthpiece. Stranger things have happened.
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Post by Natural Born Farmer on Jan 22, 2022 12:25:53 GMT -5
This is tough given the situation. Lio's got to be notorious for picking fights with people in higher positions, seemingly without trying to get a lobby first, some kind of backup. I've never seen Lio's coworkers having his back in any of his past situations or do I misremember? Even if he's in the right, he's destroying economically stable bases for himself and his family. I can't applaud him for that, just because he shouldn't need to fight everybody's fight and end up a martyr at best. Wether any of this is good for him or only for those he stood up for, remains to be seen. The optics are awful anyway. Given his history, him leaving makes me wonder if the stance he took on Swole wasn't a chicken or the egg situation. He's already upset about something in the company because that's who he is, he sees an excuse to go nuclear and get the public on his side, and Khan decides to just quietly let him go to avoid engaging further.
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Post by Final Countdown Jones on Jan 22, 2022 12:29:05 GMT -5
It's difficult to say; I feel like if this were anyone else, it would feel less ambiguous, but Lio is so vocal and so passionate that him being complimentary of Tony and not going for a fight is really unexpected. Maybe he'll get loose and immediately start fighting or something, but it feels awkwardly, quietly off when I'd expect an acrimonious Lio walk-off over this stuff to be way less open to speculation. This might be the sort of thing we only really get answers for down the line; if he leaves and burns the bridge, we'll know. If he goes somewhere else, lasts a few months, and re-retires again, I think that's just Lio still being Lio unfortunately.
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Post by xCompackx on Jan 22, 2022 12:44:48 GMT -5
I liked Lio and Dante as a team, but if dude wants to leave, good on him.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Jan 22, 2022 13:03:50 GMT -5
AEW need to head to a eye doctor because my goodness, the optics! Got pulled with a quickness from an angle and now he’s gone. Who gives a f*** about speculation, the reality’s damming enough tbh.
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Post by EP 54 is banned from Collision on Jan 22, 2022 13:03:57 GMT -5
Flakes are gonna flake.
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Post by 01010010 01101001 01100011 on Jan 22, 2022 13:11:07 GMT -5
Anyone else and an eyebrow would be raised but Lio is a basically a nomad. Could the timing be worse for AEW given Tony's ego tweet, no, but I'm not going to act like that ran him out of town until he says so.
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Post by smokinvokoun86 on Jan 22, 2022 13:32:13 GMT -5
Anyone else and an eyebrow would be raised but Lio is a basically a nomad. Could the timing be worse for AEW given Tony's ego tweet, no, but I'm not going to act like that ran him out of town until he says so. Yeah that’s my feelings. I don’t blame people for thinking it’s bad timing, and it is. But from what Lio has said recently, there doesn’t seem to be heat.
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Dub H
Crow T. Robot
Captain Pixel: the Game Master
I ❤ Aniki
Posts: 47,940
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Post by Dub H on Jan 22, 2022 13:33:21 GMT -5
Well ghuess the talks werent that good I respect Lio isnt afraid to speak up but at same time yeh, the guy is not exactly one keep a stable job in one single place, hope the dudes keep at it, I wasnt exactly thrilled by him in WWE or at first in AEW but he impressed me over time.
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