lucas_lee
Hank Scorpio
Heel turn is finished, now stripping away my personality
Posts: 7,047
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Post by lucas_lee on Oct 30, 2024 12:40:53 GMT -5
I think a large percentage of serious AEW fans over here watch on Triller anyway, due to ITV airing episodes two days late. I've never watched an episode of AEW on ITV since very early on. For casual wrestling fans and channel surfers, ITV is the best choice for AEW to reach new eyes since even ITV4 is free-to-air (imagine FOX in America had FOX, FOX2, FOX3 and FOX4 all on free-to-air and AEW was on FOX4). They could replace WWE on TNT Sport, which would likely be more lucrative, but it'd be behind an expensive paywall. ITV + Triller is the best strategy for the UK and has obviously worked out well as evidenced by the turnouts when AEW is over here. From what I heard, it does really well on ITV4 which isn't a high bar to cross but considering like you said Triller is just easier and AEW Plus, whilst flawed, is actually pretty good at rewarding the customer at times with advance ticket links and occasional free shows, the fact it has done that with those odds is pretty good. It is like being one of the highest rated shows on UK TV Gold (or whatever it's called now, U+Gold?) but having people genuinely want to tune into something on a smaller channel in 2024 in the UK is pretty much cause for TV executives to spend a lot at London pubs on a Friday. They got a shot at inflating their bargaining chip. I think things will be fine. Let's see how it's implemented first before it's all doom and gloom. Let's not forget the UK indy scene got destroyed by COVID and the majority of it's big names being pests and weirdos before that's brought up. I don't know, as someone who was watching the scene at the time, I feel taking away WWE's big part in all of that just because SpeakingOut was a bigger deal in terms of what was going on in wrestling promotions in the country is a weird thing to do just because of that. OTT was doing an entire angle around the fact they couldn't get their tag champions back (Moustache Mountain) for literally months and Toni Storm was booked and taken off so many shows, she was probably going to get taken off the match she was booked for the National Stadium if it weren't for COVID. And that's just with the only promotion booking those talents in Ireland. I would say that I'd disagree with your assessment. There were still indies running at the time with talent not signed by WWE like Rev Pro before COVID killed live gates and the world in general. Plus a lot of the big names being sex pests (especially those not signed to WWE) put the big nail in the coffin. |
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Oct 30, 2024 12:47:42 GMT -5
I would say that I'd disagree with your assessment. There were still indies running at the time with talent not signed by WWE like Rev Pro before COVID killed live gates and the world in general. Plus a lot of the big names being sex pests (especially those not signed to WWE) put the big nail in the coffin. I mean, Rev Pro didn't sign the agreement. That was essentially why that happened. And absolutely, there were promotions that didn't but if you look at PROGRESS and ICW, the companies that were the vocal point of that scene at the time, now compared to where they were before NXT UK, it's just sad. PROGRESS at least has pedigree, ICW's been close to the door for a while now and you can see the UK Wrestling thread for their recent stuff. This isn't me taking away from what happened at SpeakingOut, this is me knowing people who worked in the scene at the time and hearing the annoyance and stories from those people and who they could book. Fans, too, absolutely could tell you what happened and why they're saying the same stuff about this whole thing now. The only reason it didn't really happen here was that OTT were one of the few companies, possibly outside of WXW, that were able to get a deal that distanced themselves from WWE enough to still be able to do the shows they wanted and for as much as I could bash Joe Cabray, he's at least someone that wasn't a mark and was able to swim in political waters. Also, like, they're pretty much WWE if WWE was able to keep the territory system somewhat alive in the 80s. |
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Post by The Captain on Oct 30, 2024 13:01:02 GMT -5
IIRC NXT UK did a ton of damage to that scene. Covid put the nail in the coffin and Speaking Out shoveled dirt on it. RevPro was lucky since they had an agreement with CMLL and New Japan (and I guess AEW now that they're part of that ecosystem) so they didn't really need to rely on the talent taken by NXT UK.
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Post by Final Countdown Jones on Oct 30, 2024 13:26:33 GMT -5
RevPro's associations actually led to some of the problems I'm most worried about coming about from the new system; NXT UK talents not being allowed to work with people with New Japan connections and created walled gardens in the scene that could easily repeat again with AEW. Friendly promotions not booking anyone in AEW, 'neutral' promotions having to sequester cards in specific ways to avoid having wrestlers with different contracts interact. It just seems like such a pain that isn't going to make things any better for the fans but will absolutely cause issues and be a bother.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Oct 30, 2024 13:32:15 GMT -5
RevPro's associations actually led to some of the problems I'm most worried about coming about from the new system; NXT UK talents not being allowed to work with people with New Japan connections and created walled gardens in the scene that could easily repeat again with AEW. Friendly promotions not booking anyone in AEW, 'neutral' promotions having to sequester cards in specific ways to avoid having wrestlers with different contracts interact. It just seems like such a pain that isn't going to make things any better for the fans but will absolutely cause issues and be a bother. Ironically, none of that really happened with OTT which in hindsight is amazing that got pulled off. It's always a fun fact for me to say that the only AEW vs. WWE match to ever happen was Gunther vs. PAC in OTT and that was entirely by accident since that was booked in late 2018 and both were signed to their respective companies for at least a month by the time the thing was booked. But I do share the sentiment and not really much to do with the topic at hand outside of it involving the UK and Ireland. |
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Post by czwvsroh on Oct 30, 2024 13:41:55 GMT -5
RevPro's associations actually led to some of the problems I'm most worried about coming about from the new system; NXT UK talents not being allowed to work with people with New Japan connections and created walled gardens in the scene that could easily repeat again with AEW. Friendly promotions not booking anyone in AEW, 'neutral' promotions having to sequester cards in specific ways to avoid having wrestlers with different contracts interact. It just seems like such a pain that isn't going to make things any better for the fans but will absolutely cause issues and be a bother. Ironically, none of that really happened with OTT which in hindsight is amazing that got pulled off. It's always a fun fact for me to say that the only AEW vs. WWE match to ever happen was Gunther vs. PAC in OTT and that was entirely by accident since that was booked in late 2018 and both were signed to their respective companies for at least a month by the time the thing was booked. But I do share the sentiment and not really much to do with the topic at hand outside of it involving the UK and Ireland. Aew wasn't a thing until 1st January 2019 |
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Post by markymark on Oct 30, 2024 13:42:20 GMT -5
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Oct 30, 2024 13:46:33 GMT -5
Ironically, none of that really happened with OTT which in hindsight is amazing that got pulled off. It's always a fun fact for me to say that the only AEW vs. WWE match to ever happen was Gunther vs. PAC in OTT and that was entirely by accident since that was booked in late 2018 and both were signed to their respective companies for at least a month by the time the thing was booked. But I do share the sentiment and not really much to do with the topic at hand outside of it involving the UK and Ireland. Aew wasn't a thing until 1st January 2019 That’s my point. Both Gunther and PAC weren’t signed by a company when the match was booked. Then WALTER signed for NXT UK and debuted and PAC signed for AEW in January and it turned into the first and likely only WWE vs. AEW match that February. |
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salz4life
Grimlock
Prichard is a guy who gets that his job is to service his boss.
Posts: 14,472
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Post by salz4life on Oct 31, 2024 12:33:06 GMT -5
Sorry if this was addressed already as I haven't checked this thread in awhile. Have they announced the PPV pricing on Max? Will it be the same or will it be a reduced price?
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Post by The Captain on Oct 31, 2024 12:37:38 GMT -5
Sorry if this was addressed already as I haven't checked this thread in awhile. Have they announced the PPV pricing on Max? Will it be the same or will it be a reduced price? Discount price, but no specifics. |
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Post by markymark on Nov 1, 2024 9:10:47 GMT -5
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salz4life
Grimlock
Prichard is a guy who gets that his job is to service his boss.
Posts: 14,472
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Post by salz4life on Nov 1, 2024 9:14:59 GMT -5
This is a very good thing for AEW, IMO. |
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Post by dbsot on Nov 1, 2024 9:29:10 GMT -5
I really hope so. That brand needs a focused product with a dedicated roster. |
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xxshoyuweeniexx
King Koopa
Going Big and Saying That
Posts: 10,228 
Member is Online
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on Nov 1, 2024 9:31:55 GMT -5
I wonder who the source of this one is, let’s just call him Mr. ohcireJ.
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Hayabusa
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,523
Member is Online
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Post by Hayabusa on Nov 1, 2024 9:37:29 GMT -5
I wonder who the source of this one is, let’s just call him Mr. ohcireJ. The Observer also has a very specific story about Liger being asked to work the Jericho Cruise but saying he wouldn't because he's too old (and retired). THAT could only come from one source and it isn't Keiichi Yamada. ROH with some TV money could be AEW's opportunity to counter WWEID by having more independent stars/prospects under firm contracts with a place to exist. I mean, AEW could do that too, but there's no obvious place to park them right now with ROH being taken half-seriously. |
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Post by dbsot on Nov 1, 2024 9:47:13 GMT -5
I wonder who the source of this one is, let’s just call him Mr. ohcireJ. The Observer also has a very specific story about Liger being asked to work the Jericho Cruise but saying he wouldn't because he's too old (and retired). THAT could only come from one source and it isn't Keiichi Yamada. ROH with some TV money could be AEW's opportunity to counter WWEID by having more independent stars/prospects under firm contracts with a place to exist. I mean, AEW could do that too, but there's no obvious place to park them right now with ROH being taken half-seriously. If a deal is struck, the first thing TK needs to do is find a long-term venue for ROH tapings. The shows at Universal Studios and the e-sports arena were unique and they were getting a decent fanbase. |
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Post by HMARK Center on Nov 1, 2024 11:30:28 GMT -5
The Observer also has a very specific story about Liger being asked to work the Jericho Cruise but saying he wouldn't because he's too old (and retired). THAT could only come from one source and it isn't Keiichi Yamada. ROH with some TV money could be AEW's opportunity to counter WWEID by having more independent stars/prospects under firm contracts with a place to exist. I mean, AEW could do that too, but there's no obvious place to park them right now with ROH being taken half-seriously. If a deal is struck, the first thing TK needs to do is find a long-term venue for ROH tapings. The shows at Universal Studios and the e-sports arena were unique and they were getting a decent fanbase. I'd like to see them tour, but maybe do something like one month at a time at different cities/venues for tapings. Keep it to smaller arenas, give it a distinct look/feel from AEW, all that good stuff. |
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Post by One of the Cooler, Candid TOKs on Nov 1, 2024 11:34:11 GMT -5
I wonder who the source of this one is, let’s just call him Mr. ohcireJ. The Observer also has a very specific story about Liger being asked to work the Jericho Cruise but saying he wouldn't because he's too old (and retired). THAT could only come from one source and it isn't Keiichi Yamada. Now I have a vision of Liger calling up Meltz, in full gear doing a terrible American accent, saying that Liger couldn't wrestle on the cruise because he has old balls |
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Post by markymark on Nov 1, 2024 11:34:39 GMT -5
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Nov 1, 2024 11:45:59 GMT -5
It'll be interesting to see what they do with Honor Club if they get a TV deal. I would imagine they'd want anything ROH on MAX, too.
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