All Elite Wrestling #1: AEW announced TV deal with TNT, partners with B/R Live

[M.C.G. 31]

Yo wtf if PAC is there I’m all in.

Kenny vs. PAC

 

[Disclose]

we're live

 

[scrubadam]

One of the big changes though from previous times is that there is such a demand for content right now. Everywhere you turn a media company is gobbling up content. Heck the wwe has a crazy billion dollar contract for both raw and smack down.

AEW has to get to a point where they can reasonably draw 1.0-1.3 and they can turn a profit in a few years. Media companies will get them on tv if they can draw that consistently

OTOH IMPACT cant even get on a normal channel and were forced to Pursuit (and most likely only because of Anthem).

I would love to believe the rumours of TNT jumping on board, but if IMPACT with 15 + years of history and having been on actual cable networks before, I can't really buy into TNT picking them up. Maybe they will get a LU style deal of 20 episodes or something but I just can't see another broadcaster taking a complete unknown company and giving them 1-2 hours of prime time.

 

[xtra]

OTOH IMPACT cant even get on a normal channel and were forced to Pursuit (and most likely only because of Anthem).

I would love to believe the rumours of TNT jumping on board, but if IMPACT with 15 + years of history and having been on actual cable networks before, I can't really buy into TNT picking them up. Maybe they will get a LU style deal of 20 episodes or something but I just can't see another broadcaster taking a complete unknown company and giving them 1-2 hours of prime time.

But the stink on impact has secretly tarnished it. In fact I think impact success early on before they went all crazy is a good indicator that there is room out there for a good wrestling competition for the wwe

 

[Brodeur]

I'd be interested, but didn't have a great experience doing Memorial Day weekend in Vegas years ago.

 

[GKJ]

LOL PAC is in his ring gear

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Yo wtf if PAC is there I’m all in.

Kenny vs. PAC

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Double or Nothing is in Jacksonville, so whoever reported Vegas was wrong.

 

[GKJ]

Jericho

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Jericho has arrived.

 

[GKJ]

Double or Nothing is in Jacksonville, so whoever reported Vegas was wrong.

Double or Nothing is in Vegas at the MGM Grand. The second show is in Jacksonville.

 

[Disclose]

I’m so happy right now.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Double or Nothing is in Vegas at the MGM Grand. The second show is in Jacksonville.

Conrad f***ed up then because I thought I heard him say DON was at J-Ville. My bad, I guess.

More pyro in the 10 minutes I've watched than in the last year of WWE, lol.

 

[scrubadam]

With Jerhico there that all but confirms JR for me.

 

[GKJ]

I don't mean to besmirch JR, but he is kind of bad now.

 

[offkilter]

I don't mean to besmirch JR, but he is kind of bad now.

He should be besmirched. His NJPW commentary was atrocious and he was clearly disinterested in doing what he was paid to do. Add onto that his lingering health issues hampering him he really shouldn't be on commentary anymore, and is just going to drag AEW down.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

JR’s been awful for years.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

I don't mean to besmirch JR, but he is kind of bad now.

Rather they get Mike Tenay in.

 

[Brodeur]

Some reports of fans getting ejected / denied entry to Smackdown for wearing AEW merchandise. Will be interesting if any chants get started tonight.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

I really want Kenny Omega vs. PAC. Like... what. Please?

 

[GarbageGoal]

JR has a contract with WWE that as of December prevents him from doing NJPW on AXS, so I'm not quite sure how he's going to get out of that anytime soon.

And I agree he has lost a lot off his fastball, but to the average wrestling fan, they do not care. He'd bring credibility to them instantly.

 

[Disclose]

I thought he was bad because he didn’t know the names from NJPW. Not because he’s bad....

 

[One Winged Angel]

Honest take:

AEW has the potential to be a very good promotion in terms of the actual wrestling, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a significant WCW style talent raid of WWE over the next couple of years.

That said, there has never ever been evidence of the idea that there is enough money in the market for there to be two profitable national wrestling promotions. WCW hemorrhaged cash, and that was at a time when the market for wrestling was larger than it is now.

Unless there is a ton of wrestling money out there that we simply don't know about, the route to profitability for AEW is probably just to become the national wrestling promotion and have WWE go the route of WCW. Maybe twenty five years ago WWE was vulnerable enough for this to happen, but right now that company is so valuable and has so much cash sitting around that they will almost surely win any war between them and AEW, if by nothing else than attrition.

For me, at best Khan is naive about the market. At worst he's getting worked. Maybe his guys have crunched the numbers and they think that this can work, but to me this seems like throwing away a lot of money on hopes and dreams.

WCW hemmoraged because of major mistakes. The Halloween Havoc 98 blunder cost them millions. After that, Turner sold to Time Warner/AOL, who didn’t give a damn about wrestling. They also had terrible booking and lost the ratings war because WWE had a generational type gimmick leading the way in Austin and were in the middle of a golden age of an era that can’t be replicated due to today’s society being more PC than ever.

Bischoff placed trust in Nash to book WCW, which was a horrible decision, then Vince Russo came in and botched it up even more.

I don’t think those same decisions will be made again and WWE will never be able to hit that type of success again, with the attitude era. Once Vince steps aside to run the XFL, HHH will make sure the product in ring is better, but I don’t think you’ll see them have those crazy types of “go all out” type matches that NJPW has been putting on.

Plus, I think wrestling fans as a whole are tired of WWE basically monopolizing the industry. It’s time for competition. I think AEW is going to gain steam real quick and have a HUGE impact on the industry. I wouldn’t be shocked if they got another major backer within a year of operation.

 

[GKJ]

JR couldn't keep up and barely knew what was going on storyline-wise in NJPW and the talent was unhappy with it. And it was pre-recorded

 

[Disclose]

Some reports of fans getting ejected / denied entry to Smackdown for wearing AEW merchandise. Will be interesting if any chants get started tonight.

Fans Wearing All Elite Wrestling Merch Allegedly Turned Away from SmackDown Taping