AEW All Elite Wrestling #5: Road to Double or Nothing

[CDJ]

Christian/Angle/Styles/Joe basically carried TNA when it was at its absolute best, I think Christian Cage is capable of being a top guy

It’s not The Rock but I am more intrigued by AEW now. Tough to find a better available worker than him. Hopefully he stays healthy.

 

[Natey]

Plenty.

Funny.

 

[OKR]

Funny.

Welcome to 2021

 

[Natey]

Welcome to 2021

I've been here for over 2 months now! Surprise!

What has AEW drawn... they do as many PPV buys as TNA per calendar year. They get lower ratings than TNA did. Yes, I know TNA ran a few more shows and that there's more content to watch on TV. But you could also argue that TNA had spoilers readily available online that hurt their TV numbers as well.

AEW has done well... but most of the roster hasn't really drawn much at all as far as real money goes. Jericho & Sting like 300 years ago, maybe.

 

[OKR]

I've been here for over 2 months now! Surprise!

What has AEW drawn... they do as many PPV buys as TNA per calendar year. They get lower ratings than TNA did. Yes, I know TNA ran a few more shows and that there's more content to watch on TV. But you could also argue that TNA had spoilers readily available online that hurt their TV numbers as well.

AEW has done well... but most of the roster hasn't really drawn much at all as far as real money goes. Jericho & Sting like 300 years ago, maybe.

Their weekly show Dynamite get more views than NXT, challenging RAW would be incredibly hard to do now.

Omega, Jericho, Moxley, MJF, Adam Page and Cody for sure are bigger draws than Christian in 2021 as well as is Brian Cage. Not to mention they’ve only been able to use small part of their roster due to covid restriction.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

I started giving up on AEW about a year ago, they have doubled down on more of the garbage concepts and I can't help but wonder what the hardcore fans would say if Vince Russo booked the show, instead of people they like. The whole presentation is so A.D.D, I follow along on social media hoping they'll tighten things up but it hasn't seemed to happen

 

[DaaaaB's]

Their weekly show Dynamite get more views than NXT, challenging RAW would be incredibly hard to do now.

Omega, Jericho, Moxley, MJF, Adam Page and Cody for sure are bigger draws than Christian in 2021 as well as is Brian Cage. Not to mention they’ve only been able to use small part of their roster due to covid restriction.

I'd probably agree with you on the first 5 guys you listed but I'd say Christian is on par with Cody and definitely a bigger draw than Brian Cage. The Bucks are likely a bigger draw at this point, maybe FTR too. Allin isn't far behind.

Whether people consider him a huge star or just a star, I think he's a great addition. He can work, has charisma and is a big name.

 

[Guardian17]

 

[OKR]

I'd probably agree with you on the first 5 guys you listed but I'd say Christian is on par with Cody and definitely a bigger draw than Brian Cage. The Bucks are likely a bigger draw at this point, maybe FTR too. Allin isn't far behind.

Whether people consider him a huge star or just a star, I think he's a great addition. He can work, has charisma and is a big name.

Cody is certainly a bigger draw, ever since he left WWE he has made himself one of the most known wrestlers in the world, wrestled classics with all the biggest names not in the WWE. There is a reason why for example he has been one of the most downloaded create-a-wrestlers in the WWE 2k games ever since he left WWE. He went on abolute tear with titles from NJPW, ROH and NWA at the same, hell he is the sole biggest reason Allin and MJF are so over at the moment.

Brian Cage is a Christian level draw in 2021, he is one of those indy wrestlers who’ve always been rumoured to join WWE again but never did, his runs in TNA also made him known by the mainstream.

 

[CDJ]

Christian is a better draw than Brian Cage

 

[DaaaaB's]

Cody is certainly a bigger draw, ever since he left WWE he has made himself one of the most known wrestlers in the world, wrestled classics with all the biggest names not in the WWE. There is a reason why for example he has been one of the most downloaded create-a-wrestlers in the WWE 2k games ever since he left WWE. He went on abolute tear with titles from NJPW, ROH and NWA at the same, hell he is the sole biggest reason Allin and MJF are so over at the moment.

Brian Cage is a Christian level draw in 2021, he is one of those indy wrestlers who’ve always been rumoured to join WWE again but never did, his runs in TNA also made him known by the mainstream.

I know all about Cody and what he's done since leaving WWE. Don't think that makes him any bigger of a draw than Christian right now and the more I think about it MJF isn't either. Brian Cage isn't even close.

 

[OKR]

I know all about Cody and what he's done since leaving WWE. Don't think that makes him any bigger of a draw than Christian right now and the more I think about it MJF isn't either. Brian Cage isn't even close.

They’re all bigger draws by far, Christian never was that big of a star that he can be mostly inactive for half a decade and then become a back as a draw, hell Cody draw more in ROH than Christian did in TNA.

Brian Cage is lot closer to being Christian level draw than Cody is lmao

 

[The Burdened]

lel there are no draws in wrestling anymore and haven't been for a while.
literally have never been fewer eyes watching wrestling.

why are people even thinking the Christian signing is about drawing? That's not the point of his signing.
The point of his signing is to give some credibility to a roster* that desperately lacks it and hopefully he can connect with some of the younger guys and they can learn something like how guys in TNA like AJ, Joe, Roode, Kazarian always credit Christian with being an invaluable tool for them in regards to helping them take their game to the next level.

AEW is still gonna get the same 700-900k viewers they've always gotten regardless if it was Christian or Kurt Angle or RVD or Big Show or Sting or whomever.

*I put asterisk because we have to see how good he'll be. I think he'll be as good as he was when he was last active given that he has gotten himself into tremendous shape which shows his commitment and his style was always safe, but we will see.

 

[hockey20000]

llooks like christain cage first fed be omega fo rthe belt.. i dunno if i like that... no way they put the belt off omega allready and christain needs to win his first feud after all the big signing stuff they did..

 

[DaaaaB's]

lel there are no draws in wrestling anymore and haven't been for a while.
literally have never been fewer eyes watching wrestling.

why are people even thinking the Christian signing is about drawing? That's not the point of his signing.
The point of his signing is to give some credibility to a roster* that desperately lacks it and hopefully he can connect with some of the younger guys and they can learn something like how guys in TNA like AJ, Joe, Roode, Kazarian always credit Christian with being an invaluable tool for them in regards to helping them take their game to the next level.

AEW is still gonna get the same 700-900k viewers they've always gotten regardless if it was Christian or Kurt Angle or RVD or Big Show or Sting or whomever.

*I put asterisk because we have to see how good he'll be. I think he'll be as good as he was when he was last active given that he has gotten himself into tremendous shape which shows his commitment and his style was always safe, but we will see.

I agree about there being no draws anymore. I was talking more about popularity but I don't think anyone is buying ppvs to see one guy. Like Natey said earlier in this thread, you could probably count on two hands the number of guys who could draw in the past 30 years.

 

[TD Charlie]

llooks like christain cage first fed be omega fo rthe belt.. i dunno if i like that... no way they put the belt off omega allready and christain needs to win his first feud after all the big signing stuff they did..

agreed. I was hoping to see Eddie get a main event program with Kenny.

 

[TD Charlie]

I know the final segment was more about Jericho and MJF, but to me the true star here is Sammy Guevara.

Excellent show top to bottom

 

[CDJ]

This stable is going to be TREMENDOUS. They had to put MJF in it

I think my favorite AEW segment to date

 

[GKJ]

 

[Jussi]

Some vicious mic taps on the head. That could concuss someone.

 

[les Habs]

Some random thoughts:

• Still feel like AEW can be a bit all over the place. Also feel like it could be better, but I still like it.
• Cody vs Penta is interesting, but Cody should be competing for a title. And Nightmare family? Who cares? Cody should be a singles star, Dustin be Dustin and that's it.
• The new MJF faction... feels thrown together to me and I think it dummies down FTR to be led by a guy like MJF. Maybe use The Acclaimed instead?
• Almost wish they would have turned on Jericho and had Jericho either go single or have him be the one to start a new faction.
• Still love the Dark Order and having Hangman teaming with them so to speak.
• I have a lot more respect for The Young Bucks than when I only ever saw highlights. Hate their look (but then I think 90% of AEW needs a makeover), but a very good tag team.
• Speaking of which, AEW has a good tag team division. Did they ever have a Lucha Bros vs Santana and Ortiz feud? If not I think that would have some potential. I think they should have extended a Bucks vs FTR feud for notably longer.
• Pac should be challenging for a singles title.
• I still think another title would give some more focus for some more story lines. Maybe cruiserweight?
• I respect his work in the ring, but I don't like Archer. And Jake shouldn't be out there.

 

[CDJ]

Some random thoughts:

• Still feel like AEW can be a bit all over the place. Also feel like it could be better, but I still like it.
• Cody vs Penta is interesting, but Cody should be competing for a title. And Nightmare family? Who cares? Cody should be a singles star, Dustin be Dustin and that's it.
• The new MJF faction... feels thrown together to me and I think it dummies down FTR to be led by a guy like MJF. Maybe use The Acclaimed instead?
• Almost wish they would have turned on Jericho and had Jericho either go single or have him be the one to start a new faction.
• Still love the Dark Order and having Hangman teaming with them so to speak.
• I have a lot more respect for The Young Bucks than when I only ever saw highlights. Hate their look (but then I think 90% of AEW needs a makeover), but a very good tag team.
• Speaking of which, AEW has a good tag team division. Did they ever have a Lucha Bros vs Santana and Ortiz feud? If not I think that would have some potential. I think they should have extended a Bucks vs FTR feud for notably longer.
• Pac should be challenging for a singles title.
• I still think another title would give some more focus for some more story lines. Maybe cruiserweight?
• I respect his work in the ring, but I don't like Archer. And Jake shouldn't be out there.

I think a trios belt is in order with all the factions + tags


I would normally agree on your FTR/MJF point but they’re going to do an old school revival thing and it should be pretty glorious. They all probably watch mid south together or some shit

 

[Natey]

Their weekly show Dynamite get more views than NXT, challenging RAW would be incredibly hard to do now.

Omega, Jericho, Moxley, MJF, Adam Page and Cody for sure are bigger draws than Christian in 2021 as well as is Brian Cage. Not to mention they’ve only been able to use small part of their roster due to covid restriction.

Brian Cage is a bigger draw than Christian?? How many casual fans know who Brian Cage is??? Answer... none.

And sure it gets more viewers than NXT... but NXT never had a ton of viewers. TNA used to average more viewers than WWECW. TNA used to pull 900K viewers when Impact first started. During Christian's run, they averaged around 1.3M viewers, or a bit less than double what AEW pulls.

 

[Natey]

Some vicious mic taps on the head. That could concuss someone.

They should stop using stuff that they can't make look real. The mic shots from Itoh and the bat shots from MJF were not great.

 

[les Habs]

A few more thoughts:

• I don't like Team Taz
• I like the "Big Money" Matt Hardy gimmick. A lot they could do with that.
• As much as I said liked AEW's roster much more than I ever thought, I think there's plenty of room to trim and look for other talent.
• I really like the Bunny. Hate her character, but really like her...
• I used to really dislike Evil Uno, but now I really quite like him
• I love the Buckshot Lariat

I think a trios belt is in order with all the factions + tags

I would normally agree on your FTR/MJF point but they’re going to do an old school revival thing and it should be pretty glorious. They all probably watch mid south together or some shit

I was actually thinking about what they could have done with factions. Goes somewhat against what I think about some of the guys and who they should be competing with, but a Dark Order feud with The Inner Circle might have been fun to give the former a push.

I just feel like things could make a bit more sense. Of course it's all subjective, but maybe something like this:

World Championship: Omega, Cody, Moxley, Jericho and maybe MJF
TNT Championship: Maybe some of the guys above who aren't World Champion along with Hangman, Sammy, Scorpio Sky, Darby and maybe Kingston
Cruiserweight: MJF (probably too low for him though) Hangman, Sammy, Scorpio Sky, Lucha Bros, Darby, Jungle Boy and maybe Kazarian and Lee Johnson
Tag Team: Bucks, FTR, Lucho Bros, Santana and Ortiz, Silver and Reynolds, The Acclaimed

I guess I don't see it. I think MJF, Wardlow of course, The Acclaimed, maybe Miro and then maybe... Kip Sabian or Scorpio Sky? I was even thinking Paul Wight in the background, like he could have come out and swerved his old partner Jericho.