The WarnerMedia upfront is being held in MSG. Amazing...

Wednesday would be a bit ballsier since it's against nxt but wwe doesn't release NXT viewer numbers

FUCK YES

WRESTLING BACK TO TNT. SHIT GOT REAL

Also prevents the situation of their shows being preempted or delayed during NBA playoffs since TNT airs games on Tuesdays.

Oooof.

That might just drive me away from buying. All In was $10 bucks cheaper, right?

$20 cheaper since All In was $40 on Fite.TV

What does boxing and UFC usually charge for their events? I could see that just being a placeholder till AEW announces the real price soon.

If that's legit, no way are they going to be successful right out of the gate at $60 since Impact struggles to sell ppvs at $40 and ROH are in the $30s-$40s range for non-HonorClub. Not even WWE did that outside of Mania and took a long while for their prices to creep up.

Well now, AEW got a solid 2 weeks to hopefully knock the price down to reasonable levels.

I understand the concept of "double or nothing". But that doesn't mean jack up the price the 2nd time around.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">$49.99 <a href="https://t.co/up2HCHLhIo">https://t.co/up2HCHLhIo</a></p>&mdash; Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) <a href="https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1127668885698727937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Meltzer also mentioned that its very likely the prices are being set by cable providers and not by AEW themselves due to how the cable PPV industry typically works.

I hope they get a streaming service w/ a better price because that is too steep for me for an untested brand

Most likely they are going to be using Bleacher Report Live for streaming since Turner owns it.

In terms of prices, $20-$30 is the sweet spot for monthly PPVs these days mainly because of the WWE Network and WWE's constant free month offerings have really devauled PPVs.

AEW could probably follow ROH's model for streaming and offer multiple tiers if they want pricey PPVs. Cheapest tier gives a discount on monthly PPVs purchased separately and most expensive tier includes all PPVs at no additional cost.

Actually have a smidgen of interest for this.... but not willing to pay more than $20.... and even at $20 I'd have a tough time deciding to do it.....

I’d probably have gone as high as $30. I don’t think I can justify $50.

UK price is £14.95. And I've got in early and have already ordered. :yes:

I really want to support this but I can’t justify $60. If that’s the price it’s a huge mistake.

Gonna hold out for an official announcement from them though. They don’t seem like they’d be dumb enough to charge something that would price out a lot of people for their very first show..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re back in the wrestling business! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AEWrestling?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AEWrestling</a> <a href="https://t.co/1DVRLRdQgd">pic.twitter.com/1DVRLRdQgd</a></p>&mdash; TNT Drama (@tntdrama) <a href="https://twitter.com/tntdrama/status/1128632147248668673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Press Release says all AEW ppvs will stream on B/R Live

Site looks really user friendly:

https://live.bleacherreport.com

Also says they will “introduce statistics into pro wrestling for the first time ever.” Wins and losses will be tracked.

http://wrestlecrap.com/wp-content/up...8/11/tcs01.png

https://i1.wp.com/impactwrestling.co...d9-600x400.jpg
ripping off AWA and TNA seems like a good start

They should rip off WCW and have a spin the roulette wheel make a deal match at the PPV

Pretty sure the point was that wins and losses will be tracked constantly and not just as part of a certain gimmick competition.

I actually made sure to put “introduce statistics for the first time ever” in quotations to make it clear that I was quoting the press release before the inevitable STD unnecessary correction. He’s gonna be pissed that Droford beat him to it.

https://media.giphy.com/media/m7DEwkk9ID7ag/giphy.gif

too lazy to figure out how to edit AEW over "Whos line is it anyway" and JR over Drew Carey.

https://i.imgflip.com/3111qb.jpg

No TNT in Canada..... wonder if they will get a deal here somewhere.....

Woo hoo. BR Live has a roku app so I'll be able to watch this. Pretty stoked.

Cody means "% of times this move wins the match/% of times this guy gets taken out by this type of move" stats

It mentioned that, too. Which could be cool I guess. An NFL type "next gen stats" thing for wrestling. I'm more interested in the wins and losses being tracked though. Instantly forces them to actually care about the outcome of every match and forces long-term booking or else the whole system falls apart.

Wrestling fans complaining about WWE calling wrestling "SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT"

vs

Wrestling fans embracing AEW using sports style statistics in wrestling

does not compute

Dude, what in the fuck point are you trying to make?

calling it sports entertainment is awful when WWE does it but its innovative when AEW treats wrestling as a sport with statistics

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Later this year we’re introducing some real superheroes with a new live franchise: All Elite Wrestling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> - a brand-new league - with a new style and a new generation of talent. <a href="https://t.co/Vdc3nS1H6u">pic.twitter.com/Vdc3nS1H6u</a></p>&mdash; TNT Drama (@tntdrama) <a href="https://twitter.com/tntdrama/status/1128669254734229504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Does anybody else think TNT's tweet is funny? "A new generation of talent" yet they show Jericho who was on their last wrestling show lol.

Gotta love Jericho taking all the credit though, I miss the Jericho invented everything memes!

how is this inconsistent? People - within the 'smarky' community - have wanted wrestling treated like more of a sport for eons. Why are you so retarded?

what happened to all the "its not sports entertainment its wrestling" people then?

What are you fucking talking about? You are the dumbest motherfucker in the world.

Exciting times. can't wait to watch!

If AEW is wrestling with sports statistics then to me its considered sports. but people hate vince for calling wrestling "sports entertainment". which is fucking exactly what AEW will be.

I don’t think you get why people don’t like the sports entertainment euphemism.

Difference is if AEW actually follows a sports-like model, then they are using the phrase correctly.

Vince mainly uses the term as if he's been ashamed he's only ever been successful in wrestling and to rebrand his style of wrestling as something different when it isn't.

NJPW is a lot more sports-like than WWE but don't use the term "sports entertainment" because they don't hold a petty view of wrestling.

Wrestling is entertainment. But it only functions at its creative best when you treat it like a shoot sport. Putting too much focus on the entertainment aspect makes it nearly impossible to suspend your disbelief. Putting the focus on the sports aspect makes it much easier to suspend your disbelief because people are wrestling over sports reasons instead of over shampoo deals or because HHH made a match in the opening segment because he was cranky.

People's problem with sports entertainment was never the sports part. Why would you ever think that? You're a moron.

B/R confirmed it's $50.

They just priced out a lot of people who were looking forward to this show for months. Not a good look.

Also 95% of the viewers will be using B/R for the first time so it’s $50 and hoping the server can hold up.

I wish the event well but that price point is unjustifiable.

It seems you answered your own question.

lol I did that on purpose.

I'll never understand people who just LOVE sandwiches but when it's a dog shit sandwich, suddenly they hate it. Hypocrites.

Randy Orton wins 100% of his matches with an RKO. Knowing that percentage doesn't really make wrestling anymore interesting.

I don't get why this aspect is supposed to be innovative for AEW.

It's about the presentation. There's no guaranteeing that it works, but it's the kind of analysis that goes into other sports, so it's meant to establish a 'legitimate' feel. That, by itself, isn't a particularly huge deal. But, as one moving part of an entire company vision and mission, it's an interesting idea.

Plus, you're oversimplifying what they'll do. Which is somewhat dishonest.

I am not trying to, that is just how I understand it. I'm not trying to knock it, maybe it will end up being interesting, but having analytics in wrestling doesn't really excite me.

It’s an opportunity for the company as a whole to be more creative with their finishes.

It also makes kicking out of a finisher more interesting. If Randy hits the RKO and wins 100% of the time, the guy that eventually kicks out will make it mean something. Unlike when Roman kicked out of 23 F5s at Mania.

As far as the sports aspect goes, watching old matches from the AWA and NWA are refreshing because they're presented and called like an actual sporting event as opposed to the grand and campy spectacle of wwe. Both are fine, but presenting their product as a sport is a way AEW can differentiate itself as a true alternative.

Indeed it is. Thankfully I'll be splitting it with my buddy. But jeez that's a big ask for a company trying to build good will

Assuming they handle it correctly, it would fix the issue of finishers being devalued and spammed that's been a problem in WWE for years.

In theory, signature moves would get a stronger emphasis since those can be spammed without hurting the finisher (ex. Omega wearing down opponents with the V-Trigger).

Also benefits submission-based finishers a lot since your no longer building them to just be broken once and then be treated as an afterthought afterwards. WWE's habit with submissions is to just treat them as simple throw-away spots and something that gets constantly broken unless your name was Cena.

Randy Orton winning 100% of his matches with an RKO might not matter. If you know that he wins 100% of the time he hits it though, suddenly every “almost” RKO is an edge of your seat moment. I don’t think the idea is to have useless stats for stat nerds. It’s to build stories within matches.

So basically something similar to what the XFL got with the ability to turn into a normal tv deal after a few years.

It's $5 less than what Directv wants for MITB which makes no sense itself and word is cable will be $10 more than B/R so it'd cost more than WWE for something Directv is already charging 5.5x more than you pay for the network. All in was $39.95 on fitetv

This. It was like when Austin used to hit the stunner. Shit was over. And every time he went for the boot to the gut, you got that anxious feeling that the end was near. It meant something.

If Austin was around nowadays, he'd have to hit 2 or 3 stunners a night to win a big match. And not just at Mania, where it makes sense to throw in a kick out. But every ppv. Guys would he kicking out at TLC.

Just aired

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Tangentially related; it was one of the reasons why the end of Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe was so "bad".

In truth, it really wasn't a bad finish... until you consider that the problem goes back to all the matches WWE had with 800 spammed finishers. And now, suddenly, one F5 puts out the guy who was built to be this badass threat in the center of the ring for a clean pin? In fact, Joe should have been one of the few guys who could take multiple F5s given how he was built to that point. Even if he had still lost, he took everything the champ had to give to get that victory. Instead, you basically just told everyone this guy was a sack of shit and didn't deserve to be there. Because they didn't bother protecting finishers up to that point, a match where it was done right buried the guy doing the job.

And that's the issue with wins and losses. The idea that wins and losses "mean nothing" doesn't quite mean what WWE tries to make it sound like. I'm not 100% behind the stat-tracking thing AEW wants to try, primarily because anyone who has done this before always eventually does away with it... but at the same time, we prob'ly won't get shit like hotshotting the brown guy for an India tour after telling everyone for years through actions that he wasn't worth a damn, or jobbing your next big thing into oblivion but paradoxically expecting him to stay over with the fans. People tend not to back losers unless there is something charming or redeeming about it... and even that is a rarity.

UK are only being charged the equivalent of about $20 USD

So US is paying more than double. It's horseshit.

Love PAC's nickname lol.

https://www.allelitewrestling.com/roster

Meltzer 'making excuses' saying it's part of the ppv deal that they could only offer a streaming service if it wasn't cheaper then ppvs.

If that is the case just do the streaming service alone...

I will still probably order the ppv this time but I am not forking out $50 each ppv they have unless they only have 1 or 2 a year.

LOL @ Pac nickname

Conrad Thompson is listed as part of the broadcast team. Interesting.

Also, they couldn't get a picture of Jerry Lynn? lol

Good Ol JR looks drunk

Half the people on that roster look like "right wankers". Less excited for it now.

which ones u h8

I think MJF, Joey Janella, Hangman Page all could be 'breakout stars'

Hangman Page looks like a million bucks in his pic

Hey Hey Conrad Thompson is on the roster :0

Looks like one of the best pics.... don't like the rope though.... just imagining him coming out with a rope in a noose and continually saying "I'm the hangman!"

According to the Observer, seems the goal for AEW is to be able to hit in the 400k-500k range for viewers during its first year since TNT would be very happy with those numbers.

TNT would also be very happy if AEW leads to a sizeable growth for their streaming service similar to ESPN's plans with UFC.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Interesting comments from Dave on AEW. 400,000-500,000 viewers would be considered a success to start, and streaming sounds like as big a reason behind the deal as anything else. <a href="https://t.co/ax9fT7PAkp">pic.twitter.com/ax9fT7PAkp</a></p>&mdash; Trevor Dame (@TrevorDame) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorDame/status/1128688049531961346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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That streaming growth ain't happening if PPVs stay $50

Earl Hebner knocking on the door of 70 and still reffing.

Earl Hebner isn't a great ref at this point. I was hoping for Brian Hebner, Jimmy Korderas and Jack Doan from WWE memory lane. Katie Hebner for a women's ref. Rick Knox was obviously going to be signed. Jerry Lynn could have done his "Whole Refin' Show" thing and you could have given James Maritato another shot (not sure if he dropped out of WWE because he couldn't do the job though).

Don't really want to see old man Hebner getting in the way anymore.

Good ad IMO

I could be wrong, but I think he is part of the broadcast team the way Mean Gene was, in that broadcast team is all talking positions, not just guys at the broadcast table.

He will probably be a backstage interviewer.

They should hire referee Brad Maddox!

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wrestlemania would have triggered a ton of people like that

Well yeah. Didn’t think he’d be at the announce table. It’s just interesting because he’s been adamant about the fact that he doesn’t actually work for AEW, he just kinda piggybacks off of them for Starrcast. I wonder if he’d be listed as a broadcaster if Vince hadn’t already pulled Taker and Angle from Starrcast due to the perceived AEW link.

Downloaded the Bleacher Report app and bought the show.

I can get it on FITE for $20.

That is well within the scope of what I'm willing to pay to support a new product. I am keen.

The card isn't something that, alone, gets me super-hyped. But breaking it down, it looks really, really good:

* Not really excited at all about Sammy Guevara vs. Kip Sabian, but those non-existence expectations might allow it to impress me.

* I'm not a big fan of multi-person matches, but the women's three-way is going to be interesting because I've never seen any of them before, plus I'm sure they are all going to be busting ass to impress.

* SoCal Uncensored vs. Strong Hearts is probably going to be a lot of fun. Daniels is a guy I've got a lot of time for.

* The women's tag could be really interesting.

* PAC was one of my five favorite workers when he was in WWE. I think he'll bring the thunder. Hangman Page is getting better all the time.

* Cody vs. Dustin has got a great story behind it.

* Not a biggest fan of The Young Bucks, but I'm sure their tag will be a spectacle.

* Jericho vs. Omega should be pretty great.

It's not only probably going to be very good, but it looks like it might actually have the chance to build. I miss cards with a variety of different matches.

I don't know why I've got this feeling, but I'm thinking Nic Nemeth shows up and wins the Casino Battle Royale on the pre-show. He seems like a pretty good choice to be a stop-gap challenger for whoever the first AEW World Champion is. He'd be a big enough name to get some people's attention, but being on the pre-show won't be disappointing even if you figure in "Dolph Ziggler fatigue."

https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/20...photos-654223/

Sorry to cross promote, but I'm too lazy to embed all the tweets here.

Bottom line, Cody Rhodes deserves nothing but success just based on this alone. Such a good dude!

Wait... Is Dolph out of WWE???

No he's signed.

PAC/Hangman has been cancelled due to “creative differences”

PAC is refusing to lose singles matches while he’s still the Dragongate Champion

Fucks sake.

an he just beat the crap out of hangman page at a houseshow wonder if they are doing a work.

I don't blame him he shouldn't be losing to Hangman. Hangman isn't anywhere near in PAC's league.

If true, doing a job for Enzo but not Adam Page??? Not a good look Neville, not a good look at all.

Meltzer going way overboard in defending AEW for what was a clear lack of planning.

Dude’s clearly in their pockets.

Since day one, and I wouldn't mind it if he was just overjoyed for them, but he is so biased in both aspects, AEW can do no wrong, and WWE, New Japan, ROH, they are not just bad, but he gets so happy they are bad he pops a boner every time he gets a chance to report they are bad.

I guarantee Meltzer creamed his pants when he got to report about how the Bucks said ROH and New Japan messed up by not taking care of them with better offers. Meltzer would say it's cause AEW is great and those companies are going out of business because they don't know anything about wrestling.

It's a joke calling him a journalist, he is a fan boy hype man.

PAC went to time limit draws with Ospreay and ZSJ for much the same reason. He doesn’t want to lessen the moment when he loses the Dragongate title, and NJPW didn’t want their talents losing.

The problem is AEW (understandably) don’t want to do so a bullshit finish on their first ever show. But they don’t want Hangman losing when he’s likely on the shortlist of guys being considered to be the inaugural champion.

So the match never should’ve been done until PAC was free and clear of the Dragongate title.

now hangman can have a surprise guy to compete with. wonder who it will be.