That I disagree with. I mean, not being sunshine and lollipops doesn’t disqualify it from being beneficial to the industry, you’re right there. I do not believe AEW is a net good for anything other than the bank accounts of some talent. It’s drying up wrestling, making it worse and the people getting paid will be right to move on.

A lot of guys are going to be comfortable saying “Fuck you, I don’t need this job” because TK pays them enough to have a small fortune after 1 or 2 years of work.

The Submission Sorority and Paige making fun of Reid’s death immediately come to mind. Paige mingled with the Four Horsewomen lots. It just sucked. Because Paige isn’t very good.

A true alternative would be good for wrestling. A place that provides the living for guys while also creating good content that can hook more people into wrestling. I’m down with that. Not AEW. There’s a lot of harm it’s doing.

Man, I get TK has got to be careful to tread lightly with all the legal technicalities, but I selfishly want this hammer to drop on the whole Punk/Elite situation.

Thats a shame, Buddy is excellent in ring and even with Malakai gone I was excited to see him and King as a tag team a bit more often. They could be an excellent choice long term to dethrone the acclaimed then have a series with FTR.

AEW has the talent that its not a game changer given the amount of screen time he was getting anyway but its a shame none the less.

Im curious where this leaves King, hes an awesome talent but I'm. just not sure where he fits in on his own with everything else going on in AEW. He seems talented enough on the mic to keep things going alone if they went that way and he could work with Julia. He and Miro would be an excellent hoss fight if they hadnt just semi done that.

I am assuming that Buddy and Malakai go back to WWE.

I think they’ll want to. Both their significant others are there. Someone from Meltzer’s forums has said that people with partners there want to get back. A bit of a veiled hint that Andrade might be looking for a way out too.

Buddy's seemingly clapped back at the rumors that he's leaving, despite him telling the crowd at an indy show that he'll be going away for a while.

Kinda funny when guys get mad at rumors they're partially responsible for starting.

Every fucking wrestler these days. Malakai Tommy End Alistair Black had the same sort of moan.

It felt inevitable as AEW did nothing but add and add to their roster that it was only a matter of time before some talent realized it wasn’t exactly the greener pasture they thought it would be coming in. Both because the roster is extremely crowded and only getting bigger, and also because Tony Khan seems to be poor in the area of course-correcting when something goes wrong. Booking through Malakai's physical issues was one thing, but then Rey Fenix gets hurt and he basically puts the entire angle on the backburner with vignettes for months on end because he wanted the big Trios match blowoff, rather than just trying to wrap it up with the talents available and then move everyone into fresh programs.

At the end of the day, talents might be getting paid fair market value but that doesn’t mean they’ll all be happy getting stuck in catering just as often as they were at their former employer.

What Tony is doing with Miro is bordering on criminal.

Despite not utilizing them the way they should've, it still doesn't strike me as that bad of a look for AEW that guys who had great working relationships with Triple H want to go back and work there again now that he's in charge. There's at least some evidence that it's not the same stifling creative environment it was when they left.

The worse sign for AEW will be if and when they start losing their talent that didn't come from WWE.

MJF is obviously the biggest one, he'll be openly talking about leaving for WWE to get heel heat over the next year, and the company will then look kinda dumb if he actually walks out the door and goes right to the place he said he would for ages.

Popular acts like Ricky Starks and Jungle Boy would be in that category too though. Those are guys who can and should be mainstay big players with AEW if they play their cards correctly, losing them would be a big fail.

It's really baffling. Yes he did have an injury at some point and yes he took some time to film a TV show. But he's admitted in interviews that the biggest reason for his absence was Tony just waiting for there to be an opening in his plans to work him back in.

Miro isn't an act you keep waiting around. Plans shouldn't be so rigid that there's no way to get a talent of his level back onto TV. If he's not in the current plans, you find a way to insert him. It's not that hard.

Tony Khan is a horrible booker. The place is rife with politics and has been a mess since the start. The first tip-off was when PAC vs. Page was pulled from Double or Nothing (a match I was quite looking forward to) because they had no clue how to book around PAC needing to win. And so many people bent over backwards trying to defend them for it.

I don’t think TK understands that wrestlers are human beings and not action figures or digital avatars on EWR or whatever. Not everybody is going to be happy getting paid a truckload of money to sit in catering or take bumps with no meaning behind them.

I’d be surprised if Ricky Starks stays with the company. He’s come out and said the politics there are bullshit and that he still leans on Cody for advice. I’m pretty sure he’ll be WWE-bound whenever he can get out. Jungle Boy? Eh. He seems like someone that would be happy to get paid a lot of money to waste his potential and just hang out with his girlfriend. If Anna Jay wants to be more famous and go to the WWE, that could influence him though.

I don’t know how someone can be upset that Rusev was wasted in WWE and then defend his use in AEW (I’m not saying anyone here is). It’s just objectively bad.

Remember when Jericho (and Cody too, I believe) was like “We only want 4 or 5 guys from WWE.” What a crock…

I think Sting might remain the only guy that has made the jump from WWE to AEW and been used better. His AEW is still far from the highlight of his career though.

Is there anyone else? Maybe Toni Storm?

Can you even really pick Toni though considering she left like, what, a couple weeks after coming up to the main roster? There was no time to do anything with her.

nvm I guess she "came up" and had a match and then disappeared for awhile

I think the segment of the fanbase that think MJF shouldn't get a prolonged title run unless he extends his deal are beyond retarded. First off, he signed for 5 years and aside from benching him for 3 months as part of a worked shoot that ultimately didn't accomplish anything, and actively made the show worse given how many guys were out with legit injuries....there's been no legitimate signs that he's been unwilling to honor the long contract he signed.

He wanted a raise and supposedly got it, but it's not like he was gonna actually walk out if he didn't get it. He goes to such great lengths to stay in character in interviews, so nobody truly knows what goes on with any of his negotiations with Khan, but there's little reason to doubt he actually wants that bidding war and massive 2024 payday, and so it would do him no good to breach his deal and walk out/get benched for over a year.

If AEW fans want MJF there for the long haul, I don't know how they can't see that not giving him the top of the card run that he deserves would make it even more substantially unlikely that he'd re-sign when his deal is up. It would be irresponsible to not make the most of a talent of his caliber while they still have him.

You give MJF his title run. Let him do his thing. Hell if they want him to channel heel ROH Punk again he could be even more hamfisted with the whole "I'M LEAVING FOR WWE" shit as 2023 winds down. Have him put over your next babyface to "save" AEW before his deal expires. It's really not rocket science here.

If he then re-signs and makes a surprise return in 2024? Great! You've got a "homegrown" star entrenched for the long haul. If he leaves? You'll have hopefully used him to make some stars on the way out.

But to purposely not make the most of the guy while he's here would be indefensible.

LOL name one person that has been booked properly in AEW. I don't mean for a good stretch here or there, but overall.

Even the most successful people like Jericho and Moxley have had long stretches where they were a complete afterthought.

Moxley had like a 6 month booking period where his whole gimmick was him and Eddie Kingston being drunk and fat friends while fighting random old guys from Japan.

Jericho had a stretch where he was up against teleporting Matt Hardy and his drone, and had a hot tub orange juice match and a debate fued.

Them taking MJF off tv for 3 months then having him come back as the exact same character like he never left, is just Tiny being a shit booker.

I think what hotrod is trying to say is that if you give Tony 100 balls he's gonna drop all of them.

Except for his own two!






A-thank you.

Yeah those definitely haven't dropped yet.

Kind of debating that myself. I don’t think Storm is very good. The NXT system helped her generate a following that she is still dining out on. But I can see fanboys getting up in arms if you don’t credit the kayfabe push she’s getting in AEW to be bigger.

MJF was in-line to be the third World Champion that company had. At their very first show he stole a segment with Adam Page and Bret Hart. How much longer past that do you still need to be testing the guy? We’re almost FOUR YEARS past that and it’s no wonder the dude wants to pack his bags and go to the show that can make him a bigger star.

I will maybe hear Sting. For a dude older than my dad, they’ve used him for special occasions. He does too much and mixes it up with losers sometimes, but I would hear the case. I’d have almost gone with Darby Allin once upon a time. They took real good care of him. For a while. Now everybody is like “Wtf are they doing with Darby?”

Hmm, kind of funny it was was after Punk anointed him.

The booking in this company fucking sucks. The politics are toxic. They’re starting to finally get what’s been coming to them from the start.

Stories about Britt Baker being toxic backstage are starting to come out. I don’t know if they’re as credible as the ones about her liking Christian Cage penis, but there’s that out there now too.

Why would Wardlow stay? He was on fire earlier this year and they’ve done their best to book him down. Ricky Starks will be gone. Does that extend to Powerhouse Hobbs? He seems to be in that Punk group of guys and you would presume a closeness to Starks. I can see Billy Gunn pulling some strings and getting his sons a tap on the shoulder to jump over to NXT.

I’m curious to see what Jade does when her deal is up. She’s training with Danielson, but that doesn’t really mean anything. I can see WWE making a really convincing play and getting her to jump ship.

I really don’t know why any of those people would stay in AEW when they can go to the WWE and get equal or better booking, basically the same money once merch factors in and be more famous and respected.

All the stuff with Rosa reeks of Mean Girls bullshit. Doesn’t help that it sounds like Brit’s got Tony’s ear.

Britt's toxic backstage? You don't say! *Looks at how Big Swole and Thunder Rosa were treated post program with her. And how she is always in public with the boss and Rosa was hiding in the back, even as Champion.*

How could anyone get that idea?

Lol that’s basically the story. Mean Girls shit and when people try to wake Tony Khan up to it he’s too smitten with Britt.

It was weird to hear TK basically dismiss her as champion too and sit there while Toni Storm implies that she’s faked her injury.

Is it too psychoanalytical to speculate that Tony never had hot female friends and now he can pay for “acceptance” and is, at least subconsciously, participating in this bullying?

It's almost like some wrestling forum member knew that jobbing to an embarrassing MMA failure with no credibility would hurt/bury anybody that might have had a chance of breaking out.

At least Tiny learned his lesson after Darby, and didn't let anybody else on his roster get buried by that douchebag failure. :roll:

Wouldn’t surprise me if The Elite got jealous after Punk wanted to work with Darby and have got him to do quiet stuff on the side since.

If I was Darby I would be jealous that The Elite DIDN'T have to work with Phil :rofl:

If I were in AEW I would have a lot of hobbies. You’re basically getting paid to have as much free time as possible.

LOL true, they got so many people on that Lanny Poffo WCW contract where they do literally nothing

Remember when WCW was mocked for that?

I know people are starting to mock AEW too.

Apparently Malakai Black was live on some platform today saying he will be back in AEW and is just taking a break. Be good for AEW if he does come back and has his injuries sorted. Probably gives King a bit of direction as well if there is a return set even without a specific date in mind.

If Matthews stays as well you could do a monster gets overwhelmed type deal for King and the two come back to save him t some point, could go over well as a face angle.

Who are you kidding? You’d have one hobby and it’d be posting on Internet wrestling forums full of people who’s opinion you don’t value :lol: Only difference from now is you’d be getting bank for doing it.

I think I’d probably hate wrestling if I worked there. I’d probably take up origami.

I'd just sit around and read.

I just want to say that Wardlow will be "nothing special" in WWE. He's AEW through and through.

Malakai Black should be the next rising major heel behind MJF. Sweep the undercard titles and dominate like he did in NXT. I love Malakai. He's so good, one of my favorites next to Jon Moxley in AEW.

I kind of want Malakai to go back to WWE though because Triple H love's him as much as I do.

I mean, cool that Malakai's said he's coming back eventually.

That said his IG post a few weeks ago specifically mentioned, amongst all the personal and mental shit he has going on, that "promises made in my professional career that were not upheld". Not exactly hard to glean that he was unhappy with his booking.

Could be that he's talked with Tony and they've worked something out to try and give things another go once he feels ready for it. But I wouldn't hold my breath on House of Black not getting lost in the shuffle again.

Malakai is a fucking wanker.

TK has apparently set a new policy at AEW. No one gets released unless its for cause. If you don't like it you can sit your ass in catering and be depressed for the next 4 and a half years.

You should love him then considering your affinity for wrestlers that identify as wankers.

CM Punk doesn't identify as a wanker. He just is one. He probably thinks he's a great guy lolol

He thinks he is a good fighter too, but he probably has brain damage from getting his brain pummeled every time he forgot he is a little bitch, and tried to fight.

Where are all the morality stans who LOVED wrestlers escaping WWE Prison to the safety of AEW Freedom now?

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SCJerk/comments/xpix9u/istantrustfundbabies_betterthanvince_notatyrant/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" height="528" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SCJerk/comments/xp5c9w/dubbalos_saying_people_who_sign_contracts_should/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" height="448" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SCJerk/comments/xpi3we/goofys_watching_the_basement_meltdown_over_its/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" height="393" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Puno no doubt thinks he’s the good guy who’s done nothing wrong and that everybody else is the problem. As opposed to the reality that how he deals with shit is the problem.

I actually don't hate what he did as far as the press conference went. It was awesome and hilarious because fuck the Elite. I even think suckering a Young Buck was great. But there were two problems that stemmed from it:

1. Ace Steele doing shit that made it a legal problem
2. Punk's injury. There's no way to pay any of this off even if they all made nice.

But there's no doubt that his actions were those of a salty prick. All the same, it was a necessary wakeup call for Tony and his band of assholes that their bullshit isn't cute.

Agreed. I tried to watch a video of his explanation to see if it said what people were saying it said. The guy was acting like he was a victim of some out of control misrepresentation of his character. Don’t get frustrated that people think you want out of your deal when you go online and don’t communicate effectively lol.

Dude he literally communicated that he wanted out of his deal! Lmfao

I’m sure he’s an alright guy but wrestlers need to just use burner accounts and stay off social media. It’s for their own good.

Tony Khan had months, even years, to fix these issues. When your champ goes out there and tries to bury your star babyface and the program he’s in — you kinda sort that shit out. It got this weird unprecedented place due to lack of leadership.

Punk said some unprofessional things. I think the most damaging was probably that Page had “done nothing in the business” despite being AEW champ. But their behavior was left unchecked for so long. Now damage has been done. Even if you agree with Punk, some cultists will be looking to shit all over what he does if he comes back. And even if you like The Elite, your bad taste doesn’t excuse them from perception issues either. And there are talent on both sides that are going to respond to this. Pushing Adam Page in its wake seems like a great way to build further resentment towards him.

I was trying to remember if I explicitly saw that or not. If he did, he’s a muppet. But even if he didn’t, going online and vaguebooking about how miserable you are is you inviting these conclusions. You can’t blame fans for picking up what you’re putting down. I’ve got no sympathy for the guy.

This is the hypocrisy I’ve been annoyed at from the start. Fair enough people have their biases, but the mental gymnastics to defend this company are insane.

yeah after being screwed around in wwe you would figure they would only sign 2 year deals that was just greed to sign 5 year deals. i liked the ones who did 6 month deals with impact that worked for all parties

Their contracts are certainly all over the place. Giving Bobby Fish a 1 year contract, but then giving Kyle O'Reilly a 5 year deal, it is weird. Leo Rush's contract "expired" after what, 4 months? Then there have been reports that Adam Cole has a six year deal, with Tiny having a 7th year option.

This would suggest the wrestlers are telling Tiny how long they want their contracts to be, because otherwise Tiny is almost randomly offering different contract lengths based on who the fuck knows lol

The Lio Rush thing was weird. It’s possible that he was signed for a temporary thing because of his past. It’s also possible that he got fired, but you’d think we’d hear about that.

Either way, it’s still ridiculous you have a job you can’t quit. I understand why you don’t just let top guys go. At the same time, you can make your company a place people actually want to work.

But it’s funny to see the turn this has taken.

I’m still thinking the end of AEW might be Tony Khan having a mental breakdown and his dad just pulling the plug because it’s broken his son.

It’s kind of weird if Black and Buddy Matthews don’t want out.

Nobody:

Tony Khan: NO ONE IS LEAVING!

Oh he 100% got fired. Tiny made him publically apologize AND put Tony over, paid him for another 6 weeks, then he was gone. Rush never ever got back on TV after the whole Big Swole mess

I wonder why we haven’t heard anything? Actually, is Lio Rush still alive to talk?

Have they actually booked Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson for Dynamite? Lol why?

Because bro, Tiny implies it in his copy on Instagram!

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SCJerk/comments/xpdl3g/juice_robinson_in_in_title_eliminator_match_on/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" style="border: none;" height="547" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

This fucking company.

This episode reeks of absolute filler.

Bandido and Juice on TV, Miro in catering

"I have way too many wrestlers and not enough TV time....hmmmm.....let me book guys from other promotions, that'll fix it!"

The thing with Miro is, there is clearly something there. I absolutely hate the way they have used him. I really have only liked him when he was the character that faced Cena at Mania. I'd really like Tony to just book him like Vader, have the agents to teach him a move set similar to Vader but updated, and have him be the new Bull.

I know. Honestly it would have been much cooler to just have Mox face Cash or Dax or even both in some kind of championship qualifier.

Or maybe eventually he could get a match against Ethan Page backed by MJF.

Or Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy costs him the match.

Or Keith Lee and Strickland interferes.

Or Starks and Hobbs interferes.

It goes on. They should stop with the NJPW guys, not that many people really care.

Mox and Juice have really good chemistry, I’ve enjoyed their NJPW matches

I can’t imagine Jericho and Bandido not being good

As a fan who wants to see matches he’ll enjoy? I’m happy.

As a fan trying to peek behind the curtain? I’m perplexed at Khan’s failure to utilize his actual roster.

Miro should be in a different promotion. He’s wasted so badly there and it makes everyone look bad.

I don’t understand how you haven’t done Wardlow vs. Miro for the TNT Title. It’s low-hanging fruit.

Lol I just watched the Malakai Black video. I hope the guy gets his shit together, but what a muppet.

- It starts with him breathing heavily and acting like he doesn’t know what to say. You started the video, dude. What dramatic nonsense lol.

- He doesn’t really know how quotation marks work. I get English is not his primary language, but you can’t get mad at people for not knowing what you mean when you are not communicating properly. This is a situation where you go “Sorry all, I wasn’t clear.” You don’t rip people because they didn’t immediately pick up that you were talking in code.

- He acts like everything is so clear and I’m still confused at the end of his video.

- He seems to have this idea that everyone hangs onto every word he says publicly. I get the feeling he would be a nightmare to deal with backstage. Maybe not in a raging asshole sort of way, but I think the guy has this tinge of narcissism to him.

Wrestlers who give this much about themselves away make it just that little bit harder to support them. Getting into fights with the internet about your lack of clarity and making everything so public is just asking for people to eye-roll you for the rest of your career.

It’s been pointed out that he’s arguing with Tony Khan on the length of his contract too. TK himself said that Black has almost 5 years left on his AEW deal and Black is saying that his deal us never been for 5 years. It’s possible that TK was exaggerating or talking about optional years or whatever, but it’s a messy look when the boss says one thing and you’re saying another.

That roster needs a real cleanse, and honestly a guy like Malakai Black is probably a logical choice to cut since you don’t seem to have plans for him, he’s probably expensive and his head seems all over the place.

It’s probably easier to do a “who are you actually going to keep?” list than a cutting list. So, so bloated.

Just get rid of the whole House of Black minus Julia Hart, pls.

For Malakai's sake I hope he ends up in WWE because HHH seems to want to use him.

Seems that Tony isn't releasing Malakai and Buddy.

Classic Vince, he is such an evil son of a bi... oh it's Tony? He is such a good guy, it is not like he forced them to sign those contracts. LOVE AEW!

They signed under their own free will. Im consistent on this topic

lol because there's no such thing as exploitative, bad-faith contracts where people are being leveraged. Not saying this is the case here, but give me a break with your nonsense.

"Im not saying this is the case here" well at least you know it has nothing to do with anything atleast

"But what about the thing we arent discussing???" Dale currently

Great point as always newstead. And while we're at it what about slavery??

Once Malakai should’ve never lost to Cody. They should’ve kept building him up as this awesome silent ass kicker, and gotten him to main event heel status by now.

Miro got hurt, then took time off for side projects, but his usage since dropping the TNT title when healthy has been abysmal. And it’s a damn shame.

The NJPW stuff was cute at first before Tony went out and signed a bunch of big names. Now it’s just annoying. And unneeded.

While a wrestling company is under no legal obligation to release a talent who asks for it, I think the bigger thing is...if you're going to keep them, what will you do to address the concerns that led to asking for the release to begin with?

In the case of Brodie Lee, when he publicly asked for his release they sent him home, told him they had no plans to release him but no plans to use him either, and he waited at home for months and months to be given something to do. They finally called him 6 months later for what ended up being like a 3 week angle and then it was back to waiting months before they actually let him go.

Mustafa Ali was also sent home for months after publicly asking to be let go, seemingly with no communication with the office. He finally got brought back but, similarly, his angle ended just as soon as he started and he's back to passive aggressively tweeting about catering and Main Event.

We don't know what discussions were had with Malakai and Buddy but it sounds they've agreed to give them time off to handle some personal matters. But what happens when they come back? Will they actually be booked in a matter that they're happy with? Or will it be the same stop-start shit they've been doing all year where we see them wrestle once a month?

Not every talent is going to be happy. That's the nature of the beast. It's fine to deny a release if you feel you can smooth things over and patch things up. But if you just go right back to barely using them then yeah, it starts to make the company look petty.

I don’t think there should be a job you can’t quit. A contract is useful for stipulating that if I paint your fence, I get paid (x). But if I don’t paint your fence? I don’t get (x). Likewise, if you pay (x), it’s reasonable to expect a painted fence. If talent don’t want to be paid (x), get someone else to paint the fence.

I understand why these companies do it. They don’t want to set that precedent. But the underlying issue here is bad morale. The solution is to foster a workplace that the talent actually wants to be in. If they’re going to jump the gun and prove themselves unreliable, let them go and make life difficult for someone else. But if they’re unhappy for valid reasons, broken promises, a shift in focus, etc. — it’s just kicking the bucket down the road to keep them locked in.

I have no problem with the practice of keeping people to their contracts.

I have a problem with the hypocrisy of AEW doing it after spending 3 years taking every potshot available at WWE, only to do exactly what WWE does.

I have a problem with fans who cried murder for WWE not releasing people like Ali, but now fuck Malakai Black for wanting to go work with his wife and old boss, that traitor!

Contract doesnt stipulate they cant quit. Just obligations they must meet if they fail or choose to not keep their word. Contacts are promises. Breaking them are lies. There was a time when men knew what honor was enough to not so routinely make liars of themselves.

These contracts dont keep a man from quitting. By all rights quit. But if you fail to honor your word, as noted in writing, here's what you have to do to make it right.

In business its usually pay a fee to compensate them for the time onvested in you and an agreement that you wont use your time at the company to strengthen their direct competition. This is completely standard.

The company is compelled by the terms too of course. They cant not pay you without subjecting themselves to penalties the courts will enforce as well. In the meantime youre free to work just not for the explicitly agreed upon terms which mind you are specific. You arent barred from general work.

There's nothing immoral about the practice or enforcing the agreed upon terms. If Kahn wants to hold Black to his agreement Kahn is the moral actor. Some of yall are untrustworthy and it shows.

lmfao do you think you're in Lord of the Rings or something?

Anyways, remember when Vince McMahon told Bret Hart he was going to breach his contract in 1997? Funny that you never talk that, but then again, you're a simp for grotesque capitalist assholes.

The hypocrisy from AEW fanboys is delicious. Expected, but delicious.

They’ve always changed tone on people based on whether they are coming or going. Everyone has got the world of potential when they sign, but when they leave they’re ungrateful and overrated hacks.

There’s a discussion on wrestling Twitter about who does the knee lift better — Kenny Omega or Mandy Rose — and opinion might surprise you. :lol: