I’d expect such a colossal failure of a venture to get $0.

I don’t really know what to do with this.

They got a deal that’s what you’d expect.

I guess the thing here is that some AEW fans that aren’t on this forum are selling it as this big triumph? Or now aren’t able to?

Genuinely don’t know as I’m not on twitter, etc.

You have Vito in here doing a lite version of that. Rogerer gave it a shot too. The product still sucks and put into context, $240 million for 5 hours of television and your backlog of PPVs is pretty piss-poor.

Thanks for your detailed expert financial valuation, fuckface.

The ever ethical Bryan Alvarez reported that the Billion dollars is not real, that it was put out there by WWE to make AEW look bad when they end up getting a 3 year $300 million deal.

Mental Gymnastics at it's finest :rofl::rofl::rofl:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AEWOfficial...t=share_button

This is a large issue that is problematic to any expectation that the shows will improve. It should not be one way or the other. The word everybody throws around is tribalism, but it is closed mindedness. Just because somebody criticizes something AEW did does not mean they are just lying to make AEW look bad because they are WWE fans, and vice versa. It is this weird pseudo argument that allows anybody to overlook any criticism and go on with a deluded opinion with no desire to hope for a better product.

That’s pretty bleak. The funny thing is though — I’m pretty sure the Observer crew have floated stories to set a low bar for AEW. :lol:

Ahh yes... don't worry, he's "pretty sure" guys... so scientific and factual...

Who the eff are you. Did the real Noid die in 2016 and you simply replaced him after ditching the body?

That’s all you’ve been left with? You got a point you want to argue with? Go back into hiding, fake lawyer. Either that or request to suck my balls again. Remember when you used to be my little acolyte? :lol:

I don't need to be here for whatever conversation you're having in your head

There’s a difference between someone have a conversation in their head and someone not contributing to the conversation being had.

It's a word salad projection about... people needing to criticise AEW so that the product gets better? In the middle of a discussion about how much they're getting on their TV deal, apparently an amount that is simultaneously unremarkable and hilarious.

Just because you deleted your post after I replied to it doesn't mean I was conversing with myself :rofl:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As announced at the Warner Bros. Discovery 2023 Upfront presentation today, TNT will launch a second night of professional wrestling with a new 2-hour series, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWCollision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWCollision</a>, starting on Saturday, June 17th LIVE at 8pm ET/7pm CT on <a href="https://twitter.com/tntdrama?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tntdrama</a>!<br><br>To read the full press release:… <a href="https://t.co/roOipqNDD6">pic.twitter.com/roOipqNDD6</a></p>&mdash; All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) <a href="https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1658844955761057792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Andrade coming back in interesting. Didn't he punch Sammy just to get fired?

So the press release confirms Andrade El Idolo, Miro, Thunder Rosa, Samoa Joe, and Powerhouse Hobbs will be featured acts on Collision.

Those first three all had varying degrees of issues with management, talent, or both. Add in the obvious inclusion of CM Punk and the unofficial roster split lines are being drawn.

I'm jazzed at Andrade coming back. He might've been a prick backstage but he's a great talent and I think he was getting lost in the shuffle of the roster bloat.

I hope this points to LFI getting more shine. Rush will be jobbing to Jungle Boy on Dynamite this week but hopefully they can find a nice home on Collision.

I did delete my post but just for anyone else reading, I wasn't refering to that, I was referring to your drivel

Was hoping Collision would be a more serious, more traditional product but theres orange cassidy front and center.

It is just odd and wildly expensive to do all this instead of, I dunno, figure out who the common denominator of all the problems and just get rid of them.

Like Sammy has issues with half the roster, and has burned bridges with two companies AEW was doing business with, but gets a pass because he invited Snowman to his wedding.

There is always the hope that he shows up episode one, puts his hands in his Pockets, and gets mauled. I think that is the only appeal he has left.

I was under the impression that Orange Cassidy was very popular. This thread is very confusing

We're three years in to Orange Cassidy consistently getting one of the loudest reactions at TV every week, demonstrably being a ratings draw, being one of the top merch movers in the company, photos of kids dressing as him for Halloween, and countless anecdotes of him appealing to first-time viewers.

We're long past "it's too much of an inside joke" or "new fans won't get it" being worthwhile talking points.

Totally understand why some rasslin' fans don't like him. And that's perfectly fine. But anyone who acts like he's not one of the most popular acts they have really isn't arguing in good faith.

I like Orange Cassidy

Interested to see who else gets 'drafted' to Collision

Great point Rogeries!

PWInsiders reporting the following:

Hard Brand Splits were NEVER the plan.
The new media rights deal was NEVER planned to be announced at the upfronts.

Wrestling journalist make random guesses, if they are right than they act like they have sources, if they are wrong it is either plans changed, or it was never planned.

I mean :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

<marquee behavior="slide" direction="left">https://i.imgur.com/YE180YN.gif</marquee>

<marquee behavior="slide" direction="right" scroll amount="5">https://i.imgur.com/YE180YN.gif</marquee>

Lol at people arguing that a guy on a show that gets 900k viewers on a good week is a “draw.” This is why their shit is capped. This is why people farted in AEW’s general direction from the start. It’s why we cannot have nice things.

Attention is not approval, folks. Orange Cassidy getting the AEW fans +20k people laughing at what a joke wrestling is doesn’t equate to him being a draw.

Also, lol at Collision and the general mess this promises to be.

I’ve had this hope, but that would necessitate that Tony Khan be able to assess what works and what doesn’t in wrestling, then adjust his creative to reflect that. If he knew what to do, then Dynamite would probably be better. Rampage wouldn’t completely suck.

It’s going to be more of the same. More talent may get featured, which isn’t actually a good thing. What you need is better talent to be emphasized more. They’re different things, but people are acting as if Miro having a mid-card spot on Collision isn’t going to feel arguably more hollow than them not using him at all.

It’s just more. More for people to watch, more for people to absorb, more for people to process, more for people to try and forge an attachment to.

Sinking fucking ship trying to sell people on it being submersible.

I can get it if people don't like Orange, but he's clearly a popular part of the show and a great worker (my opinion). If you think he's ruining people's image of pro wrestling, I don't know what to tell you. If people don't like him, what sort of wrestlers, current or past, would you like to see instead? I think wrestling has always been a)goofy and b)a variety show. There's plenty of styles of wrestling that I don't like but I accept them as part of the package.

If you want my personal opinion, someone like OC is the best hope to get people invested in wrestling. People still think of it as pathetic gay shit for idiots. I don't know if you've noticed anything about popular culture, but ironic self-parody is pretty hot these days.

I think the issue is that OC is popular because of the antics and not the wrestling. Taking a chance at getting cursed here, but it's the same with Danhausen. I'm not surprised that they are over in the age of TikTok and Instagram.

* The show isn’t popular. Being a car crash on top of that doesn’t make you a successful draw.

* Cassidy is shit in the ring. So much daylight between his stuff and he indicates spots from a mile away.

* Wrestling hasn’t always been that. In fact, the more it leans into that the less successful it becomes.

* Some people aren’t going to be accomodating to shit they don’t want to watch. This might explain consistently decreasing interest.

* Orange Cassidy is NOT the best chance to get people back into wrestling.

* People might think that, but it’s BECAUSE of shit like this, not despite it.

* People don’t want ironic self-parody from their wrestling. It’s insincere, insecure and defeats the purpose of it existing.

A bunch of masochists still watch wrestling even though it is bad. Inside jokes aimed at fucking losers we are might pop us, but they are not going to make wrestling effective for anyone else.

The response to “You know it’s fake, right?” isn’t “Yeah, I know. Check out this Orange Cassidy guy who doesn’t even try to make it look good.” That’s MORE of a waste of time.

It’s also funny that interest in older wrestling — podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. are growing all the time. I’d rather listen to a 6hr podcast about wrestling than watch 2hrs of the current stuff. If you want to talk about ironic parody, podcasts going back over stuff that actually worked is way more in lieu with what culture is preoccupied with at the moment.

Yeah. I was hoping it would be the Bucks, their friends and "goofy" shit on Dynamite and something Jim Cornette would like on Collision.

I can't disagree with what you think about Cassidy, but I did ask if there's examples of who would be your platonic ideal of a modern wrestler? If you don't like Orange I still think AEW has lots of other wrestlers who aren't like him at all, he doesn't define the show, he's just one ring of of the circus. You don't think the show is popular, okay. It seems to me like Cassidy is popular with the audience that does watch, and I don't think he repulses people away from the other matches. Again, out of curiosity, what examples of wrestlers should be the model if you don't want to see Orange.

Podcasts are big, but they're either going to be current affairs and news like, or they're inherently going to be detailed stuff about the past just because how the nature of Time works. What sort of stuff are you interested in?

I'm just unaware of this era of realistic wrestling. I've never seen anything that's not immediately staged.

It would be so easy to do, but then you’ve got to deal with the backstage politics when things don’t go the way one party wants.

Could you imagine if the wrestling show on Saturdays did better than the sports entertainment on Wednesdays? Drama central.

We will see but as long as they put the guys who are criminally underused on collision and give them more of a push or direction I'm for it. House of Black, Miro, Andrade/Rush, Hobbs, Wardlow, Pac, Joe, FTR, Butcher and Blade, Ethan Page, Private Party.....

What sort of modern wrestlers now? I mean, I can’t say enough good stuff about Gunther, Rey Mysterio, Dominik and Brock. AJ Styles is always great. Lashley has improved so much. I enjoyed the shit out of Stand & Deliver, especially Bron Breakker and the Fatal 4-Way between Dragunov, McDonagh and the Lees. Chad Gable is great. I don’t know why you’re really asking. Orange Cassidy is truly bottom of the barrel for me.

I’m saying he is going to cap the show to a certain extent. He doesn’t run off the 800k or so people who watch every week. That’s such a little number for wrestling though. Some people just aren’t going to put themselves through that.

Fair answers, if I was looking to pick a fight I would point out that Rey Mysterio did an angle a couple of years ago where his eyeball was pulled out. It was insane and they didn't follow through with it, and it's water under the bridge now that he's doing a big soap opera angle, but it's worth talking about in an argument about kayfabe. It's fine if you like that style of wrestler, I think AEW also has wrestlers that fall into that category but I really don't think it's worth a row either, if you don't like them, you don't like them.

What I would say is that I don't think 800k is a notably small number. What's the ceiling, Smackdown at 2 million - with a much larger potential audience I believe? Smackdown is available to watch in far more many homes because it's on free TV, is that right? I don't know the proportions there or much about how US TV works beyond cable and 'over the air'? That's a show with the sorts of wrestlers you like, with a larger potential audience than Dynamite, and all the brand power and legacy of WWE, and the audience is 2 million

In light of that I still think it's remarkable that AEW is within reach of what WWE does on TV - I would expect them to be lower, and so did TNT. You can spend the next 4 years continuing to gripe about it but they're still ahead of business expectations so, there's just not much very interesting about any of this!

I didn’t like Rey’s eyeball stuff either. My point is about him as a worker. His shit is crisp as fuck — arguably getting better with age (he no longer seems to luck into the 619 every match). Anyone in AEW at that level disappears into the sea of sloppy unprofessionalism.

I don’t think SmackDown is the ceiling. I think they run people off too. But 800k compared to 2.4 million is pretty shocking. If WCW was doing 25% of what WWF was, they would be mocked mercilessly. David Flair bumping the rating 1% wouldn’t be applauded so readily.

I would have expected a promotion with $100 million, so much goodwill, a fresh start and national cable to be doing better. I don’t know where this low bar is coming from.

Why would I compare WWF vs WCW to WWE vs AEW? That was 25 years ago, 30 years ago. The target audience wasn't even born.

Name your numbers then, what should Raw and Smackdown be doing? What should AEW be doing?

from you?

One issue with OC is he's doing a fad gimmick. Reminds me of a modern-day DX but without the same platform. He may seem cool to a certain segment of the audience now, but he won't age well. Seriously, DX was fun at the time, but super shit when you go back and watch. The guys can all work in their way so they get away with the lameness, but fuck me it's bad.

I suppose wrestling is a business of "now," but I feel like timeless gimmicks are what will set you apart as trends inevitably shift.

Which version of DX are you talking about? I don’t think original DX was all that dated. Just a couple sophomoric douchebag heels. Post-HBK definitely doesn’t age as well in some aspects. The “I love cocks”/old man HBK awkward comedy reboots… yikes.

I dont mind Orange Cassidy at all. Sure I wish his character would evolve some, but that is an issue with pretty much the entire roster. At least he is different than the most everybody else who's only gimmick is "I wrestle good".

original dx is so lame and dated.

I meme'd today

https://i.ibb.co/XF2k3zw/Grid-Art-20...-204745413.jpg
upload images for free

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">�� <a href="https://t.co/wOxvVfYU9X">pic.twitter.com/wOxvVfYU9X</a></p>&mdash; Down with the KXNG♠️ (@KxngSpade) <a href="https://twitter.com/KxngSpade/status/1658837080410140673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He's all those things to the same group of people who have watched aew from the start, and probably always will as long as it's around. He's not some big star thats bringing new eyes to the product.

That's the best thing I've seen in a long while.

The target audience definitely was born. You don’t even need to go backwards in time to see that AEW is not performing as well as it could/should be.

No, it comes from apologists and is based on nothing.

Lol, Mike Johnson is reporting that the AEW/CM Punk relationship is frosty again. This time it’s because Ace Steel was supposed to come back and now he’s not. As I’ve said, I’ll actually believe Punk is coming back when I actually see him. I don’t think many of these dirt sheets actually talk to guys Punk knows. I suspect a lot of the rumors have been things AEW wanted and weren’t necessarily going to get Punk to agree to.

The situation simply isn't comparable. You'd have to be at least 27 years old to even begin having a living memory of WCW. The WWE now is not the WWF of then either - WWF and WCW basically came up together. WWE now is a company that benefits from decades of victory and expansion.

Where do you think the numbers for WWE and AEW should be? TV ratings are universally down, both WWE and AEW have hit number 1 on cable (despite Raws figures steadily falling through the 2010s), it would be insane if AEW was able to pull comparable ratings to WWE with it's massive entrenched lead. Give a number!

WWE is also stale and we live in a globalized world. AEW has way more advantages than any other start-up wrestling promotion…ever. Certain things are antiquated (like when AEW fans compare AEW’s buyrates to ECW’s), but other things are still applicable. That whole discussion is a major smokescreen away from what I’m actually saying, since I don’t think I’ve ever said that AEW or WWE should be doing the exact same numbers that were done in the Attitude era. I just don’t think they’re doing optimal numbers. Very different arguments.

I’ve said before that I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that the primary show of a major wrestling promotion in a prime time basic cable should be able to beat Monday Night Raw — whatever number that is. Raw is on a more competitive night, has been on the air forever, is not WWE’s priority show anymore, and is 3 hrs long (which obviously handicaps the rating). They haven’t really come close to that number (outside their debut, which didn’t hook as many live viewers as possible).

I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to beat SmackDown on FOX, given the network advantage, but that is on Friday night. It wouldn’t be absolutely shocking for a TV show to get more than 2.4 million viewers even on cable. I think there are millions of people who would dip in and out of wrestling if it were better.

I just don’t like the argument that the numbers are what they are and wrestling is doing the best that it can. I think it does stuff that markedly limits its audience. It’s not just AEW. WWE has done it for years and still does it now. WCW did it. But I don’t think shrugging and saying that you can’t expect them to be as successful as they once were is satisfying coverage of that. Sounds like a cop-out.

The discussion isn't doing anything except asking, what do you think those numbers could get up to?

The follow up question is: for what purpose? There's a universe of competing entertainment that didn't exist in the 90s. If WWE and AEW are making enough money, what does more money do for them? Why does the show need to be bigger? Why do people have to put down whatever they're doing and start watching wrestling?

Should we be watching wrestling instead of Minecraft youtube videos? Those minecraft videos could be doing much better numbers! It's very disappointing that they're not attracting a more mature, affluent audience. Fucking embarrassing man.

The argument is about how effective the programming is. That Dynamite doesn’t generate interest suggests that it is missing fans that would care if it were good.

It has exceeded expectations and has just doubled its live programming hours.

Everything's missing fans, it's what everything in the world is trying to do at the same time.

No it hasn’t. They might have better days, better time slots, a streaming deal or more control over the amount of content they generate (rn they’re totally at the mercy of WBD) if they had a better success rate.

And there’s that smokescreen argument I don’t like. Not everything shrivels and dies on the vine. Let’s stop excusing it.

Yeah the fact they’ve added more content can’t be chalked up as a win, at least not yet. Let’s see what they turn out. Part of the problem with the current setup is Rampage is very clearly a B show that nobody watches and Dynamite is trying to feature too many moving parts. A roster split of any kind might help with this but it’s not a panacea to fix all ills.

I don't know what the argument even is. They literally, materially exceeded the original expectations for how Dynamite would before. Yes, they are at the mercy of their biggest customer, what alternative would you suggest? That you like a load of WWE wrestlers? Good, they're making more money than ever! Cheer up, dickhead.

You don't like modern wrestling but it's making more money now, I'm sorry to tell you this. It's a media product, blame Vince for starting Raw and making wrestling the never ending live show. You won't name numbers, you have no advice to offer these companies, WWE is making insane amounts of money. I pause before saying that AEW is making money because I don't know and I'm sure I'll get told how it's a joke and losing hand over fist.

I thought that's what we were all supposed to care about, the money and the miles, right? That's what all the legit, old school legends said, right? Suddenly the money's not good enough?

There is plenty to be said about how shows and companies could be doing things better, I just don't think it's going to affect the bottom line as much as you think, nor is it as easy as you think. It's a miracle these shows exist at all.

For the record, until Financials come out, nobody can say what more programming hours mean. If they are still operating in the red, then another live show is just going back to compound that.

AEW has also not been able to maintain viewership for 3 hours a week, but now we just assume they can for 5? It is a big ask.

Are they in the red? We just keep saying lots of things here. Not popular, not able to maintain viewership, by what standards? Everyone is reportedly very happy at a time when media companies are tightening their belts and harshly cancelling things. Again, what should these numbers be, what's the magic viewing figure that suddenly turns all this web of lies about success into a truth?

We do not know without the financials, which is the point. We cannot know if it is a good thing for the company or a bad thing for the company based on the information that has been released. We do not know if there is anything in place to handle the extra workload, or if Tony is just planning on doing more cocaine!

Ideally, the show is separate to minimize backstage drama, run by somebody else to minimize being stretched too thin, and profitable. My only point is we do not know any of that. Thunder had a disastrous effect on WCW for all of the same reasons.

I keep beating this drum but I really want Darby to win the World title. I understand they were going for the whole long reigns builds legitimacy thing pre the Punk debacle but if your going to have your young pillars feud over it lets do some crash TV.

It doesnt need to be handed around like crazy but lets see a surprise win and someone making gutsy defences as a fighting champ for a month or two. Make a few big defences along with the smaller ones before dropping it to someone not surprising, in a surprising location/fashion (a live Rampage?)

I think Darby or Penta (with a little build now hes been off TV a bit) could be perfect. The crowd love them, they can go in ring, they could defend up or down the card believably on TV and just bring something a little different to the table when you have Reigns doing the long reign thing over in WWE land as well.

You're talking about something different now, and once again we find ourselves back in the 20th century for some reason.

I guess we all have to shuffle our feet and pretend it's possibly a Machiavellian plan by WBD.

I am not talking about something different. A new TV show has been announced, that is all. Anything else is pure speculation. I didn't say it was a plan, or doomed, or anything else other than we cannot say for now, because there are no details yet.

You seem to be ignoring where I am saying it could possibly be a great deal, bring lots of money, produce quality tv, etc. You are only focusing on the part where I am saying it could possibly be a bad deal, cost them lots of money, produce bad tv, etc.

You moved from talking about the history of AEW being doomed, to a different thing, now the second show is the iceberg that's going to sink the company. So they're already apparently failing and in debt, but now this new show could make them fail and be in debt. You could operate from a position that they're doing okay but the new show could tip them over, but no, apparently the company's terrible and WBD gave them a second live show to produce because??? I guess anything is possible, that is but merely what you are deigning to but say.

Tony Khan doing some REALLY dumb stuff today, but we can't talk about that here because we have to talk about the fantasy world in which the show's getting cancelled and arenas are filled with AI generated fans.

Hey guys apparently The Rogerer doesn't know he's allowed to change the subject lolol what a schmuck.

Interesting stuff happening but it would be a waste of time to talk about it since the show'll be off the air soon anyway, on to bigger and better things for me!

Sigh...

I'm in the minority I'm sure but I had no interest in Starks vs Jay White the other night. So there's at least one PPV match I can zone out during.

No they haven’t. I expected Dynamite to do better. You’re taking a low bar, letting them jump over it and calling it exceeding expectations. It doesn’t make it true. I used to like plenty of AEW wrestlers too, but I don’t watch them in AEW because it fucking sucks. That’s the point.

WWE making more money than ever is great for their bottom line, but it doesn’t make the content better. I have given numbers, I have given advice, don’t know what your rambling ass is going on about with the legends stuff. I just want good wrestling that works, man. Give me something good and I’ll say it’s good. I’m not going to lick the boot of whatever presents itself though.

Collision is just going to add to the glut. Talent is going to be more exposed and less focused on. It’s more ask of viewers. It’s going to hurt.

Dynamite drew 1.4 million viewers for its debut episode. Their viewership peaked on day 1.

More people watched the debut of Jake Hager than any of the 50+ debuts that came after.

Seriously, Jake Hager is historically their biggest draw.

That last sentence was one too many. I don't think you can claim that people were watching because of Jake Hager, he wasn't even announced to be there.

Why are you guys endlessly arguing the same thing over and over?

Oh, I'm sorry. Is this your first time on the internet?

The Collision artwork, posters whatever you want to call it gives me Nitro call back vibes. I don't hate it.

Fight Forever apparently slated for june 27. Offial statement expected soon, if not within the week.

I tried playing some old WWE 2k games the other day and just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'm too old for this stuff now :-\

1. It's a TV show that was commissioned to hit a certain level of ratings. They have consistently exceeded those ratings. I'm sorry if that simple matter upsets you. They got more money and now an extra show. I still haven't seen the ratings that you think Dynamite should be hitting.

2. You've changed the discussion entirely here. You always talked about popularity and success. Now you're saying you just want it to be good. Would you be happy with a show that you liked more but with lower ratings? Or do you just assume that if they do what you like, the show would be more popular?

It's worth discussing personal preference in wrestling. It's just a shame you talked entirely about performance metrics and then pretended you were talking about quality all along.

What level of ratings were they commissioned to hit, exactly? Because it sounds like you're making stuff up here.

Talk from 2019 was that TNT were happy with 400k as a starting point and considered 500k a success. I made this number up, it was actually expected that they'd hit 3 million and now they have to do a second live show as an apology.

I don't NOT believe you, Rog. But do you have a source? Because if you can back those numbers up, that's basically "it" for the argument.

I mean it's not out of the realm of reason to view AEW as a success even if the product is a bit crap a lot of the time. Everyone sings to the skies about how WWE is a juggernaut and they've produced some of the worst television you'll ever see in your lifetime week after week. Wrestling is kind of just bad now (and has been for decades).

Why would I make them up? The source of the numbers came from Meltzer so of course they should be immolated, you can do your own searches too, but even back in 2019 you'll find that people fixated on these numbers and were convinced AEW would do 400k and NXT would do 800k - probably the same people who do the "no million" crowd.

It's funny that it's been said I'm making things up, when I'm just going by the best information available. Those were the expectations for the show, the show did better. Even if those ratings are made up, the network seems really happy. To me the problem only exists if one has to start contorting reality into "I hate the show and the ratings are lower than I think they should be therefore it's doing really badly". If people hate AEW then that's up to them, I just have a queue of people here saying "Also it's a failure" when it just isn't. If you hate AEW then that's a bad thing for you, they're doing something you hate and it's working.

TV ratings are low. Wrestling has always been a niche thing, and the ways that it was able to explode in Hulkamania and the Attitude eras just don't exist now. Entertainment is radically different. Do not take it for granted that there's still multiple promotions putting live wrestling on TV. It could have gone away forever. Maybe this is as good as it gets.

I would imagine this is basically as good as it gets. TV ratings for everything are paltry now. You hear people across all genres complaint about it. We consume entertainment so much differently now, making the metrics of old basically pointless.

Nobody ever said TNT was only expecting 400,000 viewers. Even if that were true, once the first episode got 1.4 million viewers, it is reasonable for the network to wonder where 600,000 viewers went.

If TNT expected 400,000 and Dynamite is getting 800,000, then why did TNT stop putting out press releases touting the viewership after it declined? Why did they move it off TNT at all? If a show is getting double what the network expected, they should be over the moon, not sending it to the B Network.

How about the Saturday show? Since Saturdays have less people watching TV, will TNT be expecting even less than their initial 400,000 viewers? Are we honestly supposed to believe Warner Bros Discovery is eager to pay $80 million a year for 2 hours of Saturday Night TV, as long as AEW can get at least 400,000 viewers?

WBD will want to pay less, and they will want more viewers. That is basic business, get the most bang for their buck. If the current deal is paying $15 million per hour of TV, justify why they would bump that up all the way to $40 million per hour for shows that have lost roughly 40% for Dynamite and 50% for Rampage? They don't own the content, they aren't going to make up the difference on a back end syndication deal.

This is a company so desperate to cut spending they cancelled the release of a Batgirl movie just for a tax writeoff! Yet they are going to give a bunch of money to a guy who is going to fund his wrestling company with his daddy's money no matter what? WBD does not care if AEW makes itself a profit, they care if they can make a profit off AEW.

My source if you are wondering is THAT IS HOW BUSINESS WORKS! WBD answers to it's shareholders, not AEW diehards that think AEW is the greatest thing ever and should get paid because they, because LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He said that you son of a bitch

I would like a quote or a link to verify such statements.

but what about wcw losing the network money, i kept hittng myself in the head aeiwith a hammer an = now itsa 1997 agian

No, it's mine and you'll never see it