On Busted Open Radio, Chris Jericho explicitly stated that there were two (and then changed it to three, so who knows?) TV deals on the table, and he suggested that the collective wrestling consciousness would say “Holy shit, that’s what they need.” That’s a far cry “it’s something we’re thinking about” or some other evasive language. Given that standards for TV rights fees have been set so high and very publicly by Vince, I can’t imagine their TV deal being anything other than massive.

I read it's rumored at 100 million, no idea the length, which when you think of WWE getting 200 million for RAW and SD each year, is pretty impressive for a company that hasn't had a single event outside of a rally thus far.

I've also read TNT/TBS are possibilities.

TNT and TBS would be the goal. Their size and the history of them and wrestling just make sense. They obviously want to run Tuesdays, but I can see Cody being nostalgic for the 6:05 TBS slot. Honestly, I think TNT just suits. Can they get them to the table? I was reading up on how many people watch TNT during prime time. They get just under 1 million on average. If they get can get even just the numbers TNA had on Spike, they would be doing some good for the network. TNT generally seems to show a movie in that slot. TBS just has Big Bang reruns.

I don’t know how cable operates in the US, but in Australia cable channels that show movies don’t usually interrupt them with commercials (that’s more a free network thing). If it’s the same in the US, being able to block out two hours on a Tuesday that you can sell commercial time to could be a grab.

HBO has been dropped by people recently too. I’m actually kind of surprised they have never done anything with wrestling.

Eh. On one hand, it kinda makes sense with things they've done historically - like comedy specials, their own shows, etc. - but on the other, they were all about boxing, and they recently even quit that. I doubt they'd seriously go all in (pun unintentional, but still present) on wrestling if they haven't by now. I could be wrong, but it feels unlikely. But hey, maybe they're looking to hitch to a new and potentially limitless wagon with the imminent end of Game of Thrones to power their subscriptions for HBO GO.

It basically depends on the station. There's different "tiers" of service, but at this point, just about everyone has the 22/8 min ratio of broadcast to advertisements from free TV to most of your cable stations unless it is on a historically "premium" channel, like HBO, Showtime, or TMC, or strictly PPV. Even some non premium channels that used to not show commercials (like AMC or Turner Classic) have pretty much given up that model years ago, and have gone to interspersed commercials. A few channels even have this weird intermission-like 20 minute infomercial section mid-show instead, but I don't see how that works well when you lose viewers who go surfing for what else is on or go play on thier tablets and phones for that long of a break.

I decided to finally start watching All In. Besides some obvious down points, I’m generally enjoying the show. Stephen Amell put in a hell of an effort for a celebrity. I really got into Cody vs. Aldis. Ian Riccaboni is really impressing me as a commentator. I REALLY like his calls. It’s a shame he’s signed to ROH.

The women’s match was sloppy and the penis stuff is like from another world where bad is supposed to be good, but overall I like it. Oh, a few tech errors and such. That will come with time.

Some more AEW news via The Meltz:

* They’re negotiating with two “major” cable companies for a two-hour prime time show. It’s looking like Tuesday night might not be a thing for them.

* They’re unlikely to get Mayu Iwatani, just because ROH got her her work visa, and they feel it would be rude to get her to work opposite them. They’re apparently planning on bringing in Japanese women though, including Aja Kong.

* The Young Bucks reportedly received major offers from WWE to block AEW. It was allegedly AJ Styles money with Being the Elite continuing on the WWE Network. They also had what Meltzer says he’s never seen before: a six-month out clause if they don’t like their creative direction. People in WWE were shocked they didn’t take them. Triple H and The Bucks talked for about 12 hours.

* Tony Khan seems to be heading up creative.

* Jacksonville in July; Chicago in September.

Some more detail on the contracts that were offered:

Fairly clear WWE are concerned about the prospect of another wrestling company with legit funding opening up. Now they might actually have to try to make themselves better instead of just signing everyone under the sun.

Hangman does have some sweet music

Hangman is a very good looking guy. Has grown into himself. Looked a bit “bland” when I first saw him, but carries himself very well now.

Jericho’s deal is said to be the best in his entire career.

I bet it's because he only has to to actually wrestle a handful of dates this year and limited for the remaining two while getting to work a similar if not smaller schedule for NJPW and get paid comparably. I read or herd that he made 500k for his first year in NJPW.

Awesome. Hope it gives WWE a nice kick in the ass.

Dronepool sightings are the best sightings

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In case anyone's still wondering where Kenny's going <a href="https://t.co/8xhCikksJN">pic.twitter.com/8xhCikksJN</a></p>&mdash; fully grown ninja turtle (@emilyofpratt) <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyofpratt/status/1083802064369512449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Considering the dire state of WWE's tag divisions and Vince despising tag wrestling, that's already one thing AEW will have as an advantage. Even NXT goes back-and-forth every so often with the quality of their tag division.

Only other real area they can get a big advantage is with lucha style wrestling considering WWE's historic struggles handling it and creating big Hispanic stars on their own.

Still want to know what the "major" cable networks are.

I don’t really understand this. I’m guessing AEW is claiming on Kenny Omega trademarks? That seems premature if he’s still with New Japan.

The wording of the tweet I read was a bit ambiguous, but OWE (the Chinese promotion AEW is working with) have either invested $30 million into AEW or have received $30 million of extra funding themselves from outside parties. Either way, the announcement of this relationship has made someone $30 million.

The Meltz is apparently now reporting on the Styles/AEW speculation. I don't think this really changes the likelihood of whether or not Styles considers jumping, but it's now a story that is floating out there, I guess.

Honestly, given how much I, as a wrestling fan, hate the WWE product, I would consider signing with AEW for five years if the money was good enough that I knew I wouldn't need to work for Vince again. Just saying.

If they're willing to shell out for a special attraction for Double or Nothing, I'd strongly consider giving Big Dave a call. He'd been frustrated about WWE not bringing him in for a program for years, his planned Hunter match for WM is evidently cancelled, and he's tight with Jericho.

More from OWE/AEW signing CIMA

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ja" dir="ltr">OWE毎週日曜日上海長江劇場�� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OWE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#中国</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#上海</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#未来</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E6%8B%A1%E6%95%A3RT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#拡散RT</a> <a href="https://t.co/rfG6jKJDtB">pic.twitter.com/rfG6jKJDtB</a></p>&mdash; owecima (@supercima1115) <a href="https://twitter.com/supercima1115/status/1061685696308473856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Holy shit.

JR made some recent statements about AEW:

Jim Ross on the AEW Double or Nothing rally: “I watched it all from start to finish. I thought that the message that the new promotion wanted to tell was told. In other words, the validation that this is a real entity and another global wrestling brand will develop over time thanks to the Khan Family is a reality, so I thought that it tied a bow around everything and there’s no more speculation. There’s no more this or that. It’s a matter of reality. It’s real, so I thought that was very good. I thought that the presentation, by and large, was entertaining to the degree that the close of the event with Chris Jericho was outstandingly booked. It was well placed, well produced, if you will, whatever your term might be, because Jericho was the biggest star on the show!” Ross explained, “I’m not knocking anybody! It’s just that Jericho is the longest tenured global star that appeared on that presentation. End of story! So I thought that was a great way to end it. He’ll be a great asset, no doubt, in any role that he’s put in. I don’t see Chris being on a weekly television show every week though. He’s just that kind of guy. He likes to do a lot of different things. He has varied interests and that includes his band and other projects that he’s working on.”

Jim Ross with his thoughts on the presentation for the rally: “I enjoyed the presentation. I thought it was nice. They introduced everybody. It looks like Cody’s the guy that’s going to ramrod the single [male] wrestlers. The Bucks I’m sure will oversee, to some degree, the tag teams. And apparently, Brandi Rhodes is going to oversee the women.” Ross continued, “So there’s a plan coming about and I respect the commitment of the Khan Family. I know that this company is not going to run out of money tomorrow. They’re not going to have a problem getting the ring to the next town. It’s all going to work out real well. I’m being facetious here. I’m sure that other talents… this is like recruiting in college [athletics]. When you sign a five-star recruit out of high school, and you sign him early in football, for example, then you find out that one of your star players becomes one of your best recruiters. And others in the star player’s world of high school football, graduating, and going to college, they become very interested in what their buddies are doing. So that’s kind of what I see in this scenario, talents who are not happy in one regard, for one reason or the other, usually because of one of the two Cs, and occasionally both of the two Cs, meaning cash and creative, so some of those people I’m sure will be making inroads or inquiring about getting a jersey for the AEW team.”


Jim Ross on Tony Khan speaking on how wins and losses will be emphasized in AEW: “They’re telling me in wrestle-speak that wins and losses are going to matter, then it tells me they’re going back to a retro presentation where it’s more of an athletic event, but drama, timely comedy, bigger-than-life personalities, but above all, amazing athletes doing amazing things in the process of structuring a pro wrestling match. That’s what I got out of ‘wins and losses are going to mean something.’ Ross noted, “it meant a lot more than that one short statement.”

“They have a challenging scenario, in my opinion, where you have active talents involved in the administration, the booking, and all the creative because generally it creates, or can create an area of discomfort for some talents that don’t have the confidence that they’re not getting the attention they need, the good old boy system, or ‘he’s buddies with this guy and he’s buddies with that guy’ or whatever. Whatever. That’s going to be interesting to see how those younger guys in administration make that happen. I’m not saying you can’t because you can. They’re all smart guys and I think they’ll all be fair and objective. But they’re going to find out sooner than later when you start making creative decisions that effect somebody, and wins and losses, again, are going to be significant again, then people are going to learn how to take some losses, so the only thing I’d tell those guys is learn how to lose.” Ross said, “no, really, there’s an art form in that!”

I'm reading between the lines here, but listen to what JR isn't saying. There's no skepticism or overt criticism of anything they're doing. He's clarifying things that would be speculative if he were speculating (who is heading up what and that they will be going to a more retro philosophy). He's kind of hinting at the recruiting strategy behind hiring a guy like Chris Jericho. He's endorsing the bookers while giving advice to the talent.

It was rumored right from the start, but I do think that JR will be "All In" later this year.

CIMA, El Lindaman, Takehiro Yamamura and T-Hawk have been added to the AEW roster page. Who knows if that is from people who know and is deliberate or just fans editing? BJ Whitmer has quietly been sitting in a producer position there since before the rally too. Could be more fabrication, but you'd think someone would be monitoring the AEW page.

What time does AEW come on guys?

Here's a link to the first ep of OWE btw, just ignore the dance break at the beginning of the ep


https://v.qq.com/x/cover/zx2aovefnit...549ytagvm.html

I had no idea Cadillac was sold in China.

Not sure how I feel about play by play piped to the crowd but i don't speak the language so fuck it.

I'm liking this so far. Thank you for sharing.

People who hate flippy won't like it though.

It seems a lot more "focused" and purposeful than a lot of the flippy shit I see on independents, where they seem to lose sight of the goal that they are supposed to be wrestling each other. Like, I can suspend my disbelief enough that I can imagine a dude who can do kung fu trying to use it in a wrestling match. It's when things get overly co-operative and all psychology is lost that I personally zone out.

Even when WCW went down the gutter, that cruiserweight division was on point.

TNA used to have the best womens' division in the business.

I'm all in on AEW. Honestly, I think they can bring it all in.

I also think they can bring back tag team wrestling to mean something.

I'm excited to see what this can do.

Tony Khan is definitely going to need to get better at not responding to negative tweets from fans after AEW kicks off. Even if it's a big hit, there will absolutely be people who say offensive things about it.

Otherwise, wrestling twitter will eat him alive.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Never. I’ll die at this club. Go to hell.</p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1084150167878729729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm sure he's great, but shouting &quot;HEY NERD&quot; at me repeatedly as a catchphrase is acting like a schoolyard bully. I work hard; I want to win <a href="https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ">https://t.co/r2AjagusvJ</a></p>&mdash; Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/793527124971835392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
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So AEW can do business with our greatest enemy without repute but WWE gets shit on for doing business with an ally?

WWE does business with China too, STD.

But not Chyna, RIP


#Chyna4HOF

Well, he could be a snowflake eh? If he can put up with hooligan tweeters and the losers who call themselves Jags fans he should be fine. Maybe not. Will be funny anyways.

just hope he does not turn into another dixie

okay. So do you want WWE to be the only game in town you fucking loser?

I refuse to believe you're a real person.

Well he has said that Japan and TNA "don't count" in the better wrestler threads, so you may be on to something.

I’ll never understand rooting against the idea of there being other places for wrestlers to viably make a living.

Yeah fuck the haters I’m feeling very optimistic about AEW.

As am I. It certainly sounds like they've sat down and thought this over before everyone jumped in and committed.

It will be an interesting few years but I think it will depend on the patience of the fans and they are not know for having much anymore

I don't think I've said anything different than I'm a lifetime WWE fan. NJPW needs time to develop a real fanbase in the USA that isn't just diehard fans. They are a well rounded company but the loss of so much American talent will hurt their expansion greatly. They and ROH were foolish in lending talent to All In.

AEW seems just geared to the hardcore fans. I don't think anybody other than fans of Cody and the Young Bucks will give a shit.

Why? They only have talent that have marginal appeal.

That's fair if he does get carried away with it, but he might just be "picking his spots." Standing up for yourself in the right circumstances can be good for your public image.

Normally I defend you, but this is just a joke.

Well, I can understand wanting promotions like TNA to fold so that the talent worth a damn can get out of their contracts and go somewhere that will benefit the wrestling industry. But rooting against actual promotions that could be good? I'm with you there.

Their logo has been out there for two weeks, dude. Chris Jericho is a huge get. We'll see if they do work something out with Goldberg and Jim Ross. That's not marginal appeal. Besides, even if they decide to market themselves with guys that aren't known yet, the key word there is "yet." WWE, given how cold that company is, doesn't have anyone that would be that widely recognized in 2019.

Other than Ronda Rousey, name one full timer in WWE today that has more than a marginal appeal.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dZh8yGNUd_4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Interesting interview.

* There was no truth behind JR and Jericho starting AEW when those rumors popped up.

* Vince emailed Jericho about it when he first heard those rumors. So yeah, Vince cares.

* Life changes and life on the other side of WWE woke him up to the possibilities and getting the biggest offer of his career "by far." He "couldn't say no."

* Jericho is signed with AEW for three years.

* He doesn't sound too fussed about ending his career in WWE.

* Jericho talked to Vince before jumping. "Business is business" and he'd be stupid to have turned down AEW's offer to avoid upsetting someone, and Vince understands that better than anyone.

* You go up and down, up and down, up and down in this business as far as being a main eventer goes -- especially if you stay in the same place.

* He's not fussed about going into the WWE Hall of Fame either. He said it would be a huge honor, but he'd consider not showing up ala Guns 'n' Roses.

* You don't have to worry about being in a box. You have to move to stay happy, to stay motivated. He wouldn't sign with AEW for the money to be miserable. The money is great, but he's excited about this.

Reading between the lines of this interview, Jericho is talking to WWE talent. He really took aim at the WWE's schedule and seems to be winking about the money, the miles and the creative of WWE.

I do see WWE battling AEW whenever their TV deal is announced. I can see WWE creating a third brand to run opposition to try and stunt its ratings.

Joey Ryan is under contract to Lucha Underground! Oh god, I finally have a reason to root for Lucha Underground! And please have him locked down for ten years or something.

@STD

The Khan's have vast production and advertising experience and the show might have a different look and feel than WWE or ALL-IN.

It would be like writing off the NWA transforming to WCW back in the 80's because "they just have Ric Flair, who cares". WCW made a ton of new stars. I agree new fans are needed, but that applies to all of wrestling, including WWE, for it survive into the future.

WWE are also closer to promoting an "indy style" than they've ever been. Love it or hate it. Look at who their top full-time stars are. They've got Mustafa Ali as a focal point of SmackDown at the moment, haha.

All the podcasts are hot hot hot on AEW.

It's the most interesting story in wrestling right now.

Like, I honestly don't care at all about WWE or anything going on there.

NXT to TV? Could be a way to catch that “hardcore” fan.

That’s a possibility. They are already producing the show. I’ve got this weird feeling that they might just keep Tuesdays and give it a new name, hiring new crew members to work Friday or just make that a new TV date. If AEW gets a Saturday or something, I could see them taping something after SmackDown. That might be a little late for kiddies though. I dunno. That just seems like the most “Vince” thing they could do to drown AEW out. I could see that being where they put some smark favourites. Could see that being the Becky Lynch/Daniel Bryan/Rusev/Johnny Gargano show. For talent that gets accidentally over or that Vince doesn’t quite get.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MJF is great. Awesome stuff here. <a href="https://t.co/885WDEqrhC">pic.twitter.com/885WDEqrhC</a></p>&mdash; Fightful Wrestling (@FightfulWrestle) <a href="https://twitter.com/FightfulWrestle/status/1084884915043397634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
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I really don't like Being the Elite videos, haha. Can someone summarize if there is any new information in them?

No, just behind the scenes stuff

Ah, cool. Thanks.

Goldberg is teasing something on either his Instragram or Twitter. He says a big announcement is coming and he just signed 2000 photos of himself.

From some angles, Hangman Page makes me wonder if he's the result of Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler having so many matches together they somehow spliced and created an entity that looks like their offspring.

Who is also much more likable as a personality.

Actually, probably, yeah. :lol:

I kinda agree with the first quote, but the second one gave me a chuckle.

I seriously couldn't tell a handful of guys in ROH apart for a time, and those guys were Adam Page and all three guys in The Kingdom (Cole, Taven, and that one guy married to Maria. I remember his name now, but I'm sticking to the joke). A good part of Page breaking away from that is in no small part thanks to BTE, but with and without it, he has grown beyond voiceless lackey and been given room to breathe. If situations were different, I could have made the same mistake with interchanging he and Chase Owens in Japan. Instead, he has succeeded in making himself stand out.

Cody mentioned during the rally, but he's said again that win-loss records are going to matter in AEW and he and the Bucks are still kicking around ideas for how to implement that. He hinted there might be some sort of a formal ranking system, or G1-style tournaments that are points-based.

I appreciate the impulse, but they've got to be careful that win-loss records and rankings don't inhibit them and book them into corners and such. Might just be a better idea to keep people protected and if you are pushing someone, don't job them out to your mid-card champion or whatever.

Apparently WWE managed to fool themselves big time in regards to signing Jerry Lawler to a new deal with the company. His previous deal expired on January 10 and it didn't seem like they were going to renew prior to AEW's official debut announcement.

WWE assumed AEW was going to make an attempt to sign Lawler and rushed to get a deal done first just to keep him away from AEW.

Turns out AEW was never interested nor did they ever contact Lawler and WWE is now stuck paying him for another 2 years out for even more money than his previous deal due to their pettiness.

Also only something superfans are into.

You are all vastly overestimating.

Yeah, I remember Gabe Sapolsky saying several times that EVOLVE was going to be W-L centric but he kept backing down from it probably because it becomes a bit prohibitive from a booking standpoint.

It definitely works for a Round Robin type thing, the G1 in particular does a great job of setting up programs for the champions. But a constant awareness of the W-L records I think would be hard to do unless they are super creative with it. Maybe the months in between each big show is a new "season" where everyone's record starts anew? I dunno.

Dude, it's a promotion that had its logo unveiled, like, just over two weeks ago. Who do you expect to be into it right now? Ooh, a Kardashian hasn't gotten the logo tattooed onto her yet. Wtf?

It is fine if they can find a way to present hard records well, but I'm hoping it was more of a shot at 50/50 booking to where nobody cares about anyone where nobody is better in anyone else in what is supposed to be a world of competition.

I've always hated the "wins don't matter" sentiment. Yeah, it's scripted, but it still matters... if not, then what is the point of watching? Why crown champions if your entire roster is on equal footing?

A Portuguese woman named "Shanna" has signed. Cody said in an interview that he signed four people that day. She may or may not have been one of them.

So what? Let people be excited.

I honestly don't know what the perception of them is supposed to be before they announce a televsion deal and we even know what the roster and card of their first show is going to look like. People are more optimistic about this than other start-ups, like, say, GFW, which was in a similar boat, because of the people that are involved and the implication that the money is huge, which is such a big factor with something like this.

Every time Noid splices 'haha' into one of his sentences I want to reach through the screen and throttle the fuck out of him.

How damn GOLD was MJF in his BTE spot? He makes me LOL.

So what's elite about it?

You're replying to someone who doesn't even know who 90% of the NXT call ups are each time.

Podcast, YouTube channels, whatever discussing AEW that are showing up in my news feeds at an alarming rate compared to other wrestling news just caught my eye. Granted, it is the new hot thing. We'll see, I suppose.

I know you’ve dug your heels into this take but this is quite the odd hill to die on.

How is this news affecting you negatively at all?

Someone is trying to improve a thing that I care about at no financial or emotional cost to me? Fuck those guys! I hope it fails!

Jericho's new podcast is all about All Elite. The only real news from it is that Tony Khan paid for his private jet at All In so it wouldn't clash with a Fozzy date and that Jericho wanted to work with Tanahashi and Gedo suggested Naito.

I definitely see Jericho/Tana happening once Tana drops the belt.

I can't speak for anybody else, but it is not AEW that is annoying. It's the level of hype that some fans are giving it. They have decided this is the greatest thing ever, and can't even entertain an actual discussion.

I made a post about fanboys rallying around the idea that WWE wouldn't let 20 people acting like assholes into Smackdown who also had AEW match on.

Instead of having a conversation that MAYBE it was about the way the people were acting and not what they were wearing, a mod edited my post into a poo poo joke.

That is the perfect example of why people are annoyed with all things AEW already.

Will I watch it when it starts, of course. Do I hope they succeed and put on great shows, of course. Do I need to be blindly loyal to a company that has not had a single show and argue with anyone who isn't, of course not.

Please link to one post in this thread of someone being an irrational AEW fanboy.

I’d wager most of the people who are geeking out over it a bit too much are doing so because they are just so exhausted with the wwe product letting them down. I’m not going to get angry or even annoyed by it. Let them be happy. Doesn’t affect my life in any way.

So much talent drives 200 miles just to sit in a fold up chair somewhere to maybe get a pie in the face by the new day. meh...wwe product sucks. we all know it.

*by pie i meant free shitty pancakes

Just want to make sure they have a fair chance. If the fans overhype themselves it'll be a failure which will be blamed on WWE and never on the fans for overhyping it.

how will it be blamed on WWE

It won’t and he can’t.

I'm sure he'll come up with a reason. Should be interesting.