[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan You sure about that? Obviously, Cena coming back for an NXT feud would be huge but they can’t even afford to drag him away from bigger and better things for the main product on a regular basis, much less NXT. As far as Bryan, Mysterio, Ricochet and Ciampa... Let’s be honest... None of them are much bigger of a draw than Charlotte. They’re all just cogs in the wheel at this point. If WWE were trying, they’d be doing exactly what they’re doing. They’d suddenly start mixing their C-show and A-show talent, oddly have the C-show beat the A-show on a brand war PPV, and then put a C-show title on an A-show star. We can argue exactly how important it is but if you don’t think they’re trying given everything they’ve done, you’re in denial.

With Cena it's not so much that they can't afford him as it would be insurance and risking his film schedule. But they could have very easily put him on NXT for his most recent run.

I really wouldn't argue too much with Bryan, Mysterio, Ricochet, etc. being just cogs in the machine. But that's why it's amazing to people act like Charlotte was sent there like it was some revolutionary attempt to encourage 200k more people to watch NXT. It's kind of the point, haha.

There is no way anyone can look at NXT and think "Man, WWE have really tried to make that show a priority." Charlotte Flair winning the Women's Title is not that thing, as much as a bunch of dolts with 15-year-old boy syndrome want to pretend it is. Adam Cole beating Daniel Bryan on SmackDown one week isn't that thing either. You'll know when NXT becomes the priority, if that happens. All roads will lead there instead of from there.

It's AEW and AEW fans that think Vince McMahon is paying them any attention at all. They're 800k viewers on a Wednesday and a $45 million TV rights deal. And because Dave Meltzer talks to them, and possibly to keep subscribers coming back and because the guy running AEW was an Observer guy, it's important to push the narrative that AEW is a threat.

That's why you get things like Dave setting expectations for their TV low. And him conflating domestic PPV buys with international PPV buys in order to say things like "AEW does better on PPV than anyone since WCW." Never mind ECW used to get 99k PPV buys quite regularly from domestic and terrestrial PPV. AEW can be ordered virtually anywhere in the world via a smart phone and it only gets 100k and about two thirds of that from the US. It's why you hear the "key demo" (in 2020 in relation to an ageing medium, mind you) is mentioned almost exclusively when it comes to Dynamite, whereas it's largely ignored when it comes to Raw and SmackDown. It's also why he reports their production cost TV deal being extended like it's a major shocking new development, whereas when WWE re-announces the Saudi deal, Vince comes under fire from the same sources. I've got no problem with Vince coming under fire, but when Tony Khan pulls the same shit he should get the same shit.

And I don't mind Dave being biased -- I really don't. It's a very American thing to expect journalists to be unbiased, I think. I just think it's frustrating that the other more realistic doesn't get as much playtime. And it doesn't make Dave's perspective true.

Sorry to go on that tangent, but I'm just sick of the bullshit narrative that Vince McMahon gives two flying fucks about AEW being pushed. Fucking Meltzer couldn't even keep their names out of his mouth when the XFL folded, haha.