JRH

Well, looks like we can ressurrect this thread, since it's been reported Paramount is considering buying WBD, which could affect AEW.

50 Years of Funk:

They're trying to make WWE like boxing or UFC where only the big shots have enough money to attend, but by doing this, they're also pricing out the kids (who are the next generation of fans) and families. I pointed out on the AEW board that AEW needs to counteract this by not just courting the 18-49 crowd, but also try to attract kids and families as well.

They've uploaded some episodes of Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling (not exactly a good show mind you, but it is interesting to hear Brad Garrett as Hogan and James Avery as JYD).

Can someone move this thread to the Microscope section (it might get more attention there)?

He was able to get "Can You Dig That,,,SUCKA!" over as a huge catchphrase at least.

Kelly Osbourne is not happy with what Becky Lynch said on RAW: I dont really see the problem here, she didnt say anything negative about Ozzy, just Birmingham.

More proof that just because someone has good mic skills, doesnt mean they're a good commentator (see also Randy Savage, Mick Foley, and Nick Bockwinkle).

WWE has severed ties with Knoxx Pro: https://www.pwinsider.com/article.php?id=199715

While AEW does a good job marketing to the 18-49 crowd, they could also work well with marketing to a younger audience too (especially with WWE pricing out of the range of casuals and families). Wrestling always does well with kids, and there are plenty of AEW stars who have kid appeal (Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, Bandito, Hologram, Mark Briscoe, Willow Nightingale, even Luchasaurus once they finally turn him back face), so maybe they could have some merchandise aimed at kids (no matter how much they claimed they were marketing to older teens or adults, both WWF and WCW had merch for kids during the NWO/Attitude era). I'm not saying to go full on PG, just appeal to even more fans.

With WWE beginning to price themselves too high for the average fan to keep up, I can see them losing a good chunk of their younger fan base (maybe AEW should find some way to market to that crowd somehow).

TIL that WCW got in hot water with the British Royal Family over a Steven Regal promo:

Who was the youngest person to work a match? I dont mean jokey stuff like Matt Hardy's baby son pinning a guy or Nicholas winning the tag belts with Braun, I mean an actual match that's treated at least somewhat more seriously.

The complete Wrestlefest 88 has been uploaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOlPBv96JVM

Hogan was able to have good to great matches against guys who werent that great of workers like Studd, Bundy, Warrior (though the Rick Rude feud a year earlier helped Warrior when it came to having "real" matches), heck, I'll even throw in the Goldberg match (though a lot of that was spectacle).

Is DDP a backstage agent? From what I've heard he's just a yoga instructor and helps in-need people (his legacy when all is said and done will basically be known as the man who saved Jake Roberts's life).

In one of Hogan's final interviews, he actually put over Toni Storm: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/hulk-hogan-really-likes-toni-003620291.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFuF-xaFByedFK1kXY-DKOZKL1yE8m5MixnqR22-jD1ENdocu17o1exCFFP-BNGeRiEV5Zi-tNFewskB5Fu0qYIDGtGMabGNWiuZz8ygDycaf_haufGuNg8Es_sKAivyTSm1t0TYhnx41lr_uDSrcZFJmfFrAWoN9u22EIJsx3AI

Well, a lot of fans got into wrestling because of the nWo (or other factors), so they had no experience of Hogan as a babyface, and it was something new. This was also why Hogan got a lot of pops in WWE, especially from younger fans who, again, had never seen him in his heyday. Nostalgia also played a role as well of course.

Yeah, most fans of "legitimate" sports look down on pro wrestling, and vice versa.

Heck, if you have a Cricket phone account (no, I'm not shilling for the company, just stating facts), you get HBO MAX free with your membership (ironic, since Cricket is one of WWE's sponsors).

To be fair, occasionally I'll just decide to watch one of Brian Zane's reviews of PPV matches as opposed to watching the full match, especially if time is a consideration.

Hogan's death got me thinking about this, how will future generations of fans see guys like Hogan, Savage, Andre, Flair, the Von Erichs, Austin, Rock, Goldberg, etc? Will they still be considered legends, or will they eventually go the route of guys like Thesz, Verne Gagne, and Bruno, where they're known to be big stars, but the fans have never seen their matches (though the fact that all those guys have much more available and higher quality footage than Thesz, Verne, and Bruno does help)? As for wrestlers, will we see wrestlers influenced by them (even if just partially), or will they be more influenced by the guys of the 2000s on up?

During the Santino/Page match last night a random shot from Joe Hendry's entrance vid came on the screen for a few seconds. It must have been an error in the production truck, but I still found it funny.

I'd actually think that the cruiserweights, at least the more high-flying ones, would actually be MORE appealing to American fans for doing something new. When I first saw clips of Jushin Liger in 1991 I was blown away. Of course, now that pretty much every company has a good number of high flyers, it may have suffered from too much of the same thing.

Apparently the singer had no problem with this, so this is actually a non-story.