Fall will be fun in the wrestling world!

I wonder what kind of TV deal they are going to get in Canada. TSN aired the Kenny Omega doc but who knows how they would feel about airing wrestling regularly again after giving Raw the boot all those years ago. Granted, WWE is hooked up with Sportsnet and thing are pretty competitive between the two sports networks in this country so that might open the door. AEW could also sign a deal with TSN parent company Bell and have a regular time on another channel like MuchMusic then have an re-airing on TSN later in the week.

I just love that between the Nitro-reminiscent flames and the "we're back in the wrestling business", TNT's announcement tweet seemed to be designed for maximum Vince trolling. 

3 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I just love that between the Nitro-reminiscent flames and the "we're back in the wrestling business", TNT's announcement tweet seemed to be designed for maximum Vince trolling. 

Coincidence !!!! 

Yeah, those flames are a nice touch. I see Conrad tagged Bischoff & Schiavone. Somewhere deep inside, this probably makes them chuckle a bit. 

Double or Nothing is $49.99 on PPV, well B/R Live anyway. That's quite an ambitious price point.

On 5/14/2019 at 7:10 AM, NintendoLogic said:

Aja had a MOTYC with Hikaru Shida last year, so she can still go, although probably not on a nightly basis. With that said, it's a midcard trios match in front of a foreign audience, so she'll most likely just serve up her greatest hits. Do some crowd brawling, hit an uraken or two, maybe whack some people with her garbage can.

There is probably a decent chance of this happening. I believe Shida is full time and moving to the U.S. so depending on whatever Aja's deal is effect the likelihood of what AEW will do with her. Although, I'm sure that they want to use Aja to establish the credibility of the women on the roster. I read that Riho is on kind of a tryout of a handful of matches but it's more her trying out AEW and living in the U.S. rather than the opposite. I imagine Emi Sakura is here just to have someone Riho is comfortable to work with and to help her decide if she should sign full time. Never read anything on Yuka Sakazaki's deal or if this is a one-off for Ryo Mizunami. 

Here's something that tempers my enthusiasm somewhat:

 

I still believe this promotion wont cater to what I like about wrestling - at least for the most part -  but I hope they knock it out of the park and are able to give a presentation and feel that's different to anything else that's going on right now. Wrestling needs it.

 

43 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

Here's something that tempers my enthusiasm somewhat:

 

 

Understandable, but I don't expect them to run the usual "hey this is the guy that screwed Bret" angles.

Hebner is a veteran referee, much like Ross is a veteran announcer & producer. No matter what you think of him as a ref, they need a few of those guys to work with the younger talent. And yeah, I very much doubt we'll see some Montreal bullshit from these guys. They know better.

1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said:

Here's something that tempers my enthusiasm somewhat:

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1128492883303129088

Why? He's an experienced ref, and one of the very few who is recognizable and has a degree of "star power." Unless they're overpaying him (and who cares if they are), it seems like a solid addition to me. 

My only concern is that he'd be too old for the job. (Note: The picture in that tweet is at least 10-15 years old. Watch the VICELAND show on the Montreal Screwjob to see what he looks like now.) Maybe that sounds ageist, but referees are required to bump and react. 

22 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Maybe that sounds ageist, but referees are required to bump and react. 

It's a legit concern. My only worry for Earl is if he takes a bump he might turn into dust like he got Thanos snapped. 

Worrying about Earl taking bumps is the wrong kind of worry, honestly. He's 69. They have plenty other ref to take bumps if/when necessary. FWIW, Tiger Hattori is 73 and still refing in NJ. I doubt they'll ask Earl to grandstand and do awkward stuff. He's one of the few "mainstream" name.

I'm not trying to pile on the guy or anything, but Earl's work really took a nosedive during his time with TNA. I'm honestly unsure of how many people are aware, which is why I mention it.

But yeah. If you thought the cadence of his count looked poor towards the end of his WWE stint, it eventually got much MUCH worse. And he got less & less mobile. And slower. And less involved. And less dependable at doing much of anything.

That's not me being ageist. That's just me observing his performance and his work. That's just common sense.

Besides, if you're talking veteran refs who CAN bump, who are reliable, who get involved, who actively enhance every match - then they've already got Knox right there. Dude's the best ref going today. Period.

But hey. Good on Earl for getting a paying gig. I ain't mad at it.

They also have Bryce who has been a referee for at least 15 years now. They might even use Earl that much. He might end up being an agent or just someone who works with the referees.

Keep Earl out of the big matches at least.  I have such a disdain for his refereeing skills that he drags down matches for me on rewatch.  But good on AEW getting on TNT.  Do hope they succeed.  

A while back DAZN was rumored to be in discussions with AEW. Anything ever come of that, I mean DAZN is a pretty great streaming service. 

The Young Bucks buried NJPW and ROH in an interview with The Bleacher Report. 

"You know what's sad? New Japan and ROH could have easily come together and offered us the contracts they wanted, but they just didn't do it," Nick laments. "New Japan never saw the value in Matt and I. They never paid us good. We would have had to work with New Japan for another two decades to even get close to retiring, and the style they demand is backbreaking. Ring of Honor paid us a lot better than New Japan. We could have probably retired there, but we would have to work probably another decade with them. We pitched it to both of them: Why don't you guys get us a dual contract? And they just didn't get it done. We would have easily stayed, and there would have never been an All Elite Wrestling if they would have met what we wanted, but it didn't get done."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2836546-how-aew-was-born-inside-tony-khan-and-the-elites-attempt-to-disrupt-wrestling

ROH and NJPW get a free pass by most fans because of their "good rasslin'," but this just goes to show you that both companies are bullshit carnies who don't care about their talent.

At least for the gaijin talents, NJPW doesn't seem to care. Don't know about guys like Okada & Tanahashi.

It's refreshing when guys take the financial side so seriously. Good for them for demanding their value. 

I know this isn't entirely new—one of the Bucks had tweeted about never having had a contract with NJPW several months back, but wasn't it reported when they signed their 2017 contract with ROH that if WAS a dual contract with NJPW?

That said, the Bucks clearly overestimated their value to NJPW.

2 minutes ago, Bix said:

I know this isn't entirely new—one of the Bucks had tweeted about never having had a contract with NJPW several months back, but wasn't it reported when they signed their 2017 contract with ROH that if WAS a dual contract with NJPW?

That said, the Bucks clearly overestimated their value to NJPW.

For Japan I would agree with you. I think they were a key part of New Japan being able to draw in the United States. The MSG sellout probably doesn't happen without the Elite. 

NJPW stuggling to sell tickets for non MSG shows since they left seems to indicate they were at least sort of correct though? We kept hearing how important the US expansion was, but they didn't seem to think they didn't need to keep the Elite guys around.  Six man tags with LA Dojo guys don't seem to be cutting it. 

9 minutes ago, sek69 said:

NJPW stuggling to sell tickets for non MSG shows since they left seems to indicate they were at least sort of correct though? We kept hearing how important the US expansion was, but they didn't seem to think they didn't need to keep the Elite guys around.  Six man tags with LA Dojo guys don't seem to be cutting it. 

They still have Elgin though. They're selling tens of tickets with him on the card! 

Elgin left to go to the greener pastures of Impact (which is also a telling sign of how NJPW values the gaijins).