Just now, C.S. said:

And Megha Parekh, who is apparently TK's second-in-command.

Does she have anything to do with the day to day operations though? I was under the impression she is in charge of the legal stuff for the Khan family empire.

She is SVP and Chief Legal Officer of the Jaguars, yes. It's true that she is pretty much the legal go-to for the Khan family, but in some ways that sells her short. She specializes in M&A and technology law. I'm very interested in seeing who AEW hires to negotiate their next television deal.

If/when guys like Keith Lee and Shane Strickland get to AEW, I think there's gonna be very little room to not justify better booking for black people in AEW.

And a guy like Fred Yehi (who is a current better version of Moriarty) is 28 and right there to be picked up.

Speaking of black talent they should pick up… You think Shane Taylor can carry a roadblock sign on his shoulders?

On 12/31/2021 at 8:23 PM, NintendoLogic said:

How is this a bad thing? Pro wrestling should be a field where the ones with creativity and drive rise to the top.

I disagree with this sentiment. Elvis was an incredible singer but didnt write any of his songs. He made other people's pieces classics. There are wrestlers that can create on their own (a singer-songwriter if you will) and others who need a great writer/booker/producer but once the bell rings they bring the vision to life. 

There's no wrong way to skin a cat.

7 hours ago, Superstar Sleeze said:

 

There's no wrong way to skin a cat.

How do you know so much about this? Is this you, Jim Ross?

On the whole “creative” thing… I mean both ways can benefit a wrestler. I get it, some wrestlers have learning disabilities that they can’t get over. As a viewer I prefer the loose way AEW is ran. Although it’s definitely not as loose as it used to be as they have a house style they like them to work in matches these days. But script wise they encourage bullet points. That’s what I think she meant when she said that the company sort of doesn’t have a “script”. So they are getting direction for stories. But I think from listening to other wrestlers, and her husband, she thinks she might thrive better in a much more pre-production WWE style setting, where they lay a character out in front of you, and you essentially put it on. That still has its positives, and it’s negatives just like the looser old-style. 

15 hours ago, Loss said:

It seems like Lee Moriarty would succeed at the level of Jungle Boy, Darby, MJF and Sammy if he was pushed at that level. I don't see why he wouldn't.

Not right now as Lee is still pretty green when it comes to working television and projecting to cheap seats. He'll get there though I've all faith. His attitude and Wrestling IQ has always been wildly praised. Very excited about where he'll be by the end of the year. 

15 hours ago, Loss said:

I'm higher on Bowens, who seems to have stepped up his game a ton since the Danielson match. However, no matter how much of a push either guy receives, they should stay together either way, as they feel like guys who will always mean more as a team.

I've been yelling about Bowens for years. I know the height barrier has been largely broken but Bowen's height optically comes across as being "too short to be main eventer" once you see him stand beside some others you automatically recoil. 

I agree that Moriarty doesn't have all the pieces yet, but he's got a great foundation. He seems farther along than Jungle Boy was at the beginning of AEW, for instance.

The Danielson match did a lot to open my eyes to Bowens, then the Jungle Boy match cemented it. Now I see him as a reliable mechanic type.

It should be remembered that three of AEW's biggest homegrown stars (Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Orange Cassidy) are guys who almost never talk. And unlike Adam Page and MJF, none of them were specifically groomed for main event stardom. Their pushes came after they got over organically. Someone like Moriarty has the potential to do likewise.

*whispers* Guys Lee Moriarity suuuucccckkkks *whisper off*

Ok guys I've checked out a couple of Lee Moriarity matches and while he doesn't suck. He is just an average/good wrestler, don't see a future star in him at this stage.  I wouldn't be putting him on dynamite with any kind of push at the moment. The standard of work is too high and he's not up to it at the moment, nor does he show any kind of charisma that would help him get him over like Darby.

 

 

My praise of Moriarty comes from the hour-long match with Yuta from Beyond. I don't think that match was an all-time classic, but the work was good and both guys came across as types who will be great in a few years.

Just give Shawn Spears a real push. He’s the only one between Wardlow, and him who truly deserves it.

Spears had his chance with the Cody feud. It took every bell and whistle in the book to get their match at All Out into "pretty good" territory, so that likely marked the end of any serious consideration of giving him a significant push. Midcard goon is the perfect role for him.

Come on, he didn’t even get to use the loaded glove on Dynamite!

47 minutes ago, gonzalez said:

Come on, he didn’t even get to use the loaded glove on Dynamite!

I was just about to hop in to point out I saw him use it there, but I remembered it was as clip from Dark that they showed on Dynamite. Wow....I mean I didn't think that deal was going to change the world or anything but they sure snuffed it out before it got out of the gates. 

I am baffled that the TK tweet is still up. Hobbs, Rush, Jade all have addressed the diversity question - which is fine, they have their own takes and experiences - yet the whole issue was that Swole was disrespected in very petty fashion by her former boss on a public forum. After having nothing but praise to say about Tony on her podcast. This isn't right, man.

6 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

I am baffled that the TK tweet is still up. Hobbs, Rush, Jade all have addressed the diversity question - which is fine, they have their own takes and experiences - yet the whole issue was that Swole was disrespected in very petty fashion by her former boss on a public forum. After having nothing but praise to say about Tony on her podcast. This isn't right, man.

Tony seems to believe that Swole broke their agreement of Swole being allowed to state publicly her leaving AEW was her choice when privately that wasn't the case.

And Tony likely fully believes her work was substandard. 

So that Troy Hollywood guy… You definitely can’t judge a book by its cover. He looks like Asylum Films Lee Moriarty. But I have a feeling @Phil Schneider might like him waaaay more than Lee Moriarty. 

I think part of the issue is that Tony Khan needs to remember how much power his words hold, especially as he's a hugely popular figure with a lot of online fans. Publicly highlighting Swole's comments and saying "She wasn't any good anyway" is basically inviting his fans (who otherwise may not have read the comments) to go and swarm her with abuse, not that I think that was his attention. 

If you want to talk about toxic Twitter behavior, look at all the people calling Britt Baker a racist because she RTed Tony's tweet. Speaking of Britt, let's remember that Swole beat her on PPV. It obviously would have been a much better look if the POC on the roster had trumpeted the company's track record on diversity and inclusion while Tony remained silent. Still, I can't blame him for feeling burned if they reached an agreement with Swole to paint letting her go as her own decision only for her to throw the company under the bus. She had plenty of opportunities to get over and just couldn't deliver the goods.

But she not even threw the company under the bus. She was very mild in her criticisms - even went on to say that the company IMPROVED when it comes to representation, but still had room for further improvement. Most of the nearly one hour audio was about her sharing road stories, saying how she had a great time and how the women were fighting to get more TV time and improve. There's a heartwarming story about Abbadon in that specific situation in there, too.

Not talking about anyone specifically here, but there are A LOT of people talking out of their asses. Nothing she said was really inflammatory, regardless if you agree with her or not. She was calm, collected, seemed to have very fond memories of her time there. The fact this got blown out of proportion is fucked up.

 

Yeah, the only person who seemed to be thrown under the bus was Swole. If Tony wasn't such a petulant, thin-skinned manchild (again), none of this shit would have blew up like it did.

This is what you get for just reading the headlines, Tony.

SRS pretty much confirms that AEW decided not to renew Swole's contract but allowed her to present it as a mutual parting to preserve her dignity. In her podcast, she said several times that she had left of her own volition when in fact she was let go. Given that she lied about the circumstances of her departure, none of what she said about AEW can be taken at face value.