*AEW Chat*

[Rhyno]

Britt Baker just became aew’s newest jobber

Got shown on camera at takeover

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Showed a mate AEW this weekend. He absolutely hated it. Looked too choreographed and too many flips, not enough wrestling or fighting.

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

Yeh I can understand that POV. It’s hard for a high spot to stand out when there are 20 per match...sorta kinda defeats the purpose

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

It’s just too much. Every match seems to have 2-3 tope’s, the same in top rope moves, and something exciting like a 450 splash is just another high spot before a roll-up win. Add in that all their matches seem to last 20 minutes, it’s just repetitive.

Where AEW excels is their promos. Because the talent has freedom to express themselves, most of their interviews come across as truly authentic.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

yeah that indyriffic stuff is played out. I wanna see innovative offense sure, but make it make sense in that 'wrestling' way we all want.

And yeah, the promos are really top notch. The Thanksgiving stuff from Jericho was so damn good.

 

[Big Pete]

It's important to be patient with AEW. Meltzer was talking about it on one of his shows, but when Nitro debuted, it took them four months to reach their debut number. What's apparant to me is that they're trying their best to avoid being a vanity show. Instead of starting big and rushing through all their money matches, they're using their established stars like Omega, the Bucks, Cody etc. to make new stars.

They're also booking it more like a variety show so that elements like Joshi, Hardcore, Tag Team, Records, Ranking etc. stand out. I think it's important for them to establish these elements and to see what's worth persisting with long term and what are some aspects fans simply aren't that into.

I agree that certain aspects of the show drag. A lot of the matches that are designed to be great like Omega-PAC get lost in the shuffle because there's all these other matches going through commercials. Again, I'd like to think they're just experimenting and again trying to introduce a lot of characters at once with the view that by February 2020 they'll have 4-6 new stars and will be able to bring in a Marty Scurll or Luke Harper to help boost the product.

There's a lot of things about the show I like. I just hope as time goes on, they can synergise the show and make it flow better.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

I do think the flow is improving a lot though.

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

What’s the go with newark? Heard that Vince was trying to cock block them out of the stadium For dynamite in March

I think they need a heel commentator. Schiavone would be fun

also think they need scurll and Harper I’m there ASAP as they are a little short in the mid card imo

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Big no for me on the heel commentator. It’s been done, be different for a while. Promote the company as the babyface while still young.

Scurll will be there eventually when his ROH deal expires. Harper they definitely could use because they have no big bodies. I would still be chasing big guys like Alexander Hammerstone, DB Smith Jr, or Brian Cage if I was them, give the product some variety and someone for the smaller babyfaces to overcome.

 

[Big Pete]

The commentary is a breath of fresh air from the overly corporate WWE booth, but there is still some growing pains there. JR and Schiavone are trying their best to like the product, all the while Excalibur is being more thoughtful with his commentary so he can appeal to millions as oppose to the thousands who stream PWG.

Very interested to see how they respond after their critically panned episode.

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

Big no for me on the heel commentator. It’s been done, be different for a while. Promote the company as the babyface while still young.

Scurll will be there eventually when his ROH deal expires. Harper they definitely could use because they have no big bodies. I would still be chasing big guys like Alexander Hammerstone, DB Smith Jr, or Brian Cage if I was them, give the product some variety and someone for the smaller babyfaces to overcome.

pretty much every great commentary box in history was a heel/face combo - heenan/gorilla, gorilla/Ventura, lawler/ross, styles/gartner etc. what makes you think going away from it works? Don’t understand the logic

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Again, at the moment with a new company, they need to get as much good hype as possible. The other top commentary trio at the moment is on NXT, and all 3 are faces.

Also, those WWF heel names mentioned were genuinely fantastic heels. Shiovane is an awful heel, when he’s done it in the past it comes across as forced. The last real convincing heel commentator was Taz, and even he turned it down from blatant barracking for the heel to explaining why he agreed with that “win at all costs” mantra.

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

Again, at the moment with a new company, they need to get as much good hype as possible. The other top commentary trio at the moment is on NXT, and all 3 are faces.

Also, those WWF heel names mentioned were genuinely fantastic heels. Shiovane is an awful heel, when he’s done it in the past it comes across as forced. The last real convincing heel commentator was Taz, and even he turned it down from blatant barracking for the heel to explaining why he agreed with that “win at all costs” mantra.

there’s heaps of candidates out there if they are willing to look beyond their nose. The world of podcasts is full of ex wrestling identities that would be perfect heels. I’d go back to the format of having 1 commentary team of 2 for the first hour and then another team in hour 2. Schiavone gets lost in the three man booth

 

[The Vaulting Violinist]

I liked dynamite today without loving it

the Ambrose turn was a little predictable but still enjoyable. Will be good to see him taunt the IC

The biggest disappointment in all of dynamite so far has been the elite and probably SCU. I know, it sounds ridiculous. I watched all the YouTube shows and love them there but there is just something not translating to the show week in week out. I can’t put my finger on it

anyone else feel similar?

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Brian Cage reportedly signs with AEW.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Brian Cage reportedly signs with AEW.

Interesting, would explain the injury angle at the Impact PPV tonight.

Edit: Melissa Santos (Mrs Brian Cage) is denying the story.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

He is the kind of guy AEW needs. They have zero big dudes at the moment, pretty sure Jake Hager & Dustin Rhodes are their only real big bodies.

 

[Misanthrope]

TNT picking up AEW for another three years + giving them an additional slot for television (likely AEW Dark or perhaps Being the Elite) is a hugely promising moment for them.

The fact they've bounced back to consistently beating NXT in the ratings now that the Survivor Series hype has died down is also promising. I'm not saying I enjoy AEW Dynamite more than NXT, but I definitely enjoy AEW Dynamite better than Raw or Smackdown, so it being around for the long haul is promising.

Hopefully, as it finds its feet, we'll see more people on the fringes of the WWE trying their luck there rather than languishing on the undercard for the WWE.

 

[Misanthrope]

He is the kind of guy AEW needs. They have zero big dudes at the moment, pretty sure Jake Hager & Dustin Rhodes are their only real big bodies.

And Luchasaurus. He's a sizeable lad.

 

[Eelementary]

I see a lot of people saying that AEW needs size - I'm not sure I agree.

What I find refreshing about AEW is that we get to see stars like Darby Allin, Joey Janela, Peter Avalon, Jungle Boy, etc. who are not big, but are good workers.

A few big bodies here and there may help, but I don't think AEW desperately needs big bodies.