*AEW Chat*

[Big Pete]

I'm surprised they pulled the plug so early. They only just released a new promotional ad catered towards casual fans that promoted the product far more clearly. Before hand, all their promotional material centered around the Gates of Agony and Aussie Open.

That's one of the issues when you promote quantity over quality. You might have a more consistent product, but it's tough to sell tickets when you can't guarantee who will be on the show and what the fans are exactly paying for.

At this stage, I'd expect the show to be based around Toni Storm and Kyle Fletcher. Toni only just returned to TV after spending months on the sideline, so I don't know how they expected to sell tickets without their biggest stars. Meanwhile Fletcher has really only just started to be pushed and for all we know he's about to have the rug pulled out from underneath him.

I thought it was a ballsy move to run Suncorp, but it's not like Tony can't afford to take the hit and if he discounted the tickets he could have established a nice foot-hold here in Australia.

 

[Pippen94]

From Variety today about deal makers in entertainment industry:

"Tony Khan, CEO, All Elite Wrestling (AEW)

In October, five years to the week after Khan launched professional wrestling promotion AEW as a direct competitor to Vince McMahon’s long-dominant WWE, he closed a multi-year media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, worth a reported $185 million a year, that calls for AEW’s shows and events to be broadcast on TBS and TNT and stream on Max. The company is now valued at more than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable combat sports company in the world."

 

[Big Pete]

Be curious to see whether that's true or just a figure that's been floated online for a year.

Best of luck to Tony if he can sell it for that price.

 

[Pippen94]

Be curious to see whether that's true or just a figure that's been floated online for a year.

Best of luck to Tony if he can sell it for that price.

As a general rule I favour variety & Forbes over Cornette & Russo, but I find people believe what they want to be true.

 

[Big Pete]

Good for you mate, let's see Tony sell it for over two billion.

 

[Pippen94]

Good for you mate, let's see Tony sell it for over two billion.

WWE is dominating business at the moment but it's not my flavour. Always good for other companies to emerge and present a different approach to the sport. It's hard going at the moment, but things go in cycles.

 

[Big Pete]

More the merrier.

Like I said, this was a figure that's been floated around for over a year at this point and there was nothing really concrete behind it other than the opinion of one Forbes reporter and even he didn't sound confident. Do you know who else writes for Forbes? Alfred Konuwa and I wouldn't take his opinion seriously either.

AEW has never relied on it's financials. It's Tony Khan's project and unless something tragic happens to him or he goes full Foxcatcher it'll remain on TV.

 

[Pippen94]

More the merrier.

Like I said, this was a figure that's been floated around for over a year at this point and there was nothing really concrete behind it other than the opinion of one Forbes reporter and even he didn't sound confident. Do you know who else writes for Forbes? Alfred Konuwa and I wouldn't take his opinion seriously either.

AEW has never relied on it's financials. It's Tony Khan's project and unless something tragic happens to him or he goes full Foxcatcher it'll remain on TV.

Konuwa is part of Forbes contributor program. He's not a staff writer. He's not really a journalist. I think you know that. Valuation is just a valuation, but credentials of person who came up with that figure are highly known. Be my guest and google. I don't know what aew is worth & I don't care really. If you're questioning tv deal then that's venturing onto qanon territory.

 

[Big Pete]

Konuwa is Forbes' Pro Wrestling expert which goes to show you how seriously they take it.

I just find it odd that the company was worth two billion minimum and that was before their TV deal that supposedly made them profitable. You would think that would add to the value but supposedly not - something doesn't add up.

I guess we'll find out someday, maybe after Tony releases the report on all the online bots that post mean things about AEW.

 

[Pippen94]

Konuwa is Forbes' Pro Wrestling expert which goes to show you how seriously they take it.

I just find it odd that the company was worth two billion minimum and that was before their TV deal that supposedly made them profitable. You would think that would add to the value but supposedly not - something doesn't add up.

I guess we'll find out someday, maybe after Tony releases the report on all the online bots that post mean things about AEW.

Staff writers are full time & do in-depth reporting. The figure of $2 billion came from a CNBC business reporter & a person who runs a sports data company. A contributor may or not be paid and are used to drum up traffic to websites by providing content. They're not journalists and their content is low grade click bait that the media outlet doesn't look at.

Tv deal was reported by biggest entertainment sources like variety & sports business journal. We don't know who provided that number but it would be a reliable source generally from somebody who works with WBD. Wbd is one of the biggest media companies in the world & has shareholders, so it wouldn't want an inaccurate number there. Contrast this with Jim Cornette who has no connection to media industry & makes up stuff his listeners want to hear to gain subscriptions.

This is world we live in today. People can't discern reliable information hence the spreading of conspiracies etc.

 

[Big Pete]

It wasn't an in-depth report. I believe it originally came from a TV appearance Ozanian made and a clip emerged that set twitter abuzz. Even Meltzer was sceptical of the evaluation but used Forbes' evaluation of Bellator to justify his one billion evaluation. Bellator reportedly sold for a fifth of that so not exactly a vote of confidence. Then Ozanian responded to Meltzer and said it was minimum and they've run with that figure ever since and that was before the TV deal. If anything AEW's evaluation should have gone up.

I'm not questioning the legitimacy of the TV deal. The only question is who's right between Variety and SBJ is it 185 million? Or is it 175 million?

And that's the thing with AEW. It's not a publically traded company so this information isn't public. It's all speculation that ultimately doesn't matter. Forbes could come out and say AEW is now worth $3 billion and it wouldn't faze anyone because Tony isn't going to sell the company.

Maybe if it goes to $10 billion, Shad might have to step in.

 

[Pippen94]

Sports Illustrated named best matches of 2024: aew dominated despite publication not being considered as looking favorably at the promotion in the past

Sports Illustrated Reveals Top 10 Men’s And Women’s Wrestling Matches Of 2024 - PWMania - Wrestling News

Sports Illustrated released its 2024 Pro Wrestling Awards earlier this month, highlighting the best matches of the year. Alongside the coveted "Overall Match of the Year," the outlet also revealed its top 10 matches for both men and women. Here are the lists: TOP TEN MEN’S MATCHES #1. Will...

www.pwmania.com

 

[Big Pete]

There's a common denominator there and yet Ospreay isn't depicted as the biggest star in the company. His time will come, but probably stands to reason why fans are largely disillusioned with the product.

 

[shiznit]

I wish Osprey would have signed with WWE… it would be an absolute travesty if he never got to perform at WM at the peak of his powers.

I just don’t get that company… they have the workers but they can’t tell a story… the MJF devil story… like whatever the f**k the was the idea behind letting the bucks show the Punk footage.. lol just scatterbrained stuff.

The valuation is interesting… I mean their assets are what?? contracted talent and the TV deal? With pretty poor ratings compared to their main ‘competitor’ leading to Rampage being cancelled and from what’s being reported fox wont pick up shockwave…

If Shad Khan decides he’s sick of funding his son’s pet project will the company be able to stand on its own?

They need someone with vision to take over creative and then someone to handle the business side… at the moment they have a nepo baby running the show and it’s showing I think.

AEW need’s their Nick Khan and Ari Emmanuel to run the show IMO… then some smart person for the business to run creative.

 

[Pippen94]

Good to see the existence of aew still fire people up. Big Toyko dome show today

 

[Big Pete]

Fans want to see a strong alternative, not a distant #2.

I don't think Ospreay would have had the calibre of matches in the WWE. AEW desperately needed a reboot and he was the right guy to get behind they just haven't pulled the trigger.

However I tend to agree when it comes to the major storyline. The Devil was a train-wreck, the crooked Elite storyline never found it's footing and this Death Riders angle is going the same way. The issue is none of these storylines have a solid foundation. Swerve-Hangman wasn't a perfect storyline by any means, but at the heart of it was a series of matches that fans cared about.

Nobody cared about that Fatal Four-Way at World's End and things don't appear to be getting any better with Cope vs. Mox on the horizon.

 

[shiznit]

Fans want to see a strong alternative, not a distant #2.

I don't think Ospreay would have had the calibre of matches in the WWE. AEW desperately needed a reboot and he was the right guy to get behind they just haven't pulled the trigger.

However I tend to agree when it comes to the major storyline. The Devil was a train-wreck, the crooked Elite storyline never found it's footing and this Death Riders angle is going the same way. The issue is none of these storylines have a solid foundation. Swerve-Hangman wasn't a perfect storyline by any means, but at the heart of it was a series of matches that fans cared about.

Nobody cared about that Fatal Four-Way at World's End and things don't appear to be getting any better with Cope vs. Mox on the horizon.

I disagree on Osprey… I think that was just a vanity pick up by TK. He is picking up these amazing workers like he’s Thanos with some diehard wrestling fan gauntlet he wants to fill…

he wants to impress all the smarks because that is what gives him validation.

He needs to focus less on diehards and more on eyeballs… his best move was Punk… and he blew it because he couldn’t act like an actual boss of a million dollar company and control his talent.

Cody was treading water at AEW and left and within months was almost the biggest babyface in the business… and 2yrs later he IS the biggest babyface in the business.

They need a game changer who will bring mainstream audiences… but they don’t have WWE’s platform to amplify talent to create it like the WWE did when the took the repackaged Cody from the indies and AEW and amplified it what it is now.

They need to get it already amplified by someone else like WWE or in another medium…

WWE makes the most sense as they are in the industry and they are talent who can work… but WWE aren’t stupid… they won’t allow their rockstar talent to be in the situation to test the market if they can… so you likely have look in other areas of entertainment… not stupid like WCW did with David Arquette… more like what Vince did with Mike Tyson. Obviously more difficult these days post kayfabe.

but I guy like Conor McGregor… he would get the mainstream talking… as much as I hate the prick… Jake Paul… he’s another who would bring eyeballs… if you could book it well enough you could bring the eyeballs… you could have Osprey and McGregor vs Paul and Riccohet?, being the eyeballs with the McGregor and Paul but blow them away with the in ring ability of Osprey and Riccochet… which will amplify their talents.

then when a big talent from WWE becomes available do what it takes to get them. Get creative if you need to…

it’s too late now… but I mean TK could have offered a guy like The Rock equity in the company… and he would have been the game changer that they would need to take them to the next level.

they have all the workers to put on a great show… just no one watches it.

I mean Becky Lynch was out there for awhile… she would likely have been almost the biggest star on their entire roster If they had got her. She would have given an absolute rocketship to the woman’s division as her and Banks/Mone would have been ACTUAL big business…

But TK just seems to be content with being the darling of the hardcore fans and being part of the boys in the back…

sorry for rambling on… I didn’t even know what AEW was 2yrs ago but it pisses me off now because we are the closest we have ever been to having an actual alternative like we used to during Monday night wars when it was the greatest time to be a wrestling fan.

it just feels like TK is pissing it away…

 

[Big Pete]

If Tony Khan could have signed The Rock, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk etc. he would have done it in a heart-beat. However they're happy where they are, so where does that leave AEW? The optics alone would have been brutal and painted a picture that nobody wants to sign with AEW.

However, I get where you're coming from where it seems like Tony is signing these guys for the sake of signing them. You can only have so many in-ring classics before they lose their luster. You could have the most out of this world match but if you teach your audience that it doesn't really matter then they're going to lose interest.

If you're having the best match of the night, and you're promoting the company where the best wrestle, it stands to reason you should be portrayed as the best wrestler in the company.

Simple.

Still, I like the Ospreay signing and think he's a remarkable talent. He was never going to come in and day one turn ratings on their head. However if you invested in him and you promoted him as the best wrestler in the world long enough I think you could certainly sway the zeitgeist.

Look at Stone Cold.

He was preaching 3:16 in 1996, it wasn't until 1998 that the WWF really started to turn a corner and never looked back.

Granted you're right again and they needed a Mike Tyson to help make that happen but there's nothing stopping AEW from going in that direction.

Maybe they need to go All In on that Costco family?