Just spitballing here, but I think Punk can spike that number by 100k all by himself, and Bryan coming in September means maybe another 150k (a bit more for him since he's a more recent worker and proved his appeal has not diminished when pulling great numbers on Smackdown as a heel a couple years back). So it 1.1-1.2m is where they're at now, they might be pulling 1.4-1.5 this fall. Raw did 1.4m a week or so ago, by the way. Different nights of course, and there's no Monday Night Football on Wednesday nights, but it's the "number vs number" that fans are going to tout. I can easily see Dynamite besting Raw by Thanksgiving.
Putting him on their program is about to cost them advertising money too. Domino's is pissed their commercial was aired during his match "We share the concerns expressed about this incident and the content of this TV-14 rated program, and are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward,” said Domino’s spokeswoman Jenny Fouracre-Petko.
I know WWE is still the big dog and Vince doesn't really give a damn what AEW does... But he really doesn't want to walk too much more talent like Moxley and Bryan to their front door like he has. Add Punk into the equation as well? Man, I really like the way they're building something here.
That Domino’s story is weird because it sounds like the author has ties to WWE through his company. He also never reached out to Turner or AEW for comment. Meltzer reported today that Khan was very forthright with Turner about what would happen during the match, and he didn’t get any push back. Now I’m not naive enough to think this won’t be a potential issue going forward, but I think this writer pursued this story with a huge slant.
I continue to be amazed at the hard on some people have about wanting AEW to fail. I understand rooting for WWE. It's been the only big name in town for so long, has made some great memories, and has some excellent talent. I also understand wishing for WWE to die. Its history as a gobbler and waster of talent and brands, monopolizing (practically) the history of the sport, and its overall shitty attitude toward its fans and its talent makes it easy to hate. I understand wanting AEW to succeed. They're fun and fresh while also having throwback elements. They actually seem to care what the fans want and listen to their talent for direction on their programs. I do not understand wanting AEW to fail.
Probably cornette... although he's even stated multiple times he'd love for someone to kick wwe ass, he just doesn't like what aew is doing Also aew fans are uber sensitive to any criticism. It's kind of crazy. People shit on wwe all day and night but if you say you don't like nick gage in the company you are a wwe schill
I listened to him for a while because he's an entertaining guy but he has so many awfully bad takes I've mostly stopped
just ignore it. no matter what the topic is, there will be a portion of social media that is bringing nothing but negative energy. the less ears we give those voices, the better.
I don't know where they are going with this sad sack Baron Carobin gimmick, but it's cracking me up. He looks like shit. Living the gimmick.
Need Bianca to turn heel on Sasha tonight. I’d love that EDIT: I think we all agree that at some point, the fans are going to turn on Bianca because she’s been a “goody 2shoes” face for too long. Thought this was a perfect time to refresh her character before that happened.
There was a very clearly MTF fan upfront during Homecoming and she appeared to be part of that hard core fan club that all know each other. AEW and the Indie wrestling scene being so inclusive is another underrated reason people should stop following WWE
Meltzer reported the same. That's hilarious and sad. Started out vs AEW by saying "it's a marathon not a sprint" then got their asses handed to them with their best show on Wednesdays every week and changed to "what competition." Now in the same week Vince acts like he doesn't even know who they are, we find out they are trying to get sponsors to turn on them. Again, funny and sad
I know posters here like Wyatt, but I felt like that character became really dumb and made it impossible for him to have even a decent match. If he can get back to the True Detective S1 villain he was portraying, I wouldn’t mind seeing him in AEW. I think he’s a better fit for Impact though.
It sounds like Wyatt has had some serious issues since Brodie Lee died, and basically couldn’t be cleared to return to the ring. Hope the guy gets better if he does have personal issues to get through.
The Fiend stuff was absolutely ridiculous. Hopefully he can things sorted out in his mind and put things back together in AEW or somewhere else.
I don't know enough about who made the character become a laughing stock...but as far as someone who can invent super compelling characters to at least give the writers a chance, Wyatt is top tier. That's why we like him on here because we see how he can not only invent a character but absolutely nail the delivery. And some of the long-story story he's capable of is great. In all honesty, the original Bray Wyatt/Wyatt Family character should have been wildly successful long term. But he was written to lose. Just a "crazy guy" who didn't care about winning so never did. And that doesn't have any long term sustainability. So we'd all agree his characters got ridiculous but he's amazing at creating them and giving them a chance. Not his fault someone had the idea (unless it was him...I don't know) for projected snakes in a WM match to literally have Bray jump the shark in a single night.
Wyatt is like wrestler version of Russo almost to me in that when his ideas were screened by others they usually seemed ok, but when he got to do what he wants unfiltered it got out of hand (by all accounts ive seen his last run was mostly unfiltered) He also has gotten pretty out of shape and can't really go in the ring too much, so that limits what he can do. I loved Wyatt for a while. The Wyatt family was part of what got me watching wrestling again. I tried to like him because he was different, but it got out of hand the longer it went on. Coupled with the fact wwe had some booking issues with him the character hit a wall
That news sucks. Loved Bray every step of the way. Hope he finds a good place and eventually returns.
tough to create a monster character when you’re booked to be a unstoppable super natural force that can’t even be harmed but also can never win a meaningful match.
Loved original Bray and really loved Firefly Funhouse/Fiend Bray. His matches were fairly average, but that was never his appeal imo. His segments generally ranged between show highlight and must see.
Bray with creative control will be amazing. The fiend was ruined by wwe and it’s stupid writing he was never meant to be a wrestler he was suppose to be a vengeful force that changed people once he got you. Don’t make him a champion make him a force In the AEW world. Nobody even cares if he wrestles. We love the spectacle and that’s what AEW needs.
- Fiend Bray should never lose unless it’s like a buried alive or inferno match - Funhouse Bray is the one that should take the L’s.
If he goes to AEW I'd much rather have backwoods cult leader Bray back. Fiend was interesting at first but it ran its course. Wasn't much of a fan at the end (more than just booking). Think there is a lot more you can do with original Bray
I always saw Bray’s arcs as stuff he came up with and then once it started getting over, Vince and the backstage crew started meddling. That seems to be the path a lot of characters that start off well and then fizzle take
The real takeaway is that he was able to craft an amazing character (swamp cult leader) in NXT, adapt it and evolve it to work on the main roster, and then, when WWE booking shit all over it, step away for a bit and come back with two different characters (Funhouse Bray and The Fiend) that were remarkably effective in their own rights. Most guys come in and out of the business with nothing to their credit but a nice physique or some humorous promo skills. Most guys never develop one memorable character, let alone two...let alone three or four. This guy is the modern day Mick Foley.