AEW - All Elite Wrestling (*Spoilers for Latest Show*)

J. Marston

What does "name value" translate to exactly? Because it isn't ratings.

Miro has been a huge bust also.

LineOfBeauty

Riddle101 wrote: »

I get that Big Show is a household name but he isn't The Rock or Austin though. Big Show in this day and age isn't interesting to watch. Non-wrestling fans might show interest but I don't think it would be enough to get people to tune in. You'd need a major signing like John Cena or Batista to do something like that. It just feels like they're falling into the same hole as TNA did back in the day when they signed old WWE and WCW talent. It became a running joke for TNA where people would call it a retirement home. Some of those veterans they signed were a waste of time.



I would hope that at the very least, he would be placed in a non-wrestling role. I've no desire to see him perform in the ring.



Perhaps, he would need to be placed in multi man matches so that the other wrestlers can carry him.



I wish AEW would just focus on building its own brand and not having to rely on these types of tactics. That being said, Big Show hasn't been of much use to WWE in years so it probably would be a small loss to Vince.



His age is a problem as he slow in the ring, his best days are long behind him. His matches aren't really captivating.

Right just gonna do a run through on those.

They'll get a bump tonight in his quarter to see what he says and what the story is with him. There'll inevitably be interest in his 1st match too (which, you'd imagine they'll save for ppv). After that, if used sparingly and in compelling stories, you'll get bumps for his appearances too. Even though he would draw in regards his quarters on Raw even as recently as a few months ago, the real draw here is seeing him in a different environment to the one he's been in for nearly 22 years.

The difference between how AEW book older guys (or ex WWE guys) is in presentation. They've never fallen into the trap of "here's X and he's here and he's challenging for the World Title because he's a star" how they've dealt with ex WWE guys has been the opposite of that if anything (the exception being Mox whose an exceptional case anyway because he is a wrestler in his prime who you can build a company around). If anything, I'd go as far as to say current WWE is far closer to TNA or WCW's old model than AEW is.

Fair enough, and I doubt anyone here is expecting 5 star classics from Big Show, but the novelty is he has a fresh roster of guys who he's never wrestled before or who he'd be wrestling in a new environment. There's value in that. And I doubt you'll see Big Show work in ring every week on Dynamite. Used sparingly, he's a valuable attraction.

Again on that, I doubt you'll see him featured in ring week after week in Dynamite tag matches.

They have built their own brand. They've built fan trust to the point where you can take a guy who was on Raw a few months ago who everyone said was past it and who nobody cared about, stick him in the AEW environment and all of a sudden people are excited because they trust the booking, they trust the company to delivery something interesting with him. And they've a plethora of young guys that they feature who all have potential, they spotlight guys well, and if guys like Paul Wight get more eyes on the product that can see these young guys then that's beneficial. The difference in WWE is that they do these legends nights more and more often, and the guys they spotlight on those shows are the legends (obviously) and guys who've been on their TV for over a decade. Actually it was interesting, towards the end of Khan's WOL interview, he spoke about the need to change up the card, to keep it fresh, that shows in how, even in their short run, he's revolved talent around the card and he says using talent from other companies will help with that too. On Raw you've got Miz (2004 debut), Drew (2007 debut) and Sheamus (2009 debut) feuding for the Title, guys who've been around forever on that product's TV.

Again, nobody is going into a Big Show match expecting a classic, but the value in terms of name recognition, curiosity and novelty are all there.

LineOfBeauty

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Jericho, Mox ,Cody, FTR, Matt Hardy Shawn Spears, PAC, Brodie Lee and now the Big Show.

Jericho & Cody being founders of AEW

I would say the rest have been used correctly in their roles with in AEW.

The Big Shows seems like he will be an attraction wrestler for them and used in other roles.

Double AA, Taz, Vickie, Jake, DDP have all ben used correctly to enhance talent.

Sting is and always will be linked to WCW not TNA or WWE and again brings name value to the product for lapsed fans.


JR is probably been the biggest failure using a former talent from the WWE.


Edit: Left out Miro which probably shows he hasn't been used correctly yet however I somehow think the whole Best Man gimmick is down to him and not Tony K.

Also people who say "this is just like TNA!" I doubt ever watched an episode of Impact in their lives or have no understanding of why TNA's presentation of ex WWE wrestlers (or WWE's current presentation of former/ part time wrestlers) is problematic to the brand as a whole.

Agent Coulson

Cody on Instagram.

When I entered my first entitled-grizzled young vet phase(usually happens at the 2yr - 5yr - 7yr point), Big G gave me the reality check I sorely needed. I boldly told him I didn’t want to do comedy in our matches anymore, and he gently put his hand on my knee and said...”cool, then go get over please”. When I left WWE back in 2016...I blindly flew to Hollywood for a series of general meetings, the most important/prolific of which was set up by Big G. He’s many many things besides being one of the greatest wrestlers to ever do it, the most important to me...his value as a true and credible leader. A great model for all of us in AEW. Welcome @paulwight - oh...and he’s a damn babyface! (I think) @allelitewrestling @aewontnt

Agent Coulson

Front Page of TMZ so it generating news outside of Wrestling.

Now it's not ahead of Tiger Woods nearly killing himself or Bruce Springsteen pleading guilty to drunk driving however it's generating news.

GIGANTIC news in pro wrestling -- the man known as "Big Show" has officially signed a long-term contract with AEW ... ending his 22-year run with WWE.

Big Show -- real name Paul Wight -- will have an "extensive role" with AEW as a wrestler and a commentator on AEW’s newest show, "AEW Dark: Elevation."

The 7-foot tall, 49-year-old superstar says he's excited to begin the next chapter of his storied career.

"It’s been amazing to watch what AEW has built in just a couple of years," Wight said in a statement.

"AEW Dark is an incredible platform to hone the skills of up-and-coming wrestlers, but I also love that established AEW talent can build out their personalities and showcase themselves in new ways on Dark. It’s no exaggeration when they say that AEW is boundless."

Wight signed with WCW back in 1995, using the ring name, "The Giant" -- where he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice.

Wight moved to WWE in 1999 where his popularity exploded -- taking on opponents like Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Kurt Angle ... basically the biggest names in the biz.

Remember when he took on Floyd Mayweather at Wrestlemania 24 in 2008?

During his 2 decades with WWE, he won just about every single belt and championship available ... he's a surefire Hall of Famer.

Wight has long talked about wrestling fellow big man Shaquille O'Neal -- and with Shaq scheduled to appear in an AEW match next week, we could FINALLY get the huge match we've been waiting for!

Agent Coulson

TK confirms a second show is still coming to TNT this year.

https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1364636688484548609?s=20

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Damn AEW are blazing ahead, superb growth and just getting better and better

NITRO95

Anyone down playing this or making comparisons to TNA is absolutely lost and shouldn't be taken seriously

Loughc

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Jericho, Mox ,Cody, FTR, Matt Hardy Shawn Spears, PAC, Brodie Lee and now the Big Show.

Jericho & Cody being founders of AEW

I would say the rest have been used correctly in their roles with in AEW.

The Big Shows seems like he will be an attraction wrestler for them and used in other roles.

Double AA, Taz, Vickie, Jake, DDP have all ben used correctly to enhance talent.

Sting is and always will be linked to WCW not TNA or WWE and again brings name value to the product for lapsed fans.


JR is probably been the biggest failure using a former talent from the WWE.


Edit: Left out Miro which probably shows he hasn't been used correctly yet however I somehow think the whole Best Man gimmick is down to him and not Tony K.

You forgot Ryder popped in for a cup of tea there too.

Agent Coulson

Loughc wrote: »

You forgot Ryder popped in for a cup of tea there too.

Ryder is signed with Impact now.

Lord TSC

NITRO95 wrote: »

Anyone down playing this or making comparisons to TNA is absolutely lost and shouldn't be taken seriously

My take is that TNA's issue was less hiring a tonne of ex-WWE guys, but continually booking the WWE guys to be significantly superior to their own home ground guys. That every WWE jobber could be brought in and treated like a bigger deal than some of TNA's top lads.

AEW is bringing in familiar names, but by and large have been using them to promote and compliment their own selection of homegrown lads, as well as fluff out the card with familiar faces for casual fans. They aren't having their lads jobbing to 60 year olds who can barely walk. They aren't repeatedly saying "Wouldn't you rather be watching the real WWE, rather than WWE-lite?".

savemejebus

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

Also people who say "this is just like TNA!" I doubt ever watched an episode of Impact in their lives or have no understanding of why TNA's presentation of ex WWE wrestlers (or WWE's current presentation of former/ part time wrestlers) is problematic to the brand as a whole.

That is one way to look at it. However, the other way is that this is Just like TNA in that TNA had fantastic in ring product and young talent from the indies mixed with a few established stars at the start and then they absolutely fecked everything up by bringing in more ex wwe/wcw stars. For every Christian and Angle there was a Nash and a Steiner. Then they fecked everything up by bringing in the uselss lumps that were Hogan and Bischoff.

If you think popping ratings, name value and paying big bucks to folk like Sting and Paul Wight are more important that using that money to bring in and showcase 10 x proper talent for the same price.....well that's a different story.

If so then ELITE just means 'jobs for the boys'.

Agent Coulson

So will Paul Wight to be special guest referee for Cody vs Shaq next week?

LineOfBeauty

savemejebus wrote: »

That is one way to look at it. However, the other way is that this is Just like TNA in that TNA had fantastic in ring product and young talent from the indies mixed with a few established stars at the start and then they absolutely fecked everything up by bringing in more ex wwe/wcw stars. For every Christian and Angle there was a Nash and a Steiner. Then they fecked everything up by bringing in the uselss lumps that were Hogan and Bischoff.

If you think popping ratings, name value and paying big bucks to folk like Sting and Paul Wight are more important that using that money to bring in and showcase 10 x proper talent for the same price.....well that's a different story.

If so then ELITE just means 'jobs for the boys'.

That 2nd paragraph point would stand if 2 factors weren't the case which are. The 1st is that AEW do sign young talents, that they do scour places that other companies don't look and have found some gems in those places (Hobbs, Wardlow being 2 good examples) the 2nd point is that nobody says it's more important and by putting those name guys in programmes with younger lesser known talents you're getting eyeballs on those guys.

I'll ask you this so. How many guys in its heyday did TNA push that you'd consider TNA guys? I'd argue it was really only AJ Styles and maybe Samoa Joe. That's it. AEW have guys like Kenny Omega (synonymous with AEW in an American television sense), Young Bucks and MJF all of whom you could headline a ppv with right now who are synonymous with AEW. Just below that you have Adam Page, Darby, Sammy Guevara, Ricky Starks Lance Archer, Eddie Kingston and Fenix all of whom you'd consider AEW guys who are not far off headline spots either.

Not only that but you're working in an era where WWE sign everybody! They've got like 400 wrestlers under contract. Inevitably you're going to have to use ex WWE guys, what matters is that when they're your guys it's how they're presented. Once they're yours you can do what you like with them, pushing them based on their WWE run obviously is not the way to go but if you've got talented guys (eg. Mox and Brodie Lee) you give those guys a platform and you let them run with it and push them according to that and AEW has done a great job with that. The TNA comparisons are, at best, lazy and ill-informed, and at worst in bad faith. WWE's current booking, particularly over the last year and in the run up to this Mania, has far more of the hallmarks of the worst tendencies of TNA than AEW.

Riddle101

The point I was making with the TNA comparison was that TNA brought in all these wrestlers thinking that their name value would be enough to get them attention. They did well signing names like Kurt Angle, Sting, and Christian, but not all of them worked out for them, nor did it get them the attention they wanted. I'm not against AEW signing veterans, but only time will tell if Big Show really will end up being a worthwhile singing. However, I'm not jumping for joy for his signing either. I hope he does contribute to AEW in a positive way though, for the company's sake.

JP Liz V1

CastorTroy wrote: »

I did not expect that!

But the important question is Is hea face or a heel

Yes I thought he was a WWE for life, so shocked at this tbh

beakerjoe

Riddle101 wrote: »

The point I was making with the TNA comparison was that TNA brought in all these wrestlers thinking that their name value would be enough to get them attention. They did well signing names like Kurt Angle, Sting, and Christian, but not all of them worked out for them, nor did it get them the attention they wanted. I'm not against AEW signing veterans, but only time will tell if Big Show really will end up being a worthwhile singing. However, I'm not jumping for joy for his signing either. I hope he does contribute to AEW in a positive way though, for the company's sake.

Im not jumping for joy personally, its an over the hill Big Show.

But I cant see any negatives.

Big Shows not the saviour of AEW nor will he be the game changer is terms of ratings. No one is expecting that or claiming that.

But if used correctly, and judging by AEWs record they will, he will be an asset in the short term at least.

Im not his biggest fan but I sure am curious to see how he is used in his new environment.

ciaran2054

Paul Wight is an awesome addition to AEW.

He’s not going be doing 60 minute matches with Omega or winning handicap matches against The Revival. He’s not going to be taking Hangman, MJF or Jungle Boys spot. If anything he’ll take some of Stings time.

He’s not a Hogan or Nash politicking at the back to stay in the main event. His attitude is good and he’s a mature big dude who’ll put people over and get non fans buzzing.

He was the first thing I noticed when I flicked onto Cartoon Network as a kid and Monday Nitro had come on. He was massive and I bought into him as “Andre’s son”.

happyoutscan

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll..... Weeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllll.....

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The main event tonight

Rey v Archer could be a something special

Can't be any worse than how they used Hardy, Miro, Revival or Brodie Lee.

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Jr getting his co-commentators mixed up

Sirsok

TNA was fecking awesome back in the day! Hogan etc all ruined it but man I used to love that shoe.

In reference to Line of Beauty saying they only really pushed Styles and Joe.

Abyss would be a good shout, as would Storm, Young and Roode.

Tag Teams like MCMG and LAX always had a good spot.

X Division with Daniels, Low Ki and Kaz were solid also.

Gave rise to Monty Brown and Chris Harris ( Albeit initially)

I think old school TNA was a great place for up and comers and oldies alike There was a nice balance to it i think until Hogan and Bish ruined it.

Headshot

Look like Fite tv are having big outage

edit

fix now

J. Marston

Sirsok wrote: »

TNA was fecking awesome back in the day! Hogan etc all ruined it but man I used to love that shoe.

In reference to Line of Beauty saying they only really pushed Styles and Joe.

Abyss would be a good shout, as would Storm, Young and Roode.

Tag Teams like MCMG and LAX always had a good spot.

X Division with Daniels, Low Ki and Kaz were solid also.

Gave rise to Monty Brown and Chris Harris ( Albeit initially)

I think old school TNA was a great place for up and comers and oldies alike There was a nice balance to it i think until Hogan and Bish ruined it.

Also, Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong was doing the women's revolution back then long before Stephanie invented women's wrestling in 2015.

ConcertKing

Really hope The Murderhawk wins here but feel Fenix will win.

Really hope I'm wrong as I feel The Murderhawk seems to lose any match that actually means something which stalls any monentum he seems to build up!

ConcertKing

ConcertKing wrote: »

Really hope The Murderhawk wins here but feel Fenix will win.

Really hope I'm wrong as I feel The Murderhawk seems to lose any match that actually means something which stalls any monentum he seems to build up!

Absolutely delighted I was wrong!

B.A._Baracus

It is shocking that Big Show signed with AEW. Who would have thought it but doesn't really matter does it?

I like Big Show but he has been stale for many many years now. I remember watching his then WWF debut live 22 years ago. It says he will be a commentator but might have the odd match. Isn't it a bit too late?

Fair play to him of course. Still earning a living from wrestling. Maybe he can prove people wrong.

NITRO95

Paul Wight will be a bigger deal in AEW than he ever was in WWE because he will be used as an attraction. I wouldn't expect to see him wrestling every second week, more likely every 3 - 4 months. I'm very much looking forward to him on commentary and hopefully Dynamite ends up with Excalibur, Tony and PW and JR can go far far away

Agent Coulson

Tony on co-commentary with Paul Wight on Dark Elevation they should bounce off each other well.

Britt losing was a bit of a surprise.

I liked how Griff Garrison kept dropping the tag rope and then would remember and grab it again.


Archer is a monster and I hope he wins the ladder match I think he and Allin could have a cracker for the TNT title.

Rey Fenix is amazing however man he is going to seriously hurt himself one day.