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I would love for them to go just the ppv route... do it all like UFC. Weekly TV shows are expensive. Recording a months of shows to save money like TNA did (are still?) is awkward and can lead to problems... Some of which we've seen with TNA with people quitting or getting injured yet still being shown in the build to a ppv. Save the money and go all UFC style on it. PPVs only... Build matches on social media and shit like that. They can built it up great without having to do much and pull on good money from PPVs.
I would love for them to go just the ppv route... do it all like UFC. Weekly TV shows are expensive. Recording a months of shows to save money like TNA did (are still?) is awkward and can lead to problems... Some of which we've seen with TNA with people quitting or getting injured yet still being shown in the build to a ppv. Save the money and go all UFC style on it. PPVs only... Build matches on social media and shit like that. They can built it up great without having to do much and pull on good money from PPVs.
I'd be happy with that. Would work well.
I really should spend some time researching how they're going to run this, if they've announced anything
Let's hope they can get regular TV and a good product going. Would be cool to have an English-speaking alternative to WWE that isn't TNA.
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They've announced that they've signed Chris Jericho.
Hopefully they sign a load of good talent though and not just older names like Chris Jericho and Christopher Daniels. They're good, but lets face it... doing that helped with the demise of TNA. A few is good... don't fill the roster with them. Get a load of good young talent in there and there's probably a load of indy guys that they could sign up that are good names and not too old.
They've got Neville too, all are great coups.
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Yeah I heard that. Neville is a great coup. Good name, great wrestler and no where near past his prime. The exact kind of person they should be signing.
I'm definitely interested in the prospect of this company. I think with the proper funding it can help a lot. However, let's not forget that WCW also had solid funding for a long time. I'm hoping that the difference here is that the man funding this company is going to listen to the wrestling guys on what is needed to make this company successful.
WCW had a lot of funding but they were doomed with mega stars who did not care about seeing the company thrive on after their times... that is just one of a million problems wcw...
I'm thrilled for AEW, i hope it does great and i hope people will be on board for the first show like so many were for NXT UK considering that AEW has more star power right off the bat.
as wrestling fans we should be crossing our fingers here.... the greatest time i ever had as a fan was 96-99 when the WWE/WcW/Ecw war was at its bloodiest.
However we don't need to see that type of competition to enjoy this...... just having legit competition thriving is good for us and its probably very important to have that so wrestling doesn't fade off into just being a niche in a decade.... might seem impossible but times are changing everyday and very quickly.
Yeah, the prospect of real competition to WWE excites me to no end.
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Some more news on AEW
-- As per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the way All Elite Wrestling is structuring their executives is that Cody Rhodes will be focusing on building the promotion's singles roster, The Young Bucks will be responsible for the tag team division and Brandi Rhodes will focus on the women's division.
-- With the Young Bucks responsible for tag teams, the expectation is that there will be a significant focus on this division in AEW - a much higher priority than in WWE. This has reportedly sparked interest in tag team wrestlers in WWE, who are now interested in AEW believing they will be given more of a push there.
-- Other executives include Dana Massie - wife of Young Buck Matt - will be tasked with building the Young Bucks' merchandise brand along with Ryan Barkan of Pro Wrestling Tees. Meanwhile, Chris Harrington, has been hired as the head of business development.
Looks like they're signing Jim Ross for commentary after his contact expires with WWE in April. Apparently it's $1m a year for 3 years... And as much as I've always liked him, this news disappoints me. AEW need to find their own voice, not an old WWE one. I'm sure there's a few talented commentators out there that are young and hungry to succeed that they could employ instead for a lot less.
They’ll want to use Ross to mentor some new commentators I imagine. I think it’s a good long term move. Granted JR isn’t what he used to be.
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In a new interview with 411 Wrestling Podcast, Wrap reporter Tony Maglio, who broke the story about AEW's discussions with Turner Sports, revealed that AEW's potential deal with WarnerMedia may be a time-buy, meaning they would have to pay for their air-time. Maglio explains that the network already has proven draws in the MLB and the NBA, and that AEW needs them more than they need AEW.
My understanding based on the people I’ve spoken to is that it would be more AEW paying for its time on TNT than Turner paying AEW for its show. Another very good wrestling reporter and I had been talking about whether that would be the case or whether it would be a revenue share, and we’d both heard rumblings and talked to people. Maybe a couple of months ago it might have been a little bit of a different story. But the truth is, when you’re talking to Turner, [they’re] a very well-established, very well-off company inside of gigantic parent company…it’s not the UFC. It’s not WWE, it’s not MLB. They have MLB, they have NBA. They know what they have to pay for. And I think currently, AEW has way more to prove than Turner has in terms of trying to get them to come to their networks. I think AEW needs this deal more than Turner does.
It might not look like a great start... or sound like one... but I've seen people pointing out how you can do this for 6 months and make the money back via advertising and merchandise sales, then negotiate a new TV deal. In general, they'll know within 6 months whether they will work with a TV deal or whether they won't be able to generate the money to keep going. Also seen people writing them off already because of this.
I'm still hopeful that it works out for them and that they can eventually discuss a better deal after proving to be successful. It's already an uphill battle though to get over what is effectively making a loss already with this TV deal.
AEW have released the complete PAC vs. Hangman Page match on YouTube that took place at Wrestle Gate Pro in Nottingham, England. It's not a bad match. Small crowd and ring, but still a good match. Well worth watching.
They have also confirmed that the first AEW World champion will be crowned at a future AEW event, not their Double Or Nothing PPV this weekend. It will involve the winner of the Casino Battle Royale facing the winner of the Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega main event.
Tony Kahn also owns Fulham FC, and tried and failed to buy Wembley Stadium to play some American Football in it.
It's a ballsy move though, starting a new wrestling promotion to try and compete with WWE. Costs a lot, especially talent wise. And they want to compete with WWE and give them some real competition. It's going to cost them a lot! Hopefully they can get a good return out of it. They're going to have to maximise merchandise sales, getting people to shows, a TV deal (which would be massive). So much to do, and hopefully they learn a lot of lessons from what TNA/Impact did wrong.
I like the initial set up though. Guys that know the wrestling business and are good at what they do, even promoting if their All In PPV was anything to go by. And getting in an owner like Khan is good sense, as he has the experience of running companies and getting them to be successful.