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steveovig

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,171
Some of you guys are pretty fickle. And, Cody is probably one of the best guys AEW has besides Omega, Jericho, and Moxley
 

Henry Hank

Member
Jul 25, 2019
5,559
SCU would be more appealing to me if they were presented as heels. The uncool dads who don't realize they're lame is a good schtick for a heel, but it's still cringey to me as faces because it's not clear to me that they DON'T think they are cool.
 

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,069
Im a little dubious on factions as it is, but I was happy with how they introduced the Inner Circle yesterday. Just keep it small. I would be okay if there were no new members to be honest. I was a little worried when they teased MJF that this was going to turn into the nWo.
 

Henry Hank

Member
Jul 25, 2019
5,559
Some of you guys are pretty fickle. And, Cody is probably one of the best guys AEW has besides Omega, Jericho, and Moxley

He's been as good as anybody in AEW so far, as an overall package. I was completely out of the loop when he left WWE and went to the independents, but my impression is that he's been dragged by a reputation that he's not "legit" because he came through the WWE machine and people don't respect him the same way they do a Kenny Omega who came up the "proper" way. It's either that or the old school style is just completely lost on the current generation of wrestling fan.
 

Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
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Oct 28, 2017
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bWcOxsc.gif
 

RBH

Official ERA expert on Third Party Football
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Nov 2, 2017
35,018
From today's new issue of the Observer:


AEW on TNT opened with 1,138,000 viewers and ended with 1,036,000. Overall, the end of the Young Bucks vs. Private Party and the Jericho interview, a segment that was the peak in a number of major markets, actually lost 44,000 viewers overall. Darby Allin vs. Jimmy Havoc lost 196,000 viewers. The women's tag match gained 58,000 viewers. Jon Moxley vs. Shawn Spears gained 27,000 viewers. And the main event and post-match angle gained 53,000 viewers.

The word is [OWE] is done in China, all the staff and wrestlers have moved on. The plan is to relaunch the promotion in Cambodia. T-Hawk & Lindaman may bring some of the Chinese wrestlers they trained to Japan or Cambodia. Cima and T-Hawk are going to continue to work for AEW and they are working on Lindaman coming back.

For the first week of AEW in the U.K., the Friday night at 11:20 p.m. debut airing averaged 81,000 viewers, which is lower than ITV 4 had been doing in the time slot. The Sunday morning 8:20 a.m. airing did 36,000 viewers, which would be in the range (slightly above) what the time slot had been doing. The Monday night one-hour airing on ITV did 279,000 viewers, and this is clearly the key time slot. While this is lower than the year average in the slot, it is higher than the time slot had been doing in recent weeks. Keep in mind all these numbers came on a deal put together at the last minute, that only the hardcores knew about, with very little if any promotion. Unlike in the U.S. where the promotion was so strong that you'd think the first weak would be higher, here one would think when the show gets established there is room for growth. But the negative is the time slots appear to be floating, starting a few minutes earlier or later each week depending on other programming, and that gives the feel of filler and may make it harder to build an audience. Regarding other U.K. ratings this past week, Impact on Friday at pretty much the same time as AEW did 57,000 viewers. Raw with Tyson Fury, who is huge in the U.K., did 49,000 viewers and Fury's first segment doubled the usual audience. Smackdown did 71,000 viewers on Friday late night from 1-3 a.m., doing nearly as much as AEW did in a better time slot, although Smackdown was live and AEW's show had viewers able to watch first both on FITE for a subscription fee and then on Thursday on the ITV hub. The 71,000 was unusually high given all the stars including Dwayne Johnson, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, etc. were advertised plus the Kofi Kingston vs. Brock Lesnar match. But it's pretty clear with the Monday ITV time slot that AEW will far and away be the most-watched promotion on U.K. television, and the gap with WWE will grow wider in 2020 when WWE moves to BT
 

Etrian Oddity

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,429
It's either that or the old school style is just completely lost on the current generation of wrestling fan.
I'm convinced this is it. He's the antithesis of the Young Bucks' style, and WrasslERA eats them up.

Note that it isn't a knock to say that, nor is it saying Bucks are bad. They're phenomenal at what they set out to do.
 

shintoki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,444
Foreal. If The Elite got pushed to high hell there'd be complaints that all they're doing is putting themselves over. Kenny is 2nd in card with their biggest mainstream star. AEW is doing a great job of introducing all their unknowns and making them stars.

For long term growth, that is the only option. Kenny, Bucks, Cody, etc can eat the losses easily now to bring up more stars. They'll be forgotten in 6 months. Yesterday alone had Private Party looking like a million bucks along side Allen becoming a contender.
 

Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
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Oct 28, 2017
8,664
Darby vs. Jimmy. Yikes. Was something exciting going on in baseball then, or people just didn't like it?

Also, more Riho.
Having had only tuned into the previous week as the entirety of my wrestling experience, between the Havoc promo, the emo v. emo aesthetic, and the opening going in on excessive finger-biting, I was ready to tune out. The fact that they both look like they got their facial accessories carpooling to a recently opened seasonal Halloween store doesn't help.
 

Big One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,300
Damn that drop off at Darby's match. I'm surprised the joshi match was the thing that got viewers back thiugh ad that was by far the worst match on the show. And they sustained and grew the viewership thanks to Mox and the end angle.
 

Henry Hank

Member
Jul 25, 2019
5,559
Havoc has generally been a turnoff but a lot of people seem to have good opinions of him from his previous work. Is this something like the Dark Order where the presentation so far just hasn't been right? They need to let him talk more, or have some kind of angle, or really lean into the hardcore stuff. Just putting him out there to wrestle standard matches comes across pretty flat.

Darby, on the other hand, has such a presence and is so unique that I think he's going to get over big no matter what direction they go with him.
 

Etrian Oddity

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,429
Havoc has generally been a turnoff but a lot of people seem to have good opinions of him from his previous work. Is this something like the Dark Order where the presentation so far just hasn't been right? They need to let him talk more, or have some kind of angle, or really lean into the hardcore stuff. Just putting him out there to wrestle standard matches comes across pretty flat.
He's too fucking old for his gimmick. He's north of 35 years old, balding, and still shops at Hot Topic. MJF was spitting truth.

Also, his voice is not menacing to an American audience, it's goofy.

In general he needs a repackaging....
 

Crackhead_Bob

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
1,865
Bayley and Balor were, basically, the main reason NXT became so popular. It's insane how vince and dunn killed them cold blood.

"i like money, but only the money i created with my own very hands DAMMIT"
18 months from now, and assuming that AEW steadily establishes their brand, is WWE in panic mode?

Have we ever seen WWE in panic mode in the past?

And what would it look like? Perhaps it was Vince screwing over Bret Hart before he left for WCW, but some have argued that it manifested with the Billionaire Ted bits.

We've already seen what WCW in panic mode looks like, but the WWE doesn't have the tenuous financial standing that WCW did during the Monday Night Wars, so its possible we've never seen them reacting to an existential crisis.
 

lucebuce

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,058
Pakistan
Jimmy Havoc just seems like the guy who'll really only shine on PPV matches and possibly "unsanctioned" matches, where he gets the opportunity to really go for more hardcore stuff. The Cracker barrel clash was a good demo of what he can do. Watered down Jimmy Havoc really isn't the best thing in the world.
 

CenaToon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,972
18 months from now, and assuming that AEW steadily establishes their brand, is WWE in panic mode?

Have we ever seen WWE in panic mode in the past?

And what would it look like? Perhaps it was the Attitude Era, but some have argued that it manifested with the Billionaire Ted bits.

We've already seen what WCW in panic mode looks like, but the WWE doesn't have the tenuous financial standing that WCW did during the Monday Night Wars.

RAW and Smackdown had both 1 billion dollar multi-year deals.

NXT is "only" a 40 million deal.

There's no way Vince is concerned about this. Those 40 Million almost came free, because NXT is still in full sail, and people that are suscribed to the network because NXT, probably hasn't cancelled their sub.
 

Henry Hank

Member
Jul 25, 2019
5,559
I think WWE already runs in a mini-panic mode, honestly. This year alone, we'll see two drafts, the introduction and end of a wild card rule, multiple reunion shows, other non-sense show branding (eg season premieres). I'm not sure they have any other go-to moves to try to pop the ratings. They have completely lost touch of what makes anyone watch wrestling, or watch sports, or watch any entertainment in general.
 

plagiarize

Khive rise up
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
28,876
Cape Cod, MA
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.
 

CenaToon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,972
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.

Im sure vince must have some concern about it (isnt that vince is more busy with the XFL that doesnt care much of NXT?) but jesus, people talk like Haitch's position is in risk.
 

Sweeney Swift

User Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,743
#IStandWithTaylor
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.

I'm telling you, big reason I don't post here with any frequency anymore. It's almost like half the wrestling fans here saw a few who legit believed their dumb fucking thoughts get a lot of quotes over it, and thought "I can top that", only it does an even Worse job each time of standing up to any basic reasoning, logic, or any evidence anyone's able to quote beyond "My Gut Is Usually Pretty Good At Not Lying To Me"

There's cynicism that's deserved and based in reality, and then there's...whatever's happened in AEW threads since shows started happening regularly
 
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Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
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Oct 28, 2017
8,664

plagiarize

Khive rise up
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
28,876
Cape Cod, MA
Darby and Havok aren't know to US audiences. Both have a similar look. I'm not surprised their singles match didn't draw as well as the matches with more people in. Darby isn't over yet with the wider audience who didn't watch Fyter Fest but he will get there. Hell he might have already managed that with the skateboard attack. He's going to be sitting much prettier after that title match next week. The fun memorable stuff Havok has done hasn't been shown on TV. Give him and hell all the people who literally have had one single match on TNT more than one single match before you write them off.

That passive aggressive statement from WWE last week about Wednesday night ratings tells you Vince is shook. They didn't need to say anything, and they posted that bitter sprint vs marathon nonsense. NXT may yet grow their audience, just like I think AEW will, but short term it's hard to see what they can do to top AEW's ratings. And that's not touching on the demographic breakdown.

Cody is a star right now. He gets the biggest pops. The MJF swerve (and the love he got afterwards) only works because of it. Look at that post show promo. He cares. He's comes over as authentic. It's connecting with people.

On the flip side, it's fucking embarrassing seeing the Torch predict this week would do higher numbers than last. It was a widely marketed debut. Not everyone who gave it a chance is going to like it and word of mouth doesn't happen overnight. Plus let's be fair, last week was good but not great like this week.
 

Deleted member 12224

user requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
6,113
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.
Pushing the idea that "Cody Rhodes is bland" is a hot take is laughable.

"The most interesting thing about Cody Rhodes is his last name" is not even Pop-eyes Spicy tier.
 

plagiarize

Khive rise up
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
28,876
Cape Cod, MA
Pushing the idea that "Cody Rhodes is bland" is a hot take is laughable.

"The most interesting thing about Cody Rhodes is his last name" is not even Pop-eyes Spicy tier.
Right. Launching a promotion with the Young Bucks thats beating the WWE in head to head ratings. Not interesting enough for you.

The guy doesn't even go by Rhodes anymore. Not sure how he's getting all these pops without it.
 

Deleted member 12224

user requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
6,113
Right. Launching a promotion with the Young Bucks thats beating the WWE in head to head ratings. Not interesting enough for you.

The guy doesn't even go by Rhodes anymore. Not sure how he's getting all these pops without it.
He's a great businessman! Kudos to him. Seriously. AEW is a monumental achievement. Doesn't mean I care to see him on my television as an entertainer.

And your last point, lol. Do you think the audience suddenly forgot his lineage because he dropped his surname on TV?
 

Deleted member 8583

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
8,708
Like people know how much I disliked Cody at NJPW, but here he's doing mostly great and he's at the spot he needs to be. His old school matches have become a spectacle ( good promos, video packages, presentation, entrances, style that benefits his weakness ). He's the best promo of the Elite and is doing a fine job hyping the show. Besides, it's only the second show, like give it time before overanalyzing booking and ratings stuff. Oh, and fuck WWE.
 

fallingedge

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,890
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.

Tbf, Havok is a geek.
 

NoRéN

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,623
So let me get this straight. Cody is bland. AEW really did terrible ratings because people just left their TVs on and didn't watch (but this doesn't apply to USA network I guess). Vince isn't concerned about NXT ratings despite pulling out every stop to get good ratings. Jimmy Havok is goofy.

I burned my fingers trying to recap these takes.
I can't recall another time where people wanted something, got it, then became so damn critical of it.
 

plagiarize

Khive rise up
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
28,876
Cape Cod, MA
He's a great businessman! Kudos to him. Seriously. AEW is a monumental achievement. Doesn't mean I care to see him on my television as an entertainer.

And your last point, lol. Do you think the audience suddenly forgot his lineage because he dropped his surname on TV?
And that's why Dustin gets less of a reaction!

Cody is over. He could lean on his last name more than he does. The crowds aren't hot for him because his Dad is Dusty. When has someone having an amazing dad ever been enough? Remember David Flair? Me neither.

You don't have to like him, but you could at least stop pretending you can speak to why so many people are enjoying what he's doing now compared to what he's done elsewhere.
 

Burt

Fight Sephiroth or end video games
Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,664
holy shit that was not what I was expecting when I googled Dusty Rhodes
 

Rivenblade

Member
Nov 1, 2017
37,400
Just finished NWA Powerrr episode 1. That was way more compelling and better than it had any right to be. I think I've found my number two North American promotion.
 

iKhameleon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
32
Not sure where the Cody hate is coming from, but I want no parts of it. I've enjoyed pretty much everything he's done in AEW thus far and don't find him bland at all. To each his own though, I guess..
 

RBH

Official ERA expert on Third Party Football
Member
Nov 2, 2017
35,018
Cody has been the MVP of AEW so far

No one can convince me otherwise
 

Pop-O-Matic

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,488
Anyone who thinks that Cody is over because he's 2nd generation should be reminded that he effectively got his start as part of a stable with Ted DiBiase Jr. and Sim Snuka, and both those motherfuckers' careers went absolutely nowhere despite their pedigrees.
 
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