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I didn't see All Out but I watched Fyter Fest, so maybe I missed this. What was the story for the "unsanctioned" Moxley match? What happened that they needed to take the feud to that extreme or was the story just that these guys are masochists? While I was entertained, I just don't get it, it seemed meaningless.
That very question is one of the problems I have with AEW so far. They expect everyone who turns on an event to be up to speed on what they did on their social media or YouTube. For the fan that just so happened to find them on Bleacher Report for Fyter Fest, that was the exact same question that they would have. I haven’t been watching Being The Elite so I didn’t know what the issue was either. Tony Khan has GOT to do a better job of realizing that while their hardcore fans know what is going on in AEW, the new fans that they need to attract if they want to be successful do not.
I watched New Japan’s G1 from Dallas. It was great. The wrestling was fantastic. It made me wonder what AEW could do to “change the business” that will be any better than what I saw on the show. What do you think?
Well, the one thing that they can’t do is out wrestle New Japan. They are the gold standard for in-ring action that is treated as sport, first and foremost. With that said, I don’t see any company in the US doing that kind of presentation. The angles and characters are every bit as important, if not more, to the US fans than the in-ring wrestling is. So, AEW can change the status quo by presenting a coherently booked show on a high end national cable channel.
Speaking of which, what did you think of the G1 show? It is the first time I saw Okada since he was in TNA. What happened there?
I loved it, great stuff. The talent all worked their butts off and I loved how the announcers explained what the tournament means to the fans tuning in for the first time. AEW could learn from them in that department. As for Okada in TNA, Vince Russo was booking and he did what Vince Russo does, sadly. It was embarrassing how they used him there, a total waste of a great star.’
How much freedom will Heyman and Bischoff have to produce their vision of RAW and Smackdown? In other words, how much of the product we will see on TV will be their vision? Or will what we see on TV still be 100% the vision of Vince McMahon? Will they have to run all their ideas by Vince, and if so, how will their roles be different than any other senior member of the creative team?
It will be as much as Vince McMahon approves. Vince still has the final say.
I wanted to follow up on one of the questions from today's Q&A. One of the questions was about WWE repeating the same matches on consecutive PPVs. It made me wonder, how much do you think the history of the wrestling business matters in today's product? Back in the house show days, it was very common to get the same main event match 2-to-3 events in a row. The champion loses via countout in the first match so the challenger gets a rematch. Then there's a disqualification finish in the rematch, so a 3rd match (usually with a stipulation) is added to finish the feud. That booking style has been happening in the WWE for over 50 years. I expect nearly every feud to have 2 to 3 PPV matches before the story is completed. Is that just an outdated booking model now? I've seen a few people lodge complaints over the repetition of match-ups. I used to think they just didn't understand how wrestling is booked but now I'm wondering if booking needs to adjust to the demands of the younger fan base.
The difference is television. Back then, TV was about squash matches and angles. Today, we get first run matches on TV and the feuds don’t just go from PPV to PPV. They continue on TV and instead of being one match every month or two, it’s every week. I don’t think it’s about the younger fan, it’s about the presentation.
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