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What do you think of Tony Khan’s interaction with CM Punk? Did he really think it was a good idea to have an underling text a vague offer to Punk? Does it come across as Khan being arrogant to you?
First and foremost, I think if AEW wants to coax CM Punk out of retirement, the owner should be the one doing the courting. And it should be done in person or over the phone, not via text. I don’t think any of the many EVPs should be the ones dealing with Punk on a contract, Khan should be. Is it arrogance? I don’t know but I think it’s definitely a case of not handling the situation correctly. Given what Punk told ESPN, he certainly doesn’t seem to hold AEW in high regard right now.
Speaking of AEW I have heard your observations about what they have done with the product so far. To me, they come across as good nuggets that the company should at least consider. But I see some people say you are anti-AEW. Why do you think that is the case?
I think the criticisms I have made of AEW are constructive and the company could fix some things I see as problems. But fan is short for fanatic so often times they only want to think everything is great. Maybe it will end up that way but to me, you only get one chance to make a first impression. AEW should be putting its best foot forward and I have seen regression with each successive show. I hope they can tighten that up before they hit TNT in October.
One more thing, I didn’t watch the PPV because I wasn’t going to spend $50 on an unknown quantity (I don’t know much about the Elite guys). I have watched the two free shows and they have been OK, but not earth shattering. Can’t they see that haven’t they don’t a better job of getting people like me up to speed and excited for when they debut on TNT?
That has been one of my criticisms, which were referenced above. People that watch Being The Elite are up to speed on most of what they are doing but the non-AEW fan isn’t. The creative team needs to explain to us who these people are and why we should care about them. They have to assume we are all new viewers.
Vince McMahon said he would not go back to blood and guts and thinks that TNT won’t like it if AEW does that on their network. What do you think?
I don’t think TNT will allow things like nasty blade jobs and unprotected chair shots to the head, which AEW has done so far. It’s impossible in 2019 to give a good explanation as to why someone will intentionally slice themselves open, given what we know about blood borne diseases. The same goes for chair shots to the head given what we know about CTE and concussions. I don’t see TNT allowing either. The question is will they want to be associated with a company that does those things on PPVs. We shall see.
The WWE Second Quarter numbers did not look good to me, yet the stock went way up after they were announced. Why?
In a nutshell analysts expected worse numbers than what WWE delivered so when they beat what was expected, the stock popped. Personally I think it is shortsighted on a lot of people’s part. I prefer analysts that really go with the numbers, like Zacks.com. They currently have the WWE stock at a 4, which is a sell. Given what I heard on the conference call and saw in the reports, plus what I know about the creative direction, that seems like a good recommendation, especially for people that can take profit out.
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