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So I've been listening to the TNA episodes of 83 Weeks and sit there and wonder, how much is the real story coming from Bischoff about his time there and how much is interpretation or flat out lying? I remember the majority of reports around at the time of the nature of Bischoff and Hogans involvement, and he half absolves himself of any creative input, but also talks about their input. Or that Hogan and other top talent contracts weren't actually coming out of TNAs pocket, Spike covered that. That's the weirdest one...what on earth cost them so much money during that period of time in 2010-11?
I believe Bischoff’s account because that was the word at the time, he had stroke but wasn’t the head of creative. As for what they spent money on, they did ramp up production and other talent expenses to try and compete head to head with WWE. That costs a lot.
I love WWE Thunderdome...and I'm a total unabashed mark for it!! Are you also a WWE Thunderdome mark? It truly is a modern marvel that greatly enhances the WWE presentation with virtual fans, sound, laser lights, pyro, and fireworks. Since WWE probably spent a fortune to create it, do you think the WWE Thunderdome could be spun off into a yearly, Cyber Sunday-type, standalone gimmick PPV with virtual fans only? Finally, if we are still under Covid lockdown or severe restrictions come Wrestlemania 37, do you think Vince would rent out a football stadium and fill it with 80,000 virtual fans? Could you see sponsors advertising in the WWE Thunderdome - akin to soccer stadiums - just using the LED boards instead? Thank you!
I like Thunderdome and think it’s a great idea (one I have been suggesting for months). It makes the shows so much better with the extras it brings in. With that said, I don’t see it making financial sense to rent a football stadium and add all of the screens because they can’t monetize it. In fact, it would actually cost them money to do it. If we are still in this situation come Mania, and they can’t run in front of people anywhere else, I think it makes the most sense to stay in Orlando and not take on added expense. As for doing an annual show, maybe. The problem is they lose the gate. If they get 10,000 people to pay 100 dollars a ticket, that is a million dollars they would be giving up at the gate. I don’t see them wanting to do that for a PPV. A TV? Maybe.
With news of Brock being a free agent, if you’re Tony Khan, do you make a play to bring him into AEW? And would you try to convince him to fly to Jacksonville once a week or even once every 2 weeks and wrestle 4 times a year on the PPVs?
Short answer, no. Brock doesn’t want to work all that much, as we have seen with WWE. He has made a lot of money and doesn’t have to work more than he feels like working. It has put him in a great bargaining position. Aside from that, the AEW fan base is more hardcore than WWE’s. They probably look at Lesnar as “part of the problem with wrestling”. Even if they didn’t, if he came in and destroyed their guys, they would hate it. And I don’t see him signing there to put other people over a lot.
I don’t see Brock Lesnar ever leaving the WWE for AEW. However, if something strange happened and he did sign with them, how would this move be similar to WCW signing Hulk Hogan after he left the WWF?
I don’t think so, for a few reasons, some I mentioned above. The AEW fan base is way more alternative than WWE. WCW and the WWF were similar so Hogan made sense in both places. Brock in AEW seems like a really bad fit to me.
Okay, so Mauro Ranallo, Renee Young, and Cathy Kelley have all left WWE in 2020. What is going on over there?
Three talents decided that they wanted to do something other than work for WWE. It’s not surprising, the pandemic has led to a lot of people reevaluating their priorities.
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