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SUCCESS FOR BLOOD AND GUTS, STATE OF THE NEW DAY, ECW FANS IN THE HALL OF FAME AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2021-05-20 10:00:00

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So let’s get this straight.  AEW debuts “the pinnacle” by having them beat up Chris Jericho‘s Inner Circle within an inch of their lives.  But then a few weeks later, The inner circle returns the favor, beats the hell out of the pinnacle and gives their leader MJF a swirly.  Then, fresh out of the gate, the do their Blood and Guts Match on free TV in front of a minimal crowd, even though sooner rather than later, The world will be opening up enough for Tony Khan to pack Daily’s place by Memorial Day.  The cage ends with Jericho taking a fake looking fall from the top which could’ve put him out for awhile, only to show up the next week to challenge The Pinnacle to Stadium Stampede on PPV because somehow fighting in an empty Stadium is a better sell for a PPV instead of 2 cages in front of a packed amphitheater.  Did I sum this all up?

Yes, you pretty much did.  I think they are moving way to fast with storylines too but when the primary revenue source is TV money, that will happen.

New Day’s unsuccessful attempt to regain the Raw Tag Team Titles made me wonder, what’s left for New Day to do but to go to NXT? New Day has already won the titles more than any other team in WWE history, won both sets of main roster tag titles, and has the record for the longest tag title reign. With them refusing to break up and feud with each other, what’s left for them to do in WWE? I shudder at the thought of these goofballs being eventually 20-time tag champs. Where do see them going creatively next if they don’t go to NXT or break up?

They sell a lot of merchandise so they aren’t going to NXT in my opinion.  They are an established act and they fill TV time.  What is next for them?  Probably more of the same.

I’m really curious how you felt about Blood and Guts. I know it did a good rating and even forgetting the weird camera angle on the finish (having a crash pad doesn’t seem so bad to me, they just showed the far less impressive angle live) but I found that the format of the match was really clunky, the camera work I found very amateur (mostly of shots through the cage rather than from inside, no story was being told as far as I could tell, excessive bleeding, Jericho’s worst of all time blade job and the fact that it seemed like they finished 5 minutes too early made the whole thing really hard to watch for me. Did you guys feel the same way? I was shocked at how bad it was and I was curious if I’m the minority or not.

I was not a fan of it after the good early part.  What I have seen is either people loved it or they hated it.  I don’t know what the breakdown is but that’s what I saw, love or hate. With that said, it did win the night on cable so that alone makes it a success.

The recent spate of A&E documentaries reminded me how much larger than life the WWE legends of yesteryear were. That said, WWE legends of yesteryear didn’t have to produce so much content that over exposed them like today’s stars. Also, with less content to produce, it was easier to protect major stars from too many high profile losses to maintain their credibility. How do you build the aura for superstars today when they can easily wrestle over 50 televised matches in one year...and then get featured in network documentaries, reality shows, social media, and guest star appearances on mainstream platforms? Is it still possible to create the next Rock, Stone Cold, or John Cena - with the audience not turning on the next anointed one after a year of hyper exposure - like Seth Rollins circa ‘18 &’19?

I don’t think the amount of content produced means you can’t have stars that matter.  Look back to the end of the Attitude Era.  They did four hours of TV.  The difference was that there was much better creative back then.  Talents were allowed to connect with the audience by doing promos that made sense and seemed sincere.

So.... Paul Heyman has "nominated" the ECW audience for the Hall of Fame.  As crazy as they may or may not be, I say that is a pretty good idea as I feel, as I am sure you guys do also, the ECW audience gave just as much of themselves as the wrestlers did but in their own unique way compared to other wrestling organizations at the time. What do you think about it?  Do they have a chance (in "name" only obviously) or is just a pipe dream and Heyman was just trying to give a nod to one of the most intense audiences out there?  Have to admit I would love to see who would show up to accept if they ever DID get in!

I am biased, for sure, but I absolutely think the ECW Arena audience, especially in the early days, was undeniably THE best group of fans I have ever seen (and heard) in my life.  I have no idea if they will ever be inducted into the Hall Of Fame, but if they were, they would undoubtedly deserve it.

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