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WILL VINCE SELL WWE, THE TOP STARS THAT AEW HAS CREATED, SOME WRESTLING FANS DON’T WATCH FOR THE WRESTLING AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2022-05-25 10:00:00

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.

Note: In yesterday's Q and A I stated that since Tammy Sytch was remanded to jail, her boyfriend James Pente would get the money he paid back.  I was informed by many readers that is not how the bail bond system works.  I was told that the 10 percent that Pente paid was actually a non-refundable fee, with the bond company putting up the rest.  They get their money back but he does not.  So, he indeed did lose $22,000.  I can't say I am upset.

For the most part, Jim Cornette and Brian Last state that the two MVP’s of AEW are CM Punk and MJF.  They move the needle and sell merchandise more than any other talent of AEW, according to Cornette and Brian.  I only watch AEW through clips on YouTube and and that’s exclusively CM Punk and MJF clips.  Sometimes I watch what Jericho is doing and I immediately regret that.  So I want your take because Cornette and Brian’s line up with my preference.  Can you give me a third opinion?

On our FMB show over the weekend, Eps and I talked about that very subject.  I agree, Punk and MJF are the best things going in AEW.  To me, of all of the talents that were not previously on the national stage, MJF and Wardlow are the two breakout stars.  I know some will disagree, and that’s fine, but to me, those two are the top talents that Tony Khan has raised to the top.

Are wrestling tournaments just bad for TV ratings? It’s not only the Owen Hart tournament; NXT had a ratings drop with the women’s Breakout tournament too. The AEW matches all went as you would expect with no upsets, and while the wrestling was high quality, that’s nothing special in AEW. Is it just the fact that with single elimination tournaments fans can figure out the results just by looking at the matchups and don’t bother watching until the semis or finals? Round robin tournaments like the G1 and BOSJ don’t have that problem, but are more complex to put together, take much longer and need to be booked well to work (I don’t think either AEW or WWE could pull one off.) Maybe the ratings are why WWE only bring the King of the Ring out every once in a while.

Personally, my opinion is that only the hardcore fans watch wrestling for the wrestling.  By hardcore, I mean people that read this site, follow all promotions, etc.  There are also people that love wrestling and don’t care all that much about the matches.  They like characters, building of characters, promos and storylines.  That is what they tune in for.  When you run tournaments, you are giving those fans very little of what they watch for, and that makes it easy for them to miss the shows.

Is this the final straw between Sasha Banks & WWE that will see her finally leave the company? It's no secret this isn't the first time Sasha has walked out and had creative differences with Vince McMahon.

To be determined at this point.  Clearly she knew what could happen if she walked out this time so I think she is prepared for any repercussions.  If I am her, with the booking plans that were coming, they made it pretty clear that they see me as a second tier wrestlers and I wouldn’t be in the big plans at SummerSlam.  They were making it pretty clear that the tag team belts don’t matter.  If I were Sasha, why would I want to go back and take bumps at a place that doesn’t see me the way I see myself (and I am with Sasha here, she is a top talent not a midcarder in my opinion).

If Sasha were to leave, do you see her ending up in AEW or would she pursue non-wrestling projects in Hollywood?

I can’t speak for her but if I were her, if I left WWE it would be to pursue a career in Hollywood.  She has achieved it all in wrestling.

Do you see WWE selling the company as soon as possible or playing a longer game?

I don’t see either right now because there aren’t clear signs either way.  Do they wait?  Do they expedite, if they are even thinking of selling at all?  I honestly can’t say.  But I will say this.  If Comcast makes them a big offer while in the middle of their current TV/Network deals, and it hits the number Vince McMahon wants, I could see them taking it rather than chancing getting big content deals in a few years.  Streaming is hot right now, for sure, but there is a chance it could be like the internet was back in the day.  When online ads started, there was a lot of big money being thrown around (and I got my share of it).  Then as the medium grew, ad money went way down from where it was.  That is a realistic possibility with streaming.  Comcast could decide that the WWE Network seemed like a good idea at $200M a year, but it didn’t turn out that way.  It will be interesting to follow for sure.

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