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COULD WWE FILL WEMBLEY STADIUM (OF COURSE THEY COULD), WILL AEW RETURN TO ARTHUR ASHE NEXT YEAR, EVERYONE CAN’T BE IN THE TOP 3 AND MORE

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I heard you and Eps talking about the low ticket sales for Arthur Ashe next month.  Do you think the venue will keep bringing in AEW if they can’t even fill half of it?

That’s a good question and I don’t know the answer.  As Eps mentioned on the show, as of August 19 they have distributed 5,252 tickets.  That is way down from the over 20,000 that they did the first year and less than half of what they did last year.  I don’t know how the building will feel about that kind of regression in sales but if it’s just about AEW being willing to pay the rental fee, then the show will go on I guess.

I have seen AEW apologists say that WWE hasn’t run Wembley Stadium because they knew they they couldn’t sell 80,000 tickets.  They are wrong, right?

I think it’s due to lots and lots of practice.  Most people aren’t that stupid without really working at it.  Seriously, anyone dumb enough to believe that is probably the product of inbreeding.  WWE had over 60,000 fans at Clash At the Castle, and that was last September, before the Triple H booking really got going and the product got hot.  They could have run Wembley but they went for the bigger financial package.  They are all about business, not skewed fan interpretation. Also, they sold over 90,000 tickets for WrestleMania in one day last week, with nothing even announced for the show, and the prices were through the roof.  If they follow John Cena’s lead and actually brought Mania to Wembley for two nights, they would do more than 80,000 fans for both nights. The sad thing about all of this is the story SHOULD be what a great number AEW is drawing at Wembley.  That’s the real story but it’s not good enough for the tribal dopes.

Is AEW on the verge of an upswing?  Wembley is on the horizon and there’s at least two acts on top that people care about, whatever CM Punk is doing and the MJF/Adam Cole storyline.  And if there’s one thing Vince Russo taught us, you can fill the lower/mid card with as much bad trash TV as possible and the wrestling product will still be successful, as long as the top of the card is compelling.  So all the bad indyriffic/garbage/Raw wannabe schlock done by The Elite/Mox/Jericho won’t matter because AEW has at least CM Punk and MJF/Cole to carry it.  So is AEW on the verge of an upswing?

I don’t see it, no.  In addition to the ticket information for Arthur Ashe above, TV ratings are down from last year.  Repeat dates in most markets are down from last year.  The video game was supposed to be a big part of the company revenue and I haven’t seen any press releases trumpeting how great it’s doing.  I see AEW as running in place right now.  With that said, as long as The Khans want it to exist, it will exist.  That is great news for AEW fans.

Where’s the love for Jimmy Hart? Hart has managed more champions than any other manager outside of Lou Albano. He was integral to Honky Tonk Man’s record setting IC title run. He even managed Hulk Hogan to WWF & WCW Championships. Moreover, he drew TONS of heat at ringside and through promos. Also, fans popped huge when he was attacked and he was a bump machine! To this day, I can’t think of a megaphone without thinking of Jimmy Hart!! Why does Jimmy Hart often get overlooked in Top 3 “Best Manager Ever” discussions? 

Easy, he’s not in the top three!  That doesn’t mean he isn’t a legend, I like Jimmy a lot but he isn’t in the top three for me.

Are there any retired stars who have never done a training seminar who should? 

There are absolutely retired wrestlers who could do seminars that would be beneficial to wrestlers, absolutely.  Look at The Rock and John Cena.  Both started on shaky ground and found a way to grab the top spot.  Who couldn’t learn from them?

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