WWE/NXT/AEW/NJPW Thread

[LennoxLewis]

That was a great PPV from top to bottom and a great way for Sting to have his retirement. Glad he went out on top and as a champ.

 

[bigfoot5415]

The anticipation of Sting coming down to the rafters, the play of trust with the bat, being one of the few to get the upper hand on the nWo was awesome. The ratings showed that it was the storyline fans invested in most.

The problem was the payoff. Instead of him going over Hogan clean and stating his intentions. WCW creative forced Brett Hart in and the botched decision killed the momentum.

It’s like a females getting you right before finish and she stops.

Fans spent 3 hours waiting for Sting to appear and lost it every time he did. They just did an awful job paying it off.

If Sting had gone over clean, cut a promo on Nitro the next night stating his intentions of restoring order to his company WCW… he would have exploded

This is why I mentioned him being overrated. No denying the talent or the legacy.

My issues were no true WWE run and a prolonged "will he, won't he" only to flop when he did. Which was all on Vince. Sting should have only signed a deal with guaranteed matches and outcomes to protect his legacy.

TNA run was solid but anything between that and WCW or even his AEW run seems meh.

But the payoff for Crow Sting. That MF'er should have singlehandedly wiped out the NWO one by one and went over Hogan to restore WCW. We all know NWO went on too long and was too watered down. Sting could have preserved that legacy with an incredible ending.

 

[bigfoot5415]

As far as Summerslam goes, anyone concerned that something is holding iy up from actually getting announced or even coming here.

I personally am concerned about having it and the concert so close to the start of the season. I'm somewhat concerned about the field quality.

 

[Prime 1978]

This is why I mentioned him being overrated. No denying the talent or the legacy.

My issues were no true WWE run and a prolonged "will he, won't he" only to flop when he did. Which was all on Vince. Sting should have only signed a deal with guaranteed matches and outcomes to protect his legacy.

TNA run was solid but anything between that and WCW or even his AEW run seems meh.

But the payoff for Crow Sting. That MF'er should have singlehandedly wiped out the NWO one by one and went over Hogan to restore WCW. We all know NWO went on too long and was too watered down. Sting could have preserved that legacy with an incredible ending.

Your last paragraph is exactly what was needed.
Him joining the Wolfpack ended it for me. As you mentioned the nWO storyline went way too long and that whole Wolfpack thing was garbage. (Although, I thought their theme music went hard)
I was a huge Sting fan. Loved his battles for the TV title with Muta. Will never forget being a kid and jumping for joy when he countered the figure four with a small package and beat Flair for the title.

Also totally agree with you on him needing to sign some guarantees when he signed with WWE. The match against HHH was fun from a nostalgic standpoint but they could have used it to spring board the Mania dream match everyone wanted… The Icon vs The Phenom.

 

[LennoxLewis]

As far as Summerslam goes, anyone concerned that something is holding iy up from actually getting announced or even coming here.

I personally am concerned about having it and the concert so close to the start of the season. I'm somewhat concerned about the field quality.

Not too concerned really, thinking they'll announce after Mania that it will be here hopefully.

 

[LennoxLewis]

AEW last night was great. Almost PPV quality. Don't wanna spoil anything for those who haven't watched.

 

[Real Deal]

Crow Sting/nWo was the best storyline that ever existed in Wrestling to this day. And I love Undertaker/Kane and Stone Cold/Boss Mr McMahon.

I never once felt Sting was overrated. He was the total package just one bad booking gone wrong probably due to politics of Hogan. Nobody and I mean nobody was more over than Sting. Fans came to see him just to come from the rafters. Fans tuned in week in and week out just to see the end where WCW always went off the air with a hectic finish still going on. Nobody made the Scorpion Death Drop look good until this day. I don't even see the move performed.

And for those that never watched TNA, you missed a treat in a very charismatic solid rip-off the Joker in Joker Sting.

Surfer Sting was cool but went stale.

Razor Ramon created Crow Sting which he ripped off from the movie Crow of course.

Crow Sting was his peak. Wolfpack Sting was great different side to see of him.

The biggest bullshit in history of wrestling is not building a match between Sting, and The Undertaker.

 

[ticon12389]

Very mediocre ratings for Dynamite last night, especially the end of the show with the Ospreay match. Ospreay is great but they really haven’t given the non hardcore fans any reason to watch this guy. They need to do so to get fans to care about him beyond the ones who were already fans. The biggest part of the show was the beginning and that is due to Big Bang Theory as a lead in.

If they can’t pop a big number next week with Sasha’s debut then they might just settle into mediocre ratings week in and out. Spending all this money Tony is spending on these big FAs should be leading to more success but so far, nothing. No boost in ticket sales and no ratings increase.

 

[pr26]

Very mediocre ratings for Dynamite last night, especially the end of the show with the Ospreay match. Ospreay is great but they really haven’t given the non hardcore fans any reason to watch this guy. They need to do so to get fans to care about him beyond the ones who were already fans. The biggest part of the show was the beginning and that is due to Big Bang Theory as a lead in.

If they can’t pop a big number next week with Sasha’s debut then they might just settle into mediocre ratings week in and out. Spending all this money Tony is spending on these big FAs should be leading to more success but so far, nothing. No boost in ticket sales and no ratings increase.

I mean I know the fun internet thing is to dunk on all things AEW, but the demo number is basically the same they’ve been doing. They had very little of a card announced and Okada wasn’t teased outside of dirt sheets, which only the hardcores read. They really just need stable ratings, which they have been, and streaming as part of the new TV deal next year.

Regardless, that was the best Dynamite in a long time after their best PPV in a while and people are missing out IMO. If seeing what Ospreay is doing in the ring isn’t enough to get you to tune in, AEW probably isn’t for you. And that’s okay! Could they draw more casuals by becoming WWE-lite? Sure, but that doesn’t work long term. Ask TNA. Personally, that would be really disappointing.

 

[ticon12389]

I mean I know the fun internet thing is to dunk on all things AEW, but the demo number is basically the same they’ve been doing. They had very little of a card announced and Okada wasn’t teased outside of dirt sheets, which only the hardcores read. They really just need stable ratings, which they have been, and streaming as part of the new TV deal next year.

Regardless, that was the best Dynamite in a long time after their best PPV in a while and people are missing out IMO. If seeing what Ospreay is doing in the ring isn’t enough to get you to tune in, AEW probably isn’t for you. And that’s okay! Could they draw more casuals by becoming WWE-lite? Sure, but that doesn’t work long term. Ask TNA. Personally, that would be really disappointing.

The lack of success is starting to trickle down to the talents though. There were reports the talent is disheartened by the smaller and smaller crowds for TV each week. And like I said, Tony is paying these people millions upon millions to come in and they make no impact to the bottom line. This lack of success while paying out huge salaries is partially what did WCW in (though obviously not comparable since AEW is a way better product).

 

[pr26]

The lack of success is starting to trickle down to the talents though. There were reports the talent is disheartened by the smaller and smaller crowds for TV each week. And like I said, Tony is paying these people millions upon millions to come in and they make no impact to the bottom line. This lack of success while paying out huge salaries is partially what did WCW in (though obviously not comparable since AEW is a way better product).

I personally think you’re putting way too much stock in these dirt sheet reports, but to each their own. There were also reports of how backstage morale has been way up lately. The IWC can pick and choose what to believe for their own personal narratives. Most of the outlets have realized that negative stories = clicks. Same with old-head podcasts, many of which are hosted by people who angled for a job at AEW and were told no. Nature of todays internet discourse for most things. I’ve been paying a lot less attention to dirt sheets and it’s improved my enjoyment of wrestling. I really only pay attention to roster movements with free agents. I had to look up the ratings when I read your post lol.

Totally different situation from WCW…mainly because TK is a rich mark who has money to burn. WCW didn’t have that and their booking went to absolute shit. You’re also talking to a guy who fell in love with wrestling watching the peak years of Nitro.

If AEW doesn’t get a large increase and streaming in their new TV deal? I’ll join in on the concern. I don’t see it happening since they are massively outperforming the expectations of their initial deal (500k viewers), Turner keeps adding more AEW content, and they are consistently in the top 5 on cable for Wednesdays even going against the NBA on ESPN (occasionally beating one of the games in ratings too). They also consistently pull PPV buys, which is crazy to me considering their competition streams them for a fraction of the price.

I’m not saying it’s a perfect product. I’m just saying the internet discourse doesn’t match the reality IMO. If AEW never came close to Raw ratings before Vince stepped down, the expectations for success wouldn’t be so high.

 

[LennoxLewis]

If AEW continues to have Dynamites like last night, they'll be fine. Only thing I'd say is they need to do a better job of just advertising their show, and try to streamline things a bit better outside the ring. Inside the ring, they are phenomenal, and thats what I love.

They've struggled building consistent stories. They'll have one or two that are great, a few that are just there, and then the start/stop. Last night they did some things to help build up some stories now and down the line, would think that would help as they build towards Dynasty.

 

[ticon12389]

Okada apparently got 3 years at 4.5 million a year…easy to see why he chose AEW. WWE would never offer that much to him.

Explains why the top people are going to AEW, Tony is just throwing buckets of money at them.

 

[LennoxLewis]

Can't blame Okada, and certainly can't blame Khan either. Both know that Okada will be more known in AEW vs Okada appearing in WWE, and I say this hoping Okada would go to WWE. After how Shin has been used on the main roster though, including with HHH leading creative, he was better off going to AEW.

 

[CBBI]

Can't blame Okada, and certainly can't blame Khan either. Both know that Okada will be more known in AEW vs Okada appearing in WWE, and I say this hoping Okada would go to WWE. After how Shin has been used on the main roster though, including with HHH leading creative, he was better off going to AEW.

What's funny is that Nakamura was used fine in WWE... until he wasn't.

He had an awesome NXT debut and a really fun one-year run there.

He had a good main roster debut. He beat Cena clean in August to get a title shot... then they didn't put him over Jinder.

Then they heated him back up by having him win the Rumble and eliminating Roman clean... then they didn't put him over Styles and also turned him heel.

And that was basically it. They had two chances to make the guy and didn't take either one of them.