The AEW Discussion Thread

[Rozalia1]

Quote

Meltzer: "AEW does have Christian, Jericho, Billy Gunn, Sting, Jeff Jarrett and Matt Hardy and that feels like too many old people in that age bracket, and there is the feeling of the modern day version of TNA with spending big to get former WWE stars.

 

One person in WWE noted that they believe the wrestling war will turn into WCW or TNA or Bellator as the competition in the sense there will be signings of older talent from WWE with names while WWE will take AEW’s younger talent and this is history recreating itself

 

The claim is that a pipeline has developed and some of the younger AEW stars are already talking about leaving when their deals are up. Even in AEW there are people saying the same thing, that’s it’s known that people are looking to leave and the hope is that the number is a few because the perception of AEW as the AAA league in wrestling would not be good for AEW. There will likely be movement in both directions as there has been but WWE is interested in the key younger talent."

 

They've been warned since the start on this by 'haters', but maybe their Uncle Dave can get through to them (he won't).

 

AEW's horrible booking which involves minimising Women and keeping young guys down (MJF an exception due to being that good... some say also because he is White. Hangman, who is also White, I suppose too, but you know, big friend of the Bucks), is only going to lead to them feeding their best talent to WWE while they keep the washed up old guys and the dregs. At best they'll be able to hold on to some talented guys who are massive marks, like an Eddie Kingston (not a young guy).

 

A funny detail, which I've seen some AEW fans remark on, is that the booking is sort of in a catch 22 now with certain younger guys. Take Ricky Starks for example as many believe he'll be someone looking to leave when he can. He has been held down recently by having him get beaten by Danielson several times, yes yes, looks good in defeat, Starks has had that a whole lot. At some point you got to you know, actually win big matches, otherwise you're just a loser. Now, if you keep holding him down then that'll lead to him leaving for WWE because you've been holding him down. However, if you stop holding him down then there is still the chance that he'll still go as now not only has his stock further risen, but it ain't difficult to see that you're only suddenly booking him better to not have him go to WWE.

[Don_Chipotle]

So yesterday sting said this will be his final run,between 2023 and 2024 ending with revolution, the closure of "this is for real", was wierd how everyone was shocked and actually stopped shouting, but yes, now it starts who will retire sting and how, they will go for an old school guy WcW guy like jericho, or maybe they will close the storyline of papa sting with Darby and take this a a push for his career, wondering if this will be an emotional rollercoaster, or just an ending like Kurt angle did, somewhat simple and clean, but not a bad for a guy of his talent.

 

 

[Don_Chipotle]

 

So this took a little more than expected but Ibushi is part of AEW, i dont know what the plans will be for him at AEW but its going to be hard to find him a site in a very populated locker room in 2023/2024, hope he gives 100% because he is a great wrestler

[Rozalia1]

I largely skip bothering to comment here as AEW does little positive and if I mentioned every single embarrassment then I'd be here very often. The whole Ibushi story above for example has been one very big (sad) joke where the man is clearly not well and embarrassing himself, but the mark in management doesn't care because he finally gets to tell himself that he has Ibushi on his roster.

 

There now however is a very major story that has quickly come about. Chris Jericho sexual harassment allegations.

 

The Background

CM Punk's lawyer (also Jim Cornette's) posted that everyone is NDAed up with the exception of Ace Steel's wife so only she can really speak on the infamous Brawl Out. No indication she is going to do so, but Chris Jericho, who many think was drunk decided to fire back. He stated that he doesn't have an NDA, in fact he has never signed an NDA in his life, and if the wife (who he lumped in with 'disgusting people' that included CM Punk and Ace Steel) spoke up then he would speak up too. He also stated that he was there and saw 'everything'. Keep in mind, Chris Jericho is literally on camera elsewhere when the event happened. Nick Hausman, who is seen by many these days as a CM Punk mouthpiece for running a lot of stories for the Punk camp responded with the comment, 'What about the NDAs you make others sign?'. Later on a podcast when the matter was raised he said:

 

Quote

One of the things that is so disconcerting to me about the universal praise that Chris Jericho receives, and I’m not going to deny the points that MJF made about the impact Chris had in the early days of AEW, but when you have that kind of clout, and you have that kind of power, it’s very important to use that responsibly.

 

There are issues with Chris behind the scenes, where I know a lot of people who were hurt by Chris and his actions. You know, it’s very uncomfortable to me to see him lauded like he is and only having the focus on that, because I do think there are a lot of questionable stories about Chris that will find their way out over time when people are ready to tell those stories, that will cast him in a very different light.

 

I mean, Harvey Weinstein won a lot of Oscars, Harvey Weinstein produced a lot of very popular films. Harvey Weinstein is now in jail … I’m not saying that is happening to Chris, but the narrative can quickly turn if you’re hiding a lot of skeletons in your closet.

 

Hausman naturally has been attacked for the above, though as is often the case not on his actual response but what his response was in the minds of people who haven't seen the full quote. Simply put there is no case of defamation as Hausman did not say that Chris Jericho was like Harvey Weinstein in his criminal acts, but that you can very quickly go from on the top of the world to in jail once stuff comes out about you, using Harvey Weinstein to illustrate that. Additionally there are claims that Hausman used a certain woman I'll be mentioning soon in his attack and as you can see from the quote, there is no mention of any woman, let alone a name.

 

The Online Investigation

Many people online naturally started looking into Chris Jericho and raising things, most notably some rumours from 2019 that involved Chris Jericho and a woman. That woman was Kylie Rae, a woman who on the birth of AEW was pegged by many as the 'next Bayley', and who then started to respond to tweets calling out Chris Jericho as a bad dude with heart emojis and likes. Kylie Rae was certainly an odd case. She was in AEW and seemed to have the machine behind her, Uncle Dave himself promoted AEW by saying that Kylie Rae was going to be Bayley done right. Then... she quickly left the company. The official word was that she had social/mental issues and couldn't handle the attention.

 

Now we have learned that all those reporters all along knew this story regarding Chris Jericho as being the cause. They were all however too cowardly to do so as it'd lose them contact with AEW. While Hausman should receive no credit for speaking up as obviously he is only doing it now as he has nothing to lose with AEW, those saying that he is a bad guy for raising the matter? Please, this coming out supersedes any of that unwritten rule garbage that reporters are apparently supposed to have of protecting companies, but especially AEW considering how little they care about keeping WWE stuff under the wraps.

 

What reportedly happened

Chris Jericho apparently invited Kylie Rae to his hotel room, telling her that other people would be there. When she arrived they were alone and Jericho tried to pressure her into sex. Defenders of AEW have put forward that Jericho did nothing wrong and it was just him shooting his shot with a woman he liked the look of and got turned down. Obviously a man shouldn't be punished for making it known he'd like something with a woman, but the problem is the entire scenario. Jericho got her away from a public place, tricked her into a private place they'd be alone in, and then tried to pressure her in a way he wouldn't have tried in public. She is young and getting her first big break, he is old and the biggest star in the company. It happens with many that they see the situation as one they can't go against because to turn down the star means your career is over. Kylie Rae reportedly got out of there and then quit the company because obviously there was going to be little point staying there if Jericho was around. Something I certainly believe considering a comment Jericho once made to Shotzi when she, among many others, laughed at his cage bump into the obvious crash pad. Him saying something to the effect of, for her just to wait until WWE fires her because he'll personally make sure she won't have AEW available to her afterwards.

 

This Fire Burns

For good or bad, usually bad, AEW's audience is terminally online. So Chris Jericho got booed massively at their PPV and got chants against him of 'Kylie Rae' and 'NDA'. A normal company might have put out a statement before the show and pulled Jericho for a time (especially with his match being a meaningless 8 man tag) until they could get a handle on things, but not AEW. Tony Khan isn't exactly known for caring about female wrestlers after all. There are of course still AEW fans online who are defending Jericho who have had no problem attacking WWE people on these sort of matters. The attacks tend to be on it being Hausman who raised the matter so it should be ignored. Another is that Kylie Rae didn't directly say anything so it should be disregarded, ignoring that with a NDA in effect she can't directly say anything. Regardless of those guys, good on those who were at the show for taking Jericho to task.

 

At the scrum, which once again became the real main event, ironic considering MJF recently wrote in an article that his big moments get ruined constantly by some crap going on that overshadows what he did. During it Khan rubbishes everything, calling it 'unsourced rumours' and that his locker room is the safest one out there. He responded to these questions while wearing a novelty headpiece and glasses. Now yes, it was given to him by someone to wear and he did so for fun. Sure, but you take that stuff off when you deal with a serious matter because otherwise it comes off as you seeing the serious matter as a joke, which Khan totally does of course, but he could try and hide that fact.

 

Speaking of Tony Khan. Once again he gets exposed for what he is. Are we supposed to believe that Tony Khan, who NDAs everybody over even seemingly minor things, didn't know about Jericho putting an NDA on someone? Khan likely was who suggested it to begin with. Now keep in mind that Tony Khan attacked Vince McMahon for having NDAs with women that he paid to have sex with him, and yet Khan at the very least knows about a NDA relating to sexual harassment? Despicable.

[Rozalia1]

And there we go regarding Ibushi, just days after my comment. Went over to have a match in Japan, stated beforehand that he had a broken ankle and hand but was going to wrestle anyway, and then did a 35 minute match (!!!) where he broke both of his ankles on a moonsault to the outside (dumb idiot). Didn't even have the common sense to allow the other guy to go over either. I've called Moxley the dumbest man in wrestling but I don't know now, Ibushi might well have him beat.

 

I've seen a number of people put the blame on the Japanese booker over in NOAH which is fair, but ultimately Ibushi ain't his guy. He is however signed to AEW. Recently signed at that. AEW who avoids firing guys and will now no doubt pay Ibushi a large amount of money for the rest of his contract before he likely is forced to retire. All of which could have been avoided by not hiring the obvious wreck, or if you simply had to, getting the wreck help so he didn't hurt himself.

[Giggly-Raccoon]

i like all wrestling. It is entertaining for me to watch 

[Don_Chipotle]

On 1/2/2024 at 7:34 PM, Rozalia1 said:

And there we go regarding Ibushi, just days after my comment. Went over to have a match in Japan, stated beforehand that he had a broken ankle and hand but was going to wrestle anyway, and then did a 35 minute match (!!!) where he broke both of his ankles on a moonsault to the outside (dumb idiot). Didn't even have the common sense to allow the other guy to go over either. I've called Moxley the dumbest man in wrestling but I don't know now, Ibushi might well have him beat.

 

I've seen a number of people put the blame on the Japanese booker over in NOAH which is fair, but ultimately Ibushi ain't his guy. He is however signed to AEW. Recently signed at that. AEW who avoids firing guys and will now no doubt pay Ibushi a large amount of money for the rest of his contract before he likely is forced to retire. All of which could have been avoided by not hiring the obvious wreck, or if you simply had to, getting the wreck help so he didn't hurt himself.

I think this is a big problem of AEW, they have many great matches on regular tv, and yes, its great they deliver great shows, its totally ok to say if you like the style of aew or not, but i think it already took consequences, its that they give the wrestlers this freedom of working on many companies or do this or that, but the problem its that the weekly shows and the PPV are taking serious injuries in talent that give 100% and more on the ring, and you add this the situation with Ibushi its a total mess that could have been avoided, they need to do a recap of the injuries people working there have, and how are they in health conditions in general, and yes, i know aew has this vibe of taking care of wrestlers with their injuries and personal problems like Moxley had, but its not just taking care when the problem happens, its trying to see why its happening in the first place.

Edited January 4 by Don_Chipotle

[Rozalia1]

1 hour ago, Don_Chipotle said:

I think this is a big problem of AEW, they have many great matches on regular tv, and yes, its great they deliver great shows, its totally ok to say if you like the style of aew or not, but i think it already took consequences, its that they give the wrestlers this freedom of working on many companies or do this or that, but the problem its that the weekly shows and the PPV are taking serious injuries in talent that give 100% and more on the ring, and you add this the situation with Ibushi its a total mess that could have been avoided, they need to do a recap of the injuries people working there have, and how are they in health conditions in general, and yes, i know aew has this vibe of taking care of wrestlers with their injuries and personal problems like Moxley had, but its not just taking care when the problem happens, its trying to see why its happening in the first place.

 

Moxley was able to get help because he himself decided on it as far as I know (a rare instance of Moxley showing intelligence). I can't really think of any instances of AEW protecting a wrestler from themselves. Kenny Omega was wrestling with vertigo for ages let's not forget. Tony Khan, who even to AEW fans is now widely seen as a weak boss, simply doesn't have it in him to force such a matter. They might not be his friend anymore if he does that.

[Don_Chipotle]

Also on topic: very interesting that dolph picked directly NJPW and not aew, same as matt riddle, hope the best for both 

 

 

 

 

 

[GoonerLukeThe]

Dolph Ziggler has never and will never be a STAR

[Rozalia1]

15 hours ago, Don_Chipotle said:

Also on topic: very interesting that dolph picked directly NJPW and not aew, same as matt riddle, hope the best for both 

 

His brother being treated like a jobber likely didn't endear him to them, but other reasons could be not wanting to deal with a locker-room that is considered to have issues (all his friends in AEW are the crew that just wants out of their contracts) and perhaps also not risking annoying WWE. Matt Riddle is certainly a surprise though because for years the narrative was that he was essentially banned from Japan (getting caught with drugs blackballs you in Japan, and that goes beyond Wrestling).

 

The Japan situation in general is quite interesting as a whole. WWE has actually sent/allowed some limited involvement of their talent in Japan and is reportedly seeking alliances in Japan. The online crowd (on the side of AEW) makes this all out as stupid on the Japanese end and that the evil empire that is WWE must be rejected but... I don't see why the Japanese companies should see it like that. Sure, if HHH's big NXT world conquest plan was still a thing I could see it, but NXT is now set up to largely train up young athletes from scratch, not raid other promotions of their talent. For the new NXT it makes more sense to have these other promotions around to possibly send some talent to if they become too overloaded with possible future stars and can't feature all of them as they'd like.

 

AEW on the other hand? AEW has raided NJPW and basically set itself up as the place you can go to if you get over in NJPW first. Until just recently where Danielson did a job to Okada in Japan (we know how selfless he is, some say too much), this whole partnership with NJPW has largely just been AEW going over them constantly. A few guys like Archer (remember when they had Sting lampshade AEW constantly making Archer disappear from the shows... and then kept doing it?) and Kingston (not a top star and is a big Japanese wrestling mark) going over to do G1s and lose a few times is not equal to NJPW's top guys getting jobbed out to AEW guys.

 

9 hours ago, LukeTheGooner said:

Dolph Ziggler has never and will never be a STAR

 

He certainly could have been a big one. It was them doing nothing with him after the Team Cena vs The Authority match that fans basically lost all hope on him becoming a top guy. If the company isn't going to get behind you after booking you to essentially win a 3 on 1 handicap elimination match against the top heel group, then they're just never going to get behind you no matter whatever happens. Sure, Dolph was only in that position because Roman became unavailable, but ordinarily you'd run with the guy you had to sub in to see if you could take it anywhere. Vince had absolutely no interest for whatever reason.

Edited January 6 by Rozalia1

[Don_Chipotle]

 

 

So Jack Perry is doing a Heel run now on NJPW, wonder how they will handle toxic people at locker room, because even when its a work all the aew hate, Perry doesnt have a profile that fits the company IMO