Feb 20, 2023 13:27:51 GMT Todd said:

I think comparisons to WWE are silly. It’s not apples to oranges, but it is apples to giant apples. Have at it though. The owner of the company is such a mark for the the idea of a war that he brings all this on himself and I’ve got no sympathy for him. He deserves to be mocked.

I would say it is actually apples and oranges.  Tony cannot compete with WWE as he is not doing an entertainment product, he is doing a wrestling product.  And Vince was a genius in the early 2000's when he realized wrestling projects have a small cap on fanbase, whereas entertainment products that are more than wrestling, appeal to a lot more people.

What I do not get, is Tony is such a mark, he has to know how every single of WWE's rivals ended up.  You go to war with WWE you lose.  Do your own product and do not give a fuck what Vince does, and you can run forever.  Many indy feds are on 20 plus years now because they did not care what Vince did and just ran for their fans.  Indy feds that tried to compete with Vince all failed.

One of my biggest issues with AEW, for example, is Bryan Danielson being there for a year and a half now, yet he hasn't held any championship gold. The man was in the main event of WrestleMania the same year he joined the company, I dunno if it's cause he doesn't want to hold championship gold (kinda like Shawn Michaels when he returned to the WWE), or if Tony Khan doesn't fully appreciate the name recognition Danielson has, but the momentum he brought with him has been wasted. I just feel having Danielson's name attached to the AEW heavyweight title (or any of them for that matter) adds prestige to it and would just like to see him have a title run.

I dunno, I'm just finding it really hard to get invested in AEW these days, partly cause they have such a huge roster and people tend to disappear for weeks/months at a time (yea, I know the upside is the talent don't get burned out, it keeps things fresh). Take Miro, the guy had a fantastic run as the TNT champion and since then he's done fuck all, just another guy not being used that should be.

You want to know why Lony? Because AEW doesn't need to make money.

If AEW didn't have the money it does behind it, TK would be doing absolutely everything it took to ensure asses are in seats. And that would be Bryan Danielson working title programs, that would be putting the bullshit aside and working with the only drawcard he has in CM Punk, that would be working things out with a founder in Cody.

He doesn't need to do any of that, there is no threat of going out of business financially. If AEW folds tomorrow, Tony Khan is still the son of a billionaire. He can do whatever he likes, and there is no life or death consequences.

Link to discussion on Kenny Omega appearing on Oral Sessions w/ some quotes from the podcast regarding Brawl Out: reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/11e5mph/kenny_omega_on_the_brawl_out_its_a_shame_that_the/

Definitely going to give this a listen. Omega’s insight is interesting.

Did they ever resolve the " internal investigation " or was that fancy speak for " we're doing fuck all because we lack the maturity to manage a difficult situation, so in doing nothing, we're letting his contract run out, and by not speaking about it, we're not giving Punk any further ammunition or letting the Young Bucks look like twats any more than they already are. "

The internal investigation was just is AEW liable for any of this. I assume they are letting Punk run out his contract, and Punk is happy since he can work elsewhere and still get AEW top dollar for a few years.  Tony I assume is just paying him off to avoid getting sucked into a legal mess.  AEW does not want to go before a jury with all this drama.

Pay him out, and then some, and move on. I can't imagine being associated with each other for another 2 years is beneficial for either party. Then again, they may want his likeness for F4E.

Feb 28, 2023 20:46:36 GMT NATH45 said:

Did they ever resolve the " internal investigation " or was that fancy speak for " we're doing fuck all because we lack the maturity to manage a difficult situation, so in doing nothing, we're letting his contract run out, and by not speaking about it, we're not giving Punk any further ammunition or letting the Young Bucks look like twats any more than they already are. "

I dunno if they did or not. Omega mentions on the podcast that it’s a shame the public will never know what happened and it bothers him that he can’t talk about it. So either it is still underway or they all had to sign NDAs or something. Who knows.

I highly doubt Khan will keep Punk on his contract for the duration if it becomes clear he is not returning. Either that has already been discussed and once Punk is 100% healthy they will buy him out, or there is still work being done behind the scenes to bring him back. We should know by summer what is going to happen. If not earlier.

Tony absolutely will keep Punk under contract, as Punk will sue his ass if he breaks it without buying him out.

Should this ever go to court, look at Punk's story from the outside. He was an independent contractor who was injured preforming for the company, then less than an hour after he was injured, he was attacked unprovoked by three executives at the company because they were upset at his performance. You do not win a jury back from that.

Only real option here is buy Punk out no string attached, or keep him on for the duration and just off the air. And for Tony, he mine as well keep Punk if he is paying the same either way in case he can use him in some manner.

The more time goes on, the more confident I am that Punk is returning. After the Cabana stunt I thought that was that, but since then and the chat surrounding the situation I feel both sides have softened over time and with Punk edging closer to a return I think there's every chance they bring him back.

No doubt if Tony is desperate for better gates and bigger ratings ahead of the TV deal, bringing in CM Punk would give the product a huge shot in the arm and create plenty of buzz.

I might be alone on this, but one of the reasons why AEW hasn't felt as interesting lately is because of that press conference. Punk came in, lit a fire and I really wanted to see The Elite-Punk/FTR Civil War. However knowing that couldn't take place it's made MJF's return feel secondary.

It's left the company in a situation where they're delivering good matches but there's hardly any angles fans want to see play out. The one angle that had potential was the women's civil war but it's been so poorly told so far with the Leva Bates backstage and Saraya spray-painting Toni Storm's ass really leaving a lot to be desired.

Maybe it's a cope, but if Tony is desperate I think there's an opportunity to bring Punk back. The only concern after that is would the Elite play ball? It would suck if Punk returned and was left in the Punk-verse.

I'd laugh hysterically if moments after the match, Punk discovered he was hurt (I can't remember if he went in hurt or not, maybe jumping into the crowd on Dynamite??) and knew he was out for months.

Tony then says to him, "Shit Phil, what are we going to do, cos nothing inconvenient has every happened to me before?"

Then Punk is like "watch this Tony, they'll be talking about me for months even though I not there... oh and whatever you do, don't act like a little bitch out there"

Moments later, "Hangman Page is an empty headed fuck... and the Young Bucks, well I saw them sucking each other's dicks... "

20 minutes later "see, I told you Tony, nothing to worry about.."

Reported Cargill wanted to do a three month stay in Japan to hone her skills and was also turned down. This one is REALLY stupid, as she is barely on TV. Three months in a joshi dojo would see her easily get to the next level. And frankly, when you have someone like Jade who does not actually need money, it is really stupid to deny their requests as she can easily tell Tony to piss off and go to Japan to train anyway.

Given Japanese contracts allow people to work in the US on free days, Tony keeps this up could see guys tell him to piss off and sign with Japan when contracts are up.  Then if he wants to use them will need to deal with NJPW.

Be so ironic if Tony loses talent simply because Japan will give people the deals they thought they got from signing with AEW.

Mar 4, 2023 2:38:21 GMT c said:

Reported Cargill wanted to do a three month stay in Japan to hone her skills and was also turned down. This one is REALLY stupid, as she is barely on TV. Three months in a joshi dojo would see her easily get to the next level. And frankly, when you have someone like Jade who does not actually need money, it is really stupid to deny their requests as she can easily tell Tony to piss off and go to Japan to train anyway.

Given Japanese contracts allow people to work in the US on free days, Tony keeps this up could see guys tell him to piss off and sign with Japan when contracts are up.  Then if he wants to use them will need to deal with NJPW.

Be so ironic if Tony loses talent simply because Japan will give people the deals they thought they got from signing with AEW.

Someone humble enough to realize despite being pushed they can get better. Can't have that here. But maybe Tony didn't want her to get injuried in an outlaw mudshow that he didn't own.

Actually working for small feds with untrained local guys is totally cool. Just not working for large Japanese feds or big indy feds like PGW or GCW.

But hey, maybe Jade and DB will just go the Miro route in the near future.

Maybe if they either had some sort of developmental system or get this... some vets who can actually work to teach her something.

Did she actually say she wanted to go to Japan or are we crafting a story out of an interview Bryan Danielson did stated she expressed interest?

" yeah, I'd love to. "

Which is the same response who give to that guy you know who just spent 40 minutes telling you about Thailand and how you should go. But you still have no intention of going.

No dev system is on par with the Japanese dojos. She could return to the Nightmare Factory, or train more with AR Fox, both groups who trained her before, but it will not be anything like living in a training dojo for three months and just training all of the time while working shows.

Bryan said that she wanted to do a three month tour in Japan. Then Britt and others said she should be put into a place where she can prove herself with regular work.

Also AEW has ties to people who could get her booked in any of the four big Joshi feds. Hell Emi founded two of them. Pretty sure she wanted to do a dojo run simply to get her ring work in a much better place after talking with the Joshi girls who are in catering most shows.

Tony fucks with Jade, she does not need his money, and easily could just walk away.  Much like I expect DB will if Tony goes back on his word about G1.

" No dev system is on par with the Japanese dojos "

This statement is supported by the vast number of Japanese talent to find success in the United States. 🙄

Well, how for every 100 new boys how many become a star in any capacity?

To be fair, the sort of experience she needs is something she could find in spades in Japan. She would benefit from a Performance Center type thing as anyone as green as her would. But she doesn’t need to learn how to work the hard cam, or pose, or work the crowd in transitions. She needs to learn how to formulate the basics of a match, especially with the smarky AEW crowd. I can’t think of a better place than Japan to learn all that stuff.

She has the most top level potential of anyone in AEW and I don’t think it’s particularly close.

Potential it appears she will not live up to unless she can wrestle more than 10 minutes a month. Hell, seems like majority of her matches did not break two minutes.

Mar 4, 2023 13:25:15 GMT c said:

Potential it appears she will not live up to unless she can wrestle more than 10 minutes a month. Hell, seems like majority of her matches did not break two minutes.

Well he’s scared to death to book her in longer match I would guess, because that crowd will eat her alive if she sucks at it which she does. The Japan thing is a great idea.

Also some people do not really want to wrestle her as it means they will just get buried as that is the only match Jade works. She has no experience in anything where she is not overly dominant.

And yeah, she does Japan, she comes back years ahead of where she will be just working AEW. And Tony could sell her return as a huge thing.

Keith Lee on his new look :

"a giant middle finger to society and [to] a lot of companies that want you need to look like, a lot of people that tell you what you need to look like"

Yeah, that'll show Vince.

I love how everyone is quoting that, and not mentioning the context. Basically Lee will stop dying his hair black and let people see he is mostly grey now.

“This is definitely the same Keith Lee that left, alright? The Keith Lee that left is actually not the entirety of what Keith Lee is. I think that what inspired that look or return and all of that, I think in my previous interview the exact terminology I used was, ‘A giant middle finger to society and a lot of companies that want you need to look like, a lot of people that tell you what you need to look like.’

Instead I decided to say, ‘Okay, here’s reality.’ I’ve actually made statements about this in the past. I saw my first grey hairs at sixteen, which means they were coming in long before that, right?

I want people to be comfortable with who they are. Now, don’t get me wrong, I want people to be their best versions of themselves. But not at the expense of their natural looks.

While I want people to take care of themselves physically and do what they can to adhere to their health, things of that sort, I’m going to be the trendsetter that says, ‘Okay, naturally grey hair, white hair, however you view it, I’m going to be the one who sets it off.’ Because I am who I am and I don’t really care what people say or think about me, I am going to be successful doing this. I’m going to change the game once again. That’s what I always do. That’s really what it’s about.”

Yeah, that'll show Vince.

Vince Vince Vince!!!

Living rent free.

Speaking of poorly aged tweets.

Gunther is still a stupid name.  Everyone focused on the u-boat commander, but Hans F. K. Günther was one if the inspirations for the master race theory that justified the holocaust, who Hitler was a fan of.

Rumor is MJF has a year or so left on his AEW contract, then he is going to WWE. He reportedly told WWE talent he cannot wait to be there next year.