And he comes in as a part timer taking a main event spot.

He didn't die the hero. He becomes the villain.

He was the chosen one.

He is lost.

He, like Cena, became what he hated. Or maybe he never hated it. He simply hated that it wasn't him.

I would if he comes back pulling the Man from Hollywood gimmick. Most of his WWE fans do not know just how hated he can be. He could really pull nuclear heat coming back and just laying into the fans old school style.

Would kill to see him do the invisible microphone on live TV.

Jul 24, 2021 0:00:22 GMT c said:

I would if he comes back pulling the Man from Hollywood gimmick. Most of his WWE fans do not know just how hated he can be. He could really pull nuclear heat coming back and just laying into the fans old school style.

Would kill to see him do the invisible microphone on live TV.

It's his "it doesn't matter~!" only it's way wordier and harder to pull off.

Jul 24, 2021 0:00:22 GMT c said:

I would if he comes back pulling the Man from Hollywood gimmick. Most of his WWE fans do not know just how hated he can be. He could really pull nuclear heat coming back and just laying into the fans old school style.

Would kill to see him do the invisible microphone on live TV.

That clip was one of the reasons young, teenage WMS became a Punk super fan. That and watching bits of ROH on “The Wrestling Channel” and being enamoured with the Pepsi Plunge.

As for the £20mil, I can’t recall him ever saying that price. He has been quoted as saying it’d take a lot of money, but 20mil is crazy and an unreasonable figure. It’s definitely gonna be in the millions but I’d hedge it be a fraction of 20mil.

That number was from a direct quote when asked what he would return for. He said 20, 25 million. So no way AEW is paying that. 6 million I can see, as that is what Mox makes supposedly now, and most of the top guys are around 3 million.

And yeah heel Punk in the indies was freaking awesome. I was not a super fan of the Plunge as it was weird to set up. Much preferred the shining wizard or anaconda vice. The plunge was great for big wins or when he could hit it without setup, but when he needed to set it up, it was awkward.

Has it been confirmed yet, or are we still at the 'clever viral marketing' stage to drum up interest in All In?

Jul 23, 2021 8:20:26 GMT Emperor said:

Strange complaint coming from you Blindy as I'm pretty sure you manage to play more than 24 hours of video games in a day considering how quickly you blast through them. But maybe that's the reason you wouldn't have time for AEW.

Anyway RT 's point is not that you have to watch all these shows, just that their young talent is being showcased a lot. Not that that's a problem in my eyes. If it was all ex-WWE guys, sure, but the AEW homegrown talent is still a big majority. A lot of the WWE guys are veterans used in non-wrestling roles. It's the stars like Jericho, Bryan and Punk that will help bring a lot more eyes to the company.

What specifically is the problem with bringing in ex-WWE guys because I'm not seeing it. How is it harming the product in any way? Tell me. Spell it out.

Your being too nice with that :lol: Work is no joke on my end!

By signing so many of these talents though, the TV time on the A show becomes sort of scarce though. When I saw Doc Gallows vs Frankie Kazarian, I got visions of Impact, not so much AEW. Nowhere did I get the feel of watching a match like that where I came off saying only in AEW will I ever see that. Same with Christian vs Matt Hardy, it's like these two have faced off how many times now against one another in WWE? Who cares what they do in AEW together. Why is Matt Hardy even the forefront figure of his stable if the idea is to use him to get people like Private Party or Butcher, Blade & Bunny over? The identity of AEW despite two years on TV hasn't really grown IMO. It's a haven of ex WWE talent or Indy sensations but TNA made the X Division a backbone of it's company and the Knockouts division was the anti-Diva wrestling cure at the time, WWE went through different phases, what's AEW done thus far to change the game besides these signings of semi-household names? 

I just don't want to see the company fall into the glitz and glamour of signing people and thinking doing that is enough. What I credited AEW vs say WWE is their long term approach of things where they aren't doing big surprises every other week for the quick over 1 mill rating pull. There are no brain singings like Danielson, Punk, Black & Miro. Even Andrade I guess can go there. Then there are Shawn Spears, Chavo Guerrero, Vickie Guerrero, Matt Hardy and despite me liking him, Christian Cages who don't matter much in this company and don't bring the appeal or upside the former guys listed say would in their roles. 

I think you are overstating the case of AEW being a haven for ex-WWE guys. First of all, the Matt Hardy vs Christian rivalry is very clearly placed in the lower card. Same with Gallows vs Kaz.

Let's break down the cards of the past two Fyter Fest shows which are more significant cards than the average Dynamite, closer to a PPV.

Jon Moxley vs Karl Anderson

Moxley is technically an ex-WWE guy, but as has been mentioned he's clearly formed his own identity since leaving WWE, so Jon Moxley is far from the same person as Dean Ambrose. He's been with AEW from Day 1, AEW World Champion for a long time, so I'd argue he's more of an AEW guy than a WWE guy now.

AEW vs Impact.

Ricky Starks vs Brian Cage

AEW vs AEW.

Christian Cage vs Matt Hardy

WWE vs WWE.

Sammy Guevara vs Wheeler Yuta

AEW vs AEW.

Yuka Sakazaki defeated Penelope Ford

AEW vs AEW.

Darby Allin vs Ethan Page

AEW vs AEW/Impact.

Chris Jericho vs Shawn Spears

You could argue that, like Moxley, Jericho and Spears have formed their own identities since leaving WWE, have been there since the start of AEW so should not be tarred with the Ex-WWE brush. But I'll concede this one. When people think of Jericho they will think of WWE first and foremost, which is not the same for guys like Miro, Alesteir Black et al.

WWE vs WWE.

Dcc Gallows vs Frankie Kazarian

Impact vs Impact/AEW

Darby Allin vs Wheeler Yuta

AEW vs AEW

Britt Baker vs Nyla Rose

AEW vs AEW

Orange Cassidy vs The Blade

AEW vs AEW

Lance Archer vs Jon Moxley

Lance Archer has been all over the place. WWE, Impact, NJPW. But it's safe to class him as an AEW guy here.

AEW vs AEW.

I'm not going to tally the scores, but it's very clear that AEW shows overwhelmingly don't feature ex-WWE talent, especially in the main event and upper midcard.

That's not to mention the current AEW World Champion is not ex-WWE. Neither is the current #1 contender, nor top star MJF.

Moxley vs Anderson is CZW/WWE vs NJPW/WWE.

Ricky Starks was with NWA previously which is where AEW learned of him and Brian Cage was in both Lucha Underground and I think was Impact's world champion or was contending for the title from Tessa Blanchard prior to signing with AEW.

Wheeler Yuta did ROH work and MLW work, he was in the big tourney ROH had little less than a year ago. Not a Nightmare factory product.

Shawn Spears can do all the cabaret on broadway poses pre match with a chair all he wants, he's still The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger to most who see him, mohawk or not. I even remember him as Gavin Spears in WWECW but I am in a very small minority there.

Blade/Braxton Sutter is ex TNA/Impact, same with Allie. That's like me saying the Dexter Lumis gimmick is an WWE NXT original, he isn't. Samuel Shaw.

Archer is NJPW/Impact/WWE but your right he has no real home(Impact longest tenured but NJPW is where his EVERYBODY DIES gimmick was created)

And MJF is MLW created but I get it, no one recognizes MLW. It's even more niche than ROH. And Omega/Page aren't AEW created but your right, neither are WWE(Outside of developmental for Omega)

For me, I want to watch AEW for fresh faces with the occasional big signing here and there. If AEW didn't sign so many prior ex WWE talents before, I would have been absolutely floored with these two new signings and I am still in some regard. But I don't want to hear the narrative that they aren't signing WWE elevated guys and then you go and get Punk & Danielson back to back. Just be transparent and just means what you say Tony. 

So you're shifting the argument from AEW has too many ex-WWE guys to AEW has too many non-AEW guys.

The majority of the AEW roster is a fresh face to the pro-wrestling fan who doesn't watch anything outside of the WWE. Impact is a very small fish, so a lot of AEW fans don't know that this wrestler came from Impact. I had no idea Blade came from Impact, for example. Same with ROH. Most AEW fans have never seen the likes of Blade, MJF, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta, Ricky Starks et al. before they came to AEW.

You can't create a brand new company with a TV deal and expect it to be a success if you use only specifically home grown talent, not allowing yourself to hire any wrestler from any other company. That's absurd. Their roster does consist of a lot of independent talent (ROH etc), and some wrestlers from NJPW/Impact. None of those companies are even close to being on the same level of awareness as WWE is to a Western audience.

Jul 24, 2021 13:38:03 GMT Emperor said:

So you're shifting the argument from AEW has too many ex-WWE guys to AEW has too many non-AEW guys.

The majority of the AEW roster is a fresh face to the pro-wrestling fan who doesn't watch anything outside of the WWE. Impact is a very small fish, so a lot of AEW fans don't know that this wrestler came from Impact. I had no idea Blade came from Impact, for example. Same with ROH. Most AEW fans have never seen the likes of Blade, MJF, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta, Ricky Starks et al. before they came to AEW.

You can't create a brand new company with a TV deal and expect it to be a success if you use only specifically home grown talent, not allowing yourself to hire any wrestler from any other company. That's absurd. Their roster does consist of a lot of independent talent (ROH etc), and some wrestlers from NJPW/Impact. None of those companies are even close to being on the same level of awareness as WWE is to a Western audience.

The argument for me has been AEW hasn't put fresh new faces on TV enough and given their fanbase are diehard fans that watched The Elite in NJPW or came from The Asylum Zone of TNA/Impact or watched ROH ages ago, same with CHIKARA or CZW, these signings are catered to the non-WWE fanbase. I didn't even watch Impact or NJPW like that at all but I even know who these people are. It'd be like me saying Samoa Joe or AJ Styles are WWE originals because they never appeared in AEW. But WWE has John Cena, Randy Orton, The Miz, Batista, The Rock, Kane, JBL, HHH all who are part timers(Some via Hollywood) or full timers that rarely if at all appeared on opposing television. 

Your right when it's done at a certain medium and not shoved down your throat like Vickie Guerrero's EXCUSE ME gimmick which we know where that started. Chris Jericho has been in the main event ________ times for AEW, regardless of recognition of not. I have no problem with these recent moves, they are no brainers but these are quick fixes for AEW needing starpower that was harnessed elsewhere. 

They would feature Okada if they get a chance to and use him in the main event over Jungle Boy, MJF, Allin.

Jumps, trades, signing another company's talent can work two ways.

1) You're either signing younger talent with potential, and looking for a 10+ year return on your investment ie; WWF signing Eddie, Benoit, Jericho, Rey, etc 

2) or you're signing established talent for the name-sake alone and hoping for a instant response from the audience, and boost to ratings. ie; WCW signing every older WWF talent. 

Personally, I say AEW needs to sign as much WWE talent as possible, regardless of what I just said, because they know how to work and will do it safely and professionally. And in turn they'll make the product look better. And they won't inclined to act like a pack of nerds either. That, and they've probably spent half their lives in the gym and will look like actual wrestlers and not children or vending machine installers. Then you pull your finger out of your asshole TK and create a real developmental system and put everyone who hasn't worked for either WWE or NJPW in it for the next year and officially christen ' DARK ' as your NXT.  

Am I lost? is this the negativity thread in off topic?

Is CM Punk even relevant anymore? How long has it been since he's been in a wrestling ring? And hasn't the MMA stuff hes done reduced his name value? And even if he was a top star when he was in WWE, is that even a meaningful period, like, will he even move the needle?

I feel like AEW's vibe and target audience falls in line with how they consistently talk about wrestling being 'back on turner broadcasting'. As though they are the emotional lineage of NWA/WCW. Carrying on aesthetic styles and picking up where they left off 20 years prior. I can not imagine a way that CM Punk fits into the AEW product.
Bryan, yeah gimme that.

Jul 24, 2021 13:46:48 GMT Blindy said:

The argument for me has been AEW hasn't put fresh new faces on TV enough and given their fanbase are diehard fans that watched The Elite in NJPW or came from The Asylum Zone of TNA/Impact or watched ROH ages ago, same with CHIKARA or CZW, these signings are catered to the non-WWE fanbase.

AEW have found a good balance in promoting their own stars vs stars that are more well-known from other companies. Keep in mind the company has only existed around two years, it's extremely rare to take a wrestler who has never wrestled anywhere and make them a star in that amount of time. But they have done a great job with the likes of Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, MJF, Orange Cassidy. They are the present and the future.

I don't see somebody like Jon Moxley as a WWE guy. He made a name for himself in CZW and I remember a lot of his promos went viral among the IWC. I remember his promos being held up against Punk's at the time and fans wanted him on the main roster ASAP.

Even guys like Jericho and Dustin I feel have dual citizenship. Yes they were in WWE long enough to be WWE guys but they made names for themselves in WCW which AEW feels related to in someway. The same can be said of The Big Show.

The only out and out WWE guys would be: Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Miro, FTR & Billy Gunn.

Both Matt Hardy and Christian Cage I feel made a name for themselves outside of the WWE to change their perception. Matt especially has portrayed personas he created out of the WWE universe.

Yeah the narrative that WWE made all these guys who were big before WWE is pretty funny.

I'd lump Christian as a WWE guy. He took a chance with Impact, but he came crawling back and seemed miserable (ala Eddy ONS) doing that 1-shot appearance for them.

Living Colour just followed AEW on twitter and instagram.

Confirmed. It's happening.

EDIT: they also followed Daniel Bryan.

Jul 24, 2021 18:17:30 GMT RT said:

Living Colour just followed AEW on twitter and instagram.

Confirmed. It's happening.

EDIT: they also followed Daniel Bryan.

I'm overjoyed. This is amazing news!

That or they're trolling and know what buttons to push. Until I see anything I won't believe any reports.

Omega pretty much confirmed they are coming this morning saying it is amazing he may be in the ring with them.

Jul 24, 2021 19:00:30 GMT c said:

Omega pretty much confirmed they are coming this morning saying it is amazing he may be in the ring with them.

It was more than that. His quote was that he was excited to work with them, then caught himself and said "POSSIBLY"

Jul 24, 2021 16:25:09 GMT Big Pete said:

I don't see somebody like Jon Moxley as a WWE guy. He made a name for himself in CZW and I remember a lot of his promos went viral among the IWC. I remember his promos being held up against Punk's at the time and fans wanted him on the main roster ASAP.

Even guys like Jericho and Dustin I feel have dual citizenship. Yes they were in WWE long enough to be WWE guys but they made names for themselves in WCW which AEW feels related to in someway. The same can be said of The Big Show.

The only out and out WWE guys would be: Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Miro, FTR & Billy Gunn.

Both Matt Hardy and Christian Cage I feel made a name for themselves outside of the WWE to change their perception. Matt especially has portrayed personas he created out of the WWE universe.

Sure none are from the performance center but they got elevated in the WWE. Steve Austin wasn't born in the WWF system but at his height, he was at best with WWE. Moxley grew up in the hardcore scene but he learned how to wrestle with TV time, in front of a mainstream audience under FCW/WWE. 

Jericho was held at a certain position due to his height and weight, WWE broke that barrier for him and let him hang with the titans of the company. Rhodes found a niche as Goldust which was easily the height of his career over shit like s7ven and black reign from TNA. 

Vickie Guerrero is WWE created, Justin Roberts WWE created, Dasha WWE created, Brandi Rhodes/Eden Stiles WWE created, it isn't just in ring talent.

None of the top youngsters grew in AEW for sure but they have been elevated by them. Allin, Cassidy, Jungle Boy. I consider them AEW elevated. Same with Tommy End and WWE who AEW has taken bits of his dark father gimmick he was doing late in Smackdown. 

Jul 24, 2021 19:21:23 GMT Blindy said:

Jul 24, 2021 16:25:09 GMT Big Pete said:

I don't see somebody like Jon Moxley as a WWE guy. He made a name for himself in CZW and I remember a lot of his promos went viral among the IWC. I remember his promos being held up against Punk's at the time and fans wanted him on the main roster ASAP.

Even guys like Jericho and Dustin I feel have dual citizenship. Yes they were in WWE long enough to be WWE guys but they made names for themselves in WCW which AEW feels related to in someway. The same can be said of The Big Show.

The only out and out WWE guys would be: Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Miro, FTR & Billy Gunn.

Both Matt Hardy and Christian Cage I feel made a name for themselves outside of the WWE to change their perception. Matt especially has portrayed personas he created out of the WWE universe.

Sure none are from the performance center but they got elevated in the WWE. Steve Austin wasn't born in the WWF system but at his height, he was at best with WWE. Moxley grew up in the hardcore scene but he learned how to wrestle with TV time, in front of a mainstream audience under FCW/WWE. 

Jericho was held at a certain position due to his height and weight, WWE broke that barrier for him and let him hang with the titans of the company. Rhodes found a niche as Goldust which was easily the height of his career over shit like s7ven and black reign from TNA. 

Vickie Guerrero is WWE created, Justin Roberts WWE created, Dasha WWE created, Brandi Rhodes/Eden Stiles WWE created, it isn't just in ring talent.

None of the top youngsters grew in AEW for sure but they have been elevated by them. Allin, Cassidy, Jungle Boy. I consider them AEW elevated. Same with Tommy End and WWE who AEW has taken bits of his dark father gimmick he was doing late in Smackdown. 

You are literally using one point of logic to argue that some guys are WWE guys when you wouldn't refer to other guys as AEW guys who the same logic would apply to them. 

If Steve Austin is a WWE guy (not disputing that) for the reason you say. Then MJF is an AEW guy. 

Jul 24, 2021 19:21:23 GMT Blindy said:

Jul 24, 2021 16:25:09 GMT Big Pete said:

I don't see somebody like Jon Moxley as a WWE guy. He made a name for himself in CZW and I remember a lot of his promos went viral among the IWC. I remember his promos being held up against Punk's at the time and fans wanted him on the main roster ASAP.

Even guys like Jericho and Dustin I feel have dual citizenship. Yes they were in WWE long enough to be WWE guys but they made names for themselves in WCW which AEW feels related to in someway. The same can be said of The Big Show.

The only out and out WWE guys would be: Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Miro, FTR & Billy Gunn.

Both Matt Hardy and Christian Cage I feel made a name for themselves outside of the WWE to change their perception. Matt especially has portrayed personas he created out of the WWE universe.

Sure none are from the performance center but they got elevated in the WWE. Steve Austin wasn't born in the WWF system but at his height, he was at best with WWE. Moxley grew up in the hardcore scene but he learned how to wrestle with TV time, in front of a mainstream audience under FCW/WWE. 

Jericho was held at a certain position due to his height and weight, WWE broke that barrier for him and let him hang with the titans of the company. Rhodes found a niche as Goldust which was easily the height of his career over shit like s7ven and black reign from TNA. 

Vickie Guerrero is WWE created, Justin Roberts WWE created, Dasha WWE created, Brandi Rhodes/Eden Stiles WWE created, it isn't just in ring talent.

None of the top youngsters grew in AEW for sure but they have been elevated by them. Allin, Cassidy, Jungle Boy. I consider them AEW elevated. Same with Tommy End and WWE who AEW has taken bits of his dark father gimmick he was doing late in Smackdown. 

Sure they gained something out of their time in the WWE but they had already gotten over with the core AEW audience well before their runs in the WWE.

A guy like Moxley isn't getting pushed because he's ex-WWE. Moxley is getting pushed because he's one of the best all-round stars and they've wanted to see him used like this for over a decade now and the WWE never really went with it.

It would be one thing if it was developmental, but they've largely been smart with their recruitment from the WWE.

Living Colour unfollowed them shortly after the thread on wreddit blew up.

I'm more convinced than ever now.

Jul 24, 2021 14:41:49 GMT nazzer said:

Am I lost? is this the negativity thread in off topic?

Is CM Punk even relevant anymore? How long has it been since he's been in a wrestling ring? And hasn't the MMA stuff hes done reduced his name value? And even if he was a top star when he was in WWE, is that even a meaningful period, like, will he even move the needle?

I feel like AEW's vibe and target audience falls in line with how they consistently talk about wrestling being 'back on turner broadcasting'. As though they are the emotional lineage of NWA/WCW. Carrying on aesthetic styles and picking up where they left off 20 years prior. I can not imagine a way that CM Punk fits into the AEW product.
Bryan, yeah gimme that.

You sign Punk, and give him an open mic and let him call our all the dork and dweeb behaviour out and hold them accountable for all the cringe-inducing bullshit they do.

Simple. You make him anti-AEW, the same way he became anti-WWE.

Being a miserable old man will be his best asset.

I remember reading a story that TNT didn't like when AEW did surprise debuts on Dynamite or on PPV, that they would prefer debuts to happen with notice as they felt it would get better ratings. Seeing all the buzz for the possibility of Bryan and Punk it's easy to understand their logic

Jul 25, 2021 0:00:01 GMT NATH45 said:

Jul 24, 2021 14:41:49 GMT nazzer said:

Am I lost? is this the negativity thread in off topic?

Is CM Punk even relevant anymore? How long has it been since he's been in a wrestling ring? And hasn't the MMA stuff hes done reduced his name value? And even if he was a top star when he was in WWE, is that even a meaningful period, like, will he even move the needle?

I feel like AEW's vibe and target audience falls in line with how they consistently talk about wrestling being 'back on turner broadcasting'. As though they are the emotional lineage of NWA/WCW. Carrying on aesthetic styles and picking up where they left off 20 years prior. I can not imagine a way that CM Punk fits into the AEW product.
Bryan, yeah gimme that.

You sign Punk, and give him an open mic and let him call our all the dork and dweeb behaviour out and hold them accountable for all the cringe-inducing bullshit they do.

Simple. You make him anti-AEW, the same way he became anti-WWE.

Being a miserable old man will be his best asset.

So you want CM Punk to be nath45 in the flesh?

Curmudgeon just debuted in AEW.