They're forming a union. They coming for your ass Tony!

But yeah Strong has been around FOREVER. I know wrestling is different and all but it's insane how fast time has slipped by. Seems like only yesterday with Gen Next and damn near 20 yrs past...

May 3, 2022 0:33:41 GMT Blindy said:

May 2, 2022 23:25:17 GMT c said:

Strong just asked for his release.

Would AEW sign another NXT featured talent and tag him up with an act made in NXT? 

You do understand that they’re all friends in real life and formed the faction based on that, and not because NXT writers told them to, right? Like if they were all in PWG they still would have formed a stable together.

Or do you only show up here to mention NXT to annoy people?

May 3, 2022 2:33:37 GMT RT said:

May 3, 2022 0:33:41 GMT Blindy said:

Would AEW sign another NXT featured talent and tag him up with an act made in NXT? 

You do understand that they’re all friends in real life and formed the faction based on that, and not because NXT writers told them to, right? Like if they were all in PWG they still would have formed a stable together.

Or do you only show up here to mention NXT to annoy people?

Roddy is a hell of a worker, and will be an asset. However, I wished they'd do something outside of the " we were in The Undisputed Era " trope forever and a day with these guys.

If true, that sucks about Stu Grayson, as I actually like him and Evil Uno as a team.

If he was released, I would assume he was ok with it. I will be so bummed if he is going before we got at least a run in his old Super Smash Bro gimmick.

I mean how hilarious would it have been for someone to put Smackdown Just Bring It into his tights and have him become the Rock?  Or Warzone and have him turn into Austin?

May 3, 2022 2:33:37 GMT RT said:

May 3, 2022 0:33:41 GMT Blindy said:

Would AEW sign another NXT featured talent and tag him up with an act made in NXT? 

You do understand that they’re all friends in real life and formed the faction based on that, and not because NXT writers told them to, right? Like if they were all in PWG they still would have formed a stable together.

Or do you only show up here to mention NXT to annoy people?

Then the company should not take shots well after the "Wednesday Night War" ended when they are willing to dispatch their homegrown/Indy talent in favor of guys/gals or ideas used from the same company they are taking shots at. Yes all 4 are not WWE made but the concept of them being a faction was created in WWE and without NXT nobody would know any of the storylines that are going on(Such as O'Reilly initial distrust in Cole).

As long as they keep up their potshots, they deserve every bit of hypocrisy claims they get when they sign an NXT talent and put them immediately on TV. 

What bums me out is one of my all time favorite tag teams was Evans and Strong, and now Evans is gone. These two cats though just click so well and are so damn creative with two man spots.

Strong worked with the West Coast crew longer before NXT than he did in NXT. Those ties are why he MAY be hired.

That said, AEW wants him they have to bid. Impact I am SURE also wants him. He is likely to sign with AEW, but Impact may actually be the better place for him, as he would be placed on top there. AEW he is in faction wars, Impact he is posed to be a champ.

Part of the danger of a bloated roster is you may not a lot of exposure.

Meltzer reported Grayson was released as he could not come to terms with Tony on a contract. Makes sense, he was not really getting over. Does not bode well for most of the dark order, as frankly, half of them could be cut and fans may not even notice.

Seems post pandemic Tony is getting more aggressive with contract negotiations, as he should if he wants to avoid becoming WCW.  At some point losing cash starts to actually cost him more than he will get as a tax break.  

I wouldn't be shocked if we saw Stu return down the road. It's not like the WWE is going to offer him a contract and he'll be more over when he comes back and a spot opens up. One of those'you don't know what you have until it's gone' type deals.

It would be really interesting to hear what the story was with the Dark Order. This is just my theory, but I get the feeling they came in per the recommendation of the Bucks and the big idea was to do a long program involving the Bucks/Page & The Dark Order until that fateful December 2019 episode. That was the first time where Khan really had to put his foot down and it seemed like from that point on he had no real interest in using them anymore. In fact they got pushed into the background in favour of Ana Jay, Preston Vance & Alan Angels. Then John Silver started getting over on BTE which won TK over and he started sending Brodie texts in the middle of the night about his booking ideas involving him. With guys like Uno, Grayson and Cabana it just seemed like a favour to the boys.

Then you add in injuries to Grayson and the Skyler incident where he got injured during their match and AEW paid for him while he was out of work and it just leads to a situation where this guys quietly disappear off television.

I’m curious why Grayson was the only one to have a contract dispute. I would assume all the Dark Order OGs would have been signed at the same time, so it’s likely they all re-signed except for him. I wonder what he was demanding and if it was something ridiculous, or Tony played hardball and everyone except Stu was like “yeah ok whatever I like it here.”

The Dark Order has had their moment in the sun with BTE, Brodie Lee, Adam Page, etc, and I think it’s time for them to branch out before they enter overpaid jobber territory. Anna Jay is good enough to move up the women’s division on her own and needs to find her own identity a la Kris Statlander breaking off from Best Friends. Silver and Reynolds can be good cannon fodder for the tag team division. Evil Uno managing Preston & Angels to try and get them a push would be a good fit. And Colt never made sense as part of the group anyway and should probably go the route of Joey Janela sooner rather than later.

Most of the Dark Order came in after Super Smash Brothers. My take is Uno got offered one figure and Stu wanted it matched. But Uno is a locker room leader and does a ton of social media stuff like the AEW games streams, and late night AEW streams, whereas Stu is not as heavily involved. This gives Uno a higher worth to the company than Stu. So Stu walked over the lower offer than Unos. Kind of classic tag team drama you see sometimes.

Colt I see replacing Stu as Uno's partner.  These days they are a tighter team behind the scenes.  And Colt is going nowhere.  Bucks will back Colt.  For those who do not know know, it was Colt who figured out that as an indy star you can get a ton of cash doing your own merch and branding.  And he took the Bucks when they were really green under his wing and taught them how to do this.  And it made the Buck's and so many others rich as shirts became their main source of income.  Later Colt would explore podcasting and streaming as ways to make money.  He pretty much is the JBL of the indies when it comes to teaching guys how to make cash.

If anything Colt goes backstage as a producer.  

I wonder if Stu stays in the states or goes back home to Canada?

May 3, 2022 13:32:57 GMT Blindy said:

May 3, 2022 2:33:37 GMT RT said:

You do understand that they’re all friends in real life and formed the faction based on that, and not because NXT writers told them to, right? Like if they were all in PWG they still would have formed a stable together.

Or do you only show up here to mention NXT to annoy people?

Then the company should not take shots well after the "Wednesday Night War" ended when they are willing to dispatch their homegrown/Indy talent in favor of guys/gals or ideas used from the same company they are taking shots at. Yes all 4 are not WWE made but the concept of them being a faction was created in WWE and without NXT nobody would know any of the storylines that are going on(Such as O'Reilly initial distrust in Cole).

As long as they keep up their potshots, they deserve every bit of hypocrisy claims they get when they sign an NXT talent and put them immediately on TV. 

We're having a discussion about WWE’s lack of creativity in another thread. And sure, these guys are friends and have a professional, working relationship too - but, dear God, they're called the " UNDISPUTED " Elite for Pete's sake. It's a copy/paste, add some superkick type job.

For a group of talented guys, especially Adam Cole.. surely they could of come up with something new, different or innovative.

Adam Cole could literally be the biggest star in the company. Any company in North America.

May 3, 2022 21:09:42 GMT Ed said:

I wonder if Stu stays in the states or goes back home to Canada?

Likely left to return to his business in Canada.

May 3, 2022 21:42:07 GMT c said:

May 3, 2022 21:09:42 GMT Ed said:

I wonder if Stu stays in the states or goes back home to Canada?

Likely left to return to his business in Canada.

I'm thrilled that Stu got to showcase himself in the states.

So Strong release was denied which I thought it would be since he just signed a contract. Why would you purposely give to to AEW when they seem to be wanting to do a UE vs. Elite feud down the line.

I actually liked the original team of Uno and Grayson but they have been directionless for a while. 3 and 4 are the most popular version mainly do to Silver mainly due to Brodie. And TayJay is probably ahead of them as well. And the last regular tag team match he had on Dynamite was last May.

Curious if Strong sits home or not. Modern contracts pay the same if he works or not.

Just realized this was in the wrong place.

Saw a rumor that W Morrissey/Big Cass maybe headed to AEW to help MJF with Wardlow

May 4, 2022 0:59:01 GMT bodyslam said:

Saw a rumor that W Morrissey/Big Cass maybe headed to AEW to help MJF with Wardlow

Yep that happens tomorrow.

May 4, 2022 1:03:09 GMT X-zero said:

May 4, 2022 0:59:01 GMT bodyslam said:

Saw a rumor that W Morrissey/Big Cass maybe headed to AEW to help MJF with Wardlow

Yep that happens tomorrow.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m going to pop my ass off if nZo introduces him.

It probably won’t happen because they don’t want to take any of the spotlight from Wardlow, but how dope would it be?

“Wardlow, I know you think you’re big, but your opponent is SEVEN FEET TALL, AND YOU CAN’T. TEACH. THAT.”

Malakai Black revealed that Darius Martin was in a severe car accident, hence his latest absence. He's expected to be out anywhere from 6-9 months. Dude can't catch a break.

Sounds more and more like Stardome and AEW are going to do a talent exchange and maybe a joint show. Stardome wants Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Hikaru Shida & Tay Conti.

Mayu Iwatani won the SWA title. Very likely she is coming to AEW to defend it. Stip on that title is it can only be defended against people from other countries.

A really interesting point that has come up over the past few days..

A lot of WWE guys have been told to wait before jumping to AEW.

And it's been reported by the Observer, there's AEW talent wanting to jump to WWE for the bump in pay.

Previously, there were talents that were interested in going from AEW to WWE that were told by friends in AEW to stay put until 2024 when AEW would be able to budget far more for talent.

They were told to wait till 2024, as that’s when AEW’s TV rights deal will get renewed and they might be able to offer more money to their wrestlers. Reportedly a $90 million dollar TV deal.

They should get a big bump, it’s the biggest show on TNT/TBS that doesn’t involve basketball. The issue is whether there is any competition for their services. So Thurston’s take is AEW will get 3-5x what they’re on currently for their 18-49 performance. That take makes sense to me and I would expect something around that level. Meltzer is much more pessimistic noting that a lack of competition could deprive AEW of the increase they’re looking for, while also noting that the Discovery merger could throw a spanner in the works, if the new boss decides for whatever reason they don’t like wrestling. It’ll be an interesting story to follow but I would expect AEW to land on their feet.

With the Owen Hart tournament starting this week, joker def looks like Claudio. Will align with his 90 days.

Thinking of it, kind of is a waste. Should have Miro return here, and Jericho say he is bringing in a friend who knows what Sport's Entertainment is all about, and someone who knows Kingston very well and throw Claudio at Kingston. Could have Claudio go all in on his old swiss superstar gimmick and fit in perfectly with JAS, and have Jericho elevate someone else.

I'd argue that Cesaro being a pretty bad sports entertainer is the reason he existed in perpetual midcard in WWE. It doesn't come naturally to him.

Then again, if Daniel Garcia can be written into sports entertainment territory then anyone can. But the argument for Garcia is that he's young and needs to improve his mic/character skills, with that in mind pairing him with Jericho and 2.0 makes sense.

Claudio would be a heel. Not being a top WWE style superstar is what makes it work. And he was much more entertaining before WWE and scripted promos with no character.

I wonder if The Redeemer comes back on behalf of MJF as a final challenge for Wardlow before DoN. Wardlow wins but Miro and Shawn Spears beat the fuck out of him after. Wardlow passing out to the Game Over while MJF shouts in his face would be one hell of an image.

Redeemer as MJF's new muscle would be interesting.