May 26, 2023 10:38:55 GMT Blindy said:

May 26, 2023 2:51:38 GMT NATH45 said:

I'll be the brave one and say, I don't get it.

Why the fuck is Sabu even on TV in 2023?

It makes no sense. He's likely 60 years old, and hasn't been relevant in over 20 years. If he was at all outside of his bubble.

The same reason why Dr. Luther is signed full time and why Juventud got a match on AEW Dynamite.

Are you suggesting we take this discussion to the 'Curse of Jericho' thread?

There has to be a story behind it. I don't think Tony just woke up four years into AEW and said 'yeah, now's the time to bring in one of my childhood idols'. Somebody got the idea - most likely at 2am and they just went with it. It got the reaction you'd expect but it's like Road Warrior Animal popping up in WCW 2001 or all those random TNA debuts.

He lives in Vegas didn’t you guys hear anything Adam Cole said? Geez.

It doesn’t make sense and it will probably lead to Sabu dying in the ring but whatever. Apparently he’s a horrible person so it’s ok!

Tony loves his surprise pops and he got one on Wednesday. Don’t need to look into it much more than that.

May 26, 2023 13:24:30 GMT RT said:

He lives in Vegas didn’t you guys hear anything Adam Cole said? Geez.

Nope, too busy gearing up for Double Or Nothing.

All well and good for Tony to enjoy a surprise pop, but quality segments go a long way. Again, it seems odd because Sabu doesn't seem to fit the demo of the typical AEW fan. He's probably best known as a Botchamania meme than an actual respected cult wrestler.

May 26, 2023 11:00:39 GMT NATH45 said:

May 26, 2023 10:38:55 GMT Blindy said:

The same reason why Dr. Luther is signed full time and why Juventud got a match on AEW Dynamite.

Are you suggesting we take this discussion to the 'Curse of Jericho' thread?

Embarrassed to admit this but I didn't know we had a 'Shit on Chris Jericho' thread going on. :lol: I really thought it was "Cruise of Jericho" with his cruise show card being discussed or whatnot. 

May 26, 2023 8:31:22 GMT NATH45 said:

Sabu probably has bills to pay and one of his buddys in AEW was like " yo, this kid will literally hire anyone for a night "

Tony said Sabu is not All Elite in the media scrum.  It is a one off.  And Tony kind of confirmed it was because he was a fan of him.

Cannot remember anyone else Tony booked that he said this of.

Eric Bischoff IIRC, pure one off and Tony liked him in WCW. Given what Bischoff's said about AEW, he's never going to get the red carpet from them. Given how close he is with Hogan, I am stunned he even appeared on AEW for even one night.

May 26, 2023 16:15:12 GMT Blindy said:

Eric Bischoff IIRC, pure one off and Tony liked him in WCW. Given what Bischoff's said about AEW, he's never going to get the red carpet from them. Given how close he is with Hogan, I am stunned he even appeared on AEW for even one night.

That had to be a Jericho call.

It seemed like Eric was on AEW's side as well until Tony started making back-handed comparisons to WCW. Stuff along the lines of 'we're like WCW circa 97, except we're not going to be as bad as their '98'.

Then of course you had Punk comparing the debut of Cole, Danielson and himself to The Outsiders, except it was going to be bigger. :lol:

May 26, 2023 16:55:45 GMT Big Pete said:

May 26, 2023 16:15:12 GMT Blindy said:

Eric Bischoff IIRC, pure one off and Tony liked him in WCW. Given what Bischoff's said about AEW, he's never going to get the red carpet from them. Given how close he is with Hogan, I am stunned he even appeared on AEW for even one night.

That had to be a Jericho call.

It seemed like Eric was on AEW's side as well until Tony started making back-handed comparisons to WCW. Stuff along the lines of 'we're like WCW circa 97, except we're not going to be as bad as their '98'.

Then of course you had Punk comparing the debut of Cole, Danielson and himself to The Outsiders, except it was going to be bigger. :lol:

If there was ever proof all these guys are massive marks, it's basically copying WCW's homework with the Collision colour scheme and logo.

---

I'll twist the Sabu debut to make a point here.

Every big moment should be utilised to put over new, emerging or younger talent or at least someone with some legs in them. A mark for Sabu or not, this could have been an opportunity to elevate someone and present them as a player in the scheme of things. Take Keith Lee for example, here's someone people generally like and (for reasons unknown to me) want to see successful.

Lee mowing down JAS at ringside for Cole ala Braun Strowman, and hitting a roadblock in Hager sets up " unmovable object v unstoppable force " match the following week on Dynamite... and of course Keith Lee has history with Jericho.

Instead Sabu is likely going to break a table and go home and his involvement, it's never mentioned again.

Counterpoint, if a guy like Sabu can appears, who will appear next? It is incentive for fans to tune in, and the average AEW fan is old enough to remember ECW, so it was a good guy to use for a surprise appearance.

Counterpoint, does the inclusion of a guy like Sabu for one night only add to additional interest in the show or AEW itself, or would using this opportunity to build an engaging storyline and putting over a full time member of the roster be more beneficial?

There is no " flow on " from a Sabu appearance. Putting over Keith Lee as Cole's enforcer can lead to additional matches on Dynamite/Rampage. The trio of Cole, Strong and Lee could work the members of JAS... they could work HOB for the titles within a few weeks (main eventing Dynamite BTW) only to be screwed by JAS, furthering the storyline.

Overwhelmed by the 5 or 6 v 3 advantage, KOR will eventually return, (re)uniting " The Undisputed Glory " which you can then build to B&G.

If not KOR, then one of the pillars.

May 27, 2023 0:25:44 GMT NATH45 said:

Counterpoint, does the inclusion of a guy like Sabu for one night only add to additional interest in the show or AEW itself

Yes. I had only planned on watching the Jarrett match. Now I intend to watch the JJ match and whatever Sabu is involved with. 

Always a good idea to use legends where you can.

Not when it's a hat on a hat situation.

What does Sabu bring to an Adam Cole-Chris Jericho grudge match?

A few moves most likely which is enough to get people to watch that may not otherwise. And really, what does Hager bring to the match if people want to ask these questions about Sabu.

I'm not sold on Keith Lee or Jake Hager either - I'd be fine with quietly moving on from both. However nath's point was that Lee was an established element in the program, ideally you could bring him in have him take care of the JAS and get a couple of money matches out of him. So I can see the logic, albeit I don't think Lee has that run in him anymore.

May 27, 2023 6:15:12 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm not sold on Keith Lee or Jake Hager either - I'd be fine with quietly moving on from both. However nath's point was that Lee was an established element in the program, ideally you could bring him in have him take care of the JAS and get a couple of money matches out of him. So I can see the logic, albeit I don't think Lee has that run in him anymor9e.

Lee was the only big guy I could think of that isn't exactly busy and at least established enough with the audience for them to care. That, and as you said, it presents the opportunity for a few matches.

Option never was gonna be Lee or Sabu though. It was Sabu or nothing. This takes no spots from other people as that two minutes or so devoted to Sabu in this would just have been absorbed back into promo and match.

That's the issue with the program, it should have been an option. However the feud has been so poorly thought out to the point where they can throw Sabu a bone and it's really not the end of the world because who cares? Which isn't really something you want when it's meant to be a blood feud.

As far as Sabu making sense because it's Las Vegas. Be honest, when you think Las Vegas - does Sabu even come to mind? Detroit or Philly, Las Vegas? Get out of here.

It doesn't make any sense.

" Hi Sabu you don't know me, but I know you. I've haven't got a friend in the world on this vast roster, despite working with them for 10 years either in ROH or WWE, despite being part of a faction more than once or twice and despite being the jam in a Young Bucks sandwich.. my Girlfriend, she's pretty much the most popular chick in the locker-room and even she doesn't know anyone. She even asked Schiavone over breakfast and he's shit out of luck.. anyway, please return my call because I couldn't think of anyone better to call to fight Jericho, despite the fact you've got no connection to him at all.. no beef, no history or any sort of association. Ok thanks "

If Jericho is facing Punk as his next feud, Punk could return in this match and claim he sent his fellow ECW buddy Sabu to fuck up Jericho for him. Belief is Punk is returning during this match, and that the ECW style match and Sabu was the foretelling of it.

:lol:

One of your best c.

May 27, 2023 5:29:05 GMT Big Pete said:

Not when it's a hat on a hat situation.

What does Sabu bring to an Adam Cole-Chris Jericho grudge match?

That’s fair. I haven’t even seen the segment so it was more of a general statement.

May 27, 2023 8:25:34 GMT Big Pete said:

One of your best c .

I really hope to be wrong on this one.  It would be really idiotic even for Tony to overbook a match that frankly, almost no one cares about, to this insane level.  

And for me ultimately that is why Sabu does not matter, this feud really makes little sense week to week, and it will be over next week and no one will miss it.

That said still not the stupidest thing happening this weekend. WWE wins that with expecting us to believe they would allow Cody to work with a broken arm.  And likely expect us to believe he could beat Lesner with only one arm.

Maybe Hunter was like " Cody, let him think you're arm is broken, then he'll underestimate you, then when he's laughing his ass off thinking he's going to kick your ass - hit him with the inanimate carbon rod you've got stuffed in your ridiculously oversized cast "

Then 15 seconds into the match Brock pulls a Juggernaut and just rips him in half.

May 27, 2023 8:41:54 GMT @toddisdrunk said:

May 27, 2023 5:29:05 GMT Big Pete said:

Not when it's a hat on a hat situation.

What does Sabu bring to an Adam Cole-Chris Jericho grudge match?

That’s fair. I haven’t even seen the segment so it was more of a general statement.

In general you're right and if you're in Minnesota in a wacky 5 v 5 crowd brawl a Baron Van Raschke appearance isn't going to go astray.

However, Adam Cole is somebody they're actively trying to get over as a star. I don't know why you would have him share the spotlight with Sabu of all people. The crazy thing is, c is probably onto something about the Punk segue and it would not be completely crazy to have the JAS blame Sabu for the loss only for Punk to appear. It would be a really lameduck way to bring back the most anticipated return but it's completely on brand with Jericho.

He's not a complete jobber but the way Jericho has gone about things, he's put himself beneath Punk. He should be getting heat, instead he's in desperate need of a change.

Way I see it is Jericho takes out Cole, Strong and Sabu then Punk appears, attacks Jericho, and Cole steals a pin.

Does it make sense? Of course not. But if Punk is coming back Sunday and is to work Jericho, this kickstarts the feud extremely fast. And if Punk wants Joe at Wembley, they need to burn through this Jericho feud pretty quick to prep Punk vs Joe 4.  Another thing I hope does not happen as if they do 20 minutes of headlocks they will get booed out of the arena.

I'm sure CM Punk and Samoa Joe know better than to work an enormous stadium show match in a different way to a niche early 2000s workrate match. They've both been in WWE. Not sure why they would even consider wrestling like their ROH series.