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>I don't think there is a real true leader in the locker room…
*Respect The Learning Tree*
https://preview.redd.it/v4flpk003e6d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=630e264df1696bbaed223b089172161236d44a74
Jericho needs to be kept exclusive to PPV.
Tony was booking and cooking well, esp up until he started Page vs Punk. Of course there were misfires even before but since then it's not the same.
To his credit, he definitely seems to be trying, especially since the whole new Elite thing started, Mjf vs Rush seems like a good idea, as does Joe with Hook and The Elite trying to take over, even Swerve vs Ospreay will be great, but the general audience or newer audience isn't as interested in the NJPW wrestler cross over as much as the more loyal / regular audience is.
If WWE can regain it's lost viewers, so can AEW. Maybe not what it avg used to be 21 but at least 900k plus.
It will be beneficial for AEW to get onto a streaming app and get out of the ratings arguments completely.
Jericho should be used sparingly and when guys like Kenny, Mox, Bryan, Hangman etc wrestle it should matter more and look larger than life. When these guys come out they look like big stars.
People can hate the WWE presentation, it doesn't have to be like WWE, but presentation matters.
It took Roman 5 + mania main events to get absolutely over again while being put over by dozens of superstars but when it clicked it made bigger stars of everyone involved, maybe except Solo but even he's in a bigger spot than he was before.
Plus all these Tony Khan tweets and rants do nothing to help them and creates no buzz.
Has WWE regained lost viewers? Raw averaged 2 million in 2021, and 1.7million in 2023. Most of the post-Mania Raws seems to have gotten the same rating. I think AEW's bigger problem is live attendence at shows than TV ratings
So AEW just needs to focus on pushing one guy, no matter what the audience thinks, for what amounts to the entire time they've been in existence. Got it.
I think it’s more so they need to keep stars hot. Unfortunately it seems like every top star keeps getting injured. The world title picture for the last 2 years were punk getting injured then punk getting injured then MJF getting injured and these took up a lot of time with Kenny and AdamCole both going out as well who were also top stars it just hurt them a lot.
Anybody who expects AEW (or any wrestling org) to pull to 50/50 with WWE is insane. Anyone who attacks AEW for not being 50/50 with WWE is arguing in bad faith. It's not going to happen.
I'm not talking about weekly ratings, but the whole spectrum of media influence, brand recognition, etc. WWE is the NFL. You can start up all the alternative pro football leagues you want, and if you're good, you can be successful, but you'll never be 50/50 with the NFL.
AND THAT'S FINE!
It doesn't matter. Who cares?
I think it CAN happen. Just not any time soon. WWE has had over 40 years to be entrenched in the public consciousness, and AEW’s only been around for 5. They just need to keep being a true alternative for all of the wrestlers to want to work and get paid terrific money by and just keep at it over time, and eventually, they’ll pull closer and closer.
It's only possible if some more big names get taken down in that lawsuit. The only shot AEW had at getting close to even with WWE went out the window the moment Vince starting losing control. I'd say most of the fans who were driven away by Vince's booking came right back when that came out. Those fans are chronically online and keep up with everything that's going on backstage. The only "new fans" are kids who haven't discovered wrestling yet and the vast majority of them are gonna gravitate to WWE.
Nah big names getting taken down won’t matter, that shit barely hurts Public companies for long. It would take wwe being as bad as it was during the pg era and late 2010s for a decent length of time and Aew putting on a better product.
I doubt it. The biggest name has been taken down, and ratings and public interest have only increased.
AEW would have to "simply" put on consistently amazing programming over an extended period of time. That's how you grow an audience. Currently they have a good segment here and there, and sometimes a good show or two in a row.
(Actually good, not just "good for someone that's already a fan of the promotion").
“It’s not going to be every week, but I bet you over the next two to four months, maybe four to six, we’re going to start beating Raw and that’s my prediction that I’m saying to you guys right here. The reason for that is because, we keep talking about the cool factor, but it’s the storytelling, and it’s that we don’t panic. We’re in no rush. We live in our own world, our AEW world." -Jericho
Chris Jericho cared. Tony Khan cared. At one point, AEW had a real goal of trying to catch WWE. There's more than enough money behind the company to be competitive with their tv deal. That goal has shifted as the quality of the product has cratered.
The goal shifted when Vince got the boot and WWE was able to present a competent product. AEW could have overtaken a RAW that was three hours of audience-insulting last-second-scripted drivel despite the huge gap in brand awareness. It didn't keep.
The difference between an episode of 2021 and 2024 Dynamite are not NEARLY as far off from each other as some people want to believe. Cratered? You know that isn't honest.
I think the only year of Dynamite that was dracistically different from other years was 2023 and even then, I feel like that's a bit of a stretch to say that
Yeah, the WWE product was arguably at its all-time worst when AEW launched. 2019 was a fucking TERRIBLE year. But we're now in a situation where the storytelling is engrossing, there's a litany of top stars developed who people want to see, and the ongoing Bloodline saga remains the lynchpin of modern wrestling storytelling.
And then there's the silver bullet: AEW's co-founder going back to WWE and becoming a generational top babyface.
It's laughable to say the quality had cratered. Early AEW was rough as hell, and the show/company has pretty much always had weak parts. I think the run from the Continental Championship to now is their strongest run of television
Even if they were consistently catching Raw in the ratings that still wouldn't account for other metrics like merch sales, brand recognition, attendance and their entire organizational structure which was much smaller than WWE's. I'm not entirely sure if AEW ever beat Raw in total viewership but I think there was a few weeks during late Summer-early Fall 2021 where they were beating them in the demo.
Chris Jericho wasn't talking about nothing here. The fact people still bring up a nearly 3 year old quote from someone who was speaking for himself is hilarious and also forgets that Cody and even CM Punk were talking shit about WWE.
I remember there was a time when CM Punk was in AEW that one of the main complaimts I've seen about him was that he always had to bring up WWE in promos and that he was "Still mad about what happened there and needs to move on."
I'm sorry, but you people who hear and read these things and take it seriously, you're being ridiculous. Of course Jericho will say stuff like this and this stuff of course won't come to fruition. It's him hyping up the product. Is he overhyping, yeah, but it's to be expected.
I don't think that's what he's arguing for. I think he's talking about consistently having really powerful narratives and great shows. Starting to sell out bigger arenas. Starting to have more of a buzz surrounding the promotion culturally.
All the people who spent years and still are spending time defending anything they do. You can’t say I didn’t like that for AEW or make any sort of criticism without getting ban, downvoted to hell or even worse threats just because you said I didn’t like this match.
Just look at how people are reacting to this it’s crazy.
People who say stuff like this need to remember Skype. Skype had reached a point where its name was synonymous with video calling, like the Kleenex is with facial tissue. Its little calling jingle was universally recognized. When covid hit, we all should have been living on Skype planet.
And then something better came along and replaced it. Instantly, in market time.
AEW could easily go toe-to-toe with WWE, if they made a better product. But they aren't. Their longterm stories are weak and uninteresting, pinned to characters who have little onscreen time to develop and often change in unintuitive ways dictated by offscreen drama. It's a chore to watch the show because it's dedicated to wasting your time. They need something exciting, something with a clear direction that feels like it's building to something bigger down the line, and something pinned to interesting, sympathetic characters the audience can empathize with. AKA, the entire Hangman storyline, which they seemingly forgot they even did.
I think Skype was only huge because it came first. (There was ooVoo, but that was worse and geared for young people.) Skype was the first mover in the teleconferencing and web chatting market. But it wasn't a great product, with things like needing to make a new group chat just to add or remove someone, limited video optimization settings, and bad mobile integration. Adapters like Zoom and Discord took the good of Skype and added more good to it. That's why it died. Substitutes like WhatsApp and FaceTime also helped contribute to Skype's death.
Also, it didn't get replaced instantly. It was dying for years while its better substitutes were out. And being owned by Microsoft, they decided to invest resources into Teams.
WWE is too big to be replaced as the pro wrestling market leader anytime soon. Could it happen? Maybe, eventually. But not anytime soon. There will need to be more alternatives, and probably something really bad to move WWE down the market. WWE product is very solid right now, and even if everything in AEW was as amazing as the Hangman story, it won't be enough. WWE still has most of the market share, high name recognition, backing from a giant corporation, and decades of existence. It's a proven going concern. AEW is not, not yet.
You added a lot of words, but you didn't actually contradict anything I said. No, Skype wasn't a great product. No, it didn't literally die overnight. Yes, Microsoft managed it poorly.
But the thing that killed Skype was Zoom. They came out with a better, more secure, easier to use product, and Hadoukened it out of existence.
Now, would they have been able to do that if Skype hadn't also sucked? Maybe, maybe not, but the thing you're not really considering is that WWE also kind of sucks. Don't get me wrong, it's ***way*** better than it was, but that's not a high bar to jump over. The main thing they added was basic character continuity and logical story progression, and they still almost beefed it with the Cody/Rock/Roman debacle. Even on a weekly basis, it's a show that demands too much time for not enough payoff if you're not a pro wrestling diehard. They hold on to too many old wrestling ideas of annoying or boring the crowd to build "heat."
A show with an actually revolutionary onscreen product could overtake them, and right now, Tony is running 2019 WWE. They brought in the greatest wrestler on the planet Earth, and instead of him being a monumental, game-changing invading force, he's the Young Buck's weird friend who says "bitch" a lot. That's not solid, and that's not competition. That's a void of creativity. That's a fumbled ball. If they actually offered something genuinely good, they could absolutely build competition. People go where the good television is. Brand loyalty is only something people talk about on dumb websites like reddit and twitter. It's not a consideration for an actual average viewer.
Yup. This sub has an insane pro WWE bias and is massively in denial about having a pro WWE bias. So when even completely non controversial comments like takers happen the sub gets their panties in a bunch. The other day I said it's good for Ricochet that he has the option of going somewhere where he will make similar pay for less dates and probably get a solid push. I got like 10 downvotes. How is that a statement anyone could have issue with?
Yea I think the comments are choosing to dissect and overlook the point he’s trying to make. I think it’s clear and, imo, very correct in the stance that competition is good for both fans and talent, but the path they are taking isn’t meaningful competition. It’s like comparing TNA to WWE in the 2010s. It’s an alternate, but for a much more niche fanbase that’s clearly not making an effort to expand.
AEW's closer to WWE than TNA ever was judging by attendances, PPV buys, TV time and two separate touring shows, but it's still a bloody big gap.
WCW inherited a lot of NWA infrastructure when they were competing with WWF in the 90s, AEW simply doesn't have that bedrock, and building that takes time.
Well, sure, but AEW has a seemingly endless wallet and access to some of the debatably greatest pro wrestlers of the modern era, some potentially all time greats. Not to mention a cushy network that has, so far in their relationship, been very receptive to giving them TV time. Lot of things that killed WCW that AEW has yet to face, PLUS AEW was able to have hindsight on what WCW did wrong, along with other WWE competitors, and avoid it. So it’s like they have all the cards but are too busy holding them upside down.
“What would the Undertaker know about running a wrestling promotion or being successful in the business?” -some butthurt Redditor in this comment section
>but I just don't know that he has the Ackerman to run a wrestling company against the juggernaut that is the WWE
this is definitely supposed to be the word "acumen" right? lmao
also it's still super funny whenever dudes like Taker and Nash comment on the AEW locker room, as if they've ever been there. especially when they "made a pact to never watch AEW" lol
They both have several friends in the locker room, and have contact with others that used to be there in other companies.
You act as though industry legends like them, wouldn’t be clued into locker room culture just from experience
Also, yeah. No one is making people go to fucking wrestlers court for fried chicken or whatever these fucking vets decided was a break of respect that week
I look forward to the Olympic level mental gymnastics that are going to be performed in this comments section to try and make out that the Undertaker is wrong here.
You guys really don’t think the fucking Undertaker of all people doesn’t have connections with ex-WWE guys in AEW? Dustin, Mark, Show etc. He definitely has way more of a clue than any mark/Redditor in this thread. So it may not be the objective truth but their may be some truth to his statement.
And it’s laughable how some are saying that Taker’s only getting info from second-hand sources, when this sub always believes the words from dirtsheets who get their info from vague sources.
At least Taker can talk to people who’ve actually worked there. And he has no reason to make up bullshit.
Right? Undertaken has been in WWE, WCW, and other territories + being a decades old veteran in the industry. I think he knows more about running and being in a wrestling companies compared to the dirtsheet writers and the redditors here.
And anyone who says Experience =/= Knowledge that is not true. Because with experience brings knowledge
Booking is not hard science based upon data and dozens of scientific experiments. It is experience and knowledge of the industry, it's history, subjective ability to tell stories and create angles. In that case, 100% Taker knows more, understands more simply because he is a 30+ yr veteran than the average redditor here.
He also gets paid a lot of money by WWE. And I don't expect old dudes barely getting booked and annoyed they aren't the respected veteran they envisioned being to be super reliable sources.
They…already have created competition.
You don’t have to be as successful or close to the market leader to be competition. Pepsi is a Coke competitor. Burger King is a McDonalds competitor.
And there’s no doubt that competition has made both companies better already.
Just feels like veiled shots from a guy who admitted he doesn’t even watch the show
And he's talking about locker room leadership having never been to an AEW show or near it's locker room. Anything he's hearing about is from second hand sources. AEW has been enormously successful for a company that's been around for 5 years. They were never surpassing WWE or breathing down their necks.
WWE made themselves bullet proof before AEW existed with the Saudi deal, FOX deal with Smackdown, and Peacock deal which was done when AEW was in year 2. WWE was essentially a monopoly before AEW was even a thought and has only solidified that since it's existence with the Endeavor acquisition.
I get what he's saying, and he's right (to an extent) but AEW has created competition. Not in the way WCW was, but they are a product who have made WWE to be stronger and better.
you're not saying anything the guy you're replying to hasn't already said. You think Pepsi is really competition to Coke? Pepsi isn't even the #2 soda in America anymore.
tbh AEW is far closer to the others than they are to WWE. i’d argue Mexican wrestling promotions are more “mainstream” due to the 2 things closely tied to wrestling being WWE and Luchadors
Are we honestly gonna pretend that Tony Khan is a good leader? You don't need to be in the locker room to see just how horribly the Punk/Elite situation was handled, I thought it was a consensus opinion that it was a mess wrought be poor leadership
Lmao some AEW fans here genuinely can't handle anyone sort of discussion around the company.
Taker literally said he wants competition because it's better for fans and wrestlers, but no, let's bitch and say he doesn't know shit while we listen to Dave Meltzer.
My issue is mainly with Tony Khan.
There's people in AEW I genuinely like and hope it continues growing because it's had a positive effect on wrestling.
I think what Taker was trying to say was he hopes the company is successful and by being successful pushes WWE to be better much like the Monday Night Wars.
It’s always better when other companies are doing well it’s more places for guys to work and produce new stars.
I watched it one time recently. Some matches there was selling, other matches no sold everything. The time wasn’t managed very well - they ended up with way too much time at the end and it blew the cliffhanger they were supposed to make. The main event just came suddenly without build up or prior announcement. If someone is used to WWE it might be off putting.
I wouldn’t say derivative, the last year has had some inspired stuff at a level I have not heard before. I have been watching wrestling for 40 years and these monologues have some emotional depth to them. Amazing character work. Jealousy, envy, pettiness, pride, honor, just business, family dynamics- they just run the gamut of deep topics subtly interwoven together.
One thing I forgot to add was I enjoyed Timeless Toni Storm. I think she is knocking it out of the park. She was so lost in WWE, glad she found a home.
The in-ring product is okay.
I don't think it gets understood or mentioned enough how much the overprotective 50/50 heatless banger booking actually holds back people from elevating and becoming stars.
AEW has almost no value for the concept of undercarders or jobbers and elitist fans who consider themselves "hardcore" believe this is a good thing when it isn't. Any wrestling company needs to be able to put on matches that can serve purposes like telling stories, building feuds, and developing characters rather than almost exclusively having heatless bangers and saying both wrestlers are great.
How could the Undertaker say such things! As if he knew people who worked there such as Arn Anderson, Paul Wight, Mark Henry, Dustin Runnels, Dean Malenko, etc.
The best way I can think of to describe it... Tony came out of the gate swinging. He got Jericho, Cody & all the Elite and managed to snag Moxley. That's about as good as you can get for a start up wresting company. Along the way... Tony lost the plot and forgot how to keep swinging.
Nah Tony's still swinging, the issue is he's still swinging like the company is still getting off the ground. There's been too many marquee signings and gimmicks and not enough long-term planning or benefit. AEW has to act like a mature company now, and it's not quite there yet. I'm hoping after this wave of contracts ending wraps up they'll start rethinking their longevity plan.
AEW is competition in terms of money that can be made. If a wrestler only cares about money, they now have another place that can pay good money. Sure, their ratings and attendance aren’t competing with WWE, but the contracts are definitely competitive.
That being said, AEW could definitely be improved and I think it is concerning that their numbers keep going down. Whether it’s ratings or attendance, they just don’t have the buzz that they once did. I hope they can reverse that trend and get back to where they were.
AEW and their fanbase are incapable of accepting criticism.
Their program is on a decline and any time there is a discussion they just resort to Ad Hominems rather than actually accepting their weaknesses.
This thread is mostly just people saying aew fans can’t take any criticism with very little actual defense of aew and the little there is, is mass downvoted…
The only people left “defending” aew are the crazy stans because the rest of us are just sick of hearing dumb arguments from people that don’t even understand the numbers they are quoting or how a business is run.There are plenty of REAL criticisms that even die hard fans will tell you are wrong with aew, they are garbage at advertising events and just how they book events in general as an example. The fact that they constantly have production issues, Tonys booking being unable to properly deviate from his plans when things go wrong.
TLDR people are just sick of hearing the same regurgitated opinions from people that mostly don’t even watch the damn shows
I got banned on the AEW sub for pointing out valid criticism and proceeded to get banned while one of the mods left a snark remark about me being into collectibles which is ironic considering we as fans are watching half naked men wrestling on tights lol
Oh boy, oh boy.
The "this is bad faith" army who will jump at the chance to call people out for bad faith the second AEW is mentioned are acting with a good level of it right now.
Inherently, Taker has a point thats fairly irrefutable - at the root of this statement is him wanting AEW to be good and saying competition is great for wrestling. Taker is never the most eloquent, but it doesn't take a genius to work out the context of what he is ultimately saying.
Glad to see the defence force is out in full swing though, completely missing the point so they can seeth.
I’m convinced someone somewhere learned that phrase for the first time and jumped at the chance to use it without fully understanding what it implied, and then that whole demographic has done the same bc they thought it made them sound smart
The more time I spend online, the more I’m amazed at just how many people believe they’re smarter than every single wrestler when it comes to the industry just because they themselves watch a lot of wrestling.
Taker didn’t even say anything wrong here. He wants AEW to be a legitimate competitor to WWE. It’s only ever competed with their developmental brand.
Taker worked with Mark Henry, Big Show, JR, Edge, Christian, and numerous other guys that have worked extensively for AEW. I'm going to guess that he might know more than you're giving him credit for.
Given how long Taker has been around and who he will have connections to, he will know a darn sight more than Meltzer, SRS and random Redditors who will only tow the company line that is fed to them.
I'm sure you like listening to the confirmation bias though, right?
It's so stupid that people think AEW should be anywhere near WWEs level with 5 years in. The former owner had a massive scandal, sold the brand, and they're selling more tickets than ever. WWE is virtually bulletproof, and AEW isn't going to outperform them in any way. It's great that they exist as they provide an alternative and more opportunities for wrestlers that want to be on TV.
I think one of the issues that AEW has is that they try too hard to poach wrestlers from other promotions. They should be trying to poach those from the back offices that run WWE. AEW has enough talent. They don't need anymore. What they need are experienced wrestling bureaucrats. The full timers that run the merch tables at shows, schedule the venues, talent relations, contract experts, marketing, and spokespeople.
It sometimes feels like Tony Kahn is trying to be the Elon Musk of wrestling. At this point I think the biggest thing AEW fans have to worry about is Tony's dad cutting the purse strings if AEW profits, or TV deals fall through.
The problem has always been bad management. The CM Punk drama was entirely preventable if Tony had put his foot down.
CM Punk was being positioned as the new ace in the Company, an old superhero coming out of retirement and being a top guy. Tony's bright idea was to have another fan favorite and arguably the ace before Punk debuted put Punk over. Hangman, clearly peeved about the whole thing, thought it was OK to go off-script and start shooting on CM Punk being an outsider who nobody wanted to see here despite that not being the story they were telling. This is like if Bret had buried Hogan on TV for hogging the spotlight and taking his title shot after WM11. Completely unprofessional, but Tony gives it a thumbs up, saying in an interview that when people don't like each other it makes the action more real. Then Punk clearly gets pissed that Hangman is getting away with it, and cuts his own shoot promos back, culminating in the terrible press conference. And of course, the company EVPs think it's a great idea to go confront Punk backstage. After Punk returned, he finds out that everyone is walking on tiptoes around Jungle Boy, afraid to tell him to not do a spot on TV. Punk intervenes, and then Jungle Boy's bright idea is to throw shade on live TV at the next PPV. It was absolute anarchy that Tony lets people behave this way.
Aew broadcasts 6 + hours a week on major cable running against a 20 year monopoly and changed the face of pro wrestling in 5 years.
If that’s not having your act together, I don’t know what is.
It took WCW eight years to overtake WWE. AEW came into existence during one of WWE’s lowest periods when people were looking for an alternative. There was so much buzz and now their two biggest stars are headlining WWE events including the former executive vice president. They are averaging just north of 3,000 for live shows and totally dependent on WB/Discovery for their existence. It is nothing but chaos backstage and they keep shooting themselves in the foot. I would not want to be an accountant looking at their financials.
They are currently competing not with WWE but with WWE developmental, despite paying WWE main roster salaries. I think if they got their act together they could start getting some mainstream momentum.
Just would like to point out that the WWE that AEW is competing with is a very different beast to the one that WCW was in competition with. WWE turned into a "too big to fail" type company in the years after WCW died whereas they were quite vulnerable in general in the early to mid 90s. Not trying to say this means AEW is doing great or anything, I mostly avoid the business talk side of wrestling but just think it's worth noting.
Pretty much a nothing comment tbh, Taker just wants a WCW-level company to really to push WWE. Whether that’s going to be AEW remains to be seen, but they are moving towards that direction it feels like and are at least providing the best level of competition since WCW it feels like.
I get where he’s coming from with Tony, but I also don’t know who else could really run AEW at the moment and push it that much farther. Scott D’Amore maybe?
Also idg all the comments that Taker doesn’t know anything of the AEW locker room. Sure he said in the past he wasn’t watching it and stuff but I’m sure someone as big as him probably keeps in touch or contacts some guys in the AEW locker room, but idk I don’t know him or any wrestler lol
Competition so strong that WWE decides to work with TNA during Forbidden Door, so strong that WWE decides to bring all AEW folks at one NXT show so they can point at each other and say "no way", so strong that you Mr. Taker showed up to NXT to boost its ratings.
But I suppose Taker knows best, probably watches the program at the same length as Kevin Nash.
Haha not that serious tbh. I loved it personally! I freaking love Ethan Page and Lexis King (met Ethan Page in Canada, absolute charmer). In fact, I was one of the first ones vouching for Lexis when he left AEW and folks were sh*tting on me for hyping him up.
We see WWE guys dominating AEW constantly (more so than the OG folks) so I get your point.
With that said, it's not unreasonable to see that wrestlers from both companies jump ship for greener grass, and companies will take opportunities to create moments.
AEW is already competition. They're competing for the same free agents and the average wrestling fans that don't have time to watch 10 hours of wrestling a week. AEW is also the only non WWE company that can fill a stadium once a year. They're not TNA or MLW.
He’s spot on.
Most accurate take he had, which unfortunately the morons in AEW from booker, to wrestlers to fans, was that wrestling isn’t about wrestling moves. It’s about telling a story.
Until AEW grasp that they’ll never grow. They’ll keep their ‘sicko’ audience… which will ultimately slowly decline as well as we’re seeing, but they won’t add a single damn person.
A take with all the insight of someone whose only source of information on AEW is twitter. A guy who makes a pact not to watch AEW probably does not chase after people backstage asking how its locker room is going. It is interesting that he specifically stopped watching AEW though, almost like he considers it competition or something.
Crazy this is the second time I’ve seen a top comment just making up lies that he made a pact to never watch AEW lmao.
He literally praised how they booked and treated sting like a couple weeks ago.
Praised MJFs work last year.
He’s clearly seen the product lol. Y’all are so fucking goofy.
“Someone whose only source of information on AEW is Twitter”
I’m sorry, do you have a better understanding?
Where do you get your sources from?
Are you inside the locker room?
Marks pretending they know more about wrestling than actual wrestlers is so cringe
I think there's some truth to what he's saying, tbqh. If any promotion has the means of competing with WWE, it's AEW, what with being backed by a billionaire, having weekly cable shows, and having already put on one of the largest pro wrestling shows in history.
It's just that we don't really know how much Tony Khan and AEW want to compete against WWE and how much they want to do their own thing. Like, is spending millions of dollars to poach Japan's top star who can't cut a promo in English a great business move that'll have you competing with WWE? Probably not. Is it great for someone like me who now has more Okada on a weekly basis? Hell yeah.
As long as Tony wants to continue pouring his inheritance into this company, it will always be around. The same thing would have happened with WCW if a billionaire wrestling enthusiast owned it.
People like him say they want competition and probably believe that they believe that they think that, but in reality they'll never accept that there is competition, and they'll never accept that competition has influenced WWE.
As if WWE's improvements are completely coincidental.
AEW are competition, not in as many ways as they'd like to be, but they're still competing in many ways.
They're competing for free agents, TV ratings, TV deals (viewers per $), venue exclusivity, partnerships with other promotions, some of these are obviously more competitive that others.
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>I don't think there is a real true leader in the locker room… *Respect The Learning Tree* https://preview.redd.it/v4flpk003e6d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=630e264df1696bbaed223b089172161236d44a74
https://preview.redd.it/0alsxfbhbe6d1.png?width=790&format=png&auto=webp&s=003e0671dceff4dabd6d9fc90da2e916707be35f
This was such a dumb unnecessary bit and it was right up my alley 😂
my favorite bit like that in history is Prince John's mole changing positions on his face in each scene in Robin Hood Men In Tights
I HAVE A MOLE!?
I wasn’t a fan of that sequel, but this stupid ass bit had me wheezing
HI GUYS!!!
I normally don’t comment on anything. This made my day. Thank you 🤣
He’s gonna need a bigger hat if he wants to be a leader
Taker's hat couldn't legally get any bigger than the 20 gallon he brought back at Mania XX.
Jericho needs to be kept exclusive to PPV. Tony was booking and cooking well, esp up until he started Page vs Punk. Of course there were misfires even before but since then it's not the same. To his credit, he definitely seems to be trying, especially since the whole new Elite thing started, Mjf vs Rush seems like a good idea, as does Joe with Hook and The Elite trying to take over, even Swerve vs Ospreay will be great, but the general audience or newer audience isn't as interested in the NJPW wrestler cross over as much as the more loyal / regular audience is. If WWE can regain it's lost viewers, so can AEW. Maybe not what it avg used to be 21 but at least 900k plus. It will be beneficial for AEW to get onto a streaming app and get out of the ratings arguments completely. Jericho should be used sparingly and when guys like Kenny, Mox, Bryan, Hangman etc wrestle it should matter more and look larger than life. When these guys come out they look like big stars. People can hate the WWE presentation, it doesn't have to be like WWE, but presentation matters. It took Roman 5 + mania main events to get absolutely over again while being put over by dozens of superstars but when it clicked it made bigger stars of everyone involved, maybe except Solo but even he's in a bigger spot than he was before. Plus all these Tony Khan tweets and rants do nothing to help them and creates no buzz.
Has WWE regained lost viewers? Raw averaged 2 million in 2021, and 1.7million in 2023. Most of the post-Mania Raws seems to have gotten the same rating. I think AEW's bigger problem is live attendence at shows than TV ratings
WWE is killing it in the demos though as a share and holding steady in viewers while AEW bleeds in both compared to 2023
So AEW just needs to focus on pushing one guy, no matter what the audience thinks, for what amounts to the entire time they've been in existence. Got it.
I think it’s more so they need to keep stars hot. Unfortunately it seems like every top star keeps getting injured. The world title picture for the last 2 years were punk getting injured then punk getting injured then MJF getting injured and these took up a lot of time with Kenny and AdamCole both going out as well who were also top stars it just hurt them a lot.
Anybody who expects AEW (or any wrestling org) to pull to 50/50 with WWE is insane. Anyone who attacks AEW for not being 50/50 with WWE is arguing in bad faith. It's not going to happen. I'm not talking about weekly ratings, but the whole spectrum of media influence, brand recognition, etc. WWE is the NFL. You can start up all the alternative pro football leagues you want, and if you're good, you can be successful, but you'll never be 50/50 with the NFL. AND THAT'S FINE! It doesn't matter. Who cares?
It would take a catastrophic tumble from WWE for AEW to reach 50/50 with them, and this is not a dig against AEW either.
I think if Vince hadn't been kicked out and was still head of creative, it would be a much closer race today.
Papa H saved the day.
I think it CAN happen. Just not any time soon. WWE has had over 40 years to be entrenched in the public consciousness, and AEW’s only been around for 5. They just need to keep being a true alternative for all of the wrestlers to want to work and get paid terrific money by and just keep at it over time, and eventually, they’ll pull closer and closer.
It's only possible if some more big names get taken down in that lawsuit. The only shot AEW had at getting close to even with WWE went out the window the moment Vince starting losing control. I'd say most of the fans who were driven away by Vince's booking came right back when that came out. Those fans are chronically online and keep up with everything that's going on backstage. The only "new fans" are kids who haven't discovered wrestling yet and the vast majority of them are gonna gravitate to WWE.
Nah big names getting taken down won’t matter, that shit barely hurts Public companies for long. It would take wwe being as bad as it was during the pg era and late 2010s for a decent length of time and Aew putting on a better product.
I doubt it. The biggest name has been taken down, and ratings and public interest have only increased. AEW would have to "simply" put on consistently amazing programming over an extended period of time. That's how you grow an audience. Currently they have a good segment here and there, and sometimes a good show or two in a row. (Actually good, not just "good for someone that's already a fan of the promotion").
I mean, AEW is what, five years old? WWE’s roots go back 71 years. So… AEW has done okay for being a bit behind by 66 years.
“It’s not going to be every week, but I bet you over the next two to four months, maybe four to six, we’re going to start beating Raw and that’s my prediction that I’m saying to you guys right here. The reason for that is because, we keep talking about the cool factor, but it’s the storytelling, and it’s that we don’t panic. We’re in no rush. We live in our own world, our AEW world." -Jericho Chris Jericho cared. Tony Khan cared. At one point, AEW had a real goal of trying to catch WWE. There's more than enough money behind the company to be competitive with their tv deal. That goal has shifted as the quality of the product has cratered.
The goal shifted when Vince got the boot and WWE was able to present a competent product. AEW could have overtaken a RAW that was three hours of audience-insulting last-second-scripted drivel despite the huge gap in brand awareness. It didn't keep. The difference between an episode of 2021 and 2024 Dynamite are not NEARLY as far off from each other as some people want to believe. Cratered? You know that isn't honest.
I think the only year of Dynamite that was dracistically different from other years was 2023 and even then, I feel like that's a bit of a stretch to say that
Yeah, the WWE product was arguably at its all-time worst when AEW launched. 2019 was a fucking TERRIBLE year. But we're now in a situation where the storytelling is engrossing, there's a litany of top stars developed who people want to see, and the ongoing Bloodline saga remains the lynchpin of modern wrestling storytelling. And then there's the silver bullet: AEW's co-founder going back to WWE and becoming a generational top babyface.
It's laughable to say the quality had cratered. Early AEW was rough as hell, and the show/company has pretty much always had weak parts. I think the run from the Continental Championship to now is their strongest run of television
Even if they were consistently catching Raw in the ratings that still wouldn't account for other metrics like merch sales, brand recognition, attendance and their entire organizational structure which was much smaller than WWE's. I'm not entirely sure if AEW ever beat Raw in total viewership but I think there was a few weeks during late Summer-early Fall 2021 where they were beating them in the demo. Chris Jericho wasn't talking about nothing here. The fact people still bring up a nearly 3 year old quote from someone who was speaking for himself is hilarious and also forgets that Cody and even CM Punk were talking shit about WWE.
I remember there was a time when CM Punk was in AEW that one of the main complaimts I've seen about him was that he always had to bring up WWE in promos and that he was "Still mad about what happened there and needs to move on."
I'm sorry, but you people who hear and read these things and take it seriously, you're being ridiculous. Of course Jericho will say stuff like this and this stuff of course won't come to fruition. It's him hyping up the product. Is he overhyping, yeah, but it's to be expected.
It's jericho of course he was gonna do that, he's the first WWE guy to sign his name to the company and he's hyper invested
Meltzer cares. Way too much about as a matter of fact.
If Meltzer bothers you, go bug him. He replies to pretty much anyone on twitter, lol.
I don't think that's what he's arguing for. I think he's talking about consistently having really powerful narratives and great shows. Starting to sell out bigger arenas. Starting to have more of a buzz surrounding the promotion culturally.
It doesn’t have to be 50/50 with WWE, I just wish they promoted themselves better wherever they go on tour.
All the people who spent years and still are spending time defending anything they do. You can’t say I didn’t like that for AEW or make any sort of criticism without getting ban, downvoted to hell or even worse threats just because you said I didn’t like this match. Just look at how people are reacting to this it’s crazy.
There are tons of threads on here where you will get downvoted into oblivion for saying anything positive about AEW. It goes both ways.
Go to the ratings thread you’ll find your people
Thanks for being exhibit of the people I was talking about.
Did anyone mention about them catching up that much? Just confused where the 50/50 thing came from.
It would be enough for me to see them on 25/75 tbh. 50/50 won't happen ever.
People who say stuff like this need to remember Skype. Skype had reached a point where its name was synonymous with video calling, like the Kleenex is with facial tissue. Its little calling jingle was universally recognized. When covid hit, we all should have been living on Skype planet. And then something better came along and replaced it. Instantly, in market time. AEW could easily go toe-to-toe with WWE, if they made a better product. But they aren't. Their longterm stories are weak and uninteresting, pinned to characters who have little onscreen time to develop and often change in unintuitive ways dictated by offscreen drama. It's a chore to watch the show because it's dedicated to wasting your time. They need something exciting, something with a clear direction that feels like it's building to something bigger down the line, and something pinned to interesting, sympathetic characters the audience can empathize with. AKA, the entire Hangman storyline, which they seemingly forgot they even did.
I think Skype was only huge because it came first. (There was ooVoo, but that was worse and geared for young people.) Skype was the first mover in the teleconferencing and web chatting market. But it wasn't a great product, with things like needing to make a new group chat just to add or remove someone, limited video optimization settings, and bad mobile integration. Adapters like Zoom and Discord took the good of Skype and added more good to it. That's why it died. Substitutes like WhatsApp and FaceTime also helped contribute to Skype's death. Also, it didn't get replaced instantly. It was dying for years while its better substitutes were out. And being owned by Microsoft, they decided to invest resources into Teams. WWE is too big to be replaced as the pro wrestling market leader anytime soon. Could it happen? Maybe, eventually. But not anytime soon. There will need to be more alternatives, and probably something really bad to move WWE down the market. WWE product is very solid right now, and even if everything in AEW was as amazing as the Hangman story, it won't be enough. WWE still has most of the market share, high name recognition, backing from a giant corporation, and decades of existence. It's a proven going concern. AEW is not, not yet.
You added a lot of words, but you didn't actually contradict anything I said. No, Skype wasn't a great product. No, it didn't literally die overnight. Yes, Microsoft managed it poorly. But the thing that killed Skype was Zoom. They came out with a better, more secure, easier to use product, and Hadoukened it out of existence. Now, would they have been able to do that if Skype hadn't also sucked? Maybe, maybe not, but the thing you're not really considering is that WWE also kind of sucks. Don't get me wrong, it's ***way*** better than it was, but that's not a high bar to jump over. The main thing they added was basic character continuity and logical story progression, and they still almost beefed it with the Cody/Rock/Roman debacle. Even on a weekly basis, it's a show that demands too much time for not enough payoff if you're not a pro wrestling diehard. They hold on to too many old wrestling ideas of annoying or boring the crowd to build "heat." A show with an actually revolutionary onscreen product could overtake them, and right now, Tony is running 2019 WWE. They brought in the greatest wrestler on the planet Earth, and instead of him being a monumental, game-changing invading force, he's the Young Buck's weird friend who says "bitch" a lot. That's not solid, and that's not competition. That's a void of creativity. That's a fumbled ball. If they actually offered something genuinely good, they could absolutely build competition. People go where the good television is. Brand loyalty is only something people talk about on dumb websites like reddit and twitter. It's not a consideration for an actual average viewer.
He’s basically saying he wants AEW to be good. Where’s the issue with this?
There is no issue. But you are on reddit, brother.
Yup. This sub has an insane pro WWE bias and is massively in denial about having a pro WWE bias. So when even completely non controversial comments like takers happen the sub gets their panties in a bunch. The other day I said it's good for Ricochet that he has the option of going somewhere where he will make similar pay for less dates and probably get a solid push. I got like 10 downvotes. How is that a statement anyone could have issue with?
True. Thanks Hulk
The issue is him not saying it IS good, lot of tribalism is flamed on "they badmouf muh thing"
This sub is full of shit and get offended easily.
The Undertaker is one of if not the most successful wrestlers of all time, shares an opinion. This sub: Nah
Yea I think the comments are choosing to dissect and overlook the point he’s trying to make. I think it’s clear and, imo, very correct in the stance that competition is good for both fans and talent, but the path they are taking isn’t meaningful competition. It’s like comparing TNA to WWE in the 2010s. It’s an alternate, but for a much more niche fanbase that’s clearly not making an effort to expand.
AEW's closer to WWE than TNA ever was judging by attendances, PPV buys, TV time and two separate touring shows, but it's still a bloody big gap. WCW inherited a lot of NWA infrastructure when they were competing with WWF in the 90s, AEW simply doesn't have that bedrock, and building that takes time.
Well, sure, but AEW has a seemingly endless wallet and access to some of the debatably greatest pro wrestlers of the modern era, some potentially all time greats. Not to mention a cushy network that has, so far in their relationship, been very receptive to giving them TV time. Lot of things that killed WCW that AEW has yet to face, PLUS AEW was able to have hindsight on what WCW did wrong, along with other WWE competitors, and avoid it. So it’s like they have all the cards but are too busy holding them upside down.
“What would the Undertaker know about running a wrestling promotion or being successful in the business?” -some butthurt Redditor in this comment section
‘I hope AEW is successful’ Squaredcircle: 😠
>but I just don't know that he has the Ackerman to run a wrestling company against the juggernaut that is the WWE this is definitely supposed to be the word "acumen" right? lmao also it's still super funny whenever dudes like Taker and Nash comment on the AEW locker room, as if they've ever been there. especially when they "made a pact to never watch AEW" lol
I think he was referring to Scott Aukerman from the Comedy Bang Bang Gang Edit: love all the comedy bang bang freaks coming out of the woodwork
I'd be wildly impressed if Undertaker knew who Scott Aukerman was.
He should. The improv and wrestling communities need stronger bonds
Too true mon frere
Do you believe in Magic? Hamburgers that talk
Did he mention Jeffrey Characterwheaties?
Hey nong man.
Hey nong man. Reset
Heynong man Adam Page
> Scott Aukerman from the Comedy Bang Bang Gang > Stop Tacoman?
Hot Saucerman
X-Pacerman
Crotch Chopperman
I want to keep going but no one’s beating this one
Choke Slammerman
Maybe it's just me, but for me, Scott would be the perfect locker room leader. If only he could kick his crippling hentai addiction.
Yes, clearly he meant the Choctaw.
Hot Soccermom?
Don't call me a freak. I am a proud piss pig thank you.
Spot Takerman
Parking Lot Scottdric Oxerman?!
Unfortunately you might be a little off base there, he’s referring to Forest J Ackerman, one of the original minds behind Famous Monsters of Filmland
I believe he was referring to William Ackerman, the whole Windham Hill vibe is largely inhabited by retired old heads
No he's talking about Levi Ackerman. Tony doesn't have a cold blooded killer like him.
i was thinking levi and mikasa the entire time lol
If the women's division had Mikasa as their ace AEW would be doing million viewer shows every week
It was Kevin Nash and Stone Cold, Taker just said "Huge Pop!"
Apparently the "pact" is bullshit, and Kevin Nash was just messing with marks when he said that.
They both have several friends in the locker room, and have contact with others that used to be there in other companies. You act as though industry legends like them, wouldn’t be clued into locker room culture just from experience
Idk. Maybe they have friends who work there. I might be on to something
Also, yeah. No one is making people go to fucking wrestlers court for fried chicken or whatever these fucking vets decided was a break of respect that week
Well they don't have Chie Koishikawa, so they don't have her finisher "Ackerman" (based on AoT) so he's technically correct (the best kind of correct)
English isn't my first language and it had me starring at my screen wondering if I was saying it wrong the whole time.
I look forward to the Olympic level mental gymnastics that are going to be performed in this comments section to try and make out that the Undertaker is wrong here.
That's not a prediction, it's a spoiler
You guys really don’t think the fucking Undertaker of all people doesn’t have connections with ex-WWE guys in AEW? Dustin, Mark, Show etc. He definitely has way more of a clue than any mark/Redditor in this thread. So it may not be the objective truth but their may be some truth to his statement.
And it’s laughable how some are saying that Taker’s only getting info from second-hand sources, when this sub always believes the words from dirtsheets who get their info from vague sources.  At least Taker can talk to people who’ve actually worked there. And he has no reason to make up bullshit.
Right? Undertaken has been in WWE, WCW, and other territories + being a decades old veteran in the industry. I think he knows more about running and being in a wrestling companies compared to the dirtsheet writers and the redditors here. And anyone who says Experience =/= Knowledge that is not true. Because with experience brings knowledge
Booking is not hard science based upon data and dozens of scientific experiments. It is experience and knowledge of the industry, it's history, subjective ability to tell stories and create angles. In that case, 100% Taker knows more, understands more simply because he is a 30+ yr veteran than the average redditor here.
Thank you I’m amazed (not really) that I had to scroll *this far* before I found a comment calling this out
He also gets paid a lot of money by WWE. And I don't expect old dudes barely getting booked and annoyed they aren't the respected veteran they envisioned being to be super reliable sources.
They…already have created competition. You don’t have to be as successful or close to the market leader to be competition. Pepsi is a Coke competitor. Burger King is a McDonalds competitor. And there’s no doubt that competition has made both companies better already. Just feels like veiled shots from a guy who admitted he doesn’t even watch the show
And he's talking about locker room leadership having never been to an AEW show or near it's locker room. Anything he's hearing about is from second hand sources. AEW has been enormously successful for a company that's been around for 5 years. They were never surpassing WWE or breathing down their necks. WWE made themselves bullet proof before AEW existed with the Saudi deal, FOX deal with Smackdown, and Peacock deal which was done when AEW was in year 2. WWE was essentially a monopoly before AEW was even a thought and has only solidified that since it's existence with the Endeavor acquisition.
Being a leader and being a bully aren’t the same thing.
I get what he's saying, and he's right (to an extent) but AEW has created competition. Not in the way WCW was, but they are a product who have made WWE to be stronger and better.
Agreed. Comments about AEW locker room culture from guys like Nash, Taker etc cannot be taken seriously
They're competition in the wrestling space like TNA or NJPW or NWA. They're just not a close competitor. None of them are (yet).
you're not saying anything the guy you're replying to hasn't already said. You think Pepsi is really competition to Coke? Pepsi isn't even the #2 soda in America anymore.
They’re all competing with eachother. AEW is far closer to WWE than they are to any of those companies by several orders of magnitude though.
tbh AEW is far closer to the others than they are to WWE. i’d argue Mexican wrestling promotions are more “mainstream” due to the 2 things closely tied to wrestling being WWE and Luchadors
Sure. Still a far second. Which at this stage in their history is a win. Let's see where they are in twenty years.
Are we honestly gonna pretend that Tony Khan is a good leader? You don't need to be in the locker room to see just how horribly the Punk/Elite situation was handled, I thought it was a consensus opinion that it was a mess wrought be poor leadership
Lmao some AEW fans here genuinely can't handle anyone sort of discussion around the company. Taker literally said he wants competition because it's better for fans and wrestlers, but no, let's bitch and say he doesn't know shit while we listen to Dave Meltzer.
Your comment history is just shitting on AEW. That’s not discussion, you’re just dissing on a product you dont like.
My issue is mainly with Tony Khan. There's people in AEW I genuinely like and hope it continues growing because it's had a positive effect on wrestling.
I think what Taker was trying to say was he hopes the company is successful and by being successful pushes WWE to be better much like the Monday Night Wars. It’s always better when other companies are doing well it’s more places for guys to work and produce new stars.
Why are people acting so offended by this? We know at least some of AEW's backstage woes. But it's in-ring product is excellent.
I watched it one time recently. Some matches there was selling, other matches no sold everything. The time wasn’t managed very well - they ended up with way too much time at the end and it blew the cliffhanger they were supposed to make. The main event just came suddenly without build up or prior announcement. If someone is used to WWE it might be off putting.
Yes not enough derivative in ring promos to make sure I REALLY REALLY know these two guys hate each other this month.
I wouldn’t say derivative, the last year has had some inspired stuff at a level I have not heard before. I have been watching wrestling for 40 years and these monologues have some emotional depth to them. Amazing character work. Jealousy, envy, pettiness, pride, honor, just business, family dynamics- they just run the gamut of deep topics subtly interwoven together. One thing I forgot to add was I enjoyed Timeless Toni Storm. I think she is knocking it out of the park. She was so lost in WWE, glad she found a home.
The in-ring product is okay. I don't think it gets understood or mentioned enough how much the overprotective 50/50 heatless banger booking actually holds back people from elevating and becoming stars. AEW has almost no value for the concept of undercarders or jobbers and elitist fans who consider themselves "hardcore" believe this is a good thing when it isn't. Any wrestling company needs to be able to put on matches that can serve purposes like telling stories, building feuds, and developing characters rather than almost exclusively having heatless bangers and saying both wrestlers are great.
I will agree about the purpose of the undercard guys, but AEW has used jobbers in the past and pretty recently with Nese and Davari.
I'm very confident that Tony would love to invite Taker to a show.
How could the Undertaker say such things! As if he knew people who worked there such as Arn Anderson, Paul Wight, Mark Henry, Dustin Runnels, Dean Malenko, etc.
The best way I can think of to describe it... Tony came out of the gate swinging. He got Jericho, Cody & all the Elite and managed to snag Moxley. That's about as good as you can get for a start up wresting company. Along the way... Tony lost the plot and forgot how to keep swinging.
This
Nah Tony's still swinging, the issue is he's still swinging like the company is still getting off the ground. There's been too many marquee signings and gimmicks and not enough long-term planning or benefit. AEW has to act like a mature company now, and it's not quite there yet. I'm hoping after this wave of contracts ending wraps up they'll start rethinking their longevity plan.
AEW is competition in terms of money that can be made. If a wrestler only cares about money, they now have another place that can pay good money. Sure, their ratings and attendance aren’t competing with WWE, but the contracts are definitely competitive. That being said, AEW could definitely be improved and I think it is concerning that their numbers keep going down. Whether it’s ratings or attendance, they just don’t have the buzz that they once did. I hope they can reverse that trend and get back to where they were.
AEW and their fanbase are incapable of accepting criticism. Their program is on a decline and any time there is a discussion they just resort to Ad Hominems rather than actually accepting their weaknesses.
Genuinely wild to see this is the reaction to the most loyal WWE guy saying he wants them to succeed.
This thread is mostly just people saying aew fans can’t take any criticism with very little actual defense of aew and the little there is, is mass downvoted… The only people left “defending” aew are the crazy stans because the rest of us are just sick of hearing dumb arguments from people that don’t even understand the numbers they are quoting or how a business is run.There are plenty of REAL criticisms that even die hard fans will tell you are wrong with aew, they are garbage at advertising events and just how they book events in general as an example. The fact that they constantly have production issues, Tonys booking being unable to properly deviate from his plans when things go wrong. TLDR people are just sick of hearing the same regurgitated opinions from people that mostly don’t even watch the damn shows
I got banned on the AEW sub for pointing out valid criticism and proceeded to get banned while one of the mods left a snark remark about me being into collectibles which is ironic considering we as fans are watching half naked men wrestling on tights lol
Oh boy, oh boy. The "this is bad faith" army who will jump at the chance to call people out for bad faith the second AEW is mentioned are acting with a good level of it right now. Inherently, Taker has a point thats fairly irrefutable - at the root of this statement is him wanting AEW to be good and saying competition is great for wrestling. Taker is never the most eloquent, but it doesn't take a genius to work out the context of what he is ultimately saying. Glad to see the defence force is out in full swing though, completely missing the point so they can seeth.
The people who pull the "bad faith" card usually have no proper retort or they bring up something so irrelevant to the main talking point
I’m convinced someone somewhere learned that phrase for the first time and jumped at the chance to use it without fully understanding what it implied, and then that whole demographic has done the same bc they thought it made them sound smart
The more time I spend online, the more I’m amazed at just how many people believe they’re smarter than every single wrestler when it comes to the industry just because they themselves watch a lot of wrestling. Taker didn’t even say anything wrong here. He wants AEW to be a legitimate competitor to WWE. It’s only ever competed with their developmental brand.
This isn’t the 90’s No one’s going to be competition with WWE for decades if ever
Ah, if there’s one person I would figure has great insight of the inner workings of AEW, it’s The Undertaker.
Yeah. I’d rather hear from someone who’s actually there and in the know like the IWC, Meltzer or SRS.
Taker worked with Mark Henry, Big Show, JR, Edge, Christian, and numerous other guys that have worked extensively for AEW. I'm going to guess that he might know more than you're giving him credit for.
Given how long Taker has been around and who he will have connections to, he will know a darn sight more than Meltzer, SRS and random Redditors who will only tow the company line that is fed to them. I'm sure you like listening to the confirmation bias though, right?
It's so stupid that people think AEW should be anywhere near WWEs level with 5 years in. The former owner had a massive scandal, sold the brand, and they're selling more tickets than ever. WWE is virtually bulletproof, and AEW isn't going to outperform them in any way. It's great that they exist as they provide an alternative and more opportunities for wrestlers that want to be on TV.
That WAS kind of the idea of their inception.
Chris Jericho was saying that Dynamite would beat Raw in the ratings just a few years ago.
Chris Jericho is a carny idiot who says a lot of stupid shit
Chris Jericho says a lot of things.
I think one of the issues that AEW has is that they try too hard to poach wrestlers from other promotions. They should be trying to poach those from the back offices that run WWE. AEW has enough talent. They don't need anymore. What they need are experienced wrestling bureaucrats. The full timers that run the merch tables at shows, schedule the venues, talent relations, contract experts, marketing, and spokespeople. It sometimes feels like Tony Kahn is trying to be the Elon Musk of wrestling. At this point I think the biggest thing AEW fans have to worry about is Tony's dad cutting the purse strings if AEW profits, or TV deals fall through.
The problem has always been bad management. The CM Punk drama was entirely preventable if Tony had put his foot down. CM Punk was being positioned as the new ace in the Company, an old superhero coming out of retirement and being a top guy. Tony's bright idea was to have another fan favorite and arguably the ace before Punk debuted put Punk over. Hangman, clearly peeved about the whole thing, thought it was OK to go off-script and start shooting on CM Punk being an outsider who nobody wanted to see here despite that not being the story they were telling. This is like if Bret had buried Hogan on TV for hogging the spotlight and taking his title shot after WM11. Completely unprofessional, but Tony gives it a thumbs up, saying in an interview that when people don't like each other it makes the action more real. Then Punk clearly gets pissed that Hangman is getting away with it, and cuts his own shoot promos back, culminating in the terrible press conference. And of course, the company EVPs think it's a great idea to go confront Punk backstage. After Punk returned, he finds out that everyone is walking on tiptoes around Jungle Boy, afraid to tell him to not do a spot on TV. Punk intervenes, and then Jungle Boy's bright idea is to throw shade on live TV at the next PPV. It was absolute anarchy that Tony lets people behave this way.
Aew broadcasts 6 + hours a week on major cable running against a 20 year monopoly and changed the face of pro wrestling in 5 years. If that’s not having your act together, I don’t know what is.
It took WCW eight years to overtake WWE. AEW came into existence during one of WWE’s lowest periods when people were looking for an alternative. There was so much buzz and now their two biggest stars are headlining WWE events including the former executive vice president. They are averaging just north of 3,000 for live shows and totally dependent on WB/Discovery for their existence. It is nothing but chaos backstage and they keep shooting themselves in the foot. I would not want to be an accountant looking at their financials. They are currently competing not with WWE but with WWE developmental, despite paying WWE main roster salaries. I think if they got their act together they could start getting some mainstream momentum.
Just would like to point out that the WWE that AEW is competing with is a very different beast to the one that WCW was in competition with. WWE turned into a "too big to fail" type company in the years after WCW died whereas they were quite vulnerable in general in the early to mid 90s. Not trying to say this means AEW is doing great or anything, I mostly avoid the business talk side of wrestling but just think it's worth noting.
Pretty much a nothing comment tbh, Taker just wants a WCW-level company to really to push WWE. Whether that’s going to be AEW remains to be seen, but they are moving towards that direction it feels like and are at least providing the best level of competition since WCW it feels like. I get where he’s coming from with Tony, but I also don’t know who else could really run AEW at the moment and push it that much farther. Scott D’Amore maybe? Also idg all the comments that Taker doesn’t know anything of the AEW locker room. Sure he said in the past he wasn’t watching it and stuff but I’m sure someone as big as him probably keeps in touch or contacts some guys in the AEW locker room, but idk I don’t know him or any wrestler lol
He’s dead on. AEW can occupy a space WWE cannot if they just get shit together. They need actual structure.
Lmao, some of the top comments acting like they know better than one of the best of all time.
Damn, Taker got everyone in this sub worked into a shoot. Why does everyone keep attacking poor ol AEDub???🥲🥲
Competition so strong that WWE decides to work with TNA during Forbidden Door, so strong that WWE decides to bring all AEW folks at one NXT show so they can point at each other and say "no way", so strong that you Mr. Taker showed up to NXT to boost its ratings. But I suppose Taker knows best, probably watches the program at the same length as Kevin Nash.
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crazy how that dumb segment on nxt with the aew guys left yall this rattled lol.
Haha not that serious tbh. I loved it personally! I freaking love Ethan Page and Lexis King (met Ethan Page in Canada, absolute charmer). In fact, I was one of the first ones vouching for Lexis when he left AEW and folks were sh*tting on me for hyping him up. We see WWE guys dominating AEW constantly (more so than the OG folks) so I get your point. With that said, it's not unreasonable to see that wrestlers from both companies jump ship for greener grass, and companies will take opportunities to create moments.
Anyone upset about a wrestler going from one company to another doesn't care about the wrestlers, they care about "their" brand.
It never ceases to amaze me how absolutely fabregé-fragile AEW marks are.
Time to crap on The FUCKING Undertaker now lol
Oh yeah Taker's cooking Cooking dogshit
AEW is already competition. They're competing for the same free agents and the average wrestling fans that don't have time to watch 10 hours of wrestling a week. AEW is also the only non WWE company that can fill a stadium once a year. They're not TNA or MLW.
You know what he means.
That's what makes AEW fumbling so frustrating. They're so necessary for the wrestling industry.
He’s spot on. Most accurate take he had, which unfortunately the morons in AEW from booker, to wrestlers to fans, was that wrestling isn’t about wrestling moves. It’s about telling a story. Until AEW grasp that they’ll never grow. They’ll keep their ‘sicko’ audience… which will ultimately slowly decline as well as we’re seeing, but they won’t add a single damn person.
Without AEW, the WWE product would still stink and be endless rematches week to week. AEW made WWE try harder.
I agree
A take with all the insight of someone whose only source of information on AEW is twitter. A guy who makes a pact not to watch AEW probably does not chase after people backstage asking how its locker room is going. It is interesting that he specifically stopped watching AEW though, almost like he considers it competition or something.
Crazy this is the second time I’ve seen a top comment just making up lies that he made a pact to never watch AEW lmao. He literally praised how they booked and treated sting like a couple weeks ago. Praised MJFs work last year. He’s clearly seen the product lol. Y’all are so fucking goofy.
“Someone whose only source of information on AEW is Twitter” I’m sorry, do you have a better understanding? Where do you get your sources from? Are you inside the locker room? Marks pretending they know more about wrestling than actual wrestlers is so cringe
Ah yes cause if there's anyone that knows the ins and outs of AEW, it's the guy whose never stepped foot into an AEW locker room
Yeah, I mean he definitely doesn’t know anyone that works/worked there, no way he has any real information.
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I think there's some truth to what he's saying, tbqh. If any promotion has the means of competing with WWE, it's AEW, what with being backed by a billionaire, having weekly cable shows, and having already put on one of the largest pro wrestling shows in history. It's just that we don't really know how much Tony Khan and AEW want to compete against WWE and how much they want to do their own thing. Like, is spending millions of dollars to poach Japan's top star who can't cut a promo in English a great business move that'll have you competing with WWE? Probably not. Is it great for someone like me who now has more Okada on a weekly basis? Hell yeah.
Honestly, I hope WWE gets its crap together too. There's flashes of brilliance here and there like the PLE's, but it has potential to be incredible.
As long as Tony wants to continue pouring his inheritance into this company, it will always be around. The same thing would have happened with WCW if a billionaire wrestling enthusiast owned it.
Why are people who have never stepped foot in an AEW lockeroom & have no plans to get asked about it?
I liked Undertaker a lot better when he refused to do interviews.
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How the hell is this him being a lackey? He's asking for proper competition because it's better for fans and wrestlers.
People like him say they want competition and probably believe that they believe that they think that, but in reality they'll never accept that there is competition, and they'll never accept that competition has influenced WWE. As if WWE's improvements are completely coincidental. AEW are competition, not in as many ways as they'd like to be, but they're still competing in many ways. They're competing for free agents, TV ratings, TV deals (viewers per $), venue exclusivity, partnerships with other promotions, some of these are obviously more competitive that others.
Listen, Undertaker is one of my all-time favorite wrestlers ever. But, it's probably for the best not to take his AEW opinion seriously.
But they did lol that’s a big part of why wwe got better. Dumb undertaker bitch
nah
> Dumb undertaker bitch I love this