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CI Wrestling Thread #56

Not so hot take: MJF shouldn't have re-signed. He could be debuting at the Rumble in two weeks in front of 60,000 fans. Over the next two years he'd likely have feuds with Cena, Cody, Punk, Orton, Knight, Sami, Rollins, etc. Instead he's in a feud with Jeff Jarrett, just finished a terrible feud with Adam Cole, and seems to be stale and boring. I don't shit on AEW as a hobby, it's because they don't have a clue and there's at least 10 people on their roster who would instantly be better in WWE. Instantly.
 
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Looks like the TNA and WWE will continue their agreement.

 
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Dynamite did 679,000 and a .18 on Wednesday. Ratings are going in the right direction since the Max deal started.

Apparently Nielsen messed up the NXT rating from last week by close to 200,000 viewers. 957,000 wasn't the number it was 790 something.
 
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Dave Meltzer's reaction to MJF saying that Jeff Jarrett is the last thing people see before their favorite wrestling promotion dies on last night's AEW Dynamite:

"I heard from many people tonight about that line. I don't know that that line should have been okayed. It's one of those things that like… in the context it was in, it actually didn't bother me. But it bothered enough people that I know to where I think it probably wasn't the greatest idea.

"It wasn't like 'AEW sucks' or 'I wanna leave AEW to go to WWE' - especially this week, boy would that be a terrible thing to put on your own TV. But it was still like… I think the idea is that even though there's like no danger at all of AEW going out of business, maybe never, but certainly not for the next three years. After that, I suppose if they collapse there's a chance. Probably not, but there's always a chance.

"But there's that narrative out there that they're on death's door and they're swirling and all that. And the last thing I would want to do on my TV under any circumstances is to do anything to reinforce the idea that there might be a sliver of truth to that thing that doesn't have a sliver of truth.

"The line wasn't necessary, it wasn't needed, and again, I just don't think you should talk… especially when the company's struggling to sell tickets and pay-per-views aren't through the roof. We don't know what ratings are. I was gonna say ratings aren't the best - I know 18-34 numbers aren't the best, but we don't know the last couple of weeks. But yeah, I just wouldn't do it."

(WOR)
 
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Smackdown for tonight

WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley.
WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Naomi vs. Nia Jax & Candice LeRae (non-title)
Solo Sikoa returns.
Carmelo Hayes vs. Jimmy Uso.
The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Los Garzas.
 
Haven’t paid attention before but has WWE had the announcers walk out through the crowd before or was tonight the first time? Not a fan.
 
They've done exceptionally well with Fatu. For years, Cornette would ask why he isn't in a bigger promotion and how much of a monster he is. He said his past should be brought up and how much of a danger the man could be. WWE has done that. Last night was likely the slow beginnings of taking over the Bloodline with him not fazed by Solo's loss and pushing forward.

So I guess the Graves thing isn't a work? If not, he's an idiot for 1) sulking on air, 2) tweeting his grievances, 3) tweeting he's got a lot to say on NXT, and 4) believing he'd be able to drop his own personal pipebomb on that show. If it's not leading to wrestling again, then no one cares about an announcer being moved from one show to another.
 
In WWE, Ricochet was apparently mistreated creatively, given the Speed title which AEW fans mocked, and his abilities were held down.

In AEW, he's a little brother type dork, gets roasted on twitter, has a mic put in front of him (like Mone) which is his weakness (like Mone), and has gotten rolls of tp thrown at him multiple times. He's also developed a fake AHA laugh as a gimmick, much like Okada saying 'bitch.'

Making a talented guy look like a geek is Vince level booking but in AEW, it's seen as a positive. I get it - WWE good/bad, AEW good/bad. Rick was a hero here and a villain at Louisville. There's always spin but it's funny how you'll get bad McMahon booking in AEW yet those fans eat it up. Ricochet on Raw = bad. Ricochet getting pelted with toilet paper = good.

I guess if fans are responding, that's a positive I suppose but if Ricochet was being covered in toilet paper and doing a fake laugh gimmick in the E, AEW fans would be having online conniption fits over his misuse.
Boy did this age quite poorly.
 
I remember seeing in an interview he likes going by "Cope" but that needs to end.

For anyone like me who watched New Japan on AXS TV that deal ended on 12/31 so won't be airing there anymore.
I never really got what the point in NJPW on AXS. It was just a compilation show of stuff that already aired, and New Japan World is only $10 a month.
 
Good about last night
-Jay White looking legit finally
-MJF finally cut a decent promo
-Hurt syndicate looks strong


Not good
-JJ shouldn’t be in the world title picture in 2025
-Looks like Cope is using his creative control to get him a potential edge/christian/mox match down the road
-Hurt syndicate should be chasing belts asap
-Learning tree looked like a joke / big bill deserves better
-Where’s wardlow
Cope doesn’t have creative control.

Hurt Syndicate are chasing belts. Have some patience!

Wardlow is injured, this has been known for months. Pay attention.
 
He saw Tony as a mega mark pushover and quickly figured out he could walk all over him and wouldn't be released. He sounds like a headache but an owner cannot allow one of his employees to run him over, metaphorically of course.
This doesn’t make any sense if you put even the slightest bit of logic into it. If he could walk all over him, then he would be released now because he requested his release…
 
So when are those Max numbers coming? I watched a movie tonight on there and didn't see anything on the platform about AEW. Had to look around, went to Just Added, and there they were, like 20+ spots way to the right. I'm assuming when it's live, it's the first thing you see on the platform. I hope, anyway. Wrestling reddit had me believing like 200K would be switching from broadcast to Max. For a "new era", fans were introduced to The Pointer Sisters and got a Jeff Jarrett announcement...in 2025.

In WWE news, looks like the 2026 Royal Rumble will be in Saudi Arabia. The good? Wrestling in the afternoon. The bad? Probably two nights as that's the likely trend and 30 women in hazmat suits. Guessing by 2032 a WM will be overseas. Another question will be Punk's status with the SA show. He's pretty much taken a stance against performing there.
WBD doesn’t generally release Max numbers.

And Max is weird in that they pretty much keep anything under the B/R Sports tab (which includes AEW, NBA, etc.) almost segregated from the main tab.

You have to scroll down a few times to the live section to see any of their live sports content featured on the home page. Since I got rid of YouTube TV, I’ve noticed even live NBA games don’t get tossed onto the carousel section at the top of the main page.

Weird strategy, in my opinion. Maybe it’s because all their live sports content is being simulcast so the viewership isn’t high on there and they’d rather reserve those spots for stuff that gets high Max viewership?
 
Heard tons of empty seats for wrestle kingdom - losing top stars over the years caught up to them.

I saw the raw ring there’s maybe 6 sponsors on it.
There’s always tons of empty seats for Wrestle Kingdom. The place holds 55K. The Wrestle Kingdom one-night attendance record is 43,000.
 
How many times do you want them to hit reset on major angles and title switches?
That’s what happened when Adam Cole came back to feud with MJF and look how shitty that was.

Continuing something that isn’t working just to continue it isn’t smart business.

You don’t see networks let shows that aren’t meeting expectations continue on until it reaches its natural conclusion. They cancel the show and move on to the next thing.
 
I like Republican convention Hogan but wrestler Hogan is shit to me.

In fact, I will agree that the 3 who have fell from grace more than anyone to me is Flair, Hogan, and Sasha.

One of the three is not like the other but I can't stand any of the 3. Flair is like the high school booster club guy that files bankruptcy every 10 years and tries to hang on to past glory despite looking like a total douche. Hogan is in the same boat but was a terrible wrestler. Sasha is about on the same level as Red Tyler or Billy Jack Haynes when it comes to ability but she's simply garbage. So F all them clowns.
Sasha is a mid to garbage wrestler, oh really?

Sports Illistrated’s top 10 women’s matches of 2024

#1. Mercedes Moné v Hazuki at Strong Style Evolved

#2. Kris Statlander v Willow Nightingale at All Out

#3. Mayu Iwatani v Momo Watanabe at Historic X-Over ll

#4. Mercedes Moné v Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing

#5. Mariah May v Toni Storm at All In

#6. Mercedes Moné v Kris Statlander at Full Gear

#7. Bayley v IYO SKY at WrestleMania XL

#8. IYO SKY v Utami Hayashishita at Summer Destiny

#9. Masha Slamovich v Jordynne Grace at Bound For Glory

#10. Women’s Iron Survivor Match at Deadline
 
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Been awhile since I've been in here. I have basically stopped watching AEW all together. Can't belive how shite that program is. A year and a half ago I was so excited for whatever was coming next and now its just awful.

Can't wait to see Penta on Raw tonight.
A year and a half ago is when the AEW downturn started. So you were looking forward to shit back then too?
 
- Jericho is 54, slow, sloppy, and out of shape for what he wants to do. Maybe it's salvageable if he only wrestled once a month, stopped partying like an aging roadie in Mötley Crüe, and went to more ground attacks. He also needs to cut his hair. Older guys in their 50s with ponytails still believing it's 1997 is all kinds of sad.

- We already know this but NBC decides the dates of the SNME shows. Whatever works for them is what WWE will do.

- There's a fan video from Raw of the response the Penta tease got and it was a huge ovation. WWE fans may not care to seek out 10 hours of matches on YT but they're aware of who AEW has and when one of theirs is arriving in the land of sports entertainment. Penta's merch ain't half bad either, ya know, compared to most other wrestling merch.
If you told me that last night was Jericho’s last career match, I would be elated. The only good thing about all this Learning Tree stuff is at least it keeps Big Bill and Bryan Keith on tv in some capacity instead of being one of the seemingly 80+ wrestlers on the roster who never or rarely get on TV.

Though admittedly some of them are signed and used regularly in ROH. But I don’t watch ROH outside of PPVs, so don’t know who all is used regularly there outside of Athena and Billie Starkz.
 
DOM! The man is using AEW clips to shit talk Punk.



Graves thing is a work imo. NXT has momentum and a history of blurring lines. Fans are talking about an announcer and his move to NXT on the night there's an NXT show a week after Rock showed up and said whatever he wanted.
Pretty sure that an announcer who isn’t cleared to wrestle is not what you want people talking about your product for though.

Can you imagine if AEW ran an angle where a disgruntled Excalibur is their big storyline talking point? People would be crucifying them for that.
 
Ya but they’ve completely iced the feud because Mariah acts like she doesn’t know Toni storm now and was cheering for her to win?
Toni Storm is going through a mental breakdown and is vulnerable. Yeah I’d be happy to face that over someone with all their mental faculties in order.
 
Dynamite did 679,000 and a .18 on Wednesday. Ratings are going in the right direction since the Max deal started.

Apparently Nielsen messed up the NXT rating from last week by close to 200,000 viewers. 957,000 wasn't the number it was 790 something.
Yeah parts of the west coast never aired NXT on CW because of wild fires news coverage.

I kind of hate that AEW’s ratings are improving, which is really surprising given I know quite a lot of longtime viewers who are watching it only on Max now. And it’s coming off a Worlds End PPV that had a main event that was largely disappointing and unexciting - though the rest of the show was good.

So why do I hate it? It means that the shit I don’t like is gaining steam - primarily everything pertaining to the Death Riders.

Add that to the fact that Worlds End - which is a B PPV - had the highest PPV buy rate since All In, and the angle is clearly clicking to somewhat of a degree. Yes, higher than A shows All Out and Full Gear, and higher than another B show in Wrestle Dream.

But if it’s doing its job then there’s no reason to abandon it even though I would be elated if they did.
 
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Dave Meltzer's reaction to MJF saying that Jeff Jarrett is the last thing people see before their favorite wrestling promotion dies on last night's AEW Dynamite:

"I heard from many people tonight about that line. I don't know that that line should have been okayed. It's one of those things that like… in the context it was in, it actually didn't bother me. But it bothered enough people that I know to where I think it probably wasn't the greatest idea.

"It wasn't like 'AEW sucks' or 'I wanna leave AEW to go to WWE' - especially this week, boy would that be a terrible thing to put on your own TV. But it was still like… I think the idea is that even though there's like no danger at all of AEW going out of business, maybe never, but certainly not for the next three years. After that, I suppose if they collapse there's a chance. Probably not, but there's always a chance.

"But there's that narrative out there that they're on death's door and they're swirling and all that. And the last thing I would want to do on my TV under any circumstances is to do anything to reinforce the idea that there might be a sliver of truth to that thing that doesn't have a sliver of truth.

"The line wasn't necessary, it wasn't needed, and again, I just don't think you should talk… especially when the company's struggling to sell tickets and pay-per-views aren't through the roof. We don't know what ratings are. I was gonna say ratings aren't the best - I know 18-34 numbers aren't the best, but we don't know the last couple of weeks. But yeah, I just wouldn't do it."

(WOR)
Everything about that MJF-Jarrett promo battle sucked
 
Sasha is a mid to garbage wrestler, oh really?

Sports Illistrated’s top 10 women’s matches of 2024

#1. Mercedes Moné v Hazuki at Strong Style Evolved

#2. Kris Statlander v Willow Nightingale at All Out

#3. Mayu Iwatani v Momo Watanabe at Historic X-Over ll

#4. Mercedes Moné v Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing

#5. Mariah May v Toni Storm at All In

#6. Mercedes Moné v Kris Statlander at Full Gear

#7. Bayley v IYO SKY at WrestleMania XL

#8. IYO SKY v Utami Hayashishita at Summer Destiny

#9. Masha Slamovich v Jordynne Grace at Bound For Glory

#10. Women’s Iron Survivor Match at Deadline
yes
 
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Drew McIntyre has given credit to CM Punk for not getting "boo boo face" by any of the shots McIntyre fired at him during their intense WWE feud last year.

"I will say, however my feelings are towards him, I went completely gangbusters on Punk. I didn't hold back. On television, I can only go so far, but, on social media, it's my socials. You can't tell me what to do and I went overboard. If the company had asked me to pull back a little bit, I'd have said, 'No, that is my social media'.

But, I went at him hard. I've done that with a couple of people, and they have got a boo boo face. Not that I care, but, he didn't. He ate it like a man, and then came back with what he had to say. So I will give him that."

(via The Daily Mail)
 
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