2021 Pro Wrestling Thread

WWE is definitely stale. Smackdown seems OK, but Raw needs ... something. Not only are we seeing feuds go on way too long, a lot of guys are wrestling twice on the same show. Like having Lashley and Orton involved in two main event feuds against each other. I like what Lashley is doing, and I like RK-Bro, and a Lashley-Orton match could be pretty good. I just think I'd rather see them throw somebody else into each spot.

 

I still think all the budget cuts lately, while somewhat tied to the pandemic, are also a lot about stock prices, and I think a big part of that is that Vince is gonna sell the company before he dies. It'll piss off Stephanie and HHH, but I kinda believe he's the type of guy who thinks no one will ever make the company as great as he did, so he's going to throw it away before he dies just to see how much he makes.

 

I think Shoemaker or Meltzer - or both - have noted that Vince likes to get a feel for what the company is worth pretty often, but he's never been that close to selling. At least when it comes to the public amount of stock available, a quick Google search suggests that the company is worth about $4.6B - a little more than what UFC sold for. I think it would take someone offering like $10B to get him to sell.

 

I agree it's great for the business as a whole, and the E already has a built-in advantage. But if AEW keeps building up their goodwill, they may eventually become competition whether Vince considers them to be or not.

 

Plus it's not like the Khans are hurting for money. In a lot of ways, it's like Goliath vs. Super Goliath out there.

 

The staleness thing is a real factor. One thing that drives me nuts about Raw is how they start EVERY SINGLE SHOW with a 20-minute promo. If you watch NXT (for now) or AEW, they announce what a good portion of the show is going to be beforehand, so we can look forward to it, and start the show with a hot match. Instead with Raw, I can basically skip the first 15 minutes, wait until the opponent comes down to talk some trash, and then see the end result. If anything happens in the first 15 minutes, it'll be all over Twitter and I'll be able to see it anyways.

 

If what is happening at NXT isn't breaking Triple H's heart enough...

 

i agree with that, disagree with Foley’s thesis that no one’s going to see WWE as a goal or the top of the mountain anymore.

Also lets see where we are in 2 years when some of AEW’s talent starts jumping over and doing shoot interviews. They’re in a honey moon period right now, but they’re not going to be able to use and keep 100% of talent happy.

 

Yeah, at some point, the E will sign a top AEW guy, and of course, likely bury them at first until they build them up their way.

What is interesting, though is that, while AEW has a large roster, they’re actually using it so their wrestlers won’t get stale. Instead of seeing them on TV each week, they alternate or take some weeks off. Not only does it avoid burnout, but it keeps the shows fresh instead of seeing the same people each week.

 

I pondered on that a while back. The AEW card is quickly filling up with former WWE guys, even before the addition of Cole, Punk and Danielson. They're running out of TV time to showcase them all. How long before an underused guy like Hangman Page gets frustrated? Or some of their other homegrown breakout stars like MJF, Darby Allin or Sammy Guevara are ready to make that huge leap to a world championship but are held back because of pushes for bigger names, and get disgruntled because of it?
Eventually, I think they'll run into some of the same problems that plague WWE -- too much talent, not enough quality TV time to go around.

 

Not having to churn out a PPV every month probably helps in that regard. WWE has to build its feud in a couple of weeks, whereas AEW can take a couple of months and even skip a week here and there or keep it going with a taped promo.

 

I wonder if that had something to do with him losing control of NXT in the first place. If he was going to take some time off to deal with this health issue, it'd make sense to put someone else in charge down there.
Also, the phrase "genetic heart issue" and a medical procedure to deal with it at age 52 makes me think we've probably seen the last of Triple H's in-ring career.