Mark Connolly Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 25 minutes ago, gav-ffc said: Guessing this is one of the Aew stadiums for the up and coming shows? That's Soldier Field, isn't it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airdrieman Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 3 hours ago, Ludo*1 said: What can Ric Flair add to AEW at this stage that they don't have with the countless non-wrestling on air talent that AEW already have? Last blood match with Cody Rhodes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 3 hours ago, Ludo*1 said: What can Ric Flair add to AEW at this stage that they don't have with the countless non-wrestling on air talent that AEW already have? Flair was meant to be the original choice to unveil the AEW World Championship. I'm sure Tony Khan would find something to do with him. They seem quite happy to create links with the past in mentoring type roles on screen. The other day there was news about them trademarking 'King of Harts' which is believed to be a deal to sell Owen Hart merch, since his widow aren't on good terms with the WWE. They see some benefit in that with someone that's no longer with us. A pop from having Kenny & the Bucks in the same ring with Ric, Tully & Arn. Andrade w/ Flair v. Darby w/ Sting. The Horsemen in the AEW video game. They can do a number of things that people will buy into because it's Ric Flair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 1 minute ago, FairWeatherFan said: Flair was meant to be the original choice to unveil the AEW World Championship. I'm sure Tony Khan would find something to do with him. They seem quite happy to create links with the past in mentoring type roles on screen. The other day there was news about them trademarking 'King of Harts' which is believed to be a deal to sell Owen Hart merch, since his widow aren't on good terms with the WWE. They see some benefit in that with someone that's no longer with us. A pop from having Kenny & the Bucks in the same ring with Ric, Tully & Arn. Andrade w/ Flair v. Darby w/ Sting. The Horsemen in the AEW video game. They can do a number of things that people will buy into because it's Ric Flair. Aye, but they've got Tully, Arn, Jake the Snake, Sting, Mark Henry, Big Show, Don Callis, Taz, Vickie Guererro, Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Sonjay Dutt, & Kevin Sullivan all on the books. That's not even mentioning the likes of Earl Hebner who is still on the books! Only about 2 of them can still go, and you can only have so many producers/coaches/managers. Ric Flair is bigger than all of them, granted, but they'll need to have a cull at some point! I also thought that Ric & Arn hated each other these days? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 5 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: Aye, but they've got Tully, Arn, Jake the Snake, Sting, Mark Henry, Big Show, Don Callis, Taz, Vickie Guererro, Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Sonjay Dutt, & Kevin Sullivan all on the books. That's not even mentioning the likes of Earl Hebner who is still on the books! Only about 2 of them can still go, and you can only have so many producers/coaches/managers. Ric Flair is bigger than all of them, granted, but they'll need to have a cull at some point! I also thought that Ric & Arn hated each other these days? Last I heard they're not on the best of terms. Not sure it's quite hate. I only listened to the early days Arn's podcast but from what I recall it was more drifting away once no longer on the road. Then Ric is meant to hold some resentment from when Reid passed, and not getting any support from the Horsemen. With Conrad Thompson's relationship with them both, i'm sure he'll play matchmaker by showing them the $$$ in it. At the very least. I'm not expecting Ric to mentor anyone as a manager or become a producer. They can certainly get him under a contract and use him in spots that would be worthwhile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoon Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Just having him tied and wheeling him out for media/the odd appearance is big. He’s one of the few guys still around the mainstream actually know. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 2 minutes ago, TheGoon said: Just having him tied and wheeling him out for media/the odd appearance is big. He’s one of the few guys still around the mainstream actually know. Is that not the rumoured reason as to why he wanted out of WWE? He wanted to do 'more' as in be an active presence. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoon Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: Is that not the rumoured reason as to why he wanted out of WWE? He wanted to do 'more' as in be an active presence. I thought that, but according to Sean Riss Sapp (most reliable of the jouros usually) he had a falling out with Vince over the Lacey Evans storyline and other creative they had for him and just asked to be let out. Bizarre, I didn’t think he’d be arsed at all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I'm not trying to diminish him btw. Reckon he could be amazing on the mic (but he's definitely someone that needs limits put in place which isn't AEW's strong point!) and elevate a talent for them, but they just seem to be signing everyone who was ever anywhere near being mainstream. I confess to not watching a whole lot of AEW, but I was hooked to the Jake the Snake promos and then he just disappeared and there's a whole host of aged talent that can cut an amazing promo on their books. How many managers can one have? As I say, Ric is better than pretty much anyone they've got (or indeed in the business) in that regard maybe bar Jericho & Jake the Snake. I'd tune in and pop like f**k if he came out despite all my moaning here! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 16 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said: I'm not trying to diminish him btw. Reckon he could be amazing on the mic (but he's definitely someone that needs limits put in place which isn't AEW's strong point!) and elevate a talent for them, but they just seem to be signing everyone who was ever anywhere near being mainstream. I confess to not watching a whole lot of AEW, but I was hooked to the Jake the Snake promos and then he just disappeared and there's a whole host of aged talent that can cut an amazing promo on their books. How many managers can one have? As I say, Ric is better than pretty much anyone they've got (or indeed in the business) in that regard maybe bar Jericho & Jake the Snake. I'd tune in and pop like f**k if he came out despite all my moaning here! It's not like they handle all these veteran talents in the same way. We're not talking about the old school manager that has a bunch of random talents, who has to do all the talking because no one else can. They feed more into the presentation of the acts to help add some layers and differentiate them a bit. It's a mix of stables, entourages, mentors, and lackeys. Which pads things out when you consider the overall use of groupings within the company. They've got The Elite, Dark Order, Inner Circle, Pinnacle, Best Friends, Jurassic Express, HFO, Nightmare Family, The Factory, Death Triangle, Team Taz, The Wingmen, and maybe others i'm forgetting that arel kicking about. Having the non-wrestling person gives some different dynamics to play with. By the way you've missed two recent additions to previous the veteran list. Konnan linking up with his old LAX boys in PnP as part of the feud against FTR with Tully. As well as Chavo Guerrero displacing Vickie as Andrade's english mouthpiece. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 23 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said: It's not like they handle all these veteran talents in the same way. We're not talking about the old school manager that has a bunch of random talents, who has to do all the talking because no one else can. They feed more into the presentation of the acts to help add some layers and differentiate them a bit. It's a mix of stables, entourages, mentors, and lackeys. Which pads things out when you consider the overall use of groupings within the company. They've got The Elite, Dark Order, Inner Circle, Pinnacle, Best Friends, Jurassic Express, HFO, Nightmare Family, The Factory, Death Triangle, Team Taz, The Wingmen, and maybe others i'm forgetting that arel kicking about. Having the non-wrestling person gives some different dynamics to play with. By the way you've missed two recent additions to previous the veteran list. Konnan linking up with his old LAX boys in PnP as part of the feud against FTR with Tully. As well as Chavo Guerrero displacing Vickie as Andrade's english mouthpiece. Flair in AEW would almost definitely involve himself in some way with Andrade given its his son in law. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 In the next few months you have Bryan and Punk as locked in. Adam Cole has almost definitely negotiated his way into bailing after summerslam to be with his old mates and fiancé without a no compete. Wyatt is a higher than even chance to make the jump though he does seem like he'd be the type to head to Japan. I mean apart from that, who else from WWE are you realistically going to see jumping? Keith Lee and Ricochet are the two realistic ones remaining who would be massive gets for AEW but after that, you'd say it was stacked in terms of the mens roster and they are getting to oversaturated levels. Cesaro, Sami, Owens and Apollo would be great too but probably aren't going anywhere soon given they are all firmly in that US mid card picture. Saying that, so was Black so you just never know. They do need more women though, the women's roster has improved but is still lacking a fair bit of depth. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFCDannyFTH Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Was Flair not due to unveil the AEW championship with Jack Whitehall? I think he had to pull out and ended up being replaced by Bret Hart. Who would've seen any of this coming a few years ago? This is a fucking tremendous time to be a wrestling fan. Vince can laugh all he wants, AEW really are direct competition and despite some of the goofyness, they are providing a product catered more to the adult fans that have been lost throughout the PG era. An episode of Dynamite flies by. The same can't be said for Raw, even Smackdown can drag. It'll be interesting to see how AEW manage their roster size over the coming years. Even with Dark and Dark Elevation, they have a hell of a lot of signed wrestlers and not a lot of screen time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoon Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Honestly think Ricochet has been tied to the goon squad in WWE so long he needs an indy run to get his cred back up. What a bizarre one though. Amazing performance at MITB just a few weeks ago, then hasn’t been seen since. That guy should've been a superstar there and they just dropped the ball so badly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 That's one of the things that will help keep some of these talents fresh. They aren't just signing up to be cycled through dynamite/rampage on repeat. If they want to go off to Japan, mexico, some US dates, or elsewhere they can. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFCDannyFTH Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Surely AEW have to be thinking about some sort of developmental territory or promotion? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoon Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 9 minutes ago, AFCDannyFTH said: Surely AEW have to be thinking about some sort of developmental territory or promotion? Could pretty much make Impact one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) I've seen a few folk online expressing how AEW are in danger of going into TNA 2011 territory in bringing in folk who are past it and WWE rejects but there is a huge difference. TNA brought in the odd massive get from WWE. Christian and Jeff Hardy at their peaks and Kurt when he was still massive but with a litany of problems were all superb and massively enhanced the product they were putting out. Most of their issues came when Hogan's cronies came in and pushed their original talent down, talent who were soaring before then. The difference now is that AEW are bringing in a very intriguing mixture of active and inactive veterans who are there and not pushing towards the top of the card (Matt Hardy, Christian), rarely utilised in ring (Billy Gunn, Sting) or in 'advisory' roles for the much older guys (Jake and Arn). Jericho is probably the outlier here but he was there from day dot and served a purpose of getting eyes on the screen. The actual in ring talent they are picking up from WWE though are mostly in their prime, still in their heyday types. Black, Miro, Mox, Andrade, FTR, Brodie before his unforeseen and tragic death. Wyatt and Cole would easily fall into this category as well. And they can all go like absolute f**k. Bryan and CM Punk coming in are doing so with hopefully 3-4 years in them still and both will certainly still be able to go as well as anyone in the world - Punk being in Heelz and the requirements of that will mean he certainly had to work to get back into ring shape. Top that off with the guys who have never been with WWE or have done the rounds in the indies and you genuinely have one of the most ridiculously top to bottom stacked rosters of wrestlers I've ever seen assembled already, even before they pickup any more who leave WWE. Can you imagine Keith Lee or Ricochet added in among that mix? Edited August 2, 2021 by djchapsticks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I mean one look at their roster list and you just keeping going 'fucking hell, I forget about him as well'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 19 minutes ago, AFCDannyFTH said: Surely AEW have to be thinking about some sort of developmental territory or promotion? They're meant to be turning Dark into a fixed location show now they're back on the road. That'd give inexperienced talent the chance to work to AEW 'tv' standards. They've then got relationships with training schools, indies, and international promotions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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