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AEW in April 2024: The Young Bucks’ Hidden Camera Theater

Valeyard

Valeyard

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TK's just got a blindspot because this isn't a company where drawing is the main priority. That's not a knock on TK, either, since this isn't like any promotion to this point, but there's no such thing as too much goodwill in towns. Growth has been their biggest problem from the beginning, though.

But given some of the weird towns they run, they need to be doing all they can to get the locals in.
 
Valeyard

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It's TK's sandbox. Which is great, I'd do the same with those resources. The lack of willingness or ability to grow the audience should be concerning, regardless. Like they have everything it takes to be the biggest promotion possible, but they won't put it together in a way to expand. They don't need to, of course, but they should. My problem is I really, really want them to succeed and for everyone to have the best careers possible, but they are content to be where they are because it literally doesn't matter. They're not being the best they could be, and it's frustrating. They should be THE promotion in the US.
 
cobainwasmurdered

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I think they do want to be bigger than they are but they don't want to lose what makes them different than WWE. That's why they are expanding their PPV schedule and running Canada etc. what makes them appealing would be lost if they tried to change for a wider audience imo. There's a lot of things they could fine tune absolutely. But I think they have been slowly doing that. There's so much less comedy on the show now. There's a better focus on giving guys promo time who need it, etc.

King Kamala said:
To compile as many five star matches as possible.

Great. You’re PWG with national television distribution, Tony, but that isn’t going to win the hearts and minds of Joe & Jane Q. Wrestling Fan.
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AEW has far more in common with ROH under Gabe if it had TV than PWG. ROH for all it's dream match stuff also had a lot more story driven stuff than PWG ever has and was generally more serious.
 
909

909

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They're booking for hardcore wrestling fans. I wouldn't know how else to put it.
 
cobainwasmurdered

cobainwasmurdered

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I don't know how much they can change the current product without losing those fans. You can tinker with it but these are the people who abandoned WWE or quit with WCW. They have very specific ideas about what they want to see. At this point there's also so many options its very easy to lose an audience.
 
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

Cackling Co Pilot Kamala

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For all of its faults, AEW has come a whole hell of a lot further in its first five years than any North American promotion in a long time. Compare current AEW to 1993 WCW or 2007 TNA and it’s night and day.
 
Valeyard

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You can't compare AEW to either of those, though. That's the thing. It's a completely different beast.
 
cobainwasmurdered

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yeah if its ever going to happen it will take decades. If you look at the number of major signings that have gone to AEW its very impressive. WWE got Cody, Punk and Jade basically. Jade has a ton of potential but is extremely green. Punk ran himself out of town and is washed. Cody was a huge loss. But the number of major signings AEW had is nuts.
 
Big Papa Paegan

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cobainwasmurdered said:
AEW has far more in common with ROH under Gabe if it had TV than PWG. ROH for all it's dream match stuff also had a lot more story driven stuff than PWG ever has and was generally more serious.
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I agree that Gabe-era ROH is a better comparison than PWG, in set-up, but in execution it's more similar to PWG 2008-2010 than it is prime ROH. By that, I mean an abundance of great talent chosen from all over, but the main core are still the "stars," even though they're very much so outclassed by the "outside" talent.

Gabe-era ROH also had a chip on its shoulder, and the adoption of the weekly TV format was actually a negative to the quality of the product, but that's an argument I've made a lot in the last decade.
909 said:
They're booking for hardcore wrestling fans. I wouldn't know how else to put it.
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Yes, but even those fans are starting to turn on the product. The flaws of AEW are more readily apparent now than maybe ever, but it doesn't look much like there's a solid remedy with Tony K in charge of creative.
King Kamala said:
Point is toppling WWE isn’t something that is going to happen overnight if ever.
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They really don't need to, and shouldn't even try. All they need to do is be more consistent, both with the tone of the show and who they're pushing. Both have been weak spots since the company started in earnest, and there's only been a few minor improvements.
 
Valeyard

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It isn't even about "toppling." It's being perceived as an alternative to fans the same way it is to talent. That's the thing WCW had over AEW. The conversations with fans I have out in reality are people who just find it a very hard show to get into because of the audience they decided to cater to.

They legit can learn things from WWE, just as WWE can from them, and I don't think they'd alienate the core base as much as people think if they branched out more considering there really is a vocal part of that fanbase that wants similar things. Just more grounded and adult and a compliment to the work instead of overwhelming it.
 
AA484

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Loss shared this and I thought it was a good piece, and particularly relevant to some of the recent discussion here:

www.josephmontecillo.com

There are only two wrestling companies. - Joseph Montecillo

Matt D., one of the wonderful writers behind Segunda Caida, sent this match to me in my Twitter replies today. It’s a neat indie lucha apuesta between Comando Negro and El Pollo from 2010. It has all the grit and grime that implies. A lot of the superficial charms are here–this darkened but...
www.josephmontecillo.com www.josephmontecillo.com

Then there’s the fact that social media has been designed for years now to actively trigger negative feelings in its users, often pushing anything that may be seen as inflammatory and hateful onto each individual user. No shock then that anything resembling criticism gets shuffled in with genuine hate and bad faith arguments. There are massive forces at work that not only want people to identify with corporations but also to have their guard up in defense of those ideals.
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H

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Bret would say the same thing about a company that didn’t pay him the money he was asking for like Bill clearly is and TK isn’t being gullible, which is a welcome sign.
 
Valeyard

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Bucks and Okada beat him down, gets saved by FTR and someone else. Keep things moving
 
909

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Yeah it's easy booking for that one. Okada and Bucks attack him, FTR and Briscoe come down to make save, Jack comes down to save the Elite, Eddie comes down to even, Hangman returns and comes down to beat all the babyfaces up and get huge heat. Do a few weeks of TV where they have to convince Swerve to fight the Elite in Blood and Guts. Do an angle where Hangman invades Swerve's house. Simple as that. This is the best the Bucks have ever been so it's time to double down on it.
 
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