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What do you think of all these other websites that swipe your stuff and don't even bother to credit you. It happens a lot on Twitter too.
Yeah, I am aware, but after 20+ years of doing this, I am at the point I tend to tune it out because there's very little one can do to prevent or mitigate it. You sort of hope this means someone will realize the actual source of the content and then just come here to PWInsider.com instead, but that's not really a valid hope because there are some who don't care where they get the content, as long as they can get it. So, to answer your question, I try not to think about them, because putting energy into them means I'm taking away from Elites that do pay for our content and I'm taking time away from my actual job, which is creating content. You don't want to lose sight of what pays the bills by putting energy and credence into what doesn't.
Do you expect any sweeping changes to AEW with their new TV deal? Will this be what it takes to put some electricty back on screen?
The deal doesn't kick in until 2025, so I don't see anything massive happening immediately. It's possible they up the budget for talent and production, but I don't know. I think what they need is a long, concerted effort to build their promotion back to where it was, but that takes time, luck, endurance and keeping to a vision of where you want things to be long term. It always takes almost a generation for companies to find that upswing again, if we look at the ups and down of WCW or how cyclical different territories were a generation before that.
Is there anyone in AEW you really enjoy watching right now? With the new deal, do you see Tony Khan taking on a different booker?
There are a lot of people who work super hard. I always say I wish the Acclaimed were still used more prominently. Will Ospreay has been a lot of fun to watch and I think his promos and passion have gotten better month by month. I can't help but want to see Mark Briscoe do great. I still enjoy watching Jeff Jarrett. There is a lot of damn good wrestling on the show, but given how hot WWE is right now, it's going to be near-impossible to outshine the stories and characters that have been built out in recent years. But that doesn't mean there isn't content in AEW that isn't good. It's just not anywhere near WWE right now. It is hard being second in a race and trying to get people to see you as something more than second. I don't see Khan giving up the booking. I just don't. He created the company. It exists because of him and he wants to be the person in the captain's chair. You never say never, but I really don't see him relieving himself of his own job. AEW is Khan.
Matt Cardona has been pushing the idea of going back to WWE or AEW as Cardona, not Zack Ryder. Could he be successful?
If one of the promotions wanted him and wanted to push him, sure. He's shown a great aptitude on the independents and has presented himself vastly differently from his WWE run. Look at Drew McInture today vs. the Drew he was during the run that led to him getting released. Talents can make a complete comeback if they get WWE interested and have something of note to show them, including growth as a talent or even more maturity behind the scenes. His wife works for WWE, so it's not as if it would be hard for the company to keep tabs on what he's up to.
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