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Gotta admit, I’m a tad disappointed spending a ton of $ on 2025 Elimination Chamber tickets, and heading into the event there is no Roman Reigns. No Jey Uso. No Cody! Toronto tix were a fortune, and the Rogers Centre venue is HUGE! I get that cards are subject to change, I get that they’re delivering John Cena, but given the cost of tickets these days shouldn’t 3 of the top acts of the past year at least be promoted to be a part of SOMETHING on the show?
In the past I would have said no, card subject to change and all. But now? With the HIGH prices that they are charging? Yes, I think that they have an obligation to deliver as many top names as possible. The flip side is, maybe they will. I could definitely see Roman appearing and costing Seth Rollins his chance at Cody. I could see Cody being there to face off with whoever wins the Chamber. So I guess it’s a bit of wait and see at this point.
Just a thought I had on the booing of the Hulkster. I agree the main reason is the racist issue. Could part of it be influenced by the fact that as fans, we are "smarter" now? We have access to so much information, some good, some bad, some fake...but it all gets consumed. Add to that there's no shortage of shoot interviews where Hulk makes outrageous claims about his career. The flip side, there are also a lot of wrestlers from his era who have done those interviews and not had good things to say about working with Hulk.
I do think that people have access to more information now and form opinions based off of that. I am glad you put the word smarter in quotes because I don’t think that a lot of people are actually more learned than they used to be, in fact I think that it’s just the opposite. They see things online and don’t bother to verify them. People like Uncle Dave totally botch a story but those fans still regurgitate it like it’s true. In the example you made however those statements are factual but a lot of the things people say now are dead wrong so I can’t call them smarter.
When will AEW go with smaller set ? And second question move to smaller arenas?
They have already started the smaller arenas. With less people at the shows, they have room for the set. Something has to take up the space in the building if it’s not fans.
Hi Dave, have you heard anything about AEW's MAX numbers? My instincts say they must be poor, because as of almost a week after Dynamite debuted on the platform, Meltzer nor others have released anything or hyped it up or referenced a much larger audience. Instead, it seems like the number must have been miniscule and not the boost people thought they were getting. What do you think? And if that's the case, do you personally think it is in Max's best interest to keep simulcasting or to pick a lane?
I have not heard a word and to me that is telling. As you said, if there is something to brag about they would be bragging. With that said, there is no downside to keeping it on MAX. There are people who don’t have cable but subscribe to MAX so they can reach some people there.
What does New Japan get out of their relationship with AEW, besides sharing the profits for the Forbidden Door PPV? AEW cannibalized NJ’s main eventers and helped hastened their decline to where they are kind of irrelevant, especially compared to 2015 to 2019. Wouldn’t NJ be better off as a partner of WWE, where NJ can be a proxy NXT - without all the start up costs, benefiting WWE? In turn, NJ would benefit from their talents featured on NXT and the other perks of being in TKO partnership?
Since Tony Khan keeps things close to the vest I have no idea if he is paying New Japan a stipend but your point is valid, AEW seems to have gotten more out of it than New Japan has. I know that New Japan had hoped to use AEW as a way to gain a bigger footing in America but as the AEW product has show us the action heavy, character and storyline light product has a limited audience in the US.
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