AEW - Non-Wrestling (Business, Money, Ratings etc.)

[PEN15v2]

This nitpicking is odd. I'm not against it at all. In fact, I am so certain that if WWE did these things, they'd be critically attacked really hard. For example, if a cage match ended in a seemingly DQ, I think fans would get upset at WWE. If only I had a recent example of this...

Yet, Dynamite ended the first show with a mid-match attack that not only took one of the competitors out of the match, but didn't end in a DQ. The tag match with a complete lack of logic just to be a highlight reel on the latest episode is just the newest example. And right now, the hypocrisy is strong as AEW fans are finding ways to defend it.

But in the end, every promotion has their own version of logic. This can be AEW's style, and make it work. It'll bug people, but if more people overlook it like they are right now, then let them do it. It bugs me, especially with the supposed "real sports" approach and the other BS they claim to make them special. But more people are forgiving than critical at this moment...so I get why they are going this route.

[Powder]

It's the fact that it's so "by the boys, for the boys" that's becoming a problem with this type of stuff. I have a feeling that Tony wants to be one of "the boys" and as long as the company isn't tanking he's happy to do it.

Let's project a few months down the road and the initial boom has worn off and ratings slip. Will Cody be able to step up and be the man in charge? Now, he is one of the boys, but can he be an authority figure and lay down some law if need be? If he can't then regardless of how ratings spike or fall, the company will implode. Every business needs the person in charge in order to run well. Without a clear hierarchy of authority and a "man in charge" the inmates could very well run the asylum, and that was part of the reason that WCW fell hard.

[LK3185]

This nitpicking is odd. I'm not against it at all. In fact, I am so certain that if WWE did these things, they'd be critically attacked really hard. For example, if a cage match ended in a seemingly DQ, I think fans would get upset at WWE. If only I had a recent example of this...

Yet, Dynamite ended the first show with a mid-match attack that not only took one of the competitors out of the match, but didn't end in a DQ. The tag match with a complete lack of logic just to be a highlight reel on the latest episode is just the newest example. And right now, the hypocrisy is strong as AEW fans are finding ways to defend it.

But in the end, every promotion has their own version of logic. This can be AEW's style, and make it work. It'll bug people, but if more people overlook it like they are right now, then let them do it. It bugs me, especially with the supposed "real sports" approach and the other BS they claim to make them special. But more people are forgiving than critical at this moment...so I get why they are going this route.

I should note that I'm not trying to defend any logic. TBH, I don't even know what AEW's internal logic is. I'm just going with what's being presented cause I'm entertained in most cases.


Same with WWE or movies that don't really make logical sense. If it entertains me (like that Private Party match ) Then i don't care.

it would be nice if things made more sense but not a requirement

[PEN15v2]

I didn't mean you, or anyone, in particular.

[mizfan]

Regarding the tagging thing, I feel like there are a couple of easy solutions. Either A. make tornado tags more common and clearly announce the rules before the match, or B. clearly institute lucha tag rules, meaning leaving the ring and touching the floor is as good as a hand to hand tag. It doesn't bother me that much because it's been super common for so many years in the wrestling I watch, but it could always be better with more clarity.

[Prime Time]

The tag division is the source of most of the pushback I've seen this week, so however you go about it, there's got to be some value in doing something to address it.

It strikes me that the best solution is stopping people fucking about and if they insist, count them out... but that won't surprise anyone.

[LK3185]

if they were to do that, then it would stop all together.. its not like the tag matches are going rogue from the designed purpose. Which is why I'm not sure they will address it unless the pushback is from people they would listen to.

[Prime Time]

Yeah, I only said it was the best solution - not that I thought it had any chance of happening! If I had to bet I don't think they'll deal with it at all, nevermind in a satisfying way.

[LK3185]

I would think that JR bringing it up on commentary (the lack of pinfalls too) he has voiced that opinion backstage as well. At the very least, they know about it and I would address it some way but we'll see. My feeling is the way the show comes off, it feels like Cody is doing his thing, the Bucks are likely heavily involved in the tag division and Omega is working with the women cause he brought in the Joshi girls.

[Prime Time]

AEW have signed British boxer and Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo. Might be the sort of thing that will get some new eyes on the company here and get some more eyes on the product on this side of the Atlantic.

[Oliver]

AEW have signed British boxer and Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo. Might be the sort of thing that will get some new eyes on the company here and get some more eyes on the product on this side of the Atlantic.

Woah, that's an interesting one. It's not that long ago he was registered blind, I think due to an injury he received in his final professional fight. Think he's done very minimal professional wrestling in small UK indies, but nothing too mainstream as far as I'm aware.

[mizfan]

Don't think I've ever heard of the guy. It'll be interesting to see how they incorporate him.

[Prime Time]

We've now got the data for the week of the 7th-13th, and there's still no sign of it across the combined live/time-shifted top 15 programmes for ITV4. All we can be sure of is that it was somewhere less than 184,000. That could be 183,000, or it could be 5,000. No way of knowing, but either way it's still weaker than it should be on paper. At the moment the top performing shows on the station are skewed towards the Rugby World Cup, so perhaps once that is over we'll see them emerging near the bottom of the list.

As I did it for the first week, films that beat AEW Dynamite for that week on ITV4 were The Mechanic, Kelly's Heroes, and Jaws.

Carrying on with this, we've got the UK data for the week of the 14-20th... and it looks like more bad news. It's still nowhere to be seen, and the number that it takes to get in there is dropping. ITV's 15th most popular show - and the last to be individually listed - scored 167,200 viewers. So we know it's less than that. Two things - either AEW is trending downward here as well, so that it continually misses the list, or it's hugely under-performed expectations from the start. It's starting to look like - despite having way better promotion and a more prominent station - this might not be doing that much better than Impact, and way worse than Impact's high point.

Films that beat Dynamite this week were Terminator II: Judgement Day, Apollo 13, and Police Academy 2. Perhaps more embarrassing, they were beaten by a re-run of an episode of the much-maligned comedy, Mr Bean.

[Kleckamania]

So.much.Mr. Bean.hate...

[Prime Time]

Carrying on with this, we've got the UK data for the week of the 14-20th... and it looks like more bad news. It's still nowhere to be seen, and the number that it takes to get in there is dropping. ITV's 15th most popular show - and the last to be individually listed - scored 167,200 viewers. So we know it's less than that. Two things - either AEW is trending downward here as well, so that it continually misses the list, or it's hugely under-performed expectations from the start. It's starting to look like - despite having way better promotion and a more prominent station - this might not be doing that much better than Impact, and way worse than Impact's high point.

Films that beat Dynamite this week were Terminator II: Judgement Day, Apollo 13, and Police Academy 2. Perhaps more embarrassing, they were beaten by a re-run of an episode of the much-maligned comedy, Mr Bean.

Slight correction to this - the 15th number was 168,448. The rating in the original post was the number who watched it on a TV set, not the 'four screen' total.