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

[mizfan]

My read on the stipulation is Cody can't be the challenger in a match, so I was thinking they'd have to find some compelling way to overturn it, in the vein of Macho Man getting reinstated after Jake tried to murder him and his wife. So I wasn't thinking of getting around it via technicality, though now that I talk it out maybe if the title were vacant at some point that would be a loophole?

[Prime Time]

Has to be the former. My god, if they try and get around that stip using some kind of clever word play.... they'd be mocked royally, and what's more, they'd deserve it, too.

[Cult Icon]

Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe, they don't ever find a way out and Cody just never challenges for the title?

[Oliver]

Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe, they don't ever find a way out and Cody just never challenges for the title?

Yep, and I think that will certainly be the initial route they take. He's obviously pivoting into the MJF feud and there's plenty to keep him going elsewhere as well. And hey, maybe they've done this to very deliberately say 'we are not booking ourselves into the title picture on our shows' - which is a great move and immediately gives them over to downplaying their own involvement and letting them put other people above themselves.

It feels, though, that if they continue for a decent length of time, that Cody's going to end up in a position where being in the title picture - and the champion - is just a natural progression.

I do like that tournament idea I put forward, I must say - picked it up from someone else, and having sat on it I can see the options to keep building and building to the time where he does get a title match.

[Team Farrell]

I mean, they could, but it would be pretty fucking stupid to take one of your most bankable, recognizable US stars out of the title picture forever because you came up with a dumb added drama stip in your first month.

Never is a long time for a guy in his mid 30s booking from the Dusty playbook.

[Cult Icon]

It's only stupid if they never make any other stars in the next few years. Maybe you're not confident that will happen but I'm going to say they will, and if they do that then it's not a problem Cody isn't in the title picture. Hell, you yourself said Cody was one of the most bankable stars they have, which pretty much tells you he doesn't need the title right now anyway; he's a draw with or without it.

But, for the sake of argument, if you want to get Cody back into the title picture without ticking off everyone then it's simple; turn Cody heel. A heel abusing his power and ignoring the stipulation he himself put forward makes perfect sense and we all know Cody can pull of being an incredible bad guy. That's the way you get around it;hell start the turn with him announcing he's fighting for the title and then complete it by having him win the belt. I guarantee it'll work.

[Team Farrell]

Again, Cody's playing from the Dusty playbook. Stipulations are made to be broken, especially if you can do it creatively.

You get enough of that groundswell of support behind Cody to finally shut up Jericho, and I don't think that anyone would be pissed off if the stipulation was thrown away. Let one of the Khans overrule it for the company's own good or something, or let him win a match that allows him to challenge again for one night only, whatever. Make the title match a lights out unsanctioned match where the Champion agrees to the stipulation that the winner becomes Champion.

But I can't think of too many "forever" stipulations in the history of professional wrestling that have been adhered to, and I have no reason to believe that this will be any different.

[Powder]

But I can't think of too many "forever" stipulations in the history of professional wrestling that have been adhered to, and I have no reason to believe that this will be any different.

HBK nearly pulled off his retirement stip.

[Prime Time]

Again, Cody's playing from the Dusty playbook.

He's going to challenge as The Midnight Rider, isn't he?!

[Powder]

He already is the American Nightmare...sooooo....

But if/when he gets another title shot, he needs yellow polka dots. Win the AEW title with the BS that Vince made his father wear.

[mizfan]

Strongly doubt they'll really keep Cody out of the title picture forever. If they honor the stip for a good stretch of time then tell a compelling story to break it, they'll be golden.

[Cult Icon]

Ratings are in for anyone who's interested.

AEW: 957K (up 16% from last week)
NXT: 750K (down 9% from last week)

I think we learned two things; there was definite interest coming out of Full Gear for AEW and the main roster stars on NXT last week were a big deal.

[mizfan]

As an AEW fan, pleased to see them rise again in the ratings. Was a bit of a bummer when they dropped off after the premiere, though granted it was always expected.

Those gains and losses look pretty similar, so I wonder if it was fans on the fence who decided to switch over from NXT to check out AEW this week?

[Prime Time]

Not exclusively, unless NXT got new viewers in to compensate. No way to be certain of course, but the overall audience is up a little suggesting it wouldn't just be a simple transfer.

It'll do. Still a lot to say about the numbers when you start looking at them but I said a couple of weeks ago that getting back to this position had to be the first step. So it'll do.

[Prime Time]

Slight correction to my earlier post - that last rating wasn't for the go-home show which we don't have info for yet. It was for the show first aired on October 30th.

Here's a summary of everything so far. The < sign indicates both that it was less than that number and that Dynamite didn't rank in the top 15 ITV4 shows for the week.

1: <191,100
2: <184,627
3: <168,448
4: 170,689 – ranked 12th (revised down from 10th)
5: <151,005

When I saw that the week four ranking had dropped a couple - presumably as a result of time-shifted viewing - I double-checked each week's rankings to see if there was any sign of it coming in late. But nothing. That shouldn't be a surprise as it seems there's even less reason to believe that they'd make a big difference here than there is in the US, since more than 90% of our TV is still viewed live.

I looked at the show results, and it looks like the one that has done well is the one with the Jericho/Cody brawl and the 'invisible wall' promo. No telling that's what actually got the extra number, or even that it was anything beyond people taking a look one week, but that's the week where viewership did seem to go up - whether by a statistically significant amount or not.

Following on from this the ratings for the following week on ITV 4 are in, which corresponds to the go-home show for Full Gear. The trouble here is that ITV 4 has been showing Snooker which has proven to be a good ratings draw for the channel and it's skewing the usual figures. But we know it doesn't make the top 15 again. I'll add it to the list that I've been putting together.

1: <191,100
2: <184,627
3: <168,448
4: 170,689 – ranked 12th (revised down from 10th)
5: <151,005
6: <166,984

Everything in the list was sport this time out, except the repeat of a very popular stand up comedy show from the 1980s.

I'll say this - we're obviously a week or so behind, but next week will be more interesting, to see if the post-PPV bounce that they got in the States can also be detected here.