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

[CoLD]

I think it will top out around 900,000.

I'm in a weird place. I haven't watched NXT in a while because most of the guys they feature were featured various other places a few years before. It has kind of defeated the point of watching certain shows. I feel there are a lot of guys who should have been moved up all ready but honestly cant see any place for them other then NXT unless they decided to revamp on of the two main shows. Now AEW is hitting that area with the main event. They are falling back on what can be called NJPW 5 years ago. Just doing it for a fan base that might not have seen it first hand. I really don't want to live through that again so my AEW viewing might get cut short soon as well. So i can see other fans who will continue to hop back and fourth between the two regardless of the day. I dunno. I think the fresh factor in both places is wearing thin and its hurting my viewing.

[Team Farrell]

Yeah, 18 months in, the good will seems to be slowly wearing away. They still have their hardcore supporters, but the inbetween people seem to be taking notice of things they don't like.

I don't hate the show, but I definitely don't think it's good or well booked. Tony winning Booker of the Year just seems to highlight how the laughable system of deciding that is in 2021 more than anything.

[Powder]

I have been an AEW supporter from Day 1, but after the past few weeks of not paying that close attention, and after skipping Wednesday night for NXT S&D, I think I might be done. I am tired of nothing but spot fests, every match is a No Holds Barred, so they can have color, the champion Omega,(to quote Pen) 'playing a prowrestler, not being a prowrestler', and the Bucks and Cody drinking their own koolaid. I think I am done.

I also do not like that AEW has become the land of WWE cast offs, or old guys that want one more run in the sun, or guys that are (to quote Flair) glorified stunt men (Darby Allin). And Maybe it's just me, but if you see one Lucha style match, you've see them all. Ridiculously athletic, but all spots and no psychology.

Look at Balor vs Kross and Walter vs Ciampa for example. Both had smaller guys vs Bigger guys and they told stories. Ciampa was playing of Walter hurting his hand and going after that, and Balor was going after Kross' shoulder. Hell even *gasp* Adam Cole vs KO told a story as was not a spot fest that Cole's matches usually are.

[CoLD]

I'm fine with almost everything AEW tries. I'd rather they try and fuck and admit they fucked up over them doing things i have seen all ready. Which is why I'm having issues with the Main angle right now. I've seen it before in NJPW. I seen it when these guys were in better shape against better wrestlers. I just dont want to see it again. If they offer something new? I'd might be fine with it. If Tama and Tanga backed Mox and i got an actual pay off between The Elite and Bullet club i might be for it but thats really the only thing i think bullet club has to offer as a whole and I think its time the whole deal be kicked to the curb.

I've seen the "Suck our Dick we are the GOATS" Bucks tag run about five times now. They can only be built up and knocked down so many times.

That said i think there is plenty of good stuff on the show. I like everyone pairing off and like the impending Trios / Factions matches as i think 6 and 8 man tags are two of the most underutilized tools in American wrestling. They are normally just throw away matches and can be used for so much more. I think they are hitting their stride as far as things on Dark / Dynamite matching up between shows and good enough that you don't have to necessarily watch Dark to understand whats going on if you didn't see it.

I love that they have an owner who will pay for licensed music.

I love majority of their roster. They aren't used as good as they could but that should fix itself overtime as soon as a few of the friends / favors guys end up leaving AEW over time.

I love their Womens division more then anything right now tho. Its not the best but the potential for growth is there and they have a good amount of decent wrestlers who will only get better with time. The women have put the work in and it shows with Britt, Taya, Abadon and a few others. Hopefully they start to give the Women even more time to develop. Anna Jay should be money when she comes back.

I don't really hate anything they are doing its just really a case of "Oh i seen this before." Which wasn't the case 6 - 8 months ago.

[Prime Time]

This kinda gets hidden in the weekly horse trading, but here's the trend over the last month.

March 17: 768,000
March 24: 747,000 (-1.4%)
March 31: 700,000 (-6.2%)
April 7: 688,000 (-1.7%)

One week over 900,000 in 2021. 4 weeks over 800,000. More weeks under 700,000 than over 900,000.

Average for the last six months:
October 2020: 778,250
November 2020: 760,750 (-2.2%)
December 2020: 893,200 (+17%)
January 2021: 753,000 (-15.6%)
February 2021: 790,750 (+5.01%)
March 2021: 780,400 (-1.3%)

[CoLD]

AEW: 1.219 million

Maybe it was due to fans having to pick their favorite show I guess. Lets hope they can keep those numbers.

[Team Farrell]

I'm interested to see where they are a month from now. They kept most of the 1.5 million who have been watching on Wednesdays, which is great. Hopefully they can go up from there.

[Prime Time]

Interesting figure. Pretty close to what I had considered the theoretical max they could do. Did they promote anything special for the show last night?

If not, I guess we'll have to revise that up slightly. Perhaps to around 1.4m.

[CoLD]

I think they opening tag match might have been. Thats it.

[PEN15v2]

Mike Tyson.

[Powder]

Darby Allin vs Matt Hardy in yet another Falls Count Anywhere match for the last 25 minutes.

AEW seems to always have either every week or every other week a No DQ style of match. Why? Those should be special to blow off a feud, not to have on a weekly basis.

[Oliver]

AEW seems to always have either every week or every other week a No DQ style of match. Why? Those should be special to blow off a feud, not to have on a weekly basis.

Because it's (head) booked by a mark with no idea how to actually run a wrestling company?

No amount of WON Best Booker awards can convince me that Tony Khan actually knows what he's doing yet, and that AEW isn't largely succeeding because they've got a very talented roster. They use the talent well in terms of what they do in ring, but the booking is a state from where I'm sat.

The flip of that, however, is that they know their audience. They're targeting the fans who come online to complain about WWE being PG. So the more they throw this No DQ stuff at them and do it with a real 'edge' or whatever, the more those fans will eat it up. The reason of 'why' it's happening doesn't matter if they can show those specific fans someone being thrown through a table every other week.

Sadly, those fans - and indeed a lot of online commentators - want that alternative to be impossibly good so aren't willing to take, or give, any criticism of the show(s) that AEW put(s) out.

[Prime Time]

Mike Tyson.

Ah. Well now, that makes things difficult to judge, for a number of different (and somewhat contradictory) reasons. I might just come back to this 1.2 million in a few weeks, and see how it fits in when there's a bit more data - rather than trying to guess at things that could well be unanswerable.


Oh, and Oli? Spot on, there.

[Team Farrell]

See, here's my biggest problem with AEW: they don't make any attempt to be legitimate.

The QT vs Billy Gunn match was some pretty good shit, and even though I don't love the Ogogo gut punch finish but that's a small gripe. That had a legit match with a heel finish. Cool. Then the after match stuff...

Why is there a wooden chair under the ring? There never has been before. I know the reason: someone suggested a cool spot. But it's not like they were doing a beach themed show (like they did two months ago) where there would be deck chairs sitting around. None of the Factory guys brought it with him from the back to sit on while he watches the match. There was just an out of place wooden chair that we've never seen in the company, conveniently placed by itself under the ring exactly where Ogogo went to look for it.

By all means, use weapons. Hit people with shit. But if it's under the ring at least have it be something that seems like it should be under the ring and not completely out of place.

I was really into all of what they were doing. And then the second he pulled out a wooden chair that was clearly placed and shouldn't have been there, I rolled my eyes and started scrolling on my phone because it's all fake bullshit. And the moment I start scrolling, I'm not coming back for a segment or two.

EDIT: I'll give you an example of how easy this is.

Wooden tables are expensive, but one of my guys got his hands on a bunch of doors. They aren't preferred in my mind, but they look cool and are realistically as impactful as a table. But here's the problem: we have folding tables throughout the venue, so it makes sense to have "extras" under the ring (but it makes even more sense to use one that's already out), but doors could only ever be placed under the ring to be used in a match.

So I had the doors planted in a clearly marked maintenance/storage room off to the side of the venue. The wrestlers fought to the general area of the maintenance room, one opened the door to slam it in the face of the other, and then went in to retrieve the door. When they opened the door, anyone sitting near it could clearly see in, and clearly see that there were a number of doors stored in there with other misc construction materials like 2x4s and tools, as well as mops, vacuums, ladders, etc. Doors being in there wasn't out of place. So they hauled out a door that, as far as anyone in attendance was concerned, belonged to the venue and put the other guy through it a minute or two later.

That also meant that if the door was stored in the venue's storage room that the guys just "happened" to find themselves in, it was spontaneous and not "supposed" to happen, and there's no question that it's "real" because how could they have gimmicked something that the venue owns?

So what about that silly wooden chair? It doesn't take much. Maybe Justin Roberts has been sitting on it all night, covered in one of those spandex chair covers. So they just happened to grab that closest one and it just happened to be a "spare". Maybe Peter Avalon has cabana girls at ringside with him this week and one of them just happens to be sitting on a wooden deck chair. Maybe someone takes the timekeeper's chair to use earlier in the night and dents it up hitting the post, so they come back from break and make a quick cut to the timekeeper sitting in a wooden deck chair with JR cracking a joke about how that's all they could find to replace for the timekeeper, so he'd better get comfortable.

It doesn't take much thought to make this stuff seem legitimate. But that level of thought doesn't exist in AEW.

[Prime Time]

AEW rating was 1,104,000...

That's a drop of 9.4%, if you're interested in that side of things.