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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Feb 21, 2024 13:47:02 GMT -5
I remember when AEW first started, they had the right amount of ex WWE stars to get fans to take notice, they had the write about of ROH stars that fans would know who are hardcore fans, they brought in the top stars from the indy feds like MJF, Darby Allen, Sammy Guevara who I never heard of until AEW, but were pushed properly with story lines.
All thanks to Cody Rhodes.
Cody was the booker during the first year and a half of AEW if my memory recalls this right. Then TK wanted to take over creative and book and that's when things started to go to crap.
I don't care about the "backdoor policy" or whatever TK calls it. I don't care about these Mexican and Japanese wrestlers coming in out of nowhere that I never heard of.
When WCW would bring in Japanese stars or Mexican stars, they would hype them up weeks a head of time, or show packages of them so we knew what we were getting.
I honestly am not a fan of AEW anymore. I wish I was, but I'm not. They had something special going but it's gone. It's just ROH with money now, which is ironic cause the TK owns ROH and has only AEW wrestlers appearing in that place too.
Goes to show, it doesn't take brains to be a billionaire, all it takes is having your daddy be one instead.
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Post by ¡Twist Of 45 and 47! on Feb 21, 2024 15:33:45 GMT -5
Also: it's hilarious seeing people still advocate for VIDEO PACKAGES in the year 2024. They’re helpful for casuals or people who haven’t watched the show to get an idea of what’s happening. |
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Post by ICW on Feb 21, 2024 15:40:04 GMT -5
Also: it's hilarious seeing people still advocate for VIDEO PACKAGES in the year 2024. They’re helpful for casuals or people who haven’t watched the show to get an idea of what’s happening. I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. |
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switchbladeera
Superstar
Joined on: Oct 22, 2023 19:31:26 GMT -5
Posts: 654
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Post by switchbladeera on Feb 21, 2024 16:15:04 GMT -5
They’re helpful for casuals or people who haven’t watched the show to get an idea of what’s happening. I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. If these casuals even exist, why would any company waste their time marketing to a portion of the audience with such a low level of brand loyalty. No advertiser wants to invest in that. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Feb 21, 2024 16:38:40 GMT -5
They’re helpful for casuals or people who haven’t watched the show to get an idea of what’s happening. I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh.
Not everyone who watches AEW has no job and can sit at home and watch hours and hours and hours of Japanese, Mexican and random Indy fed wrestling constantly to know who these wrestlers are that appear on AEW with Excalibur marking out over as I sit there watching the TV and saying, "who the hell is this?!?!"
So yes, there are casual AEW viewers, I am one of them. I have tonight off, so I will watch AEW. The last few weeks in a row I didn't have Wednesday night off so I missed those AEW Dynamite shows. So yes, there are casuals who watch wrestling.
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switchbladeera
Superstar
Joined on: Oct 22, 2023 19:31:26 GMT -5
Posts: 654
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Post by switchbladeera on Feb 21, 2024 18:09:30 GMT -5
Well, to the "yes its too niche" half, it is definitely plausible that the higher ups agree and want to change parts of that. They just hired Jennifer pepperman (I think, don't shoot me if I got her name wrong I just read the si article). WWE's former longest standing female creative team member.
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Post by ¡Twist Of 45 and 47! on Feb 21, 2024 19:20:25 GMT -5
They’re helpful for casuals or people who haven’t watched the show to get an idea of what’s happening. I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. Casuals are made up to harm AEW. Thats certainly a new one. |
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Post by J-MANN on Feb 21, 2024 19:48:35 GMT -5
I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. Casuals are made up to harm AEW. Thats certainly a new one. Nothing surprises me anymore 😂 |
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Post by Next Manufactured’s Sweater on Feb 22, 2024 8:23:03 GMT -5
It’s not too niche for people who constantly read wrestling gossip sites, watch indie wrestling, watch Japanese wrestling, subscribe to Dave Meltzer’s fanzine etc etc.
It’s too niche for everyone else, which is why there’s a ceiling it can’t get past. Nothing about AEW will ever create a new wrestling fan - at least the way it’s been up to now. But things may be changing. The hire of Jennifer Pepperman, who has six or seven years of writing successful mainstream wrestling television (as well as extensive success in daytime soap operas) suggests that there is at least some mind to turning the ship around and making the show a success.
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Post by ICW on Feb 22, 2024 9:30:28 GMT -5
I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. Casuals are made up to harm AEW. Thats certainly a new one. I don't think they're made up to "harm AEW." That's silly. I just don't think there's a tangible group of fans that we can label as "casuals" and AEW should go out of their way to appease to them. I don't buy it for any company, it just gets used more when AEW ~discourse~ is out there |
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Post by rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield on Feb 22, 2024 9:47:00 GMT -5
Casuals are made up to harm AEW. Thats certainly a new one. I don't think they're made up to "harm AEW." That's silly. I just don't think there's a tangible group of fans that we can label as "casuals" and AEW should go out of their way to appease to them. I don't buy it for any company, it just gets used more when AEW ~discourse~ is out there Goalposts need to be moved. If AEW never breaks into the zeitgeist then none of their previous successes matter. |
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Post by BSR on Feb 23, 2024 8:57:28 GMT -5
They do something right, like this sting stuff, and then turn around and bring in cmll guys and book them against their top faction and show zero video packages about these guys. I wouldn't call that Darby promo the week after the attack "doing something right." They do something good and then immediately shoot themselves in the foot. I'm not caught up this week so idk what darby promo yet, but I absolutely get what you're saying. |
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Post by BSR on Feb 23, 2024 9:02:04 GMT -5
I have never bought into "the casuals." I think it's a completely made up metric to judge AEW against tbh. Not everyone who watches AEW has no job and can sit at home and watch hours and hours and hours of Japanese, Mexican and random Indy fed wrestling constantly to know who these wrestlers are that appear on AEW with Excalibur marking out over as I sit there watching the TV and saying, "who the hell is this?!?!" So yes, there are casual AEW viewers, I am one of them. I have tonight off, so I will watch AEW. The last few weeks in a row I didn't have Wednesday night off so I missed those AEW Dynamite shows. So yes, there are casuals who watch wrestling. This Spot on There are literally fans who literally only watch wrestling during WrestleMania. It's brilliant to market crapduring big shows to catch that fan for more views weekly again. Casual fans absolutely exist. Its why Easy E seems so critical of aew lately. They have the tools to draw in viewers but they're not utilizing those tools. And one of those tools is absolutely video packages. Let's say you got a channel flipper on a Saturday night who randomly finds aew, and they see dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan wrestling two Japanese guys in an absolute banger, but find no reason to invest in it because all they're being told is this dude kicks ass in Japan sometimes. Yes. Fans like us exist, but fans who have never heard of ishii exist too. Show us a video of him slaughtering someone. Make his ass seem like Japanese Goldberg. |
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Post by bWo on Feb 23, 2024 14:39:05 GMT -5
When AEW started I knew who the ex WWE guys were and had seen videos online of the Young Bucks doing moves. I didn't know who was who. I had no idea who Kenny Omega was. Adam Page, Orange Cassidy, Lucha Bros etc. were all foreign names to me. The company did NOTHING to help me know who these people were. I just kept watching because the matches had an ECW feel to them with a better budget. I had no idea who these people were though. Guys would show up and that useless goof Excalibur would just scream their name like I should know who it is, be impressed, and can't wait to see them next week. It didn't work.... EVER. I don't remember what that guys name was that quit the site (Grissom?) but he was more helpful to me at what to look for in these guys than the lead commentator on the fecking show.
ECW's best TV deal came in 1999 when they ended up on TNN and they were on nationally. Not everyone knew who those wrestlers were so we got videos like this from Paul Heyman. WHERE THE FECK WAS THIS TONY? If you didn't know who Sabu was you were damn sure going to keep watching until you saw him after this.......
Paul Heyman did more in 57 seconds there to hype one wrestler than Tony Khan did to hype his entire roster. His fan base knew who Sabu was. That video wasn't for his niche viewers, he was trying to expand his audience. He wasn't "selling out" or trying to be like WWF, he was trying to grow his business and attract more eyes and money (for him to apparently blow). He wasn't going to turn into WWF he was going to turn WWF fans into ECW fans.
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voicesinmyhead
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 4, 2009 19:21:00 GMT -5
Posts: 1,592
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Post by voicesinmyhead on Feb 23, 2024 18:05:38 GMT -5
When AEW started I knew who the ex WWE guys were and had seen videos online of the Young Bucks doing moves. I didn't know who was who. I had no idea who Kenny Omega was. Adam Page, Orange Cassidy, Lucha Bros etc. were all foreign names to me. The company did NOTHING to help me know who these people were. I just kept watching because the matches had an ECW feel to them with a better budget. I had no idea who these people were though. Guys would show up and that useless goof Excalibur would just scream their name like I should know who it is, be impressed, and can't wait to see them next week. It didn't work.... EVER. I don't remember what that guys name was that quit the site (Grissom?) but he was more helpful to me at what to look for in these guys than the lead commentator on the fecking show. ECW's best TV deal came in 1999 when they ended up on TNN and they were on nationally. Not everyone knew who who those wrestlers were so we got videos like this from Paul Heyman. WHERE THE FECK WAS THIS TONY? If you didn't know who Sabu was you were damn sure going to keep watching until you saw him after this....... Paul Heyman did more in 57 seconds there to hype one wrestler than Tony Khan did to hype his entire roster. His fan base knew who Sabu was. That video wasn't for his niche viewers, he was trying to expand his audience. He wasn't "selling out" or trying to be like WWF, he was trying to grow his business and attract more eyes and money (for him to apparently blow). He wasn't going to turn into WWF he was going to turn WWF fans into ECW fans. I agree. And this has only gotten worse. I do not consider myself a "casual" fan like people have been discussing, and yet I still don't know who all these people are that they bring in from other companies. I watch a lot of wrestling spanning multiple promotions, but AEW brings in random wrestlers from other promotions to take spots from their own guys on a regular basis and expect their fans to know who these people are and accept just a random, possibly good, match over anything resembling a story. Like you said, there isn't even a video package to introduce them! |
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Post by BSR on Feb 24, 2024 10:06:42 GMT -5
When AEW started I knew who the ex WWE guys were and had seen videos online of the Young Bucks doing moves. I didn't know who was who. I had no idea who Kenny Omega was. Adam Page, Orange Cassidy, Lucha Bros etc. were all foreign names to me. The company did NOTHING to help me know who these people were. I just kept watching because the matches had an ECW feel to them with a better budget. I had no idea who these people were though. Guys would show up and that useless goof Excalibur would just scream their name like I should know who it is, be impressed, and can't wait to see them next week. It didn't work.... EVER. I don't remember what that guys name was that quit the site (Grissom?) but he was more helpful to me at what to look for in these guys than the lead commentator on the fecking show. ECW's best TV deal came in 1999 when they ended up on TNN and they were on nationally. Not everyone knew who who those wrestlers were so we got videos like this from Paul Heyman. WHERE THE FECK WAS THIS TONY? If you didn't know who Sabu was you were damn sure going to keep watching until you saw him after this....... Paul Heyman did more in 57 seconds there to hype one wrestler than Tony Khan did to hype his entire roster. His fan base knew who Sabu was. That video wasn't for his niche viewers, he was trying to expand his audience. He wasn't "selling out" or trying to be like WWF, he was trying to grow his business and attract more eyes and money (for him to apparently blow). He wasn't going to turn into WWF he was going to turn WWF fans into ECW fans.  ing this Exactly. Preach sir |
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Post by K5 on Feb 24, 2024 11:58:54 GMT -5
Also: it's hilarious seeing people still advocate for VIDEO PACKAGES in the year 2024. uh what? video packages are excellent and haven't been aged out whatsoever GCW does tremendous video packages lately that expand and develop the company's interests and relay information to the viewer brilliantly. 2024 hasn't made them change their mind on video packages. |
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Post by sonstuds on Feb 24, 2024 16:57:56 GMT -5
It's very much a valid criticism to bring up how they don't do a good job highlighting who they're bringing in from other promotions, but the part that annoys me is how they always end up jobbing. Like for real, has Minoru Suzuki won a match in AEW?
And just so we're clear, I get the argument of how AEW people shouldn't be jobbing to guys outside of the company or whatever, but at the same time if we're acknowledging that "casuals" don't know who these people are and thus don't care, it prolly doesn't help if they're losing everytime they do show up.
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Post by ASR (therockisback) on Feb 24, 2024 21:18:54 GMT -5
Video packages never get old
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switchbladeera
Superstar
Joined on: Oct 22, 2023 19:31:26 GMT -5
Posts: 654
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Post by switchbladeera on Feb 27, 2024 23:08:20 GMT -5
When AEW started I knew who the ex WWE guys were and had seen videos online of the Young Bucks doing moves. I didn't know who was who. I had no idea who Kenny Omega was. Adam Page, Orange Cassidy, Lucha Bros etc. were all foreign names to me. The company did NOTHING to help me know who these people were. I just kept watching because the matches had an ECW feel to them with a better budget. I had no idea who these people were though. Guys would show up and that useless goof Excalibur would just scream their name like I should know who it is, be impressed, and can't wait to see them next week. It didn't work.... EVER. I don't remember what that guys name was that quit the site (Grissom?) but he was more helpful to me at what to look for in these guys than the lead commentator on the fecking show. ECW's best TV deal came in 1999 when they ended up on TNN and they were on nationally. Not everyone knew who those wrestlers were so we got videos like this from Paul Heyman. WHERE THE FECK WAS THIS TONY? If you didn't know who Sabu was you were damn sure going to keep watching until you saw him after this....... Paul Heyman did more in 57 seconds there to hype one wrestler than Tony Khan did to hype his entire roster. His fan base knew who Sabu was. That video wasn't for his niche viewers, he was trying to expand his audience. He wasn't "selling out" or trying to be like WWF, he was trying to grow his business and attract more eyes and money (for him to apparently blow). He wasn't going to turn into WWF he was going to turn WWF fans into ECW fans. I'm back 🤣. I just really needed a break and ditching the account helped. But, in a weird way I'm glad to hear my background info on all the random people TK brings in was actually helpful to someone. I totally get what you're saying about why that drives you nuts I had to do it instead of him. Personally, and I know I'm only speaking for me here, I kind of like the mystery that way. I've never watched cmll in my life. I had zero clue who hichecero was. I got hooked instantly and was like "damn, I'm intrigued now". But, I get and respect that approach to randos showing up isn't for everyone, but selfishly I'm grateful because I love seeing someone I've never heard of and discovering a back catalog to get some background. |
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