Wrestling Thread 8: Follow The Buzzards • Page 93

I'll let him know tomorrow that it would be dumb business to not do it

 

Also, does B/R Live even exist after this? Like, if all their B/R stuff is getting moved to MAX, what is left for AEW?

 

Better yet just put it on max for no extra charge

 

I mean, honestly? Hopefully not. Of all the streaming services, particularly those catering to PPV, it stands out to me as by far the worst.

 

It's surprising they haven't posted the back catalogue to a certain date.


I mean the very simple answer to this is they don't want a long term deal (which is theoretically all WBD would offer) because they want to negotiate knowing what WWE ends up doing/getting in their next deal

 

If I were AEW, I'd definitely want to see the WWE TV deals before signing mine...because they should be asking like a 1/3 to 1/2 of what WWE gets...and right now they are getting I think ~10-15% on TV, and more like 5% when you factor in the Peacock/WWE Network deal.

Im paying $75/year for the weekly TV on Fite, and looks like it'll be $100-120 most years for PPVs. So at $200/yr, having it all on Max at the ad-free tier would be kinda break even. And even jumping up to that sports tier, I'd pay just to not have to VPN into things.

 

AEW really have no momentum right now, and it sucks because the product is all cylinders great. they seem to be averaging 3.5-4.5K tickets per regular Dynamite/Collision, and Full Gear is at like 6k in a market they hit less often. dovetails with rights negotiations and some talent contracts coming up and seems like it could suck

 

But for WBD (or another TV conglomerate) that's not important. For resigning talent it may matter...but, it doesnt seem like Tony runs the talent side like he cares about making huge profits like WWE does.

Their TV is doing the same steady numbers its been doing for a year+. They're regularly winning their time slots for non-live sports programming (including for Collision). They can clearly put on at least a half dozen spectacle events that draw ~150k people at $50/PPV. There's really nothing left like it out there. WWE's worth ~$500mil/yr for USA and Fox, and thats likely going up to something like the NHL deal, which is worth $600mil/yr. I believe UFC is tagged at $300mil/yr.

AEW's reportedly making ~$50mil/yr on their original deal (which may or may not have been updated with Rampage/Collision). There's no world where they're not worth at least 5x that just for their current TV and 5-6 PPV schedule. And probably worth at least the UFC amount if they're doing 12ppvs/yr.

 

Nxt is fire tonight

 

I love Mustafa Ali. He switches between someone I want to root for & someone I want to see get his ass kicked on a weekly basis seamlessly.

 

Missed NXT tonight but I can only imagine Butch/Bate was great? I could watch those two wrestle forever.

 

im so excited for tonight and so dreading driving to it lol

 

Give MJF all the money

 

i do think MJF retains tonight, but the fact that Cole, Roddy, and the Kingdom are all absent from the card entirely has me ready for a very dramatic close to the show lol

 

Just give me that Eddie victory and then they can do whatever the hell they want with the rest of the show, haha.

 

i'd imagine we open with that one!

 

Either that, or if there's no shenanigans with MJF/Joe, maybe that one opens and Eddie/Claudio main events. Wouldn't be the first time the main title has opened a Dynamite I believe.

 

Yeah baybee.

 

Eddie has to go over tonight.

 

so which does Stat pin, Menard or Parker lmao

 

Both. Just stacks their asses.

 

He deff will

 

Dear AEW Fans | By Anthony Bowens

Originally I was going to use this Players’ Tribune opportunity to write a letter to my younger self. Seemed like a cool idea — talk to Kid Anthony about everything that’s in store for him in the future, and share some of the perspective I’ve gained as an adult. But then I sat down to do it … and I realized something: That letter would make no sense. Because wrestling is insane.

No, seriously. It’s insane. Like where would I even begin???

Dear 7-year-old Anthony,

O.K. — in 1999 Billy Gunn is going to leave DX and change his name to “Mr. Ass” Billy Gunn, which will start as this ironic play on the name “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn but will eventually become a gimmick about his literal ass. Twenty years later, a nice but evil demon will call Billy’s two sons “The Ass Boys” and you’ll (you’re a professional wrestler now) start referring to Billy (he’s 59 now) as “Daddy Ass.” After that, the three Gunns will partner with The Acclaimed, a tag team you’re in with Max Caster, this amazing rapper. You and Max will have a signature handshake where you’ll scissor each other’s fingers, which is a nod both to the “A” in Acclaimed and to your own queerness. One night on live TV, you’ll turn to Billy and scream, “SCISSOR ME, DADDY ASS!!!!” People will love it and your life will never be the same.

Good luck with everything, see you in 25 years.

—32-year-old Anthony

 

Lmaoooooo Kris killed me at the end there “yes, yes it is”