Lee's been Mia for months, what in the world. Can't wait to hear about it
THE WRESTLING THREAD: BROCK LESNAR HAS ENTERED THE CHAT!!!
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Don't worry everyone, Eva Marie is here to save RAW 
Intrigued
The name I'm waiting to hear news on is Daniel Bryan.
Bryans name was mentioned as the main catalyst to some of the rumors regarding those WWE/NJPW last week...Man, the wrestling world would flip on its end if Bryan Danielson shows up on AEW television.
Bryans name was mentioned as the main catalyst to some of the rumors regarding those WWE/NJPW last week...Man, the wrestling world would flip on its end if Bryan Danielson shows up on AEW television.
Don't worry everyone, Eva Marie is here to save RAW
The ONLY way this shit MAY work is if she comes back as a heel who wears a mic and talk motivational shit while beating her opponent up. I'll watch that for a bit
Like I honestly change the channel when the women come on today. They can't wrestle or act. I miss the 90s with all the nip slipsThe ONLY way this shit MAY work is if she comes back as a heel who wears a mic and talk motivational shit while beating her opponent up. I'll watch that for a bit
I would have said no chance of Daniel Bryan showing up for AEW, but after today who knows.
The rumors are conflicting though. Is he a free agent or still under contract with WWE?
I think his contract has ended. But like EPDC said, there're rumors the WWE/NJPW deal has something to do with him. I also read a rumor of a former WWE star who would like to go to AEW, but was hesitant for some reason. I think that might be Bryan and he's trying to see who NJPW does business with going forward.
Aleister Black / Tommy End on Twitch - notes
Going to transcribe as it happens - watch along here:
Tommy End / Aleister Black is live on Twitch, giving a rambly recount of his time in WWE. Overall he is incredibly happy, positive and sincere. He seems really well adjusted. The comments below are verbatim, and if they seem confused it's because he hopped around a bunch - he seemed excited / a bit anxious to just chat.
- Dark Father: The plan was to unfurl over time and explain the role. This was mostly his idea, he says.
- Super thankful for the exposure and the experience. He has a good relationship with Vince. Vince could never nail down exactly what he wanted to say with Black.
- Loved how Heyman would go to bat for him.
- When doing the Room promos, he would use the opponents colours in the background of the room. He added easter eggs to what he was doing.
- Black would lay tarot cards, and use those as inspiration for his gear, and often plan out coloured jackets for feuds (he gives the example of Buddy Murphy, and turning green with envy) so all colours were significant as to how he felt in that moment)
- Refers to his time in WWE as "having shackles on" and how much he got done while having those on, and is excited to see what happens without them. He's always taken huge pleasure in creating characters.
- Aleister Black "was basically the devil with memory loss" - what if Lucifer fell to earth and didn't know how he got there, and what he had to atone for? So the angrier he got, the more demon flesh would be added to his gear (opinion - this is fucking wild and I love it!) He chose to continue with the eye from the angle where he lost an eye. He enjoyed researching cult leaders and noted they usually have a big aesthetic choice like white hair.
- the glasses are his. Xavier Woods told him "you look like a cult leader" so he kept them for Dark Father.
- Returns to the idea of easter eggs / layers. Notes his promos were often not his writing. Talks about the MITB promo on AJ where he stepped out of the dark - "fuck it, I'm gonna do what I wanna do" and everyone loved it.
- "Don't get mad at our creative" says they try super hard and are good, creative people. Mentions "Bruce" (Pritchard, I'm assuming) as going to bat for him. The opinion was "no one moves like him, no one is intense like him". "In the last 5 years I have proven myself to be one of the most influential strikers of my generation".
- "It's bittersweet - I owe everything to WWE. My prior work got me to the dance, but the last two years were a slow death". Talks about how the ratings were good, people found him very "Intriguing" - he kept creating stories, characters and gimmicks. He told Hunter "I want to be the metal bands kids use to rebel against their parents".
- Side note - listening to Black cuss is a riot. He seems really chill and really well adjusted.
- There is apparently a group of people who think he's a part of the illuminati and that he sacrifices kids. He's researched conspiracies and how they spread, so is stoked that people think he's legitimately a satanist / illuminati (not the same thing) kid murderer. The said his tattoos on his arms are a sign that he's a kiddie murderer. Apparently WWE shut down a social channel throwing accusations at him when they called him a pedophile.
- The Dark Father was based on his life. "I'm an athiest - I can't acknowledge a devil without a God, it doesn't make sense"
- Loves Manny (Andrade) - wasn't happy with his debut but the two found ways to build up from it. After the match with Dream a lot of people took notice, so he was given complete freedom to do his own match after that. He proved he can take other people to the next level, so was fastforwarded to the main roster. The last 3/4 months in tag with Ricochet were "probably, professionally, some of my favourite moments in wrestling". Talks about how they did NXT and main roster all week, but they had a ton of fun and learned so much because they were so well oiled.
- "If there's no cuffs and you can do anything, that's one thing. But if you have boundaries and rules, and can still shine, that's the testimony of being a professional". Talks about The Revival (calls them "the Pinnacle" now) says they think the same way, uphold rules, etc because it forces creativity. He says he always enjoyed challenging himself. "It's really made me into a much better (I can say it again!) Professional wrestler"
- Said that frequently, times in matches changed up, and down and that he loved working on the fly to figure a match out. "WWE is just a crazy, crazy landscape". Says he could sit and mope, but what's the point? this angle was apparently the big push. But it's an "ever lasting, fluctuating business" so can't be mad. Namechecks Orton, Wyatt, Roman, Pritchard, Vince, Heyman.
- "Roman Reigns - one of the best fucking locker room leaders on earth. What a guy". Usos too! Shouts out Apollo for just smashing his character work.
- Side note - Fuck, he talks a million miles an hour and my hands hurt.
- Would have loved to work with Bray, says he fights really hard for his stuff because they constantly try to change it.
- Referenced a vignette about the eye on his instagram, offered it to WWE, they said it was super creative and awesome, but it got worked against. "What murdered me was the 7 months at home". "Don't listen to journalists, they don't have insiders, they get told warped stories". Apparently he was praised for asking to go to NXT, but Vince wanted to try him again on the main roster. "Don't waste your money on it. It's 5% truth, 95% fiction". Goes off on how paid wrestling journalists suck "I get it, negativity sells". Says it puts fans in a shit position, because it's your closest source of news, but it's mostly bullshit. Says it programs fans to hate WWE. Sometimes it's right "A broken clock is right twice a day" - also shouts out "oh, "plans changed" is the biggest cop out in the world" . Also seemingly SRS -" "oh, sign up to my patreon for news about Thea" - there is no news." Mentions also "Asuka storms out of WWE Raw" when in fact she just went to the next town.
- Says he sat down with Hunter a couple of times to put the fire under the character, didn't want to come back as a heel. "I love everything about this business. It's the single best thing (along side marrying my wife) that I've ever done in my life and it's a process many people can't understand". Says the audience sees 2% of their work.
- Says even today, he's been working. Clothing company, talking to fans - it never stops. For 20 years, he's never not once thought about wrestling. He's considering opening a wrestling school, apparently it's in process already. Wants to leave the wrestling world in a better place than he found it.
- Says he just spoke to Terry Taylor, who he credits as one of the most influential men in his career and a mentor. "I've had moments where... I'm not the most active on social media, I rarely look at comments, I think about 6-7 months ago when someone went off, he thought "I'll pay for your flight, you come hang out for three days, you'll go home screaming". " Says that the fanbase appreciates what they do and who they are, and he's really thankful for it.
- Says with lockdown too many people have too much time on their hands and are focused on the wrong things (talking about internet fans). Says he hopes people find a healthy focus or positive thing to focus on. Emphasises personal responsibility, says "don't wake up 20 years from now wondering why you spent so fucking long arguing with people on the internet about wrestling" says that all of your potential on earth is great.
Thanks to /u/DrEtrange for rounding off the last points:
Some quick updates:
-Said he was to win the US title but Vince changed it because he felt Black shouldn't win his first title without a crowd
-Said he just got new music and he's sad it didn't get to be used yet
-Sad about the other releases, felt very surprised by Braun being released, paraphrasing but says he thinks Lana will land on her feet
So why does Daniel Bryan care about a WWE/NJPW deal if his contract has ended and he's a free agent?
That would imply that he's not a free agent. Maybe he's still under a non-compete?
Money and freedom to work in Japan.
Bryan wants to work a limited schedule and if NJPW wants Bryan included in their WWE deal, it only gives Bryan leverage.
Don't worry everyone, Eva Marie is here to save RAW
Watch itll be some Grand Opening Grand Closing shit
Don't worry everyone, Eva Marie is here to save RAW
They are setting her up to fail. You cant let go of fan favorites and then promote mediocrity as its replacement
Yo that would be ILL!
i doubt it and would believe when i see it
WWE can barely keep a storyline from week to week, I dont think they could manage something like this
If only the writers with WWE were that creative.
The ONLY way this shit MAY work is if she comes back as a heel who wears a mic and talk motivational shit while beating her opponent up. I'll watch that for a bit
I heard that she's coming back to be a manager for a female talent.
I was thinking it was gonna be Lana, but now, it ain't no tellin'.
They might stop doing the vignettes next Monday, the way they did Aleister.
And Braun wants to be a bodybuilder, he might be done with wrestling.
He’s following Mark Henry to AEW. Henry was the one who discovered him for WWE.
Exactly. He wants to keep his WWE relationship (and paycheck), but wants the freedom to wrestle in Japan. Plus his wife is probably in his ear too, she ain't about to burn her WWE bridge
I could see that. I guess my point was he's not contractually (legally) obligated to go through WWE in order to work in Japan, so why does he care.Exactly. He wants to keep his WWE relationship (and paycheck), but wants the freedom to wrestle in Japan. Plus his wife is probably in his ear too, she ain't about to burn her WWE bridge
He figures if he were to go to AEW, there's no coming back to WWE. No one yet has made the jump from AEW to WWE.
Ever watch Shark Tank episodes where a business owner gets two sharks to jump in together to offer a deal thus making it much sweeter?
Bryan is probably doing the same.
He probably has more bargaining power if two companies work together versus just going directly to NJPW.
As far as talent jumping to WWE from AEW, keep in mind All Elite Wrestling has only been around for less than 3 years. I'm pretty sure their contracts are in the 3-5 year range.
Yeah, give it time. Someone will eventually jump from AEW to WWE.
Probably not a former WWE wrestler though unless they want to humble themselves and take less money than they were making in WWE.
MJF.
If I had money on anyone jumping from AEW to WWE, it would be him.
Even with all of AEWs success, WWE is still the global wrestling juggernaut and I can see MJF, as he continues to groom himself as a top heel talent, jump ship to get to a larger audience. WWE is not only a wrestling company it's also a launching pad for other opportunities; Hollywood.
Remember AEW is lucky to break 1 million viewers on Dynamite.
Raw, as shitty as it's been, does around 1.5 million viewers on average.
Put MJF on Smackdown on FOX, that would give him ridiculous exposure he wouldn't see on TBS/TNT.
MJF will be in WWE (whether owned by the McMahon's or not) somewhere in the next 5 years.
The only problem is MJF would have to water down his character BIG TIME in order to fit in with WWE and their PG programming.
No cursing and tone down the edgy promos that make him such a great heel.
Maybe he would be willing to do it though if WWE throws enough money at him.
Hell, he's already done a lot of the stupid shit Jericho has him doing.
Money talks bruh. If he wants to be the biggest name in the business, he'll have to.
Dude has charisma and can definitely be a the top name in the business. If he wants to be on The Rock's level someday, he'll have to tone down his character.
Then again, cursing on regular cable is a recent thing. Give it time and his edgy (by today's standards) promos may be normal in a few years.
I doubt that. He negotiated a big money deal in his last WWE contract renewal. He was set until 2023 making at least a mil a year.
Why would he leave all that money on the table just to go to AEW and hang out with Mark Henry?
He wants to go back to bodybuilding, but he can't do that on the road as a wrestler. It only makes sense that he asked to be released because if Vince was worried he would go to AEW, he probably wouldn't have did it.
Plus Braun dissed indie wrestling specifically about the money because at the start of the pandemic, it was indie wrestlers having to start GoFundMes and shit.
Vince saves money while they're cutting costs, Braun goes off happy, and then when he comes back he'll probably be swole as fuck and Vince will push him to the moon.
mjf would get cut at the knees if he went the wwe as currently constituted. His promos would get watered down and written for him. He isnt the biggest guy so his ceiling would be the mid card.
all things being equal he and some of the core AEW (Kenny, Bucks, MJF) should never go to wwe
all things being equal he and some of the core AEW (Kenny, Bucks, MJF) should never go to wwe
Yeah, my worry is that MJF would go to WWE and get lost in the "land of the giants" as the saying used to go back in the day.
He's not that big so they might fuck around and have him in a manager spot rather than a top wrestler spot.
You see how WWE treats its smaller wrestlers like shit.