IWC Super Indy 23

Throughout professional wrestling history, particularly on the independent circuit, there were times when signature events played an influential role on the sport and the domino effect can be profound. The west coast's All Pro Wrestling group held the King of The Indies tournament in 2001, which sparked the idea that led to the creation of Ring Of Honor, a league that provided a blue print for much of the the style that is seen on national television today. The ECWA Super 8 tournament was an annual favorite of pro wrestling magazines when print pages could still be found at the news stand, and the platform served as a way for talent to be discovered at a time when the internet didn't provide instant access to the hidden gems of the grappling arts.

For Pittsburgh, a region that is known almost as much for its wrestling as the steel it once produced, the standout tournament of not only the area itself, but arguably the entire east coast, is the Super Indy tournament, an event that has nearly a quarter century of history behind it, with some of the most impactful names of that time span as participants at the event.

The Super Indy tournament is hosted by the International Wrestling Cartel, a group initially founded by longtime veteran Bubba The Bulldog in 2001 before it was promoted very successful for several years under Norm Connors, who is considered the godfather of the Pittsburgh scene, organizing events as far back as 1994 under the Steel City Wrestling banner. Ownership changed over the years, but Justin Plummer has run the organization for a decade, maintaining its reputation as one of the most well-known and established groups on the indies.

The Super Indy championship, the belt awarded to the winner of the eight-man tournament each year and defended afterwards, was created to capitalize on the emerging style of the early-2000s, as a generation of young, energetic wrestlers helped define the next chapter of the industry after the consolidation of the national organizations of the previous era. Names like AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, CM Punk, and Low Ki mixed it up with a line-up of stellar local talent like John McChesney, Super Hentai, Glenn Spectre, CJ Sensation, and Troy Lords to generate a hype around the event in its early years.

"When I think of the word legacy in the Super Indy Tournament, I think of names like AJ Styles, CM Punk, Chris Hero, Christopher Daniels and many more. I am grateful that I was a participant in the Inaugural IWC Super Indy Tournament, and it elevated my career to a place unimaginable. I can't wait to see Saturday October 5th at Marx's Court Time in Elizabeth, PA to see who etches their name into the Mount Rushmore of indy wrestling and becomes the 23rd winner of IWC's Super Indy," said CJ Sensation, who competed against Low Ki in a first round match up in 2002.

More recently, competitors like Adam Cole, Johnathan Gresham, and Josh Alexander, Brian Pillman Jr., and Lee Moriarty have provided highlights for the Super Indy tournament during the past few years. That's one of the many reasons that the Super Indy concept is so well-regarded and the event itself creates such anticipation, because many of the participants and winners in the past have went on to make a noticeable impact on the national scene.

This year's line-up is no different as it takes the cream of the crop of the Pittsburgh circuit and blends it with stellar talent from outside the area to allow for a truly unique presentation.

With a special wrinkle thrown into the brackets, IWC owner Justin Plummer announced that a ninth competitor was added to the field so one of the opening round matches will be a triple threat match. Among the field this year, upcoming grapples, established stars, and even a lucha legend will participant in the tournament to find out who will leave the Court Time Sports Center with one of the most prestigious titles in the history of Pittsburgh professional wrestling, the Super Indy championship.

Ganon Jones Jr., a big man with incredible agility and athleticism, is the current Super Indy champion. Breaking into the sport just over a decade ago, Ganon climbed the ranks from smaller cards earlier in his career to become one of the best performers in the steel city today through consistent high quality matches. He looks to maintain his status throughout the Super Indy tournament this Saturday. Someone that might take a similar path as Ganon Jones is the talented upstart,  Canaan Kristopher. Less than a two-year pro, Kristopher is a puppy with big paws so to speak, as he has all the physical gifts to find success in the squared circle to became a major star. With impressive height, speed, and agility, it appears that it's just a matter of time before Canaan Kristopher is the next breakout star from a talent group of newer talent in the region. Could Super Indy be the platform for Kristopher to have a career-defining journey through the tournament? Someone already on pace to make a splash in the tournament is Zach Nystrom, a five-year pro that is regarded as a true natural inside the ring ropes and a former IWC tag team champion. Similar to many of his peers in the brackets, Nystrom checks all of the boxes of a top-tier competitor, which indications the high level of match quality expected throughout the tournament.

Another grappler that could be described as a puppy with big paws is Sam Holloway, a former collegiate football player from the Buckeye state that can move at a pace that you wouldn't expect from someone of his size. Originally a student of the Absolute Intense Wrestling training academy, Holloway's explosive power and dynamic offense have made him a commodity on the independent circuit. With only three years of experience, Holloway's best years are still ahead of him, but similar to some of his potential opponents in the tournament, Holloway could boost his profile considerably if he captures the Super Indy championship. While Sam Holloway is relatively new to the IWC scene, Andrew Palace is on the other end of the spectrum in terms of his tenure in the International Wrestling Cartel. Palace made his debut in the sport under the IWC banner more than 12 years ago and has been one of the most consistent and most quality performers that the organization has had throughout that time span. With an energetic and fast-paced style, Palace suits the Super Indy division very well. Already a former IWC Heavyweight champion and Super Indy champion previously, Palace looks to add another chapter to his already accomplished career. Another competitor that broke into the sport with the IWC was Elias, the former WWE star that returned to his old stomping grounds under the name of Elijah. However, before the world knew him as Elias, the IWC fans knew him for many years as Logan Shulo. Before he was on national television or appeared at Wrestlemania, he had a reign as IWC champion so it would be  apropos if he finds championship success again in IWC to kickoff the next portion of his career.

Major League Wrestling star, Richard Holiday makes his IWC debut as he enters the tournament. Holiday, an accomplished pro for several years, was invited to join the field because of his impressive resume previously. The 31-year-old wrestler also showed a tremendous amount of courage when he battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma a few years ago. Thankfully, Holiday emerged healthy and continues his successful tenure on the independent scene. He could make himself a force in the Pittsburgh area in one night with an impressive run at the Super Indy event. Beef, who made a splash after a solid match against Roderick Strong on an episode of AEW Rampage earlier this month, is another outside talent that could make a major impact in the area in one night with success at Super Indy. Another performer that will make his IWC debut is definitely not an upstart or an aspiring hopeful in the business. Instead, he's a lucha libre legend with more than 30 years in the industry. Juventud Guerrera started wrestling before some of his fellow participants were event born and this Saturday, he has a chance to prove that he can still compete with the young lions of the sport. Known as "The Juice," Juvi originally made a name for himself in the United States when he was in his very early-20s in World Championship Wrestling,winning the Cruiser Weight championship on three different occasions.

"Super Indy was created to showcase what guys from Pittsburgh could do.  Starting off with Orion, CJ Sensation, and Super Hentai of Super Indy 1 to Palace, Christopher, Holloway, Ganon, and Nystrom in 2024 .  The tournament in 2002 let the indy wrestling world know Pittsburgh had talent that was right up there with more established names.  It still does that today," said BC Steele, color analyst for the IWC broadcast  team.

The possibilities for the field in the tournament this Saturday allow for some very intriguing possibility in terms of the results of who walks out of the building with the championship. Will IWC alumni, Elijah have a full circle moment and claim IWC gold again? Could Nystrom or Holloway use this platform as a break out moment for their career? What in the world happens if Juvi claims the title? One thing is for sure, another chapter of Pittsburgh wrestling history will be written this Saturday for the Super Indy tournament.

Vince McMahon documentary

The highly-anticipated Netflix documentary, "Mr. McMahon" was released on the streaming service yesterday, the same platform that will land Monday Night Raw at the start of next year, as well as distribution rights for all of WWE programming outside of the United States. The 10-year deal is worth $5 billion, and perhaps as a way to help facilitate such a deal, maybe that's why Vince originally agreed to the project when it started production in 2021. That's one of the biggest questions I had prior to the release of the six-episode docuseries that spans five hours, why exactly would McMahon, a baron that tightly controlled every facet of his product, allow outside producers the chance to potentially spin his story?

The premise of the series"Mr. McMahon" was to determine the difference between the real-life Vince and the Mr. McMahon television character. The only guess I would have might be that with billions of dollars in cash and at his age, it's possible that Vince thought that this production might humanize him or portray him in a softer light after years of being cast as the ruthless businessman that drove his fellow promoters out of business. One thing is for sure, especially after this documentary, Vince would have Freud on the couch.

More than three and a half years after the production began, especially with the horrendous details that came to light from the lawsuit filed against him by Janel Grant this past January, it's clear that even if Vince intended to endear himself as someone that came from poverty and a traumatic background to become a billionaire in the entertainment business, it wasn't a narrative that the audience is going to buy in 2024.

I'm not going to attempt to parse details on more than five hours of content, but there were several topics covered that, at least on the surface, provide glimpses of intrigue, while some portions of this series get bogged down in tired stories that have been covered ad nauseam without providing any insight on McMahon himself, the entire subject of a documentary series that was stretched almost twice as long as it had to be to justify a series rather than just a standalone documentary.

One of the more interesting aspects of the entire presentation is the family dynamics of the McMahons, specifically when Vince talks about his dad, the founder of Capital Sports, Vince Sr. a well-respected promoter by his contemporaries of the era. Mostly in the first episode, Vince details some of his childhood, explaining that he didn't meet his dad until he was 12, enduring an abusive household prior to that. You've probably heard bits and pieces of Vince's humble upbringing in a trailer park in North Carolina, but there has never been any explanation as to how Vince didn't meet his father until he was 12 or what happened between his parents. Unfortunately, there aren't any answers from Netflix either, as Vince claims it was never talked about, but considering that his mom lived to the age of 101, it's difficult to believe that  he wasn't told something about it at some point in his life. Did Vince's parents get divorced? Did Vince Sr. not know that he had a son until they met? There are key questions that might provide some insight into who Vince truly is based on his background, but they weren't answered.

One of the more disturbing details to emerge is the level of abuse that Vince endured from his step father, and it was also briefly implied later in the series that he might've been molested by his mother. At one point, Vince even used to terms "abuse and incest" when describing how he tried to put the past behind him to focus on business. Obviously, there's no excuse for any type of harassment or abuse, if Vince did those horrific acts to Grant or other employees, he should be held responsible. At the same time, Dr. Phil might connect the dots that if Vince was abused and molested as a kid, it could've influenced his behavior later in life. Still, similar to his meeting and early relationship with his dad, there aren't many details about Vince's mom in the documentary at all, other than a brief clip of her in a wheelchair backstage at a WWE event in her later years.

There's enough innuendo and some level of implication about Vince's early childhood, but nothing directly confirmed or concrete, which keeps the narrative murky, even after more than a five-hour presentation.

Along the same lines, there are just brushes of his relationship with Shane, as his son doesn't directly say that he felt stepped over by Stephanie and Triple H, but vaguely says that there was tension between him and his father when he left the company in 2009. Stephanie is involved, but there's not much of note that she says throughout any of it, and even Linda's comments were kept rather brief and mundane. There's a brief mention of how they met and her comments on different subjects like the steroid trial, but nothing was said about how the two have lived completely separate lives for several years. Vince's affairs, the relationships he had prior to any of the current allegations, weren't discussed in any detail either.

Outside of the family, one of the biggest problems I saw with this documentary is that it goes too deep on WWE angles instead of keeping the focus of the subject of the series. Sure, the pressure from WCW influenced Vince as a businessman and that in itself would be an interesting topic, but this production more or less becomes a retelling of WWE history a lot more often than it should've if the topic was the owner of the company. We didn't need verbose accounts of the same tired subjects that were covered several times previously, it doesn't severe any audience for this documentary. The WWE fans that will tune in already know that the NWO was important in the Monday Night war, they've had the chance to see it as recent as the A&E series on WWE. For the general public that might want to watch something about the eccentric billionaire, they don't care about such niche detail. There's too much based on the storylines of the Attitude era or the Ruthless Aggression era, simply because it was an unnecessary retread of cliche subjects.

The other major hurdle to go along with that is, there's undoubtedly meat on the bone so to speak that makes this documentary worth watching, but it's scattered throughout the five-hour runtime. Nothing is truly concise enough for the audience to get the best content without enduring the WWE history lesson throughout the six episodes. From a macro perspective, the saga of Wrestlemania VII or the downfall of WCW in 2000 isn't key to Vince's life story. Sure, buying his competition is a critical piece of the puzzle of his story as a businessman, but there wasn't a need for extensive clips of WCW. That said, it's fascinating to see Vince talk candidly about the steroid trial, the Montreal incident, the heart-breaking death of Owen, and the Benoit tragedy. His comments on the early expansion of the WWF, including the stakes of the first Wrestlemania are interesting, but the true insight can be found on the more serious topics.

Vince's take on nearly all of those topics were what you'd expect so either he actually is a ruthless promoter or he put a PR spin on the answers, which defeats the purpose of the presentation. Vince wasn't dumb enough to tell his wrestlers that they had to take steroids to work for him, nor would he risk distributing them, he's too smart for that, but he skates around the fact that the majority of the roster were on anabolic steroids in an attempt to get to the top of the card. Yes, those wrestlers were responsible for their own decisions, but Vince knew that most of the talent were on steroids. The Montreal incident is ultimately what sparked the concept of Mr. McMahon has an on-screen character and if that's what this documentary is trying to examine then it was a worthy topic. Still, nothing anyone said was something that hadn't been discussed in a previous production before. However, it was very sad when Bret Hart got emotional when he talked about his brother Owen after the Survivor Series match. Speaking of Owen, Vince doubled down on his decision to continue the pay-per-view after the younger Hart passed in the ring following an equipment malfunction that caused him to fall nearly 90 feet from the rafters. If 25 years later, Vince still doesn't see how wrong it was to continue a scripted wrestling show when there were blood stains on the canvas because someone died minutes earlier, he might just be as demented as some of his critics think he is. Yes, it was an accident and even Bret acknowledged that was just a terrible accident so he can forgive the company, but the fact that McMahon still contends that the show should've continued was disturbing on many levels.

Of course, Vince questions the validity of CTE, suggesting that there wasn't enough proof, despite the fact that there are numerous cases of athletes that suffered from the brain disease because of head trauma. Keep in mind, the majority of these interviews were filmed in 2021 when Vince was still in control of the company, he wasn't going to say anything that could've been used against him in a potential lawsuit from former talent later on. However, it was very surprising that Steve Austin appears to doubt the legitimacy of CTE when he was asked about the subject. Chris Nowinski, a former WWE talent that was forced out of the ring because of concussions, started a research group on head trauma and was given access to Benoit's brain to study for signs of CTE. Nowinski started that Chris Benoit had advanced brain disease so at the very least, with the amount of athletes that were diagnosed with it after their death, it confirms that CTE can happen. If CTE is what caused Benoit to kill his family and then himself over the course of a weekend will probably always be a subject of debate. Benoit was a skilled performer just the week before his horrific acts, it's not as though he didn't know what was going on or didn't understand reality. While, it will probably never be known for sure why Benoit killed his family, Vince's stock answer of "he went crazy" as an explanation to try to doubt the validity of CTE was disingenuous.

The subjects that were interviewed for the piece were hit and miss. It's fair to include talent like Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Cody Rhodes. As mentioned, the McMahon family interview clips were some of the most intriguing portions of the entire production. However, I'm not sure Tony Atlas or even Bruce Prichard were useful talking heads for this show. It's not as though Tony Atlas is known as being someone in the McMahon inner circle, and is more well-known in the modern era for bizarre social media posts about people walking on his face than anything from his wrestling career. An example of blatant selective editing, when Vince talked about how he enjoyed working with his father, the next clip is Atlas disagreeing with him. How exactly would Tony have known any of that? More than anything, it sounded like Tony Atlas was the gullible old timer that the producers could get the type of responses they wanted to attempt to add some extra controversy to the show. Hulk Hogan was a key piece of the puzzle so it's more or less required to have him involved, but his track record of absolute falsehoods, many of which he repeated in this documentary, make it very difficult to take anything he said seriously. When Hogan said something outlandish, it hindered an otherwise interesting portion of the series that covered Vince's early years as a promoter. Prichard is Vince's right hand man so he was going to tow the company line, which is exactly what Vince himself was going to do so Brother Love's involvement didn't really add anything to the presentation.

In the latter portion of the final episode, the documentary covers the previously mentioned scandals, the TKO merger, and that Vince sold his stock in the company after the Janel Grant lawsuit earlier this year. Prior to the release of the show, McMahon posted on social media that the documentary was used to create a misleading narrative, but all things considered, this wasn't a hatchet job on Vince's reputation. If anything, it didn't dive any deeper into the allegations than anything that wasn't already reported previously by main stream news outlets. It goes without saying that those involved can't comment on pending litigation, but the point is, the producers merely recounted what was already public. Nothing in this documentary made Vince look any worse than he already made himself look based on what was released in the lawsuit that was filed earlier this year.

As I said, there are some very interesting clips from this documentary, but the entire point was to determine the difference between Vince and Mr. McMahon, and quite frankly, despite six episodes and more than five hours of content, the question isn't answer in any form or fashion. It's not even determined that the generic answer of they are the same person is accurate. I understand that Vince is intertwined with WWE, it's his life's worth, but the whole concept was to see who Vince was beyond the businessman. This gets too involved with the retelling of WWE storylines than the actual account of Vince's real life. Either Vince didn't provide any real details of his life, or the producers left it on the cutting room floor to try to piece together something more controversial. It might've been as simple as Vince didn't truly want to discuss his personal life so the editors had to work with what they had, but for a documentary that had years of production behind it, this was underwhelming. The most interesting clips were of Shane, Stephanie, and the discussion of the family, but that was given the least amount of time of the topics in the documentary.

What's the status of Miro?

Where in the world is Miro?

Technically, the answer to that is Bulgaria, but we might have to hire Carmen San Diego to actually locate him. The former WWE United States and AEW TNT champion hasn't been seen since the Worlds End pay-per-view last year, defeating Andrade before the luchador departed the Khan-owned organization to return to the WWE.

Fightful Select recently reported that Miro, the former Rusev in WWE, requested his release from All Elite Wrestling. Sean Ross Sapp offered a slew of details around the current status of the Bulgaria star, explaining that he inked a four-year extension with the company in 2022, which would keep him under contract until at least mid-2026. Sapp claimed that Miro has a seven-figure contract, but has worked a total of just 11 matches in the past two years, with seven of those bouts in 2023. A hamstring injury kept him on the shelf for the first half of 2022.

Fightful Select claims that not only is Miro healthy, but he's been cleared to compete for several months, and is simply being left off television because he can't agree on a creative direction for a return to Dynamite. There are claims that he made a pitch to work with Jon Moxley at some point, but obviously, that wasn't agreed upon, which is why he remains at home while still getting paid by Tony Khan.

Granted, this is just my two cents on the situation, and if Miro actually is making seven figures from AEW, he's definitely smarter than me, but all things considered, is someone of his level of star power worth this type of hassle?

There's no doubt that Miro had some legitimate gripes about how his career was booked over the years, both in AEW and WWE. By the end of his run in the WWE, he was mocked and made to look like a dork while his former wife was scripted to have an on-screen affair with Bobby Lashley in front of him. In retrospect, it was probably one of those Vince McMahon angles that didn't entertaining anyone, but him and nobody got over in the process. Lashley's success in the world title picture afterward certainly had nothing to do with the flat angle with Lana. Again, Rusev was originally presented as a foreign monster and it was well-done. In 2015, he was on an undefeated streak as the US champion and rode to the ring on a tank for a match with John Cena at Wrestlemania. However, his character was more or less completely buried after he was scripted to look like a fool so when he was released during the infamous "budget cuts" in mid-2020, it was probably the only realistic move that could've been made since his value to the organization was minimized.

That's why it was probably the best thing that could've happened to his career, because it gave him a chance to reinvent himself or at the very least, put as much distance as possible between himself and the Lashley/Lana storyline. Similar to many others at the time, when he resurfaced as Miro in All Elite Wrestling in September of that year, many fans saw it as an opportunity for him to show that the WWE missed the boat on him. As mentioned, the guy rode a tank to have a match against John Cena at Wrestlemania, he has the ability to be a star and an asset to an organization. For whatever reason, probably because Tony doesn't stay focused on a solid push for new stars long enough for them to truly become established, Miro was often booked for ironic attempts at comedy rather than a more simplistic approach as a powerful brute. The stuff with Kip Sabian, particularly with the goofy Mickey Mouse t-shirt, did more to hinder than to help Miro's status in AEW.

Thankfully, in mid-2021 when Miro won the TNT championship under "The Redeemer" moniker, that simple formula was put to use, as it emphasized his strengths without anything to distract from his persona. No, it wasn't flashy, but it was effective, as it was the best run of his tenure in AEW. Make no mistake about it, under the right circumstances, Miro can go bell-to-bell. Given the popularity that he had  with the "Rusev Day" gimmick in the latter stages of his WWE career, at some point or another, he checked all the boxes of what you look for in a marketable star that can provide solid in-ring work. The problem is, none of those boxes were all checked at the same time at any point in his career so the results were sometimes a little underwhelming. For example, the argument could be made that maybe he wasn't exactly experienced enough when he had that WM bout with Cena, but by the time his in-ring work evolved, he was being used as a secondary character in AEW.

After his last match for AEW at the pay-per-view at the end of last year, there were reports that he was going to take time off to heal from another injury, but according to Sapp, Miro was cleared to get back in the ring several months ago so he continues to get paid to stay home. After his divorce from his real-life wife, CJ Perry, it was reported that Miro legitimately moved back to Bulgaria so it's difficult to imagine that he has any notion of wrestling full-time unless he plans to relocate again.

The biggest takeaway from all of this might say a lot more about Tony Khan than it does about Miro.

Credit where it's due, Miro has talent, and it's not his fault that he was misused as a character, but the bottom line is, the guy is supposedly being paid somewhere around a million dollars and he's getting to tell his boss that he'd rather not follow the script. Truth be told, until it's confirmed by a more tenured source, I find it hard to believe that Miro is making seven figures from AEW, but it's not difficult to see him making a few hundred thousand dollars per year from the company. Even at that number, why is Miro being allowed to stay home to collect the check? Tony can't make a decision as a boss and say "this is what you're being paid to do, you're booked to put over Darby Allin on Wednesday." for some use of him on television? What message does this send to the rest of the roster if Tony is willing to take no for an answer and then still pay the guy? Don't get me wrong, if Miro can get that type of cash just to stay home then good for him, but this is another example that Tony wants to be friends with the roster, not a boss.

It's also an indication of how much money is no object and that All Elite is more of a vanity project than a serious business venture. As the standard disclaimer, yes, Tony is a nice guy that cares about his roster and that's genuinely a good thing, but that doesn't mean that he's qualified to run a national wrestling promotion. What business sense is it to have a million dollar contract on the books for someone that is a healthy scratch from television? Most importantly, there's literally a zero return on investment of the hefty contract if Miro is allowed to refuse scripts so he's just kept at home.

At this point, what's the upside of keeping him under contract? His sporadic appearances don't provide any momentum, and since he's rarely on television, he has a very minimal amount of star power. Is the potential use of Miro in the future worth the hassle of dealing with a performer that doesn't agree to the script unless it's specifically what he wants to do? Is Tony concerned with the perception of another AEW wrestling returning to WWE? Miro isn't exactly the same of Cody Rhodes in terms of value to the company. It goes without saying that Tony should chalk this up to a lesson learned and release Miro from his deal because there's literally no reason to continue to pay him for a contract when he's not scheduled to wrestle for the organization.

AEW ticket sales

As usual, I keep informed on the slew of wrestling news to see what stories are relevant for this column and to give readers a perspective on the developments within the industry. Just yesterday, I stumbled upon a clip from Wrestling Observer Live and heard Bryan Alvarez discuss the lack of ticket sales for AEW Grand Slam, one of the company's marquee events at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This year's event has sold just over 5,000 tickets as compared to 11,000 tickets last year. In itself, it's not much of a story, based on the fact that ticket sales have been sluggish for the organization across the board with the exception of pay-per-views, which sometimes has more to do with the market where those events are held than how the event wer built or promoted.

In many ways, the note about ticket sales gels with the article I wrote last week about potential oversaturation or product fatigue with the news of potentially another show added to the AEW line-up when its new television deal is announced. However, it might've impacted the attendance for Glam Slam in a manner that brings another aspect into the equation. As far as oversaturation or product fatigue, All In London was rightfully the focus of the organization, as it drew 50,000 fans in a stadium. Granted, it was a 30,000 decrease from the tickets sold last year, but it's still an accomplishment for All Elite. That being said, All Out was held just two weeks later, and as I wrote at the time, there wasn't necessarily a demand for another PPV and the argument could still be made that the storylines didn't justify another PPV card.

Given the polarizing response to the event held earlier this month, and the car crash tactics used to attempt to add a sizzle as a substitute for substance, it might be wise for All Elite management to adjust their pay-per-view calendar next year.

It might sound simplistic, but I'd still guess it might be the correct answer, Grand Slam hasn't sold quite as many tickets this year compared to years previously because the company hasn't had enough time to truly build it up as anything more than just another episode of Dynamite. Sure, the name and brief history of Grand Slam has some level of cache, but the "brand" of Grand Slam doesn't have the historic value to move tickets based on the name alone. When AEW went to the stadium named after the legendary late tennis player in 2021, there was a sell out of more than 20,000 fans in the building.  In 2022, just under 14,000 tickets were sold. As mentioned, last year had 11,000 fans at the venue, and this year the number is less than half of that at just over 5,000 tickets sold ahead of Wednesday's show.

Of course, there will naturally be diminishing returns for anything the more often it's available, but the pattern of Grand Slam is much more drastic than that. It goes without saying that not every event or pay-per-view is going to sell out, the market doesn't support anything at that level for every event. As popular as the NFL is, one of the reasons that it maintains its demand is that an anticipation is allowed to build up for more than half of the year during the off season. Pro wrestling is 52 weeks a year and thus will have to deal with the peaks and the valleys that go along with that schedule in every facet of the industry. It's just a part of the nature of the beast so to speak so the goal is often to make the peaks for business as high as possible, while minimizing how low the valleys will be for the bottom line. Companies can and have done solid business even when there isn't necessarily a hype around the product.

In the time since that first sell out at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Rampage debuted a month earlier and featured the return of CM Punk after a seven-year hiatus from the sport, Bryan Danielson debuted for the company and worked a 30-minute draw against Kenny Omega to open the stadium event, Adam Cole arrived as a part of the roster just two weeks earlier, and Dynamite still averaged around a million viewers on any given week. Fast forward a few years, CM Punk is gone amidst backstage chaos and returned to the WWE to become one of the biggest stars in the company, Bryan Danielson is the world champion, but is set to retire from full-time wrestling in a few months, Adam Cole has been on the injured list for more than a year, and Dyanmite drew 687,000 viewers last week.

Sure, Tony Khan added several high-priced free agents to the roster more recently, but the bottom line is, none of them have moved the needle, and Will Ospreay appears to be the only one truly worth the investment. Given the diminished audience and the declining ticket sales, including for Grand Slam, it implies that the presentation and lack of overall structure impact perception of the product. Yes, diehard AEW fans are going to spin it with a flimsy argument, and Dave Meltzer will award 87 stars to the latest pay-per-view high spot match, but the bottom line is, there has been a continuous decrease in the numbers for All Elite Wrestling. That doesn't happen without some level of audience dissatisfaction. No, I'm not saying that AEW is in any danger, it will continue to exist as long as Tony's family wants to fund it, but if an event sells a quarter of the tickets that it did just a few years ago, it's an indication that mistakes were made with the product.

Specifically for the 2024 edition of this event, a look at the top matches on the line-up might explain why only 5,000 tickets have been sold. Jeff Jarrett vs. Adam Page is a bout that could be something, depending on the finish and how they get there. Still, it's somewhat murky because Page/Jarrett was at its peak as a feud around the Owen Hart tournament and then Page went in a completely different direction to attempt to build the cage match against Swerve, an angle where Swerve went from baby face to heel and back to a baby face again during the storyline with Bryan Danielson. All things considered, Page nor Swerve ended up in a better spot after the feud, as far as their character, than they were before because it was a conflicting narrative with the baby face/heel dynamic. As a result of that, I'm not sure how much steam Adam Page has an an apparent heel for a match with Jarrett based on a tournament match almost two months ago.

It was great to see Nigel McGuinness  get a chance to receive some well-deserved recognition at Wembley Stadium, he was a guy that was a top performer of his generation, and because it was on a smaller scale, he never quite got the credit he deserves as an in-ring performer. There's undoubtedly a lot of history between Bryan Danielson and Nigel to build to a major match, but given that it was never fully explained why Nigel takes cheap shots at Danielson on commentary, and it's not something that can truly be hyped in the span of just three or four weeks, it seems like Tony Khan put the match on the show expecting the fans to know why it should be considered a big deal. Obviously, longtime fans are aware of their history of absolutely stellar bouts, but keep in mind the rather minimal scale that many of those early ROH events were on in terms of audience and exposure. It's not a knock on their talent or skills, but the national television audience in 2024 simply doesn't know about classic matches from ROH 15 years ago.

The main event is scheduled to be Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin with a shot at the world championship on the line. Considering that Danielson is the champion and he's booked in a non-title bout, the fans know that there probably won't be a baby face vs. baby face title match booked for the next pay-per-view so the audience realizes that Moxley is probably going to get the win. Along with that Swerve and MJF, two of the biggest stars in the company, aren't scheduled for the show.

The career of Lexus Synn

"What was going through my head, was a lot of emotions since my family and friends were coming. So, that’s a lot of pressure then on top of that, the pressure from my coaches and fellow wrestlers. I was the last to debut in my class and I had something to prove. What I mean by that is, I was told my whole life I couldn’t do this, but I knew this was the only thing I could do."

Just over a year ago, Lexus Synn, a muy thai practicier for the previous several years, sat in one of the locker rooms of the Washington Wild Things Stadium, a minor league baseball park located southwest of Pittsburgh. As she taped up her hands and secured her kick pads over her brand new wrestling boots, she prepared herself for her official debut in professional wrestling, a sport that she had always saw herself as a part of from earlier in her youth.

"When I was standing in gorilla, I do this little pace of mine before every match, which in my mind gets me in the zone and into my character. So, when I bust through the curtain, Lexus Synn arrives," she explained.

On that September night for the IWC's Base Brawl event, quite literally under the bright lights of the park ball, one of the most unique female talents of the Pittsburgh scene began her journey as a professional wrestler. With her distinct ginger hair parted to one side and her mouth guard peeking through a sneer, it took just five minutes for Lexus Synn discard her opponent, realizing her dream to be a professional wrestler.

Still, those five minutes inside the ring ropes on the field had much more time behind them. Lexus had spent the several months prior under much less glamour circumstances to learn the ropes of the genre. A direct contrast of the lights of a baseball stadium, Lexus learned her craft at the ICWA training academy, a converted storage unit that takes a no frills approach to prepare the next generation to be as safe as possible in the ring, a squared circle that had unpainted drywall on each side as a reminder of the serious curriculum of the grappling arts.

When she stepped into the ring on that first day of training, two longtime, well-respected, and accomplished veterans were there to pass their knowledge to the next generation of aspiring hopefuls.

Glenn Spectre, who was the first "gaijin," or foreigner to win the DDT Tag Team titles in Japan in the early-2000s, spent the early years of his career traveling the east coast before a pair of tours in Japan in 2004 and 2005 respectively. A few years later, after wrestling on nearly a full-time basis for his entire career to that point, Glenn decided to step away from the sport. It wasn't until the pandemic shut the world down in 2020 that Glenn began to dip his toe in the water of sports entertainment again, deciding to make a full-fledged comeback three years ago. One of the motivating factors for him was that he wanted to be able to give back to the industry as a trainer for future performers. Bobby Piskor, affectionately known as  "Potter" for his resemblance to the JK Rowling character, has been involved with the professional wrestling business for the majority of his life, breaking in as a website designer at the age of just 15. Within the nearly 25 years since that time, Bobby has been a wrestler, referee, trainer, and organizer for various organizations. While Glenn has recently pursued more in-ring appearances on his own, Bobby remains the head trainer of the ICWA school and is one of the head organizers of the International Wrestling Cartel, one of the longest-running groups in the area.

The two veterans also share a common bond, as they were both students of the late, great James Fawcett, who competed as masked grappler, Devil Bhudakahn for nearly a decade before his sudden passing in 2007. Fawcett was 32 years old.

"The experience I had training to be a professional wrestler was a great experience because I had the brains of Glenn Spectre and Bobby Williams that worked with both sides of the business. Both of these coaches that I consider family, these two wanted our class to be our very best since we were their first class. I was one of the ones who would work with Spectre when we were drilling and with that, I knew he wanted to push me from that day on. Every time he would push me to be my very best. With Bobby, he would encourage me to test stuff outside of my comfort zone, which I believe helped me grow as a person," Lexus commented.

"Lexus has been such a great student, she has always been open to learning new things.  She would always be one of the first to show up to practice and one of the last to leave," said Piskor

Along with her gym regiment, Lexus brought years of Muy Thai lessons into the training academy, practicing combat sports under the direction of Devin Mazik at Superfly MMA in Weirton, West Virginia since 2018.

"He taught me the ropes of boxing, ground wrestling, and Muay Thai, which I fell in love with. From then on, I did my own research on the sport itself with how it started. There was the pure violence behind it, but within that violence was this beautiful art form in Thailand," Lexus said.

With a combat sports background already solidified in her skill set and the lessons she learned on the canvas of the pro ring, Lexus Synn took the tri-state area by storm in many ways. Her unique look and powerful persona makes her standout almost immediately, even within the over-the-top world of sports entertainment. She showed a natural poise in the ring, as she spent the past year zigzagging around the tri-state area. Sometimes, she finds herself aligned with trainer Spectre and her fellow classmates to form the villainous faction, The Troublemakers in the West Virginia-based Victory Championship Wrestling organization.

"I wouldn’t change anything, I’ve gotten to wrestle some of the best from Ray Lyn, Zoey Skye, and Katie Arquette. These are all people I’ve sat watching behind the barricade. Seeing all these opportunities I’ve been getting through hard work and just showing up and assisting when needed, I wouldn’t have met so many amazing people that I consider great friends. I’m grateful for every opportunity," Synn said.

"Lexus Synn’s biggest asset is her credibility as a fighter. She seems like she can hold her own in most any combat style, from Muay Thai to mat wrestling to probably even bare knuckle boxing. She is a fierce competitor , who seems like she likes getting hit as much as she likes hitting people. But, I guarantee she will hit you harder. I’m glad I haven’t made her mad yet, added Declan Finnegan, color analyst for the VCW broadcast team.

Aside from tedious process of landing on the stiff canvas repeatedly to learn how to do so as safely as possible as a trainee, and now the in-ring mayhem as a pro competitor, Lexus was able to not only find role models through professional wrestling, she also found a sense of belonging within the spectacle of the sport.

"As someone who is built bigger than most women growing up, I only had a few idols, Chyna and Beth Pheonix are two great examples. I grew up watching them and wanting to be big and strong like them because I wasn’t drawn to the divas. I never wanted to be a diva, I always wanted to be a professional wrestler. So then the first Mae Young Classic starts, and I was in awe of all of the talent women in the tournament, but two stuck out to me, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley," Lexus commented.

In an example of something that is unique to professional wrestling, last month when Summer Slam was hosted in Cleveland, a two and a half hour trip from Western Pennsylvania, Lexus' family surprised her with meet and greet tickets for one of her idols as a birthday gift. DC Comics fans can't meet the fictional Wonder Woman character from the printed pages, but Lexus was going to get a chance to meet one of her heroes, Rhea Ripley in person.

"I look to my right and this door swings open, and Rhea is getting ready to come out for the meet and greet. Now it’s starting to set in the woman who encouraged me to be who I am, the women who inspires me, not only in the ring, but in real life as well is about five feet from me. I get closer to the curtain, in my brain I’m like I’m not going to cry… but man if I tell you as soon as I saw her that went out the window. She wasn’t on just my tv screen anymore but in living color. So then it’s my turn, I immediately ask for a hug because as I said before she’s done so much for me and I know she’s done the same for others and it’s very inspiring and in that moment that was the only thing that felt right as a “thank you”. So I get my hug and I had a birthday sash on and she noticed she told me happy birthday we took our picture, I was getting pushed out fast by the workers but I told her thank you for everything and as soon as I walked away I started crying. I was crying not because I was upset, but because I just got meet someone who doesn’t know how much they inspire me," Lexus explained.

Lexus cited everything from getting the chance to practice at open ring nights to eventually getting signed to a WWE contract as goals she has for the future. Regardless of the platform, Lexus pursues each goal with the same level of dedication and determination. Prehaps, that's the biggest take away from her brand new career in the pro wrestling business, she dared to dream, to chase her goals, and through enough hard work, she was already able to check a few boxes off of the list. It remains to be seen if Lexus Synn makes it to the national stage, but given her goals as a youngster and the pursuit of those goals, in many respects, she's already a success story. 

VHS Memoirs volume 35

Today marks 25 years since ECW held its Anarchy Rulz pay-per-view outside of Chicago in front of a record-setting crowd of 6,000 fans. In the quarter century that has passed, the pro wrestling industry continued to evolve with some positives and negatives for the business, depending on perspective, of course. Still, as much as Extreme Championship Wrestling was very much a product of its time and place, and it had to be to make the impact that it did on the sport, it's usually a fun viewing experience to watch these vintage shows again for these reviews. While there are elements that wouldn't translate to today, neither in style or presentation, it's ironic that there are aspects of the 90s product that could still work and probably still be used in the modern era.

The pay-per-view broadcast opened with Masato Tanaka arriving at the building, and he's interrupted by Jeff Jones, who the Japanese star pushes out of the way to enter the building. Jones concluded the segment with a warning, which was a foreshadowing moment for what this show is ultimately remembered for the most, when Mike Awesome joins the ECW world title match later in the night.

The opening match was Jerry Lynn/Lance Storm, and not only was this one of the best matches that you were going to see on pay-per-view in the United States during this time period, it was probably one of the best matches in the entire history of ECW. The first portion of that statement might seem a little mundane, but it had a level of cache, as the pay-per-view line-ups for professional wrestling were full during that era. There were monthly PPVs from WWF and WCW, with ECW running six pay-per-view cards that year. Sometimes, depending on what time frame and what promotion is being discussed, under card matches were almost viewed as an afterthought since each promotion understandably tried to promote as much sizzle as possible to sway fans on their decision to spend their PPV dollars on any given month. Even now, the audience has a specific "wrestling budget" as far as what they're going to spend on tickets, merchandise, etc. Obviously, when Peacock offers access to monthly cards for $5, it's an easier decision for fans to subscribe, but in the late-90s, PPV revenue, regardless of the split with cable providers, was a top priority for each promotion.

Sure, Steve Austin brawling in the crowd and dramatically overcoming the odds against The Corporation was very entertaining television, and Goldberg smashing his way through the NWO was fun, but in terms of bell-to-bell action, the bouts of substance standout in retrospect. This Storm/Lynn match was a tremendous combination of technical skills and ring psychology to deliver a performance that wisely contrasted the typical mayhem you'd expect from ECW. Everything they did was crisp and smooth, their technical sequences are often poetry in motion. There was fast-paced action, but they took the time to properly sell to maximize the effectiveness of the narrative, which is something that is often missing in the current sports entertainment landscape. For the majority of this contest, Lynn had the infamously taped ribs and any time he would get any momentum, Storm would attack the ribs to halt the offense from the baby face. The finish saw Storm land a knee to the ribs as Lynn hit the ropes and secured a cradle pin to get the sudden victory.

Unfortunately, from there we're reminded of why the often entertaining chaos of ECW had a very fine line of when it could go off the rails. Simon Diamond cut a promo about finding a tag partner only to be interrupted by Jazz, who for whatever reason, Simon orders Tom Marquez, House of Hardcore student, to attack in the ring for something that wasn't a match, but rather just a series of spots. When Jazz gets the upper hand on Marquez, who would later be named The Prodigy, Tony DeVito joins in to attack Jazz from ringside. This was before Da Baldies were formed so this segment had a rather flat Simon Diamond promo that didn't really have a point, an attack from an unknown Tom Marquez and then an attack from an almost equally unknown Tony DeVito. Nova and Chris Chetti made the save and then a tag match between Simon/Devito and Nova/Chetti officially started. I'm not sure where Tom Marquez wandered off to. About a minute or so into the tag match, Chetti partially slipped on a t-shirt that was in the ring before he landed a lionsault. Despite watching the spot a second time, I still couldn't tell exactly what happened, but Chetti was injured to the point that he could barely move, dragging himself to the corner and staying there until he was helped backstage. I'm not sure if it was a knee injury from the slip or a different injury on the landing, but it definitely didn't look good. I'm not sure if what happened next was an audible or if it was simply moved up, but Danny Doring and Roadkill ran in to attack the three remaining wrestlers in the tag match. After that, more or less every preliminary wrestler in the building got to make a cameo on pay-per-view before New Jack showed up to clear the ring with his signature segment. I'm not exactly sure what the original destination of this was or if this was the plan to shoehorn as many people onto the show as possible, but it was completely disjointed and more or less just a waste of time.

Thankfully, the card picked up from here with the ECW traditional three-way dance between Yoshihiro Tajiri, Super Crazy, and Little Guido. Yes, this was a card that Paul Heyman overplayed way too often in retrospect, but in a vacuum, this represented the extreme brand very well. This match had stiff strikes, technical exchanges, and some insane dives. At one point, Tajiri lands an Asai moonsault quite literally in the front row of seat before Super Crazy nailed an incredible top rope moonsault to the floor. As graceful as the cruiser weights were in WCW, you just weren't going to see this type of stuff on the Turner network. At one point, Crazy has Tajiri in a camel clutch and then Guido applies a version of the Boston crab at the same time, which was another example of the innovative stuff that the company had at the time. Eventually, Guido was in the tree of woe before a baseball slide from Tajiri and then a moonsault from Super Crazy eliminated him from the bout. It made sense to give the audience another showdown between Crazy and Tajiri on pay-per-view because while this pairing was overused, it was one of the best acts that the company had in 1999, just behind the hype that the Rob Van Dam/Jerry Lynn series had. This portion of the contest had the fast-paced high impact sequences you'd expect from these two, with similar  action to the Storm/Lynn spots that were poetry in motion earlier in the night. When Crazy went for another moonsault, Tajiri got the boots up to counter, landed a series of kicks, and then a brain buster to get the win.

Sabu vs. Justin Credible was next, and speaking of poetry in motion, in a completely reckless type of way, it can't be understated how graceful and destructive Sabu was in his prime. If you wanted a match that encapsulated a peak example of what Sabu brought to the table, this was a highlight reel segment. He hit the leg lariats off the ropes, put Justin Credible through a table with a leg drop to the floor, and nailed the trademark triple jump moonsault. On the other hand, the way that he crashed from the top rope to the concrete floor on more than one occasion, it can make you cringe with the benefit of hindsight. Credible was bleeding about halfway through the contest, and I couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it seemed like Sabu might've legitimately been sliced with a piece of the table during one of the dives to the floor as he favored his midsection throughout a portion of the match, but it wasn't used for any sequences. Credible nailed a dive through a table on the ramp way before he did a rather odd flying DDT spot through a table in the corner. The finish saw the two reverse the tombstone before Credible landed it on a chair to get a rare pin against Sabu. I know in the years since ECW folded, the Justin Credible push to the world title in the latter stages of the company was debated, but if nothing else, you have to give Heyman credit, he gave Justin Credible the type of push that could be used for a main event run. 

It's somewhat ironic that this pay-per-view is historically known as the night that Taz dropped the title, more or less confirming his rumored exit from the company because in many respects, this event also marked the conclusion of the peak of ECW as a company. The Dudley Boys left the month prior, Shane Douglas went to WCW a few months before that, and Sabu would be gone from the promotion within six months. Granted, we'll see Raven later in the card, but his extreme pit stop was only to act as a buffer between WCW and WWF. As often became the case in ECW, someone was leaving to make considerably better money elsewhere so Paul Heyman had to adjust to a shrinking talent pool, specifically in terms of star power. Mike Awesome had worked for ECW the previous year, importing his FMW feud with Tanaka to the United States, which was repetitive, but also very wise, as it was a proven formula that worked. The impromptu three-way dance was set up when Mike Awesome showed up at ringside with Jeff Jones, demanding a title shot. Taz, being the fighting champion that he was, invited Awesome in the ring to join the contest. Just a few minutes into the match, Taz gets hit with a rolling elbow from Tanaka and then a top rope splash from Awesome to get eliminated. Despite the smart mark ECW crowd that knew the dirt on Taz's impending departure to the WWF, the crowd still seemed surprised that he was actually eliminated, which was one of the benefits that ECW had within the chaos of the company, you really never knew what might happen. The Awesome/Tanaka portion of the match was basically every bout between the pair that you've seen, and that's not meant as a knock on either of them. 

The brutal unprotected chair shots are tough to watch from a modern prospective. Tanaka takes an insane bump from an Awesome bomb over the top rope to the floor and eventually an Awesome bomb from the top rope through a table allowdc Mike Awesome to claim the championship. Post-match, Taz presents Awesome with the championship belt to "pass to torch" so to speak before Awesome took the torch to WCW just six months later because ECW fell behind on payments. That's another aspect that is a lot clearer in hindsight, while Mike Awesome was completely vilified at the time, in the years that followed when it came to light that he wasn't getting paid, it became much more understandable that he had to go to WCW to make a living for his family. The mortgage company simply wasn't going to take "Paul E. says the check is in the mail" as an excuse. Keep in mind, Awesome worked a very physical style and had already required knee surgery so he had to maximize his earning while he could, and WCW gave him an opportunity to do that. There was an emotional scene on the ramp way as Taz and Paul Heyman hugged with the roster around them. This was a scenario where the chaos of ECW worked to its benefit, as a guy that wasn't even scheduled to be there won the world title. It's something that always kept ECW organic because you didn't know what could happen in the company.

Earlier in the night, Steve Corino cut a promo, claiming that the Insane Clown Posse were scheduled to challenge Raven and Tommy Dreamer for the tag titles, but decided to cancel. A quick search yielded no information on the circumstances of the cancellation so who knows the story behind it? ICP appeared at Hardcore Heaven in 1997, but were signed to WCW by 1999 so I'm not sure how the appearance would've been possible. Either way, Rhino and Corino attacked Dreamer before Raven made the save. The actual match was only about two or three minutes before they landed a pair of DDTs, pinning Corino and Jack Victory.

Prior to the main event, Axl Rotten, who would be gone from the promotion not long after due to drug problems, which is saying something when someone gets the boot from ECW, cut a standard baby face promo. He was interrupted by The Impact Players with Johnny Smith, who was scheduled to challenge Rob Van Dam for the Television championship. Balls Mahoney shows up to aid his tag partner, and blasted Smith with a chair, eliminating him from the card. Van Dam shows up and an impromptu bout against Mahoney is the main event. All things considered, this was probably the best Balls Mahoney match you're going to find, which isn't meant as a jab against him, but rather to point out that while this had the hardcore gimmicks, it was more than just the usual brawl and bleed stuff you'd usually see him involved in at most ECW shows. This was a physical bout that had the signature chair spots from Van Dam and the power moves from Mahoney. RVD did a few absolutely incredible dives in the crowd. At one point, Van Dam takes a nasty unprotected chair shot to the head that will make you cringe. Bill Alfonso distracted Mahoney to set up a top rope flying kick to the chair prior to the conclusion. RVD hit the five star frog splash to retain the title.

AEW TV deal

Professional wrestling, for all of its spectacle, glamour, and over-the-top nature, both inside the ring and behind the scenes, is still based on simple economics. At the end of the day, regardless of the carefully scripted angles, organic crowd reactions, scandals, or contract disputes, sports entertainment is still gauged by supply and demand, which is more or less the foundation of any form of business. You might have to take a second mortgage to get some bread and a few steaks at the grocery store, but the costs soy and tofu aren't exactly topics for the Presidential debate stage. 

Ironically, politics is more of a work than pro wrestling, and it's more profitable, too.

Speaking of profitable, as I've mentioned several times before, revenue and profit are ultimately what determine the level of success in the sports entertainment industry. It's become repetitive at this point, but given the often comical tribalism online, success for All Elite Wrestling isn't based on the upstart league surpassing WWE, especially after the massive merger with UFC earlier this year, but rather the ability to become a stable and long-term commodity within the business.

When All Elite has success, the domino effect is that it creates more options and variety for the talent and for fans, which theoretically boosts the overall business. If you need an example of what happened when WWE was far and away the only legitimate option among the national landscape, try to sit through the tedious drek that was a completely stable product from 2015-2019. Total Nonstop Action at the time was on the brink of collapse before it was rescued from bankruptcy by Anthem Entertainment in 2016. Some of their "official" live streams were done on a staffer's phone, it was a combination of funny and pathetic. The Roman Reigns baby face super push was a corporate agenda that completely flopped, but was forced through the chorus of boos because quite simply, if the audience in the United States was going to watch professional wrestling, they were going to watch WWE.

As we know, the launch of All Elite Wrestling created a shift in the dynamics of the industry. Despite some of the rightfully criticism of the half-hazard booking or complete mismanagement in the past few years, make no mistake about it, the existence of AEW is one of the reasons that the WWE had a boost in its business today. Cody Rhodes is the top star and a great representative for the company, which is the same that can be said about guys in that spot before him like Roman Reigns and John Cena. Cody wouldn't  have been able to return to the WWE as the American Nightmare unless he had the chance to reinvent himself in All Elite Wrestling. The platform that Tony Khan provided allowed Cody to, quite frankly, show Vince McMahon and WWE management that they were wrong when they typecast him as a mid-card comedy act. CM Punk was brought back to professional wrestling after a seven-year hiatus because of an alternative to WWE, and while Tony's mismanagement ultimately cost the company the biggest star they had, it's safe to say that Punk wouldn't be in the WWE today as one of its biggest stars unless he dipped his toe back into the sports entertainment waters in AEW.

So, credit where its due, All Elite Wrestling had a measurable impact on the industry within the past five years. The biggest reason for that might also be the biggest reason that the company has drawn sluggish numbers within the past two years. Tony Khan was willing and had the resources from his billionaire family to offer comparable money to the WWE. His fandom is what motivated him to want to spark the industry and at the same time, that fandom probably puts a ceiling on the level of success AEW can achieve. Still, more talent gets a chance to make a name for themselves and make a full-time living in the pro wrestling business, which is undoubtedly a positive for the roster, and for the fans that get the opportunity to see them showcased on major stage. However, it's more or less impossible to ignore its diminished market share, or at the very least, the amount of fans that are willing to spend money on the product. 

Again, the economics of supply and demand.

When AEW launched, the novelty of a new product, and more specifically, the fans that wanted to believe an alternative to WWE after years of stale programming could get off the ground, was the draw for the organization. Tickets, especially for its early events, often sold out in minutes. Similar to anything else after the novelty worn off, All Elite had to stand or fall on its own merits. As we've seen, that situation has been a rather mixed bag.

Strictly by the numbers, AEW is down, as the floor for Dynamite ratings continues to decline at a meager, but steady pace. When CM Punk was a staple of the television show, the number hovered around a million on any given week. When Punk got into a brawl with The Elite and then left after he smacked around Jack Perry the following year, more or less 20% of the audience went with him. That's not to say that he was the sole reason that 20% of the audience was there, but it's fair to say that the backstage chaos drastically affected the perception of the company. There was a period when that 800,000 number was the base for AEW viewership after Punk was fired, but since that time, the numbers went into the 700,000 range and sometimes finish just under that around 650,000 viewers on a given week. A more than 30% decline in viewership definitely sends a message about the product. The fans were willing to support an ambitious entrepreneur that had as much passion for the sport as they did, but indulging a billionaire's vanity project is a completely different situation.

With Cody as the top guy, CM Punk back into the fold, and Roman Reigns embraced as a top baby face after a record-setting run as a heel, it's fair to say that the dynamics within the industry have shifted again for WWE with the momentum. That's not to say that All Elite is doomed, but rather that there's less of a rabid demand for the product after some of the blunders within the organization affected the perception of the company.

That's why the news of a "done deal" for a new TV contract between Warner Brothers Discovery and AEW gives an intriguing glimpse into the future of the promotion, and more specifically, if the next move will ultimately be productive or potentially dilute the project. According to The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, the new television contract will keep AEW on the Turner networks, maintaining its current line-up of three weekly shows. Meltzer also noted that while details aren't certain, it's expected that Max, the streaming service for Discovery, could potentially include AEW pay-per-views for the new deal. Depending on the business model, this could open the door for increased exposure for the AEW product, as it could bring the video library, which would include the Ring Of Honor catalog  to more viewers at a cheaper price, particularly if the live pay-per-views are put on the platform, similar to the Peacock option for WWE.

On the other hand, it might be a situation where fans would have to subscribe to the Max streaming service just for the option to purchase the pay-per-view, which is what the UFC has under its current ESPN deal. I think it goes without saying that the former would yield more success than the latter, specifically based on the fact that the All Elite fan base has spent less money on the product recently. Perhaps, a cheaper bulk price would give fans a reason to follow the product on a more regular basis again. Sure, there are a core group of All Elite fans that will pay $50 for a broadcast, and that does prove that the company can still draw money, but it's possible that more fans will subscribe at a lower product to expand the overall audience that follows and thus spends money on the product across the board.

There's a reason that AEW ticket sales haven't been stellar for most of their television events. Part of that is that outrageous fees and service charges that are added to the total costs, but again, if the new TV deal can provide more access to more viewers then maybe more fans will be willing to attend live shows. Meltzer also noted that the company applied for the trademark "Shock Wave," potentially for a new show that could air on FS1. I have to say that this would be completely misguided, and hopefully, it's a trademark that will be used for something else. 

Obviously, the goal is to rebuild the base of the audience, but oversaturation is already a problem for the company. Offering the current content at a lower price is one aspect, but asking a declining audience to watch more programming seems like a very difficult tasks. In fact, while it might be worth it in the short-term monetarily, I think Rampage as the clear B-show and Collision with a minimal audience on Saturdays based on other sports competition, the argument could be made that the shows have contributed to audience fatigue so to speak. One of the reasons that many were enthusiastic about the launch of the promotion in 2019 is that it was just one show a week that didn't require the tedious commitment of 5-7 hours of viewing content each week that the WWE had at the time. Furthermore, the concept of just Dynamite kept the supply of AEW content lower than the demand so the customer base was still there to consume the product. I'm honestly not sure how things will shake out by the time pen is put to paper, but outside of the pay-per-views at a cheaper price, I'm not sure adding more to the AEW line-up is the answer.

As much as the diehard AEW fans reject comparisons to the decline of WCW, the addition of Collision, a show that doubled not only the amount of booking required, but also the amount of live events tickets that had to be sold, seems like it had a similar effect to when Thunder was added to the Turner line-up. On the other hand, as much as the naysayers wanted to speculate that Tony wouldn't be offered a new deal, as mentioned, AEW has an audience, and pro wrestling is still relatively cheap programming for networks with at least a somewhat consistent audience so a renewal wasn't realistically in doubt. That being said, I'm not sure if the new TV deal, even with its rumored increase, means all that much in the grand scheme of things because there's still oversaturation of the product, which has translated to less overall revenue for the company.

All Out review

I penned a column earlier this week about the hot shot booking approach to All Out, the pay-per-view that was scheduled for just two weeks after All Elite Wrestling hosted its second event at Wembley Stadium, which saw Bryan Danielson win the AEW world championship in the main event against Swerve Strickland. Similar to the hot shot approach with a two-week build up to attempt to sell the pay-per-view to an audience that just paid $50 for the Wembley event, the show itself was also full of hot shot tactics. Depending on your perspective, that could be a good thing , as it attempted to provide meat on the bone so to speak to give fans a reason to spend another $50 on an AEW broadcast, or it underscores some of the continuous tactics that are counterproductive to the overall growth of the company.

,There were probably some of both of those dynamics on the card that was hosted in Chicago, an important location in the history of the promotion.

The show opened with the grudge match between MJF vs. Daniel Garcia, a bout that technically had a few months of momentum behind it because of the Friedman attack that put Garcia on the shelf, but at the same time, it was somewhat forgotten about because while Garcia was off television to sell the attack, Friedman worked a feud with Osprey that culminated with a title switch at Wembley Stadium that had exponentially more interest than the MJF/Garcia storyline. This match had all the ingredients of a quality pay-per-view match, it had a narrative that saw the peaks and valleys to keep the audience guessing and it built well toward the conclusion. It was a 20-minute segment that showcased that MJF, despite his botched title reign last year, is still one of the best performers on the roster, and furthermore, the level he is capable of when he doesn't use cheap heat as a crutch. Along with that, it's no surprise that this contest had proper selling to maximize everything that they did, which is usually inconsistent within the All Elite product.

The problem was, if there was one, this match more or less checked all of the boxes in the first match of the night and thus the inconsistencies later in the card stood out more than they probably would've otherwise. This was given the time to develop into a major match, it had blood when Garcia got busted open about half way through the segment, and it had a conclusion that left everyone in a better spot compared to where they started. However, when a few other matches on the card were going to use blood, particularly the main event, there was no reason that Garcia had to bleed at the start of the show. As I wrote in the prior article, given MJF's status, and how Garcia is usually presented, this angle was somewhat of a step down for Friedman. That said, this was probably the best that Garcia has looked in his AEW career. The only problem is, he's only going to look this good when he's working with MJF so it doesn't truly boost his stock going forward. MJF got the win after using a low blow to get the pin, which made sense, because as mentioned, Friedman is a bigger priority for the company. At the same time, Garcia got a measure of revenge at the conclusion of the segment with a low blow so the baby face wasn't buried.

The tag team title match was fine, there was nothing subpar, but at the same time, without the build up, this was more or less a TV match that was booked for pay-per-view. That's not meant as a knock, but just to point out that this was the same high spot type of tag match that you will see from these teams on more or less a weekly basis so it didn't really stand out, especially on a card that threw so much at the wall just to see what stuck by the time the show went off the air. The Young Bucks retained the belts, and again, this wasn't a subpar match, but within the context of a four-hour marathon show that had too many car crash matches, this tag contest was forgettable in the grand scheme of things.

Will Ospreay vs. Pac was the dazzling spot fest you'd expect it to be, with the standard 20-minute segment that most of the major matches get on AEW PPV cards, which isn't exactly a good thing because part of the booking process is to determine the time a match should be given based on the workers involved and the storyline, not a paint-by-numbers approach. From purely an athletic stand point, these guys are poetry in motion, they make daring aerial maneuvers look effortless with a level of grace in the process. They exchanged dives to the floor from the top turnbuckles and the spot emphasized just how skilled they both are as high-flyers. Everything they did was crisp and smooth with fast-paced, physical sequences. The downside was that this was booked in a vacuum so to speak, as it was essentially a one-off so there's not much to follow-up on despite the tremendous quality performance. Ospreay got the win with the hidden blade to retain the International championship.

The Chicago street fight between Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale was basically a summary of the bad habits of All Elite Wrestling. Don't get me wrong, Statlander seems to have potential to be a bigger star, and Willow is organically over with the audience. Her enthusiasm connects with the crowd, and if that's presented in the right fashion, it can be used to draw money. That said, regardless of the heel turn from Statlander, this was a secondary feud within the AEW landscape. As a comparison, this didn't have anywhere near the momentum of the Britt Baker/Mercedes Mone bout from Wembley two weeks earlier. It was a standard heel turn, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't as though it was some long standing grudge match to justify the gimmicks used in this segment. If anything, the weapons used were nothing more than a cheap substitute for compelling storytelling. This match had barbed wire, tables, thumbtacks, light tubes, and a chain. More than anything, this exposes what Tony Khan hasn't learned in the past five years, as he still uses an E-fed booking style that doesn't translate to an actual pay-per-view. Considering the steel cage match in the main event, which used some of the same gimmicks, why book the street fight on the same card? Furthermore, why exactly use barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light tubes for this feud? It does nothing, but hinder the effectiveness of the gimmicks in the main event. Finally, while female talent are finally getting the recognition they deserve and can definitely be the top draw in sports entertainment, there's still a chance that a portion of the audience will be soured when a woman bleeds during a match. Let's be honest, Statlander and Willow are much prettier than Bruiser Brody so it's much easier to watch the legendary brute bleed than some of the female talent. Statlander got the submission win, using the chain, but this was a total miscalculation in terms of what it attempted to accomplish with this segment.

The Continental title match was fun with a lot of action. It was a good boost in terms of the pace of the card and provided a decent contrast to what amounted to unnecessary gimmicks used in the previous contest. All four competitors showcased their skills in this bout, and all things considered, this was probably booked as a four-way to shoehorn a few more names onto the card. It's somewhat disappointing when you take into account that more could be done with everyone involved, but at least three of them are currently lost in the shuffle. I know I've said it a few times before, but it must be mentioned again,   Konosuke Takeshita has the talent to be a top guy. He shined throughout this bout, and if he isn't going to get the chance to live up to his potential, he should look elsewhere, as it would be a missed opportunity if he spent the prime of his career under the radar in AEW. Mark Briscoe has the history and the skills to get a main event run, but is saddled with the ROH championship as a consolation prize. Kazuchika Okada finally had a spark in his work in this segment and retained the title when he pinned Orange Cassidy. Speaking of a consolation prize, Okada getting a championship that is nothing more than a prop almost seems like an artificial way to justify his hefty contract.

Mercedes Mone beat Hikaru Shida to retain the TBS title in  contest that started fine, but went off the rails toward the finish. It looked like Mone might've accidentally been clipped with a stiff kick, as she looked either lost or out of it at one point when she was outside of the ring. The action was clunky and Mercedes botched her finisher. The crowd was quiet at certain points, and the match dragged during the latter portion of the segment.

Speaking of dragging at some points, I really think the world title bout went too long and become a rather tedious viewing experience. As I said prior, Tony used a paint-by-numbers approach to this card and it simply wasn't the right decision for this contest. With two weeks of a build up, does Jack Perry vs. Bryan Danielson need to go 30 minutes? It was a solid match for what it was, but when nobody believes the belt is going to change hands, this segment could've accomplished the same goal within half the time it was given on pay-per-view. The heel turn that followed was somewhat of a mixed bag, especially because if Danielson legitimately plans to retire to have neck surgery before the end of the year, there's not much time to book a proper payoff to such a heel turn. I have to be honest, if a revamped Blackpool Combat Club is the only reveal of Moxley's cryptic promos then I think it will fall short of expectations. Moxley re-enacted the Flair/Funk plastic bag angle, but in typical All Elite fashion, it went too far to truly be effective. Funk had the bag on Flair's head for about 30 seconds before Flair fell to the outside of the ring, and it was a white bag that shielded Flair's face from the audience. Moxley had the clear bag over Danielson's head for almost a minute and thirty seconds. It jumped the shark in some ways because while you can stretch the limits of logic with pro wrestling, someone being asphyxiated for that lengthy of time would have more serious injuries than what Danielson is going to sell for this angle. 

Furthermore and this is the much bigger point, the visual of Danielson being suffocated is going to sour a portion of the audience. Jim Ross sounded legitimately annoyed during the broadcast, and he had a point. There are going to be certain fans that will see it and decide that AEW isn't for them. That type of angle has very little upside with a much bigger downside.

Unfortunately, that trend followed in the main event as well for the steel cage match between Swerve and Adam Page to close the show. Much like their Texas Deathmatch last year, this bout was too gory to be useful for a national pro wrestling company. Sure, the diehard independent fans that jam into small venues don't mind seeing actual staples being taken out of someone's chest, but that type of stuff doesn't do anything to help expand a national group. The bumps on a legitimate cider block were foolish and misguided. Finally, the needle into Swerve's face was gross and completely unnecessary. Who exactly is that supposed to draw? Again, this is a company that has national television, not an independent league in front of a few hundred fans. Adam Page got the win, but this match was an example of everything that will hinder, not help a promotion on the national scene.

Did AEW sell All Out?

Just two weeks after Wembley Stadium, an event that garnered mostly positive reviews for the quality that it showcased, All Elite Wrestling is back on pay-per-view this weekend for All Out. Different from last year, the PPVs are two weeks apart rather than just a week, but the problem of selling a clear "B-side" to the equation remains for All Elite management. In truth, and this isn't a ground-breaking notion, there's absolutely no reason for the company to run another PPV two weeks after the London event. The current angles don't justify it, and more importantly, there's not a demand for it. Speaking of which, in terms of supply and demand, it's simple economics, when AEW had a few pay-per-views a year, it allowed for an anticipation to build prior to the show, which isn't the case as Tony Khan adds more pay-per-views to the schedule because monthly events became the trend in the late-90s when pro wrestling was in a boom period so there was a demand for such a line-up. Sure, the counterpoint might be that if the shows are selling on a near-monthly basis then Tony would technically be leaving money on the table otherwise, but I think in the grand scheme of things, there's a risk of oversaturation that could erode the amount of fans willing to pay those PPV prices that often over the course of a few years. The bottom line is, what can truly be accomplished in terms of importance to the product with only two weeks to promote the card?

At the same time, building a pay-per-view card in two weeks is almost tailor-made for Tony's booking style or lack thereof. The slapstick approach will allow Tony to justify match-ups with only a few segments behind them to generate momentum so he isn't tasked with booking compelling programming over the course of a few months to script a selling point for a PPV card. Instead, Jack Perry, who is already the TNT champion, will get a title shot at All Out because he attacked Bryan Danielson last week. Tony doesn't have to properly structure a grudge or any type of long-term issue for the segment at the pay-per-view. He doesn't have to truly justify why the match should take place or book an intriguing reason why the fans should want to pay to watch it. Outside of parsing details as to why there's not a logical basis for the match-up, quite simply, does anyone honestly believe that Danielson is going to drop the championship after just a two-week reign? When the main event is more or less a glorified exhibition bout, doesn't that provide enough of a reason why the pay-per-view isn't necessary in the first place?

In some respects, the chance to hotshot every angle on the show is exactly what Tony Khan looks for to book pay-per-view cards, as it mimics his E-fed booking days on the internet, the notion of what sounds good on paper, but something that falls short in realistic execution. There were matches announced on last night's episode of Dynamite, such as Mercedes Mone/Hikaru Shida for All Out. Why exactly should the fans be invested in this bout one way or the other? Don't get me wrong, Shida is a solid performer, but she's on the show very sporadically so it's not as though she has any momentum ahead of getting a title shot. The same could be said for The Blackpool Combat Club challenging The Young Bucks for the tag team titles, why exactly should the fans care who wins when it was a completely thrown together match?

On the flip side, I understand what they were going for with the Daniel Garcia/MJF segment, but all things considered, was enough time given to allow the fans to view Garcia as a key player in AEW? I don't think so, he's clearly not at the level of MJF, and the fact that he's a vacuum of charisma with a stone face expression most on the time doesn't do him any favors either. Maybe I'm missing something,but Garcia seems to be a good utility worker that can have a solid match to add substance to the card, but just doesn't have the star power to be a major draw. The problem is, you could say that about a lot of the current All Elite roster so even his strengths can get lost in the shuffle. Again, maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but working with Garcia, at least at this point, seems like a step down for Friedman, particularly because he's supposed to be one of the top guys in the company.

Will Ospreay and Pac will probably have a dazzling spot fest that will steal the show, be legitimately impressive, and will allow Dave Meltzer to give it 87 stars in an attempt to bolster the perception of the company. The downside of that is that those types of matches are randomly put on television every week so is that actually enough to justify the price tag of the pay-per-view? Considering that Pac's appearances are sporadic at best, does the result of the match have any impact on the direction of the product?

Aside from the sizzle of the Pac/Ospreay high spot bout, in theory, the substance of the pay-per-view in terms of a long-term feud is the steel cage match between Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. As disjointed as it is as far as the continuity and the presentation, there's undoubtedly history between the two that can be used to sell a major match. However, in typical Tony Khan fashion, he managed to muddy the waters for absolutely no reason. Keep in mind, Swerve Strickland organically got over as a baby face when he was initially portrayed as a heel, and that's ultimately why he had a run with the AEW world championship. It's one of the few strictly logical booking decisions made in AEW this year, as the fans decided that Swerve was a baby face, and the office ran with it. However, without explanation, Swerve was presented as a heel again in the build up to the match against Bryan Danielson at All In for Wembley Stadium. Now, again without explanation, he's a baby face again, with the over-the-top angle that saw Adam Page burn down Swerve's childhood home. This is supposed to be the feud that the fans are invested in enough to watch to see the next chapter at the pay-per-view, but when there are so many switches between the heel and baby face roles, the result is often indifference to the audience. 

There's nothing less of a draw than indifference. There's a reason that political parties always vilify the other side, because that's what fuels donations, thus draws money for the campaign. It's apropos that it's an election year because politics is more of a work than pro wrestling, and it's more profitable, too All of this said, the discussion for the most part, and even some of the rightfully criticism is more or less moot. Sure, running another pay-per-view two weeks after Wembley doesn't make financial or even booking sense, but as we know, profit isn't the objective for AEW. It's a vanity project, and there are some coincidences that provide a positive to the industry, as it gives options to the talent and to the fans, but business doesn't dictate the direction of All Elite Wrestling. The reasons that another pay-per-view is scheduled are that it will allow Tony Khan to book another E-fed card, he can sit next to his favorite wrestlers during the two-hour press conference, and he will see the star ratings that Dave Meltzer gives the show in The Wrestling Observer newsletter after the event.