Articles by Scott Keith — page 3

Another free rasslin’ find

17th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Not sure if anyone relayed this to you at all, but I noticed the other day that a ton of entire TNA PPVs are up for free on their Youtube channel. Quick look showed every show from 2005-2009, if not more.

Switch things up a bit, fill in rant archive holes, whatever…figured since the PPVs were the only semi-constant good thing TNA ever did, maybe you'd take interest.

Apparently I'm paying for their channel every month because I basically just funnel all my Patreon money into subscription services. There's tons of other stuff they put on there as well for members. I like TNA as something to put on the background but I rarely sit down and review them.

Skycaps

16th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Hi Scott, what are some of the best carry jobs you've ever seen, and who are some of the least likely people you've seen or ever thought could carry a match?

Obviously the gold standard is Bret Hart bringing fooked Davey Boy to a ***** match at Wembley. But wrestling is subjective and we're not in the ring, so it's hard to say “x carried y” most of the time because it's kind of a meaningless designation unless the other person is physically unable to perform.

AEW Ring of Honor

16th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Rampage has already been lost in the shuffle and even more so now that a new star-studded two hour show is debuting next month. Do you think WBD would have any objections to just rebrand Rampage to “AEW Ring of Honor”? It would still carry the AEW branding and would feature wrestlers that have been featured on AEW programming anyway. This would actually give the show a purpose with its own set of titles and week-to-week exclusive storylines with continuity. It would be ROH exclusive but could always feature a neat little homecoming appearance from guys like Danielson, Punk, Young Bucks, Cole, etc.

I still don't understand why we need Ring of Honor in the first place or what value any of it adds to the product. Just be AEW! That's the thing that people actually want to pay to see!

The manipulator or the manipulated?

16th May 2023 by Scott Keith

When it comes to the creative arts, I'm of the mind that artists should adhere to the philosophy of “don't give the people what they want; make the people want what you give them.” To what extent is that approach truly viable in wrestling? Ideally, promoters
would want to get fans to rally behind the people they wanted to push in the first place, but how much harder is that in a business where there's practically instant feedback – in terms of both crowd reactions and box office – to your efforts? A related question
is if a course correction in response to fan reaction is successful, is there a slightly bitter taste in the promoter's mouths, that ever-so-subtle tang of failure that they couldn't induce the audience to back their chosen horse and had to give in to the
mass?

Obviously, this all applies more to bygone days of wrestling and not so much the modern-day “the brand is the draw” mentality.

You have to be the manipulator and show those stupid mark fans that you're smarter than them. That's the only way to draw money. If Vince McMahon just went out and had Hulk Hogan win the World title from Iron Sheik on his first try, the run would have been a flop. You need to make the fans really want it first.

Views you don’t hold

15th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Imagine you've been kidnapped, and your kidnappers want you to put something about wrestling on social media to make people think you're fine. What's the ONE statement you could make that *seems* innocuous but would immediately alert everyone who knows you
that something was very, very wrong?

“I’m really excited to watch RAW tonight!”

Who’s better: Edge or Christian?

15th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Obviously, Edge became the bigger star, but who was/is a better overall professional wrestler: Edge or Christian?

Still gotta go with Edge. I can’t think of a lot of classic Christian matches off the top of my head.

Finally punk is getting the recognition he deseves

13th May 2023 by Scott Keith

WON: The return of CM Punk on the June 17 Collision debut show is believed to be called “The Second Coming.”

An awful lot of candidates for Judy's in this case….

I think they missed their opportunity by not doing a season of The Bachelor based around him running through the AEW locker room.

Bad Bunny v. Logan Paul

13th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Both men have earned praise for their work in the ring, do you think we would see them wrestle each other!?

I think that would be a supremely bad idea. Putting them in the ring with great workers who can carry the match if something goes sideways is one thing, but having them out there against each other without a safety net would be crazy.

AEW TV platform in the UK – BT Sports to TNT Sports

13th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,

It has recently been announced that BT Sports in the UK is being merged with, and rebranded, with a new platform for the UK, TNT Sports.

Yes that TNT, part of WBD.

Now, as BT Sports is the exclusive home of WWE, would this see a shift in that dynamic, as surely TNT Sports UK would want AEW on their channels.

Then where would WWE go, swap to ITV, or drop back to Sky where they started in the late 1980s?

Any news on that?

Not from me.

An Elite Decision

12th May 2023 by Scott Keith

If you are the Elite, are you waiting to see how this whole brand split and 2nd show goes before re-signing? Obviously they love AEW and I think the reality of them leaving is slim. But it doesn't look like they will be mending fences with Punk any time soon. And Tony definitely isn't choosing sides since he is building a whole second show around Punk because the value he thinks he brings. They all have said they had very enjoyable negotiations with wwe last time and I am sure the same offers or better are waiting for them. Omega has also said he doesn't think he has a ton of time left, and while he doesn't need a Mania appearance to feel complete, I am sure it would be a nice cherry on top to an amazing career. Plus the bucks would love to have a super kick party with the Usos and the settle the rivalry with the New Day in the ring. And Omega vs Rollins or even Roman, those are some of the biggest matches out there.

I think they’ve already agreed to terms at the very least. Plus Vince back in charge probably isn’t going to entice people the size of the Bucks and Omega, PAL.

Von Erichs in AEW?

12th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Scott,

Kevin Von Erich recently did an interview basically confirming that his sons Ross and Marshall contracts were expiring with MLW in a few months and spoke highly of AEW, saying he liked what the company was doing and mentioned he would love to see his sons end up there.

With the Von Erich movie coming out soon, is there a chance that maybe Tony Khan would want to bring them on board to capitalize on their name value at least for the short term?

From what I have seen, they are a solid team and very marketable, especially with how many times AEW runs the Dallas, Texas area yearly.

I’m shocked that neither promotion had snapped them up before. Although WWE would send them to NXT and give them different names unrelated to Von Erich’s while talking about their “legacy”. So hopefully it’s AEW.

Moves that should be protected finishers.

11th May 2023 by Scott Keith

With everyone, including now Bad Bunny, busting out the Canadian Destroyer at any time during the match, including the finish, that move needs to take a long hiatus. It has officially joined the powerbomb and DDT as transitional moves, and Cutters galore. The only reason I buy Wardlow's powerbombs is because they are multiple. There are few protected finishers left, and the One-Wings Angel probably being #1.

Having said that, is there still a move out there that you still believe can be a finisher, hasn't been done to death by numerous talents, and just hasn't been assigned to that one talent that can really take it to the respected level it deserves?

Since WWE has Tyler Bate, I think someone in AEW can do wonders with a safe variation of The Tiger Driver. You don't have to drop them on their head, but a nice high impact landing on the back, like the way Ospreay lands his seated powerbombs, I think can really put the final touches on a match.

Honorable Mention: Is there anyone out there i forgot who is wretching back legs with a Texas Cloverleaf? Always found that more painful looking than any figure four or boston crab.

Yeah, Daniel Garcia does the move that way.

I think Jericho's Judas Effect is probably the second-most protected finisher in wrestling right now, and it's a nicely simple as well and totally makes sense as a finish.

SummerSlam main event

11th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Seems to me Paul Heyman paid Brock to take care of the “Cody Rhodes problem”. Once Cody figures this out he will become obsessed with a rematch with Roman. Since they are currently on different shows Cody's quickest path is to win money in the bank and immediately challenge Roman for SummerSlam where he ends the 1000+ day reign and finishes the story. Now with all that said we're getting Roman Reigns vs Bad Bunny at SummerSlam aren't we?

That would probably be kind of a bonkers awesome match, actually.

JD -> dWo

10th May 2023 by Scott Keith

With Rey reviving the “Latino World Order”, I think Dominik forming his own group to counter them could be really interesting. Obviously, he's already part of “The Judgment Day”, but I feel like that group has had very mixed results; it's obviously done wonders for Dominik and has taken Rhea from “future star” to “star”, but Balor loses constantly and Priest is usually relegated to playing cheerleader unless Bad Bunny is around.

So, how about this? The Rey/Dominik feud is still going, but with the heels out-numbered, Balor brings McDonagh into the group, probably as his cousin or something. However, McDonagh is so creepy and cold-blooded that Rhea, Dominik, and Priest don't like him or trust him; yeah, “JD” may be bullies, but McDonagh is more like a school-shooter. The two sides start to grow apart, which allows Dominik the opportunity to start his own group: the “Dominik World Order”. Priest is the muscle, and Rhea is the requisite female (she's not of Latin descent, but the Dominik-Rhea relationship is already well established). Round it out with Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, two guys that – like Del Toro and Wilde – can go in the ring but haven't been able to connect with the audience in terms of personality.

Plus, as time goes on, you can replace certain members. Rhea's inevitably gonna get tired of Dom being a dorky poser, and Priest could easily be mistreated by Dom, Angel, and Humberto, who only see him as a meat-head that had trouble handling a tiny non-wrestler named “Bunny”. Rhea and Priest both turn face, with Rhea being replaced by Raquel Rodriguez or Elektra Lopez, and Priest being replaced by Karrion Kross (who has been a bust as a top-level guy, but would be great muscle for Dom). And as all this is going on, Balor-McDonagh can make for a stand-out tag-team.

Thoughts?

– Stu

You’re certainly more invested in this Judgment Day thing than I am.

Tony Khan is the billion dollar man

10th May 2023 by Scott Keith

So, rumours are that WBD will be extending the AEW deal for 5 years for 1 billion dollars

I guess it wont be dead by labour day now?

Fatness hasn’t sent me a 5 paragraph rant about how AEW is dying recently. Hope he’s doing OK in the cardiac ward of the hospital after hearing this. Sorry I meant local medical facility.

Rebooking WMX7…before WMX7

9th May 2023 by Scott Keith

It seems ridiculous to rebook one of the biggest and best WM main events ever…but there's no denying the outcome killed the Attitude Era. Would any of the following alternatives worked better?

– Austin turns heel before WM, so fans want to see Rock beat the traitorous Austin

– Rock turns heel before WM. Austin wins the belt in Texas, after a year off from injury, everybody's happy

– Neither turns. Austin just beats him to a hero's celebration in his home state

Rock didn't need to go FULL heel, but he could have easily gone arrogant babyface quasi-heel and yeah, Austin could have beaten him and sent the crowd home happy.

Ring entrances – Order

9th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Interesting at Backlash where, for the main event, contrary to tradition, the face (Cody) entered the ring first. Two questions :

For matches that don't involve a title, when do you consider that the face should enter the ring / arena before the heel?
For matches where a heel is the champion, should normal practice be face entering second, or champ entering second?

Champ always enters second. That's what separates us from the animals.

In general, I'm always a fan of the heel entering first, to increase the pop for the babyface.

Young markdom – hating heels

9th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Quick one – in your young mark days, can you nominate the heel you most viscerally just
loathed and wanted to see die in an avalanche of clotheslines and piledrivers?

Ric Flair. Got so sick of that fucker escaping from Sting and Lex Luger time after time.

Has important are ratings really?

8th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Every Thursday the same people on Twitter gleefully post the Dynamite ratings as a GOTCHA.
You fielded a question about MJF being a flop as champion because of declining ratings. But as the ratings slip WBD is giving AEW a new 2-hour show, there are streaming rumors with HBO MAX, and they’re killing ticket sales for Wembley, their largest gate/show ever.

So I guess my question is, who cares about the ratings? It seems WBD is cool with AEW. They’re drawing 130k+ ppv buys and that will likely increase with FD2, All In coming.

It wasn’t long ago that WWE was hitting weekly low ratings for RAW but with streaming money and Saudi, it never impacted their bottomline.

Are ratings just a thing that heats up the most tribal of our niche gang or do they actually matter?

Thanks,

Dan from Bklyn

Sent from my iPhone

They’re a metric like any other. If WBD is happy then they don’t matter. If they suddenly decide they want a million viewers then they’ll matter again.

AI Creative

8th May 2023 by Scott Keith

Hi Scott,

Hollywood writers are on strike. One of the things they want is for studios to not use AI to write scripts. Since wrestling doesn't require 'Goodfellas' level of quality, souldn't wrestling companies consider using AI to create storylines and characters?

Long as it’s not the people who did the creepy pizza commercial. That thing is still giving me nightmares.

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