The Submit’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the globe of professional wrestling each Tuesday in his weekly column, the Submit Match Angle.
All Elite Wrestling’s roster building is making its upcoming tv deal that rather more vital.
The corporate at present has three hours of true weekly tv between Dynamite and Rampage — not counting the quarterly “Battle of the Belts” exhibits — with round 125 in-ring skills signed, per their official roster web page. And that’s not counting these additionally showing recurrently akin to a Willow Nightengale, who isn’t formally “All Elite.”
AEW additionally has 15 titles that might seem on its programming in case you depend the Ring of Honor belts, all three of FTR’s tag workforce championships (however one way or the other not the AEW ones), and Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo’s Lucha Libre AAA combined tag workforce championships. By comparability, WWE has round 97 in-ring skills signed to the principle roster with 5 hours of tv every week and 10 main-roster titles, together with the 24/7 belt.
One thing’s bought to offer finally in AEW as a result of the present construction doesn’t really feel sustainable.
AEW’s roster appears arrange to have the ability to assist each its personal model and Ring Honor if and when ROH will get some type of weekly tv again. (Kind of like when WCW had plans to make “Thunder” a WCW present and “Monday Nitro” the nWo present within the late ’90s.) And that won't occur till 2024 when AEW’s television-rights deal is up. That’s additionally working below the belief ROH will get weekly TV value writing residence about, not caught on a channel nobody can discover or a streaming service nobody cares about.
The opposite solution to make issues higher — however most likely not completely make things better — can be for AEW itself to achieve some extra TV time, whether or not it's a second hour of Rampage with an improved time slot or a 3rd present both on cable or an HBO Max-level streaming service.
If none of that occurs, does AEW president Tony Khan begin not renewing contracts, altering his artistic, streamlining how a lot ROH content material is on AEW exhibits or drop the model altogether? The 2 can’t be married this carefully perpetually, can they?
That’s as a result of there have been loads of points with how AEW’s try and promote ROH to TV execs has trickled right down to tv time obtainable to remainder of the roster. It’s solely been made worse by the occasional one-off matches with expertise exterior the corporate akin to New Japan’s Tomohiro Ishii and Minoru Suzuki, AAA’s Aerostar & Samuray Del Sol and the Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons from Impression. Sure, the matches are cool, however that’s treasured TV time you possibly can be utilizing to inform tales or function extra of the expertise you even have below contract.
Even simply final week, AEW world champion Jon Moxley confronted Juice Robinson with zero construct and Ring of Honor champion Chris Jericho did the identical towards Bandido. Each are skills any firm can be fortunate to have, however does AEW really want extra wrestlers proper now when the likes of Andrade, Darby Allin, Kip Sabian or Lance Archer may very well be doing a lot extra?
Three hours simply isn’t sufficient tv time to get nearly all of AEW’s expertise and mixed championships on the display in a significant manner. (I’ve had various individuals ask me simply what number of titles AEW has.) What it’s led to is the TNT championship, which used to really feel so prestigious, barely showing on TV in a significant manner since Wardlow gained the belt in early July. Wednesday’s chilly title protection towards Brian Cage doesn’t precisely change that. The truth is, Wardlow and ROH Tv champion Samoa Joe at the moment are a WarJoe tag workforce. So each their singles belts really feel like they've been rendered meaningless whereas a feud between them would have been a lot better. Perhaps we get there finally, however nonetheless.
Additionally, TBS champion Jade Cargill is 37-0 and has the potential to be a breakout star for the corporate, however exterior of a mishmash feud with Athena it looks like she hasn’t had a significant story or confronted an opponent you’d suppose for a second has an opportunity to beat her. If this individual is so dominant, why isn’t she your ladies’s world champion after which go inform some enjoyable tales with nice matches with the TBS championship?
It’s why AEW’s subsequent tv deal looms even extra important, past the large cash it’s supposed to usher in. As a result of if Ring of Honor doesn’t turn out to be a professional second model or AEW nonetheless has its three hours of TV time, then had been all assets spent on reviving a ROH model that has a restricted quantity of nostalgia worth at finest value it? Does AEW then must trim down its roster or get rid of the ROH titles altogether? As a result of whereas we're probably caught with this present model a short time longer, it doesn’t really feel sustainable with out the following tv deal giving it the assets to take action.
Alternative Knocking
Daniel Cormier, who has expressed curiosity up to now in getting concerned with WWE, would be the particular referee for Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle’s Battle Pit match at Excessive Guidelines. Doing so no less than opens up hypothesis about whether or not Cormier — a former two-division UFC champion – will get to step within the ring with former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.
Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio on Monday that he may see it doubtlessly taking place at WrestleMania 39. It’s simple to see Crown Jewel additionally being a chance for it. However I don’t care the place it occurs. Get the match within the ring, WWE. Don’t let this window with Cormier entrance and middle in your product go after which should deliver him again for one more purpose to get it carried out.
Cormier, 43, and Lesnar, 45, have a previous historical past with an encounter throughout UFC 226 that by no means was a struggle within the octagon. The Beast has nothing to do proper now and few viable opponents left. Get it carried out, WWE. Get it carried out.
Momentum misstep
Saraya didn’t put her finest foot ahead in her first AEW promo and didn’t clear up a complete lot about what precisely she is doing there apart from she is making an attempt to usher in some form of revolution within the ladies’s division. Credit score to her for happening Twitter and acknowledging that by saying she was clearly “rusty.”
However what's her position in AEW? Is she a quasi GM for the ladies’s division? An on-screen cheerleader? What we didn’t hear was if she is cleared to wrestle, so for now we've to imagine it might be a little bit bit earlier than we see her compete if that’s within the playing cards. Saraya additionally took flak for insinuating her ex-bosses in WWE didn’t hearken to her. I took that as a reference to the tip of her run when she was not used on TV and she or he has mentioned up to now she had been pitching concepts. All of it didn’t add a lot to the excitement she created at Grand Slam.
The ten Rely
I floated the thought final week that perhaps, simply perhaps Sami Zayn was enjoying the Bloodline and Jey Uso’s difficult of the honorary Uce’s loyalty this week appears to no less than open the door for that.
Seeing Daniel Garcia, who is way improved on the mic, lastly inform off Chris Jericho was good to see in a enjoyable phase that each embraced and bristled at “sport leisure” (Luigi Primo is having a tough go of it). However I left needing to see extra as this wasn’t as huge a blowup as anticipated and Garcia is already teaming with Bryan Danielson subsequent week versus Jericho and Sammy Guevara.
Utilizing Mustafa Ali as a never-give-up, gutsy babyface in a match with Bobby Lashley this week on Uncooked doesn’t seem like a lot now, however offers WWE no less than a basis to work on sooner or later with him.
AEW is actually throwing Wheeler Yuta within the deep finish of the pool on this storyline with MJF, who clearly respects him. It’s as much as Yuta to boost his promo sport if he desires to achieve the following stage as AEW clearly hopes he does.
Apollo Crews could also be giving Seth Rollins a run for his cash as WWE’s “visionary.”
As some extent of housekeeping, the WWE ladies’s tag championship has been defended simply as soon as because the match ended on Aug. 29. Perhaps at Crown Jewel?
Shaun Ricker is simply too gifted a performer to be only a supervisor — which he additionally knocked out of park. Glad to see we're one huge step near dropping Max Dupri and getting LA Knight again. Yeeaaah.
If there was an actual most attention-grabbing man on the earth, it was Antonio Inoki. From wrestling Hulk Hogan, humbling Muhammed Ali, pioneering MMA, and serving to to free Japanese hostages in Iraq, Inoki was an absolute trailblazer in each manner. We misplaced a legend final week.
If Bray Wyatt is the payoff to WWE’s “white rabbit” clues and does return Saturday at Excessive Guidelines, the Drew McIntyre-Karrion Kross match makes probably the most sense for him to return in. Doing at a pay-per-view makes extra sense as a result of it might entice viewers to tune into Uncooked.
I lastly completed former WWE head author Brian Gerwirtz’s e-book, “There’s Simply One Drawback…: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, seventh Most Highly effective Individual in WWE.” And whereas anybody who's a wrestling fan will love its humor, tales and honesty, I’d extremely advocate it to non-wrestling followers who've all the time been curious concerning the enterprise. It each explains and illustrates why it’s in contrast to anything in leisure. Lastly, I’ll by no means take a look at individuals consuming pancakes the identical manner once more after studying of the McMahon household’s habits.
Additional: Did MJF’s hilarious trolling of the remainder of the NL East really jinx the Mets?
Wrestler of the Week
Rush, All Elite Wrestling
Whereas it felt like there was loads treading water in wrestling this week, the previous Ring of Honor champion bought a uncommon probability to shine in a singles match on AEW tv. He turned in a strong Rampage fundamental occasion towards the Darkish Order’s Jon Silver and a confrontation with “Hangman” Adam Web page afterward may set him up for an encounter with one of many greater names within the firm down the street.
Match to look at
Matt Riddle vs Seth Rollins, Battle Pit match (WWE Excessive Guidelines, Saturday, 8 p.m. Peacock)
This would be the first time Triple H will deliver a match he utilized in NXT to the principle roster. Now we have solely seen the struggle pit twice earlier than, initially in a conflict between Riddle and Timothy Thatcher in 2020 after which Thatcher and Ciampa in 2021. The ferocity of the Rollins and Riddle feud definitely makes it deserving and must be the payoff to it. Including former UFC champion Daniel Cormier because the particular referee provides a sense of legitimacy and spectacle to it. Additionally, anytime Rollins is in a match for the primary time, it’s fascinating to see how he'll make it his personal.
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