# Is Tony just gonna bring in everyone WWE releases? This roster is bloated as all hell



## Thomazbr (Apr 26, 2009)

As far as I'm concerned it was good because now everyone can forget Adam Cole and move to the real talent in Bryan Danielson.
So good on you Tony, you did the wrong thing signing him but at least you had the decency to make him the supporting player unlike Danielson or CM Punk.


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## Undertaker23RKO (Jun 11, 2011)

On any other night you might have a point. Tonight...you look like an idiot.


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## SAMCRO (Jul 10, 2006)

Undertaker23RKO said:


> On any other night you might have a point. Tonight...you look like an idiot.


No i don't, they got too many guys for one 2 hour wrestling show, they're gonna end up paying a ton of talent for sitting backstage doing nothing cause they gotta make room for Brian Danielson, CM Punk, Christian, Adam Cole, Andrade, Malakai Black, Matt Hardy, Ruby Sohoh or whatever her new goofy name is, Wyatt whenever he's allowed to show up. Guys like Archer and Sammy Guevara might as well jsut leave and go to Impact they'll likely be able to get on tv more often there.


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## Adapting (Jun 21, 2020)

They aren't even done yet lmao


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## DZ Crew (Sep 26, 2016)

They really need to slow their role with debuts. Let the moment breath debuting one new signing before you move on to the next.


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## RainmakerV2 (Nov 8, 2017)

I mean you gotta think these guys like Wardlow see the writing on the wall. I mean if they wanna spend years wrestling on Dark and Rampage because they love Tony so much, then good for em I guess.


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## 5 Star Giulia ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Apr 21, 2014)

*Yeah, Hangman is done in the main event. *


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

You're bang on the money, OP.

The signings of Adam Cole and Bryan are great but it means more homegrown guys are relegated to Dark. Already for this PPV we saw most of the homegrown AEW guys doing jobs for the ex WWE guys whilst Jungle Boy who is meant to be this heavily pushed star won the pre show match.

And people are already looking towards more ex WWE guys either returning or debuting. AEW kind of is now the place where the WWE guys go when either Vince doesn't want them or they want big money for less work...just like WCW


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

RainmakerV2 said:


> I mean you gotta think these guys like Wardlow see the writing on the wall. I mean if they wanna spend years wrestling on Dark and Rampage because they love Tony so much, then good for em I guess.


Yeah if you're an AEW homegrown guy you'd probably be starting to get a little bit annoyed at this point.


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## Nothing Finer (Apr 12, 2017)

They need a big cull of the guys they signed early on when they couldn't get WWE guys. Being "homegrown guys" provides no additional value. If you've got Bray Wyatt what do you need the Dark Order for?


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

Nothing Finer said:


> They need a big cull of the guys they signed early on when they couldn't get WWE guys. Being "homegrown guys" provides no additional value. If you've got Bray Wyatt what do you need the Dark Order for?


I agree in a way but the last thing you want is to get that reputation for being the place where the ex WWE guys go once Vince is done with them or they are done with Vince.


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## One Shed (Jan 7, 2014)

I hope he has also spent some decent money on people to develop interesting feuds and stories for all these people to be involved in. If they have that, I will definitely enjoy the product more.


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## Vitamin R (Jun 15, 2020)

Bryan and Cole were not released. Their contracts ran out and chose AEW over WWE, you dumbass.


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## Stellar (May 30, 2016)

They will just keep putting guys in to groups. Like Adam Cole is with The Elite and Bryan Danielson is with Christian and Jurassic Express. When Bray Windham or Windham Rotundo or whatever his name will be appears id just automatically put him in to the Dark Order.

It is a lot to keep up with with that huge roster, ill admit. Have to remember though that CM Punk and others wont be wrestling every week or maybe even twice a month. Like I can imagine Bryan Danielson having a schedule that allows him to disappear for awhile to be with family, returns for several months and then disappears again.

Ruby Soho probably will be okay with taking a backseat to other women eventually, wrestling on the youtube shows. What I am getting at is that Tony Khan will find ways to make it all work. It may mean that he wont be using outside talent as much. I do agree that it's a very bloated roster but hey, it's Tony's money.

Also, Tony isn't signing everyone that WWE releases. Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole weren't released anyway. They chose to sign with AEW over WWE. They had a choice. Impact has been signing some of the WWE releases and there are others that aren't wrestling anymore, like Joe Hennig and AOP.


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## Chan Hung (Dec 28, 2011)

SAMCRO said:


> I mean where do you even begin with it? theres already a ton of talent that can barely get on the show as it is, we barely if ever see Sammy Guevara, Wardlow, Archer, Dante Martin etc. Malakai Black is already old news cause they immediately brought in like 15 different signings not long after he debuted. At All Out alone they brought in 3 ex WWE wrestlers, they was practically coming out on an assembly line.
> 
> This companies got damn near 100 wrestlers on this roster, and half of them can't get on tv, Tony needs to slow the fuck down. Bringing in Cole and Bryan back to back was ridiculous for one, i mean give time for one guy to stay hot for a minute before you immediately bring in someone else that makes them immediately give no fucks about the pervious guy that debuted. And did Cole not see Bryan backstage before he came out? why was he surprised? it was dumb.
> 
> Guys like MJF, Sammy, Hangman etc aint got a chance in hell of being world champion with all these huge WWE stars waltzing in getting handed top spots. This is starting to become the WWE show, while all the AEW original guys are gonna be forgotten about.


This is why factions have more people we can count. Notice the first match we had like 20 people come out lmfao.


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## Nothing Finer (Apr 12, 2017)

Chip Chipperson said:


> I agree in a way but the last thing you want is to get that reputation for being the place where the ex WWE guys go once Vince is done with them or they are done with Vince.


I don't think that should be a concern. Most of the best English speaking wrestlers in the world have worked for WWE, that's just the state of the industry, they've been the dominant company for the last 20 years. Are you going to turn down the best talent because they've worked for the biggest company?

Going after people like Kurt Angle, Zack Ryder, Big Show, Christian, QT Marshall, Trent Baretta people who WWE don't want any more because they're has-beens or never-weres, yeah, fair enough, there's a danger of becoming a retirement home, but people like Punk, Bryan, Cole, Black, Ruby, people who are popular, people who are over? I think it would be madness to turn them down. If they turn out to be shit then get rid of them.


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## AnonymousOne (Aug 19, 2021)

Bryan and Cole wasn't released you clown. Their contracts expired and they chose AEW over WWE.


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## La Parka (Oct 28, 2008)

my god... what's Maxwell doing at full sail!?


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## Seafort (Jun 5, 2014)

You all realize this is a once in a generation type of opportunity, right? It’s somewhat equivalent to when WCW and ECW went under and there was a glut of free agents suddenly available. WWE does periodic release waves, but never to this degree and never have top names like this been released.

It’s a risky, but golden window has opened for Khan right now. Identify the guys that you think can really build your brand and sign them. Do it before the mercurial Vince McMahon changes his mind and offers a Danielson or Wyatt 1.5 amount their original salary to come back.

The best thing however to do is to slow down on the on air debuts. If Khan wants to and can sign Wyatt and Braun now, let him. But don’t debut them until February. Let the company absorb this recent wave of signings before you introduce new, top players into the mix. 

I think back to how WCW rolled out their major signings and it was more spaced out:

Jan 96: Steiner Brothers
Feb 96: Legion of Doom
May 96: Scott Hall, Kevin Nash
Sep 96: 1-2-3 Kid
Oct 96: Jeff Jarrett
Feb 97: Curt Hennig
Dec 97: Bret Hart

They couldn’t have had them all appear at once even if they wanted to, but as it was these phased arrivals allowed the company to absorb and process the signings.


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## reyfan (May 23, 2011)

Tony Khan treating wrestlers like pokemon, gotta sign them all


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## Seafort (Jun 5, 2014)

Nothing Finer said:


> I don't think that should be a concern. Most of the best English speaking wrestlers in the world have worked for WWE, that's just the state of the industry, they've been the dominant company for the last 20 years. Are you going to turn down the best talent because they've worked for the biggest company?
> 
> Going after people like Kurt Angle, Zack Ryder, Big Show, Christian, QT Marshall, Trent Baretta people who WWE don't want any more because they're has-beens or never-weres, yeah, fair enough, there's a danger of becoming a retirement home, but people like Punk, Bryan, Cole, Black, Ruby, people who are popular, people who are over? I think it would be madness to turn them down. If they turn out to be shit then get rid of them.


Black is 36, Cole is 32, Miro is 36. These are not over the hill signings...especially when you compare against the two top new talents in WWE...Priest (38) and Riddle (35). All three were good signings and they ideally will be major players in the company over the next five years.


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## shawnyhc01 (Feb 25, 2011)

1. No worries, WWE still has way more guys than AEW, and they still run the shitty program without any worry.

2. The money is not from your pocket, why bother?


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## llj (Feb 22, 2018)

AEW actually STOLE Bryan (and to an extent, Cole) from the WWE. They're not picking up WWE's leftovers in those two cases, they're now actually making guys choose THEM over WWE. The WWE apparently really wanted to keep Bryan and gave him a really generous offer. He just turned it down and chose AEW


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## Gn1212 (May 17, 2012)

When the talent is there and you have the money you do it.

AEW wants to beat WWE. WWE has the best talent in the world, it's only natural for AEW to poach their best players.


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## Dan E. Dangerously (Aug 23, 2021)

aEw hAs nOtHinG buT iNDie nOboDYs

aEW hAs tOo mANy fAmOUs pEOpLe


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## Lesnar Turtle (Dec 6, 2011)

They could definitely cut plenty of people from the roster without it having much of an effect, and tbh most of them arent even ex-WWE. 

When it comes to Punk, Bryan and Cole, those are all big signings and totally worth it.


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## Mindy_Macready (Jun 12, 2014)

Tony Khan really needs to slow down on signing wwe rejects. are these homegrown talent gonna be jobbing out to these new signing everyweek


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## Rankles75 (May 29, 2011)

It’s funny, until very recently Adam Cole was a vanilla midget who spams superkicks and Daniel Bryan should have either been put out to pasture or used to put over younger talents. What changed?


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## Punk21 (Sep 5, 2021)

AEW has a lot more room for more to be honest. 
AJ and Finn are needed to complete the club
Once that happens they should end the bullet club once and for all.
The fact AEW has deals with NJPW and TNA allows them to do this.
If the right talent is up for grabs then why not sign them.


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## Makish16 (Aug 31, 2016)

Bryan said in the post show, wwe gave him everything he wanted even the independent dates, he choose aew anyway 

What's funny is the last guy to jump ship after main eventing Mania was Hogan 

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk


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## RapShepard (Jun 20, 2014)

They might need to go brand split


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## thorn123 (Oct 10, 2019)

…. And loving it


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## The_Great_One21 (Feb 22, 2012)

You’re right they should push Sonny Kiss and Joey Janella instead of signing Bryan Danielson and CM Punk.


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## GTL2 (Sep 1, 2016)

It's starting to feel like NXT in 2015 - which indy star will they sign next? - and that drove half the buzz around NXT. Except AEW is doing it with former WWE talent

Then in about 2018 they ran out of big name talent to sign and interest declined. They need to build their own to make it sustainable. And they are doing some of that.


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

The_Great_One21 said:


> You’re right they should push Sonny Kiss and Joey Janella instead of signing Bryan Danielson and CM Punk.


Why not push Hangman and MJF? MJF just lost to a 50 year old Jericho in the feud ender...


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## QuietInRealLife (Sep 30, 2012)

SAMCRO said:


> I mean where do you even begin with it? theres already a ton of talent that can barely get on the show as it is, we barely if ever see Sammy Guevara, Wardlow, Archer, Dante Martin etc. Malakai Black is already old news cause they immediately brought in like 15 different signings not long after he debuted. At All Out alone they brought in 3 ex WWE wrestlers, they was practically coming out on an assembly line.
> 
> This companies got damn near 100 wrestlers on this roster, and half of them can't get on tv, Tony needs to slow the fuck down. Bringing in Cole and Bryan back to back was ridiculous for one, i mean give time for one guy to stay hot for a minute before you immediately bring in someone else that makes them immediately give no fucks about the pervious guy that debuted. And did Cole not see Bryan backstage before he came out? why was he surprised? it was dumb.
> 
> Guys like MJF, Sammy, Hangman etc aint got a chance in hell of being world champion with all these huge WWE stars waltzing in getting handed top spots. This is starting to become the WWE show, while all the AEW original guys are gonna be forgotten about.


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## Alright_Mate (Jul 21, 2014)

You really think AEW are going to turn down the likes of Miro, Black, Danielson, Cole & Soho and let them walk into another company?

No chance.

WWE have released so many wrestlers recently, some extremely talented, some not so much, imo AEW have picked up the right wrestlers, that they knew would make them stronger.


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## HeadOfTheTable420 (Sep 5, 2021)

RainmakerV2 said:


> I mean you gotta think these guys like Wardlow see the writing on the wall. I mean if they wanna spend years wrestling on Dark and Rampage because they love Tony so much, then good for em I guess.


Wardlow would thrive in WWE. Vince loves guys like him.


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## Outlaw91 (Mar 31, 2011)

They have to, some guys simply can't be missed, fans won't forgive you for having the chance to sign them and you didn't.


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## Cooper09 (Aug 24, 2016)

I'm more of a draw than that skinny dwarf Adam Cole. How he is billed as a big signing is laughable. At least Bryan has main scented WM.


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## Chris22 (Jan 7, 2010)

The roster is getting pretty big so it'll be interesting to see how they book them all over the next few months. I think the AEW original talent will be fine though.


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## OldSchoolRocks (May 16, 2020)

Look on the bright side, more incoming talent hopefully means less Joey Janela's and Librarians.
AEW can remove a lot of the outlaw element of their roster now if they are smart.


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## elo (Oct 25, 2006)

Tony is so flexible with his roster working dates with other companies/living life/non-wrestling related work etc that he can get away with it being so enormous - you're not going to be seeing the same people each week doing re-matches and you may not even see someone like a Danielson or Punk win the top title ever either. I really hope he keeps it this way and doesn't go down the insular echo-chamber path of the WWE no matter how large his company gets.


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## Jedah (Jul 16, 2017)

What were they going to do, _not_ sign Black, Punk, Cole, and Bryan if they had the chance?


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## Not Lying (Sep 9, 2013)

Jedah said:


> What were they going to do, _not_ sign Black, Punk, Cole, and Bryan if they had the chance?


I mean these 4 are of the best 20 in the world probably. So yeah, must sign.


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

Jedah said:


> What were they going to do, _not_ sign Black, Punk, Cole, and Bryan if they had the chance?


They are must signs but Tony has been selling PPV's and TV shows for 2 years with the promises of ex WWE guys debuting to the point he now must have at least 40 of them on the roster.


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## RapShepard (Jun 20, 2014)

Jedah said:


> What were they going to do, _not_ sign Black, Punk, Cole, and Bryan if they had the chance?


Of course sign them, it's just going to be interesting to see how they make everybody feel important without doing a brand split. But too much name value is certainly the best type of problem to have lol.


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## RapShepard (Jun 20, 2014)

Chip Chipperson said:


> They are must signs but Tony has been selling PPV's and TV shows for 2 years with the promises of ex WWE guys debuting to the point he now must have at least 40 of them on the roster.


That's not really fair it's really just this summer where it was known for sure big names were coming, and Revolution with the Christian spoiler. He's brought in names for sure, but the PPVs haven't been sold on that for the most part


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## LifeInCattleClass (Dec 21, 2010)

Its funny how basically all the people have now arrived that TK got shat on mercilessly for the Christian debut lolllzzzz

would like to see some receipts and retractions


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## Shaun_27 (Apr 12, 2011)

Jedah said:


> What were they going to do, _not_ sign Black, Punk, Cole, and Bryan if they had the chance?


I don't think anyone is complaining about those guys. Much like Jericho & Moxley, no one had a problem with them because they are dream signings you can build a company around. It's most of the other guys they shouldn't have signed. The roster is bloated now and certain guys will miss out. Every time you feature someone who doesn't need to be there, you do so at the expense of building your homegrown talent.


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## Garty (Jul 29, 2007)

Eric Bischoff and WCW signed ex-WWE talent to put Vince McMahon and WWE out of business. Tony Khan and AEW has signed ex-WWE talent to build their own promotion.

If WWE didn't see "it" with some of their "superstars", then let AEW show the world why they were wrong. If AEW fails at doing that, then it's fair to say they've made a big mistake in "signing everyone", but we're years away from making that determination.

AEW isn't in this game to put WWE out of business. It never has been a goal, nor should it ever be. It was to give wrestling fans, a wrestling product and not "sports entertainment". WWE found their success and have played it easy for 20+ years, but if they want to do something right for a change, they should focus on themselves. Just as AEW has done.


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## reyfan (May 23, 2011)

Remember when Chris Jericho told him to back off signing WWE guys and then it was revealed they only planned on signing 2-3 more at that time, since then they've hired like 20+ people.


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## yeahright2 (Feb 11, 2011)

This is what the money mark can do instead of creating good storylines and building the stars he already have. There´s 2 problems with this (3 if you count their previous statements about not wanting WWE wrestlers).
Problem #1. Sooner or later they´re gonna run out of big names to sign.
Problem #2. The talent that´s already there might not be too fond of the idea about being pushed down the card to make room for the big names from WWE.


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## Garty (Jul 29, 2007)

reyfan said:


> Remember when Chris Jericho told him to back off signing WWE guys and then it was revealed they only planned on signing 2-3 more at that time, since then they've hired like 20+ people.


I remind you of Dave Meltzer's quote... "plans change".

I remind you of the McMahon family's quote... "we're going to listen to you, the fans, giving you what you want, you will be the authority".

*EDIT: *


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## thorwold (Dec 19, 2015)

Vince has released a lot of people recently, and the majority of them have not ended up in AEW, so obviously the answer to your question is no. They've just taken up the ones they think are top tier talents who can help improve their product, and take their business to the next level. Hard to understand, right?

Aside from 2.0, that really is a very random pickup. But they were one of the most entertaining things on NXT every week, and they've done a good job since coming in, so can't fault them there either.


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## Twilight Sky (Feb 19, 2019)

Chip Chipperson said:


> You're bang on the money, OP.
> 
> The signings of Adam Cole and Bryan are great but it means more homegrown guys are relegated to Dark. Already for this PPV we saw most of the homegrown AEW guys doing jobs for the ex WWE guys whilst Jungle Boy who is meant to be this heavily pushed star won the pre show match.
> 
> And people are already looking towards more ex WWE guys either returning or debuting. AEW kind of is now the place where the WWE guys go when either Vince doesn't want them or they want big money for less work...just like WCW


Well. Don't forget TNA. Half of those guys, AJ and Kurt included, were wrestling _for free. _At least WCW was still paying their guys despite losing over 7 million a year.

As for the topic at hand, this common place now I guess. WWE is just giving away talent to other companies lol.


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## brewjo32 (Nov 24, 2015)

Interesting is seems any former WWE personality gets this thunderous welcome to AEW. Didn't really understand all that for Ruby. I'm waiting for the James Ellsworth signing before the end of the year.


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## ste1592 (Dec 20, 2014)

I mean, most AEW originals are people who didn't make the cut in WWE anyways.

Aside from the Elite and a few others, who is in AEW because they thought "screw WWE, I'm going to this new startup company"? Most people are there because WWE didn't want them to begin with.

Personally, if WWE releases land in AEW and are featured decently and do well for themselves, I'm happy. I really hope AEW signs more of them, and perhaps we can hope they'll force people like QT Marshall out of our screens.


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## The_Great_One21 (Feb 22, 2012)

GTL2 said:


> It's starting to feel like NXT in 2015 - which indy star will they sign next? - and that drove half the buzz around NXT. Except AEW is doing it with former WWE talent
> 
> Then in about 2018 they ran out of big name talent to sign and interest declined. They need to build their own to make it sustainable. And they are doing some of that.


1 - Why do they need to build their own to make it sustainable? AEW won’t lose anyone to the main roster like NXT did. They don’t need to grow anyone when your roster has danielson, punk, moxley, omega, miro, malakai black etc.
2 - Even though they don’t NEED to grow anyone they clearly will. Hangman, Darby, Guevara, Baker, MJF etc are all homegrown talents.


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## bigwrestlingfan22 (May 19, 2015)

Both things can be right...

First off if your AEW you have to sign the vast majority of the guys they have. I think they could of done without Christian Cage and a few others but Punk, Bryan, Cole etc are no brainers. I'll even accept the fact they signed the Big Show for outside the ring reasons but NEVER EVER put him in the ring again! 

That said they're roster is now HUGE. It's not my money so I don't care but you'd think it's time to start releasing some of the guys who are simply never going to be used. The problem becomes if Tony or whomever is booking tries to start giving everyone equal time. Then you have guys making big money sitting around doing nothing. 

I think this is an exciting time in pro wrestling and am eager to see how it turns out.


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

Garty said:


> but if they want to do something right for a change, they should focus on themselves. Just as AEW has done.


AEW references WWE on an almost weekly basis. CM Punk debuted and talked about the WWE in his first promo, Adam Cole's first promo in AEW he references Vince McMahon, The Elite have taken a million shots at WWE, Cody Rhodes smashing the Triple H esque throne, Brodie Lee doing a Vince McMahon IRL gimmick the Twitch stuff, the leg slap stuff...I can continue if you want


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## LifeInCattleClass (Dec 21, 2010)

Chip Chipperson said:


> AEW references WWE on an almost weekly basis. CM Punk debuted and talked about the WWE in his first promo, Adam Cole's first promo in AEW he references Vince McMahon, The Elite have taken a million shots at WWE, Cody Rhodes smashing the Triple H esque throne, Brodie Lee doing a Vince McMahon IRL gimmick the Twitch stuff, the leg slap stuff...I can continue if you want


Gooood! I like that. I want more of that!


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## Riddle101 (Aug 15, 2006)

I wouldn't say AEW is signing every former WWE wrestler, but AEW has managed to acquire a lot of big names from WWE and that's the point. Danielson and Punk are former world champions with a big fanbase, Ruby is very talented and has always been underrated by WWE, now she can help to elevate AEW's women's division. If Bray Wyatt does come to AEW, then they will be getting another big name and former World Champion. 

Black and Cole are good additions for AEW too as they had some hype behind them. Chrisitan is an old veteran but he's a great in-ring worker and has some appeal from fans because of his career.


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## JBLGOAT (Mar 24, 2014)

When is Wardlow going to turn on MJF?

When are we going to get the payoff to Hangman Page?

When are we going to get Madi versus Leva Bates 3?

When are we going to get an end to Gunnbergs streak?

When is Hikaru Shida going to get a character?

When is AEW going to build a new guy without starting them out with 30-40 losses?

These are the questions I still have for the AEW originals.


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## Majmo_Mendez (Jul 18, 2014)

Apparently you should remain unemployed if you ever leave WWE. Also I'm willing to bet that most of you dumb fucks are the same people who complained about the lack of star power when AEW first started.


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## omaroo (Sep 19, 2006)

JBLGOAT said:


> When is Wardlow going to turn on MJF?
> 
> When are we going to get the payoff to Hangman Page?
> 
> ...


I actually want to see what they do with Wardlow as there is major potential in him and the feud with MJF could elevate him big time.


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## Algernon (Jul 27, 2006)

There’s no salary cap. They’re not in cost cutting mode. You don’t hold back on signing Punk and Danielson because there may not be room on the show for lance archer and Sammy Guevara.

You’re damn right we’d see Finn Balor and AJ styles in AEW if they became available tomorrow. 

They’re going to have another tv deal fall back on when they renew in 2022. I know their deal is up in ‘23 but organizations usually negotiate about a year out.

Right now It’s about signing any talent worth a damn. You figure out the rest later.


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## Buster Baxter (Mar 30, 2015)

LOL This thread is a prime example of how you can't win with wrestling fans. When AEW started two years ago "This roster is full of indy geeks". 2 Years later this roster is absolutely fucking loaded and people still find something to cry about.


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## yeahright2 (Feb 11, 2011)

brewjo32 said:


> Interesting is seems any former WWE personality gets this thunderous welcome to AEW. Didn't really understand all that for Ruby. I'm waiting for the James Ellsworth signing before the end of the year.


That´s probably not happening any time soon. Ellsworth was accused of sending naked pictures to an underage girl.. I don´t think it was ever proved, but the accusation alone is enough to make AEW not want him on their roster


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## RnRCLUB44 (Jun 29, 2021)

Never knew signing fully capable talent who can fit anywhere you want in the card is a bad thing. Why some wrestling fans worry about a promotions pockets that clearly isn't struggling I truly don't know. They signed guys that all had proven fanbase or interest at a point of time in their careers which either has been sustained or carried over to AEW (in the case of black, andrade is starting to gain it back once he has that PAC Match). 

The only people who should take notice are the AEW originals and even then a lot of them are young. They can only benefit from having guys like Punk and Bryan taking time on TV right now so later on in their careers Sammy Guevara can possibly say a career highlight he had was facing Bryan who is already retired most likely by the time Sammy is 33+ (usually when a wrestlers prime years start is 31-32). If anyone notices most their main event guys and people coming in and pushed to the top are already in their primes. Most of AEW originals haven't even hit it yet. Let's enjoy the top talent of the past 5 years finally have a landscape they can unleash creativity without restrictions before MJF, Sammy, Wardlow, Hobbs, Ricky and the like take over.


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## MarkyWhipwreck (Dec 20, 2014)

Rankles75 said:


> It’s funny, until very recently Adam Cole was a vanilla midget who spams superkicks and Daniel Bryan should have either been put out to pasture or used to put over younger talents. What changed?


This dumbass forum my friend.


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## Chan Hung (Dec 28, 2011)

JBLGOAT said:


> When is Wardlow going to turn on MJF?
> 
> 
> When is Hikaru Shida going to get a character?
> ...


MJF had a one year long angle and ended up a fucking big loser in the end. Shida needs to turn heel.


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## mrcabrera (Oct 2, 2007)

The reality is, somehow, AEW was able to get a TV deal with TNT, with the only recognizable face to the casuals being Chris Jericho. That is impressive in itself. Right now these big signings bring eyes to the product, bottom line. They currently have about 3-4 shows that they can showcase talent on. They need bodies for those shows. Not everyone is hired to be featured on Dynamite. I think they shot themselves in the foot when they originally said they wouldn't be signing every WWE guy that walks from the company and everyone holds them to that. The thing is...no one anticipated all of these free big-name free agents to be all available at the same time. Tony Khan would be stupid to say, sorry Daniel Bryan, sorry CM Punk, sorry Adam Cole, sorry Bray Wyatt...I can't sign you because the fans would call us hypocrites for doing so. Fuck that. It's an opportunity to at this point, to take eyes away from WWE and have them be the focus, all the while having established names to help the current up-and-coming roster, which let's be honest, is what most of AEW's talent pool is. No one has been able to successfully do this since WCW. Maybe this will light a fire under WWE's ass to give us something compelling outside of Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin. Seems like their immediate counter is Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker for the MSG Smackdown. Meh...


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## Hawkfan45 (Aug 23, 2021)

I'm new to this site but shocked at what people will complain about. Is it so hard to enjoy things? That literally could be one of the top 3 PPV'S ever.


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

mrcabrera said:


> The reality is, somehow, AEW was able to get a TV deal with TNT, with the only recognizable face to the casuals being Chris Jericho. That is impressive in itself.


It's less impressive when you know that Tony's father is a multi billionaire and used his contacts to get said deals. If Tony Khan was just a typical guy without those types of contacts odds are TNT wouldn't have ever picked up AEW and AEW would be on a much smaller network.


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## hardcorewrasslin (Jun 29, 2016)

Lol at people wanting AEW to flourish and at the same time without WWE guys.

WWE has been around as the sole big brand or 20 years and has had dibs on just about every English speaking wrestler. You need big names if you want to succeed otherwise who’s just have ROH but with more money.

Home grown guys are valuable and should also be appreciated and so far they are. Building a brand from scratch requires sacrifices and I’m pretty sure the younger talent understand that. It’s a team effort


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## $Dolladrew$ (Jun 15, 2020)

SAMCRO said:


> I mean where do you even begin with it? theres already a ton of talent that can barely get on the show as it is, we barely if ever see Sammy Guevara, Wardlow, Archer, Dante Martin etc. Malakai Black is already old news cause they immediately brought in like 15 different signings not long after he debuted. At All Out alone they brought in 3 ex WWE wrestlers, they was practically coming out on an assembly line.
> 
> This companies got damn near 100 wrestlers on this roster, and half of them can't get on tv, Tony needs to slow the fuck down. Bringing in Cole and Bryan back to back was ridiculous for one, i mean give time for one guy to stay hot for a minute before you immediately bring in someone else that makes them immediately give no fucks about the pervious guy that debuted. And did Cole not see Bryan backstage before he came out? why was he surprised? it was dumb.
> 
> Guys like MJF, Sammy, Hangman etc aint got a chance in hell of being world champion with all these huge WWE stars waltzing in getting handed top spots. This is starting to become the WWE show, while all the AEW original guys are gonna be forgotten about.


1st of the year alot of the contracts will up not everyone is getting renewed.


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## GTL2 (Sep 1, 2016)

The_Great_One21 said:


> 1 - Why do they need to build their own to make it sustainable? AEW won’t lose anyone to the main roster like NXT did. They don’t need to grow anyone when your roster has danielson, punk, moxley, omega, miro, malakai black etc.
> 2 - Even though they don’t NEED to grow anyone they clearly will. Hangman, Darby, Guevara, Baker, MJF etc are all homegrown talents.


Losing talent to main roster was only part of the issue. Fans just got used to new people arriving so the buzz around new arrivals wore off. Booking also became chaotic trying to integrate new arrivals into storylines.


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## mazzah20 (Oct 10, 2019)

It's not bloated until HHH debuts with his Nexus. And even then, the only bloating is his gut.

If great talent is available you sign em up. Were in a VC world where companies keep raising capital based off of infinite growth of market share, viewers, sponsorship contracts and not profitability. Just enjoy the ride.

If anything, WWE revenues are showing that there is still alot of untapped growth still for the Pepsi of Wrestling.


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## The.Great.One (May 5, 2014)

He's too busy hoovering up the shells of the ex WWE guys to care


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## shandcraig (Mar 23, 2008)

well i lost my quotes lol nevermind


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## The Sheik (Jul 10, 2017)

AEW was fun for a while, but it's becoming a chore to watch. I see myself slowly tuning out.. I did not want to watch AEW and see WWE lite.


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

hardcorewrasslin said:


> Lol at people wanting AEW to flourish and at the same time without WWE guys.
> 
> WWE has been around as the sole big brand or 20 years and has had dibs on just about every English speaking wrestler. You need big names if you want to succeed otherwise who’s just have ROH but with more money.
> 
> Home grown guys are valuable and should also be appreciated and so far they are. Building a brand from scratch requires sacrifices and I’m pretty sure the younger talent understand that. It’s a team effort


I don't think anyone is saying don't hire a Bryan or a Punk but if you look at the PPV yesterday like 7/9 matches that were on the show featured a WWE guy (8/10 if you count the pre show, 9/10 if you count managers). In 6/9 the WWE guy went over a homegrown AEW or NJPW star including:

- 50 year old Chris Jericho beating alleged future superstar MJF via submission after almost a year of feuding. I only recall MJF losing twice and both times it was to former WWE stars.

- 49 year old Big Show beating QT Marshall (Who I think is shit but AEW seems keen to push him) in 3 minutes flat

- 42 year old CM Punk returning after 7 years and beating AEW's alleged top homegrown guy in Darby Allin.

- Ruby Soho after a five year run in WWE joining AEW and going over on every single girl AEW has on Day 1.

- The one guy in Kenny Omega who managed to beat the ageing ex WWE star took 20 minutes and had to have three guys interfere on his behalf for him to win. He then ran away from former WWE star Bryan Danielson. Also, keep in mind Christian was the first one to beat Kenny in like a year.

---

When it's at that level where the WWE guys are in almost every match on a show and they're all 10-15 years past their primes (Soho is the only one listed above who is in her prime) and are beating the AEW homegrown guys it kind of does start to become a problem.


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## nunzioguy (May 16, 2021)

GTL2 said:


> It's starting to feel like NXT in 2015 - which indy star will they sign next? - and that drove half the buzz around NXT. Except AEW is doing it with former WWE talent
> 
> Then in about 2018 they ran out of big name talent to sign and interest declined. They need to build their own to make it sustainable. And they are doing some of that.


It’s funny you say that, because after Adam Cole there wasn’t really anyone that screamed out that they should sign.

Only Keith Lee I can think of.


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## Top bins (Jul 8, 2019)

I think Tony Khan just won't renew some of the shit they have. 

He's recently given contracts to Bryce Remsburg or whatever his name is. Britt Baker and Scorpio Sky has signed a new 5 year deal. He signed MJF to a multi year deal a year or so ago. 

I think that's how he will trim some of these wrestlers. By not renewing a few of them.


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## hardcorewrasslin (Jun 29, 2016)

Chip Chipperson said:


> I don't think anyone is saying don't hire a Bryan or a Punk but if you look at the PPV yesterday like 7/9 matches that were on the show featured a WWE guy (8/10 if you count the pre show, 9/10 if you count managers). In 6/9 the WWE guy went over a homegrown AEW or NJPW star including:
> 
> - 50 year old Chris Jericho beating alleged future superstar MJF via submission after almost a year of feuding. I only recall MJF losing twice and both times it was to former WWE stars.
> 
> ...


 I mean, true but would you have booked any of the matches the other way around. I wouldn’t have as it wood be made no sense for any of the WWE guys to lose in this scenario 
Perhaps the Jericho and MJF match wasn’t necessary and should’ve ended after the 5th labour but that’s done and dusted now


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## Chip Chipperson (Jun 29, 2019)

hardcorewrasslin said:


> I mean, true but would you have booked any of the matches the other way around. I wouldn’t have as it wood be made no sense for any of the WWE guys to lose in this scenario
> Perhaps the Jericho and MJF match wasn’t necessary and should’ve ended after the 5th labour but that’s done and dusted now


If I was in charge I'd have had MJF beat Jericho and not done the retirement stipulation. I'd have had Punk debut saving Darby Allin from someone and built to a tag team match on this show so that Punk can get that win on PPV whilst also delivering what they wanted to do all along (Establish that Punk respects Darby)

I don't think Soho needs to win the women's rumble either to be honest. Big Show Vs QT would probably have been cut and put on a TV special or something.


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## Stylebender (Oct 12, 2019)

I get where you are coming from but I'll just wait and see how things develop because unlike wwe we have seen alot of longterm booking and planning in aew so Im sure they are not being brought in for nothing. Is Darby Allin a bigger star now or before Punk came in? 

Bringing in these guys is helping everyone. Cole siding with the Elite means he will stay on tv but you can do a slowbuilt storyline where he eventually turns on them and brings up how they kicked him out. Let things unfold. Malakai Black is doing great.


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## hardcorewrasslin (Jun 29, 2016)

Chip Chipperson said:


> If I was in charge I'd have had MJF beat Jericho and not done the retirement stipulation. I'd have had Punk debut saving Darby Allin from someone and built to a tag team match on this show so that Punk can get that win on PPV whilst also delivering what they wanted to do all along (Establish that Punk respects Darby)
> 
> I don't think Soho needs to win the women's rumble either to be honest. Big Show Vs QT would probably have been cut and put on a TV special or something.


The stipulation was put, but I agree regarding not having it and making MJF go over 

Punk had to come in as a singles competitor.
Going with the tag route would’ve just been fairly underwhelming and would’ve most likely ended in a match between the two in a few months. I don’t see Darby as a loser in this match, he got a good showing and has furthered his career. Punk losing would’ve been a bit of a bummer.

Soho had to win. Remember the Leo Rush at All In, lol. Having somebody debut as the joker and not winning is in my opinion an instant burial.


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## adamclark52 (Nov 27, 2015)

Seafort said:


> You all realize this is a once in a generation type of opportunity, right? It’s somewhat equivalent to when WCW and ECW went under and there was a glut of free agents suddenly available. WWE does periodic release waves, but never to this degree and never have top names like this been released.
> 
> It’s a risky, but golden window has opened for Khan right now. Identify the guys that you think can really build your brand and sign them. Do it before the mercurial Vince McMahon changes his mind and offers a Danielson or Wyatt 1.5 amount their original salary to come back.
> 
> ...


That’s key. They’ve blown almost all their loads in less than five months. After Braun and Bray (who really aren’t good so they’ll be apathetic farts compared to Punk and Bryant) they’re not really going to have anything left for a long time and fans will get bored.


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## SAMCRO (Jul 10, 2006)

Chip Chipperson said:


> You're bang on the money, OP.
> 
> The signings of Adam Cole and Bryan are great but it means more homegrown guys are relegated to Dark. Already for this PPV we saw most of the homegrown AEW guys doing jobs for the ex WWE guys whilst Jungle Boy who is meant to be this heavily pushed star won the pre show match.
> 
> And people are already looking towards more ex WWE guys either returning or debuting. AEW kind of is now the place where the WWE guys go when either Vince doesn't want them or they want big money for less work...just like WCW


Yeah the signings are great cause they're stars don't get me wrong, but i'm just thinking about the AEW original guys, Sammy Guevara who i'd really love to see be AEW champion one day wasn't even on the ppv at all, nor was Archer, nor was Wardlow, Jungle Boy as you said was on the pre show, even Tony's favorite Orange Cassidy was on the pre show. It just feels like its all about former WWE guys now, we even had fucking Big Show taking up a match on All Out that could've been used for any other AEW guy to help build.

Then we're gonna have Wyatt showing up taking up yet another spot from someone soon. So already the roster is looking like WWE 2.0, instead of fresh new stars the world is just now seeing grow in AEW like Sammy, Hangman, Jungle Boy, Dante Martin etc.


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## SAMCRO (Jul 10, 2006)

Vitamin R said:


> Bryan and Cole were not released. Their contracts ran out and chose AEW over WWE, you dumbass.


Oh well excuse the fuck out of me, like the other 98% of wwe guys they've signed have been releases but those 2 wasn't so i'm a complete and total dumb ass, who cares its still the same point Tony signing guys leaving WWE.


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## Lady Eastwood (Jul 10, 2006)

All these signings aren’t a bother to me, I just hope they don’t constantly push these guys/give them championships while the younger talent gets pushed back. If they can blend the two worlds while pushing the younger generation that weren’t as well known, if known at all, before signing with AEW, I’m all for that.


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## Boldgerg (Apr 2, 2017)

I think this is very likely the greatest roster in my 25 years of watching wrestling.

That said, it's time to start releasing some of the dross that was signed at start up/within the first year.


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## Araxen (Oct 10, 2019)

I think they'll be fine. Hopefully they use the roster to give guys/gals some time off to rest up. Kenny could use a nice vacation to heal up finally. I really hope they go this route. It'll make for a better company in the long run.


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## SAMCRO (Jul 10, 2006)

Catalanotto said:


> All these signings aren’t a bother to me, I just hope they don’t constantly push these guys/give them championships while the younger talent gets pushed back. *If they can blend the two worlds while pushing the younger generation that weren’t as well known, if known at all, before signing with AEW, I’m all for tha*t.


Yeah thats what i hope happens, although All Out was the opposite of that lol nothing but WWE guys going over and WWE guys debuting.


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## Bit Bitterson (Sep 18, 2020)

The AEW haters are scrambling and it’s been an absolute joy to watch since last night. 

Every excuse under the sun.


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## Erik. (Mar 17, 2014)

As if this thread was even made following that PPV. 

Lol


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## Garty (Jul 29, 2007)

adamclark52 said:


> That’s key. They’ve blown almost all their loads in less than five months. After Braun and Bray (who really aren’t good so they’ll be apathetic farts compared to Punk and Bryant) they’re not really going to have anything left for a long time and fans will get bored.


If the big names that were all available and were only available within a 4-6 month span, you've got to make a play for them, otherwise, they may go elsewhere... granted there's not a lot of 'other' places they can go.

You can't leave most of these names out there, just because some internet users may be pissed off. You also can't sign them and then have them all sit around for months, just to stagger when they debut. That would be a complete waste of the talent, not to mention valuable resources. Imagine signing someone to a 3-year deal only to have them sit-out for six months because there's other talent that proceeded them yet to debut? Doing things that way, you'd have someone, realistically, for only 2 1/2 years or less. That makes zero business sense.

WWE hasn't had any big debuts for years now and somehow blindly, their fanbase doesn't seem to mind. They've always got their veterans to fill that void when they see fit and lately, have been relying on that for all those same years. Nothing has changed within the company during and after a veteran has left, other than poor decisions and a few rating pops.


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## HBK Styles Ospreay (Jan 15, 2020)

I'd be happy of they just put the stars on tv and kept the Wardlow's and Sammy's of the world on YouTube.


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## AuthorOfPosts (Feb 9, 2020)

It's the main way AEW creates news. Signing ex-WWE wrestlers is more important than whatever they end up doing with those wrestlers.


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## Prized Fighter (Aug 31, 2016)

Oh, I see this dumb talking point continues to be brought up. It has been discussed to death and proven false on multiple occasions.


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## bmtrocks (Dec 17, 2012)

WWE has been the place to go to make money in this business for the last 20 years, dude. No shit are they hiring a bunch of ex-WWE guys. There's nothing wrong with that even when TNA did it.


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## adamclark52 (Nov 27, 2015)

bmtrocks said:


> WWE has been the place to go to make money in this business for the last 20 years, dude. No shit are they hiring a bunch of ex-WWE guys. There's nothing wrong with that even when TNA did it.


There was a lot wrong with it when TNA did it. I'd fathom it was a big reason the company became a joke. 

I mean at least AEW hasn't immediately put their title on any of those guys yet. They still have that going for them.


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## bmtrocks (Dec 17, 2012)

adamclark52 said:


> There was a lot wrong with it when TNA did it. I'd fathom it was a big reason the company became a joke.
> 
> I mean at least AEW hasn't immediately put their title on any of those guys yet. They still have that going for them.


Thats a booking issue not a talent one. Theres nothing wrong with signing guys like Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, RVD, etc. They're proven commodities in the business.

Ultimately what draws fans in is a compelling product and TNA could never figure this out on a consistent basis.


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## Upstart474 (May 13, 2018)

adamclark52 said:


> There was a lot wrong with it when TNA did it. I'd fathom it was a big reason the company became a joke.
> 
> I mean at least AEW hasn't immediately put their title on any of those guys yet. They still have that going for them.


Everyone has an excuse for AEW, this time it is different.... Jericho was the AEW first champion almost day 1 but really laid the ground work for AEW.


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## adamclark52 (Nov 27, 2015)

Upstart474 said:


> Everyone has an excuse for AEW, this time it is different.... Jericho was the AEW first champion almost day 1 but really laid the ground work for AEW.


Jericho didn’t feel like an unwanted cast-off like some of the TNA guys did


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## ShadowCounter (Sep 1, 2016)

Why doesn't the OPs of these threads ever mention how WWE was the product of ex-ROH and ex-WCW guys? Funny that.


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## Dan E. Dangerously (Aug 23, 2021)

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1434947888497545219


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## Sharpydon97531 (Dec 12, 2020)

I think we are going to see a lot of contracts not been renewed, as a start up business tony just signed anyone by my guess to fill the roster that wasn't employed elsewhere, now he has had a few years to bring in the talents he wants I can see a lot of deadwood been let go


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## zkorejo (Jul 2, 2010)

ShadowCounter said:


> Why doesn't the OPs of these threads ever mention how WWE was the product of ex-ROH and ex-WCW guys? Funny that.


Because that doesn't fit their narrative. Vince apparently invented wrestling and stardom.

Vince can do it, nobody else can. Anybody who ever walked foot in WWE system, regardless if it's developmental, they are WWE names now because fuck logic and common sense. 

Whenever AEW does something cool and hate watchers have nothing else to complain about. We get this thread. 

Will go back to check if there's an updated list of "75% roster Ex WWE guys" and if that percentage increased at AO.


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## stevem20 (Jul 24, 2018)

You can't reject the chance to sign CM Punk or Bryan. Would be stupid not to bring them in.
But claiming Adam Cole and Miro are must signings is laughable. Come on now, they're not mega stars and now that Cole has aligned himself with the god awful Omega/Bucks combination, he may as well not bother trying to be one.


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## AEW Stan (May 24, 2021)

The Legit DMD said:


> *Yeah, Hangman is done in the main event. *


Can't wait to come back to this comment November 14th for a giggle😁


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## Gwi1890 (Nov 7, 2019)

SAMCRO said:


> No i don't, they got too many guys for one 2 hour wrestling show, they're gonna end up paying a ton of talent for sitting backstage doing nothing cause they gotta make room for Brian Danielson, CM Punk, Christian, Adam Cole, Andrade, Malakai Black, Matt Hardy, Ruby Sohoh or whatever her new goofy name is, Wyatt whenever he's allowed to show up. Guys like Archer and Sammy Guevara might as well jsut leave and go to Impact they'll likely be able to get on tv more often there.


goofy new name? Only thing goofy here is your desperation to find negatives


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## Garty (Jul 29, 2007)

adamclark52 said:


> There was a lot wrong with it when TNA did it. I'd fathom it was a big reason the company became a joke.
> 
> I mean at least AEW hasn't immediately put their title on any of those guys yet. They still have that going for them.


I'm an OG of TNA and for all the good they'd done in those early years, it was squandered away with pushing all ex-WWE talent to the top and the originals to the side. Money changes everything, but not always for the better.

When would be a good time to put any of the belts on the recently WWE released/expired contracts' talent? You've got to let us all know so that when it does happen, we can all agree it was the right thing to do.


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## JeSeGaN (Jun 5, 2018)

I can see why they'd sign DB and Punk, but why would you sign Cole and Ruby? They're nobodies.


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## adamclark52 (Nov 27, 2015)

Garty said:


> I'm an OG of TNA and for all the good they'd done in those early years, it was squandered away with pushing all ex-WWE talent to the top and the originals to the side. Money changes everything, but not always for the better.
> 
> When would be a good time to put any of the belts on the recently WWE released/expired contracts' talent? You've got to let us all know so that when it does happen, we can all agree it was the right thing to do.


I dunno. For a lot never. Angle and Christian sure but RVD and Anderson (I think he was one) probably never. And Hardy a good long time.

so now in the case of AEW: black, Andrade, Christian, Show; never. And you know what? Never for Danielson and Punk either. As others have said neither of them needs it. Cole, yes. If Wyatt does show up, no. If Braun shows up, no way.


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## Garty (Jul 29, 2007)

adamclark52 said:


> I dunno. For a lot never. Angle and Christian sure but RVD and Anderson (I think he was one) probably never. And Hardy a good long time.
> 
> so now in the case of AEW: black, Andrade, Christian, Show; never. And you know what? Never for Danielson and Punk either. As others have said neither of them needs it. Cole, yes. If Wyatt does show up, no. If Braun shows up, no way.


My apologies... Kurt Angle, I consider one of the best wrestlers ever. He can work with anyone. The others you mentioned, maybe yes, but I don't look at them the same way I look at Angle. Most of the guys you mentioned, at that time, were most likely not going to be WWE Champion, or had been fired. In TNA, they could be a World Champion.


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## AEW Stan (May 24, 2021)

AEW Stan said:


> Can't wait to come back to this comment November 14th for a giggle😁


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## AEW Stan (May 24, 2021)

The Legit DMD said:


> *Yeah, Hangman is done in the main event. *


Agreed, great call dude😊


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