The Liacouras Center in Philly that AEW uses is barely 10,000 seats before sections are cut off for production and still always has a couple mostly empty sections for sale. Their first Canada show is definitely a big deal but the size of the arena doesn't sound out of ordinary.
As good as the match that opened the show was, Garcia vs Danielson was an amazing match and the kind of thing that should happen more often when people return from injury.
Awesome Kong did an interview on her experiences with AEW creative (source: WrestlingInc):
“Thing is, I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing the crew over there at AEW, especially since, you know, we were just up and running,” Kong told Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “We were trying to give you something you hadn’t seen, you know? But I feel — for me, I felt unheard, you know, I wasn’t in control.”
Although AEW CEO and lead booker Tony Khan is said to be “accessible” at the promotion, Kong further explained how it was for her trying to get ideas out into the open. “All I could do is say, ‘Hey, I have this idea of XYZ.’ And I couldn’t get in the room where final decisions were made, and believe me honey, Kia stalked that room. I would stay there after the big meetings … I tried to get into that last meeting where the decisions were made … Never had a chance to, and after a while I’m like, ‘OK. So, that’s just not gonna happen, so I’m not gonna push it.'”
HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
Tony needs to grow up and let other people into the process. Can't run this way forever. It was excusable when they were starting. One voice, one vision is a good process to get the ball rolling, but you are bigger now. If you are going to hang your hat on being old school and not scripting everyone, you also need to make sure they are heard and that you are communicating back. You need to lean on the bookers and agents and if they are stretched thin, hire more. You can still be the one conducting the symphony.
Awesome Kong did an interview on her experiences with AEW creative (source: WrestlingInc):
“Thing is, I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing the crew over there at AEW, especially since, you know, we were just up and running,” Kong told Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “We were trying to give you something you hadn’t seen, you know? But I feel — for me, I felt unheard, you know, I wasn’t in control.”
Although AEW CEO and lead booker Tony Khan is said to be “accessible” at the promotion, Kong further explained how it was for her trying to get ideas out into the open. “All I could do is say, ‘Hey, I have this idea of XYZ.’ And I couldn’t get in the room where final decisions were made, and believe me honey, Kia stalked that room. I would stay there after the big meetings … I tried to get into that last meeting where the decisions were made … Never had a chance to, and after a while I’m like, ‘OK. So, that’s just not gonna happen, so I’m not gonna push it.'”
That is so weird to me because she was teaming with one of the co-founders wives. You'd really think teaming with Brandy would be able to help her get a meeting.
but also it's fucking Awesome Kong. TK should want to talk to her about wrestling and being on GLOW.
Tony needs to grow up and let other people into the process. Can't run this way forever. It was excusable when they were starting. One voice, one vision is a good process to get the ball rolling, but you are bigger now. If you are going to hang your hat on being old school and not scripting everyone, you also need to make sure they are heard and that you are communicating back. You need to lean on the bookers and agents and if they are stretched thin, hire more. You can still be the one conducting the symphony.
WWE: Ignores people for 40 years, holds people back because of their looks or because they sneeze, sends people they goods in a bin bag after years of service, cans other people randomly after decades of service, more decades of people being held back because only John Cena or Roman Reigns were allowed to get over, forces sexual favors from people for promotion.
AEW: Doesn't hold individual conversations with all staff. Grow up Tony.
Tony needs to grow up and let other people into the process. Can't run this way forever. It was excusable when they were starting. One voice, one vision is a good process to get the ball rolling, but you are bigger now. If you are going to hang your hat on being old school and not scripting everyone, you also need to make sure they are heard and that you are communicating back. You need to lean on the bookers and agents and if they are stretched thin, hire more. You can still be the one conducting the symphony.
WWE: Ignores people for 40 years, holds people back because of their looks or because they sneeze, sends people they goods in a bin bag after years of service, cans other people randomly after decades of service, more decades of people being held back because only John Cena or Roman Reigns were allowed to get over, forces sexual favors from people for promotion.
AEW: Doesn't hold individual conversations with all staff. Grow up Tony.
I don't think anybody here has ever defended WWE's way of doing things and people are more critical of AEW because it doesn't have that toxic culture yet, that we're aware of, and would like them to change for the better.
Awesome Kong did an interview on her experiences with AEW creative (source: WrestlingInc):
“Thing is, I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing the crew over there at AEW, especially since, you know, we were just up and running,” Kong told Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “We were trying to give you something you hadn’t seen, you know? But I feel — for me, I felt unheard, you know, I wasn’t in control.”
Although AEW CEO and lead booker Tony Khan is said to be “accessible” at the promotion, Kong further explained how it was for her trying to get ideas out into the open. “All I could do is say, ‘Hey, I have this idea of XYZ.’ And I couldn’t get in the room where final decisions were made, and believe me honey, Kia stalked that room. I would stay there after the big meetings … I tried to get into that last meeting where the decisions were made … Never had a chance to, and after a while I’m like, ‘OK. So, that’s just not gonna happen, so I’m not gonna push it.'”
That is so weird to me because she was teaming with one of the co-founders wives. You'd really think teaming with Brandy would be able to help her get a meeting.
but also it's fucking Awesome Kong. TK should want to talk to her about wrestling and being on GLOW.
I wonder if the experience she's talking about having was after the Nightmare Collective crashed and burned. A lot of folks equated her to the women's division version of Jericho when the company started, a veteran wrestler who would also be helping out backstage to build up the division from within. So if that's the case, writing her off as an asset after that one failure is pretty short-sighted imo.
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+3
HawkstoneDon't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things. Somewhere outside of BarstowRegistered Userregular
Tony needs to grow up and let other people into the process. Can't run this way forever. It was excusable when they were starting. One voice, one vision is a good process to get the ball rolling, but you are bigger now. If you are going to hang your hat on being old school and not scripting everyone, you also need to make sure they are heard and that you are communicating back. You need to lean on the bookers and agents and if they are stretched thin, hire more. You can still be the one conducting the symphony.
WWE: Ignores people for 40 years, holds people back because of their looks or because they sneeze, sends people they goods in a bin bag after years of service, cans other people randomly after decades of service, more decades of people being held back because only John Cena or Roman Reigns were allowed to get over, forces sexual favors from people for promotion.
AEW: Doesn't hold individual conversations with all staff. Grow up Tony.
This may come as a shock to you, but you can like things and not see them as immune to criticism.
Also, "well he can't meet with EVERYONE" is a weird response to give to Tony not meeting with the person who:
Was a star on a Netflix show about wrestling that was bringing new fans into the artform
Was brought out of retirement to huge acclaim as a surprise entrant in the first-ever AEW PPV
Was arguably the highest-profile woman on the card, if not the entire company at the time
Was a huge part in establishing the Impact Knockouts Division as a respected legacy in women's wrestling, at a time when WWE was very much NOT taking women seriously
I dunno dogg, that seems like a person I'd want to meet with
The response to criticism of AEW can't possibly be "but WWE is one of the worst companies in the world." This doesn't have to be a situation where we divide into camps and everyone takes up the flag of their favorite promotion. AEW has billed themselves as being better than WWE in a lot of specific ways. They still largely are. When you set that goal and people come out and say, "well, here's a specific example of something they did that fucked with me," I'm not sure why the answer to that is "but Vince McMahon is a sex predator." That has nothing to do with this.
Also, "well he can't meet with EVERYONE" is a weird response to give to Tony not meeting with the person who:
Was a star on a Netflix show about wrestling that was bringing new fans into the artform
Was brought out of retirement to huge acclaim as a surprise entrant in the first-ever AEW PPV
Was arguably the highest-profile woman on the card, if not the entire company at the time
Was a huge part in establishing the Impact Knockouts Division as a respected legacy in women's wrestling, at a time when WWE was very much NOT taking women seriously
I dunno dogg, that seems like a person I'd want to meet with
And its not just that she made the Knockouts Division respected it was the only reason TNA was respected at all at the time. Her and Gail Kim were the draw to TNA
Not to take away from the accomplishment, but for a while TNA was actually getting some good will with some amazing X division wrestling, tag teams, and women division.
Hell, I would say that the only reason Christian is relevant still today is because his TNA run really let him find himself.
TNA would, routinely, do just enough right, or do certain things well enough, that it made everything else they were fucking up stand out or hurt even more
Also, "well he can't meet with EVERYONE" is a weird response to give to Tony not meeting with the person who:
Was a star on a Netflix show about wrestling that was bringing new fans into the artform
Was brought out of retirement to huge acclaim as a surprise entrant in the first-ever AEW PPV
Was arguably the highest-profile woman on the card, if not the entire company at the time
Was a huge part in establishing the Impact Knockouts Division as a respected legacy in women's wrestling, at a time when WWE was very much NOT taking women seriously
I dunno dogg, that seems like a person I'd want to meet with
I mean, we all kinda know why he didn't, if we just look at how they treated and still treat the womens' division
They've gotten a little better since but I'd definitely be curious statistically how much of the show involves the ladies, on average
PwnanObrienHe's right, life sucks.Registered Userregular
I would want to have a meeting with Awesome Kong because by all accounts she is hilarious.
In fact when Bryan Danielson had the angle where he was dating Gail Kim he pitched the idea of it being Awesome Kong because he thought the angle would be even funnier. Which, yeah, probably.
Tony needs to grow up and let other people into the process. Can't run this way forever. It was excusable when they were starting. One voice, one vision is a good process to get the ball rolling, but you are bigger now. If you are going to hang your hat on being old school and not scripting everyone, you also need to make sure they are heard and that you are communicating back. You need to lean on the bookers and agents and if they are stretched thin, hire more. You can still be the one conducting the symphony.
I thought that was how they started, and then they dialed it back?
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Awesome Kong did an interview on her experiences with AEW creative (source: WrestlingInc):
“Thing is, I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing the crew over there at AEW, especially since, you know, we were just up and running,” Kong told Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “We were trying to give you something you hadn’t seen, you know? But I feel — for me, I felt unheard, you know, I wasn’t in control.”
Although AEW CEO and lead booker Tony Khan is said to be “accessible” at the promotion, Kong further explained how it was for her trying to get ideas out into the open. “All I could do is say, ‘Hey, I have this idea of XYZ.’ And I couldn’t get in the room where final decisions were made, and believe me honey, Kia stalked that room. I would stay there after the big meetings … I tried to get into that last meeting where the decisions were made … Never had a chance to, and after a while I’m like, ‘OK. So, that’s just not gonna happen, so I’m not gonna push it.'”
That is so weird to me because she was teaming with one of the co-founders wives. You'd really think teaming with Brandy would be able to help her get a meeting.
but also it's fucking Awesome Kong. TK should want to talk to her about wrestling and being on GLOW.
Brandy complained multiple times about how hard she had to argue for women to get more time on TV, and the shitty tag cup tournament they got on Youtube was the result of one of her pitches, and she complained that it was the best she could get. And then she probably lost even more stroke when Cody basically lost his booking privileges.
Vicki Guerrero has also been on the record saying she has to push super fucking hard to get women time on TV.
Of all of the EVPs, I think the only one who's ever shown any interest in the women's division is Kenny. I have no idea how much influence he has on booking anymore, or how interested he is in it when Riho isn't around.
I'm pretty convinced at this point that everyone in AEW upper management thinks women's wrestling just flatly doesn't draw and they have to keep only a small token amount of it on TV as a result. I don't think they hate women's wrestling per se, they just don't understand what a self-fulfilling prophecy it is to keep the women's division off TV and keep them from being able to build stories, rivalries, etc, and then say the women don't draw.
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I think the philosophy is sound when going some place for the first time. Better to have a full smaller building than a big empty house.
That is so weird to me because she was teaming with one of the co-founders wives. You'd really think teaming with Brandy would be able to help her get a meeting.
but also it's fucking Awesome Kong. TK should want to talk to her about wrestling and being on GLOW.
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WWE: Ignores people for 40 years, holds people back because of their looks or because they sneeze, sends people they goods in a bin bag after years of service, cans other people randomly after decades of service, more decades of people being held back because only John Cena or Roman Reigns were allowed to get over, forces sexual favors from people for promotion.
AEW: Doesn't hold individual conversations with all staff. Grow up Tony.
I don't think anybody here has ever defended WWE's way of doing things and people are more critical of AEW because it doesn't have that toxic culture yet, that we're aware of, and would like them to change for the better.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
I wonder if the experience she's talking about having was after the Nightmare Collective crashed and burned. A lot of folks equated her to the women's division version of Jericho when the company started, a veteran wrestler who would also be helping out backstage to build up the division from within. So if that's the case, writing her off as an asset after that one failure is pretty short-sighted imo.
This may come as a shock to you, but you can like things and not see them as immune to criticism.
I dunno dogg, that seems like a person I'd want to meet with
And its not just that she made the Knockouts Division respected it was the only reason TNA was respected at all at the time. Her and Gail Kim were the draw to TNA
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Hell, I would say that the only reason Christian is relevant still today is because his TNA run really let him find himself.
Steam
I mean, we all kinda know why he didn't, if we just look at how they treated and still treat the womens' division
They've gotten a little better since but I'd definitely be curious statistically how much of the show involves the ladies, on average
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In fact when Bryan Danielson had the angle where he was dating Gail Kim he pitched the idea of it being Awesome Kong because he thought the angle would be even funnier. Which, yeah, probably.
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Proud Dad Jones ovah here, but I digress
I thought that was how they started, and then they dialed it back?
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
Brandy complained multiple times about how hard she had to argue for women to get more time on TV, and the shitty tag cup tournament they got on Youtube was the result of one of her pitches, and she complained that it was the best she could get. And then she probably lost even more stroke when Cody basically lost his booking privileges.
Vicki Guerrero has also been on the record saying she has to push super fucking hard to get women time on TV.
Of all of the EVPs, I think the only one who's ever shown any interest in the women's division is Kenny. I have no idea how much influence he has on booking anymore, or how interested he is in it when Riho isn't around.
I'm pretty convinced at this point that everyone in AEW upper management thinks women's wrestling just flatly doesn't draw and they have to keep only a small token amount of it on TV as a result. I don't think they hate women's wrestling per se, they just don't understand what a self-fulfilling prophecy it is to keep the women's division off TV and keep them from being able to build stories, rivalries, etc, and then say the women don't draw.
If I wear raps gear in town how many fights I gotta win for respect
Money's on this being merged with the SWA title since they specifically mentioned USA shows which means foreign competitors.
He keeps hitting bombs and doing funny interviews and he will be juuuuuust fine.
As long as you mean Chuck, Trent, and Statlander I agree.
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