2023-24 Contract Season

[WHolla09]

Aew is hitting 1 million viewers in March

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Would love for them to put a quality show and do a million, but they are going to barely crack 950K, if that. If they crack a million, I’ll take the L and the neg

 

[avon barksdale]

Khan should have throw a bag at Juicy and Paul for the Big Business show:

Get Ross to get Swizz beats on the phone

 

[Rell84shots]

A few things might be at play with these signings and non signings.
1. HHH might not be as good a salesman as Vince was.
2. They have to factor in contracts that are coming up soon like Becky & Seth & Drew.
3. Tony is paying more to work less.
4. Endeavor isn't going to go the Ted Turner route and just throw a bunch of money at people.
5. It's easier to get over with the AEW crowd than it is a WWE crowd, since the AEW crowd watches NJPW.
6. The whole point of the PC/NXT is so they don't have to spend big in free agency.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

A few things might be at play with these signings and non signings.
1. HHH might not be as good a salesman as Vince was.
2. They have to factor in contracts that are coming up soon like Becky & Seth & Drew.
3. Tony is paying more to work less.
4. Endeavor isn't going to go the Ted Turner route and just throw a bunch of money at people.
5. It's easier to get over with the AEW crowd than it is a WWE crowd, since the AEW crowd watches NJPW.
6. The whole point of the PC/NXT is so they don't have to spend big in free agency.

I think it's mostly #3. TK is giving out massive contracts and you barely see these people. Copeland is a part timer in AEW. Okada would probably be allowed to live in Japan. Ospreay said something about AEW being best for him because of less travel. They'll probably let Mercedes do outside ventures.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

I think it's mostly #3. TK is giving out massive contracts and you barely see these people. Copeland is a part timer in AEW. Okada would probably be allowed to live in Japan. Ospreay said something about AEW being best for him because of less travel. They'll probably let Mercedes do outside ventures.

AEW pays for travel too, which can be quite a lot of money depending on how much someone is booked, especially if they live internationally. Wouldn't surprise me to find out they also pay for travel when these talents are booked for dates with companies AEW is partnered with like New Japan and CMLL.

 

[Reality Check]

A few things might be at play with these signings and non signings:
1. HHH might not be as good a salesman as Vince was.
2. They have to factor in contracts that are coming up soon like Becky & Seth & Drew.
3. Tony is paying more to work less.
4. Endeavor isn't going to go the Ted Turner route and just throw a bunch of money at people.
5. It's easier to get over with the AEW crowd than it is a WWE crowd, since the AEW crowd watches NJPW.
6. The whole point of the PC/NXT is so they don't have to spend big in free agency.

The bolded are probably the biggest factors (ironically in that order). People tend to forget, but after AEW was officially announced, WWE panic signed people to 5 year contracts, and those who signed them (who weren't let go in between then and now) have their deals coming up this year. With that said, Endeavor isn't going about business (in more ways than one) than Vince McMahon did. It's cheaper to sign a bunch of very young talent to NIL deals and have a few of them pan out. Between who's in NXT and their NIL trainees, they have a pipeline of under 30 talent that aren't on the main rosters yet that will more than likely be cheaper to retain than Rollins, '97 Drew, etc.

 

[Rollie Forbes]

Didn't WWE just pay for CM Punk only to have him tear his other triceps after one televised match, his third length injury in two years?
And are likely to re-sign Seth Rollins who is perpetually injured?

There's a difference, though. When Punk or another talent is/was hurt in AEW, they're just gone from tv. They vanish (S/O Scorpio Sky) until they're healthy enough to return.
Contrast that to how Punk's injury is being treated in WWE: while Punk is out, they're still continuing his feud with Drew MacIntyre through Drew trolling Punk during his interviews, video packages, Punk doing commentary at the WM 40 presser (and possibly starting a program with The Rock), and they're selling Drew's new shirt which he wears to troll Punk. Even while he's injured, Punk is still fresh in the audience's mind, and Nick Khan is still getting a return on his investment. Meanwhile, Shad Khan's son can't even manage to get a nice ROI for a healthy Edge Adam Copeland.
So yes, while Nick Khan signed a washed up, broken down, injury prone, one armed failed MMA fighter (who beat up both MAGA Bucks, btw), he's still able to use that guy to increase our quarterly dividends. That's what Tony Khan should be doing.

 

[Rell84shots]

The bolded are probably the biggest factors (ironically in that order). People tend to forget, but after AEW was officially announced, WWE panic signed people to 5 year contracts, and those who signed them (who weren't let go in between then and now) have their deals coming up this year. With that said, Endeavor isn't going about business (in more ways than one) than Vince McMahon did. It's cheaper to sign a bunch of very young talent to NIL deals and have a few of them pan out. Between who's in NXT and their NIL trainees, they have a pipeline of under 30 talent that aren't on the main rosters yet that will more than likely be cheaper to retain than Rollins, '97 Drew, etc.

Drew is the biggest question mark. If you saw Seth's interview with Sean Ross Crapp then you'll see that he plans on being a WWE lifer.

AEW pays for travel too, which can be quite a lot of money depending on how much someone is booked, especially if they live internationally. Wouldn't surprise me to find out they also pay for travel when these talents are booked for dates with companies AEW is partnered with like New Japan and CMLL.

That probably won't be lasting much longer.

 

[Green Ranger]

I think it's mostly #3. TK is giving out massive contracts and you barely see these people. Copeland is a part timer in AEW. Okada would probably be allowed to live in Japan. Ospreay said something about AEW being best for him because of less travel. They'll probably let Mercedes do outside ventures.

Pretty much AEW has run very few houseshow It's been noted that TK is paying talent out the ass plus they can keep their indie bookings & money so it's a win

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

That probably won't be lasting much longer.

And you’ll be proven wrong yet again

 

[Larry]

A few things might be at play with these signings and non signings.
1. HHH might not be as good a salesman as Vince was.
2. They have to factor in contracts that are coming up soon like Becky & Seth & Drew.
3. Tony is paying more to work less.
4. Endeavor isn't going to go the Ted Turner route and just throw a bunch of money at people.
5. It's easier to get over with the AEW crowd than it is a WWE crowd, since the AEW crowd watches NJPW.
6. The whole point of the PC/NXT is so they don't have to spend big in free agency.

I said all this once and people got mad at me for some reason lol

I think the fantasy of a Jay White type cat going “fukk the fed, I’m AEW baby!” and jump shorting his WWE contract into the trash can just feels better to these Stan war obsessed people

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Jay White could have had a Seth Rollins type arc in WWE but who can blame these guys for taking the guaranteed money?

In WWE, if you are Jay White, you are likely starting in NXT on a developmental contract. Yeah, they'll bump you up to the maximum pay scale pretty quickly and in a year you'll be on the main roster but then all bets are off. It comes down to how you get over and the booking.

With AEW, it doesn't matter if he's booked well or gets over because TK already paid him the money upfront.

 

[Reality Check]

Drew is the biggest question mark. If you saw Seth's interview with Sean Ross Crapp then you'll see that he plans on being a WWE lifer.

I think Drew resigned. If he didn't, it would be moronic of them to a) start that Punk angle and b) sell that new shirt Drew's been wearing on WWE's site. If he hadn't resigned, I doubt they'd go through the effort to create new merch for someone who's gone in 2 months.

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

QT Marshall begged for his job back in AEW lol

QT Marshall is All Elite….again.

Fightful has learned that QT Marshall is returning to All Elite Wrestling, but in a much different capacity. Sources indicated to Fightful that Marshall and AEW worked out their prior issues, and he’ll be coming back in the VP role that he once held. However, he is not planned to return as an in-ring talent.

Those that we spoke to say that an agreement was in place as of a couple of weeks ago. He has not started back with the company as of yet.

We’re told that Marshall is free to wrestle outside of AEW, with the exception of WWE. The 38-year old Marshall hasn’t wrestled since his AEW deal officially ended on December 31, but has shown off his physical transformation on Twitter.

Marshall has teamed up with Teil Rhodes to revive Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, which was a creation of Dusty Rhodes. Their first show was February 8 in McDonough, GA and featured former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona as well as Scotty Riggs, Glacier, Aaron Solo and more.

 

[Toe Jay Simpson]

As I said before. Tony Khans note in history will be as the man who killed NJPW