The silly thing is that having consistently coherent storytelling with credible looking stars isn't mutually exclusive from having bangers. Tony can still decide which big matches to put on at the PPVs, he needs to let someone else handle getting there.
TONY KHAN STINKS! ("WBD OWNS A PERCENTAGE OF AEW." - DAVE MELTZER; BOBBY “NOT A BLACK CHAMPION” LASHLEY; DYNAMITE NO MILLION WATCH: 638 DAYS/91 WEEKS)
- Thread starter Brad Piff
- Start date
"Bangers" are what Tony & his fanbase wants. Nothing makes them happier than guys flipping for 20 minutes without logic, realism, or storyline advancement. They're so focused on indyriffic Meltzer-style matches that Tony Khan has damn near abandoned wrestling fundamentals like faces vs heels, and finishing moves that actually finish matches.
Flex Luger
Job Is Finished
Didn’t MLW make him the world champion after they came back in 2018? TNA-NWA made Ron Killings their world champion during the first few months of their existence. And I guess Ron Simmons doesn’t count either even though he was one of the first 5 ppl to win the WCW World heavyweight title.
EzekelRAGE
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By "other companies" I'm assuming he is speaking specifically about WWE and was just scared to say them directly
Also it reads weird, "it took other companies years to do this", it has taken AEW years to do it too.
That part. One could easily ask why it has taken a company that is supposedly as progressive as AEW five whole years to let a Black man anywhere near the world title. Since the start of the company, white boys have had the main event scene on lock. The reality is that that Tony and Shad Khan (you can ask Shad's BNN employees about him) see their Black wrestlers through the exact same lens that Vince McMahon does.By "other companies" I'm assuming he is speaking specifically about WWE and was just scared to say them directly
Also it reads weird, "it took other companies years to do this", it has taken AEW years to do it too.
Plus their deal with WB ends in Sept and they won’t answer TK’s calls until they get the NBA deal done first. Tony needs to start talking to people or we are going to see AEW Dynamite Dark on YouTube 8 months from now
Ehhhh i’ll push back on this some.
What black wrestler could they have made world champ before swerve that would have been credible?
Hobbs? Maybe if TK could book a sustainable story for him but he’s proven time & time again he can’t which is on him. Hobbs did an amazing job getting in shape since he first came in.
Starks? Yeah. For sure. Was probably headed there had Punk not left.
It’s gotta be right though. We saw them overpush Scorpio Sky and how badly he flopped as a heel and face. He fuccking sucks.
It’s the same thing I push back on WWE fans on when they say Shelton should have been world champion….Nah. Maybe Gold Standard Shelton but not the Raw version.
MVP 1000% should have gotten a run with one of the belts though.
I’d rather see a black champ get the belt because they deserve it and they’re really ready to run with it like Rock, Lashley, Mark Henry, Jay Lethal, Keith Lee, etc. instead of forced clown champions like Kofi and Big E
Khan really needs to sit down for 8 hours with some new creative team and try to get some new ideas from getting a few good rivalries going for a while, good tag team championship matches going as well as 6 man battles…
Some of these matches are just ridiculous now and the matchups are just not it
Some of these matches are just ridiculous now and the matchups are just not it
Just off the top of my head, Scorpio Sky, Jay Lethal, Keith Lee, or Tony Khan could've let Moose beat Miss Kenny when they faced off.Ehhhh i’ll push back on this some.
What black wrestler could they have made world champ before swerve that would have been credible?
Hobbs? Maybe if TK could book a sustainable story for him but he’s proven time & time again he can’t which is on him. Hobbs did an amazing job getting in shape since he first came in.
Starks? Yeah. For sure. Was probably headed there had Punk not left.
It’s gotta be right though. We saw them overpush Scorpio Sky and how badly he flopped as a heel and face. He fuccking sucks.
It’s the same thing I push back on WWE fans on when they say Shelton should have been world champion….Nah. Maybe Gold Standard Shelton but not the Raw version.
MVP 1000% should have gotten a run with one of the belts though.
I’d rather see a black champ get the belt because they deserve it and they’re really ready to run with it like Rock, Lashley, Mark Henry, Jay Lethal, Keith Lee, etc. instead of forced clown champions like Kofi and Big E
In terms of athleticism, all of the men that I named far outclass former AEW champs Jericho & Moxley.
From a visual standpoint, all of the men that I mentioned look more like pro wrestlers than any of the AEW champions except for Samoa Joe & Miss Kenny. To add to that, Keith Lee & Moose specifically are far more physically imposing than every AEW champion except for Samoa Joe.
Except for Scorpio Sky, every breh that I named is a better promo than any of the former champions (yes, that includes washed up Jericho and one trick pony MJF).
I wasn't going to add Hobbs or Starks since they are fairly new to the sport, but then again MJF is also a rookie and Tony Khan made him the world champ...screw it, add Hobbs & Starks to my list, too!
If Tony Khan wanted to appeal to the "we want bangers" crowd, he could've also given Jonathan Gresham a run. Before you make a comment about his height, remember 3 things:
1. Gresham has held singles gold in damn near every company he's been signed to,
2. AEW was the land of little white guys while Gresham was there, and
3. Despite his height, Jonathan Gresham is one of the best technical wrestlers working today.
So to recap, I'll answer your question with the following six names (I'm omitting Mooses because he was signed to Impact):
Scorpio Sky, Jay Lethal, Keith Lee, Starks, Hobbs, and Jonathan Gresham.
You lost me at Scorpio Sky……..Might as well name Nana, Dante Martin, Darius Martin, and the Private Party nikkas too if the only qualification is just being black.
And Dante Martin at one time was one of my favorite guys in all of AEW.
Jay Lethal has only been there for like two years and is nowhere as over as he was when he won the ROH title. He was hot again when he did the Ric Flair angle but im not sure if he was signed.
I love Gresham but if being world champ was only about technical skills then ZSJ would be a multi time IWGP Champ rn and Pac would’ve been AEW Champ. He definitely deserved a full time spot on the AEW roster though.
The only legitimate options before Swerve would have been Hobbs or Starks.
Because yeah you could put the top belt on Scorpio Sky….Just like WWE could’ve also put their top belt on Maven
Nah I might have to go back and peep this show
That raggedy piece of scrap paper Tony had weeks of television written on
Sammy mentioned a STORY
Tony mentioned a random.but fun trios MATCH