Wrestling 2021: The Big Thread Machine

[Deanjam]

AEW 4th in demo (.32) 743,000 viewership
NXT 25th in demo (.18) 691,000 viewership

Those both seem a bit lower than expected. AEW coming off the big PPV, and NXT with a stacked show.

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[BeardFaceMan]

Are the buyrates for the PPV in yet?

[Ja'moke]

Those both seem a bit lower than expected. AEW coming off the big PPV, and NXT with a stacked show.

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The South Park special absolutely dominated. Did 1.7 mil and 0.85 demo. The Challenge is still kicking arse too.

But I do think that even with NXT potentially moving to Tuesdays, that AEW is still going to struggle to get 1 mil. Especially with shows like The Challenge airing for about 40 weeks of the year. But I'm not sure what the answer is.

[Deanjam]

Are the buyrates for the PPV in yet?

No. The UFC PPV buy rate from Saturday was announced today (800,000 pretty damn good), so maybe tomorrow for AEW.

[Spode]

Yeah I did get a good laugh out of Omega on the floor shouting "69 me, Don!", not quite the thing Americans are used to hearing on evening network tv.

'Did I blow up?'

[MrMrs]

what South Park special?

[BeardFaceMan]

So not only are the women main eventing Dynamite this week but Maki Itoh v Riho is main eventing the first episode of Dark:Elevation. Looking forward to this.

[Ja'moke]

Are the buyrates for the PPV in yet?

This is what Meltzer had to say, make sense of what you can:

The PPV numbers look to be the strongest not only in AEW history, but the strongest for any non-WWE show in the U.S. since 1999, grossing in excess of $6 million and likely will end up closer to $7 million. Of that, AEW will take in a percentage likely around 50 percent because there is a split with distribution partners.

There are no television PPV numbers in at press time, but the B/R Live streaming numbers were up more than 50 percent from Full Gear in November and by far the highest of any show in AEW history, and these days that's the primary number. Streaming numbers outside the U.S., depending on the service, were up 20 to 40 percent from the last show. Based on that, even if regular television PPV numbers don't increase from the last show, and it's hard to conceive that could be the case, they would be above the record 120,000 buys for the 2020 Double or Nothing show. Khan has publicly said it was the biggest PPV number in history, and privately within the company, being conservative with no TV numbers, it's very likely that will be the case.

If the television PPV numbers increase like the streaming numbers did from what they did in November, they'll end up a lot higher than anything done previously. In theory, one would expect the television PPV gain to be similar to the streaming gain from November, but you can't discount a large migration of people who ordered the last show on television and decided to order this show on B/R Live.

[BeardFaceMan]

This is what Meltzer had to say, make sense of what you can:

Meltzer is a pretty terrible writer, definitely quantity over quality. Good that the PPV did so well though, it's nice to see that they're still growing, their audience numbers haven't quite peaked yet. It's going to be super interesting to see what happens when NXT makes the switch to Tuesdays.

[Ja'moke]

It's going to be super interesting to see what happens when NXT makes the switch to Tuesdays.

Speaking of that, there's a chance now that NXT stays on Wednesdays. It's all dependent on the new NHL television deal. It's a split rights thing, and the first bid was won by ESPN. NBC is still hoping to win the second bid, which would mean NXT having to move (most likely)... but Meltzer has said NBC and the NHL can't seem to come to an agreement on numbers.

So if the deal falls through, NXT will remain on Wednesdays.

[BeardFaceMan]

That would be a shame, it would probably benefit both brands if NXT moved. I thought this was coming from USA anyway, they can't be happy with being beaten every week and they just want as many eyes on their show as possible so a move would make sense. There's no fucking way Vince will move it on his own and admit any kind of defeat.

[Ja'moke]

They've announced about 12 matches for AEW Dark: Elevation. For some reason I was expecting this show to be shorter and more focused on character and interview pieces. But it just seem like current Dark except no Tazz or Excalibur on commentary.

Maybe normal Dark is going back to just a handful of matches featuring main roster talent.

[Ja'moke]

Andrade has requested his release from WWE, apparently.

Another wasted NXT call-up. His run with Zelina Vega in NXT was so good (his match with Gargano at TakeOver Philadelphia is one of my favourite matches of the past five years or so).

[Deanjam]

Andrade has requested his release from WWE, apparently.

Another wasted NXT call-up. His run with Zelina Vega in NXT was so good (his match with Gargano at TakeOver Philadelphia is one of my favourite matches of the past five years or so).

So many missed opportunities for a company desperate for Latino viewers. This faction could've been great, so much charisma and talent.

[Ja'moke]

FinJuice just won the Impact tag titles in a really good match with the Good Brothers.

Moose vs Swann was ace too.

[confettiinmyhair]

So many missed opportunities for a company desperate for Latino viewers. This faction could've been great, so much charisma and talent.

Has anyone thrown the theory around that he will don a mask again and be reborn in a new gimmick? Unless he's broken up with Charlotte then I can't see him going anytime soon.

[Mobius]

Andrade was my favourite guy in NXT. His pairing with Zelina Vega was fantastic. He's an incredible wrestler, and she was the perfect manager for him.

I'd love to see them paired up again in AEW or NJPW or anywhere really.

Got to think Zelina's husband Aleister Black can't be too far out the door either.

I wonder how many more fantastic Lucha/Mexican/Latino wrestlers are going to join WWE and waste years of their career on the false promise they'll be the new Mysterio/Eddie.

[rjd2]

not watched much wwe recently, but their was an NXT match with Andrade v Gargano and the 2 girls in the corner and it was incredible.

[Moribunderast]

Andrade was my favourite guy in NXT. His pairing with Zelina Vega was fantastic. He's an incredible wrestler, and she was the perfect manager for him.

I'd love to see them paired up again in AEW or NJPW or anywhere really.

Got to think Zelina's husband Aleister Black can't be too far out the door either.

I wonder how many more fantastic Lucha/Mexican/Latino wrestlers are going to join WWE and waste years of their career on the false promise they'll be the new Mysterio/Eddie.

I hope Gran Metalik gets out of there soon. I imagine he'd return to Mexico where I still won't really be able to watch him but he deserves so much better than he's had in WWE. When I look at him, I think of what may have happened if ZSJ or Kota Ibushi had accepted WWE's contract offers around the same time. My heart weeps at the timeline where Ibushi is either on 205 Live or chasing the 24/7 title like Tozawa...

[Ja'moke]

PWInsider:

Several WWE sources confirmed today that the first WWE NXT episode coming out of Wrestlemania 37 weekend is currently scheduled to be held and broadcast on Tuesday 4/13.

There had been rumors to this effect in recent weeks, stemming from a report from The Mat Men Podcast.

At the time, WWE did not respond to the reports (and still have not) but we are told that the production calendar for Wrestlemania week currently lists the 4/13 taping date.

So, while we do not have confirmation of a permanent move, all signs point to the Wednesday Night Wars indeed ending next month.

If NXT indeed moves to Tuesday permanently, that would place them opposite Impact Wrestling on AXS. The smart money should be put on Impact moving to Thursday nights.

[BeardFaceMan]

I wouldn't have thought that NXT moving would affect Impact so much they want to move nights. NXT v AEW is a network thing which is why their viewership gets affected, it's more the casuals that change those numbers, not the fans. The fans are already watching the feds they want to watch, I think Impact would be OK where they are.

[MrMrs]

they doing mania in front of a crowd?

[Mobius]

COVID outbreak at NXT apparently, doesn't instil confidence for Mania

[Ja'moke]

COVID outbreak at NXT apparently, doesn't instil confidence for Mania

That must be the sixth or seventh outbreak in NXT.

[Mobius]

Yeah there was a story the other day about Vince being mad about wrestlers not following COVID protocol now. Makes sense, guess they knew about this.

I mean just look at this new NXT signee, you only have to jump to 0:13 of the video to see her in a crammed room without her mask covering her nose, and Triple H not wearing one at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a21pJCVP28Y

Not sure how recent that vid is, but the latest outbreak could be everyone there!

[MrMrs]

state of them man

[Ja'moke]

AEW Elevation was decent, even though it was basically just Dark except with no Taz and Excalibur on commentary. I thought Paul Wight and Tony were okay, room to improve for sure, but for the first time out, they did well. They added some nice backstory and gave it a more serious feel than Dark, but it'd be nice to hear a bit more enthusiasm.

[Gurke and Hare]

Wight was obviously a beginner at commentary, but he was good at the thing Taz does where he puts moments in the context of how they affect the match as a whole, so the important thing of making it seem like it's an advantage to have an ex-wrestler there he got right. The rest - things like not making it sound like you're reading the name of the wrestler's finisher off a piece of paper - are things that he should improve on with experience, and having him get the experience on YouTube if they want to use him in the second TV show is a good idea.

In other news, they've announced Leyla Hirsch as an official signing, and Maki is going back to Japan.

[BeardFaceMan]

Listening to Show on Renee Moxley's podcast and he seems pretty sure that he's gonna be wrestling. And he's always talking about guys he'd like to work with, like how much he would be able to put Darby over, I don't think it'll be long until we see him in the ring.

[Ja'moke]

Yeah the press release when he signed said he's also got a "wrestling license".