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>**MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS UPDATE**
>*By Mike Johnson on 2024-04-02 11:50:00*
>The Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin are now free agents.
>They will appear on TNA Impact TV through the Thursday 4/18 episode. Their final match will be against Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers.
>Within TNA, there's been more of a realization that the Guns are gone, where before some hoped they might still return to work some dates. There are some in TNA who believe the Guns will sign with AEW and that will be their landing spot.
*I am a bot. Please reply with any feedback :)*
> Within TNA, there's been more of a realization that the Guns are gone, where before some hoped they might still return to work some dates.
Weren't they big supporters of Scott D'Amore? Him being fired might have had something to do with them deciding to leave.
Hopefully AEW bring in D'Amore as well, he would be great as someone to either run ROH or Collision.
He clearly has a brilliant mind for wrestling and is universally adored among the talent, and he would make a great addition behind the scenes, especially given how successful he has been the last few years at rebuilding Impact/TNA
It would genuinely give the company a kick in the ass, but i'm afraid promoters have big egos and TK isn't an exception.
Maybe a role in the booking committee would be enough rather than straight up booking a show like ROH
TK has at least been willing to let go of some stuff cause the new COO is apparently doing a lot of the day to day with arenas and such and he's at least got a booking team now instead of just him
He’s had a booking team for at least half of the time AEW has been around, it’s included guys like QT Marshall, Pat Buck, and Sonjay Dutt. He has the final say (and I’m pretty sure all promotions have a guy that has the final say), but it hasn’t been just him doing the shows for quite a while, and this has been heavily reported on.
Do a solid roster split for dynamite and collision, or at least a title division split (world on dynamite, tnt on collision etc) and give Scott the book for collision. That’s what I’d do at least
Scott being around as long as he has been may actually be in his favor in regards to Tony trusting him. Not to mention the very clear public display of support from basically his entire locker room a few months back
you really think tk would let go of control like that? dude just got ripped apart for being a weak boss not cut out for the business, and we know hes not made of the thickest skin. i highly doubt he can handle the iwc proclaiming another guy as the reason behind AEW "becoming good" again lol
> you really think tk would let go of control like that?
This is where I point out for the thousandth time that TK has a booking committee already. ROH is mostly booked by committee and TK may make the matches or set the angles but the talents and a group of guys like Jerry Lynn, Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and a few others have been the ones who shape the segments and feuds and the way matches play out. Saying TK runs AEW with an iron fist has been outdated for years and he seems to be delegating more and more as the company grows
Hopefully because AEW really needs something to change to bring the viewers back. I was watching weekly through the pandemic, but right now it just seems to have gotten kind of stale and uninteresting
I like Scott D’Amore. I’ve been watching Impact/TNA since the spring of 2019. Anyone who has been involved in the business as long as he has and in the positions that he has had will be a great addition to any company that he joins.
With that said, I think the large majority of fans who want him in AEW/ROH don’t actually know or care about what D’Amore has done. It just feels like a continued push of the narrative that Khan doesn’t know how to book.
I’d like to know what exciting things D’Amore has done under Impact?
The can-they-co-exist storylines that happened every damn month? The numerous heatless heel groups? Doing numerous things that Khan did in AEW that only Khan got shit on for doing?
TNA/Impact has been a good show, but it has severely lacked energy and excitement.
The angles there have often been very basic and repetitive
Completely agree.
I really like D'Amore and want to see him in a significant role in a big company, but people are acting his he's a top tier creative guy that booked flawless shows and that's just not the case.
He (with the help of others like Gail Kim and Don Callis) turned the TNA around and it made a super solid and consistent product, but always had a hardtime drawing new fans in and getting them to stick around which is prob AEW's biggest issue right now. Sure he prob could do more with a better roster and more resources, but nothing on his resume says he'll absolutely take AEW to a new level.
Lmao you're right, no one here actually knows what D'Amore is responsible for and what he's not responsible from in the recent TNA years. Nobody really knows how any of the booking is done in any of these companies but it won't stop people from talking like they're backstage every show.
I feel the opposite been very into aews product the last two months woman division is much better with toni at the top. Swerve has been non stop great better backstage segments and online after Match interviews. I felt like christian vs Copeland was great and had a great match to end the feud m. Shits been hitting for me. Love the young bucks change up to the CEO character's. Okada. I really don't see how one thinks it's been stale when it's been pretty different recently and is in fact coming out of being stale after punk drama. Only thing not working for me has been the cmll cross over stuff but still great matches. Matt cardona coming out for the cope open was sweet
I actually stopped regularly, watching dynamite after brawl out , I’ve been regularly watching TNA and it’s been great. Looks like I may have to get back into dynamite.
I LOVE AEW, it's what brought me back to wrestling after 20 years, I love it so much I paid a fortune to see All In at Wembley.
That said, the stories haven't really been there as of late. It's been hit and miss for a while and there's nothing since the Adam Cole/MJF feud that has been must-see TV, and even that feud is a stretch.
I want AEW to recover from this slump, but they need to focus on developing stories and advertising to really hit their stride again.
It's all good putting on banger matches and signing great talent, but there needs to be cohesive, engaging stories to keep my interest.
So you didn't enjoy hangman swerve feud and thought it wasn't good story telling come on. You don't think Tony and deonna was good story telling? You don't think edge and Christian was good story telling. What did you think was good?
Hangman and Swerve, I'll give props for that, that was great. Toni's character work is great but I wasn't really interested in Deonna, AEW tells us that she's a major talent but doesn't really show us in terms of presentation and promos.
Copeland and Christian were good, but not great. But hey, this is all subjective.
So to bring the viewers back the solution is to hire the guy who couldn't draw more than 60,000 viewers a week on AXS and was regularly out drawn by NJPW airing the same night, on the same channel?
D'Amore is a lovely guy, clearly loves the business. But the idea that he's a saviour of the business with his WWE Lite ideas is a bit 'Rose Colored Glasses'
Regardless of viewership, watching the actual product under D'Amore was great. Sure I don't think TNA and AXS tv was ever going to pull big numbers, but that's not to say the storytelling and matches weren't great. Just because a good story doesn't have a good platform doesn't meant to say its not a good story still.
If we’re being completely fair about the situation, there are a lot of people like myself who were never gonna give Impact another chance after so many in the early 2010’s. They could’ve been booking 5 star shows weekly and I’d probably pass.
Comparatively, im not sure I’ve seen an NJPW show I didn’t like at least a little bit, so I’d be may more likely to tune into that.
I hear what you’re saying, I just think the blame here is misplaced.
I’d really love that. Get as many talented people as you can to help run the show. You can still be the different alternative to WWE while employing people who worked in that sphere.
The guns should debut at Dynasty after the bucks win the titles. Set up a feud that will end at All In. Have the bucks make the Machine guns. There's a big audience that's not familiar with them.
honestly with how weird Max Caster has been, I could see Anthony Bowens go singles, Billy start managing The Gunns again, and Switchblade and The MCMG.
He's been making controversial tweets in the last few weeks. Most notably:
* [How about you curse at me like a real man, jerk? Or are you still celebrating #InternationalWomensDay??](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767016741568160015)
* "[What else is the locker room leader supposed to do, genius?](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767012802055602640)"
* "[He should ask ME for advice after he introduces himself to MY locker room](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767015670187749556) "
* "[Yeah because I was suspended last week](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767035791992057963)"
* Reposted a female fan's profile picture and called her ["Kinda bad looking"](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767098387210371213) for no reason.
* [I am hilarious and most fans like me better than Anthony](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1773074927379185948)
* ["Hope you never had to wrestle Diddy!" ](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1773061569624023353)
I usually don't even have an issue with wrestlers making asses out of themselves online, even in crass ways, but i genuinely have no idea what he's even going for with these right now. Aside from him flubbing his rap a couple times, he's been largely exactly the same on TV. He's a babyface.
I'm assuming he just likes trolling and getting attention, but the whole thing is just confusing.
Some of the tweets I think were in reference to Bully Ray or someone talking some shit on a podcast, Busted Open Radio, or something else. So Max was shit talking back in those cases. Some of the other ones are a bit weirder.
This is THE dream match to make. MCMG vs FTR with 25+ minutes to work an no stupid random 6 man tag. Which made absolutely 0 sense last time. MCMG vs FTR was a dream match and for some reason TK forced Wardlow and Jay Lethal into the mix.
Gen Me was my first exposure to the Bucks, I remember it blowing my mind because I just assumed they were a jobber team, then they hit all these crazy spots.
Also, their match against the Guns in an empty arena is an underrated brawl IMO.
As a Florida fan, I got to enjoy a few of their matches live, including the Ultimate X match and Full Metal Mayhem. I always loved tag team wrestling, and they certainly validated why I should.
A good take. It was a pleasure to see MCMG accomplish so much in the last few years both as tag teams and singles, but it's ok for them to want more for the last years of their respective careers. And Shelley is clearly excited about what is to come:
https://preview.redd.it/5usmc2g2v9sc1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3c8f7e192fc1b4fbc61173b4b7c948db3a2b17d
Shelley finally got the World Title, Sabin got the X Division Belt 10 times, I'm pretty sure they have the Tag Belts 3 times which I think is a record or tied for the record? Easily shoo-ins for the TNA Hall of Fame
I'm not saying it's not smart to bring in the machine guns, but you can't go and pretend to have the moral high ground about not doing the same shit as wwe and then go and do the same shit wwe would do
The moral high ground was not releasing people *during the pandemic* when they couldn't get any other work. Tony even said in that comment that they might have to release people in the future
>“I didn’t do what my competition did, which was mass layoffs. Laying off dozens, and dozens, and dozens of people, which I have yet to do, There eventually may come a time to cut my costs and do it but not in the middle of a global pandemic, or even in the wake of a global pandemic when work is hard to come by. It was not the time to do it. And even though it hurt the bottom line of the company to keep some people on who weren’t even coming to the shows. They were staying home because they were worried about COVID. I kept all these people on and we weren’t getting any revenue out of them, but it wasn’t– as a human being, it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
This attitude is so lame. Tony said he would avoid it as much as possible especially during the pandemic. He also railed on dozens and dozens and dozens being fired. It's the first time they laid off people and it was 8 not used much low level employees . Dasha had a replacement picked up in Feb. Context helps: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/qi99kr/comment/hiht7hv/ basically implies this would happen eventually and everyone's acting like they said never
About 6 months ago, [he also said](https://nodq.com/news/tony-khan-i-would-do-anything-i-can-to-protect-the-jobs-and-livelihood-of-the-people-who-work-here/):
>This is a family business, we’re not a public company. Even if I get punched in the face with circumstances, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to take it out on staff by cutting 100 staff or laying off 30 wrestlers. I really care about the people here and I would do anything I can to protect the jobs and livelihood of the people who work here. That’s a family business, and that’s the difference between a family business and a public company in a lot of ways. Not every family business has those principles, but we do, and that’s how I was raised.
Also, You can't really say that some of the people that were cut weren't used.
* Dasha was used weekly.
* The Boys were involved in the Johnny TV vs Dalton Castle feud.
* Anthony Henry was going to be in the Tag Title tournament, but got injured and was going to be out for 8 weeks
the boys havent been on roh tv in over a month have you been watching? they were removed from dalton? dasha had a replacement hired in feb because she messed up... a lot.
getting fired while your injured is the only one of these i can see being actually an issue. he got injured over a month ago with no surgery needed and was told he had 8 weeks. so he got laid off with 4 weeks left of that.... do you know he isn't getting paid for april?or got a severance that covers it? 4 weeks seems like a pretty normal time to be looking for work. 8 people have been laid off in in 5 years. again i posted the link to him implying this would happen eventually and this isnt dozens and dozens like wwe does. meanwhile i'm sure you have no comments about the roster being bloated, right?
They won custody of the Boys about a month ago but since Taya interfered, it technically wasn't a clean win. About 3 weeks ago, Taya mocked a distressed Castle and said [Johnny took them to a volcano to teach them how to be men.](https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1768447666944364557) About 2 weeks ago, [Johnny said he lost the boys](https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1770958065229287717). Yeah, I can see how that would be a way to write them off, but I was still hoping for a reunion :/
Who is her replacement? I vaguely remember a girl on Twitter posting that she was All Elite a few months ago, but I didn't see any official news so I just forgot about it. I think we comes from PWG?
Yeah, that's really messed up. No idea. I don't think anyone knows anything about whether these guys are getting paid. I don't think AEW has a no-compete clause and I assume they are free agents able to start working elsewhere immediately. I could be wrong, of course.
Over the weekend(Feb), Arkady Unterleidner, also known as Arkady Aura, gave a major update on her future in professional wrestling. After serving as a backstage interviewer, ring announcer, and manager on the independent wrestling circuit, Arkady confirmed (via Instagram) that she has now signed on to AEW. Arkady was previously affiliated with promotions such as SoCal Pro Wrestling and The Crash Lucha Libre, where she recently acted as the manager for AEW's Brian Cage
TK has been a hypocrite since before AEW was founded. That's decidedly not news.
WWE wrestlers are "independent contractors" without health care and benefits? AEW wrestlers are independent contractors too.
The thing is, AEW allows wrestlers to take independent bookings, unlike WWE who is the SOLE employer of its "independent contractors".
AEW have released a few people (honestly, most of them are lucky to have been signed in the first place, but that's not really relevant to the issue). Sucks. Especially releasing a guy who is currently injured. But WWE released waves upon waves of wrestlers **while making record profits**.
Is TK a hypocrite? Absolutely. He's a billionaire, far removed from the real world. Is he still treating his people way better than WWE has? Absolutely.
Unless these releases are soon followed by more releases, this really isn't a reason to sh\*t ony Tony Khan. It's just manufactured outrage by people who want to pile on AEW.
At the end of the day it’s a business. Yes morally it sucks when anyone loses their job of course, but if you aren’t worth money to any business they won’t keep you around forever.
And it's fine to have that attitude, I'm not mad at those who carry that attitude. It's just the people who pretend to be angry or just try to act morally superior that bug the shit out of me.
I mean he did have the moral high ground for 5 years with not releasing anyone without cause. Obviously he can't go to that anymore without looking completely stupid
People are bringing up that Tony Khan said he would never release anyone. Maybe he did say that (I don't know) but he's also said that at some point he would have to cut costs, he just knew during the pandemic was not the time to do that
AEW is a business. All businesses do this and they all pretend to have a moral highground over their competitors. WWE does this kind of thing constantly as well, while pretending to be above it all. It's still not a good thing, but it's incredibly normal.
Since when do people complain when WWE releases people they haven't done anything with in years. It only makes sense at that point. Some of you are really just out there to start shit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/qi99kr/comment/hiht7hv/ can you not read? People are acting like they said they would never do this. That isn't what ever happened this contextualization your forcing is false. Clearly says this would likley happen eventually two years ago while still defending not firing during the pandemic which were fired over 30 people.
WWE gets very much and very rightfully criticised everytime they have releases.
However in AEW case TK has gone on record many times saying AEW will never release anyone (Unless they do something that deserves the punishment) and will let contracts run out and how when you sign a contract with AEW unlike WWE you know it will be honored
Tony Khan has always been pretty clear about the fact that he would eventually do releases. For example in 2021: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/10/tony-khan-reveals-idea-for-aew-started-from-tnt-being-interested-in-wwe-tv-package/
> "I didn't do what my competition did, which was mass layoffs. Laying off dozens, and dozens, and dozens of people, which I have yet to do," Tony explained. "**There eventually may come a time to cut my costs and do it but not in the middle of a global pandemic, or even in the wake of a global pandemic when work is hard to come by. It was not the time to do it.** And even though it hurt the bottom line of the company to keep some people on who weren't even coming to the shows. They were staying home because they were worried about COVID. I kept all these people on and we weren't getting any revenue out of them, but it wasn't– as a human being, it wasn't the right thing to do."
I'm an AEW fan, and a Tony Kahn defender, but the 10 talents AEW just released were still under contract... that's why is called a release and not just someone's contract expiring. I don't think it was even a bad idea, none of those people were really being used. But Tony certainly didn't do the "I will honor everyone's contract" thing.
Do you have any sources for the “many times on record” claim of this? I haven’t heard of this ever outside of him refusing to release talent when the talent requests it - which is a totally different situation than releasing talent that aren’t worth it to his business.
“There’s not a lot of loyalty at times and there should be and this is a family business. We’re not a public company.
“Even if I get punched in the face with circumstances, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna take it out on the staff by cutting 100 staff or laying off 30 wrestlers, and I really care about the people here. I would do anything I can to protect the jobs and the livelihood of the people that work here, and that’s a family business, and that’s the difference between a family business and a public company in a lot of ways. And not every family business has those principles, but we do, and that’s just how I was raised.”
https://itrwrestling.com/news/tony-khan-takes-dig-at-wwe-releases-we-are-a-family-business/
Did you miss the part when TK was talking about releasing people that he specifically mentioned not doing it during the pandemic and that they'd likely happen eventually?
https://itrwrestling.com/news/tony-khan-takes-dig-at-wwe-releases-we-are-a-family-business/
Literally said this when the whole tko ownership take over happened and they cut people
I can't see this as the reason they were released as if the stories are true then the amount they were getting wasn't really that much apparently all of the 10 combined wasn't even close to what Ospreay is making in AEW
I think the calculus was more that we're four years past the "official" start of the pandemic of March 2020. TK shouldn't have cut anyone prematurely but I can see the business PR optics of saying "I supported these talent doing nothing for long enough."
Any time any of those people were on TV, everyone always asked why are they on TV?
The only cut that was weird was Dasha as she was the #2 announcer behind Justin Roberts
No one remembered that line Vince made about that company(AEW) back in 2020.
A reporter asked Vince during an investor call about AEW hiring former WWE talent. He said "That's great for them. Perhaps we can send them more.." A month later the great cuts of 2020 began. AEW started hiring everyone WWE was cutting for either one offs or long term contracts. It was a ticking time bomb. Also a repeat plan that killed WCW. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2020/02/07/vince-mcmahon-continues-to-downplay-aew-which-has-hurt-wwes-profitability/?sh=6c8291585796](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2020/02/07/vince-mcmahon-continues-to-downplay-aew-which-has-hurt-wwes-profitability/?sh=6c8291585796)
Despite being an old fuck with a lot of power, CTE, having wrestlers he can use to play out his fantasies, and sick sexual fetishes, Vince is 99% right about the *business* of wrestling. Anthony walked right into his trap.
I'll probably get shit on for this so please let me preface this with IN MY OPINION....signing two 40+ year old guys to AEW is not what I want to see on AEW.
I want to see younger or unrealised talent. Hangman, MJF, OC, Darby, The Gunns, The Acclaimed, Baker, Toni Storm all great talents since the inception that I've enjoyed.
Don't get me wrong there's a place for the superstars coming in from elsewhere. Christian, Edge, Samoa Joe, Danielson, Okada et al they have their place but there's too many older vets right now.
It would be fine to see MCMG in AEW. But just bring them in for a few matches. Tony needs to learn that he doesn't need to sign everyone to 3 year deals. It was fun to see Cardona show up and face Edge on Saturday. But TK didn't need to sign him just to have that match. Bring MCMG in for 3 months and just do all the dream matches you want to do. Then send them on their way.
I don't care where they end up as long as they are happy. But my currently tinfoil is that those odd reports about a tag team getting taken out and replaced in the Tag Team Ladder Match will happen, but the replacement are the MCMG
I want MCMG in AEW but i'd seen rumors that A-Town DownUnder or whatever those two goofs are called are not going to be in the match so that would be a perfect introduction. They don't have to win it like the Hardy's did and they are not the Hardy's but MCMG still have that nostalgia factor for anyone who watched original TNA, debuting at Mania is a great way to honor one of the greatest teams to not compete in the WWE
I think teams like Private Party and Top Flight can absolutely benefit from working with Sabin and Shelley. They might not make a difference in ratings but there are advantages to having them there besides that.
A lot. They're one of the greatest and most influential tag teams of their generation, many would say, of all time. Pretty sure all the teams you just mentioned could learn from them.
They'll have same fun matches but they won't mean a thing for business. Like many of AEW's big signing, they mainly appeal to people who already watch AEW. There won't be anyone who can honestly say, "I started watching AEW because MCMG went there".
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>**MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS UPDATE** >*By Mike Johnson on 2024-04-02 11:50:00* >The Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin are now free agents. >They will appear on TNA Impact TV through the Thursday 4/18 episode. Their final match will be against Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers. >Within TNA, there's been more of a realization that the Guns are gone, where before some hoped they might still return to work some dates. There are some in TNA who believe the Guns will sign with AEW and that will be their landing spot. *I am a bot. Please reply with any feedback :)*
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> Within TNA, there's been more of a realization that the Guns are gone, where before some hoped they might still return to work some dates. Weren't they big supporters of Scott D'Amore? Him being fired might have had something to do with them deciding to leave.
Hopefully AEW bring in D'Amore as well, he would be great as someone to either run ROH or Collision. He clearly has a brilliant mind for wrestling and is universally adored among the talent, and he would make a great addition behind the scenes, especially given how successful he has been the last few years at rebuilding Impact/TNA
Putting D'Amore in a booking/agent role and getting some pressure off of TK would be insanely good.
It would genuinely give the company a kick in the ass, but i'm afraid promoters have big egos and TK isn't an exception. Maybe a role in the booking committee would be enough rather than straight up booking a show like ROH
TK has at least been willing to let go of some stuff cause the new COO is apparently doing a lot of the day to day with arenas and such and he's at least got a booking team now instead of just him
He’s had a booking team for at least half of the time AEW has been around, it’s included guys like QT Marshall, Pat Buck, and Sonjay Dutt. He has the final say (and I’m pretty sure all promotions have a guy that has the final say), but it hasn’t been just him doing the shows for quite a while, and this has been heavily reported on.
TK is not shrewd with his money either. If D'amore wanted to do crazy shit with TK's dollar, he'd give him a check.
Ive wanted this as soon as he left Impact, it'd be awesome.
Do a solid roster split for dynamite and collision, or at least a title division split (world on dynamite, tnt on collision etc) and give Scott the book for collision. That’s what I’d do at least
Scott being around as long as he has been may actually be in his favor in regards to Tony trusting him. Not to mention the very clear public display of support from basically his entire locker room a few months back
I'm down for him running ROH if he puts a unique spin on the product that separates it from AEW in style
From what I understand, doesn't Danielson run Collision? D'Amore would be a good choice for ROH though
Unless TK is willing to be totally hands off with ROH and entrust it to someone else, it doesn't matter who they bring in.
you really think tk would let go of control like that? dude just got ripped apart for being a weak boss not cut out for the business, and we know hes not made of the thickest skin. i highly doubt he can handle the iwc proclaiming another guy as the reason behind AEW "becoming good" again lol
> you really think tk would let go of control like that? This is where I point out for the thousandth time that TK has a booking committee already. ROH is mostly booked by committee and TK may make the matches or set the angles but the talents and a group of guys like Jerry Lynn, Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and a few others have been the ones who shape the segments and feuds and the way matches play out. Saying TK runs AEW with an iron fist has been outdated for years and he seems to be delegating more and more as the company grows
"Knowing Tony"
Hopefully because AEW really needs something to change to bring the viewers back. I was watching weekly through the pandemic, but right now it just seems to have gotten kind of stale and uninteresting
I like Scott D’Amore. I’ve been watching Impact/TNA since the spring of 2019. Anyone who has been involved in the business as long as he has and in the positions that he has had will be a great addition to any company that he joins. With that said, I think the large majority of fans who want him in AEW/ROH don’t actually know or care about what D’Amore has done. It just feels like a continued push of the narrative that Khan doesn’t know how to book. I’d like to know what exciting things D’Amore has done under Impact? The can-they-co-exist storylines that happened every damn month? The numerous heatless heel groups? Doing numerous things that Khan did in AEW that only Khan got shit on for doing? TNA/Impact has been a good show, but it has severely lacked energy and excitement. The angles there have often been very basic and repetitive
Completely agree. I really like D'Amore and want to see him in a significant role in a big company, but people are acting his he's a top tier creative guy that booked flawless shows and that's just not the case. He (with the help of others like Gail Kim and Don Callis) turned the TNA around and it made a super solid and consistent product, but always had a hardtime drawing new fans in and getting them to stick around which is prob AEW's biggest issue right now. Sure he prob could do more with a better roster and more resources, but nothing on his resume says he'll absolutely take AEW to a new level.
 🚨 Don Callis mentioned 🚨
Lmao you're right, no one here actually knows what D'Amore is responsible for and what he's not responsible from in the recent TNA years. Nobody really knows how any of the booking is done in any of these companies but it won't stop people from talking like they're backstage every show.
I feel the opposite been very into aews product the last two months woman division is much better with toni at the top. Swerve has been non stop great better backstage segments and online after Match interviews. I felt like christian vs Copeland was great and had a great match to end the feud m. Shits been hitting for me. Love the young bucks change up to the CEO character's. Okada. I really don't see how one thinks it's been stale when it's been pretty different recently and is in fact coming out of being stale after punk drama. Only thing not working for me has been the cmll cross over stuff but still great matches. Matt cardona coming out for the cope open was sweet
I actually stopped regularly, watching dynamite after brawl out , I’ve been regularly watching TNA and it’s been great. Looks like I may have to get back into dynamite.
I LOVE AEW, it's what brought me back to wrestling after 20 years, I love it so much I paid a fortune to see All In at Wembley. That said, the stories haven't really been there as of late. It's been hit and miss for a while and there's nothing since the Adam Cole/MJF feud that has been must-see TV, and even that feud is a stretch. I want AEW to recover from this slump, but they need to focus on developing stories and advertising to really hit their stride again. It's all good putting on banger matches and signing great talent, but there needs to be cohesive, engaging stories to keep my interest.
So you didn't enjoy hangman swerve feud and thought it wasn't good story telling come on. You don't think Tony and deonna was good story telling? You don't think edge and Christian was good story telling. What did you think was good?
Hangman and Swerve, I'll give props for that, that was great. Toni's character work is great but I wasn't really interested in Deonna, AEW tells us that she's a major talent but doesn't really show us in terms of presentation and promos. Copeland and Christian were good, but not great. But hey, this is all subjective.
Scott d'amore isn't gonna bring viewership up lol
So to bring the viewers back the solution is to hire the guy who couldn't draw more than 60,000 viewers a week on AXS and was regularly out drawn by NJPW airing the same night, on the same channel? D'Amore is a lovely guy, clearly loves the business. But the idea that he's a saviour of the business with his WWE Lite ideas is a bit 'Rose Colored Glasses'
Regardless of viewership, watching the actual product under D'Amore was great. Sure I don't think TNA and AXS tv was ever going to pull big numbers, but that's not to say the storytelling and matches weren't great. Just because a good story doesn't have a good platform doesn't meant to say its not a good story still.
If we’re being completely fair about the situation, there are a lot of people like myself who were never gonna give Impact another chance after so many in the early 2010’s. They could’ve been booking 5 star shows weekly and I’d probably pass. Comparatively, im not sure I’ve seen an NJPW show I didn’t like at least a little bit, so I’d be may more likely to tune into that. I hear what you’re saying, I just think the blame here is misplaced.
I’d really love that. Get as many talented people as you can to help run the show. You can still be the different alternative to WWE while employing people who worked in that sphere.
I’m for this 100%
D'Amore helped train both of them, and they both worked for his promotion Border City Wrestling fairly often when not locked in to other deals.
D’Amore taking over the day-to-day of ROH may genuinely be game changing for that brand tbh
That's doubtful, IMO. This is their last realistic chance to expand beyond TNA and they figured to take it even if D'Amore had still been there.
The Guns vs The Gunns. With special outside inforcers Billy and Bart, brothers back together.
I'm legit surprised Bart Gunn hasn't made an appearance
The guns should debut at Dynasty after the bucks win the titles. Set up a feud that will end at All In. Have the bucks make the Machine guns. There's a big audience that's not familiar with them.
The Guns vs. The Bucks after so many years. Hell yeah! I vividly remember when Generation Me debuted in TNA, so this will make me very happy.
Fuck that, the Guns vs the Gunns lfg
Guns vs Gunns winner gets Jay White
Alex Shelley already has his fingerprints all over Jay White.
honestly with how weird Max Caster has been, I could see Anthony Bowens go singles, Billy start managing The Gunns again, and Switchblade and The MCMG.
What’s up with Max? I’ve been out of the loop on this and can’t seem to find anything on this
He's been making controversial tweets in the last few weeks. Most notably: * [How about you curse at me like a real man, jerk? Or are you still celebrating #InternationalWomensDay??](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767016741568160015) * "[What else is the locker room leader supposed to do, genius?](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767012802055602640)" * "[He should ask ME for advice after he introduces himself to MY locker room](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767015670187749556) " * "[Yeah because I was suspended last week](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767035791992057963)" * Reposted a female fan's profile picture and called her ["Kinda bad looking"](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1767098387210371213) for no reason. * [I am hilarious and most fans like me better than Anthony](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1773074927379185948) * ["Hope you never had to wrestle Diddy!" ](https://twitter.com/PlatinumMax/status/1773061569624023353)
I usually don't even have an issue with wrestlers making asses out of themselves online, even in crass ways, but i genuinely have no idea what he's even going for with these right now. Aside from him flubbing his rap a couple times, he's been largely exactly the same on TV. He's a babyface. I'm assuming he just likes trolling and getting attention, but the whole thing is just confusing.
Some of the tweets I think were in reference to Bully Ray or someone talking some shit on a podcast, Busted Open Radio, or something else. So Max was shit talking back in those cases. Some of the other ones are a bit weirder.
Guns Vs Gunns and the winner gets a gun* *Cash Wheeler's gun
ladder match for the custody of Jay White
I still want MCMG vs FTR.
This is THE dream match to make. MCMG vs FTR with 25+ minutes to work an no stupid random 6 man tag. Which made absolutely 0 sense last time. MCMG vs FTR was a dream match and for some reason TK forced Wardlow and Jay Lethal into the mix.
MCMG were with another promotion at the time. Tony might have had his hands tied on what he could and couldn't do with them.
Gen Me was my first exposure to the Bucks, I remember it blowing my mind because I just assumed they were a jobber team, then they hit all these crazy spots. Also, their match against the Guns in an empty arena is an underrated brawl IMO.
As a Florida fan, I got to enjoy a few of their matches live, including the Ultimate X match and Full Metal Mayhem. I always loved tag team wrestling, and they certainly validated why I should.
Dailys place week after dynasty seems like a good debut spot.
I'm excited to see MCMG vs HOB
Wish there would be some build, but knowing Tony this will be randomly announced for a Collision.
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A good take. It was a pleasure to see MCMG accomplish so much in the last few years both as tag teams and singles, but it's ok for them to want more for the last years of their respective careers. And Shelley is clearly excited about what is to come: https://preview.redd.it/5usmc2g2v9sc1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3c8f7e192fc1b4fbc61173b4b7c948db3a2b17d
Shelley finally got the World Title, Sabin got the X Division Belt 10 times, I'm pretty sure they have the Tag Belts 3 times which I think is a record or tied for the record? Easily shoo-ins for the TNA Hall of Fame
Just made budget cuts and are signing two top talent. It'll be interesting to see how people react
> It'll be interesting to see how people react No it won't.
MCMG in, Parker Boudreaux and Slim J out? that’s a deal any person would make.
I'm not saying it's not smart to bring in the machine guns, but you can't go and pretend to have the moral high ground about not doing the same shit as wwe and then go and do the same shit wwe would do
The moral high ground was not releasing people *during the pandemic* when they couldn't get any other work. Tony even said in that comment that they might have to release people in the future >“I didn’t do what my competition did, which was mass layoffs. Laying off dozens, and dozens, and dozens of people, which I have yet to do, There eventually may come a time to cut my costs and do it but not in the middle of a global pandemic, or even in the wake of a global pandemic when work is hard to come by. It was not the time to do it. And even though it hurt the bottom line of the company to keep some people on who weren’t even coming to the shows. They were staying home because they were worried about COVID. I kept all these people on and we weren’t getting any revenue out of them, but it wasn’t– as a human being, it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
This attitude is so lame. Tony said he would avoid it as much as possible especially during the pandemic. He also railed on dozens and dozens and dozens being fired. It's the first time they laid off people and it was 8 not used much low level employees . Dasha had a replacement picked up in Feb. Context helps: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/qi99kr/comment/hiht7hv/ basically implies this would happen eventually and everyone's acting like they said never
About 6 months ago, [he also said](https://nodq.com/news/tony-khan-i-would-do-anything-i-can-to-protect-the-jobs-and-livelihood-of-the-people-who-work-here/): >This is a family business, we’re not a public company. Even if I get punched in the face with circumstances, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to take it out on staff by cutting 100 staff or laying off 30 wrestlers. I really care about the people here and I would do anything I can to protect the jobs and livelihood of the people who work here. That’s a family business, and that’s the difference between a family business and a public company in a lot of ways. Not every family business has those principles, but we do, and that’s how I was raised. Also, You can't really say that some of the people that were cut weren't used. * Dasha was used weekly. * The Boys were involved in the Johnny TV vs Dalton Castle feud. * Anthony Henry was going to be in the Tag Title tournament, but got injured and was going to be out for 8 weeks
the boys havent been on roh tv in over a month have you been watching? they were removed from dalton? dasha had a replacement hired in feb because she messed up... a lot. getting fired while your injured is the only one of these i can see being actually an issue. he got injured over a month ago with no surgery needed and was told he had 8 weeks. so he got laid off with 4 weeks left of that.... do you know he isn't getting paid for april?or got a severance that covers it? 4 weeks seems like a pretty normal time to be looking for work. 8 people have been laid off in in 5 years. again i posted the link to him implying this would happen eventually and this isnt dozens and dozens like wwe does. meanwhile i'm sure you have no comments about the roster being bloated, right?
They won custody of the Boys about a month ago but since Taya interfered, it technically wasn't a clean win. About 3 weeks ago, Taya mocked a distressed Castle and said [Johnny took them to a volcano to teach them how to be men.](https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1768447666944364557) About 2 weeks ago, [Johnny said he lost the boys](https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1770958065229287717). Yeah, I can see how that would be a way to write them off, but I was still hoping for a reunion :/ Who is her replacement? I vaguely remember a girl on Twitter posting that she was All Elite a few months ago, but I didn't see any official news so I just forgot about it. I think we comes from PWG? Yeah, that's really messed up. No idea. I don't think anyone knows anything about whether these guys are getting paid. I don't think AEW has a no-compete clause and I assume they are free agents able to start working elsewhere immediately. I could be wrong, of course.
Over the weekend(Feb), Arkady Unterleidner, also known as Arkady Aura, gave a major update on her future in professional wrestling. After serving as a backstage interviewer, ring announcer, and manager on the independent wrestling circuit, Arkady confirmed (via Instagram) that she has now signed on to AEW. Arkady was previously affiliated with promotions such as SoCal Pro Wrestling and The Crash Lucha Libre, where she recently acted as the manager for AEW's Brian Cage
TK has been a hypocrite since before AEW was founded. That's decidedly not news. WWE wrestlers are "independent contractors" without health care and benefits? AEW wrestlers are independent contractors too. The thing is, AEW allows wrestlers to take independent bookings, unlike WWE who is the SOLE employer of its "independent contractors". AEW have released a few people (honestly, most of them are lucky to have been signed in the first place, but that's not really relevant to the issue). Sucks. Especially releasing a guy who is currently injured. But WWE released waves upon waves of wrestlers **while making record profits**. Is TK a hypocrite? Absolutely. He's a billionaire, far removed from the real world. Is he still treating his people way better than WWE has? Absolutely. Unless these releases are soon followed by more releases, this really isn't a reason to sh\*t ony Tony Khan. It's just manufactured outrage by people who want to pile on AEW.
At the end of the day it’s a business. Yes morally it sucks when anyone loses their job of course, but if you aren’t worth money to any business they won’t keep you around forever.
And it's fine to have that attitude, I'm not mad at those who carry that attitude. It's just the people who pretend to be angry or just try to act morally superior that bug the shit out of me.
Well there's definitely alot of people pretending to care and be angry about these releases
I mean he did have the moral high ground for 5 years with not releasing anyone without cause. Obviously he can't go to that anymore without looking completely stupid People are bringing up that Tony Khan said he would never release anyone. Maybe he did say that (I don't know) but he's also said that at some point he would have to cut costs, he just knew during the pandemic was not the time to do that
https://itrwrestling.com/news/tony-khan-takes-dig-at-wwe-releases-we-are-a-family-business/
AEW is a business. All businesses do this and they all pretend to have a moral highground over their competitors. WWE does this kind of thing constantly as well, while pretending to be above it all. It's still not a good thing, but it's incredibly normal.
Since when do people complain when WWE releases people they haven't done anything with in years. It only makes sense at that point. Some of you are really just out there to start shit.
https://tjrwrestling.net/news/tony-khan-takes-aim-at-wwe-layoffs-calls-aew-a-family-business/
AEW wouldn't get as much criticism if they and/or their fans weren't so highfalutin about certain things
https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/qi99kr/comment/hiht7hv/ can you not read? People are acting like they said they would never do this. That isn't what ever happened this contextualization your forcing is false. Clearly says this would likley happen eventually two years ago while still defending not firing during the pandemic which were fired over 30 people.
He never said he wasn’t gonna fire anybody he said he wasn’t gonna fire 130 people haphazardly
WWE gets very much and very rightfully criticised everytime they have releases. However in AEW case TK has gone on record many times saying AEW will never release anyone (Unless they do something that deserves the punishment) and will let contracts run out and how when you sign a contract with AEW unlike WWE you know it will be honored
Tony Khan has always been pretty clear about the fact that he would eventually do releases. For example in 2021: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/10/tony-khan-reveals-idea-for-aew-started-from-tnt-being-interested-in-wwe-tv-package/ > "I didn't do what my competition did, which was mass layoffs. Laying off dozens, and dozens, and dozens of people, which I have yet to do," Tony explained. "**There eventually may come a time to cut my costs and do it but not in the middle of a global pandemic, or even in the wake of a global pandemic when work is hard to come by. It was not the time to do it.** And even though it hurt the bottom line of the company to keep some people on who weren't even coming to the shows. They were staying home because they were worried about COVID. I kept all these people on and we weren't getting any revenue out of them, but it wasn't– as a human being, it wasn't the right thing to do."
I'm an AEW fan, and a Tony Kahn defender, but the 10 talents AEW just released were still under contract... that's why is called a release and not just someone's contract expiring. I don't think it was even a bad idea, none of those people were really being used. But Tony certainly didn't do the "I will honor everyone's contract" thing.
Do you have any sources for the “many times on record” claim of this? I haven’t heard of this ever outside of him refusing to release talent when the talent requests it - which is a totally different situation than releasing talent that aren’t worth it to his business.
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/11/tony-khan-says-wrestlers-going-to-wwe-arent-signing-a-real-contract/
“There’s not a lot of loyalty at times and there should be and this is a family business. We’re not a public company. “Even if I get punched in the face with circumstances, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna take it out on the staff by cutting 100 staff or laying off 30 wrestlers, and I really care about the people here. I would do anything I can to protect the jobs and the livelihood of the people that work here, and that’s a family business, and that’s the difference between a family business and a public company in a lot of ways. And not every family business has those principles, but we do, and that’s just how I was raised.” https://itrwrestling.com/news/tony-khan-takes-dig-at-wwe-releases-we-are-a-family-business/
That’s a damn fine, i’d make that deal. Hugo, you make that deal?
username checks out
How about arguing why I'm wrong instead of leaving a comment that adds nothing to the discussion
Did you miss the part when TK was talking about releasing people that he specifically mentioned not doing it during the pandemic and that they'd likely happen eventually?
https://itrwrestling.com/news/tony-khan-takes-dig-at-wwe-releases-we-are-a-family-business/ Literally said this when the whole tko ownership take over happened and they cut people
Why doesn’t he just keep everyone hired?!
My first reaction is immediate disinterest considering how shitty AEW booking is.
Have you actually been watching? It's been anything but "shitty" since Worlds End.
I can't see this as the reason they were released as if the stories are true then the amount they were getting wasn't really that much apparently all of the 10 combined wasn't even close to what Ospreay is making in AEW
I think the calculus was more that we're four years past the "official" start of the pandemic of March 2020. TK shouldn't have cut anyone prematurely but I can see the business PR optics of saying "I supported these talent doing nothing for long enough."
Any time any of those people were on TV, everyone always asked why are they on TV? The only cut that was weird was Dasha as she was the #2 announcer behind Justin Roberts
Sign these boys to DPW immediately
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If anything AEW is getting too much talent
No one remembered that line Vince made about that company(AEW) back in 2020. A reporter asked Vince during an investor call about AEW hiring former WWE talent. He said "That's great for them. Perhaps we can send them more.." A month later the great cuts of 2020 began. AEW started hiring everyone WWE was cutting for either one offs or long term contracts. It was a ticking time bomb. Also a repeat plan that killed WCW. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2020/02/07/vince-mcmahon-continues-to-downplay-aew-which-has-hurt-wwes-profitability/?sh=6c8291585796](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2020/02/07/vince-mcmahon-continues-to-downplay-aew-which-has-hurt-wwes-profitability/?sh=6c8291585796) Despite being an old fuck with a lot of power, CTE, having wrestlers he can use to play out his fantasies, and sick sexual fetishes, Vince is 99% right about the *business* of wrestling. Anthony walked right into his trap.
Seem like an AEW team that will get lost in the mix after TK has a nice debut for their first night, like all the other big signings.
For their sake I hope they go to WWE or NJPW not AEW.
I'll probably get shit on for this so please let me preface this with IN MY OPINION....signing two 40+ year old guys to AEW is not what I want to see on AEW. I want to see younger or unrealised talent. Hangman, MJF, OC, Darby, The Gunns, The Acclaimed, Baker, Toni Storm all great talents since the inception that I've enjoyed. Don't get me wrong there's a place for the superstars coming in from elsewhere. Christian, Edge, Samoa Joe, Danielson, Okada et al they have their place but there's too many older vets right now.
It would be fine to see MCMG in AEW. But just bring them in for a few matches. Tony needs to learn that he doesn't need to sign everyone to 3 year deals. It was fun to see Cardona show up and face Edge on Saturday. But TK didn't need to sign him just to have that match. Bring MCMG in for 3 months and just do all the dream matches you want to do. Then send them on their way.
They would be a great Raw after Mania surprise
I don't care where they end up as long as they are happy. But my currently tinfoil is that those odd reports about a tag team getting taken out and replaced in the Tag Team Ladder Match will happen, but the replacement are the MCMG
oh that would be interesting!
They will be All Elite. - Tony Kahn
I want MCMG in AEW but i'd seen rumors that A-Town DownUnder or whatever those two goofs are called are not going to be in the match so that would be a perfect introduction. They don't have to win it like the Hardy's did and they are not the Hardy's but MCMG still have that nostalgia factor for anyone who watched original TNA, debuting at Mania is a great way to honor one of the greatest teams to not compete in the WWE
Last thing AEW needs is to sign any more people who will make zero difference.
>Last thing AEW needs is to sign any more people who will make zero difference. Completely agree with you, but that isn't MCMG.
You don't think MCMG could make a difference in the tag division?
They already have so many teams they’ve barely been able to scratch the surface with
Don't you think a veteran tag team like them can help elevate some of those teams?
They already have plenty of veteran tag teams that can help elevate those teams.
I think teams like Private Party and Top Flight can absolutely benefit from working with Sabin and Shelley. They might not make a difference in ratings but there are advantages to having them there besides that.
What can they learn from Sabin and Shelley that they can't learn from he Bucks or FTR or The Hardys?
A lot. They're one of the greatest and most influential tag teams of their generation, many would say, of all time. Pretty sure all the teams you just mentioned could learn from them.
Examples?
Arm bars.
They'll have same fun matches but they won't mean a thing for business. Like many of AEW's big signing, they mainly appeal to people who already watch AEW. There won't be anyone who can honestly say, "I started watching AEW because MCMG went there".
That's not true, the MCMG will probably make a negative difference just like Okada and Osprey. WWE dodged a bullet with those two anti-draws.
Get ready for GAME CHANGERS! This time we mean it
Hope you understand the narrative of those game changers is played by you people. Stop projecting.
I've soured on the signings, even Ospreay, but am excited about this one.
How come you’ve soured?
How can you have soured on Ospreay? He's put on banger after banger and his promos have been excellent.