Conrad Thompson on: the REAL reason why AEW are struggling

to send your questions into the show: [e-mail]
to hear the ENTIRE episode: www.spreaker.c...
Join the PATREON for OFFICIAL A+ EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
===============================================
/ konnan
FOLLOW THE CREW ON TWITTER
============================
/ konnan5150​​​​​​​​
/ therealdisco​​​​​​​​
/ jffeeney3rd​​​​​​​​-
/ thehughezy​​​​​​​​
/ k100konnan​​​​​​​​
/ chrismason6286

[@KeepinIt100OFFICIAL]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5bOaWiJna6DntU

[@pfunk420d]

Enjoyn the interaction between these guys

[@EMWFigureShelf]

Tony presents his show like a super Indy card. His business model is very similar to the way GCW, PWG and others all do business. The issue is, when companies like TNA and sometimes MLW could do actual storylines and give reasons for someone to be invested, it exposes the issues with AEW. This is coming from an avid AEW watcher every week. If Tony focused less on presenting his show like the All Japan highlight show that showcased matches and no story and focused more on giving people a reason for why certain matches are taking place, it could make a difference for sure.

[@rc8657]

And that business model shouldn't be on national television because they're losing fans every week people that watch wrestling every week want a story gcw happens what twice a month

[@loooooooongstanding2141]

I can tell you why AEW is struggling: the answer is Tony Khan. He doesn't know what he's doing, he's not learning and he refuses to acknowledge how bad the AEW numbers are

[@deeang349]

i would say its struggling because a large part of the fans just want another WWE. I would say TK, ignore those fools and keep doing what you're doing, even if its a niche product. He probably doesnt acknowledge them as bad since the network is telling them they are good. and ad revenue is coming in left and right with no problem.

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

​@@deeang349I would say it's struggling cos no one watches wrestling anymore. 95% of all "fans" these days are children and stop being "fans" once they find out it's all fake.

[@anthonyjohnson4390]

The overall numbers watching Dynamite each week is still about 2.5 to 3 million people. The problem is its lost its appointment TV factor. If you don't watch it live it doesn't count. Conrad nailed it. If you already know what's going to happen with zero surprises you might hold off watching Dynamite on Thursday. You might also decide not to buy a ticket because you don't fear missing something.

[@duckmercy11]

​@@JohnKobaRuddy Nothing to do with it. If anything the audience for non-WWE wrestling has grown in recent years.

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

AGREED@@deeang349

[@Am0ment0fB]

Aew isn't struggling. It's great. 🔔 Everything is great. 🔔 Everyone is great. 🔔 Ha.

[@merk_dat_azz6939]

Its gonna be a real exciting year for AEW!

[@Am0ment0fB]

@@merk_dat_azz6939 #watchrampage. Ha.

[@mrlahey6176]

#tonyisinsane

[@Am0ment0fB]

@@mrlahey6176 #watchrampage Ha.

[@user-rx2hw8up2j]

Thanks guys 😁

[@mansion1719]

word going around online is that so many people were leaving during the Collision/ ROH taping last night that Tony Khan came out onto the stage to beg them to stay.

[@shanefoy3720]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@johnknight7481]

And that was just the wrestlers

[@Bls-of1ld]

Lol no way

[@QAZ-OMEN]

OUCH. Maybe it's time for TK to open the doors and offer free shirts and admission to the homeless.

[@joshuag7207]

@@johnknight7481😂😂😂

[@TheGrittyUrbanSaga]

Good constructive criticism 👍

[@beesterscardcorner9668]

What perplexes me the most is that Tony and the geeks who say he is putting on a card full of great matches are oblivious to the fact most of these "bangers" are godawful. There is a huge difference between a best of Terry Funk or best of All Japan tape than watching pro wrestlers who are barely taller than the ropes trade forearms.

[@dazgordon-hill2660]

BEST OF = untold amount of crap cut out!! Like the WWE PPV hype videos - looks amazing in 44sec recap but BORING to watch for 4 weeks

[@BudNordquist-vn3id]

Yeah I don’t see any great matches on AEW. It’s mostly just a botch fest

[@ninthlife1745]

so then why does he give Eric Bischoff a hard time on 83 Weeks when he says the exact same thing?

[@Hellwolf36]

The same thing I asked myself

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

Some people come into their own when away from people that either put them off or intimidate them.

[@datacipher]

Really?? 😂. He’s been playing devil’s advocate - and sometimes even says it - to Bischoff since day 1.

[@Jahn_Pah_Jonz]

Maybe the Khan checks stopped clearing for Conrad.

[@hotsalsaept]

I think Conrad knows he's out of his element being in someone else's podcast that he's not hosting lol.

[@liamstewart4472]

if this is the case when why does Conrad act like world peace has begun any time AEW signs a new name?

[@TheDirk]

He already goofed when he said he kinda likes it when its a new name and then he wants to know about them before he sees them again, then just ignores this statement when Konnan points out there have never been vignettes explaining who these wrestlers are ever

[@liamstewart4472]

@@TheDirk Conrad is the worst example of an AEW shill

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

@@TheDirk yeah but aew fans despise casual viewers (that didn't exist) so it's on you to know who the masked 50 year in a Japanese kabuki mask is. Could be anyone with a random Japanese sounding name: takishoto kobabushi Kawasaki Sony Hiroshima Could be called anything.

[@Kakashi-ip8mg]

K was 💯. Watch what the WWE set up and then what AEW set up. Blockbuster Global Entertainment company vs a high school play. AEW has some great talent but they need real storytellers to level up the show.

[@QAZ-OMEN]

Aew isn't even a high school play. It more like practicing gymnastics at recess

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

dumb comment @@QAZ-OMEN

[@jaysgamingcorner8539]

100% spot on, there are no compelling stories in AEW to get invested in. I have no idea who's a heel or face, which means I have no idea who to cheer for. 8 star matches never sold wrestling to the general fan and it never will

[@QAZ-OMEN]

Right. And I'm not cheering "this is awesome or fight forever" like some trained seal to blindly support the show.

[@jamesroy9657]

Wrong there's many compelling story lines in aew and it's only told inside the ring not outside of it like Pro rusting it's supposed to be. This is not that soap opera Sports entertainment crap this is pro wrestling. And yes you can tell who's heel and face easily and shows you're just making up crap . Plus you're in the era of Inbetweeners

[@jamesroy9657]

​@@QAZ-OMENso you're not going to support great wrestling just a bunch of soap opera bull crap and talking thank you for telling me that your sports entertainment Mark and not a pro wrestling fan

[@QAZ-OMEN]

@jamesroy9657 Since when does aew keep there matches in the ring ? Every match is mostly on the floor.

[@jaysgamingcorner8539]

@@jamesroy9657 Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes and Stone Cold Steve Austin wouldn't be considered great wrestlers today and it wouldn't matter one bit because their promos and storytelling brought fans to the show. Austin vs. McMahon was a bigger deal than anything AEW is capable of producing.

[@renegademikey2458]

AEW fans came from ROH/NJPW so TK is catering to those but he needs casual fans to get invested in their product. He needs to hire Scott D'Amore and some others who can really expand their company. He should know even ROH pre TK purchase made stories. Guys stubborn af.

[@LilBitDistributist]

What’s weird is that ROH now has more story going on and consistently than AEW programming. Wild.

[@gammasmash1924]

"Tony books matches not stories." Spot on. I mean, there's more to it than that, but it's a pretty big factor.

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

I want wrestling not shitty stories

[@PurpleLighters]

​@@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780 you're in the minority obviously.

[@ssjup81]

@@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780Then watch Indy stuff. Most like characterization, a story (hopefully good), and good matches.

[@rc8657]

I said the same thing. Tony booking his writing down matches on a piece of paper. Here's the thing that could work not on national television it's the same model gcw does how often do they have a show not every week

[@walterclark3198]

I agree with Konnan. I can't like someone in Aew if i don't know who they are and Aew should do a quick video package on these guy's who just show up on Aew Tv. That way i have an idea of who they are and what they did in other promotions. It's so simple but Aew makes it seem so complicated.

[@duckmercy11]

They do video packages on KZbin, just not on TV. I guess they don't have time to play them cause they let their guys wrestle long matches so much.

[@walterclark3198]

@@duckmercy11 You do realize that some ppl don't even watch KZbin right? And some older adults don't know how to use a computer or the Internet.

[@ZeroShaneBob]

@@walterclark3198 Most of AEW's fanbase are people in their mid 30s and below, so I'm pretty sure their fans use social media and KZbin.

[@walterclark3198]

@@ZeroShaneBob Not necessarily. I've met ppl who don't know who Edge or Chris Jericho are and their in mid 20' s and early 30's.

[@namelessjedi2242]

They just have Excalibur yell “Oh my god, it’s so-and-so!” and it’s not nearly enough. The first rule of storytelling is _show don’t tell_ for a reason!

[@The_Fat_Fury]

That's definitely part of it. It's like having an action movie with a bunch of fights, car chases, and explosions with no story connecting any of it.

[@jamesroy9657]

Wrong their stories connecting it but they're only told inside the ring not outside of it like soap opera bull crap Sports entertainment WWE. Pro wrestling is only about wrestling and telling the story inside the ring not outside of it and treated it like a sport not a soap opera like WWE

[@paullihat7561]

@@jamesroy9657 No they're not.

[@jamesroy9657]

@paullihat7561 yes they are by fact Mark and that's why you never been in the business and I have. Sorry you can't understand the stories being told inside the ring by the wrestling because that's how pro wrestling is telling a story not that dumb down and unintelligent soap opera bull crap for unintelligent people and children because regular wrestling is too complicated for your small unintelligent Minds

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

@@jamesroy9657 does tony pay you James?

[@jamesroy9657]

@@paullihat7561 yes they do by fact

[@CoffeeStain-Music]

Its that but the fanbase is very internet based and many of those internet fans were turned off by Tony's internet behavior and it just became uncool to like them because Tony Khan is uncool.

[@duckmercy11]

Literally made fun of a booker from Japan for losing his job. Ridiculous.

[@gimmiebackmybike1831]

AEW barely pulled in 800K in the ratings despite a stacked card and, ugh, TONY KHAN ANNOUNCEMENT. I think it's time for Conrad and the rest of the AEW shills to accept that AEW simply isn't good enough.

[@NoahMcleany]

They won’t until it’s gone

[@Bls-of1ld]

Those aren't the real ratings

[@_WESTSIDE_]

@@Bls-of1ldso now they lie about ratings??

[@QAZ-OMEN]

What was this stacked card ?

[@CoolCATs2814]

@@_WESTSIDE_ Dynamite has Big Bang Theory as a lead-in on Wednesday nights & that show is still on at 9PM instead of ending around 8:59PM or sooner, so in doing so AEW gets credited for that 1st quarter hour's numbers. To get the real rating average, they should be starting with the 2nd quarter hour (9:15PM thru 9:30PM). They don't because there's a pretty steep drop off (like 200,000 or more).

[@Hedgehobbit]

For a company that supposedly focuses on match quality, their matches suck. No selling, everyone does the same moves, too much obvious cooperation, and a guy will kick out of 5 finishers only to lose to a clothesline. Not to mention the constant botches. The point I gave up on AEW was the spot where Jericho got thrown off the top of a cage. There was a fan cam of the spot and you can see the guys under the cage, in the ring, all stop fighting, turn and look up at Jericho. They didn't even care enough to pretend that they didn't know exactly when that spot was going to happen. Then, none of these guys react at all to seeing Jericho fall onto the stage and they resume play fighting again. AEW just doesn't care.

[@LobsterRavioli]

You nailed it my friend. Dudes kicking outta finishers every time is crazy. In WWE it is very rare, and the second finisher is usually it. And often, if the dude does kick out of a finisher, it’s because it took him too much time to make a pin. A dude who takes a sit down power bomb off the roof of the arena onto pavement shouldn’t be kicking out of anything, let alone kicking out at 1. AEW is just garbage all around.

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

There was always a level of cooperation between wrestlers but the levels of cooperation between AEW wrestlers is just staggeringly weird to me. Watching two men hold hands while some masked simpleton walks around the ropes doing random bounces while his opponent just stands there like a mannequin allowing this to happen is very very strange. But what do the fans of AEW do? Chant this is awesome. It's just not.

[@Aj6711]

Exactly there matches aren’t even good

[@mblair5327]

I've seen Jericho get his opponent in the Walls in the middle of the ring then he scoots over to the ropes so someone outside of the ring can interfere.

[@ZeroShaneBob]

You clearly don't even watch AEW. The only time anyone lost to a clothesline in AEW is when Hangman Page got legit injured by one from Moxley, and concussed. Absolutely no one has a clothesline as a finisher who is currently signed to AEW, and I don't recall it ever happening outside of this one instance.

[@anthonyjohnson4390]

I love AEW but everything said here was spot on and not said with malice. Tony doesn't need a new broker as much as a quality control guy. Bully has said in the past he's not a Booker but if you give him the story he can add to it to make it better. That's what they need that last filter guy they can trust. Also right now the most important prize in the sport is the Heavyweight championship. Right now the champ isn't even involved with the fued. Right now the best thing they can do is buy the rights to Bullet Club America have hangman win the belt join with the Bucks Undisputed Kingdom (which is a flop now) sign Haku's kid and at some point add Jack Perry to "take back" the company. Marks would love that. That's a free one for you Tony.

[@EarlSkakel]

I'm an AEW mark so this is said with love but to me Tony needs a writer or 2 who can tell him "hey this is what we should do or sometimes more importantly this is what we shouldn't do!" For example The Devil storyline was awesome but long term IMO. a mistake to have the 2 main guys in it(Cole and MJF)be injured so now you have to have The Kingdom carry the storyline and they are not over at least to me.

[@montana01]

They need to tape an hour of ROH before Collision, and an hour after. Put the bigger names in the second hour from 10pm -11pm - Kingston, Garcia, Lucha Bros, Etc . Put the dark wrestlers in the first hour.

[@LilBitDistributist]

I always thought that was the way to go! sometimes I can tell in the editing each week which matches were filmed when and you’ll have dark matches on at the end with half the peeps gone from the stands.

[@ssjup81]

Last April, my boyfriend took me to a Dynamite taping. We didn’t know it was going to be more than that. It was ROH, Dynamite, then Rampage. I was fighting sleep by the time Rampage’s taping started.

[@josephgonzalez7819]

none of those guys you listed are big names. thats the problem

[@Number9_Media1]

Rarely agree with Conrad, but I can 100% agree with him on this topic. Tony, Conrad, and myself are from that RF video, highspots era of wrestling. Even early ROH days. Where it was all about the physical match up. Little to no story involved

[@bigdaddyroy5382]

Conrad and tony have been fans since the 80s and 90s. They choose to ignore that wrestling popularity was built on story's not in ring.

[@duckmercy11]

If the in ring isn't popular then how is WM a thing? Or house shows for that matter?

[@bigdaddyroy5382]

@duckmercy11 look at today's house shows vs late 90s early 2000s. There's bad storylines and lack of character development. Wm is a thing because of 1 major storyline called the bloodline which is 80s esque its slow burned and drawn out. Look at Kane and undertaker. Summerslam till wm they did NOT touch

[@user-sv1mw8nq3f]

It was a VHS promotion not a real wrestling event.

[@AEWandObituary]

The product is much colder, while at the same time ticket prices are at least twice as expensive. If they cut ticket prices there would be a lot more people. Most people can not justify the price for the quality in return.

[@mapledripcomics]

Ppl give Conrad shit but he's 100% right here

[@jmiyagi12345]

People give him shit because this is the opposite of what he says on all the podcasts he hosts.

[@TheEWFX29]

@@jmiyagi12345 Because he is usually keeping the conversation going with his co-host. If all he did was say yep, yep the show would be pretty boring.

[@jmiyagi12345]

@@TheEWFX29 no, because he could expand on his points. It’s doubtful that he would have the exact same things to say as his cohost. As it stands, he looks intellectually dishonest, and all those podcasts make him look like a shill. Maybe it’s profitable, but the YT clips are about as much as I can take of him.

[@mapledripcomics]

@TheEWFX29 this. Hes being devils advocate and antagonistic on purpose.

[@TheEWFX29]

@@jmiyagi12345 Everybody wants to hear less of him, you want to hear more. The guy cant win. This is the thing. So he does what he keeps on doing. He is having success. I just watch the KZbin videos. Quick and too the point and no ads with ad block. I cant hear full podcasts anymore. The only podcast I hear fully is Between The Sheets wrestling podcast.

[@aaronlauretani8921]

He’s right. The focus is just on booking shows for the sake of work rate. It’s EWR in real life.

[@Jahn_Pah_Jonz]

What's ewr?

[@aaronlauretani8921]

It was a popular wrestling booker sim game that tended to give you top points if you just ran endless workrate-centric cards (Paul London vs. Bryan Danielson in an iron man match etc.).@@Jahn_Pah_Jonz

[@MrMDMPOfficial]

This show has been talking about AEW struggling for 4 years now.

[@namelessjedi2242]

And the ratings and attendance are lower than ever, so it’s been a 4 year decline, with rare upticks like Punk’s run there.

[@corwinbrown2643]

They don't have writers, they said they wouldn't have writers from the get go. It's a sports based product.

[@Am0ment0fB]

Dude ain't an Aew fan. He's an Aew employee. Ha.

[@ken7531077]

The used car salesman of podcasting.

[@Am0ment0fB]

@@ken7531077 well, dude definitely ain't selling no chicken wings. Ha.

[@Am0ment0fB]

@@user-oc5qq3xq5y you get it. Here have a 🍪. Ha.

[@timoutlaw9763]

Because AEW SUCKS , when is someone going to grow a pair of balls & tell Emperor he isn’t wearing any clothes.

[@ChrisCash720]

Wrestling isn't about matches. It's about story.

[@duckmercy11]

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

no its about wrestling and promos characters go watch a movie if you want storylines and aew do stories

[@namelessjedi2242]

It’s primarily about story and character. Great (believable!) matches are a plus, but without story and characters there’s nothing. It’s like a movie with lots of special effects but no substance… pointless and dull.

[@duckmercy11]

@@namelessjedi2242 Stories and character work can be done WITHIN matches, they're not mutually exclusive. Watch a Tetsuya Naito match.

[@duckmercy11]

@@namelessjedi2242 Stories and character work can and should be done WITHIN matches, not kept as some separate, partitioned thing. Watch Naito from NJPW.

[@grandpacreampie]

There are no stars in that organization. I see guys like Adam Page and Adam Cole and it looks like amateur hour.

[@sebastianvella8992]

Adam Page is a very good wrestler and had a great match against Swerve Strickland a match WWE would wish for in its weekly program.

[@Hunkzilla]

Exactly. Wardlow had potential and they messed that up.

[@sebastianvella8992]

I agree on Wardlow, but before making him Champion they have to decide if he is a heel or a face and also make sure they have a good list of viable opponents who could realistically speaking beat him.@@Hunkzilla

[@dngn4774]

@@sebastianvella8992Adam Page’s entire persona as a face failed because they portrayed him like an anxiety crippled loser who struggles to maintain friendships. That might be relatable to the typical AEW fan but wrestling is a power fantasy. You don’t root for the guy who’s all of your worst real life traits, you root for the person with the over the top characteristics you wish you could have. People don’t want to literally choke slam their boss through a table but it’s fun to cheer for a person who doesn’t take shit from anyone. When someone is mopey, drug dependent, and insecure, you can relate to where they are coming from but that’s not one of the main personalities you want to see a wrestling show built around. Especially when you put him next to a much cooler badass like Swerve. No amount of in ring magic clears that charisma gap.

[@sebastianvella8992]

Great wrestlers change persona several times in their career. Look at Cody, Jericho, Edge, Christian even Hogan, Rock, Cena and Austin to a lesser extent.@@dngn4774

[@davidporter7051]

Tomi Storm is the only one worth watching on AEW.

[@johnknight7481]

It must be bad if this shill is saying it

[@CornBreadtm1]

Does it matter? At this point, I don't think it does. Tony will make up the difference financially. Why? Cause he wants to do, what he wants to do. He doesn't care about the consequences. He's the kid who always broke his toys and got a new one the next day. He doesn't care. He doesn't have to deal with consequences.

[@johnreyes1749]

I tried watching AEW last night and Orange Cassidy is wrestling some Japanese wrestler, that was supposedly the main event😬 the fans enthusiasm was so sad and it sounded like the place was empty. I’m sorry but I try to watch AEW and it’s basically the minor leagues, it’s great that wrestlers are working and getting paid but Lucha Underground was more exciting😖

[@ZeroShaneBob]

Not what I saw or heard at all. There were several very loud "This is awesome chants".

[@SwagAli]

Good on Conrad for coming on the show and defending his views on AEW. I couldn't agree more that Tony books matches not stories.

[@mherndez3740]

Its funny how they give Conrad a pass and ask for his opinion on wrestling when hes one of the "Mark Podcasters" they shit on. 😅

[@allencollins5666]

Hope Tony Khan Isn't Paying Them Either To Not Tear Fat Conrad Up.

[@Jahn_Pah_Jonz]

At least the bat fastard came on the show. Now I have a little bit more respect for him.

[@WillS724]

Ok conrad but those individuals booked in those old school matches WERE FU*KING STARS!!!!

[@jamesroy9657]

No they weren't All-Stars booked In Those Old School matches

[@WillS724]

@@jamesroy9657 road warriors were NOT stars??

[@jamesroy9657]

@WillS724 Road Warriors were made by AWA and NWA because of what they did inside the ring and not outside of it or soap opera bull crap like WWE. The Road Warriors had created freedom and were allowed to do what they do just like wrestlers in aew and New Japan

[@WillS724]

@jamesroy9657 ok I see whose side you're on here.. but regardless of where the road warriors started , went and finished is IRRELEVANT because the matches they were in , they were MAJOR STARS compared to what's on certain wrestling shows today which is discussed in this video

[@jamesroy9657]

@WillS724 nope they were the same kind of stars as the ones that are on aew and new Japan as today. They came from the same world

[@LobsterRavioli]

The wrestling is garbage, and can be very embarrassing to watch. Eddie Kingston and those embarrassing machine gun chops are embarrassing as hell. Half the stars are always injured, due to matches few people watch or will remember. The storylines are all over the place, Tony wants to give every friend of his a belt, even though some guys are mid carders at best. And some of these gimmick matches are just dumb. Cutting a guy with a pizza cutter, or drinking another guys blood isn’t interesting, it’s grody.

[@ssjup81]

Tony Khan strikes me as the type who didn’t have many, or any, friends growing up and is trying to be everyone’s friend as opposed to an actual boss.

[@ssjup81]

At this point my boyfriend and I watch Dynamite more so out of habit. The matches are ridiculous sometimes and the booking can also be just as or even more so ridiculous. It’s like Tony goes through his action figures, start playing with them, and then decides to book the matches. It’s hard to fully get invested because of the lack of ongoing storylines and lack of characterization. A prime example of this is practically anything involving the AEW women’s division. Most matches have no real rhyme or reason or build up. Other problem….too many talents on the roster they don’t know what to do with. When they do pop up you’re like, “He/She still works here?” Conrad’s claim is BS. I watched WWF and WCW in the 90s and in my 40s now. I was invested in the characters and the stories that helped build those characters plus the ring work. What’s wrong with having all three of these elements? Back in the day I used to refer to wrestling as soap operas with fighting! 😂

[@ithinkaboutthings9052]

A big part of the problem is that Tony and his inside the bubble followers do not want to grow the audience. They think they’re hardcore fans because they don’t have commitments to a job, family and so on, and can spend most of their days and nights watching clips of high work rate performances. To them, everyone else is a casual; a term of derision in their little world.

[@jamesroy9657]

Nope that's a lie and you're part of the problem cuz you don't get that you're trying to make another WWE and they already have a WWE and they don't need another one. AEW from the start was made to be alternative to WWE AKA opposite of WWE and that means for the opposite fanbase of WWE. AEW from the start was made only for pro wrestling fans who watch ROH, TNA, AAA, mlw, CMLL, PWG, Noah, new japan, noah, new japan and the Indies and not for casuals or Sports entertainment Marks or the mainstream. Wrong most people who watch AEW have real jobs and probably make more money than you do every day. You are a casual because you're not a pro wrestling fan. You already have a company that caters to you all and it's called WWE and you're not getting another one with your selfish entitled Greenways

[@tehfawkinman]

That point Kdawg made about explaining who people are is why I liked Mike Tenay back in the day. He was great at getting into the history n backstory of the various luchadors in WCW n letting us know why we should care.

[@rodriguez6196]

The booking sucks. Revolution should be about christian winning the AEW championship. It should of been Samoa Joe vs Edge vs Christian triple threat match for the title. TK is a goof

[@mblair5327]

The AEW matches aren't great though. They are too phony.

[@matthewmcnicholas1]

If Tony Khan is going to insist on booking matches where it's impossible to tell who is the babyface and who is the heel, it's pretty damn essential the audience is given some help by the commentary team. The compilation videos Conrad cites were generally accompanied by strong commentary teams. Jesse Ventura or Bobby Heenan perfectly complimenting Vince, Gorilla or JR. Half of the entertainment value was in the commentary teams. Hell, even Lord Alfred Hayes and Sean Mooney were better than AEW's commentary teams.

[@davidratty2242]

Tony Khan. That's why.

[@Abioticwinter]

AEW needs video packages so bad for all these foreigners.

[@lyonhartboxing]

I knew this would happen to aew in the first 3 years. Tony hot shot booked all the indy "dream matches" with no story

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

shut up

[@brandonmorgan8975]

Definitely a huge issue if us as fans don’t know the wrestlers why are we expected to care or know who they are, when I watch a movie I like a good story to get me hooked if not click see what else is on

[@Hellwolf36]

Its funny how Conrad called out an element of Tony Khan that is a problem with AEW, but he continues to challenge Bischoff's opinion on it when he has been saying the exact same shit. He should just stick to selling mortgages instead of podcast hosting.

[@DoctorBastard]

Tony's had endless opportunities and he's dropped the ball on everything, then tripped over his own feet.

[@OfficialJarradHewett]

Tape trader mentality… nailed it.

[@philwalsh8975]

Conrad Thompson is on the AEW payroll. Tony Khan has to pay people for AEW to get any praise, it's the only way it will happen

[@ithinkaboutthings9052]

I don’t believe for one second that Tony has to use daddy’s money to rent bloggers and podcasters for praise. Those folks just despise WWE for reasons real and imagined and will happily assume the position to have access elsewhere.

[@allencollins5666]

❤❤. WCW 2000 Ratings Were 4-5 Times Higher Than AEW. AEW-Over 800,000 Viewers WCW-3,000,000-4,650,000.

[@philwalsh8975]

@@allencollins5666 ticket sales are garbage too

[@wheatgrinder83]

I’m roughly the same age as these guys. I also bought RF compilation tapes. We also grew up during the Monday Night Wars. Why do I know that storytelling is important and Kahn doesn’t? Why am I watching TV if there isn’t a story? If I want to watch a sport, I can watch MMA, but I don’t because pro wrestling has storylines. If he’s happy to book dream indie matches on TV, then good for him-it’s his money and there are worse things to do than start a wrestling promotion. But if he wants bigger TV ratings or to attract a more mainstream wrestling audience, he needs to give us a reason to watch the matches beyond “This will be a guaranteed 7-star match according to Dave Meltzer.”

[@jackiejones3296]

right now, there is no reason at all to watch AEW at all. I mean they're doing this triple treat for the next PPV... why? What's the personal issue between Samoa Joe & Hangman Page or Samoa Joe & Swerve that would make me want to tune in next week to find out?

[@namelessjedi2242]

Or even watch an entire show to see what happens. Tony doesn’t book shows just matches, and they basically exist in a void.

[@jackiejones3296]

@@namelessjedi2242 and even with WWE, how often do you really sit down and watch matches from start to finish? We, or should i say I personally, tune in to WWE tv for the angles.

[@outforthecount7027]

lmao when they get somebody to interview they wrestle over who asks questions"ok lemme lemme lemme lemme"

[@ExpressDunlop]

WCW was big, WWE/WWF was big and they rely on character work/storyline.

[@user-zf9pq1jn9w]

AEW is Struggling because WWE is On Fire.

[@KeepinIt100OFFICIAL]

WWE has nothing to do with AEW's problems.

[@thatguy8044]

People go heel, then baby face, then heel and then babyface in two weeks, no one sells, have no clue who are the foreign wrestlers without a package, obvious cooperation when it comes to dives, using weapons and tables in a match that has disqualification, there’s no stories, every angle seems comedic and the backstage stories about how the younger talent don’t care about the veterans is upsetting and the way he handled the CM Punk situation from the onset.

[@shiranuihd3182]

Agree with Konnan on video packages, they used to do them when they started

[@donovanbradford8231]

Not only is the tape era the issue but Tony was one of these that listened to and read the dirt sheets and would give these things more credence then they really should be given because you listen to enough of the wrestlers and former front office people who were apart of the last 30 years of wrestling and you hear many events play out far differently then they were reported. Not to mention someone like Meltzer has his favorites and individuals that he likes which is ok but after a certain point even I noticed many of the big matches or names he likes aren't as either well known or liked as the biggest names in the history of the business then maybe realize Meltzer has more in common with hardcore fans than general audiences which is your biggest market to hit people that just want to be entertained and if those want good stories what do you think you should have a 5 star match or a good story. Until Tony really changes how he runs his on camera wrestling product it will be more of the same.

[@ithinkaboutthings9052]

Re: Deonna - The self proclaimed smart marks claim she is a face. Why would a face, allegedly the good guy hero, do that dismissive, disrespectful hand thing towards fans and other performers?

[@duckmercy11]

Cause she was heel in Impact/TNA. I agree it doesn't make sense now and she should stop.

[@ithinkaboutthings9052]

@@duckmercy11 I really have a hard time understanding what constitutes a heel and a baby face these days. Lol.

[@ZeroShaneBob]

@@ithinkaboutthings9052 seems like she is actually a heel, but mostly because Toni is so over with with fans. If you pay attention, Mariah May and Luthor never cheat for Toni. I also think Mariah will turn on Toni making her an even bigger face.

[@Adrian-X1]

It was hot? When?! I have yet to ever watch a full show. All they have are matches. Rarely any real good characters. That's it.

[@duckmercy11]

The were definitely hot in the late Summer of 2021.

[@ZeroShaneBob]

If you don't watch the show, you won't know what's going on because AEW doesn't do video packages to catch people up. But there's stories all over AEW, and rarely do matches happen for no reason.

[@rygord101]

Well if you never watched a full show that must mean it was never hot. Clearly you are the only person that exists in the world 🤡

[@Adrian-X1]

@@rygord101 clearly🤷🏾‍♂️

[@cnotes1790]

There's a lot of shit I loved as a teen that I grew out of as I came to adult hood. I think that's happening in AEW they focus on getting the young adults and teens 5 years later they grew out of it. Where WWE gets you as a kid and you're wired to always live it. Just my take I'm sure some ass clown will have something to say

[@mr.legendaryjelly]

spot on !!!

[@JMFSpike]

You can bring up all of the flaws until the cows come home, but Tony's not listening so we're all wasting our breath. He's booking the show for himself, and he's totally fine with that. The only way he'll ever step down as booker is if WBD steps in and forces his hand, which may be a very real possibility if the ratings get any worse. It's the only chance we have of AEW ever becoming the promotion we were all hoping it would be when it started.

[@quebeezy7163]

Tony just seems to be a mark with money

[@justinarriaga2035]

WOW, surprised Conrad actually said something kind of smart about AEW's struggles.

[@ryanwaslawski6088]

Booking is crap. Storytelling is crap. Too much crap Indy wrestling. Guys wrestling tv matches for star ratings instead of storytelling to build to pay per views. And the guys Tony chooses to invest in like orange Cassidy instead of miro. Young bucks instead of FTR. Daniel Garcia. It’s awful all around.

[@joehenry709]

They have no stars and can't make stars

[@namelessjedi2242]

But Tony Khan definitely knows how to take an existing star and turn them into an ordinary wrestler

[@seanobrien9311]

They always announce everything, even every promo segment. Absolutely 0 surprise, great point by Conrad.

[@AG-xc5ni]

Nosedive started when Khan bought ROH and started integrating those worthless titles into AEW. Khan went full mark.

[@AndromedanPrince]

Disagree it's not just booking matches he books a lot of BAD matches and misuses so many talented wrestlers he could've made bank using Jeff Hardy right when Punk was there instead puts him in f*king ladder TLC type matches and mid card tag matches wtf and that's just one example Tony has no clue wtf he's doing!!

[@randallallgood8661]

The biggest problem is the predictably... As soon as you see the match graphic you're going to know who's going to win

[@AcesPlace22]

Conrad grew up at s buffet line

[@Chicago_jake]

Conrad acting like he’s got some sort of inside knowledge of the wrestling business

[@matthewpejkovic183]

Star availability and consistency is a big problem for me.

[@FTBeaman]

They act like theyre not on national television to not tell us anything on a new signee.

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

shut up

[@philwalsh8975]

Jon Moxley has been absolutely ruined in AEW

[@user-hd1qj5km3t]

He bleeds way too much, it's get old after a while. Also, he aged horribly since being in aew. Guy looks a 50 year old truck driver.

[@philwalsh8975]

@@user-hd1qj5km3t his act got stale in WWE, he seemed fresh in AEW for a single night

[@namelessjedi2242]

He did that to himself, Tony just let him do it.

[@philwalsh8975]

@@namelessjedi2242 it's Tony's fault

[@ebransc09]

No way, he’s on track to main event PlumberMania.

[@johnnytheworldowner9130]

I have an big announcement: AEW sucks.

[@EvarlastingTalk]

I wonder how AAA feels about AEW prioritizing CMLL talent. As a Mexican-American, I didnt even know about Hechierico, Star Jr and Esfinge.

[@philwalsh8975]

Minoru Suzuki has been absolutely ruined in AEW

[@PsytanicA]

You're not wrong, I mean he's been booked into so many matches just to lose. Really do not know why he puts up with it.

[@philwalsh8975]

@@PsytanicA and he just looks like an old man, no one knows him in America

[@diablosportscreme]

Who???

[@philwalsh8975]

@@diablosportscreme exactly

[@duckmercy11]

​@@philwalsh8975 No one knows who he is yet crowds sing his "Kazi Ni Nare" theme every time he comes out, and he keeps getting booked all over the indies. Dudes a legend. Educate yourself, it's embarrassing.

[@FrancoMedina-de2lw]

One thing I will say is that I went to see dynamite and then they taped rampage and ROH and honestly it was 3rhs+ and let me tell you 2hrs is the maximum people are willing to hang around especially on a Wednesday

[@tplomonte]

AEW started out strong. They seemed to offer an alternative. They have no creativity! Wrestlers brought in good wrestlers but lost any traction and momentum over the last couple years. Punk seemed to put them over, then that went south, Young Guns too many character changes! House of Black to me is better than Judgment Day but doesn't get much attention, Moxley Gastronolle Copeland Cage FTR Cassidy Jericho . The women's division is lost,

[@zapple1003]

Like they said. They bring in all these great wrestlers and nobody knows anything about them. If I don't know anything about them, I don't care about them.

[@markmann5539]

AEW is a mark show. I'm not saying that being a WWE fan means you're some super cool guy but AEW is just the markiest of mark wrestling shows that you could imagine. It's garbage.

[@duckmercy11]

What do you think about NJPW?

[@ZeroShaneBob]

Your opinions aren't facts FYI

[@markmann5539]

@@ZeroShaneBob did you see me say that they were?

[@LegendofTheCosmic7]

The cmll stuff is great! But Mox doesnt have to win everytime😂😂😂

[@1jasup]

Alvarez from the Observer has the opposite belief. He thinks the card should be announced well in advance of the show.

[@kazman_6899]

How hard is is to get Russo to pitch to him? No one has to know. If he has some crappy ideas, veto it. But he may come up with something that greases the wheel. He has been going on and on about wwe needing to be like The Larry Sanders Show, going behind the scenes. The wwe sale could have been Succession. If they had turned the cameras on themselves, this stuff with Vince would have done crazy numbers. Sometimes, Russo is on the ball.

[@jessewahwah]

Tony runs AEW like a indy company going to new towns every week in front of new fans. He doesn't seem to realize he has a tv deal and is putting on an indy show to the same national fans every week and people get sick of seeing the same shit and stop watching. The people at the indy show this weekend in Michigan didn't see the indy show in Chicago last weekend. It's all new shit them. The people watching Dynamite this week basically saw the same indy show last week on Dynamite, and the same indy show on Dynamite the week before that and on and on. On Raw we've had Ivar and Valhalla feuding with Alpha Academy for the past month. Nothing great by any means, but it's been a better story than 95% of anything AEW is doing. It's simple mid card story telling that Tony Khan has NO IDEA how to pull off.

[@rickyspanish2412]

The owner sucks pretty simple answer😂😂

[@fmthebaron]

Conrad looks like Majin Buu full of hair.

[@Andress550]

konnan big mad cmll is doing business with aew.

[@johnnywashington3324]

I watch aew hopeful they can get better storytelleing

[@nosepher390]

They complain dynamite is predictable based on the show bill… then they complain if a wrestler is brought in that they don’t know… ? This sums up AEW criticism - inconsistent and nitpicking.

[@deanhacker5192]

Well said Conrad 100 percent agree!

[@phillipstankey8881]

They're in a box...thy cater tot he same audience week in and week out and that's fine...until that audience moves on. Then what?

[@davidcoombsbestmegadethalb9780]

so does WWE AND ECW back in the day did so whats your point

[@user-zc8vn8zw7e]

0:32 there you go ladies and gents, it all makes sense now, TK’s inspiration was compilation of a bunch of in ring high spots and other spots 😂 That’s literally what TK thinks wrestling is. No story and jumping everywhere 😂

[@namelessjedi2242]

Yes, TK and some of the influential wrestlers there like the Elite. They just never got it, and if they have a bigger audience than some indie show they think they’re doing great. They won’t accept critiques.

[@KeepinIt100OFFICIAL]

that's what I just don't get and i see it in WAY too many wrestling fans: they love the wrestling business yet have zero concept about what makes the wrestling business work at all.

[@montana01]

The team is spot on…seems like potentially easy fixes, but they’ve fallen comfortable in the format. More unpredictability would help.

[@PurpleLighters]

Thanks, guys 🤓

[@johnpowers3423]

AEW just sucks anymore and I’m a big wrestling fan fan