Responding to Dave Meltzer...

Do you like a bit of controversy? A few days ago on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer had a mini rant once again at the “bad faith podcasters” he claims are "attacking" AEW and Tony Khan in order to bring All Elite Wrestling down... apparently.
News to me, since I guess I - with the likes of Dutch Mantell, Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff, Konnan and others - fall under the umbrella of "bad faith podcasters". The problem is I actually don't want AEW to fail like Dave Meltzer's narrative would have you believe. Here is what I actually think....

[@Vardimiss]

Dave is so ahead of the curve he reports when someone dies before it happens.

[@MickeyAlla]

This comment gets the Win for the day 👏

[@silentjp19]

Like a prophet LMAO!

[@andregordon2599]

That i hope was the final straw for most people. Afa is one the most important figures in arguably the most important wrestling dynasty of all time. Dave messing this up was probably felt in ways he didn't realize

[@Dasbro4life]

At least he knows he's gonna be right on that one..............eventually.

[@scrappy93]

Ikr

[@RyanS881]

Even in written form, meltzer's words make no sense

[@urogoth]

Make less sense, miraculously.

[@irishpanic]

Especially in written form

[@renatoism]

Imagine calling other people "idiots" while not being able to put together coherent sentences.

[@alo4912]

How is he a writer when he talks in run on sentences lol

[@DungTran-li2wn]

@alo4912 he also writes in run on sentences

[@dhotnessmcawesome9747]

@@alo4912 Well... by definition he writes for a living... so he is a writer. Nobody said he was good at it.

[@bcurtis363]

This is so dumb. Don’t mock my billionaire, now take Meltzer seriously enough to dedicate hours of your labor making a video about it. Let Dave be irrelevant and stop subscribing. You have sources too right? Fucking internet BET spill tea tier drama is fucking gay. Don’t do it.

[@bcurtis363]

Dave has Asperger’s, and honestly, is living his best life. The guy is autistic, that’s why he acts weird and doesn’t use the English language correctly. The fact he still gets eternally online weirdos worked up over his consistently wrong takes amazes me. He’s only an authority on wrestling because he’s the nerd that got there first, you don’t have to actually take him seriously. But people still do, and they get mad because Dave said something wrong. Duh. Why do you think Bryan runs the business. Your butthurt over Dave Meltzer’s opinions has fed Bryan Alverez’s children for years now. Personally I’m glad for that because Bryan seems like a nice guy.

[@ms.carriage6867]

I read Daves words on the screen and I'm still wondering what the fuck did he just say

[@danielreynolds4716]

I read something from him years ago without knowing who meltzer was and got a headache then years later i heard this voice on a podcast that spoke like a skipping record and said "oh shit it's the same guy!"

[@JPS47]

Umm you know like uhh his you know umm lango you kids call it.

[@mattlong81]

Same!!!

[@DustyKnackers]

I don't know how anyone could even be sure that Meltzer is having a dig at them

[@CarlCumby]

Dave makes Vince Russo look like a Rhodes scholar.

[@thelocalhero6036]

Meltzer is more of a detriment to AEW than these "bad faith podcasters"

[@thesteammachinepodcast]

Absolutely

[@rickroberts7611]

He's fake..Aew and Tiny Klown is where his bread is buttered

[@patshowiedoit5340]

Meltzer is a detriment to the business as a whole. He's done more harm than good that's for sure.

[@DundaMifflin]

when I hear meltzer speak I picture a sock puppet

[@WWE2KUNIVERSEELITE]

same here.

[@jamesmcv]

Podcasters aren't needed to bring down AEW. They do that fine without any help.

[@jasmith85]

Exactly.

[@dsadams17]

New TV deal says hi, moron.

[@danlc95]

100%

[@jayrhough1912]

Truth

[@ifgwelf]

I stand against Meltzer. I stand with Dutch and James.

[@Dezert_Fox]

How could anyone possibly be against Dutch. He's a national treasure

[@syko304]

Hear, hear! ✊🏻

[@armandomorales0921]

I thought their names were Zeb and WSI

[@russellcampbell3500]

Grow up. James is just trying to make this crap about him. He's a nobody that is dying to be apart of wrestling. He's not.

[@datacipher]

I stand against all 3 grifters - and yes… James is showing his narcissism here. lol. Meltzer is obviously talking about Bischoff, Corney, etc.

[@HAL1138]

The real person hurting AEW is Meltzer himself. Giving crap matches praise and pretending stories are GREAT just helps them sink lower.

[@Dicktaa]

Another fed bot

[@stingrey1571]

Not just crap matches. Aew will at times put on very good to great matches between No Juan Cares vs Jimmy No name and expect fans to know who they are and their history on the Tupelo indie scene.

[@Gunnr1236]

To quote James E. Cornette: 🛎 🛎 IYKYK!!

[@mikawhofan]

Bryyyann. Or whatever

[@practicalwerewolf]

Nope. Nothing Meltzer, WSI or You say or do can hurt AEW. To us AEW fans it's a non-issue that we don't care about. If you guys want to keep talking about AEW (negative or positive) please feel free ;)

[@FinalFantasyTimeline]

Jim Cornette never said he wanted it to fail either.

[@DundaMifflin]

who cares if he did though, AEW is trash

[@777jimothy]

True, every critic has always said they want it to be a success so that people still have jobs and for the good of the business

[@daveborder7751]

@@777jimothy If TNA is still around after 22 years, then AEW should be able to stay around forever at some level.

[@johnbeer4963]

He wanted it to succeed. He wanted them to smash it. He knew they wouldn't.

[@stinger51505]

I don’t think anyone wanted it to fail. We all wanted competition back in wrestling. Competition created the attitude era. I was begging for aew to succeed. I was excited for it…. And then I saw it and realized…. Oh. There’s no story here. Fantastic matches but no story. As Eric always says… no stakes.

[@Ryanonfire03]

Listening to Meltzer talk is so hard. Reading his talk as text, oh my lord.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

Meltzer is just a fan with a platform. He's not a journalist. Dave has been accused of making up stories in the past and even if that is not true, he never fact check's any of the rumors that he hears.

[@RandomGuyCDN]

like saying that japanese wrestler got his brain replaced and incorrectly stating someone was dead when they werent. Guy is off his rocker now.

[@darknessandlife777]

It is 100% true Meltzer has been making up bullshit which has been an issue going back to day 1 with the guy.

[@InhalerOfTheRifftree]

He was once somebody of note. There were and are (even more so now), so few actual reputable pro wrestling publications. He was one of only a few voices in a small pond, and became used to everyone dancing to his tune. Now, different perspectives exist, more people are coming out and calling bs, etc. because there's a more open platform. That's why he has his own little paid fourm/platform, and even they're getting sick of him. At what point do you think; "Maybe, I'm wrong?" The fact that he hasn't, makes him look even worse.

[@darknessandlife777]

@@InhalerOfTheRifftree What? Meltzer was never at any point "someone of note." He has been getting called out by people in the business as a liar and fraud since he started.

[@InhalerOfTheRifftree]

@darknessandlife777 Yeah... he was someone of note. I never said he built the railway system, but he was 1 of 2 major wrestling magazines. He was on the fkn Donahue show with McMahon lol. All the talent and executives who commented about his star ratings over the years have seen him slowly lose the plot. He's batshit crazy for AEW, and those old ticks have become him lol. To say he never mattered is just false. I'm sorry. I hate Meltzer, but to deny he was anyone would mean we shouldn't be talking about him now

[@marcuswatkins9267]

STOP booking Dynamite in massive venues where you have to close off three quarters of the arena and the whole place looks pitch black. If you book a smaller venue the atmosphere would be better and it would look better on TV. It must be demoralising for the talent who are performing in front of so many empty seats.

[@mezzaros5534]

Can they even sell out a bingo hall at this point?

[@jasonjako5329]

Okay mark 🤣 Yes, it's certainly demoralizing, lol, and if you honestly believe that then that's why you're a gullible mark 💯 You act like wrestlers only know "sold out" performances because you're idiotic fanboy self only knows wrestling strictly via the conditioning from the WWE... Are we forgetting that wrestling continued, in an empty arena, for over a f'n year? 🤣 In AEW they performed Infront of 20 enhancement talents around the ring 😂 That everyone started Wrestling Infront of a couple dozen fans?? See, you're utterly clueless, because you only know WWE & everything WWE, but yet try to talk about PRO WRESTLING thinking it applies everywhere, & that's not the case... 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, none of it might matter to you but you can have a great crowd with a couple hundred people, and the size of the arena means very little... Believe, IF it was as bad as you geeks delusionally think it is then AEW wouldn't still continue succeeding, they wouldn't still be growing, & people wouldn't want to work there 😂😂 But you're a clueless mark that's easily worked by everything you see, read & hear so any logic is out the window... Enjoy fantasy world where it's all very much "real" to geeks

[@stevejohnson1577]

in as much as i hated ecw.. you cannot argue the smaller venue made it entertaining for tv...

[@jbrone1965]

That was TNA's issue years ago when they first went on the road causing them to go back to Orlando. AEW should take notes of what buildings TNA are currently running and book those.

[@idlehands1864]

​@@stevejohnson1577true, the enthusiastic ecw regulars in a smaller arena actually made it feel more big time than it actually was. AEW is kind of depressing when you watch it and see this giant arena with barely anyone in it, it feels more like a local startup in a bingo hall. It sucks too because they have great performers their production is what's letting them down

[@JonKorpi-fk7yo]

Here's my take if vince Russo and Jim Cornette agree on aew being bad it's bad

[@OMFGitsLUCAS]

Oh my brother, TESTIFY!!!!!

[@Drollpanther]

They agree wwe is bad too. They think current wrestling is shit

[@OMFGitsLUCAS]

@Drollpanther most of it is... I'm an early 80s WCW, and Mid-South fan myself

[@darknessandlife777]

Granted I haven't watched AEW at length in over a year, but seen clips and read PPV results plus listening to podcasts... I really, really can't fathom how anyone can call AEW anything but trash at this point. They have a guy injecting something into other opponents mouths, they have women breaking glass light bulbs over each other's heads, wrestlers blowing up other wrestlers homes and a guy running around LARPing as a Neo-Nazi skinhead building a skinhead crew. Objectively the above is CZW/XPW level garbage. I don't see how Meltzer or anyone else can even try to debate it.

[@32ROCKEM]

Corny hates all wrestling now. And since nobody wants Russo to run their companies he is a bit salty lol

[@realnumber_9]

In the words of Al Snow. Why would anyone take anything that Meltzer says seriously? This guy has never worked in any capacity in the wrestling business. This is utter foolishness

[@CarlCumby]

Still gets me that Rorion Gracie at one point had Dave judging the early UFC events because Dave had an audience to sell the shows to.

[@russblack443]

I've heard Al also say that meltzer was one of the best workers in the business. He has never taken a bump and doesn't actually know shit about wrestling but he has coned people into believing his bullshit for forty years and sold his shitty newsletter

[@VultureLivesAgain]

​@@CarlCumbyMeltzer was a judge at only one event - UFC 18. Rorion Gracie was long gone by then.

[@I_Of_Providence]

@@CarlCumby the Gracie family are grifters themselves, so it's not that surprising.

[@bennwardhaugh3013]

Honestly that's such a dumb take to have because I may not be a Carpenter but I can tell if a wardrobe is bad if the doors fall off.

[@JPS47]

There's a video out with the Young Bucks and Omega standing in the ring and Meltzer is staring at them drooling at him with his tongue out like a teenager. The bias is real.

[@tylerflemming7059]

And if Jim cornette is on the other side of that ring in the crowd he would have a bias against them as well. Dave ain't lyin about this though cuz I've heard them all just bury AEW especially Eric Bitchoff and Jim cornette and it's all personal bias

[@JPS47]

@@tylerflemming7059 Omega litterally said the bias is real. Those weren't my words.

[@trendmassacre8423]

Dave Meltzer has a massive crush on The Young Bucks, I am sure the fantasizes come in by the dozens over Nick and Matt.

[@frankbones8349]

jim has a bias against ppl who pretend to be good workers oir good minds when they have not drawn a dime in their loves... thats not a bias thats a FACT... but weird how jim actually changes his mind very often on individual wrestlers he even gave omega some flowers recently... but hey stay a brain dead cultist

[@Grayto]

@@tylerflemming7059 Cornette's bias isn't against AEW in itself. He doesn't like the style that most of the roster uses. It just so happens that their ratings are sinking. He doesn't if theyre actually succesful or not. He would like them to be because it helps wrestlers overall.

[@tobysgamingworld1550]

Cornette was right….when they made weed legal in California Dave pretty much smoked himself re*arded. Dude made a career out of putting together words like a kid doing a book report, stretching words, yammering on and making proclamations based on what he thinks is going to happen. When it didn’t happen “well they went another direction”. When I was a kid a friend of mine got his newsletter for a few months. He said as fact “in a few weeks there will be a tag team consisting of the Undertakers. The Undertaker and his former evil twin (Brian Lee). When it didn’t happen he said they changed it because he leaked it. At 11 years old even then we knew he was full of it.

[@tonycurtin279]

Dave is his own biggest fan just ask him

[@chunky9791]

Well David does think Dave has been doing a superb job he's a true wrestling mind so make sure you subscribe the 9.99 as u get access to every single podcast ever

[@tonycurtin279]

​@@chunky9791😂😂😂

[@DungTran-li2wn]

he uses his own ratings as objective standards for match quality lol

[@jayramos6942]

BRYANNNNN!! 😂😂😂

[@DungTran-li2wn]

@@chunky9791 bryan makes the subscription worth it

[@raymyer2484]

Jim Cornet is living rent free in Dave's head.. Corny is 100%right on AEW

[@Payaso_M13]

You love that cornette ❤ knob ❤

[@eclect]

He's not 100% right. He's out of touch and still living in the 80s. He is right about wrestling not being about a bunch of pointless flips and kickouts and and hardcore garbage. He's right about wrestlers pointlessly hurting themselves and risking their bodies for dangerous stunts that mean nothing because everything has been so devalued. But he's a misogynist, he's nostalgic about the territory days to a fault, far too tolerant of worker abuse, too reverent of scumbag promotion owners, and doesn't understand that the business was always going to be exposed as soon as the Internet became widespread and it doesn't matter because people are willing to suspend their disbelief and get invested if the show is good.

[@eamonwright7488]

@@eclectDo you need a tissue?

[@mrperfectisperfect0328]

​@eamonwright7488 he's jelly because Cornette has ACTUALLY been in the business and knows what he's talking about and meltzer has on been a "journalist"

[@Fender178]

@@eclect The same thing could be said of Dave Meltzer. That's he stuck in the Monday night wars between Raw and Nitro.

[@figuresfromtheattic]

Meltzer has name-dropped Jim Cornette and Eric Bischoff as the podcasters he has taken issue with before, so I figured he was mainly referring to them this most recent time too.

[@GenGamesUniverse]

Thing is, Cornette AND Bischoff would just laugh in his face and then tell him to go fuck himself...sorry for the cussing. Meltzer is a shill who thinks that he's "hanging with the cool kids" like Steve Buschemi in that film - "Hello fellow cool kids!" in The Young Bucks and The Elite, but he's not. He gets into fights then goes "Oh help me, help me! They're ganging up on me!"

[@Mark-eg2yd]

Viewhooring at it's finest

[@AP7K]

He definitely was talking about them. Podcasters like this guy love to try to have fake beef with Dave for clout. I guarantee Dave does not care about whoever this person is.

[@chunky9791]

Stop, let them argue & assume it's them as well we need more wrestlang content 😮

[@AP7K]

@@chunky9791 guarantee you Dave doesn’t mention this podcast or this guys name at any point. Why would he? Dave doesn’t do content like this, a 30 minute video based on just some random ramblings Dave had on an episode from weeks ago (that were not about him at all, he was talking about Cornette and Bischoff)

[@fmdof]

i think Dave is on the spectrum. it explains a lot of his personality when you think about it. not saying its a bad thing at all, but it does explain some of his behavior.

[@nickhughes8179]

I’m on the spectrum. Please don’t insult us by comparing us to Davey-Derp Dementia.

[@Robby_C]

The only curve Dave was ahead on is the "exposing the business" curve... a bunch of Tough Enough fans wanted to know more "behind the scenes" stuff and he was the first one with a website and a name.... a name he got for exposing the business..... he has never been a benefit to the pro-wrestling business... he just leeches off of it.

[@jaydav6521]

Dave was online exposing the business in the 90s

[@theholyvineofdavid647]

Exactly he is a parasite

[@theholyvineofdavid647]

​@@jaydav6521and in the newsletters in the 80's

[@Robby_C]

@@jaydav6521 yeah, and the “internet marks” didn’t really start blowing up until the early 00’s, so what point are you making?

[@priestfan81]

​@jaydav6521 80s. He was hated then, for good reason, and is hated now because he is trying to socially engineer the wrestling fans opinion on what is good and what is bad. It led us to fat neckbeards with their smark chants, actively putting people off wrestling.

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

After what happened with the NWA fiasco, I'm surprised that Tony Khan would risk his tv deal with that Swerve/Hangman CZW wannabe match.

[@TVindustries5000]

thank you. iv seen people say "ppl are too soft" I very much enjoy deathmatches but the syringe spot is just a cheap gross shock spot. iv hated before they did and i still hate it now. ill watch AEW again tho if Jack Perry takes a weedwhacker to the stomach and gets salt dumped on him "he's all elite!!! he's all elite!!!" also how has that not become a chant??

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@TVindustries5000 Believe it or not, it is worse on TikTok. There are some fans who try to make a false equivalence with WWE by saying, "Well, WWE has done Hell in a Cell matches so they can not criticize AEW." And to that, I say when was the last time WWE did a syringe spot during a match? More importantly, how OFTEN does WWE do it by comparison?

[@paulmallon9292]

Meltzer reported that a man's brain was removed and put back in. I hate to generalise here but that's the level of intellect you are dealing with.

[@jamespaul6315]

Hah that was one of the dumbest things Ive ever heard. I legit thought he was joking at first

[@VisualizeInside-mt2li]

Shibata?

[@gmac673]

@@VisualizeInside-mt2liShibotomy 😆

[@jamespaul6315]

@@gmac673 lol

[@frankbones8349]

dont forget trying to pass CLEARLY fake document as fact and announced the death of afa when he wasnt dead

[@SCUBAsTeEb22]

Dave knows his time and influence are dwindling away, and sadly chooses to act out in desperation in front of the class, to try and get any last bit of attention he can scrape from the bottom of the barrel.

[@CarlCumby]

Outside of Kenny and the Bucks fans, who's paying $15 a month to look at his bulletin board? Nobody, Without AEW he has nothing left.

[@trendmassacre8423]

He is scraping the bottom of the piss bowl at that.

[@teruienages962]

Said it once, said it a million times, he's like the Doug Walker, aka Nostalgia Critic of wrestling. And in all of the remarkably bad and washed up ways that entails.

[@ronniesouthern7829]

50% of what Metzler says is uhm uhm I uhm yeah you know.

[@dashohebein]

Its hilarious. AEW is down in every way possible. Still people try to tell us everything is great.

[@mattlong81]

🛎️

[@Sadeye92]

I ACKNOWLEDGE my MARK Tribal Chief Dave Meltzer *Sticks tongue in the air 👅 “

[@livefromlatveria2677]

No way Dave Meltzer is saying someone is stuck in the past. The man definitely still wears a Members Only jacket and B.U.M. sweatpants.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

Haha. He definitely has a members only jacket in his closet.

[@kcrichg5317]

And Dave's probably lost/stuck in that rat's nest of papers all over his office that they always show on the Dark Side ViceTV shows. Who knows when he last touched some grass?

[@mattyc2200]

You and Cornette are the only ones I find are worth listening to for anything going on in the business. You both actually say it how you feel it and not worry about anyone else.

[@davidjsaul]

Bischoff's podcast is good too (his solo one, NOT the one with Conrad).

[@zlinedavid]

@@davidjsaulConnie the Hutt is insufferable.

[@teruienages962]

Oh please, Meltzer is a joke, but Cornette is such a delusional windbag in his own way that he's absoutely not any better.

[@zlinedavid]

@@teruienages962 Found Unca Dave’s shadow account

[@davidjsaul]

@@teruienages962 I find Cornette mostly entertaining but it does get tedious when he goes on one of his massive anti-Republican rants

[@TheCornishStallion]

Lots of good points made James. Meltzer is on the defensive as he's put all of his balls in AEWs court, and it's slowly but surely backfiring on him. He doesn't see that if WWE is hot, then all of wrestling is hot, and to counter Daves point, that should enhance AEW viewership as WWE runs no counter programming on Wednesdays and majority of Saturdays. It's hilarious to hear him and Bryan argue on the show as Dave clutches at straws to defend the show with such things like saying Alverez should look up the following movie to catch the end of the show, that a recent match was just to give someone a win etc.

[@robv4936]

Pay no attention to Dave, he is still his biggest fan and thinks it's still 1990.

[@RandomGuyCDN]

What wild is so does Cornette but Corny isnt getting paid under the table to publicaly save face for AEW on his pod.

[@ofs82]

@@RandomGuyCDN I'd argue Corny knows it isn't still 1990, he just wishes it WAS.

[@britishbulldogsvsthehartfo5677]

Oh wow man, you sound bitter.

[@octagonseventynine1253]

Uncle Dave is a professional mark.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

We are criticising the company because WE WANT IT TO SUCCEED and right now it's failing badly... I haven't heard anyone, not Corny, Bischoff, Dutch, for sure, say that AEW won't get a deal. They're all saying that they don't think TK is going to get the deal he is expecting or needs to make AEW profitable.

[@Az__T]

Well said 👍

[@aporkpiepizza]

You'd love it to fail 😊

[@Dx-so7jm]

Sorry , Cornette does not want AEW to succeed , i would also put Bischoff in that boat. Although..... without AEW Bischoff and Cornette would lose have their views as all their top videos are AEW bash videos

[@priestfan81]

Amazing how his 7 star wrestlers have never and will never cut as good as a 1 star promo.

[@pds9025]

Dave just can't accept the fact that his style of wrestling isn't "clicking" with mainstream audiences.

[@puipui7382]

Mainstream audiences are lame and have no taste.

[@seancarletonzero]

It’s also not connecting with many of their once loyal fanbase. I used to watch every Wednesday before the pandemic. I didn't like everything, but the product as a whole was so much better than it is today. CM Punk’s Collision is the best thing they did, but we know how that story culminated. The first thing I’ve been interested in for months is Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness. Hopefully, they don't ram their heads together or take steel posts head-on.

[@MrGoombasticveryFantastic]

Was Meltzer midstroke when he said that

[@zlinedavid]

Unca Dave has been mid-stroke for about 15 years now.

[@warrensloan3467]

So all the people who used to fill up the building for AEW that aren’t showing up now were just podcast fans watching ironically? Worry about the real problems Dave.

[@danirodriguez6115]

I used to support AEW especially when they first came out, I was tired of the BS in WWE. So it was refreshing, now it’s just sad because there is no leadership, I’ve said it so many times but AEW is just a Indy promotion with endless money. Until Khan gets over his little fetish of booking the best against the best Indy guys, this company will never grow. The sad part is that he doesn’t even realize it or the die harde, but Tony has become the new Vince. Throw money at it and it will get better, so many underwhelming results with these major contracts he keeps signing. Now he’s holding back the Luchabros who gave them 5 solid years, sounds like someone else we know doesn’t it “PAL!!!” ?

[@DavidDexterGaming]

Dave Meltzer's paid by Tony Khan to promote AEW but he's going crazy with it by trying to pretend Jim Cornette and Dutch Mantell and Konnan and Disco, Booker, Eric Bischoff, etc don't understand or know about pro wrestling but yet Dave Meltzer understands the wrestling and TV business better than anyone who has ever worked in it. Despite the AEW ratings and merch sales and tickets sales everything else being down. Meltzer likely thought if he put over the shows and gave every match 7 stars that viewers would just go along with it? Like he has a "Jedi Mind Trick" but he just comes across as a complete idiot. He's doing what Tony Khan wants him to do by trying to trash the podcasters who understand wrestling and criticize AEW with honesty. Dave keeps being invited to the the scrums and getting information from Tony for his newsletter as long as he does what Tony tells him to do.

[@darknessandlife777]

Here's what it is: For the last 35 years Meltzer has been stomping his feet and gnashing his teeth, demanding that the vanilla midgets of the business are the REAL draws and the TRUE Superstars, demanding that all pro wrestling fans want the type of trash that HE likes. AEW is finally the wet dream old man Dave has been having since the 80's. It is everything he has been peddling for years, a bunch of little floppy guys doing gymnastics routines. It is failing. Meltzer is in damage control and desperately trying to convince people that AEW is Attitude Era WWF popular and as usual with Dave, the PPV recorders, Neilsen Ratings Company and the people taking attendance figure at the venues are all liars out to sabotage AEW. He has to go over the top with it, otherwise he would have to face the fact everyone else knew, the fact that he has been wrong about his little sexual fetish for twink gymnasts over the last 40 years.

[@abadenoughdude300]

Dave is the living ebodiment of the "am I out of touch?" meme at this point lol.

[@dmdeign7116]

It always cracks me up when people read Dave word-for-word, aloud. It's actually impressive how bad at talking and writing he is when you think about how long he's been at it. What a lemon

[@K3ys3r_S0z3]

The only person I recall saying they would go out of business is Jim and technically Daves just taking him out of context and super literal.

[@EdmundKempersDartboard]

Meltzer is the very definition of believing your own hype.

[@CMc_39]

I watch AEW and WWE. I enjoy wrestling and I don’t get wrapped up in the dumb fanbase war there is online because it’s stupid. But Dave’s problem is he refused to criticize anything AEW does. Even when he says something he follows it up with an excuse and justification as to why it’s bad. Every single week when he talks the sinking ratings he rattles off a list of every major tv event that was on the same night as it. If he called things down the middle instead of being so obviously in favor of anything AEW does then he’d actually get respect

[@xndrwolf]

This sounds a lot like what Cornette says too. The constant dwelling on Nielsen overnight ratings throughout the IWC is problematic (literally no one else reads so heavily into them and I used to actually be one of the Nielsen households), but when a rating is cut in half there is obviously no way around the fact that something is floundering. Plus, the big issue of attendance at their shows…

[@FIXTREME]

"Um, there are certain there are definitely..." -Dave Meltzer

[@LokiPhoenix]

I'm not defending AEW but U can't compare KZbin viewership against live television as one can be viewed multiple times at any time while the other is on a set time constraint on a specific day. I don't overly like how the companies declined and I do want it to succeed so I get to see other stars I like still have a chance to tell stories and that but yh it is what it is I guess

[@koolkeiths]

Metzler needs to find chatGPT pronto.

[@mikesmith2718]

Does anyone take Meltzer seriously these days? He's just an aew fan boy talking it up. That's like me saying the wwf golden era is better than the rest because I'm a fan of it lol

[@andreadams8004]

Meltzer is the guy at the poker table who can’t figure out who the sucker is

[@sobbyhasselhoff]

Just reading meltzers comments verbatim is the best response.

[@sacred_realm_gamer7007]

Hopefully AEW can steer the ship but if Tony doesn’t give up the booking it will be next to impossible. His biggest detriment is his abundance of funds which he believes gives him more chance to learn booking. It’s sad they could’ve at least been a serviceable alternative

[@darknessandlife777]

The only way AEW could right the sinking Titanic that they are is Daddy Khan would have to step in and tell Tony he has no more say so, then hire a President to run the Co and bookers to write and lay out the product.

[@mezzaros5534]

The problem is, he's had 5 years to learn and its still the same poor booking. Unfortunately Tony seems to like signing as many free agents as possible and book them for a few weeks and then they disappear for months before being used again if at all. He is wasting his money on talent that are sitting at home doing nothing.

[@DanielMussen-ob7uo]

12 Pay Per Views and 52 Television Episodes and 12 Pay Per Views Trailers and 52 Episodes Trailers

[@timmwalk4598]

Meltzer has been worked since he began the newsletter.

[@DoctorJohnSmith9]

First time commenting on one of James' videos. Outstanding, thoughtful analysis with objective arguments. Meltzer letting other people's opinions live rent-free in his head is the behavior of someone who can't stop living and breathing on the internet, not a respected journalist.

[@tharealje2306]

Meltzer can not form a coherent sentence.

[@janitor4life]

Can't wait to hear what Jim Cornette has to say about this.

[@dsadams17]

Something something "I can't satisfy my wife." Something something "Vince Russo" something something "No one wants to hire me."

[@bb-gc2tx]

daves been a bad faith "journalist" for 40 years dave blocked me on twitter because i said he is pathetic for kissing the butts of wrestlers 3 decades younger than him🤣

[@michaelking2582]

1st of all, I have a lot of respect for James and his hosting, moderating abilities. No question, one of the best out there. Now. Two things HORRIBLY wrong with AEW & WWE both, and that is personnel management. MJF & Darby Allin should be front and center 24/7. Not necessarily "against" each other per se, but those two have the most passion and expertise. They RELATE to the fans. "Asses in Seats". WWE should have put the belt on Bray and left it there YEARS AGO !!! And let the up & coming guys learn from working with Bray. Roman, as Cornette put it about HHH, is THE Guy that WORKS with THE Guy. HHH beat him 72 Wrestlemania's in a row, and Brock more or less took over after HHH !! But NOW he's invincible ????? Bullshit. Both companies need to listen to their base, and with the Wyatt family deal now, I think WWE is "starting" to get it more so than AEW. Again James, great job, and thanks !!!!

[@HereBeRabbit]

Dave is obviously talking about Cornette... He's not talking about you little James... I can't stand Meltzer, but he obviously has his mind wrapped around Cornette... Cornette has eviscerated and destroyed Meltzer's credibility over the last few years... With all due respect to Dutch you guys are Cornette's little brother podcast...Meltzer isn't worried about you or Dutch...

[@danielsutcliffe7876]

Cornette use to be Dave meltzer boy,two idiots liberals,but the pervert cornette is right about aew

[@SairajRKamath]

Reading Tuna Meltzer's quotes out loud is a surefire way to make people think you're having a stroke 😂😂😂

[@gazb2740]

AEW is doing a good enough job of bringing themselves down. On the last Dynamite they said Bryan Danielson couldn't face Darby at Grandslam because he was injured and they made a new match between Darby and Moxley for that show, a few segments later they make a match between Bryan and Nigel for the same Grandslam show that Bryan was meant to be injured for. They can't even keep it together for a 2 hour show without doing something stupid 🤣

[@tranquilo_mode]

I agree with you on this. They could have handled it better. I think what we are seeing here is Bryan's time will probably end after Bryan vs Mox but to get that last dream match in they squeezed Bryan vs Nigel before it happens. That's the only feasible reason I see why they did it. Then the feud with Darby and Mox starts after that

[@gazb2740]

@@tranquilo_mode Personally, i think they've too many cooks in the kitchen (creative) and there's no central figure making sure all the ideas make sense before doing them on the show.

[@aporkpiepizza]

If they're doing such a good job of bringing themselves down why do you have to share your baseless opinion? It's just getting boring now... Don't watch it!

[@gazb2740]

@@aporkpiepizza Baseless? All you have to do is watch the show and what i said was exactly what happened. Why even post a comment that can be so easily debunked🤣

[@tranquilo_mode]

@@gazb2740 I agree but to pinpoint that thought, I think it's more on relying on zoom meets over sitting down in a room and brainstorming. Zoom meets are too lax and to many distractions that can happen in them. Creative just need to go into a room to engage and focus on building a story without outside distractions. It would explain why AEW always seems off during football season.

[@rhiannonbenn938]

Dave Meltzer is butthurt that his style of wrestling that Khan is providing isn’t connecting with the mass of people as Will Osprey it’s amazing to watch him every now and then but seeing him do the same stuff everyweek it gets old. The product is not living up to what they want it to be a competitor too WWE. Dave try’s to cover up for them when someone needs to tell Khan to make better TV.

[@joshuaG_Sea]

Meltzer thinks he knows more than WRESTLERS. What a chooch.

[@nail1255]

I've never met a wrestling fan who likes Meltzer

[@scottdavenport1833]

Those are English words, but they don't seem to mean much. 😅

[@WherenextPK]

I watch a lot of online wrestling coverage/Podcasts/shows or whatever you want to call them, James you are handsdown my favourite host. so genuine and knowledgeable with seemingly no allegiance to anything which is what’s needed at the moment! The way you and Dutch or you and Stevie bounce off each other never fails to make me laugh, if it isn’t extremely insightful or interesting, then it’s usually both! Keep up the great work.

[@bmbxiii2045]

Why assume it was about you then publicly reply and claim you never said AEW wasnt going to get a new deal? No one said you did 🤷‍♂️😂

[@bjrnhalfhand2258]

I don't want AEW to fail. I just wouldn't care if it did.

[@thomasmaher9360]

Meltzer gives opinions as facts a lot of the time, but his ego is too big to accept criticism - or accept when he is proven wrong. I don't think James and Dutch should concern themselves with criticism from Dave. Dutch gives his OPINIONS, he doesn't claim them as fact - one of the reasons I watch his videos.

[@darknessandlife777]

Thing is, Dutch is giving his opinions which are based off of over four decades of actually working in the business on air and behind the scenes. Meltzer is giving his opinion as if it is fact and acting like he is an expert when he is a mark fan like the rest of us and has never been IN the business in any capacity. In a regular every day example, let's say John has a problem where his sink in his house is backed up. Dutch is the 40 year Johrneyman Plumber who has been there and seen it all, telling John he needs to have a Plumber run a camera through the piping to detect where the plugged materials are. Dave Meltzer is the 60 year old working at Lowe's for $12 an hour who stocks the materials telling John his Plumbing is A-OK, he just needs to buy some Draino.

[@tafua_a]

"BRYAN?!!!!" - Dave Meltzer every time Bryan Alvarez raises the most minuscule criticism about the AEW product.

[@MikeStivicATS]

Watching these "mark" podcasters try to "work" stupid "programs" is entertaining on many levels to me..

[@saucedopro]

The fact you felt the need to respond and/or felt lumped in the group of bad faith actors says a lot. If you truly didn’t fall in the peg then just ignore it.

[@ernestcruz6316]

You know, like, ummm, you know...errrr, it's like...Spoken like a true journalist there Dave. I'm certainly glad that Dave explained it so well and so succinctly.

[@Blocparty01]

"you're so vain, i bet you think this song is about you"

[@kevincarter1418]

I think most wrestling fans don't want AEW to fail. If anything, most wrestling fans want AEW to improve its product and become a strong alternative to the WWE.

[@Fortjul]

19:25 the vacuum Brian Danielson was trying to breathe in. LMAO

[@SLAPTALK]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@wiseguysoutdoors2954]

Meltzer is a legend in his own mind. He is incredibly dull and senseless.

[@fingersTitan]

WTF has Unkey Dave done now? An interview with Jesse the Body from yrs ago. Jesse *Where did you hear that bit of news?* Interviewer *Dave Meltzer I think* Jesse *What the hell does he know?* That is all you need to know. Jesse thinks Dave is a muppet and that is good enough for me. (Jim Cornette and Brian Last reviewing Unkey Dave and Alveres going at it is gold. Those two need a marriage councilor.)

[@Mark-eg2yd]

Jesse Ventura is a morøn.

[@fingersTitan]

@@Mark-eg2yd Bless your Bot name. and what have you done in your life that comes anywhere close to Jesse ? Oh yeah. Nothing. Go find a corner with your other 2 AEW fans.

[@corykobe3769]

Did you and Jessie meet at the swinger's club? You're carrying the guys bags orally.

[@fingersTitan]

@@corykobe3769 Bless you. I make a true statement and some kid comes back with a low level comment. How new. Maybe team up with your 1.2 mill.. Ohh wait. Less than 600k mates of yours. lolol.

[@donc7354]

Let's ask Bruce Prichard what he thinks of Dave.

[@Drollpanther]

Bruce prichard sucks and worse than meltzer

[@johnst3296]

You tell em Steve Ðave!!!

[@coltonpope6436]

Damn Dave tore up british Zach Braff.

[@ff7fanboi]

18:29 omg James snapped 😂😂😂 no lies detected tho

[@justint8635]

As a guy in my 30s who liked CZW at that time when I was twelve/thirteen and even attended a CZW show at the former ECW arena in 2003, it was nearly complete amateur garbage bullshit. I loved ECW, the US Indy's and Japanese death matches at the time. Now I detest most of that shit (ECW had some good stuff at times but killed the business). Give me Mid South or Memphis any day over all that.

[@GoldBawls]

I wouldn’t worry too much, Meltzers listener count is he and Alverezes families.

[@Nicholaus13]

A barbed wire clothesline actually happened?

[@dapperdavemcf]

Meltzer is a muppet. His statements are hilarious read aloud. I need this more please 😂

[@trendmassacre8423]

Meltzer is really aiming at Erik Bischoff as Erik really despises Meltzer and AEW, second would be Cornette. I LOVE Cornette because he speaks it like it is and Meltzer gets his nipples in a twist while his lips are locked on Khan's a$$!

[@jasmith85]

These Podcasters are former wrestlers/promotors, people who have been in the industry for decades seen the rise and fall of so many companies they would know what works and doesn't work. In the other corner we have a goof who has never been in a match, ran a promotion etc.. etc... I'm not tribalistic, I used to be a wrestler along time ago worked hard to learn and watching these idiots in AEW mess on the business and I wrestled for 5 years and I've got a bunch of injuries and wear and tear, I would hate to see how the AEW "wrestlers" would have a decent quality of life after leaving wrestling. I agree we don't want to see AEW to fail, we want it to succeed so there is great competition, we just need Tony Klown to walk away, get people who know what they are doing.

[@augiedelgado2924]

the business side of AEW dont concern Dave. Podcasters are doing more than Meltzer

[@JasonConlan75]

He's an advisor for them. Therefore it's a conflict of interest... if the product does well he will get a bonus of some kind.

[@CodenameRawTV]

This is a tough one. I think Dave is an idiot, but I think his point is somewhat valid. Guys like Cornette and Biscoff would die of boredom if they couldn't get their weekly AEW fix to feed their podcast simps that need their daily dose of AEW/Tony Khan hate. AEW is not beyond reproach or criticisms. So many things I'd like addressed or "fixed" but SOME of the Podcaster do too much to the point I don't think they even believe half of what they say to get these clicks.

[@DavidCarradinesBelt]

Quit being a mark

[@CodenameRawTV]

@@DavidCarradinesBelt I literally spoke about both sides equally. Way to be a typical internet dumb*ss 🤡.

[@blueeyeddevil9441]

James, you are the future and Meltzer is the past. You are young and Dave is old. You are an emerging influence who does a great job conducting interviews. You are also smart without being arrogant about it. How many of those qualities does Dave Meltzer have? Going after you and some of the others may be how he’s trying to hold onto his spot and keep whatever relevance he still has.

[@erikabimbo7555]

Can't stand Dave Meltzer.

[@zamplify]

Meltzer has brain damage

[@CMc-v7z]

Need a brain for that.

[@tonyclifton2230]

Meltzer is the best. Noone gets talked about more than him. He's more over than austen in 98.

[@BlueAmerican26]

@@tonyclifton2230 You can't even spell Austin right. Go back and get your GED.

[@zlinedavid]

@@CMc-v7zDid he have his removed like Shibata also?

[@stephenrogers4537]

Well we can see that Uncle Dave's vocabulary matches his ability to do whatever he's doing😮

[@Graterstuuf]

AEW will blame those like you when it crashes next year.

[@Bale4Bond]

It‘s a sinking ship that‘ll never sink

[@nbaldwin45]

@@Bale4Bondthe new TNA - more money but not as good

[@shinobi887]

Everyone is out of touch except for Meltzer, apparently. Well done for reading that without having a stroke, though!

[@Kakashi-ip8mg]

Dave is the carnies carny. He tricked some wrestlers and wrestling fans into giving him information and money, then tricked t.v. producers into thinking he’s a wrestling expert.

[@RandomGuyCDN]

he's even more carny than Cornette and thats a wild bar to match

[@adamrichman6105]

The quality of your work on these podcasts is second to none. Thank you for your excellent content.

[@handyt1tf153]

Let me clarify for you James. This was directed squarely at Eric Bishoff who has said multiple times lately that there was no new TV deal and it was all smoke and mirrors from TK

[@dannyreynolds2022]

Wrong if you actually listen to the podcast Eric never said there is no TV deal as a fact. He said from his experience in the industry and for how late this is going he believes it could be smoke and mirrors.

[@CrashdummyNation]

Smoke and mirrors means theres no tv deal ..Eric said it my dude​@dannyreynolds2022

[@dannyreynolds2022]

@@CrashdummyNationguessing English isn’t your first language or you need to revisit elementary school again.

[@CrashdummyNation]

@dannyreynolds2022 nah I speak English and understand it fine aswell. Don't try to act cool on the internet.

[@bonecollector8086]

We stand with you James.

[@AP7K]

A 30 minute video about a guy who was very obviously not talking about you? 😂😂😂😂

[@dsadams17]

People love to tell on themselves.

[@williamsmith7818]

Completely missing the point of the video. But you carry on being stupid.

[@KJon25]

AEW seems to appeal to a certain fan base that is a small number. You can't be a big time business and your audience is small. I think what bothers me the most, TK is supposed to be a student of the game and he does stuff to go against what has worked for decades.

[@zlinedavid]

Tony isn’t a student of anything. He’s living out his booking fantasies with his real-life action figures.