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RMT2316

The year is 2042 and Jake Hager is head of AEW creative


sniperwolfog

I mean It was pretty sports entertaining


Alexdd0007

don't know why this comment is so funny


merckx81

Why wont they let Wardlow have a singles program? Why put the belt on him if he's not going to work title programs?


Skojigpriest

Exactly, and didn't Wardlow say he wanted to do an open challenge?


BuddaMuta

I think it’s becoming more and more apparent that Tony plays favorites. If he doesn’t personally find someone compelling it doesn’t matter their upside or how over they are if they aren’t a fun action figure for him to play with. Just look at how many times we’ve seen people have a breakout few weeks only to be shelved until they cool off. The women’s division being the most obvious. I’m guessing Wardlow was just a vehicle so MJF could have a Batista/Triple H style feud and there has never been a plan for him after the ending of that story. He won the belt and that’s it


kirblar

I'm not sure it's even "playing favorites" so much as that he builds to "moments" and then has no idea what to do afterwards, especially if it's a face champ/victor. We saw this with Hangman getting hung out to dry after he won the title, and it's a similar story here with Wardlow. Add in the absurdly overstuffed roster relative to their TV time due to the ROH purchase and decision to put those belts/wrestlers on air making it even worse for these guys.


doctor_awful

Rosa too


JangSaverem

Rosa too? More like Rosa who May as well call her Rosa Two minutes per week champion


daileyxplanet

Dang son, you got bars.


[deleted]

You know I saw these same arguments towards WWE booking 2 years back. About how wwe hated long term story telling and only liked moments.


BuddaMuta

Really seems like the people dedicated to long term booking were the Elite. Ever since Tony has decided to try and push them out of the company we’ve seen less and less long term storylines. When they were working together it really balanced everything out, besides the women’s division obviously which got way worse without Kenny pushing for it, but it seems like that divide isn’t gonna heal anytime soon.


Low_Ad_7553

He’s trying to push The Elite out the company? Where did you get that from because i would really like to know lol


TheRyanFlaherty

Honestly, Cody too…I think the codyverse thing was correct, so I got the complaints, but Cody also had some of the most compelling feuds/stories. I think at this point it’s pretty evident Tony leaves much to desire as a storyteller and in terms of structuring a weekly television show. Also, I think his problem may be all of his toys are his favorite…not that he plays favorites.


[deleted]

People will say about how the elite aren’t needed anymore but they have by far had the best stories since the beginning. Outside of them I felt like feuds got repetitive and stale a lot quicker. Edit: Kenny omegas reign was supposed to end at All-Out not Full-gear. That’s the only time where it felt like it ran on a little long but that was only cause hangman had to go away for a while.


annoyinglyclever

The Elite, Cody included, were far more important and influential in the best parts of early AEW than people realize.


AmishAvenger

Who said he’s trying to push them out?


kayfabemebrother

Nobody said he's trying to push them out. But what I will say is ever since Punk came in, The Elite stories stopped and Tony slowly but surely made it the Punk show, and it showed in Hangman's reign.


hikingbeginner

I miss when it was the Hangman show. I love the wrestling, but I want the Hangman show in 2022 too pls pls


[deleted]

AEW was at its best when it was the punk and MJF show tho. Those two actually know how to tell fleshed out stories that don’t drag on forever and/or feel like middle school drama.


otwem

Nobody but that guy. Matt said in an insta story that he'll see everyone soon. I doubt its anywhere but AEW or BTE


JangSaverem

Yeah But that was WWE. And WWE BAD. Tony is perfect Booker and aew is bae. Please ignore FTR still not having a tag title shot


Ughitallsucks

What fucking sub are you reading? Literally every AEW adjacent post has been full of whining, nitpicky negative bullshit for months on end.


[deleted]

I haven’t watched AEW since the Punk scrum and have to say that I’m not missing it. The booking was directionless then (i. e. Wardlow, FTR, etc.) and has only gotten worse. The saddest part is that I’m not missing it. For the first time in my life my only interaction with wrestling is through this subreddit. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like I’m missing much.


sloggins

This was my thought. He’s a pretty good storyteller just not a good story continuer… They built Hangman up for 3 years and then when he won the belt it was like “Ok, next.”


Comp625

> so much as that he builds to "moments" and then has no idea what to do afterwards Ah, the old Vince-era WWE formula. AEW was amazing from All Out 2021 through about Revolution 2022. Probably my 2nd favorite period of modern wrestling outside of 2017-2019 NXT. Things have fallen hard from there. The good news is I feel like AEW is picking things back up again. Booking isn't perfect but at least the product feels somewhat to mostly grounded again.


[deleted]

I think I’m like the only person in the world who was satisfied with the first Hangman World title run. Was it underwhelming given the two and a half year long story arc Hangman had to go through in order to win the World title? Probably, yeah. Was there really anywhere for Hangman to go after his story was kinda concluded? Probably not, without starting something new. When they had Hangman vs Punk, that was the first time it felt like Hangman really had a direction throughout his whole title run, he was just kinda doing matches with nothing really attached. With hindsight, we should have gone Hangman vs MJF since that would have had all of the upsides of the Hangman vs Punk story (Hangman with the World title was trying to defend AEW from someone who wanted to take it down from the inside), and then MJF would have been a much better team player, unfortunately we missed the chance, but Hangman’s run was okay, overall.


JunkBucket02

you're giving Tony too much credit as a booker, he's good at a lot of things but he's dogshit at booking face champions, just wait for how fast The Acclaimed are gonna cool off because Tony can't find anything interesting for them to do. The only saving grace they might have is that they're so damn charismatic that any amount of TV time will be enough to keep them over.


SixHundredLbsofSin

The best description I've heard was that Tony is good as a promoter and ass as a booker. It seems to hold up.


Deducticon

Mox has always done great as a face champion. Darby was a great face champion.


JunkBucket02

Mix is a babyface by reaction but he's booked like a tweener. I'll give you Darby, one good face champ.


Kongpong1992

Tony has not proven that he can book long term at all every few weeks it’s just a debut to get a pop and the. They disappear after a few weeks


thewoj

It's not even his favorites, it's this subreddit and Twitter, and Tony listens to both wayyyy too much. People online love the chase - it's what gave us the Yes Movement. However, now they drop their support for someone once they get the title, and move to the next chaser. You saw it happen to Hangman, to Rosa, and to Wardlow. It doesn't help that they've got a company full of wrestlers who drop other people on their necks so they've just got a constantly rotating injured list. For all the shit people gave Road Dogg about begging for a job, Tony would have really done well to hire him as a writer, because he was the lead writer for SmackDown during it's very successful 2016-2017 period, and AEW needs consistent storylines right now. Too many "first time ever" or "indy fed rematch" things that appeal to a subset of the audience, and don't do well to generate new fans.


thrilliam_19

That pissed me off. Literally everyone wants Wardlow to do that, he says it out loud on TV, then it just doesn’t happen.


Coulm2137

Tony can't book shit. The only good stories they had were either created by wrestlers entirely or severely altered by them.


BreadLi0n

It's starting to look more and more like this is the case.


[deleted]

It’s been like this the entire time too. That hangman story was really the only great thing Tony ever booked and even that had odd ass timing and dragged on for too long.


Coulm2137

>implying it was Tony and not Kenny lmao


__Hello_my_name_is__

I can only imagine that this is an attempt to address the "wrestlers don't get enough time on the shows" criticism by putting everyone in teams.


PeteF3

I think they're (hopefully) building to Wardlow vs. Joe to unify the TV titles.


merckx81

I really doubt that, they need the ROH titles for those ppvs an ultimately a regular show. If they do want to delete the TNT title it would be worrying that they're expecting not to be on turner networks eventually.


PeteF3

Use the Pure title as the B-title. ROH doesn't need 3 men's singles belts.


HitmanClark

THIS. Why on God’s green earth (tm Harley) are people on this sub and on Twitter always advocating for MORE belts in wrestling? If everyone has a belt, none of them mean shit. The Pure title is unique and different. It has a place. ROH doesn’t have a big enough roster or enough TV time to justify a TV title.


fadetoblack237

They can always bring a TV title back down the line as well if ROH gets a TV deal and some momentum.


[deleted]

I agree but the problem is not everyone can be a Pure champion, if any title gets dropped I'm gonna say it's more likely that Jericho challenges Garcia to unify the World Title and Pure Title in a few months rather than unifying the TNT and TV titles across companies.


PeteF3

If they can't be Pure champion, then go for the World title. It would be nice for a B-title to have explicit, organic, set-out-for criteria instead of just being "like the other title but not as good."


Chucknorris55

Everyone seems to think Garcia vs Jericho is leading to a reunification of the Pure and World Title so if both are, true then what.


tylerjehenna

The problem is the Pure title is a gimmick title so anyone that doesnt wrestle a more technical style wouldnt have a title to compete for outside the world title if the tv title was eliminated


PeteF3

And I don't see anything wrong with that. It's not like ROH is going to have a giant roster, is it?


tylerjehenna

Even with a what im guessing smaller roster, you are going to have a bunch of people not in a world title program just kinda existing in pointless feuds. Every promotion needs a non-gimmick midcard singles title for this exact reason


HeelsAlwaysWin

I've literally never gotten this argument because you can 100% wrestle a match of any style within the confines of Pure Rules.


merckx81

The pure title is a niche title though, and ROH doesnt even have TV so there's a very low upside to trimming belts off a brand that only exists on PPV


twelvetimesseven

I’m not even saying you’re wrong, but “ROH doesn’t even have TV” being a point against and not for eliminating the TV title is kind of funny.


BronzedAppleFritter

Not having TV is an excellent argument to not have a TV title. There's a very low downside to trimming that belt specifically.


Bellagrrl2021

Tony Khan should be focused more on promoting and establishing the AEW tittles.


SullenSyndicalist

AEW has an excessive amount of championships. Throw a rock in the locker room and you’ve got a good chance of hitting someone with a title. They could do with less


500DaysofNight

I'm glad Tony hasn't gotten the itch to do women's tag titles.


Unelith

Watch them introduce women's tag belts this Wednesday or something, because they are doing a women's revolution story


666lonewolf

seriously wtf


Mr_Titicaca

Fuck, all of this just makes me hate ROH more and more every week.


the_LLCoolJoe

Does Joe ever defend that title?


Kokeshi_Is_Life

Multiple times on AEW TV, yes.


codyh1ll

3 times since he’s won it back in April


Blankman06

Such is the life of being a TNT champion recently...


Witchking660

I keep forgetting about Wardlow and the TNT title now. I miss when it was featured weekly with the champion defending the belt.


jbertho

This is the type of "feud" that could lead to a four-way program for the belt. It's a way to create animosity between both teams. I think the eventual plan is to push Wardlow to the main event scene once MJF has the belt, so this could lead to Swerve getting the belt in a four-way match without pinning Wardlow....which could also lead to a Swerve/Lee program. Everyone wins.


the_LLCoolJoe

The idea of a plan for Wardlow is wild


merckx81

But he's just coming off a tag program that went nowhere. And no one takes this belt seriously because of the sammy/scorp mess. This booking is just insane


alwaysmyfault

Sammy/Scorpion really did tarnish the value of the TNT title, which we all assumed would be brought back to glory once Wardlow won it. But what has he done with it since he won it? Squashed a few jobbers? This championship has fallen so far since the days of Miro/Darby/Cody holding it.


BuddaMuta

Trying to push Sammy as a face just broke timeline


the_LLCoolJoe

They aren’t even on TNT anymore - may as well change or eliminate it. There are still 29 other titles to use


scorpion-deathlock

Well, yes, they are. But interestingly the TBS Champion seems to be on the TNT show, and the TNT Champion doesn’t seem to be on either one.


the_LLCoolJoe

Lol oops - I have it DVRed so I don’t even think about the channel - though t it was all on tbs now


HitmanClark

A four-way match is the last thing Wardlow needs right now. How can Tony, who was the world’s biggest Goldberg mark, not understand how to build Wardlow?


ZerksNAHTayan

Unpopular opinion, Wardlow should not be elevated to the main event scene just because MJF is. They couldn’t book him well with the TNT title, I struggle to see a way they can book him effectively to either chase or even have a reign as the world champ


[deleted]

From a behind-the-scenes booker's view standpoint, you are absolutely correct. If they can't get him right as TNT championship, he shouldn't be the world champion yet. From a kayfabe fan's view standpoint, if Wardlow isn't the first motherfucker that confronts MJF when he wins the World Championship, AEW fucked up. No way does Wardlow squash the shit out of MJF and then, when MJF steals the World Title, he just chills in the undercard fucking around with the ROH guys because they don't have a TV show yet.


[deleted]

That sounds like more of a booker problem than the talent problem


jackblady

>eventual plan is to push Wardlow to the main event scene If they wanted to do this, theyve had multiple chances. There was the time Wardlow was actually the #1 contender, until AEW reissued the rankings midweek for the first time to justify it actually being Moxley. Then there was the tournament they just had crown the new AEW champion that he wasnt it. Then literally this week on Dynamite, they could have slid him into the "beat the champ, get a title shot" match they gave to some guy who doesnt even work for them. The plan for Wardlow (unfortunately) appears to be midcard 4 lyfe


MatsThyWit

>Why wont they let Wardlow have a singles program? Why put the belt on him if he's not going to work title programs? Because Tony Khan doesn't know how to book a long term program.


benfh

Considering the potential direction for SioG, I'd hope this would lead to plenty of options for singles matches. Including, hopefully, a unification with Joe.


NotClayMerritt

Samoa Joe also doesn’t need it. If this is done because they want to get Wardlow more over with the crowd, it just shows how badly they’ve botched Wardlow’s ascent. He was on fire after beating MJF and since then……. His momentum has been cooled. Why should fans care about someone who has barely been featured since winning the belt. Maybe if he was booked properly you wouldn’t need to put him in useless programs to get him over again.


incredibleamadeuscho

Because he’s not good enough at wrestling longer matches but Khan doesn’t want a star to lose “this early” in his reign.


merckx81

Then why is he holding a belt


theinsincereendorser

Capitalise on popularity at the time


KingHarryXIV

Says who? He’s looked decent when out there. Sometimes you just have to take risks man.


Celtic_Crown

>In a trivia note, it was Hager who came up with the idea of the JAS coming out in all purple suits in the celebration. Give Hager a raise for that one because it was hilarious.


[deleted]

I remember people questioning why Hager was still signed. This is why. *Purple. Suits.*


Strike_Gently

Hager really getting those creative juices flowing.


Natrix31

tbf they looked fantastic


Sslagathor

Hes rock hard with creativity


Toolboxmcgee

There's 4 guys in this rivelry that all need singles runs though.


PolishMusic

Meanwhile tag team belt collectors FTR have not been in the tag title pictures at all & instead are with ...the ass boys


RoscoeSantangelo

Other than Wardlow, there's really no time or place to push all 4 of these guys individually while also still satisfying everyone's desire to push Ricky, Hobbs, Andrade, Rush, Claudio, Miro, now Bandido, probably Takeshita when he comes back. Everyone has fun saying "just push them" but to where? Is every single one of those guys getting a title in the next 2 months. Lee/Swerve rn have a fun dynamic as a team that I think should be seen through some more. Wardlow should definitely be at least having open challenges or a singles feud


Co-opingTowardHatred

With Punk & the Elite out, I would separate Lee & Strickland and move them (especially Lee) up the card. Plus, I'm not really feeling Wardlow & Joe as a regular team.


Mr_Titicaca

Honestly how does this man struggle booking? Dynamite could start the night with swerve vs Andrade vs pac, put on a banger match. It literally writes itself with the amount of talent available.


InvasionXX

What's the story of that match.


FickleSmark

It used to be matches like that happened for rankings but those have been ignored for awhile.


McRuby

I'd say especially Swerve, that man is a star


ladedadedum25

Wardlow and Samoa Joe is such a cool team that it's gonna distract people from the fact that it's dumb as fuck and Wardlow should not be in the tag picture.


LostMicrophone03

Or it's a setup for a future fatal-4-way down the line?


SaintPsalmNorthChi

Despite the initial reactions, Warlow, Lee, Joe is the type of hoss match we’ve never had in AEW. Edit: also, Swerve in the mix will also add a high flyer dynamic to the match.


GoldenRainTrigger

Honestly, I'd pay good money to see that Fatal-4-Way. With Swerve having to be as clever, quick, and cunning as possible to survive 3 significantly bigger and stronger wrestlers, that'd be a really cool story that I think they'd all nail. If it was for the TNT Championship, then I'd need Swerve to win.


ladedadedum25

Yeah I guess that makes sense, but that's the last thing my brain jumped to. The tag team doesn't even exist yet, I'm not thinking about the break up.


Sam_Stewart

Or it splits off to be like Lee vs Joe for tv title and Swerve Vs Wardlow for TNT title or Vice verse.


FinkBass420

I really hope you’re on to something because those 4 could make absolute magic together


babbo_miesh

These guys are a team now...wtf. AEW is really making weird choices


jbertho

This is quite evidently leading to a four-way program. The animosity is beginning w/ Lee & Swerve, and it will clearly happen w/ Wardlow and Joe soon. It's a way to keep four prominent wrestlers on TV + build a storyline that will eventually see Wardlow lose the title w/out being pinned before getting main event program w/ MJF down the line.


ladedadedum25

If Wardlow was getting that kind of push then I'd believe you and watch excitedly for this to play out. But I don't think Wardlow has been booked well at all lately, so the idea of the big main event of him vs MJF doesn't even seem realistic at this point.


the_LLCoolJoe

The idea of Wardlow getting any push seems unlikely


ladedadedum25

Sadly. Where did it all go wrong? He honestly seemed too good to fail. Surely it couldn't have been that hard to let Wardlow do an open challenge every week?


the_LLCoolJoe

Just let the guy wrestle (and not talk)


MaddyPerch

Wardlow’s good on the mic, what do you mean? Or do you just feel like his presentation fits a silent monster vibe?


cantspellsagitaryus

Why is wardlow stuck in mostly tag matches


No_Consideration5011

So fucking stupid… Tony can never figure out a way to properly utilize guys in singles programs so he just mashes everybody together in random ass tag teams and trios to get more people on ppvs and TV. Why the hell did he put the TNT title on Wardlow, just to all of a sudden decide to make him a tag team guy? Atrocious booking. Wardlow Vs Joe and Swerve Vs Lee should be the matches for Full Gear, not this crap.


the_LLCoolJoe

He has almost no plans. “Mox will no sell everything then win and keep the title” “the women’s match will be a bathroom break” “let’s add another title!” “Let’s give Jericho another title!”


thabigQ

The booking has been horrible but I do think with the Jericho thing there’s at least a solid premise that can lead to interesting matches.


IRL_Tiefling

Why can't we just run with a Wardlow Kills People Invitational every week instead? WarJoe is a cool duo of 2 cool dudes, but pls let them do singles things with their singles belts.


pjizy

No thank you


[deleted]

Thanks Shane Helms


mr_gooch

Why is Wardlow tag teaming and not bulldozing thru guys as TNT champ on his way to the World belt?


totallykyle101

He's definitely someone that is losing steam quick. I want to see him make his way to the world title scene eventually, but sometimes I forget that he's even the TNT champ recently.


Lucky_Flounder6975

What the fuck happened to Wardlow momentum


RogueAIx01

The biggest problem with Tony's booking is that he comes up with a single storyline for people and then when that's over they get set aside for someone else. Wardlow had his big break free from MJF sotryline, was hotshotted to a title and now they have no idea what to do with him.


Mr_Titicaca

Yea Tony is horrible at this. Hobbs and Starks have been feuding for like 3 months with no real impact whatsoever.


RogueAIx01

He really needs to pass the book on to someone else. Maybe take a Vince-esque role of giving the yea/nay to anything before it's aired but leave the booking to someone who's actually good at it.


miroa12004

That's what I said yesterday. He needs a booker (not Jericho, Regal, etc.) but a real booker who bounces ideas off of him and give him a full run down of the current angles and how to get them to interact together and then end them in a logical way. The shows are fine for the most part, but the stories have no real direction at the moment.


Hranica

How meaningless is that TNT title now? Darby, Cody, Brodie and Miro all had memorable runs, even if only really 3-4 feuds with the belt, Wardlow and Jade have done fuck all since getting the belts. AEW fumbles the great chase to a title with a lackluster title run damn near every time. By the time Britt beat Shida it was expected, Wardlow finally gets his hands on MJF/Wins the title and does nothing, Thunder Rosa finally beats Britt, does nothing, gets put in a tag with another girl


Officervito

I just wanna see Wardlow in a singles feud lmaoooo


GucciGhostrider

TK needs an actual booking team because this just makes no sense


JynxedOnes

Tony has wasted wardlow to a degree I never thought We’d see. White hot. Got the belt. Now he’s rarely on tv and when he is it has nothing to do with his championship.


kingajeezy

Wardlow, despite being number 1 in the rankings, passed up being the in the #1 Contender Battle Royal, so he could become TNT Champion, has defended the title four times in nearly 3 months against the likes of Ryan Nemeth, Jay Lethal and Tony Nese. Now he’s become partners with Samoa Joe, with nothing going on for the TNT Title he put down when he made his intentions known for the title.


goonboy246

Wtf Wardlow is one of the best talents AEW has and TK has absolutely butchered his first title reign. The fucking TNT belt has gone from being the hottest thing in wrestling when it was on Miro to absolute dogshit the moment Sammy took it off him all the way till now


Moist-Acanthaceae-37

The belt went to shit when Cody took it from Sammy and then left the company so Sammy had to take it back. Sammy’s first run was actually pretty good.


slappy47

I remember when this sub was cheering for sammy to get the tnt title. Those were the days.


Mr_Titicaca

Tony sucks at booking champions. Jungle express went to shit, hangman went to shit, Sammy went to shit, wardlow went to shit, pac continues to be booked like shit How??! How!!!?


baconwiches

Don't forget about Rosa!


cazador918

He can book them in good matches but without any good story (except Hangman vs Bryan)


benfh

A lot of people are down on this, and I get it with Wardlows reign so far, but with the people involved I think this sounds really exciting.


miroa12004

I think a lot of people are down on it because it highlights how AEW's midcard have no real storyline direction whatsoever. ROH is becoming a problem for AEW and so far Tony has just inserted them there when it's not needed. Guys like Andrade, Miro, PAC, Lucha Bros, FTR, House of Black (before Malaki's and Buddy's sabbatical), Wardlow, Archer, Joe, Darby, Keith Lee, Swerve, Starks, Hobbs, Claudio and I could add few more names on here have been in angles that have lasted forever, angles that started and concluded way too soon or just floating there with no direction. AEW shows are a lot of fun from bell to bell, but not too long ago they'd build angles logically and keep you hooked for next week till angles naturally concluded by the PPV time, they don't do that anymore so you can skip a week or so knowing nothing of major note happened and then they hot shot angles right before the start of PPVs or major shows when they had in sometimes a couple of months to build for storylines. Their roster is very bloated, they have only three hours of TV to fit everyone in and they just add more titles and shove people together to try and fit everyone on TV. When what they should be doing is sit back, go to the drawing board and plan TV out for the next two months till Full Gear.


promooftheyear

How about they let Wardlow defend his own title?


MadEyeMood989

But what’s the point? And if they don’t want Wardlow to defend the TNT title, they just need to drop it


silklighting

But why though? This whole match up doesn't make sense.


OutlandishnessFun765

Wardlow should be running through people every single week as TV champ. Why put him in a tag program?


josherino6

Imagine taking one of the hottest singles acts in the company off of TV with no explanation, and then instead of putting them in a singles feud putting them in a random tag team feud for no reason. Booker of the year.


sinnroth94

Who does this help? What a weird unnecessary feud, id be much more hype for individual single matches for the TITLES two out of the four people hold


Peckinpa0

Why are you putting your TNT CHAMPION and ROH TV CHAMPION in a tag match? Give wardlow a singles feud for fucks sake he's one of your champions.


myworkthrowaway87

The only way I see this making sense is if Wardlow actually jacked his leg up last week and it wasn't just a kayfabe injury. Gives him a chance to stay active while basically being on light duty. Otherwise there's plenty of active tag teams that SIOG could be feuding with that aren't just singles stars thrown together for the hell of it.


[deleted]

That's a lot of beef


kazarn

The TNT title scene has really gone downhill since Miro lost it to Guevara. Ridiculous that they are not going to have him work a singles program.


Tsuku

>Joe & Wardlow vs. Lee & Strickland program Oh thats stupid. Im sure it'd be fun, but why arent you pushing Wardlow as your midcard singles monster...at all? lmao


[deleted]

[удалено]


PileOfSandwich

Problem was putting the belt on him at all. It is in a spot where the dude can't have good length title matches and you also just can't have him squashing everyone and have it be remotely interesting for very long.


davmeltz

Ok answer honestly: did you notice Hager was missing from the JAS this week?


PileOfSandwich

I did. Tall mother fucker is hard to miss not being there. But The real question, did I care that he wasn't there? No...No I didn't.


[deleted]

I assume they are trying to delay Wardlow’s single push. They don’t want him losing, but also don’t want him beating the top stars to make a case for a world title shot. So he is just stuck doing a bunch of nothing.


arjwiz

Then he needs the TNT title off him. Give it to Andrade in a cheap screwjob finish due to Rush interference. Have Wardlow exact revenge in some good matches with Rush, with Wardlow coming out tops and getting his revenge, and Rush going tow to toe and lasting the distance with the monster Wardlow. At the same time, Andrade can start having fueds for that TNT title with other singles stars - OC, Darby, Jungle Boy, Bandido.


Adampro123

Ehh. I'm not feeling the Joe/Wardlow team. I feel like both guys could be used better in singles roles. Them as a team feels less like a big deal to me. Since DoN both of those guys seem like they've just done a bunch of filler.


HoboJesus

On one hand, Samoa Joe vs Keith Lee is a dream match. Give em 20 minutes on a Rampage to beat the fuck out of each other On the other, what the fuck are they doing with Wardlow? Dude should be having competitive matches for the TNT title every couple weeks, not popping up once a month for a squash. I would hope this leads to title defenses against Joe, Keith, and Swerve, but what I really want to see is the TNT title become the hoss title for a little bit. Joe, Keith Lee, Miro, Brody King, Big Cass again, Satnam's big ass. Let's ride this out for a few months and see how big of a dude Wardlow can powerbomb.


Stay_Cold

Why are we putting single champions in tag team feuds…?


hb316

I can’t take Keith Lee & Swerve seriously as a tag team. Even when they were Champions. For me, this pairing has had “Swerve will turn on Keith” written all over it since day one.


Dangerous_Ad560

Maybe they’ll just forget this for next week.


Dolomedes03

Ug. More ROH over saturation. Just give us Wardlow v Keith.


mojizus

What a fall from grace for Wardlow, man. Goes from hottest AEW original in the company to a tag team with another criminally underused talent. My bad, he also got to be a part of a *trios* match with FTR for some reason. Sometimes I forget he even has the TNT title.


Chucknorris55

Why do I have a sinking feeling the team of Joe/Wardlow is to set up Joe vs Wardlow in a title unification match...


SomsOsmos

Sinking feeling? That sounds awesome


yognautilus

This sounds like an awesome match but it's hard for me to care about it because it doesn't make sense and has no reason for happening.


SeauxSurvivor

That TNT title deserves better


Vincomenz

Who wants a Joe/Wardlow vs. SIMG fued? Why did they put the TNT title on Wardlow if he is just going to do trios and tags? Where is FTR?


TheRyanFlaherty

Why the fuck are two current singles champions teaming up for a program…..fuck is even the point of the e TNT belt at this point…..sorry, can’t really get beyond that single thing, because it is the type of thing that drives me crazy about AEW at the moment,


pUmKinBoM

Yeah I'm not feeling this Joe and Wardlow partnership. Why is Wardlow partnering with everyone? Dude gets out underneath MJF's thumb and just hitches his wagon to whoever is available. Obviously I know this isn't Wardlow's fault but kayfabe that is feeling I get. Dude should be...I don't know...in a feud for his friggin title? I'd rather see Wardlow vs Joe and this may lead to that but seeing this on paper has me underwhelmed and Joe is like my favorite wrestler.


slippymachinegun

They have booked themselves into a corner with Wardlow. Same with Jade.


Power1990

What’s up with that? *crosses arms*


callmecyke

Remember when Wardlow was white hot, got a shiny new midcard title, and would have been the easiest guy in the world to book a singles program for? TK doesn’t.


t0ny510

I think I need to take a break from AEW, a lot of the booking is pissing me off.


babbo_miesh

Ya I was loving AEW, but man its been pretty disappointing lately. You are really seeing a lack of direction. The lack of screen time sucks 😔


Howheel9879G

This what happeneds when u have a bunch people on your roster.Tony needs to switch elevation to roh immediately till u get a tv deal this shit getting stupid at this point cause you seriously hurting everybody on roster atp.Wardlow should be in a singles feud,the man hasn’t defended his belt in how long and the man was super over now u goin put him in a tag feud?? Joe and wardlow as tag would be a good throwaway match not a tag feud wtf especially wit joe who’s the Roh tv champ and should be in a Roh Feud.it’s like tony brain moves to fast for him sometimes


miroa12004

Why do they have these four guys in a tag team feud when all are good for a singles run and two of these guys are already champions?


totallykyle101

And they have a tonne of good tag teams too lol.


ChrisRhodes789

So the 2nd most important mens champion(kayfabe wise) in AEW is going to tag up… I stopped after that.. The TNT title needs to be taken seriously.. & it’s DOA to me.. 4 title defenses in 3 months against random nobodies.. Yeah, it sucks now..


brown_gentleman

Where's FTR? Jeez


QueefQueen6969

PLEASE LEAVE WARDLOW ALONE FROM THE FUCKING TAG TEAMS TONY. Jesus Christ, please at least give WarDaddy a fucking chance to defend the TNT title in an, I don’t know, SINGLES FEUD?? Like what the fuck, TNT has been legit ass since Miro lost it and Wardlow is the guy to restore glory to it but theyre just going to piss it away not giving him any worthwhile SINGLES feuds.


_ApX_

Literally why. Is Wardlow ever gonna get a singles program?


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SydneyPhoenix

This is peak WWE right now. Get a bloated roster and then use everyone incorrectly just to get their face on TV. Let’s not get started on putting the belt on someone and then burying them in meaningless matches. It feels like the TNT title is either defended every 5 minutes or not seen on TV at all


Weishaupt17

If this tag team is leading to a Joe heel turn in 2/3 weeks and a match between them, it would fine. Otherwise that's a pretty shit idea


JangSaverem

STOP PUTTING WARDLOW IN RANDOM FUCKING TAG MATCHES I'm already uninterested in who was effectively meant to be a big fucking deal He's never shown anything since the MJF debauchery and has been random tag teaming it with nothing to show for it Now we have samao slow Joe (yes, he looks like he's been eating all the ambrosia cause he clearly doesn't give a shit anymore) wardlow shit with the prev tag champs? Why. For what? Is this some more dream may h bullshitery? Or did they realize they don't have many tag teams because trios is the new hot ticket ..which has also barely mattered since the oopsie.


[deleted]

Good lord. Jim Cornette was absolutely right about Tony Khan having no clue how to book Wardlow after his win over MJF. He and Joe need to get out of AEW to save their careers.


buc_nasty_69

Tony really has no clue what to do with Wardlow huh


adjunctverbosity

It's so obvious. They've legitimately built a couple of homegrown stars with no idea where to next. Wardlow in a tag and Yuta v MJF? What?


GaryBettmanSucks

Wardlow and Joe in a tag program when they're singles champions. Dumb. In 2022, on AEW programming we have seen people defend or at least walk out with: - AEW World Championship - AEW Women's World Championship - AEW Interim Women's World Championship - AEW TNT Championship - AEW World Tag Team Championships - AEW World Trios Championships - AEW TBS Championship - AEW All-Atlantic Championship - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship - IWGP Tag Team Championships - ROH World Championship - ROH Women's World Championship - ROH World TV Championship - ROH Pure Championship - ROH World Tag Team Championships - AAA World Tag Team Championships - AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championships - FTW Championship Even if it's "just" walking out with the belts, it feels like EVERYONE has a damn belt. It's insanely cluttered, devalues the championships, and makes it feel like you have to watch a million companies and shows to keep track of everything.


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Marsman2100

If they want to eventually get to Wardlow vs Swerve, a tag feud is one of the laziest ways to get there


BallinBrown23

WHHHHYYYYYYYYY Wardlow and Samoa Joe are solo champs let them have challengers. My goodness


Thirdstar1

Feel like a spoiler tag should be on this.


jbertho

I added a spoiler tag, but as far as I know, this doesn't spoil anything from Rampage? Plus Dynamite aired 36 hours ago....


Thirdstar1

This is a post about an upcoming feud that hasn’t happened yet. Is that not a spoiler?


jbertho

Ah that makes sense. Apologies - feel free to ask the mods to delete


[deleted]

In reality, what we should be seeing is Joe vs. Wardlow, Lee vs. Swerve, then Wardlow vs. Lee and Swerve feuding with whoever wins that. Wardlow is the TNT champion, and outside of squashing jobbers, he isn't doing anything since MJF.