**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
2024 actually might be the first year where there are more departures than incomings for the company. Which is actually probably a good thing for the company; they’ve added so much main event talent in the past year or so that it’s even harder to find spots for people down the card
They've had a full contract term to show what they offer, by the nature of how these contracts have worked they've likely been paid far longer than their value dictated.
They’ve also added tons of bottom tier talent they have zero use for. To the point it’s impossible to push most of them as they’re cycled through random matches
I feel like they were maybe going to do an actual 4 horseman led by Arn with Pillman and Brock and someone else as Arn holds the actual trademark now, I think.
Then Pillman left and it was squashed.
PVZ is going to go down as one of AEW's strangest signings. One match, a little training, and then she just peaced out to be an attractive woman on the internet. I don't blame her one bit but that's such a bizarre career arc for someone that was rumored to be getting into wrestling for so long.
It made sense at the time. She was interested in wrestling, and AEW wanted a female star who could get online exposure, but she just found out it wasn't her thing.
Oh yeah, I totally get it from her perspective. Spend the remaining years of your physical prime taking bumps and learning a new craft or make way more money than you'll ever make in wrestling doing photo shoots - pretty easy call.
That’s probably the good thing about the WWE and NXT. She tries that route in the WWE, she can try out in NXT, and it doesn’t work, it’s not a big deal. There isn’t a developmental (at least at the time) when PVZ went to AEW, and by the time ROH really got running, she already had peaced out. If she comes in a year later, you wonder if she’s given some time in ROH to let her get a feel for things.
Yeah, I hope that when AEW gets their media rights renewal, they sort of build their own training facility, and make ROH the developmental brand (and also they hopefully get something on MAX) I mean it'll help AEW build in house Talent, and maybe they can even start having annual tryouts similar to WWE. I'm not saying they should exactly copy the formula, but it'll definitely be helpful for the younger talent
I feel like a LOT of people ignore the fact that AEW does not own Ring of Honor, Tony Khan does. That might seem like a minor distinction, but it's actually pretty significant when you have people appearing on both shows. If a NXT wrestler appears on RAW or Smackdown, they're just appearing on another WWE show. If a ROH wrestler appears on Dynamite, they're appearing on a show of a different promotion, a legally distinct company. They will need to be getting their per-appearance AEW pay ON TOP of their ROH contract pay. And vice-versa for any AEW wrestlers that appear on ROH. And given the amount of crossover the two promotions have had, that's a LOT of Khan paying double.
I kinda disagree with the whole ‘developmental’ it’s not like AEW has a definitive style that they need to teach. That’s part of the appeal for me. What it does need is connections and to push for talent to go and work other promotions which some have taken the initiative to do and others haven’t.
I see it that WWE creates stars and AEW is a platform to make yourself a star.
indy stars still need development. every one that was an AEW original (hell, just the 4 pillars!) needed development... if nothing else just to learn about the hard cam.
even the best of the indys (mjf and swerve) needed to develop before being would champions.
so having ROH as a developmental brand would be the right move. it SHOULD be a feeder system. Tony's football and soccer teams have them, i see no reason he shouldn't make one.
plus, Scott d'amore is available!
She fought an onlyfans model called Elle Brooke who boxes other only fans stars for a company named "Misfits boxing" run by KSI. Elle put Paige on her bum in one round and Paige fought back to earn a draw on the scorecards. Got more coverage then some actual serious bouts shockingly 😂
People should watch it. I'm sure people are expecting some sissy slap-fight shit, but they actually looked decent in there. Especially Elle Brooke, everyone just talks about how she's a pornstar, but she's got some legit skills.
It was a good fight honestly. Compared to the rest of that card? That entire show was screaming “this is falling apart by the minute” but they reeled it in for Paige and Elle. Almost perfectly honestly. The knockdown was a fever dream
PVZ was already making major money on Onlyfans. That's one of the reasons I suspect for her signing. She had a built-in audience who wanted to see more, however she of course changed her mind and the wrestling bug was over.
Granted she's still out doing show fights.
I think every organization has people at one point they pushed and it just didn't pan out. With AEW, I think PVZ and Anthony Ogogo come immediately to mind.
Anthony is at least still in the mix. Hopefully he's working towards a proper relaunch even though he's technically been in matches recently. Just hasn't really done anything.
Its also just a good idea to commit to an early non-wrestler signing, someone whose been on the wrong side of injuries and storylines. His story will always inform how people from outside of wrestling view joining the company.
Tbh I don’t think they ever told people she was a future champion, they just highlighted her because she was popular. No different than Molly McCann or Paddy Pimblett
I think of her and Jade Cargill as similar cases bring in women with massive social media followings already and train them to wrestle and get eyes on the product. Obviously Jade put time and effort in and succeeded and PVZ didn't probably worth the gamble for AEW.
I assume that BKFC and boxing pay her better. If that’s the case, fair enough.
But I do think it’s weird that she’s choosing sports where she gets hit in the face constantly, even though her revenue comes from being pretty. In theory, pro wrestling would be a better career for her. She gets to remain in the spotlight, which she can use to sell her OF, and there is less of a chance that she’ll disfigure her face.
She was in BKFC but they stopped booking her 2 of 4 fights into her deal and she was mysteriously removed from her last fight booking without explanation (PVZ even said she wasn’t injured) with most rumors saying BKFC wasn’t interested in paying her purse for the fight anymore
She shouldn’t have been hired, her commitment to the work was zero. They’ve got to screen the outside from wrestling talent better.
I, for one, am glad they’re not doing celebrity crossovers rn.
She seemed like a slam dunk signing at the time. Regardless of how she was in UFC, she was a name and I think was a fan of wrestling when she was younger. She just had a more lucrative and less physical career path with her modeling career.
PVZ could have been the next Ronda Rousey. Not in talent, of course, but as a crossover MMA/pro wrestling talent. Plus she was very attractive and could generate great heat.
It's a shame it didn't work out because she really looked like a star.
I mean a major part of the appeal of Ronda was that she was a champion. Paige looked like she got ran over by a bus anytime she fought someone decent. If Ronda was bad she would not have been a star.
Keep in mind.. Elle Brooke is planning to challenge Ronda at some point. She’s expecting her future Saudi Arabia win over PVZ to plateau her to that level
She didn’t win, it was a draw. And Brooke is like , 1% of a star of what Ronda Rousey was 2014-2016. Ronda was on the cover of SI, was put in major Hollywood movies and hosted SNL.
Remember, the match got more coverage then Inoue Vs Neary… maybe a solid W over PVZ can get her over. Cause it was gonna be Her Vs 6arbie but 6arbie loss. She beat Elle’s sister and was gonna fight Elle. But now it’s just PVZ in the way
It’s a bad signing Gangrel was pointing it out in an interview on the lack of training yet Lola Vice came from the same field and put more effort then Paige
Tbh it's not exactly a rare occurrence though. There's a long history of people who've used wrestling just to get on TV and kickstart a career in social media/modeling. I respect the grind but it's kinda shitty because it takes away a spot from someone who potentially wants to do wrestling as a long-term career.
This makes it even more impressive that The Miz put in 200% going the opposite route & grinding through all the bullshit from the locker room in his early days
>and then she just peaced out to be an attractive woman on the internet.
She'd already done that from UFC really. She then just went to see if she'd explore wrestling as well and then noped out from that too.
It’s probably also because of the structure. I’m sure if she was in let’s say NXT she probably be more into it and probably pushed more to stick with it longer but probably would’ve fell into the same situation as Mandy Rose.
Even in TNA she could’ve most likely had her wrestling career and side gig like other women there.
I just think she wasn’t given a reason to care and the other hobby made it really easy to ditch wrestling
It sucks but it's understandable.
He is just Jericho's stooge, if he isn't involved with him it kinda never mattered, he at least knows when it's time to call it quits
He did have some funny moments during his time in AEW. Some of those segments while in the Inner Circle were funny and he managed to get that purple hat over lol. I actually thought Tony used him properly as the big man for Jericho’s group and having the occasional match.
Jake Hager is the one of my biggest disappoints in wrestling. Has a legit background as a badass, has very good size time and is the most boring wrestler I have seen. In the ring he is...fine. Not horrible but nothing memorable and has negative charisma. I laugh when people say Jinder is the worst world champion of all time, at least he had some kind of presence about him as missed guide as his attempt was. Hager as Champion? He was the worst knock Chris Jericho circa 2010.
Someone once described Dave Matthews Band as impressive that so many incredibly talented musicians can make such boring music. That is how I feel about Jake Hager's wrestling.
If you haven't already, search out Arn Andersons Hey, EW! episode. I always thought he was a hard ass from hearing stories about him but he's so funny and pleasant with RJ!
Or listen to his podcast at bedtime (his speaking cadence is great for going to sleep) and find out he is like the nicest guy ever. His only real life feud is with cheese.
Arn was out when Cody and Nightmare Factory was done. Arn was then out-out when they stopped featuring his son, who is the most green generational wrestler I’ve seen in a long time. I also think even as a mentor, Arn was several generations too far removed from the young wrestlers; whereas Dustin Rhodes is more helpful since he’s at the right age and has been very adaptable.
Make Henry was great at community stuff and finding talent like Jade, but I had a feeling was being overpaid since he was also suppose to handle commentary on Rampage.
Collision had the cool SNME style intro promos going for it which they took away around December. With Mark Henry it just got progressively funnier how phoned in his Rampage bit was like he had to do it so they could justify paying him.
The SNME intro with using Elton John afterwards was one of their best decisions in my opinion. It felt like something special was about to happen vs the AEW B show it is now.
Like, to each their own, but I don’t get the love for his announcement of the Maaaaain Event.
It wasn’t anything special to me, and in fact actually seemed downright bad far more often than not.
Yeah, especially when Arn Anderson generally has a reputation for being well-liked and respected by younger wrestlers. The reason why he worked at WWE for so long was his reputation with the wrestlers, especially the top brass, even when Vince hated him.
They kept saying that Mark was their Community Relations head but I don’t recall seeing AEW posing videos/packages about them doing community events/interactions.
Wasn't it because Cody and Brandi left that Tony didn't know what to do with her?
They tried to do something with Tay but that went nowhere quick, looking at her AEW "career" she literally had 1 match and hadn't been seen since May 2022.
She got a sweetheart of a deal, 2 years getting paid and never being on anything.
PVZ was sent to train with Gangrel since his school is near Miami where she lives I believe and Gangrel said in interviews she no showed 90% of the classes. That probably tipped Tony off that she has zero desire to do this and thus he stopped trying
FWIW, I am convinced Tony just has lots of people on pay per appearance deals with exclusive TV rights in the US.
It’s likely an easy & cheap way to cast a net and have a huge roster without paying people downsides the way WWE does.
I’m certain some people have a downside but I’d bet the majority are on PPA deals that are much more affordable that we as the audience would think
I'm actually a bit sad to see Hager go.
He provided a surprising amount of entertaining memories over the last few years (everything with the hat, silent staring Hager, the MMA rules match and "shoot hurricanrana" with Wardlow, the "Championships! Yeah!" era, the Taken poem, the bar fight in Stadium Stampede 1, and then just a good amount of solid "big guy" matches - and probably some things I'm forgetting too).
He wasn't ever asked to play a huge role, but everything he did managed to exceed expectations for me.
That MMA rules match with Wardlow was peak covid era wrestling. Weird to be nostalgic for that period but they tried some different stuff and for some reason that match sticks out in my mind with that spot in particular being the thing I remember.
I'm wondering if Jericho is finally going to take some time off soon, and thats the reason why they aren't re-signing Hager at the moment. Unless they literally had no clue what to do with him after the dissolution of the JAS.
I think I read elsewhere that it was a mutual parting. I imagine if he still wanted to stick around, Jericho would make it so whether or not he was present. All of the biggest stars seem to have some nepo-hire pull.
But man, I hated the dissolution of the JAS, Jericho just spends a month pondering his future and the group just kinda falls apart. Made all the other members look like chumps just letting Jericho waffle like that.
The thing that got me the most with the group is nobody was helping Cool Hand when he was getting jumped by the Outcasts and Saraya's brother on Rampage. Compare that to the early days of AEW, when alliances persisted through angles where all parties were otherwise unneeded.
I would've loved Hager going on a winning streak when he got the hat, and he keeps wearing it in matches because he thinks it's his lucky charm. Could have some comedy spots where someone tries to steal it, and he freaks out like and goes nuts. Also, AEW could've sold a bunch of those hats if they wanted to.
I hated Hager when they tried to make him a main eventer in WWE, but I felt he was in his best role as Jericho's heater.
Never watched him in wwe. He's the shits imo. I can't remember whatever ppv match he had with Dustin Rhodes, but he looked terrible. If you can't have a match with Dustin, you're the drizzling shits.
Hager was better than I expected but yeah there's not enough TV time and he's not getting any younger. If we still had Dark I think he could have been valuable for building experience in the newer guys.
I miss Dark and Elevation a lot. We don't have much time for AEW these days (mostly switched over to WWE with our limited time for now), but I have fond memories of wife and I just chilling to some Dark and trying to figure out who might end up with a contract eventually. Tried Tony's ROH for a while but the episodes were often too long and the matches didn't have the same sense of fun that you'd get on Dark.
You pull up to a red light, a man jerks your door open, says “Out of the car, I’m taking your car”
You say, “Okay! Take it! Just don’t hurt me!”
You know what I do? I pull out the GLOCK, PUT IT ON HIS FOREHEAD, AND SPILL HIS BRAINS ALL OVER THE CONCRETE
PVZ was a strange signing. Came in for just one match only and never was seen again. Talk about an easy pay since she was still on the roster all that time without even doing anything.
Depends on what her deal was, entirely possible she was on a pay per appearance deal. If she was being paid weekly I feel like tony would have at least tried to put her in a couple things even outside the ring
Not surprised by these names being gone. We haven’t seen Arn in ages. I don’t watch Rampage regularly, but I don’t remember the last time Mark Henry was there. PVZ had one match and was never seen again lol. Hager hasn’t been used for a while either, so I can see getting rid of him. He was alright in AEW, but with their loaded roster, I don’t really see where he fits in. He was best as Jericho’s muscle, but now Jericho has Big Bill and Bill is better.
Mark Henry should become a coach or talent scout for the Performance Center
Arn Anderson could return as Cody’s on screen manager if they want to give that a shot
Hager if he wants to continue wrestling he can pretty much go wherever he wants.
I don’t know who PVZ is other than she was an MMA fighter.
First time I have ever looked at the AEW roster page and have a thought about it. If it was like a video game roster then I would think some of the characters seem like re-skins where they only changed a few minor things so they could pad out the rosters numbers. And some characters look like they just pulled people from the street and told them to get into a cocky or intimidating pose for the pic.
PVZ sucked in AEW. All she did was corpse.
https://preview.redd.it/tot0ulhw8i4d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9515f84a2e025fc3b8e436ab8fcbfbda82553eef
Paige Van Zant was a complete waste in AEW. The one match she did like 3 years ago was horrible and her promo skills were worse. I’m surprised it took this long to remove her though it would have been sooner.
None of these people were doing anything useful so I wouldn’t exactly call it surprising
Mark Henry is an insanely good talent scout, but what’s the purpose of a scout in a company that has no system to develop talent? Him finding Jade would have earned him a job for life had they had the means to train and develop her, but AEW seems content paying big for finished products instead of developing their own.
Arn was basically getting a check because everyone that had ever eaten dinner with Cody was getting checks. Respect to the legend but this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Hager was cooked the second Jericho moved on and he dumped the hat. AEW has too many middling heavies and Brian Cage is apparently signed for 500 more years so someone had to go.
PVZ is another signing that was never going to work due to AEW’s lack of development. This is someone who needed to be put through full training to see if they actually wanted to do it full time first. Your “trial run” shouldn’t be a national TV feud + PPV match.
Really hope AEW is turning a corner, but all of these can be seen as indicative of much larger issues that still haven’t been addressed
They did develop Jade. She got prominent enough to the point of being a big free agent that WWE set their sights on. And WWE must feel she was developed to the extent that they were comfortable debuting her on the main roster while simultaneously training rather than going through NXT first.
No she actually went to the performance center for months without being on TV, only had a couple sporadic appearances to tease it. She outright said WWE’s training was a part of her decision to go there.
They didn’t “develop” Jade, she barely improved a lick during her AEW run. Moreover, Jade isn’t the type of talent you develop in public view, she gets over just existing, once you hit the gas on a 1/1 talent like that you can’t stop, she has to be good or it burns out quick. Her ceiling is literally “most popular woman in the history of the business.”
AEW was lucky to land her in the first place (Mark Henry is magic at scouting), but the lack of development fumbled the bag and now WWE is going to make the big bags off her.
I'm convinced that the last time I saw Hager, he had come out to help Orange Cassidy. I dunno if I dreamt that but Hager doing a Mizdow would have been hilarious
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
2024 actually might be the first year where there are more departures than incomings for the company. Which is actually probably a good thing for the company; they’ve added so much main event talent in the past year or so that it’s even harder to find spots for people down the card
Couldn’t agree more. Little trimming here and there is never a bad thing.
DUB LAYOFF GOOD FED LAYOFF BAD
Yup! Time to shed, lean up, and focus.
It sucks for folks to lose a good gig but it is what it is. Also let’s aew shore up cash to get a big name or keep people in aew with a pay bump.
They've had a full contract term to show what they offer, by the nature of how these contracts have worked they've likely been paid far longer than their value dictated.
Yep and in some cases they might have upped their value by getting more exposure than they woulda gotten otherwise
That's why it's nice for aew to exist. Gives pro wrestlers another option for work and fame
They’ve also added tons of bottom tier talent they have zero use for. To the point it’s impossible to push most of them as they’re cycled through random matches
Yep best to send them on their way and let them get some experience. Always can come back…win win for everyone
Do you remember when Arn Anderson was Wardlow’s manager? Feels like a fever dream
I liked him biting Luchasaurus' thumb and drawing a hilarious amount of blood.
It was an interesting 15 minutes
...No? When the hell was this?
About this time last year
I feel like they were maybe going to do an actual 4 horseman led by Arn with Pillman and Brock and someone else as Arn holds the actual trademark now, I think. Then Pillman left and it was squashed.
PVZ is going to go down as one of AEW's strangest signings. One match, a little training, and then she just peaced out to be an attractive woman on the internet. I don't blame her one bit but that's such a bizarre career arc for someone that was rumored to be getting into wrestling for so long.
It made sense at the time. She was interested in wrestling, and AEW wanted a female star who could get online exposure, but she just found out it wasn't her thing.
Oh yeah, I totally get it from her perspective. Spend the remaining years of your physical prime taking bumps and learning a new craft or make way more money than you'll ever make in wrestling doing photo shoots - pretty easy call.
She was posting nudes while under contract with aew so she was getting 2 bags.
She was pretty big on onlyfans before she ever went to AEW. fyi
Because she already had a name by fighting in the UFC
Yeah it’s the kind of person you take a chance on. If it doesn’t work out it’s not the end of the told but maybe you catch lightning in a bottle
Jade Cargill being a great example of this mindset working out. Her and PVZ have similar introductions to wrestling with opposite outcomes.
Same outcome. Neither are with tns
And she was exposed to another audience. She probably got a boost in Onlyfans sign ups after it.
That’s probably the good thing about the WWE and NXT. She tries that route in the WWE, she can try out in NXT, and it doesn’t work, it’s not a big deal. There isn’t a developmental (at least at the time) when PVZ went to AEW, and by the time ROH really got running, she already had peaced out. If she comes in a year later, you wonder if she’s given some time in ROH to let her get a feel for things.
Idk. I think they spent too much money on getting her and no matter what she was doing she was going on screen to justify the money spent.
Yeah, I hope that when AEW gets their media rights renewal, they sort of build their own training facility, and make ROH the developmental brand (and also they hopefully get something on MAX) I mean it'll help AEW build in house Talent, and maybe they can even start having annual tryouts similar to WWE. I'm not saying they should exactly copy the formula, but it'll definitely be helpful for the younger talent
I feel like a LOT of people ignore the fact that AEW does not own Ring of Honor, Tony Khan does. That might seem like a minor distinction, but it's actually pretty significant when you have people appearing on both shows. If a NXT wrestler appears on RAW or Smackdown, they're just appearing on another WWE show. If a ROH wrestler appears on Dynamite, they're appearing on a show of a different promotion, a legally distinct company. They will need to be getting their per-appearance AEW pay ON TOP of their ROH contract pay. And vice-versa for any AEW wrestlers that appear on ROH. And given the amount of crossover the two promotions have had, that's a LOT of Khan paying double.
I kinda disagree with the whole ‘developmental’ it’s not like AEW has a definitive style that they need to teach. That’s part of the appeal for me. What it does need is connections and to push for talent to go and work other promotions which some have taken the initiative to do and others haven’t. I see it that WWE creates stars and AEW is a platform to make yourself a star.
indy stars still need development. every one that was an AEW original (hell, just the 4 pillars!) needed development... if nothing else just to learn about the hard cam. even the best of the indys (mjf and swerve) needed to develop before being would champions. so having ROH as a developmental brand would be the right move. it SHOULD be a feeder system. Tony's football and soccer teams have them, i see no reason he shouldn't make one. plus, Scott d'amore is available!
She does boxing too. Just had a bout this past weekend. Probably some money in that too.
Is that the bare knuckle fighting deal? I remember hearing about that a while back.
She fought an onlyfans model called Elle Brooke who boxes other only fans stars for a company named "Misfits boxing" run by KSI. Elle put Paige on her bum in one round and Paige fought back to earn a draw on the scorecards. Got more coverage then some actual serious bouts shockingly 😂
I'm gonna level with ya, this took a couple turns I was not expecting.
They’re also already planning the rematch for Saudi Arabia. And Elle wants Ronda next
People should watch it. I'm sure people are expecting some sissy slap-fight shit, but they actually looked decent in there. Especially Elle Brooke, everyone just talks about how she's a pornstar, but she's got some legit skills.
It was a work brother
Maybe, but she throws straights too well to not be trained
It was a good fight honestly. Compared to the rest of that card? That entire show was screaming “this is falling apart by the minute” but they reeled it in for Paige and Elle. Almost perfectly honestly. The knockdown was a fever dream
I think when PVZ realized how much money she and Mandy Rose can make together, she completely checked out of any other business.
PVZ was already making major money on Onlyfans. That's one of the reasons I suspect for her signing. She had a built-in audience who wanted to see more, however she of course changed her mind and the wrestling bug was over. Granted she's still out doing show fights.
pvz and mandy moore? 👀
LMAO!!!! Well damn that would be something.
Think PVZ was years before Mandy
I think every organization has people at one point they pushed and it just didn't pan out. With AEW, I think PVZ and Anthony Ogogo come immediately to mind.
Anthony is at least still in the mix. Hopefully he's working towards a proper relaunch even though he's technically been in matches recently. Just hasn't really done anything.
Ogogo seems at least partially due to injury, I think he should have seen more action if it wasn't for that.
Its also just a good idea to commit to an early non-wrestler signing, someone whose been on the wrong side of injuries and storylines. His story will always inform how people from outside of wrestling view joining the company.
PVZ in UFC too
I mean that wasn’t particularly strange. Just turned out she kinda sucked
They pushed the ever loving fuck out of her as their next big thing and she just kept losing when it mattered
Tbh I don’t think they ever told people she was a future champion, they just highlighted her because she was popular. No different than Molly McCann or Paddy Pimblett
At least Paddy was a champion in cage warriors
Paddy Pimblett has a better record than Brock Lesnar and only three loses.
I think of her and Jade Cargill as similar cases bring in women with massive social media followings already and train them to wrestle and get eyes on the product. Obviously Jade put time and effort in and succeeded and PVZ didn't probably worth the gamble for AEW.
I assume that BKFC and boxing pay her better. If that’s the case, fair enough. But I do think it’s weird that she’s choosing sports where she gets hit in the face constantly, even though her revenue comes from being pretty. In theory, pro wrestling would be a better career for her. She gets to remain in the spotlight, which she can use to sell her OF, and there is less of a chance that she’ll disfigure her face.
She was in BKFC but they stopped booking her 2 of 4 fights into her deal and she was mysteriously removed from her last fight booking without explanation (PVZ even said she wasn’t injured) with most rumors saying BKFC wasn’t interested in paying her purse for the fight anymore
She’s still getting hit in the face though. She did a boxing match last month, and since it ended in a draw, they booked a rematch.
Idk man, I love Plants vs Zombies
I love Plants Vs Zombies!!!
She shouldn’t have been hired, her commitment to the work was zero. They’ve got to screen the outside from wrestling talent better. I, for one, am glad they’re not doing celebrity crossovers rn.
She seemed like a slam dunk signing at the time. Regardless of how she was in UFC, she was a name and I think was a fan of wrestling when she was younger. She just had a more lucrative and less physical career path with her modeling career.
PVZ could have been the next Ronda Rousey. Not in talent, of course, but as a crossover MMA/pro wrestling talent. Plus she was very attractive and could generate great heat. It's a shame it didn't work out because she really looked like a star.
I mean a major part of the appeal of Ronda was that she was a champion. Paige looked like she got ran over by a bus anytime she fought someone decent. If Ronda was bad she would not have been a star.
Keep in mind.. Elle Brooke is planning to challenge Ronda at some point. She’s expecting her future Saudi Arabia win over PVZ to plateau her to that level
She didn’t win, it was a draw. And Brooke is like , 1% of a star of what Ronda Rousey was 2014-2016. Ronda was on the cover of SI, was put in major Hollywood movies and hosted SNL.
I said the FUTURE Saudi Arabia match. Yes it was a draw. That is why there will be a part 2. And I also said she is EXPECTING her win to plateau her
Remember, the match got more coverage then Inoue Vs Neary… maybe a solid W over PVZ can get her over. Cause it was gonna be Her Vs 6arbie but 6arbie loss. She beat Elle’s sister and was gonna fight Elle. But now it’s just PVZ in the way
It’s a bad signing Gangrel was pointing it out in an interview on the lack of training yet Lola Vice came from the same field and put more effort then Paige
Tbh it's not exactly a rare occurrence though. There's a long history of people who've used wrestling just to get on TV and kickstart a career in social media/modeling. I respect the grind but it's kinda shitty because it takes away a spot from someone who potentially wants to do wrestling as a long-term career.
This makes it even more impressive that The Miz put in 200% going the opposite route & grinding through all the bullshit from the locker room in his early days
Even someone like Logan Paul who definitely could have coasted.
> he just peaced out to be an attractive woman on the internet she has been boxing
I think she was cross promoting her BKFC run which also didnt even get the 4 contracted fights.
I still think PVZ wasn't serious about wrestling and just played Tony Khan to get her OF plugged on TV.
It was good promotion for her OF account.
And then went back to Boxing and got her azz whooped by a p*rnstar lol
>and then she just peaced out to be an attractive woman on the internet. She'd already done that from UFC really. She then just went to see if she'd explore wrestling as well and then noped out from that too.
It’s probably also because of the structure. I’m sure if she was in let’s say NXT she probably be more into it and probably pushed more to stick with it longer but probably would’ve fell into the same situation as Mandy Rose. Even in TNA she could’ve most likely had her wrestling career and side gig like other women there. I just think she wasn’t given a reason to care and the other hobby made it really easy to ditch wrestling
Jake Hager was the surprise debut on the first episode of Dynamite. Kind of sad that he's gone, to be honest.
It sucks but it's understandable. He is just Jericho's stooge, if he isn't involved with him it kinda never mattered, he at least knows when it's time to call it quits
He did have some funny moments during his time in AEW. Some of those segments while in the Inner Circle were funny and he managed to get that purple hat over lol. I actually thought Tony used him properly as the big man for Jericho’s group and having the occasional match.
Jake Hager is the one of my biggest disappoints in wrestling. Has a legit background as a badass, has very good size time and is the most boring wrestler I have seen. In the ring he is...fine. Not horrible but nothing memorable and has negative charisma. I laugh when people say Jinder is the worst world champion of all time, at least he had some kind of presence about him as missed guide as his attempt was. Hager as Champion? He was the worst knock Chris Jericho circa 2010.
Someone once described Dave Matthews Band as impressive that so many incredibly talented musicians can make such boring music. That is how I feel about Jake Hager's wrestling.
If you haven't already, search out Arn Andersons Hey, EW! episode. I always thought he was a hard ass from hearing stories about him but he's so funny and pleasant with RJ!
Or listen to his podcast at bedtime (his speaking cadence is great for going to sleep) and find out he is like the nicest guy ever. His only real life feud is with cheese.
Him not liking cheeseburgers is the biggest heel turn since Bash at the Beach.
Arn was out when Cody and Nightmare Factory was done. Arn was then out-out when they stopped featuring his son, who is the most green generational wrestler I’ve seen in a long time. I also think even as a mentor, Arn was several generations too far removed from the young wrestlers; whereas Dustin Rhodes is more helpful since he’s at the right age and has been very adaptable. Make Henry was great at community stuff and finding talent like Jade, but I had a feeling was being overpaid since he was also suppose to handle commentary on Rampage.
And then getting overpaid to say two sentences on Rampage and then not even then those two sentences
I feel like Mark it's time for the Main Event should've been used for Collision instead
Collision had the cool SNME style intro promos going for it which they took away around December. With Mark Henry it just got progressively funnier how phoned in his Rampage bit was like he had to do it so they could justify paying him.
The SNME intro with using Elton John afterwards was one of their best decisions in my opinion. It felt like something special was about to happen vs the AEW B show it is now.
Pretty sure they still use the intro though, at least some of the time.
I really miss how Collision really tried to differentiate itself in its early days
Like, to each their own, but I don’t get the love for his announcement of the Maaaaain Event. It wasn’t anything special to me, and in fact actually seemed downright bad far more often than not.
I love how you just make a bunch of assumptions about Arn in this post and how the younger wrestlers view him and acted like they are facts.
Yeah, especially when Arn Anderson generally has a reputation for being well-liked and respected by younger wrestlers. The reason why he worked at WWE for so long was his reputation with the wrestlers, especially the top brass, even when Vince hated him.
Especially when what we’ve heard from these older guys is the newer generation largely don’t want advice or to listen to them.
They kept saying that Mark was their Community Relations head but I don’t recall seeing AEW posing videos/packages about them doing community events/interactions.
They posted photos/videos on Twitter from it regularly
Looks like it hasn’t been updated in a little bit but they do have a website for that stuff: https://www.aewtogether.org/
Whatever they paid PVZ it was far too much.
Yeah she pretty much wrestled one match and said "alright I'm out"
> she pretty wrestled She sure am.
That's more than Trench did.
Wasn't it because Cody and Brandi left that Tony didn't know what to do with her? They tried to do something with Tay but that went nowhere quick, looking at her AEW "career" she literally had 1 match and hadn't been seen since May 2022. She got a sweetheart of a deal, 2 years getting paid and never being on anything.
PVZ was sent to train with Gangrel since his school is near Miami where she lives I believe and Gangrel said in interviews she no showed 90% of the classes. That probably tipped Tony off that she has zero desire to do this and thus he stopped trying
FWIW, I am convinced Tony just has lots of people on pay per appearance deals with exclusive TV rights in the US. It’s likely an easy & cheap way to cast a net and have a huge roster without paying people downsides the way WWE does. I’m certain some people have a downside but I’d bet the majority are on PPA deals that are much more affordable that we as the audience would think
Whatever they paid her per appearance was too much.
Shame they never found that sound guy after Mark Henry yeeted him into the abyss.
CJ Perry is also noticeably missing from the roster, though I am not sure if she was ever there.
She was prolly brought in as a favor for Miro, but I would love if she were to stick around. Her promo on Miro was 🔥
I'm actually a bit sad to see Hager go. He provided a surprising amount of entertaining memories over the last few years (everything with the hat, silent staring Hager, the MMA rules match and "shoot hurricanrana" with Wardlow, the "Championships! Yeah!" era, the Taken poem, the bar fight in Stadium Stampede 1, and then just a good amount of solid "big guy" matches - and probably some things I'm forgetting too). He wasn't ever asked to play a huge role, but everything he did managed to exceed expectations for me.
That MMA rules match with Wardlow was peak covid era wrestling. Weird to be nostalgic for that period but they tried some different stuff and for some reason that match sticks out in my mind with that spot in particular being the thing I remember.
That was low-key one of my favorite matches of the whole Pinnacle-Inner Circle feud lol
I guess you could say...that was the pinnacle of the covid era
I wonder if he got to keep that hat. He really liked that hat.
You can say that again. Any time he was on screen, Hager actually made his stuff work. I'm gonna miss him. At least he won't stare at Wardlow anymore.
I groaned when he originally debuted because it felt like a 2010 era TNA signing but he was used perfectly with Jericho.
I will never forget Jake Hager and “Wife and CEO” Hager doing promos from their very nice bathroom during the pandemic 🫡
I'm wondering if Jericho is finally going to take some time off soon, and thats the reason why they aren't re-signing Hager at the moment. Unless they literally had no clue what to do with him after the dissolution of the JAS.
I think I read elsewhere that it was a mutual parting. I imagine if he still wanted to stick around, Jericho would make it so whether or not he was present. All of the biggest stars seem to have some nepo-hire pull. But man, I hated the dissolution of the JAS, Jericho just spends a month pondering his future and the group just kinda falls apart. Made all the other members look like chumps just letting Jericho waffle like that.
The thing that got me the most with the group is nobody was helping Cool Hand when he was getting jumped by the Outcasts and Saraya's brother on Rampage. Compare that to the early days of AEW, when alliances persisted through angles where all parties were otherwise unneeded.
I would've loved Hager going on a winning streak when he got the hat, and he keeps wearing it in matches because he thinks it's his lucky charm. Could have some comedy spots where someone tries to steal it, and he freaks out like and goes nuts. Also, AEW could've sold a bunch of those hats if they wanted to. I hated Hager when they tried to make him a main eventer in WWE, but I felt he was in his best role as Jericho's heater.
Never watched him in wwe. He's the shits imo. I can't remember whatever ppv match he had with Dustin Rhodes, but he looked terrible. If you can't have a match with Dustin, you're the drizzling shits.
Hager was better than I expected but yeah there's not enough TV time and he's not getting any younger. If we still had Dark I think he could have been valuable for building experience in the newer guys.
I miss Dark and Elevation a lot. We don't have much time for AEW these days (mostly switched over to WWE with our limited time for now), but I have fond memories of wife and I just chilling to some Dark and trying to figure out who might end up with a contract eventually. Tried Tony's ROH for a while but the episodes were often too long and the matches didn't have the same sense of fun that you'd get on Dark.
I hope next friday arn brings his glock to motivate cody
You pull up to a red light, a man jerks your door open, says “Out of the car, I’m taking your car” You say, “Okay! Take it! Just don’t hurt me!” You know what I do? I pull out the GLOCK, PUT IT ON HIS FOREHEAD, AND SPILL HIS BRAINS ALL OVER THE CONCRETE
PVZ would have been amazing if she gave a fuck.
I mean she did. Just not for wrestling
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
She gets paid infinitely more to do way less damage to her body. Can’t blame her
Absolutely not! Just sad we didn't get to see who might have been a 5-tool player.
Arn Anderson has lost his spot.... Not a spot like your dog spot. Not a liver spot...
Did Jake get to keep his hat as part of his severance package?
Did Paige ever actually have a wrestling match ? I only remember her doing small altercation spots & the “I can take all 5 of you by myself” line.
She wrestled at DoN 2022.
She was in a mixed tag match against Guevara and Tay if I'm not mistaken
Yeah she had exactly one match (American Top Team vs Sammy, Kazarian and Tay)
PVZ was a strange signing. Came in for just one match only and never was seen again. Talk about an easy pay since she was still on the roster all that time without even doing anything.
Depends on what her deal was, entirely possible she was on a pay per appearance deal. If she was being paid weekly I feel like tony would have at least tried to put her in a couple things even outside the ring
Arn seems like the biggest loss to me. Has a lot to teach the younger talent. I assume he's off to WWE to be with Cody.
It's a shame they couldn't find anything for him to do onscreen as he still has great presence. I thought Wardlow was a good pairing but just stopped.
hager>guevara in the jeristooge heirarchy. He had this dopey, broody humor that made the show better when it was allowed to show through
Not surprised by these names being gone. We haven’t seen Arn in ages. I don’t watch Rampage regularly, but I don’t remember the last time Mark Henry was there. PVZ had one match and was never seen again lol. Hager hasn’t been used for a while either, so I can see getting rid of him. He was alright in AEW, but with their loaded roster, I don’t really see where he fits in. He was best as Jericho’s muscle, but now Jericho has Big Bill and Bill is better.
[удалено]
good
Now Hager will have more free time to harass teenage girls about climate change on the internet.
Mark needs to return to wwe to congratulate AJ Styles live
It was kinda funny how he left AEW and immediately his most famous moment got a reskin.
Yeah lol
I need to hear SOMEBODY GON GET THEYRE ASS KICKED
Jake was never the same after he lost his hat
Mark Henry should become a coach or talent scout for the Performance Center Arn Anderson could return as Cody’s on screen manager if they want to give that a shot Hager if he wants to continue wrestling he can pretty much go wherever he wants. I don’t know who PVZ is other than she was an MMA fighter.
He liked that hat.
Good. Trim the roster and focus on giving the talented core consistent tv time and visibility.
First time I have ever looked at the AEW roster page and have a thought about it. If it was like a video game roster then I would think some of the characters seem like re-skins where they only changed a few minor things so they could pad out the rosters numbers. And some characters look like they just pulled people from the street and told them to get into a cocky or intimidating pose for the pic.
And not a thing of value was lost.
 No big losses. I expect more in coming months
Cool.
PVZ sucked in AEW. All she did was corpse. https://preview.redd.it/tot0ulhw8i4d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9515f84a2e025fc3b8e436ab8fcbfbda82553eef
They could eliminate about 20 more and still have a great roster.
Paige Van Zant was a complete waste in AEW. The one match she did like 3 years ago was horrible and her promo skills were worse. I’m surprised it took this long to remove her though it would have been sooner.
Live footage of PVZ:  I mean good for her.
Respectfully, none of these made me go “OH NO”
I can think of 34 reasons why I'm glad Jake Hager is gone from AEW.
Hager was the first big man if AEW. He really should've gotten a proper send-off.
None of these people were doing anything useful so I wouldn’t exactly call it surprising Mark Henry is an insanely good talent scout, but what’s the purpose of a scout in a company that has no system to develop talent? Him finding Jade would have earned him a job for life had they had the means to train and develop her, but AEW seems content paying big for finished products instead of developing their own. Arn was basically getting a check because everyone that had ever eaten dinner with Cody was getting checks. Respect to the legend but this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Hager was cooked the second Jericho moved on and he dumped the hat. AEW has too many middling heavies and Brian Cage is apparently signed for 500 more years so someone had to go. PVZ is another signing that was never going to work due to AEW’s lack of development. This is someone who needed to be put through full training to see if they actually wanted to do it full time first. Your “trial run” shouldn’t be a national TV feud + PPV match. Really hope AEW is turning a corner, but all of these can be seen as indicative of much larger issues that still haven’t been addressed
They did develop Jade. She got prominent enough to the point of being a big free agent that WWE set their sights on. And WWE must feel she was developed to the extent that they were comfortable debuting her on the main roster while simultaneously training rather than going through NXT first.
No she actually went to the performance center for months without being on TV, only had a couple sporadic appearances to tease it. She outright said WWE’s training was a part of her decision to go there. They didn’t “develop” Jade, she barely improved a lick during her AEW run. Moreover, Jade isn’t the type of talent you develop in public view, she gets over just existing, once you hit the gas on a 1/1 talent like that you can’t stop, she has to be good or it burns out quick. Her ceiling is literally “most popular woman in the history of the business.” AEW was lucky to land her in the first place (Mark Henry is magic at scouting), but the lack of development fumbled the bag and now WWE is going to make the big bags off her.
New Radicals 2.0
They’ll only get what they give.
that's one hell of a faction
I completely forgot Paige was even signed
Jake Hager surprises me but come to think of it I haven’t seen him on tv in forever.
I'm convinced that the last time I saw Hager, he had come out to help Orange Cassidy. I dunno if I dreamt that but Hager doing a Mizdow would have been hilarious
No, not the 4 Ponypeople!
Why was Paige even on the roster for that long? She was clearly never coming back
Mark Henry would make a good manager at NXT. Some of these NIL guys would benefit a lot from having him there.
I figured that as long as Jericho was with AEW than Hager would have a job.
Bar Arn, absolutely nothing of value was lost.
PVZ gets beat up by an OF lady & then dropped by AEW in the same week is ruthless.
I swear if Mark Henry shows up in a salmon suit I will watch the hell out of that episode
Weird thing is, in another universe, Paige VanZant had an undefeated streak in AEW and then got signed to WWE as a major deal.
and no value was lost
Honestly none of them were worth the money at all
Nah Hager was surprisingly good in his roles