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And Raj should know this. AEW has been trying to get Vikingo on the show for almost a year now, they have him for next week, and they probably have no idea when he'll be back. If they could build him up for months they would, but they can't.
How is it a bad faith argument if some people legit have no idea who this person even is? I think sometimes AEW fans forget that there are other AEW fans who don’t know anything outside of AEW. A bad faith argument is assuming everyone follows other companies and knows the history of everything which just isn’t the case.
You know you're on the internet right now, right? You could easily just go search his name into YouTube and find hundreds of hours of clips . The target audience for AEW is the range of adults.Not everything has to be spoon-fed to an audience. Also, if anyone who has watched AEW over the last 3 and 1/2 years doesn't understand that the company doesn't live in its own bubble, rather is part of the greater wrestling world around it, they aren't going to get a lot of visiting wrestlers.
And specifically in this case Vikingo is one of the biggest Lucha stars in the world right now. It isn't some up-and-comer or some very niche indie guy.
Why should you have to do that though?
This concept of overhyping and debuting people that the audience doesn’t 100% know surely has *nothing* to do with the fact that AEW’s audience has not grown whatsoever.
This has been the same argument since AEW debuted and the prediction then was that if they didn’t catch fans up and do things like vignettes, it would be a detriment to their audience growing. Their audience size is worse than it was in October of 2019 and it’s incredibly obvious that things like this do not help. It’s lazy booking.
Bro some people have real life jobs and don’t want to look up a random luchador they never heard about ….. you wylin lol why do I need to look up a random person I never heard of. This is why AEW will always be minor leagues cause of fans like you.
>You know you're on the internet right now, right? You could easily just go search his name into YouTube and find hundreds of hours of clips
The best television programs require the audience to do homework!!!
Not a hot take bro, it’s facts. I’m an AEW fanatic and have no clue who Vikingo is, you dont think there are other fans who have no idea who Vikingo is?
You are on the internet, you can go look it up. You want fans to be engaged and you live in an age where weekly television isn't the only source of truth. I like not being spoon fed everything.
It's not the fan's job to fill in for poor booking, yes. No one knows who this dude is other than super fans of wrestling. Most folks probably don't even know about AEW. Hell, when I was a kid I didn't even know TNA was a thing and missed the legend of perc angle live. It's time to realize shit like this doesn't attract casuals.
It's time to realize AEW has never attracted casuals. Or wrestling in general doesn't attract casuals. Go look at WWEs ratings and AEWs ratings and look at the deviations. They go up or down by less than 10%.
AEW has been for the wrestling nerds from the beginning, not sure why all these non fans are worried about casuals or things not being catered to to them when they aren't the core audience being targeted.
Stop. AEW got a million people on a Friday night to watch CM Punk debut on a rumor. They can attract casuals, but cater to hardcore and the ratings show it. No one is googling the weekly jobber no matter how hard their iwc friends mark out.
I really don't know who he is. AEW trusts me to be smart and understand when they tell me this match is a big deal then I should pay attention.
I can either look him up myself online or or see for myself on Wednesday. It really isn't hard to just enjoy the ride.
So Khan is incapable of basic planning that would allow him to book more than a week in advance? If you can’t properly promote a match, then you have the ability to hold it off a few weeks so it gets proper promotion.
He probably doesn't have the ability to hold it off a few weeks. He was probably told this Wednesday or nothing.
And anyway, now you know who Vikingo is. Go nuts on Google.
You mean like what you are doing right now? Vikingo isn't an AEW wrestler. He's a AAA wrestler so how would it be Tony Khan's fault on when he is or isn't available to be booked?
Call me insane, and I totally get why people have such an issue with these matches that come out of nowhere, but man, I love this shit.
I like seeing random talent come in, see what they can do, and looking them up if I like them. It's lead me to watch some AAA, NJPW, and old ROH.
Again, I get it, but man, I feel like AEW was created specifically for me in a lab a lot of the time.
I would love to see how the people who continue to beat this drum would react to all the talent that was introduced without video packages in the territories, WWF, WCW, and ECW in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s
You’re gonna skip out on the likes of Dean Malenko, Psychosis, Justin Liger, etc etc just because they didn’t have a video package?
What I’ve learned in recent months is that today’s fans are willing to go down a rabbit hole of QR codes to try to decipher what point some bizarre man is trying to say, but won’t take the same time to Google Mance Warner
If there's one thing wrestling fans react to, it's cool shit happening on their screen. WCW got an entire cruiserweight division and style of wrestling over with a new audience that Vince McMahon never would have.
Vikingo speaks for himself. People will see on Wednesday.
>You’re gonna skip out on the likes of Dean Malenko, Psychosis, Justin Liger, etc etc just because they didn’t have a video package?
None of them were presented as a dream match with a perennial main eventer. To act like it's the same thing is disingenuous.
Edit: A word. Also, to clarify...
I'm not agreeing with the original take. I'm disagreeing with putting the level of hype and introduction to the audience on the same level as all the aforementioned people. They are not the same situation at all.
Autocorrect got one on me. Big whoop.
Anyway, nothing I said was untrue. None of the aforementioned people were presented as dream match main events against one of the top people in the company. To act like it's all things equal between him and anyone else mentioned is extremely disingenuousness.
And there was absolutely footage of Liger before he made his WCW debut in that series against Pillman.
But hey, go on being wrong.
That's great if you never want to grow your audience and only cater to a certain crowd but if you want to bring in casual viewers, which I know they Do, you need to let them know why this guy is a big deal.
Dude you’re insane lol that’s such a valid argument it’s not even funny. Not every AEW fan is like you and follows every other wrestling promotion. Tony made it seem like a crazy dream match and 40% of the audience was like who tf is that. Goofball
Hey skippy nobody is arguing except yourself. Did somebody pee in your coffee today? Geesh relax.
Nobody is saying the match would not be good wrestling. But when your wrestling company has been losing viewers you Should be thinking of ways to gain An audience. In my opinion tony needs to stop booking for people like you and me and Start booking a show that brings in new viewers and keeps ones that are leaving. Promoting a match for a few days with an international superstar is not the way to do it.
Just my opinion.
What do people do when they introduce new characters on non-wrestling shows? I never saw a video package before a new character showed up on Game of Thrones.
Yeah I was totally fuckin lost when Rosario Dawson showed up on The Mandalorian for no reason. They could’ve at least had her in a sit down interview with Dave Filoni first.
But this isn't vikingo showing up, it's him having a match with one of the top guys, so it's more like if the first time we meet Jon snow he's already fighting Ramsay Bolton.
They are still introduced to the audience, just in a dramatically satisfying way.
A new character on game of thrones will still explain to other people who they are and why they are important, or that will be explained by other characters/their ownactions etc. Their might be dramatic foreshadowing etc.
Having Vikingo show up, attack omega/another member of the elite to set up the match would be a pro wrestling equivalent of the sort of thing that would happen in GOT.
What is happening here is the pro wrestling equivalent of introducing the mountain by him having a big climatic fight with the hound.
so it's better if they didn't hype him at all?
y'all are weird about this shit. especially when in this case they had a video package on Rampage and I imagine they had no way of even prepping for too long that given how weird Vikingo's booking situation in the US is.
also FUCK Raj Giri for spreading rumors about Shida and Malakai, fuck him
Because wrestling is heavily reliant on a live audience and Game of Thrones isnt. And wrestling is trying to make money with each individual show, and is better position to that with everyone feeling like every wrestler on the card is worth the money.
What a pointless analogy.
That's always been the problem with AEW. You have to watch everything in order to keep up. There were times when you had to know BTE, in order to know what was happening on the television program.
This is like during an NXT episode, they air a 30 second clip announcing that Pretty Deadly would be debuting on SD that Friday. Then, being confused come Friday, why more people didn't know they were debuting or who they even are.
Oftentimes, the events on Rampage are completely inconsequential and just serve to fill an hour of television. Which is why the ratings continue to drop and interest has been dwindling for the past year.
So you're asking people to follow programs even Tony himself doesn't seem to care about, just to know what's happening every Wednesday? Nah that's not it.
I honestly don't get why this upsets people so much. The match will be good. If people don't know who he is, they'll either look him up or they won't. And they'll either watch the show or they won't. I personally don't care if AEW "grows its audience." I care if the show entertains me. Would a big build be better? Yes. Will the match still be entertaining without a build? Also yes.
"Who?" also means "I am unaware of them therefore I don't understand the appeal" ie. half the comments when any musical artist who doesn't play buttrock shows up
Oh man, I hate these comments under music related sites. "I don't know them and they're young, new artists. Therefore they're automatically garbage", ugh.
It's really weird how people try to make big deals out of minimal things regarding AEW. Some people really don't like there being a good alternative out there it seems. Also spot on about growing the audience. If they're already doing well and putting on stuff me/you like, why would we want them to change that just so even more people like it?
It’s not bad faith to be honest about how you feel. I don’t know why people have to be so defensive about AEW. Everybone of these threads turns it to people defending every one off AEW’s actions, not realizing there just may be differences in opinion.
Completely disagree with this, had no idea who kommander and Takeshita were before dynamite, no video packages needed. I simply watched them wrestle on a wrestling show. Now i think both guys are awesome.
Yeah something just good out of nowhere is not necessarily bad. It adds a surprise element. Of course having video packages has lots of benefited too. But AEW treating it as a big match and you feeling they usually deliver can be enough too.
I’m going to be honest here, I’ve never seen Vikingo wrestle. I’ve heard of him, I’ve seen clips of the things he can do, but that’s it. Yet, I’m hyped for this match anyway. Why? Because I have all the information that I need, that a top Mexican wrestler is going to wrestle a top Canadian wrestler. Just knowing that, I know the match will be amazing.
Plus there’s plenty of time between the announcement yesterday and the match on Wednesday to watch some Vikingo matches if I really wanted to. But I’m not because I want my first match for him against Kenny.
I’m in the same boat as you, I’ve never seen a full match but saw the clips through late 2022 and 2023, and I’m like damn this guy is amazing, the Jericho match with what made me a bandido fan and I’ve never seen a bandido match before that
We should be past the point of showcasing Raj Giri's bad takes. This is the man who made the ignorant ass comment about Shida and gives Alfred a platform to spew his nonsense.
It's like these people have never watched any other form of entertainment with arguments like this.
Did Breaking Bad show weeks of video packages introducing their new lawyer character Saul Goodman? We're their fans bitching at AMC "to think of the casuals!"
I know if their is a musician,actor, wrestler, performer, that people are hyping up, and I don't know about, I check them out for myself if it gets my interest. I don't cry that I don't know them.
These people must only watch Vince McMahon produced entertainment, or they are bad faith trolls.
Breaking Bad isnt reliant on a live crowd, nor is it trying to sell tickets to an audience every week. This is not a creative criticism its a business one. A little bit of build to a dream match isnt asking for a lot.
I would have to disagree with that. There are a lot more complaints/bad faith takes that people attempt to cloak as "critiquing" than there is genuine criticism regarding AEW here.
If all someone can provide is negative commentary, they aren't critiquing. They are complaining. Especially true with something as minor as this.
Its really going to shock people to know that this is only a issue in America; major promotions in Mexico and Japan don't have an issue with introducing new talent, but their fans respond with excitement and look forward to it all the same.
People at this point are better off admitting they're simply conditioned to have newcomers introduced a certain way. There's literally nothing wrong with admitting that, but acting like you can't view introductions or the presentation of newcomers in general through any other lens is absurd.
Major promotions in Mexico and Japan promote dream matches still; I don’t get where you have this notion that what AEW does it like what promotions like AAA and NJPW does.
If only it was about how to introduce new talent! It's not.
It's just tired trolling against AEW for whatever reason: WWE tribalism, bot farms, low self esteem, I don't know.
We are four years into AEW and people still can’t understand that it is booked differently than WWE.
Also it’s 2023 you have the internet, you can find out who he is. He’s a gigantic deal in wrestling. I can’t fathom anyone who would give money or listen to someone who covers wrestling in 2023 and isn’t fully aware of Vikingo.
Right? If you're enough of a pro wrestling weirdo to be on Wreddit all the time or follow TK on Twitter, you have every tool you need to know who Vikingo is.
Also, if Triple H randomly tweeted Vikingo will be on RAW next week, the reaction by many (most?) of these same people (or bots) would be completely different.
Same people who complains about this probably complained when Dragon Lee had his brief cup of coffee in AEW, but were super into him when he appeared in NXT.
Raj is boring and this argument is boring. So annoying for a match to be announced and then a bunch of fans are like “what if the casual fan doesn’t know who this is?”
If someone doesn’t know who Vikingo is they can just YouTube a 5 minute highlight video. If that’s too much effort or work maybe they just don’t like wrestling that much (which is fine).
And before anyone mentions AEWs ratings, I don’t own the company, I don’t work for Warner Media. I’m just a fan of the show. And so are you.
It's also so fucking sad that WWE has broken so many people into thinking everyone has to do it like they do. AEW isn't WWE, AEW has random dream matches on TV. Get over it.
WCW operated this exact way with bringing in outside talent and letting their work speak for itself. Impact works this way too, especially now with their relationship with New Japan, so does ROH historically. WWE used to do this tons as well in the mid 90s especially. AEW are not breaking new ground by having top talent from elsewhere come in and show what they can do
There’s a difference in bringing in a bunch of young luchadors to WCW, and then promoting a dream match between your franchise player and another top talent.
That's not WWE-centric. Introducing an audience to someone that may be new to them and actively getting them hyped for a match is what promotion is. It's not on fans to figure out how to get hyped for a match.
I'm aware that they may not have had the opportunity to introduce the audience to Vikingo due to availability and just want to have the match while they can and I also get annoyed by people proudly being ignorant of wrestlers outside of large, North American promotions, but acting like it's not the role of company to get people invested in a match they're hosting us ridiculous.
The fans that watch are gonna see an amazing match just like the last time they wrestled but there also might be people who miss the show because they don't know that.
those people will be ok, and they have a full week to figure out who Vikingo is. It's not a problem unless you make it a problem.
Also, yes it is a WWE centric thing. Mercedes showed up without 3 weeks of build, as Raj put it, at Wrestle Kingdom. No one batted an eye. Same concept, big foreign talent appears, people pop.
And again, they did have a hype package. If you missed rampage , it will be on youtube. What it ridiculous is expecting a company to hold your hand on every single angle and talent like you are a child. Grow up and do your own research if it bothers you that you don't know who someone is. Or just wait for the match and listen to the commentary. Stop acting like you are being mistreated by a company to not explain to you everything RIGHT NOW. It's super entitled behavior, sorry.
>Mercedes showed up without 3 weeks of build, as Raj put it, at Wrestle Kingdom. No one batted an eye. Same concept, big foreign talent appears, people pop.
Mercedes' appearance at WK was hyped a month before the event. And she and KAIRI didn't have a match at WK, it was setup for the actual match next month.
I don't have the ability to make anything a problem.
A surprise debut is one thing but announcing a match with one of your home talent and a talent from outside the country that the company runs out and assuming the fans will know who they are is another. In this case, they did a hype package. That's great. Could people have been more enthused if the saw Vikingo wrestle a quick match on Dynamite before having a match with Omega? Yes. That's not wrong. In this case it's just stupid for Raj to act like that was something AEW could even do. Does that mean I'm against surprises? Also no.
Stop getting emotional about this. There's literally no reason to be.
I'm not saying that Raj is correct here or that fans always need to have their hands held, or that I don't know who Vikingo is, or that I'm being mistreated by AEW. Nothing I said even remotely suggested that. I know who Vikingo is very well. I literally said that I saw Kenny and Vikingo's first match that they had at Triplemania 2021. I've also seen all his matches in Impact when they would do shows in Mexico. I'm not gonna assume that people are lazy, entitled pricks for not knowing about him though.
I wasn't even talking about this match specifically. I'm just disagreeing with the take that it isn't on the company to get fans excited about their show. If you consider promoting the hell out of a show to be a WWE invention, then you're mistaken and dumb.
How exactly is promotion considered to be handholding? I guess maybe having ads is too much and fans should just find the product themselves.
I think there are times when that is important and AEW fail to do so (for a whole ppv like hidden door for example). In a situation like this though, an exhibition match on a dynamite I think it's absolutely fine to allow the audience to discover how fun he is to watch by just giving them the match.
Plus, Vikingo isn't some intricate character that needs explaining: he lets his work do all of the talking. Hopefully lots will be surprised seeing his insane ability for the first time
But getting more people to watch him wrestle is *Vikingo's* goal. *AEW's* goal is to get more people to watch their program. If you just have a wrestler on once, with little to no build? Well, that might work out for the wrestler, but it's not going to do the promotion much good.
I will never understand this mindset from wrestling fans: "I refuse to watch this match because I'm unfamiliar with the wrestler". Well, how are you supposed to get familiar with a new wrestler if you don't watch their first match? Do you wait for the reviews to decide if the wrestler is worth your time the next time they're on the show? Just watch the match and form your own opinion, it's not hard.
The “anything can happen” vibe on Dynamite is another distinguishing difference between AEW & WWE.
Like… they’ve been doing this since day one. Remember when the Inner Circle brought in Jeff Cobb to wrestle Moxley on a weeks notice? How Cody’s TNT open challenge run with Kingston & Starks debuting ice cold with no video packages.
People that only watch WWE just cant believe there are different ways of doing things.
Nothing wrong with that statement if this guys a big deal in mexico sell that to your fans. People on here just assuminh everyome knows mexican wrestlers, delusional.
They’ve been trying to book this match for a long time. It’s likely they couldn’t have him on Dynamite before. That’s why it took so long.
Also Vikango is a “he does his talking in the ring” types anyway.
I'd bet most people who watch AEW that don't know Vikingo have an internet connection they can use to google him. Everyone else will sit back and enjoy it. This bullshit that AEW need weeks of montages and vignettes to debut someone is ridiculous. Imagine having weeks of promos introducing 1-2-3 Kid before he beat Razor. Fucking stupid.
Imagine being such a tremendous malcontent that you complain about getting Kenny Omega vs Vikingo. It's like a portion of you are allergic to being happy and letting people enjoy things. Absolutely pathetic behavior from Raj and the people who actually think he has a point. Stop treating your ignorance like a badge of honor, watch the hype package, watch the match, or don't, and stop complaining about the dumbest shit.
bad faith takes doesn't equate valid criticism. Not waiting for the show to even have a chance to do a promo package (which they did have one lol), pretending Vikingo doesn't work for another company and ignoring that he himself absolutely knows who Vikingo is (any wrestling media does) and spin this match as somehow a negative is not criticism. It's winging at the highest order. On top of the fact that he doesn't speak for AEW fans at all, and most of us actually watch other wrestling and are knowledgeable. Pre-bitching about stuff isn't criticism, it's lame and it's clickbait tribalism.
Some wrestling "fans" are so incredibly fickle and apparently want to be treated like the dumbest individuals on the planet. Recap storylines every five minutes so you don't forget, have wrestlers constantly on TV or they are "buried" or something, introduce new characters weeks, maybe months in advance so that you're - god forbid - not surprised by something new in any way. My god, how do these people walk through other media and stories?
Agreed. Same argument that happened when Bandido wrestled Jericho and that match was killer.
It's funny because all the fans complaining about this are highly online wrestling fans so they probably have some idea who Vikingo is.
The problem as i view it and why others are annoyed is that AEW booked a match and gave it the headline as a “dream match”
When you put the dream match connotation to it it makes people think the match is super important and if the match is super important then it would be nice to know why
Only your hardcores are going to know who this guy is
Raj does make a good point here, I mean not many people might be familiar on who Vikingo is, so wouldn't it been better if Tony introduced Vikingo to the AEW audience in some way?
wrestling fans and media have created this image of the casual fan as people that seemingly get scared at seeing new wrestlers on their screen and can't no longer watch the product if they're not spoonfed every detail in a video package. also they can't use google to search things.
It's insane to me that because this guy has an opinion that AEW hardcore fans don't agree with he is somehow "a malcontent" that "doesn't like wrestling" and is "making a bad faith argument". He gave his opinion and anyone has the right to disagree, but the vitriol spewed out by some is horrific. Pro wrestling is a genre unto itself so using comparison of scripted dramas is pointless. AEW is an US based company with international reach, but primarily US centric. It truly caters to a niche crowd in a niche audience. There should be no surprise that most don't know who he is.
If TK has no desire to grow his audience then wrestling pundits should stop beating a dead horse. He is creating a product that he wants to see. If TK wants to grow, this is constructive criticism. It could also be anything in between, but fans are so determined to create a "war" again that discourse is damn near impossible.
People so used to WWE booking that they think it has to be the absolute norm. One day they'll realize that AEW's footprint is way more OG ROH and NjPW then WWE maybe then they'll get it and stop this useless trash
Exhibit #7895588658 of someone overanalyzing an aspect of wrestling and calling it bad booking. Whether you no Vikingo or not, doesn't matter. It's Kenny Omega's first singles match on Dynamite in months. That's your reason to be excited. Who he's going against is just a cherry on top of that already sweet sundae.
People are gonna be up and arms about this because it’s raj giri but he is 100% correct
Show why it’s big match, emphasis it. Instead of just saying it’s big match because you expect everyone to know a guy who wrestled mostly in Mexico
So people are upset that they didn't get the video package they wanted, even though Tony Khan told them they could watch the video package on Rampage? If someone wanted to see it so badly, they should have watched the show. They can't hold every individual hand.
If the viewers want to know who Vikingo is so bad, they should have watched Rampage. If not, like another person mentioned, it’s INCREDIBLY easy to type in ‘Vikingo AAA’ into YouTube.
no he isn't. It's ok to just have two big stars from opposing companies wrestle and just watch it and enjoy it. Stop looking for negatives, it's ridiculous
People do and say things like this for this exact reason. To get people posting about it on Reddit like it’s “news”
Now Raji is more well known than before for his ignorant and stupid opinions that should never be reacted to in the first place
So so god damn tired of the “Where’s the build?” question. Can we not just enjoy a wrestling match for featuring two of the best in the world? What could weeks of video packages possibly add to this match? Just let them go out and have a great one and tell it in the ring.
For decades over decades, wresting promoters have previewed big deals coming into the "territory."
But when smarks like luchablog is like well google him and then tony khan feeds into that mentality, that is just stupid.
This ain’t the freaking 80s or 90s dude. The amount of time it takes people to complain about this on twitter is more then the amount of time a quick google search takes where you bascially get all you need in a 30 second glance
I honestly havent seen any posts about this guy in the past year or so here. Never heard of him until yesterday. If anyone can link a post previously from yesterday’s news. A solid month long build to introduce him would do them well
on 1 hand this match is LONG overdue on the other if they're not gonna build Vikingo, at least keep it as a surprise.... Omega issues an IWGP US title open challenge(they have a week talk to Gedo) next week to any non-AEW signed talent, Vikingo comes out and they steal the f***in show. You tell people almost a week before that 1 of your biggest name is gonna face a big name in Mexico.....if it ain't Rey Mysterio, it ain't big enough to gain attention from casuals
Except they wouldn’t allow that, as NJPW notoriously has a good relationship with CMLL and they don’t want to mess that up by having their title defended against a competitor’s wrestler.
Yeah back in the day, people only got over because they had fancy tv spots and video packages before wrestling. No one ever got over by just showing up and putting on great performances, that’s silly!
I just think it’s dumb strategy to introduce random wrestlers with no build or hype to your audience and I think AEW’s declining viewership proves that it’s a bad strategy.
It sounds like it shouldnt work, but rarely does it not. It's weird, Wrestling fans know by osmosis. Even in the late 80's early 90's names would float around in magazines, maybe even a few pictures. Hell I recall seeing the name "SABU" for a few years before even seeing one of his matches But I knew the gist of him. Its weird but it works. As for viewership, it seems to be a roller coaster which isnt great but becoming standard in the tv world .
“The E” dude, grow up. They don’t care whether you are happy, they want AEW to to succeed, it’s just a shame the booking committee doesn’t seem to. Since AEW day 1 the trait amongst their fans and many employees was toxicity.
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With how difficult it seems to have been to book the match, I doubt they even knew it was possible two weeks ago.
And Raj should know this. AEW has been trying to get Vikingo on the show for almost a year now, they have him for next week, and they probably have no idea when he'll be back. If they could build him up for months they would, but they can't.
It’s a bad faith argument and he knows it.
How is it a bad faith argument if some people legit have no idea who this person even is? I think sometimes AEW fans forget that there are other AEW fans who don’t know anything outside of AEW. A bad faith argument is assuming everyone follows other companies and knows the history of everything which just isn’t the case.
You know you're on the internet right now, right? You could easily just go search his name into YouTube and find hundreds of hours of clips . The target audience for AEW is the range of adults.Not everything has to be spoon-fed to an audience. Also, if anyone who has watched AEW over the last 3 and 1/2 years doesn't understand that the company doesn't live in its own bubble, rather is part of the greater wrestling world around it, they aren't going to get a lot of visiting wrestlers. And specifically in this case Vikingo is one of the biggest Lucha stars in the world right now. It isn't some up-and-comer or some very niche indie guy.
Why should you have to do that though? This concept of overhyping and debuting people that the audience doesn’t 100% know surely has *nothing* to do with the fact that AEW’s audience has not grown whatsoever.
[удалено]
This has been the same argument since AEW debuted and the prediction then was that if they didn’t catch fans up and do things like vignettes, it would be a detriment to their audience growing. Their audience size is worse than it was in October of 2019 and it’s incredibly obvious that things like this do not help. It’s lazy booking.
Bro some people have real life jobs and don’t want to look up a random luchador they never heard about ….. you wylin lol why do I need to look up a random person I never heard of. This is why AEW will always be minor leagues cause of fans like you.
>You know you're on the internet right now, right? You could easily just go search his name into YouTube and find hundreds of hours of clips The best television programs require the audience to do homework!!!
gotta get those AEW bad hot takes in for clout bro
Not a hot take bro, it’s facts. I’m an AEW fanatic and have no clue who Vikingo is, you dont think there are other fans who have no idea who Vikingo is?
You are on the internet, you can go look it up. You want fans to be engaged and you live in an age where weekly television isn't the only source of truth. I like not being spoon fed everything.
It's not the fan's job to do homework. This isn't going to work
Lol. It's not the fans job to be a fan.
It's not the fan's job to fill in for poor booking, yes. No one knows who this dude is other than super fans of wrestling. Most folks probably don't even know about AEW. Hell, when I was a kid I didn't even know TNA was a thing and missed the legend of perc angle live. It's time to realize shit like this doesn't attract casuals.
It's time to realize AEW has never attracted casuals. Or wrestling in general doesn't attract casuals. Go look at WWEs ratings and AEWs ratings and look at the deviations. They go up or down by less than 10%.
AEW has been for the wrestling nerds from the beginning, not sure why all these non fans are worried about casuals or things not being catered to to them when they aren't the core audience being targeted.
Stop. AEW got a million people on a Friday night to watch CM Punk debut on a rumor. They can attract casuals, but cater to hardcore and the ratings show it. No one is googling the weekly jobber no matter how hard their iwc friends mark out.
I really don't know who he is. AEW trusts me to be smart and understand when they tell me this match is a big deal then I should pay attention. I can either look him up myself online or or see for myself on Wednesday. It really isn't hard to just enjoy the ride.
Yea bro but no1 is saying building him up, all people need a simple video telling people who Vikingo actually is.
So Khan is incapable of basic planning that would allow him to book more than a week in advance? If you can’t properly promote a match, then you have the ability to hold it off a few weeks so it gets proper promotion.
He probably doesn't have the ability to hold it off a few weeks. He was probably told this Wednesday or nothing. And anyway, now you know who Vikingo is. Go nuts on Google.
You’re just making assumptions to fit your narrative.
Kind of works both ways, right?
You mean like what you are doing right now? Vikingo isn't an AEW wrestler. He's a AAA wrestler so how would it be Tony Khan's fault on when he is or isn't available to be booked?
Call me insane, and I totally get why people have such an issue with these matches that come out of nowhere, but man, I love this shit. I like seeing random talent come in, see what they can do, and looking them up if I like them. It's lead me to watch some AAA, NJPW, and old ROH. Again, I get it, but man, I feel like AEW was created specifically for me in a lab a lot of the time.
I would love to see how the people who continue to beat this drum would react to all the talent that was introduced without video packages in the territories, WWF, WCW, and ECW in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s You’re gonna skip out on the likes of Dean Malenko, Psychosis, Justin Liger, etc etc just because they didn’t have a video package? What I’ve learned in recent months is that today’s fans are willing to go down a rabbit hole of QR codes to try to decipher what point some bizarre man is trying to say, but won’t take the same time to Google Mance Warner
If there's one thing wrestling fans react to, it's cool shit happening on their screen. WCW got an entire cruiserweight division and style of wrestling over with a new audience that Vince McMahon never would have. Vikingo speaks for himself. People will see on Wednesday.
I liked that Mancer match so much I keep up with what the goofy bastard does in wrestling on Twitter
Same
And I can guarantee if the companies were swapped people would be happy to Google Mance but would be slamming AEW for being too confusing
They didn't promote them as dream matches for one
And all of those talented guys were pushed as dream matches and in the main event for their premiere right?
>You’re gonna skip out on the likes of Dean Malenko, Psychosis, Justin Liger, etc etc just because they didn’t have a video package? None of them were presented as a dream match with a perennial main eventer. To act like it's the same thing is disingenuous. Edit: A word. Also, to clarify... I'm not agreeing with the original take. I'm disagreeing with putting the level of hype and introduction to the audience on the same level as all the aforementioned people. They are not the same situation at all.
Hey man, regardless of your bad take, you should double check what “perineal” means.
Autocorrect got one on me. Big whoop. Anyway, nothing I said was untrue. None of the aforementioned people were presented as dream match main events against one of the top people in the company. To act like it's all things equal between him and anyone else mentioned is extremely disingenuousness. And there was absolutely footage of Liger before he made his WCW debut in that series against Pillman. But hey, go on being wrong.
Introducing a guy by giving them a match with Kenny Omega is about the most high profile way to showcase them to the AEW audience.
I think a lot of people saw the announcement and thought who is this guy. Hopefully they went and checked him out and saw how cool he is
That's great if you never want to grow your audience and only cater to a certain crowd but if you want to bring in casual viewers, which I know they Do, you need to let them know why this guy is a big deal.
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Dude you’re insane lol that’s such a valid argument it’s not even funny. Not every AEW fan is like you and follows every other wrestling promotion. Tony made it seem like a crazy dream match and 40% of the audience was like who tf is that. Goofball
Hey skippy nobody is arguing except yourself. Did somebody pee in your coffee today? Geesh relax. Nobody is saying the match would not be good wrestling. But when your wrestling company has been losing viewers you Should be thinking of ways to gain An audience. In my opinion tony needs to stop booking for people like you and me and Start booking a show that brings in new viewers and keeps ones that are leaving. Promoting a match for a few days with an international superstar is not the way to do it. Just my opinion.
What do people do when they introduce new characters on non-wrestling shows? I never saw a video package before a new character showed up on Game of Thrones.
Yeah I was totally fuckin lost when Rosario Dawson showed up on The Mandalorian for no reason. They could’ve at least had her in a sit down interview with Dave Filoni first.
When Rosario Dawson showed up on Dynamite Excalibur should've ran down her whole filmography
I'm Thoros of Myr and I'm *loving life*
Yo Thoros, Beric said you can't show up yet because you need to be in vignettes and 60 second vignettes in like the entire season 2 sorry
But this isn't vikingo showing up, it's him having a match with one of the top guys, so it's more like if the first time we meet Jon snow he's already fighting Ramsay Bolton.
They are still introduced to the audience, just in a dramatically satisfying way. A new character on game of thrones will still explain to other people who they are and why they are important, or that will be explained by other characters/their ownactions etc. Their might be dramatic foreshadowing etc. Having Vikingo show up, attack omega/another member of the elite to set up the match would be a pro wrestling equivalent of the sort of thing that would happen in GOT. What is happening here is the pro wrestling equivalent of introducing the mountain by him having a big climatic fight with the hound.
“Who the fuck is this Yoda guy, I need a video package”
Difference is a new character on GoT isnt announced a week before they show up in their episode hyped as a dream introduction/character
so it's better if they didn't hype him at all? y'all are weird about this shit. especially when in this case they had a video package on Rampage and I imagine they had no way of even prepping for too long that given how weird Vikingo's booking situation in the US is. also FUCK Raj Giri for spreading rumors about Shida and Malakai, fuck him
Because wrestling is heavily reliant on a live audience and Game of Thrones isnt. And wrestling is trying to make money with each individual show, and is better position to that with everyone feeling like every wrestler on the card is worth the money. What a pointless analogy.
There was literally a video package on Rampage
Isn't that a show ghats watched by half of their fanbase? Why not get all of their fans in on the act by promoting it on Dynamite.
Can't complain you don't know what's happening if you don't watch the product lol
That's always been the problem with AEW. You have to watch everything in order to keep up. There were times when you had to know BTE, in order to know what was happening on the television program. This is like during an NXT episode, they air a 30 second clip announcing that Pretty Deadly would be debuting on SD that Friday. Then, being confused come Friday, why more people didn't know they were debuting or who they even are. Oftentimes, the events on Rampage are completely inconsequential and just serve to fill an hour of television. Which is why the ratings continue to drop and interest has been dwindling for the past year. So you're asking people to follow programs even Tony himself doesn't seem to care about, just to know what's happening every Wednesday? Nah that's not it.
I just watch the TV shows and I'm never lost, it's not much effort Just watch the product lol
I honestly don't get why this upsets people so much. The match will be good. If people don't know who he is, they'll either look him up or they won't. And they'll either watch the show or they won't. I personally don't care if AEW "grows its audience." I care if the show entertains me. Would a big build be better? Yes. Will the match still be entertaining without a build? Also yes.
Nah man, it's easier to reply "who?" on twitter to show everyone how smart and superior you are.
"Who?" also means "I am unaware of them therefore I don't understand the appeal" ie. half the comments when any musical artist who doesn't play buttrock shows up
Oh man, I hate these comments under music related sites. "I don't know them and they're young, new artists. Therefore they're automatically garbage", ugh.
It's really weird how people try to make big deals out of minimal things regarding AEW. Some people really don't like there being a good alternative out there it seems. Also spot on about growing the audience. If they're already doing well and putting on stuff me/you like, why would we want them to change that just so even more people like it?
It only upsets the non AEW fan. Go check AEW sub, not one person that's a legit poster and not a troll is as mad lol
Nothing wrong with people caring about AEW enough to hope it continues to grow its audience
Yes. Everyone knows you grow something by nitpicking and making bad faith critiques.
It’s not bad faith to be honest about how you feel. I don’t know why people have to be so defensive about AEW. Everybone of these threads turns it to people defending every one off AEW’s actions, not realizing there just may be differences in opinion.
"I care so I constantly complain" isn't fandom. It's psychosis. Do something else with your time.
It turns into a back and forward. People feel the need to defend the show due to other people feeling the need to put forward bad faith arguments.
Completely disagree with this, had no idea who kommander and Takeshita were before dynamite, no video packages needed. I simply watched them wrestle on a wrestling show. Now i think both guys are awesome.
Yeah something just good out of nowhere is not necessarily bad. It adds a surprise element. Of course having video packages has lots of benefited too. But AEW treating it as a big match and you feeling they usually deliver can be enough too.
Takeshita got extremely over by having great matches in Dynamite
I’m going to be honest here, I’ve never seen Vikingo wrestle. I’ve heard of him, I’ve seen clips of the things he can do, but that’s it. Yet, I’m hyped for this match anyway. Why? Because I have all the information that I need, that a top Mexican wrestler is going to wrestle a top Canadian wrestler. Just knowing that, I know the match will be amazing. Plus there’s plenty of time between the announcement yesterday and the match on Wednesday to watch some Vikingo matches if I really wanted to. But I’m not because I want my first match for him against Kenny.
Same. I’m a fan of wrestling, this is a big deal im in. I don’t need drama to tell me something is a big deal.
I'm in the same boat. I'm totally looking forward to the surprise and enjoyment of seeing Vikingo for the first real time tearing it up with Omega!
I’m in the same boat as you, I’ve never seen a full match but saw the clips through late 2022 and 2023, and I’m like damn this guy is amazing, the Jericho match with what made me a bandido fan and I’ve never seen a bandido match before that
We should be past the point of showcasing Raj Giri's bad takes. This is the man who made the ignorant ass comment about Shida and gives Alfred a platform to spew his nonsense. It's like these people have never watched any other form of entertainment with arguments like this. Did Breaking Bad show weeks of video packages introducing their new lawyer character Saul Goodman? We're their fans bitching at AMC "to think of the casuals!" I know if their is a musician,actor, wrestler, performer, that people are hyping up, and I don't know about, I check them out for myself if it gets my interest. I don't cry that I don't know them. These people must only watch Vince McMahon produced entertainment, or they are bad faith trolls.
Breaking Bad isnt reliant on a live crowd, nor is it trying to sell tickets to an audience every week. This is not a creative criticism its a business one. A little bit of build to a dream match isnt asking for a lot.
Go watch something else then.
You can watch AEW while criticizing some of its aspects. That’s fine. You can do with other TV shows like Breaking Bad too.
There is a difference between critiquing and complaining. Many folks here fall into column number two.
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I would have to disagree with that. There are a lot more complaints/bad faith takes that people attempt to cloak as "critiquing" than there is genuine criticism regarding AEW here. If all someone can provide is negative commentary, they aren't critiquing. They are complaining. Especially true with something as minor as this.
Hundreds of thousands are doing just that.
You know what’s an awesome way to introduce a wrestler? Having a kick ass match with Kenny Omega!
Why do so many people feel the need to try to make mountains out of molehills when it comes to AEW?
These are the same people who cry about its fanbase being happy.
Its really going to shock people to know that this is only a issue in America; major promotions in Mexico and Japan don't have an issue with introducing new talent, but their fans respond with excitement and look forward to it all the same. People at this point are better off admitting they're simply conditioned to have newcomers introduced a certain way. There's literally nothing wrong with admitting that, but acting like you can't view introductions or the presentation of newcomers in general through any other lens is absurd.
Major promotions in Mexico and Japan promote dream matches still; I don’t get where you have this notion that what AEW does it like what promotions like AAA and NJPW does.
If only it was about how to introduce new talent! It's not. It's just tired trolling against AEW for whatever reason: WWE tribalism, bot farms, low self esteem, I don't know.
That’s true, but AEW is an American wrestling company, not a Mexican or Japanese one, serving American wrestling fans, not Mexican or Japanese ones
We are four years into AEW and people still can’t understand that it is booked differently than WWE. Also it’s 2023 you have the internet, you can find out who he is. He’s a gigantic deal in wrestling. I can’t fathom anyone who would give money or listen to someone who covers wrestling in 2023 and isn’t fully aware of Vikingo.
Right? If you're enough of a pro wrestling weirdo to be on Wreddit all the time or follow TK on Twitter, you have every tool you need to know who Vikingo is. Also, if Triple H randomly tweeted Vikingo will be on RAW next week, the reaction by many (most?) of these same people (or bots) would be completely different.
Same people who complains about this probably complained when Dragon Lee had his brief cup of coffee in AEW, but were super into him when he appeared in NXT.
Raj is boring and this argument is boring. So annoying for a match to be announced and then a bunch of fans are like “what if the casual fan doesn’t know who this is?” If someone doesn’t know who Vikingo is they can just YouTube a 5 minute highlight video. If that’s too much effort or work maybe they just don’t like wrestling that much (which is fine). And before anyone mentions AEWs ratings, I don’t own the company, I don’t work for Warner Media. I’m just a fan of the show. And so are you.
It's also so fucking sad that WWE has broken so many people into thinking everyone has to do it like they do. AEW isn't WWE, AEW has random dream matches on TV. Get over it.
I can’t imagine COMPLAINING about getting Omega/Vikingo. So dumb.
This isnt an AEW vs WWE thing. This id an AEW vs how other pro wrestling promotions would operate thing.
A lot of the wrestling wrestling community ironically aren't wrestling fans
WCW operated this exact way with bringing in outside talent and letting their work speak for itself. Impact works this way too, especially now with their relationship with New Japan, so does ROH historically. WWE used to do this tons as well in the mid 90s especially. AEW are not breaking new ground by having top talent from elsewhere come in and show what they can do
There’s a difference in bringing in a bunch of young luchadors to WCW, and then promoting a dream match between your franchise player and another top talent.
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That's not what op said.
This isn’t a WWE vs AEW thing, it’s just bad promoting.
no it's not, it's pretending that promoting stuff any other way than WWE does it is bad. Different isn't bad, again, that's WWE centric talk.
That's not WWE-centric. Introducing an audience to someone that may be new to them and actively getting them hyped for a match is what promotion is. It's not on fans to figure out how to get hyped for a match. I'm aware that they may not have had the opportunity to introduce the audience to Vikingo due to availability and just want to have the match while they can and I also get annoyed by people proudly being ignorant of wrestlers outside of large, North American promotions, but acting like it's not the role of company to get people invested in a match they're hosting us ridiculous. The fans that watch are gonna see an amazing match just like the last time they wrestled but there also might be people who miss the show because they don't know that.
those people will be ok, and they have a full week to figure out who Vikingo is. It's not a problem unless you make it a problem. Also, yes it is a WWE centric thing. Mercedes showed up without 3 weeks of build, as Raj put it, at Wrestle Kingdom. No one batted an eye. Same concept, big foreign talent appears, people pop. And again, they did have a hype package. If you missed rampage , it will be on youtube. What it ridiculous is expecting a company to hold your hand on every single angle and talent like you are a child. Grow up and do your own research if it bothers you that you don't know who someone is. Or just wait for the match and listen to the commentary. Stop acting like you are being mistreated by a company to not explain to you everything RIGHT NOW. It's super entitled behavior, sorry.
>Mercedes showed up without 3 weeks of build, as Raj put it, at Wrestle Kingdom. No one batted an eye. Same concept, big foreign talent appears, people pop. Mercedes' appearance at WK was hyped a month before the event. And she and KAIRI didn't have a match at WK, it was setup for the actual match next month.
I don't have the ability to make anything a problem. A surprise debut is one thing but announcing a match with one of your home talent and a talent from outside the country that the company runs out and assuming the fans will know who they are is another. In this case, they did a hype package. That's great. Could people have been more enthused if the saw Vikingo wrestle a quick match on Dynamite before having a match with Omega? Yes. That's not wrong. In this case it's just stupid for Raj to act like that was something AEW could even do. Does that mean I'm against surprises? Also no. Stop getting emotional about this. There's literally no reason to be. I'm not saying that Raj is correct here or that fans always need to have their hands held, or that I don't know who Vikingo is, or that I'm being mistreated by AEW. Nothing I said even remotely suggested that. I know who Vikingo is very well. I literally said that I saw Kenny and Vikingo's first match that they had at Triplemania 2021. I've also seen all his matches in Impact when they would do shows in Mexico. I'm not gonna assume that people are lazy, entitled pricks for not knowing about him though. I wasn't even talking about this match specifically. I'm just disagreeing with the take that it isn't on the company to get fans excited about their show. If you consider promoting the hell out of a show to be a WWE invention, then you're mistaken and dumb. How exactly is promotion considered to be handholding? I guess maybe having ads is too much and fans should just find the product themselves.
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Woah that’s a lot to unpack. So being critical of somethings means I want people to fuck me?
This
I think there are times when that is important and AEW fail to do so (for a whole ppv like hidden door for example). In a situation like this though, an exhibition match on a dynamite I think it's absolutely fine to allow the audience to discover how fun he is to watch by just giving them the match.
Plus, Vikingo isn't some intricate character that needs explaining: he lets his work do all of the talking. Hopefully lots will be surprised seeing his insane ability for the first time
But getting more people to watch him wrestle is *Vikingo's* goal. *AEW's* goal is to get more people to watch their program. If you just have a wrestler on once, with little to no build? Well, that might work out for the wrestler, but it's not going to do the promotion much good.
I will never understand this mindset from wrestling fans: "I refuse to watch this match because I'm unfamiliar with the wrestler". Well, how are you supposed to get familiar with a new wrestler if you don't watch their first match? Do you wait for the reviews to decide if the wrestler is worth your time the next time they're on the show? Just watch the match and form your own opinion, it's not hard.
The “anything can happen” vibe on Dynamite is another distinguishing difference between AEW & WWE. Like… they’ve been doing this since day one. Remember when the Inner Circle brought in Jeff Cobb to wrestle Moxley on a weeks notice? How Cody’s TNT open challenge run with Kingston & Starks debuting ice cold with no video packages. People that only watch WWE just cant believe there are different ways of doing things.
I mean they can still introduce him before the match.
They did on Rampage
Oh ok, haven’t watched yet.
Whatever, I'm not going to complain about finally getting that long overdue banger.
Nothing wrong with that statement if this guys a big deal in mexico sell that to your fans. People on here just assuminh everyome knows mexican wrestlers, delusional.
They’ve been trying to book this match for a long time. It’s likely they couldn’t have him on Dynamite before. That’s why it took so long. Also Vikango is a “he does his talking in the ring” types anyway.
But there was a video package for the match on Rampage? Could this just be more bad faith criticism? The world may never know
I'd bet most people who watch AEW that don't know Vikingo have an internet connection they can use to google him. Everyone else will sit back and enjoy it. This bullshit that AEW need weeks of montages and vignettes to debut someone is ridiculous. Imagine having weeks of promos introducing 1-2-3 Kid before he beat Razor. Fucking stupid.
It's always funny when guys like Raj expose themselves as not actually liking wrestling.
Imagine being such a tremendous malcontent that you complain about getting Kenny Omega vs Vikingo. It's like a portion of you are allergic to being happy and letting people enjoy things. Absolutely pathetic behavior from Raj and the people who actually think he has a point. Stop treating your ignorance like a badge of honor, watch the hype package, watch the match, or don't, and stop complaining about the dumbest shit.
But if you dont know who Vikingo is then how would you know to care about it and be super happy you are getting the match?
Criticism=people being allergic to being happy. Interesting take.
bad faith takes doesn't equate valid criticism. Not waiting for the show to even have a chance to do a promo package (which they did have one lol), pretending Vikingo doesn't work for another company and ignoring that he himself absolutely knows who Vikingo is (any wrestling media does) and spin this match as somehow a negative is not criticism. It's winging at the highest order. On top of the fact that he doesn't speak for AEW fans at all, and most of us actually watch other wrestling and are knowledgeable. Pre-bitching about stuff isn't criticism, it's lame and it's clickbait tribalism.
Some wrestling "fans" are so incredibly fickle and apparently want to be treated like the dumbest individuals on the planet. Recap storylines every five minutes so you don't forget, have wrestlers constantly on TV or they are "buried" or something, introduce new characters weeks, maybe months in advance so that you're - god forbid - not surprised by something new in any way. My god, how do these people walk through other media and stories?
Agreed. Same argument that happened when Bandido wrestled Jericho and that match was killer. It's funny because all the fans complaining about this are highly online wrestling fans so they probably have some idea who Vikingo is.
Raj only grew up watching how Vince McMahon did things. Not that guys were booked for one offs all the time.
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1. Bad take. There is nothing wrong with being pleasenly surprised and being spontaneous.
The problem as i view it and why others are annoyed is that AEW booked a match and gave it the headline as a “dream match” When you put the dream match connotation to it it makes people think the match is super important and if the match is super important then it would be nice to know why Only your hardcores are going to know who this guy is
Raj does make a good point here, I mean not many people might be familiar on who Vikingo is, so wouldn't it been better if Tony introduced Vikingo to the AEW audience in some way?
He's not wrong
wrestling fans and media have created this image of the casual fan as people that seemingly get scared at seeing new wrestlers on their screen and can't no longer watch the product if they're not spoonfed every detail in a video package. also they can't use google to search things.
It's insane to me that because this guy has an opinion that AEW hardcore fans don't agree with he is somehow "a malcontent" that "doesn't like wrestling" and is "making a bad faith argument". He gave his opinion and anyone has the right to disagree, but the vitriol spewed out by some is horrific. Pro wrestling is a genre unto itself so using comparison of scripted dramas is pointless. AEW is an US based company with international reach, but primarily US centric. It truly caters to a niche crowd in a niche audience. There should be no surprise that most don't know who he is. If TK has no desire to grow his audience then wrestling pundits should stop beating a dead horse. He is creating a product that he wants to see. If TK wants to grow, this is constructive criticism. It could also be anything in between, but fans are so determined to create a "war" again that discourse is damn near impossible.
People so used to WWE booking that they think it has to be the absolute norm. One day they'll realize that AEW's footprint is way more OG ROH and NjPW then WWE maybe then they'll get it and stop this useless trash
Raj with his weekly getting dunked on by wrestling twitter
These wrestling pundits have the worst 'takes'
Agreed
Exhibit #7895588658 of someone overanalyzing an aspect of wrestling and calling it bad booking. Whether you no Vikingo or not, doesn't matter. It's Kenny Omega's first singles match on Dynamite in months. That's your reason to be excited. Who he's going against is just a cherry on top of that already sweet sundae.
How long until we find out Raj checks into rehab for his drunk tweeting problems?
People are gonna be up and arms about this because it’s raj giri but he is 100% correct Show why it’s big match, emphasis it. Instead of just saying it’s big match because you expect everyone to know a guy who wrestled mostly in Mexico
Welp they gave you that on rampage
Unfortunately rampage has terrible ratings and is treated like a afterthought by Tk so most won’t see it
So people are upset that they didn't get the video package they wanted, even though Tony Khan told them they could watch the video package on Rampage? If someone wanted to see it so badly, they should have watched the show. They can't hold every individual hand.
If the viewers want to know who Vikingo is so bad, they should have watched Rampage. If not, like another person mentioned, it’s INCREDIBLY easy to type in ‘Vikingo AAA’ into YouTube.
no he isn't. It's ok to just have two big stars from opposing companies wrestle and just watch it and enjoy it. Stop looking for negatives, it's ridiculous
He did get a mini video package on rampage explaining who he is
Remember back when RVD debuted in the WWE vs Jeff Hardy, on Sunday Night Heat? I wonder how that worked out for both parties?
People do and say things like this for this exact reason. To get people posting about it on Reddit like it’s “news” Now Raji is more well known than before for his ignorant and stupid opinions that should never be reacted to in the first place
So so god damn tired of the “Where’s the build?” question. Can we not just enjoy a wrestling match for featuring two of the best in the world? What could weeks of video packages possibly add to this match? Just let them go out and have a great one and tell it in the ring.
I have 0 clue who vikingo is thought he was a jobber
He's absolutely correct.
For decades over decades, wresting promoters have previewed big deals coming into the "territory." But when smarks like luchablog is like well google him and then tony khan feeds into that mentality, that is just stupid.
This ain’t the freaking 80s or 90s dude. The amount of time it takes people to complain about this on twitter is more then the amount of time a quick google search takes where you bascially get all you need in a 30 second glance
this is what I don't get with all these complaints. in era of easily accessible information. it's hard not seeing this as a bad faith.
I honestly havent seen any posts about this guy in the past year or so here. Never heard of him until yesterday. If anyone can link a post previously from yesterday’s news. A solid month long build to introduce him would do them well
on 1 hand this match is LONG overdue on the other if they're not gonna build Vikingo, at least keep it as a surprise.... Omega issues an IWGP US title open challenge(they have a week talk to Gedo) next week to any non-AEW signed talent, Vikingo comes out and they steal the f***in show. You tell people almost a week before that 1 of your biggest name is gonna face a big name in Mexico.....if it ain't Rey Mysterio, it ain't big enough to gain attention from casuals
Except they wouldn’t allow that, as NJPW notoriously has a good relationship with CMLL and they don’t want to mess that up by having their title defended against a competitor’s wrestler.
You know it isn't going well, when Raj Giri is the voice of reason.
Yeah back in the day, people only got over because they had fancy tv spots and video packages before wrestling. No one ever got over by just showing up and putting on great performances, that’s silly!
I just think it’s dumb strategy to introduce random wrestlers with no build or hype to your audience and I think AEW’s declining viewership proves that it’s a bad strategy.
It sounds like it shouldnt work, but rarely does it not. It's weird, Wrestling fans know by osmosis. Even in the late 80's early 90's names would float around in magazines, maybe even a few pictures. Hell I recall seeing the name "SABU" for a few years before even seeing one of his matches But I knew the gist of him. Its weird but it works. As for viewership, it seems to be a roller coaster which isnt great but becoming standard in the tv world .
Jesus Christ already I don’t care. Just don’t watch then, Raj, you fucking boner
AEW fans are bad faith trolls in the defence of AEW, Tony Khan can do things wrong. He does lots wrong. Admit it.
OK Stan.
Well the way they react to genuine criticism proves it.
No the way E fans react to AEW fans being happy with the product is just toxic.
“The E” dude, grow up. They don’t care whether you are happy, they want AEW to to succeed, it’s just a shame the booking committee doesn’t seem to. Since AEW day 1 the trait amongst their fans and many employees was toxicity.
Grow up cause I called it the "E"?! Lmao!
It is quite an immature thing to do. Two additional letters really hurt you that bad?
I'm sorry I hurt you that bad by leaving out two letters.
This is the attitude of AEW fans that makes them so dislikable.
OK Sunshine
So obvious this absolute freak would post some nonsense like this
It's a dream match on free TV that is good enough for me.
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They did do that, it’s on Rampage from last night, it’s even posted here. Could it have been longer? Of course, but they did do what you asked.
Feels like you didn’t watch rampage…
my bad, will delete the post
