The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania XL - 6/7 April 2024

[Slimgrady]

So Braun is the modern day Big Show?

[Dangerblade]

Ospreay and Eagles vs. Ishimori and Phantasmo

strawberry floating hell

All 4 guys were awesome in this match, but Ospreay is inhuman. Not just the BotSJ and G1 performances, his J Cup matches and today, stuff earlier in the year. Standing out in NJPW is hard enough as it is as he's doing it consistently and easily

[coldspice]

lol @ hairy wrestling man getting absolutely cancelled from orbit

[KK]

Quite surprised AEW hasn’t announced the name for their weekly show yet, unless it’s going to be called AEW on TNT, and TNT is also going to play a big part in the design of the set. I’m guessing a fire/dynamite theme like Nitro again is a lock.

[KK]

twitter.com/themauryshow/status/1174863945900933120

[Dangerblade]

Man, strawberry float everything else in wrestling, Suzuki vs. Liger at WK is going to be incredible.

[Slimgrady]

Kishin Liger is creepier than the fiend.

[coldspice]

Man, strawberry float everything else in wrestling, Suzuki vs. Liger at WK is going to be incredible.

Glad I'm going now, so I can see Kishin Liger vs Suzuki ULTRA EXPLODING BARBED WIRE SHARK POOL DEATH MATCH in person.

[Slimgrady]

Man, strawberry float everything else in wrestling, Suzuki vs. Liger at WK is going to be incredible.

Glad I'm going now, so I can see Kishin Liger vs Suzuki ULTRA EXPLODING BARBED WIRE SHARK POOL DEATH MATCH in person.

Hope you’re not sitting too close, because you will be stabbed.

[coldspice]

Man, strawberry float everything else in wrestling, Suzuki vs. Liger at WK is going to be incredible.

Glad I'm going now, so I can see Kishin Liger vs Suzuki ULTRA EXPLODING BARBED WIRE SHARK POOL DEATH MATCH in person.

Hope you’re not sitting too close, because you will be stabbed.

I couldn't afford tickets within stab range

[KK]

AEW Dynamite not on the print TV guides for next week on either ITV or ITV4 (Ideal World, some game show, Minder, The Americans and teleshopping instead).

[CuriousOyster]

Dynamite is such a terrible name

[coldspice]

Should have just called it "All Elite Wrestling" tbh. I think that makes it much easier for people to stumble across when they're channel surfing.

[Slimgrady]

It was never confirmed that ITV were getting the show though was it? Maybe they want to see how it goes and how it’s received before committing to it? Or maybe Sky Sports have hijacked the deal for that sweet sweet PPV money they haven’t seen since the WWE network came along! If it’s the latter we’d be waiting until January to see it.

[KK]

Could be AEW wanted too much money, but I hope Sky hasn't caught wind of the buyrates and now strolled on in there with their own deal, which wouldn't surprise me, but that would piss people right off. I think Sky possibly open up Box Office to NowTV customers for the boxing, but not for WWE, which again is limiting the fanbase.

It was never officially or explicitly confirmed by ITV themselves in any press release I've read (though others within AEW had stated AEW would air later in the year on ITV, such as Chris Jericho), but it seems strange you'd pick up the PPV events, promote them really strongly on TV, and then decide not to have the weekly shows to build to said events. It's not like ITV doesn't have the space to free up.

Wrestling fans have always been good at finding programming, but still not great that if ITV has it last minute that there's now no time to promote its debut in TV guides (which have now all gone to print/available in stores) or trail it on TV.

BTW, RAW has a new logo and look from this coming Monday:



Trying not to get hyped for all the new sets next week because they're inevitably going to be more LED panels...AEW likely has the best chance of having something physical again.

[SerialCeler]

AEW has now been confirmed for ITV4 on 7 October at 11.45pm.

[KK]

That can’t be right, surely?! Almost a week late, 2 days after a PPV, and needlessly head-to-head with RAW in the second hour is absolutely moronic.

[Mafro]

Meltzer said the deal isn't finalised yet and there'll be multiple replays with more to be announced.

[KK]

twitter.com/itvwrestling/status/1176945077337415682

Defies logic. The programme isn’t even suitable and will have to be heavily edited. By the looks of it this deal has been signed so late that ITV wouldn’t have been able to air it Live even if they wanted to because they already sold off their slots (teleshopping and Ideal World in this case). Find it hard to believe there was nothing else available though. Common sense would dictate they’d put it on the ITV Hub on Thursday or Friday, but I don’t know if that would be unprecedented for them.

What is it with ITV and sport.

[Slimgrady]

Can’t really blame ITV for not pissing their pants with excitement for AEW just yet, they don’t know what their buying really, it might end up a complete flop! So as a business standpoint they’re right to do what their doing. As for showing it live, I’m sure they’ve seen Raws live figures, the biggest wrestling show in the world, and thought “what’s the point?”.