AEW: Bryan Danielson on WWE Counter-Programming AEW Being “People Who Crave Power & Money Play Weird Games”, Maven on His Recent Visit to AEW & His Praise of Tony Khan for Actually Caring About AEW Talent, More News

Bryan Danielson Comments on WWE Counter-Programming AEW Being “People Who Crave Power & Money Play Weird Games”

The Kairouz Bros held a recent interview with Bryan Danielson. One of the topics discussed included Danielson’s thoughts about WWE’s counter-programming efforts and tactics against AEW shows.

“I’m just curious, like, what the people who are making these decisions, what they’re thinking, right? In the sense of like, ‘Oh, okay, this AEW thing. It’s a real danger to our billion-dollar business.’ That can’t be it. AEW existing and being this challenger brand, and being as successful as we’ve been, has changed the landscape for wrestling, for the wrestlers themselves. Wrestlers are being paid more now than ever from a sports rights perspective. So, for example, in most major sports in the United States, the players get anywhere between 40 to 50% of the revenue. WWE was paying their wrestlers nowhere close to that. Now, keep in mind, they’re still not paying anywhere close to that, but they do have to pay more, because if they don’t, the talent is going to leave and go to AEW. Aw does pay that 40 to 50% of their revenue to their wrestlers. You know, despite making much less money. I mean, we still, our TV rights deal was incredible, but we’re, we’re still the challenger brand catching up on however many years WWE has.

It’s interesting because we’re, we’re not at the point of being a threat. It’s one of the things that people who really crave power and a lot of money play these weird games that I don’t understand. I don’t understand, it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna run all the competitors that might be competitive with us out of this business.’ Why? It’s good. It’s good for the wrestlers. It’s good for the wrestlers, both in AEW and in WWE, it’s good for them. If AEW wouldn’t have started, would Cody Rhodes be where he is right now? No, they have a megastar because AEW exists. Would CM Punk ever have come back? Probably not.

I would be really interested, and I’m not saying this in the sense of like, ‘Oh, those evil people. Because when you think of corporations, they are not people, right? In the United States, I don’t know if it’s like this in Australia, but corporations have been, have been determined as, like, legally, as people, they have the same rights as people. It’s just like, wait, what? But they’re not people, right? So that these corporations make these decisions, but the people in WWE, a lot of people I know, are great people, right? So it’s like, I’d be interested to know, okay, what’s the decision-making process in this?”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Maven Comments on His Recent Visit to AEW & His Praise of Tony Khan for Actually Caring About AEW Talent

A recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show featured former WWE wrestler Maven as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Maven’s thoughts about his backstage visit to AEW this past May and his praise of AEW CEO Tony Khan for actually caring about his talent in the company.

“That environment seemed like a good place to work. Great vibes and Tony Khan seemed like the best boss to work for. I know he gets a lot of critics online — I sat and watched — They were about 30 minutes away from ending the show and my contact told me that Tony wants to meet with you, he just has to wait until obviously the show is over. So, I sat and watched Tony for 30 minutes and every wrestler that came out of that ring, he got up from producing chair, took his headphones off, made sure everyone was healthy and happy with the match that they just had. You can tell when someone cares as opposed to when someone’s going through the motions. He cares. I left and I told him to his face, ‘You have changed my perception on what I thought you were.’ Everybody that I talked to seemed to be happy to be there and seemed happy with the product that they were putting out.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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AEW News & Notes

The Young Bucks recently released a new episode of Being The Elite titled “We’re Not Bums.”

AEW recently released two new Hidden Classics videos to their official YouTube channel. The first new video was an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match of Punishment Martinez vs. Jay White (c) from ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds 2018. The second new video was a singles match of Kota Ibushi vs, Hangman Adam Page from ROH Supercard of Honor 2018.

AEW producer Chuck Taylor recently reflected on Twitter about his peculiar observation about the current Women’s division in AEW and how AEW’s Men’s division can top them over this situation. Taylor stated “Why are all the AEW girls so horny for each other? Maybe the boys should be hornier for each other. AEW Dynamite live Wednesday’s at 8 on TBS and HBO Max“

In a recent interview with the Battleground Podcast, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts about his belief that the September 6th episode of AEW Collision at the 2300 Arena was a “really perfect wrestling show from top to bottom.” Khan stated “I thought Saturday’s Collision was one of the best shows of the entire year, start to finish. Really a perfect wrestling show top to bottom, I felt like. So, it’s a great way to go into Wednesday Night Dynamite with all this momentum.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

In a recent vlog released by Queen Aminata, AEW coach and producer Jerry Lynn gave his thoughts about what advice he would give to younger wrestlers for their wrestling careers. Lynn stated “The advice I give any wrestler, even ones that are just thinking about doing this, is you’re going to get out of it, what you put into it. I had a call recently from a promoter about an appearance, and I asked him, I go, ‘well, how long of a drive is that?’ He says, ‘about five hours’, and I said, ‘well, that’s not bad,’ and he laughed. He goes, ‘I can tell you’re an old timer,’ and I said, ‘why?’ Because he said a five-hour drive isn’t bad. He says, ‘I can’t get these young people to drive two hours.’ And I said, ‘that’s pretty sad,’ That’s why I always tell him. You’re going to get out of it, but you get into it. How bad do you really want it?” Lynn also gave his thoughts about his advice to wrestlers who are already signed to contracts. Lynn stated “Now, you’re here. You’ve made it. You’ve got a contract. Some advice I can give you that I give to some other people who are already signed, never get comfortable. Never get complacent. You always got to remember there’s 5,000 people vying for your spot. You always got to up your game.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with Complex Sports, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about what he believes is currently the most important travel item for any wrestler on the road. Strickland stated “So right here, I’m unveiling the most important travel item for not just myself, Swerve Strickland, but for any wrestler on the road. You get flight delays, expect to be boarding by 30 minutes, now it’s gonna be three hours. This right here is gonna save you, not just time, but mentally as well. PlayStation 5, everybody. Everybody’s laughing on set, I hear you. Hear me out, listen to me. This will save marriages and relationships, will keep you inside your hotel room and not outside causing trouble, because it’s very easy to get into a lot of trouble these days, especially as a professional wrestler. A lot of people want to try you on the road. So games I’m playing online right now, Madden franchise mode is where we get it in. I’ve been on the Tony Hawk remasters lately. Looking forward to the GTA 6 coming out. If your TV and your monitors aren’t working in a hotel room or there’s no TV to plug into at the airports, I got your back. A portable monitor as well. You can play it anywhere you need to. This is a good way to stay connected with your friends, your family, your fan base, no matter where you go on the road and you can have a good time either yelling at them or laughing is how I keep my sanity on the road.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)