Scott Keith

AEW In TNT

Hey Scott, we are about three weeks out from AEW from airing on TNT, marking TNT’s first wrestling show in over 18 years. Obviously, TNT is playing it safe by airing this show on Wednesday, as Raw and Smackdown fall on Monday and Tuesday. Do you see TNT wanting
to compete with WWE and USA Network sometime down the line if the numbers become high enough? The reason why I ask is because the cable market has changed so much in 18 years and with digital streaming becoming more prevelant, competing for television ratings
on cable doesn’t seem as important as it did back in the Monday Night War days.

I'd say it's even more important now because the cable industry, and TNT in particular, are in the toilet compared to then.  USA is only hanging on because of the 18 hours of WWE programming they air every week and TNT wants a piece of that pie as well.  

Big Cass has issues

And people actually thought he might be going back to NXT as a big star?  That ship has definitely sailed now.  

Mean Gene outtakes

I stumbled across this clip of NSFW Mean Gene outtakes. I wish there was more of this on the network. I’d watch this stuff all day. 

 https://youtu.be/ct-zOyh7hZY

There was a mini series with Jerry Springer in the early days of the Network that was exactly that and it was pretty funny.  I have no idea if it’s still on there but I’d tend to think not.  If it is, it might be worth checking out for you.  

Clash and the Champions and AEW


I know the WWE owns the Clash trademark and that by the late 90s that Clash was nothing more than a contractual afterthought for WCW, but there was a time was the Clash was an important event for WCW where angles started and finished, championships changed hands, etc.  Do you think AEW should do something similar, although under a different name besides their tv show every quarter or so? Or is the time of a Clash-like tv event long passed?

Maybe let’s wait until they actually air a TV show before we start dissecting it.  

The PPV beyond

After reading your review of the show, it took me back to when I watched it live back in 92. The show was horrible up until the last 3 matches. Can you recall a PPV that was absolutely horrible from beginning but the
last 3 or 2 matches saved it from being the worst ever? 

Plus I have to rewatch the Steiner match because I had no idea the iron claw guy from njpw was the man in pink getting his ass beat. What was up with that anyway?

He had fingers made of IRON.  What's not to understand?
As for the original question, yes, many many many shows are like that.  The WWF used to specialize in it back in the Attitude Era.  Basically pick a major PPV headlined by Shawn Michaels out of a hat and there you go.  But Revenge of the Taker is one notable case (not headlined by Shawn, but still terrible until the co-mains). 

The subtle things


Hi Scott, wrestling as an art form benefits greatly from nuance. Who’s the best you’ve ever seen at the little, subtle touches in pro wrestling?

Well, speaking of touches, Terry Garvin was known to…NO, BAD SCOTT!  
Sorry, too dark for a Saturday.  
As we were discussing in the WrestleWar comments section yesterday, Paul E. Dangerously had some fantastic little touches like the battle plan for WarGames, or his "conversations" on his prop phone when he was on camera.  

Wyatt getting a title match at H.I.A.C.?

What do you think of (apparently) Bray Wyatt facing Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman at the Hell In A Cell PPV for the Universal Title next month?  While I find it interesting that they are already giving him a title match so soon into his reinventing himself as "the Fiend", part of me is fearful he will be defined down after this.(Assuming they don't have him win the title, that is.)      
Eh.  At least it's some kind of direction and they managed to establish a main event challenger without a battle royale or series of three-way matches where the three winners have another three-way match and the special troubleshooting referee for the match is determined by a series of four Fatal Four-Way matches that themselves are refereed by the winners of the three previous three-way matches, with the fourth referee being determined by a three-way match featuring the competitors in the winning three-way match having a preview of their #1 contender three-way match in order to build momentum and put the locker room on notice.  

Vince Russo in WCW?

When Vince Russo took over the creative side of WCW in late 1999, the then head of the company Bill Busch’s only instructions, in a nutshell, were to improve the product, because Busch was somehow head of a product he had no idea how to write for (which was
not abnormal for WCW). Vince Russo is often blamed for WCW’s further decline in late 99-2000, but should that blame be more on Busch because of his lack of experience?

giphy (3).gif

Steiners, WTF

What was the deal with the Steiners being so stiff and putting other wrestlers in peril. I remember seeing a match in Japan vs Benoit/Liger which was amazing but also scary as hell because Rick hit Benoit with an overhead German that nearly killed him. Why were they such assholes? They never seemed to lose clean, we’re booked as fan favorite babyfaces for years and yet every time they had a chance it looked like they tried to legit kill their opponents. When I was younger I assumed the Bagwell injury was an accident but looking back now, how dangerous were the Steiners back in their glory days?
The thing is, I wouldn't say they were "dangerous" as such, but they worked a lot in Japan where it was expected, if not encouraged, to beat the hell out of your opponents with wanton abandon sometimes because the culture is all about FIGHTING SPIRIT and all that.  Like even the brutal Iizuka match features the kid getting mauled and then coming right back for more.  And when they came back to WCW after their tours, they were pretty much the one over tag team in a division with, like, four different tag team titles (WCW, NWA, US, IWGP, Six-Man, etc.) and they never had to lose, so basically no one ever called them on it.  

All Out Fail?


Meltzer said DON did around 120,000 buys and that All out was not only down but significantly down. Why do you think that happen? Was Moxley/Omega THAT much of a draw for people? Maybe people are already getting tired of watching PPVs with just random pairings and no strong storylines? Thoughts?

First up, let's keep things in perspective.  "Significantly down" was still over 100,000 buys for a PPV with no TV buildup, which is still a historically great performance.

But yes, I think the loss of Moxley hurt it a lot.  I also think there was just generally less buzz around the show, and I think their PPV brand got diluted by Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen.  In particular that second show didn't really leave me wanting to see another AEW PPV right away and I think a lot of people were the same.  

The future of McGuiness



Having watched the last of McGuiness I was delighted when Nigel signed with WWE. What's even more wonderful is how he is proving to be one of the best colour commentators right now.

Is he worthy of a call up to the main roster to replace one of the existing commentators, or is he better off staying in NXT?

Could WWE be utilising his talents better?

I think Nigel is better off staying in NXT and NXT UK.   Corey Graves had tons of potential too and they managed to wreck him.  I can’t see Nigel faring much better.  

Your old rants


Hey Scott,


  What would the chances be of you reposting your old rants like "For the want of a nail", "King Lazerus", "Guide to every WWE PPV"  etc.  from the original Rantsylvania days?  They were great reads and maybe even do a Scott Says on relevant parts?

I’m actually not a big fan of my older stuff like that anymore.  

Booking On The Fly


What would you say was/is the worst promotion that was guilty of booking on the fly during a particular time period?  Are we seeing that currently in the WWE with reports of programs being re-written hours before the shows, or in some cases DURING the shows?   
You're kinda answering your own question there.  But WCW in 2000 was still way worse.