83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff - Strictly Business with Eric Bischoff #65: Mercedes Moné to AEW, Scott D'Amore, and More

Episode Date: February 9, 2024

In this week's edition of Strictly Business, Eric and Jon look at the potential impact of Mercedes Moné on AEW as it heads for "Big Business" in Boston, Eric comments on Scott D'Amore's TNA dismissal, and a dive into the massive Fox/ESPN/Warner Bros. Discovery streaming venture! Special thanks to this week's sponsors! Manscaped- Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code WRESTLEBIZ at Manscaped.com. BlueChew- Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code WRESTLEBIZ at checkout--just pay $5 shipping. FOLLOW ALL OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA at https://83weekslinks.com/ Stop throwing your money on rent! Get into a house with NO MONEY DOWN and roughly the same monthly payment at SaveWithConrad.com On AdFreeShows.com, you get early, ad-free access to more than a dozen of your favorite wrestling podcasts, starting at just $9! And now, you can enjoy the first week...completely FREE! Sign up for a free trial - and get a taste of what Ad Free Shows is all about. Start your free trial today at AdFreeShows.com If your business targets 25-54 year old men, there's no better place to advertise than right here with us on Strictly Business. You've heard us do ads for some of the same companies for years...why? Because it works! And with our super targeted audience, there's very little waste. Go to AdvertiseWithEric.com now and find out more about advertising with Strictly Business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Everyone, it's time for another edition of Strictly Business with Eric Bischaw presented to you by the ad-free shows and the podcast Heat Networks. I am John Alba, and we are alive in living color on ad-free shows.com. So if you are watching us on ad-free shows.com, we would love to hear from your voices throughout the course of this taping. But regardless, I'm not who you're here for. You're here to see the bald beauty himself. We're in a hat, Mr. Eric Bischoff. Look at there it is. Sto ball, but I'm wearing a hat, not because I'm embarrassed by getting my head shaved, obviously, because I look so good no matter what. But it's because it's like chrome, like literally a hubcap looking kind of color, and it reflects the light from above. It's actually distracting. And I heard it's even possible that it screws things up on the space station. So I'm going to just go ahead to cover to avoid any issues. Well, that's, that's why in TV we wear makeup because the makeup absorbs the light and it's not reflecting as much. So maybe we just got to lather your head there with some cover up or mascara or something, man.

No, that's what hats are for, dude. That's what hats are for. Did you ever wear makeup on TV? Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah. Tons of it. Hated it. And you know when I, yeah.

And when it was at its worst was when I first started with a, WCW because they had, you know, a makeup department. Terry Reynolds actually was the makeup artist that was under contract to Turner. I believe she was an independent contractor at the time, but she was like the in-house makeup person that CNN used and all the sportscasters. And she did a lot of makeup for all the different on-camera positions within Turner Broadcasting. And she got assigned to WCW. And she was the first one that did it.

And I'm not suggesting she didn't do a great job. She did. But back in the day, before high-deaf cameras, right, they would just lather that stuff on. And you'd walk out of there in your feet, you look like a mannequin, you know, in real life. But, of course, on camera, because of the low resolution at the time, you didn't really notice it all looks smooth and great. But now it's a whole different ballgame. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I've never had a makeup person. I've always had to do my own makeup. So that's kind of a thing of the past now at that level of television. It's rather archaic unless you really, really make it like national networks. So I've had to learn how to do my makeup and try to look as. Yeah, I learned to do my own makeup back when I was modeling long before I got into the the entertainment business or the wrestling business. I was a kind of a print fashion commercial model.

That's how Mrs. B and I met. She was a model. She was actually, I don't know if I've ever told you this. Her first modeling gig was when she was four. Oh my. And she was on the cover of a Play-Doh can. Huh.

Like, Play-Doh's been around forever. It's probably some toxic shit, right? I don't know. Maybe not. I don't know. But it was, you know, a very popular kids thing back then. You know, Plato, it was different colors and you could mold it and shape it.

And if you came, like, I would make little dogs, little cars and stuff when I was young and then if you really liked it then you just put it up on a window cell and overnight when you'd wake up it would be hard it would be like a rock and it was awesome it was an awesome toy as a kid so mrs b back in probably he's 1965 or 66 was chosen to be the little kid the face huh the face of playdow so you've been married to the face of plato for decades now there'd be me look at that look at that yeah just the kids around me and kindergarten were eating the plato rather than playing with it so that's why i like plato so much and that's why the manufacturers of plato made so much money at the time because they sweetened up

the plato knowing full well that the kids were going to play with it have fun show their parents all this artistic arts and crafts oh little johnny's got a beautiful eye oh look at little susy over here she could be a sculptor when she grows up. And then when the little kid would eat the room, I'm going to go eat the whatever it is they made. And guess what? Parents got to go buy more Play-Doh. The kids are eating it and playing with it.

I think there's an episode about the business of Plato at some point. It's the business of the toy business, isn't it? Well, it's great to be on here with you. We got a lot to get into this week. A lot of business news. again if you're on ad free shows drop some questions drop some thoughts here guys we got eric green in here he says hey fellas we got bobby in here always great to see bobby we got josh fields in here so if anyone has got some thoughts during the course of this episode we encourage you to join the

conversation and join ad free shows at ad preshows dot com eric uh we are taping this on thursday afternoon it is before the WrestleMania press conference. So there's nothing for us to react to at this moment. You and Conrad will be doing a live reaction afterwards on the 83 weeks YouTube. But is there anything that you would like to say on the press conference front? I mean, maybe even just the idea that WWE was able to get in to the Super Bowl media mayhem in Las Vegas there. Wow, I didn't even think of that. Oh, yeah.

First of all, let's let me, let me correct you just a little bit. it. We are, Conrad and I are going to be going live beginning at 3 p.m. Pacific. That's one hour before the press conference. We're going to be going live. We're going to be taking questions. We're going to get, we're going to be getting live comments. Live questions, live comments. It's an opportunity for everybody to kind of speak their minds. And, you know, when Conrad and I and Dave Silva started talking about this, in my mind, at least, I'm, I'm approaching this almost as a research project. This is going to be the way I'm approaching it really a focus group. And we really want to encourage people to participate because when it's all said and done, we're going to have live polls throughout the show. And you're going to be able to kind of follow and track what's going on and what people are thinking and how they're reacting to some of the topics and questions that we're undoubtedly going to discuss. And we're going to cover some shit, folks. We're going to be covering some shit. But I'm looking at this because I'm so fascinated with this approach to WrestleMania. And there's essentially two schools of thought.

There's the Dave Meltzer theory where this is all a big plan and in a way to put more sympathy on Cody and that we could likely see or potentially see Cody end up closing the door or WrestleMania 40 having finished the story. That's one theory. And I'm sure there are variations of that theory floating about. But for ease of communication and entertainment, we're going to really talk about two theories. Is it work? Was this all a plan?

And if it is, a fascinating one, fascinating story, if it is a story. Or is Rock going to come in and Bigfoot his way into WrestleMania and Cody B. sidelined in his. in his story. So those are the two questions. We're going to get more information. We're going to update the story as updates become available. And throughout the entire press conference, we're going to be taking questions here in comments, poll, poll results, all that. And then at the end, the one poll that matters the most to me will be, how do you feel about WrestleMania

now versus two weeks ago? Are you looking forward? forward to WrestleMania more because of the way story is played out and Rock and Roman are going to close the night? Or are you disappointed in the way things have evolved? So we're going to do all that. And it's all going to be live. It's all going to be interactive. This is the first time we've ever done it. So I encourage anybody that's listening to this. Jump on board, 83 weeks on YouTube.com, baby. Yeah. This is a very unique event. They're doing it again, in their Super Bowl weekend or week, I should say, with all the media hubbleau that is going on. Curious if they announced Las Vegas for future WrestleMania, seems like that would be a

really good opportunity to do something like that. And I'm also really curious, Eric, with the media presence that's going to be there, what gets brought up from the media? You talked about it last week on our podcast, right, where you were saying there were a lot of legitimate media who you felt hadn't done their due diligence in discussing the current situation at hand with Vince and TKO. I'm curious what the media presence is like there. Who is asking what will the Vince McMahon situation be brought up?

That's really going to be interesting to follow up on. And see, I believe there's going to be some sort of a media scrum after the press conference as well that won't be aired live. It'll be distributed amongst people who are there. So it's going to be fascinating. It did pick up a lot of mainstream attention this week. The Hollywood reporter even talked about how. The timeline of things went down last week, and it was, as we suspected, Eric Slim Jim, pulling out that led Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro to call Vince McMahon and suggest that he step away. So the timeline becoming a little more clear on that point.

Any other thoughts on this press conference ahead of it? No, but you brought up a really good point, John. It's amazing that they could turn this thing around because you know this press conference is going to be a production. This is not going to be an impromptu. something you can do with the, you know, lobby of a hotel or a casino somewhere, just ENG or as some people may not know E&G, it's an electronic news gathering, just kind of run and gun, you got your audio guy, you got your camera guy, and you're shooting as you're walking, so to speak, talking and walking. That won't be this. This will be a well-produced

events, I'm sure. But amazing. They could just like put all these details together on such quick notice turn it around and promote the hell out of it yeah there i mean there are so many media outlets out there for russomania or rather for super bowl week which is of course the nphls rassalmania it's just wild how many outlets get credentialed for those events and uh yeah any any super bowl picks eric you got a you're gonna go with kansas i'm just really really pulling for san francisco i i i just don't want to hear anything more about Taylor Swift. I don't. Not that I just like Taylor Swift. I think she's an absolutely fascinating individual, fascinating in the sense of she has so much talent, seems to have her

life, despite her choice in music composition, pretty well under control and as a solid citizen and not crazy and doing weird shit that ends up all over the media and make you go, so yeah, no, I'm kind of, I admire the hell out of but I'm tired of her. I liken it to sushi. I love really, really good sushi. And sometimes I think I could eat sushi seven days a week, 24 hours a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Hell, I did it while I was in Japan many times. But even I, an absolute lover of great sushi, eventually get tired of sushi. And I like in current obsession

of American public's a fascination with Taylor Swift, too much sushi. I don't care how much you love it. It's too much. Stop it. Stop it. Anthony says, first run, Netflix

from the sphere might be bonkers. What do you think about that, man? Dude. Now, I'm going to that one. Yeah. I'm not even calling anybody. in the office to get a free ticket i am going to buy one because that's one i really want to sit in the middle of the i don't even want the best seats in the house i want mid-level seats i want to be in that house experiencing it just like everybody else i don't want to be backstage i don't want to have

a little box or none of that shit i want to be right smack dab in the middle of the floor so i know firsthand what does this feel like and how different is it from anything else we've ever experienced. I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah, I think the sphere is a game-changing venue, and we're going to see UFs. I have no doubt like UFC is going to run a major pay-per-view from there at some point. I totally think WW will run a show from the sphere eventually. Jim Dolan, the owner of the Knicks and the Rangers and Madison Square Garden,

came under a lot of fire when they announced that project because it was just so damn expensive. and you know on the outside it stands out for sure but i think that's like a game-changing venue eric and i think it's going to totally radicalize the way that we produce events and conceptualize events uh do you have any thoughts on that well it's no i agree with you i mean it's it's like the sphere is an attraction in and of itself i mean it's you just want to go sit in that thing and and see what it's all about. It is an attraction. And then you've got featured performers and athletes and shows.

So you've got an attraction within an attraction. That's pretty awesome. And I think it will change so much. It'll open up the opportunity. There are probably, from a technical perspective, there are probably many effects and things that exist that current, production standards, you know, just the way people are doing things now and touring the show and being in a different venue every week and all that, probably don't allow producers to really

or directors to really take advantage of. I am guessing, I don't know anything about it, but I am guessing that this venue will provide a much broader palette of technical capabilities so that the viewer at home is going to experience television completely different than any way they've experienced it before. Yeah, when that eventually happens, it's going to be something. I just kept thinking, like, if there were so many of these other bands that would have gone on it back in the day, like imagine Pink Floyd in the sphere,

how trippy and psychedelic, something like that would have been, and Kiss even back in the day, too. Man, just would have been wild. But it's going to be a great venue to see for events going forward. Eric, let's get into the most recent big piece of news to really kick us off here. And I know we're called Strictly Business, but A.W., Eric, is planning on doing big business. That is coming to the TD Garden in Boston, March 13th. Look at the font.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday, February 10th, 10 a.m. Eastern. the lowest tickets are priced at $20 so they really want to put people in this venue, Eric, and all signs pointing to this being the debut of Mercedes Monet. This is very much the path they took when they debuted CM Punk, where you leaned into it. You didn't outright say that he was debuting, but you insinuated it. And that is what they're going to be doing here with big business. I know you commented a little bit on Mercedes-Money on 83 weeks, but what do you think of the approach here to try and put on a big show and debut her um i don't i'm kind of neutral on it i mean

there's been so much chatter about this and little teases here and there and an appearance here and there was it on ring of honor she made an appearance or whatever it was so there's been there's no reason at this point to try to orchestrate any kind of a surprise unless she's going to you know become and make her entrance vis-a-vis through the crowd and get herself involved in something that's going on in the ring and have her introduction to the AEW audience vis-a-vis action in the ring as opposed to the traditional and here comes her music and she can by the way I'm not advocating one or the other they're both good I would prefer to see her enter and have a big splash do something impactful as a part of her entrance as opposed to the pageantry of what we're going to see a

million times anyway. That being said, yeah, we'll see. I think I'm happy for her. I don't know Mercedes at all. We've never spoken. I don't believe if we have it, it was very brief. But look, she's a great performer. She's accomplished a lot. She's young. She's got an amazing career ahead of her, potentially, I think in the ring and out of the ring. nothing but, nothing but support Mercedes Monet. If you're asking me, do I think it's going to have much of an impact? I think it'll be a great event tonight. I think people in the arena will react very positively.

I think people are watching at home will go finally, something, you know, something we can get excited about and cheer for. And I think across the boards in wrestling, that's kind of cool to have that right now. And I think everybody's kind of stubborn for a feel good moment. and this will be, in a way, a feel-good moment. So we'll see. After the fact, I think in three weeks, we'll be looking at the same numbers

and the same lackluster ticket sales in-house or in live events, including their number one show, Dynamite, struggling to do really much better than 3,000 or 4,000 people on a regular basis to come and be a part of that show, which is mind-boggling to me. Anyway, we'll see. Hopefully I'm wrong, man. Hopefully she's going to come in.

and she'll be able to do what so many others before her who came in with a lot of excitement, a lot of equity, just fan support, and not have any positive impact on the final product. So, Eric, it's going to be interesting for me because Mercedes Monet has one of the most passionate fan bases in all of wrestling today on social media discourse. In terms of financially, she was one of WWE's top mergers,

pushers. She has a great presence in the mainstream, obviously being part of Star Wars. That's a huge crossover opportunity. So she has a presence. We know that she wants to do more. She's a legitimate WrestleMania main eventer. And she's only 32 years old, as you said. There's a lot of upside there. She's very different than a lot of the other individuals that Tony Kahn has brought in from the WWE signed or even just in the general free agency realm. It's going to be a pretty big litmus test, I believe, for what the appetite within A.A.W. is. And on top of that, Eric, it's going to shine some importance on Tony needing to really put some emphasis on women's wrestling in A.A.W., which has been a common criticism over the course of the past five years with

the company. What do you think her presence might do in that regard? I have no idea because Tony is, there are no real patterns. He's all over the board. He's all over the board. So I think it will mean whatever it means to Tony in the moment, but I don't think there's any predictions here. Could it be a sign that Tony, let me be a glass half foolish on this one, could it be a sign that Tony has recognized that we've heard and read that the women's division is underserved and he's going to beef it up and some rocket fuel, build it out, make it better? could. This could be a great indication of that. There's some amazing talent. Britt Baker. Rebel. I mean, there is a personality in a character and a talent that is just, I don't watch a lot of AEW as everybody knows. I tuned in a little bit last week. I drop in if I hear about something special going on that I feel like I should be aware of. But for the most part,

It's like, eh, not really part of my thought process to check out AEW, but there's so many great women there that like Brit Baker and like Rebel. And there are others, some newcomers on the block. So let's do something to add another dimension to an otherwise stale product, because it is at best a stale product. I think they've done a nice job with Gianna Prato. I was going to say there's a lot of names here that I'm not familiar with that you are, but this could be the shot in the arm that AEW and kind of might need to get out of that just flatline that they're in. I think Deanna Parato coming in, she's been presented fantastically. I think Mariah May coming in has been presented really well, too.

So hopefully you see some investment in that division with a move like this because women's wrestling is very popular right now. And I think that there is definitely an audience, Sasha Banks, Mercedes, was one of WWE's highest draws week in and week out on Monday Night Raw or Smackdown. Whenever she was on TV, you look at the quarter hours. They always sustained when she was on TV, if not grew. So she is definitely someone you can build a division around. Let me ask you this. True or false, Mercedes Monet is a top two star in AEW.

You know, stars, you know, what's a star? It's subjective. It's subjective. So that's why I want your opinion. There's no standards. You know, if you ask me who's a top star, I'll tell you, whoever is in the main event the most times throughout the year and generate the most dollars that's who your top star is okay so is she one of those not yet but she hasn't even

put on the tights and a ring yet how could she be she has potential to be okay so you think she has the potential to be yeah yeah i think i'm not sure a e w does there's the problem or there's the issue is and i used to tell this dixie carter all the time she just in one ear and out the other. But unless something changes in the perception of AEW, whatever that is, something has to change in order to get fans excited about the product again. Because they've cultivated, they meaning AEW, has cultivated a significant amount of ill will amongst wrestling fans, or a variety of reasons.

So adding a talent is an interesting opportunity, but unless there is a strategic initiative to support the addition of a talent, likely it's not going to matter in the midterm. You may get a short-term bump, enthusiasm, chatter, maybe even a little blip in the ratings consistently for a couple, let's say, three or four weeks.

But unless there is a defined, clearly articulated strategy that represents a shift in perception, or at least the potential for a shift in perception of the product, adding any talent, it's unfair to the talent to ascribe lack of AEW success to the talent. There is a tremendous amount of talent in AEW, none of which have had any significant impact on the overall health of the television program which drives the promotion. All right? What does that tell you? Is it the talent's fault or is it creative and management's fault?

I submit to you, Your Honor, that it's management's fault and creatives' fault as a part of management. Because you have the talent, you've got the platform, you initially had the goodwill of the audience rooting for you, including me, and people like me, even who were working in WWE at the time. But that's different now. And the shift in perception is one of the most critical things that Tony and company should be focusing on. It is time for the ultimate face-off. The Beard Bowl is here as the two best teams square off

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so we will see what kind of impact why do you think that will be a success because it will have signified a change in thinking because we know tony is a very numbers driven person right like he i mean we've had this discussion at nauseam on how analytical he gets with a lot of this stuff if those women become positioned in a spot on the card where people are tuning into them in main events or being featured multiple times and sticking around, that will be reflective of positive contribution, in my opinion. In your opinion, it won't matter at the end of the day if the creative that supports those appearances is not compelling, and those women do not have a possibility of having a positive

impact on the only measurable aspect of this conversation, which is, do the ratings improve? do more people watch as a result of their exposure, an added exposure, if the answer to that question, if you're a numbers guy or not, is yes, if if they show up. And if the creative, the strategy, the approach allows these women to perform and contribute more viewers to the show, that's a success. you could have women in 50% of the segments. But if it doesn't add value to the show in a measurable way,

not a subjective way. Well, I said viewership. Right. And if it, if, but that's my point. I'm kind of circling back to my point. Just having them there doesn't do, doesn't, it may not reap any value or rewards. That's why I say there has to be a change in. strategy creatively and otherwise in order to take advantage of the potential that a Mercedes Monet

and the rest of the women that you mentioned as well as some that are already there like rebel like britt baker if there's not a creative strategy in place they're just going to show up and take a check like everybody else in that company well the timeless tony storm character is an eric bischroff character through and through if i've ever seen one so hopefully the way she's featured to continues to be an anchor for that division because I think she's done a great job there. Let's let's let's let's let's let's stay with the AW side of things here. We were going to say this for a later part of the show, but I think it's relevant to what we're talking about.

And this was the big news within the television industry this week. And that is this joint streaming venture between ESPN Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery. They're launching a joint stream. streaming sports service in the U.S. For the press release from Warner Bros. Discovery, it will bring together sports linear networks and direct-to-consumer service ESPN Plus offering to include NBA, NFL, WMBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, college sports,

UFC, PGA Tour Golf, Grand Slam Tennis, the FIFA World Cup Cycling, and much more. The service will be offered through a new standalone app built from the ground up for the passionate sports fan. Now, as of now, A.W, not included in this streaming service package. But as we also know, Eric, there has not been a new deal between AW and Warner Brothers discovery finalized as of yet. If that relationship is going to continue, we are not sure. But certainly significant, significant industry news and will change the way that a lot of sports

are consumed. But my question to you, did we just reinvent cable? It's starting to feel that way, right? I mean, and remember when, dude, I remember the first time I ever heard of Hulu. It had to be, I don't know, early 2000s. And I heard about it and I wanted to check it out. And all Hulu was at the time was really cool, like national geographic kind of outdoor footage. At least that was the majority of it that I found initially when I went to Hulu. And now it's, I don't know, HBO Light, I guess, whatever.

And there's so many of them now. And I remember they used to be cheap. Like one of the interesting aspects of streaming was that, oh, you can download this for like three bucks to get all this great content. Well, not anymore. It's getting really, oh, Conrad Thompson, I'll have to call him back. It's getting really expensive now. And my streaming package is looking a lot. like my cable package i guess that's what i'm saying man i rocket finance and try to do some math on

that one to see if it's worth it anymore i mean i think a package like this we don't know the pricing yet but i think we're looking at something of upwards of 50 to 70 dollars we know live sports are premium property so at that point we're talking cable bills you combine that with other services that you have we're talking cable yeah you're spending 120 month on streaming platforms Right. That's what I don't understand. Like, we have gone so roundabout in this. And sure, you could say, maybe you can get a little more in the weeds and on demand with the process of streaming. But paying $70 for buffering and delayed feeds, I don't know, man. Something about that is just not all that appealing to me personally. But I do think there is something to be said about these three major entities, Disney, Fox, and, Warner Brothers Discovery doing business together here. What do you think about that? Survival.

Desperate people do desperate things. Look, cable is getting its ass kicked. I mean, that's, I can't think of it. There's no other way. There's no other commentary that that's worth having for me, at least, because I'm not in the business of cable or streaming anymore. But it sure seems to me like this is strength in number. because individually, they're just getting their asses kicked.

ESPN's getting its ass kicked. Warner Brothers is in such a state of flux. Are they merging with Paramount or selling to Paramount? We haven't heard anything official on that. That's still in play. There's cost cutting, the spinoff of CNN, that's either Donner still in play. I mean, it's such a volatile environment.

I certainly can't have anything to end. add in terms of predictions because it's just one big mess now a w as we said still uncertain as to what it's forecast is going to be with warner brothers discovery but you'd have to imagine if you're tony con you're licking your lips to be part of an opportunity like that we know that warner brother's discovery views a w through the prism of a sports property they've gone on record of saying as much regardless of whether the actual content is or not would be an outstanding opportunity to get some additional eyes or at least be available for those eyes, no? I don't know. Look, demand for the product is what gets you additional. I don't think there's

anybody not watching AEW because they don't have access to it. If there is a number that we're to suggest that because more people in the demo watch, get their entertainment from their phones or their tablets or whatever, then traditional television, there may be some I would suggest infinitesimal number of new viewers that will watch that otherwise didn't. But that's not the typical wrestling fan.

It's just not. I think that that reality of the shift in consumption of entertainment as it relates to digital versus linear or terrestrial television, I think it's a valid conversation. I think it really barely applies to professional wrestling. So to suggest that, oh, my gosh, Tony gets his lick at his chops,

and I'm not criticizing your comment, but Tony's, you know, ringing his hands, can't wait, it'll be a part of that because it's going to mean so. Wait a minute, why is it going to mean anything? Unless there's demand for the product, it just is going to be another data point that's going to be unimpressive. Yeah, but access, I understand you said you believe that AW fans,

if they want the product, they can get it. But having ability to be on a platform that is easily accessible for wide audiences, think about how many shows that people randomly stumble upon when they're on an app. I'm not saying that that's going to account for a large part of me, chunk of your audience, but it's never going to hurt to have your product out in front of more eyes. but it's never going to matter either unless there's an appetite for the product you don't win by default you could make AEW available for free to 100 million people around the world or around the United States or 368 million people doesn't mean they're going to watch it you have to

create demand for the product in order for the distribution opportunities to matter otherwise it's a tree that falls in a very, very, very crowded forest and nobody hears it. So there you go. It's just crazy to me that we really have reinvented the cable model. That's all I kept thinking of when I saw this. And we're going to be in this weird cycle. And how will people pivot out of this in five years' time? I don't know.

But it does kind of underscore WWE getting on the Netflix platform where they're not going to be part of that crowded arena. that is going to be on a streaming service. Yeah, I mean, just think about it, John, from a practical point of view as we're talking through this, it just occurred to me. So AEW or we're talking about AEW. AEW is on the new app. In there with ESP and all of the sports, Fox, all the sports,

whatever it is, all of that sports content is going to be on the same app. How many people you think are going to be going to AEW because they could get it on television. I know I'm coming back to that, but I think anybody that's jumping up and down over that potential opportunity is diluting themselves. I think the number of people that will consume the product that's actually measurable, not some fictitious bullshit that's made up in a promotional press release, but the actual impact in real viewers that are watching product that's not a not a result of duplication is going to be so fractional nobody will report on it but we're also dealing in hypotheticals eric because a w doesn't currently have a deal

with Warner Brothers discovery moving forward so no I'm just suggesting if they did I'm no I know I know I'm adding that to the discourse here like we don't even know if this will be a relevant conversation in a few it may not but let me ask you when is the when does the current AEW with Turner expire? The understanding, it's not publicly known, but the understanding that has been reported is that it's towards quarter four this year. Okay. They're going to have, I would imagine there's, this is, we're not going to have to wait

till the last minute. If there's not an announcement pretty soon, like if, what is it? We're in February. If there's not an announcement by cable upfronts, and that's when you're going to know, I think cable upfronts used to be right after network upfronts, which are in the end of the first quarter, I think, first part of second quarter. So it's coming up. Yeah.

If there's no AEW presence in cable up fronts, start making other plans, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, I'd suspect probably end of Q1, start of Q2 is when we'll find some degree of answer as to the television future. Yeah, so we're talking about weeks. Yeah, we're February 8th right now as we record this. So probably around WrestleMania time, somewhere in that general arena. We'll hear some more information about that. Eric, there was another pretty big piece of news that dropped in the wrestling realm earlier this week as well. And that is that Scott DeMore is out as president of TNA wrestling.

Anthony Chaconi is going to be taking over. he's got an extensive cable executive background but this comes on the heels of tNA rebranding relaunching quite a bit of fanfare in the wrestling discourse um they did their highest attendance numbers they've done in years and now we're getting these changes a talent were made aware of the news on wednesday initially through a press release it was said that demour was terminated there were tons of talent who came out on social media who said that they were upset about this and that they they love Scott DeMore pretty wild turn of events here with all the goodwill that we've been hearing from TNA over the course of the past month or so what did you make of

this news you know I don't know I've never heard anything but positive things about Scott from people that have worked with him going way back to my time in I never worked with Scott at all, so I don't have any personal experience with him that I can talk about. But I can't think of one person, and there's been many, that I've talked to, that didn't have good things to say about Scott, DeMar. Add to that, the recent, look, it's, you know, success or not, how do you measure success, if you're engaged in a long-term strategy and a long-term business plan, you know, success is incremental. If you want to look at, you know, week-to-week television ratings or ticket sales, that's another something to look at.

But there's not one data point that determines whether or not something is being successful. That being said, it's just sure from my perspective. And I don't watch the product a lot. I've dropped in on it like everything else. But from my impression, all the moves have been kind of leading in the right direction. And the goodwill amongst the audience that I've seen publicly has been very, very, is really increased. I've seen a lot more volume of positive T&A kind of comments and conversations just through the course of day-to-day social media activity. So if you've got a guy that's generally really, really well liked and respected by his.

peers or the people that work with him and you've got these positive signs of at least indications of growth there's buzz it seems odd that you would let someone like that go unless there's reasons that we don't know about and that there could be a million of them it could range from Scott having very firm beliefs in a creative direction and strength that he was not willing to compromise on? Or a chemistry issue? Who knows? The initial press release from TNA said that the move aims to further integrate TNA

wrestling into Anthem's entertainment group of which Chaconi is the president, leveraging the entire company's resources to add more value in areas, including production, distribution, marketing, viewership, customer acquisition digital revenue streams ad sales and sponsorships digital tech operations and more blah blah blah blah blah fucking corporate blah blah blah blah speak so what a waste of time there was there was some chatter too that anthem would be open to letting talent go if they were interested on the heels of this. We haven't seen any of that happen yet. Eric, when I saw this move and I read that press release, that blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

part that you just mentioned, the first thing that came to my mind was, I'm curious if they're exploring the possibility of a sale of the entity. That may make sense, because that press release was such a search. jerk. I mean, how could you get any more corporate speak and meaningless narrative into one press release? This is ridiculous. I'm going to read a report from Dave here because he's the only one who's given insight and you can choose to do with it what you will. But he said this week, quote, I think Scott Amor thought that it's time to spend spend some more money, try to go after more talent, try to build this TNA thing up, have a little bit of momentum.

And the anthem people were kind of like, we don't want to increase the budget and maybe even wanted to cut back on the budget, but definitely didn't want to increase it. And it was just a standoff, and that's kind of what happened. So if that information, Eric, were to be truthful and they're in the interest of trying to maintain the budget or even cut down on it, putting those pieces together, plus with that press release, we know that they're not making money on the TNA impact program because it's on a network that they have ownership stake in so they're not licensing that product out putting they're probably not making any money on advertising either which is right right

so putting those pieces together and we know that they already sold off some of the streaming rights to endeavor that says to me that they're at least exploring some sort of an acquisition or sale or change in in some structure within tna just putting some context clues together who would buy it like would tony buy it can't discount anything with tony con but um i mean who else would you know what what does what does it provide to a current wrestling producer that they don't already have so as either wwe or a ewe in a position where they can look at the t and a current distribution and go, wow, that would be added value?

Or are there certain talents there that are under contract? And contract is part of the assets of TNA. So in the case of a sale, the contracts would come along with it. Are there certain talents that WWE or AEW would be interested in as part of the acquisition? What's the library worth? Arguably, the pre-sale, the pre-antham library is probably, probably worth more than the post anthem library just because of the talent and the principle well endeavor has endeavor has the rights to streaming properties with tn a right now okay so so

tn a in a in a sale their video library is not even part of the sale potentially not if i wanted to buy it tomorrow which i probably could actually afford if i wanted to buy it tomorrow goodness If I wanted to buy it tomorrow and I was able to come to terms, part of those terms would exclude the library, correct? That's my understanding. You pop me with that. Dude, you and I could buy this for less money than we spend on, I don't know, sushi throughout the year. Oh, my goodness.

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It's just weird because there was buzz around the product within the industry. Oh, my God. They've got great talent. These talent really likes Scott DeMore. The TNA impact product has been consistent the past couple of years. So many of their talent have gone on to WWE or AW. So it is surprising to see the quickness in which all of this happened and what that could mean. I'll tell you what, Eric, if I'm WWE, based off his reputation, his demonstrated creative mind and his

relationship with talent, Scott the more is someone I'm bringing in no matter what. You're finding a role for him. And if there's a chance that the creative structure in WWE changes. We don't really know what the executive structure of WW is going to look like a year from now. If there are any changes, what a great guy to have on your roster to be able

to move into any different position in creative or talent relations that you like him in. I don't see it in WWE. I don't think Scott hasn't played at that level. But that's not true though. TNA and WWE just had this partnership. They did it with

Jordan Grace. They did it a couple years ago with Mickey James. That was all orchestrated by Scott the Moore. Okay. You can have that one. I disagree that that one instance does not demonstrate a creative history. No, I'm not talking about. Scott's let me finish. Let me finish mucker father. Damn. Jumping my shit on. I can defend myself. Defend yourself on your own time, not mine. Give me a chance to respond for crying out loud. Scott Deaumor, for as long as he's been in the industry, has played in a creative capacity at a very low level. Meaningful level, T&A, initially, yes, meaningful, some good story, some good creative. Scott Die Amour has never played major league

ball. He's played minor league ball. Does that mean he's not capable of playing major league ball? Absolutely not. But there's no perceived immediate high value there based on his track record of playing minor league ball. Because none of those successes have been extraordinary in that minor league. We'll see what I was trying to say before you lost your shit, that I see it, I see a path for Scott in AEW much more. more easily than I see in WWE. WWE right now doesn't need creative horsepower. They need structure, and that,

and we'll talk a lot about that, I'm sure in a press conference. There's a lot of things that creative needs right now, which is all just about stability because of the recent changes, right? You know, it'll get there. But AEW desperately needs somebody like there's a pre-existing relationship with Jeff Jarrett within AEW that would be beneficial to Scott

DeMore at least I think so maybe maybe they got heat that I never heard about but I've always kind of I've always heard good things about Scott from Jeff so I and because the need is greater Scott DeMore could have a much more significant no pun intended impact in AEW than he would being one of of 18 other actually more experienced writers. I don't disagree with that, but I also don't think Scott DeMore's vision of pro wrestling and the way that T&A and impact have been presented the last few years match what Tony Conn's vision is. And then he'll go back to waste management or whatever he was in.

And you can make the argument that, okay, well, you want to see an overhaul of how Tony presents wrestling. That's subjective up to however whatever your preferences are of pro wrestling. but I just don't think that they align. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean, they have worked together. TNA and AW did work together for a period of time. So we'll, we'll see on that front, I suppose. Last thought here, Eric, I want to get into circling back to AW just to finish. Sting one tag team gold on Dynamite this week. And it seems like he's on a collision course with the Youngbucks for his last match in a month's time. Getting one last little title run here,

really feel good moment. His kids were on screen with him. Any thoughts on Sting, getting a little tag team title run here on the way out? I'm just happy for him, man. He's doing what he wants to do. Sting has Steve Borden, who plays the character Sting, has this opportunity to kind of wait the end of his own story and put a period at the end of the last sentence of the last chapter of the Sting character. I think that's such a gift not to be minimized because very few people, There are very few performers, particularly athletes and actors, excuse me, musicians, actors, whatever. You want to end your career on your own terms, and too often your career has been cut short for any number of reasons, self-inflicted or otherwise, and to see somebody like Steve Borden, who I've known for all over 30 years now and worked with for many of those,

in the position to to write the end of his own story i just think it's the best thing ever i get the same feeling have you seen this series griselda no it is so awesome what is her name sophia verga bagara modern family yep she says a wacky bimbo columbian character very very funny does a great job in that she's the executive producer and and lead actress in this series called grizleda and she absolutely transformed herself as a character and in such a powerful way that watching it allows me to consciously go she can't be related to that same modern family character I mean, this isn't the same person. This can't possibly physically be the same person.

She transforms herself so much. And the reason I bring this up and I draw this parallel is because I think what Sophia Vigara is enjoying right now is that gift that allows her to go, you know what? I was very successful with this part of my career. But I want to be in control of the direction of my career. I want to make a big splash in a highly dramatic part. And I think to have the ability and the talent to dictate the course of your character and your career for a performer, that is as close you're going to get to freedom. Because for the most part, your career is not in your hands.

You're so dependent on others to make those choices for you or to typecast you into certain opportunities. And so, Sophia Vigar took a hold of it and said, no, no, no, you're not going to remember me like that. You're going to remember like this. And that's power, you know, that's strength. That's amazing. And that's what Steve is just St. Gordon is doing with his character staying. He's ending it the way he wants to end it.

And I just, I get excited when somebody has achieved that level of success. Yeah. You can measure success by how much money you have in the bank or, You know, how many pictures of yourself and championship belts are you used to hold or surrounded, you know, in your shrine to yourself, whatever it is. But to me, success is freedom and the freedom to choose and to write your own story. And Steve is writing his own story. Yeah, Sean Ross Sapp from Fightful reported today as we record this that Sting didn't want to win the tag team titles. He just wanted to do his own thing.

but Tony Kahn and AW Creative insisted that Darby and Sting had a lot of equity as a tag team built up over the course of the past few years, and they wanted them to have a moment and give Sting an opportunity to be appreciated by the fans. And I think that's great, man. I think any time you can treat a legend right on the way out, that's good for everybody. Everybody gets to enjoy that, man. I'm a big fan of the Darby and Sting tag team. I think they have both benefited each other in a really unique, unexpected way. And as we march towards Greensboro, it's going to be, it's going to be an emotional, emotional night that night where Sting headlines that pay-per-view and gets his farewell.

And I'm sure for you, it'll be a little emotional, too, I'd have to imagine. I may even go. Yeah? I may even go. I may just throw on some makeup and a hat and a wig and walk in like an old man with a cane and just kind of sneak in and incognito and just soak it all up. Yeah. that'd be that'd be something new and greensboro there i'm excited to see i think the young bucks and them are going to put on a great program and a great match and i'm looking forward to that so

a positive way to end this week's strictly business eric anything else you want to throw out there before we gear up for this oh i just encourage everybody if you haven't done so already go to 83 weeks on youtube dot com subscribe subscribe and subscribe again get the little notification bell because for the first time ever, 83 weeks is going live. Your questions, live polls, live interviews from the scene. We're going to be doing all kinds of stuff that we've never done before. So I'm really looking forward to it. I encourage everybody to.

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