Jim Cornette Believes Tony Khan Needs To Fire Some Talent From AEW

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Jim Cornette has claimed that the AEW roster has become too overcrowded with a number of overpaid talents, meaning that it might be time to let some wrestlers go.

Throughout 2021 the AEW roster continued to expand as the company began producing more and more content. The most high-profile example of this was the launch of AEW Rampage in August, giving the company another hour of television time.

The expansion of the roster was heightened by WWE releasing a huge number of Superstars throughout the year. There were also high-profile stars who decided not to renew their contracts. This led to Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, Andrade El Idolo, Malakai Black and more moving to AEW. There was also the small matter of CM Punk returning to professional wrestling for the first time in more than seven years.

However, with all of the new additions, some of the wrestlers who signed with AEW when it launched, have slid from view.

Speaking on his Jim Cornette Experience podcast, the Louisville Lip, reflected on another round of WWE releases. Although, fans clamour for names such as William Regal to head to AEW, Cornette suggested that it might be time to AEW President Tony Khan to let some people go, as the roster is too big.

“Tony Khan could pick up another 20 people easily by just doing the logical, sensible business thing. To quote Cary Silkin ‘What am I running, make a wish?’ And fire some people of his own! He has still on his roster, his YouTube extravaganza and tapings in closets somewhere that people see on their cell-phones, he’s still got a bunch of people that in no way in the world could benefit the WWE or they would be interested in them in the WWE. They might go out on the indies and in a few years be worth a sht, but right now they aren’t. You could free up, I’ve heard some of the ridiculous amounts that Tony Khan was paying these guys when he first started signing them. As I’ve mentioned before, 5 times what the indies were paying them. What’s 20 x $100,000 a year? You would save a couple of million dollars, and you would never know who he cut. You would never know they were gone unless you look for them. He’s got too many people and too many unimportant people, he is just too fcking nice.”

Cornette and his co-host Brian Last then highlighted the case of Marko Stunt. The legendary manager explained that many of the wrestlers that AEW signed in their early days were never good enough to be regularly featured in a promotion of this size.

“I thought he was gone already. Seriously? Just wad some money up, drive down the interstate and throw it out the fcking window. At the end of the trip, you will have the same thing as if you hired dwarf dong sucker. I know someone out there is going ‘Oh he’s mad at one promotion for firing everyone and he’s mad at the other promotion for them not firing people.’ Here’s the problem, people that the WWE are firing in the large part shouldn’t get fired. So since they are a billion dollar corporation making record profits in a pandemic then [sneers]. But in the case of AEW, they are trying to, and in some cases succeeding in making it look like a real promotion. They’ve got a roster full of guys that never should have been signed in the first place. They weren’t ready and may never be ready and not good enough to be in this spotlight. That is a good reason, especially as he has paid them for a year or two, to say ‘Call me in a couple of years. We will revisit this. Grow up and see you later.’ It’s been charity money so far, they have given nothing to the company. And these morons are remembered as the building blocks of AEW, but that’s why for the first year all we though was that AEW was a dog and pony show, because that was all we were looking at. A bunch of outlaw, mud-show fcks.”

The January 12th episode of AEW Dynamite saw the debut of another new face as Brody King finally arrived, joining forces with Malakai Black.

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Tony Khan Comments On The Briscoes And Possible AEW Interest

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AEW President Tony Khan was on today’s episode of Busted Open Radio and spoke about tonight’s episode of AEW Rampage. He made it clear that there have been certain big draws on the show, one of those being Adam Cole.

“There have been some consistent people who have been big draws on the show, and hopefully that will bode well for tonight’s show. We have seen good ratings in the past when Adam Cole is on the show,” Tony Khan revealed. “Especially when he’s got a good opponent like he does tonight, with Trent Baretta. He and Orange Cassidy, in particular, have been a big part of this revival and, actually, Adam Cole’s opponent tonight, Trent is a big part of it too.

“When you look back before the holidays, we posted our biggest number in a long time the week before Christmas and the match that opened the show that did so well was an eight-man tag, and it was Trent’s comeback match. Now, Trent is wrestling again tonight one on one with Adam Cole.”

Tony Khan also commented on The Briscoes, who have been calling out FTR recently. He admitted that they are a great tag team, but the company has just brought in several other names as well.

“Well, it’s a great team with a great history in Ring Of Honor. We have a great roster right now,” he pointed out. “I think they’re a great team, and definitely somebody to keep an eye on but no, nothing official on them. We debuted so many great wrestlers recently. You mentioned Mercedes Martinez yourself, and of course, we just saw the arrival of Brody King on Wednesday night.

“I would be remiss, I think, if we don’t talk about the arrival of Brody King in the House Of Black, and what that represents. There’s a lot of exciting things. Of course, we do have new World Tag Team Champions, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus, and there’s a ton of great teams lining up to challenge them. We will have to wait and see I guess but they’re a great team who I have followed for well over 15 years. Who am I kidding? Much longer than that and I think they’re great wrestlers.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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MJF, Adam Cole, CM Punk: Seven next potential AEW World Champions

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Hangman Adam Page may have only defeated Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear a few weeks ago, but there are already several wrestlers who can stake their claim for a shot at the gold.

With fans excited about what dream matches Page could have as Champion, GiveMeSport looks at six possible opponents for the cowboy, who could even bring his title reign to an end.

Written by Simon Bullock.

CM Punk

Since arriving in AEW in August after a seven-year hiatus, CM Punk has gone on a seven-match win streak and is undefeated.

The Best in the World has picked up some impressive wins over established talent like Darby Allin and Eddie Kingston, as well as going toe-to-toe with some younger wrestlers like Daniel Garcia and Powerhouse Hobbs.

It is inevitable that CM Punk will one day challenge for the World Title, and it will be interesting to see how many more wins he needs to put himself in contention.

For now, Punk is engaged in a rivalry with MJF that has the wrestling world buzzing, but when the time comes for him to step up to the champion, he will add a level of star power to the main event scene that very few others possess.

Adam Cole

After making his AEW debut at All Out and aligning himself with the Elite, Adam Cole has been on a roll.

He is one of the most popular wrestlers in the company, has a 7-0 record in singles competition, that includes wins over Jungle Boy and Frankie Kazarian, and with Kenny Omega on an indefinite hiatus away from action, now is the time for Cole fill his role and lead the Elite going forward.

If Page is still the champion by the time Cole challenges, then the story between the two is already written. We’ve seen the Dark Order and the Elite face off recently on the Halloween episode of Dynamite in an entertaining eight-man tag team match, and Page and Cole have history together as well, having been part of Bullet Club at the same time.

Cole is ready to be the face of AEW, his time as the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history shows that he can run with the ball when given it, it’s just a matter of when.

MJF

From day one of AEW, it was clear to see that Maxwell Jacob Friedman was heading to the top. Tony Khan’s promotion is nearly three years old now, and in that time MJF has just got better and better.

With pinfalls over Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho to his name, MJF is on the cusp of breaking through into becoming a top star and a World Championship win would be enough to make him a household name.

Unlike the names mentioned earlier, MJF has already challenged for the belt and came up short when he faced Jon Moxley at All Out 2020 but has only lost one singles match in the time since and is currently at the top of his run.

The Pinnacle leader and Hangman have never met in an AEW ring before, in any form of competition, so a rivalry between the two would be a fresh and exciting pairing.

Miro

Miro has been a standout performer in AEW since his transformation into becoming ‘The Redeemer’.

His run with the TNT title brought about some of the best character work we have seen from Miro in his career to date and elevated God’s Favourite Champion to heights he hadn’t reached previously.

A World Championship shot may not be on the horizon now, after his most recent loss to Danielson, but a few more wins to build himself back up and Miro will once again feel like a legitimate contender for the top prize.

For years, fans have wanted to see Miro given a fair chance in the main event and based on his run with the TNT Championship, it won’t be long before he reaches that level.

Malakai Black

Despite losing his final match in the Cody series, he holds two wins over the American Nightmare, a record no other wrestler can claim to have, which immediately cements Black’s status as one of the promotion’s top guys.

With a near-perfect presentation of his character and top-level in ring ability, a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounds everything Black does in AEW, and that kind of interest is hard to create.

For as much as everyone would love to see the Dutchman challenging for the World Championship, if Black were to lose, then there is the possibility that he wouldn’t feel as special as he does currently and that would be a massive shame.

But when the time is right, he showed in NXT, Black is more than ready to hang with the best.

Andrade El Idolo

Andrade El Idolo’s arrival in AEW was met with a lot of fanfare and in his first few months in his new company, the Mexican has been facing off against the best.

He holds wins over PAC and Cody Rhodes, in addition to competing in the same matches as the likes of Jon Moxley, the Lucha Brothers and even Adam Page.

Andrade was wrestling in the Casino Ladder Match in October, when Page made his triumphant return after time away to win the match and earn a shot at Omega at Andrade’s expense, so there is already a bit of a story set up there.

Like Miro, it feels like Andrade needs a few more wins before he can be considered as a serious contender for Hangman, but in a few months’ time there is every chance he’ll be able to take the belt from AEW’s favourite cowboy.

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John Silver Discusses His Chemistry With Recent Top AEW Signee

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John Silver has emerged as one of the Dark Order’s breakout stars. Silver has skyrocketed his stock from being one of the group’s background players to getting singles spotlight against top AEW stars like Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.

Silver and Cole have stood opposite each other both in the ring and on Being The Elite. The two had a recurring segment where Silver attempted to recruit Cole to the Dark Order but suggested he make some familiar changes to his look. Silver noted he didn’t have a prior relationship with Cole, and that the chemistry with the Panama City Playboy just came naturally.

“I wrestled once at an indie show years ago. I met him a few times too, but we weren’t like best friends or anything,” Silver told Barstool Rasslin’. “It was just one of those things where we had really good chemistry, like when you just talk to someone and it’s there.

“He’s a really nice guy, so it’s easy with him. We had the idea of us trying to recruit him and that kind of exploded a bit. We had the idea of us cutting his hair, and he was like, ‘Let’s do the name change and the manager stuff.’ I didn’t even realize those were a thing. We had to do all of them.”

While Silver entered AEW as a stoic lackey for his faction, he began to showcase his personality through skits with the late Brodie Lee. Silver revealed his BTE segments with the Exhaulted One caught the attention of AEW President Tony Khan, who encouraged him to bring it to television.

“Me and [Brodie] had such good chemistry,” Silver said. “He would get in my face and scream at me, calling me a little b—h, and I had to try not to laugh. Our chemistry was so good that Tony wanted us to do it on TV. He was like, ‘You guys have to do this on TV. I’m thinking a Raven, Stevie [Richards] type thing.’ We started doing it on TV a little bit. Chemistry like that, you feel it, and you have to do something with it.”

Silver praised his late friend, emphasizing that all the good sentiments fans hear about Brodie are true.

“He’s one of those guys that no one has anything bad to say about, ever,” Silver said. “I don’t think anyone’s done an interview where they said they didn’t get along with him. He got along with everyone. Such a good guy, such a family man. He always wanted to get home to see his family right away. He never went out with everyone. He was so naturally funny and such a good guy. You can’t say anything negative about him.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Barstool Rasslin’ with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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Britt Baker On When She Knew Adam Cole Would Sign With AEW

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Britt Baker recently appeared on In The Kliq Podcast and during the podcast she spoke in detail about Adam Cole joining the company. The AEW Women’s Champion stated she didn’t give him any added pressure as she knew he was stressed.

“I didn’t really have to give him any persuasion or advice or anything,” she said. “We live together, he knows pretty much everything that goes on at my workplace, the behind the scenes, how it works, how it runs, and who’s all there. I didn’t know what he was going to do to be totally honest with you.

“I didn’t want to add any outside pressure,” Britt revealed. “Because I knew he was already really stressed out about it. He had a lot of people in NXT that he was really good friends with and loved working with.”

Britt Baker also spoke about Adam Cole’s love for wrestling fans. She claimed it would be hard to find someone who loves the audience more, revealing his dedication to them can drive her nuts but she knew the AEW fans would help persuade him to sin.

“He loves the fans. You’d be hard-pressed to find a wrestler that loves fans more than Adam Cole,” she stated. “It sometimes drives me nuts; I have to admit. But, we will be out to eat, or at the airport, anywhere, he will stop and sign a million autographs for anybody.

“And AEW just has the best fans on the planet,” Baker claimed. “You can’t argue that, they’re just absolutely electric. I know he could see that watching our shows because we do get to travel every week to these big arenas where we have 10’s of thousands of people and that is something that he craves, that fan interaction.”

Finally, Britt Baker revealed how she knew Cole would sign with the company. She put over the AEW President, Tony Khan, as she felt he would sign after meeting him because there is no greater boss, according to her.

“Not to mention Tony Khan, who is absolutely fantastic,” she stressed. “I knew as soon as he talked to Tony Khan, that was it because there’s no boss better, in any area of any industry than Tony Khan.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit In The Kliq Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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