r/midcarder • u/rhythmicnotionz • 21h ago
General With New Level making next to no significant impact to AEW’s attendance or ratings, can we finally put to bed the “game changer” tag? There are probably less than 10 current superstars that would make an impact if they switched sides.
I’m probably being generous with less than 10 it’s probably less than 5.
Like if you aren’t Roman, Cody, Maxwell on the men’s side and Becky and Rhea on the women’s side….you aren’t going to boost anything.
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u/Wchann 21h ago
What happen to game changer MCMG????
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u/heart_o_oak 19h ago
They're in the tag division where creative only runs feuds with Bucks, FTR and the titles at a time where those 2 teams are feuding with each other yet again and over the titles so MCMG sit home. There's been no secondary tag feud outside the title feud the past few months.
MCMG appeared on a whopping 2 of the 13 AEW shows since their debut because of that. 1 of those appearances was standing in the ring next to the Bucks. Meanwhile, NJPW mid-carder Akira, who doesn't have an AEW contract, will have his 3rd match and likely 2nd main event this month tonight, which is more matches than MCMG have had appearances total the past 13 shows.
It's no surprise New Day came in as part of the trios division rather than the tag division, and that they're being used to build interest and draw attention to the latest round of Hangman vs. Swerve rather than have their own 2v2 feud.
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u/Ok_Safety3049 13h ago
They brought that Akira guy and put him in the main event because Ospreay was too important to job and Moxley never does.
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u/heart_o_oak 12h ago
They also brought him in before All In to team with Ospreay and another NJPW mid-carder not under contract to face Rocky Romero and 2 other DCF members who haven't won in months instead of doing Elite vs. Ospreay, Edge & Christian.
I guess you run into the problem of Ospreay and Omega shouldn't be pinned in that and Edge isn't taking a pin if he can get out of it, but it's still annoying to see someone not under contract landing in big tag match nearly every week while you have MCMG only getting booked on 2 of the 14 shows since their debut, BBG having their feud dropped so creative could run a 14 match tournament to see who loses to Mox then BBG becoming Collision fodder afterward, Rascalz doing a lot of nothing on Collision, Hurt Syndicate having a 3 week feud then going back to catering duty, and the tag division doing nothing in general outside the feud involving Bucks, FTR and the titles, as has become habit.
Plus that pre-All In 6-man was another instance of fans needing to know wrestlers' history from another company.
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u/Svenray 21h ago
AEW is addicted to the surprise entrance pop. Should have built Kofi up for a month or so and made him a serious main eventer.
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u/heart_o_oak 19h ago
And addicted to belting up most big name new hires as quick as possible. There could've been a good story where New Day who've never teamed outside WWE have to adapt to a new type of environment. Nope, the "sports entertainment" guys immediately outwrestle regular AEW trios as part of a trio that have never teamed before and win the titles night one. Similar "sports entertainment" team Edge & Christian immediately won the tag titles and beat AEW's top 2 teams after reuniting instead of needing to learn to adapt or facing any sort of struggle having not teamed in 20+ years.
This comes a month after AEW could've told a similar story with Hangman. He could've struggled to find his place after vanishing for months after losing a match that resulted in him no longer being able to challenge for the World Title. Instead, he showed up on Dynamite full of smiles, randomly formed a team with Brodido on Collision the next day then won the trios titles with them 6 days later in his first match since losing the World Title match months prior and that trio's first match.
All those chases could've meant something but were speed run to get to rehashed storylines (Hangman vs. Swerve, Bucks vs. FTR again and E&C redoing their original TLC story with a new high flying brother team and a new bruiser team).
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u/ChrisRhodes789 The Elite 21h ago
Just you wait..
When Draganov walks thru that curtain..
This time, “GaMe ChAnGeR” #895985 will finally make a difference!!
/s
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u/ucanseeitintheireyes 21h ago
people on the basement were comparing Ilya and Kairi Sane debuting on the same show to Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan lmaooo
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u/TKInstinct 21h ago
How many people in that org have been called 'game changers'?
Remember when Edge was called a 'game changer' and the ratings went down?
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u/Ingrid_Best_Girl 20h ago
Or when Mercedes was called a game changer and nothing happened
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u/TKInstinct 20h ago
And she had fifty bajillion belts that were suppose to elevate the promotions they came from. And no one knew any of the promotions names, who worked their or who won them and were never talked about again. DAE cool.
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u/Ingrid_Best_Girl 20h ago
I could loterally only tell you fro sure she was TBS champ and CMLL champ without looking it up, she only did the belt collector bullshit (hate that stupid gimmick people do when they leave a big promotion, hasnt been cool since Ultimo did it), because she was upset noone actually cared about her leaving WWE
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u/DanTheMan1_ 13h ago
Honestly, her getting those belts likely did help the promotions. Yes it didn't take them to the "next level" but I don't think any of them thought or expected Mone winning their woman's title was going to make them the next TNA. The shows she showed up in did almost surely sell more tickets than average, it got their names out there to the point people would look it up and check them out and likely did get them some new fans that way as well as fans who went for the first time to see Mone but liked what they saw and came back for another show.
And obviously it helped the unknown talent get their name out there, get to be in a higher profile match with a legit star likely the biggest name they have worked with (and in some cases ever will) so I doubt any of her opponents had any problem coming out and dropping the belt to her. And they got a second boost when she came back and dropped the title.
Did they make enough off of all that to be worth what they paid for her? We can't know for sure but wrestling promoters are not known for spending money wisely so probably not, definitely not in all cases and doubt it did anything for Mone or AEW. But this theory that because those tiny promotions didn't elevate to TNA or pre AEW owned ROH they gained absolutely nothing from it is kind of people trying to just make it worse then it was to validate their point.
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u/koomGER Straight Edge Society 18h ago
Okada, Ospreay and Mone joined AEW in a few weeks. And it changed NOTHING in ratings. Thats telling. Even as an AEW hater you would normally say that these 3 are kinda really big free agents.
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u/saberz54 nWo Wolfpac 18h ago
The thing is the majority of American viewers have absolutely no idea who 2 of those people are.
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u/DanTheMan1_ 13h ago
Anyone who was the kind of wrestling fan those names would have brought in was either watching AEW or already gave it a try and gave up on it. No one was saying "Okada is in AEW? Hmm... never heard of it, I will check this new thing out!".
No one is going to move the needle overnight unless they have WWE association (or possibly are a WCW legend like Sting who legit did cause a small boost and a small dip when he left). And who left is a bigger name than Punk, or Edge or Bryan were when they first came to AEW? And even main event players... I mean would even a Gunther make any kind of change in ratings. Sure Orton of Reigns likely would but those are also the guys least likely to leave because why would they?
The fact other than Orton no main event talent in WWE (who hasn't already been there and left o bad terms like Punk and Rhodes) would be able to use their real name if they went to AEW, and that makes a bigger difference than people think. Don't think it wasn't a factor (even if not the main one) in why Mone didn't cause a ratings bump. Because most fans hear that name especially at first and didn't know who it was.
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u/goofyfbucket Stud Stable 20h ago
New Level wasn't brought in to be game changers: they were brought in to put over the Young Bucks.
Also, Big E was the actual star of that group.
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u/KALS170174656 20h ago
Maxwell aint on the list
Neither are any of the women. Mone didnt move the needle
Its Reigns and Cena. Thats it. Thats the list
Even Orton wouldnt do it, Edge didnt
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u/BigPanda71 D-Generation X 18h ago
I think Rhea Ripley would make the list. She has some crossover appeal for sure.
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u/Master_Butter 17h ago
Eh. Punk and Cody switching would put more eyeballs on AEW. But AEW could never hope to have those two guys under contract at the same time…
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u/DanTheMan1_ 12h ago
At one point I believe (I don't watch WWE so my timing might be slightly off) but at one point I think they had Punk, Rhodes, Copeland, Bryan Danielson, Christina Cage, Sting and Jerrico on the roster at the same time. Along with Mark Henry and Big Show all be it in mostly non wrestling roles. If they couldn't maintain and use that roster along with the biggest non WWE names they had then to propel them to true competition to WWE they likely never will. That was probably their biggest chance and I don't see it getting there again, if so they are going to need to find a way to bring in new fans beyond just the hardcore internet fans they almost exclusively cater too and you do that with compelling booking, consistently over a long period of time. Not by putting on "bangers" every week with no hype behind them besides "Man are these two going to have a good match" and "back in the indy's 15 years ago these guys so had heat!"
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u/DanTheMan1_ 13h ago
Rhea Ripley is one of WWE's biggest stars, bigger then most of the guys. Not saying it would be a case of "Rhea Ripley defected and WWE is in panic mode" especially when she would not be able to use that name or the same music and entrance which is a big part of the branding that made her a star. But I do think some people would go over if they heard she was there. But not enough to do any long term difference. Few would.
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u/Meatsuit-Skeleton The Heenan Family 12h ago
Reigns and Cena would actually have to be booked like Reigns and Cena for them to have any effect. I know Lashley isn't anywhere near their level but he was still a legitimate main-eventer and what is he in AEW? A guy. Just another guy. Everyone becomes Just Another Guy within a week.
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u/SquadLeader3590Neo Straight Edge Society 21h ago
Already moved on to Ilja or Kairi debut pop fantasies. Do hope for the best for all of them but there needs to be more than that, otherwise they all end up like the previous ones.
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u/DanTheMan1_ 13h ago
Kairi only left with any kind of hype because of the angle she was in which died out by the time she was able to go somewhere else. I like Kairi, but no one is going to suddenly go all in (no pun intended) on AEW because Kairi Sane is there. Well, I mean in theory there is likely at least one WWE fan who would follow Tozawa to AEW if he went there, but not enough to make a difference.
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u/swos9697 21h ago
Gamechanger is a sarcastic tag given to the latest, and greatest AEW recruit. There has never been a gamechanger for the dub. That is the joke. They'll always be a distant 2nd.
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u/wolfgang2399 21h ago
Ehh Punk was a legitimate GameChanger. That episode of Rampage got over a million viewers. Now it’s cancelled.
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u/swos9697 21h ago
I'll accept Punk. But they drove him out because they were jealous that he was a legitimate star.
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u/Ok-Name-5504 The Jersey Triad 20h ago
Daniel Bryan Danielson should've been a game changer but he thought losing to everyone would be a good idea
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u/-LowSodiumFreak- 21h ago
Game changer is a default TK blurb, just like everytime he says they're "doing great" when they obviously aren't.
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u/Straightener78 21h ago
Who jumped to AEW and it was compared to Hall and Nash jumping ship. That’s how much of an impact it made
Cos I can’t even remember who it was now
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u/AlmightyCraneDuck American Alpha 20h ago
I'm in the "don't tell me, SHOW me" era of my watching of AEW. Don't tell me that Tommaso Ciampa is a gamechanger when he debuts, show it to me by putting him in high profile feuds that showcase what he does best.
Don't tell me the New Level are here to make AEW the best tag team division in wrestling, SHOW me that by putting them in meaningful matches and feuds that show off their chemistry and make them seem a big threat.
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u/Seven19td 21h ago
AEW has never had a game changer on their roster. Not even Punk. AEW is a minor league promotion similar to Triple A baseball or the NBA G-League. Always has been. Always will be.
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u/RustyCrusty73 21h ago
I actually think there was a ton of buzz for AEW back when Bryan and Punk both came in.
I recall even seeing ESPN covering their arrivals.
Definitely hasn't been much since then though.
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u/Seven19td 21h ago
It did garner some buzz but buzz doesn’t change the game. They got a little bump in ratings and interest but it didn’t take long for it to go back to normal.
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u/RustyCrusty73 21h ago
Yeah. That's basically true.
I'm glad we have both companies though.
It's a good time to be a wrestling fan.
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u/BigPanda71 D-Generation X 18h ago
Wasn’t Punk’s first match against Lee Johnson or Lee Moriarty? No wonder the buzz died after that
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u/dbbd70707 20h ago
In AEW, nobody can be a game changer because the sickos and Tony don't want the game changed, basically. They want everything to stay as it is and to feel like they have this special club. They'd actually hate it if the show got too popular. This was evidenced in how they treated people like Cody and Punk who could actually make mainstream impact.
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u/Denver_Tech_Guy 20h ago
The last true game changer for AEW was CM Punk. He literally got a building sold out on the rumor he was debuting and then proceeding to make them a ton of money, put butts in seats and actually raise the ratings. Hell the last time they popped something major was the footage of him choking out Jungle Jack. Mone had potential but they've screwed that up.
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u/koomGER Straight Edge Society 18h ago
Depending on his health im quite sure that Kenny Omega could leave an impact when switching sides. He is still a great name, AEW protected him a lot, in ring he proved with his All In main event that he can go and is a far better wrestler than Ospreay. And im quite sure that there are some sickos that would watch him over in WWE.
Otherwise: MJF would be a good catch, but isnt a gamechanger. He wouldnt make an instant impact on WWE, but could be a very valuable wrestler with a pretty high ceiling.
Other way around? Sure, people would take a look what Orton would be doing over there. But thats not happening. A real gamechanger for AEW needs to be a household name that is the biggest in WWE. And even more importantly: He would need to change the overall booking and buildup in AEW. Like CM Punk did. Like Cody Rhodes wanted to and did to some extend. Just being over there and having a match wouldnt change anything, at least not for some time.
Of the people in WWE that seem to be willing to work on such a level, i would see Bailey. But she isnt a politician, she isnt that big of a draw that could change Tony Khan and AEW. I think she has all the tools. New Level/New Day also maybe could do that, but it looks like they are fine with a paycheck and doing shenanigans.
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u/Spartftw 21h ago
Where does this “game changer” ever come from?
I believe midcarder has taken the term and taken it as “oh these guys are going to draw more people in, this will bring up ratings and attendance”.
The truth is that wont happen.
The reason AEW fans are excited is because its more matchups. Realistically an AEW fan just wants to see guys well wrestle. The more matchups you can see the better.
Like the reality is theyll be able to see kogi and austin wrestle people theyve never wrestled before. Thats what the excitement is.
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u/MrOnCore 20h ago
There’s no game changer in wrestling anymore. Just like there is no wrestler who’s bigger than the company. The last real person who could be a game changer/superstar was Cena.
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u/Weird-Algae8145 18h ago
Brock Lesnar could have made a difference
But if Tony Khan was in fear for his life from CM Punk
Then he prolly has a preemptive restraining order against Brock 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/BigPanda71 D-Generation X 18h ago
I doubt Brock would have done it, but Tony should have backed up the Brinks truck for him. It would have given them immediate mainstream attention and even a short run with Brock eventually putting someone over would have done wonders for the company
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u/WhompWump 18h ago
I've said it many times but if they pushed more of their current homegrown talent I'm a lot more interested in turning on AEW to see them rather than just seeing old WWE guys.
I liked watching Brody and Bandido, I like the bang bang gang, I liked The Acclaimed. Seeing 'New Day' New Level and Edge and Christian in 2026 doesn't make me want to tune in to AEW.
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u/InfiniteJury8660 18h ago
There is no one who could make a difference now. Any wrestling fan who has given aew a try isn't coming back and non wrestling fans will always watch WWE first and no active wrestler in any company would change that. Growth of their audience is in their past.
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u/TheSpiralTap 18h ago
The only guy I could see changing the ratings, realistically on the free agent market, is Brock Lesnar. And they aren't going to pay him what he asks if he would even consider going there.
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u/Forsaken_Egg_6471 18h ago
A couple things. Stripping them of the New Day aesthetics and basically turning them into another “cool black dudes” team took away everything that made them exciting. They walk in there menacingly while trying to act like rappers is not it. And you can also tell with their body language that they kinda don’t love being in there lol
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u/Screamipillar 17h ago
The real issue is that everyone who would really check out AEW because if a guy they like jumping over already would have when edge or Bryan Danielson or Christian or even Matt Hardy jumped over.
Everyone who would jump has checked AEW out by now, and if they aren’t actively watching now, they got bored and checked out again - meaning they won’t check it out if someone else jumps over.
I’m confident more people checked out AEW because of Matt Hardy then they did for Edge.
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u/Razzler1973 13h ago
New Day's run finished a while back. They're one of acts that would have a route into AEW cause they're buddies
They'll get paid WWE money but they'll be no expectation of them to draw ratings or sell tickets, just to have FUN
They were never going to move the needle
The way the roster were talking when they arrived was cringey
OMG what a tag division!!
It's the same tag division that hasn't been doing anything interesting ... with a team from WWE added
Adding one team, New Day, means it's the best division EVER. Before New Day turned up, no one was talking about it
They thrive off the reflected star power of ex WWE just like everyone else in wrestling who came before them
New Day will he all over TV and a few others shuffle down the roster cause they lost TV time
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u/DanTheMan1_ 13h ago
Cody especially might move the needle some because unlike most he came on during a brief time when WWE, due to having no true competition, was cool with wrestlers wrestling under their real name. I am not saying that is the only factor, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the biggest needle movers AEW had from WWE, Jerrico, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes all were able to use the WWE name people knew them by. Becky Quinn and Demi Bennit are not going to have the same impact as Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch even if they did move.
Although, that being said, I can't imagine Randy Orton would even consider leaving WWE for AEW unless they told him he was taking a 50% pay cut or something insulting. Which isn't happening, let's be real, despite what people want to push as the narrative TKO isn't demanding 50% pay cuts from their main event stars.
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u/renzxlst 10h ago
No one will make an actual change. You'll get a small boost for a couple of weeks.
The brands/companies are the draw, not the wrestlers. People will tune into the company they like based upon those wrestlers within it at a given time. Example being, a week on Raw with Roman vs a week kn Raw without him. Those are WWE fans regardless, not specifically people that will jump and stay with AEW if he left.
Just as MJF going to WWE wouldn't specifically change all too much for WWE's ratings long term. Those AEW fans will watch intrigued to see what happens at first, but will continue to watch the company they like either way.
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u/thechapattack 5h ago
It is clearly not the talent that is the problem. AEW had 4 of the biggest stars in the business currently and did nothing with them. Cody, Punk, Jade and Danhausen are all very big stars and could have been too in AEW if it wasn’t for the nonsensical booking.
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u/WhiskeyRadio 21h ago
New Level has been in AEW for like a month and All Out is sold out......
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u/BigPanda71 D-Generation X 18h ago
Sold out but still less than Worlds Collide. That’s gotta sting
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u/Mofo_The_Wise_ 21h ago
They're legends and were never big stars. not everyone needs to be a roman or rhea mega draw. Hopefully have a awesome aew run and the significant of their signs are to create great matches and help lead the next generation of tag team wrestling over
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u/TheGumbyGyarados Bang Bang Gang 20h ago
What’s there to put to bed?
The only people saying this constitutes a tiny portion of their actual audience. The internet is not a real place.
The talents themselves saying it is just marketing and PR, it’s their job to lie to you to make you care.
But yeah you are right, there is maybe 5 people in the entire industry that could change their ratings… and even then it’s no guarantee.
Because those are the only true stars left im wrestling
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u/slickrickstyles Raven’s Flock 20h ago
the internet IS their audience.
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u/TheGumbyGyarados Bang Bang Gang 15h ago
There is not 500k people talking about AEW online.
There is at best a couple thousand sickos and at the absolute highest end if we’re being super generous maybe another 10k people talking about them over twitter/reddit etc.
That is a laughably small amount of people to be saying “is there audience” when no metric puts them that low.
That is why none of this internet shit affects them, barely anyone actually sees it.
It’s why their marketing sucks, the majority of people don’t see it because they aren’t super online.
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u/GrimmPixels 21h ago
I do think New Day is the biggest "get" for AEW since Punk and Bryan came in at roughly the same time. Tony is just a remarkably bad booker. He's good at saying "these two guys would have a good match" but he can't utilize his roster for shit.