So here is the entire story I was told by some insiders at AEW.
Randy was approached by AEW about coming to them and they offered him a deal. Randy then went to vince and asked for a counter offer and got offered much more than what aew was offering.
Randy went to AEW and told them of vince's counter offer and here is where it gets interesting. From what I was told, AEW execs did not believe randy when he said what Vince's offer was, and thought that Randy was bluffing for more money and said he wasn't worth what he was asking. They were trying to talk him down to less money but Randy got offended but how they did it and took Vince's offer and the AEW execs got embarrassed about the whole thing
Last edited by Gryphon; 12-27-2019 at 12:21 PM.
That was a huge surprise. Was just at the MSG house show last night. (First time ever at that!) In any case, definitely thought that Rey was going to retain. He gave this great speech before the match thanking the fans and how much of an honor it was to be at MSG, so I thought no way this match would end with a hero like Rey losing. For a few seconds after the match I was in such a daze that I had forgotten that it was for the U.S. title and didn't know Andrade was the new champ! Overall, it was a good match.
Some other thoughts:
- A live show seems slower than it does on TV. Maybe it's because I'm not getting all of the angles on TV. Finally understood high spots because those are the moments you remember the most. Marked out several times.
- Top stars are stars for a reason. Their personalities resonate in a live setting. Randy was just so cocky and arrogant. He gave the "Too Sweet" sign when mocking Styles as well as to others in the audience. Also gave it to the snow man on stage when he was walking to the back . Becky was awesome. After her match, spend a good couple of minutes just going around the crowd and taking pictures with every fan. Owens was hilarious too. Busted a couple of guts when he said, "Hey Seth, you're a jackass!" Comedic gold.
- Got to talking with a lot of the people around me. Laughed and chatted with a guy and his kid, plus another guy in the row in front. And found it cool that a family from Italy was sitting in the row behind me. High-fived the father after one of the matches. WWE is global indeed!
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
Apparently, NJPW will not be airing on AXS TV for the foreseeable future due to the advertisers going to Impact Wrestling
Yeah, If he was the first he'd be making Jericho money. But you have to be the first. Otherwise you're good for an initial buzz and that's it.
He has a great personality, but he's not known for being amazing in-ring performer such that you want to see Orton vs. (Insert AEW Star) name here.
AEW needs to be smart with money.
From what Im hearing, AEW tried to pretend they never had talks with Randy and that this was just randy doing stuff to get a better deal from Vince.
This is for two reasons
1. they don't wnt it known how they let him slip through their grasp
2. thy don't want it known that Vince can easily outbid them
A thid thing is.....Randy isn't the only WWE star AEW has tried and failed to poach. they had talks with numerous people once they were able to speak with other companies but almost all signed new wwe deals instead. This includes AJ Styles for instance and another they wanted was Xavier Woods. They will likely get the revival but that might be it for the time being. AEW is saying they don't want to just hire everyone leaving wwe, but that seems to be because they honestly didn't count on their offers being turned down