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WHAT IF NXT PASSES RAW, DOES AEW REPRESENT HARDCORE WRESTLING, I DON’T KNOW RYAN SATIN AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2019-12-24 10:00:00

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I saw your reply about Ryan Satin being on WWE Backstage and how you said he doesn’t work for WWE, he actually works for FOX.  I wondered the same thing as the person that asked the question, about whether he was a WWE employee.  I thought he worked for WWE too.  Then I saw him go nuts on you on Twitter, saying you called his integrity into question.  You didn’t!  You defended him!  Plus he blamed Mike Johnson for a column that clearly had your name on it.  What is wrong with that guy?  Have you had issues with him in the past or something?

I have never had the pleasure of meeting Satin.  He has shouted at me on social media in the past and it was never a pleasant experience, frankly for reasons like you mentioned above.  He did it again yesterday, even though yes, I did defend him!  I don’t know why he does the things he does but I don’t need to find out either.  Whatever his issue is I can assure you it’s one-sided.  Life is too short for me to waste time on people that perceive slights that aren’t there and make up drama.  He needs to realize that once he signed on to appear on a TV show, he made himself a personality in the business.  

What does it say if an NXT passes Raw in the ratings? 

It all depends on how it were to pass them.  If it’s due to a slight raise for NXT and a bad drop for Raw, that would be a bad thing overall for WWE as it would mean Raw has slipped badly.  If NXT were to grow to the 2 million mark and pass Raw, it would mean Raw had slipped a bit more and NXT was growing.  Obviously, that would be a plus for WWE overall since they still have many years remaining on their Raw deal.  Hopefully it would make Vince McMahon look at what NXT is doing to interest fans and incorporate that into Raw.

Also, if AEW fails, does it mean hard-core fans don’t know what good wrestling is?

I wouldn’t go that far, for a few reasons.  First and foremost, the hardcore fan could simply say that AEW just didn’t do a good job of giving the hardcore fan what they want, and the argument is killed.  Also, there is no uniform idea as to what all hardcore fans want.  People are different.  With that said, if AEW fails, I do think it proves what I have said for years, the action in the ring is only part of the product.  The characters and storylines are more important than the matches to a lot of people.  AEW obviously gives the fans a lot of action so if they fail, I think you could make a good case that an “all action” with very little storytelling product will have a hard time succeeding in the US.

With Jushin Liger's retirement coming up in less than three weeks, I'm wondering, is this an actual retirement (like Terry Funk on several occasions) or more of a retirement from full-time in-ring competition in an NJPW ring (similar to veterans like Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi) with the occasional appearance for an opening match? I like hearing him as a commentator with the announce team on NJPW World and I find it hard to picture New Japan Pro Wrestling without Liger working for the company in any capacity in the future.

He has said he is retiring so I will take him at his word.  He’s 55 years old, which he is able to hide due to the great shape he is in and the suit he wears.  To me, it makes more sense to just retire but it’s wrestling so you never know.  If he were to work again, I would hope it’s not in an opening match scenario.  I too hope he stays on with New Japan.  He IS New Japan to me.

What is your all-time favorite Jushin Liger match?

Boy, that is like trying to pick your favorite kid.  There have been so many great matches.  I think I will go with him vs. Brian Pillman from WCW because it showed America how great he was.  

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