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Tony Schiavone said on the AEW Dynamite post-show on Wednesday that Sting taking the Brian Cage powerbomb was Sting's idea and that he was 100% fine after the spot.
Former WWNLive Champion JD Drake is working this Tuesday's AEW Dark, facing Eddie Kingston. The two have faced off in entertaining bouts for EVOLVE in the past.
All signs are that the announced Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega barbed wire explosion match will be live on the 3/7 Revolution PPV. A few readers have asked if it will be taped. We are told that is not the case.
We've also had a few readers ask what the difference is between AEW streaming their special next Sunday on Bleacher Report vs. the Bleacher Report Live app. I somehow forgot to include this in today's Q&A so I'm posting it here as there are a few things to think about here.
One, AEW partners with WarnerMedia, so anything that they can do, whether its featuring Shaq or Snoop Dogg on their programming, that can assist WarnerMedia, has to be seen as a major positive for the relationship between the two - so having the special on another WarnerMedia platform is a nice feather in AEW's cap and shows they and Warner are still growing their relationship.
Two, Bleacher Report has been a major piece of WarnerMedia since they first purchased it back in 2012 for $175 million. Since that time, they've poured a lot of money into the technology and infrastructure to evolve it into a major platform with the idea being that they wanted to be ahead of the curve as streaming became a more important part of the world. Bleacher Report is a MASSIVE platform and makes tons of money for WarnerMedia. AEW being on that platform vs. Bleacher Report Live is a huge promotion in terms of the potential of eyeballs that can come across the special as it's not behind a paywall. Now, as we've seen with WWE Network's recent deal with Peacock that kicks off next month, there is a ton of money to be made by licensing content to streaming services. AEW wants to have the type of relationship with WarnerMedia that WWE has with NBCU - where they are involved in all nooks and crannies as a corporate partner. There is obviously money to be made in streaming, so if AEW can help their partner make that money - and make some for themselves as well, this special opens the door for opportunity for AEW to create an additional regular revenue stream, something more important than ever due to the pandemic. Content is king, and AEW is offering fresh content and corporate synergy.
Three, by utilizing the women's division as the driving force for the special, AEW is also putting their female competitors squarely in the spotlight, something that at times online fans have complained AEW doesn't do enough of consistently. Just a week ago, we were receiving emails asking why the Japan Bracket of the Women's Eliminator wasn't being shown on Dynamite live and how that was unfair to those talents, ignoring that the logistics of doing that during a a 2 hour live broadcast in the middle of a pandemic was ridiculously insane. Instead, AEW will have given talents a few YouTube specials in recent weeks and is now entrusting their female talents to carry a pilot special for the promotion on Bleacher Report. If that doesn't show that AEW is seeking to give their female talents the same opportunities their male counterparts get, I don't know what else one could argue that AEW should do. The special next Sunday features a big marquee bout in Thunder Rosa vs. Riho that is part of the top storyline for the women (chasing Hikaru Shida leading into the Revolution PPV) and puts those talents, not Cody Rhodes or Kenny Omega or Jon Moxley in front of lots of new potential eyeballs. All of this seems to be in line with AEW trying to do right by their female stars, especially if this can lead to regular streaming programming on Bleacher Report or elsewhere, since streaming is where the younger, more important eyeballs are - and where they are, is the money.
AEW has released a St. Patrick's Day themed Best Friends & Orange Cassidy t-shirt at this link.
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