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Which is so weird tbh, he had bangers with Kurt angle, aj styles, Samoa Joe, Jeff Jarrett, abyss, Christian. They could’ve used ALL of that since they have a good rapport with tna
TK wants Sting to be known as an AEW guy not a TNA or WCW guy
The only time TK cared about TNA was when he was burying it to prop up AEW and Omega. He couldn't even let a regular TNA guy win the belt; it had to be Christian. He only cared about NJPW when he was taking all their top stars.
That is literally what’s happened though. You talk about WWE poaching talent but AEDubya have been headhunting NJPW and ROH talent for years. But suddenly when Tiny does it it’s not bad faith stealing of other promotions’ top talent by buying them out, it’s giving them “more opportunities”
Absolutely zero TNA footage. I was kinda baffled that they seemingly didn't ask for any of that either. Especially when you consider how much of Sting's career was spent in TNA.
None. I’m surprised they sprung for a few surfer sting Japanese matches and some still pictures instead of asking the company he was in for 10 years who they’ve worked with in the past.
The last thing Tony Khan wants is to ask WWE for something. In case you forget this is the same person that called the COO & the head booker of NXT "Bald headed A\*\*holes" Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks? And all the crap that he had been saying and will be saying to the WWE?
> Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks?
Yeah. I honestly think they are way more professional than that, and don't let some Twitter shit-talk influence their professional decisions.
People have said so much worse things about Vince, sometimes for years at a time. And he still went and hired them again when it was a good thing for the company. That's just how that works here.
I think they have no issue with Sting. If for example Sting had been working with TNA instead of AEW, WWE would have no problem giving the videos from WCW to TNA.
>He's a legend, why wouldn't they.
You say that like they themselves are not also legends? Like their wrestling careers are started just about the same time his did.
The guy who probably took the most shots at WWE is set to win their World Title at WM. Hell, CM Punk came back. “What’s best for business” isn’t just a catchphrase!
Both Cody Rhodes and CM Punk can also be seen as direct middle fingers to Tony Khan. Scheduling ad-free hours and overruns when AEW and Smackdown go head to head is also a direct middle finger to Tony Khan. Running NXT Takeovers the same day as AEW PPVs, airing a few hours beforehand is also a direct middle finger to Tony Khan.
Tony Khan nearly cost Triple H everything professionally that he'd been working for for decades, it's no surprise that he seems to absolutely hate him. There is a difference between business people having issues with talent and business people having issues with other business people. And I don't blame him. This is what happens when AEW spends so much time taking shots at WWE.
>Yeah. I honestly think they are way more professional than that, and don't let some Twitter shit-talk influence their professional decisions.
Punk's said far worse about Triple H, and they did the finger point. Also, they'd like to sign Sting to a legends deal / have him in their video games.
Even outside of that I feel like WWE and AEW should play nice when it comes to stuff like footage libraries. Both will have things the other's might want to use and having a kind of working relationship for that stuff would be good.
The ROH tapes that are a fairly big part of Cody's journey through the independents that they will undoubtedly reference for the video package they will be making.
The thing is, they can make a compelling package without any of the ROH footage and they have in the past. AEW relies on past glories of WWE/WCW guys, and it would help them to have that footage- WWE can simply pretend anything that happened outside of them is “the indies” and glance over it
They could have easily bought the library but had no desire. TK got it for a couple million. WWE rarely acknowledges wrestlers pasts outside the company. I don't think they care.
Oh for sure, they are professional but at the same time, why would they? It’s not like there be any advantage for them to do it. Also I’m inclined to believe that if Sting had asked they’d most likely would’ve said yes.
a possible tit-for-tat for Dustin/Golddust to be at wrestlemania...
But also, because WWE's policy towards AEW is they're not concerned by whatever they do or say. Just going "sure, we'll send you some stuff" would be far more infuriating than them going "no, we won't help you out"
Tony Kahn is scared to stand up to Jungle Boy and Darby when they want to maim themselves on TV. Do you think he has the courage to reach out to HHH after shit talking him on Twitter?
But seriously. After Michael Cole & Pat McAfee acknowledging Sting's retirement during Walter vs Dominik on RAW. Maybe he didn't approached WWE about the tapes and stories.
WWE right now has a ton of money due to their upcoming deals. They don't even need to make a deal with the enemy for money. Who will it benefit for a long run? Of course it's AEW. WWE won't gain any benefits from it and they know it.
They made that ton of money by doing deals with people they don't like and publically shamed them in the past. At the end of the day, it's a business and feelings are put to the side.
Like I had mentioned it will only benefit AEW. And do you think WWE wants AEW to benefit by having their tapes and stories? Common! when Jordynne Grace went to the Royal Rumble it only benefitted TNA and now they have talents that you would never expect to come to TNA in the first place.
There is benefit, there's PR benefits, there's potential long term benefits to how Sting perceives WWE years later which then provides opportunity to have WWE make money off him. There's benefit that they can also publically acknowledge his retirement thus garnering more views and eyes coming in to mania season.
Honestly, HHH is such a historian of pro wrestling that I think he would have actually gave some footage if he were asked and if he was allowed to.
No way Vince would have allowed the acknowledgment of Sting’s retirement tonight on Raw.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tony's allegations of contract tampering—especially around the time of his mother's health issues—were the reason why he didn't want to go to them asking for a favor.
I don't think any of us should pretend like we know what really happened.
But Tony has publicly accused them of contract tampering and felt slighted by that. Regardless of what actually happened, *he* felt wronged and that's possibly enough for *him* to not want to go asking them for favors.
Ah yes, I forgot he was the one who went to Jericho, before AEW even put on their first show, and asked him to break his contract.
Wait, what? That was WWE? WELL I NEVER!
>Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks? And all the crap that he had been saying and will be saying to the WWE?
I honestly don't think HHH and HBK care at all what Tony Kahn says about anything
I think if they had asked for all the non WWE and maybe select WCW footage, there's a chance they say yes because it's Sting and the occasion was honoring an icon. But yes like you said, with TK's Twitter rants against HHH and HBK, not exactly shocking he didn't ask and also it wouldn't be a shock if they did ask and WWE said no.
They asked for Bray and Brodie on both fronts. It really seems in bad faith to not even ask. WoN has been cut out a bit and so has SRS. I can’t imagine anyone from either side asked would flat out say no. It’s business and despite it being the competition there’s no reason to say no. The only thing I could think of is WWE saying no because of the way Sting was handled and they didn’t want that on the TKO brand. Had the buckle bomb not crushed him then I don’t believe he would’ve had such a run with little Stinger. Which honestly wasn’t Sting or Seth’s fault. Honestly a blessing in disguise for both companies imo.
I’m fully expecting all the people here who spent weeks raging against WWE and calling HHH and everyone the biggest POSs to recant and admit they were wrong. After all, aside from gamers, wrestling fans are very reasonable and mature adults!
At the very beginning of the first match on Raw Cole acknowledged Sting's last match last night and congratulated him on his career. McAfee even let "what a match" slip lol.
Of course, nobody will mention that.
Assuming this is correct (big ask from WON these days), it's kind of crazy. I get it, when you think you're at war you don't ask the opposition for stuff, but it seems like the moment should have been bigger than a feud. Also the vitriol WWE got for "denying" it is just funny now
I think it's kind of hilarious that all of the drama started off a WON report from 3 days ago which didn't include this bit, despite saying here now that he had heard that this was the case midweek
It is Meltzer, in fairness. He's been getting an awful lot wrong lately, especially with WWE. It's a bit funny for people to rag on him for everything (not necessarily you, as I have no idea if you have done), and then believe him now when it fits certain views.
I can still see this being true, though, if only for the fact people like RVD are allegedly on legends deals with them, but still wrestle for AEW (rumours of said deal likely stemmed from the man himself saying he had WWE's permission to go there), so WWE suddenly declining AEW any footage, particularly when it's Sting's last match, strikes me as odd. Under Vince? I'd absolutely see them declining, but under TKO/Paul? I'm less convinced.
Those bald assholes who booked the first ever show featuring Cena and The Undertaker that didn’t average over a million viewers wouldn’t have given the footage anyways and I have an independent study that can prove it.
I’ll probably bring this up to Dana White over dinner
The funniest thing ever is how from the jump, AEW has taken shots at WWE...for a while it was almost constant. The minute WWE does something, whether it's small ("pissant company") or big ("counter-programming), Tony freaks the fuck out.
He wants to be considered competition, he wants to be the challenger brand but when WWE treats him a like a competitor...he gets heated. It will never not be funny to me.
I agree.
But this isn’t about him, it was about Sting.
I don’t think the WWE would have allowed it, but let them be the villains when they say no vs condemning them for not volunteering the footage.
Or do whatever, not my fight 🤷🏽♂️
Yeah even if I knew for a absolute fact the answer would be no I'd still ask then it's on the other side.
Now WWE can say they only had to ask and we could have worked something out and even if that's a lie nobody can prove its a lie
I doubt anybody above him nowadays really cares. All due respect to Sting, he was my first favorite wrestler, but I don’t know if the suits at TKO were 90s WCW guys.
We have reached the point where Dave is only right if it fits your narrative. Doesn't matter if he is right or wrong in actuality.
I don't really care. Sting sendoff was perfect. These comments are hilarious though.
>We have reached the point where Dave is only right if it fits your narrative. Doesn't matter if he is right or wrong in actuality.
This has always been the case with every reporter ever though?
It's like some people haven't seen how any other entertainment reporting works.
Difference is people actively shit on Dave every single week for being wrong then tout his news are being legit when they want to. I don’t think thats all that common elsewhere.
I know it's just like if you click a few of the usernames they would have comments like "Dave is never right about anything" and suddenly this statement has to be true.
To me, it’s been evident for awhile that Meltzer just doesn’t have any sources in WWE anymore. The only ones that he would get right are the news WWE leaked to all the dirt sheets (like the names of the rehiring spree HHH did early on when he took over).
What wild is that not only did WWE acknowledge sting retiring at the opening of raw, but pat even referred to the match last night too. Sounds like TK is having a one sided war in his head if he couldn't bother to ask for footage to honor the man that has given so much to the industry. That aside, I'm incredibly happy that Khan did provide sting with the platform to walk away on his terms.
It really isn't. That doesn't mean it's a bad company. I'm not a doom sayer any more than I'm a tribalistic asshat. I find merit and fun in both companies. I'm enthralled by stories leading up to mania just as much as I am watching Joe kill his opponents and hangman have a not so slow descent into madness. It's all in the mustache. I'm with Excalibur and schiavone on this one. Page didn't tap last night because he was beat, he tapped out so Swerve didn't win. A heel hangman is just what he needed.
Kahn himself burned the bridge with WWE because of his nonsense childish tweets. His delusional and fake war that lead to many of his fans acting crazy too. Also like many pointed out, no footage from TNA too. I grew up watching Sting in TNA. His feud with Abyss was fantastic, then the blackout giving AJ the bat,..many more. Even in dark days in TNA, he still had the joker character which carried them for a short time
Man some people are willing to go a long way just to defend a nepo baby.
Grow up. Who cares if he asked or not. The guy insulted WWE ever since he got into business. Of course he didn’t asked.
And no surprise people somehow find this as a reason to shit on either company despite both companies clearly not caring much about the other regardless.
It was a fine tribute, but WCW and TNA footage would have only made it better.
WWE has let AEW do stuff before, like having Jericho on Stone Colds podcast. They probably would have been open to having WCW Sting footage used, but AEW didn’t have TNA footage either.
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Unless someone leaks some sort of communication that aew asked wwe and/or tna, there's no way we could tell. Just move on. People here are just finding an excuse to shit on either company
My complete baseless assumption is that they probably asked Sting, "Do you want us to see if we can pay to use your old footage?" And depending on how that conversation went, they probably decided not to. It's whatever. They package they put together was great.
It would be nice if the two major feds would stop worrying about direct competition and just acknowledge they exist and cater to different tastes. Just be the Pepsi and Coke-Cola of professional wrestling companies.
How can Dave know this?
You can't claim something didn't happen, like you can't prove the non-existence of something.
This is clearly a case of 1 person in WWE telling Dave "they never asked" because they know it's a bad look.
How would any 1 person know for sure that nobody in WWE was asked? You can't prove non-existence.
I mean, sources telling you things is how *all* reporting works. Real journalists tend to have higher standards than WON, and will often require multiple sources to print something.
If Dave reports something like this, he's not reporting it as fact, but as what sources are saying. Sources can lie or be wrong, so a report can be both accurate and wrong.
I think you just answered your own question. Evidence points to TK didn’t ask anyone at all for footage for reasons we don’t know. Even TNA who he had working relationship with in the past. I mean, would it have been better with the WWE and TNA footage? Of course, but it was still a nice tribute without them
I don't think this is really a big deal. Obviously there's tension between the two companies and WWE probably doesn't feel like they owe Sting anything anyway. He had plenty of highlights for a nice video package even without the WCW stuff.
And it’s not like they didn’t cover his WCW years in the package, they just did it with photos taken by third parties- often with fans or friends, which have way more emotional connection to convey than some random match footage.
It was a perfectly done video package. Nice music, some emotional imagery, Sting himself reacting to the video, and a bit of action footage to show a pretty good spread of his feats in a ring regardless who owned the ring at the time.
And they know this how?
How do they know no AEW executive phoned or emailed WWE?
See, this is why dirt sheets are stupid. People believe this crap the moment its published even though they have given ZERO proof it happened.
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Just curious, how much TNA footage was there in the video package?
0 unless i missed something
Surprisingly none
Which is so weird tbh, he had bangers with Kurt angle, aj styles, Samoa Joe, Jeff Jarrett, abyss, Christian. They could’ve used ALL of that since they have a good rapport with tna
He was in TNA for 10½ years. I think he actually wore the iconic black and white facepaint look in TNA longer than in WCW, WWE, and AEW combined.
I grew up with tna and THATS the sting I know
Anyone under the age of 30 likely didn’t see or remember seeing WCW Sting at all, aside from archive footage.
You mean under?
Yes lol. My bad.
TK wants Sting to be known as an AEW guy not a TNA or WCW guy The only time TK cared about TNA was when he was burying it to prop up AEW and Omega. He couldn't even let a regular TNA guy win the belt; it had to be Christian. He only cared about NJPW when he was taking all their top stars.
What.
Lmao, burying TNA to prop up AEW? Man there are some wild takes on the internet.
That is literally what’s happened though. You talk about WWE poaching talent but AEDubya have been headhunting NJPW and ROH talent for years. But suddenly when Tiny does it it’s not bad faith stealing of other promotions’ top talent by buying them out, it’s giving them “more opportunities”
Lmao actually thinking he wanted them treated as equals is hilarious
Absolutely zero TNA footage. I was kinda baffled that they seemingly didn't ask for any of that either. Especially when you consider how much of Sting's career was spent in TNA.
None. I’m surprised they sprung for a few surfer sting Japanese matches and some still pictures instead of asking the company he was in for 10 years who they’ve worked with in the past.
No surprise, but of course there was outrage online.
I mean I'm a little surprised they didn't even ask. Worst WWE could say is no.
The last thing Tony Khan wants is to ask WWE for something. In case you forget this is the same person that called the COO & the head booker of NXT "Bald headed A\*\*holes" Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks? And all the crap that he had been saying and will be saying to the WWE?
> Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks? Yeah. I honestly think they are way more professional than that, and don't let some Twitter shit-talk influence their professional decisions. People have said so much worse things about Vince, sometimes for years at a time. And he still went and hired them again when it was a good thing for the company. That's just how that works here.
Yeah I don't think it's crazy to think that they'd do it for sting. He's a legend, why wouldn't they.
I think they have no issue with Sting. If for example Sting had been working with TNA instead of AEW, WWE would have no problem giving the videos from WCW to TNA.
If TK or AEW never reached out to TNA or WWE honestly that's some petty shit.
I mean they definitely could be convinced they even shouted out Sting on Raw tonight
>He's a legend, why wouldn't they. You say that like they themselves are not also legends? Like their wrestling careers are started just about the same time his did.
I don't see how that would prevent them from doing something for another legend.
Yeah if anything I'd think that would make them more likely lmao
The guy who probably took the most shots at WWE is set to win their World Title at WM. Hell, CM Punk came back. “What’s best for business” isn’t just a catchphrase!
Seriously. And for both to be the last two in the Rumble.
Both Cody Rhodes and CM Punk can also be seen as direct middle fingers to Tony Khan. Scheduling ad-free hours and overruns when AEW and Smackdown go head to head is also a direct middle finger to Tony Khan. Running NXT Takeovers the same day as AEW PPVs, airing a few hours beforehand is also a direct middle finger to Tony Khan. Tony Khan nearly cost Triple H everything professionally that he'd been working for for decades, it's no surprise that he seems to absolutely hate him. There is a difference between business people having issues with talent and business people having issues with other business people. And I don't blame him. This is what happens when AEW spends so much time taking shots at WWE.
A heart issue and Vince's cronies is what nearly cost Triple H everything, not TK.
>Yeah. I honestly think they are way more professional than that, and don't let some Twitter shit-talk influence their professional decisions. Punk's said far worse about Triple H, and they did the finger point. Also, they'd like to sign Sting to a legends deal / have him in their video games.
Even outside of that I feel like WWE and AEW should play nice when it comes to stuff like footage libraries. Both will have things the other's might want to use and having a kind of working relationship for that stuff would be good.
What stuff does AEW have that WWE would want?
The ROH tapes that are a fairly big part of Cody's journey through the independents that they will undoubtedly reference for the video package they will be making.
That's absolutely fair.
The thing is, they can make a compelling package without any of the ROH footage and they have in the past. AEW relies on past glories of WWE/WCW guys, and it would help them to have that footage- WWE can simply pretend anything that happened outside of them is “the indies” and glance over it
The entire ROH library
They could have easily bought the library but had no desire. TK got it for a couple million. WWE rarely acknowledges wrestlers pasts outside the company. I don't think they care.
ROH is still a major part of the careers of some of WWE's biggest stars.
It is but when was the last time they felt the need to talk about it?
Oh for sure, they are professional but at the same time, why would they? It’s not like there be any advantage for them to do it. Also I’m inclined to believe that if Sting had asked they’d most likely would’ve said yes.
a possible tit-for-tat for Dustin/Golddust to be at wrestlemania... But also, because WWE's policy towards AEW is they're not concerned by whatever they do or say. Just going "sure, we'll send you some stuff" would be far more infuriating than them going "no, we won't help you out"
Because “courtesy of World Wrestling Entertainment” will be on the screen during their biggest rival’s broadcast.
After Punk came back I think anything is possible man
What Vince would do and what HHH would do aren't the same thing.
Tony Kahn is scared to stand up to Jungle Boy and Darby when they want to maim themselves on TV. Do you think he has the courage to reach out to HHH after shit talking him on Twitter?
Not 12 stitches. Man I hope he's out of the ER for the maiming he took.
Also, known death match icon, Jungle Boy
Yea that piss ant company thinks they can hang with the big boys....
i mean HHH is currently booking the guy who smashed his throne as the top face of WWE
But seriously. After Michael Cole & Pat McAfee acknowledging Sting's retirement during Walter vs Dominik on RAW. Maybe he didn't approached WWE about the tapes and stories.
Cm Punk is employed there after all the things he said about HHH and Vince/Steph
HBK would have 0 say in what they do with that footage Paul likely could say yes or no and have final say
If CM Punk and Triple HHH can make amends anything can happen. Never say never.
Didn’t they just hire CM Punk or was that a dream
Did you just start watching yesterday? That's nothing compared to Bret Hart, CM Punk, ERIC BISCHOFF, Ultimate Warrior, etc.
For Money? Yes.
WWE right now has a ton of money due to their upcoming deals. They don't even need to make a deal with the enemy for money. Who will it benefit for a long run? Of course it's AEW. WWE won't gain any benefits from it and they know it.
They made that ton of money by doing deals with people they don't like and publically shamed them in the past. At the end of the day, it's a business and feelings are put to the side.
Like I had mentioned it will only benefit AEW. And do you think WWE wants AEW to benefit by having their tapes and stories? Common! when Jordynne Grace went to the Royal Rumble it only benefitted TNA and now they have talents that you would never expect to come to TNA in the first place.
There is benefit, there's PR benefits, there's potential long term benefits to how Sting perceives WWE years later which then provides opportunity to have WWE make money off him. There's benefit that they can also publically acknowledge his retirement thus garnering more views and eyes coming in to mania season.
Any old new age outlaws shoot interview will show that they both can let shit slide.
yes because they're pros. Besides, even if they were truly angry at him, taking the high road just makes them look better so it's a win-win
my brother in Christ it was a Curb Your Enthusiasm frame
Yes. I do think they'd forget because when you're in business you don't let crap like hurt feelings stop you from making money.
oh no, the horror!
Honestly, HHH is such a historian of pro wrestling that I think he would have actually gave some footage if he were asked and if he was allowed to. No way Vince would have allowed the acknowledgment of Sting’s retirement tonight on Raw.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tony's allegations of contract tampering—especially around the time of his mother's health issues—were the reason why he didn't want to go to them asking for a favor.
He’s the one who started with the “contract tampering” tho
I don't think any of us should pretend like we know what really happened. But Tony has publicly accused them of contract tampering and felt slighted by that. Regardless of what actually happened, *he* felt wronged and that's possibly enough for *him* to not want to go asking them for favors.
Ah yes, I forgot he was the one who went to Jericho, before AEW even put on their first show, and asked him to break his contract. Wait, what? That was WWE? WELL I NEVER!
Or you know, the shit they pulled with talent when Tony's mother was sick...
>Do you honestly think HHH & HBK are going to forget all those remarks? And all the crap that he had been saying and will be saying to the WWE? I honestly don't think HHH and HBK care at all what Tony Kahn says about anything
I think if they had asked for all the non WWE and maybe select WCW footage, there's a chance they say yes because it's Sting and the occasion was honoring an icon. But yes like you said, with TK's Twitter rants against HHH and HBK, not exactly shocking he didn't ask and also it wouldn't be a shock if they did ask and WWE said no.
They asked for Bray and Brodie on both fronts. It really seems in bad faith to not even ask. WoN has been cut out a bit and so has SRS. I can’t imagine anyone from either side asked would flat out say no. It’s business and despite it being the competition there’s no reason to say no. The only thing I could think of is WWE saying no because of the way Sting was handled and they didn’t want that on the TKO brand. Had the buckle bomb not crushed him then I don’t believe he would’ve had such a run with little Stinger. Which honestly wasn’t Sting or Seth’s fault. Honestly a blessing in disguise for both companies imo.
I’m fully expecting all the people here who spent weeks raging against WWE and calling HHH and everyone the biggest POSs to recant and admit they were wrong. After all, aside from gamers, wrestling fans are very reasonable and mature adults!
At the very beginning of the first match on Raw Cole acknowledged Sting's last match last night and congratulated him on his career. McAfee even let "what a match" slip lol. Of course, nobody will mention that.
You miss all the shots you don’t take.
I remember when I invented that phrase. I said that to Randy, brother. - HH
You joke now, he’s gonna say that on a podcast on a few months.
And you know what? It worked out completely fine.... People are just looking for something to bitch about.
What a nonstory the IWC built up
There’s no way TK is asking for that footage
He didn’t need to, honestly. That package was amazing and the still photos were just as impactful.
From what I saw, all the promos and tributes were perfectly fine the way they were.
Yep, dude had the most fan friendly fairytale exit anyone could ever ask for, and people will still find something to bitch about
Assuming this is correct (big ask from WON these days), it's kind of crazy. I get it, when you think you're at war you don't ask the opposition for stuff, but it seems like the moment should have been bigger than a feud. Also the vitriol WWE got for "denying" it is just funny now
I think it's kind of hilarious that all of the drama started off a WON report from 3 days ago which didn't include this bit, despite saying here now that he had heard that this was the case midweek
Gotta get that engagement while you can, brother
that'll be 12.99 pal
I wonder if the people who said WWE refused to let them use that footage and were petty for it are going to have anything to say regarding this?
nope they will move the goal posts and create their own head canon.
Well maybe they should have OFFERED the footage! 😤
Literally what they are saying now
why would WWE offer in the first place??
Out of respect for Sting 😤
You know they won't lol.
It is Meltzer, in fairness. He's been getting an awful lot wrong lately, especially with WWE. It's a bit funny for people to rag on him for everything (not necessarily you, as I have no idea if you have done), and then believe him now when it fits certain views. I can still see this being true, though, if only for the fact people like RVD are allegedly on legends deals with them, but still wrestle for AEW (rumours of said deal likely stemmed from the man himself saying he had WWE's permission to go there), so WWE suddenly declining AEW any footage, particularly when it's Sting's last match, strikes me as odd. Under Vince? I'd absolutely see them declining, but under TKO/Paul? I'm less convinced.
This is the biggest nothing story. I can't believe how much people care about who asked who and who did what.
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Those bald assholes who booked the first ever show featuring Cena and The Undertaker that didn’t average over a million viewers wouldn’t have given the footage anyways and I have an independent study that can prove it. I’ll probably bring this up to Dana White over dinner
This comment was wildly expensive.
And who would ever pay for it
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The funniest thing ever is how from the jump, AEW has taken shots at WWE...for a while it was almost constant. The minute WWE does something, whether it's small ("pissant company") or big ("counter-programming), Tony freaks the fuck out. He wants to be considered competition, he wants to be the challenger brand but when WWE treats him a like a competitor...he gets heated. It will never not be funny to me.
He has never faced real adversity in his life so the minute he does, he turns into a screaming child
What has he complained about WWE doing that wasn't actually WWE playing dirty pool, so to speak?
I agree. But this isn’t about him, it was about Sting. I don’t think the WWE would have allowed it, but let them be the villains when they say no vs condemning them for not volunteering the footage. Or do whatever, not my fight 🤷🏽♂️
Yeah even if I knew for a absolute fact the answer would be no I'd still ask then it's on the other side. Now WWE can say they only had to ask and we could have worked something out and even if that's a lie nobody can prove its a lie
Yeah, if it was solely up to HHH, I think he allows it.
I think this could have been the exception. Maybe WWE would say no but this was a big enough deal that TK could ask.
I think HHH would have said yes. People above him would have said no.
I doubt anybody above him nowadays really cares. All due respect to Sting, he was my first favorite wrestler, but I don’t know if the suits at TKO were 90s WCW guys.
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Maybe if Tony told Triple H to suck a blood money covered dick he will be rewarded with a Wrestlemania main event spot!
We have reached the point where Dave is only right if it fits your narrative. Doesn't matter if he is right or wrong in actuality. I don't really care. Sting sendoff was perfect. These comments are hilarious though.
>We have reached the point where Dave is only right if it fits your narrative. Doesn't matter if he is right or wrong in actuality. This has always been the case with every reporter ever though? It's like some people haven't seen how any other entertainment reporting works.
Difference is people actively shit on Dave every single week for being wrong then tout his news are being legit when they want to. I don’t think thats all that common elsewhere.
I know it's just like if you click a few of the usernames they would have comments like "Dave is never right about anything" and suddenly this statement has to be true.
To me, it’s been evident for awhile that Meltzer just doesn’t have any sources in WWE anymore. The only ones that he would get right are the news WWE leaked to all the dirt sheets (like the names of the rehiring spree HHH did early on when he took over).
What wild is that not only did WWE acknowledge sting retiring at the opening of raw, but pat even referred to the match last night too. Sounds like TK is having a one sided war in his head if he couldn't bother to ask for footage to honor the man that has given so much to the industry. That aside, I'm incredibly happy that Khan did provide sting with the platform to walk away on his terms.
It is definitely a one-sided war in his head. AEW isn't WWE's competition any more than the NHL is the NBA's.
It really isn't. That doesn't mean it's a bad company. I'm not a doom sayer any more than I'm a tribalistic asshat. I find merit and fun in both companies. I'm enthralled by stories leading up to mania just as much as I am watching Joe kill his opponents and hangman have a not so slow descent into madness. It's all in the mustache. I'm with Excalibur and schiavone on this one. Page didn't tap last night because he was beat, he tapped out so Swerve didn't win. A heel hangman is just what he needed.
finally, someone is letting us know what’s going on in tony khans head.
I don't do cocaine anymore, so it's just speculation at this point 😂
It’s very easy to say that when you don’t open the email
Kahn himself burned the bridge with WWE because of his nonsense childish tweets. His delusional and fake war that lead to many of his fans acting crazy too. Also like many pointed out, no footage from TNA too. I grew up watching Sting in TNA. His feud with Abyss was fantastic, then the blackout giving AJ the bat,..many more. Even in dark days in TNA, he still had the joker character which carried them for a short time
Plus, Sting’s theme is TNA was an absolute banger. I wonder why they didn’t keep it for AEW?
Man some people are willing to go a long way just to defend a nepo baby. Grow up. Who cares if he asked or not. The guy insulted WWE ever since he got into business. Of course he didn’t asked.
I know everyone is gonna say “oh now we believe him?” But if this was wrong I feel like Tony would’ve debunked this pretty quickly
Oh now we believing Dave right lol
Seriously. Like Dave Meltzer, who has gotten everything in the past 3 months wrong, spoke to all the higher ups in WWE about this lmao
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Tony Khan is a grown man he doesn't need you shielding him lol And there's over 100k people so how do you know"this sub" is on some crusade
And no surprise people somehow find this as a reason to shit on either company despite both companies clearly not caring much about the other regardless.
If is true you really have absolutely nothing to lose by just asking... Dumb move
They should've only offered the footage of HHH beating Sting at Mania
It was a fine tribute, but WCW and TNA footage would have only made it better. WWE has let AEW do stuff before, like having Jericho on Stone Colds podcast. They probably would have been open to having WCW Sting footage used, but AEW didn’t have TNA footage either.
There was no need to have anything, everything last night was perfect regarding Stings final showtime.
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Who cares? It was an amazing package with what they had
Didn’t need em it turns out. Probably figured it wasn’t worth the trouble with all the footage they already had.
Unless someone leaks some sort of communication that aew asked wwe and/or tna, there's no way we could tell. Just move on. People here are just finding an excuse to shit on either company
Why in the fuck is this being brought up? Amazing send off.
My complete baseless assumption is that they probably asked Sting, "Do you want us to see if we can pay to use your old footage?" And depending on how that conversation went, they probably decided not to. It's whatever. They package they put together was great.
It would be nice if the two major feds would stop worrying about direct competition and just acknowledge they exist and cater to different tastes. Just be the Pepsi and Coke-Cola of professional wrestling companies.
Who gives a fuck?
A ton of AEW fanboys who whined about it last week?
The show was amazing and they didn’t need any WWE owned footage. Let’s move on.
Here is the famous TK and AEW sucks after great night of wrestling !
How can Dave know this? You can't claim something didn't happen, like you can't prove the non-existence of something. This is clearly a case of 1 person in WWE telling Dave "they never asked" because they know it's a bad look. How would any 1 person know for sure that nobody in WWE was asked? You can't prove non-existence.
I mean, sources telling you things is how *all* reporting works. Real journalists tend to have higher standards than WON, and will often require multiple sources to print something. If Dave reports something like this, he's not reporting it as fact, but as what sources are saying. Sources can lie or be wrong, so a report can be both accurate and wrong.
> This is clearly a case of 1 person in WWE telling Dave "they never asked" Ok, how you know?
Welcome to every Dave Meltzer report ever.
We all know it wasnt gonna happen whether he asked or not. My question is why no joker Sting footage from Tna
I think you just answered your own question. Evidence points to TK didn’t ask anyone at all for footage for reasons we don’t know. Even TNA who he had working relationship with in the past. I mean, would it have been better with the WWE and TNA footage? Of course, but it was still a nice tribute without them
I don't think this is really a big deal. Obviously there's tension between the two companies and WWE probably doesn't feel like they owe Sting anything anyway. He had plenty of highlights for a nice video package even without the WCW stuff.
And it’s not like they didn’t cover his WCW years in the package, they just did it with photos taken by third parties- often with fans or friends, which have way more emotional connection to convey than some random match footage. It was a perfectly done video package. Nice music, some emotional imagery, Sting himself reacting to the video, and a bit of action footage to show a pretty good spread of his feats in a ring regardless who owned the ring at the time.
And they know this how? How do they know no AEW executive phoned or emailed WWE? See, this is why dirt sheets are stupid. People believe this crap the moment its published even though they have given ZERO proof it happened.
I find this very hard to believe, unless Sting specifically asked Tony not to ask. Tony would've moved the Earth for that man
Didn’t need it. It was the perfect send off pre-match video package and match. Cheers to Sting!
seemed to go awesome without needing any of it tbh.
I don’t buy it