Double Talk Dave said DON did over 100k buys worldwide, about 70k in the US. I'm pretty sure it was at the same price point (for some reason, they push people to buy it on B/R Streaming instead of traditional PPV, but it's the same price point for both, so idk why anyone would be inclined to buy it on an app they have to download and pay extra for in the same way that UFC now puts their PPVs behind a streaming service subscription paywall seems really fucking stupid to me). They have their audience willing to pay that premium, I don't think that will last that long if their events aren't better than FF/FFTF.
Once they start TV is going to be interesting because I see a whole, whole lot of structural issues that I think TV is going to exacerbate and cause this thing to fall apart a lot quicker than expected. Lotta dudes burning bridges with this starting up thinking there's no way it wasn't going to last forever and they're getting that big money, but tbh each show I have less and less faith that they aren't going to implode on themselves within a year or two.
I do not think Cody/Bucks/Kenny doing their blatant RAH RAH WE'RE STARTING A REVOLUTION bullshit straight out of the ECW playbook can sustain itself in 2019 with billions of entertainment services, 30 different wrestling streaming services, the prices for everything, and the general audience being wise to that brainwashing attempted bullshit. I also don't think that really works when you start your company with the backing of a billionaire and getting a TNT TV deal before you even run a single show really has the grass roots feel to it.
Then again, smarks are the easiest fans to work so who knows.
I don't know if AEW is going to argue that they're 'grass roots'. I think they would have bought an existing promotion like PGW or partner with Ring of Honor if they wanted that tie-in. They have a lot of guys who they signed from the various Indie promotions, and a bunch of guys who were spent some time in New Japan, and an active pipeline that can seemly be called when needed. AEW not needing exclusivity seems like an asset since it allows them the option to pick and choose who can wrestle on a given night without seeming to hold guys on a roster that seem to serve no purpose. The exclusivity will kick in when they're on TNT in October though.
Tony Khan did a 40 minute ish interview after the Jacksonville event and it seems they basically want to be WCW. A clear alternative (and number 2) to WWF/WWE. Khan kept on saying at how small and in decline WCW was in the last year before it went under, and that AEW has done better numbers already. It was pretty funny. I do agree there is a market for a mid to large wrestling promotion that can fill a 5K to 10K+ stadium every week, but like you said, who really knows if that's AEW. Lord knows that TNA couldn't fill that void.
