Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Ben Guest, Dallas Allsopp, and Robert DeFelice will be giving their thoughts on the upcoming AEW television series!


ALLSOPP: I certainly do. As much as I am a WWE fan for life, I want AEW to succeed in order to change the professional landscape. More competition means a better product for WWE, and I fully expect AEW to host a great weekly show.

GUEST: I’ll definitely give it a shot, with the amount of potential AEW has I think all wrestling fans should at least give them a chance, especially given that TV will be the real beginning for the product.

DeFELICE: Ignoring the fact that I have to watch the television show as my job, I will also be watching because it is definitely a monumental time in the industry and this should be supported by all wrestling fans as the special event that it is. I'm not saying you have to watch forever, but you should definitely give their first outing a chance.


DeFELICE: In terms of surprises, I think they will definitely pull the trigger on finally debuting PAC. I would expect one or two female wrestler surprises and maybe, just maybe, CM Punk.

GUEST: I think there have to be 1 or 2 surprise names showing up, Punk obviously being the biggest available. Having the AEW Championship change hands would be nice, but I think it’s more important to get good stories started than to just throw out a few surprises with no substance. Make people want to tune in next week, not just a good one-off show that can’t be topped.

ALLSOPP: Quite frankly, I want CM Punk to turn up. It has been rumoured for a while now that he will sign with AEW, and Punk remains the highest-profile free agent in the industry. I feel he has unfinished business and sticking it to WWE might be enough to convince him to sign.


DeFELICE: Personally, because I do have to cover all of this, I would hope that they do not pull the trigger on NXT on FS1. however, if we do wind up with a Wednesday Night War, My initial support will probably be with the new brand, but I would not be surprised if at the end of the day I stayed focused on NXT overall.

GUEST: It’s tough to say without seeing what AEW has to offer. It’s also really important to give AEW time to really settle in. SmackDown was amazing for a year after this most recent brand split, and I expect AEW to have a similar showing. NXT has stood the test of time, so I certainly won’t be abandoning NXT for AEW, but I hope they make me want to watch both. But as a UK viewer, I’d hate to see NXT leave the WWE Network, that may be enough to tilt me in favour of AEW purely for availability.

ALLSOPP: I am a loyal supporter of NXT, and I feel outside of NJPW, NXT is the best wrestling product. TakeOver events are consistently amazing. Because the NXT weekly product is already established for those who watch it, it is a proven commodity, and a commodity I will be supporting more. The interesting thing is if NXT is extended to 2 hours and how the show evolves to accommodate this.