News

AEW News: Lots Of AEW Notes On Equal Pay, Contracts, Chris Jericho & More

Published

5 years ago

January 9, 2019

Lots of updates on All Elite Wrestling after yesterday’s rally!

Over 24 hours later and the talk of the wrestling world continues to be All Elite Wrestling following their rally in Jacksonville to officially launch the promotion (watch the rally and/or check out the recap here).

One of the biggest stories coming out of yesterday is of course the signing of Chris Jericho, who was originally reported to be a founding father of the company when news of a new promotion on the way initially broke (if you don’t remember, see it here). According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, the multi-time WWE Champion was in talks with the WWE as recently as just prior to Wrestle Kingdom 13. However, much like Jericho stated during the rally, he is “all in with All Elite Wrestling” and was looking to be a part of something new.

Also during the rally, some pretty interesting statements were made by Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes that a lot of fans have been wanting clarification on. Cody would discuss how important wins and losses will be in AEW, which Meltzer would also slightly address by saying the company will be marketing itself as more “sports-oriented”, likening the idea to something WWE Hall Of Famer Bill Watts employed in Mid-South Wrestling in the 1980’s.

As it pertains to talent contracts and how exclusive they will be, Cody would also address this by saying that Joey Janela will still be able to hold his annual Joey Janela’s Spring Break event. Additionally, Jericho will also have no issues putting on his next Jericho Cruise, which has already been announced (go here for more on that), but no other details were given.

Another noteworthy item from the rally was Brandi’s statement that there would be equal pay for the women in All Elite Wrestling, which in-turn led to a lot of people wanting more specifics on how that will work. Today, the ‘Chief Brandi Officer’ took to Twitter to clarify:

Equal pay means equal opportunity regardless of sex. It does not mean that everyone will be paid the exact same salary regardless of their position. It means the gender pay gap does not apply. An entry level woman won’t make less than an entry level man because of her gender.

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) January 9, 2019

EA’s Take: There are still SO many details to be worked out with this company that it’s hard for me to formulate too much of an opinion on anything. It’s like playing Pin The Tail On The Donkey. Especially when it comes to things like contracts, how often the talent will work and who they can work with. The company isn’t even sure who they will be working with yet (that we know of). I do find the equal pay thing interesting though because to be honest, the term is a little deceiving. There will never truly be “equal pay” no matter your gender if you add in things like merchandise, position on the card, etc. I think a lot of people heard that and thought, “Britt Baker will get paid the same as Chris Jericho”. In the words of the late, great Gorilla Monsoon, “Will you stop…”.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:AEW Chris Jericho Cody Rhodes

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AEW Coverage

Mitchell’s AEW Continental Classic Update! (11/27/23)

What a start to the tournament!

Published

5 months ago

November 27, 2023

Steven Mitchell

Did your picks win points?

The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!

Here are your Gold League standings!

Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
Rush: 0-1, 0 points
Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points

Here are your Blue League standings!

Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete

My Thoughts:

Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.

Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.

In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

AEW Coverage

AEW announces Continental Classic entrants

The C2 is set!

Published

5 months ago

November 22, 2023

Steven Mitchell

Tony Khan Reveals the Blue and Gold “Leagues!”

Originally livestreamed, Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone officially announced the twelve total entrants and divided them into the two round robin blocks known as the “Blue League” and “Gold League.” If you don’t feel like sifting through the almost 30 minute video, the groups are:

Blue League

Bryan Danielson
Andrade El Idolo
Brody King
Claudio Castagnoli
Daniel Garcia
Eddie Kingston

Gold League

Jon Moxley
Swerve Strickland
Rush
Mark Briscoe
Jay Lethal
Jay White

Tony Khan also explains the rules for the Continental Classic:

Every match has a 20 minute time limit
The winner of each match earns 3 points, losers earn 0, 1 point for a draw
EVERYONE ELSE is banned from ringside for true 1v1 action

Eddie Kingston also joined the selection special as his “life’s work” is on the line in this tournament, both the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line as part of the modern day North American Triple Crown Eddie, Tony Khan, AEW, ROH and NJPW are looking to create together. Gold League competes tonight on Dynamite while Blue League will have their start this Saturday on Collision. Look for more articles like this one to keep up with the Continental Classic standings over the next six weeks of tournament action!

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!