AEW: Bryan Danielson on Kenny Omega Not in Continental Classic, Full Gear 2023 PPV Buys Update, Swerve Strickland

Dec 9, 2023

Bryan Danielson Comments on Kenny Omega’s Omission from AEW’s Continental Classic

Daily Mail Sports held a recent interview with Bryan Danielson. One of the topics discussed included Danielson’s thoughts about Kenny Omega being omitted from the field of AEW’s Continental Classic tournament.

“I really wanted Kenny Omega in it and I don’t know. People think I do a lot more than I do. I don’t know what happened or why he’s not in the tournament. I know it was at least brought up to him and I don’t know if he didn’t want to do it or I know that he and Chris Jericho are the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championship. So maybe that’s why. Sometimes, with American TV wrestling, you don’t want to confuse stories, and maybe that’s why. But I love the field that we have, [because] we have so many great, hard-hitting wrestlers. The matches have been really, really good so far in the Continental Classic.”

Update on Current Estimates for AEW Full Gear 2023 PPV Buys

As noted before, AEW’s Full Gear 2023 event this past November in Los Angeles, California is estimated to have generated around 135,000 pay-per-view buys.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that AEW’s event is currently estimated to have generated around 136,000 PPV buys based on updated data and estimates.

Meltzer reported that Full Gear 2023 cable television PPV buys are currently around 29.1% higher than this past October’s WrestleDream event based on late buys purchase numbers for the same time period after both events.

In regards to other comparisons, Full Gear 2023 is currently down 20.9% for cable TV buys compared to last year’s event but Meltzer reported that this is due to the switch from television PPV to streaming PPV buys over the past year. Full Gear 2023 reportedly is also currently down 35.4% compared to this past August’s All In but up compared to this past September’s All Out.

Meltzer reported that AEW is currently estimated to have generated around 550,000 total PPV buys for their four PPV events for the period of August to November 2023.

Swerve Strickland Comments on His Bray Wyatt Tribute Gear for His Texas Death Match at AEW Full Gear 2023

A recent episode of the Notsam Wrestling podcast featured Swerve Strickland as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Strickland’s thoughts about the Bray Wyatt’s influence on his career and the Wyatt tribute gear he wore for his Texas Death Match against Hangman Page at AEW’s Full gear 2023 event this past November.

“I didn’t know Bray as close as a lot of people like Brodie Lee, there were people influenced by him from his time there, but some people have known him since FCW or NXT and they have that personal connection. To me, I remember when The Fiend was really going, there was a lot of chatter that it wasn’t for them, as a fan. I was like, ‘No, this is brilliant work.’ I don’t think people really appreciated the brilliance he was bringing to the screen and a lot of risks he was taking, week by week, which is not easy to do. Weekly television on two shows. It wasn’t just Raw or SmackDown, he was doing both shows with his material. Bringing that to the real world. I really appreciated that and I think he was ahead of his time. I just wanted to show appreciation that the love and influence wasn’t lost. I put that as part of my gear, and I was in the locker room with him during my time at 205 [205 Live], he always gave me hugs. He was awesome. At one point, I had to help him with a Fiend mask. It was COVID and we were all in that box together. There were times I had to help him with that. There were times I would see him in Gorilla coming back when they were testing the red lighting after the show and getting that going. I’ve seen a lot of those processes with him. He was always a good brother in the locker room. He was fun, really cool. That was one of those things of, ‘you’ve always influenced me through all of this.’ No matter what, if it was their taste or wasn’t, I’m a horror person, and I was really happy to see a new age of horror brought to the screen in an industry that I love and I was like, ‘Man, that was a revolutionary.’ I wanted to take a little piece of that into what I was doing that night. If anything, I feel like his spirit powered that match.
It’s very rare that it hits across the board and gets a ten from every outlet and every fanbase. It’s just impossible in this day and age. Just know, it hit the right people. It hit the notes with people that really cared. The ones that it did hit, it changed their lives. That’s what matters. It definitely did for me. It changed my viewing and the possibilities of what we could really do in this medium and this industry. I’m going to take a piece of that and revamp it in a way that fits me.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com