Tuesday, 1 January 2019

AEW Is Official

All Elite Wrestling is official.

The new professional wrestling company was revealed on the latest edition of the Young Bucks' YouTube show, Being The Elite. In the closing segment of the show - which was uploaded at 8AM GMT today - the Bucks, Cody and Hangman Page revealed the AEW logo as well as the title of what is likely to be the company's first official event under the AEW umbrella - Double or Nothing.

In one of the posts published last month, I mentioned that BetOnline had published a handful of AEW proposition markets. Figuring there was going to be an announcement of some sort today, I visited the website yesterday and made note of the odds before they were closed for their scheduled 31st December cut-off. 

AEW Prop Bets

All seven markets were showing the same pricing as the day I first came across the market.

You can safely say that the bottom market 'Will 'All Elite Wrestling' Be Announced by 31/01/19?' will be settled with the favourite winning. 'Yes' was -200.

As of the time of writing, AEW does not have a TV deal in place. However, all the trademark news I came across is falling into place. When the news about AEW first came out, there was mention of  'Tuesday Night Dynamite' being filed along with the phrases that were revealed today - 'Double or Nothing' and 'All Elite Wrestling'. There are reports that there are multiple TV companies vying for AEW, but - until it's official - it's hard for me to state whether this will absolutely be settled in favour of 'Yes'. 'Tuesday Night Dynamite' sure sounds like a TV programme to me.

There will be a Double or Nothing rally on January 8th in Jacksonville, Florida. This event should explain more about AEW's Double or Nothing show. 

The contract markets have been ambiguous - and open to controversy - since day one.

On today's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Cody had signed for AEW while the Young Bucks will do so within the next two days. 

Cody signing for AEW was a  -1,200 favourite. What makes this ambiguous is that it was reported in the middle of last year that Cody's NJPW deal was to expire at the end of 2018. Working Wrestle Kingdom 13 in three days would indicate that some sort of contract has been signed between he and New Japan even if it's just to cover the January 4th show. After all, he is still the IWGP US Champion.

As for the Young Bucks - their ROH/NJPW contracts were reportedly done after December 31st, but they're working on Friday's show. 

In the case of Cody, the Bucks and Adam Page, working New Japan after their ROH/NJPW contracts have expired point to, in the very least, short-term deals having been signed to cover Wrestle Kingdom. 

The market I have been the most keen on is the one for Kenny Omega's next contract. His deal with NJPW is set to end on January 31st. He's the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and is set to defend the strap against Hiroshi Tanahashi on Friday. The obvious signs are pointing to Tanahashi getting the W. Should Omega win, then that should surely point to the +600 being the winning selection in the market for his next contract.

Jim Ross would be unable to do anything with AEW until his contract expires with WWE in April. There's more ambiguity here as Ross could be brought in and have more than one position. As I wrote last month, offering 'Commentator' at +300 was far too kind. In my opinion, having JR associated with a startup promotion as its commentator is a no-brainer.

What an intriguing 2019 this is shaping up to be.

The market was available from The BetOnline Website.

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