AEW VP expected to leave the company
Added 2023-12-23 20:46:03 +0000 UTCA major name within All Elite Wrestling is expected to leave the company.
Word has made its way around that industry that longtime AEW employee Rafael Morffi will be finishing up with the company at the end of the year. Morffi has served as Vice President of Live Events/Touring. Morffi has teased new opportunities of late, and is expected to be pursuing other interests in 2024.
Though the news was discussed within the industry, it didn’t seem to make its way around backstage at AEW tapings in recent weeks.
Morffi has worked for both WWE and TNA Wrestling in the past, where he served as Senior Director of Live Events for the latter. He also worked for the New York Cosmos soccer team.
In an update, we're told Morffi is set to do work with the Barclays Center.
Fightful Select and Raj Giri have also just learned that as of now, Chief Marketing & Merchandising Officer Dana Massie is set to finish up with AEW. She's been there since the start and is married to Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks.
Comments
I hope they switch directions with smaller venues and promoting them locally. I think it's doable as well
Alex KP
2023-12-24 14:08:51 +0000 UTCAs much as I hate to see anyone lose a job, it’s been obvious for the past year that they needed a change in how they price, promote, and schedule live events to anyone who knows anything about the business side of entertainment and touring. Hopefully, the shake-up results in a bigger emphasis on local promotion and the company looks at adjusting their pricing model to REWARD early buyers who are loyal fans, rather than the “put up a price and pray you don’t end up with an empty arena” approach that they’ve used. Instead of the Elite Fleet codes being just for presale access, they should also offer a discounted rate, because the customer data they get from it delivers value back. That’s how you sell high volumes of tickets. Give Elite Fleet members a 5% discount on tickets and merch and you get the data on everything they buy, giving you the pulse of customers who want your product enough to sign up for promotional campaigns. It’s what virtually every company does now.
Benjamin Brown
2023-12-24 13:26:30 +0000 UTCMy son breaks his aew toys way more than his wwe ones
Evan Rigterink
2023-12-24 01:46:53 +0000 UTCAEW is becoming a big boy company.
Joel Allison
2023-12-24 00:30:01 +0000 UTCSelfish ask: is there follow up to this? AEW signed a contract with Field Entertainment to do the house shows; are they resuming that contract? Or have they signed with a major agency like CAA as a touring property (seeing as most talent is signed to CAA via Activist Management).
Adam
2023-12-24 00:25:27 +0000 UTCThe AEW figures have been mostly godawful for a long time now, way behind what other companies are capable of.
Ricky Schmidt
2023-12-23 23:36:54 +0000 UTCWhat's wrong with jazwares they make toys for a bunch of IPs
slick
2023-12-23 23:35:38 +0000 UTCI did too… I swore I remember Jarrett being involved in that work too (at least when he first joined AEW). Whomever is in charge of ticketing, I do hope they seriously reconsider their pricing policies in 2024.
Tom Carmony
2023-12-23 23:35:10 +0000 UTCMaybe Dana Massie being gone means they'll stop using PWTees and drop Jazwares as their toy company.
Ricky Schmidt
2023-12-23 23:07:32 +0000 UTCI thought that was Jeff Jarrett.
Brad Woodard
2023-12-23 22:12:04 +0000 UTCIf he’s been responsible for the excessively high ticket prices (and some of the other poor choices in terms of touring this last year), I’ll be glad to see someone else in charge of this. AEW seriously needs to cut ticket prices and run some smaller venues.
Tom Carmony
2023-12-23 21:58:10 +0000 UTCAgree
Hickey
2023-12-23 21:42:17 +0000 UTCI certainly think Collision at least, which seems to draw smaller crowds than Dynamite, would benefit massively from running smaller rooms.
David C
2023-12-23 21:40:15 +0000 UTCWhy you being weird
Alexander Fitzgerald
2023-12-23 21:40:08 +0000 UTCDid aew fumble him?
Alexander Fitzgerald
2023-12-23 21:39:17 +0000 UTCI’m not hating on them. I’m saying smaller theaters of around 2-5k could make for a special atmosphere.
Hickey
2023-12-23 21:11:14 +0000 UTCI think having a couple of shows there would be cool as one off specials or something but they are doing ok especially as of late in attendance. Is it WWE at the moment? No but this isn't TNA/ROH or something
slick
2023-12-23 21:10:20 +0000 UTCFairly certain he's paying for putting AEW in venues that are too big for them (other than Wembley Stadium). Hopefully whoever replaces him puts them back in mid-sized venues they can fill up easier until they manage to catch fire again.
MB
2023-12-23 20:59:30 +0000 UTCGood
Joel Allison
2023-12-23 20:56:09 +0000 UTCHe was let go by WWE...
slick
2023-12-23 20:55:41 +0000 UTCNot every week at Manhattan Center. But smaller theater like venues that have history and feel special and give each week a unique look.
Hickey
2023-12-23 20:55:26 +0000 UTCWow. He seems very well-liked by those in the company too.
Brian Bayless
2023-12-23 20:55:25 +0000 UTCAny idea how much of a relative impact this may have?
Flameducky
2023-12-23 20:54:20 +0000 UTCI'm really not knowledgeable enough on what that job entails to understand whether it's an area where AEW needed an improvement. Basically I don't know if this is good or bad news.
Joe Donovan
2023-12-23 20:54:08 +0000 UTCNo that would be stupid. They are still doing around 4k and no matter what the haters say they would lose out on a lot of Revenue.
slick
2023-12-23 20:53:22 +0000 UTCMight be a good change for AEW. Best wishes to Rafael
slick
2023-12-23 20:52:34 +0000 UTCI second this. I like unique looking buildings and setups.
Jason O'Dell
2023-12-23 20:52:03 +0000 UTCMan, everyone wants to work for triple h
Maj Hal
2023-12-23 20:51:01 +0000 UTCLive event promotion has certainly been locking this year, I have to wonder if you can lay this at his feet Or if he wanted to do more and AEW didn't for some reason. The first one would be surprising as he has done this for years and should know what he's doing.
Insomnia Inc
2023-12-23 20:50:16 +0000 UTCI occasionally hear Tony mentioning him in the media scrum. I'm guessing he was a good bts employee?
Alex
2023-12-23 20:49:29 +0000 UTCHopefully the next person books smaller venues. Give us a Manhattan Center Dynamite.
Hickey
2023-12-23 20:49:25 +0000 UTCI’ll say, this headline got me for a second
Tom Barnard
2023-12-23 20:48:06 +0000 UTC
