It’s been a while, but will Cryme Tyme return to AEW primetime? Anything’s possible, especially give the escalation of wrestling promotions over the past year. There are multiple things that have to happen for them to make a return to primetime. Two of those are their willingness and will a promotion be willing to let them do what they do?
The former is usually a given as being a part of WWE or AEW would give them a broader audience than they may currently have. One thing to remember: exposure is gold.
Will Cryme Tyme Return to AEW Primetime?
But their willingness also depends on if they’ll give up their creative freedom, like one would expect in the WWE. While their old gimmick of taking and selling everything in sight was, at least partially, a WWE creative angle, it could be too racy for the promotion’s current PG image. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it’d probably be tweaked enough to fit it, and walking the line between pushing the envelope and stepping over it is difficult to do.
Of course, the fact they were fired from the WWE would mean Vince McMahon would either have to eat some crow to bring them back or force them to capitulate completely.
Or they could go to AEW and enjoy the spotlight and creative freedom. But lets get their background out of the way first, shall we?
Previous WWE adventures
JTG and Shad Gaspard were a highly popular tag team during their two stints in WWE, and they left an impression on many. Their gimmick was simplicity at its best, but they maximized it. As hustlers from the Bronx, they never passed up an opportunity to make a quick buck. They sold anything they could, whether it was nailed down or not, and fans ate it up.
One of their most infamous moments came following the 2006 Survivor Series after the legendary Lita retired.
In their most famous gimmick, Cryme Tyme were two hustlers from the Bronx that never passed up a deal. In short, they sold anything they could, whether it was nailed down or not. One of their more infamous efforts involved a “Ho Sale” in 2006’s Survivor Series following Lita’s retirement by selling Lita’s belongings.
Another led to their first firing by McMahon in ’07. As reported in sportskeeda.com, JTG explained how their first stint in WWE ended.
Basically, it was a “rib” that went wrong.
Following their match with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdock, they wanted to leave the crowd “hot,” so Shad came up with the idea of hitting their finisher on the referee.
According to JTG:
“When I rolled back in the ring, Shad had the ref on his shoulders so I’m thinking it’s cool. I hit the ropes, hit our finish, got the crowd back up. Shad wanted to sell the referee’s belt to the crowd, he wanted to auction it off — okay that’s a little bit extra but that’s our gimmick though so I guess that’s cool”
The crowd went crazy, and since it was their gimmick and had been done numerous times, they didn’t expect the reception they got backstage.
“Then we get backstage and Barry Windham who was our agent at the time, you know, ‘I need to talk to you Shad,’ and I’m going along because we’re a team. He’s like, ‘I don’t need to talk to you, I need to talk to your partner.’ So I’m like, ‘Oh that can’t be good.’ Shad gets his gear pulled off then John Cena rips us a new one and then the next day that’s when we got called into a room by John Laurinaitis and you know, he didn’t wanna do it, but he let us go.”
JTG then admitted he expected them to be fined, as they’d been before. The firing was totally unexpected, and they returned to the Indie circuit before rejoining WWE a couple of years later.
While their antics could be considered racist by some today, there’s no denying the effect they had on fans then, and it’s a crime they never won tag team gold.
While their second run in WWE ended with a fizzle, they recently resurfaced in an unexpected way.
Teasing AEW
Holding onto one’s image is important in the entertainment world, so when Chris Jericho had the AEW World Championship stolen, Cryme Tyme made an appearance doing what they do best.
On Twitter, JTG posted a photoshopped image of he and Gaspard with the stolen AEW World Championship with the caption, “Do we have your attention now?” while offering the belt in exchange for a match with the Young Bucks.
First off,Cryme Tyme are not thiefs. Were outstanding citizens,We have NEVER stolen anything in our entire career.We borrowed the title to make a message.
This was not a hit on @IAmJericho, But a message to AEW. If you want your title back, Its simple.We want The Young Bucks 😈 pic.twitter.com/jHimHO5Pc3— JTG ( JAY THA GAWD ) (@Jtg1284) September 4, 2019
It was a creative effort and brought back the memory of their old antics in WWE. The question is, will Cryme Tyme return and join AEW?
The answer to that is still up in the air as there has been little information about this since September, but there’s no denying they’d add some awesome talent and creativity to AEW’s tag team division. With the creative freedom AEW offers, this could be a perfect opportunity for them.
Just think of the fans explosion if they auctioned off some of the Young Bucks’ attire? Or Chris Jericho’s, Cody Rhodes, etc? It’d bring some more excitement to an already fun show.
Of course, there’s always the possibility they’re trolling to hype themselves. It is a very Cryme Tyme thing to do, isn’t it?
