Welcome back to Wrestling with Mediocrity! A lot has changed since the debut article. Perhaps the entire wrestling landscape! Time will tell on that, but one thing for sure is that 2019 will be an interesting year. Not only for the fans, but for the wrestlers themselves, who finally appear to have negotiating leverage.
The problem here is that Vince hates competition. He should be embracing it. Competition would lead to a better WWE product, but Vince prefers to monopolise and rule with an iron fist. No matter how successful All Elite Wrestling is, WWE will continue to be seen as the major leagues for years to come. Instead of trying to sign every talented wrestler in the world when he has a limited number of spots to feature hem he should look at the benefits of guys picking up different styles and gaining experience in other environments.
Suppose AEW is a runaway success. Vince will still have more talent than he could ever use, but he will then also have the advantage of picking up big stars from a ‘rival’ brand which is a sure fire way to create a buzz in your own promotion. WWE has became so incredibly stale and having a hungry upstart biting at their heels could be the incentive those in power need to make the changes the fans have wanted for about fifteen years.
In case you have been living under a rock, or aren’t in the wrestling bubble, AEW held their press conference ‘rally’ on Tuesday afternoon in Jacksonville. The biggest announcements were that they have signed Chris Jericho, Pac and Hangman Page. They also announced that the Double or Nothing PPV will in-fact be happening on May 25th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.
No TV deal was ready to be announced but word is that they are in advanced negotiations with two major networks about a weekly show that would start sometime this fall. By then they will have more talent locked up and likely began a working relationship with New Japan. As things currently stand NJPW is continuing it’s affiliation with ROH, but the common thinking is that after the MSG show on WrestleMania weekend the Japanese powerhouse will switch to AEW in order to get access to the likes of Cody, The Bucks and Kenny Omega.
This is all obviously hypothetical. Omega isn’t even officially with AEW yet, although those in the know have all but confirmed it. It is also interesting to note that AJ Styles is one WWE performer nearing the end of his contract and while he has a prominent spot at the moment, the lure of joining his friends on the ground floor of something could tempt him. I imagine AEW news will continue to drip feed out over the weeks and months and we can discuss as and when it happens.
For now, let’s move on to this week in WWE. RAW was a better show with the added star power of Hulk Hogan and John Cena, yet it still came in 15% lower in the year on year. That is a particularly bad drop when you consider that last number was also considered a massive disappointment at the time. SmackDown was even worse, coming in with a number less than the week before… which was a show that aired on New Years Day.
Word is that Finn Bálor is about to receive a big push. The reasons behind this I’m sure you can figure out for yourself, but despite my love for Bálor it is difficult to get behind him after how much he has been wasted in the last year. Vince needs to start realising that his fans have memories and you can’t just job a guy out for a year and instantly expect fans to be invested in him at a high level. Normally this would result in McMahon abandoning the push, but he may be forced to stick with this one.
The internet seemed annoyed at Brock Lesnar again this week for doing little of note on RAW. Even if you set aside the fact that he turns up whenever Vince asks him to and does what he is told, taking issue with a guy for not doing a physical angle with a wrestler (Strowman) who is not cleared for any contact is just dumb. I get resenting that Lesnar has the belt. I don’t want it on him either, but this is NOT Brock’s fault. Vince booked Lesnar as the guy who wouldn’t do business as part of a STORYLINE to help get Roman Reigns over and now that Reigns is gone for a bit he didn’t see anyone else worthy of holding the belt.
Being mad at Brock Lesnar for being champ and not being on RAW every week is like blaming Baron Corbin for RAW’s booking. One last note on RAW about Lesnar/Strowman. They made Braun look really weak. He can be booked around a bunch of gimmicks and looks like a monster and a top act at times, but no way is the guy a sustainable main eventer long term. I think even Vince, as size obsessed as he is, gets that.
Word in the wrestling industry from the likes of Meltzer this week was that plans have changed and the scheduled main event for WrestleMania is now Ronda Rousey v Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair. What a surprise. I wasn’t even watching the show, just hearing bits and pieces and I said months ago Charlotte would end up in this. I still think there’s a slight that Becky loses out altogether, as the original plan before Becky took off was a single between Ronda and Charlotte. Regardless, no way is Vince McMahon going to entertain a “First Women’s [Insert Here]” and not have the female Roman in it. No harm to Charlotte, I genuinely like her. This was Becky’s time though and a 1 on 1 match is always preferable to a three-way. Especially in a WrestleMania main event.
As for the triple threat number one contenders match on SmackDown it was a decent match, even given Carmella’s in-ring limitations. Becky going for the title at the Rumble is a strange move. I presume she gets cheated in some way, Charlotte then wins the Rumble and they do something at the February PPV to explain the three-way.
People seem pretty entertained by the Shane/Miz stuff on SmackDown but I don’t see the appeal at all. WWE seemingly changed plans half way through on Shane’s heel turn and the whole storyline smacks of inconsistent booking. Still, I’m sure it will culminate in Shane getting his big “look at me” WrestleMania match where Vince wheels out the likes of Shane, Undertaker and Helmsley to cover for the fact that he’s spent another year not getting current talent over to the point where they can carry the show.
Daniel Bryan’s new character is great, although it is a little ironic that it’s his care for the community and environment that apparently makes him a heel. this area of SmackDown is struggling to feel organic given Philips, Graves and Saxton endlessly droning on about a new era, the new Daniel Bryan and the real AJ Styles. It’s all in the delivery. Mention it a few times and it may stick with fans, say the words 10 times a minute and you will just create annoyance and resentment.
While great to see Rusev with the US Title and Nakamura as a strong contender I hope the angle doesn’t revolve too much around this ‘bump’ Lana took. It didn’t look good at all and the fact that Lana is supposedly a wrestler further ruins the illusion that she would be put on the shelf by essentially falling over. These all seem like small critiques, but even if you don’t notice, many find themselves less engaged because the storylines don’t have that added layer of context and believability.
There’s always more that can be said but I feel that’s a good amount of discussion for this week. I’ll be back next Sunday, same time, same place with more thoughts and opinions on the world of wrestling. Hopefully, we start to see some more hints at this new era we have been hearing so much about. Given the AEW rally, I do think it may prompt Vince to up his game, so fingers crossed 🤞 If you want to discuss my thoughts on this week in wrestling get in touch on Twitter @VizualDze. Catch you all next week!
