SmackDown Goes BIG...You Host a Show in 2 Cities at the Same Time...

Happy Friday, Enthusiasts!

 

How’s everyone doing? So, there are some rumblings aren’t there. Let’s drop the formalities and get right to it.

 

So, AEW rumors have Daniel Bryan and CM Punk coming over in the next few months and naturally everyone is mulling over how true this all is. I am a skeptic but not quite in the way many think. I’m probably more in line with conspiracy theorists as I think some sort of merger has either been surreptitiously in place or is being quietly negotiated. The only reason I say this is due to the seeming “silence” on WWE’s part. They have been making noteworthy moves, though. There are reports Daniel Bryan has been removed from 2K22 and he has been moved to alumni status for months.

 

Be this as it may, I never thought that amounted to much. Mainly because, I never thought AEW would be a real option for Bryan. I only feel this way because of Bryan’s reputation. He can have what he wants in the wrestling world, even with WWE. Everyone loves him and that is hard to come by. Everyone knows that they’re better with him than without him so I don’t know why WWE would let him go.

 

Many feel that the deal that fell through with NJPW and WWE was the final catalyst for this switch if it is in effect and I can see that. But what I’m getting at is that given how Bryan was talking about where his head was at, it sounded like he lost his motivation in a way. Like the grind wore him down a bit. With that said, I figured he would do something more wholesome and return to Ring of Honor. Find his love for the game again, sort of thing. I think we all want what’s best for Bryan and I just don’t know if AEW is it. I’m not sure what exactly he would accomplish. He doesn’t need their titles. He doesn’t need the screen time, I don’t know if he gets any better matches. He may have more creative control but promos have never been Bryan’s strong suit. It’s always been about the gutsy, energized performance. There’s no need for that in AEW, he’ll arrive over. The only benefit I can see is the opportunity to work New Japan gigs.

 

With that, I hope that if Bryan does appear on AEW it’s just that, he appears. I want him to pull a Kenny Omega and be a “Free Agent”. He shows up whenever for whomever, ‘cause he’s Daniel Bryan. I think that would be the “everybody wins” scenario. He could do AEW, WWE, New Japan, maybe even Ring of Honor and Impact. He’s wherever a good match is. I think that would be a fair evolution of this career. I think Bryan going to AEW just helps AEW, I don’t know if helps him. I think if he’s gonna make moves at this point, it should serve a grander purpose, especially if he’s feeling spent. I hope there’s an Ace up his sleeve and you better believe that if there is, WWE slipped it up there.

 

As for CM Punk, well that’s a horse of a different color. No doubt people would love to see him back in the ring but my question there is how long does the novelty last? Most know the thing about Punk is that he’s a tempestuous type. He’s easy to rub the wrong way and tends to have the same effect on others. Would he be able to keep that to the action and not have it spillover behind the scenes? That’s my first question.

 

The second is how ready to go is he? The way he’s been talking in recent years, it sounds like he hasn’t really had the desire to be in the ring so, is he even ready to get back into it? Will this be some sort of “gotcha” as he shows up on Commentary for Rampage or something?

 

This is what I’m saying about all this. Even if it is “true”, there’s some big omission of some sort. There’s an asterisk on it. It’s not going to be straight up and let’s just hope that’s okay.

 

The other bit of news that caught my eye is that Malakai/Aleister Black is getting a bit more candid about his WWE release. I have to say, I don’t blame him for wanting to wash his hands of them. The arbitrary booking that WWE tends to operate under can be discouraging. He doesn’t have to preach to this choir. I’ve been sounding off on the shoddiness of the product since 2014. I’m coming up on my 7 year blog anniversary. Yet, he’s right in his case. Push him just to pull him? Right there he can drop it because it proves he’s not the issue. I still hope they reconcile someday but WWE is going to have to be humble with him.

 

What this all indicates is that there is a problem in Management and the inconsistency can’t be tolerated at this point because they may lose viewership. Black said he couldn’t take them seriously after that and that’s the very point I’m trying to make. WWE can’t get away with that behavior anymore. The landscape changed. They could pull that if they were still pulling in the numbers but now, they only do that if they maintain a clear train of thought. Get too willy-nilly, people will take note and focus on who makes a better show. So far, they’re buttoning things up but in their case, how long it lasts is definitely the question.

 

Well, at least they’re trying at the moment. WWE is trying to go bigger but that may be good only on paper. Caveat of matches at a music festival is that it’s hard to say if anyone will care about the wrestling. Getting eyes on it isn’t bad, though. This is the sort of thing I’m always really getting at. Ideas are good but ideas that work are better. It’s hard to say how much of the latter WWE has. They tend to prefer their own “universe”. Experiments like tonight’s will expose the difference. We’ll see what they do with the feedback.

 

In any case, John Cena is in Cleveland ‘cause his time is money. He wants Roman Reigns to say something. Toni Storm is also set to debut since Bayley’s out and Bianca BelAir will box with Carmella again for the Women’s title. For everything else, you’ll just have to wait and see. Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. You don’t need me to say that things are up in the air. Let’s see where everything lands.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)