RAW Escorts Us to Crown Jewel...

 A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts.

 

I hope it finds you well. So, there are some tidbits to snack on in the wrestling world. Shall we have a taste?

 

First thing is first, AEW appears to be gaining on WWE. Even with a “super-sized” SmackDown­, AEW still gained the bulk of the 18-49 year-old demographic for about 30 minutes. I wouldn’t boast too much if I were AEW, though. Seeing how SmackDown was on FS1 and we got baseball playoffs and the NHL and NBA are waking from their seasonal slumbers there was plenty to distract and moreover not everyone has access to FS1. I am not making excuses for either promotion. I think, going forward, both will have their fans and detractors. What’s becoming clearer is that these promotions satisfy different things. You go to WWE if you like action. You go to AEW if you like pro-wrestling sprinkled with some hardcore action. It’s that simple more or less. They overlap just enough to encourage future invasion but not so much that you can sub one for the other, which is fine by me.

 

In the meantime, if WWE is smart, they’re perched behind a “let the baby have its bottle” sentiment. AEW, or rather Tony Khan seems to need the win more than anything. WWE has been around long enough to let them have it. Most wouldn’t expect signs of maturity from WWE but it’s only natural. Their big battle was 20 years ago and they’re the ones left standing. They are in a Show and Not Tell position. They have to show that they can be gracious and not petty. If I were them, I’d let everyone say what they will. I’d let AEW have their wins. WWE made its mess; they should be focused on cleaning it up. Once that’s done, they won’t have to worry about AEW past when to schedule the invasion. A wise WWE would try to stay in this sort of vein (^_~)

 

In other news, it appears that Rhea Ripley is either forgetful or has been robbed as she has lost her title and gear. The way they’re hamming it up on social media it’s hard to say whether it’s a work or not but they’re definitely making the most of it with the help of Damian Priest and Riddle threw himself in ‘cause he has a Tag Team Title. It’s a cute story so far. We’ll see if we get these behind the scenes “fluff” pieces from time to time.

 

There’s more going on but this is what stood out to me. As for the night’s festivities, we’re on RAW’s end of the Go-Home Shows for Crown Jewel. Now, this is a controversial event that’s showing on a Thursday afternoon so I’m not sure what to expect here. The bulk of us will have to catch it after the fact. This Thursday isn’t great for me on top of that so I may have to catch it on Friday before SmackDown. So, take all that into account. I don’t think Crown Jewel will be a bad show because they can’t really afford it to be. Yet, at the same time, it can’t be the same old thing it was last time. Like I said, the Saudi audience isn’t stupid. If anything, they’re better educated than any typical WWE audience so, what we should be looking for is how WWE attempts to measure up. It will have to be a delicate balance. They can’t outpace the regular audience but must have enough entertaining fare to please a patron foreign to the WWE product. We’ll see if they manage something respectable.

 

Tonight, we can expect Big E & Drew McIntyre to put animosities aside for 10 minutes to face Dolph Ziggler and Mr. Robert Roode. Xavier Woods will make a 2^nd to last push for King of the Ring. And Shayna Baszler will take her penultimate shot as well. Early reports are promising. So, one thing we can appreciate with the rise of AEW is better WWE shows, the beauty of “competition”. Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. Let’s see how this week plays out.

 

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)