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Showing posts from January, 2022

Royal Rumble Fallout - RAW Gets Clean-up Duty...

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How’s Everyone Doing this Evening?   Well, the Royal Rumble came and went and WWE succeeded in making a mockery of itself yet again. We’ve seen a lot of bad PPVs and unfortunately, that one ends up in that pile. It wasn’t all bad, but it was everything wrong with WWE in a nutshell. The saving grace, the only place they can go is up.   WWE tends to recover when it puts its back up against the wall. The intrigue for tonight’s Fallout Show is how they salvage things. But how did they end up here? It’s simple really, they’re relying on performers who aren’t on the roster full-time. Right there, they’re short-sighted. Even with all the releases they still have like 5o people they need to figure out what to do with and last night confirmed they still have no clue. Never a good look. As I’ve said before, they have the Talent but no Vision. They may have an endgame but it’s still not clear how they get there. This year’s Rumble definitely gives them incentive to start developing those

Here We Are - Royal Rumble 2022

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A Good Saturday to You, Enthusiasts.   The Royal Rumble is upon us yet again and I have no idea what to expect. This will be a short post because of it. There are only 6 matches officially scheduled so, either the Rumbles will be extended affairs or this will be a short PPV.   That’s another reason I don’t have much to say. Not much is actually advertised and as I said last night, that’s not exactly a bad thing. WWE kinda has to start over with its fanbase and simultaneously begin building a new one so, keeping things quiet and just seeing what works is a respectable tactic. Keeps us guessing and we can’t badmouth beforehand. I don’t blame them. They’ve had to clean up their own mess for a while. They won’t overtly admit it, but we should see stuff like this going forward for the time being, light advertising and the surprise factor. They’re going to hope word of mouth brings people around on curiosity.   So, all that said, I just hope for a fun time tonight. Royal Rumbles

SmackDown Lays the Final Piece Down for the Royal Rumble...

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How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?   Going well? I sure hope so. This is actually a good Friday so far so, let’s see if we can keep it going. Let’s get into what’s going around the wrestling world.   The first topic of interest is this Dan Hausen guy…or is it supposed to be “DanHausen”? AEW has acquired him and I, like many, don’t get him and not sure I’ll take the time to. I’m going to date myself here, but he reminds me of some offshoot of Man Servant Hecubus from Kids in the Hall, very un-terrifyingly evil. I’m not sure if he charms the same but I do recognize that comedy is his game. We’ll see if he puts out some good matches. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt in that case.   On the outskirts of the WWE Universe, there’s some talk going around that WWE reached out to Jeff Hardy to reclaim him. Word also is that Hardy basically said go to hell and show me my drug test results. The feeling is that they should be negative. Well, I suggested that it might have been tummy tr

RAW Keeps the Royal Rumble Go-Home Show Low Key...

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A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts,   The wrestling world has some grumblings making the rounds. Let us chat about it for a bit. What else would we do 😉   So, #FreeAli is a thing now and the pseudo-Kaepernick vibes with it. It’s drumming up talk. Commenters have plenty to say but I’m not sure where this all goes. Does Ali become some sort of activist from here on out? Does he find a place at AEW? Somewhere else? Or does WWE give him a valid shot, quieting all naysayers? I really don’t know. Whatever happens, I just hope that it's fair. I’ve already said that WWE shouldn’t hold on to him if they have no plans for him. Ali has been vocal and proactive in getting on TV and performing palatable content. You can’t say he wasn’t trying to work with WWE. WWE doesn’t need to look petty right now. It generally has to counter a lot of bad press. They need to either let Ali go with a healthy severance and minimal non-compete or they give him a fair push and see where it goes. WWE want

SmackDown Gears Us Up for the Final Push...

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Happy Friday, Enthusiasts!   I hope you all are doing well. So, there’s a bit to talk about at the end of the week, isn’t there. Let’s not dally and get right to it.   The first blip on the radar is the return of Jon Moxley. Fitting how he returns just as Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins prepare to do battle at the Royal Rumble. One thing that is for sure is that the enigma that was The Shield is still alive and well. Reports have already shot down Moxley making an appearance for the Rumble, but his first match back is scheduled for tonight’s Rampage . I’m not sure what to think or feel just yet. We’ll see how the fresh and clean version of Mox works out. Not that I think anyone needs to be on the sauce but people like the We don’t often care for “sanitizing” or “cleaning up” the rough and tumble types. That rough edge tends to be what makes that sort of performer interesting. Mox showed us that he’ll always be able to rock a mic but how has it affected the action in the squared c

RAW Lays Down the Final Touches for the Royal Rumble...

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A Joyous MLK Day to You, Enthusiasts! A day off in the name of Civil Rights is always appreciated. The wrestling world doesn’t sleep often and though the past few days haven’t been the most riveting, there is some interesting news to chat about. Shall we? So, a bit of news that may raise an eyebrow is that somehow, Cody Rhodes is a free agent. I don’t know if this is more an indication of the looseness of his contract or if he’s more of a general employee that earns a wage. I’m not even sure I should even believe this information as it may be fodder for some AEW storyline.  The timing of it does lend to some speculation as the Royal Rumble is coming up. Could Rhodes be a surprise entrant? Reports circulating say that there is no crossover planned between AEW and WWE but I doubt they’d promote something like that. I would think they’d like to keep that a secret so we’ll see if he shows up on old ground. That could be fun. In the WWE Universe there’s some tension apparently as Mustafa Al

SmackDown Takes Its Time When in No Man's Land...

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  Happy Friday, Enthusiasts. Tis the start of the first 3-day weekend of 2022 and the wrestling world isn’t exactly bustling but there is plenty of movement. Let’s see what’s going on. So, outside of WWE, Wardlow made it quite clear that he has no intentions of working for WWE. If the Gods are willing, he’ll be with AEW for life. I don’t find that entirely surprising but at the same time, I wonder if the sentiment lasts. The thing about WWE, regardless of how you feel, it is the next level. From there, it is literally the world. The point I’m making is that Wardlow’s viewpoint may be shortsighted unless he’s at peace with his lot. If he doesn’t need more in terms of fame and fortune, go ahead and grow in more personal directions. Who am I to say what’s best for the man?  This means that WWE will have to focus on others. Though I felt Wardlow would be a perfect WWE addition, there are others that should return or debut at some point. For me, I feel the same few should return: PAC, Aleis

RAW Gets Comfortable in the New Year...

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  A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts. How is it treating you this time around? Good? I’ve had better but that’s neither here nor there. A bad one is bound to come up from time to time. Regardless, there is some chatter in the wrestling world. Shall we add a bit to it? So, the Royal Rumble is the big deal this time of year and naturally, we’re seeing who’s making their bid. We have Johnny Knoxville making an appearance and Mickie James is walking through the “Forbidden Door”. There’s also talk that someone else may do the same so naturally everyone has their guesses. For me, I’d offer Kenny Omega just because it seems like the one thing that would never happen. I don’t know where he is in terms of recovery and word on the Social Media is that he’s got some COVID side effects. Makes me think he got the booster or vaccinated. With the Rumble at the end of the month, it’s not impossible but that’s just my long shot.  Some people suggest Miro/Rusev and that would be appropriate to me. His pa

SmackDown Eases Us into the Rest of the New Year...

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Good Evening, Enthusiasts.   How is this Friday treating you? Well, I hope. So, there are a few things to chat about at the end of this week. Let’s start with the non-WWE stuff first.   So, Rey Fenix had a nasty spill this past Wednesday on AEW’s Dynamite. I caught it online and yeah, poor guy. It’s the kinda thing that comes with the territory. Reports are saying that it’s more a severe dislocation than it is a break but doctors are still assessing the full extent of the damage. Naturally, we all wish him a speedy recovery.   Now, back to the territory I’m more familiar with, there was another list of cuts this week, the most prominent of which being William Regal and Samoa Joe for a second time. I wasn’t familiar with everyone else. I only knew Regal from NXT but I know he had a wrestling career, it was just before my time. And if I did catch him, I don’t remember. As for Joe, well, I think in both these gentlemen’s cases, time was the true culprit. WWE is clearly going

RAW Opens 2022...

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A Good Monday to You, Enthusiasts.   Did you enjoy Day 1? Strangely familiar, wasn’t it 😉 But that doesn’t mean it was bad. It oddly accounted for itself with the supposed positive COVID testing of Roman Reigns. The plan upended, WWE makes do. I find this suspect but I have no theory as for the “work” of a positive COVID test so, I will accept what I’m being told but I don’t think it’s the truth but that is just a hunch.   Doesn’t mean something didn’t come up but I don’t fully believe it’s COVID a mishap or tummy trouble maybe but I don’t think we’re being given full disclosure. Regardless, Day 1 was a respectable event. The Twitter was saying how WWE doesn’t intend to use the term “Pay-Per-View” anymore. We are now witnessing “Premiere Live Events”. I guess that’s more in-line with the times. We don’t exactly pay per view anymore. We either get the subscription or watch the YouTube upload the next day. Fair enough.   In any case, Day 1 was palatable, as I was getting to.

WWE Presents to Us Day 1...

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Happy New Year, Enthusiasts!   So, here we are at Day 1 to see if this is the first day of something. I know I’m saying it’s the revolution but I should add that it’s a realistic revolution. This is born out of necessity not outrage. With talent like Toni Storm walking out, you can’t exactly say it’s your best days. WWE may anyway just to prove a greater point but they run the risk of people not caring enough to get their real meaning.   So, Day 1 has some pressure on it. The question has become, why should people keep bothering? Just out of sheer habit? The numbers will only continue to dwindle. We all know they don’t want that. Can’t maintain a profit with interest waning. How to turn the tide? They don’t know. And to be honest, those who think they do, would find that it’s no easy task.   The WWE Universe is not exactly or exclusively comprised of pro-wrestling fans so, sticking to that original construct isn’t guaranteed to gain the interest of the common person. That i