SmackDown Keeps Us on Track for Night of Champions...

 How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

Happy Friday! So, the Wrestling World has its goings ons but per usual, I’m only interested in a few things. Shouldn’t take too much of your time. Shall we have a little chat?

First, we’ll take a brief look at the Realm of AEW as they were in Mexico this week. As you may have figured by now, I’m only interested in the Future, so I had a look at the main event. The implications aren’t immediately clear other than the Riders of Death have to lose some, sometimes. I would say that this Beast Mortos guy was the most impressive, though word of him dating Mercedes Moné has prompted some curiosity. What’s under the mask?! 

The joke seems to be he’s a looker but is he? 😉 From what I found online, he’s very okay and a bit thicker than I anticipated but that’s what makes this profession appealing to some. It welcomes a larger frame. In any case, let them carry on.

In the WWE Universe, there are few things going on. One that may have more general attention is that Liv Morgan is going to be out a while. What’s going around is that she’ll need surgery on that shoulder and will probably be out at least 6 months. That’s could be seen as a sort of bad omen for Nikki Bella’s return. Who is she gonna feud with now? We’ll see who steps up. 

On the social media front, Sami Zayn has proven a true warrior for change. With the Trump Administration in office, many businesses and prominent brands have opted to reflect the general sentiment of reinstating the Western Hetero-Normative way of life, doing away with promoting diversity and inclusion and just sticking to business as usual. Naturally, WWE having its direct associations with the current administration, there’s no surprise they quietly followed suit. 

Conversely, AEW has been embracing the Others in the world and have honored both PRIDE and Juneteenth. This is commendable and I do commend them. AEW might as well be the promotion for the younger generation.  I wouldn’t quite give them being the “Marvel” to counter WWE as being “DC Comics” but they’re like Image or the like. Let’s face it. WWE is more for the general public and the old fogies who remember when. I’m fast becoming one of them so, I can’t help but lean toward what I’ve grown used to, even though I don’t fully agree with their politics. I’ve made my peace with agreeing to disagree. However, I will always be a proponent for progress and I think that’s how we all should generally be. 

Recent trends feel too much like a step back. I don’t expect WWE to concur with that sentiment at present but as more information comes to light, shall we say, and the public preference starts to change, I feel so shall they. They’ll be about money above all else and if going conservative loses them money, they’ll cater to more independent thinking. 

As for my personal views, I feel we should be inclusive as it is a marker of progression in society and overall civilization. I would liken it to accepting the concept of evolution. It’s hard to back creationism when you have the facts of science that show fairly definitively that we do in fact descend from primates. I think all you have to do is go to a local zoo to get proof of that. Allow me relay an example. 

A few years ago, I visited the safari park in San Diego and they have various primates yet there was one who stood out for me. His name is Frank and he is a gorilla. We came upon him in his enclosure and he’s quite a lovely specimen so I felt compelled to take a photo. Frank, having been there for some time, has put together that we human folk enjoy picture taking because he did me a tremendous favor and posed for it.  

I never doubted our origins but in that moment, I felt they were confirmed. I thanked him and went on with my day. So, my point is that don’t shun facts in favor of ego. Many people won’t accept evolution because that means they descend from monkeys and I have to say, so what. Those monkeys are why we are who we are.  I couldn’t take a picture if cousin Frank didn’t have the cognizance to put together that I was somehow capturing an image of him with some contraption. 

When it comes to different lifestyles, it’s simply a matter of preference. What does it matter if someone wants to honor gender norms or not? I respect that not everyone feels the need to delineate in such a detailed fashion but understand that these aspects of life just won’t go away because insecure people don’t like them. And do admit that what these general detractions reveal is an underlying insecurity. This always hovers close to themes of power. People don’t like feeling threatened and these changes are threatening to those who benefit from what has always been. 

The same more or less goes for race relations as well. We are exactly where we put ourselves. You don’t need me to tell you not to judge a book by its cover. True, there are stereotypes but there is also history and there are clear reasons as to why things are, the way they are and they have to do with assumptions and insecurities more than they have to do with skin color. Try to be a part of the solution before you start bitching is all I’m going to say. Just remember that half of the humans on this planet aren’t all that great so, if you think those lines are drawn by pigment you have much to learn.

And so, let’s get to tonight’s SmackDown. That should be more fun anyway. Not much is advertised so, I’m anticipating all sorts of hijinks. I’m not complaining it’s just we’re supposed to wait and see apparently. What we can expect, for the most part is that Alexa Bliss will see where Asuka is at on the comeback trail. Randy Orton and Sami Zayn will have a dance to see who gets to go to King of the Ring. And Ron Killings aka R-Truth will try to take a chunk out of John Cena. He’s not his childhood hero any more. 

I’ll catch up at 8pm PDT. Fellow West Coasters are always welcome to join me. It’s the upside of coming in late. Enjoy your evening out there!

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)