RAW Says Hello & Good-bye to Ireland...

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

A good MLK Day to you if you get to celebrate it with a day off. That happens to be my fate at the moment and I have enjoyed the day thoroughly. As for the Wrestling World, it’s fairly quiet at present but I have a couple things to chat about so, let’s get it over with then we can get to lounging however we please.

 

We start in the Realm of AEW as we check on the percolating Future and I would say the first bubbles have started to rise to the surface. On this weekend’s Collision, we saw Don Callis himself get a few of Jon Moxley’s feathers ruffled. Mox did try to just walk away. I would presume that Mox is fully aware of his… “tendencies”. Yet, taking the High Road did not save him. The Callis Family is large and members were there to greet Mox with what they would feel is a well-overdue beatdown. The Riders of Death were quick to swoop in and back them off but the gauntlet has been thrown to the ground. If that doesn’t light a feud, I don’t know what does.

 

The Riders were able to compose themselves to formally warn the Callis Family of their grave error with a promo later in the show but I feel that’s the most subdued we’ll see them for a time, which is fine by me. The tit for tat should gradually yet steadily escalate so that the inevitable “drastic measures” appear nothing but the logical next step. You could say this is the “Strike 1” of a new ball game however if I’m running things, this is more like “Ball 1”. For me, Strike 1 comes when “external agents” are brought in. That’s when it should “start to get real” and I wouldn’t drop that until Summer at the earliest.

 

Right now, they should just have some fun trying to get back at each other. I think to start, the Callis Family should remain the instigators and escalators. I suggest that Mox and the Riders should go along with this pseudo-Face Turn sentiment and try to be “good guys” in this feud. They should be minding their business for the most part and only responding to obvious threats. They can be emphatic with their responses in an effort to put whatever it is to bed so that they can concentrate on being the dominant force they aim to solidify into being but the Riders were pissing people off for about a couple years so, it shouldn’t be as easy as all that.

 

I think the Callis Family should be the ones who “take it too far” first and that’s what starts to bust Mox’s seams. The response should be “crazy” and completely over-the-top but short of “attempted murder”. We know how that goes. “Potentially career-ending” should be the line everyone generally minds. Something that makes people start to rethink their allegiances and motivations on both sides.

 

The Future should be a fun time, full of intrigue and tension. You should be able to understand why people chose to do what they did and everyone should be “on edge” in anticipation for the next round of retaliation. I hazard to give examples as the fun of all this comes from our players’ creativity and ingenuity. This should be a great exercise in character development.  How people choose to react/respond should be some insight into who they’re trying to be out there. I hope they make the most of the opportunity. The Future is on the Horizon, my friends. Let’s see if they can make it as entertaining as it ought to be. Looking forward to it 😉

Over in the WWE Universe, we prepare ourselves for the Saudi Royal Rumble and the Saturday Night: Main Event that will serve as the precursor set for the end of this week. I believe we are at the end of the European Tour as they close things out in Belfast, Ireland.

 

Tonight, we can expect Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky to give Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez a couple things to think about before Saturday’s showdown for the Tag Team Championships. We’ll have our traditional 6-Man-Tag as the in-house Luchadores in Dragon Lee, Rey Mysterio and Penta (Lucha-Mitsu) join forces to take on the New Vision in Bronson Reed, Logan Paul and Austin Theory. I hear the match between Je’Von Evans and Grande Americano gets cut short due to injury. GUNTHER will rage-bait us by declaring for the Royal Rumble. Maxxine Dupri will see if she regain the Intercontinental Championship from a crafty Lady Becky Lynch. And we’ll get ourselves settled in for what should be a good one as Finn Bálor will attempt to relieve CM Punk of his Heavyweight Champion duties.

 

With it being a “free day” so to speak, I’ll have another early day as I have some business tomorrow, but we should be back to old school West Coast time next week. Sorry for those of you who have to work but my work is about to change. It will allow for later nights. Me being a night owl, can’t say that I mind these changes. In the meantime, I should be getting started around 6pm PST. The action already went down earlier today since they’re overseas so drop by whenever it suits your schedule. All we’re doing is catching up.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)