Toni Storm released

Toni Storm, the talented female athlete known primarily for her work on the NXT UK brand, was trending on Twitter this afternoon because of the news that she finished up with the WWE after she requested her release. After competing in the Mae Young Classic in 2017, Storm, who had a notable stint in the Japanese promotion, Stardom, inked a WWE deal the following year. However, after three years under the WWE banner, her run there was rather undistinguished.

Storm's request to be released from her WWE deal makes a statement about not only the company, but also the industry as a whole.

As mentioned, Storm worked extensively for the NXT UK brand and defeated Rhea Ripley to win the NXT UK Women's championship. That being said, even before the pandemic shuttered live events in 2020, the general consensus was that the UK brand had lost its luster, particularly because the novelty of the British expansion wore off after it became very apparent that it had very little cache in the grand scheme of things. Despite a talented roster of European grapplers, the UK project got lost in the shuffle of the countless hours churned out by the WWE machine for its streaming network on Peacock, as well as Raw and Smackdown. NXT UK was rarely mentioned on actual WWE television, and unless a fan was willing to dig through Peacock to find it, nothing was promoted as major league on the UK brand, with the exception of the absolutely incredible Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov that was booked for an NXT Takeover event.

Storm surfaced on Smackdown in July for a one-off appearance, but did nothing of significance until she had a match against Charlotte when she was defeated earlier this month.

In truth, the random call up to the main roster suggested that the office didn't really have plans for Toni beyond the pop for her debut on Smackdown for that specific week. It's a pattern that is seen too often within the WWE landscape, a performer is booked on television without a specific plan or any meaningful angles that would solidify them as stars in the audience's view. This adds merit to a potentially much bigger problem within the organization, as you hear rumors all the time of scripts being scrapped just hours before a show is set to go live on television.

Keep in mind, the diehard fans in America that follow the Japanese scene or those in the European market already know how talented Toni Storm is, but it's very important to remember that even with the expanded access to other wrestling with streaming technology, the causal WWE fan doesn't know anything about Toni Storm beyond what they watch on Smackdown. Part of what makes the general public casual fans is they aren't going to search for nuance details of professional wrestling.

No matter how talented Toni Storm is as a wrestler, and she's certainly a great athlete, did any of her booking on the main roster present that to the television audience? Obviously, it's not her fault since she's not writing the scripts, but her first impression to a national television audience was a random new wrestler that didn't do much and then disappeared from before she eventually lost a match to Charlotte. Was anything that Toni was booked for on Smackdown designed to make her look like a star?

The most puzzling aspect of all of this is that the WWE had a renewed focus on the women's division in recent years, but have also cut many female athletes in recent months as well. In fact, some of the best stars in the entire company are the female talent on the shows with Becky, Bianca, Charlotte, and others. At the same time, I think the company might've put too much stock into Charlotte as one of the main draws of the division because she's already worked with the majority of the division for several years and it's possible her tenure as champion could get stale without fresh opponents. Ruby, Ember, and Toni would've provided that new group of challengers on Smackdown.

Of course, anytime there's a release of a talented WWE star, there will be rumors of a potential All Elite Wrestling jump, but I'm really not sure if that will be the case for Toni or not. Considering her history in Japan, it's very possible she could opt to return to Stardom. On the flip side, it would be wise for Tony Khan to at least make an offer to her, particular with the addition of the TBS title to the organization because Storm would undoubtedly add depth to the AEW women's division.

Toni Storm didn't really get a chance to became a major star with the WWE so on the surface isn't not a major exit, but it speaks volumes about the shift in the industry in recent years. There was a time, specifically about 15 years ago, that a WWE run was seen as the top level in the industry, mostly because it was truly the only major league option in the professional wrestling world. Outside of a few rare exceptions, nobody willingly left WWE to go to TNA, but rather took a job there after they were released from WWE, which unintentionally gave TNA the reputation as minor league. In 2006, Japanese business was still shaky because Yukes, the video game company that bought New Japan before it was eventually sold to Bushiroad in 2012 to give it some stability, rescued Inoki's group from the brink of collapse the prior year.

Again, Toni didn't get the opportunity to do much in the WWE, but it seems like she has all the skills to be a major star somewhere, and while it remains to be seen, it's very possible that the WWE might've missed the boat on her if she has a better run elsewhere. Although, it says a lot that Toni would rather get a release than continue being underutilized in the WWE, which shows how the dynamics shifted in the business over the past decade. The WWE didn't have quite the status or leverage with talent today as it did in the past because there are other options to make a full-time living in the industry. Obviously, AEW has given underutilized talent a better chance to make a name for themselves and Japan is more of an option now than it was in the past. It will be very interesting to see where Toni Storm signs next and if she will be a major star for another company.

What's the status of WWE?

Originally, I had planned to conclude 2021 with the retro review of WWF Super Astros, the short-lived, but randomly fun lucha project that ran for less than a year before it was axed due to budget restrictions from Univision, the largest Spanish broadcast network in the United States that had a deal with the company to produce exclusive content for the channel. Unfortunately, other restrictions have made headlines within professional wrestling in recent days, as the WWE had to shuffled house show line-ups for its holiday tour because of several positive COVID tests in the company. With the Day One pay-per-view just a few days ago, PWInsider's Mike Johnson, one of the most accurate journalists that covers the sport, reported that it's currently unknown if any scheduled matches for the pay-per-view will be affected by the COVID situation.

Certainly, things are looking optimistic for 2022.

The whole scenario creates questions about not only the Day One pay-per-view, but the status of the entire company. Granted, there are too many red states that wouldn't implement any type of major shutdown again so the organization will have places to run full-scale live events, but depending on the risk of COVID putting more performers on the sidelines, it's very possible that WWE brass might reduce the number of house shows again because the extra travel might not be worth the potential positive COVID tests that could take some of the talent off of television. Keep in mind, it's a harsh reality for some of the old school purists that diligently track down the classic house show footage of the 80s and 90s that was only meant for those that happened to be there live, but with the technology and media dynamics of the modern era, the house show formula is completely irrelevant. The WWE will make record-setting profits for at least the next few years because of their massive TV contracts with USA for Raw, Fox for Smackdown, and Peacock for the WWE Network. There are literally a few billion dollars generated specifically because of content that can be broadcasted to viewers through different platforms. As special as the stories are of 15,000 people jammed to the rafters at the Omni, the live gates alone for sports entertainment outside of major events like Wrestlemania or other stadium shows, aren't even comparable to the mega money based for the broadcast rights because of the reach that modern technology gives networks and streaming platforms.

The point being, is the revenue from the house show loops worth the potential COVID cases on the roster when it can affect the television product?

It's more frustrating than watching Vince Russo attempt to justify his ridiculous booking style, but the fact is that COVID is still a factor in the world so it might be wise for the WWE to keep their touring schedule to strictly television tapings because it's such a lucrative revenue stream for the company. Less travel for house show loops would theoretically reduce the risk of COVID for the performers as well since they would only be going through airports to travel to television tapings.

As far as what this does for the Day One pay-per-view isn't necessarily as impactful as what could happen if there was another outbreak in the company around the pivotal Wrestlemania season. In truth, the entire concept of a New Year's day pay-per-view is more of an aspect of PR cannon fodder than anything else. Sure, it gives Nick Khan and the rest of the office something to tout on the next conference call with shareholders, but are the results of this pay-per-view actually going to shape anything ahead of Wrestlemania? Unless it does, the entire show is just secondary to The Royal Rumble, the event where some of the pieces are put into place to build to WM in April.

I've written about it several times during the pandemic era, but it looks like it will continue to be a trend in 2022, too often the results of a particular show translate to absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things because of the 50/50 booking style. Even now, you could technically skip a few weeks of Raw without actually missing anything key to the storylines on the show, and the sluggish ratings suggest that the viewing audience realizes that. Everything from the booking style to the releases for "budget cuts" have told the audience for the past few years that the vast majority of the product is a collection of interchangeable parts on the WWE machine. If it's not Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, or a nostalgia act from the past that the Saudi government pays big money for, the importance of it is minimal.

Proof of that philosophy can been seen on the Day One card itself, as even with potential shuffles because of COVID, outside of the Brock/Roman bout, nothing was pushed as major league on television. Despite the fact that there wasn't a pay-per-view in December because of the New Year's day event, the WWE championship picture is lukewarm at best, and the four way match seems like an excuse to book a title match on the show without a compelling angle to build it. The four way stipulation is more or less the only selling point because despite Big E's tremendous popularity, the writing team hasn't developed a personal rivalry or compelling feud during his reign as champion. Instead, it was throw a few extra challengers into the title picture to give the audience something they haven't seen on pay-per-view yet. The Usos vs. The New Day in a tag title match would be fine if it wasn't a match that was already booked several times over the past several years. Nothing against The Miz, but if management doesn't have anything better for Edge to do on television then he should just stay home until they find a major opponent for him. Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan will probably have a solid match, does anyone really think Liv will win the title?

Brock and Roman are booked as the sizzle and the substance on the card, particularly because they're the two most featured stars in the company, and Paul Heyman's potential reunion with Lesnar has fans looking for the advocate's role in the conclusion on the contest. A baby face Brock with a slightly different look puts a fresh coat of paint on this feud, but I really don't know how much more the office can get from this match. They've played the Roman/Brock card several times in the past few years, and the rumor mill suggest that it's on the schedule for Wrestlemania in a few months. Does anyone really want to see this feud main event another WM? That's not a jab at either performer, but these two are paired more by proxy than anything else at this point because management hasn't pushed anyone else to nearly the same level.

You've heard for years how important depth is on a roster, but the combination of COVID and flimsy booking could create some major hurdles for the company in the early months of 2022. As mentioned, Day One is more of a PR event and secondary to The Royal Rumble, but it also highlights that there's still a lack of major star power in the company.

VHS Memoirs Volume 22

As 2021 nears its conclusion, a rather bland year for the entire world for the second year in a row and with a rather bleak outlook for 2022 as the Ocromin is ready to run wild like a Hogan comeback, I find myself less than enthusiastic about the future. Professional wrestling has more or less put it in autopilot for the final week of the year with only taped shows left on the calendar. I was looking to find at least one more topic to cover before we bid farewell to another year of COVID controversy so I went back to a simpler time, both for society and sports entertainment.

I was able to land the 41-episode run of WWF Super Astros, the company's short-lived lucha experiment that aired on Univision, the largest Spanish language station in the United States, from 1998-1999. The VHS-to-DVD transfers capture the vibe of the late-90s and all things considered, the entire project is so random that it makes for a very fun viewing experience.

While I had heard of Super Astros before and seen a few clips on Youtube, the whole scenario is still an odd presentation even more than two decades after the run of the series. To my knowledge, the show isn't on Peacock, and I would've attempted to confirm this, but the interface of the app is still more confusing than Vince Russo's WCW booking in 2000. You often hear about the WWE looking to capitalize of the Hispanic market, but, outside of one main event Latino star at any particular point, the company hasn't found a way to serve that audience while maintaining its direction of marketing to the casual fan. That being said, because of its vast difference to the American style, prehaps it's not realistic to expect the WWE to find a way to cater to lucha fans outside of Rey Mysterio's status as a bonafide legend today.

The other and more direct hurdle was also the fact that the WWF was and still is built on the big men in the sport. The smaller "work rate" athletes that can work the dazzling lucha style that was highlighted on Nitro during its heyday usually wouldn't be seen as potential main eventers by Vince McMahon anyway. Speaking of Nitro, while Eric Bischoff had no plans for the cruiser weight division beyond just stellar matches or a way to translate them intro star power for WCW, it goes without saying that the lucha libre aspects of Nitro were key to differentiating the product from the WWF, especially because the majority of the star power on the show was assembled with former McMahon stars. Granted, both shows went through a very hot period during the competition of the Monday night wars, but you simply weren't going to find anyone like Rey, La Parka, or others on WWF television.

Considering the WWF's focus on heavyweights, even their attempt to counter WCW's ability to capitalize on lucha libre was a half-hearted attempt at best.

For diehard fans, the1997 WWF Light Heavyweight title tournament provided another short-lived period where some international talent entered the fold, but nothing truly materialized from it. Taka Michinoku, Essa Rios, Tajiri, The Great Sasuke, and other international stars made various appearances. Taka went on to work a comedy gimmick, Essa Rios spent the majority of his WWF run on Heat, and as we know, Tajiri found success in ECW before he was given a notable run in the WWE.

The fact that the more niche aspects of international talent didn't gel with the broad brush of the WWF product made it obvious that Super Astros had to be somewhat of a "lucha bubble" so to speak because in many ways, it was a completely different entity from the rest of WWF programing. For whatever reason, the show isn't much of a topic of discussion, but on his "Something to Wrestle With" podcast, Bruce Prichard provided some insight into the production. The deal for the broadcast was made specifically with Univision, which makes sense because again, that network is specially for the Hispanic viewers. According to Bruce, the station paid $17,000 a week for the show, but that didn't cover the production costs, which might've been expensive as far as the travel for the international stars. Supposedly, there was discussion about expanding the program to an hour to get paid more per episode so that the venture would become profitable, but Univision only wanted the half hour time slot.

The bottom line is, if a project isn't profitable, especially at a time when every other division of the company is making money then there's no reason to continue to produce the shows so Super Astros got the axe less than a year after it launched.

That being said, as mentioned, it's undoubtedly a fun viewing experience. I watched the first five episodes for this review and the fact that El Hijo Del Santo, a legitimate lucha legend, wrestles Super Crazy in a WWF ring in 1998 for the main event of the first show is wild. A few episodes later, during an interview segment with El Hijo Del Santo, he actually makes reference to "Love Machine" Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero, which I'm guessing is something about the legendary hair vs mask match he had with Octagon against them in 1994. The first show also has Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich on commentary with Maxi Mini dancing on the announce desk. Another random, but comical note from those first few episodes is that Dick Togo attacked Negro Casas and cuts a promo in Spanish to set up a match the following week. The problem is, he cut the promo in Spanish in front of an American audience that had no idea what he was saying into the mic.

Ultimately, that was the problem with the Super Astros show beyond just the dollars and cents of the deal. Unless the WWF was going to produce a show on its own in either prominently Hispanic markets in the United States or run events in Mexico, the entire presentation was quite literally lost in translation. You can tell throughout the episodes that the vast majority of the live crowd has absolutely no idea what's going on during these matches because it was taped in front of an American crowd. Did the fans in Tacoma, Washington or New Haven Connecticut have any idea who Essa Rios and Negro Casas were in 1998?

Since the project was cancelled less than a year into its tenure, it's unknown what the plans could've been for the venture as far as what the payoff was supposed to be with it or how far the WWF would've been willing to expand on a side project when business was already very lucrative in the middle of the Monday night wars. Would these shows have built to a lucha pay-per-view or were these just random matches taped in front of a mostly quiet crowd to provide wrestling content to Univision because the business surged in the late-90s? Who knows, but either way Super Astros is fun to watch and is somewhat of an "easter egg" of the industry.

What's the status of Bron Breakker?

What's old is new again is a cliche, but sometimes cliches remain true for a reason.

We've seen the past several years, particularly since the return of Brock Lesnar to the company several years ago that Vince McMahon relied on nostalgia acts to boost the promotion, which is a much easier booking decision than trying to bank on a new star that may or may not reach the level of the previous generation. Granted, that's not to automatically say that it was a mistake at different points, either. One of the perks of running a successful company for decades and surviving the downturns of the industry, the Monday night war, and the steroid trail against the federal government is the history of the organization becomes its own revenue stream in various ways.

Keeping in mind, the vast majority of the WWE Network, the streaming platform that the company landed a billion dollar contract for with the Peacock deal, is built on content from the past. Of course, as specific generations reach that nostalgia phase as a throwback to their youth when they discovered the sport, there's also an entire catalog of merchandise geared toward that demographic as well. The younger fans that will buy a Roman Reigns or Sasha Banks t-shirt won't be the market for the retro Razor Roman or Bobby "The Brain" Hennan items. In truth, it does necessarily matter if the newer generation follows the classic content or not, as long as there's a market for the retro merchandise then it's another successful revenue stream for a company that already touts record-setting profits.

That being said, while there was a time to cash-in for the original Goldberg comeback in 2016 and the moment when Sting finally debuted in WWE in 2014, there's no doubt that the business model, at least for the moment seemed to be geared toward the short-end money. On one hand, taking the money on the table makes sense, but on the flip side, is that cash being made now at the expense of more money in the future? The concerning aspect of all of this is not the actual stability of the company, the WWE is financially secure for decades, and while I don't think the McMahon family would ever want to sell because at some point, the profits just become numbers on a page, prehaps the lack of focus on the next generation is that if a sell happens, it would be the next management team's problem.

Still, the lack of competition in the industry, at least until a few years ago, along with the hefty TV deals created an almost unintentional level of mediocrity within the product. When the WWE was the only major promotion in existence, even when the Roman baby face push flopped, the office didn't have to change their path because in many ways if fans in the United States were going to watch sports entertainment then they were going to watch WWE. What was the alternative? If someone had access to or could find Pop TV in 2016, they could watch a rather subpar product that had the lead in of ice fishing from Poland.

The perception of the WWE today is that it's a very successful publicly traded global corporation, but the key point being much of that is based on the success of its past, not the projected success of the future. I've written about several examples in the past and we can parse details for as long as a Hillbilly Jim Hall of Fame speech, but the bottom line is, outside of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, WWE brass has presented its roster as interchangeable parts of the machine so there's a ceiling to how far the brand itself will get over with the audience. Granted, the upside of that philosophy is that it reduces the impact on the program if a top star is injured or has a contract dispute, but the argument could be made that the potential downside could have much more of an effect on the organization. When the brand itself is the draw, by nature, it will only get over to a specific level. A prime example of this, the WWF logo was majorly over in 1998, but the fuel of that momentum was the star power of Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, and others.

Other than Roman or Brock, who could be the fuel for the future?

Quite frankly, the current WWE roster is arguable the best in-ring collection of talent in the history of the promotion, but also one of the lowest in terms of star power, which speaks directly to the presentation of the product. Drew McIntyre should've been protected better as champion, the amount of Sasha Banks heel turns in the span of just a few years made one of the most talented in the entire company without any momentum for an extended period of time, and Big E probably should've had the title two years ago. The cringe worthy segments on Raw with the golden egg insult the viewer's intelligence and give them a reason to change the channel. The zombies, the swamp fights, and often counterproductive 50/50 booking made the product either frustrating, unwatchable or both on any given week.

The "shock TV" of the Attitude era had its day and any notion to go back to that is misguided, but where's the anticipation for episodes of Raw or Smackdown? When is the last time there was a major buzz around the WWE product? How does a company that has dozens of writers lack any hype? Again, given the 50/50 booking style, does anyone think that the New Year's day pay-per-view will actually have a major impact on the show or any progress will be made for the angles? Instead, it's just a corporate strategy to run an event on the holiday with the progress for the product being made at The Royal Rumble a few weeks later.

There are several very talented WWE stars, but the vast majority of them have been tainted in some form or fashion by the booking mishaps mentioned previously. There were too many "can't miss" stars that the writing staff somehow managed to miss so there are no guarantees, but I honestly think that Bron Breakker has the potential to be an eventual Wrestlemania main eventer in the not too distant future. There will only be one Kurt Angle, and putting those type of expectations on Bron would be unfair, but as far as being a true natural in the ring, Bron might be near the Angle level in terms of his ability to performer at a main stream level very early in his career. Bron Breakker only had a few matches before he showed up on NXT TV and looked like a seasoned pro that had at least a few years experience on television.

Breakker has the intensity and brings a level of charisma to the table that could put him in the role of a fiery baby face that the fans could rally for when he makes it to the main roster. I know this is putting the cart before the horse, but just as an example, Breakker vs. Roman Reigns would be a match that would generate a buzz now, but would be an even bigger match after Bron gets a proper push on the main roster. I'm as skeptical as anyone about the WWE process and consider the chances for success on how someone is booked as a toss up, but I honestly think that Bron Breakker could be a legitimate money drawing star for the company. It will be interesting to see what happens because much of what makes Breakker stand out is the raw talent that guys from a previous era had so the dozens of writers could either dilute his skills or simplify the process to allow him to organically get over with the audience.

Will Danielson win the AEW championship?

Tonight, All Elite Wrestling presents a special edition of Dynamite, Winter is Coming with the main event of Adam Page defending the world title against Bryan Danielson. Considering that last year's edition of Winter is Coming featured the surprise debut of Sting, something that very few would've expected given his age and history of neck injuries several years earlier, and the Kenny Omega heel turn with Don Callis that began a title run that lasted nearly a year, there are certainly expectations for the show tonight. Granted, I doubt there are any legendary debuts on the line-up since it's not possible to deliver that kind of moment regularly, but given that Tony Khan kept the Winter is Coming name for this event, I would guess that something major will take place before the broadcast goes off the air.

It goes without saying that Danielson vs. Page is the marquee match on the show, and in many ways, these titled editions of Dynamite are almost similar to WCW Clash of the Champions specials from that promotion's heyday. In truth, it's a happy medium when you take into account All Elite's quarterly pay-per-view schedule, which has worked very well. It's a topic that I've discussed before, but it remains relevant in this scenario, with a streaming network that offers thousands of hours of content for $4.99 a month or free for many customers, it's exponentially more difficult to sell a $50 pay-per-view in the modern era. Tony Khan could book the best pay-per-view line-ups of all time and there would be diminishing returns if AEW had monthly pay-per-views because the audience just isn't going to spend that type of money on wrestling every month when the market is already saturated with content that is more easily accessible now than other other time in history. That's a strictly by the numbers approach, but obviously, there are also many benefits from a booking aspect as well when there's not the pressure to book a pay-per-view card simply because there's a PPV event on the schedule. This is one of the reasons All Elite has been able to avoid a stale series of rematches on pay-per-view, which was a pattern the WWE had for its events for several years during the majority of the John Cena era. A feud would usually get a three-match series on PPV before another challenger was shuffled into the mix to repeat the same pattern of matches.

That being said, with the expectations mentioned earlier, is it possible we see another new champion crowned at Winter is Coming?

It's easy to jump on the All Elite band wagon and claim that Tony Khan has a much better product than WWE, but in reality, to compare the two is almost apples to oranges. The WWE is a publicly traded corporation that has to take into account its shareholders as much as, if not more so than its fan base. The sports entertainment empire always has countless hours of television to produce to satisfy its mega TV contracts that bring the organization record-setting profits. On the flip side, AEW is an upstart group that is still building itself in its first few years of existence without the corporate hoops to jump through or nearly as many hours of content to produce for its television.

However, when it comes to the staples of professional wrestling, Tony Khan brings a fresh prospective to the industry because he's not nearly as jaded as the corporate group that dominated the industry for several years. In many respects, after Vince won the war, he attempted to reinvent the wheel of what sports entertainment should be and shifted the entire structure of the product. Sure, Vince wanted to reshape professional wrestling into sports entertainment as a branding technique not long after he purchased the WWWF from his dad in 1983, but even a few decades later, the ingredients for professional wrestling were still there, even if the packaging was changed to be more main stream for advertisers. The fuel of the competition of the Attitude era was based on sports entertainment, but the NWO taking Nitro by storm, and Mick Foley winning the title in 1999 were moments with a foundation of professional wrestling.

An over baby face and a heel with heat are basic parts of a successful pro wrestling formula, and it doesn't take 38 writers to script the narrative. The WWE is tremendously successful based on its market share and its ability to capitalize on the climate of television, but the process for the product is artificial and the programming lacks any organic or spontaneous aspects. As we saw with the failed Roman Reigns super push, management often had its playbook and an agenda based on what looked good for the sponsors or the shareholders. They wanted the next John Cena, and also as we know, making a star isn't as automatic as trying to mold one performer into the spot of another star. Legitimate money-drawing stars are unique commodities because they are quite literally unique enough to stand out as star to draw money. It's no surprise that when Roman Reigns was allowed to naturally evolve as a performer that he continues to have the best run of his career as a heel.

All Elite Wrestling has a more organic presentation to the product and when you have two over talents with Page and Danielson, sometimes the simple story is the best story. The narrative was easy to tell since Dragon won the tournament so there's a reason for him to challenge for the title, and he naturally evolved as a heel throughout the feud to set up the anticipated match for the title. Considering he debuted for AEW just a few months ago and his level of popularity, some might suggest that it was too early in his tenure to turn heel, but he worked Wrestlemania earlier this year so it wasn't as though he spent too much time away from television before he made an appearance in AEW. By comparison, the fact that CM Punk was away from the industry for several years is why he has more mileage as a baby face before a heel run in All Elite. Don't get me wrong, Bryan is one of the most talented and popular of his generation so it would be easy for him to remain a baby face, but the heel turn gives him something fresh and provides another layer of progress in his career as he starts a new chapter under the All Elite banner.

So, will Bryan Danielson win the AEW championship?

When you look at the numbers, there's no doubt that Danielson and CM Punk draw the biggest viewership for the promotion so there's obviously an argument to be made that Bryan Danielson as the champion would bring more of the casual audience to the product, and that's the intrigue of the match because there's an argument to be made for Page to retain or for Danielson to win it.

If a title match is too predictable, you don't get the same reaction from the near falls or a false finish. However, when you take into account that Page is still new in the role as champion, I think that he will remain the champion at Winter is Coming and it's the right decision. Danielson definitely the ability to have run as AEW champion that will help boost the exposure of the promotion, but it seems like he has more work to do as a heel, and he's such a solid performer that he could win the title a few months from now and it would still have an impact for the organization. On the flip side, Adam Page is the first truly homegrown star to win the AEW world championship and while he has all the tools to be a major star for the promotion, he needs more than a brief title run to establish him as one of the top-tier stars for the company.

Jimmy Rave passed away

I received a text from one of my wrestling pals yesterday that Jimmy Rave, a longtime wrestling standout that fell on very difficult times within the past year, passed away. Despite his numerous injuries and illnesses, Rave, who quite literally grew up in the industry after he broke into the business as a prodigy at the age of just 16 in 1999, seemed to be on more of an upswing recently when the wrestling world, including the legendary, Mick Foley helped raise funds for Rave's astronomical medical costs.

The real-life James Guffey had his share of peaks and valleys, both personally and professionally.

I first read about the young standout, Jimmy Rave in a magazine in 2001 that covered the indies for the year, and he garnered press coverage for being so talented at such an early age in the NWA Wildside promotion based in Georgia. The same promotion that provided a platform for one of Rave's biggest rivals, AJ Styles, gave Guffey to hone his craft when he was barely finished with high school.

At a time when the industry was looking for its next generation of stars in the post-attitude era business, many saw Rave as an athlete that had a lot of potential to make a big splash somewhere among the pro wrestling landscape. By 2003, Ring Of Honor had made a name for itself as one of the promotions to watch in the United States, and Rave's debut there was arguably the start of the best run of his very accomplished career. Within just a few years, the buzz and reach of ROH expanded, with the major leagues of both WWE and TNA at the time, signing key talent as each organization saw what a top notch product the independent league presented to a diehard fan base. In 2006, a very strong argument could be made that ROH, a group that started in dingy rec centers in Philadelphia just a few years prior, had the best in-ring product in the world. Jimmy Rave was a huge part of that equation and his work at that period of time remains one of the best runs in any promotion of the modern era.

As we know, the ROH business model at the time, which had its positives and negatives, was selling work rate to a niche, but very dedicated audience. As a part of The Embassy stable with the very talented Prince Nana as their manager, Jimmy Rave became one of the best heels in the entire industry that generated legitimate heat from a fan base that often assumed they were "in the know" on the business. In a company built on high spots and incredible displays of athleticism, Rave was one of the most well-rounded performers on the roster, as he could still go in the ring with the best of them, but brought character work to the table at a level that only a few others did in the organization. The highlights of Rave's original ROH run speak volumes to his talent, as his feuds with AJ Styles, CM Punk, and Nigel McGuinness stood out at a time when the entire promotion had a reputation as a top-notch product.

I had the chance to attend a few ROH shows over the years, despite Pittsburgh not being a regular stop until the Sinclair era of the company. In 2006, a few of our wrestling crew made the trip to Cleveland to see a live event since ROH hadn't been to Pittsburgh in three years so traveling was probably the only way to see an event in-person when the company had a major hype around it. It goes without saying that it was a tremendous show with a Nigel vs. Bryan Danielson bout on the card, but the main event was actually an ROH tag title match with Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defending against Alex Shelley and Jimmy Rave. In something that was a tradition during his heel run there, the fans pelted Rave with rolls of toilet paper as soon as he hit the ring. It was a wild atmosphere as the members of The Embassy looked like they were in a snow storm of Charmin. Obviously, the niche audience that followed ROH in 2006 were very energetic throughout the night, but it was Jimmy Rave that had the most legitimate heat throughout the entire event.

One of Rave's more notable injuries during his ROH tenure was a broken jaw, and the pain medication that had to be used during that time to treat the injury led Rave to an addiction to the pain killers. Considering his talent, it wasn't a surprise when he got the call from TNA to work on national television in 2007, but his year and  a half stint was rather undistinguished. I think it's fair to say that while Rave and Lance Hoyt were a very good team, they deserved much better than a silly rock n' roll gimmick. After Rave left TNA and resurfaced briefly in ROH, he checked himself into rehab in 2009 to confront his substances issues.

In what was a true success story, Rave not only overcame those substance problems, but he worked within the recovery field to help others that had addiction issues.

After that time, Rave continued on the indy circuit and remained a stable for years, occasionally resurfacing for one-off bouts in TNA and ROH. I actually had a chance to meet Rave and call a few of his matches in 2016. I'm not sure of the details of how or why this was put together, but a promotion called AIWF had co-promoted their "Krazy 8" tournament with a company in Pittsburgh that saw some of the locals of the steel city scene booked for unique matches with a crew mostly from Georgia. It was the standard one night elimination tournament, and Rave went to the finals so I had the chance to do commentary for three of his matches. The great Joe Dombrowski was on the call with me and made it a very easy night on the mic. As I've said before, I credit Joe for allowing me to learn the "glue" of announcing and I will always appreciate his help. In the 12 years I've been an announcer for the local scene, I've had the chance to call matches for a variety of wrestlers. While the vast majority of the athletes are thankful that an announcer wants to get notes and information to make them sound as good as possible on the broadcast, occasionally there are a few that will act like it's a hassle to provide even the most basic information for an event. Once, a wrestler that was new to the Pittsburgh scene, but had three years experience literally responded, "I don't know" when I asked for a description of their character. Thankfully, Jimmy Rave was the opposite and was very polite, even saying thank you that I wanted to get his input on commentary. I told him that I was very familiar with his career, but if there was anything specific he wanted mentioned that I could add it into the broadcast. He said he heard that I did a good job as an announcer so any direction I wanted to go with the story of the match was fine. That compliment meant a lot to me because the 20-year pro was more willing to make my job easier than some of those far less experienced in the ring than him.

Another example is that by 2018, Rave was the head trainer at the Combat Zone Wrestling training center and a fluke accident during training left him with fractured teeth. I offered to write an article about his career to help raise some awareness for a fundraiser he had to fix the injury. Again, he was very polite and made writing the article a very easy task.

Sadly, after Jimmy had to have his arm amputated from an infection, he was forced to retire from the ring last November and the past year saw him plagued with more health problems. Tragically, he also had to have both of his legs amputated as well. It was a horrific set of circumstances, but as mentioned, the wrestling world came together to try to help when Mick Foley was one of the stars that helped raise money for Rave.

A lot can be said about Jimmy Rave's legacy as a wrestler. Some might focus on the negative that he didn't achieve the heights he could've on national television because of his addiction problems. Others would point to the successes of overcoming those problems and helping others with this own struggles. If you want the answer to the true summary of the impact that Jimmy Rave on the professional wrestling industry, a look at the countless tributes to him on social media from his peers tells the story of his career.

What's the status of Jeff Hardy?

Just a few days ago, longtime WWE star, Jeff Hardy was sent home from a WWE live event tour and speculation continues about the status of the former world champion. PWInsider's Mike Johnson, one of the most accurate journalist that covers the industry, reported that during a six man tag match, Hardy left the ring after he finished his portion of the match and exited through the crowd. If Hardy simply went backstage, the whole situation might be a non-story and chalked up to a potential injury, but unfortunately, given his lengthy history with addiction problems, many are concerned those issues might've surfaced again.

Granted, all of this is pure speculation at this point because neither WWE or Jeff Hardy have commented publicly on it. His brother, Matt posted online that Jeff is okay, but didn't expand upon the reasoning for his mid-match exit or why he was sent home from the tour. Regardless of the specifics, the scenario makes you wonder if Jeff Hardy has a future in the industry?

To attempt to retread every detail of Hardy's lengthy drug history would be too negative, as the common thread through all of it is, while you will hear many criticize his irresponsible choices in the past, you rarely hear negative feedback about Jeff Hardy the person outside of the ring. Obviously, that's why topics such as addiction are delicate and complex.

That being said, especially considering the times that those issues completely derailed his career at various points, it speaks volumes to Jeff Hardy's ability and enduring popularity that not only did he continue as a performer, but he remains one of the most over wrestlers in the entire business today, despite the lack of any meaningful angles on television recently. Keep in mind, when substance issues led to his original WWE release in 2003, he kept himself relevant in TNA, becoming one of the promotion's top drawing cards. Throughout the past two decades, Jeff jumped between WWE and TNA on a few different occasions, sometimes not under the best circumstances. Just a month after his WWE contract expired in 2009 after a three-year run back with the company, he was arrested on several drug charges, which was a few months before he resurfaced in TNA. The infamous Victory Road match with Sting in 2011 speaks for itself. After the Hardys reinvented themselves again in TNA some years later, they returned to the WWE at Wrestlemania 33 for one of the biggest reactions of the modern era.

Quite simply, there's no denying the popularity of The Hardys, and they are two of the biggest stars of their generation.

However, this latest situation is very concerning because it's not an isolated incident, as Jeff was charged with driving while intoxicated in 2019 so maybe life on the road, particularly with WWE touring again, isn't for him at this point in his career. All things considered, this might be a natural transition for Jeff to wind down his career. At 44, he could theoretically have a few more years left as a full-time wrestler, but taking into account the risks he took throughout his 25-year run and the injuries he suffered, it might've shortened that time period. Plus, it's clear that management sees Hardy in a secondary role at this stage with the current feud with Happy Corbin on Smackdown so is that really worth the risk of more addiction problems being on the road? It's a harsh reality, but it took several years for management to invest in him with a main event run because there were risks involved if a top star in the company makes headlines for the wrong reasons. In the prime of his career after he evolved his style to a more main event presentation to be a more complete performer, the office took a few extra years to trust him enough to give him a major run with the championship. It goes without saying, with his age and the addition of this latest incident, management probably isn't going to have anything meaningful booked for him on Smackdown? If he's just going to be there to put over the younger talent then it would probably be better for everyone involved if another veteran is used for that role and Hardy retires.

Obviously, I hope Jeff Hardy is healthy and that being sent home by management was just a precaution, but if there's any chance that he could slip back into addiction then he should retire from the sport. Again, the speculation that something negative happened while on tour is probably because of the way that Jeff left through the crowd, which looked rather bizarre when the clip surfaced online.  I'm not trying to write Jeff off either, as his career path has shown his ability to rebound and continue as a stellar performer. It's actually quite the opposite, I think it would be great for Jeff to get one more main event run while he's still young enough to compete at the top level for a good way to conclude his full-time career, but realistically, that might not be in the cards.

Of course, with the current pro wrestling landscape, anytime a notable talent might exit the WWE, the possibility of All Elite Wrestling might be a topic for discussion. As long as both Matt and Jeff are active wrestlers, it will be a natural booking for them to reform the famous tag team, and AEW would give them yet another fresh run as a duo. At the same time, even if Jeff is kept as a mid-card wrestler in WWE, I would say that the company will keep him under contract if for no other reason than to prevent another jump to All Elite. The other side to the coin on all of this is that while Jeff has options outside of the WWE umbrella, the optics of names like Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole making the jump in a relatively short time gives the impression that AEW is the place to be, which WWE management wouldn't want to add to that perception with another of their popular stars signing an AEW contract. Hopefully, Jeff Hardy is okay because he's such a stellar talent, but I don't think that this latest incident will necessarily affect his WWE status and it's very possible he could just be kept off of television until the contract expires with the company.

VHS Memoirs Volume 21

While it's officially December, forgive me as a busy schedule and the continuous rumor mill of the current wrestling landscape prevented getting this edition of the VHS Memoirs posted in November to go along with a theme for the review. The quality of the events usually dictated differently, but for the first few years of its existence, ECW touted the November to Remember as its biggest show of the year. Unfortunately, the 1998 edition of the event didn't live up to that hype and foreshadowed some of the problems that would plague the promotion in the next few years.

A common theme that you will see throughout this show is, several performers were shoehorned onto the pay-per-view without any logical purpose and it further diluted an already clustered broadcast. At the opening, Terry Funk, who had been seen most recently at the time in the WWF for a run that started as Chainsaw Charlie, interrupted Joey Styes and claimed that Tommy Dreamer should've picked him as the mystery tag partner for later in the night. I love Terry Funk and it's always great to see him on-screen, but I'm not sure what Paul Heyman was going for here because ultimately, Funk's presence throughout the night seemed totally random to the point that it almost distracted from the rest of the PPV. For example, the opening match was The Blue Meanie and Nova vs. Road Kill and Danny Doring for a very basic tag match. While these four competitors were much more polished for pay-per-view a few years later just before the shutdown of the organization, some of the inexperience shows through here. I'm not sure if this match could've gotten to a second gear, but it wasn't given the chance anyway because Funk was back at ringside to get involved in the contest. In a rather comical moment, Funk gets knocked from the apron to crash through a table, but when the table doesn't break, the legend simply sets it up again and jumps through it. The BWO get the win, but there wasn't really anything to this match. A side note, despite how popular the Blue World Order was the prior year, without Stevie Richards, you can tell the act had fizzled. It should also be noted that by the end of the company, Road Kill and Doring were a solid team that probably don't get the credit they deserve for their run.

As far as performers being shoehorned into a segment, Tracy Smothers vs. Tommy Rogers was a prime example of it. This was a situation where the performers are entertaining, but this particular mixture just didn't yield those results. For whatever reason, Chris Chetti was at ringside with Rogers, and Ulf Herman was alongside the FBI. On paper, Smothers vs. Rogers should be a solid bout, but constant interference from each wrestler on the outside to get a chance to do a spot on pay-per-view kept this an average match at best. It becomes a constant cluster and the bout doesn't develop any pace so it's just disjointed spots for about six minutes. Rogers tried to cut a pre-match baby face promo about New Orleans and it becomes very apparent why he wasn't known for his mic work throughout his accomplished career. The contest received very little crowd reaction even after Rogers got the victory.

Post-match, Mabel made a one-off surprise appearance wearing an FBI t-shirt and attacked Chetti without any explanation. Spike Dudley made the save and after a brief exchanged pinned Mabel. As will also be seen later in the show, this pay-per-view starts to look like random wrestlers just happened to show up so Heyman threw them onto the show. At this point, because of the Funk interruption that dragged to start the show, it's 45 minutes into the broadcast and there hasn't been anything that was PPV quality.

At Anarchy Rulz 1999 nearly a year later, Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn had one of the best matches in the history of the company to start the show. In this November to Remember bout, you can see glimpses of why, but again this was hindered by an attempt to get as many performers screen time as possible. Somehow, Tammy Sytch, who was released from the WWF a few months earlier, was one of the special guest referees for the match, while Mikey Whipwreck was an outside enforcer. It made no sense why either of them would be involved in a Storm/Lynn match, and despite really good technical spots, the crowd was more concerned with Sunny's skirt every time she attempt to count a pin. A rather odd finish saw Whipwreck help Storm get the win.

Thankfully, the show picked up with The Dudleys vs. Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney. This was a wild sloppy brawl, but in a good way, something that can't be said for the main event later in the night. Watching the unprotected chair shots with a modern prospective will make you cringe, but the pieces of the match itself were assembled in a way that showcased both teams. The finish saw Sabu and Rob Van Dam assist the challengers when they did a par if insane table dives on The Dudleys. Mahoney and Tanaka won the belts, but had a rather brief run, as The Dudleys were a major focal point of the division at the time and regained the belts.

The mystery partner tag match saw Tommy Dreamer and Jake Roberts against Justin Credible and Jack Victory for a 10-minute bout that brought a few flashes of brilliance from Roberts as a reminder of his prime. Granted, Jake had history in New Orleans through Bill Watts' Mid-South territory from over a decade previously, but I doubt that was the reasoning behind this booking. Especially by 1998, some of Jake's personal problems that eventually overshadowed his stellar career, made his appearances back in the spotlight more of a novelty than anything else. One Man Gang showed up for whatever reason and then New Jack did a typical run-in before Dreamer and Roberts won the match.

Throughout the viewing of this show, you might start to wonder why the event lacks some depth, and the answer is because the main event six man tag match had the bulk of the star power that existed in the company at the time. The concept of The Triple Threat vs. The New Triple Threat was an idea that made sense on paper, but didn't translate to the screen. In short, this match was an absolute mess and had no structure at all. In a 2003 shoot interview, Shane Douglas once described this as "a match where six guys were working for themselves instead of the match" and that's a very accurate description. While there were spots going on in the ring, there were several times that something would happen outside the ring at the same time and the camera would miss it because there wasn't a pace to the spots. This match doesn't really develop into anything more than random brawl before the team of Taz, Sabu, and RVD get the win. Even the conclusion of the broadcast was rather flat because the baby face team argued in the ring before the show concluded.

Becky Lynch segment on Raw

The lowest common denominator being used in the professional wrestling business is nothing new and sometimes, it can be a good thing if a particular angle or character is presented correctly because the goal of an international company, especially a publicly-traded corporation, is to market to the widest audience possible. On the other hand, the lowest common denominator can be nothing more than low brow attempts at cheap heat because there's nothing else compelling about an angle.

The WWE is a rather unique case, as its market share allowed it to capitalize on the climate of the television business and the emerging streaming markets to become the most profitable the company has been in its history. However, make no mistake about it, networks that want live sports programming to attempt to counter DVR and thus secure a better ad rate, are the reason why the WWE inked its massive TV contracts a few years ago. Too often, those in the "wrestling bubble" get lost in the star ratings or the demos, both ways to inaccurately skew the business side of the sport. From a television perspective, a consistent number is a very valuable commodity, as it gives networks a pitch to secure advertisers. Granted, the WWE ratings have been sluggish, but the core fan base, as well as the track record of the organization with sponsorships let potential advertisers know that an audience will be exposed to their products. For a comparison, The Walking Dead on AMC was one of the highest-rated shows on television a decade ago and was in the pop culture conversation. Several years ago, the ratings took a drastic decline and viewership decreased exponentially compared to the peak of the show. The reasons for that are numerous, but the point being, when the zombie show took a dive, there wasn't an upswing for it, but rather a series finale. Again, the WWE declines in numbers, something that is always a part of the sports entertainment business, but there's a strong core audience, and that's a major reason ad revenue and sponsorships are such key pieces of the business model. If advertisers secured commercial time for the season that started the decline of viewers of The Walking Dead, their products didn't reach the intended audience.

The level of consistency, at least of the loyal fan base, over several years makes it much easier for companies to invest their ad dollars to put commercials on their air during WWE programming because they know their products will be seen by a specific number of viewers.

As mentioned, the company is the most profitable now than any other time in history so why is the product so bland?

This is where the corporation that is on the stock market has a different agenda than just a sports entertainment company. I've written about it before, but WWE brass has to serve a lot of audiences as an international company on the stock market, and the harsh reality is, management will look to appease investors before the fans in attendance because ultimately, the investments of those stockholders are what allowed WWE to become a billion dollar company.

Another major point that I've discussed before, the WWE has guaranteed money for its TV deals and the Peacock deal so there's not nearly the same amount of pressure to generate ratings or sell pay-per-views to the audience. The fact that the writing team doesn't have to "sell" a $40 pay-per-view to the audience in the modern era might create an unintentional level of mediocrity for the product. The bottom line is, the WWE will make the same amount of money for Raw and Smackdown regardless of if they hover around two million viewers for each show or if they set a ratings record. They will make the same amount of money for Wrestlemania regardless of how many people actually watch it. Granted, everyone works hard, but with those type of guarantees, it's almost too easy to even unintentionally put it on autopilot for the majority of the product.

As far as why the product is so bland, I would say that because of the record-setting profits, why change it? How this effects the future of the company is a completely different matter, but right now it's tough to criticize the process when it yields the biggest profits in the history of the organization. That being said, I think WWE brass had a paint-by-numbers approach for the past several years and basically, the entire product has become a repetitive pattern. There's nothing "must-see" about the product, and some key decisions could actually hinder, not help, a star's progress. Big E is one of the best on the roster, but was booked to lose to Roman Reigns, who is doing the best work of his career, at Survivor Series. Why make Big E look secondary so early in his title run? The entire Raw vs. Smackdown concept is silly so management could've avoided Big E getting pinned by simply not booking the match. Why is Survivor Series Raw vs. Smackdown, anyway? The answer is because that's what the company has done the past several years. It doesn't matter if current angles fit a specific gimmick or scenario, management will shoehorn feuds into gimmick matches without any logic. Does the feud justify a cell match or is it booked for a cell match because that's what's on the WWE calendar?

Eventually, when ratings slip, management will try to artificially boost the number, which doesn't necessarily create any buzz for the product. If numbers are down on Fox, a Brock Lesnar appearance generates an increase for one week, and if Raw remains sluggish, maybe something "controversial" will get people talking about a segment. However, none of this builds anything for the product as a whole, which is why numbers are stagnant.

This past week on Raw, a few of those lowest common denominators were used to attempt to get some headlines. Edge made a reference to AEW in a promo with The Miz, which is fine because the fans that got the reference know that it's more Edge towing the company line than anything else. The Becky Lynch/Liv Morgan promo mentioned the WWE releases and went as far as to claim it was Lynch's fault that those performers were fired. First of all Liv and Lynch can work an entertaining feud without the attempts at cheap heat, and if nothing else, a reference like that doesn't reflect well on the company. It pushes the narrative of corporate greed because not only did a company that touted record-setting profit release talent during the pandemic, but they are also using more releases as a part of the script. It doesn't create a very fun viewing experience when the real-life situation of someone losing their job is used in a scripted wrestling show. Nobody is going to script how those performers are going to pay their mortgage next month. It's just low brow scripting that doesn't add anything to the feud.

We've discussed how important the consistent fan base is for the WWE business model, but at some point, you have to wonder if lame attempts to get cheap heat will erode some of the core audience. Keep in mind, there is supposed to be entertainment, and too often it seems like watching Raw is more of a habit than anything else. I'm not sure how management will generate "must see" TV, but considering the record profitability while the product is so stale proves that the dynamics of the television business, not the popularity of the product is the reason for the company's major TV deals.