John Cena hosts Wrestlemania

"How can we miss you if you won't go away?" -Jim Cornette

The Louisville slugger has often used that phrase to describe either the anticipation for a return, or on the other end of the spectrum, the notion that a performer overstayed their welcome with a particular run or gimmick. It's a very simple, but also a very accurate equation that applies on at least a semi-regular basis to the pro wrestling industry. At any given time, the business is either evolving toward something new or using its current cache, which by definition has a limited run. If anything stays for too long, in the vast majority of cases, it will become overexposed or stale. The ability to adapt keeps you ahead of the curve, and in the process, some very memorable moments can be created.

For example, Hulk Hogan was the golden goose of the 1980s, but even the top drawing card in the history of the business up until that point had a shelf life. By 1995, the audience had seen the ear-cupping routine and the leg drops. The switch to the New World Order was one of the biggest moments in the history of the sport and it gave The Hulkster another big run on top in WCW. Hulk as a heel would've been unthinkable less than a year before that when he was shilling Pastamania and the Thunder Mixer, as tacky as each of those ventures were. But, what did the heel turn ultimately set the stage for? Eventually, when enough time passed, the fans wanted to see the Hogan that they fondly remembered with the red and yellow from the glory days. How could the audience miss the all-American Hulkster if he didn't go away for a while? That's why when he returned to the WWF after almost a decade in 2002, it didn't take long for the fans to want to see him as a heroic baby face again. It had been eight years since he was waving the flag and posing while "Real American" blared in the background. What's old is new again is more or less a staple of entertainment. Without the eight years as a villain, the audience wouldn't have demanded a final run with the championship in the main event scene, which is why Hulk worked the main event scene with what was left of the Attitude era throughout 2002.

The reason there is a payoff for returns in wrestling is because the time away is what creates the anticipation.

In a different way, Cody Rhodes was away from the WWE for six years, and aside from reinventing himself as The American Nightmare, being instrumental in the launch of AEW, and proving the WWE office wrong when they typecast him as a secondary comedy character, his time outside of the company ultimately built anticipation for his return. Would Stardust have gotten the thunderous reaction at Wrestlemania 38?

As an example of how time away can lead to overall longevity, Chris Jericho kept himself ahead of the curve because for most of his career, he didn't overstay his welcome. When his WWE career plateaued in 2005, he left for two and a half years to tour with Fozzy. When he came back, it rejuvenated his career and ultimately led to some of his best work as a main event guy. Without that hiatus, the narrative of Jericho's career could've been very different. In fact, the current Jericho situation is proof of how time away can build up demand and thus put a fresh coat of paint on a performer. Jericho's work in AEW was originally very solid and key to getting the company off the ground, but the initial formula for the Inner Circle that got over as a way to spotlight younger talent became more about Jericho using a stable to try to stay relevant in the years that followed. It led to diminishing returns and his run fell flat. The Inner Circle was more successful than the Jericho Appreciation Society, and the society was more over than The Learning Tree faction. That's not a knock on Jericho, it's just to point out that his time in All Elite Wrestling ran its course. He hasn't been on AEW programming in a year and rumors still persist that a WWE return is on the table when his All Elite deal expires. Jericho did more or less everything he can do in All Elite and had garnered some resentment from the audience when it was perceived that his later efforts in the company were more self-serving than contributing toward the efforts to establish younger talent for the future. That's not to say that was Jericho's intention, but perception is often reality, at least from the fans' perspective. If Jericho resurfaces in AEW, it will be looked at as an eye-rolling retread, but if he shows up at Wrestlemania this year, it will be a historic moment after eight years outside of the organization. Again, how can we miss you if you won't go away?

There's no doubt that returns can translate to box office, but is the latest WWE comeback going to move tickets?

It was announced this week that John Cena will return to the company for the first time in all of four months to be the host of Wrestlemania. As I wrote in an article last week about the 25% off sale the WWE ran on tickets a mere two weeks after the larger 31.6% discount, the corporation realized that they overpriced tickets too late and there are way too many other factors that become more expensive overall than the discount on tickets since it's much closet to the event. The increase in flight costs and hotel reservations are significantly more expensive now than they were before either the 31% or 25% off sales. The discount doesn't cover the difference so if cost was the deterrent before, it's going to remain the biggest hurl to moving tickets.

As much as a bonafide legend as John Cena is, he hasn't been gone anywhere near long enough that putting him back on screen is going to make a difference in the numbers. The WWE just had a year with Cena as the focus of the retirement tour, with the emotional farewell. You can still order the farewell merchandise on WWE Shop, it's not as though fans have had enough time to fondly reflect on their favorite Cena moments, it's still a current topic. Furthermore, if he was going to retire at Wrestlemania or was gone from the ring for several years and was going to wrestle again, it might be a different story. But, is John Cena cutting a promo for the first time in four months really something that fans will be motivated to pay hundreds of dollars to see in the building?

This isn't Steve Austin coming back after 19 years with no official retirement at Wreslemania 38 to have a match against Kevin Owens when the company had to do something to sell tickets in Dallas. As flat as it was, this isn't The Ultimate Warrior's comeback in 1996 when there was at least some intrigue to what the guy was doing since he abruptly left the WWF a few years earlier. This is just a promo, and it's a sign that management is desperate to get fans in the building, as there's still a 30% decline in tickets sold last year in the same venue less than three weeks before the pay-per-view.

Will Vince McMahon return to WWE?

For a few decades, it would've been unthinkable that Vince McMahon wouldn't be involved in the WWE. The emperor of sports entertainment had taken his father's well-respected north eastern territory and within a handful of years had broken the majority of the rules of the old guard to propel it into a national promotion. He changed the perception of not only what pro wrestling was, but also what it could be. Granted, it's debatable if that was an overall positive or negative, but that's a different discussion for another time. A few decades after Vince's expansion, his sports entertainment juggernaut was so massive that those from the prior generation that might've scoffed at his attempts to cross the regional lines of the territory system of a bygone era wouldn't have thought success on such such a level was possible in the industry.  As incredible as the old school business was, when kayfabe invoked legitimate emotion from the audience, the modern WWE was on a completely different scale. The promoters of their specific territories looked to draw a good house, whereas Vince became a billionaire by putting his wrestling company on the stock market.

So, it wasn't a stretch to think that the grim reaper might be the only one that could've taken Vince McMahon away from WWE, and given Vince's sheer defiance of anything that opposed him, even the reaper's odds were questionable.

That's why it was so shocking when the Wall Street Journal story initially broken in June of 2022 that Vince had paid off several women over the course of several years to keep quiet about affairs and misconduct allegations. These accusations ranged from consensual affairs to clams of assault. The story has been well-documented and discussed at length so there's no need to rehash some of the deviant details of the allegations, but for a guy that was so meticulous with every aspect of his sports entertainment production, it was almost unbelievable that he threw around an estimated $19 million to cover up his affairs with the notion that money was all that he needed to essentially buy his way out of any responsibility. If proven to be true, and there's evidence to support the claims against him, Vince's behavior was horrendous and careless, which is the exact opposite of how he carefully crafted for sports entertainment product. Again, this was a guy that beat Uncle Sam in court in 1994, partially because he was smart enough to never put himself in a position where he could be directly or indirectly tied to his roster taking steroids. It just didn't make sense that he would leave a paper trail of non-disclosure agreements, but it appears that being a billionaire made him think that the almighty dollar could cover up almost anything. We know the lengthy story about his "retirement" before his return and the way that he strong-armed his way back onto the WWE board to set up the eventual sale to Endeavor that created the TKO corporation after the merger with the UFC. More recently, a lawsuit about the merger went into the discovery phase last month, claiming that there were text messages exchanged that prove that McMahon had prearranged the sale to Endeavor because the conglomerate agreed to keep him in the position as the head of WWE. Of course, this would be a violation of the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission since it was be evidence that McMahon didn't act in the best interest of the stockholders if he didn't legitimately take offers from other potential buyers. As I wrote previously, this will probably be nothing more than a relatively small payout to investors, given that such a massive amount of money that has been made for those same shareholders since the merger with the value of the stock, especially after the WWE and UFC media rights deals respectively.

However, the bigger point is, Vince could've been working hand-in-hand with Endeavor long before the merger was officially on the table. Furthermore, there were reports that Vince was a key figure in getting the UFC deal done with Saudi Arabia since he worked with the country for several years prior to that through the WWE events held there.

The Janel Grant lawsuit that ultimately exiled Vince from the company was filed in January of 2024 before it was dropped by the Justice Department the following year a few months after Trump took office for his second term. The donations to the orange villain's campaign really paid off. With the criminal charges dropped, the ongoing legal proceedings were initially to determine if the lawsuit would be heard by a jury, which would make it a part of the public record, or if it would go to arbitration based on the original non-disclosure agreement. After several months of legal jargon, it was decided that the lawsuit would go to arbitration later this year, which would keep the details away from the public.

However, the initial filing was public, which is why it caused enough negative press that Vince had to resign in disgrace. It also mentioned a former UFC and WWE champion, with Brock Lesnar as the only one on the roster with those accomplishments. As a result of Lesnar being named in the lawsuit, he was gone from the WWE for two years before he resurfaced at Summer Slam last August. As we've seen on recent WWE programming, he's scheduled to compete against Oba Femi in a few weeks at Wrestlemania.

Grant made her first public comments about the allegations against McMahon at a conference to help other assault victims in Connecticut last month. Since the criminal charges were dropped after Trump took office, and the lawsuit is going to arbitration, the entire case more or less becomes about the amount of money that Janel Grant would be willing to settle for. If Vince should be held responsible criminally for any of the claims made against him by any of the women is more or less irrelevant because the Justice Department dropped the charges against him. Those that signed NDAs that didn't go public with their story will continue to get paid as scheduled to stay quiet. Janel Grant will probably have to decide on a number to get paid to settle the case.

So, is it possible that Vince McMahon could make a comeback to the WWE?

Taking into account that all that is left from the Janel Grant accusations is the arbitration later this year, Brock was brought back into the fold last year, and the previously mentioned arrangements that McMahon might've had with Endeavor years ago, it's not necessarily out of the question that Vince struts down to the ring again. Sure, it's completely sleazy and with his track record of accusations made by female talent, the argument could be made that it wouldn't be safe for the female wrestlers or office staff to be around him, but pro wrestling hasn't been known for its ethics or moral standards.

I could be wrong, and truthfully, I hope I'm wrong, but I think the Cody Rhodes/Stephanie McMahon segment on Raw could've been a way for the company to "test the waters" to to speak with implied references to Vince on the show.

Of course, the main point was that Cody made reference to Stephanie's father in the promo, and even at the conclusion of the segment, it seemed to be used as a cliffhanger with more to unfold ahead of Wrestlemania. There was also the fact that Stephanie was introduced simply as McMahon, instead of McMahon-Helmsley. There was also the phone call that Randy Orton made on WWE programming, could it end up being Vince on the phone?

The storyline more or less writes itself in terms of why Vince would get involved. Randy Orton is a guy that was built by the WWE system, but Cody opted to walk away from the company, only to return six years later to prove Vince wrong when he became the top guy after that. As notorious as his reputation is now, it would undoubtedly be a memorable moment if Vince returned at Wrestlemania to assist Randy Orton in winning the WWE championship. How a McMahon comeback would affect the creative process or the structure of the company would depend on how much responsibility the TKO executives would give him, and it's completely possible that they would want him to be strictly an on-screen performer. The fact that the WWE fan base would bow to Vince as if he was the Second Coming is one of the most reasons why the majority of the general public looks down on pro wrestling. All things considered, I'd say it's at least possible that Vince will be back into the fold of WWE, especially because of how unpredictable the past few years were with his exile and the merger that formed the TKO corporation.

The legacy of the Attitude era

This week marks 25 years since Vince McMahon bought World Championship Wrestling for pennies on the dollar, a transaction that altered the course of the industry forever and thus the ripple effect can still be seen today. The Monday night wars have been covered ad nauseam, but there's also a reason why there was so much meat on the bone and an entire plethora of podcasts are dedicated to that span of five or so years in the business. Even the series of events that led to the events that eventually led to the Attitude era are covered in granular detail through the slew of video podcasts available today.

We all know that the steroid trial of the early-90s put a series of events in motion that led to Hulk Hogan distancing himself from the WWF, and when his acting career didn't take off, he was more than willing to take Eric Bischoff's offer for one of the most lucrative contracts in the history of the business. In conjunction with that, we know that Vince's youth movement of "the new generation" in an attempt to rehab the image of his company put Macho Man at the announce desk at the age of 42 so he also made the jump to WCW by the end of 1994. Of course, the slum of the industry during that time put pressure on the WWF to survive some lean years, while the Turner side of things looked to just get to a place where the wrestling project didn't lose money every year the way that it had for the majority of the time since the media mogul bought Jim Crockett Promotions in late-1988. Hulk and Randy Savage had made big money during their tenures atop Vince McMahon's sports entertainment empire, but that simply wasn't the case, comparatively speaking, for the new generation crew. Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, and a myriad of other performers were regulated to smaller venues, as some of the early episodes of Monday Night Raw were taped in high school gyms. That's a long way away from when the Rock N' Wrestling era was thriving a decade earlier, and the WWF ran sometimes two or three towns a night. Typical "B-towns" because a part of the first loop because the business had tumbled in both reputation and gravitas since the days of Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T with celebrity cameos.

Between the steroid scandal and the accusations of misconduct that followed it, sports entertainment was dubbed low brow, reducing itself to the lowest cliches and criticisms of the genre, hence why a line-up of cartoonish gimmicks were used to try to rebrand the WWF. Still, the time it took to truly rebuild the presentation of the organization of technicians like Bret Hart and over-the-top showman like Shawn Micheals to replace the steroid line-up that were gassed to the gills like The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk undoubtedly had an impact on the revenue of the business. The general public had to be sold the new generation, they weren't just going to accept it over night, especially all the distrust from the audience after the previous mentioned scandals.

It didn't take Scott Hall or Kevin Nash long to realize that chasing the big bucks in the WWF was going to take time in the ring that they might not have, especially Nash, who started in the business after a series of knee injuries derailed his aspirations for a basketball career. The jump that The Outsiders made to World Championship Wrestling in 1996 was one of the most important decisions in the history of the business, as without the New World Order as the fuel of the engine, albeit for a relatively short period of time, there simply wouldn't have been an Attitude era from the WWF in response to it.

This is why competition will always be key in the industry, and maybe why it's so frustrating to watch All Elite Wrestling fumble key opportunities today.

WCW had the NWO with a reality-based presentation, and at the time, it was something that wasn't seen often on pro wrestling programming. We know that Vince countered with Steve Austin, DX. and pushing the envelope further than WCW could go under Turner's infamous standards and practices. When Mike Tyson was banned from boxing for more than a year after he snacked on Evander Holyfield's ear in June of 1997, he was the special guest referee for Wrestlemania the following year. Tyson was literally too uncontrollable to be on boxing pay-per-view, but fans could certainly pay to watch him on a WWF PPV.

One of the reasons the ratings war is so fondly remembered, and sometimes seen through rose-colored glasses in hindsight, is that in many ways, sports entertainment was like the wild west for a period of time. Much like society itself when Howard Stern had twenty million daily listeners, Marylin Manson sold five million albums, and Jerry Springer had pay-per-view specials, pro wrestling became edgier. Anything could happen on any given week and there truly was a "can't miss" aspect to pro wrestling television.

Plus, Extreme Championship Wrestling not only revolutionized the presentation of the business in America, it provided much of the push that the industry needed to get out of the slum mentioned prior of the early-90s. ECW was described as the Napster of the pro wrestling business, as it changed how everything was done, but it was, by nature, never made to last.

Speaking of not being made to last, as WWF and WCW did everything they could to try to win the ratings competition each week, they missed the forest through the trees in some respects. They were an attempt to threw everything possible at the wall each week and burn through angles at a rapid pace. Anything to keep the audience from changing the channel to the competitor. The major problem with the hot shot approach, specifically for an extended period of time with crash TV on a regular basis is that there will be an equally as long, if not exponentially longer, down period to after it. History proved that to be the case, as the business as a whole arguably never recovered from the closure of WCW in 2001. As much as ECW was some of the most fun in wrestling history, as it was just cool to be along for the wild ride, as I said, it wasn't every going to last. That's the double edge sword of the extreme formula, but as the same time, it was very much a time and place as far as its fit within the pro wrestling landscape of the 90s.

The industry could've marched forward without ECW since most of its stars were picked up by the other two national groups anyway, but when Turner folded WCW, that was also the end of the foundation of the Jim Crockett era as well. It would be exponentially more difficult for another commodity to be competitive if it had to start from scratch. Again, history proved this to be correct when the closest entity to a competitor was almost two decades later when a billionaire family with an extensive business portfolio funded the launch of All Elite Wrestling.

However, outside of the dollars and cents of the business side of what the final week of the Monday Night war meant in 2001, it's somewhat of a reflection from those that followed it in real time a quarter century ago. While the vast majority of WWF programming from that era doesn't hold up today if you watch it in retrospect, which is probably why WCW actually does in 2026 since it often took a different approach, the Attitude era is so revived by those that saw it as it happened because it was simply an exciting time to be a fan. As mentioned, some of the Russo drench for the WWF and then WCW looks terrible in hindsight, but the peaks of that era are some of the most memorable moments in the history of the industry. Bill Goldberg's meteoric rise, Mankind finally winning the WWF title in 1999, the NWO's initial run, Sting finally beating Hogan to save WCW in 1997, the stellar lucha talent, chanting ECW, the talent jumping to other organizations on any given week because of contract disputes, and a lot of great memories.

The biggest takeaway from the 25-year mark of the end of the Attitude era with the purchase of WCW is that it was a simpler time. Social media hadn't ruined society yet, reality stars weren't in the White House, and somehow everything seemed a little easier when the most debated topic was what wrestling company had a better show that week instead of how many lives or how much money war is going to cost the country.

What's the status of Wrestlemania 42?

Is it too late to hit the panic button for TKO?

I've written a few different articles since the start of the year about the rather sluggish Wrestlemania ticket sales and the takeaways from that situation. I pondered and threw my two cents into the matter by explaining that I think the executives that tout record-setting profits in the conference calls for stockholders might've finally hit the tipping point where the causal, and even a portion of the most diehard demographic were essentially priced out of WWE events. Sure, you're going to get the niche of the "green shirt guy" that has the cash to travel around and purchase those astronomical seats in the front row, and if he can do that, God bless him, but running in a stadium is a much different equation. When the cheapest ticket in the building is $350 for each night of a two-night presentation, management expected fans to be willing to pay that, as well as all of the costs associated with traveling to Las Vegas.

Under normal circumstances, the economic impact of hosting one of these WWE spectacles is massive, which is why cities bid for the ability to secure the sports entertainment conglomerate's signature pay-per-views. Plane tickets, hotel reservations, rental cars, uber rides, restaurant spending, and any other way that brings money into the location that usually isn't there is why the WWE can garner those site fees. Keep in mind, Las Vegas, which has seen a downturn in tourism in recent years, outbid New Orleans, the location originally announced for Wrestlemania 42, to bring the show back for a second year after the numbers it brought in for Easter weekend last year.

The fact that the same location  two years in a row might've been a contributing factor to the lower ticket sales is a different discussion. The point being that these cities pay a few million dollars for a site fee because there's an expectation, as well as a proven track record, of fans that will travel to the major events.

As I wrote before, from a storyline perspective, it might be as simple as the fan base was very invested in Cody Rhodes' two-year journey to the championship, and they already saw the peak of the current era when he won the title so there will probably be a natural dip in momentum that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the talent of the performers. Cody, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Randy Orton, and Drew  McIntyre are top guys. But, there are natural peaks and valleys to everything. I think in  many ways, the John Cena retirement tour bought the office an extra year of a top drawing card, which is fine because such a milestone should be used to draw as much money as possible before Cena hung up his boots, but the point is, the current decline probably has a lot more to do with the natural progression of Cody's title win two years ago and this decrease in the numbers would've happened last year as a reflection of that if Cena wasn't the centerpiece of the promotion for the retirement tour.

This goes back to the peaks and valleys mentioned, the ability for TKO to be able to increase ticket prices exponentially over a relatively short period of time was based on the demand of a specific storyline, not something that could've been sustainable as a reset of metrics so to speak for the sports entertainment market. This isn't the UFC, it's a different demographic with a different level of disposable income and a different set of expectations for their ticket purchases. It seems rather naive that TKO CEO, Mark Shapiro assumed that a corporate paint-by-numbers approach would automatically be successfully applied to the sports entertainment business since it worked for the UFC. The MMA demographic is the 18-34 year old male audience. That group typically has a different level of disposable income than a family of four. As much as sports entertainment has evolved over the years, the draw of pro wrestling was based on the ability of a family to attend the show, which is why the fandom for the genre is passed down through generations. That's just not the case with mixed marital arts, partially because the sports has only existed in its current form for just over thirty years.

I say that to say this, the WWE office realized that they overpriced WM 42 tickets, which is why they had a 31.6% off sale on all tickets less than two weeks ago for the date on the calendar associated with Stone Cold's iconic catchphrase. The bottom line is (no pun intended), TKO wouldn't have a 30% off sale if tickets were moving well, or if there wasn't a problem getting them sold a month before the show. Remember, TKO didn't run that sale out of the kindness of their greedy, corporate hearts to make things more affordable for the traditional fan base. If that was a concern, we wouldn't be discussing the domino effect of the overpriced tickets and the organization's scattering attempt to remedy the issue.

As of this writing, just above and just below 40,000 tickets are sold for Saturday and Sunday respectively. The problem is, the same event at the same venue sold an average of 60,000 tickets for both nights last year. Depending of the set up of the stage, Allegiant Stadium can range anywhere from 65,000-70,000 seats for the event. Don't get me wrong, the ability to sell 40,000 tickets for both nights is an accomplishment, but a Wrestlemania event that is more than a third empty is obviously below expectations. Besides the tickets being overpriced, the fact that fans have to literally pay double the price to attend the two-night event also doesn't help the situation. I understand that they want to maximize the revenue from the fans that travel for the shows, and it's also an added selling point to get fans to make the trip when they can attend two shows, but at the current price point, the two-night format might be more of a deterrent than anything else.

With three weeks until the event, The Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez reported that TKO has another sale, not just on Wrestlemania tickets, but also tickets for the full line-up of WWE shows being held that week, including Raw, Smackdown, and the Hall of Fame. Again, there wouldn't be another sale two weeks after the initial sale if the 31.6% discount was effective. Furthermore, it indicates that the vast majority of the fans that have already bought WM tickets made the decision to spend their cash on the signature show without the extra events, which is proof of how even the fans willing to spend the cash to travel there will budget to specific shows. Given that more than 30% off didn't move enough tickets to eliminate attendance concerns, it's doubtful that a 25% off sale will make a major difference.

I'd say that WWE management made adjustments to ticket prices too late, which is why I wrote last month that if tickets were going to move, fans would've already had to make plans to attend with plane tickets and hotel reservations. Taking into account that the cost of flights generally increase closer to the departure, as well as fuel costs from the conflict with Iran, it's doubtful that fans will spend significantly more cash to travel to WM because there's a partial discount on the ticket price for the show. This might sound trivial, but in the midst of the partial government shutdown when wait times at airports have been atrocious because of the staff shortage of TSA workers that weren't getting paid, some people might be hesitant to volunteer to deal with the dumpster fire of the check-in process at the airport to travel for the show. Reportedly, Trump signed an executive order that will get the TSA workers paid, as they should be, and presumably back to a full staff, but if Congress is still gridlocked when they return from their two weeks of vacation (since they've done such a wonderful job so far), it's possible that TSA workers getting paid could become an issue again if a budget deal isn't reached in Congress.

So, is it time for TKO to panic?

No, not really. As I wrote before, much of the concern of the sluggish ticket sales for WM 42 is moot because WWE already has the most profitable WM in the history of the company secured next year when the Saudi government pays at least $100 million to import WM 43 to the country. With the conflict in the middle east, who knows if it will be safe for the performers or the fans, but attendance for that event is also irrelevant because the Saudis bought the show. The Saudi money will keep the stock price stable, and they have a few billion dollars guaranteed for their media rights deals so the sluggish WM 42 sales are minimal in the grand scheme of things. However, the biggest takeaway of this entire scenario for TKO should be that they've hit the limit for what domestic fans will realistically pay for the product.

What's next for Kenny Omega?

Kenny Omega has undoubtedly had a legendary career. Sure, he might have critics, but when you buck the system so to speak and arguably revolutionize the overall style of the business, there will usually be critics. In some ways, while AJ Styles was more hard-hitting and possibly had tighter fundamentals, what he did for the first decade of the millennium, was similar to what Kenny Omega did in the 2010s in terms of pushing the envelope in terms of in-ring presentation. Again, Omega has his share of naysayers, and there are some valid point to be made from that, but you simply can't take away the impact that he had on the industry, both before and after the launch of All Elite Wrestling in 2019.

One of the biggest pieces of his legacy as a performer was his role in the resurgence of New Japan Pro Wrestling throughout the previously mentioned decade of the 2010s. Keep in mind, the Japanese league, as historic as it was, was on the brink of collapse by the early-2000s after founder, Antonio Inoki's failed MMA experiment that tried to capitalize on the popularity of Pride Fighting Championship before a yakuza scandal saw the MMA league implode in 2007. Inoki sold his shares to the THQ video game company in 2005 to keep the organization afloat. There was the Brock Lesnar controversy where he worked for New Japan in 2005 after he failed to make the Vikings NFL squad the previous year, but then refused to drop the IWGP championship after he won the belt upon his arrival. Inoki founded the Inoki Genome Federation with Lesnar as the proclaimed champion of that group, leaving NJPW looking foolish in the process before a bout against Kurt Angle was agreed on. He dropped the belt to Angle so that it could eventually find its way back to New Japan.

Before THQ went bankrupt, they sold the company to Bushiroad in 2012. The trading card company was able provide the cash infusion that the promotion needed to not only be promoted properly, but also bring in more foreign talent, as well as expand the distribution of the product. Furthermore, Bushiroad merchandised the brand much more efficiently to bring in more revenue.

As we know, the combination of the start of AEW and the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered live events for an extended period of time had a major impact on New Japan, a domino effect that can still be seen today. However, Kenny Omega was a huge part of the success that New Japan had throughout six or seven very solid years. The Bullet Club, the series of legendary matches with Kazuchika Okada, and truly earning the moniker of "best bout machine" through a stellar run of tremendous matches with many different opponents made him one of the top drawing cards of Japan.

The guy that was known for comedy work, albeit athletic comedy work, in DDT had worked his way up the ranks to the main event of the Tokyo Dome.

He received rave reviews in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and he, along with The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes, were the core group of guys that made themselves into legitimate money-drawing acts outside of the WWE bubble. The track record of the sell out crowds that they drew on a smaller scale for Ring Of Honor was essentially a proof of concept for Tony Khan to get his billionaire family to fund a national wrestling project. Make no mistake about it, the chance for fans to watch Kenny Omega on weekly American television was one of the original selling points for fans to check out the product.

Now, almost seven years into the existence of All Elite Wrestling, Omega is slated to challenge Maxwell Jacob Friedman for the world championship at next month's Dynasty pay-per-view in Vancouver. But, does Kenny Omega really have another title run left in him, and if he does, should he even risk more injuries?

The Canadian grappler has been wrestling since his teenage years, and actually had a often forgotten run in WWE's Deep South Wrestling developmental territory in 2006. That amount of time alone racks up a toll on the body, not to mention the high risk style that he was known for most of his 25-year career. At 42, most top stars in the business still have at least a few more years of their theoretically prime left, but that might not be the case for Omega.

Unfortunately, Kenny Omega is one of many cautionary tales that will emerge in hindsight of the modern era. You can only burn the candle at both ends and take the extra risks in the ring for so long until the impact of the style takes its toll. That's not to say not to work hard or put in major effort, Ric Flair was one of the hardest working guys in the business through a few different eras, but he didn't get dropped on his head or take bumps on the floor on a regular basis. Mick Foley cut tremendous promos and had the psychology to make the most of his major runs, but his career was cut short from too many dangerous bumps too often. The random episode of Raw in 1999 didn't need him to crash to the concrete floor, but maybe the risk/reward ratio could've been justified for a pay-per-view.

Way too often in the modern era, way too many performers are taking way too many risks, specifically in AEW. Will Ospreay just returned from neck surgery at the Revolution pay-per-view and in the segment where he attacked the death riders, he did a completely unnecessary twisting moonsault to the floor when he almost clipped his head on the apron.

 By 2021, Omega had to take a year off to undergo a few different surgeries to repair a slew of different injuries. At the end of 2023, he had a life-threatening case of diverticulitis and needed surgery to fix the issue. He was on the shelf for over a year before he returned in early-2025, but he has had a relatively small role in the promotion since that time, which is probably a wise decision. Obviously, diverticulitis isn't directly linked to pro wrestling, and can happen to anyone, including to Brock Lesnar during his tenure in the UFC, but there's no doubt that it has a major impact on the body. Given that Omega had to spend a year on the sidelines to recover from multiple injuries previously, should he really be booked for a main event spot where the odds are that he's going to take risks to try to make the bout stand out on the pay-per-view card?

Granted, I think that Omega is booked for this bout merely to be a credible opponent for MJF, but there's still an argument for him to win the title in Canada to have one last major run as the world champion. The problem is, even if that was the direction that Tony Khan wanted to go, as far as the wholesome victory for the Canadian champion, it's doubtful that Omega could work a full-schedule as the titleholder. That's not a knock against Omega, as I said, the guy is a tremendous performer that will be regarded as a legend after he retires, but the harsh reality is, Omega has been injured more often than not the past few years.

I say that not to discount his contributions, but rather to point out that it's probably not worth the potentially risk to his health again. I'm not being sarcastic when I say this, but what does Omega realistically have to prove at this point in his career? A WWE run was rumored to be on the table before the launch of AEW, but it's not in the cards at this point. As mentioned, he has a place in the history of Japanese wrestling and he was a part of the core group that launched AEW that shifted the dynamics of the industry in America so he should probably consider retirement as more of an option than another title run.

The Wrestling Mayhem show

In the modern era with so much technology that is exponentially easier to access and use than any other time before in history, any yo-yo with a voice app and a wifi connection can claim to produce content online. However, there are a select few throughout different fields that bring such a polished and professional approach to the genre that it stands out among the slew of amateur hour imitators on the internet.

For Pittsburgh, a region known almost as much for its wrestling as the steel it once produced, Mike Sorg is the top producer of pro wrestling podcasts, but also of live event video production through his Sorgatron Media group. Mike and his crew are covering at least one, if not two events every weekend someone on the east coast, as his production turf spans throughout Pittsburgh into other states.

When he isn't calling camera shots for body slams and headlocks, he and his team work with everyone from corporate clients to universities throughout the country. It's often a non-stop grind, but it's a dream job for Sorg, as he parlayed his passion for video production into a career that allows him to be a vital contributor to the industry that has enthralled him since his youth. if he's traveling for corporate assignments, when he's off the clock, it's not uncommon for him to find new live wrestling to attend just to be able to indulge in as many flavors of the unique genre as possible.

"My days are pretty long and I get a full day off maybe 1 or 2 times a month. I am very fortunate that I’ve put myself in a place that anything I’m working on is something I really want to do. Whether it’s a wrestling show, a podcast or client work. I’m exhausted a lot, but I don’t cuss the busy day like I used to when I had the day job. I get to do cool stuff. I have a great crew of people around that come along for the ride," Sorg commented. 

The live wrestling cards that he streams on his indywrestling.live network keep him busy, as he juggles not only the responsibility of capturing the action of a live presentation, but also must maintain the live broadcast of that event online as well. A tight-knit, dedicated team keep the sports entertainment wheels on the tracks, as Sorg calls camera shots to his ringside videographers with a wall of screens and accompanying equipment in front of him.

Sorg's track record for the past several years is very well-regard, both inside and outside of the Pittsburgh scene. When New Japan Pro Wrestling is on the east coast for one of their US events, Sorg is often behind a camera somewhere because of the Japanese league's trust in his skills.

But, he didn't just jump into video production, a studio space, live streaming, and podcasting at the start.

In fact, there are twenty years of experience, effort, and cache put into this career path for him. Long before nearly everyone had the ability to record themselves and upload it to the internet, Mike Sorg launched The Wrestling Mayhem Show, a pro wrestling podcast that brought friends together to discuss the happenings of the industry, in 2006. The venture grew from its humble beginnings into one of the most well-known platforms that it is today with its own studio, live guests each week, and even a pizza sponsorship.

"The faces and voices have changed, but the mission has been relatively the same. It’s the place we can gather and talk about this weird, wonderful thing we all like. It’s a community, it’s my personal release. It’s still the project where I can unapologetically say the F-word," Sorg explained.

The platform worked hand-in-hand with the live event side of the production company. With most of the major wrestling organizations of the western Pennsylvania independent scene distributed through the Indy Wrestling Network, a slew of wrestlers regularly appear on the live video podcast each Tuesday to promote their upcoming events. It goes without saying that the steady stage that Mike provides for the area online has allowed the exposure to the steel city to grow exponentially compared to where it was years ago.

"I used to think that one of the greatest achievements in Pittsburgh area wrestling was to be invited to be on WMS. Sorg has seen so much wrestling and talent all over the world, for him to be interested in your story would seem to be extremely meaningful," said Clayton King, one of the top young lions in the region.

Through the years of producing live broadcast, interviews, and distribution, Sorg has quite the Rolodex of names from through the wrestling circuit so after more than a decade of filming live events, he decided to run his own with "The Wrestling Mayhem Show Presents April Fools" on April 1, a nod to the holiday when anything is possible.

"There’s always been a little bug, but I never felt like I should because I respect what everyone does so much. We used to do these backyard concerts paired with all of us doing backyard wrestling almost twenty years ago so that’s always been in the back in my head. We looked at shows we could run and how to do it but I always backed off for one reason or another. I never thought I had an idea that was different than what others were already doing in such a saturated pro wrestling city like Pittsburgh," Mike remarked. 

The live wrestling event will be held at The Warehouse, the same venue that hosts 880 Wrestling, an upstart league that was named after its original location in New Kensington, PA that was founded on its inclusive and accepting mission statement. Initially a training school project, 880 has grown substaially in just the past few years, as they have an open door policy for anyone that wants to test themselves in the pursuit of being a pro wrestler. The project brings live weekly cards with free events every Thursday on Sorg's platform with Thursday Night Fights, a series that has seen several talents make a name for themselves by sharpening their skills through the valuable experience of live performances. Through Sorg's efforts to provide a spotlight on the upstart league, 880 gained enough of a following online that they host ticketed live events each month as a compliment to the Thursday Night Fights series. Names like Gianni Emricko, MV Young, Nix Wilde, Keith Haught, Liberty L, Tatiana, and others have become fixtures of the success behind the organization.

"When we hit twenty years, everyone telling me I should try this one out, and I really wanted to celebrate that milestone with something different. That gave me the push,  I have three big ideas I want to pull off now. April Fools is the first. 

The vibe is 'What if our weird group booked a show.' We have so many friends in the business that are up for trying out our weird ideas. Now, I’m inspired by the old Chikara and the new Mystery Wrestling vibes. That’s something I don’t feel we have here in the city unless Kaiju Big Battle comes to town," Mike said. 

A myriad of 880 grapplers have already been announced for the live-up, with a mixture of talent from throughout the area also scheduled to compete at the event.

Derek Dillinger and Katie Arquette, a duo that have made waves throughout Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and even into Canada are signed for the Mayhem Show presentation. The Combination of Tyler Klein and Calvin Couture, The Runway, one of the best tag teams on the independent scene, are scheduled to appear. The pesky Clayton King and his sidekick, Some Guy Named John are on the line-up. The agile and talented Mikey Montgomery will be in the house as well. The main event will have championship implications when the Renegade Wrestling Alliance, a blue collar promotion that runs events in West Netwon, PA each month, No Limits championship will be on the line. The newly-crowned champion, Gory, an icon of the squared circles of the steel city for more than two decades, will defend the title against the former champion, The Beastman. After three successful tours of Japan, most recently as a part of the Big Japan Tag Team Deathmatch Grand Prix, The Beastman has also became a regular for Game Changer Wrestling and Juggalo Championship Wrestling, as one of the most traveled talents based in the Pittsburgh area.

"We have a Freaky Friday match where Calvin Couture and KC Warr are swapping places. A Pittsburgh Parking Chair Match, another Top Rope Table Top Rules match,  Martian Mayhem,  and we have the Bakery Boys against The Production. We have an RWA No Limits Match between Beastman and Gory. It’s going to be fun, wacky, and all that weird stuff I love to share. Wrestling purists will probably hate it. 
 I also hope to do some things with presentation on this show I’ve seen from other promotions across the country I’ve worked with or wish we could do with some of the promotions around here," Sorg concluded.


Dennis Condrey passed away

This past weekend, founding member of the legendary Midnight Express, Dennis Condrey passed away at the age of 74. Condrey, who had battled throat cancer on two occasions in recent years, was honored in the ring by FTR during an appearance on AEW television in 2023. On his podcast, Jim Cornette revealed that Condrey suffered a fall at home, breaking his neck and partially paralyzed before he was taken to the hospital where he passed away a few hours later.

Ironically, much of Condrey's pro wrestling career, including his infamous exit from The Midnight Express in their heyday of Jim Crockett Promotions was kept strictly professional and not much was known about his personal life. It wasn't until more recent years, including the AEW appearance and occasional conventions that the former member of the legendary team was in the public eye.

One thing is for sure, Dennis Condrey, very similar to his late partner, Bobby Eaton, was a textbook definition of the term "in-ring worker" in the annals of the industry. Breaking into the business in the Memphis territory in the 1970s, Condrey was a classic heel, everything he did was crisp and sharp to get proper heat on the baby face of the evening, and just as solid as he was on offense, he could bump around like a polished pro to make that baby face shine on the comeback. He was very much a representation of the southern style that brought so much memorable tag team wrestling with it.

It sounds elementary, but with how solid his foundation was, that's why the baby faces were able to shine that bright in the bygone era of the territory days. Furthermore, the level of snug work that teams like The Midnight Express could bring to the table were one of the reasons that tag team wrestling was a pillar of a territory that could draw money at the time because it generated heat and thus had a level of importance to the fan base.

In many ways, Condrey was a true tag team specialist throughout his career to a degree that few others were. He had a notable duo with Phil Hickerson during the early Memphis days before he formed the original Midnight Express with Randy Rose by 1980. During the famous talent trade of 1983 when promoter, Jerry Jarrett and the hard-nosed "Cowboy" Bill Watts agreed to send talent to each of their territories, the rookie manager from the prior year, Jim Cornette was sent to Mid-South. It was there that the legendary Louisville slugger was paired with youngster Bobby Eaton and established veteran, Condrey to form the most well-known combination of the team. The deal to send Eaton, Cornette and Condrey to the same territory had a major domino effect in the years that followed.

It didn't take long for Cornette's verbal sparring, Beautiful Bobby's agility, and Condrey's rugged, but polished style to produce results for Watts' box office. In the nearly two years that the team was in the promotion, they worked a memorable feud with a young Magnum TA and a soon to be heel, Mr. Wrestling II before they collided in a longstanding rivalry with the Rock N' Roll Express, also an export from Memphis, in a series of matches that helped define both teams' career in the sport. Furthermore, when the grizzled Watts came out of retirement for "The Last Stampede" series, it was Condrey and Eaton that were chosen as the villains for Watts and the company's top star, Junkyard Dog. When the bout was taken to the Super Dome in New Orleans, it drew an estimated 25,000 fans in mid-1984.

When they wrapped up their run in Mid-South, they took a six-month detour to World Class in Texas at the request of Watts to help his friend, the equally hard-nosed, Friz Von Erich as the Dallas territory was still reeling from David's death in February of that year. Considering that the Free Bird feud was still at the top of the card and still drawing houses at that point, there wasn't much of a place for The Midnight Express, other than a mid card feud with The Fantastics, the combination of Bobby Fullton and Tommy Rogers, a spin off of the Fabulous Ones.

As unnecessary as the relatively quick trip to Dallas was, the timing still worked out for them by the time they landed in Jim Crockett Promotions in mid-1985. Vince McMahon's national expansion was in full swing with the success of the first Wrestlemania a few months earlier, and Crockett was quickly becoming the only major competitor to the WWF, as the smaller territories simply couldn't keep pace with Vince's expansion into their markets through cable television.

A lot can be said about what JCP did right or wrong during these key years of the mid-80s, but there's no doubt that the NWA was a national platform at that point rather than a regional system so the jump to the Carolina-based group gave The Midnight Express the biggest exposure and biggest money possible in the business at the time. You can argue that maybe this was one of the reasons that Crockett ultimately couldn't truly compete with the WWF, but regardless of the national platform, the NWA still sold its audiences the substance of the pro wrestling business rather than McMahon's offering of the sizzle of sports entertainment. Crockett still sold bell-to-bell action, which probably could've survived, but that's a different discussion for a different time. The point being, the wrestling philosophy of the NWA suited The Midnight Express perfectly, and they had the few years of previous experience to present the team in the best fashion possible on the biggest stage possible at the time.

As much as Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes were the anchors of the main event scene of that era of the NWA, the same could be said for Condrey and Easton in the tag team division, which was still spotlighted during that time frame. The Rock N' Roll feud was revisited, as it was simply a winning formula, and became one of the staples of the JCP presentation. When closed circuit television started to become a major revenue stream as an early version of pay-per-view, Starrcade 1986 was dubbed, "The Night of The Sky Walkers" to promote The Midnight Express vs. The Road Warriors in a scaffold match. This was also when Jim Cornette took a plunge from the scaffold, suffering a serious knee injury in the process, before he was carried backstage by Big Bubba, the future Big Bossman in the WWF.

After almost two years in Crockett Promotions and four years as arguably the best tag team in the entire business, Dennis Condrey infamously left the company without notice or telling anyone where he was. The story still isn't completely public, but it's said that he was dealing with family problems after almost 15 years of traveling for his career prior to his abrupt exit. Condrey resurfaced in 1987 alongside his original partner, Randy Rose in the declining days of the AWA, which opened the door for a brief, but memorable Midnight Express feud toward the end of 1988 when rookie manager, Paul E. Dangerously brought the original duo to challenge Eaton and Condrey's replacement, Stan Lane, in the NWA, which was just bought by Ted Turner to keep the promotion on his network.

The feud only went on for few months until the teams were scheduled for a match on pay-per-view in February of 1989 when Condrey left without explanation again. He quietly wrapped up his career on the independent circuit the following year without much fanfare before he took a job outside of pro wrestling.

Considering that this was before even VHS tapes were widely distributed, much of Condrey's work was difficult to find until more recent years. He was one of the true, "if you know, you know" cases in pro wrestling. It wasn't until he was in his mid-50s that an unexpected Midnight Express reunion made its way around the independent circuit, including in Ring Of Honor, 15 years after he originally retired that Condrey saw how remembered he was by the fans. By that time, more footage was available to the public so even fans of a newer generation had seen at least some of his NWA work.

I actually had the chance to meet Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey when they worked a bout against the late Tracy Smothers and Chris Hamrick at an International Wrestling Cartel event in 2004. I was just 15 at the time, but I knew of their legendary reputation and looked forward to meeting them. They were both very polite, and I was surprised that when I asked how much it was to sign the magazine that I had, Bobby Eaton said in his heavy accent, "for your book? that's nothin' for that." It was really great to get the chance to see the legendary team that I knew had such a stellar reputation wrestle live, considering that their heyday was before my time.

I'm really glad that Dennis Condrey got the chance to see how much fans appreciated his work in more recent years. As much as technology is going to ruin society, the WWE Network published a lot of his Mid-South and NWA footage when he worked alongside Cornette and Eaton. Still, it's wild to think that he had another decade of wrestling behind him before those runs that either weren't filmed or didn't survive since Memphis taped over shows each week.

There's no doubt that the wrestling world lost an underrated legend and one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. My sincere condolences to Dennis Condrey's friends and family at this difficult time.