The career of Brain Anthony

"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was at the top of the charts, gas was $1.16 a gallon, Home Alone was a smash hit at the box office, and George H.W. Bush was in the White House.

The year was 1990, and a 17-year-old kid was thrown into the deep waters of the professional wrestling business, which was at the tail end of the era when the methods of the in-ring mayhem were still protected to some degree through a veil of secrecy to present the narrative of the sport as legitimate as possible. In short, professional wrestling schools were a relatively new concept, and outside of Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory, known for breaking in a young Bam Bam Bigelow a few years earlier, it simply wasn't something that was widely advertised. True to its secret heritage, you had to know someone that knew someone to be able to find a ring set up somewhere to literally learn the ropes.

Today, the majority of training schools have a "if your check clears, you can be a pro wrestler, too" mentality because trainers, reputable and otherwise, need students through the door to keep the lights on. That simply wasn't the case more than three decades ago, a time when sending a VHS tape and some photos in the mail was the primary way to try to get an opportunity somewhere.

Thankfully, that sheepish 17-year-old that was just trying to stay out of the way as a manager at the time has tried to stay ahead of the curve in the modern age of technology. But, still, all these years later as a 35-year veteran of the sport, Brain Anthony remains a throwback.

"I graduated in June 1990 and had my first match in September. My original trainer was Shawn Patrick. At the time, I had been already been working when I was discovered by Dominic. I had gotten booked on a show by Dr. Sam Siegel. The match was myself and TC Reynolds against Lord Zoltan and Sabu. Dominic happened to be on the show. After the match, he approached Dr. Seigel and asked if it would be okay if he trained me. 'I can do something with that kid' were his words. Of course, I was super pumped, it was truly an honor," Brian commented.

TC Reynolds, the late Tom Buzanoski outside of the ring, was a staple of the tri-state area for decades. Lord Zoltan's tenure stretches back to the mid-70s and he shared a ring with names like Andre The Giant and Paul Orndorff at the WWF's famous Allentown TV tapings. Sabu's wild and revolutionary career speaks for itself. Clearly, the rookie was going to standout in this tag team contest, but he didn't look out of place. In fact, it was his potential that caught the eye of the previously mentioned Dominic.

The place that the youngster was invited to hone his craft was a training location that you might've read about before. That publication happened to be Mick Foley's 1999 New York Times #1 Best-Seller, Have A Nice Day, and the Dominic that spotted a young Brian Anthony was Dominic Denucci, a former WWWF Tag Team champion in the 1970s, as well as an international star for Jim Barrett's Australia-based World Championship Wrestling group as far back as the early-60s. Almost a decade before millions of fans read about Mick Foley's six-hour drives from Cortland, New York to the Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small town about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh, to train with Denucci each weekend, Brain Anthony found himself standing outside the small building where Foley slept in his car to be able to attend lessons five years earlier.

"Breaking in at that time was way different. They put you through the ringers. I remember Dom’s place was in the basement of an old church. The was ceiling was so low that you couldn’t do anything off the top rope, and three sides of the ring touched the wall. So, there was not much we could do except wrestle.   Dom would put us in there and say, 'You got five minutes. No punches, no kicks, and stay in the middle of the ring.' If we started to put a match together, he would immediately stop us and tell us to call it in the ring, which is unheard of today. Guys just can’t do it now and even if they do try , it still never makes sense," Brian explained.

Before cell phones, the internet, or DVDs, opportunities could be difficult to find, especially because the fresh-faced Brian Anthony began his career at a time when the concept of the independents still wasn't fully-formed. When snail mail was still the standard of how to get a highlight tape into the right hands, it wasn't uncommon for Brian to jump into a car to travel several states away just for the chance to get to perform in front of a paying audience, gaining valuable experience that would benefit him greatly later on.

"The indies have changed so much over the years. When I broke in, you were jumping in cars with four or five people that you may or may not have even known and driving for hours across states to work a show. There wasn’t much consistency in work, gimmicks, or anything. As the years passed, I feel the car rides have diminished a lot. Everyone seems to want to just travel alone or just with a few friends.  Man, that is a shame because these car rides were where you learned the craft. Again, I was a young kid so I had the opportunity to learn from some true vets. While it was a business back then it has evolved into such a business now. You are pretty much a brand now," Anthony said.

The late-night drives and the willingness to put in the time for those key reps for a crowd paid off. By the mid-1990s, "Bad Boy" Brian Anthony was one of the polished prime athletes of the western Pennsylvania scene. He checked all the boxes for the look and in-ring skills of a worthy pro, and his position within Pittsburgh circles reflected that. At a time when television was the only major distribution channel for professional Wrestling, Anthony was a featured star for the now-defunct Pro Wrestling Express group. PWX had wild popularity for a handful of years in the late-90s because their television show aired on the same channel that broadcasted WWF's Shotgun Saturday Night and ECW's Hardcore TV during a weekend block of programming. PWX was known at the time for drawing hundreds of fans to the now-demolished Eastland Mall in North Versailles, and Brian Anthony was a stable of that era.

Taking into account not only lessons from the previously mentioned Denucci, but also his position as a drawing card for the promotion, Anthony became one of the trainers at PWX's wrestling school, where he instilled knowledge to some of the most important and influential grapplers of the Pittsburgh circuit that went on to have stellar careers of their own. In some respects, you could say that Anthony was one of the trainers of the trainers of the stars that eventually broke out from the area onto the national level.

"As a trainer, I have a pretty good list. I was instrumental in training Brandon K, Quinn Magnum, Todd Thompson, and helped a lot of other guys develop just by working with them consistently. whether in matches or at training. I think the most important thing as a trainer is teaching students to respect the business and those that came before, as well as teaching the fundamentals. I don’t feel there are a lot of schools teaching psychology and calling it in the ring anymore, everything looks like a choreographed match," Brian remarked.

Over the course of the next decade, Brian Anthony excelled both inside and outside of his home turf. It wasn't uncommon for Anthony to be one of those chosen to represent the area at various National Wrestling Alliance events, or working with the famous Samoan wrestling dynasty that had connections locally through their promotion in Allentown. Anthony found himself on the radar of the national promotions as well, working a dark match at a WWF television taping in Buffalo New York in 1999, working with ECW, and was even offered a WCW developmental deal by Les Thatcher, which Anthony cites family reasons for declining.

 "The NWA World’s title angle I did was fun, I got to be the "real “ NWA World’s Heavyweight champion for a bit. It's too bad politics soured that. I would say becoming a regular member of the Samoan family and an active member of Afa's roster since I got to work with guys like Batista, Snitsky, Samu, and so many others. Being an active member of the ECW locker room,  I made so many friends there. So, I guess I’ve been a Paul Heyman guy," Brian said.

Despite all of those accomplishments, Brian Anthony is arguably most well-known in the steel city history books for his time as a part of the villainous tag team, The Wrong Crowd. Alongside Paul Atlas, the duo were edgy, controversial, and had veteran experience that allowed them to work with several different teams over the course of several years during different stints as a unit. The initial run of The Wrong Crowd in the late-90s brought a spotlight to the two grapplers around Pittsburgh, whereas their work as a team in later years was within the national scope. Atlas, who is a former NWA National champion, was known for his ability to push the envelope on the mic, and did so when he and Anthony won the NWA North American Tag Team championship in the mid-2000s. With their manager Curtis Stevenson at ringside, The Wrong Crowd, true to their old school nature, wanted to defend the championships against any team that the NWA wanted to put in front of them. Anthony and Atlas went as far as to call out then-NWA president Bob Trobich for lack of competition.

"The Wrong Crowd meant a lot to my career. It was something I came up with to reinvent our career.  Paul and I had been in PWX for awhile as singles and then as a tag team, but with completely different gimmicks. At one point, we had some new bookers come in and basically said they didn’t know what to do with us. One night, I was reading the autobiography of Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma and he was talking about the Sooners linebackers. He went on to describe them as 'the ones your mother warned you about,The Wrong Crowd.' It really was the gimmick that put me on another level,  we started to get national attention. We were doing things no one on the indies were doing as far as entrances and stuff," Anthony explained.

Eventually, Brain Anthony slowed down his wrestling schedule, as he balanced a career outside of wrestling and a family with his pursuit of the sport. However, in more recent years, Brian returned to his role as a trainer and looks to take the next step through modern technology, offering online coaching for rookie grapplers that just started their path in the squared circle.

"This is why I am opening this coaching. I think the indy scene in general lacks honest, old school coaching. Psychology was drilled into me from some of the best. The likes of Joey Mercury, Nova, Afa, and so many others. I think the Indy scene needs to get back to this, Anthony concluded.

Brian Anthony looks to take aspiring grapplers under his wing, the same way that Dominic Denucci did all those years ago. Despite using modern technology for these latest venture, there's no doubt that Brain Anthony remains a throwback.

What's next for Big Bill?

One of the many reasons that competition and options are so important in business, especially the pro wrestling business, is that opportunity is provided. The fans get variety, and a way that becomes possible is that performers get the chance to develop their careers across the spectrum of the industry, and in the process, have the chance to work to their fullest potential. It's a drastic example, but keep in mind, there was a time that the WWE office only saw Cody Rhodes as a secondary comedy character with a spinoff gimmick of his brother's more successful persona. Cody could've coasted on his last name and made a decent living as a lower mid-carder in WWE for the rest of his career, but he opted to leave the company in 2016. At the time, the indies had a level of buzz, but that was partially because Impact Wrestling, where Cody had a cup of coffee, was so under the radar on Pop TV. Sure, Cody made the leap to Ring Of Honor and drew the biggest crowds for the Sinclair-owned organization of that era, and used New Japan as a platform to fully expand the next chapter of his career, but it was ultimately the launch of All Elite Wrestling, the biggest potential competition to WWE since the closure of WCW two decades earlier, that allowed him to completely rejuvenate his career.

The bottom line is, without the existence of All Elite Wrestling as a platform for Rhodes, he wouldn't have developed the American Nightmare persona that eventually made him the top guy in the WWE that he is today.

Those goals are lofty, and only a rare tier of worker is going to reach that level, but the point is, the chance to reinvent yourself on a smaller scale can lead to the ability to present the best version of the performer on a bigger stage.

According to Fightful Select, another former WWE wrestler is on their way back to the company after years of rebuilding their career outside of the scope of the publicly-traded, global corporation.

Big Bill, once known for his run as a tag team with Enzo Amore, is said to be slated for a return to the WWE eight years after his rocky exit. The real-life William Morrissey was only in the sport for two years before he signed a developmental deal in 2011 so for all intents and purposes, he was almost a total product of that early developmental system of Florida Championship Wrestling, the predecessor to the Performance Center. After spending about three years in NXT, which was put in place of FCW by that time, the act of Enzo and Cass was called up to Raw in 2016.

In short, the presentation was extremely popular for a relatively short amount of time. Despite being under the WWE umbrella for five years, Big Cass still looked to be a puppy with big paws so to speak. Sure, he could do the basic move set that was asked of him, but it looked very robotic and rehearsed. If I had to guess, I'd say that's one of the unintended possible pitfalls when a talent only works within the WWE system, they aren't quite as adaptable since they don't have a variety of experience. Big Cass could do the Enzo and Cass routine, but hadn't developed as an overall performer. When Enzo was quite literally all talk and so clumsy in the ring that Pac decided he'd rather quit his job than work with him a few years later, the original package of Enzo and Cass was all sizzle and no substance so it ran its course rather quickly.

In 2018, Morrissey was fired for behavior issues after an intoxication incident while on tour with the company. At the time, things looked bleak and he could've been on his way to becoming another precautionary tale of the pro wrestling business. There was also a bizarre incident at an independent show a few years later where he was intoxicated and got into some type of altercation, but details weren't fully reported. Again, things didn't look good for the career prospects of Morrissey, and his stock in the business was minimal at best.

When he reemerged in Impact Wrestling in 2021, it was reported that he dealt with addiction and mental health issues within the previous few years, but looked to rebound with fresh start as a healthy performer. That notion was reflected in the fact that he was in the best shape of his career when he showed up at the closed set tapings of Impact during the pandemic. He looked solid during his stint in promotion, as he wasn't asked to do too much, but was given enough to showcase himself. In truth, the year that he spent in Impact was probably just a trial run to see if he had made enough progress to turn his life around for either of the bigger promotions to offer him a contract.

Despite Tony Khan signing such a bloated roster for the vast majority of the existence of All Elite Wrestling, I was still somewhat surprised when Big Bill showed up there in mid-2022, mostly because the promotion isn't tailored to a big man style. That being said, Big Bill did well there and had clearly progressed in the ring, as his performances looked more natural and crisp. His tag team title run with Ricky Starks is probably what he was most known for within the past four years.

I understand that the Chris Jericho association had helped spotlight other talent prior, including the original Inner Circle faction after the launch of the promotion, but by the time "The Learning Tree" gimmick was used, Jericho himself was struggling to find traction so it just didn't truly do anything for Bill or Bryan Keith. In fact, Jericho had to take a year away from the company to allow himself to return with a fresh start, but during that time the team of Bill and Keith were left rather directionless.

For most of the past year, Big Bill has been off the radar of All Elite Wrestling so it definitely makes sense for him to make the jump to WWE if a deal was offered. It's a somewhat odd dynamic because after four years on the roster, I'm not sure Big Bill meant all that much within the landscape of AEW, and to be fair, very few are given the chance to be on an individual basis, but his tenure in the company certainly benefited his career since it allowed him to showcase that he became a more well-rounded performer.

That could ultimately set the stage for the real-life Morrissey to be yet another guy that left AEW as potentially underutilized to became a bigger star in the WWE. Granted, Alister Black ended up being a flop when he went back to WWE, and Andrade more or less wasn't given much to do before he exited so there are exceptions, but if  Morrissey is going to get over to a bigger level in WWE, this would probably be his best chance to do it. At 39, he's at the latter stage of his career, but it wouldn't be unrealistic for him to have a five or six year run if he gets over.

There has been some chatter online that Enzo might also be on his way back to the WWE to reform a team with Cass. I have to be honest, if  Morrissey has any chance of getting over at this point in his career, he should be kept as far away from Enzo as possible. Aside from Enzo being aloof and insufferable in interviews, putting Cass back in the same scenario where he was before he left WWE would basically neutralize the progress that he made as a performer outside of the company. It remains to be see if Morrissey will be successful in the WWE if he returns, but it would undoubtedly be a tremendous comeback story for his career.

Forbidden Door review

On the same day that Total Nonstop Action presented their Slammiversary pay-per-view, All Elite Wrestling run their Forbidden Door event, a co-promoted show with New Japan Pro Wrestling. In what was probably unavoidable given the current status of the Japanese league, this was probably the weakest build to this specific event since it started as an annual tradition a few years ago. The bottom line is, the Forbidden Door PPV often became an unintentional audition for New Japan talent in front of an AEW audience, and it didn't take long for Tony Khan to sign away almost every top star that NJPW had. Hopefully, the acquisition by Cyber Fight, the parent company of DDT, NOAH, and Tokyo Joshi Pro, will be able to bolster New Japan, but right now, the company is low on true star power and the line-up reflected that.

Don't get me wrong the clash between two different organization's best wrestlers can be a money-drawing concept. The problem is, if it becomes a yearly event, you eventually run out of "dream matches" to fuel the theme of the show. With a nine-match card, you knew that this broadcast was going to stretch over the four-hour mark, which simply isn't an ideal viewing experience on a Sunday night. You shouldn't have to kick yourself Monday morning for spending $50 on a wrestling pay-per-view that ran until after midnight. However, it's even more of an issue when the broadcast ran until almost 1 AM on the east coast.

Overall, this pay-per-view, similar to almost every AEW PPV, was a mixed bag. It gave you the quality action you expected, some of it was overkill, and some of it could've been saved for television so that the viewers could attempt to get to sleep by a decent hour. It sounds trivial, but only the most diehard demographic of wrestling fans are going to be thrilled to get to bed after midnight, and that's often the portion of the audience that the brand caters to, but the goal should theoretically be to get a bigger audience to spend $50 for these pay-per-views.

The opening three-way tag team match was a fun segment and it gave the viewers the fireworks show that they anticipated for this type of contest. This is the portion of the card that you can put the objective to progress the storylines aside for 15 minutes and let these guys thrill the audience with the high spots and dives. There's nothing wrong with that either, this type of contest has a place on the card, it just gets repetitive, tedious, and yields diminishing returns when it's overdone during the course of a specific PPV. The Young Bucks received some rightful criticism in recent years when their heel runs fell woefully flat, but they can still deliver spectacular bouts when that's what a segment is designed for. They got the win after they hit the Meltzer driver on Titan to get the pin.

As I said, there's a limited amount of "dream matches" that can be touted for a yearly event, and while Kenny Omega and Zack Sabre Jr. have wrestled before, since Sabre Jr. is one of the few key New Japan guys that Tony didn't sign, this bout had a level of anticipation around it. They gave the viewers a little bit of everything, starting of with some slick technical exchanges before they decided to exchange strikes and then took the series of big bumps that you'd expect from a New Japan main event. The problem is, this segment went over 25 minutes and it was only the second match of the night. They did the dramatic back and fourth sequences over an extended period of time, but when Omega finally landed the one-winged angel to get the victory, there was still almost four hours left of the show. This didn't need to be presented as an epic New Japan war of attrition, the overall show would've been better off if they kept it to a tight 15 minutes.   

As far as matches that could've been saved for Dynamite, specifically with the format of this event, the Jon Moxley/Bandido match appeared to be shoehorned onto the line-up just to get each of them on the pay-per-view. I understand that Moxley is a known star for his time in WWE, and Bandido is a tremendous performer, but again, when a show is going to run as long as this one did, a match that offers nothing toward the AEW vs/ New Japan package can be saved for a different time. It was somewhat of an odd match on paper because of the styles clash, but the match itself was fine. That said, they more or less repeated the structure of the contest that the audience just saw when they opened with technical exchanges, threw strikes, and went with the bigger spots toward the conclusion. The problem is, the result was already rendered rather pointless, as Bandido, despite being the Ring Of Honor champion, isn't necessarily seen in the same light as Moxley, particularly after he recently reformed the team with Brody King so it was obvious that Moxley was going to retain. We're going to see all the high spots and bumps throughout the rest of the card so if a segment doesn't progress something within the scope of the product, the argument could be made that it wasn't needed for this pay-per-view. I understand the tradition of tearing the mask to bleed in lucha libre, but the Moxley/Bandido match wasn't something that justified that. It wasn't a long-term blood feud or anything that needed blood in the segment, especially when there was a steel cage match later. As expected, Moxley got the win to retain the title with the submission.

In a similar fashion, Pac is on AEW programming so sporadic that it's difficult to realistically believe that he would capture the New Japan Global championship to possibly work a full schedule there.Shota Umino is a solid in-ring worker, but nothing too spectacular, and his main event push for the Tokyo Dome a few years ago garnered mixed reviews. This was another match that was fine in terms of the performance, as Pac's athleticism is almost impressive, but there just wasn't enough meat on the bone for this contest to have any major intrigue. Umino isn't a star and doesn't have the cache for his bouts to carry that type of importance to them, especially in front of an American crowd. For a one-off match, this was another segment that didn't need to go 20 minutes, which is roughly the same amount of time given to the previous contest. The power bomb over the top rope through a table wasn't needed either. This was another situation where this was structured as if it was going to be a main event, but there was still more than three hours of the show left.

Thekla vs. Starlight Kid was directly related to the premise of the pay-per-view, and Tony Khan did a decent job of building up Thekla's heel tactics in Japan for this segment to have the proper context. This was a very entertaining match and gave the crowd what they'd expect from a solid Joshi segment. I'd say that Starlight Kid might be a good addition to the AEW women's roster, but I have zero faith that she wouldn't eventually get lost in the shuffle of the witness protection plan of ROH so it's better that she stays in Japan. Thekla retained the AEW Women's title after she used a curb stomp to get the win.

The AEW Tag Team title match was fine, but at this point in the card, it was a situation where the length of the show impacted the viewing experience. There simply wasn't much to say about this bout other than it was solid segment. Jay White's return from injury was the biggest takeaway from it. Adam Copeland and Christian retained.

The Owen Hart Tournament women's final was somewhat underwhelming, as it was clunky and disjointed at certain points of the segment. At one point, Maya's hair extensions were loose, similar to the recent Jade Cargill situation, and she left the ring for a few minutes to fix it, which stalled any momentum the segment could've had. Furthermore, and this was almost unavoidable, there wasn't a point in this match where it looked like there was a realistic chance that Maya World was going to win. This isn't a jab at her at all, but she's still relatively unknown and new to most of the AEW audience so she's not seen, nor was she previously presented to be a contender on the level of Mercedes Mone. Sure, the argument could be made that the majority of Mone's All Elite career underachieved, but with the amount of money she's being paid, it only makes sense to put her in a featured spot at Wembley Stadium in August. It wasn't for a lack of effort, but this match never got into second gear because nobody believed that the upset was even remotely possible. This went 25 minutes and probably should've been given half that amount of time since it became tedious. Mone won via submission.

The cage match was the car crash segment that it was expected to be, which is fine since they didn't jump the shark nearly as much as they usually do for this type of bouts. Blood, tables, thumbtacks, and dives off the cage should've been the crescendo to the show, but the Owen Hart tournament men's final was after this. The stipulation of this match was that if Mark Briscoe's team won, he will get a title shot on television this week. The baby faces won so Briscoe vs. MJF will be on Dynamite, but this 30-minute car crash on pay-per-view was used to set up a predictable result for a television match.

The main event was more or less all of AEW's bad habits. This didn't start until almost 12:30 and after four and a half hours, this pay-per-view became a chore to watch rather than entertainment. This overdid everything in this segment after everything was already done earlier in the night. The ridiculous amount of blood added nothing, especially because Owen Hart was a technical wrestling legend so this match didn't represent the concept. The attempted dramatic pauses in the action missed the mark and didn't get over the theatrical presentation that they thought it would. The pace was rather slow, plodding, and almost unnecessary. But hey, Meltzer will give it six stars so it was successful, right? Don't get me wrong, the execution of the maneuvers was impressive, but that's not the issue. It was the wrong type of match for the tournament, with the wrong amount of time given, and at the wrong spot on the card. Ospreay got the win to get a title shot at Wembley Stadium. At some point, these five-hour pay-per-views because a reason for viewers to skip them rather than be literally invested in the broadcast through PPV orders. There's no booking logic for how to build a card, it's not about the overall presentation, the approach are individual matches in a vacuum, which hinders the overall event. 

Night of Champions review

Yesterday afternoon, the WWE presented one of its very lucrative Saudi Arabia shows, Night of Champions, and despite being what many would consider a "bridge" type of event as the company builds toward the first ever two-night Summer Slam pay-per-view in August, it definitely wasn't a filler or fluff broadcast. In fact, the Night of Champions event was worthwhile because it shifted pieces of the puzzle in place for a bigger payoff down the road at the previously mentioned Summer Slam PPV.

The event opened with Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso in the men's King Of The Ring finals. While the WWE simply isn't going to capture the historical cache that the concept once held because of its extended hiatus years ago and the number of marquee shows on the calendar, this still served its overall purpose. This was a showcase match for Oba, and it should've been. Regardless of the few top rope splashes that Uso landed during the seven-minute contest, there just wasn't a believable moment where it looked like he was going to actually win the match. In this specific case, that's fine because it reinforces how much steam and momentum that Femi has behind him as he gets the steady push toward the main event picture.

To say that anyone is a "can't miss" main eventer would be misguided since we've seen WWE management miss the boat on main event potential before when it would've been thought unthinkable that a talent wasn't destined for the main event. Anyone remember when Mr. Kennedy was poised to cash in the Money In The Bank contract to win the world title in 2007? How did Damien Sandow not get a chance to work in the main event scene?  But, It's fair to say that Oba Femi looks to check all the boxes of what WWE looks for in a top guy. If he can truly work at the main event level in terms of promos, psychology, and selling remains to be seen, but at the very least, the office is putting the machine behind a possible money-drawing star in the future. That notion becomes even more important when you take into account the rapid number of retirements of the top-tier of WWE, including the rumored exit of Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam. Oba got the victory to become the King Of the Ring and will get a title shot in August. All things considered, this outcome could've influenced the result of the WWE title match later in the night.

In a similar way, the result of the women's Queen of the Ring final wasn't as obvious, but still almost a sure thing that impacted the overall course of the match. With Liv Morgan already a champion, it was doubtful that she would be put in a scenario where she would challenge for another championship, as it wouldn't be a unification match, and one performer with both belts defeats the purpose of their individual existence. So, the spots where Iyo Sky was put in jeopardy with the potentially injured knee didn't fully sell themselves to the audience as a possible turning point in the contest. That being said, this segment delivered good action and was an entertaining bout. Iyo Sky won with a moonsault from the top rope to get the win and advance to Summer Slam for a title shot.

The steel cage match between Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins had some questions marks around it, mostly because much of the direction of the vision stable is still up in the air, with Logan Paul injured, and Bronson Reed still on the sidelines. The announce team framed this as the conclusion to the feud, and given how this match was structured, this looked to be designed as the payoff, not just another chapter, which is why I'm not sure I agree with the booking of the winner. This was a very solid performance from both competitors, and it was another example that Bron Breakker should be someone that the company builds around going forward. He's ahead of the curve as far as the quality of his performance compared to his experience level. The suplex from the top of the cage through the table was probably the biggest spot of the match and a piece of the table clipped Breakker in the side of the head, giving him a nasty hard way cut. However, the visual of the intense grappler with blood staining one side of his face was effective. Eventually, Bron missed a spear to send himself flying through a table in the corner, and Seth nailed a stomp from the ropes to get the pin fall. I have to be honest, if this is the end of the storyline, I think it would've made much more sense to allow Breakker the deciding win of the feud. This is actually meant as a compliment to Rollins, he's such a consistent quality performer that a loss doesn't really change his status in the organization, whereas a definitive win for Breakker could've been used to add to his credibility as a rising star in the company.

Maybe it was because it followed the cage match, or maybe it was because it resembled a television match more than something you'd expect to see on pay-per-view, but the US title bout was underwhelming. For whatever reason, it just didn't get into second gear and didn't develop a pace to build any drama. The crowd was mostly quiet for it and didn't see two invested in who left the build as the US champion. The abrupt finish was a jumping knee from Trick Williams to retain the belt. Trick looks and works like a star. I can't quite figure out the reason behind it, but Ricky Starks just hasn't connected with the audience at all since he started on the main roster. Maybe its his size, or that he was a big fish in a small pond in NXT, but he almost looks out of place on the main roster, and this match could be cited as an example of it.

Unfortunately, the Women's US title match wasn't an improvement. I'm not sure if they got lost or something got changed on the fly, but you could tell that Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were either trying to call spots or getting instructions from the referee. The bout was clunky and tedious. The run-ins didn't do the segment any favors, and despite only being given about seven minutes, this contest probably went a few minutes too long. After an assist from Charlotte, Tiffany retained the title.

As far as the performance, the WWE title match was brilliantly done. These three are top-notch and delivered a performance that had a big fight atmosphere. This bout built organic drama as the advantage tilted back and fourth toward the conclusion. The finish with the sudden victory roll for the three count worked well and added to the "shock value" of the moment. To be honest, I thought that Sami Zayn was only added to this contest to do something different since Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther has been seen before in Saudi Arabia, and perhaps that was the original intention. I'm not sure anyone would've guessed that Sami would walk out with the title, especially when he was randomly added to the bout just two weeks ago.

That being said, while I'm all for Sami getting a title reign, the way it was done serves up a conflicting narrative that might hinder its overall purpose. Keep in mind, Zayn just turned heel during his recent feud with Trick Williams in April. The narrative of this title win was almost somewhat of a wholesome presentation that a guy that worked hard for a decade finally wins the championship, but the character that is cast in the role is a bitter heel. The bigger problem is that Sami actually is that tremendous worker that always gives it 100% and the audience recognizes it so it's almost as though the office diluted a story that writes itself for a murkier, almost middle of the road type of persona that doesn't represent the best version of Sami Zayn during a title run.

Prior to this victory, I'd say that Zayn's heel persona was lukewarm at best because nothing major or definitive happened to kick it off when he was feuding with Trick Williams. Regardless of the conflicting narrative, this will be a short title reign, specifically because the story of Sami Zayn as WWE champion was the chase, not the run with the belt. Given that Oba Femi is in line for a title shot, I'd have to guess that the belt was put on Sami to give Oba someone to beat on at least one of the nights of Summer Slam. Either way, this sparks some intrigue around the title picture, which has been rather flat since Wrestlemania a few months ago. 

Joe Doering passed away

It was with profound sadness that I read the news that Joe Doering, former All Japan and Impact Wrestling star, passed away yesterday at the age of just 44 after an extensive battle with brain cancer. After breaking into the business in the early-2000s, Doering found himself as a journeyman of the industry, working in Puerto Rico, the previously mentioned Japan, and even a cup of coffee in the WWE developmental system in 2010 before a return to All Japan saw him eventually land in Impact Wrestling, partially during the pandemic. Doering was one of the few foreigners or "gaijin" talent to win the All Japan Triple Crown championship, and worked with all the top names of the Japanese league. Despite downsizing since its heyday in the 80s and 90s, All Japan still draws solid crowds in smaller venues. Furthermore, the product remains a reflection of the history of the organization with names like Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, and Taue as the "four pillars" of the group. The Great Muta, the real-life Keiji Muto that wrestled until his real name and gimmick name for years in New Japan, was able to reinvente himself during a legendary run in All Japan in 2001 after Misawa left the company to form Pro Wrestling NOAH. In short, a wrestler isn't going to reach the top level of the Triple Crown championship unless they can go in the ring, and there's no question that Joe Doering worked at that level during his runs in the organization.

Doering had multiple runs with the All Japan tag belts and is a two-time Triple Crown champion, as well as a former Impact Wrestling tag team champion. But, all of that seems secondary in the grand scheme of things. When he was working with Impact, I'd written in previous articles that given his skills, persona, and experience as a main event guy, Joe Doering could be a performer that the organization put into the world title picture, especially at a time when Impact was looking for fresh talent to bring it a more stable number of viewers throughout the uncertainty of the pandemic. Basically, the throwback All Japan style could've given Impact something unquie to offer to the audience at a time when the landscape of the industry became more crowded with the launch of All Elite Wrestling. But again, all of that appears to be moot in the big picture.

Joe Doering was touted for his skills and a gimmick that framed him as the next generation Stan Hansen, which worked very well for the Japanese audience that places such an importance on the tradition of the industry. Keep in mind, All Japan might not be as big of an organization as it was in a previous generation, but the fan base is built on that traditional brand.

Still, the courage, bravery, and determination that the real-life Joe Doering showed against the life-threatening scenario of a brain tumor surpassed any scripted foe that he had in the squared circle. Originally diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2016, he amazingly returned to the ring the following year after surgery to remove it. He continued to work in All Japan as one of the top foreigners, which eventually prompted an offer from Impact.

As mentioned, it was unfortunate that when Doering had his biggest exposure in the United States of his career when he started with Impact Wrestling in 2020, it was at such an unprecedented time because of the COVID-19 pandemic so some of his earlier work from that run was held at closed set tapings. After almost two years in Impact, a second brain tumor was found and the surgery to remove it effectively ended his in-ring career by late-2022.

The effects of the surgery and treatment of the second tumor might've cut his career short, but the sheer guts it takes for someone to push themselves through such a grueling situation is admirable.

Sadly, and in some ways unbelievable, a third brain tumor was found in November of last year, It's situations like this in life that you have to ask yourself, "why?" Why is this talented guy that you've never heard a negative word about from his peers, which is very rare in the professional wrestling business, have to go through another life-threatening brain tumor after such toughness to fight his way through the two tumors prior? I don't know the answer, and maybe there isn't truly an answer as to why other than by mere chance the same person had three brain tumors since cancer is known for its recurrence rates.

However, the one thing that I know for sure is that it took an incredible amount of toughness for Joe Doering to fight the terrible disease as long as he did. I found myself even sadder when I think about how much hope that he had at one point, especially after he was able to continue his career, only for the disease to return, taking his pro wrestling aspirations away again. I'm not religious so I don't think that Doering's illness in itself was a part of any divine plan, but there are certainly takeaways from his admirable fight.

The ironic part of it is, as Stuart Scott once put it when he received the Jimmy V award on ESPN before he passed away in 2014, ""When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."

We're all going to pass away one day. Obviously, you can't focus on that all the time or you will miss out on living your life. The point is, if someone dies from old age or an illness, the result is the same, nobody outlives every aliment in life, even if they pass away peacefully in their sleep at 100 after an accomplished life. True to what Stuart Scott said, death is going to come for all of us at some point so that alone doesn't determine a victory or a defeat from cancer. It is rather how someone approaches their life, and the fight against the illness if it happens.

Some people might measure a successful life by the money or material possessions that they had, but that all seems superficial when the sum total of our lives is tallied at the end of it. Instead, the impression made on others and the world has a much more lasting impact than any dollar amount.

Joe Doering beat brain cancer twice. That exemplifies a toughness that very few have, and when you take into account the outpouring of tributes from across the sports entertainment world, a business that Doering worked in for almost half of his life, he undoubtedly had a positive impact on the industry. His courage and determination are inspirational, and can serve as a reminder for those going through tough times, medically or otherwise, that pushing forward is always a chance for hope.

As I said, I'm not religious, but at the very least, Doering can finally rest after years of battling cancer, and at best, maybe he's training hammerlocks with Terry Funk? If there's a heaven, Joe Doering deserves a ringside seat. He beat cancer two out of three times, which gives him the win on the score cards. Joe Doering definitely didn't lose to cancer. My sincere condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time. 

What's next for Jack Perry?

In the midst of all the scuttlebutt about the status of Total Nonstop Action, including the myriad of recent releases that caused speculation about the overall status of the company, there's also some contract news on the All Elite Wrestling front as well.

Jack Perry, who signed with the upstart league upon its inception, is said to be very close to the expiration date of his current contract, prompting questions about if he will re-sign with the promotion or explore the free agent market.

Of course, Perry is known, fairly or unfairly, as the guy that caused CM Punk to leave AEW after the "real glass" comment on the pre-show spurred a backstage physical altercation between the two just moments before Punk was set to compete against Samoa Joe at Wembley Stadium in 2023. It can't be understated how much that incident, and a few similar behind-the-scenes disputes, stalled the momentum of the organization for a few years afterwards. The bottom line is, if Perry doesn't utter that phrase into the camera because he was immature about previously being told that he couldn't use real glass for a spot on television, CM Punk might still be in AEW, and the current landscape of the business looks very different. Don't get me wrong, Punk was going to end up on bad terms with All Elite no matter what happened because he thought of himself as a much bigger deal than he actually was, despite being the biggest star on the roster. Punk thought he was going to be the Steve Austin of All Elite and get catered to, and to a large degree that's what happened, but when he wasn't given the control to run an entire show with Collision, regardless of having no previous experience doing so, he was going to look for a way out.

Let's be honest here, Punk had a chip on his shoulder from the day that he returned to the business because he wanted to be the top guy in AEW that he previously didn't get to be in WWE. When The Elite and their political connection to founder, Tony Khan got in the way of that objective, the infamous backstage fight with them happened. For all intents and purposes, Punk should've been released in September of 2022. The Young Bucks were too narrow-minded to do business and make the money that was on the table for a feud with Punk, and since drawing money isn't the goal of AEW, Tony didn't make the people that he paid millions of dollars to be professional and work together.

In many ways, Jack Perry just happened to be the guy that was at the center of the tipping point. If it wouldn't have been Perry then Punk would've eventually had an issue with someone else to exit the organization. Ironically, Punk's return to the business and thus his rocky exit from AEW in September organically set the stage for him to return to the WWE just a few months later when Survivor Series was in Chicago with the domino effect being that he eventually become the top guy in the WWE that he wanted to be.

Still, Jack Perry was the catalyst for All Elite Wrestling to lose the biggest star that the company had, and the argument could be made that the "stain" of that incident didn't start to fade until his more recent baby face run.

After the fight with Punk and the subsequent airing of the security camera footage that did he no favors, Perry was sent to New Japan Pro Wrestling for roughly six months under the "scapegoat" persona, a heel way to lean into the controversy. By mid-2024, he was back on AEW television, aligned with The Young Bucks, but the heel character never really got off the ground. In some ways, I understand why Tony tried to turn a negative into a positive, with the notion that the fight with Punk could be used to generate heat, but it mostly just reminded the audience that CM Punk was in WWE. Perry abruptly disappeared from AEW programming for almost a year after that, spending nearly all of 2025 as a healthy scratch from the roster before he returned in September to reunite with Luchasaurus to reform Jurassic Express.

Sure, it was a retread of a gimmick from years earlier and could potentially be called a step backwards, but given that Perry's character had zero momentum, it was at least something to try to reignite the hype that he had when he was originally a baby face. For the most part, it worked and Perry has spent the majority of 2026 being reintroduced into the fabric of the shows, winning the national title for a short reign earlier this year.

The Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez reported that as of now, Perry hasn't signed a new contract, but it's possible that he could ink a new deal relatively soon. As far as what Perry does next, I'd say that it's a safe bet that he will re-sign with All Elite Wrestling because it's a relatively light schedule and the best money that he's going to make in the pro wrestling business. I can't see him going to WWE, not because CM Punk being there is a hurdle, but rather that his size and mindset would work against him. The WWE system is already stocked with talent between the main roster and the developmental system that Perry doesn't really bring anything to the table that isn't already there. That's not a knock on Perry either, but rather to point out that there's an entire Performance Center of wrestlers under contract, as well as stars on the main roster so by sheer numbers, the WWE already has what Perry offers.

Based on some of his past interview clips, including the infamous Q&A from a UK convention a few years ago, it's doubtful that Jack Perry has the mindset to see the bigger picture of WWE anyway. In theory, New Japan could be an option, but they aren't going to be able to offer the same money as Tony Khan so if there's an AEW contract on the table, Perry should and probably will take it. That being said, despite being initially dubbed, "one of the pillars of AEW," a ship that sailed a few years ago, Jack Perry doesn't move the needle. "Jungle Boy" Jack isn't a draw, or at least not more than anyone else currently on the roster. Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, MJF, Darby Allin, Kyle Fletcher, and Konosuke Takeshita would all be better choices to build around.

To put it in broader terms, what's the ceiling for Jack Perry? I could be wrong, but I don't think he would boost numbers any more than the six performers just mentioned. Furthermore, I'd say that those half a dozen workers are more versatile and more marketable than Perry. Since money is no object for Tony Khan, and the primary goal isn't making a profit, even if it should be, Jack Perry will be offered a solid contract to stay in the company, but will also maintain a rather mediocre status quo of being a mid-card baby face compared to the main event potential that some thought he had at the start of his AEW career.

Will TNA be sold?

After the slew of releases from Total Nonstop Action last week, including Tommy Dreamer, Sami Callihan, Tessa Blanchard, and others, there was enough chatter online about what it could mean for the Anthem-owned organization that the company sent out a press release, claiming that the group went through a "work force reduction" to "streamline operations." Most took that PR spin as a way for the promotion to potentially set the table for a future sale since downsizing would make an acquisition easier to eliminate duplicate positions, similar to the office staff cuts that were made after the WWE/UFC merger.

Ultimately, the AMC deal, a scenario that was thought to be a way to uplift the fledgling league after years of toiling, might end up being a net negative for the promotion, similar to the way that TNN tanked ECW.

Reportedly, AMC, a nontraditional network for pro wrestling, pays TNA $10 million a year for the rights to Impact, and obviously, that's a hefty amount of cash, but the production costs of live television, at least for a portion of the schedule, aren't cheap either. In short, there was a reason that the early days of TNA television were done with marathon tapings of a month worth of shows at The Impact Zone at Universal Studios since it was exponentially more cost effective than a live touring schedule each week. There was also a reason that Hulk Hogan's decision to take Impact on the road every week eventually saw the organization lose so much money that there was a tax lien on the company by the state of Tennessee before it was rescued from the brink of collapse by Anthem.

Essentially, the cost of the production of national television was the biggest factor of what cratered ECW because the terms of the contract gave them nothing but exposure in return for taping a show that would be on mainstream cable. It's unknown what type of ad revenue split that TNA has with AMC, but with roughly 200,000 viewers, depending on the week with a slight variation, it's not as though there will be a massive amount of cash to be made from the commercials that run during the show.

Don't get me wrong, TNA's brand awareness grew to its highest position in more than a decade during the NXT crossover so it made sense for Anthem to take the AMC deal, but similar to the ECW dilemma, or any other type of expansion, there's an inherent gamble that goes along with that attempt at expansion. The ability to secure a bigger platform has the goal to eventually use it to make more money, which is the entire point of the sports entertainment business, but there's usually an increase in costs to get the product onto that bigger platform with the aspirations of the goal of increased revenue. It goes without saying that it's more expensive to air a live show on AMC than it is to run a taped show on a smaller network.

As I said, I understand that Anthem couldn't pass up the chance to be back on mainstream cable, but that's only one piece of the puzzle, and there are many other moving parts to the situation that have to line up properly for the group to achieve the success that it hopes for on the stage that AMC provides. The booking of pro wrestling is very subjective, but from a macro point of view, the bottom line is, a product must be on the right platform with the right content to achieve the most success possible. I could be wrong on this, but with the current pro wrestling landscape, I've found much of TNA's product to be rather indifferent. That's not to say that the matches or the roster are subpar, but that both aspects of the promotion are secondary to the other options in the industry.

Quite frankly, TNA doesn't have nearly the amount of star power to be in the conversation with WWE so Anthem isn't going to move the needle based on the stars they have on the roster, or in many ways, they aren't going to get the demographic that follows the WWE brand for the star power to sample TNA since it's a secondary product as far as the level of stars on Impact. The Hardys are a draw, but the fans that follow the Bloodline aren't going to consider the aging, albeit legendary, tag team "must see" for pay-per-views. On the other end of the spectrum, most of the in-ring aspects of the TNA show are solid, but if fans want to see "work rate matches" they are going to follow All Elite Wrestling.

Basically, TNA doesn't have the star power to get a portion of the WWE fan base, and it doesn't have the level of work rate to get a piece of the AEW audience so Impact is middle of the road, which is often the opposite of the ability to draw money.

The rumor mill suggest that BG James, former Smackdown head writer that left the company a few months ago, will be in attendance for the Slammiversary pay-per-view this Sunday. The problem is, if there's a major shift booked for the TNA PPV this weekend, the Forbidden Door show, even with a weaker card for the PPV compared to years past because of the status of New Japan Pro Wrestling, will have more fans following it.

There's no doubt that the WWE working agreement was beneficial to TNA since that was one of the reasons that they were able to secure the AMC contract, but the harsh reality might be that the organization simply doesn't have a product that will standout with the modern landscape. As I wrote in the article last week, it's not automatic that the market in 2026 can support three national groups the way that it did in the late-90s when there's such an increase in the amount of options for viewers. Every cable channel, streaming platform, and podcast look to get a portion of those viewers. Along the same lines, despite the working agreement with the WWE, TNA is still competing for those pro wrestling dollars. For example, it's actually more expensive to order Slammivervary on Sunday with the traditional $40 pay-per-view price than it is for the $30 ESPN+ subscription for fans to watch Night of Champions on Saturday. Furthermore, the Forbidden Door PPV airs at the same time so there's direct competition for the PPV buy rates. This situation becomes more difficult across the board when the economic crunch is taken into account. Sure, fans will still spend money on sports entertainment, but they will simply be more particular with what they spend their "wrestling budget" on at any given time. The TNA main event of Mike Santana vs. Nic Nemeth should be a very solid match, but it doesn't have the star power of the WWE main event or the work rate of the AEW main event so where exactly is the market for TNA?

The chatter online had the number of $50 million for a potential sale price for Total Nonstop Action, but that sounds way too outlandish. I'd be shock if Anthem got even half of that number. Granted, Anthem has owned the company more than a decade, and if they've started to lose money with the production costs of the AMC contract then it would make sense for them to look to cash out instead of the project becoming a money pit. That being said, I'm not sure who a possible buyer would be. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Metlzer claims that WWE has an option to buy TNA through the working agreement that was established, but given that working with TNA independently owned shields the corporation from any possible anti-trust violations, I doubt that TKO would purchase TNA.

That being said, if I had to guess, and I could be wrong, I'd say that a sale, at least right now, isn't truly in the cards. For Anthem to get a worthwhile amount of cash for TNA, there must be a realistic option that there will be a buyer that will want to make a significant investment into the potential of TNA to generate substantial revenue in the future. It's this simple, if someone bought TNA for $25 million, is the brand really going to generate $25 in possible revenue to justify the purchase? I think the more realistic approach is that Anthem will downsize going forward to try to reduce overall costs. As I wrote last week, to assume that TNA will fold would be completely misguided since the organization managed to survive through more bleaker times. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Anthem adjusts and if it will affect the overall presentation of the company.