UFC 334

The fight business has been and always will be the entertainment business.

Sure, the action is based on legitimate competition, but at the end of the day, professional fights are deemed to be successful based on revenue and profit. Capitalism is the biggest winner for the pro ranks. If you want pure competition, that's what the amateur leagues are for. Ironically, but not surprisingly, the Olympics is the pinnacle of pure competition, but as we know, there are millions of dollars involved in the big picture of the Olympic games.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, the MMA branch of the TKO corporation, is no different than any other capitalist organization. Dana White might be selling legitimate competition, but make no mistake about it, the UFC boss is very much in the entertainment business. He has a product to sell and moves the pieces of the puzzle in place to maximize the return on that promotional investment.

It's not as ham-handed as when Conor McGregor was gifted a 155 LBS title shot without ever competing in the division to attempt to shoehorn him into the role of a double champion, or when Brock Lesnar was granted an opportunity at the heavyweight belt with only one victory in the organization, but the headliner for this weekend's UFC 334 pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden is another prime example of how the entertainment business dictates the competitive decisions.

Just over a year ago, Tom Aspinall suffered a serious injury as a result of an eye poke during his heavyweight title contest against Ciryl Gane, prompting the referee to stop the contest late in the first round. Aspinall retained the belt due to injury stoppage, but has since undergone multiple surgeries to treat the injury. With no timetable for his return to the cage, Aspinall vacated the UFC Heavyweight championship in mid-September. Gane, who was deemed a contender previously, but didn't seem to be at the top tier of the division, won an interim title when he beat Alex Pereira via TKO in the second round at the White House card this past June. When Aspinall vacated his belt, Gane was promoted to the undisputed titleholder.

As mentioned,  Ciryl Gane is a talented heavyweight, but as we've seen with other divisions in more recent years, when the tile is vacated, the new champion doesn't have the cache or the credibility that goes along with dethroning the previous champion. Technically, Pereira, who vacated the 205 LBS championship to compete at heavyweight, wasn't a proven contender in the heavyweight division when he fought Gane in June since it was his debut at that weight class. Gane basically defeated a former light heavyweight champion, not a heavyweight contender to claim the belt that he didn't beat Aspinall for.

That's not to say that Gane didn't earn the title, but rather to point out that he has something to prove within the 265 LBS division, which is why his initial title defense is very important this Saturday.

Josh Hokit, who beat Derek Lewis via TKO in the second round at the previously mentioned White House card, has a pro record of 10-0, with four wins in the UFC. His first two wins in the company were against virtual unknowns, but his most recent two victories were against Lewis as mentioned, and Curtis Blaydes before that. In short, he has two credible victories that some might cite to consider him a contender, but I'm not sure that a pair of notable wins is necessarily enough to justify a title shot. However, much like the division when Randy Couture moved up from 205 LBS to beat Tim Slyvia for the championship almost two decades ago, the current weight class lacks depth. Of course, Jon Jones being shoehorned into the role of heavyweight champion without ever competing in the division before and then his supposed retirement because he didn't want to fight Aspinall, as well as the eye injury that sidelined Aspinall, didn't do anything to help the heavyweight division either.

So, without many contenders established to challenge Gane, a fighter that is 10-0 looks good on paper. But, make no mistake about it, the former NFL practice squad player is getting this title shot because he acted foolish enough to get noticed, and if it pays off then it's difficult to argue with his strategy.

When Chael Sonnen talked his way into the UFC main events years ago, it was done with a wink and a nod. He was so over-the-top that he was more or less indirectly acknowledging (as he directly acknowledged after his retirement) that he was playfully borrowing from the pro wrestling playbook to sell the fight. He was outrageous in a silly type of way, giving him plausible deniability about the level of malicious intent that he did or didn't have during his "Superstar" Billy Graham-inspired interviews. There's a reason that he and Anderson Silva were on good terms after their bouts.

Hokit is trying too hard to be a Temu version of Sonnen, and he's trying to push the envelope far enough that it works right now when he's in the spotlight, but might be counted against him if he ends up on a losing streak,which could be when the organization tries to distance itself from him. Basically, Hokit acts bizarre, not entertaining. Viewers might notice it once, but it won't be something that they will look at for very long. The strange press conference appearances are cringe worthy, not marketable.

During the post-fight interview at the White House card, Hokit made some disparaging remarks about former first lady, Michelle Obama. When UFC boss, Dana White was asked about it at the post-event press conference, he called the comments "gross" and "moronic." Considering his close ties with Trump, Dana had no reason to defend the Democratic first lady unless he legitimately didn't appreciate the remarks. Granted, at the end of the days, Hokit is going to make money for the UFC, but Dana has also seen what happens when he doesn't put his foot down with certain fighters. Conor McGregor and Jon Jones don't have the most stellar reputation outside of the cage.

Still, the opportunity is there, and if  Hokit can claim the heavyweight belt at Madison Square Garden, there's no doubt that his stock will propel as one of the stars of the company.

If that will happen is somewhat of a toss up. I truly don't think there's enough of a sample size of Hokit's ability in the cage to judge exactly how he will fair against the more experience champion. The Frenchman has only lost against  Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. I don't think we can immediately assume that Hokit is at that level of competition. However, the reason that I said the result could be a toss up is simply because in the heavyweight division, it only takes one punch so there's a much smaller margin for error.

With his football background, Hokit's speed might be the difference maker. On the other hand, Gane's reach advantage might be a significant factor, specifically if the bout gets into the championship rounds. I'll pick Gane to retain the championship, but that's more of a guess than anything since there are many different directions the bout could go, depending on how prepared each fighter will be.

The co-main event will see the return of Amanda Nunes nearly three and a half years after she retired as the UFC Women's Bantamweight champion to challenge Kayla Harrison for the same title. A UFC Hall of Famer, Nunes is known for her powerful, dynamic style and a well-rounded skill set that makes her dangerous anywhere that the fight takes place. She pummeled Ronda Rousey into retirement a decade ago and then went on a legendary run as the 135 LBS champion.

Kayla Harrison, who has a pro record of 15-1, is undefeated in the UFC since she debuted in the promotion in 2024. At 36, it's possible that Harrison might be near retirement herself, but it would also make sense for her to continue to fight as long as she's the champion to maximize her earnings. This bout was originally scheduled to take place at the beginning of this year, but was postponed when Harrison suffered a neck injury that required surgery.

We could breakdown the fight stylistically, but I think the analysis is a lot simpler than that. Is Harrison truly back to 100% after the injury, and will ring rust affect Amanda Nunes? This isn't a knock on Harrison in any way, shape, or form, as she's proven herself to be a tough competitor, but even after nearly three years away from the sport, I have to pick Amanda Nunes to claim the belt again, mostly because she was so dominate in her previous title reign.

The under card is rather pedestrian, but it's garnish on the line-up since two title fights at Madison Square Garden, including the return of Nunes, are enough of a selling point for the audience. It will be interesting to see if Nunes competes again if she wins the championship. 

Crown Jewel review

After much speculation, concern, and a measurable degree of criticism, Crown Jewel took place in Saudi Arabia this past weekend. Originally scheduled to be a stadium show, the pay-per-view was moved in doors amid safety concerns after Yemen forces attacked the Saudi International Airport several times in the weeks leading up to the event. While last weekend's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez fight took place without incident, the fact that the PPV had to be moved at all was enough of a reason for the WWE crew not to travel there.

As I've written in a few articles over the past few weeks, money is the determining factor, not anything else. Reportedly, CM Punk and Kevin Owens declined to make the trip, which is probably why their match took place on Smackdown the day before Crown Jewel. I could be wrong on this, but with just four matches on the card, only a handful of performers on the line-up, and the announce team calling the broadcast at the WWE studios in Stamford, it appeared that the company took the absolute least amount of the roster to Saudi Arabia as possible. The ability to get paid the estimated $50 million for the show and get back to America was probably the goal for this entire fiasco. 

Again, if there was enough of a security risk that the pay-per-view had to be moved to a different venue, that was enough of a reason not to go in the first place, but I digress.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes opened the show, and while the last match standing stipulation can be a slower pace because of the counts involved to eventually get to the finish, this marquee bout moved at a rather glacial pace. In some respects, this reminded me of the Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns main event from Summer Slam a few months ago. It was slow, plodding, and at times, just boring. Don't get me wrong, these guys didn't mail it in, the effort was there, but it just didn't hit the mark the way that they probably intended. It was an attempt to shoehorn faux drama into the narrative when it just wasn't there. In fact, considering that the live crowd sided with Orton and were vocally against Cody, it made the presentation seem that much more out of place. This went almost thirty minutes, and the very slow pace became a tedious viewing experience, despite being the first match on the card.

At one point, Orton bumped his head on the steel steps that were in the ring, suffering a nasty cut in the process. Orton spilled blood on the canvas from the hard way cut, and it looked to be in a bad spot on the side of his head. The unintentional crimson added some intensity, but again, the crowd was behind Orton so when Cody nailed him with the punt kick for the finish, almost as if to be the dramatic crescendo of the feud, it fell somewhat flat. Listen, the top WWE guys probably make at least a million dollars each for these Saudi shows so who I am to criticize their efforts to secure that cash? But from a presentation stand point, this was the wrong match in front of the wrong crowd, even if it was the right finish for the storyline. Cody Rhodes got the victory, and it will be interesting to see who he works with next, specifically if he's slated for a main event angle.

The WWE Tag Team title match was fun, it gave the show a dose of fast-paced action that it needed, especially based on where the PPV was headed by the end of the night. Considering that with the continued push that Je'Von Evans is getting on Raw, and the fact that the office has to keep Penta busy for a while, if for no other reason than to merchandise the Money in The Bank briefcase, it made sense for them to win the belts here. I understand that dropping the titles might take some steam away from The Vision stable, the group that was plagued with injuries, but outside of Austin Theory, everyone in the faction is probably destined for bigger roles anyway. As I said, this was an entertaining segment, and the title switch gave the event something newsworthy so that this didn't boil down to a glorified house show, specifically because nothing was truly at stake in the main event. The spot with Bronson Reed and Oba Femi was a solid addition to the segment to continue to showcase Oba without rushing him up the card before he might be truly prepared for it. The interaction between Oba and Bron Breakker might be an indication of where the storyline goes next. At the conclusion, Evans and Pentagon won the belts, and while they are a throw together tag team, that doesn't mean that the pairing won't be productive in the big picture.

Speaking of booking something to make the pay-per-view newsworthy, the women's Crown Jewel championship match, as well as the aftermath, was very well done. The match itself wasn't anything too spectacular, but it was solid for what they did. I'm not sure continuously casting Chelsea Green as someone that supposedly shouldn't have the ability to be in the role of a champion will actually benefit her in terms of star power in the long run, but perhaps the angle that was set up will help progress the narrative. The 15-minute match had enough time to get into second gear, but it wasn't too long to overstay its welcome. The roll up finish where Chelsea looked surprised that she won was designed to reinforce the storyline of the unexpected champion, but again, I'd argue that it doesn't translate completely since the audience believes in her character. However, the Tiffany Stratton cash-in where she made it appear that she was going to challenge for Liv Morgan's title before she turned heel to blindside Green with the brief case was a brilliant piece of business. The performer cast as the underdog gets the big victory before the sneaky heel snatched it away, it sets up for what should be a feud with layers of depth to it. That being said, the key to any of this is that the office actually has plans to do that so that Chelsea doesn't get completely overlooked on the shows.

The main event was another attempt at a dramatic Shakespearean type of performance from Roman Reigns, but unfortunately, it missed the mark, albeit not quite as much as the previously mentioned Summer Slam match against Rollins. This was 25 minutes of mostly slow, plodding theatrics and there was only a small portion of the match that had any steady action to it. The spots where they are talking to each other to try to manufacture drama often didn't work, and I'm still not sure why after a pin fall attempt or between sequences that there's a deliberate stall before the next spot. If these matches are supposed to be perceived as important, why isn't there an urgency or direct effort to try to win?

It appears that the objective from the corporate side of things is to try to sell this type of performance as some type of dramatic fine art of entertainment, but it usually just comes across as very boring, which isn't something that should be associated with Roman or Sami Zayn, considering how talented they are. If this was about ten minutes shorter and kept the action a lot tighter, it would've been a better match. 

Taya Valkyrie exits AEW

Taya Valkyrie, former Impact Wrestling Knockouts champion, announced on social media that she turned down a contract extension offer from All Elite Wrestling, opting to test the waters of free agency. In truth, she only wrestled one match for the ROH brand at the beginning of 2026, and it has been almost a year since she worked a match anywhere so she's probably one of the performers that many forgot was still under contract to All Elite before she announced her departure.

While I think it's completely possible that Tony Khan offered her a contract extension, the odds are about the same that he also allowed her deal to simply expire since there were clearly no plans for her, nor had she been given the opportunity to do anything of major importance during the three years she was signed to the company. I found it somewhat odd that in the social media post to comment on her exit, she mentioned that her "team" put a statement out and that "her team" will be working with her for future opportunities. I have to be honest, it sounds somewhat silly that Taya has or would need a staff to work on her career, considering that it's not as though she's spinning that many plates at the same time. Yes, I understand that she did some acting work and made an appearance on a reality show in Canada when she wasn't being used in AEW, but it's not as though she's some type of pop star that is so in demand that she can't handle her own schedule.

But, it certainly paints a better narrative of "focusing on other career opportunities" as opposed to "Tony forget I was on the payroll," especially if she actually plans to get back in the ring on a regular basis at some point in the future. She actually released an EP to launch a music career a few weeks ago, but I hadn't heard about it until the news of her decision to leave AEW made the rounds online so who knows if it gained any traction or found an audience. I usually listen to Neil Young, Tupac, Marvin Gaye, or Warren Zevon so maybe I'm not her target demographic for listeners. If she releases some Johnny Cash covers, there's always a chance, though.

It will be interesting to see if this "press release" of her decision not to renew her All Elite deal was geared toward letting the wrestling world that she's on the market, or if it's a way to distance herself in some ways from the industry to try to parlay her fan base into a different career path. If she can make a living singing or on Canadian television, it's definitely an easier occupation compared to the toll that pro wrestling takes on the body.

In some ways, Taya just wasn't at the right place at the right time to truly have a major run in the business. It's disappointing when you consider how many notable organizations she's worked for throughout her 15-year career, but timing seemed to be the biggest issue. She has the talent, she wouldn't have gotten the chances to work at those places if she didn't, but there was never a time that there was a path for her to take the ball and run with it so we don't know if she would've fumbled or scored a touchdown. I'm aware that since she's Canadian, a hockey reference would've been more appropriate, but the football analogies seemed much more apropos for parallels to sports entertainment. Although, a Bobby Orr comparison to Taya Valkyrie would be tremendous. 

After her debut in the sport, she worked for AAA in Mexico in the early-2010s, but the entire lucha libre scene was completely under the radar at the time, which is more or less the direct opposite of where it is now after the WWE purchase of the promotion a few years ago. With Lucha Underground as an American spinoff of AAA, she wrestled on the television series, but we discussed the limitations, and ultimately, the reasons that the project couldn't survive long term. Yes, it was a cult favorite, but the networks was too small to generate the ad revenue to keep it a float, and without a live touring schedule, it wasn't a concept that could generate nearly enough revenue to retain talent.

She landed in Impact Wrestling in 2017, and had the KO title run that was mentioned earlier during the course of the three and a half years that she wrestled there. Unfortunately, the most substantive screen time of her career was at such a low point in the history of TNA that you had to send a search party to find the show. Keep in mind, this was after the show was canceled from Spike TV and bounced around a series of networks before it was rescued by Anthem. During Taya's tenure, Impact aired on Pop TV, The Pursuit Channel, and AXS. There were times when ice fishing was literally the lead-in programming for the wrestling show.

By February 2021, she was inked to a WWE deal, working as Franky Monet on NXT television. It was very disappointing that when she was finally offered a contract, it was in the midst of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, leading to her release less than a year later as the company made budget cuts to compensate for the lack of live gate revenue at the time. It was purely a corporate maneuver to pay lip service to the shareholders as a way to keep the stock price stable. The release had nothing to do with ability as a performer, and all things considered, she wasn't truly given an opportunity to make a name for herself.

She returned to Impact for a year until she signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2023. As I said, she didn't get the chance to do much of anything during the three years that she was on the payroll so she doesn't have much momentum as a commodity in the industry. Obviously, it wasn't her fault if she wasn't scheduled to compete, but the reality is, "out of sight, out of mind" can sometimes be the narrative in the wrestling business. Again, how many fans realized that she still worked for the company?

As far as where she might go from here, it all depends on if she wants to continue wrestling at all. At 43, she's not past her prime as an athlete, but she's undoubtedly in the latter stages of her in-ring career. With only one match this year at an ROH taping, it appears that she doesn't have much interest in working the independent scene. Another return to TNA is possible if she wants another steady paycheck from the sports entertainment industry, but that would be more or less running in place with no new ground to cover. She has a track record in AAA, but I'm not sure if what she did in Mexico more than a decade ago has any cache for the WWE project today. In theory, she could always end up back in NXT, but there are a lot of moving parts involved with that, specifically if there are call-ups to the main roster or not. If the brand needed to replenish some depth on the roster, a comeback for Franky Monet, a veteran with a lot of television experience would make sense.

Should CM Punk win the NXT title?

When NXT was set to go head-to-head with AEW's Blood and Guts episode of Dynamite, WWE brass knew it was an opportunity to take away a portion of the audience from one of its competitor's specials. All Elite is a competitor in the sense that it's in the same business and are generally trying to target a similar demographic, but make no mistake about it, Tony Khan isn't going to surpass TKO by any metric. The star ratings don't count unless they start to include a cash prize. Still, one of the many reasons that WWE maintains its grip on the market share as much as it does is partially because it doesn't leave the door open for competition to expand its audience. When Vince McMahon coasted on his monopoly throughout the 2010s, there was enough dissatisfaction within the industry that there became a demand for an alternative, leading to the formation to All Elite Wrestling in the first place.

In many ways, the WWE office allowed Tony Khan to trip over himself, and the argument could be made that he put a ceiling on his national product with the way that he tailors the presentation to a die hard demographic rather than offering something different to the general wrestling fan. The Blood and Guts matches, specifically the women's segment, was proof that Tony has no regard for any other audience than the most die hard fans that will watch professional wrestling under almost any circumstance. We've seen it time and time again, the Meltzer scale is how Tony judges his results, not ratings, revenue, or pay-per-view buys. If you want to debate that, when CM Punk was still on the roster, Dynamite drew an average of around a million viewers. The show garnered 620,000 viewers last week, nearly a 40% decline from four year ago. The lower the viewership, the lower the ad revenue, and with less of an audience to market toward, there's less of a reason for sponsors to be involved.

It's ironic that the NXT/Dynamite competition was the story this week, specifically because there was a time when Dynamite had a health lead in the numbers, albeit against a developmental show. In fact, NXT was moved to Tuesdays in an effort to improve its numbers. CM Punk was the reason that Dynamite often had the better night on cable for Dynamite, but was the prime source of competition when he challenged for the NXT championship against Grayson Waller.

Waller and Punk have chirped at each other in the past, and with Punk as the true contrarian that he is (often hypocritical as well), it is on brand for him to do something outside of the box to challenge for the developmental brand's championship. Granted, the notion that a developmental show would be on national television is an oxymoron, but it garners decent enough numbers to land a broadcast television deal, and if nothing else, it gives the performers valuable experience, even if the content of the shows are absolutely useless in the grand scheme of things. There's a very clear line to let the audience know that what happens in NXT has more or less zero effect on the main roster, and if someone arrives to Raw or Smackdown with a level of hype, the vast majority of the time, it has nothing to do with anything they did on the developmental show.

In this particular case, it gave Grayson Waller, who was absolutely dead in the water as a character when he was paired with Austin Theory a few years ago, a chance to completely rejuvenate his career. Again, it's not as though any major business or anything of major substance is going to be done in NXT, but it basically allows for a "trial run" so to speak on how a new direction for a performer might get over on the main roster. Waller defeated Punk, with an assist from Kevin Owens ahead of the Owens/Punk bout scheduled for Smackdown on Friday. That gives Waller something to boast about, and potentially a direction for him in the future if he gets called back up to Smackdown, while adding another layer to the match in a few days. Of course, this interference gave an excuse for Waller to retain, but was also a way to keep Punk strong.

Still, the whole scenario makes you wonder, should Punk win the NXT championship?

Obviously, Punk doesn't need the belt, nor does the brand need him as champion on a long-term basis since it would dilute the mission statement, but again, Punk has always prided himself on going against the grain, and it would definitely be a way to add some variety into the WWE landscape during the almost unavoidable lull in momentum between Survivor Series and The Royal Rumble, the start of Wrestlemania season.

Punk already worked an event under the AAA banner when the Mexican brand was brought to Chicago to oppose the All Out pay-per-view in September. I don't see any reason not to throw a wrinkle into the fabric of NXT, with the championship being brought to Raw or Smackdown for a limited amount of time, as it spotlights the brand, as well as gives the audience something unique before the cards get dealt for the previously mentioned Wrestlemania season. The other aspect of this is that while Punk is a jerk, he's a talented jerk with a dedicated fan base. Even Punk's most outspoken critics, and there's a lot of that criticism that phony Phil deserves, will acknowledge that his comeback stint with the company has been stellar. Sure, it's okay to collect the Saudi blood money as long as it goes in his pocket, and it even bought the Saudi government an apology when he was there, but the bottom line is, CM Punk moves the needle, putting him in a rare category in the modern era of the workers that have the ability to do so.

That cache is at a level of stardom that CM Punk is as over as he's going to be, and regardless of what he does from now until the time he hangs up his boots, he will maintain that level of star power, another rare tier to be included in for the sports entertainment industry. It's somewhat similar to John Cena, as far as, Punk doesn't have to win another match or another championship for the rest of his career, he will always have that popularity. He's a cemented superstar with nothing left to prove, even if there's still business he can do as an in-ring workers. Because of that, if he would hypothetically win the NXT championship at some point, it would do zero damage to his position in the company, but would be a major boost for the performer that would defeat him for the championship. I don't see the office running with the angle of such an established main roster star working NXT television in such a role, but I'd still say that it would be something worth considering, as it would provide some meat on the bone so to speak for the brand with some entertaining television on a limited basis, particularly with Cruz Montana seemingly moved to Raw after his surprise debut as a part of the 946 stable this past week.

What's the status of AIW?

We've seen how the economy, the combination of inflation and the increased fuel costs, have put the boots to professional wrestling, even at the biggest levels. Wrestlemania, the biggest event on the calendar, had sluggish attendance mere weeks ahead of showtime, a result of the ridiculous ticket prices, and the fact that energy costs prompted a spike in the cost of flights. Obviously, the insane admission to get into the building for two nights was the primary factor, but  when oil prices skyrocketed and plane tickets increased to reflect that, it certainly discouraged any last-minute travel plans. Between the costs of event and plane tickets, a portion of the usual traveling audience was simply priced out of the event.

It goes without saying that such a scenario, the increase in gas prices as a result of the ongoing war with Iran, has a domino effect that goes well beyond the scope of professional wrestling. Of course, when the average consumers has to pay more at the pump, it takes a chunk of their disposable income away since it simply costs more to conduct their usual weekly routine. It becomes an exponentially bigger issue with the increase in the cost of diesel fuel since the trickle down effect impacts almost every form of goods and services to some degree. When it costs more to get the delivery truck from point A to point B, the cost of the cargo will increase to cover the difference. Fruit, meat, furniture, and appliances are all subject to such an up charge. When there's a general increase across the board, specifically with the terrible amount of inflation even before the increase in energy costs, it necessitates other services to become more expensive to compensate for that since the dollar doesn't go as far as it did previously.

The hair stylist, the plumber, the contractor, tattoo artist, and the judo instructor have to increase their prices so that those wages can keep pace with the typical cost-of-living of the modern era. Sure, consumers can wait for their next tattoo or to sign up for MMA lessons as a unique form of exercise, but the essential services like getting the pipes cleared or a wall finished in the house put more of a dent in the usual household budget. The same can be said for appliances, you can do without Hulk Hogan's Thunder Mixer, but if the dryer finally taps out, the cost of the replacement, especially an unexpected expense, is a hit to the bottom line as well.

As we know, the WWE continues to make record-setting profits under the TKO banner, specifically from their lucrative media rights deal, which was possible because of the evolving media landscape. TKO's international expansion of the product is another layer of the revenue and profit based on the amount of media muscle since the merger with the UFC. I penned an article last week about the potential or lack thereof for sports entertainment to be a part of mainstream pop culture the way that it was in the late-90s, and I mentioned that one of the biggest hurdles for that to take place today was that there are endless options that compete for viewers now, making it much more difficult to secure that type of portion of the general public again. Every network, streaming platform, Youtube video, and podcast look to get a piece of the pie. In short, there are more forms of media that compete for that portion of the shrinking amount of disposable income.

Professional wrestling, particularly WWE and AEW in the modern era, competes against those other options for a portion of the general public, which is the target audience for a national television show. Independent wrestling is mostly a niche demographic that has to compete with all of those general entertainment options, as well as try to secure a portion of wrestling fans since there's only a specific demographic of the sports entertainment audience that would be willing to spend money on the indies.

Basically, the average Roman Reigns fan either doesn't know or doesn't care about the semi-national, or local independent groups from their area. In some ways and on a much smaller scale, the existence of the independents, if for no other reason than by proxy, is the closest thing to a replacement for the territory system that folded by the late-80s, as far as a way for talent to get experience in front of a paying audience to try to make it to the next level. Granted, the vast majority of independent pro wrestlers use their in-ring careers as a side gig while they work a regular full-time job before they try to land a contract, but again, the focus of the independents is usually a wrestler trying to get enough experience to get to a position to make a full-time living in the business. In the most traditional sense, workers could make a full-time living in each territory back in the regional heyday, but that's simply not possible for most on the independents today.

In the mid-2010s, there was enough discontent with the WWE as more or less a monopoly in the industry that there was enough of a demand for an alternative that there was a crop of independent company that did enough business for a generation of wrestlers to be able to make a full-time living. Ring of Honor drew some of its biggest crowds with the core of what became the All Elite roster, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla was a cult favorite. Tony Khan saw a prove of concept with the success of the original All In event and as we know, invested a few hundred million dollars to get the product a TV deal and on pay-per-view. To stock his roster, even before it became as bloated as it is now, he signed a myriad of independent names to full-time contract. Since the launch of All Elite Wrestling in 2019, independent cards have less talent to draw fans and have an overall smaller impact.

In more recent years, Game Changer Wrestling had a buzz around it, but we've seen how that can be inconsistent, which has less to do with the product itself and more with who's available at any given time. Rickey Shane Page and Nick Gage had a lengthy feud, but there was only so much that could be done with it before the group had to find something fresh. Matt Cardona helped GCW tremendously, and the promotion helped him completely reinvent himself to ultimately get re-signed to WWE. But, with Cardona re-signed, it took at least some of the steam away from the brand. Shotzi Blackheart is someone that the promotion is putting stock into now, which makes sense since she was someone that had a level of popularity when she was released by the WWE. Still, there's a lot of plates for GCW to spin, especially because Shotzi just signed with TNA so Game Changer constantly has to try to stay ahead of the curve to give the fans in their touring cities a reason to buy tickets. Again, it's exponentially more difficult for an independent to do that in the midst of the economic crunch.

In many respects, GCW has a difficult balancing act because it has to avoid some of the pitfalls of ECW, or ROH when it was still independently-owned prior to the sell to Sinclair Broadcasting in 2011. GCW can't allow itself to get stuck in a position where it's too big to be small and too small to be big. If Game Changer is big enough to be a platform where wrestlers can make a name for themselves to get notice, but too small to keep them on a truly long-term basis, it's difficult to stay afloat because of the need to continuously find something new to draw fans as mentioned earlier. It's not a coincidence that we've seen the WWE occasional loan talent to Game Changer for its major shows, because even the TKO corporation knows the value of a place for talent to get experience prior to landing within the WWE system.

Without the independents, there wouldn't be a place for talent to get experience in front of a paying audience, or to make a name for themselves, allowing them to get on the WWE radar in the first place. There's only so many NIL athletes that the WWE can recruit, or only so many New Japan guys that Tony can sign to wrestle on Dynamite.

That's why it's disappointing and somewhat concerning that two independent leagues announced earlier this week that they will be going on a hiatus until at least the spring of 2027. Produce, a league that launched with the notion to bring together a stacked line-up of the major independent names left on the scene, ran amount half a dozen events since it started in June,. Almost immediately, Produce became the subject of controversy when  some of the talent booked opted to step away from the organization, citing differences with management. On the surface, it sounds like the proprietor of Produce might've been in over their head as far as running a promotion. It's definitely not a good sign when the group is going on hiatus just a few months after it started, but a flash in the pan wouldn't be too surprising in the wrestling business. The more concerning announcement came from Absolute Intense Wrestling, the Cleveland-based organization that was a part of the indies that became one of the places to watch during that mid-2010s era. Kevin Owens, Eddie Kingston, Brian Myers, Ethan Page, and others were regulars helped expand the promotion's following. AIW didn't have the attendance or the budget of something like PWG, but did very good business for a project in the mid west. Speaking of PWG, it was the top independent promotion for several years, but more or less quietly shutdown because a huge portion of its roster, as well as the style was imported to AEW. When Sinclair put ROH on hiatus after the pandemic, they eventually sold it to Tony Khan, but for all intents and purposes, the original group shut down after the Sinclair hiatus.

AIW is a group that has more than twenty years of history behind it, and their next event on black Friday will feature former WWF and UFC star, Ken Shamrock. Hopefully, AIW will be back since it was undoubtedly a place for talent to be discovered. GCW seems to be stable, but even with the expanded distribution through modern technology, the footprint of the group is probably smaller than the original run of ROH, which probably has more to do with the death match style that is a niche within a niche as far as potential audience. So often, and rightfully so in many cases, the narrative of the pro wrestling industry is focused on the national companies because those are where the biggest events take place, but make no mistake about is, independent wrestling is a key piece of the puzzle for the industry.

What's next for The Hurt Syndicate?

Is The Hurt Syndicate still in business?

After less than a dozen television appearances this year, and most recently working the pre-show of All In London in August, The Hurt Syndicate made its return to AEW this week, winning a three-on-two handicapped match on Collision.

The stable's comeback to the organization reignited speculation that the reason that they haven't been featured on TV too often this year, and in a smaller role when they were booked, was based on the notion that they won't lose to certain members of the roster, which MVP, manager for the faction, has completely denied online.

That being said, regardless of the reason, there's no doubt that the package of the former WWE champion, Bobby Lashley, and the stellar Shelton Benjamin has been underutilized in the Khan-owned organization. You could make the same case for their tenure as a group in the WWE, despite the fact that Lashley was used in a main event role for a relatively brief period of time.

The Hurt Syndicate, a slight spinoff of the name of the faction in WWE, has been under the AEW umbrella for just over two years, but in the grand scheme of things, they have very little to show for their stint in the organization.

As we know, Lashley returned to the WWE in 2018 after several years away from the promotion and he was initially involved in some absolute drek, including when he was tasked with singing on the mic and the horrendous angle with Rusev. The bottom line is, Lashley is an incredible athlete and a genetic wonder with how he seemingly hasn't aged for at least the past 15 years, but he simply isn't someone that can cut consistently solid promos on the mic so it made sense that he was eventually paired with MVP to act as a mouthpiece for him.

He had a six-month run with the WWE championship and then a shorter reign that only lasted a few weeks, but despite the push in 2021, he wasn't kept around the main event picture for any truly extended period of time. It makes you wonder if his tenure at the top of the card was based more on getting another credible opponent for Brock Lesnar at the time than anything else. The Hurt Business as a stable enhanced Lashley's presence as a superstar, and it gave a firm direction for Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander as well.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the office slowly dismantled the faction so there wasn't really a payoff or direction for any of them to take from there. MVP claimed later that the group was dissolved to make room for The Bloodline, but who knows if that has merit or is pure speculation? One thing is for sure, when Shelton Benjamin got released during a round of cuts to the roster in September of  2023, it was clear that the office didn't have any major plans for any members of The Hurt Business. Yes, management tried to re-create the group with The Street Profits the following year, but those efforts were minimal and usually half-hearted attempts to spotlight them. The writing was more or less on the wall that WWE brass didn't see Lashley as the top guy that he was just a few years before so he left when his contract expired in August 2024.

He debuted in AEW the following month with MVP and was eventually joined by Shelton Benjamin to form the previously mentioned Hurt Syndicate. They had the tag belts for just over six months last year, but they weren't a part of a featured storyline during that time.

For them to end up on the pre-show of a stadium event seems like a misuse of their talent and name value, but that's a part of the structure or lack thereof in the promotion. The puzzling part of all of this is that with their ages, it's not as though The Hurt Syndicate have time to spare in terms of their in-ring careers. Granted, with the shape that Lashley and Benjamin are in, it might be possible that they could wrestle at 60, but what are the odds of that realistically being what they decide to do?

I wouldn't be completely shocked if MVP or the group itself spoke up about being resistant to putting some of the roster over, mostly because we've seen it happen before with former WWE stars such as Malakai Black and Rusev, but at the same time, it's equally as possible that Tony Khan more or less forget about them so they got lost in the shuffle since we've seen that happen with numerous talent as well. Still, it's somewhat odd that their television appearances have been so sparse this year, and one bout on Collision definitely can't be taken as an indication that they will be back in the fold on a regular basis.

I will say that it's interesting to note that The Hurt Syndicate haven't worked with The Young Bucks or any of the Elite stable that founded the organization in  2019. The reality is, Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin look like,  carry themselves like, and work like bigger stars than the majority of the All Elite roster. That's not a knock on the extremely talented guys that are there, but rather to point out that the line-up became so homogenized since Tony signed countless wrestlers with the high spot style that it makes The Hurt Syndicate standout even more. The amount of attempted comedy spots that the promotion does is other aspect that unintentionally spotlights Bobby and Shelton as more credible stars than some of the other wrestlers there.

If The Young Bucks wanted to work as baby faces, which it looks like is their current goal since they were booked for the TLC tribute match on pay-per-view recently, wouldn't it suit them well if Lashley tossed them around the ring? Matt and Nick Jackson working a feud against the no-nonsense Hurt Syndicate automatically puts them in the underdog role to give the audience a chance to rally behind them. Considering The Bucks' track record with CM Punk behind the scenes, and FTR on-screen, is it possible that they don't want to be mad to look secondary to another WWE tag team? Keep in mind, while The Bucks vs. FTR eventually happened, it wasn't what many thought it would or could be when FTR originally arrived in the promotion.

Aside from The Young Bucks, it's possible that The Hurt Syndicate isn't against putting others over, but maybe they just aren't willing to do anything foolish in the process. If this is their last major run with a national organization, it might be a situation where they don't want something illogically associated with the latter stages of their careers. On the flip side, if this is a scenario where Tony Khan doesn't have anything for them to do then you can't blame them for staying home to collect the check.

That's where there's a point within the whole process that instead of trying to get something meaningful scripted for your characters that it just becomes easier to get paid from the billionaire to stay home. If Tony Khan doesn't see the value in using Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin on his show, despite the name recognition that they have, you can't blame the talent for deciding to take the cash not to wrestle Unless, there's a major part of the story that hasn't come to light yet, and that's a possibility, it seems like a waste of talent and money for The Hurt Syndicate not to be a fixture of the tag team division before they retire. When you take into account that Ric Flair has been under contract to All Elite Wrestling for years and gets paid to do nothing, it's at least possible that the same thing happened with The Hurt Syndicate for the majority of their AEW career.

Could pro wrestling be mainstream?

Earlier this week, the HBO Sports documentary, "Slash and Burn," the 40-minute chronicle of former Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback, Kordell Stewart, premiered on the HBO Max streaming service. In truth, when I saw that the runtime was relatively short, I tapered any expectations that there would be much substance to the production. Given that the basis for the documentary itself was the rumor of a fictitious arrest for public sexual activity that was said to have happened during his playing time in the Iron City, more time would've been needed to truly examine the domino effect that it had on his career, as well as the perception the rumors created during his time in the league. Maybe HBO is going with the shorter format (more on that in a second) to separate itself from other platforms? Usually, the streaming market will unnecessarily give topics a six-episode docuseries to pad the amount of hours watched on the service to look better for advertisers when a tight 90-minute presentation would've made for an exponentially better viewing experience.

In this case, Slash and Burn, a title taken from the fact that Stewart played both QR and wide receiver at different points during his seven-year tenure in Pittsburgh, only vaguely scratched the surface of what was there, which was more puzzling when you take into account that, as mentioned, the production was intended to clear up assumptions about his career or personal life. All things considered, you really don't know more about the former NFL player after the documentary than you did before. Stewart has kept the vast majority of his personal life private and did so here too. He denied the rumors in 1998 and did so again almost three decades later. As far as new ground, stellar Pittsburgh sports reporter, Bob Pompeani had a cameo, confirming that inquires were made at the time, but there was no arrest record for Stewart. While there was, and still is today, some prejudice around the notion of an African American QB in the NFL, I sincerely don't think that was the case for Kordell Stewart during his time playing for the Steelers. Don't get me wrong, the fact that prejudice still exists in society is nauseating, but the reality is, Pittsburgh is a city that revers its sports icons. Many of those icons, including numerous Steelers Hall of Famers, are black. "Mean" Joe, Franco, Mel Blount, John Stallworth, and other prolific black athletes walk on water in the steel city. The reality is, Stewart was dynamic for the time, as far as his mobility, but he was a rather mediocre quarterback that had one good season in 2001. Winning is the only thing that matters to the Steeler nation, not race or orientation, which isn't to say that the circumstances of the false rumors didn't have an impact on Stewart throughout the rest of the league.   

Since the runtime was short, after the conclusion of the Stewart piece, the streaming service automatically jumped to the next sports documentary, the recently released "Miller Night Football," another 40-minute show that covered Dennis Miller's two seasons in the broadcast booth for Monday Night Football. On this subject, 40 minutes was more than enough to cover the comedian's time as an NFL analyst, despite no prior football experience.

It was interesting to hear about how shifts in management can impact the direction of a production and the decisions made. It was intriguing to hear the network executive's side of when the sluggish ratings for Monday Night Football, once the premiere time slot for the league, were partially contributed to the rise in popularity of pro wrestling during that era. As we know, the Monday night war, the competition between WWF and WCW, brought in a record-setting audience. At its peak, the boom period had a combined 10 million viewers watching the pro wrestling shows each Monday.

It goes without saying, with that many viewers watching Steve Austin or Bill Goldberg, programming that was tailored to the 18-34 year-old demographic, there were simply less people watching Monday Night Football than there were in a previous generation, hence why the out-of-the-box concept to bring Miller into the fold materialized in 2000. Bringing someone from outside of sports was considered a drastic move, but there was no doubt that sports entertainment had taken a chuck of the audience. In 1998, the NFL moved the program to start at 8 PM, with the notion that it could get a head start to the wrestling programs and a competitive game might retain the audience. While the MNF broadcasts are currently set for 8:15 PM, the time change in the 90s, nor bringing in Dennis Miller in 2000, helped the sluggish ratings. Viewers decided to watch Stone Cold stun Vince instead of watch Stewart throw interceptions.

Ironically, the flop of the XFL and the consolidation of the entire wrestling business not long after Miller was canned gave the NFL its audience back. We've already discussed the advancement of technology and it goes without saying that the ability to broadcast more games in more regions has truly nationalize the sport over the past 25 years. Fans don't just watch the home team anymore, they watch the stars as well, a benefit based on how skewed the league is towards the offense in the modern era. That wasn't the case when lineal television was the main option for viewers more than a quarter century ago and thus it became easier for pro wrestling to get ahold of the typical football demographic. 

In fact, the argument could be made that the distribution of the league has gone too far in the other direction, as every platform tries to secure itself a lucrative piece of the NFL pie. ESPN, NBC, CBS and Amazon Prime are only a few of the networks or streaming services that have the rights to some type of NFL games this season. Furthermore, there are nine games scheduled to be played outside of the United States this season.

Of course, NFL teams are worth billions of dollars and the league itself it worth billions of dollars. The NFL is more valuable today than any other time in history. That's why it's almost unfathomable that there was a time that pro wrestling was consistently drawing better numbers than the NFL.

Still, it prompted the question, could professional wrestling ever be truly mainstream again?

The easy and unfortunately accurate answer is, no. I don't see a way that sports entertainment could ever catch lightning in a bottle to that degree. There are numerous reasons for why a boom period couldn't take place again, but a few of the core explanations that underscore the scope of the scenario.

First and foremost, competition is what fueled the surge in popularity throughout the Monday night war. If the NWO didn't put Vince McMahon on the ropes, he wouldn't have been nearly as willing to push the envelope with Steve Austin as the top guy. The fact there were two shows gave more of a variety within the genre to draw more viewers. Sure, toward the end of the war, WCW had some awful drek, but even Thunder during its dying days had a bigger number than Smackdown does now. For there to be competition, there must be someone with the funding to be a competitive player in the industry. As Tony Khan has proven, you can have all the money in the world, but if you don't use it correctly, there will be options in the business, but not necessarily competition. Timing is a huge part of the equation as well, the Rock N' Wrestling era was the right product at the right time, as was the Attitude era. That must happen organically, you can't plan or time it. There are so many moving parts in those type of situations that it's a matter of the right pieces of the puzzle falling into place at the right time. That's why the trajectory of All Elite Wrestling is so frustrating, because there was a brief window of a few years where the project could've really gotten off the ground, but it settled into a mostly niche product. And no, the Wednesday night "competition" between NXT and Dynamite for a few years wasn't remotely the same thing as Raw/Nitro, considering that it was WWE's developmental show.

Outside of the players of the industry, the perception of the business itself might be in a place where it won't be in a position to truly be mainstream again. Keep in mind, the last boom period was ended 25 years ago, you can't file that under pro wrestling being cyclical, which is a misnomer anyway. Since the last boom period, more of the business has been exposed in more ways than it ever had previously. Granted, by the late-90s, the audience knew pro wrestling was entertainment, but there was enough of a shield around the performers in terms of what the audience saw that there was enough of a mystic that the fans could still believe in the characters. Fans knew that Steve Austin wasn't causing mayhem at the grocery store, but they believed in him as the gritty Texan that clawed his way to the top of the business against the odds. That's because it was essentially an amplified version of the man behind the persona. The fans could tell that there was some real-life animosity between Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals in 1997 so it was very easy to be emotionally invested in the result of the feud.

There have been so many documentaries, including Unreal on Netflix, that explain that most of the drama on-screen today in manufactured that it makes it difficult to truly believe in today's performers the way that fans were emotionally invested in the previous generation. Without that emotional investment, pro wrestling becomes interchangeable with any other form of entertainment. It doesn't help the situation that the WWE promotes the brand ahead of individual stars today. Yes, it gives the company more promotional power, but the audience believes in their favorite wrestlers, not corporations. How many times has the audience chanted the initials "WWE?" during a show?

As far as being interchangeable with any other form of entertainment, the amount of endless entertainment options probably prevent sports entertainment from being able to capture enough of an audience to go mainstream again. Remember, Monday Night Football's decline was concerning because that was dubbed the premium game on the line-up at a time when the majority of games had regional availability. There are more national games now than in the late-90s. In 2026, professional wrestling is competing with every network, streaming platform, podcast, and Youtube video for viewership. It was exponentially easier to capture an audience when the comparatively limited number of television channels were the other options besides pro wrestling.

So, TKO will continue to capitalize on the climate of the evolving media landscape through the massive rights deals, and continue to expand international since there's more money on live events there than there usually is domestically, but the totality of the status of the industry, as well as the direction of society, will probably prevent sports entertainment from going mainstream again.