Kenny Omega wins AEW title

Just two days after CM Punk beat Sami Zayn to claim the WWE title in his surprise return to the company after a three-month hiatus, Kenny Omega defeated Maxwell Jacob Friedman to win the All Elite Wrestling world championship on the Beach Break edition of Dynamite. No, I don't think one decision impacted the other, but the overall direction of the Dynamite was puzzling, specifically because the Redemption pay-per-view, another addition to the All Elite PPV line-up, is two weeks away. As of this writing, there's only one match confirmed for the event, the Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale contest for the AEW Women's championship, which was set up when Nightingale returned from injury to win a match on Wednesday to earn a title shot at the pay-per-view.

Aside from just two weeks for Tony Khan to announce and promote a card that he will try to sell for $50 on July 26th, the other issue, and maybe this is actually the bigger problem, is that Tony used a lot of potential PPV matches on free television this week, seemingly because this episode of Dynamite had a specific title. It can't be understated how important it is, especially in the modern era, to have enough meat on the bone to justify those PPV orders. Yes, I understand that there's a diehard demographic of AEW fans that will order every pay-per-view simply because of the name All Elite Wrestling, but shouldn't the goal to be expand beyond the core group of fans? It might sound trivial, but with the ongoing conflict with Iran and the continued economic uncertainty, it could be a much tougher sell to viewers outside of that core audience to attempt to increase PPV numbers. At the same time, we've seen on many occasions that money is no object to Tony Khan, and profit isn't the main goal so maybe the situation is moot.

Still, when you look at the featured matches on Beach Break, there's a case to be made for all three of them to have been saved for the pay-per-view in Montreal at the end of the month. Furthermore, with those cards just played, what in the wide world of sports will Tony put on pay-per-view?

While I understand why Chris Jericho had to take time away from the organization to allow the oversaturation of Jericho to subside and give himself a fresh start, I'm honestly not sure there's much of a demand to see him do anything else in the promotion. That's actually not a knock, either. In fact, it's quite the opposite, as Jericho has done more or less everything in both WWE and AEW. As far as reinventing himself, he's in a league of his own and has a very unique legacy. But, at some point, there's not any new territory to cover, which speaks to the legendary career that he had. At 55, what is there really left for him to do? He seems to be relatively healthy, especially for someone that wrestled most of the last 35 years. I could be wrong, but as far as an in-ring performer, Chris Jericho checked all the boxes so at this point, anything else somewhat repetitive.

Along with that, I don't think the feud with Tommaso Ciampa justified the weapons and the blood in the match on Wednesday. The angle was a mid-card act at best, and there wasn't enough cache or intensity for it to be a blood feud so to speak. Don't get me wrong, the effort was there, but it looked like they were trying to shoehorn this angle into a scenario that just didn't connect with the circumstances around it. Regardless, Chris Jericho wrestling on pay-per-view, particular at his age when it's obvious that he has a limited number of matches left, would've been more useful than putting it on television, particularly since Jericho put Ciampa over.

Kyle Fletcher beat Konosuke Takeshita for the International championship. Given the laundry list of belts, the title doesn't really do much for Fletcher, but the victory definitely puts a spotlight on him, which is the bigger upside. This was a tremendous bout, it was hard-hitting, fast-paced and represented the All Elite brand very well. Granted, it might've been too risky, specifically for television, but positive or negative, that just goes along with the territory of the product. That being said, this was undoubtedly a pay-per-view quality match that was put on free television, going as far as to give it enough time to develop a level of back and fourth drama before the conclusion. It's well-known that Takeshita also has a New Japan contract and the G1 Climax tournament starts next week in Chicago, running through the middle of August. If Takeshita absolutely has to be in Japan for the G1 on July 26th then it makes sense that the Fletcher contest was booked for television so that he could drop the belt before he went back to Japan for a month, but if it was possible, this bout could've been a solid addition to the Redemption line-up.

There might've been a valid reason for Fletcher/Takeshita to be broadcasted on Beach Break, but I'm honestly completely flabbergasted as to why Canadian grappler Kenny Omega beat MJF for the world championship in Clearwater instead of Montreal. It seems like it makes too much sense not to book the switch in Omega's home country. The reason being, taking into account the type of heel MJF is, it's possible that they could've built enough drama in the main event spot to get the audience to believe that it was possible that MJF could escape with the belt to be the spoiler for the hometown win. It would've been an even more believable scenario because many assumed that it would be Will Ospreay vs. MJF at Wembley Stadium since it's another easy story to tell with a hometown hero against the vile villain,

The problem with the decision for Omega to take the title on television, at least on the surface, is two-fold. Most importantly, anything, outside of a possible rematch with MJF, that Tony books for the world title match at Redemption is going to be a thrown together segment. There isn't enough time for Khan to manufacture a compelling title bout that isn't one-dimensional in two weeks. I could be wrong, but it seems like Tony traded an easy main event on pay-per-view for a hotshot segment on free television. The other issue is the spin that this puts on the previously mentioned Wembley card. From a drama perspective, taking the most over baby face, in this case Will Ospreay in his hometown, and pairing him against the most hated heel in the company of MJF, is a winning combination. Sometimes, the easiest answer is still the right answer. As of now, AEW is promoting Ospreay vs. Omega for the championship in England. We've seen that match before, both in Japan and the United States, and it was absolutely tremendous. The quality of Omega/Ospreay isn't debatable. However, is it the best match to book for the setting of Wembley Stadium? It looks like Tony wants to see how many stars Omega vs. Ospreay gets in a stadium setting rather than building the most dramatic storyline possible to maximize the moment of Ospreay winning the world championship in his hometown. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see what main event Tony booked for Montreal and how he will promote it less than two weeks before the pay-per-view.

CM Punk wins WWE title

The first ever two-night Summer Slam event is about three weeks away, and it goes without saying that TKO's efforts to double attendance and the live gate tasks the WWE creative team with building a card that has enough depth to be stretched over both days. If the WWE product has the sizzle for that, especially with how the product cooled off more recently compared to a few years ago, is debatable. In some ways, TKO has a safety net so to speak for the pay-per-view this year because they can play the Brock Lesnar card in his hometown on Minneapolis, with the notion that his rumored actual retirement will take place at the show.

Still, is management throwing too much at the wall to see what sticks and diluting the presentation in the process, similar to what they did for Wrestlemania earlier this year?

Speaking of Wrestlemania, it was the Raw after the biggest event of the year that the fans last saw CM Punk on their television screen, prompting silly and misguided speculation that he was at odds with the organization. The other theory was that creative didn't have anything for him, which is almost equally as silly, considering that someone in CM Punk's position with the type of contract that he has isn't going to be a healthy scratch from the line-up unless there's a bigger plan put in place.

Ultimately, that's what happened this past week on Raw, and the three months away from the company was a way to allow for a natural "reset" for his character. Keep in mind, Punk dropped the World Heavyweight championship to Roman Reigns so he was going to have to start a new chapter somewhere, and it made more sense to create anticipation for that next chapter rather than shoehorning him into a temporary storyline to keep him busy until Summer Slam.

As we know, when Cody was taken out of the title match on Raw with the attack from Gunther, opening the door for Punk to return in his hometown of Chicago, ensuring a memorable reaction to maximize the moment, and defeated Sami Zayn to claim the belt. Prior to this, when we saw Punk on that edition of Raw after WM 42, he did a promo segment with Cody Rhodes so it's possible that the seeds were planted a few months ago for a championship match between the two at Summer Slam. Remember, Cody is still the number one contender despite the title switch so it looks like the pieces of the puzzle were put in place for Cody/Punk next month.

Some have criticized the decision to book Sami to lose the championship less than two weeks after he won it, but a macro view of the WWE landscape provides insight into why it was probably the right move. Keep in mind, Sami was a lukewarm heel during his feud with Trick Williams around WM since a portion of the crowd was still behind him, and his involvement in the WWE title match at Night of Champions was rather random. Don't get me wrong, from a real-life perspective, Sami winning the belt is genuniely wholesome since he's the guy that can make the best of anything he's given to work with and defied critics in the process of becoming a bonafide WWE star over the past decade. He's a top-notch worker, and as silly as it might sound, there's a reason that he was the guy that was chosen to work with Johnny Knoxville several years ago. Sami is adaptable and versatile, which is why he's such a valuable asset to the company. If a performer can do anything that the office needs him to do, the championships are almost secondary because there will always be a role for them. Yes, it was wholesome for Sami to win the championship and he deserves the recognition, but he doesn't need the belt to be a commodity on the show. Ultimately, the victory in Saudi Arabia was a moment for the live crowd, and more importantly, the Saudi government that pays an estimated $40 million for each of these shows. With the Saudi events the most profitable on the WWE calendar, not to mention that astronomical amount of cash they are going to pay for WM next year, it made sense to give that audience the moment of a Muslim wrestler claiming the title. That's not to say that's the only reason that Zayn had the belt, but rather to point out that if the switch was going to be made, that setting maximized the moment and the business logistics of the Saudi deal.

Now, Sami isn't a lukewarm heel and has a firm purpose to embrace a villain persona. There can be depth to the storyline because Sami will actually have a valid point, he wasn't prepared for CM Punk to be a surprise opponent. In truth, while I'm not usually thrilled when a title bounces around in a short span, in this scenario, it helped rejuvenate some of the WWE product. CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes is a fresh match up that is a legitimate money-drawing main event for the pay-per-view. The fans just saw Punk/Roman, and despite the bout being two years ago, I still don't think there's a demand to see another Cody/Reigns title match. Furthermore, CM Punk will be 48 this year so if management is going to book a title feud with Rhodes, now is probably the time to do it. On the flip side, Sami is 41 so the reality is that if the office is going to make the most of this chapter of CM Punk's career, they have a limited amount of time to do it. As mentioned, Sami is such a stellar worker that he could be plugged back into the title picture at any point in the future.

Obviously, it remains to be seen exactly the direction that the storyline goes, as far as who is booked for the title match at Summer Slam, with the possibility of Gunther and Zayn added, but the biggest takeaway from the title switch might be the overall effect it has on the product. Sure, Gunther is another superb worker and can be used in the main event spot, but the fact that there are a few options for who the writing team could put into the title picture allows for a spontaneity that hasn't been around WWE programming since at least Wrestlemania, if not before that. The random Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll involvement was an example of how a spontaneous approach devolved into throwing anything at the wall just to try to garner some type of buzz to remedy sluggish ticket sales. The episode of Raw in Chicago had a storyline that unfolded over the course of the broadcast and gave the viewers a reason to stay tuned into the show. That's a stark contrast to the continued Bloodline angle that is more or less on autopilot as a repeat from the same narrative used years ago with the names shuffled around. The Sami/Punk title match was great, but more importantly, the result was an organic presentation, which is something the product has lacked in recent months.

UFC 329

Nearly five years to the day in the same venue, the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Conor McGregor will step back into the octagon, a return to MMA that some pundits thought might never happen. His opponent, former UFC Featherweight champion, Max Holloway looks to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira this past March.

This is actually a rematch from more than a decade ago when McGregor beat Holloway via unanimous decision at a Fight Night event in August of 2013. However, these two talented strikers took very different career paths since the last time they shared the cage.

The brash Irishman skyrocketed in popularity with a meteoric rise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, serving as the top drawing card for the organization, and management seemingly went out of their way to put the promotional machine behind him. Conor was flashy, charismatic, and he could punch. That combination catered to the lowest common denominator of sports fans so it was very easy for the casual demographic to follow his career. That's not a knock on McGregor either, the fight is business is as much, if not more so, the entertainment business. There's no doubt that Conor drew money, even if the promotional tactics were outlandish on his part, and there were obtuse efforts from UFC management. For example, Conor was shoehorned into being a double champion after he initial beat Chad Mendes for the interim UFC Featherweight title and then defeated the legendary Jose Aldo to claim the undisputed belt for the unification bout in 2015. A year later, despite not competing in the 155 LBS division before, Conor was granted a title shot against Eddie Alvarez, winning via TKO in the second round. The fact that he split a pair of contests against Nate Diaz, losing via submission before he avenged the defeat with a majority decision, earlier in the year was conveniently overlooked.

 Again, the fight business is still the entertainment business, and the visual of Conor posing with both titles on top of the octagon was a way to draw more money down the road.

The problem is, Conor took all that promotional hype from the UFC and went to boxing to fight Floyd Mayweather in a 10-round circus for $100 million. It was the ultimate money grab, and it was clear that Floyd allowed the MMA fighter to survive a few extra rounds before the referee stopped the contest about a minute into the last round. Despite how blatant of a sideshow that it was, you can't argue with results, as the spectacle become the second-highest selling pay-per-view with more than 4.3 million buys, just behind the top spot of the Mayweather/Pacquiao super fight that garnered an estimated 4.6 million buys.

With Conor away from the UFC to make exponentially more cash as a boxer, the featherweight and lightweight divisions were put on ice, leaving many competitors in that weight class without the chance to make a name for themselves. Eventually, Conor was stripped of the featherweight and lightweight titles in 2016 and 2018 respectively because he didn't defend them.

After two years away from MMA, Conor returned to the UFC in late-2018 for the highly-anticipated grudge match with  Khabib Nurmagomedov. Khabib retained the lightweight belt after he choked McGregor out in the fourth round of the one-sided bout. The infamous post-fight brawl between the corners followed it. Conor was away for more than a year before he knocked out a tough, but aging Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds in the first round, giving the impression that he was back to top form. A year later, he was defeated by Dustin Poirier in the second round before their rematch six months later.

It was in July of 2021 when Conor threw a leg kick in the closing moments of the opening round, snapping his leg, and as he collapsed to the canvas, the bout was  stopped immediately. This is the same tibia and fibula injury that altered the careers of both former middleweight king, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. The gruesome injury prompted speculation about Conor's future in the sport, especially given the track record of the other fighters that tried to make a comeback from it previously.

Unfortunately, Conor McGregor made news outside of MMA for all the wrong reasons within the past five years. You know it's not a good thing when someone as high profile as he is got into enough legal trouble that all the details of each incident would be too lengthy to discuss in one article. The most serious of the legal troubles was the 2024 court case that found him liable for the sexual assault of a female in 2018 in his native country of Ireland. Criminal charges weren't filed because the prosecution cited lack of evidence. When the victim won the civil case and was awarded $250,000, McGregor appealed, but the court still ruled in favor of the victim. There was another lawsuit filed against him in early-2025, stemming from an alleged sexual assault at an NBA finals game in 2023, but it was dismissed last year.

The Dublin decision that was upheld by the court did major damage to his reputation in his home country, as he lost numerous sponsorships and endorsements, but that negative publicity didn't really translate to his status in the United States. It was no coincidence that his return to the UFC was announced during the MVP MMA event on Netflix, but that probably isn't the only reason that McGregor finally accepted a number for the comeback to the organization. As we know, Conor lives a very lavish lifestyle to keep up his image, and he lost a lot of his outside revenue because of the negative publicity of the sexual assault case so after five years away, he can always use another big payday. That's not to say that he's broke, but obviously, he can't leave major money on the table either.

For Max Holloway, he took a different direction since he fought McGregor in 2013. Holloway had to grind his way through the featherweight division, winning the belt in 2017. Sure, he eventually lost the championship and failed to regain it when he got a few title shots against different opponents, but he always fought top competition. With a record of 27-9. Holloway's championship pursuit was a mixed bag, but he was always a solid contender against the best of the division. Furthermore, and this might be the bigger point, specifically in this bout against McGregor this weekend, Holloway always provided entertaining fights. If he won or lost was almost secondary because the fans knew they were going to get their money's worth when he was on the card.

The UFC under card is decent, with the popular Paddy Pimblett in the co-main event spot, but for all intents and purposes, this is going to sell based on the return of Conor McGregor. Reportedly, tickets sold out in minutes when they weren't on sale at the end of May, and there are staggering prices on the secondary market for the event. Keep in mind, Paramount paid a massive amount of money for the rights to the UFC pay-per-views so this could be a key event for their subscription service.

Clearly, despite the negative press, there's still a demand for Conor McGregor in America, if not in Dublin. The question is, what Conor McGregor will the public get when he steps into the cage this weekend after such an extended hiatus?

Make no mistake about it, Max Holloway isn't a tomato can that will be brought in to give Conor a tune-up fight so to speak. Holloway is more well-rounded and has better cardio than the former two-division champion. The issue is, Conor was one-dimensional when he was five years younger before he had to recover from such a devastating injury. Conor can punch, and he found a lot of success with that philosophy, but there's a reason that four of his six career loses were via submission. Yes, Holloway is willing to stand and trade punches, which is partially why he was chosen as the opponent, but there's no doubt that he will have the grappling advantage if the fight goes to the ground.

The determining factor in this fight will simple, has Conor fully recovered from the leg injury to the point that he can return to his original form as a dangerous striker? Will he have the same movement that he had five years ago to set up the sharp strikes that won him championships prior to this? Quite simply, I'd guess the answer is no, not necessarily because McGregor hasn't taken the steps to prepare for a comeback, but rather the history of the injury itself. The harsh reality is that neither the previously mentioned Anderson Silva or Chris Weidman were the same fighters after they suffered the same injury. Silva had one victory in his last seven fights in the UFC. Weidman fought three times after he returned from the broken leg, winning one of those bouts before he retired. McGregor's best chance is going to be in the opening round so he will have one, or at best, two rounds to secure the victory. If it goes any further than that, Holloway will be able to get the victory after Conor's cardio declines, which is why I will pick Max Holloway to get the win. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens because the result of this fight could be pivotal in the career of Conor McGregor in the future.

What's next for Jay White?

After more than 15 months on the sidelines to recover from a seriously broken hand and shoulder surgery, Jay White made his surprise return to All Elite Wrestling at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view last weekend, confront fellow New Japan alumni, David Finlay and Clark Connors during their AEW tag title match against Adam Copeland and Christian.

In many ways, Jay White was a pro wrestling prodigy, starting in the New Japan dojo system when he was just 19, and stayed ahead of the curve the majority of his career. The two-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, reigns where he was much more suited to the role the second time around in 2022 as compared to the initial run in 2019, checks all the boxes for a top-tier performer, while still with the best years of his career theoretically ahead of him.

The sum of White’s career, at least to this point, should serve as an example as to why a variety of experience is key to the development of a well-rounded performer. As we know, not long after his time training in Japan, he was sent on an excursion to learn how to work in front of different audiences for different promotions with different styles, including Ring Of Honor when it was still under the Sinclair Broadcasting banner in 2016. Keep in mind, when he debuted in the sport in 2013, he originally learned the British style within the UK, but within just three years he had trained in Japan and began wrestling in the United States.

This isn’t a knock on the multi-million dollar WWE Performance Center, they have some of the best coaches in the entire world there to teach the next generation, but there’s still a valid argument to be made for the valuable experience of wrestling different opponents in front of crowds to truly hone the craft, as opposed to the bubble of the WWE system.

By the time he returned to New Japan in late-2017, he adopted the “Switchblade” persona that suited his fast-paced, crisp style and gave him something to work with from a character perspective, especially as a heel. Eventually, he was used as a leader of the Bullet Club, which became a position that was used to move competitors up the ladder based on the cache that the faction had. Again, it worked well with the Switchblade character. New Japan developed and pushed a main event talent with Jay White.

Since Jay White was booked to work the main event of the Tokyo Dome tells you that he was a valued member of the NJPW roster, but the harsh reality is, as we saw with several other guys around the same time period, New Japan simply can’t compete with Tony Khan’s money. The same can be said about the Japanese league being unable to compete with the corporate money of the WWE. It’s not a knock on New Japan, their historical cache and influence on the industry is well known, but it’s simply a matter of revenue. The fact that New Japan was sold for $22.6 million a few months ago, and that’s only roughly half the amount that the WWE gets paid to bring one show to Saudi Arabia, it puts the differences of the scale into focus from purely a business perspective.

So, when Jay White was offered a full-time contract from All Elite Wrestling in 2023, it probably would’ve been irresponsible for him not to take it. Keep in mind, as ludicrous as it is, pro wrestlers are still deemed independent contractors, there are no pension or retirement plans when they hung up their boots. In the vast majority of cases, making the most money possible for as long as possible must be a propriety for the financial security it provides, especially because of the high risk of injury in the profession.

I have to be honest, when Jay White landed as a full-time talent in All Elite, I thought he’d be given a much more important spot than where he was within his first year under the AEW banner. I understand that Will Ospreay is a flashier performer, but when it comes to bell-to-bell skills, I’d say that Jay White is on a similar level, and I thought he would’ve been booked for a role within the same fashion as Ospreay in terms of being a spotlighted performer. That’s why I think it would be fair to categorize Jay White as being somewhat underutilized during his tenure so far in the Khan-owned organization, despite the hurdles of injury.

However, those injuries did him no favors as far as building momentum since a foot injury in mid-2024 put him on the shelf for a few months before the major absence after the shoulder injury last year.

The silver lining here can be that the extended time away allows for a fresh start, but if there’s a ceiling to how much progress he will make remains to be seen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that White’s return should disrupt any of the current plans for Will Ospreay to presumably win the world title at Wembley Stadium at the end of August, but he should be a factor in the big picture going forward. This is one of the many problems of such a bloated roster, when there are so many guys under contract without the television time to justify it, there will undoubtedly be those that aren’t given the chance to reach their full potential. Given the possible upside of Jay White and that he already proved to be a main event talent in New Japan, he should be someone that Tony has plans for, both in the short-term and the long-term of AEW.

At 33, Jay White is really only now entering the prime of his career, which is why it’s important for him not to flounder upon his return to the company. The downside for the case to be made for a push for him, if there is one, would be that if he gets hurt again, he might get labeled as injury prone. With the time added for the injury, there’s online speculation that his contract could run through 2027, which would be enough time to see what Khan has planned for him. That could be the biggest question mark of this entire situation, even more so than what or if Tony Khan has plans for him, is Jay White truly 100% healthy that he will get back to top form? As much as New Japan was the place where he made his name, the modern Japanese style is risky, if not reckless so it’s at least possible that he has more of a toll on his body from his run in Japan.

As far as what’s next, I hope the Bang Bang Gang stable is only there to enhance the presentation for him to seem like a bigger star for a bigger role in the promotion as opposed to a retread of where he was more than a year ago. On one hand, if the money is right, White might be content to take the cash to work a lighter schedule and hang out in catering if he’s underutilized. On the other hand, specifically given the Khan track record of missing the boat on guys like Penta and Danhausen, I could see Jay White being a major addition to NXT in a few years, or even going directly to the main roster if there’s not something worthwhile for him to do in All Elite.

Sheamus exits WWE

A few months ago, there was the annual purge of talent from the WWE roster, those that were either directionless on the shows, projects that didn't pan out, or longtime performers that had a contract that was deemed unworthy of their current value. In truth, as harsh as cuts are when someone loses their dream job and the financial security those goes with it, it's simply a part of the business. The performers that got released in April originally got their opportunity to land a WWE contract because someone else was released before them to make room on the roster. As noted, sometimes getting fired is the best thing that can happen for a career because it allows wrestlers to start fresh elsewhere or reinvent themselves. Settling for the ability to collect a paycheck while you hang out in catering every week certainly isn't the way to maximize their market value, which is why it's important for wrestlers not to stay in that type of scenario too long before they get typecast as interchangeable third-tier performers that don't translate elsewhere. Has anyone seen No Way Jose recently?

However, when the New Day, one of the most popular acts and beloved tag teams of the modern era, left the company, it sent a similar message that seems to be a trend since the WWE/UFC merger, nobody is safe from the corporate philosophy. Reportedly, The New Day, who were in a more secondary role at the time, but had the skills and the cache to be plugged into any situation where they would've been needed, were asked to restructure their contracts to take a significant pay cut to remain a part of WWE. That means that the billion dollar conglomerate wanted to change the terms of the deal that they had already agreed to just to pad the profit margin.

It doesn't exactly create a sense of enthusiasm for fans to pay to follow the product when corporate greed is the biggest narrative around TKO.

According to Fightful Select, another WWE veteran is set to depart the company based on a lower contract offer to re-sign with the organization. Sheamus, a former WWE champion that racked up a lot of accolades over the past two decades under the WWE banner, is expected to leave the promotion when his contract expires relatively soon. Reportedly, Sheamus was offered a much lower number to sign an extension, but declined. With his current deal almost expired, instead of being released, the contract will be allowed to run out. If that's the case then the duration of the remainder of the contract is less than 90 days, which would be the standard no-compete clause when someone is cut from the roster. If his agreement with the company is going to end in less than 90 days, the no-compete clause would be moot so allowing the contract to expire is the logical option.

Of course, you can cite his lengthy list of accomplishments since he debuted on the main roster in 2009 just two years after he inked a developmental deal. He won the WWE championship, the King Of The Ring, The Royal Rumble, and the tag team titles. Granted, some phases of his career were more successful than others, specifically based on when it looked like the writing team didn't know what to do with him or his momentum stalled as an act on the shows, but as mentioned, when a guy is getting paid by the WWE for almost 20 years, there's undoubtedly a value to his performance. Ironically, it wasn't until more recent years, and maybe this had more to do with the evolution of the product in terms of the willingness to give the workers more time in the ring to get into second gear on bigger stages rather than the Vince McMahon philosophy of  troupes from a previous generation, but Sheamus did the best in-ring work of his career at an older age. Sure, he's not a high spot guy that is going to throw 38 super kicks and kick out 46 times as a substitute for compelling drama during the course of a contest, but the bottom line is, Sheamus can go bell-to-bell, which is what he became known for in the past few years.

Again, we can parse details on the peaks and valleys of his WWE tenure. He was pushed strong from the start, but that momentum waned over time. His King of The Ring victory actually left him in a position where he was less over than he was before that and the goofy outfit didn't do him any favors either. He and Claudio worked well as a tag team, but it should be kept in mind that the duo were put together as a team because the office had nothing else for them to do. In a similar fashion,  The League of Nations faction was short-lived and didn't do anything to help anyone's career. At a time when Vince continued the Roman Reigns baby face super push despite the fan rejection, Sheamus was given the belt solely for the purpose to lose it back to Roman with the thought that someone that was as interchangeable as Sheamus at the time would get Reigns over for beating him so that at least a star was champion again. It wasn't heel heat, Sheamus was presented as the guy that nobody wanted to see because his status at that point was minimal, and it was another example of a character that Vince sacrificed in his quest to get Roman over strong as a baby face. That's not meant as a knock on Sheamus, but rather to point out that his tenure with the company survived those less than ideal periods of his career when his stock was lower. If anything, it's a nod to his talent since he completely rewrote the narrative of his career with a series of stellar matches in recent years.

Speaking of recent years, Sheamus has been out of action with a shoulder injury since November of last year. Before that he suffered a serious neck injury that required surgery in 2023 that put him on the sidelines for a year. At 48, Sheamus is at the latter portion of his in-ring career, and has spent nearly two of the past three years on the sidelines with serious injuries. From strictly a business perspective, there's no reason for TKO to offer him a new contract at the same amount of cash that he was paid prior. A 48-year-old with a bad neck isn't a wise investment to make a return on that contract in the future. That being said, of course there's a valid argument that the performers that have worked for the company for such an extended period of time should be able to retire with a solid contract as a recognition of their contributions to the business, but that's an old school troupe that doesn't apply to the TKO corporation. How much of a raise did those TKO executives get last year?

As for Sheamus, he deserves a better conclusion to his career than his contract expiring while he's still recovering from a shoulder injury so hopefully, there will be a Hall of Fame induction for him sometime within the next decade to give him the proper credit for his WWE run. When he's healthy, there will be options for him to get in the ring again, but I'm not sure that he should. Given his history of injuries, particularly the neck injury from just a few years ago, if Sheamus is financially secure, it would probably be best for him to use his exit from the WWE as a retirement from the sport since he doesn't have anything left to prove in his career.

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.