TNA Dark Side of the Ring

Nearly a year and a half after the sixth season of the the fascinating, controversial, and at times disappointing Dark Side of the Ring series debuted on Vice TV, the seventh series was back on the network. This time, the producers tackled the complex and intriguing narrative of Total Nonstop Action, the upstart league that was created out of the ashes of World Championship Wrestling by Jeff Jarrett and his dad Jerry, the longtime promoter of the Memphis territory.

In truth, I was somewhat surprised when another season of the series was announced a few months ago because while the sport unfortunately does have way too many tragedies, at some point enough often depressing programming is enough, or the producers rehashed topics that were covered ad nauseam previously. Nobody needed another 45 minutes on Montreal or The Brawl for All. On the flip side, the episodes on Bruiser Brody, Owen Hart, Chris Candido, and others were more than worthwhile.

The biggest criticism of the series might be that too often it tries too hard to find the "red meat" of a subject, regardless of is the topic justifies it or not. After the three-part presentation, the story they told of TNA falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

It goes without saying that 44 minutes of runtime after commercials makes it tough for editors to cover every aspect of each show. It's one of the sacrifices that has to be made for a more mainstream, albeit smaller, cable platform. Last week when the new season kicked off, the first two episodes of TNA aired, covering more or less the first seven years of the company's existence. As a result, the timeline jumped around a lot, summarizing large periods of time in ways that weren't exactly accurate, even if the intention wasn't for the presentation to be misleading. One of the biggest pieces of the TNA puzzle that was completely skipped over was Jay Hassman's involvement in the earliest stages of the organization. Hassman worked on the pay-per-view side of WCW and was hired to do the same for NWA-TNA when the group tried to secure the critical pay-per-view distribution that would allow for the concept of weekly pay-per-views to at least attempt to get off the ground. Infamously, Hassman created fake flash reports, suggesting that NWA-TNA sold exponentially more PPVs than it actually did, and in reality, the company didn't have nearly the amount of pay-per-view coverage that he claimed it did. As a result, TNA operated in the red without knowing it within the first month of the promotion, which led to Jeff Jarrett looking for the investment from Health South.

It was mentioned in the episode that early funding from Richard Scrushy ended relatively quickly after he was charged with fraud, eventually serving about five years in federal prison on more charges that were filed after Health South's original line of credit for TNA ended. With Scrushy under federal investigation, the story was told of how Dixie Carter got involved with TNA after she worked at a PR firm that had the company as a client. Dixie set up the meeting with Jeff Jarrett and her dad, the owner of Panda Energy, Bob Carter.

Despite the extensive debacle that became TNA Wrestling, it's clear that the narrative of Dark Side of the Ring was that Dixie Carter was presented as the heel of the story. Don't get me wrong, TNA did ultimately fail because of Dixie, but there's more than enough blame to go around for the many things that caused the company to collapse. Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Vince Russo could be equally as to blame for the downfall of the organization as Carter. I'd guess the main reason for this was that Dixie declined to participate in the documentary so it was rather easy for the producers to put together a story that would point the finger at the villain that wasn't there to defend themselves. Ironically, Vince Russo, who is a frequent talking head on the series, wasn't blamed for his involvement in TNA being canceled from Spike TV, which was the main reason that company fell off a cliff in 2014. It was never mentioned that Spike TV executive specifically told Dixie that they didn't want Russo scripting any shows that would air on the network, and it was revealed that Russo was still secretly working for the company when he accidentally sent an e mail to PWInsider's Mike Johnson instead of announcer, Mike Tenay.

It was probably the right decision to include Jarrett's career within a show about TNA because much of the story of his career was associated with the brand. That being said, the show was too soft on him at some points, particularly how his reign as champion, especially after 2003 was completely unnecessary when names like AJ Styles, Abyss, or Christopher Daniels were on the roster. Yes, Jarrett's extended title reign was, at least in part, an ego trip because his tenure in TNA allowed him to be the top guy that he thought he should've been years earlier in the WWF. Still, Double J deserves a lot of credit with what he was able to do with the group under his direction until 2009, the industry needed options, and TNA allowed that to happen. There are numerous performers that went on to have major success in the WWE because they had a chance to make a name for themselves in TNA.

At some points, the documentary episodes overvalued the status that the promotion had throughout its history. TNA had very little mainstream cache until it landed on Spike TV in late-2005. The deal they had for a year on Fox Sports Net on Friday afternoon was minimal. The actual window that TNA had to truly establish itself was roughly from 2006 until 2009. There was no mention of when the company didn't have television in the summer of 2005 with internet exclusive shows until the Spike TV debut in October of that year. Aside from no mention of the Spike TV cancellation, the series didn't include anything about the short stints Impact had on Pop TV, Destination America, or The Pursuit Channel.

The story of the passing of Jill Jarrett was absolutely heart-breaking. When you consider how many people, including the short-fused, Scott Steiner shed tears when discussing her passing, she seemed like a wonderful lady that had a positive impact on those that knew her. One of the biggest revelations of the series was that the narrative around the Karen Jarrett involvement in the company for years was claimed to be incorrect. Karen claims that she was legally separated from Kurt Angle and they were living apart before she started a relationship with Jeff Jarrett. Granted, Kurt wasn't involved in the show so technically there was only one side of the story told, but he could easily post a public rebuttal online if Karen's version isn't accurate. It certainly paints the Angle/Jarrett scenario in a different light if those claims are true.

I'm really not sure if the implication that Dixie used Jeff's relationship with Karen as an excuse to push him out of the company is fair to her. Keep in mind, Dixie worked at a PR firm prior to this, and it goes without saying that it could've negatively impacted the company if the founder had a relationship with the top star's former wife. It's just as possible that Dixie wanted to avoid conflict in the work place, and if I had to guess, I'd say that probably was the case. Furthermore, the third episode of show chronicled much of Hulk Hogan's involvement and how it tanked the promotion. Dixie Carter was definitely a money mark that Hulk worked for major cash. But, she couldn't be a mastermind to plan a way to get rid of Jarrett so that she could takeover TNA and then be so clueless that she would let Hogan take the power that she supposedly schemed to get from Jarrett. Again, she probably wanted to avoid conflict in the work place so she sent Jeff home and was a total money mark for Hulk Hogan. Sure, she enjoyed the spotlight and wanted to play TV star, but she wasn't nearly as conniving as the documentary implied.

Another side note about Kurt Angle's involvement in the company that the documentary didn't specifically cover was the circumstances of his arrival to TNA. Angle was fired from WWE because he had an addiction issue, and at the time that he signed a TNA contract, there was some criticism toward the organization because there was concern about Angle's health.

The third episode was needed to provide a conclusion to the story of TNA up until this point, but it didn't exactly break any new ground either. Yes, taking Impact on the road and the attempt to go head-to-head with WWE were what eventually had the company on the brink of collapse. The infamous Victory Road incident where an impaired Jeff Hardy was on pay-per-view, as well as Jarrett's substance issues are well-documented so most of the audience that would watch Dark Side of the Ring already knew those stories. Thankfully, the conclusion of the third episode was a positive note about TNA, and more importantly, the life of Jeff Jarrett with his current role in AEW.

Baron Corbin returns

More than a year and a half ago, Baron Corbin was released from his WWE contract, ending a 12-year run with the company. Corbin was an agile big man that showed some promise early in his NXT tenure in 2014, but became a victim of circumstances in terms of the way that he was used on the main roster. Keep in mind, when Raw was woefully underwhelming in the late-2010s, the character of Constable Corbin was blamed for the subpar product. Sure, even the most casual fans know that the office scripts the direction of WWE programming, but where did that scripting leave the Corbin persona? He was presented as secondary and lackluster so that more or less doomed any chances for him to have major success during that run.

Don't get me wrong, Corbin did the best with what he was given, the problem was that he had absolute drek to work with. There was no way that he was going to be positioned as the lame authority figure, or the guy that was broke, and still be able to maintain any momentum as a commodity that the audience should be invested into or follow the journey.

Corbin was 40 when he was cut from the WWE, and considering that he had more than a decade on the WWE payroll, I wrote at the time that if he was financially secure that he might want to consider retirement since he made it through his WWE career without any major injuries. It can be understated how fortunate a performer is if that can get through over a decade of full-time wrestling without any major injuries, especially with how often neck and back injuries happen in the modern era with the more modern style. Yes, WWE and AEW workers have a more limited schedule than in the past, but the argument can be made that the chance of injury actually increased in more recent years because of how the performers push the envelope on the bigger stages. For example, Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, and Logan Paul are just a few on the WWE roster that suffered serious injuries in recent years. The injury rate in All Elite Wrestling is slightly higher, but it's less about the promotions specifically, and more about the downside of the incredible athleticism that is more common place now than ever before.

Still, Corbin continued to wrestle, albeit on a limited schedule, on the independent circuit since he left WWE. He had a few appearances with Game Changer Wrestling's Blood Sport series, which at least for the diehard audience that saw those shows, allowed him to portray himself in a much more serious way than a broke hobo asking for change on Smackdown. He worked primarily for Major League Wrestling, a group known more for winning a $20 million dollar anti-trust lawsuit against the WWE a few years ago than anything else, for the majority of his time outside of the organization. MLW seems to do well for the level that it's at, and if it's a profitable venture than it's successful. That said, it's obvious that MLW simply isn't going to be in the same conversation as WWE, AEW, or even TNA so if an offer from a bigger promotion is on the table, the talent will take it. Under the name Bishop Dyer, Corbin was stripped of the MLW tag titles recently, fueling speculation that he could be on his way back to the WWE,

Last week on Smackdown, Baron Corbin made a surprise return, attacking Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes during a US title match. It got the artificial pop that you'd expect when someone returns from an extended absence, but there might be more layers to the scenarios that reveal that the office might have major plans for him, at least compared to what he was booked for previously.

All things considered, Corbin wasn't away from the company all that long. This wasn't a situation similar to Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes where they were gone from the landscape for several years and did enough elsewhere that they were somewhat of a demand already built up for them to make a comeback. That's not to say that Corbin will automatically reach similar success than Cody and Drew, or to imply that there wouldn't be a portion of the audience that wanted to see him back in the fold of WWE, but rather to point out that he was gone just long enough for the stain of the previous drek to fade from his career. I could be wrong, but I'd guess that he was released from the organization in 2024 with some level of assurance that he'd be brought back at some point in the future. As mentioned, it's not as though he was extremely busy on the independent circuit, and outside of a dark match when an event was held where he lived, Corbin wasn't on the radar of AEW either. The totality of his hiatus was more or less his work in MLW, which might've been a way to stay in ring shape more than anything else.

As mentioned, it's not as though there was an organic demand for him to be back in WWE, which is a reflection of how he was booked prior, and the relatively short time he was on the independents, not that he can't be a contributor to the product so in some ways, he has a fresh start within the WWE landscape. The upside of that is that he was a realistic chance to make another impression without the anchor around his neck of the way he was booked for the latter portions of Vince McMahon's tenure as the boss. The downside is that the WWE main roster is full, the NXT roster is designed to develop talent to get to the main roster, and the Performance Center recruits athletes on a regular basis. In short, it's going to be more difficult for Baron Corbin to stand out within the scope of the company now than it was previously.

Obviously, it depends on what he's booked to do on the shows and if he can excel in those scenarios that will determine if he can boost his stock for this new chapter of his WWE career, but if nothing else, he was given a start strong for this return. He attacked Trick Williams, who is one of the more popular newer talents, and Carmelo Hayes, who was also spotlighted this year so he already has a direction on the blue brand. He already has new merchandise on the WWE Shop website.

I have to be honest, given the fact that the Corbin character has no cache, I'm somewhat surprised that he was re-signed by the company, but it might be an angle where the office hopes to use someone with substantial television experience to work with the younger talent, which makes sense. The biggest takeaway from this entire situation might be that TKO still has a role for veterans within the mid-card, but look for specific circumstances to utilize them. Sheamus was cut from the roster at 48, but Corbin is 41 and just got offered a new contract. The two decisions might not be related, but it's definitely an interesting scenario when you take into account the generation of talent that have been asked to take a pay cut or released this year. 

McGregor vs. Holloway

Conor McGregor's career is over.

He might not know it or want to admit it, but one of the biggest stars that the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotional machine ever made saw a historically underwhelming conclusion to his career in just one minute and nine seconds at UFC 329.

The brash Irishman had been away from the octagon for almost five years exactly, prompting questions about if he could truly make a comeback from the devastating injury that he suffered the last time fans saw in compete in the cage, snapping his left leg in the closing moments of the first round of a bout against Dustin Poirier in 2021. It was the same brutal tibia and fibula break that sidelined, and ultimately cut the careers short of both former middleweight champions, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman respectively. Anderson Silva was arguably the most dominate fighter in the history of the sport during his prime, and Weidman was much more well-rounded than McGregor, who made a career with a combination of sharp strikes and charismatic mic skills. Silva could never return to top form after the same injury. Weidman was never close to the level that he was at his peak, when he shocked the world to dethrone the previously mentioned Silva for the 185 LBS belt.

The odds, with the sports books that had Conor as a 3-to-1 underdog for his return fight, literally said he wasn't going to be back to make a successful comeback from the gruesome injury. Still, the hype machine was back around the Dublin native, despite the sexual assault accusations and trial that made him persona non grata in his home country, and the American public anticipated his return. He was found liable of sexual assault in civil case in Dublin and lost the subsequent appeal. The victim was awarded $250,000 and the backlash from the ruling saw McGregor lose numerous sponsorships, as well as endorsement deals in Ireland. However, the MMA fans in the United States were willing to pay major cash to be in the building when he squared off with Max Holloway, a rematch from their original bout that Conor won via decision in 2013. The cheapest ticket ahead of he UFC 329 pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was listed at $1,000 on the secondary market.

As I wrote in an article about the event earlier this week, Max Holloway wasn't a tomato can brought in to allow Conor an easy fight. Holloway fought against top competition the majority of his UFC career, and even the bouts that he lost, he was always competitive. Furthermore, and this is mostly just good matchmaking since the fight business is still the entertainment business, Holloway is willing to brawl to put on a good show for the audience. In theory, that could've catered to McGregor's style.

I wrote that I'd give Conor one, or at most, two rounds to win the fight. Even before the leg break, he was known for struggling with cardio, a flaw in his game that was exposed during the Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov fights. Don't get me wrong, McGregor is a dangerous striker, but hasn't fared well in the championship rounds.

As it turned out, his chance might've been slim before he entered the octagon on Saturday night.

Within the first thirty seconds, Conor threw two sloppy jumping kicks, landing awkwardly both times. He fell down twice, prompting Holloway to land a few punches on each occasion. At one point, Holloway motioned something to the referee, but was told to continue the fight. After Holloway let McGregor get back to his feet, a few seconds later, Conor's knee buckled, prompting the official to stop the fight just over a minute into the opening round. There was barely any action, but a tremendous amount of confusion. A replay showed that Conor injured his right knee when he landed during one of the jumping kicks that were thrown seconds after the start of the contest. McGregor was compromised within the first ten seconds of the pay-per-view main event.

After the stoppage, a chorus of boos from the crowd provided McGregor's exit music, a stark contrast to the electric atmosphere of just minutes earlier when smoke filled the octagon for the prelude of "Foggy Dew" before the Notorious BIG track signaled his entrance to the arena. Conor left the cage without doing the post-fight interview, and video surfaced online shortly after the pay-per-view went off the air of Conor, still in his fight gear, limping out of the building.

At the post-fight press conference, UFC president, Dana White speculated that it was an ACL tear, and the initial report from the ringside doctors agreed with that assessment, but the severity of the injury still had to be confirmed with an MRI. When Max Holloway was interviewed after the contest, he mentioned the possibility of a trilogy fight, but I have to be honest, I sincerely think that Conor McGregor doesn't have the ability to be a competitive fighter again, nor would there be much of a demand to see him fight again after such a massive letdown. Keep in mind, Conor snapped his leg the last time that fans saw him compete, and this time he suffered a non-contact injury. Is there any reason to honestly believe that he's going to get back to the dynamic striker that he was at the peak of his popularity?

This was the comeback, this was the barometer to see what he had left in the tank and he collapsed within seconds. Granted, at 37, Conor would theoretically have at least a few more competitive years left in his career, but again, the brutal leg injury, not to mention the knee injury suffered on Saturday, simply limited his agility and strength after such a physical toll on the body. In the confusing aftermath, specifically with how woefully underwhelming the main event was, there was a replay shown of Conor taking his shoes off prior to entering the cage, prompting speculation that maybe he tweaked his knee before the opening bell. Regardless of if it happened when he was preparing to walk into the octagon or from the attempted flying kick, the result is the same, a non-contact injured ended his comeback in literally just a minute of competition.

The reason that I say that his career is over is simple, it took years for him to agree to fight again. Remember when he was originally slated to return against Michael Chandler after a stint as coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2023? Conor didn't enter the testing pool to be eligible to fight so the bout was scrapped. Prior to this bout, there was some controversy about when McGregor missed scheduled drug tests to maintain his eligibility to fight in 2024 and was suspended for 18 months. The suspension was moot since he had no actual plans to fight anyway, but the point is, the chances that he will realistically be prepared to fight again are minimal.

In some ways, this is a scenario where you reap what you sow.

UFC management catered to Conor to give him to promotional push to make him the top star in the company. He took that hype and made $100 to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. It took them years to get him to agree to fight again, and the "opportunity cost" of the McGregor push was that fighters that could've made themselves stars in two different divisions didn't get the chance to do so. Instead of a top draw for the UFC, Conor made more headlines for arrests, accusations, and the reasons that he didn't fight. In many respects, it's very similar to the Jon Jones situation, when the organization looked the other way in hopes that he would draw a buy rate, only for him to abruptly retire without defending the heavyweight title last year.

Reportedly, Conor was guaranteed a staggering $15 million for the one minute and nine seconds in the octagon, which is exponentially more cash that the $3 million that Max Holloway was paid. Assuming that McGregor can avoid any more legal trouble, and doesn't waste his wealth, he might be able to retire. If nothing else, there's no way that he can demand that type of payday from the UFC again, especially because given the finish of the UFC 329 main event, there's not going to be nearly the same demand to see him compete again. Aside from the potential end of Conor's career, the biggest takeaway from this situation is that the UFC doesn't currently have a top star that can be used as a mainstream draw, particularly since Tom Aspinall is still sidelined with a serious eye injury so it will be interesting to see what bouts management books next to give more fights a chance to make themselves stars for the company.

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.