WWE buys AAA

Just a few weeks ago, in the midst of the lucrative Wrestlemania 41 events in Las Vegas, WWE brass surprised the professional wrestling world when it was announced that the TKO corporation bought the AAA Lucha Libre organization, one of the biggest lucha leagues in Mexico, with a 30-year history that undoubtedly had a major impact on the direction of the industry through a ripple effect over those three decades.

Originally named EMLL, the CMLL group, which is the other major lucha libre group in Mexico, is the oldest promotion in the world with more than 80 years of lineage behind it. AAA was founded by the late Antonio Pena as an upstart group in 1992. Absolutely legendary talent either got their start or honed their craft to be ready for bigger stages in the Pena group during that era. Rey Mysterio Jr., Psychosis, Juvi, and other enthusiastic youngsters cut their teeth under Pena. Names like Konnan, Perro Aguayo, Eddie Guerrero, and Art Barr did some of their most legendary work in AAA. As an example of the ripple effect, after Los Gringos Locos had a legendary mask vs. hair match against Octagon and El Hijo Del Santo at the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view, which was broadcasted by WCW, in 1994, it opened the door for Eddie to get the call from ECW in 1995. That stint in Philadelphia led to his eventual opportunity in World Championship Wrestling not long after that. There was speculation that the pair were supposed to join ECW as a team, and Art Barr mentioned the Philadelphia=based organization in a post-match interview, but sadly, Barr passed away from an accidentally drug overdose just two weeks after the famous bout in Mexico.

The fact that AAA started as a spinoff from CMLL isn't that surprising, as that type of scenario has happened throughout wrestling history. However, it wasn't ever truly known how far that initial surge in popularity could've taken the new company because when the peso crashed in 1995, it devastated the entire country, including the pro wrestling business, which had traditionally been a part of the fabric of Hispanic culture. Konnan's dispute with management in 1996 led to an exodus of many of the young talent mentioned earlier to WCW, which didn't help matters either.

After Pena passed away in 2006, his brother-in-law, Joaquin Roldan ran the promotion with other members of the family until his passing in 2017. As seen on the Wrestlemania kickoff show, Dorian Pena, the founder's nephew, is one of the current figureheads of the organization. There were a few numbers thrown around online, but nothing was confirmed. A few reports speculated that TKO paid tens of millions of dollars for the lucha company, which might seem outlandish, given the current state of the organization, but it's not simply buying the rights to an promotion and its assets, including the tape library, which can be monetized in a variety of ways. Perhaps, the most important portion of the purchase is that the WWE bought a foothold in Mexico, a foothold that they've tried for a few decades to establish to capitalize on the Hispanic demographic in the United States. Furthermore, we've seen since the WWE/UFC merger that Endeavors put a true focus on globalizing the product, which was one of the main points of the Netflix deal, and with this expansion into the lucha libre market, it targets the Hispanic market in America in a more productive way, and it also creates the opportunity to generate revenue in Mexico to a level that isn't possible with a standalone WWE product.

There are many different layers to this story, as it's a very ambitious step and there are a multitude of factors, both within and beyond WWE's control, that could play a critical role in the potential success of the project.

First and most importantly, TKO can't simply try to brand AAA as a version of NXT Mexico, as besides the fact that it would label the group as secondary, it was proven in the past that Mexican audiences want their style of lucha, not an Americanized spinoff. If this expansion is only going to put the WWE product in Mexico on a more regular basis, it will flop and do considerable damage to the status of lucha in the native country. As trivial as this might sound, TKO brass are going to have to resist the temptation to take a paint-by-the-numbers approach with it, and truly run AAA as a separate entity from the WWE brand in America. Sure, there are several positives that can be borrowed from the WWE umbrella such as the production and distribution, as well as the crop of Hispanic talent under WWE contract that can be sent to bolster AAA shows, but in terms of overall presentation, this must be kept true to the traditional lucha vision because that's the reason that AAA has a following in the first place.

The problem is, the WWE as a whole hasn't ever allowed something like this to be run as its own commodity since it was much easy to copy and paste a WWE format than to allow something that the corporation didn't originally create to flourish under the WWE banner. That being said, hopefully, those at TKO are smart enough to realize that the revenue is all going into the same pocket so there's no need to shoehorn the WWE philosophy onto the AAA product. Yes, I understand that modern AAA has some level of American influence, but that's more of the evolution of the business itself, in terms of styles blending over the course of time rather than a direct effort to reshape the overall presentation.

This is where the subject gets exponentially more complicated, both with the structure of the AAA group going forward, and a number of outside factors. One of the biggest questions is, who is going to run the Mexican product? Clearly, AAA needs to generate more revenue, which is why John Layfield got involved as an investor in recent years, and it's doubtful that TKO would pay millions of dollars to purchase it just to pick up the tab while the Pena family continues to run the company. I wouldn't be surprised if Dorian Pena and a few of the other current staff stay involved with the local promotional efforts, but the major decisions will probably be made by someone from the TKO side. Konnan is currently involved in the office, but is he the right choice to run a project at this level? Furthermore, he was on rocky terms with the WWE for decades because of his exit after the Max Moon gimmick was designed so were those fences mended?

Rey Mysterio is still an active wrestler and doesn't seem to be ready to retire yet, but would he be someone that would be willing to run the AAA venture in the future? Basically, there's not anyone in the WWE office right now that is truly familiar enough with the tends and culture of lucha libre to run a pure Mexican project so it will be interesting to see who is put in place to make the key decisions for the promotion in the future.

As far as factors outside of their control, it's one of the issues that can complicate international business for any corporation and might be a good reason for WWE brass run AAA as a separate commodity. With the political tension and the uncertainty around the global economy, it wouldn't be too surprising if business for the WWE in the United States is strong, but there could be periods of shrinking revenue in Mexico. This is where an expansion of this nature goes beyond just the number of tickets sold at the box office or the amount of star ratings, it's going to be a difficult balancing act to try to jump start a new era of AAA if the Mexican economy takes a hit as far as the tariffs that have made the news recently.

Granted, there are peaks and valleys with any economy, but again, it's something that the office will have to keep in mind, which is why they can't paint with a broad brush if they want this to be a successful venture. Something that works in America might not work in Mexico so they can send stars to add a sizzle, but still have to tailor the shows to the specific audience.

One of the ways to tailor the presentation is, where are these show going to take place? Of course, the WWE has announced the Worlds Collide show in Los Angeles in June as a nod to the original pay-per-view, but when AAA is running full-scale under the direction of TKO, are they still going to tour Mexico?

As beautiful, passionate, and vibrant as Hispanic culture is, the very disappointing reality is that the drug cartels and violence in the country remain a real problem. Is the WWE truly prepared to navigate those waters, particularly with how to run events safely in the country? It goes without saying that there would be security concerns with sending talent to Mexico. Rob Van Dam mentioned during a Kayfabe Commentaries interview that when he worked in the country as a part of a working agreement that TNA had with AAA, there were specific efforts to keep the talent safe with direct transportation everywhere they traveled while they were there. Regardless of what side of the fence someone is on of the immigration debate, there's a reason that people have sought to pursue opportunities in the United States for decades so the instability of Mexico is something that has to be taken into account by TKO.

Along those same lines, the state of lucha at various times has reflected the instability of the country. There were times that main event talent would no-show or there would be other disputes that would disrupt business. Because of numerous factors between the shady business practices to the dangers of the country mentioned previously, Mexico isn't usually a destination for talent, at least not in the modern era. In fact, it was a place where talent that nobody else would sign attempted to get work in recent years. Trash like Teddy Hart, Tessa Blanchard, and Marry Scurll went to Mexico after they burned a bridge everywhere else.

It's probably a good thing that with a WWE structure in place, most of the shady lucha tactics that hindered business in the past can be eliminated from the landscape of AAA. For example, Alberto Del Rio, who was the AAA champion, was released from his contract with the lucha group just a few days after the TKO purchase was announced. In recent years, AAA has also had a terrible track record with title defenses or belts being vacated so it will probably be beneficial to have a more solid direction behind the company under the WWE banner.

That solid direction is probably the biggest upside of this purchase for AAA, it can bring the state-of-the-art production value and distribution to lucha libre. Make no mistake about it, the WWE can put the money into the promotion to make it look as professional and as marketable as possible. Will there be a weekly AAA show on Netflix? One thing is for sure, when it's done well, lucha libre is one of the most visually impressive styles of professional wrestling so if it's packaged right, it's very possible that this acquisition could bring lucha to the biggest audience possible.

The potential pitfalls of this buy out might be bigger than even the upside. If the WWE tries to basically label AAA as just another WWE brand and takes away the true lucha libre elements, it will have a drastic effect on the sport in Mexico, as it would more or less take away one of the pillars of the industry in the country, and we all saw how the business declined in America after WCW closed. This could either be a huge positive or a huge negative for lucha libre as a genre, and it remains to be seen how it will unfold for the industry.

The career of Dantate Casanova

"I remember the entire ride up to the show, i was so nervous and so excited at the same time. Could feel my heart beating out of my chest. As i got to the venue, i was told im opening the show and cutting a promo to start. As if i wasn’t nervous enough already, i remember just going numb with anxiety. I got through it pretty fine and sighed the biggest breath of relief afterwards knowing i was officially a pro wrestler."

There are certainly a plethora of cliches surrounding the professional wrestling business, often added for dramatic effect, which makes sense since part of the allure of sports entertainment, along with the spectacle and athleticism, is to sell the drama. Maybe not every dive from the two of the steel cage is twenty feet, and maybe not every pay-per-view or live card has "the biggest match in the history of the sport."

Still, sometimes there are specific cliches that become cliches because they are true.

One such notion is the "it factor," something you can't quantify or measure, but you simply know it when you see it, a nod to the subjective art form of the squared circle.

Just a few weeks ago as I sat at the broadcast desk for the Renegade Wrestling Alliance, a blue collar league based out of the equally blue collar town of West Newton, Pennsylvania for the action that night alongside lead play-by-play commentator, Mike "Doc" Daugherty, I saw a grappler emerge from the entrance way with an elaborate Aztec-type headpiece, flashy ring gear, and the NWA Midwest heavyweight championship.

This guy looked, walked, and presented himself as a star, he had the "it factor." He was new to the dedicated RWA audience and the online viewers of the indywrestling.us live stream, but they knew he was somebody. It didn't take long for the Midwest champion to show that he wasn't just an elaborate appearance, as he could go bell-to-bell with a series of quick maneuvers, measured skill, and impressive agility. Post-match, when the live stream went to a short break for intermission, Doc took off his headset and remarked, "that guy is good." I replied with, "yeah, he definitely looks like somebody, he moves like a star."

That flashy athlete was  "El Jaguar" Dante Casanova, and it's ironic that the youngster that confidently won over a new crowd in western Pennsylvania was once the nervous rookie that almost puked on his shoes prior to his first official match in Pavo, Georgia just over four years ago.

"Dante Casanova is probably one of the best talents of today. He's young, but I believe he will be on the biggest stages soon," said Doc Daugherty via phone.

Something that was noticed immediately when Doc and I were calling the action in the humid West Newton gym that April evening was that Casanova showed skills well beyond his experience level. With just four years in the industry, he already looked like a polished pro that had several years on in-ring work on his resume.

"I am thankful and grateful to have had Dante Casanova appear in RWA, such an incredible talent. He is the present and future of our business. I am also extrmely grateful to the NWA. The core of RWA is based on the tough as nails image that the NWA had and still has. It will be an honor to have not only Dante return, but also continue to bring in top notch talent from the NWA. Today is a good day for pro wrestling," said Derek Widziszewski, promoter of the Renegade Wrestling Alliance since its inception in 2009.

The reason being that Dante had an extremely solid foundation to his professional wrestling education when he decided to attend the Flatbacks Academy, the training center run by former WWE star, Tyler Breeze, and current NXT star, Shawn Spears. Dante cited the eight-week course stressed the fundamentals and in-ring psychology are crucial to a successful career in the sport. Furthermore, he also noted that his decision to pursue professional wrestling gave his life a much-needed direction in his life when he felt stagnant.

"They really made sure that you were proficient in the basics before you moved on in the curriculum. A big lesson that i remember being taught by the trainers was that your reputation is everything in this business. Word of mouth travels faster than anything, and your reputation can make or break you before ever setting foot in a ring," Casanova explained.

It didn't take long for Dante to build a reputation and for promoters to take notice. Within just the past few years, he has become a regular at Florida airports and he will occasionally see the same staff checking him in for his next flight, as he zigzags around the country to wrestle for different crowds for different companies almost every weekend. Despite being based in the sunshine state, Dante spent most of the winter working cards in the chilly northeast or blustery midwest of the country.

"Currently, I am the busiest I’ve ever been in my wrestling career. Every week, I am on a plane, traveling to different states and sometimes even countries. Truthfully, I spend more time at the airport and planes than I do my own home. I’ve come to realize that my best friend is the emergency row on a flight. I’m so tall and long legged that i don’t necessarily fit in a regular row," Dante said.

"Getting to know Dante at RWA was for me, an immediate connection.  Like myself, he is a veteran of the US military. Six years he spent as a United States Marine in the Reserves, and I can not thank him enough for his service to our country. I enjoyed conversation with Dante, as I learned how committed he is to the wrestling business. He travels the country every week sacrificing time at home to chase his dream of  making it to the next level. He is dedicated to fitness and honing his craft. He wants to wrestle all over the world and learning as many wrestling styles as humanly possible," added Johnny Norris, one of the most popular grapplers on the RWA roster.

As much as traveling adds to his schedule, Dante sees it as a natural part of making a name for himself in the industry and adjusts to it as he continues to make a name for himself on a wider basis, emphasizing how important time management is to keep himself in top form for the best in-ring performances possible.

"My preparation hasn’t changed all too much with the traveling, I’m just more conscious of my time. I don’t get a lot of free time so i make sure to prep accordingly and make every second count. Whether that’s for my training, or meal prep or traveling to and from, I make sure my calculate my time accordingly," Casanova commented.

Dante expressed his appreciation for the opportunities that professional wrestling has provided him, and as a first generation American, the 26-year-old athlete acknowledged not only his gratitude for his father's sacrifices, but also how his heritage is to him.

 "Being a first generation Mexican-American has been such a blessing for me because of the opportunities that have been bestowed upon me. However, it is no lost on me where I come from and my roots. I’m very proud of my heritage and lineage. My father immigrated here when he was around 15 years old. He came here with nothing but the clothes on his back and a drive to provide a better life for himself and future family," Dante said.

"El Jaguar has a very unique presentation that comes from his Mexican heritage. I believe a lot of Dante’s strong work ethic, drive and determination can be inherited from his Father who came to America from Mexico and today is successful in his own right. Not too long from now I believe we will all be watching Dante on television in weekly fashion," remarked Norris.

Those sacrifices of the previous generation didn't go unnoticed, and paid off when Dante reached a new peak in his career earlier this year, winning the NWA Midwest championship, a title based out of Cleveland, Ohio under the NWA Exodus banner, an organization anchored by former NWA World heavyweight champion, Ethan Carter III, a veteran that Dante considers a mentor in the industry.

"While the lineage of the NWA Midwest Championship is short, and there’s only been two champions, I carry and defend the title with pride. EC3 saw the drive and determination in me, and would always tell me, 'Your time is coming.' I took every bit of advice and coaching that EC3 gave me to heart and adapted my character. So far, eight title defenses, eight different states, and a few different countries in the near future. He was right, my time did come, my time now," Casanova concluded.

What's the status of The Young Bucks?

When the professional wrestling business was completely stagnant in 2018, many fans were disenfranchised with their fandom. Total Nonstop Action had just finished a year on The Pursuit Channel of all places, with ice fishing legitimately as the lead-in program, and the WWE was in the midst of the Roman Reigns baby face super push that flopped, but Vince McMahon remained steadfast that he would force Roman over to the audience as the next John Cena for the company. That's one of the domino effects of a monopoly, and McMahon knew he had one so if fans wanted to watch professional wrestling in the United States, they were going to watch WWE, especially after Impact Wrestling's highest level of exposure became Twitch since the brand was so toxic at the time that it couldn't secure a TV deal of any substance in America.

The fact that both organizations are in a different place today shows how the dynamics of the industry can shift over the course of time.

Still, after the All In event proved that there was enough of a demand for an alternative product that 10,000 fans were willing to buy tickets for it and that 50,000 PPV orders were placed without direct television advertisement, Tony Khan was willing to put enough money into a pro wrestling product to launch a full-scale promotion that would tour weekly for live television, and most importantly, offer comparable money to talent.

Of course, the blue print for Tony was set by the success that The Elite had in smaller venues for Ring Of Honor and on the other side of the globe in New Japan. That's not a criticism, but rather that there was proof of concept. Sinclair Broadcasting, the group that bought Ring Of Honor from Cary Silkin in 2011 before it eventually sold the wrestling league to Khan in 2022, wasn't going to invest the type of money to truly put ROH on a national level. Keep in mind, Sinclair is in the television business, not the wrestling business. They bought ROH for its relatively cheap original programming without any intention of trying to compete with Vince McMahon or any other billionaire for talent. The fact that Sinclair decided to put some money into the project and sign wrestlers to contracts after the exodus of The Elite to launch AEW is a different discussion for a different time.

Credit to Tony Khan, he saw a commodity that organically gained a following between The Young Bucks major popularity on social media, Cody Rhodes' ambitious exit from WWE during that era, and the praise that Kenny Omega garnered in The Wrestling Observer newsletter for his incredible of series of matches with Kazuchika Okada as an opportunity to launch a new promotion in the sports entertainment industry.

The ups and downs of the past five years will be the subject of books, documentaries, and podcast clips in hindsight years from now.

That being said, after a six-month hiatus from the company, The Young Bucks returned during the Jon Moxley/Swerve Strickland main event at the Dynasty pay-per-view earlier this month. The Bucks are still EVPs of the organization, despite their roles behind the scenes being reduced in the time since the launch of Dynamite in late-2019. One of the other original EVPs, Kenny Omega also recently returned to the promotion after a life-threatening case of diverticulitis put him on the sidelines for over a year, not too long after he took almost a year away to heal from various injuries. However, Omega has said publicly that he doesn't weld any power backstage, and it appears that if he still has the title, it's in name-only at this point.

It should be mentioned that there are numerous examples throughout the history of the business that members of the active roster shouldn't work in the office at the same time because of the natural appearance of a conflict of interests. On a rare occasion, it can work, but those scenario are few and far between, and even then would still draw some level of criticism.

Matt and Nick Jackson made their return to television this past Wednesday, working a tag match against Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey. However, the six months away from television might not have been enough time to reignite a demand for the team, as the episode generated just 521,000 viewers, which is the lowest rating for the show this year.

It might be a harsh reality, but the question should at least be asked, does All Elite Wrestling have a Young Bucks problem?

Sure, the main event segment of Jamie Hayter vs. Kris Statlander wasn't going to retain an audience, which says a lot more about the lack of opportunity they've been given to showcase themselves as stars than their skills, but the fact that the show still averaged the lowest amount of viewers this year is an indication that The Young Bucks' first match back on Dynamite in six months didn't draw or keep viewers either.

There could be a few different reasons for this, but none of them are good news for the EVPs, as it shows that their star power as part of the core that launched the company has diminished considerable since they were on national television on a regular basis.

As trivial as it might sound, that in itself could be an issue for the lack of buzz around The Bucks' return to TV. One of the criticisms of the pure high spot style is that while extremely graceful, it can also become very repetitive because matches are based on the moves without much diversity of its presentation based on the specific opponent. It was much easier for The Bucks to keep their matches fresh when fans only saw their matches once or twice a month based on certain independent shows they watched rather than a national audience that would see similar matches or the same spots weekly on TBS.

It also didn't do them any favors, even with the most dedicated All Elite fan base, that they were basically the reason that Punk was shut out of the company for at least a portion of the time that he was under contract. Don't get me wrong, they were no winners in that entire situation and the argument could be made that the company still hasn't recovered from the negative publicity that the original backstage fight caused a few years ago. The real-life Phil Brooks was just as unprofessional when he buried the entire company with Tony Khan sitting right next to him looking like a deer in headlights as The Bucks were to storm into his locker room for a physical altercation when they are supposed to be management. The whole incident exposed their roles as EVPs or office for the organization as a sham, and Tony Khan as someone that was only qualified to be a promoter because his family had enough money to fund his vanity project. Sure, CM Punk is a master politician and wanted to spin the narrative in his favor, but when he made it clear that he was willing to bury the hatchet and work with The Elite, you can believe he would've sold every super kick if he was booked in a match against them because that's how the most money would've been made. Granted, CM Punk is a self-absorbed jerk that thinks he's much more important than he actually is, but he's also a talented jerk that understands the entire point of the business to to draw money. Make no mistake about it, Punk proved that he was still a pro, and when The Bucks refused to speak to him, it made them look too soft for the pro wrestling business.

I understand why the criticism of their handling of the Punk situation was used as a part of their heel EVP personas before their hiatus, but it just didn't get over. The leaned into the notion that the fans soured on them because they thought they were more important to the organization, only to find out that the audience did actually sour on them. There's a difference between heel heat and go away heat. The fact that there was a decline for their return to Dynamite shows that there isn't a demand to see The Bucks on AEW programming. Some might cite competition from the playoffs in the NBA or the NHL, but there's sports competition on a regular basis that didn't result in the lowest Dynamite numbers of the year.

Right or wrong, the stigma around Matt and Nick Jackson are that they've ultimately done more to hinder than to help All Elite Wrestling, which prompts the audience to ask, did they really want to change the industry or do they simply want a platform to promote themselves?

I actually met The Young Bucks at a Ring Of Honor show in 2017 and they were very polite so I have nothing but good things to say about them based on my limited interaction. However, and this is the biggest issue, despite being some of the founders of the company and the immense amount of talent that they have as performers, if the audience doesn't care about what they are booked for on the show, it's possible that The Young Bucks won't have a important place on the roster.

The Rock vs. Triple H

Is Dwayne Johnson still the people's champion?

In the few days since Wrestlemania Sunday went off the air, a conclusion that saw John Cena make history, winning his seventeenth championship to surpass Ric Flair's recognized record, the Cody Rhodes/Cena bout has been the subject of much discussion, particularly the lack of an appearance by The Rock after the final boss was the catalyst for Cena's shocking heel turn at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February. In typical pro wrestling fashion, the potential reasons that may or may not exist behind that decision sparked even more debate, specifically if an old rivalry from more than a quarter century ago had a ripple effect on the business decisions made today.

When Vince McMahon was rightfully exiled in disgrace from the WWE a few years ago, the TKO corporation quickly used The Rock as a new member of the WWE board to put a positive spin on the narrative around the company, specifically as a way to attempt to sweep the controversy around McMahon and the lawsuit filed against him that garnered main stream headlines, under the rug.

At the time, it was thought to be a win-win situation, as it gave the WWE more access to one of the biggest stars in its history since The Rock quite literally has a vested interest in the success of the brand. It got him in a tag match, his first actual match in more than a decade, at Wrestlemania last year. At the same time, it provided an avenue for Dwayne Johnson, who had yielded mixed success with some of his more recent  films, to be perceived as a mega star, boosting his public profile.

On a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez addressed the speculation that perhaps tension between WWE head of creative, Triple H and The Rock had something to do with Johnson's decision not to appear on the event last weekend. This was after it was reported in the time since the Cena heel turn that The Rock originally pitched that Cody turn heel and join him, which Rhodes declined. As a side note, I just can't think of any logically good reason for Cody to turn heel less than a year into his reign as champion, considering that the office finally had a baby face that could take the torch from Cena as the representative of the company. Cody understands the responsibility of the position and he checks all the boxes as a main event star so it was probably a wise decision to turn down the pitched storyline.

Meltzer noted that there could still be some old wounds between the two veteran wrestlers, as it's well-known that Shanw Michaels, who was in a much different place in his life at the time, and Triple H weren't keen on The Rock moving up the card when he ascended in popularity. Given the track record of the Kliq, which is somehow celebrated today through the WWE's efforts to re-write history, it's easy to see how it's at least possible that the DX duo wanted to snuff out The Rock's rise in 1998.

Still, could something from more than 25 years ago really be held as that much of a grudge to affect the business decisions of a publicly-traded global corporation today?

Listen, holding a grudge is one of the few things I'm good at and one of my many character flaws, but I just can't see something from more two decades ago dictating decisions now. Granted, anything is possible, but the previously mentioned vested interest that The Rock has in the success of the WWE brand appears to be a reason for him to want to see the best decisions made for the company.

However, and this could be a much bigger issue than an old grudge, this could simply be a power struggle of sorts for The Rock to want to use the WWE platform to promote himself as much as possible. It's not quite as provocative as 25 years of animosity between two former pro wrestlers that was never resolved, but I wouldn't necessarily be shocked if Dwayne Johnson wants to make it clear to WWE brass that he gets to do what he wants for his character or he'd rather stay home. Maybe he saw how popular Cody was as the top guy and wanted the cache of being the reason that Rhodes turned heel? In some respects, Cena had enough of a reason to become a villain without The Rock's involvement based on the years of hostile crowd reaction that he endured, whereas Cody's justification would've been solely about The Rock's star power.

The major problem that I could see this creating, which could indirectly start a power struggle within the dynamics of the WWE, is that Dwayne Johnson seems to have an overestimation of his own character. The reason I say this is that at the post-show press conference of The Elimination Chamber, he broke character to talk about the storyline as if he just took part in Casablanca or some legendary art piece. This is pro wrestling, not Shakespeare. His perspective that sounds as if he thinks that his involvement is some type of fine art is pompous and superficial. This isn't meant as a knock, as there are naturally peaks and valleys in any long-term career, but his films haven't exactly done well at the box office recently, outside of Moana 2 last year.

It should go without saying that not everything that The Rock does is automatically good television just because he decides to show up. In fact, outside of the heel turn at Elimination Chamber, the vast majority of his promos prior to that were completely subpar. He either had no point like when he randomly showed up at the end of the Bad Blood pay-per-view in October, or he relied on excessive profanity as a substitute for compelling content on both Raw and Smackdown.

His appearance on the Pat McAfee show earlier this week didn't do the situation any favors, as he claimed that he wasn't needed, which is flimsy and mostly sounded like he just didn't care to show up. As I wrote in a review about Wrestlemania Sunday, the entire point of the Cena heel turn was based on his alliance with The Rock because Cody rejected Johnson's offer. Therefore, the final boss would have a reason to want to ensure that Cody lost the title. Instead, he sent Travis Scott, who isn't a suitable replacement for one of the biggest stars in the history of the industry.

One thing is for sure, the talent, even The Rock, shouldn't be given complete control over everything that their character does, there are too many examples of it going off the rails for there not to be some type of guardrails in place against it. I'm not sure what type of guardrail could really be put in place for The Rock isn't he's a member of the WWE board, but the bottom line is that his refusal to show up at Wrestlemania last weekend undoubtedly had a negative impact on the logic of the storyline and the quality of the main event.

This isn't meant to sound sinister because it's not as though The Rock's involvement one way or the other is going to tank the momentum of the entire company, but you have to take into account if Dwayne's Johnson's priorities are what's best for the company that he's a board member of, or his own career? Don't forget, The Rock made a random and pointless appearance on an episode of NXT in January, but didn't think it was important enough to show up for the main event of the biggest show of the year.

Mongo McMichael passed away

It's with a combination of sadness and relief that I saw the news that Chicago Bears legend and former WCW pro wrestler, Steve "Mongo" McMichael passed away at the age of 67 after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou  Gehrig's disease, in 2021. The progressive neurological disease that destroys motor function is fatal with no current cure, but doesn't affect cognitive function so the sufferer is aware of their continuous physical decline. I'm not religious, nor what I want to assume what anyone else's religious beliefs are, but it was truly heart-breaking to see McMichael's sharp decline over the course of just a few years so I was relieved that at the very least he was no longer suffering. Regardless of if that's a heaven or if it's simply an enteral sleep, Mongo deserved to be at peace.  

Given the horrendous nature of the disease, which robbed the once fiercely agile defensive tackle of his physical gifts, perhaps Mongo's heart was the strongest trait that he had, as he lived long enough to be rightfully inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame last year.

Despite being unanimously known for his association with Chicago, sporting his trademark Bears jacket when he eventually entered professional wrestling, McMichael was originally drafted in the third round of the 1979 draft by the New England Patriots after a college career playing four years for the Texas Longhorns. He played just one season in New England and was cut from the team before he was found his football home in Chicago, where he was a two-time pro bowl selection and a member of the legendary 1985 Bears defense that had a critical role in their Super Bowl XX victory.

After 13 seasons in Chicago, he played a single season in Green Bay before he retired from the gridiron, hanging up his cleats after 15 seasons.

It didn't take long for Mongo to find his next athletic venture, as he was actually at ringside in support of Lawrence Taylor for the  Giants Linebacker's well-known bout against Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of Wrestlemania in 1995. That same year, when Eric Bischoff ambitiously suggested that World Championship Wrestling, the Ted Turner organization that he became the executive producer of the year prior, go head-to-head with Vince McMahon's Monday Night Raw, setting up for the legendary era of the Monday night wars, the Nitro program was created as the flagship show of the Turner wrestling project.

McMichael was an early staple of the Nitro broadcast team, alongside his small dog Pepe, who would often be dressed in elaborate outfits next to him. As far as being an announcer, Mongo wasn't exactly as polished as Gordon Solie or as dramatic as Jim Ross, but I think it's fair to say that his genuine enthusiasm was infectious, and he undoubtedly added a unique entertainment value to the program, specifically his banter with Bobby "The Brain" Hennan. You could tell the guy was a legitimate fan of the sport and truly enjoyed his tenure in the business.

As much as Mongo wasn't a polished announcer, but still very entertaining, he wasn't exactly Lou Thez in the ring either. That's not meant as a knock against him, but rather to point out that it probably wasn't realistically possible that he was going to be a polished in-ring performer since he wasn't really given the chance to be. He made his in-ring debut in mid-1996 at The Great American Bash pay-per-view when he was paired with fellow NFL player, Kevin Greene in a tag match against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Of course, with the celebrity involvement, smoke and mirrors can be used to present a serviceable match, and with Flair and Anderson as two of the safest workers in the business as opponents, Mongo's debut was fine.

That being said, he was 38 by the time that he stepped into the ring as a wrestler and had retired from pro football less than two years earlier so how exactly did he have enough time to train to be ready to wrestle on the national stage? He had 15 years of playing in the NFL that already took a toll on his body, and was booked on national television with limited experience to just make the best of the situation. Basically, WCW wasn't the place to take into account the delicate nature of a novice pro wrestler on a pay-per-view stage, their handling of David Flair is a glaring example of that. Speaking of pay-per-view, Mongo's third pro match was at Bash At The Beach against Joe Gomez, and no disrespect to Joe, but he's not exactly in the same category as Flair or Anderson as far as making opponents look good in the ring.

He wrestled for about three and a half years, with the peak of that run being when he had a stint as United States champion in 1997, and was a member of the Four Horsemen stable after Arn Anderson suffered a neck injury that ended his in-ring career that necessitated that the faction needed a new member. Again, Mongo wasn't technically proficient and his in-ring career was undistinguished at the time, partially because there weren't many standout matches, but also because it was very easy for his appearances to get lost in the shuffle with how stacked the WCW roster was at the time. Still, similar to his tenure as an announcer, Mongo's run as a member of the Horseman reflected just how much fun he had in the role. A broken hand in 1998 sidelined him for a a few months and he didn't really do anything of note as a wrestler upon his return until he left the company in mid-1999.

After wrestling, McMichael had a radio career and ran a restaurant in Chicago, along with various other side gigs, including the coach of a team of an in-door football league. After he announced his ALS diagnose in 2021, he retired from any radio and public appearances because of the nature of the disease. Prior to that, his wrestling career had a resurgence of sorts on social media, as his over-the-top enthusiastic nature during his WCW career became the subject of light-hearted memes online, similar to Jim Cornette, Ric Flair, and Dusty Rhodes today.

Once again, Mongo's entertaining enthusiasm won over a new generation of fans on social media. His zest for life remained infectious throughout different stages of his career. More than anything, that zest and pure entertainment are probably his wrestling career will be remembered for the most. The guy had such a great time being involved that it's an entertaining viewing experience to watch someone have that much fun.

There are many statistics for the life and career of Steve McMichael. There are 95 sacks, 849 tackles, three safeties, 16 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries, and three interceptions in the NFL. He's a College Football Hall of Famer, An All-American college player in 1979, a two-time pro bowler in the NFL, and A Super Bowl XX champion,

However, the defining quality of Mongo Michael could quite possibly be his courage, as he showed a major amount that can't be measure or defined in his fight against ALS, as he kept up the fight long enough to be there for his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2024. As cruel as ALS is to take away physical function from the human body while the mind is still fully aware of the decline, McMichal was also fully aware of the support he had and the recognition of his career as he was surrounded by his former teammates for his Hall of Fame induction.

Wrestlemania 9 documentary

"History is written by the victors." -Winston Churchill

It's a cliche, but sometimes cliches are cliches because they're true. It's not surprising that after Vince McMahon put the territories out of business and bought WCW for pennies on the dollar that the narrative of the industry within the last 25 years, specifically since he acquired the video libraries of every major regional group in the United States, minus the St. Louis footage, had a WWE spin to it.

There's a reason that Triple H had to pin Sting at Wrestlemania 31, the war might've been over 15 years prior, but not to McMahon. So, most of the time, you have to take a WWE production with a grain of salt in some ways since there will always be a McMahon-based lens to examine what took place throughout the decades that shaped the industry. Per that lens, the National Wrestling Alliance was only a successful regional group that didn't find success outside of the south, despite the fact that in 1986, the organization had a touring schedule that zigzagged around the country, with Chicago as one of its better drawing cities. The fact that Crockett Promotions spent itself into bankruptcy based on the unnecessary $9 million dollar purchase of Mid South Wrestling in 1987 and buying a private plane is glossed over in favor of the notion that "worldwide Hulkamania was just too much for the rasslin company" in most previous documentaries. The story of WCW was that Eric Bischoff only had a hot period because he used Vince's stars that he bought with Ted Turner's checkbook, not the concept that without the NWO to push the business forward, Vince would've continued to rely on lumbering super heavyweights since that was his typical fallback plan.

However, the recent "Becoming A Spectacle" documentary about Wrestlemania 9 that was added to the Peacock streaming service since it was held in Las Vegas, the same city that hosted this year's Wrestlemania, took the concept of re-writing history to a completely different level.

First, it should be noted that despite the completely fictitious claims that are made throughout most of the two-hour production on the 1993 event, it's still worth watching because of the amount of extremely interesting backstage footage that was shot at the time. In the opening sequence, it's mentioned that the WWE video archive has more than 575,000 hours of footage, which is incredible on its own and then you have to consider how many hours are added to the total with new programming each week. It's a truly staggering amount of pro wrestling history and it also makes you wonder what other gems are in the vault that someone in the office either hasn't cataloged yet or simply hasn't realized the significance of some of the obscure footage that the company has the rights to after several purchases of different video libraries over the years.

An example of this would be "The Last Battle of Atlanta," the predecessor to the HIAC match that took place in 1983 in the Georgia Championship Wrestling organization between "Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer. The bout was considered a "holy grail" and outside of photos from magazines, at one point, the match was thought to be lost to time because some territories used a master tape to record over each week to save on production costs. For several years, the diehard fans that were tape traders tried to use the modern technology of the internet to attempt to track down anyone with video footage of the contest. Randomly, about a decade ago, the match was added to the WWE Network's "hidden gems" section, and many fans were stunned that the footage of the historic bout was more or less undiscovered in the WWE vault for years. So, again, it makes you wonder what other rare footage hasn't seen the light of day yet? Speaking of the WWE vault, their digital media team has dabbled with rare footage on the WWE Vault Youtube channel and given the fan response, it proves that there's an audience for the more obscure footage that might cater to more of the diehard demographic.

Essentially, the main reason that I decided to pen this article was to sift through the WWE spin to give a more accurate context to the legitimately compelling video footage that chronicled Wrestlemania 9 in Las Vegas.

It must be said that the behind the scenes footage and how the performers shuffled around throughout the event, particularly in rehearsals or before the event started was really neat. Furthermore, the production team that usually isn't seen in these types of documentaries provided a lot of compelling insight into how these shows come together during that era. How they planned to transform a parking lot into a reasonable wrestling venue and the logistics behind it were some of the most interesting portions of the presentation.

That said, some of the outright whoopers that made the cut for this narrative would almost make Hulk Hogan blush with his typical outlandish tales. It was implied that Wrestlemania 9 was brought to Las Vegas because of the success of the McMahon-promoted "Sugar" Ray Leonard/Donny Lalonde fight that was held at Caesars Palace previously. This simply wasn't the case, as the Ray Leonard bout was considered a dud, which is why Vince never promoted boxing again. It was going to take big bucks, more than Vince was used to paying his wrestlers, to secure a top challenger for Leonard. The choice of Lalonde was a contender, but he had beaten tomato cans previously so he wasn't considered a threat to the more well-known Leonard, and the buyrates for the pay-per-view reflected that. More importantly, the "Sugar" Ray event that Vince promoted took place almost five years before Wrestlemania so it's doubtful that its success or failure would've been enough to be the main reason Caesars Palace was willing to host a pro wrestling event.

One of the WWE executives explained that the company only moved 2,000 tickets in the opening week, with the claim that sales were soft based on the fact that Hulk wasn't used in the original advertisements for the show. The truth is, and this has been proven throughout different eras of the business, Vegas isn't a wrestling town because of how much other competition there is for the entertainment dollar. Gambling, stage shows, and hookers are all looking to get a piece of the pie when tourists show up in the city in the desert. The AWA couldn't draw at The Showboat in the 80s for their ESPN tapings, the same way that the infamous WWA couldn't draw for their ill-fated attempt to run an event in Vegas in 2002.

The lack on interest in Wrestlemania in 1993 wasn't because of no involvement from Hogan, but it was the same reason that Hulk wasn't there in the first place. The steroid and ring boy scandals of the early-90s not only caused The Hulkster to distance himself from the WWF, but it also hinders the organization's popularity. All things considered, 1993 is usually seen as the low point of the slump of the business in that era. The Peacock documentary conveniently leaves out that Hulk pursued movies because of the negative publicity of the industry, not because he was going to be the next John Wayne, even if that somehow becomes the story he tells if it's asked today.

The other major fabrication that the video editors tried to push with this presentation was the concept that Wrestlemania 9 was somehow the launch of the spectacle of the event, which was probably the talking point as a way to add some extra hype for this year's event because it was in the same city. The entire premise of Wrestlemania was to sell the spectacle, which was Vince McMahon's marketing strategy with the national expansion. He sold the sizzle of sports entertainment, not the substance of pro wrestling. The Wrestlemania brand had Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper, William "The Refrigerator" Perry, Alice Cooper, and several other celebrities involved in the show before 1993. It would be closer to reality that the over-the-top visual presentation at WM 9 was probably an attempt to soften the company's image after the previously mentioned negative publicity.

Surprisingly, this presentation acknowledged some of the truths that I thought would've been avoided or skipped over. Of course, there's the rumor that Randy Savage punched Hogan in the eye a few days before the show and that's why he showed up with stitches in his face. To my knowledge, the company hasn't officially acknowledged the possible incident until now. Of course, Hogan had a different story, but he always seems to have a different story, even if it was a story that he told before. Along with that, it was interesting that the documentary more or less acknowledged how goofy that decision was for Hulk to win the title at the conclusion of the show just to boost his ego. You can make the augment that it's part of the marketing process to put a positive spin on everything possible so it's very rare that the WWE acknowledges its own mistakes. 

But, as Churchill said, the winners get to write the history books, and WWE has certainly done that when it crafts the narrative of the business with its extremely well produced documentaries. This one just happened to be more off the mark than usual, as it wasn't the typical spin that you can expect from most entertainment productions, but rather a complete re-write of Wrestlemania 9.

The truth is, Wrestlemania 9 was almost unanimously panned as the worst WM event of all time, with only one truly good match on the entire card, with The Steiner Brothers vs. The Headshrinkers as the only standout. The Bret Hart/Yokozuna match never got a chance to get into second gear and was ended early, as Bret discussed in the documentary since Yoko went into the finishing sequence before it was scheduled. Jorge Gonzalez is praised by more or less everyone as a very nice guy, but god bless him, he was so tall that him stumbling around in the ring was just terrible. The event is known for its lack of entertainment value, and Hulk's ego trip to win the title to return to the company before he left again a few months later, not for bringing spectacle to the Wrestlemania brand.

Wrestlemania 41 night two review

What many understandably considered the main selling point of the Wrestlemania 41 weekend, the anticipated Cody Rhodes/John Cena championship bout, took center stage for night two of the event, but did it truly live up to the hype?

The show opened with the triple threat match for the Women's World championship, and as repetitive as this might sound since I write about it more often than not for the pay-per-view matches in the female division, this segment proved once again that the women's division is the most consistently quality aspect of WWE programming. Iyo Sky is one of the best in-ring workers anywhere in the business and this victory takes another step toward establishing her star power. Truth be told, and this is meant as a compliment as to how over she is as a star, Rhea Ripley doesn't need the championship to maintain her popularity. That's not to say that she shouldn't be involved in the title picture in the future, as it's always wise to have something at stake for major storylines, but for this particular contest, she's not going to get over any more than she already is if she won the belt again, which is a credit to her talent and popularity. On the flip side, Iyo can get more established from this victory since it put her in the mix with two major stars of the division and it gave her the spotlight on the major platform of Wrestlemania.

Much of the same that can be said for Ripley can be said for Bianca Belair, she's already over, and as I wrote about yesterday, I think there's a lot more to the storyline between Jade Cargill and Naomi so Belair probably has an angle based around personal animosity on the horizon so she didn't need the championship either. The match itself was really entertaining stuff and they worked the triple threat aspect very well with a lot of action during the 15-minute segment. Also as I wrote yesterday, not everything has to be a 30-minute Tokyo Dome classic to be successful, and this was proof of that, as it was a great way to kick off the show. Iyo retained the title with a moonsault at the conclusion.

Thankfully, outside of the main event, the card stayed away from weapons on Saturday and only one other table bump on this show, which is what allowed Drew McIntyre and Damien Priest to have a street fight that stood out among a line-up that had 14 matches over the course of two days. It was in a different way than the women's title match, but this street fight was another quality segment. They made what they did count and their selling allowed for each spot to maximize its effectiveness. Drew landed a DDT on the steps, but took a nasty bump in the process and had a small cut on his back. These were two quality pros that took what could've been forgotten by the end of the night, considering that it's a four-hour marathon show and made it something memorable. Not to take a jab at AEW, but there's a rhyme and reason to how this pay-per-view was structured, which is why each segment had its place on the card. Drew got the win, but I don't think a defeat hinders Priest too much since this segment showcased both performers.

While the event was a four-hour marathon, the US title match was a 10-minute sprint. Since there were four competitors, the segment seemed a little rushed, but perhaps that was by design. This was action packed and thus kept the pace of the card moving, which is important because it must be taking into account that the viewers, both in the stadium and watching on Peakcock already watched four hours of wrestling on Saturday. Similar to the two prior contests, this match was structured well, as it gave each performer a portion of the spotlight, and the finish was a possible indication of the direction for a few of the competitors. The crowd was trying to be ironic getting behind Dominik Mysterio, something that I think was reserved for just the diehard travel crowd for these types of events, but it was also a way to acknowledge that he has made a lot of progress within the past five years on the roster. Dominik getting the win allows him to continue to progress as a character on the show, and booking a title switch that gave a reason to change the championship without Bron Breakker being pinned puts him in the position to move up the card. This isn't anything ground-breaking, but as I've written before, Breakker has the talent and the potential to be a future WM main eventer so this was probably a key piece of the puzzle in that journey.

It was a surprise that TNA world champion, Joe Hendry answered the open challenge of Randy Orton after his original opponent, Kevin Owens was sidelined with a neck injury that required surgery. However, it wasn't a surprise that Hendry was made to look silly in the process. The WWE might be in a new era in terms of its wiliness to work with other companies, but make no mistake about it, they will still take every opportunity to make every other wrestling entity look secondary. The match itself was only two or three minutes and was rather slow paced so Hendry didn't get much offense, and the way the finish was booked, he was made to look foolish. If a young champion was given the opportunity to compete against Randy Orton at Wrestlemania, would he really be so concerned with posing that he decided to pose two or three times in the span of just a few minutes? This made Hendry look like an amateur and it certainly didn't do anything to showcase TNA. They couldn't get Austin Theory or Grayson Waller to do the exact same thing without taking a cheap shot at the smaller organization? Orton wins with the RKO, and Joe Hendry's "Wrestlemania moment" was that he was made to look silly.

I understand why AJ Styles was the opponent picked for Logan Paul, as the former TNA franchise guy is such a solid pro that he can have a good match with anyone and he's going to be safe with everything that he does in the ring. At 47, he's at the latter stage of his career so doing the job to the social media star doesn't really hurt his status. That said, after a decent star to the contest, this segment became really tedious with a very deliberate pace throughout most of it. Basically, this match went too long, and instead of 20 minutes, it probably could've accomplished the same thing in 12 or 15 minutes. Karrion Kross' involvement makes sense, as it gives something for Styles to do going forward, especially since Logan Paul is a part-time performer. Paul gets the win, but this was somewhat of an underwhelming match.

There's not really much to say about the women's tag team title match. Becky Lynch's return was well-known, and given that she's already accomplished almost everything in the WWE, a tag team run, while smaller in scope, makes sense. The bout was only about six minutes so there wasn't too much to takeaway from it other than Becky is back in the fold. Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria won the titles after Lynch pinned Liv Morgan.

As we know, the main event was very anticipated and rightfully was what sold the bulk of the tickets to this event. Sure, the brand itself sells to a certain extent, but the names at the top of the marquee matter. That being said, as disappointing as it is to say this since this was the match I was looking forward to the most of the weekend, the John Cena/Cody Rhodes main event was underwhelming. It wasn't terrible, just not anywhere near what I thought they could've achieved given the storyline and the scenario of Cena's retirement tour. Maybe it was ring rust, but for whatever reason, most of the match was very disjointed and just never got into second gear. There was a series of moves, but it never built any legitimate drama, let alone the type of drama that is possible with performers of this caliber on this stage.

The main event was only twenty minutes, including the shenanigans toward the conclusion, but it still felt slow and plodding during at least half of it. I know some fans have already complained that The Rock wasn't there, and don't get me wrong, I think the majority of The Rock's work this year has been subpar, as he uses the crutch of excessive swearing in promos as a substitute for substances, and some of his appearances had no apparent point to them, but it only made sense that The Final Boss played a role in this bout. The reason being is simple, The Rock's offer to Cody was the entire basis for this feud with Cena, and the heel turn saw Cena posing with Dwayne Johnson so they undoubtedly aligned just a few months ago. The notion that anything that involves The Rock is better because he's The Rock is misguided, his flimsy promos this year have proved that, but there was definitely a logical reason for him to be involved at Wrestlemania.

Instead of one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Travis Scott, who I only knew was a singer prior to his involvement in WWE, but nothing else, was used as the key to the finish of the match. This was a miss for whatever they were going for, and almost emphasized the fact that The Rock wasn't there. Is Travis Scott really that popular that his appearance is going to make a notice different for the main stream reaction to Wrestlemania? He looked like a fan, completely with carrying around a cringe worthy replica title, that was allowed to show up at ringside. This looked like the office was indulging the markish celebrity than trying to accomplish series business at the biggest show of the year. Plus, this was the guy that was so reckless that he legitimately broke Cody's ear drum in February so should he really be allowed in the ring again?

John Cena won the title, which sets up for a compelling storyline for Cody to chase the belt to save the championship before Cena retires with it, but I have to be honest, I'm a lot less optimistic about the potential of the storyline now than I was when the angle started at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Unfortunately, the biggest takeaway from night two of Wrestlemania was that the main event was woefully underwhelming and that's probably what will be the most memorable about the event.

Wrestlemania 41 night one review

With more than 60,000 fans packed into Raiders stadium in Las Vegas, allowing for a truly impressive visual, Wrestlemania Saturday kicked off the 41st edition of the biggest event on the sports entertainment calendar. With this being a two-night event, it seemed like there was definitely a specific effort to make Saturday newsworthy in an attempt to refute the possible notion that this was the "B-side" of the weekend. In these circumstances, I'm not sure that being the B-side to the John Cena retirement tour is necessarily a negative. However, I think it's fair to say that some of the results were designed to get fans talking as pieces of the puzzle were shifted around that will play a role in the direction of the product going forward.

As a disclaimer, I must say that while I completely understand why the WWE runs two nights of Wrestlemania since it essentially doubles the gate, and the brand of the event is strong enough that it can sell tickets on two consecutive nights, I'm just not a fan of the two-night format. Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, but similar to anything else, the addition of a second night dilutes the original concept. Instead of just getting a spot on the card carrying a level of cache, the product is designed to shoehorn as many performers as possible onto the line-up. As coveted as the main event spot was for a Wrestlemania event, now you have to ask "what night was it the main event?" I just don't think an event can have the same type of importance when it's expanded beyond the notion that only the top stars land a spot on the card.

But, as we know, within the modern era, there's exponentially more money to be made from that decision so that's the reality of the situation, especially when cities bid to secure the rights for the show.

As expected, the World Heavyweight title match opened the pay-per-view, and truth be told, I originally thought that management decided to put this on first with the concept that the heel would retain the belt. It should be noted that Jey Uso's entrance in the stadium was incredible. The downside to that was that it was probably the peak of the entire segment, including the finish. Maybe Jey was a little jittery because of the magnitude of the moment, but his in-ring work was rather sloppy throughout the first half of this bout and it wasn't until the match progressed that everything started to click so that the contest could get into second gear. I understand what they were going for with Jey trying to laugh off some of Gunther's strikes, but it just didn't translate, leading to a few flat points during the segment. That being said, it built well to the conclusion, and I was surprised that they decided to switch the belt, considering that the lead-up to the WM match was lukewarm, which had more to do with the star power elsewhere on the program than anything else.

I'm just guessing, but I think the decision to change the championship was made to make sure that there was something "must see" on the Saturday card. That's not to say that Jey isn't immensely popular, the fan reaction and the merchandise sales prove that. At the same time, I'm going to reiterate what I've written previously, there's an argument to be made that Jey's entrance is still the most popular part of his act, and this is probably a scenario where the draw was based on the chase for the title, not the championship reign. I doubt that they are going to pull the rug out from under Jey with a short title run, as that would be counterproductive to their efforts to propel him into a position as a credible champion, but I don't think he's automatically going to translate into a money-drawing main eventer either. So, it will be interesting to see how he evolves in the role, and more specifically how the office positions him in the future to try to solidify him as a legitimate main eventer.

In a similar fashion, the tag titles switched with New Day winning the belts. As much as the tag division is still secondary within the WWE landscape, it made sense to give Kofi and Woods a run with the belts to really establish their heel turn from several months ago. The match itself was entertaining with a lot of action that kept a good pace throughout the segment. This match was only about ten minutes and accomplished its goal, which should be a lesson to Tony Khan, not everything has to be an epic 30-minute Tokyo Dome classic to be successful.

The same could be said for the Jade Cargill/Naomi contest, it was less than ten minutes, but it achieved what it set out to do, give Jade a measure of revenge against Naomi after the attack backstage a few months ago. The downside was that after two title changes in a row, including the world title, the crowd was almost silent for the majority of this segment. Furthermore, this probably had to be kept shorter because while she's improving, Jade still had a few clunky moments in the ring. Just another guess, but I'd say that one of the reasons that Jade wasn't propelled into a title picture as one of the anchors of the women's division is her lack of polished skills. Sure, the office paired her with Bianca initially to camouflage that, which makes sense, but at the same time, there's going to be a point where Jade is either going to evolve as an in-ring performer or plateau, which could limit her success within the company. Right now, I'd say that it remains to be seen if she could make the leap to the next level as an in-ring worker. The other aspect of this segment is that despite the definitive victory, it still seems like there's more to the story that will unfold in the future.

The US title match was really solid stuff, and it emphasized how good both of the performers are in more or less every aspect of the genre. LA Knight managed to make himself a star, despite Vince McMahon's attempts to repackage him as a manger for a team that eventually got released, and Knight wouldn't have been far behind if he didn't get a chance to rejuvenate his career as a wrestler. He's not Lou Thez, but he can go in the ring, and this bout proved it. Jacob Fatu is a unique commodity, and if injuries don't derail him, it's not a stretch to slot him as a main event star in the future. Similar to Gunther, the Samoan Werewolf has a authenticity and believably that's very rare in the modern era. Along with that, the way he can move in the ring, including the series of moonsaults he landed in this match, is incredible. This match was fast-paced and all action. I'd say that Fatu winning the US championship is an important part of the building process for him, and there's no need to rush it so he will probably have an extensive run with the belt. As far as LA Knight, this is not to discount his star power, but rather to point out how over he is with the audience, I don't think he really needs a title to stay over and he's probably at a point where he can maintain his popularity just being a regular part of Smackdown.

With Rey Mysterio injured, it was  Rey Fenix that took his place in a bout against El Grande Americano. The orange villain in the Oval Office was probably grinning ear-to-ear with a diet coke in his hand, not realizing that the entire heel gimmick is supposed to be a parody. As silly as it might seem on the surface, this sets up for a solid payoff down the road with Chad Gable being unmasked, and most importantly, it gives him something of substance to do on Raw. It's really disappointing that for several years, specifically under the direction of Vince, that Gable was completely underutilized. The guy is simply too talented to not be featured on the show so it's good that he's getting a chance to work with the luchadors. Of course, given Gable's previously mentioned stellar skills, he can work with Fenix to make him look good in the ring since he's not too familiar to the WWE style yet. This was a really entertaining bout, as it was an eight-minute fireworks show with a lot of action before the quick conclusion. Gable getting the win makes sense because of the build toward the unmasking mentioned earlier.

The women's title match had a level of anticipation for it after the personal comments made between Charlotte and Tiffany Stratton on an episode of Smackdown were edited out of the replay, suggesting that it caused some real-life tension. You have to take the rumor mill with a grain of salt, but the reports that Charlotte wasn't well received backstage after her return to the organization from the knee injury that put her on the shelf for almost a year might have some merit, as it seemed like in the lead up to this bout,  she didn't sound like she was going out of her way to make it sound like Stratton was a legitimate champion or contender. The bout started a little choppy, but that might've been by design to spotlight the hostility between the two, and the segment built well after that with a lot of back and fourth action that had the crowd invested in the narrative of the match. Regardless of if there's truly any backstage heat, and they might've been since Charlotte waltzed back into the fold in a top spot, which has happened often in her career, she put Stratton over, making her opponent look like a star in the process. I'm still not sold on Stratton as truly solidified as a money-drawing star in the future, and her gimmick is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard, but she's only 25 so she has more than enough time to evolve as a performer. This was a positive in terms of an established veteran putting the spotlight on a younger competitor, but there seems to be a lot more left to do in this feud.

The main event was rightfully a segment built on the storyline, not the in-ring work. That being said, these three worked the triple threat stipulation about as well as anyone is going to do it in the modern era. They structured this contest well and it built the drama toward the conclusion. The only problem is, and it was completely unavoidable given the scenario, the audience knew that none of the near falls mattered because the match wasn't going to end without some type of involvement from Paul Heyman. That's not a criticism, just the reality of how the main event had to build to get to the point of the compelling drama before the finish. All things considered, Heyman aligning with Seth Rollins wasn't all that surprising, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't the right call or that it wasn't very well done. The betrayal of both Roman Reigns and CM Punk was great television. Heyman joining Rollins was more or less the only option because Heyman already had a run with Punk and Roman, both turning heel on them and then eventually rejoining them so there was no need for a retread, especially when there's new ground to cover with Rollins.

In many ways, Rollins is not only the one in the match that can benefit from a stint with Heyman, but also a guy that needs an edge brought to his character. I've written it for years, Rollins is a tremendous performer that more often than not was booked into scenarios that hindered, not helped his status as a top star in the company. When he was a baby face champion, he was scripted to cut whiny promos, that's not what a top baby face does, not to mentioned being saddled with the title match against The Fiend in Saudi Arabia that was unanimously panned for its goofy gimmicks in 2019. I don't care if the crowd enjoys signing the song, the vast majority of his tenure as "the visionary" character made him look like a dork and the entire presentation was lame. I think it's fair to say that an alliance with Heyman might allow Seth Rollins to do the best work of his career.

Overall, night one of Wrestlemania 41 was a very solid event and there wasn't a subpar match on the card. Of course, it will be interesting to see what happens tonight and how it compares to the Saturday show. More than anything, the Saturday portion emphasized how solid the product is because outside of the nauseating amount of commercials and videos packages, there were very few negatives of what was considered the B-side of the event.

Naito exits New Japan

New Japan Pro Wrestling, the league founded by the legendary late promoter, Antonio Inoki, will see another main event star depart the promotion in a matter of weeks, as the company announced that former IWGP champion, Tetsuya Naito will exit the organization after his scheduled bout on May 4 in Fukuoka. The news was confirmed by New Japan on their website, with NJPW president, Hiroshi Tanahashi, who is set to retire from in-ring competition in January, wishing him the best in the future. While this is still surprising when you take into account Naito's immense popularity over the past several years, including when the organization had a surge in popularity in the time period before the launch of All Elite Wrestling, it's not completely shocking. Last month, Tokyo Sports reported that Naito was working as a free agent for the company because he and management had yet to reach an agreement on a new deal, prompting questions about his future.

His Los Ingobernables de Japon stable mate, Bushi, a standout jr. heavyweight in the promotion, is also set to leave as well, implying that the duo could make the jump to take the faction elsewhere as a team.

Make no mistake about it, Bushi is a solid in-ring performer, but the much bigger story, with no disrespected intended to him, is that Tetsuya Naito, another former main event guy for NJPW, is going to leave the company.

On one hand, despite only being 42, an age that would usually allow for at least a few more prime years, there's no doubt that in some ways, at least from an in-ring perspective, Naito is damaged goods. He worked a very risky, and sometimes, a downright reckless in-ring style. The amount of ridiculous and outright dangerous bumps that he took for a noticeable portion of his career, have definitely taken their toll on his body. A serious eye injury that required a few surgeries, and several knee injuries shortened the length of his physical prime as an athlete. It should be noted by the numerous young wrestlers that try to emulate the Japanese style that this is often the reality of the risk taken in the squared circle.

On the other hand, Naito is popular enough that he could let his cache as a star and charisma  work in his favor as a substitute for some of the in-ring maneuvers that have worn down his body over the years. Ironically, Kota Ibushi had some very memorable and very dangerous matches with Naito, including a Tokyo Dome main event at Wrestle Kingdom in 2021. Ibushi was on the sidelines for almost two years because of a major shoulder injury, which prompted him to leave New Japan, but his appearances in 2023 for AEW were underwhelming, and he has only worked a handful of matches in Japan since that time. Who knows if he's still on the All Elite roster, but the point being that he went from one of the most incredible athletes in the entire business to more or less off the radar, which proves it only takes one major injury to completely change the trajectory of a career.

Speaking of career path, what's next for Naito and Bushi?

As I said, I think they will arrive to their next destination as a team to bring the stable to a new organization. If that wasn't the plan, I doubt they would both leave at the same time. Given that there were extensive contract talks between Naito and New Japan before this decision was made, I'd guess that the highest bidder will probably be the group that will sign him. That notion could provide some insight into what this exit says about New Japan as an organization, particularly the impact that the combination of the start of AEW and the pandemic had on the company.

It goes without saying that New Japan can't realistically compete with a billionaire. It's a harsh reality, but it's simple economics, Tony Khan can offer exponentially more money if he wants to sign a talent, and more often than not, it's a situation where it's a number that a performer can't decline because of the financial security that it provides after they retire. There's nothing wrong with that either, that's the entire point of the industry to make as much money as possible for as long as possible. Many talents did their legacy work earlier in their career in NJPW, but All Elite was the chance to get a level of financial security based on their previous effort.

In short, if Tony Khan wants a talent on the New Japan roster, he's going to get them to sign with his company when the opportunity presents itself. However, that's not the case here, as Naito didn't have an offer waiting to go to the United States, or at least there haven't been any reports of it. In this situation, it appears that Naito wanted more money than New Japan could offer so he's going to test the free agent market to try to get a better deal elsewhere. That might be more of a statement about New Japan's financial situation more than anything else. That's not to say that the company is in jeopardy, as the Bushi Road parent company is very secure, but rather that limited revenue from the wrestling project could've affected the amount of money that NJPW management could realistically offer him.

It's possible that the COVID-19 pandemic affected New Japan more than any other major pro wrestling company in the world because their primary source of revenue is still ticket sales, despite the expanded distribution and merchandise under the Bushi Road banner. When events were shuttered, there wasn't money bring brought into the organization, while there were still contracts to be paid for the talent. When limited capacity was allowed, it drastically reduced the profit margin for events so even three years after the wrestling world got back to normal, there's still a ripple effect from the pandemic era. New Japan has a television deal, but they don't have the hefty media rights contracts that are common in the United States in the modern era since there of difference between the media landscape in the Japanese market.

As far as Tetsuya Naito and Bushi, I'd guess that their next stop is Pro Wrestling NOAH, mostly because the Cyber Fight parent company, which is known for its streaming and advertising agency in Japan, is probably the group that can offer him the most money to ink a contract. I'm not sure the addition of Naito at this point in his career is that much of a big splash for NOAH, but it definitely bolsters the roster to some degree, specifically sine Kenta recently returned to the company on a full-time basis. It's not out of the question that Bushi might actually get more spotlight in NOAH given the light heavyweight division in the organization.

The biggest takeaway from this story is the fact that on an already thin roster, New Japan has another former main event star leave the company. Again, that's not to say that it's going to fold, as every company in the history of the industry has peaks and valleys, but rather to point out that NJPW isn't in the position to be nearly as much of a commodity as it was nearly a decade ago. How long it takes New Japan to replenish itself remains to be seen, but this is definitely a rebuild era for the company.

What's the status of MJF?

What happened to the pillars of All Elite Wrestling?

There was a time, and it wasn't too long ago, that a group of young talent was promoted as "the pillars of All Elite Wrestling," another tired trope that Tony Khan wants to borrow from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter since it was the primary source for diehard American fans to read about the stellar run of All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 90s with the actual four pillars, Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, and Taue. Honorable mention to Jun Akayama, of course.

Regardless of how convoluted the concept was for an American audience in the modern era, the fact remains that four young athletes, with the concept of young athletes evolving the business was supposedly the entire mission statement of AEW, were slated to be the foundation of the organization in the future. 

Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, Jack Perry, and MJF were the young lions that the company told the audience would be the elite athletes to take the brand forward. Sure, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega might've been the core of the launch, but with a collection of talent at least a decade younger, it told the audience that there was a vision for the future of the business. When Kenny finally hangs up his boots, in theory, someone like Darby or Sammy could take the torch forward. 

That's not just a trivial concept either, if the organization wanted to the fans to invest in the company through ticket sales, merchandise, and pay-per-view orders, they had to be assured that their investment actually was to help spark an industry that was woefully stagnant for years before the kickoff of All Elite Wrestling in 2019.

On the surface, it made sense, as Darby was a wild man with unique charisma, Jack Perry was the fiery baby face that the crowd could rally behind, Sammy was going to be the arrogant aerial grappler that was too good to deny, and Friedman was going to be the one guy that was actually going to be a heel instead of just act like on on television. Remember when that was the entire point of being a heel anyway?

So, why haven't any of them actually become a cornerstone of the company?

The answer is both simplistic, and as confusing as Tony Khan's  booking philosophy. It was a combination of their own individual ineptitude, despite how talented they legitimately are, and the total lack of ability to build a star from a booking perspective. It's very rare that someone in AEW ends up in a better spot after a storyline than they were before it started. That should be the rule, not the exception.

Sammy Guevara is a very talented guy and it's easy to see why he was drafted to AEW when the EVPs were assembling the team. In fact, I actually met him at a convention several years ago and he was very polite so I don't have anything, but good things to say about him based on my limited interaction. However, his track record in AEW suggests that there has to be some type of issue that prevents him from being a featured performer on Dynamite. As we know, he made some very crude remarks about Mercedes Mone on a podcast several years ago, and when the video resurfaced, he was suspended briefly from the organization. He apologized to Mone and she accepted so it looked as though it was a mistake from when he was younger that he could put behind him. But, then he had two different backstage altercations with Eddie Kingston and Andrade, which happened at a time when the promotion already had a lot of negative press because of the CM Punk backstage brawl.

Granted, it's not to say that Sammy was totally at fault because only those that were backstage at the arena know exactly what happened, but if two different guys want to punch Guevara in the face on two different occasions, it's possible that there's a reason that he's the common denominator in both situations. Furthermore, Sammy was suspended again last year after a reckless dive from the top rope and a botched landing gave Jeff Hardy a concussion. He has more or less been in Ring Of Honor purgatory since that time, and similar to how there was probably a reason that he was the common thread in the altercations with Kingston and Andrade, there's also probably a reason that he's kept off of the AEW radar. On one hand, it's a shame that someone as talented as he is, doesn't have a better spot among the AEW landscape, but in this case, he has almost been labeled not worth the hassle.

Jack Perry had the fundamentals, he was another young lion that you'd think had the potential to be someone that a new group could build around as a classic baby face. He can go in the ring and looked to be on track for bigger things in All Elite. Much like Sammy, you can see why Perry was picked for the team. Unfortunately, as time went on, Perry's mindset proved that he was anything but ready to be given the responsibility as a money-drawing star for a national company. Infamously, Perry wanted to use real glass for a spot on Collision at a time when CM Punk was running the Saturday show. The fact that it's unwise to put an active wrestler in that role is a different discussion for a different time. Fast forward to Wembley Stadium, the biggest event in AEW history at that point, and Perry decided to make a remark about real glass during a pre-show match with Hook where Perry took a suplex onto the windshield of a car. When Perry got backstage, he was confronted by the real-life Phil Brooks and another physical altercation took place backstage. In one of the most unwise moves in the five-year history of the company, Tony Khan decided to air the security footage of the incident, which showed Perry getting palmed in the face and put into a front face lock. Clearly, Jack Perry isn't Mickey Gall.

Just like Sammy was at a certain point, Perry was exiled from the All Elite island, working several months in New Japan before he made a relatively brief return to AEW. He hasn't been seen in the organization since he dropped the TNT title to Daniel Garcia last November. A few years ago, Perry made an appearance at a convention in England, and during the Q&A session, he seemed completely aloof about the sport. If Perry doesn't care about his career, why should the fans? The biggest takeaway from his nearly six-month absence from All Elite Wrestling is, nobody asked where he was or even seemed to take notice, which is the absolute opposite of a star that can draw money.

Darby Allin's lack of progress in All Elite Wrestling is more of a simplistic answer than the other pillars, he's just too narrow-minded to actually understand the point of the industry and thus will never truly be a valuable commodity. For an undersized guy that might've been completely overlooked in a previous era, Darby is getting paid by a billionaire to be a wrestler on national television. What does he do with that opportunity? He took his in-ring ability and unique charisma, and decided to climb Mt. Everest instead. How many tickets are for sale to see Darby wrestle on Mt. Everest? Almost as ridiculous as the notion to attempt to make the legitimately dangerous journey is the fact that Tony Khan is willing to allow Allin to do it while still under contract to his company. How much money is Darby Allin going to draw at the next stadium show if he's frozen somewhere on Mt. Everest? The fact that Darby will take nonsensical bumps without any use of psychology just for the "shock" factor that will undoubtedly shorten his career seems secondary compared to the risk of being stuck in an avalanche.

Perhaps the most disappointing, or at least the most underwhelming of the promoted four pillars is Maxwell Jacob Friedman, a competitor that many thought would be a top-tier main eventer that would draw money as one of the few that could get legitimate heat in the modern era. Instead, a botched title reign with the devil mask reveal, which was potentially the most underwhelming angle in All Elite history, and using cheap heat as substitute for compelling mic skills, Friedman has fallen woefully short of his original expectations. I never understood how anyone made the comparison of MJF on the mic to Roddy Piper, considering that Friedman had to use suicide and CTE references to try to get heat from the crowd. Make no mistake about it, Friedman can go bell-to-bell, but since the "bidding war of 2024" never happened and he got a lucrative deal from Tony to stay with the company, Friedman has been stuck in neutral as a performer without either the motivation or the opportunity to get into second gear.

Maybe Friedman is smart enough to realize that Tony's vanity project has a ceiling so he will get paid as much as possible for as long as possible with a limited schedule. If that's his view point,you can't blame him for it since there's very little of substance that matters within the grand scheme of AEW anyway. But, if you want an example of how underutilized, underwhelming, or both MJF has been since the new contract was signed, his current standing in the organization proves it. The Dynasty pay-per-view took place earlier this month, but was MJF on the card to try to sell PPVs? No, he made a brief cameo in the second match on the card of a four and a half hour show. Is he being booked to have a run as a major heel? No, he was made to look like a dork on television when he was rejected by The Hurt Syndicate last week.

At the Double or Nothing pay-per-view two years ago, the main event was a four-way match between the "four pillars of AEW" and when you take into account that none of them would be considered legitimate main event stars for a pay-per-view now, it explains everything about how underwhelming the entire situation was for the company.