The career of Cody Hawk

Gas was an average of $1.23 a gallon, Alanis Morissette had the top-selling album of the year, and the medium  household income was around $35,000 in the United States. VHS tapes were the media standard, dial-up internet on America Online that tied up your phone line was in its most primitive stages, and Will Smith's Independence Day was the big draw at the box office.

The year was 1996, and the professional wrestling business was in flux, as shifting dynamics, particularly with WCW's relatively new executive producer, Eric Bischoff  investing money to secure talent from the WWF, pushed the sport forward that had stalled immensely through the down period of the early-90s.

Just as things were changing with narratives bubbling to the surface of the industry that would create an edgier presentation in the years that followed, another career was starting from scratch.

Cody Hawk was barely in his 20s when he decided to jump into professional wrestling. He made a two-hour round trip to learn under the legendary Les Thatcher in Cincinnati, Ohio four times a week just for the opportunity to learn the ropes. This was at the tail end of the period of the business where pro wrestling schools didn't exist simply to churn out as many students as possible as long as their check cleared for tuition the way that so many places do today. Instead, the goal of training academies during that era was to get the limited amount of students that were granted admission into the programs the ability to become legitimate money-drawing stars in the future to keep the overall industry healthy.

"When I broke in, wrestling was still fairly hard to get in to, there wasn't a school on every corner. You had to send VHS tapes all over the country and hope someone called. I've carried many practices forward, I still have my old school mind even though I realize the business has evolved. I have also evolved trying my best to blend both worlds," Cody explained.

The ability to be given the stamp of approval to officially start a career from a trainer was almost as difficult as getting accepted into the wrestling school in the first place.

"I started reffing matches in 1996. I trained as a wrestler, but my trainer wouldn't allow us to wrestle until he thought we were good enough," Hawk recalled.

Finally, in August of 1998 after Cody had learned not only the in-ring maneuvers, how to land on the canvas as safely as possible, but also how a match truly comes together from his time as a referee from the previous few years, it was time for his official debut as a professional wrestler. True to his humble beginnings as a student in the sport, he's debut was also an example of old school pro wrestling. When he nervously laced up his boots that night at the Hamilton National Guard Armory in Hamilton, Ohio with about 200 fans in attendance, he didn't know it at the time, but the first step that he took into a ring as an official pro would also be the first step on a path that would define the rest of his life.

"I wrestled one of the assistant coaches that worked as a heel named GQ Masters. Obviously, I was a nervous wreck, but I trained daily with my opponent so I knew he had me if I failed," Hawk said.

Cody Hawk was a natural in the squared circle with a level of poise well beyond his experience as a performer. He had all the fundamental basis covered for what a top prospect in the sport should have as they look to move up the ladder within the industry. It didn't take long for that to happen as just a year after he started his career at the armory with barely 200 people in attendance, he found himself at The Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in front of nearly 14,000 fans when he worked a six man tag on the Shotgun Saturday Night portion of a WWF Raw taping. The year after that, Hawk was featured on television again, this time for World Championship Wrestling in another six man tag for their Worldwide show.

Training under Les Thatcher opened the door for Hawk to wrestle for The Heartland Wrestling Association, one of the early WWF developmental territories, long before a state-of-the-art Performance Center existed. Very similar to how he broke into the sport, his formative years were just as old school, a weekly territory that had to sell tickets and get fans into the seats to maintain itself. The WWF working agreement had some of their most valued prospects and top independent talent working on the cards on a nightly basis to attempt to make it to the next level. Within just a few years in the business, Cody Hawk was thrown into the deep water, but made a name for himself as a youngster that could go step for step with some of the most highly-recruited talent within the program.

He shared the ring with numerous names that not only went on to make a name for themselves, but allowed Hawk to become a more well-rounded performer in the process. Lance Cade, Umaga. Rosey, BJ Whitmer, the Haas brothers, Nigel McGuinness, and The Blade were just some of the stellar talent that he competed against during his first handful of years in the industry.

He became such a part of the fabric of the HWA that when he wasn't in the ring on a live event, he was still in the squared circle, assisting with teaching sequences to classes of new trainees. In fact, what started as just a way to help out the next group of aspiring hopefuls eventually opened the door for what arguably defines Hawk's career perhaps more than anything else, his ability as a prolific trainer.

 "I never set out to be a trainer,  I just happened to be one of the better students and some times when Les was busy, he'd put me or one of the other guys in charge of class. We'd run his drills and check each other. Over time that became more and more until I was offered the spot of training the unsigned talent in HWA when it was under developmental contract with WWE. That never stopped and I'm still training aspiring athletes today," he explained.

Hawk cites his time as a trainer as one of the highlights of a career that has spanned nearly thirty years.

 "I don't care about being famous, I care about helping the pro wrestling dreamers achieve their goals, I care about good old fashioned storytelling. I care about professional wrestling," he added.

Among the countless grapplers that he helped literally learn the ropes, there are a few of them that are a reminder of his contributions to the industry on a weekly basis on television. A few of his prized students include the recently retired, TNA's Sami Callihan, WWE's LA Knight, and Jon Moxley on AEW Dynamite.

"Everyone knew Jon was going to make money. They all persevered and they're all killing it today. I couldn't be more proud of them, or any and all of my students that followed their dreams. They chased their goals and got however far up the proverbial wrestling ladder," Hawk remarked.

Hawk was presented the Cauliflower Alley  Trainer's Award by Jon Moxley in 2019 at the group's annual convention.

In the late-2000s, Hawk actually owned HWA for a period of time before the changing pro wrestling market led him to pursue other avenues, opting to open his own training center in the years that followed. However, it was in more recent years that a message on social media led to his next full-time gig in the sports entertainment industry, a unique opportunity to say the least, but one that has allowed him to continue to shape a direction within the business as he has done in some form or fashion virtually his entire career.

The owner of the Micro Wrestling Federation, a league of micro grapplers that became wildly popular over the years through their extensive touring schedule,  Jack Darrell Hillegass reached out to Cody about assisting with talent. What started as a two-day spot and then commuting to the Mirco home base in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for six weeks become a job that keeps Hawk on the road almost 52 weeks a year. Hillegass paid well and covered Hawk's lodging during that initial stint so Cody knew this was a natural next step in his career to contribute to the industry. 

"I was asked if I wanted a full time gig training out of the Microtorium, I was cool with that. However, I knew there was a driver spot open too so I volunteered to drive because it would pay me even more. Soon after, my boss paid for me to leave Ohio for good and move to Tennessee, it was best life change ever. As for 300 days on the road, it's tough, but I really do enjoy it. I was never meant to stay stationary," Cody commented.

No job is too big or too small for Cody Hawk, as he's quite literally grown up in the business. He knows the goal is to make a living and sometimes those duties include something as mundane as ring crew or as integral as teaching the next generation. But, his involvement with Micro Wrestling isn't merely about dollars and cents.

"My goal here is to break the stereotype of little people wrestling. These ladies and gentlemen can flat out get it. They need to be seen as professional wrestlers and not just little people. They need to be seen on a major stage," he said.

At 52, Cody Hawk stays as busy as ever, working full-time with the Micro Wrestling Federation, still training and still producing shows with as much enthusiasm now as he did in his youth back in the HWA days. Hawk never needed to see his name in lights, but rather simply aspired to be a part of the industry as much as possible, and after nearly three decades, he continues to be in the business full-time, still meeting that goal that he set when he was barely out of his teenage years. As he gets close to celebrating thirty years in the business in a few months, Cody Hawk can reflect on a career that ranks him as one of the most influence performers during that same time span in the entire industry.

"I want wrestlers and fans to know that I always gave everything I had when I was in the ring. I want anyone that ever trained under me to know that I gave them my all whether they gave me their all or not," Hawk concluded.

What's next for Mercedes Mone?

As I was listening through the most recent episode of the "Histories, Mysteries, & Victories" podcast that I recorded with my pal, Declan Finnegan to make sure the volume was stable throughout before it was posted online, I noticed something that we discussed briefly, the Mercedes Mone title win of the "prestigious" Ring Of Honor Women's interim championship at the Wrestle Dream pay-per-view. There was also the announcement of another random indy belt that I didn't catch the name of that was mentioned on last week's episode of Dynamite.

Of course, this is a ham-handed attempt to try to shoehorn her into the Ultimo Dragon spot when the legendary grappler held ten titles simultaneously when he captured the J-Crown and then added the WCW Cruiser weight championship and NWA Middleweight belt to the collection almost thirty years ago. The problem is two-fold, Mercedes isn't anywhere near as talented as Ultimo Dragon (that's not to say that she has zero talent), and it doesn't come across with importance, but rather just a messy attempt to name random belts that the audience has never heard of. If you want to parse details, the J-Crown was eight belts that were unified so there wasn't an exhausting list to try to keep track of, and Dragon held it at a time when WCW regularly featured New Japan talent through a working agreement between the two groups so even for the most novice fan, there was a reference point about the concept of this unified collection of belts in Japan. It goes without saying that Mike Tenay provided a tremendous set up with the international information about Japan and Mexico. The primary point that was made about Ultimo Dragon as the J-Crown champion while he had the WCW cruiser weight belt was that it was a representation of the lightweight divisions around the world, hence adding more credibility to him as the WCW Cruiser weight champion. The collection of belts was only a tool to emphasize the legitimate international star that was in a prominent spot on Nitro, which was one of the strong aspects of WCW television as far as the substance of the program to go along with the sizzle of the main event scene later in the show. The Ted Turner organization wasn't going to have better production value or present sports entertainment better than Vince McMahon, but one of the reasons that Nitro went on the famous 83-week winning streak in the ratings competition was that they brought things to the audience that the WWF didn't at the time. As much as the argument could be made that the luchadors and Japanese talent were underutilized in WCW as a whole, there's no doubt that establishing the division on Nitro gave the Turner organization something unique to promote.

In the true slap stick fashion that All Elite Wrestling is known for, the vast majority of the international aspects to the program aren't explained nearly as clear as they should be and it seems like more often than not, Tony Khan assumes that the American fan base is somewhat familiar with some of the niche Japanese or Mexican organization that are usually discussed in The Wrestling Observer newsletter. 

WCW did video packages of the lucha stars and the basic points of lucha libre tradition to give the viewing audience in the United States a basic understanding of what and who they were watching on TBS. It didn't deep dive into too many details that would dilute the point that was trying to be made through video segments or the announcing work of the previously mentioned Tenay.

It happens way too often that some of the most important information that could be used as the glue of a segment and thus maximize its effectiveness is glossed over because of the inconsistent pace of AEW television. The bits and pieces that make it through the chaotic format don't connect the dots for the audience. 

As mentioned, Mone isn't anywhere near as influential or as talented as Ultimo Dragon, and the effort to shoehorn her into a scenario where she would try to replicate his success as a multi-time champion comes off as a cheap imitation. She's trying to force the narrative that she's an elite, no pun intended, talent and that's rarely a successful formula to draw money, which is supposed to be the entire point of the business. Ultimo Dragon as the unified J-Crown champion was to push the narrative that WCW had the best light weight wrestlers in the world, which worked as designed. What exactly is the Mone belt collection supposed to push other than her ego? She has a random group of titles with no rhyme or reason behind them so what exactly is the point? Her 12th championship was from an independent league in Winnipeg, and no disrespect to Winnipeg, but how is a title that the audience has never heard of going to do anything productive within the AEW landscape?

Is this gimmick supposed to push her as the best women's wrestler in the world? Did she collect enough props to get the message across? Again, the entire point of the business is to draw money, or at least it should be, but has Mercedes Mone truly moved the needle for AEW? Maybe the ratings will finally improve after she wins the Poughkeepsie Straw weight title? The whole thing is so cringe worthy and forced that it might actually sour rest of the audience on her as a performer.

By comparison, Manami Toyota is one of the greatest in-ring workers of all time and didn't need a parade of props to be recognized for her skills.

Still, this is less about Mercedes Mone, she's just the most glaring example right now, and more about the sum total of the AEW presentation.

As the AEW audience declined by roughly 40% over the past three years after CM Punk left and the novelty of a new promotion wore off so it had to sink or swim on its merit, the question could be asked, what's the target audience for All Elite Wrestling?

Originally, it was thought that All Elite would be the alternative for the disgruntled WWE fans that had to endure years of drek under the direction of the aging Vince McMahon, who leveraged the fact that he had no legitimate competition to push his personal agenda, not cater to the paying audience. At first, AEW was that alternative and thus had found their audience, the long-suffering demographic that saw talented performers get overlooked or minimized because they weren't in Vince's plans. It didn't matter how much the audience rallied behind Dolph Ziggler in 2019, he was labeled, fairly or unfairly, an injury prone secondary talent by the office. FTR were going to be booked as a comedy tag team despite being the best in-ring team in the business. Dean Ambrose was going to be booked to wear a silly gas mask.

Since Tony Khan gave the fans other option, there was a level of goodwill with the audience for the first few years of AEW's existence, which is the same goodwill that was eroded when it looked like the All Elite project become less about changing the business, and more about patronizing his vanity project. Ironically, when the WWE went on an upswing with the return of one of the AEW founders, Cody Rhodes, and Vince was exiled in disgrace, most of the narrative of the industry flipped with a level of praise toward the WWE for a few years. Granted, the outrageous TKO ticket prices and overall business strategy has chipped away at that enthusiasm more recently, but the reason that the decline in the AEW numbers is important is that with a decrease from their original target audience, it's important to determine what their audience is going to be now.

While it's not unheard of for a promotion to have to adjust their target demographic, as it's a part of the evolution of any organization, the Mercedes Mone situation might be a microcosm of the current All Elite strategy or lack thereof. Too often across the board of All Elite Wrestling, there are references that a national television audience just isn't going to be familiar with and it gets lost in translation. Yes, Stardom is a quality organization, but it's a smaller Japanese league that the vast majority of the viewers of TBS have never heard of. more often than not. Thekla is just a random wrestler on the show because the context for her background wasn't properly explained, and the same can be said for most of the luchadors on the show. They are thrown onto national television without any build up or introduction so the majority of the audience doesn't really know who they are, which takes any from some of the true talent. It doesn't maximize their value to the program or the audience.

That's when you have to come to the realization that the target audience for AEW, as counter productive as the philosophy might be for a national television product, is the diehard wrestling fans that are already familiar with the stars from some of the niche groups. There's not a consistent and quality effort to introduce or explain most of the nuance of the AEW brand so maybe that's because it's designed for fans that already know who the international talent?  Of course, the problem is, if there were enough diehard fans for a niche promotion to get off the ground, it would've happened years ago. There a reason that Ring Of Honor didn't truly reach a national level when it was independently-owned during its heyday, and that it took New Japan a few decades to make even a small dent as far as an expansion into the United States. Right now, it doesn't seem like the AEW product is being tailored to a national audience, but that's probably moot since profit isn't the goal for the company. Since money is no object for Tony Khan, a product that is at least partially based on the reviews of The Wrestling Observer newsletter won't hinder the existence of the organization, but it undoubtedly puts a ceiling on the amount of fans that will follow the product.

Russo signed for JCW

Nothing truly shocks me in professional wrestling.

Occasionally, I'm surprised by what happens either on-screen or behind the scenes in sports entertainment, but at this point, nothing truly shocks me. The industry that originated from the carnival circuit, more often than not, stays true to those roots. Con artists, murders, predators, and sleazy promoters have all been involved in the business at some point.

There's a reason that dozens of episodes of The Dark Side of The Ring series were produced, and there's a seventh season in production.

As much as nothing would shock me in sports entertainment, I found myself completely flabbergasted with the claims from Vince Russo on a recent podcast that he will be writing for Billy Corgan's National Wrestling Alliance for episodes of NWA Power that have yet to be taped. As of now, the NWA show airs on the Roku Sports channel. The show had previously aired on the CW app for roughly six months last year before the move to Roku. Basically, that means that it has a platform, but it's not mainstream, easily accessible, or a big revenue stream for them.

That has essentially been the problem for the NWA since Corgan bought the brand in 2017. Don't get me wrong, Billy Corgan has done more for the NWA brand than anyone else since the purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions by Ted Turner in 1988. Anyone else that had control of the initials did nothing more than try to prostitute the lineage to squeeze a few pennies from it or attempt to use it as a platform for self promotion, with Bruce Tharpe being the prime example of that.

However, when NWA Power originally gained some notoriety on Youtube, plucking talented individuals from the independent circuit, it basically became an audition for them to work elsewhere, particularly after the launch of All Elite Wrestling in 2019. The bottom line is, the ad revenue that can realistically be made from a wrestling show on Youtube isn't anywhere close to the amount of cash needed to fund a national organization. That's why I didn't put too much stock into the Power project because there was a clear ceiling to how much of a dent it could make in the industry. Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks both worked some of those early NWA episodes, but they eventually landed in AEW. 

The reason for it is simple, Billy Corgan is a millionaire based on his tremendous success in the music industry with The Smashing Pumpkins, but the Khan family has billions of dollars, and the WWE is a billion dollar corporation so it's a completely different scale as far as the economics.

Sure, the entire reason that a wrestling league looks to get television distribution is to be able to increase revenue and expand the product. The better the ratings, the more ad revenue you can generate from commercials and sponsorships. The wider the TV clearance, the more exposure to the product more regions of the country will have and thus there's an ability to increase the touring schedule as a way to generate more cash.

There's undoubtedly a reason why, even with the continuing evolution of the media landscape that rights fees remain the biggest revenue stream for both AEW and WWE.

Again, Billy Corgan is one guy with his personal cash on the line so there's no doubt that if the NWA wants to continue to attempt to produce events on a semi-national level, they will need something that will bring in more cash in some form or fashion. If the talent is there that could move the needle or if there's a demand for the NWA product in general is a completely different matter. The bottom line is, the ability to secure talent to contracts and expand with those performers under the NWA banner, there must be a revenue source beyond Corgan's bank account.

How in the wide world of sports that Vince Russo is apparently the solution to take the NWA television product to the next level is absolutely mind-boggling.

This is the guy that wrote some of the most notorious drek in the history of the business, with almost too many examples to name. Clearly, if the Smashing Pumpkins front man is a wrestling historian if he purchased the National Wrestling Alliance so how hasn't he taken note of the lessons of the history of the sport?

Vince Russo is the guy that tries to take credit for the Attitude era. the period of the business that happened to have Steve Austin, The Rock, and Mick Foley in the prime of their careers. He might be a sleazy deviant today, but it's obvious that Vince McMahon didn't need direction from Russo when he worked as one of the best heels of all time during that era. Vince Russo wrote for the WWF for roughly three and a half years, and he was able to parlay that into a job with not only WCW, but later TNA as well.

Russo with his pole matches, miscarriage angles, random heel turns, worked shoots, incest storylines, Brawl For All, mocking Jim Ross' health problems, and even more nonsense that is too lengthy to name, was one of the main reasons that WCW went off a cliff, and he wrote TNA into bankruptcy to the point that Anthem Entertainment had to rescue the organization by purchasing it in 2016. Vince Russo wrote for WCW for roughly a year before the company was so damaged that mere months later, it was sold to Vince McMahon for pennies on that dollar. He was one of many people that worked Dixie Carter out of major money, and his reputation was so toxic that when Spike TV found out he was secretly still writing Impact, they opted to cancel the show in 2014.

However, in true Russo fashion, there was a swerve, as it was officially revealed that he wasn't going to work for the NWA, but rather inked a deal with Juggalo Championship Wrestling, the Insane Clown Posse's group with a cult following. The former head writer gleefully bragged on social media about swerving The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, and the fact that he thinks swerving Meltzer is so type of accomplishment, it shows you just how unaccomplished Russo truly is. At the very least, thankfully, the NWA was spared from his drek.

The reason that I wanted to write about the logistics of the NWA status in the industry despite the "swerve" from Russo is simple, JCW, which has a dedicated niche following because of its association with the music group, has many of the same hurdles as the NWA in terms of distribution and main stream exposure. The huge difference is that the Juggalo group knows its place in the market and isn't trying to spare with either of the major leagues. JCW tours, assuming profitably, to different cities around the country to produce a Youtube series, the same platform that the NWA originally had.

Obviously, the JCW audience are going to be ICP fans, and given the off-the-wall and generally wacky stuff that the Juggalo organization is known for, it's not meant or targeted for anything main stream anyway. There's nothing wrong with that either, revenue and profitability are the barometer for success in any business venture. If Juggalo  Championship Wrestling is a profitable side gig as a spinoff of the success of ICP then good for them for being able to parlay their music career into a wrestling project.

That being said, taking into account the unconventional approach that JCW takes to pro wrestling, Russo's writing wouldn't be too out of place there, but it's also not going to propel the league any further up the ladder than the spot that it is right now because again, by nature, JCW is tailored to ICP fans, not any type of major platform. Since his involvement won't help and probably won't hurt JCW's status as a brand, Russo's involvement is probably moot. But, it's ironic that his triumph about "swerving" the dirt sheets might actually prove his critics right. If Vince Russo is successful writing for JCW, a show that is the complete opposite of a main stream product, it proves why he never maintained any success attempting to writing for any mainstream organization throughout his career.

The career of Dios Salvador

On a humid night in June in western Pennsylvania, I sat alongside Mike "Doc" Daugherty on commentary for the indywrestling.us broadcast of the Renegade Wrestling Alliance, a blue collar league based in West Newton with a dedicated fan base, event that had a cage match at the top of the card.

Before the steel was set up against the ring apron, the night had a full line-up of matches on tap for the rabid West Newton gym. The building is aged, but has an atmosphere that can't be duplicated anywhere else among the stellar Pittsburgh scene. Through the wooden doors of the venue, it's almost as if you, Doc Brown, and Marty McFly hopped into the DeLorean to hit 88 MPH to travel back in time.

The packed gym has an environment of a throwback to the territory days of the sport. The fans rally behind the baby face, and in some cases, there's absolute legitimate hatred for the villains. There's a literal stage with a full entrance set up with a ramp way. It's not uncommon for the way to shake when the paying customers stomp their feet and chant loudly in some of the more dramatic moments during events.

Back to that sweaty night in June, when Dios Salvador, a talented grappler based out of Ohio, made his way to the ring clad with a Mexican flag tied around his waist, a slight way to generate some old school anti-American heat, security actually had to hold back a fan that got into a near physical altercation with the sports entertainment heel.

In a true nod to the nature of show business, in direct contrast to his in-ring persona, the man behind the menacing character is actually a prime example of the American dream.

Dios is a first generation American on his father's side, as his dad is a native of  Villanueva Zacatecas. Mexico, while his mom is of Irish decent. Athletics ran in the family on her side, Dios' grandfather declined a potential path in professional baseball to serve in the armed forces during the Korean war.

"I guess you can say regardless of it's the Mexican or the Irish in me, fighting is in the blood. As Mexican, Irish, and American I know hard work. Pride and passion are put into everything I do, and I'm positive that comes from my heritage," Dios explained.

His discovery of the sport was rather typical, he was initially hooked in the early-90s and became all-in on the spectacle of sports entertainment during the fierce competition of the Monday night wars that set ratings records. Of course, he identified with the dazzling luchadors on Nitro, seeing someone from a common background give him the first indication that he might be able to do what he became enthralled with on television.

As much as his discovery of the sport was typical, his introduction to the business was anything but ordinary.

When Dios was just 16, he started training under longtime stalwart of the Buckeye state, Lou Marconi, who also has a notable place among the Pittsburgh scene through his work in Steel City Wrestling, a group promoted by the godfather of the Pittsburgh independents, Norm Connors, in the 90s. Salvador continued training under the guidance of independent icon, Josh Prohibition, and later continued to polish his skills with the late, JT Lighenting under the Cleveland All Pro Wrestling banner.

"I really honed my early years, but I also was put into a position to help others. It was a great learning experience to help JT teach and train, helping a very young Johnny Gargano and others in their first steps in the business," Salvador said of his time with Cleveland All Pro.

"Training under Josh Prohibition, I believe gave me a perfect blend of classic and new age training that I believe helped me stay believable and entertaining in my second chapter," he added when he discussed his trainers.

At the age of just 17, Dios Salvador made his debut in professional wrestling, and by 2005, after he had a few years of experience under his belt, he was one of the early faces of the newly-launched Absolute Intense Wrestling, a group that has solidified itself as one of the top independent leagues in the country in the two decades since that time. AIW provided Dios with some valuable opportunities to have matches against Ray Rowe and Sterling James Keenan several years before either of them landed on WWE television. He had a similar experience in CAPW when he competed against top names like Matt Cross, Josh Prohibition, Chris Sabin, the previously mentioned Gargano, and others.

In his early-20s at that point, Dios was hitting his stride as a performer and keeping pace with his peers that would go on to reach some of the top organizations in the industry. However, enlightening news and then a devastating tragedy altered not only the trajectory of his wrestling career, but of his entire life.

In late-2007, Dios found out that he would be welcoming twins into the world as he was going to become a father. Complications led to an emergency C-section for the twins, Liana and Analis, were born at just six months to term. Tragically, Analis passed away just two weeks later. Liana survived the tramatic birth, which Dios considers a miracle. The tiny baby that was born after just six months to term is now a young lady that is getting ready to graduate high school this year. Still, the experience had such an impact on Salvador that he decided to devote himself fully to his family, leaving pro wrestling behind him.

"That event coupled with outside the ring stresses and stuff really forced me to walk away from wrestling with pretty much no notice," he explained.

It wasn't until after the pandemic shuttered the entire world that Dios even considered a comeback to the squared circle. After the global emergency, he thought that he'd rather give pro wrestling one more chance so that he didn't look back with any regrets. He began traveling and training with a true staple of the Ohio circuit, J-Rocc, a longtime pro with almost 30 years of experience in the business.

Upon his return to the ring just a few years ago, Dios Salvador confirmed what many thought when he first stepped into a wrestling ring in his teenage years, he's a natural in the squared circle.

 "In my second run this time around, I know traveling and working with J-Rocc in ring and angles gave me a better understanding of story telling both inside and out the ring," he remarked.

Older and wise, Dios cites a more well-rounded viewpoint of the industry to bring the absolute best work of his career to the table in his comeback to the sport.

"Since returning after the pandemic, my biggest highlights have been my ability to do business. To go into a promotion or territory and create emotional connections with fans. heel or face and get them to invest in the show and building crowds, while still helping the younger talent," he commented.

Dios has zigzagged all across his home state for a variety of promotions, but when it comes to the ability to get the crowd to emotional invest in the result of the storylines, Dios Salvador has been one of the shining performers of the RWA organization mentioned earlier. 

"Man, talk about a promotion that kind of represents the old ECW arena crow with their passion and enthusiasm. It's been a heck of a lot of work to get traction there with the established roster. When I first hopped in a car with J-Rocc and came there in 2022 to finally getting a look and platform to show my ability in 2025. it's a testament of hard work, determination, and what being hungry, but still humble can do," Dios said.

The biggest takeaway from the story of Dios Salvador is probably a lesson in perseverance, as when life circumstances took him away from the ring, he eventually found his way back to the squared circle to continue to showcase his skills. Of course, it's an ironic contrast between the man behind the in-ring persona, but that's a textbook example of show business, as Dios always looked to give the fans their money's worth, even if he generated jeers from the paying audience.

UFC 321

The past weekend, the UFC landed in Abu Dhabi for an afternoon pay-per-view card with two championship belts for the line-up. The event itself wasn't subject to quite as much of a promotional push as usual since ESPN is putting most of its marketing muscle behind the newly-launched ESPN streaming app, which won't include UFC programming, as the company will make a historic move to a subscription model for its PPVs at the start of 2026 on the Paramount+ service.

Still, the broadcast hosted two championship bout, both of which ended in a degree of controversy.

The co-main event saw the Strawweight title, a belt that was vacated by Zhang Welli, who will move up to the Flyweight division to challenge Valentina Shevchenko next month, won by Mackenzie Dern after a debatable unanimous decision against Virna Jandiroba. Both women had win streaks before the event, and their faces showed signs of the bout after it so considering that two of the three judges had Dern only winning by one round, a rematch would be suitable. Taking into account the margin of victory, I'd say that the result of the contest is debatable, not a robbery, while still being more than worth of a rematch.

However, the main event, a clash between UFC Heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall and perennial contender, Ciryl Gane with the title on the line, was marred by controversy.

The 32-year-old Aspinall is a fighter with a combination of power, speed, and agility that is in the prime of his career. His only loss in the UFC was as a result of a knee injury that stopped the fight just 19 seconds into the first round three and a half years ago. He knocked out three opponents since that time. Despite being the heavyweight champion, he has remained only sporadically active as a competitor, simply because not many fighters on the UFC roster are willing to take the fight when they are opposite Aspinall. Ironically, his UFC 321 opponent, Ciryl Gane originally declined to fight him a few years ago. Also ironically, former UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, who beat Gane to win the title without ever competing in the 265 LBS division after Francis Ngannou was stripped of the championship following a contract dispute with the UFC, refused to fight Aspinall as well.

In fact, Jon Jones was so intent on ducking the contest against Aspinall that he vacated the title without ever defending it just to avoid him as an opponent.

For Ciryl Gane, he was basically known as the guy that was somewhat of a gatekeeper for the heavyweight division as he beat solid fighters like Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa, but was defeated by the top-tier competition of the previously mentioned Ngannou and Jones.

That's why it was somewhat surprising when he got the better of Aspinall with strikes throughout the first round, blooding the champion's face as the round was coming to a close. Unfortunately, a pair of simultaneous eye pokes halted the action. The replay showed the brutal, albeit unintentional, foul from the challenger. After being given the standard five-minute recovery period, Aspinall told the referee and the ringside doctor that he still couldn't see from his compromised eye, prompting the ref to declare a no-contest for the main event of the pay-per-view.

Post-fight, everyone was understandably disappointed with the result, but there are a few key takeaways from the underwhelming conclusion to the event.

Gane showed more than enough to be granted a rematch as soon as possible, depending on the extent of the eye injury to Aspinall. Jon Jones continued to prove why his legacy is going to be remembered as a letdown when he trolled the heavyweight champion with a photo of a duck posted on  social media, and then attempted to issue a challenge to Alex Pereira for the UFC card that is scheduled to be held at the White House in June of 2026.

First and foremost, Jones retired rather than fight Aspinall because he knows that the British striker is a legitimate threat. This isn't anything new for "Bones" Jones, as he spent the majority of his career away from top competition when he either got himself in legal trouble or failed drug tests. Yes, Jon Jones had the potential to be known as the greatest MMA fighter of all time, but he fell woefully short of that distinction because of a laundry list of unwise decisions. Chazz Palminteri's stage show that was scripted for film, "A Bronx's Tale" had the powerful narrative, "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent," and that notion more or less sums up the career of Jon Jones. The way his continuous unwise decisions led to arrests and failed drug tests and it affected what could've been an all-time legendary career is more disappointing than anything else.

 I think it goes without saying that while Alex Pereira is a dangerous fighter and would be a challenge for Jones, it's no coincidence that Jon Jones would want to fight a more natural light heavyweight in the 265 LBS division to give himself an inherent advantage. The fact that Jones wanted no part of an Aspinall fight tells you that if he's going to take a risk at all, it's going to be a calculated risk. Reportedly, Jones re-entered the testing pool to eventually be eligible to fight, and given that he was invited to Trump inauguration earlier this year, it wouldn't be too surprising if the orange villain request that he compete at the card that will be held on Trump's birthday. Given Dana White's fondness for Trump, he will make it happen. If Jones can say out of jail and pass the drug test is a completely different matter.

The bigger story, at least right now, is where does any of this leave the UFC heavyweight division?

The bottom line is, Jones' reign as champion was a total farce. He was shoehorned into a title shot after the contract dispute with Francis Ngannou because the company wanted someone will star power to shift the narrative of the championship away from the exiting Ngannou. Jones won the title in March of 2023 and only defended it once when he beat Stipe Miocic in Novemver last year. So, within just over two years, the belt was defended once before Jones was stripped of the title this past June.

The no contest between Aspinall and Gane doesn't provide any answers, and if anything, only brings up more questions. Did we see a chink in the armor of the champion?

Truth be told, many of the divisions within the UFC have been influx during the duration of the ESPN deal. Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, injuries, retirements, and moving to different weight classes made an already oversaturated product that much more difficult to follow for the fans. More importantly, it made it exponentially more difficult to make stars when the championships of some divisions were MIA for extended periods of time.

There's no doubt that the massive 7-year deal worth $7.7 billion with Paramount is a total game changer because it will make more of the product more accessible to more fans than any other time in the history of the sport. But, it will definitely be important to have the promotion structured in a way that is easy for the audience to follow, which is one of the reasons for the original surge in popularity two decades ago.

The heavyweight championship has always had a level of gravitas and cache in American sports, and this new Paramount contract has the potential to rejuvenate a UFC product that was very diluted during the majority of the ESPN deal. So, the possible Aspinall/Gane rematch to determine a definitive heavyweight champion should be a priority for the organization.

What's the status of Justin Credible?

Justin Credible is a nice guy, but PJ Polaco is a desperate drug addict that should seek help immediately if he wants to stay alive. We've seen this story many times before, both inside and outside of professional wrestling, either someone changes their life or more often than not, they meet an early demise.

I wasn't surprised when I saw the news surface online two weeks ago that former ECW heavyweight champion, Justin Credible, who had several well-documented drug issues for the past several years, made headlines with claims that he was in a car accident. The real-life Peter Polaco made a name for himself in the late-90s as the hotshot heel in ECW after an undistinguished run in the WWF as Aldo Montoya. Undoubtedly, he overachieved, as nobody would've guessed that "The Portuguese Man of War" wearing the goofy mask in 1996 would've been a main event star in one of the national organizations four years later. Unfortunately, for the past 15 years, the former wrestling star has made headlines for all the wrong reasons outside of the ring.

In more recent years, Polaco was notorious for peddling merchandise online, including an autobiography that was published in 2022, to fans that would pay for the items but never receive anything from him. Numerous fans made others aware of the situation where they purchased books, autographs, or t-shirts before they were scammed out of the cash by the former wrestling star.

So, when Credible posted online that he was in a car accident and needed money for "gas and tolls" with heart monitor stickers still attached to him in the wrong places on his chest, it's understandable that most assumed that it was another ruse to try to get some quick cash.

It's not breaking news that drug addicts lie and will do anything to get their fix. They are so desperate that it's usually rather easy to poke holes in their story. Polaco, who lives in Connecticut, claimed that he was in Philadelphia when the wreck happened, and posted a picture of a car that looked to be totaled so how exactly would gas money help if the vehicle was clearly not able to make it on the road? He also claimed that he needed money for a hotel for the night, but already looked to be in a hotel room in the picture that he posted. He wore a rosary in the photo and asked if "anyone could bless him" when he asked for money. Sadly, drug addicts often try to cite religion in their attempts to get money.

Former WWE star, Maven confronted Justin Credible with the accusations that he scammed fans without sending merchandise on his Youtubue video series a few months ago, and the former ECW grappler admitted that he didn't send items to fans. He rebuffed claims from promoters that he showed up intoxicated to autograph signings in the past. One of the things that was clarified in the Maven video was that a graphic picture of an infection of his leg, which he used to ask for money before, was legitimate as Credible showed his leg in the video. The problem is, it's very possible that the leg infection is a result of drug use, as the late Jimmy Rave, who had well-documented drug use before he died in 2021, lost three limbs from it before he passed away.

About two months ago, he resurfaced in a wrestling ring when he had a match in Memphis that was absolutely pitiful to say the least. He looked like a drug addict and completely unhealthy in the video of the bout. It went less than four minutes and at one point, it looked like he could barely move, which was extremely concerning. Justin Credible hasn't worked a regular wrestling schedule in years so it's fair to say that he should move on to life after wrestling.

After the recent controversy, ECW valet, Francine posted a flashback video on her Youtube channel of an interview that she did for her podcast, where Credible claimed that he had a job lined up at a Chilli's restaurant in December, but it's unclear exactly when the interview took place so it's unknown if it's current or not. Generally, the food service industry doesn't drug test, but if someone is an addict, it's easy to see why they could lose a job if they aren't dependable to show up for it. Years ago, Justin Credible was said to have a job at an Olive Garden as a cook, and that probably would've been a good career to pursue after pro wrestling.

It's not as glamorous as pay-per-view, but there's absolutely no shame in someone transitioning back to civilian life to make an honest living in a field that could offer health insurance and benefits. As mentioned, PJ Polaco had a notable career that he could've been proud of, especially if he found success as a chef in his later years.

However, as disappointing as it is to say, the drug issues of PJ Polaco have completely overshadowed the career of Justin Credible. He's known more for his attempts to try to scam money from fans than anything he did in the ring. It's very sad because as mentioned, he deserves credit for how he overachieved from where he started in the business.

A lot of people have offered their opinion on the situation, but this is not another attempt to pile onto Polaco when he's clearly down. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

The main reason that I wanted to write this article is that when I met Justin Credible, he was tremendously kind and polite. When Shane Douglas tried his first attempt at an ECW reunion with Hardcore Homecoming in 2005, specifically after the original event in Philadelphia drew more than 1,000 fans in June of that year, a follow-up tour was booked for the fall with stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, all regular cities for ECW during its heyday. The ticket prices of Philadelphia didn't translate to later in the year, as the $100 floor seats at The Golden Dome in Monaca, PA went mostly unsold, but there were many fans that bought the $25 general admission tickets. We originally bought those general admission seats, but were upgraded to second row prior to bell time. Cleveland had The Dudleys, Raven, and Rhino on the card so Pittsburgh was clearly the B-show, but it was still a fun experience. The Buffalo show was canceled because of some type of conflict with the building. Post-show, there was an autograph signing with the stars for a donation to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

I hadn't noticed at the time since it was a rather jammed space where the wrestlers were signing, but Justin Credible actually wasn't at the tables that were set up. We met a few of the stars and everyone was gracious. When we were leaving the venue, we noticed Justin Credible in the lobby at one of the vending machines. I didn't realize it at the time because 16-year-old Jim was thrilled to get the Justin Credible ECW figured signed that I brought to the show, but he had a nurse with him and sounded like he might've been ill since it was flu season. Once I realized that he wasn't feeling well, I said, "I'm sorry I was going to ask for you to sign this, but I didn't know you weren't feeling good." Justin said it was no problem and insisted that he sign the figure and take a picture with us. He went as far as to thank us for asking him for an autograph. He didn't need to do that, and considering that he was ill, it would've been more than understandable if he would've declined.

There's no doubt that addiction brings out the worst in people, and while they are still responsible for their action, it doesn't mean that they are as terrible as their worst moments. Peter Polaco is a drug addict and he's doing what drug addicts do to get their fix, but that's not all that he is as a person. Based on how these situations usually go and the path that Polaco is on, I'd guess that his story is going to end the way that most of these scenarios end, but I sincerely hope I'm wrong. Professional wrestling doesn't need another topic for a Dark Side of The Ring episode, but it would be nice to see a successful redemption story.

Wrestle Dream review

All Elite Wrestling was back on pay-per-view this past weekend, this time in St. Louis, a historical wrestling city where a territory was established by legendary, Sam Muchnick, who was a pioneering member of the National Wrestling Alliance in the 1940s. Wrestle Dream was originally intended to be somewhat of a flimsy tribute to Antonio Inoki, and there was a brief portion of that on the broadcast, but all things considered and all legitimate respect to the iconic Japanese promoter, it's probably a concept that should be phased out in the future.

As with every AEW pay-per-view, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly on the show. To my knowledge, Clint Eastwood wasn't in attendance, but a reference to the movie title was enough to justify mentioning him. You're going to get good wrestling, bad wrestling, and some nonsense on these shows, that's just what the product is, and you have to know that going into the viewing experience. Granted, if it wasn't for the work that I do for these articles, I'd probably have skipped most of the AEW PPVs of the past two years so the work involved for these reviews might skew the perspective. Still, the fact remains that, positive or negative, it's well established what the Tony Khan product is.

Sure, the argument could be made that every wrestling show has the potential to have a little of each category, but the problem becomes that the AEW events bring such a level of inconsistency in terms of quality from segment to segment that you generally don't know where the score card is going to end up by the time the show goes off the air.

True to form, Wrestle Dream covered all the bases.

The show actually opened with the continuation of a bout from the pre-show, which was a really neat and innovative way to kick off the pay-per-view. If Tony wants to bring concepts to the table that haven't been seen before or not often for the American wrestling audience, he should focus on more stuff like this and less of the usual cannon fodder that gets churned out on these marathon cards. FTR beating Jet Speed in the final eight minutes of a fireworks match is almost mood in the grand scheme of things. The much bigger point is that it was a unique way to jump start the momentum of the PPV and was a quality segment on top of that.

The scheduled opener was Jamie Hayter vs. Thekla, and it was a decent contest, as the execution of the maneuvers was very well done, but it had somewhat of an inconsistent pace that led to a few flat points during the 15-minutes segment. The biggest missing piece of the puzzle for this match was the fact that the fans simply weren't invested in who Thekla is and thus the overall reaction to the sequences were minimal. That's not a criticism of her, but rather of how she was presented since she arrived in the promotion nearly six months ago. What do the fans truly know about the Thekla character? Yes, she calls herself the toxic spider so she can do the crab walk, which most fans will associate with the late Bray Wyatt, but what has the character been booked to do in AEW that the fans should character about? Very similar to many other talented performers that get lost in the shuffle, Thekla was brought into All Elite because of her success in Japan, which is completely reasonable, but in a glaring faux pas that has happened with other performers that made a previous reputation in Japan, All Elite Wrestling never truly explained her background. They mention the Stardom promotion, but as much as this might disappoint the diehard core AEW audience, the vast majority of American fans have no idea what Stardom is. Yes, the women's promotion has produced some absolutely tremendous wrestlers, but as an organization, the reference is over the head of most of the viewing audience. There wasn't anything done on television to truly put into context why Thekla's arrival should be a major deal for the women's division, and her almost superficial status in the company right now reflects that.

On the flip side, the fans have seen Jamie Hayter evolve from a secondary role in the organization to a champion in the past. It's unfortunate that most of her AEW tenure was plagued by injuries so far, but she undoubtedly has an upside between her crowd reaction and skill set. The response from the audience to Hayter compared to her opponent was an example of why it's so important to establish who the performers are to the entire audience. The sequence with the lariats to set up for the pin for Hayter was very well done.

Speaking of being well done, the tag match between The Young Bucks and Jurassic Express was really solid. It was a 20-minute dazzling spot fest that was a representation of the original mission statement of AEW with the notion to bring more fast-paced high spot wrestling to a national stage in the United States. The problem is that this is literally the same match that could've taken place six years ago and both teams are in the same place today as they were in 2019 so how much progress has really been made? AEW is still a relatively new venture, it hasn't been already long enough for nostalgia to be a selling point. Instead, this was just a retread to try to recapture something that worked before since nothing else has truly gotten off the ground.

Ironically, The Young Bucks' attempt to change the business from the traditional benchmarks almost proven why the building blocks of the business have endured over decades. High spot wrestling is some incredible stuff, but if you want to draw money on the national level on a long-term basis, there must be substance to go along with the sizzle. Despite some cringe worthy attempts to incorporate heel character development, The Young Bucks are actually less over today with six years of national exposure behind them than they were when the company launched. The organic buzz that they built on social media prior to the start of AEW with their over-the-top style was traded in for a rather forced attempt at trying to desperately sell their importance to the audience. Maybe the criticism that the high spot style lacks depth in the overall presentation has some validity because watching a Young Bucks match once a month on the independent circuit had a much different response to when there was a Young Bucks match on television every week. This isn't meant as a knock on the match itself, it was very entertaining, I'm just not sure where any of them go from here, Jack Perry got the pin to secure the victory so was this designed to attempt to push him? Should Tony Khan trust Jack Perry with any level of importance in the company again?

The six man tag match between The Hurt Syndicate and The Demand was fine for what it was. There wasn't anything wrong with it, as it was basically a TV match that you could've seen on an episode of Dynamite. The Hurt Syndicate got the win, which isn't surprising, and the only problem is that with a card that went over four and a half hours, this match could've been trimmed from the show without effecting the quality of the pay-per-view.

The TNT title match was really solid and a good representation of the brand. The only problem, besides that it went a few minutes too long and had a few tedious points, is that it was a main event style match, with the dramatic peaks and valleys that you'd expect from a closing segment, in the middle of the card. There was the power bomb on the steel stairs, an apron bump, and the brain buster on the turnbuckle. Some might consider that too risky, especially for the mid-card, but again, it's one of those aspects that you know come along with the All Elite package. The point being, if this was booked in the main event segment, not to say it should've been, but with the type of match they had, it would've worked a lot better in that position on the card. Fletcher retained the title.

The Women's world title match was a good bout that added a level of quality to the overall card. Both Kris Statlander and Toni Storm can go bell-to-bell so this contest was about what you'd expect from two pros that know how to work a match. The ending was a little flat after the extended submission attempt before the pin, but it didn't take anything away from the segment. Statlander retained. Mercedes Mone made her entrance while Statlander was still in the ring, implying that they might be a match between the two of them. If that happens, it would be nothing more than another way for her to try to shoehorn the Ultimo Dragon gimmick even more than she already has. It gets to the point that it's silly since for the most part, her All Elite tenure has been somewhat underwhelming. The interim Ring Of Honor Women's champion, Mina Shirakawa accepted the challenge, but the segment lacked any major importance, as the crowd reaction was minimal. Different from the previous women's bout, the title vs. title match was rather clunky. Mone won with a backslide and added the ROH interim women's belt to her mostly meaningless collection of titles. Post-match, there was another confrontation with Statlander so I'd assume that Mone will eventually win that championship as well.

The AEW Tag Team title match was very good. In a sea on nonsense and chaos, there's undoubtedly quality wrestling within AEW. This was a 30-minute fireworks show and has its place on the card. It would stand out exponentially more if there was even the slightest measured approach to the rest of the card. This was a 30-minute bout that was fast paced and hard-hitting. It was quality action, and the thrown together tag team of Bandido and Brody King became something that has given them both a solid direction in the organization. Bandido pinned Okada to retain the titles.

The AEW world title match was fine for what it was. It just didn't build any major drama since it was obvious that there wasn't a realistic chance that Joe was going to win the championship. Page won with the buck shot lariat. The post-match heel turn was very well done, and it worked for the pace of the card as well since it wasn't in the final segment of the night. Truth be told, the post-match angle was better than the actual bout since it created more intrigue for the future since the result of the match itself wasn't in doubt. It will be interesting to see if the Page/Joe feud continues and if it's used to try to boost Page as champion or give Samoa Joe a final world title run before he retires. 

The main event was polarizing, which isn't anything new for the All Elite product, or either of the competitors. A stark reaction is more or less par for the course, an aspect that makes it less "shocking" and more of a level of credibility to some of the criticism of the program. This I Quit match was basically the point in the feud where it was almost a flat point compared to what they did previously in the storyline. That's why there should be logical limits to what ends up booked on the card, as it eventually leaves you nowhere to go. Darby almost had his ear taken off with a fork, and he set Moxley on fire. Dunking Darby's head in a fish tank is rather tame by comparison. If you see a head-on collision on the road then see a fender bender five minutes later, it's not nearly as surprising as it would've been otherwise.

Ironically, the match was actually well worked in the first half when they took the time to sell, particularly as Jon Moxley whipped Allin with the belt. The fish tank spot almost looked cartoonish, not dangerous. The Sting cameo was fun to set up the finish where Darby used the Scorpion death lock to get the win. All things considered, Moxley should either take an extended vacation from AEW or potentially return to WWE. I understand that an entire stable of performers are involved, but Moxley and the faction have been completely overexposed in the company.

What's next for Seth Rollins?

The boy who cried wolf is a tale from literally centuries ago, and it's still a lesson that the WWE office had to learn the hard way.

When there was speculation that Seth Rollins' injury from a springboard off of the ropes might've been a work, I penned an article to warn of the potential pitfalls of such a tactic to try to swerve the audience. You can work the audience on performers being traitors to their country, sleazy con artists, and implied cult leaders, but injuries are a different matter entirely. The reason being is that the legitimate injuries, which are inevitable in professional wrestling, affect the real-life people behind the pro wrestling personas.

When Seth Rollins clutched his knee and looked terrified at Saturday Night's Main Event back in July, a spot that looked to throw off the timing of the rest of the show, as there was no logical reason to script a 15-minute Bill Goldberg retirement match, fans were understandably concerned.

If the injury was legitimate, it would affect the real life of Colby Lopez, not just the TV time of the Seth Rollins character.

Granted, professional wrestling isn't known for its high ethics and moral standards, but as I wrote before, working injuries, especially in the modern era, comes off as too low brow, even for sports entertainment. It creates an unnecessary level of distrust with the audience, specifically when legitimate injuries put talent on the shelf for an extended period of time or shorten their careers. When someone is seriously hurt, it's not wise to have any doubts from the audience since it's a real-life health concern.

At the time, I wrote that I didn't think the WWE would script a worked injury for those type of reasons, as it just seems sleazy, and that covers a lot of ground in pro wrestling. I was wrong, as it was revealed at Summer Slam a month after the injury angle that Seth was fine and cashed in his Money in The Bank contract to beat CM Punk for the world title in a very memorable moment. For the time being, it worked as it was a progression of the biggest and most effective push, one that he deserved for several years, of his entire career after he aligned himself with Paul Heyman at Wrestlemania in April.

I was wrong about the injury until I was right.

Unfortunately, there are again reports that Seth suffered a legitimate shoulder injury during his match-up with Cody Rhodes at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view last weekend. Of course, I'm skeptical of anything at this point, and while I don't think the WWE would try to work a second injury angle two months after the original swerve, I didn't think fake injuries was a decision they'd make in the first place so who knows?

That being said, I'd actually give more credibility to current reports about the shoulder injury at Crown Jewel than the initial reports of a knee injury at Saturday Night's Main Event. The reason being is that the angle that was used to conclude Raw, which was very well done, seems to be a decision based on the circumstances rather than meticulous planning by the writing team.

A photo of Seth with his arm in a sling surfaced online, but that means very little, considering that he made appearances on ESPN on crutches to push the swerve at Summer Slam. However, and I could be completely wrong on this, Bron Breakker turning on Rollins seemed to come out of nowhere, implying that legitimate injury could be the reason that Seth has to be written off of television for the time being.

Logically, it doesn't make sense for Breakker and Reed to turn on Seth while he is still the champion. It was an unprovoked  two-on-one attack, which puts Rollins, the devious champion that conned the audience into thinking he was hurt before he took a short cut to win the champion, in a sympathetic position. It would gel much better if the same segment was done after Seth lost the title, as it shows no loyalty between stablemates without the belt. Given that Seth is still the world champion and will seemingly defend it against the newly-minted number one contender, CM Punk at some point, I'd guess that the decision to split the stable was a reaction to a legitimate injury that puts Rollins' availability, at least in the foreseeable future, in question.

Another reason that I think this was a rushed decision based on a legitimate injury is that while I've been one of many that have said that Bron Breakker should be considered for a top spot in the future, particularly based on his skill level as compared to his experience, I honestly think that there was much more meat on the bone with Seth Rollins in the role as the leader of The Vision stable. The guy continues to be a workhorse, albeit an injury prone workhorse for the company, and he was finally getting a chance to make the most of his talent and cache in the organization. As I wrote at the time of the alliance at Wrestlemania, it was the first time in a decade that he wasn't playing second fiddle to either Roman Reigns or Jon Moxley, or simply bogged down with horrendous booking. Seth Rollins was finally going to get the chance to shine on all levels instead of being the guy that just didn't get the full force run that it seemed like he was capable of. There's no reason to pull the rug out from under him less than six months after the alignment with Heyman and less than two months after winning the championship.

An injury that will keep him off of television appears to be the only realistic path for him, as he can't be an effective heel leader without the stable that he put together, and he can't automatically be expected to be embraced as a baby face again. It puts his character in a storyline purgatory since there wouldn't be a clear justification for a baby face turn and there's no reason for the fans to want to cheer for him after he used nefarious tactics to win the title. In my opinion, the only way around that, as disappointing as it would be is for Rollins to be away for television for a significant period of time to allow for a fresh coat of paint for his character when he returns.

At this point, if Rollins is going to be on the injured list, the split with the stable might've been the only choice, but even if that's the case, it doesn't automatically mean that Bron Breakker is ready for that spot.

Rushing Breakker to the main event scene might lead to him being exposed in longer matches that would require more peaks and valleys than the segments he's used to working on television. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Breakker can't get there, I'm just pointing out that there's a risk of trying to shoehorn the narrative rather than allow it to unfold organically over the course of the originally storyline.

It goes without saying that Breakker is ahead of the curve, but again, nothing is automatic, and there's a laundry list of talents from the modern era, specifically within the time frame of when there were two world titles on WWE programming that certain prospects fell flat when they were given the belt too early in their development as performers. Remember when the office thought that Jack Swagger was going to be a main event guy? Alberto Del Rio checked all the boxes on paper, but his reigns fell short of expectations. Even Sheamus, who is a tremendous performer, had much bigger success long after his title reigns than when he had the belt.

If the office decides to run with Bron Breaker, it would be a feast or famine scenario, particularly because of the nature of the modern audience. However, the biggest takeaway from this potential injury is that it might be a situation where management has to shift the direction of Seth Rollins in the future. Sure, the injury in July was a work, but there's no doubt that he has proven to be injury prone. He had well-documented knee injuries, back injuries, and there were reports over the years of neck issues. That isn't to say that his career is over or that he won't return to continue as a star, but given this most recent shoulder injury, he might be someone that the office will invest a limited amount of stock into going forward, more as a precaution than anything else. It will be interesting to see what moves are made within the next few weeks, as the star power on Raw has gotten noticeably thinner than it was when the brand debuted on Netflix at the start of the year.   

What's the status of Conor McGregor?

Conor McGregor's career is over.

Sure, the brash Irishman will continue to scuttle around the MMA and entertainment world, but his time as a fighter, and more importantly, a top draw in the sport is done. The narrative of the career of the former Featherweight champion isn't anything new, he was a talented athlete that allowed fame and fortune to ruin his career and tarnish his legacy, but it's still a fascinating case of self-destruction within the span of less than a decade.

The latest blunder for McGregor is a prime example of  how massive wealth, as much as it can make life rather carefree, comes with an almost equally massive amount of responsibility.

After he racked in more than $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather in 2017 in a circus, albeit a very lucrative circus, of a boxing match, the entertaining striker hasn't been anywhere near as sharp in the octagon as he was previously.

In short, Conor has made more headlines, for al the wrong reasons, outside of the cage than anything he did in the UFC. After filming a season of The Ultimate Fighter with the notion that he would fight fellow coach, Michael Chandler at the conclusion of the series in 2023, McGregor never enrolled in the UFC testing pool, which made him ineligible to compete. 

Despite enrolling in the program last year, an indication that he might actually make his return to MMA, it was announced last week that McGregor was suspended for 18 months because he didn't inform the anti-doping agency of where he was, a requirement of the program, and thus missed a test on three different occasions, prompting the suspension to be enforced from the time that he missed the third test, which wouldn't make him eligible to fight again until at least March of 2026.

Keep in mind, none of this is a new protocol and it's a standard of the anti-doping policy, as it allows for random testing to maintain the integrity of the program. For Conor to conveniently not tell the agency where he was, he was able to avoid taking the test, which implies, at least in my view, that he has something to hide from the anti-doping agency.

I say this because he had more than ample notice to enroll in the program during the course of the Ultimate Fighter season, but wasn't on the roster to even be given a test and then after he enrolled in the testing pool to make him available for random testing, he was no where to be found.

Remember, the last time we saw the former UFC champion in the octagon, he suffered a gruesome injury at the end of the first round of a rematch against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, snapping his leg before the contest was halted. Infamously, Anderson Silva suffered the same injury when he threw a kick during a rematch with Chris Weidman in late-2013. Silva, arguably the most dominate champion in UFC history during his prime, was on the sidelines for more than a year. When he returned to the cage to beat Nick Diaz via unanimous decision in January of 2015, he failed a drug test for steroids so the fight was overturned to a no contest. After the Diaz bout, Silva had a 1-5 record before he retired from the sport.

The biggest takeaways from this scenario is that steroids can be used to attempt to comeback as strong as possible given the nature of the serious injury, and considering that Silva had the exact same injury and eventually tested positive for steroids, it certainly creates a level of suspicion as to why Conor McGregor has avoided taking a drug test since his injury four years ago.

Again, taking everything into account between dodging the testing pool in 2023 and avoiding the test when he was in the testing pool in 2024, I think it's fair to say that McGregor has something to hide.

However, he has faced bigger problems outside of the sport that might be even more damaging to his career.than the suspension that will keep him away from the octagon until at least 2026.

McGregor has a laundry list of physical assaults, sexual assaults, and arrests. That sets a precedent of this type of behavior, but it was still shocking when he was accused of a violent rape that was alleged to have taken place in 2018. In 2024, after it was determined that there wasn't enough evidence for a criminal trail, the woman that accused McGregor won a civil case against him where he was found to be responsible for the rape by a jury. He attempted to appeal the case, but it was eventually denied.

The negative publicity did major damage to his public image in his native Ireland and he lost several endorsement deals as a result. Not surprisingly, it didn't do much harm to his value as a fighter in the United States, as the news went unnoticed by most causal MMA fans, and truth be told, for the general public, it was somewhat of an "out of sight, out of mind" situation for him.

Prior to the announcement of the suspension, McGregor claimed that he wanted to fight on the White House card next June for Trump's birthday, which was probably a way for him to attempt to grab some headlines. While he has a fondness for Trump, sharing similar political views with the orange felon, and actually visited the White House this past March, it's doubtful that he will realistically compete at the event. The UFC already catered to McGregor when they shoehorned him into the position of being a double champion and more or less got burned for their efforts when he took that promotional hype to the previously mentioned boxing match against Floyd for $100 million.

I wouldn't be totally shocked if Dana White bends the rules for Conor to get onto the White House card, but would it really be worth the hassle? There will be several other fighters at the event that will praise Trump and that's basically the entire point of the production. 

As silly as this might've sounded ten years ago, the UFC doesn't need Conor McGregor or his baggage anymore.

It's a rather easy decision for the UFC because the reason to have Conor McGregor on the roster and thus tolerate his nonsense no longer exist. The new Paramount deal, which will bring subscribers the pay-per-view events for the much lower price of $7.99 a month as opposed to the current $79.99 per events, makes it exponentially easier for the company to get fans to invest into the product through the Paramount subscription. Basically, they need pay-per-views that are worth $8 in perceived market value, not $80 so they don't need a major headliner nearly as often going forward as they did before this new contract.

In theory, this should allow more exposure for more fighters to hopefully rebuild a mostly unknown and diluted roster. Assuming that happens, new stars will be made, and even if they aren't on the level of McGregor at his peak, there are enough talented fighters that just need the promotional push to be in the position to have enough cache to headline pay-per-views. When new stars are made, they makes McGregor's involvement less necessary since there really isn't a spot for him in the organization.

McGregor dodging the test and putting himself on the sidelines for at least another six months prevents any hype around him or potential match-ups from being on the horizon. Between the suspension and the negative publicity, it's difficult to expect McGregor as a priority for the company to promote in the future. All things considered, I'd be very surprised if he ever fights again, and if he does, it probably won't be in top form, as unfortunately, we've seen this type of fall from grace in sports before. It's a rather odd situation, as Conor McGregor was the top star in the UFC and one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport, but it was for a relatively short time and his impact on mixed martial arts declined almost as fast as his initial surge in popularity several years ago.