APWF returns to Johnstown

"Jimmy, I've been in this business a long time and that was one of the best matches I've ever been on the call for."

As Mike "Doc" Daugherty sat in a booth next to Declan Finnegan at a pizza place a few blocks from The Kastle, the venue that just hosted the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation's Johnstown debut this past August, he recounted the stellar main event match the three of us had just called for the indywrestling.us production team. By the time we all emptied out of the venue, it was after 10:30 PM so when we strolled into the old school pizza shop, there were only a few other customers there. Despite the August humidity and the late night, we were all still hyped as we each divided up a few slices.

Bill Collier, the current International Wrestling Cartel heavyweight champion and ace of the APWF, just put on a 30-minute classic with NWA star, Spencer Slade. This was a dramatic, action-packed bout with peaks and valleys that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout the duration. It was an old school presentation blended with modern athletics, creating moments that fans are still talking about today. As the three of us sat at the broadcast table that night, you could sense the anticipation and excitement in the venue.

It was one of those rare occasions as a broadcaster where you knew you were seeing something special as it was happening in the ring. Doc has worked for a myriad of organizations as one of the most tenured and well-respected voices of the Pittsburgh area, as he has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the Reengage Wrestling Alliance since its inception in 2009, as well as being the lead commentator for Prospect Pro Wrestling since it launched in 2018. I started in the business as a photographer in 2008 before I started to work as a commentator the following year. I can tell you that there's a very short list of matches that were the caliber of the Collier/Slade APWF main event we called in August. Even Declan, who is newer to the business than us, knew immediately that the organization delivered a bout that would stand up across the independent landscape.

"With so much talent on the local scene, it’s really impressive to see what APWF has started up again! The main event in the last card was as good as anything you’ll see on an independent card with Bill Collier and Spencer Slade in the Main Event!  So much talent to speak of and just packed with surprises, I cannot wait to see what’s in the horizon for the reboot of this company," said Declan Finnegan when reached via phone last week.

Now, the APWF is set to make its highly-anticipated return to Johnstown with "Nightmare at The Kastle," a Halloween theme event on October 26th. A myriad of stars, including the best young talent and a mixture of established veterans, have been assembled to create a unique presentation not often seen on the independent scene. Elijah Dean and Zach Nystrom, collectively known as Money Shot, are scheduled to appear. Dean, a former IWC heavyweight champion, has also held numerous tag team championships with his longtime tag partner, Nystrom. Flawless fundamentals and dynamic skills made Money Shot arguably the best tag team in independent wrestling today. Aside from a reign as the IWC tag championships, Money Shot held the Ryse Wrestling tag belts for almost a full calendar year in 2023, and also had a run with the Absolute Intense Wrestling tag team championship that same year.

"The fans can expect great matches from workers from everywhere that will bring their best to entertain the fans .We try to book interesting match-ups and make the shows epic, and tell the stories in the ring since we are not running monthly. That's why I call APWF shows epic events, and the people in Johnstown, PA can see this great wrestling action at the Kastle Facilty. The staff at the Kastle have been great because they want pro wrestling in the area. That's what we will bring on Oct 26th," said Bubba Brewer, owner and promoter of the Allied Powers Wrestling Federation.

"APWF" Is great for the Pittsburgh independent scene. The history behind APWFs past speaks for itself. It gives the audience new faces and a new flavor. It is led and backed by one of the best in our business, Bubba Brewer. Bubba's vision is vast and has a bright future.  I'm just honored to be a part of it. The sky is the limit when it comes to APWF," added Doc Daugherty, the lead voice of APWF.

 

As a part of Bubba's new vision for the organization, he wanted to give more female grapplers a chance to shine at a time when women's wrestling is one of the most quality aspects of the national scene. At the Kastle in August, the dangerous Lexus Synn, who is scheduled for  October 26th, knocked out her opponent, Slammin' Sammy with a vicious high kick to the face. Sammy, a determined and energetic rookie with only half a dozen matches so far in her career, refused to be denied, accepting the call for APWF to step into the ring in October with the eccentric luchadora, Peg Asa, a competitor based in the Mexican style. Peg Asa was a student at the ICWA training center, debuting about a year and a half ago in the sport. She brings an unpredictable style and has already had many pundits suggest that she has a bright future in the industry.

"APWF has been so helpful to my young career by booking me in back to back shows. I appreciate Bubba Brewer, Larry Striker, and all of the staff for their dedication and constant promotion of the shows and the wrestlers! I am honored to wrestle for them and their fans," said Slammin' Sammy.

A wave of positive momentum surrounds the APWF ahead of this October event, which will feature a costume contest for fans, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Make-A-Wish foundation, as Bubba Brewer expressed when he relaunched the organization that he wanted to use pro wrestling as a platform to impact the communities that hosted events beyond just the action in the ring. Brewer, despite his use of modern technology to deliver his podcasts, one specifically based on his hometown team, The Pittsburgh Steelers, online every week, is as old school as they come for professional wrestling. He broke into the business in 1998, working as a pro wrestler, promoter, and organizer over the course of several years. Even the savvy veteran knows that there's a learning curve for today's market, and that has proven to be a learning experience for him as a promoter in 2024.

"Well, bringing the APWF back wasn't and isn't easy because it's a different time, but social media has helped. I also realized I can't make everyone happy. and I, with my staff, try to do the very best that we can getting and promoting our shows," Brewer explained.

Still, Bubba finds himself on the grind as a promoter in the weeks ahead of the event. It's not uncommon for him to check in with a Facebook Live video to let the fans know where he's putting up event poster to advertise the organization. The ambitious promoter leaves his house in the late afternoon with a stack of flyers and doesn't return until late night with an empty supply box before he jumps online for one of his weekly podcasts.

As a broadcaster that has been in the business for 16 years, I admire the hustle and work ethic that Bubba Brewer puts into his projects. He doesn't simply rely on social media posts or others to share content, he quite literally puts in the work and the miles to make these events happen. One thing is for sure, APWF has a special atmosphere that you won't find too often on the independent circuit, which is something that my broadcast pals and I each noticed after the stellar event at the Kastle in August.

The line-up for October is highlighted by many young wrestlers that are looking to make a name for themselves. The Rad Boyz, who Bubba has touted as the best tag team on the independent scene. will be in action. Sam Handman, who is from Johnstown, will square off against Cristiano Argento, Gorgeous Gregory, who many have proclaimed to be a pro wrestling prodtegy, will make his debut for the promotion, and The Troublemakers will also be back in action in the APWF. Speaking of the trio known as The Troublemakers, Glenn Spectre, a longtime veteran that was the first "gaijin" or foreigner to win the DDT tag team titles in Japan, has formed the group consisting of some of his students.  Canaan Kristopher is regarded by many as a true natural inside the ring ropes, and Tyler Brooks has already made an impact anywhere he goes in his relatively new career. What will The Troublemakers have in store for the APWF on October 26th?

"My goals for the APWF are to return to the S&T Bank Arena in 2025 and keep promoting shows at The Kastle. Indiana & Cambria counties have a great spot to have these wrestling shows. I will always try to help the indy market in Western PA, and hopefully one day have that indy mania event that I've been talking about for 20 years. I also want to get shows in high schools for fundraisers .It was only suppose to be one show, but it turned into three this year, and I want to be a positive force in indy wrestling," concluded Bubba Brewer.

AEW television deal

The numbers don't lie

For all of the criticism, some of it valid about the presentation of All Elite Wrestling, the numbers tell the story, both positively and negatively for the narrative around the organization. By nature, professional wrestling can be subjective, an old timer from the golden era probably thinks the vast majority of the Attitude era was trashy drek that appealed to the lowest common denominator, and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong. At the same time, the late-90s created some of the biggest superstars in the history of the industry and the sport was a part of pop culture. With more than 10 million viewers for pro wrestling on any given week between the two prime time shows of Raw and Nitro on Monday, it's tough to argue that Attitude era was a detriment to the industry, even if certain aspects definitely were in hindsight.

All Elite Wrestling has been categorized as everything from a project that shifted the business to a vanity project that puts a niche style on national television. Again, both of these notions can be true to some degree. The existence of All Elite gave the sport, for both talent and fans, options after the industry became extremely stagnant for the several years prior. At the same time, it's clear that Tony Khan's only qualification to book a national professional wrestling company is that he's from a billionaire family that can fund it as long as they want to put money towards the project, and Tony undoubtedly books the matches he personally wants to watch, not what will draw money on a national level. If he happens to book something that draws well, it's a mere coincidence. Keep in mind, Tony doesn't have to make money from AEW to achieve financial security so booking to draw money isn't the top priority of the organization.

It's well-known that Tony grew up a diehard fan reading The Wrestling Observer newsletter, which was even more of a niche publication in the days of its printed pages sent from Dave Meltzer's PO box than it is now. Make no mistake about it, the vast majority of the inside scoop that circulates online today is still from Meltzer in some form or fashion, but there are simply more outlets that distribute the rumors around the industry today than in the past.

As a result, Meltzer has to keep a base that will subscribe to his newsletter, which isn't a knock at all, just to point out that he finds a way to continue to make a living from the sport more than 40 years after he started. As much as Meltzer is undoubtedly bias toward AEW, and has a level of invested interest in its success, as its existence is one of the pillars of his newsletter, the eccentric historian is absolutely one of the best resources of the history of the sport, he just seems to miss the mark often concerning the modern era, at least from my perspective. The Wrestling Observer has often taken a rather skewed perspective to paint All Elite in the best light possible, even when there isn't good news around the company. Somehow, with a nearly 30% dip in television viewership as compared to two years ago, Meltzer will still try to ignore the fact that less people are watching AEW programming now than any other point in its five-year history. But, pushing that narrative serves his base of contrarian fans that will subscribe to his newsletter, as that demographic will often favor anything that isn't WWE in a misguided attempt to seem knowledgeable.

So, no, All Elite Wrestling isn't in a great place at the moment with sluggish ratings and sparse attendance. The Observer influence on Tony was the notion that somehow the dazzling "work rate" style that so many diehard fans follow closely would translate to the general public or the causal fan, if only it was given the chance with a mainstream platform. If nothing else, one of the definite takeaways from the five-year history of AEW is that characters and compelling storytelling are still what connects with a mainstream audience, not just the "work rate" of a performer. Please don't misunderstand me, I really enjoy the hidden gems of the business so to speak. Brad Armstrong is one of the most underrated of all time, All Japan in the 90s was incredible, and Hayabusa was one of the most spectacular performers of all time. But, there's a reason that Scotty 2 Hotty dancing, Steve Austin drinking beer, and Goldberg's smash mouth style were so popular in the United States with the casual fans. The general public wants to be entertained by the pro wrestling characters, they just don't care as much about the perfectly executed high spots. 

The spot fest style just hasn't and probably won't translate to a bigger audience. Can aspects of that style be successful on a national level? Sure, but Tony hasn't found a way to package it for the TBS audience. Proof of that was that last week's five-year anniversary episode of Dynamite, which featured Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay, a spinoff of their excellent series in New Japan several years ago, and Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada for the AEW championship, actually saw a slight decrease in the ratings from the previous week. The anniversary show drew 680,000 viewers, one of the lower numbers that the show garnered this year. The event was actually held at the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, a venue that the great Pat Maclaughlin and I attended four prior episodes of Dynamite since the lanuch of AEW. Even with a two-for-one discount the week before and tickets being lowered to just $15 the week of the event, we declined to go to the TV taping. The nature of All Elite television is just too sporadic to truly know what you're going to get on any given week, and even with Ricochet/Will Ospreay on the card, I didn't think they were necessarily going to recapture what they did in New Japan eight years go to the point that it had to be seen live. As much as  Okada will be known as an all-time great after he hangs up his boots, it's clear that he coast on his reputation more often than not in AEW so again, I didn't think even Danielson/Okada was must see in-person for Dynamite. Given the decrease ratings, the television audience didn't consider it must see either.

Still, the AEW/WBD deal was made official last week, keeping All Elite Wrestling on the Turner networks for at least the next three years, with a fourth year option for Warner Brothers Discovery. Depending on what you read, there's some slight variation with the numbers, but it's suggested to be around $185 per year for AEW to broadcast their shows on TBS and TNT with a pay-per-view option on the Max streaming service. Some of the details that have emerged are that Dynamite and Collision will be in their usual time slots, but Rampage, the clear C-show on the line-up anyway, will be discontinued. As apart of the deal for content on Max, Dynamite and Collision will be streamed live on the platform, which in theory could provide more access to AEW programming. As far as pay-per-view, according to reports, All Elite PPVs will be able to be purchased on Max at a discounted price, but viewers must already be subscribed to the service. It wasn't confirmed what the price tag will be to watch in on the streaming platform, but it should be noted that it isn't an exclusive deal. Other services, including traditional pay-per-view providers, will still offer AEW PPVs at the regular price. However, it was mentioned that All Elite Wrestling archives will be hosted on Max, which is another way to increase access to the product. It was interesting to note that Ring Of Honor wasn't mentioned at all in the announcement so it appears that those archives will still be kept on Honor Club.

Dave Meltzer reported that AEW is pitching another television show "Shock Wave" to networks, including Fox, but all things considered, there's really no need for a third show, especially because Rampage already proved that a C-show is moot in the grand scheme of things.

AEW apologists will tout this as a major victory for the company, and more money is always a good thing, but there wasn't really anything surprising about this deal. As mentioned before, pro wrestling is still relatively cheap original programming for networks so even with the dip in ratings, it wasn't a realistic possibility that WBD wasn't going to renew the deal. The newsworthy portion of the story was the PPV component and how it could provide more access through a streaming service, not the fact that AEW will remain on the Turner networks. Furthermore, it was revealed through various news outlets, including the Sports Business Journal, that WBD owns a portion of All Elite Wrestling so it's very doubtful they would opt not to renew something that they quite literally have a vested interest in its success.

Those same apologists will always claim that AEW is now profitable with the news of this deal, and hopefully, they are going to make a profit at some point during the duration of the contract, but it won't be known for sure until all the losses of the past five years and current expenses are accounted for. Sure, the company might make a profit on the year, but how much does that cover from the overall losses of the past five years? It's very possible that the company could finish with a profit for the calendar year of 2025, but it's well-known that the company lost money its first five years with operating costs, and the initial start up costs might also be taken into account before the term profit is truly associated with AEW.

It's a very unique time within the climate of the media business, as networks try to juggle traditional television distribution with the potential money to be made through a streaming service. The Turner networks will lose the rights to broadcast NBA games after next season, concluding decades of NBA content on the channels. Amazon made a better offer, Warner Brothers Discovery wasn't in the position to compete with the number, and one of Turner's more popular commodities will be broadcast elsewhere. If Turner was going to stay within sports broadcasting, especially if they own a portion of AEW, it's easy to see why they want to showcase as much of the content as possible. The circumstances of the NBA deal and the evolving nature of the streaming market allowed All Elite Wrestling to get an increase in their rights fees despite the decline in the ratings.

Bad Blood review

This past weekend's Bad Blood pay-per-view is in the books, and despite being a clear B-show in terms of importance on the WWE calendar, with a five-match card, the show was still very newsworthy after it went off the air. It's important to note that while the term "B-show" traditionally implies something lackluster, that wasn't the context in this case. With the new era of the WWE, more specifically post-Vince McMahon, the "big four" traditional pay-per-views usually have a longer runtime with more matches on the line-up, while other events, such as this show, are specifically booked for an abbreviated card, which isn't a negative. However, it should be noted that despite only five matches scheduled for this PPV, the broadcast still stretched to three and a half hours, creating a very tedious viewing experience at certain points, simply because of the delays between the bell-to-bell action. For example, the PPV had 15 minutes of pryo and ballyhoo before the opening bell of the first match. This just wasn't necessary, as the tighter broadcasts have been much easier to watch in recent months. At least thirty minutes could've been trimmed off this show, and running over the three-hour mark almost defeats the purpose of a five-match card.

The show opened with the Drew McIntyre/CM Punk HIAC match, which was somewhat surprising, given the history of the feud and the PPV itself. Don't get me wrong, I understand that management looked to book end the show so to speak with a major match at the start and then close the show with the star power of the Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns tag match, but at the same time, it puts the rest of the under card at a disadvantage since they had to follow the signature gimmick match. The match itself was exactly what a payoff to a feud should be, all of the bells and whistles, and the most definitive moments were put in this segment to create a specific conclusion to the feud. There were very physical strikes, some brutal bumps on the steel stairs, and a lot of blood, which stands out because you rarely see it in the modern era. Punk did a blade job after he was lawn darted into the side of the cell, but Drew got a nasty hard way cut from a toolbox shot, bleeding buckets throughout most of the match. The only downside was that on two occasions, the referee used a towel to wipe away the blood, which defeats the entire purpose of using it in the bout, especially after Punk planned to bleed. It takes away a key piece of the presentation because it's anything goes, except if there's too much blood. McIntyre needed 16 staples to close the nasty gash after the contest. Either way, this was still a quality match-up with a level of intensity that was justified for the feud. The only criticism for the structure of this segment was that it used a very methodical pace and dragged at a few points, but this was still the best match on the card. Drew took a brutal bump on the stairs before CM Punk landed the GTS to get the victory.

After 10 minutes of video packages and entrances, Nia Jax defended the WWE Women's title against Bayley. The only thing that I can think of when it comes to Nia's continued push is that being related to The Rock has its perks. Listen, I'm sure that the real-life person behind the character is probably very nice, but we're discussing the performance of the pro wrestling persona. Quite frankly, nothing about Nia's in-ring ability or lack thereof says that she should be in a prominent role in the biggest sports entertainment company in the world. Early in the match, her strikes and in-ring work were extremely sloppy. Her worked punches either lacked effort, skill, or both.  At one point, Nia attempted a hurricanrana that looked comically terrible.When Bayley made a comeback about halfway through the segment, Nia's selling wasn't great either. Eventually the action spilled outside the ring and Nia nailed Bayley with a power bomb on the steps before she whipped her into the guardrail for what looked like a dangerous bump. Given the history that Jax has hurting opponents, it was probably not a spot that should've been planned for this match. Nia attempted a pop up Samoan drop, but Bayley landed awkwardly on her shoulder on the canvas, and even the announcers didn't know what the spot was supposed to be when Nia went for a pin fall. The ref got bumped and was down when Bayley got the visual pin before Tiffany Stratton ran out for the possible cash in of the MITB title shot. Nia interrupted before she nailed a Samoan drop from the second rope to get the win.

Damien Priest vs. Finn Balor was a really solid match and they probably did the most that they could do with the 10 minutes they were given for the contest. Everything was crisp and well done. Who knows if Priest will remain near the title picture since Gunther looks to be set for a dominate reign, but performances like this will keep Priest in the mix as a featured star. Balor made his opponent look great and it's one of the reasons that he's such an asset to the company. Carlito and JD McDonagh ran in, but were dispatched by Priest before he choke slammed Balor to win the contest.

Liv Morgan defended her Women's title against Rhea Ripley in  a match that had Dominik Mysterio placed in a shark cage partially above the aisle way. This match was more smoke and mirrors than in-ring work, as from an in-ring perspective, it was basically a television match, but there wasn't anything wrong with that, especially given the finish. Somehow, Dominik ended up hanging upside down from the cage and was pummeled by Ripley before Raquel Rodriguez made her return to attack Rhea, causing the disqualification. Usually, a DQ at a pay-per-view is really flat, and there was some of that here, but since  everyone involved has done a very good job in the storyline, this could set up for a bigger match in the future since this obviously isn't the concussion to the angle with the introduction of  Raquel Rodriguez as an enforcer.

 The main event was the star power portion of the program, but they put in the work bell-to-bell as well. Granted, this was definitely a WWE style main event, but it was still a quality bout that had the "big fight" atmosphere to close the show. It goes without saying, but everything these guys, including the less experienced Solo Sikoa, did was quality work. That being said, Jacob Fatu is a special athlete, he's one of the very few guys, similar to Gunther in some ways, that brings a legitimate level of authenticity to the table. Fatu has an aura and an intensity that can undoubtedly be used to draw money on a major scale in the future. If Roman has another title run as a baby face, a feud against Fatu for the championship could be an excellent series of matches. Speaking of Fatu, at one point Cody put him on the announce desk and dove from the ring post through the table for a wild spot. Eventually, the Bloodline interfered and the heels had the advantage until Jimmy Uso returned to even the odds, allowing Roman to hit the spear for the win. I'm guessing this is to set up a potential War Games match at Survivor Series, which gets yet another main event match from this evolving storyline. 

Post-match, The Rock made his return to the company after a six-month hiatus to film a movie. Again, this could go toward the potential War Games match between the Bloodline factions at Survivor Series, but in the grand scheme of things, this could also be a way to start the build to Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock for the WWE title at Wrestlemania next year. I think to bring The Rock back here as opposed to The Royal Rumble suggest that he will be involved with something at Survivor Series, but one this is for sure, The Rock/Cody Rhodes would be a major draw for Wrestlemania next year.

VHS memoirs:Bad Blood 1997

The Bad Blood pay-per-view, an event that has been dormant since the Raw brand hosted the show 20 years ago, will return to the WWE calendar this weekend. Ironically, it will be on the same day, October 5th, as the original Bad Blood pay-per-view 27 years ago in 1997.

The show itself is known for the announcement of the tragic sudden passing of Brian Pillman, who was scheduled to wrestle Dude Love that night. Historically, it’s known for not only the first cell match, but also the debut of Kane, who would go on to be one of the most consistent quality performers In the history of the company.

With the anniversary of the pay-per-view falling on the same day as the latest edition this weekend, I decided to review the original pay-per-view from the early stages of the attitude era for this edition of the VHS memoirs. Perhaps it’s just nostalgia, but the opening video package to hype the main event between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, similar to many of the video packages of this time, still seems epic and adds a lot to the overall presentation of the show. Keep in mind, this was at a time when WCW ran monthly pay-per-views, and earlier that same year, ECW had gotten into the pay-per-view game as well so there was a lot of competition for the PPV dollar, which necessitated promotions trying to push the biggest selling point possible to get fans to dip into their wrestling budget on any given month. I think it’s fair to say, the new concept of the cell in 1997 was partially designed to do exactly that, get a portion of pay-per-view by rates at a time when WCW was doing very well, generating a lot of revenue at the time when the WWF still struggled.

The first match on the card was a handicap match as the Nation of Domination of D’Lo Brown, The Rock, and Kama squared off against the Legion Of Doom. A clip was shown to explain that Ken Shamrock was originally scheduled to be in the match, but was injured at the hands of Farooq, who was scheduled to compete later in the night. It goes without saying that the LOD were probably past their prime at this point, but they still received a tremendous reaction from the crowd and definitely still had something to offer to the major leagues of the sport. The match was basic, but still a fun segment. D’Lo took some great bumps and made his opponents look tremendous in the process. Of course, the three-on-two aspect was used throughout the contest. The finish saw Farooq run in for distraction, which allowed The Rock to land the rock bottom on Hawk to get the win.

Next, it was reiterated that the scheduled match-up with dude love was canceled because Pillman passed away earlier that day. As a replacement, a Mexican minis tag match of Max Mini and Nova vs. Mosaic and Tarantula was booked. There were some fun spots, but there were also some clunky portions as well. The crowd seemed somewhat lost because they were working with traditional lucha tag rules. The athleticism of the minis was impressive, but this became it almost mishmash of spots that didn’t build to anything because the radically different style didn’t connect with the WWF crowd. I wouldn’t say the match was terrible, but the five minute segment was rather disjointed with a few bright spots as it just seemed lost in this particular setting of a WWF event. Max Mini and Nova got the win.

Sunny shows up to be the special guest ring announcer for the tag team title match when The Headbangers defended against the Godwinns. This was basic, but still had its moments to be entertaining. The babyface team shined in the opening moments before the heels got some heat on Thrasher. At one point, The Headbangers gave Phineas a flapjack maneuver and he just barely missed landing directly on his head. The finish saw Mosh get a hot tag and start to clear the ring until he went to the top rope and dove off before Phineas countered it into a power bomb for the three count to win the titles. Again, there was nothing too flashy or spectacular about this match, but it included some very memorable characters from this era so there was entertainment value in the segment.

Following that, there was a really neat segment to honor the wrestling legends from the St. Louis area. Gene Kiniski, Jack Brisco, Lou Thez, Dory Funk Jr, Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Sam Muchnick each got very nice video packages to highlight their careers. In a very nice moment, when Musnik was introduced, Lou Thez walked with him to assist him to ringside. The audience gave them a very nice round of applause as a show of respect.

Owen Hart vs. Farooq was held for the vacant intercontinental championship after "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was infamously injured with a pile driver at Summer slam that year. As an in-ring segment, this was basically a television match-up on pay-per-view. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but the storyline was the priority ahead of the in-ring work for this contest, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Steve Austin was at ringside and his shenanigans, including interrupting the international announce teams, was the focus of the segment. Jim Neidhart made his way to ringside to distract the ref, and Stone Cold nailed Farooq with the belt to allow Owen to get the win. Of course, the theory behind it was that Austin wanted to set up another match with Owen to get revenge for the injury. 

Another impromptu match that was added to the card was an eight-man tag between Los Barricas and The Disciples of Apocalypse. Unfortunately, this is another TV match that happened to be placed on pay-per-view, which probably suggest how scrambled things were after the death of Pillman earlier that day. Again, there wasn’t anything wrong with this match, but it was an eight-man tag that went less than 10 minutes so there’s simply not a lot to say about it. Eventually, Crush landed a back breaker to get the win.

Given how memorable Bret Hart's heel run that year was, I have to be honest when I planned to re-watch this pay-per-view for this review, I expected more from this tag team flag match. Bret and Bulldog were paired against Vader and The Patriot. Ironically, some of the same things can be said about Vader and The Patriots in terms of how their careers didn't propel in the WWF In retrospect, on the surface, it appeared like both of them could’ve had a much bigger run, but injuries and missed opportunities prevented it from materializing to any noticeable level. I’m not sure why this was booked as a flag match because during the entrances, it was noted that a potential pinfall or submission was added as a way to win the match instead of just capturing the flag. The match itself was very disjointed and didn’t have quite the amount of sizzle I would’ve expected thought these four would bring to the table. Vader looked extremely tired at some points in the segment so this was probably an example of him being past the prime of his career, as he never quite had the same intensity in the WWF as he did earlier in his career. In all fairness to The Hart Foundation, it had to be very difficult to perform just hours after the news that Brian Pillman passed away. Toward the conclusion the contest, a fan legitimately hit the ring and was dispatched of quickly, and then Bret reversed a roll up to get the win. So, the flag match was won without the flag actually being involved in the match at all.

Considering the underwhelming flag match, and the very basic undercard, this pay-per-view was essentially a one-match show so the main event had to deliver. As we know, it did and is remembered as one of the highlights of the history of the company. Shawn Micheals was well-known for being obnoxious and difficult to deal with throughout this portion of his career. Was it one marine in Syracuse or 15 of them? Nothing excuses Micheals being an arrogant jerk earlier in his life, and if he's truly changed for the better than that's legitimately wonderful. Micheals might've been a jerk in the late-90s, but the guy could go bell-to-bell. Everything that was done made this performance and this match-up absolutely tremendous. The action was crisp and smooth, keeping a pace that had the audience anticipating what was going to happen next. The Undertaker pummeled HBK early in the match, which added to the finish later. An injured camera man allowed for an excuse to open to door so the two could take the match outside the cell. Micheals bled buckets as he was rammed into the cell, and the visual of the two of them on top of the cell, including the press slam, was really impressive. Shawn bleeding through the top of the cage onto the camera lens below gave this WWF bout a rare level of grotesque action. As we know, Kane made his debut in one of the most memorable moments in pro wrestling history when he hit the tombstone on The Undertaker, allowing for Micheals to get the win.

MVP debuts for AEW

All Elite Wrestling is in the hurt business.

Given their injury rate, that statement could be a reference to the numerous talent, including Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston, Bandido, Adam Cole, and Kenny Omega that are on the sidelines, most of those because of the high risk style that the company touts as its calling card. However, with the arrival of former WWE and Impact talent, MVP on Dynamite last week, it appears that the Hurt Business, a stable formed in the WWE alongside Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander might reunite in some fashion under the All Elite banner.

MVP and Bobby Lashley both left when their WWE contracts expired in August. MVP, who stopped wrestling in the WWE after a knee injury a few years ago in favor of the role of being the full-time manager of The Hurt Business faction, showed up at a Blood Sport event in July to challenge former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett to a match in the future. Since Lashley opted not to renew his WWE deal, he posted on social media that he was training for boxing, but many have speculated that with Shelton Benjamin, who was released from his WWE deal last year, on the free agent market, it was very possible for some type of reunion of the stable somewhere among the current pro wrestling landscape. Cedric Alexander, who is still under WWE contract, is currently in a secondary role in the company, but it doesn't look like his status is going to change any time soon since he recently worked on the NXT brand. It's doubtful that management sees Cedric as a guy that's going to main event Wrestlemania, but he's a solid utility worker, which makes him a valuable asset for the organization, particularly working with the younger talent.

MVP's All Elite debut took place when he interrupted Prince Nana during an interview segment, implying that he could be the next manager of Swerve Strickland, who is taking time off from TV at the moment. I think it goes without saying that if MVP decided to join AEW, Bobby Lashley is on his way to the pro wrestling league. There was already speculation that it was a possibility that the group could arrive in All Elite because the company filed for the trademark "The Hurt Institution" last month. Make no mistake about it, The Hurt Business was a winning formula for WWE, and on the surface at least, it makes sense to bring those ingredients as a package since the unit has already proven to be more effective than the sum total of the individuals on their own. In some ways, it's comparable to the Wyatt family, Bray was much more over with a faction around him than he was on his own later in his WWE career.

Still, similar to anything else, it depends how the potential group would be used in All Elite, and more importantly, who would be the focus of the stable. Thankfully, Bobby Lashley got the type of run he deserved after he originally plateaued in the WWE during his initial run there. When Lashley was given the ECW title when the relaunch of the brand completely flopped, it didn't do him any favors. At the time, Vince McMahon had almost completely phased out the concept on a manager. It wasn't until Paul Heyman drew money in the role again that it was something even considered for WWE television in the modern era. Promos were never Lashley's strong point and it was something that he struggled with even after his return to the company. In retrospect, it's a small miracle that the horrendous Rusev/Lana storyline didn't ruin his second run with the company. Bobby is an amazing athlete, and that alone is more than enough to get him over with the audience. He was paired with MVP to do most of the mic work, and it led to his run in the title picture, working in high profile spots at Wrestlemania. Shelton Benjamin was also a guy that was an incredible athlete, but wasn't the best on the mic so it made sense to put him with MVP as well. Cedric Alexander was floundering at the time so putting him in the stable gave him a purpose on the show. 

Putting a faction around Bobby Lashley as the leader made him look like a bigger star in the process so it was a win-win for everyone involved.

Taking into account Lashley's ability and the name value he still has from his most recent run at the top of the card in WWE a few years ago, he can undoubtedly bring something useful to the table for AEW, but I'd be skeptical that Tony Khan would know how to use the faction properly. At 48, Lashley is undoubtedly at the latter stages of his career. Despite being a genetic wonder, father time is undefeated, and event Bobby will retire at some point. In fact, he was on the shelf for the last few months of his WWE deal, revealing in a recent podcast appearance that he suffered an injury that required surgery during WWE's tour of France in May.  He didn't mention specifics of the injury, but said he was cleared for competition. Not that I'm trying to doubt his incredible athletic skills, but a run in AEW, where Tony Khan will probably overpay him to be there is a better option for him than pursuing a boxing career at his age. All things considered, if Bobby is going to cash-in on another big wrestling contract, now is probably the time to do it. The same can be said for Shelton Benjamin, who is 49 and is also close to retirement. MVP is 50 and has the previous injuries so outside of a special indy match or maybe a short run to return to Japan, I don't think MVP is going to get back into the ring for AEW, which is fine because he did very well in his role on the mic.

While MVP's arrival in AEW more or less confirms the signing of Lashley, I'm still not sure if this agreement was the best option for either of them. If this is strictly for the money, and there would be nothing wrong with that then a Tony Khan contract is the right choice. But, if they wanted to have the biggest run possible for themselves then New Japan Pro Wrestling would've been a very interesting option. Both Shelton Benjamin and MVP worked for NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH previously in their careers. Bobby worked for Antonio Inoki's relatively short-lived IGF promotion several years ago so The Hurt Business in New Japan would bring something familiar and something new. Taking into account New Japan's use of "gaijin" or foreigner heavyweights, Lashley might be a very good fit there. Considering the number of talents that were signed away by Tony Khan to work for All Elite, Lashley could give NJPW a needed boost ahead of their traditional Tokyo Dome event early next year.

Obviously, that's more hypothetical than anything concrete. A major benefit, especially if The Hurt Institution is formed in AEW, is using the faction to rejuvenate Swerve Strickland as a top-tier talent. Swerve organically got over with the audience to become the champion, but how he was booked with the confusing switches between heel and baby face during the feuds with Bryan Danielson and Adam Page hindered his status in the company. Truthfully, not only should Tony consider a hiring freeze right now, he should probably cut half of the roster that doesn't make a measurable difference for the organization. However, if The Hurt Business as a faction can be used to boost one of the younger stars in the prime of their career then it could be a worthwhile investment for the company.

IWC Super Indy 23

Throughout professional wrestling history, particularly on the independent circuit, there were times when signature events played an influential role on the sport and the domino effect can be profound. The west coast's All Pro Wrestling group held the King of The Indies tournament in 2001, which sparked the idea that led to the creation of Ring Of Honor, a league that provided a blue print for much of the the style that is seen on national television today. The ECWA Super 8 tournament was an annual favorite of pro wrestling magazines when print pages could still be found at the news stand, and the platform served as a way for talent to be discovered at a time when the internet didn't provide instant access to the hidden gems of the grappling arts.

For Pittsburgh, a region that is known almost as much for its wrestling as the steel it once produced, the standout tournament of not only the area itself, but arguably the entire east coast, is the Super Indy tournament, an event that has nearly a quarter century of history behind it, with some of the most impactful names of that time span as participants at the event.

The Super Indy tournament is hosted by the International Wrestling Cartel, a group initially founded by longtime veteran Bubba The Bulldog in 2001 before it was promoted very successful for several years under Norm Connors, who is considered the godfather of the Pittsburgh scene, organizing events as far back as 1994 under the Steel City Wrestling banner. Ownership changed over the years, but Justin Plummer has run the organization for a decade, maintaining its reputation as one of the most well-known and established groups on the indies.

The Super Indy championship, the belt awarded to the winner of the eight-man tournament each year and defended afterwards, was created to capitalize on the emerging style of the early-2000s, as a generation of young, energetic wrestlers helped define the next chapter of the industry after the consolidation of the national organizations of the previous era. Names like AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, CM Punk, and Low Ki mixed it up with a line-up of stellar local talent like John McChesney, Super Hentai, Glenn Spectre, CJ Sensation, and Troy Lords to generate a hype around the event in its early years.

"When I think of the word legacy in the Super Indy Tournament, I think of names like AJ Styles, CM Punk, Chris Hero, Christopher Daniels and many more. I am grateful that I was a participant in the Inaugural IWC Super Indy Tournament, and it elevated my career to a place unimaginable. I can't wait to see Saturday October 5th at Marx's Court Time in Elizabeth, PA to see who etches their name into the Mount Rushmore of indy wrestling and becomes the 23rd winner of IWC's Super Indy," said CJ Sensation, who competed against Low Ki in a first round match up in 2002.

More recently, competitors like Adam Cole, Johnathan Gresham, and Josh Alexander, Brian Pillman Jr., and Lee Moriarty have provided highlights for the Super Indy tournament during the past few years. That's one of the many reasons that the Super Indy concept is so well-regarded and the event itself creates such anticipation, because many of the participants and winners in the past have went on to make a noticeable impact on the national scene.

This year's line-up is no different as it takes the cream of the crop of the Pittsburgh circuit and blends it with stellar talent from outside the area to allow for a truly unique presentation.

With a special wrinkle thrown into the brackets, IWC owner Justin Plummer announced that a ninth competitor was added to the field so one of the opening round matches will be a triple threat match. Among the field this year, upcoming grapples, established stars, and even a lucha legend will participant in the tournament to find out who will leave the Court Time Sports Center with one of the most prestigious titles in the history of Pittsburgh professional wrestling, the Super Indy championship.

Ganon Jones Jr., a big man with incredible agility and athleticism, is the current Super Indy champion. Breaking into the sport just over a decade ago, Ganon climbed the ranks from smaller cards earlier in his career to become one of the best performers in the steel city today through consistent high quality matches. He looks to maintain his status throughout the Super Indy tournament this Saturday. Someone that might take a similar path as Ganon Jones is the talented upstart,  Canaan Kristopher. Less than a two-year pro, Kristopher is a puppy with big paws so to speak, as he has all the physical gifts to find success in the squared circle to became a major star. With impressive height, speed, and agility, it appears that it's just a matter of time before Canaan Kristopher is the next breakout star from a talent group of newer talent in the region. Could Super Indy be the platform for Kristopher to have a career-defining journey through the tournament? Someone already on pace to make a splash in the tournament is Zach Nystrom, a five-year pro that is regarded as a true natural inside the ring ropes and a former IWC tag team champion. Similar to many of his peers in the brackets, Nystrom checks all of the boxes of a top-tier competitor, which indications the high level of match quality expected throughout the tournament.

Another grappler that could be described as a puppy with big paws is Sam Holloway, a former collegiate football player from the Buckeye state that can move at a pace that you wouldn't expect from someone of his size. Originally a student of the Absolute Intense Wrestling training academy, Holloway's explosive power and dynamic offense have made him a commodity on the independent circuit. With only three years of experience, Holloway's best years are still ahead of him, but similar to some of his potential opponents in the tournament, Holloway could boost his profile considerably if he captures the Super Indy championship. While Sam Holloway is relatively new to the IWC scene, Andrew Palace is on the other end of the spectrum in terms of his tenure in the International Wrestling Cartel. Palace made his debut in the sport under the IWC banner more than 12 years ago and has been one of the most consistent and most quality performers that the organization has had throughout that time span. With an energetic and fast-paced style, Palace suits the Super Indy division very well. Already a former IWC Heavyweight champion and Super Indy champion previously, Palace looks to add another chapter to his already accomplished career. Another competitor that broke into the sport with the IWC was Elias, the former WWE star that returned to his old stomping grounds under the name of Elijah. However, before the world knew him as Elias, the IWC fans knew him for many years as Logan Shulo. Before he was on national television or appeared at Wrestlemania, he had a reign as IWC champion so it would be  apropos if he finds championship success again in IWC to kickoff the next portion of his career.

Major League Wrestling star, Richard Holiday makes his IWC debut as he enters the tournament. Holiday, an accomplished pro for several years, was invited to join the field because of his impressive resume previously. The 31-year-old wrestler also showed a tremendous amount of courage when he battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma a few years ago. Thankfully, Holiday emerged healthy and continues his successful tenure on the independent scene. He could make himself a force in the Pittsburgh area in one night with an impressive run at the Super Indy event. Beef, who made a splash after a solid match against Roderick Strong on an episode of AEW Rampage earlier this month, is another outside talent that could make a major impact in the area in one night with success at Super Indy. Another performer that will make his IWC debut is definitely not an upstart or an aspiring hopeful in the business. Instead, he's a lucha libre legend with more than 30 years in the industry. Juventud Guerrera started wrestling before some of his fellow participants were event born and this Saturday, he has a chance to prove that he can still compete with the young lions of the sport. Known as "The Juice," Juvi originally made a name for himself in the United States when he was in his very early-20s in World Championship Wrestling,winning the Cruiser Weight championship on three different occasions.

"Super Indy was created to showcase what guys from Pittsburgh could do.  Starting off with Orion, CJ Sensation, and Super Hentai of Super Indy 1 to Palace, Christopher, Holloway, Ganon, and Nystrom in 2024 .  The tournament in 2002 let the indy wrestling world know Pittsburgh had talent that was right up there with more established names.  It still does that today," said BC Steele, color analyst for the IWC broadcast  team.

The possibilities for the field in the tournament this Saturday allow for some very intriguing possibility in terms of the results of who walks out of the building with the championship. Will IWC alumni, Elijah have a full circle moment and claim IWC gold again? Could Nystrom or Holloway use this platform as a break out moment for their career? What in the world happens if Juvi claims the title? One thing is for sure, another chapter of Pittsburgh wrestling history will be written this Saturday for the Super Indy tournament.

Vince McMahon documentary

The highly-anticipated Netflix documentary, "Mr. McMahon" was released on the streaming service yesterday, the same platform that will land Monday Night Raw at the start of next year, as well as distribution rights for all of WWE programming outside of the United States. The 10-year deal is worth $5 billion, and perhaps as a way to help facilitate such a deal, maybe that's why Vince originally agreed to the project when it started production in 2021. That's one of the biggest questions I had prior to the release of the six-episode docuseries that spans five hours, why exactly would McMahon, a baron that tightly controlled every facet of his product, allow outside producers the chance to potentially spin his story?

The premise of the series"Mr. McMahon" was to determine the difference between the real-life Vince and the Mr. McMahon television character. The only guess I would have might be that with billions of dollars in cash and at his age, it's possible that Vince thought that this production might humanize him or portray him in a softer light after years of being cast as the ruthless businessman that drove his fellow promoters out of business. One thing is for sure, especially after this documentary, Vince would have Freud on the couch.

More than three and a half years after the production began, especially with the horrendous details that came to light from the lawsuit filed against him by Janel Grant this past January, it's clear that even if Vince intended to endear himself as someone that came from poverty and a traumatic background to become a billionaire in the entertainment business, it wasn't a narrative that the audience is going to buy in 2024.

I'm not going to attempt to parse details on more than five hours of content, but there were several topics covered that, at least on the surface, provide glimpses of intrigue, while some portions of this series get bogged down in tired stories that have been covered ad nauseam without providing any insight on McMahon himself, the entire subject of a documentary series that was stretched almost twice as long as it had to be to justify a series rather than just a standalone documentary.

One of the more interesting aspects of the entire presentation is the family dynamics of the McMahons, specifically when Vince talks about his dad, the founder of Capital Sports, Vince Sr. a well-respected promoter by his contemporaries of the era. Mostly in the first episode, Vince details some of his childhood, explaining that he didn't meet his dad until he was 12, enduring an abusive household prior to that. You've probably heard bits and pieces of Vince's humble upbringing in a trailer park in North Carolina, but there has never been any explanation as to how Vince didn't meet his father until he was 12 or what happened between his parents. Unfortunately, there aren't any answers from Netflix either, as Vince claims it was never talked about, but considering that his mom lived to the age of 101, it's difficult to believe that  he wasn't told something about it at some point in his life. Did Vince's parents get divorced? Did Vince Sr. not know that he had a son until they met? There are key questions that might provide some insight into who Vince truly is based on his background, but they weren't answered.

One of the more disturbing details to emerge is the level of abuse that Vince endured from his step father, and it was also briefly implied later in the series that he might've been molested by his mother. At one point, Vince even used to terms "abuse and incest" when describing how he tried to put the past behind him to focus on business. Obviously, there's no excuse for any type of harassment or abuse, if Vince did those horrific acts to Grant or other employees, he should be held responsible. At the same time, Dr. Phil might connect the dots that if Vince was abused and molested as a kid, it could've influenced his behavior later in life. Still, similar to his meeting and early relationship with his dad, there aren't many details about Vince's mom in the documentary at all, other than a brief clip of her in a wheelchair backstage at a WWE event in her later years.

There's enough innuendo and some level of implication about Vince's early childhood, but nothing directly confirmed or concrete, which keeps the narrative murky, even after more than a five-hour presentation.

Along the same lines, there are just brushes of his relationship with Shane, as his son doesn't directly say that he felt stepped over by Stephanie and Triple H, but vaguely says that there was tension between him and his father when he left the company in 2009. Stephanie is involved, but there's not much of note that she says throughout any of it, and even Linda's comments were kept rather brief and mundane. There's a brief mention of how they met and her comments on different subjects like the steroid trial, but nothing was said about how the two have lived completely separate lives for several years. Vince's affairs, the relationships he had prior to any of the current allegations, weren't discussed in any detail either.

Outside of the family, one of the biggest problems I saw with this documentary is that it goes too deep on WWE angles instead of keeping the focus of the subject of the series. Sure, the pressure from WCW influenced Vince as a businessman and that in itself would be an interesting topic, but this production more or less becomes a retelling of WWE history a lot more often than it should've if the topic was the owner of the company. We didn't need verbose accounts of the same tired subjects that were covered several times previously, it doesn't severe any audience for this documentary. The WWE fans that will tune in already know that the NWO was important in the Monday Night war, they've had the chance to see it as recent as the A&E series on WWE. For the general public that might want to watch something about the eccentric billionaire, they don't care about such niche detail. There's too much based on the storylines of the Attitude era or the Ruthless Aggression era, simply because it was an unnecessary retread of cliche subjects.

The other major hurdle to go along with that is, there's undoubtedly meat on the bone so to speak that makes this documentary worth watching, but it's scattered throughout the five-hour runtime. Nothing is truly concise enough for the audience to get the best content without enduring the WWE history lesson throughout the six episodes. From a macro perspective, the saga of Wrestlemania VII or the downfall of WCW in 2000 isn't key to Vince's life story. Sure, buying his competition is a critical piece of the puzzle of his story as a businessman, but there wasn't a need for extensive clips of WCW. That said, it's fascinating to see Vince talk candidly about the steroid trial, the Montreal incident, the heart-breaking death of Owen, and the Benoit tragedy. His comments on the early expansion of the WWF, including the stakes of the first Wrestlemania are interesting, but the true insight can be found on the more serious topics.

Vince's take on nearly all of those topics were what you'd expect so either he actually is a ruthless promoter or he put a PR spin on the answers, which defeats the purpose of the presentation. Vince wasn't dumb enough to tell his wrestlers that they had to take steroids to work for him, nor would he risk distributing them, he's too smart for that, but he skates around the fact that the majority of the roster were on anabolic steroids in an attempt to get to the top of the card. Yes, those wrestlers were responsible for their own decisions, but Vince knew that most of the talent were on steroids. The Montreal incident is ultimately what sparked the concept of Mr. McMahon has an on-screen character and if that's what this documentary is trying to examine then it was a worthy topic. Still, nothing anyone said was something that hadn't been discussed in a previous production before. However, it was very sad when Bret Hart got emotional when he talked about his brother Owen after the Survivor Series match. Speaking of Owen, Vince doubled down on his decision to continue the pay-per-view after the younger Hart passed in the ring following an equipment malfunction that caused him to fall nearly 90 feet from the rafters. If 25 years later, Vince still doesn't see how wrong it was to continue a scripted wrestling show when there were blood stains on the canvas because someone died minutes earlier, he might just be as demented as some of his critics think he is. Yes, it was an accident and even Bret acknowledged that was just a terrible accident so he can forgive the company, but the fact that McMahon still contends that the show should've continued was disturbing on many levels.

Of course, Vince questions the validity of CTE, suggesting that there wasn't enough proof, despite the fact that there are numerous cases of athletes that suffered from the brain disease because of head trauma. Keep in mind, the majority of these interviews were filmed in 2021 when Vince was still in control of the company, he wasn't going to say anything that could've been used against him in a potential lawsuit from former talent later on. However, it was very surprising that Steve Austin appears to doubt the legitimacy of CTE when he was asked about the subject. Chris Nowinski, a former WWE talent that was forced out of the ring because of concussions, started a research group on head trauma and was given access to Benoit's brain to study for signs of CTE. Nowinski started that Chris Benoit had advanced brain disease so at the very least, with the amount of athletes that were diagnosed with it after their death, it confirms that CTE can happen. If CTE is what caused Benoit to kill his family and then himself over the course of a weekend will probably always be a subject of debate. Benoit was a skilled performer just the week before his horrific acts, it's not as though he didn't know what was going on or didn't understand reality. While, it will probably never be known for sure why Benoit killed his family, Vince's stock answer of "he went crazy" as an explanation to try to doubt the validity of CTE was disingenuous.

The subjects that were interviewed for the piece were hit and miss. It's fair to include talent like Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Cody Rhodes. As mentioned, the McMahon family interview clips were some of the most intriguing portions of the entire production. However, I'm not sure Tony Atlas or even Bruce Prichard were useful talking heads for this show. It's not as though Tony Atlas is known as being someone in the McMahon inner circle, and is more well-known in the modern era for bizarre social media posts about people walking on his face than anything from his wrestling career. An example of blatant selective editing, when Vince talked about how he enjoyed working with his father, the next clip is Atlas disagreeing with him. How exactly would Tony have known any of that? More than anything, it sounded like Tony Atlas was the gullible old timer that the producers could get the type of responses they wanted to attempt to add some extra controversy to the show. Hulk Hogan was a key piece of the puzzle so it's more or less required to have him involved, but his track record of absolute falsehoods, many of which he repeated in this documentary, make it very difficult to take anything he said seriously. When Hogan said something outlandish, it hindered an otherwise interesting portion of the series that covered Vince's early years as a promoter. Prichard is Vince's right hand man so he was going to tow the company line, which is exactly what Vince himself was going to do so Brother Love's involvement didn't really add anything to the presentation.

In the latter portion of the final episode, the documentary covers the previously mentioned scandals, the TKO merger, and that Vince sold his stock in the company after the Janel Grant lawsuit earlier this year. Prior to the release of the show, McMahon posted on social media that the documentary was used to create a misleading narrative, but all things considered, this wasn't a hatchet job on Vince's reputation. If anything, it didn't dive any deeper into the allegations than anything that wasn't already reported previously by main stream news outlets. It goes without saying that those involved can't comment on pending litigation, but the point is, the producers merely recounted what was already public. Nothing in this documentary made Vince look any worse than he already made himself look based on what was released in the lawsuit that was filed earlier this year.

As I said, there are some very interesting clips from this documentary, but the entire point was to determine the difference between Vince and Mr. McMahon, and quite frankly, despite six episodes and more than five hours of content, the question isn't answer in any form or fashion. It's not even determined that the generic answer of they are the same person is accurate. I understand that Vince is intertwined with WWE, it's his life's worth, but the whole concept was to see who Vince was beyond the businessman. This gets too involved with the retelling of WWE storylines than the actual account of Vince's real life. Either Vince didn't provide any real details of his life, or the producers left it on the cutting room floor to try to piece together something more controversial. It might've been as simple as Vince didn't truly want to discuss his personal life so the editors had to work with what they had, but for a documentary that had years of production behind it, this was underwhelming. The most interesting clips were of Shane, Stephanie, and the discussion of the family, but that was given the least amount of time of the topics in the documentary.