Naito exits New Japan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's the status of MJF?

What happened to the pillars of All Elite Wrestling?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's the status of Jey Uso?

The pieces of the puzzle for this year's Wrestlemania, a two-night event in Las Vegas in just two weeks, continue to come together in an organic fashion, especially when there was a domino effect between angles that saw a logical impact on the direction of the characters. When everyone reasonable assumed that John Cena might win the Royal Rumble, he was paired with Jey Uso at the conclusion of the match, which is ultimately what led to the shock of the Uso victory since I think it's fair to say that most people probably wouldn't have picked Jey as a potential winner before he was one of the final two in the match.

Without a Rumble win to ensure his spot at Wrestlemania, Cena won the Elimination Chamber and turned heel on Cody, something that couldn't have happened if he won at the pay-per-view in January. So, Jey Uso, who was more or less reasonably thought to be just a tag team guy at one point in his career, was in the world title match at the biggest event of the year against Gunther.

But, should Jey Uso win the title at Wrestlemania?

Truth be told, from the way that management has slotted the Jey/Gunther bout, it doesn't look like they are setting up for a spotlight moment, even if the plan is for Uso to win the belt. Don't get me wrong, that's not a knock on Jey at all, his organic popularity is a credit to his talent and the reason that he was booked into the position of challenger at WM, but rather to point out that he simply might be a victim of circumstance in terms of the current scope of the WWE landscape.

John Cena, one of the biggest stars in the history of the entire industry is not only retiring this year, but turned heel with more than twenty years of cache behind. That's a rare commodity to be able to promote and rightfully has a prominent spot in the main event of night two of Wrestlemania. At the same time, the triple threat match between CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns will take priority on night one, which is something that seems rather odds, especially since it basically sends the message that the world title match isn't as important as any of the three other stars. That's not to say that there isn't an argument to be made that the three-way match should have the spot, but to explain that it undermines the importance of Jey Uso challenging for the belt.

Depending on the finish of the Gunther/Uso bout, I could see why the office would opt to put the angle that uses a level of suspense with Paul Heyman's involvement at the top of the card. If Gunther is going to retain the belt, it's possible that management doesn't want to end the show on a down note, especially given the massive popularity that Jey had during the past few years.

All things considered, and I might be wrong on this, while I completely understand why the office made the decision to put Jey in a more high-profile spot because of the amount of merchandise he moves, this might be a scenario where the chase is bigger than the potential payoff. Given that he was a tag team guy that many didn't think would be in this position ahead of WM, the narrative is there for the pursuit of the championship, but the reality is, will Jey Uso truly have enough steam to carry the championship as the A-side of a main event of some of the pay-per-views for the rest of the year?

Beyond saying "yeet" and pumping up the crowd, will Jey Uso be the guy with the promo skills to truly sell the main event of a pay-per-view? I'm not trying to downplay his popularity, that's not in doubt, specifically because of how well he does on merchandise, but rather a look at it from a storyline perspective, after the chase, is there really more left for him to do?

It wouldn't be the first time that someone surged in popularity ahead of WM to win the title before it fizzled out rather quickly. Kofi Kingston undoubtedly had the ability to be a long-term champion, but it was squashed by Brock Lesnar in mere seconds a few months later, a booking decision that Kofi never recovered from in terms of popularity. I'm not sure Uso is nearly as versatile as Kofi as far as being a well-rounded performer so there's less of a case to be made for Jey as the top guy on Raw.

On the flip side, there's an argument to be made for Gunther to keep the belt, mostly because he has such a rare level of believability and authentic, specifically in the modern era. He has an aura and he has developed well in the role of the champion with solid mic skills despite English being a second language for the Austrian grappler.

I understand that the writing team is trying to throw some fuel on the fire with the attack on Jimmy Uso in recent weeks and it makes sense, but the bout itself still seems secondary in the grand scheme of things. As mentioned, I think the fact that a non-title contest was given the top spot instead more or less emphasizes that notion. Again, there's an argument to be made for it since it's CM Punk's first WM match in over a decade, and of course, there's the involvement of Paul Heyman with Roman Reigns, but it literally puts something more important than the title in the main event.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Gunther will retain the championship and I don't disagree with that decision. Taking nothing away from Jey Uso, even if he won, it would probably get lost in the shuffle with some of the other more newsworthy happenings at WM, which is one of the many issues that become a booking hurdle with the two-night format. If Cena beats Cody to break Ric Flair's record, and it sets up for an angle where he could potentially retire with the belt, or if Paul Heyman turns heel to side against Roman Reigns, will anyone be talking about Jey Usos' title win? In some ways, if management plans to give Jey the nod at some point, it might actually be better for him to win it on a different occasion to be able to maximize the spotlight on the moment.

This might be a different situation if there wasn't Cena's last WM, Cena's retirement tour, and CM Punk's first WM main event, but with the way the program is stacked right now, it wouldn't make sense for Jey to win if his moment would get lost in the shuffle. Furthermore, with the way that Gunther re-established an importance to the Intercontinental title during his reign with that belt, it's logical to give him the same opportunity to accomplish that with the world championship. Gunther won the belt at Summer Slam last year so maybe that would be a suitable spot for him to drop the title?

UFC 314

When the WWE merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship last year to form the TKO corporation under the Endeavor parent company, it rightfully made waves throughout the entertainment and sports world. At the launch of the publicly-traded TKO corporation, the newly-formed organization was valued at a staggering $21.9 billion, with just over $12 billion of that brought to the table by the MMA league. Still, the WWE side of the equation, besides the $9 in equality, brought a key piece of the puzzle to the merger, as the WWE was already publicly-traded so it was much easier to get the UFC as a commodity on the stock market because the sports entertainment group already had an estimated value and track record in the market place. 

Investors had already proven that they were willing to put cash into the WWE brand, and had seen a healthy return on that investment so it created a sense of optimism around the joint venture with the UFC. Generally speaking, the TKO stock has done well, with the massive 10-year deal that took Raw to Netflix for $5 billion for the duration of a contract that has a five-year option on it. Make no mistake about it, the transition to Netflix, as well as the $1.4 billion that USA paid for the rights to Smackdown for the next five years provides a level of stability for investors because it's guaranteed revenue for the corporation.

Part of the reason that the WWE/UFC merger made so many headlines when it was completed was that obviously, nobody ever thought that Vince McMahon would sell the company that he put his entire life into, and the amount of combination media muscle that it had as a commodity.

At a time when the media landscape continues to evolve with different forms of distribution and different types of distribution channels, it puts the TKO group ahead of the curves in many ways with the sheer number of live events, as well as tens of thousands of hours of footage in its video library under one banner. Keep in mind, at a time when there's more competition for viewers and listeners than any other time in history, networks and advertisers are willing to pay a premium to get their products and programs in front of the targeted demographic. Every cable channel, broadcast network, streaming service, Youtube video, and podcast are looking to get their piece of the pie in terms of the audience.

The UFC's deal with ESPN, which has primarily been used as the foundation of the ESPN+ streaming service runs through 2025 with negotiations between the two sides that started recently. Depending on your perspective, the ESPN contract either hindered or helped the MMA brand. When ESPN put up big cash for the PPV rights, fans had to pay to subscribe to the streaming service just for the option to order the pay-per-views at an additional cost. Furthermore, the price of events, pay-per-views that were priced at $34.95 prior to the surge in popularity of the Ultimate Fighter two decades ago, increased to $79.99 each month. Sure, the price of pay-per-views steadily increased over the years, but I don't think many people would've expected there to be a time when it would cost $80 to watch a UFC event. However, as a way to justify those costs to customers, the Fight Night cards are included in the subscription fee. So, the fans have almost weekly fight cards that can be watched without paying the PPV price.

However, and this is the biggest issue that has surfaced from the current structure of the ESPN deal, there's simply an oversaturation of UFC content and there are too many cards to realistically keep up with to be able to follow the product the way that many fans did in the past.

The domino effect of this is that contenders that fans aren't as familiar with are slotted for PPV spots and thus those pay-per-views don't have the same cache as they did years ago. It sounds trivial, but there are too many fighters to even try to keep track of, which was a result of when the roster was flooded to cover the addition of those near weekly events to the calendar.

This weekend's UFC 314 event is a prime example of how the number of cards has diluted the product and how some very talented fighters are lost in the shuffle compared to where they probably would've been in a different era.

One of the major issues that has become a huge reason why the product is very diluted is that the title lineage within different divisions is often disrupted in ways that didn't happen during the peak Zuffa era. This started when Conor McGregor was gifted title shots within competing in certain divisions prior so that management could promote him as a double champion. He took that marketing push to boxing and made $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather. That effectively froze the featherweight division for a few years in the organization. How many times has Jon Jones either been stripped or vacated a belt?

The point being, there isn't a chance for the traditional "star-making performance" when a competitor doesn't get the chance to defeat the best in the division for the championship.

The examples of this are numerous, but just a few to demonstrate the point, when George St. Pierre knocked out Matt Hughes in 2006, it was clear that there was a new force in the welterweight division. When Anderson Silva broke Rich Franklin's nose in route to claiming the 185 LBS title, the MMA world was put on notice that there was a new pound-for-pound king of the sport. Before injuries completely derailed his career, Cain Valssquez looked poised to take the heavyweight throne when he pummeled Brock Lesnar in the first round of their 2010 main event.

That doesn't happen too often in the modern era. 

Don't get me wrong, there are still many quality fights in the UFC, and at least two or three really entertaining bouts on any given UFC pay-per-view card, but there simply aren't those memorable moments because of the structure of the divisions. 

As mentioned, UFC 314 is a microcosm of this situation, as Ilia Topuria, who beat Alexander Volkanovski for the Featherweight belt last February before he retained it against Max Holloway last October, vacated the title to be able to move up to the light heavyweight division. So, Volkanovski, who lost his most recent fight against the previously mentioned Topuria, was scheduled for the main event against Diego Lopes to determine the new champion. Volkanovski, who hasn't fought for over a year, doesn't get a chance to avenge the title defeat, but rather gets the consolidation prize of the opportunity to win the title again without beating the previous champion. Diego Lopes, who has a five-fight winning streak ahead of this weekend's event, hasn't fought since last September so despite being a solid contender for the championship, he just isn't one of the more well-known fighters that you'd expect to be on the marquee of an $80 pay-per-view.

The co-main event will see Micheal Chandler square off against Paddy Pimblett in what should be an entertaining bout that might steal the show. However, the 38-year-old Chandler has lost four of his last five contests so it's very possible that he might be near retirement. On the flip side, Pimblett is undefeated in the UFC, bringing an eight-fight winning streak into the octagon. It's a shame because Chandler was a guy that was a mainstay for Bellator before he inked a UFC contract, and had a lot of entertaining contests in the organization, but didn't get the major payday from the Conor McGregor bout that never materialized. As we know, the Chandler/McGregor clash was scheduled to happen, as they were coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter, but the Irishman never entered the testing pool so he obviously never had an intention to compete. Speaking of Bellator, longtime staple of the promotion,  Patrício Pitbull will finally make his UFC debut, but he's a competitor that will only be familiar to the diehard MMA audience. Truth be told, while it's great that he will probably make the biggest money in his career fighting in the UFC, he's already 37 so it's possible that he might be past the prime of his career.

According to Forbes, UFC brass is looking for $1 billion a year for their next media contract, a major increase from their current deal. From the UFC side of the equation, the guaranteed money is exactly what the corporation wants, especially because of the previously mentioned TKO stock price. It's a safe bet for the UFC because they receive a guaranteed amount of money regardless of how many viewers order the PPV. Obviously, it's very beneficial for the UFC brand to be distributed by ESPN because the cable channel quite literally has a vested interest in the promotional push to sell pay-per-views. Keep in mind, ESPN pays a certain amount for the media contract with the notion that it would profit on the level of revenue generated above that number. The original $1.5 billion contract was signed in 2018, with a two-year extension added to that.

Since 2018, there was a major shake-up at ESPN when they opted to part ways with several of their most well-known broadcasters in an effort to reduce costs. Essentially, most of the on-air talent that had the highest-paying contracts were axed because with the increase in media options, particularly within sports coverage, ESPN had to adjust to a smaller piece of the pie. It's also worth noting that the cable network is owned by the Disney company, which also had its share of shake-ups in recent years, specifically when CEO,  Bob Iger returned from retirement since Bob Chapek was dismissed from the position after the company lost billions of dollars from its Disney+ streaming service.

Sure, Mickey isn't going to slug it out with Goofy in the cage, but the overall financial standing of the company could have an effect on how much money ESPN would realistically offer to keep the UFC. It goes without saying that Netflix could be an option for the MMA league since the platform has already made an investment in the TKO corporation with the contract that brought Raw to the service. It remains to be seen where the UFC signs with next, and there's still months for the two sides to negotiate, but a consolation prize championship as the main event of UFC 314 isn't actually a major selling point for the ESPN network.

AEW Dynasty review

Just a month after the very polarizing AEW Revolution event, the company was back on pay-per-view for the Dynasty presentation in Philadelphia, and truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from this show, mostly because I find the ongoing storylines within the promotion to be rudderless. However, Dynasty, as is the case with almost every All Elite pay-per-view, highlighted some of the bright spots of the organization, which might actually make the whole situation more frustrating because the brand undoubtedly has the assets to be much bigger than it is right now.

The show opened with Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight in the first round of the Owen Hart memorial tournament. First and most importantly, it should be noted that regardless of any of the rightful criticism of the All Elite product, it's truly wonderful that Owen Hart is being honored by the current generation of the industry. It's understandable that Martha Hart wouldn't want to associate with WWE, as she acknowledged that Owen's tragic death was an accident, but she didn't want the same company to profit from his legacy. So, if AEW is a platform where she's comfortable with the use of his name, and as a way to raise more awareness for the Owen Hart foundation charity then it's great that there's a tournament to recognize the accomplishments of one of the best in-ring performers in the history of the business that was gone way too soon.

That being said, much like the case with most of these types of matches in AEW, in a vacuum there was a very impressive amount of athleticism, but within the context of a nearly four and a half hour PPV, this bout was a microcosm of many of the mishaps of the promotion as a whole. Kevin Knight has only been on the roster for a week, and while he has a background in New Japan Pro Wrestling, he wasn't a major star in the company, and more importantly, the vast majority of the All Elite audience has no idea who he is. That's not a knock on his talent, but rather a misstep from the office for putting him in this position. Ospreay is talented enough to be the franchise guy for All Elite in many of the same ways that AJ Styes was the franchise star for TNA as far as the performer most representative of the brand, and if this run in the Owen tournament culminates with him winning the championship then it's a wise decision. For whatever reason, Ospreay was detoured more often than not in his AEW career so far for the five-star classics instead of a storyline that could draw bigger money. I'm not sure if his start in the tournament really sets up for a peak moment at the All In Texas pay-per-view in July.

As I said, this match represented a lot of what's wrong with the AEW philosophy or lack thereof. This was the first match on the card and it was a 15-minute fire works show. Within the first three minutes of the match, Ospreay did a dive to the floor, there were bumps on the floor, and of course, Knight had to kick out of many of Ospreay's signature moves. In fact, these two traded so many high spots and maneuvers throughout the segment that viewers more or less have seen everything during the first match on the show so what's the rest of the card supposed to do? Furthermore, besides the fact that Knight is a relative unknown to the AEW audience, he went 50/50 with Ospreay, which certainly doesn't make the British grappler look like someone that is ready to win the world championship. I understand that the counterpoint to this might be that they wanted to make Knight look strong, but sometimes the bigger picture should be the priority. Ospreay challenging for the world title in Texas is going to draw more money than making Knight look like a contender during his first week in the company. Aside from that, there's a 50/50 chance that Knight gets forgotten about as soon as Tony Khan signs someone else to the roster. Ospreay got the victory, and it was a very athletic match, but I think it's fair to say that its placement as the opener hindered the rest of the show.

Surprisingly, the tag title match was next as a way to wisely pace the show, and the 10-minute segment was exactly what it was supposed to be, it showcased The Hurt Syndicate. Big Bill had his moments to shine too, which was smart, as he's done remarkably better than anyone probably would've guessed when he started in the company. It's a credit to Big Bill as a performer that he cleaned up his life and has done as well as he has, especially after it looked like his career might've been over several years ago. The Hurt Syndicate retrained.

Mercedes Mone/Julia Hart in the first round of the women's division of the Owen tournament was decent, there were a few small miscues, but overall, they each showcased their skills. That being said, I don't think there was much drama and the crowd was relatively quiet for a portion of the segment because they knew Mone wasn't going to be eliminated, and that it's simply difficult to follow the opener. As expected, Mone won to advance to the next round. The trios title match was in the same category, the audience knew that the death riders weren't dropping the title, and a heel turn was hinted at for the past few weeks so the crowd wasn't too invested into the actual contest so they were waiting to see what would happen during the post-match heel turn. It was clever that initially it was booked to make it look as though Dax went rouge, only to reveal that Cash was in on it as well. Truthfully, the way that FTR were underutilized, specifically when they played second fiddle to The Young Bucks, most of their All Elite career it makes sense for a heel turn since it gives them a chance for a fresh chapter. That being said, I don't know if another Copeland injury angle was the most effective way to turn them heel. There was already a Copeland injury angle previously, as well as a legitimate injury when he broke his leg in a cage match last year so it won't have the same level of heat since it's repetitive. Furthermore, I'd say that Copeland's stint in All Elite has been rather underwhelming, especially after the snooze fest of a main event that he had with Moxley last month so the draw for what he does next might be minimal.

Toni Storm vs. Megan Bayne was very well done, as she made the less experienced Bayne look like a contender and still protected her as to not expose the inexperience at this level. Toni made her opponent look good, still got her own gimmick over, and the roll up finish leaves the door open for a potential rematch in the future. Toni retained the belt and remains one of the few consistent characters in the organization.

Kyle Fletcher/Mark Briscoe was a really solid match that proved how underutilized Mark Briscoe still is, and how Fletcher continues to develop as a very entertaining heel. This match more or less avoided the bad habits on the opener, while still working the style that the audience expects from an All Elite pay-per-view. The brain buster on the apron and then the brain buster on the turnbuckle gave a context and purpose to the moves throughout the contest. Fletcher got the win after Briscoe took one of the more brutal bumps of the match so the conclusion made sense, especially because he didn't kick out of everything before the finish.

The Ring Of Honor title match was where the show started to get long. Jericho is in a league of his own in terms of a unique legacy, but at 54, it's understandable that he isn't going to keep up with the luchador that's 25 years younger than him. The nearly 20-minute bout should've been given about half that time because the longer the match went on, the more that it became obvious that Bandido had to slow down his routine for Jericho. The power bomb from the apron to the floor was brutal. The finish was convoluted, as the refs wouldn't restart the match based on simply finding the bat at ringside, but given that there's zero cache for the ROH title, the argument is moot. Bandido won the championship, but that will probably be irreverent in the grand scheme of things.

In a similar way, the TNT title match just dragged throughout the time it was given on the card, not because of any subpar performance, but rather that it was two hours and 40 minutes into the show by the time the bell rang. The match was fine, but it was nothing "must see" at almost 11 PM and it more or less got lost in the shuffle of the rest of the pay-per-view. Adam Cole won the title, but does that really accomplish anything? Is Daniel Garcia more over because he had a reign as TNT champion? Are the fans suddenly going to be more invested into Adam Cole as a performer because he won the TNT title?

The final two matches can be put in the same category because they were both thirty minutes, and aside from being completely unnecessary, it made for a very, very tedious viewing experience. Did either of this matches need a half an hour? The three-way match seemed like Tony just wanted to shoehorn another name on the card, and the segment didn't have a solid storyline behind it so why did it need thirty minutes? Omega retained the title, but this wasn't a scenario where there was an anticipation for the winner, but rather for the match to be over to get closer to the end of the show.

The main event was almost a retread of the bland Moxley/Edge match from last month, it had a very deliberate and clunky pace that made it a chore to watch after the event stretched past midnight. It had the same tiresome NWO-type ending that eventually destroyed the momentum that WCW had during its peak, and it's getting to the point that Moxley matches aren't worth watch because the viewers know that a scenario can't be the finish until there's a run-in from the best of the stable. Speaking of a tiresome shtick, The Young Bucks returned to help Moxley retain the championship, which doesn't make sense, considering the Moxley "takeover" was originally portrayed as a threat to their EVP status in the company. Sure, The Young Bucks were gone for about six months, but was anyone looking forward to when they returned?

This was another bland and boring Moxley main event. Maybe there's a major plan that propels Will Ospreay into the position as the top guy at All In in July, but even if that's the case, will the fans still care when it happens? I've written before that Moxley was the MVP of the company when the office needed someone to count on during the CM Punk/Elite debacle a few years ago, but the drek of the current run as champion is tarnishing his AEW career.

AEW releases

By all accounts, Tony Khan is a genuinely good guy that legitimately cares about his roster, that notion sincerely is a wonderful part of the existence of All Elite Wrestling, specifically from an internal perspective. Granted, being a genuinely good guy doesn't qualify Tony Khan to be a pro wrestling booker or automatically make him a successful promoter, which is why one of the many criticisms of his promotion is that it often resembles more of a vanity project that can be paid for by his billionaire family than a serious business venture that has to make a profit to sustain itself. Tony Khan is undoubtedly a better person than Vince McMahon will ever be, but won't get even close to the success of the former emperor of the WWF. Thankfully, Triple H is proving, at least so far in his tenure as the head of the WWE, that it's possible to run the company very successfully without scandals.

A part of Tony's generosity, he certainly gives opportunity, and while there's definitely something truly wholesome about a performer getting a chance to land their dream job of a national contract, the number of talents signed to AEW deals, particularly those that pay them full-time money, is almost comical at this point.

In some ways, it makes me wonder if Tony inks certain talents to contracts just to have them on the roster without any plan for them going forward, or simply to prevent them from potentially signing with WWE, assuming that he will find something for them to do at some point. The ironic part of that is, some of those grapplers might not have been on WWE's radar anyway.

Don't get me wrong, if a talent can make full-time money in sports entertainment then good for them. Making the most money possible for as long as possible is the entire point of the business, especially when they aren't any pension or retirement plans after a performer hangs up their boots. Hopefully, the current generation can avoid the pitfalls of talent from the past to make sure they have financial security on a long-term basis as a way to learn from those cautionary tales, but at the same time, the fact remains that most talents have to consider the opportunity to make a specific amount of money at any given time compared to pursing opportunities to boost their value to make bigger money in the grand scheme of things.

Sometimes, I wonder if some of those All Elite contracted performers, who through no fault of their own that are lost in the shuffle or a healthy scratch if Tony doesn't have something for them to do, take the short-term money because of the undoubted financial security it provides now at the expense of possibility a much bigger run elsewhere.

Again, please don't misunderstand me, I don't blame anyone, especially those that had to grind their way through the dirt-stained canvases of the independent circuit previously, that takes the bigger money and stability of a national contract. However, as I said, I wonder if they are selling themselves short as far as their value in the bigger picture.

Last week, I penned an article about some of the recent shuffle of the free agent market, including Josh Alexander's decision to ink an AEW deal, and Mina Shirakawa's exit from Stardom. That was based on possible arrivals to the organization, but on the other end of the spectrum, there are some performers, even those that were recently released, that might be better off to explore their options than to remain in purgatory, as far as not being used by AEW.

I randomly heard the name Scorpio Sky on a recent podcast, and it actually reminded me that he still had a job, but then the question was, where is this guy? Apparently, at least from what I could find from a quick online search, he's healthy, just simply not being used by the promotion. The last match he had in AEW was September 2023 and then he worked a ROH taping the month after that so he hasn't done anything for the company in any form or fashion in a year and a half, but he's still under contract. Did the office forget that he worked there? Is this a situation similar to when WCW forget about The Iron Sheik's contract in 1990? Listen, I'm not saying that Scorpio Sky would be a Wrestlemania main eventer if he wasn't still under an All Elite deal, and I don't blame him for taking the cash since he's being paid by the terms of the agreement, but what's the point of sending the guy a check if the company isn't going to use him for anything? At 42, maybe Sky doesn't think it's worthwhile to try to start fresh somewhere else, but it seems like a waste of his skills, and a waste of All Elite payroll for him to be kept home since the end of 2023.

There were a series of AEW releases recently, as I've written about the more well-known names at the time that they left the company, and some of them, including Ricky Starks have already made their way to WWE. Fightful Select reported this week that Miro, the former Rusev, re-signed with the company as well. A side note about Miro, I'm somewhat surprised that the WWE would offer him another deal since his rocky tenure in AEW, particularly when he refused any suggested storylines, seemed to suggest that he might be difficult to work with at this point in his career. Furthermore, as I wrote previously, I don't think Miro did enough in his All Elite stint to truly boost his stock as a performer so I could see him being regulated back to the mid-card upon his return to WWE. It goes without saying that Malakai Black will be back into the WWE fold sooner rather than later. The same can be said for Rey Fenix, who finally got his release from the company after he was kept on ice for several months.

However, it was also reported that Abadon won't see their contract renewed, which I have to say is a shame since they got in the best shape of their career recently, but were MIA from AEW programming. The gimmick and the presentation was very well done, but they were signed to an All Elite contract when they only had about a year of experience so the argument could be made that they weren't TV ready at the time. Still, with someone that unique, especially if they were under contract for almost five years, it seems like it would've beeen worth the investment to try to develop Abadon as a performer. Unfortunately, all things considered, despite the nearly five years under an AEW contract, I don't think they truly got the chance to show anything beyond just a basic TV match so the structure or lack thereof within the organization probably hinder their ability to evolve as a performer.

The same could be said for Leyla Hirsch, as she was under contract for a few years, but was never put in a position where she could showcase her skills or truly move up the card as anything more than a preliminary wrestler. Granted, she had a knee injury during her All Elite tenure, but given her amateur wrestling background, it seems like the company could've done more with it. Nick Comoroto is another wrestler that won't have his contract renewed, but is more or less in the same category. He was sidelined with an injury at one point, but even outside of that wasn't given the chance to be anything other than one of the countless preliminary wrestlers on the roster that got lost in the shuffle.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying any of these competitors are automatically the next top-drawing stars in the business, but if they aren't given the platform or at least the chance to show what they bring to the table  than there's a possibility that it could be a missed opportunity.

That's where there's somewhat of an "opportunity cost" so to speak for those that opt to stay under an AEW contract since being lost in the shuffle or in the witness protection program of the Ring Of Honor project minimizes their value on the industry. As mention, they have the security on a national contract and the solid money that goes along with it, but are some talents sacrificing the prime years of their careers and thus the chance to make bigger money elsewhere when they're stuck in catering at a Dynamite taping? Taking into account how thin the current New Japan roster is because of how many of their marquee stars were signed away in recent years, it's possible that underutilized talent could find a platform to showcase their ability in the Japanese organization.

John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes

Professional wrestling, regardless of what form is takes, is still based on psychology and emotion, particularly because that's the most direct way to connect with the audience. Sure. those five-star Tokyo Dome classics are incredible, but isn't the cream of the crop still performed with a level of psychology that maximizes the in-ring efforts? Aren't those thirty-minutes battles truly memorable because of how the audience felt during those peaks and valleys before the final bell?

I think that's the stark difference between the perspective that some take when they look at the modern landscape compared to the building blocks of the industry that have remained a part of the foundation of the business, simply because those fundamentals are woven into the fabric of the genre. Granted, sports entertainment is subjective, if someone enjoys a 20-minute sprint of an overly-cherographed routine based purely on the athleticism without much other substance, they have a right to enjoy that type of performance.

However, I also think it's fair to say that there's much more depth to a performance when the audience is invested in who's in the ring, not just the moves themselves. If wrestlers become interchangeable, is there truly an emotional connection to the audience? Isn't there more longevity for the performer as a top draw if the crowd cares about them on an individual basis?

This week's edition of Raw, specifically the opening promo with John Cena and Cody Rhodes, was a prime example of this.

The way this story is steadily unfolding is being very well done, as it has consistently had enough meat on the bone on a weekly basis to give the fans a reason to tune in without putting everything out there too early to avoid a plateau in momentum ahead of their anticipated Wrestlemania bout. The audience saw a shaken Cody Rhodes react the week after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which was a segment that emphasized the shock of the heel turn. In the weeks that followed, John Cena made his first public comments, blaming the audience for having to endure years of their hostility without ever turning his back on the loyal portion of the fan base. The promos had depth, as the segment did on Monday, because John Cena had a point. There were layers to the segment, and that's ultimately why the storyline has remained compelling as the build toward Wrestlemania progresses on Netflix.

Cena never compromised his values until he did, which spotlights how much of a villain he really is in 2025, because a true baby face never compromises their morals. Hence why Cody Rhodes refused The Rock's offer a few months ago. Cena caved to the pressure and took the easy road, which proves, at least in theory, he wasn't the solid baby face the audience thought that he was. Sure, in some ways, Cena is justified, but the bottom line is, he gave up on his loyal fan base before they gave up on him, which is the reason that this heel run has the level of heat that it does.

With that as the foundation, the narrative has moved toward the direct confrontation between champion and challenger, as it should, since the championship at stake is what will be on the line in Las Vegas. Of course, the context of what the title means, in this case, Cena's threat to retire with it, is what's built within the segments before the pay-per-view.

The background for the justification of the heel turn and the importance of the championship as far as what's on the line with the result of the match were established so this past Monday was the way for the personal grudge to take center stage in the storyline.

The structure of the promo was very well done, and the two in the ring are such pros that they knew to allow the atmosphere to maximize the moment. The European market can't get many live events each year because of the travel and logistics of a company based in the United States so they were enthusiastic about everything they saw, including a confrontation between the two performers in the main event of Wrestlemania. Just the visual of Cena and Cody face-to-face in the ring was enough to get a wild reaction from the crowd because they knew that something compelling was going to happen when they finally spoke on the mic.

I think it's fair to say that the way that this entire angle is being presented is being done in a delicate fashion to avoid the fans siding with Cena as the "cool heel" as a way for the modern fans to pat themselves on the back since the rejection of the presented narrative is somehow seen as a badge of honor amongst a certain demographic of the audience. The fact that the WWE chose to spotlight that type of nonsense with network specials on when crowds hijacked the shows didn't help matters. That's why Cena didn't give the audience anything that they wanted from when there were years of demands for him to become a villain. They didn't get a new look, new music, or a new move set. He kept the same song, the same bright t-shirts, and the same five moves that generated jeers in the first place because this time around, his character is specifically designed for the negative reaction.

Furthermore, as I've written about before, nobody is going to truly be able to take the "John Cena spot" as the representative of the company if John Cena is still in that position so this heel turn is a way for him to pass the torch to Cody, albeit in a nontraditional manner.

So, when Cena got on the mic Monday, he leaned into the criticism of his baby face run, namely the spinner belt, as again, a way to reinforce the notion that the fans shouldn't rally behind him. The ingredient that this storyline needed to really kick it into gear prior to WM was a level of sizzle, which the promo definitely delivered on Netflix. If this was legitimately a grudge match with true resentment, nothing would be off the table between the two competitors. In some respects, they used the fact that the fans know more about the behind the scenes aspects on the industry than any time previously in history because of the numerous podcasts that discuss the topics, as well as social media.

Given the amount of main stream media coverage that Vince McMahon's disgraceful exit from the WWE received, even the most causal fan knows that he's persona non grata in the organization now so there's a level of animosity when Cody referred to Cena as Vince's chosen star because the audience knows that under most circumstances, the former owner wouldn't be mentioned at all. In a similar, but not nearly as sinister fashion, Cena responded with a reference to Tony Khan, specifically the notion that he's a money mark from a billionaire family. Obviously, it's just a way to work some extra heat into the promo, but there was a time when the WWE refused to reference any other organization, and the fact that this promo mentioned the "competition" is another way that it stood out as a main event storyline.

 At the conclusion of the segment, Cody landed his finisher on Cena, giving him a level of revenge for the cheap shot at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, but you can bet that Cena will probably beat down Cody at some point before Wrestlemania, which will gives the audience another reason to tune in to see what happens next.

The biggest takeaway from this promo shouldn't be the taboo topics that it covered, that was done occasionally before, but rather the way that it was presented, specifically with how the performers allowed their star power and the circumstances to maximize the effectiveness of the segment. The storyline needed a level of sizzle to continue to progress toward the main event of Wrestlemania and the segment accomplished it.