We’re on the road to WrestleMania 36 as the “granddaddy of them all” goes down on Sunday, April 5, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Several matches are confirmed, while others are all but official due to budding feuds on television.
Continue reading “WrestleMania Begins to Takes Shape”
On Thursday’s WWE investors conference call, Vince McMahon revealed the company is in talks with major stream service providers to sell the rights to major events such as WrestleMania. McMahon cited the potential deal as “transformative” as distributing more content to “the majors” could increase company revenue. It would also cannibalize the WWE Network. Continue reading “‘Transformative Changes’ Coming to the WWE Network”
Drew McIntyre won the 2020 Royal Rumble match on Sunday, which emanated from Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. The big story going in was WWE Champion Brock Lesnar voluntarily entered the rumble match as the number one entrant. Continue reading “Drew McIntyre is a Made Man”
On Sunday, WWE announced the release of The Ascension (Viktor & Konnor), Luke Harper, and Sin Cara from the roster in a move that was somewhat surprising considering the current landscape of the industry. WWE has been scooping up any wrestler with name value, re-signing wrestlers to lucrative five-year extensions, and not granting releases to avoid supplying talent to the competition, All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
So, what changed? Is WWE merely cutting costs, or is there more than meets the eye?
Luke Harper publically asked for his release from WWE in April while Sin Cara expressed his desire to leave a few weeks ago. The Ascension was out of sight, out of mind on television. Unfortunately, they never showed the promise of their NXT run on the main roster due to the way they were booked from the jump.
Sin Cara is a character that never got over whether it was Lucha libre superstar Mistico, who the role was designed for or Jorge Arias, who took over the part when Mistico left the company in 2014. Luke Harper is the big missed opportunity of the four wrestlers that were released. Reportedly, Vince McMahon was never high on him, despite his talent. All four will be looking for work, however, where will they land?
When it comes to The Ascension, the word on the street is that Viktor is a tremendous worker but never got the chance to show it. Konnor is a big guy that is serviceable in the ring. Do they stay together as a team, or do they go their separate ways? While their tag-team act is their most viable commodity, NXT was a long time ago. Perhaps, Viktor decides to bet on himself and work the independent scene to build his name back up.
Jorge Arias will have to reinvent himself fundamentally. He’ll probably find work in Mexico; however, being able to charge a high price for his services in the states will be a challenging venture. Arias never had a viable name beforehand, and WWE owns the Sin Cara character.
Even if Arias comes up with a new gimmick, promoters will feel the need to market him as “formerly Sin Cara.” Honestly, fans might not even care for a wrestler who was so low on the totem pole. If Arias starts churning out five-star classics and becomes the belle of the indy ball, then he won’t need “Former WWE Superstar” etched under his name on an event poster.
Presumably, Luke Harper has the most to gain from his release. The soon to be rechristened Brodie Lee had an excellent reputation for putting on awesome matches before he signed with WWE and continued to do so as a member of the Wyatt Family.
AEW is his most anticipated landing spot because he’s a talented big man, and AEW could use more physical stature on their roster. New Japan Pro Wrestling wouldn’t surprise me either as Harper/Lee has a Bruiser Body look to him that could pay dividends.
The question remains, though, why did WWE cut these wrestlers after having a firm no release policy? This is pure speculation, however, maybe Vince McMahon no longer sees AEW as a threat. Of the ten weeks AEW Dynamite and NXT have gone head to head on Wednesdays, the ratings show AEW won eight of those meetings.
However, NXT won two of the last three weeks with only losing the previous week’s rating by only 1,400 viewers. While specific demographics have recently come into play when comparing ratings, NXT’s hold on people over 50 years old is strong while they are almost neck and neck with the more coveted demos that AEW previously dominated.
It is feasible that Vince McMahon believes he’s either winning the war against AEW, or he’ll win soon enough. If that’s the case, it’s easy to see why WWE has changed its release policy. Several wrestlers are still publically campaigning for their release, and with more cuts rumored to occur, those public requests could be granted.
It stinks getting fired at any time of the year, especially around the holidays. Even though two of the four wanted out, high paying indy gigs are not guaranteed. Besides, those only last so long before the wrestler is no longer a novelty and promoters begin to pay less. Best of luck to the four gentlemen as this new era of wrestling continues to be full of surprises.
A new look WWE Intercontinental Championship belt debuted on SmackDown last week as Sami Zayn presented it as a gift to current titlist Shinsuke Nakamura. This is the second title inside of the last two weeks to get a makeover with the Universal Championship getting a blue strap to match the motif of its new home, SmackDown.
This marks the fifth renovation of the IC title throughout its forty-year history. Cody Rhodes introduced the previous version of the belt in 2011 in an attempt to rebuild the prestige of the championship by reintroducing the classic style with an updated white strap.
The new design has a black strap and a center plate with gold and yellow trim brandishing the WWE logo. Two smaller plates are extending outward with a split illustration of the globe. For the first time, the IC title has interchange side plates allowing wrestlers to customize the belt with their name and logo.
While the old school fan in me wants to hate the new belt, I have to admit, it looks pretty cool. It’s very 2019 and speaks to the aesthetic of WWE’s current presentation. Visually, it’s the literal definition of the Intercontinental meaning travel between continents.
The classic version will always be my favorite, however, and it pains me to say this; it looked outdated compared to the other belts in circulation.
Shinsuke Nakamura joins Cody, as mentioned earlier, along with Tito Santana and The Rock as wrestlers who have ushered in a new era for Intercontinental Championship. As they say, out with the old, in with the new.
The thirty-third annual Survivor Series emanated from the All-State Arena in Chicago, Illinois, with a new caveat added to the event’s brand supremacy theme. For the first time, NXT competed against Raw and SmackDown. There were several Interbrand matches along with three title matches that made for one of the better WWE pay-per-views of 2019.
WWE didn’t make the wrestlers wear those color-coded brand-specific t-shirts, which were lame. Adam Cole is the big winner here as his matches throughout this pay-per-view cycle exuded superstardom. It will be interesting to see what is in store for him in the next six months.
The match I was looking forward to the most was the Triple Threat encounter between NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, U.S. Champion AJ Styles, and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. In some ways, this match was behind the eight ball before it began since it was never going to live up to the impossible expectations fans had considering the talent involved.
While it never got to that fifth gear, it got close as all three wrestlers worked well together. Several big spots got the tough Chicago crowd to come alive. Roderick Strong got the win when Styles hit the phenomenal forearm on Nakamura and Strong ran in, threw Styles out of the ring, and pinned Nakamura.
Adam Cole defeated Pete Dunne to retain the NXT Championship in what is unquestionably match of the night. This was their most high profile match to date. This match could have very easily been a significant misstep considering Vince McMahon usually doesn’t book NXT style matches on major WWE shows. Vince deserves credit for letting NXT shine by allowing them to do what they do best. I’d recommend going out of your way to see this one.
Team SmackDown won the Men’s Survivor Series Triple Threat Elimination Match when Roman Reigns pinned NXT’s Keith Lee to emerge as the sole survivor. I was concerned that NXT would get lost in the shuffle of the main roster star power of Raw and SmackDown.
One point of contention occurred right of the bat when WWE U.K. Champion WALTER, representing Team NXT, was eliminated in four minutes. The crowd hated this, and fans online were equally as upset. WALTER shined against both Bruan Strowman and Drew McIntyre until McIntyre hit WALTER with the Claymore Kick for the elimination.
Looking at this from a promoter’s lens, this was the first time seeing WALTER for a large part of the audience. Booking WALTER to run roughshod over McIntyre and Strowman was done with the idea of getting him over with the uninitiated before he was eliminated. However, it wasn’t enough as all everyone remembers is how quickly WALTER was pinned.
Tomasso Ciampa pinning Kevin Owens with a draping DDT, in front of Randy Orton, was funny because it is a move out of Orton’s playbook. Also, Orton never beats anyone with that move while Ciampa sealed the deal.
Seth Rollins’ next t-shirt should read, “How the mighty have fallen.” The once-popular superstar is now a pariah due to several Twitter faux pas over the past few months. While he didn’t say anything offensive, his comments have made him come off as a company kiss ass while WWE has been pushing Rollins as the cool lead babyface on television.
Keith Lee came off like a superstar in the final frame with Roman Reigns. In defeat, Reigns offered a fist bump out of respect to Lee, which spoke volumes. Typically, fans would have rejected the idea of the top guy giving props to an already popular wrestler.
However, Reigns has only extended his fist to members of The Shield. Lee getting such praise came off as a nice moment that suggests big things are in store for the former Texas A&M defensive end. At 6′ 2″, 320 lbs. and moves like a cat, Lee has the makings of a superstar.
Brocks Lesnar matches at Survivor Series have become an event unto itself. The past two years he tore the house down with smaller opponents in AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan. This year he wrestled the smallest of the small in Rey Mysterio.
The NO DQ stipulation was used well as the mammoth Lesnar threw Mysterio around like a ping-pong ball. Rey found an opening and walloped Lesnar at will with a lead pipe. Rey’s son Dominick got involved and looked as if he was going to throw the towel in. The father and son duo delivered a double 619 to Lesnar, which was fantastic.
Each also delivered an Eddie Guerrero style frog splash to Lesnar. Dominick got some serious height with his splash. Lesnar caught Rey coming off the top rope with an F-5 for the win. While the match was short, it was fun while it lasted and told a great story.
In the main event, NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Bazler defeated Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. The finish saw Bazler submit Bayley with a rear-naked choke, giving NXT the overall win for the evening with four wins, two wins for SmackDown, and one win for Raw.
NXT’s involvement this year made for one of the better Survivor Series shows in some time. They added a fresh element to the overproduced “brand supremacy” theme and greatly improved the match quality. WWE booking NXT as the heel invaders worked against them, inadvertently making them the babyface underdogs that no one wanted to lose.
It was important for NXT to shine on its biggest stage to date, and their win over Raw and SmackDown could give them the rub needed to beat AEW, in the ratings, consistently going forward. WWE produced a fun show that elevated their most popular asset. I’d say mission accomplished.
After the dust settled last Monday on Raw, Baron Corbin became the 2019 King of the Ring (KOTR).
Yes, the same Baron Corbin who was blamed for the show’s record-low ratings over the summer.
Yes, the same Baron Corbin who diehard fans believe is absolutely atrocious in the ring.
Yes, the same Baron Corbin who reportedly only Vince McMahon sees as a star.
The criticism is fair, but I don’t agree with a lot of it. Corbin’s win capped off a KOTR that was highly entertaining while subverting expectations.
Baron Corbin and Chad Gable were the last two people anyone expected to make it to the KOTR finals, much less, win the whole thing.
Gable was brought up from 205 Live and saddled with a sympathetic babyface character who people look down on because he’s short.
Corbin returned for the tournament after being off of television for the first six weeks of the Paul Heyman booking regime, which reportedly didn’t plan on using Corbin much going forward.
When KOTR began, Ricochet, Ali, and Buddy Murphy were each in the midst of a newly minted push. Meanwhile, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, and to a lesser extent, The Miz are always in the mix for a significant win.
Elias had some momentum due to his alliance with Shane McMahon. While Kevin Owens would have been a popular choice to win, everyone expected him to be screwed out of the tournament via Elias/McMahon, which is precisely what happened.
Corbin and Gable put on strong performances through the tournament, and their match in the finals was highly entertaining. Corbin got the win with a beautiful finishing sequence where Gable spun into Corbin’s End of Days finishing maneuver.
Last night, on Raw, Corbin, and Gable had a rematch that expanded their story and made for another fun outting. Corbin debuted a Game of Thrones-inspired crown, robe, and specter after Gable destroyed the chintzy looking crown and royal garb WWE had reserved for the winner.
WWE has received a lot of slack over the past year for their monotonous storytelling and homogenized presentation of the product. Creatively, KOTR served as a big win for the company. They were able to subvert expectations with the tournament while keeping it interesting throughout with excellent matches and several twists and turns along the way.
Now, Chad Gable is a prominent character on television, and Baron Corbin proved he doesn’t suck as a wrestler while his character has a fresh coat of paint, now dubbed King Corbin. The Kansas City native is the seventh consecutive heel to win KOTR. While it would be nice to see an up and coming babyface win the crown, bad guys always make for a better king.
I believed my King of the Ring bracket should have been etched in stone. Well, Ricochet changed that when he defeated the tournament favorite, Drew McIntyre on Raw. Not only did they put on a really good match, but Ricochet went over clean. Baron Corbin toppled The Miz to ensure half of my Raw bracket was still intact.
Then, SmackDown happened. Ali defeated Buddy Murphy, which didn’t surprise me even though I picked Murphy to win. Chad Gable pinned Shelton Benjamin ensuring I ended the week 2-2. My tournament predictions had a back door of sorts since Murphy, in my mind, wasn’t a sure thing. Ricochet straight-up broke my bracket by beating the guy I picked to win the whole thing.
Now, I got to predict the rest of the tournament and pick a new winner…Thanks, Ricochet. 😡
This Monday on Raw will host the quarterfinal matchups. Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet is the hardest match to predict considering who’s involved. Samoa Joe is always a good bet to win a tournament or championship. However, Ricochet has been getting a push over the last few months. Samoa Joe is a strong enough performer to bounce back from a loss here. Ricochet has the spotlight on him right now and shouldn’t lose this soon in the tournament.
The second quarterfinal match on the Raw side features Baron Corbin taking on Cedric Alexander. If I had to bet, I’d pick Baron Corbin to win. While an Alexander vs. Ricochet semifinal would be fantastic, Vince McMahon likes newly featured babyfaces to conquer dastardly heels. Plus, Vince thinks Corbin is a star. However, since Paul Heyman is the booker, I believe he will produce an Alexander win to get the semifinal match everyone wants to see.
Elias tangos with Ali in the first SmackDown quaterfinal match. This is the easiest one to call. Elias has been making Kevin Owens’ life a living hell at the behest of Shane McMahon. Shane injected himself as the special guest referee; helping Elias beat Owens in the first round. It’s time for Owens to return the favor and cost Elias the match with Ali.
The second blue brand quarterfinal match will see Chad Gable taking on Andrade. Both wrestlers are super talented; however, WWE has done next to nothing with Gable. It’s s shame, too. Andrade seems to be someone the company has high hopes for. This should be a great match, but Andrade gets the W in this one.
Here we go. My new prediction bracket. I’m going all in on a Ricochet vs. Andrade final. Ricochet can afford a loss in the tournament finals. Andrade needs it more, and I think he’ll take the whole thing going forward. Still, though, no matter how it goes, the finals should make for a match of the year candidate!
Welcome to my late to the party King of the Ring brackets. Since 1985, nineteen wrestlers have held the distinction of being King of the Ring. This year’s tournament will be the first in four years with sixteen wrestlers vying for the crown. The first, second, and third-round matches will occur on Raw and SmackDown. The finals will happen at Clash of Champions on September 15th.
As you can tell by the official bracket pictured above, I’m late to the game when it comes to predicting the field. Four matches have already taken place. I swear on my great grand pappy’s soul I predicted Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander would win their first-round matches.
On the SmackDown side of the bracket, I predicted Elias and Andrade would advance to the second round. However, unlike the Raw matches, I have proof of my SmackDown picks I made before the show began.
King of the Ring has done a lot for wrestler’s careers. It helped launch Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H into superstardom, kept Bret Hart a hot commodity after losing his first WWF Title, and revitalized Booker T’s career as he became the most entertaining KOTR winner (All hail King Bookah!).
So, who will reign supreme in 2019? My complete bracket is posted below.
Buddy Murphy and Drew McIntyre are set to have a fantastic tournament. Murphy, representing SmackDown, got a massive win over Daniel Bryan last night. WWE is not going to squander all of the former cruiserweight champion’s momentum.
His first-round match with Ali will be a show-stealing affair. Kevin Owens will get his revenge on Elias and cost him the match against Murphy. Andrade and Murphy will tango in a SmackDown finale that will be nothing short of amazing.
Drew McIntyre will beat Ricochet in an explosive contest. In round two, “The Scottish Psychopath” will stop Samoa Joe in a hard-fought battle. McIntrye and Cedric Alexander will meet in the Raw finale in what will be a repeat performance of last week’s amazing match in Toronto.
Murphy is on fire right now; however, McIntyre has been the apple of WWE’s eye. He’s has everything going for him as a performer. Clash of Champions will be the time when they begin the main event ascension of Drew McIntyre by crowning him King of the Ring.
WWE confirmed weeks of speculation this morning as NXT will air weekly on Wednesday night’s, live on USA Network at 8:00 pm EST beginning September 18. NXT will still emanate from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. However, it will no longer serve as fist run programming for the WWE Network. This move was made in an attempt to get a two-week head start on All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) show on TNT, which will air live directly against NXT beginning October 2.
Wrestling insiders wondered not if but when Vince McMahon would respond to the emerging threat of AEW on television, and now we have our answer. Using NXT to cut off AEW at the pass and dilute their audience is a multifaceted, multimillion endeavor. Since 2010, NXT has been a developmental brand in main roster clothing. NXT can no longer be a prioritized training ground with the move from streaming to cable television. The fire of AEW can’t be fought with programming that isn’t on equal footing. To casual fans, developmental means minor league.
NXT will air two hours, live, every Wednesday, as opposed to filming multiple episodes once a month for a staggered release. NXT is the number one watched show on the WWE Network. Removing the show from its first run lineup could have a negative effect on the already low number of network subscribers. Every streaming service needs at least one linchpin program to succeed. Netflix has Stranger Things. Hulu has The Handmaid’s Tale. WWE Network now has…?
What is most interesting about this move is the landscape shift NXT will undertake. Vince McMahon is the primary shot caller for Raw and SmackDown while Triple H was the creative force behind the success of NXT. That was only the case because McMahon considers cable television more of a priority than streaming content. With this shift, there is no way Vince McMahon doesn’t take the creative reigns of the black and yellow brand.
Historically, McMahon doesn’t push wrestlers the physical stature of NXT Champion Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era. Popular character acts such as the talented and flamboyant Velveteen Dream go from being the belle of the ball to a second rate comedy act. The most important thing of all, NXT favors professional wrestling over sports entertainment. Storylines are engaging and straightforward. Talent means something. Wins and losses actually matter. That is the opposite of how Vince McMahon runs a television product. The NXT we used to know is gone.
Vince McMahon making presumed changes to NXT is even more of a head-scratcher considering who they are competing with. AEW is going to be a sports-orientated program where wins and losses matter. It’s precisely what diehard wrestling fans have been vigorously clamoring for ever since WWE has become a stale, homogenized version of the genre. The funny things is, NXT was WWE’s professional wrestling show tucked safely away from the prying eyes of a sports entertainment fanatic.
Having NXT’s wrestling centric product going up against AEW’s wrestling centric presentation would be the ultimate treat for wrestling enthusiasts. AEW is believed to have a better in-ring product, but NXT in its current form would have put that theory to the test. Instead of fighting fire with fire, Vince McMahon, presumably, is going to eliminate the hard-hitting wrestling aspect that makes NXT special, turn it into the same monotonous programming that has turned the audience away, and use that platform to combat the alternative program.
Change is coming to NXT in a significant way. Longer shows mean more wrestlers will be needed. Plus, with the brand jumping wild card rule in effect, big-name stars will undoubtedly appear on the show. Imagine The Miz vs. Adam Cole in a TakeOver main event for the NXT Championship? Yep, that is where things could very well be headed. Will there be an NXT draft where WWE Superstars pledge their allegiance to the new brand on the block?
If I could make one booking decision, I would get rid of 205 Live and move the cruiserweight division to NXT. It could be repackaged and hyped as something that will now only be seen on that show. It will be cool to see talents such as Matt Riddle, Johnny Gargano, and KUSHIDA performing on a bigger stage. Ultimately, NXT winning the upcoming Wednesday Night War wouldn’t be a surprise. After all, NXT is now a main roster brand of WWE.
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