Opinion

Is Going To The WWE Really A Death Sentence?

Published

7 years ago

August 29, 2018

Oh, look, another one of those opinion article things. I don’t do as many of these things since of course, these are simply just opinions on certain topics where you can feel free to agree or disagree with them and my words shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but they’re still fun to poke around with and get a different insight on things.

The last time I did a WWE opinion article was around WrestleMania season when I asked if everyone should be booked for the show and of course, I said no. I also try to avoid doing WWE because of the fact that almost everyone and their mother covers it, which I can understand, since it’s very accessible and more globally know that every other promotion in the world right now. I know a lot of people are souring on the product and I can see why with certain things but most of them are people being mad about their favorites being pushed and I understand we want the guys we follow to make it to the top, but they handle stuff differently and I’ll get to that later. My question for the day is that is singing with WWE really a death sentence?

Whenever we have a top independent wrestler doing well anywhere on the globe, of course they’re going to have some eyes on them from top promotions such as NJPW, Impact, ROH, and of course WWE. When they go to WWE, they’re usually sent to NXT first with the exception of AJ Styles and Gallows & Anderson, but most are sent to NXT because it’s one of the hottest things going on in WWE right now and they also need to learn how to work the WWE style.

I know what you’re thinking, “They wrestled all over the world for years, what do they need to work on”, the answer is pretty simple.

For the foreign stars they need to work on English, some need to learn how to cut promos since you need more than just wrestling skills to get over, and pretty much just adapting to a different style. They all get groomed at the Performance Center while wrestling in NXT, which is their indie equivalent, at this point due to them being more catered to the hardcore indie fans. Now this is where people start to get paranoid since once they lost a title or need to make room for more NXT stars, they get called up to the main roster aka Raw and SmackDown and things get different for them since this is where we see how they do once they do get called up and some can be a hit or a miss.

“Why are they doing so horrible here when we know they can do great anywhere else?”

Well, you’re right that there’s quite a few that we know can do great, even doing welll in NXT, but don’t quite make it on the main roster. You also get those that do make it like all three members of Shield, Charlotte, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Elias, Asuka, etc and you, of course, get some bad apples like Tye Dillinger, Tyler Breeze, No Way Jose, most tag teams except Revival, and Bobby Roode.

Honestly, it’s just like almost every other company where some are going to make it and some aren’t. Plus some of these companies look at superstars differently, while they made it in some, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll 100% make it everywhere. It really depends on how the crowd reacts to you, the impact you make on your debut, and how well your merchandise sells. If you somehow do fairly positive in almost all of them, then you’re going to get pushed and if you, unfortunately, can’t do those, then it’s hard to make it. If WWE was mostly based on wrestling and talent, then you would see a difference in who gets pushed, but since they haven’t been that way for probably over thirty years, you’re gonna need more than that to get over.

“Why would they wanna go to WWE if they’re just gonna get buried?”

Again, not every single person is going to get buried despite an average track record. People wanna go there for different reasons and the answer isn’t always money since people like Young Bucks, Cody, Aries, and quite a few have proven that you actually can make a lot of money without going to the WWE. Which is good for them in doing so, but it’s also not always the case with money unless there are those that actually don’t make that much and wanna try to get it to help provide for themselves and their family. Which there’s nothing wrong with that, since at the end of the day, you wanna make as much as you can since you never know when you’re career is going to end.

Another reason is that this is something a lot of people grew up watching and it’s their dream to one day be a WWE Superstar and sure some don’t get to go as far as they wanted to, but they could say they at least tried it and they don’t go away empty handed either. How do they not go away empty-handed you ask? Well, it’s simply the fact that you’re gonna walk out with more knowledge since a great wrestler always learns something no matter how many years of experience you have in the ring. You’re always going to learn something no matter how big or small it is and you’re going to take that knowledge with you whether you go back to the indie scene or going overseas. Look at how Drew McIntyre reinvented himself when he was released by the WWE and came back a few years later.

Do people wanna come back to WWE once they leave? It really depends on the wrestler if they want a better shot at redemption or you can say no and use your experience to explore new things, it’s completely up to the wrestler and nothing wrong with that at all. The final reason for them wanting to go to WWE is that most of them have already conquered the indie and International scene, leaving them feeling pretty accomplished with their career and want to try to go a different route or ‘higher’ level. I say that in quotes since while it’s not the most wrestling sound company anymore, it’s still considered a bigger company at a global and production standpoint, so they wanna try to go that different route to see how far they can actually go there, which again some make it and some, unfortunately, don’t.

So is going to the WWE a death sentence or a career suicide? Not really since while there are some that didn’t make it and left pretty unhappy, you get an equal , if not greater, number with positive things to say. Does creative need to play a bigger part in this? Absolutely, but it is also the superstars job to try and make what they got work to get it over, both creative and the star need to meet in the middle.

Don’t take this article as an all Pro-WWE thing and while I do like them, they have a lot of flaws that I don’t fully agree with, but no company in the world is perfect anyway. Trust me, there are quite a few people that I wanna see make it while following them for so long and it sucks, but you also gotta see it as a business. Don’t just play fantasy booker, since they run a lot more differently than all the other places due to them being a sports entertainment company as opposed to a wrestling one.

If you need a shorter version of what I just said, here’s a tweet by Velveteen Dream to kinda give you the gist of what I’m saying. So what do you think? Is it really a career suicide and I’m just crazy? Is it not that terrible as people making it out to be? Are we meeting in the middle? Agree to disagree? Buy me a drink? Wanna know your thoughts.

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Up Next

The Importance Of ALL IN

Don't Miss

ONCE UPON A SEPTEMBER – THE STORY OF MASA KITAMIYA’S GHC HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE CHALLENGE

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

1 day ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY – 4 Corners Podcast (sports)

WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY – POD is WAR (Los Tres Friends)

FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network
Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts… Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Listen on your favorite platform!

iTunes | iHeart Radio | Google Play | Spotify
Listen, like, subscribe, and share!

About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

4 weeks ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1