Opinion
Rob’s Hot Takes for the Week!
The wrestling world love hot takes! Let’s see what got Rob’s trigger finger itchy!
What to talk about this week? A few things were on my mind so here goes
Ratings, schmatings
OK, I know, I know……more rating talk, just what you need. Well, this week saw some more hyperbole about Wednesday night ratings numbers so it’s time to set the record straight again. The big thing this week was that the gap between AEW and NXT shrunk to the smallest ever, 822,000 to 813,000. But it’s not really a big deal, honest. It’s easy to dismiss NXT’s performance because they brought over AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson from RAW and were coming off two big momentum boosting nights from both RAW and SmackDown. And at the same time you could say that this was the first ever go home show for an AEW pay per view so there should have been heightened interest in what they were going to do. Which one you choose to run with depends on which side of the fence you fall on and nothing else really.
If you want any real proof of that then consider this – the segment where NXT beat AEW this week was not the opening where the OC crashed the NXT party or the main event where they faced Tomoasso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Matt Riddle or the women’s match between NXT champion Shayna Baszler and Dakota Kai. No, it was the other women’s match between Taynara Conti and the debuting Santana Garrett. An unannounced match with no build and no storyline between an also ran (Conti) and a relative newbie (Garrett). In other words the ‘victory’ was completely arbitrary and without any real explanation. So yeah, gloat if you want but it’s pretty silly in this case as it is almost every week. The biggest thing to take from it all is what I said last time about wrestling being a niche product – the combined audience of 1.6 million is a little more than AEW’s big debut number and less than the worst third hour number for Raw.
Airplane Follies!!
I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on Airplane-gate from last week. This was one of the most ridiculous debates we’ve ever had and that’s saying something. Either you believe that it was airplane mechanical issues or you believe that Vince got into it with the Saudi Prince over money, left on his plane, and the Prince got mad enough to ‘kidnap’ over 100 wrestlers and production crew members. Now I’m not a conspiracy theorist because I tend to believe that to do one successfully you don’t just need people who are willing to start it but who are also dedicated enough to finish it and smart enough not to get busted before they succeed. And in this case there are a whole lot of things you’re counting on to break one way at the same time. Here’s the list:
- The Prince stiffed Vince on payment
- Vince got pissed, delayed the live feed of the broadcast (don’t know exactly how he would do that), and then got in the Prince’s face to demand his money on the way out the door
- The Prince gave in, let Vince and several other people leave, but got mad after the fact and decided to retaliate by holding everyone else hostage
- The people being held hostage were allowed to keep their devices to communicate with their families during the whole time
- They were released after an entirely random amount of time to come home, without any involvement as far as we know from the State Department
This whole thing hinges on two things. First that the Prince, having ordered the hit on Kashoggi last year, is crazy enough to do it. And second, that Vince is both crazy enough to get in that guys face and callous enough to get on the plane and leave before he knew everyone else was able to go. Now all three of those things may be true individually but to take those and construct that entire Jenga tower of circumstances all happening at once is a huge stretch. And let’s be real a lot of the feasibility of this hinges on some really prejudiced views of the people of Saudi Arabia.
So no, I don’t buy the entire construct of the kidnapping story being feasible. If one day we find out that one of the pieces is true then I won’t be surprised. But not the whole thing. It’s more likely that a soft hostage taking went down to send some kind of message to the White House than as some kind of payback for Vince yelling at the Prince about money. And if that’s the case then we’ll find out when the tell all books about the Trump Administration are written. We damn aren’t going to get that story from the same people who play cancer truther and can’t even get a simple black and white story like Seth Rollins speaking in a meeting right.
Until next week everyone…
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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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!
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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