Opinion
Cook: Can AEW Avoid The TNA Trap?
Steve Cook takes a look at potential major flaw in AEW, the company that doesn’t want to overexpose ex-WWE talent: overexposing ex-WWE talent.
Steve Cook takes a look at potential major flaw in AEW, the company that doesn’t want to overexpose ex-WWE talent: overexposing ex-WWE talent.
I’ve seen people out there trying to float the idea that Jon Moxley’s AEW Championship reign has been a failure. Unless you want to be completely facetious and claim that he’s the reason that AEW isn’t selling any tickets right now, I don’t see how one can make that argument. TV ratings are down, but he hasn’t been on every episode and it seems pretty clear that no-crowd wrestling isn’t drawing eyeballs no matter what company is putting it on. Moxley’s drawing power as champion can’t be judged by anything going on right now. He’s not on the hook for it.
With that being said, it’s fair to look at certain booking patterns.
Any promotion that wants wrestling fans to take them seriously needs to have a solid heavyweight championship scene. They need to be able to present compelling contenders that look like they could be a viable champion at any given time. If you don’t have that, you have a gigantic hole at the top of your card. That’s not a hole that’s easy to cover up.
Fortunately, AEW had the perfect person to be their very first champion. Le Champion, in fact. Chris Jericho is more than worthy of holding any title pro wrestling has to offer. He’s already held most of them. He adds value to any belt that he holds. If you’re looking to launch a championship with a big name, Chris Jericho is a damn good one to go with. As much as we all love “Hangman” Adam Page these days and wouldn’t mind him winning every championship, Jericho was the obvious choice to get the strap back in August 2019.
Who did he defend the championship against after beating the Hangman to win it? Well, that’s easy enough to look up, so let’s take a look.
- Darby Allin
- Cody
- Scorpio Sky
- Jon Moxley
That’s an interesting mixture of wrestlers with different styles & backgrounds. Allin’s biggest exposure prior to AEW was EVOLVE, while Sky made it to ROH eventually after having a nice little WSX stint eons ago. Cody & Moxley were proven commodities, but Allin & Sky were guys that AEW built up to get a title shot, and both provided entertaining matches & mini-feuds with Jericho.
Moxley winning the title was the right move at the right time. Unfortunately the world changed right afterwards. However, we can assume that the general booking plan wouldn’t have been too different had things proceeded as planned. Maybe a Jericho title shot would have been mixed in, Instead, we’ve seen one Moxley title defense and a build for the next one at Double or Nothing. Who were they against?
- Jake Hager
- Brodie Lee
Two guys that we know mostly from their time in WWE. Sure, Hager has some MMA cred, and Brodie wrestled all over the indies back in the day, but most people watching AEW shows know them as Jack Swagger & Luke Harper. It looks like AEW bringing in guys that WWE mis-used and claiming they can use them better. I think they have used Hager better as Jericho’s heavy in the Inner Circle faction. The jury’s still out on Brodie’s Vince McMahon impression.
We’ve seen this before.
We’ve complained about it before when it came from a #2 promotion. Remember TNA? They’re still in business actually as Impact Wrestling. They’re not #2 anymore, but might be #3 depending on how much you love Sinclair Broadcasting’s Ring of Honor. I have no time for such debates. What I do have time for is pointing out one of the major criticisms we all had about TNA for uears and years. TNA had this nasty habit of signing everybody that left WWE and pushing them right into their world title picture.
Their NWA Champions:
- Ken Shamrock
- Ron “The Truth” Killings
- Jeff Jarrett
- AJ Styles
- Raven
- Rhino
- Christian Cage
- Sting
- Abyss
Styles & Abyss were the only two that didn’t get their first major exposure in WWE or WCW. I only include WCW because of Sting. Kurt Angle was the first man to win the TNA Championship once the NWA pulled out of the company.
Listen, I know WWE puts pretty much every wrestler in captivity under contract at some point. Featuring their former wrestlers in title matches isn’t a terrible idea…as long as you plan on building some other people up that weren’t in WWE at some point.
AEW hasn’t reached that point yet. That doesn’t mean they’re a failure by any means. But it’s worth pointing out. If we’re still talking about this type of thing years down the road, it’s a big problem. AEW has some names on their way to this level. MJF could be there pretty soon. Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy, the aforementioned Allin are all guys that stand to be top contenders in the future.
Hopefully that future comes sooner rather than later. If not, AEW risks becoming the latest fed to live off of WWE’s leftovers. That’s probably the last thing they want, but they need to take action now to keep it from happening.
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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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