Hi, hello, and welcome to News From Cook’s Corner! It’s ya boy Steve Cook, back after a few days on the injured reserve. Would you like to read about what happened? No? Too bad, you’re going to read about it anyway.

So I’ve been having some issues with my right eye for the past few months. The upper eyelid, to be specific. First time happened during the initial stay at home order, where eye doctors were closed up and could only be reached on the phone. Got prescribed some meds, kind of got better, forgot about it for awhile. The problem flared up again a few months later, at which time I could actually go to my eye doctor. She thought it was a cold sore, and prescribed me some meds for that. It seemed likely, so I went with it and things seemed to be getting better. I even got my vision checked and got some fancy new contact lenses! Things were looking better.

Until they weren’t.

The very first new contact lens I tried to insert wound up wedged in the corner of my eye. In the process of getting it out, I scratched my eye. That’s what led to no columns from me for a week. I couldn’t look at a computer screen for very long without a good amount of pain. The scratch healed up, but I still went to see another doctor about the eyelid issue, since theoretically the cold sore should have gone away and hadn’t.

Turns out that the issue is I have some extra skin on my right eyelid. Got some extra skin on my left eyelid too, which I haven’t noticed yet. So maybe that will flare up in the next couple of months! Awesome! It is a better outcome than was previously diagnosed, and better than other outcomes I looked up on the Interweb. You know, “can you get cancer on your eyelid”, stuff like that. Just some extra skin that might get irritated! That is such a relief.

So in three months I might need to get some skin removed. It is what it is. Until then, barring other medical issues, I shall continue to provide you people with the wrestling news & views you need.

Time To Go To School!

Word came out this week that Vince McMahon is less than impressed with the in-ring work of some of the large men populating his roster. This has led to these men being sent to the Performance Center for some extra classes in order to refine their skills. PWInsider gave us a list, and two of these names stick out as somewhat surprising: Keith Lee & Otis. Surprising because Vince has reportedly been high on both men in the past, but their recent booking indicates that somebody cooled on them.

Of course, people were outraged because they don’t have any issue with Keith Lee’s ring work. Many would tell you that one of the problems with Lee’s main roster presentation is that they don’t let him do the things that made him stand out to begin with.

To be honest, none of this really bothers me. If you have a real job, you know that you can always get better at it. Companies are constantly sending employees to training that will theoretically make them more effective. (It usually doesn’t, at least from my experience.) Wrestlers used to get better by working matches on the road, but here in 2020 with no road schedule, they need to do it somewhere. Why not the Performance Center?

Sure, Keith Lee is good, and there are a ton of people on WWE’s roster that need more improvement than he does. But, if Keith Lee wants to get to the very top, he needs to get better. Everybody does. There are things Randy Orton could be better at, or Roman Reigns, or anybody else you want to name. When you stop learning and improving, there’s nowhere else for you to go.

One funny thing about this includes Lee’s involvement in some of our favorite things to talk about every single year…

WRESTLEMANIA RUMORS!

Yep, it’s that time of year when we start hearing potential matches for WWE’s biggest event of the year. We heard about three of them last week…one isn’t a surprise at all, one kind of isn’t but still sounds pretty bad, and the other is kind of surprising given the previous news item.

Let’s talk about the non-surprise: Edge vs. Randy Orton. This has been rumored since the last WrestleMania, and as long as Edge is healthy to go in April, you have to figure this one will be on the card. I think everybody in the wrestling world is more excited about this match than I am, so it should be fine for them.

Then we got Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg in the match that was going to take place at this past year’s WrestleMania before the covid hit. I wasn’t exactly excited about it early in 2020, and I’m even less excited about the idea of it happening in 2021. Goldberg does bring some much needed name value though, and will be a good name to sacrifice at the altar of Roman Reigns.

The final one is kind of funny considering Keith Lee’s now in the news for Vince not liking his work, and frankly I don’t see it happening anyway. I mean, maybe Brock Lesnar would return for a triple threat against Lee & Drew McIntyre, but it doesn’t seem like the most possible scenario to me. Can’t rule it out though, WWE loves running those triple threats with one too many people at WrestleMania.

Expect More Kenny Omega in Impact Wrestling

One of the main stories I wasn’t able to write about last week was the burgeoning relationship between All Elite Wrestling & Impact Wrestling. Impact EVP Don Callis was on AEW commentary again for Kenny Omega’s championship match against Jon Moxley on December 2, and ended up assisting Kenny in his victory. Callis told the world to turn in to Impact on AXS TV to hear from the new AEW Champion, and sure enough on Tuesday night we heard from Kenny & Don. They appeared on Dynamite the next night and did largely the same promo they did on Impact, establishing Omega as the cocky, full of himself heel champion with Callis as the brain behind it all.

It’s a relationship that serves both parties. Impact is getting more attention out of all this than they have since their days on Spike TV. Their Twitch numbers on Tueday night went through the roof and they got the highest viewership they’ve had since moving the show to AXS. Tons of views on various social media platforms. My friends at offtheteam.com actually watched the show, which is quite the feat because they gave up on Impact back when it was still TNA.

Me, I like a lot of what Impact’s been doing lately. That being said, this wasn’t the best show they could have presented to a larger audience. The general opinion I’ve seen is that Impact didn’t present a strong enough show to keep people around…unless Kenny Omega is around. I will also say that OTT was very high on Rosemary. She stood out among the Impact Wrestling pack, so props to her.

So, how does this serve AEW? Well, they get to use Don Callis as Kenny Omega’s manager, and it’s a great act. Callis has always been a money promo when he’s gotten the chance to do it. The man’s just a tremendous talker and a douchebag manager in the style of all the greats like Heenan, Cornette, Heyman or whoever else you want to throw in there. There’s no doubt that Don will add an obscene amount to Kenny Omega as AEW Champion. That’s going to be good.

There’s a side benefit which I think is being under reported, but is a historical comparison more appropriate to AEW vs. Impact than WCW vs. NWO or WWF vs. WCW/ECW or whatever invasion storyline you favor. See, I was wondering how Tony Khan agreed to Kenny’s idea to help out his buddy Don’s promotion. If we’re being honest, Impact’s men’s division is nowhere near AEW’s. There are some tag teams like The North, The Good Brothers & The Motor City Machine Guns that would be great opponents for The Young Bucks, FTR or whoever. Impact’s women’s division, much like the NWA’s women’s division, is better than AEW’s. You could easily build up Deonna Purrazzo or Rosemary or Jordynne Grace or whoever for a shot at Shida, or at Serena Deeb since NWA’s women’s championship seems more important these days.

Tony Khan got to do a commercial during Impact Wrestling, alongside his man Tony Schiavone. The second I saw it, I drew comparisons to Vince McMahon doing promos for the USWA in 1993. We all know TK will be a pro wrestling character at some point. I can’t even knock him for it, since I can’t name a wrestling promoter during his lifetime that didn’t become a character. It’s a thing that happens. Tony still needs some work before he can become a character on a major promotion level, which is why this Impact Wrestling stuff is perfect for him. He can work out the kinks. Vince perfected the Mr. McMahon character in the USWA, and Tony Khan is going to figure out his character while working with Impact Wrestling. I believe that’s how Kenny & Don sold Tony on this. Tony knows he needs some reps, and a program with Impact Wrestling will allow him to work out those kinks.

A Good Night for AEW at Triplemania

AAA held Triplemania XXVIII this past Saturday night in Mexico City, and it was a good night to be an AEW wrestler. The Lucha Brothers defended AAA’s Tag Team Championship in a three-way tag team match. Brian Cage won a match as the character Terror Purpura, which will be part of AAA’s licensing deal with Marvel. Kenny Omega defended AAA’s Mega Championship against Laredo Kid in a pretty darn good match, giving AEW a clean sweep on the evening.

Surely a good sign for the AEW/AAA relationship, or maybe just a sign that AAA feels like their titles are best off being held by internationally known stars these days. Considering the state of things in Mexico, where the covid situation is seemingly getting worse by the week and there’s no reason to believe that major lucha promotions will be holding shows in full arenas anytime soon (legally, anyway), AAA is in no rush to get their championships off of Kenny Omega or the Lucha Brothers. Even in non-covid times AAA has been happy to let international talent hold their titles, figuring the titles would get more exposure that way.

Regardless, it’s nowhere near the top of the list of issues facing AAA at the moment. Last week they got sued by the company they worked with on Lucha Underground, who claim to have rights to any money that AAA makes outside of Mexico with their trademarks. Which I figure explains why you don’t see or hear more mention of AAA on AEW programming. It’s a confusing bit of business that hopefully gets resolved at some point before the LA Park/Blue Demon Jr. mask match at a future Triplemania.

NXT India, live from Orlando, India

Just because Jinder Mahal hasn’t been WWE Champion for awhile now doesn’t mean that WWE is giving up on advancing their position in India. NXT India will be launching in January, reportedly with an eight-man tournament taking place in Orlando’s Performance Center. The hope is that once 2022 rolls around, things will be at a point where WWE can have an actual location in India to train people and tape matches.

Sportskeeda reports that the tournament will feature the likes of Mahal, the Singh Brothers, and some of the other recent signees from India. This has been part of WWE’s planning for a long time now, and this won’t be the last NXT: Fill in the country. I’m just wondering if Jeff Jarrett can get himself pushed on top here, since Ring Ka King was a pretty big deal in India back in the day.

Pat Patterson

Another one of the things I missed out on writing about last week was the death of Pat Patterson. We all know Pat was the first Intercontinental Champion, winning the title in a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I saw it way back in the day on a fourth or fifth generation VHS, really good piece of business. We also know him as one of the few openly homosexual wrestlers of his generation. If you’re of my age, you remember Pat most as one of Mr. McMahon’s Stooges and his incredible chemistry with fellow Stooge Gerald Briscoe. We’ve seen plenty of flunkies for authority figures over the years, but nobody ever did it better than Pat & Gerald.

I’ll always fondly remember Pat for creating my favorite thing in the history of pro wrestling: The Royal Rumble! Pat was a key force behind the scenes throughout the 1980s & 1990s, almost anything you liked during that time period could be credited to him. You could make the argument that Pat Patterson was the most important person to the WWF/E’s success without the last name “McMahon”.

All right, that’s all the damage I feel like doing for now. Thanks for reading, and keep your stick on the ice.