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Cook: Give Big Johnny A Chance!

Steve Cook sees your reaction to John Laurinaitis’ recent promotion back to Talent Relations in WWE, and he urges you to think again–give Big Johnny a chance!

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Big Johnny WWE

Steve Cook sees your reactions to John Laurinaitis’ recent promotion back to Talent Relations in WWE, and he urges you to think again–and give Big Johnny a chance!

Regardless of whatever your feelings on WWE’s current in-ring product are, everybody has to acknowledge one thing: It’s been a long time since WWE created a new male star. People harp on the ages of certain talent that gets featured on television, but it’s not really the age that matters. It’s how long they’ve been on television, and how many years they’ve been with the company.

Take a look at the championship scene. On Raw, Bobby Lashley is currently WWE Champion. Forty-four years old, first signed by WWE back in 2004. Drew McIntyre has been WWE Champion for most of the past calendar year. Drew’s only thirty-five, but his first WWE stint started way back in 2007. Then there’s The Miz, who’s forty and has been with WWE in some capacity since 2004.

Roman Reigns is the Universal Champion, of course. Another youngster at thirty-five, signed by WWE back in 2010. Even Daniel Bryan, a thirty-nine year old who a lot of people still don’t think of as purely a WWE guy, has been with the company off & on since 2009.

Of course there’s Edge & Randy Orton, who we remember from the late 90s & early 2000s respectively. And you’ve got The Fiend Bray Wyatt, who’s thirty-three but has been with WWE since 2009 and had several different personas, all of which have pretty well been ridden into the ground.

I know everybody on the Internet thinks that Triple H, Mark Carrano & the rest of Talent Relations has done a pretty great job over the past several years. They’ve brought in almost anybody with a name on any level of wrestling to work in the Performance Center and build NXT into a viable brand. The Women’s Evolution has been built off the backs of people brought in during H’s time in charge. The in-ring product has rarely been better on average.

There’s just something missing. That certain it factor. Most of the guys brought in over the past ten years just don’t have it. Sure, they can have classic matches, they do that every week. Do people care? We do, but we care about everybody that gets into the ring. The most popular person that’s debuted on WWE television in the past five years is Bad Bunny, and unless I’m missing something, he didn’t learn to be a star at the Performance Center.

Think about this: Who was in charge of Talent Relations & bringing in talent when everybody I mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago was brought in?

That’s right. BIG JOHNNY!

John Laurinaitis was removed from his position of Head of Talent Relations back in 2012, after filling the position for eight years. To say his time in the position was met with ridicule & disgust from most of the critics would be an understatement. I’m not just talking about people like me with a computer, I’m talking about people that have been inside the business longer than I’ve been alive.

Who were Johnny’s biggest critics?

Let’s start with Jim Cornette. My buddy JC was none too happy with how Laurinaitis worked with (or didn’t work with) his OVW developmental promotion. Cornette’s complained for years about how WWE called his wrestlers up with little rhyme or reason, then killed their desire to work in pro wrestling with their ham-fisted decision making skills and poor usage of their talents. Back when Laurinaitis was running things, Corny’s insights were seen as Gospel by a lot of the Internet. That percentage has gone down over the past several years, and now Cornette is seen as “wrong” in most of his opinions.

How do we know he wasn’t wrong about Big Johnny?

Then there’s CM Punk. Back when he was an Internet Wrestling God, Punk said all of these mean things about Laurinaitis and people popped for them and assumed they were true because CM Punk was saying them. Now, Punk is seen by most people as a pretty mean guy.

How do we know he wasn’t just being mean to Big Johnny?

Then there’s Jim Ross, but I’ll lay off of JR because that’s just somebody talking about the person that replaced them. Most people aren’t exactly unbiased in those situations.

The bottom line: Back when John Laurinaitis was Head of Talent Relations, WWE was bringing in guys that eventually became stars. It took some developing, but they got there. Now, WWE is bringing in guys that are good solid hands for NXT. Then those guys get to the main roster, and…yeah.

We’ve changed our opinions on so much over the last several years. Maybe it’s time to revisit this?

Johnny’s one weakness in hiring has mostly been corrected over the past several years, to the point where I don’t even think we need to worry about it. Do we really need to worry about John Laurinaitis’s track record when it comes to hiring women? WWE already has so many women under contract we probably don’t need to worry about him hiring more. Also, WWE’s already been pushing the likes of Lacey Evans without Johnny encouraging it. Vince’s opinions aren’t going to be swayed by whoever sits in the Talent Relations chair. He can be given more intriguing options, though.

Maybe it’s time to give Big Johnny another chance?

Maybe People Power is exactly what WWE needs?

Can’t hurt!

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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.

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Wyatt Sicks WWE

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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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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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 

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WWE Jacob Fatu Roman Reigns Backlash

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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WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling) 

THURSDAY - Nefarious Means

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - 30 Mindless Minutes

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

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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