News

News From Cook’s Corner 1.17.22: Gory Self-Mutilation

AEW tried to catch lightning in a bottle for the second time. Did it work? What other news struck last week?

Published

3 years ago

January 17, 2022

Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner! We’ve got a short column for you this week, which most of you were probably expecting when the Cincinnati Bengals actually on a playoff game. Nah, I didn’t party too much, just had an allergic reaction with my eye again. We’ve done this before. This time I’m pretty sure it had something to do with cleaning my bookshelf and rearranging my books. Hadn’t done that in awhile, so there was a ton of duct. Sitting down and looking at a computer screen sucks, so we have to limit it as much as possible.

There’s still a couple things that warrant discussion though, so let’s get to it.

WWE On The Offensive

Looks like this week’s top stories are about WWE trying to do things to undermine wrestling promotions. We start with Major League Wrestling, who has filed a federal anti-trust lawsuit against WWE claiming that WWE has interfered with their ability to make various media rights deals.

Some of the highlights:

-Former WWE executive Susan Levison allegedly warned an executive from VICE that Vince McMahon was “pissed” they were airing MLW programming. MLW claims that WWE had leverage over VICE due to the Dark Side of the Ring series often being focused on WWE subject matter.

-MLW alleges that when WWE found out about their agreement with Tubi, WWE threatened to stop doing business with Fox. The fallout from the Tubi agreement falling through led to a drop in ticket sales & event cancellations & delays.

-As an example of WWE’s anticompetitive behavior, MLW cited AEW being held out of two arenas in the Cincinnati market due to pressure from WWE. Jon Moxley wrote in his book that the Heritage Bank Center on Cincy’s riverfront refused to book AEW due to WWE influence. I don’t know the other, could be the BB&T Arena across the river on the campus of Northern Kentucky University where WWE has held house shows. AEW wound up running the Fifth Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, and outdrew the Raw taping held at the HBC just prior.

-Apparently starting in early 2020, WWE started trying to poach MLW wrestlers that were under contract, and aired footage of an MLW wrestler without MLW’s consent. (Somebody would have to fill me in on this one, I haven’t the slightest idea who this would be.) MLW also claims that WWE sought to prevent wrestlers from working with MLW by refusing to hire wrestlers that had worked there, and that one MLW wrestler demanded to be released early from his contract so he could join WWE.

Do I think that at least some of these allegations are true? Having followed pro wrestling for over thirty years and having read up on the history of WWE…you betcha!

I don’t think there’s a question that WWE has resorted to any means necessary to drive potential competitors out of their market. They’ve been doing this since taking most of the territories’ top stars back in the mid-1980s. It’s been a monopoly for nearly two decades for a reason. The main question I have: Will a judge actually care, or will they throw it out of court because it’s silly pro wrestling?

How do you think WWE slips under the radar on things that other media companies & sports leagues actually have to deal with? People have been trained to not take WWE seriously. As much as people like us obsess over the rasslin’ business, people that don’t “get it” are happy to ignore it. Vince McMahon can do any darn thing he wants, and the reaction from folks outside the wrestling bubble will be non-existent. It’s wrestling! To outsiders, the whole damn thing is an outlaw mudshow.

AEW = Gory Self-Mutilation

The Toronto Sun did an article on All Elite Wrestling over the weekend, talking about their status as a competitor to WWE. They asked WWE for comment & got one:

“If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses. We had an edgier product in the `Attitude’ era and in a 2022 world, we don’t believe that type of dangerous and brutal display is appealing to network partners, sponsors, venues, children, or the general public as a whole.”

A few notes here:

1. I’ve been doing this stuff longer than I care to admit, and I never thought of asking WWE for comment on something. Should I start asking people for comments on topics I’m writing about? I doubt I’d get any answers, but it might be worth a shot.

2. This has been WWE’s strategy when asked about AEW for some time now. We remember Vince McMahon using the phrase “Blood & Guts” to describe the promotion on a conference call. They know that people get squeamish about blood, especially when it comes to blood coming from women. The Fabulous Moolah never busted anybody open on television, and she trained most of the women for years. People aren’t used to seeing it, and they often get uncomfortable with things they aren’t used to seeing.

3. Most people find other people bleeding pretty gross. There’s a reason why deathmatch wrestling is a niche produxct. People that love it really, really love it, but it’s a very small percentage of the marketplace.

4. WWE’s belief is that advertisers & media companies aren’t big on blood, so they make sure to mention AEW’s apparent lust for the red stuff whenever the subject comes up. Their hope is that advertisers will shy away from advertising with AEW, and media companies won’t give AEW big money when their current deal with WarnerMedia is up.

5. Thus far, whenever Tony Khan is criticized on something, he doubles down on it. So there’s a pretty good chance that we’re going to see even more matches with female bleeding. AEW’s female workers seem happy to do it.

🐇🔪🖤 pic.twitter.com/WswDnqeKQ5

— The Bunny 🐇 (@AllieWrestling) January 15, 2022

6. WWE could be called out as being hypocritical on this front, but there aren’t many people that will hold them accountable.

It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. All I know for sure is that the smack talk between these two promotions and their fans is just beginning. Think it’s tocic now? Wait a couple of years.

Welp, that’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Join me later in the week for some Divisional Round picks. Until then, keep your stick on the ice.

In Memoriam: Pete was a longtime reader from back in the day. From my dealings with him he was a kind person that knew how to use his head. When you’ve written things on the Internet as long as I have, you learn that’s a rare thing. From what I’ve read from people that knew him in real life, he was the same way off the computer. Sadly he passed away from cancer on Friday night. Pete was always about serving others, as he was a U.S. Air Force veteran & a regular blood donor. He will be missed.

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

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News

Chairshot News Report: TNA Impact Results, AEW Speculation For Ricochet & Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, More!

Your Wrestling News for July 5, 2024, including TNA Impact, Ricochet, Shane McMahon, his daddy Vince, and more!

Published

3 weeks ago

July 5, 2024

Chairshot

Your Wrestling News for July 5, 2024, including TNA Impact, Ricochet, Shane McMahon, his daddy Vince, and more!

Welcome to your daily dose of pro wrestling news–and analysis you can trust! We take all wrestling news with a grain of salt here at The Chairshot, and we hope to steer you in the right direction.

Results: TNA Impact (July 4, 2024)

Here are your results from Thursday night’s edition of TNA Impact (originally taped on June 28 at the 2300 Arena in Philly):

Trey Miguel vs. Leon Slater ends in a no-contest after WWE NXT star Charlie Dempsey attacks everyone.
Dani Luna battled Jody Threat to a time limit draw in the 10-Minute Challenge. They were granted the customary “5 more minutes” but were attacked by Alisha Edwards & Masha Slamovich. During the match it was revealed that Nic Nemeth had been attacked backstage.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Mike Santana by countout to advance to the TNA World Championship Match at Slammiversary.
Matt Hardy & Reby Hardy beat Eddie Edwards & Alisha Edwards.
Joe Hendry pinned Jake Something to advance to the TNA World Championship Match at Slammiversary.

No surprise that Joe Hendry advanced to the world title match, but Santana-Kazarian could have gone either way. A promo video to end the show implied that Kazarian was the one who took out Nic Nemeth backstage, seemingly creating a story for them within the Slammiversary title match. No shocker that The Hardys won the tag team match, but a great surprise with Charlie Dempsey getting involved in the opener. That TNA/NXT collaboration continues to be a lot of fun.

You can catch Andrew’s Review of the event here.

Ricochet Expected To Sign With AEW

Many outlets are reporting that Ricochet’s expected landing spot remains AEW, with additional reports surfacing that his agent has been working out the details on his behalf.

Personally, I’d rather see him back in WWE. Even after an initial push in AEW, he will be a novelty act much like PAC, so I don’t see the difference. But if he’s going to AEW, here’s hoping that agent does a great job and secures quite the bag for ol’ Ric.

Vince Russo Suggests Shane McMahon As A Front Man For Vince McMahon to Purchase AEW

”We saw this with WCW, it happened before. It (purchasing AEW) could be under the guise of Shane, that’s what I’m saying. Shane is as clean as whistle. Vince could be behind it without anybody knowing it, bro.”

Those are the words of Vince Russo, who on the surface seems to be spouting nonsense. Time will tell if there is something to it all, but I wouldn’t place any wagers on this one. Shane McMahon to AEW would be an entertaining shocker, but that–like many things in AEW–would quickly wear off.

Shawn Michaels Discusses NXT Releases, Referencing Drew Gulak

During the NXT Heatwave media call, Shawn Michaels was asked about the release of Gable Steveson, but also lumped Drew Gulak in his response about main roster viability:

“From my understanding, nothing on anyone’s part other than contracts being up. Certainly, in the place of Drew Gulak. From a company standpoint, there not being anything from a main roster standpoint that they were going to be using him in. In NXT, over the last year and a half to two years, we’ve been trying to get into the process of keeping it fluid. It’s all about getting to the main roster when everything is said and done. In two or three years, if that doesn’t happen, we bring other people in or see if we’re ready to move on.”

If anything, it’s a stark reminder that NXT still exists to, above all else, populate the main roster. It’s quite the delicate balance between booking your own television show and preparing for the future, one that HBK has arguably done better than Triple H himself.

Other Odds & Ends:

According to reports, the mini-stroke referenced by Britt Baker (DMD) on AEW Dynamite is legitimate. If so, both she and Adam Cole have been through a ton over the past 24 months.
Mason Madden (Mace) and Mansoor, now known as the MxM Collection, showed up in ROH when featured in a vignette on this week’s broadcast. They might not have made it in WWE, but it’s good to see them getting work, and a second chance to make this gimmick their own. YEAH!
Cody Rhodes continues to be the ultimate good dude, this time helping a fan who won tickets to Money In The Bank actually attend the event. The fan who won the tickets is in a wheelchair, and there were no more accessible seats left. That was, of course, until Cody got involved. Now the fan can be there and enjoy the show as intended when he won the contest. Cody wins again!

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

AEW Coverage

Mitchell’s AEW Continental Classic Update! (11/27/23)

What a start to the tournament!

Published

8 months ago

November 27, 2023

Steven Mitchell

Did your picks win points?

The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!

Here are your Gold League standings!

Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
Rush: 0-1, 0 points
Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points

Here are your Blue League standings!

Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete

My Thoughts:

Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.

Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.

In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.

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