1. One factor I’m maintaining a tally of going ahead: The wrestlers getting assist from the reside viewers in matches typically being wrestlers that AEW has not invested rather a lot in.
I seen this rather a lot throughout the previous week–when Beast Mortos was wrestling Kazuchika Okada–the group was actually behind Mortos greater than the man that was an enormous signing earlier this 12 months. I additionally seen Brody King getting cheered over Ricochet and The Outrunners being essentially the most over wrestlers of their eight-man tag match on Collision.
I’m not able to say it’s a serious disaster or something–however AEW has some “authentic” stars that followers are rallying behind and need to see pushed, whereas expensive veterans that Tony Khan has invested in should not precisely lighting the world on hearth. It might be time to take a step again and take a look at a few of these natural reactions and re-evaluate who’s slotted the place on the cardboard.
2. The Wrestling Observer E-newsletter Awards shall be voted on shortly, and for me the Class B awards (the awards that don’t have a multiple-vote tallying system to find out the winner) are way more attention-grabbing than the foremost awards.
We speak about Wrestler of the Yr and Most Excellent Wrestler all year long–however give me extra attention-grabbing awards like Worst Tv Announcer, Most Improved and the batshit Rookie of the Yr voting any day of the week over the extra lined awards.
3. Talking of the Observer Awards, wanting immediately I seen the “Match of the Yr” award actually will get handed out in era-related blocks.
In 2001, AJPW took dwelling the award for the Keiji Mutoh vs Genichiro Tenryu match, adopted by WWE successful the award in 2002 for Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio and Edge at No Mercy, adopted by NOAH in 2003 for Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi. 2002 was the final time a promotion didn’t repeat a minimum of as soon as because the winner of the award. NOAH gained it in 2003 and 2004, adopted by three straight years of ROH successful the award, then WWE from 2008 to 2011, NJPW from 2012 to 2019, AEW in 2020 and 2021, and NJPW the final two years.
I don’t suppose NJPW will repeat this 12 months–my guess is will probably be some AEW match, both the Sting retirement match or a serious Ospreay match. I simply discovered it form of outstanding how one promotion at a time has form of dominated the award during the last 20 years.
4. I watched a Gary Albright vs. Toshiaki Kawada match lately
I simply love how this match begins–the group and Kawada are so in worry of Albright’s dreaded german suplex that each time Albright will get place behind Kawada, the group freaks out and Kawada has to do a sequence of various counters to keep away from getting planted on his head. When Albright lastly does join on the 10:40 mark, Kawada sells it in trademark vogue.
I’m comfortable with the place wrestling is immediately, however this an amazing instance of time and place in wrestling that may’t be repeated, with such an enthusiastic crowd invested within the little bodily struggles of a match.
5. Unpopular opinion: I watched the newest match between El Hijo del Mascara Sagrada and El Hijo del Fishman, which has gotten rave critiques and happened on an indie present on Dec. 1 in Mexico.
I’ve seen a couple of of their matches this 12 months, and they’re actually entertaining. This match although didn’t do an entire lot for me. One of the best factor about it’s that you could actually really feel like these two wrestlers hate one another and are attempting to simply beat the hell out of one another. Nevertheless, I simply suppose I’m just a little burned out on Lucha brawls–it looks as if each Lucha match outdoors of CMLL that will get advisable to me is a Lucha brawl, which is a method I take pleasure in, however there isn’t a ton of range. Some blood, some crowd brawling, and a few masks ripping. For the second half of this match El Hijo del Mascara Sagrada’s masks is mainly utterly off, and his actions are nearly all compromised by him attempting to keep away from displaying his face. It’s a great match, however in the end fairly forgettable.
6. John Cena goes to be wrestling semi-frequently in 2025, a minimum of that’s what now we have been led to imagine as this shall be his retirement tour. What ought to WWE do with this ultimate 12 months of Cena?
Typical reserving logic would let you know that Cena ought to be working applications with younger expertise and placing them over, however I feel that will be a foul concept.
For starters, WWE doesn’t have a ton of younger expertise value placing over in the intervening time, outdoors of Bron Breakker. I don’t suppose Cena placing over Carmelo Hayes goes to do an entire lot for his profession.
The opposite difficulty is Cena is notably dangerous at really placing expertise over–as in making them come throughout as equals throughout their feud. Take a look at any level in Cena’s profession from his feuds with The Miz, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and even Austin Principle simply final 12 months–Cena mainly is available in and steamrolls these skills.
A significantly better use of Cena could be him enjoying the hits and doing a little presumably large cash matches–working towards Cody, CM Punk and Roman Reigns. These will draw large, make the most of Cena’s drawing energy to its most, and never pressure Cena to do something he’s genuinely dangerous at.
7. On a associated difficulty, with questions on what CM Punk shall be doing at WrestleMania this 12 months if he isn’t concerned within the bigger Bloodline angle–wouldn’t a match with Cena take advantage of sense?
Working again that program after so a few years would draw large and even perhaps given Punk his elusive WrestleMania (Night time 1) principal occasion that he has been chasing after.
8. In a prolonged article written by The Athletic, it seems that Lee Becoming, who WWE employed as an govt producer in January and who’s identify it’s possible you’ll recall being positioned underneath Paul Levesque’s on the finish of WWE programming, was fired from his job at ESPN for having a prolonged historical past of sexual misconduct within the office.
WWE appears to be accumulating these skills, as Becoming’s hiring comes after disgraced FOX Sports activities govt Jamie Horowitz was employed by WWE in 2021 (Horowitz was later laid off in 2023). The Athletic article paints Becoming’s time as ESPN as that of a frat home chief, drunk on energy granted to him by way of the success of his principal program, Faculty Gameday, which he used to allegedly make a sequence of inappropriate feedback and developments in direction of feminine colleagues.
In line with the article, Becoming’s conduct was solely ultimately taken significantly by administration in recent times when ESPN skilled main turnover in management, which terminated Becoming in 2023, having him escorted from ESPN headquarters by safety.
ESPN would not look the opposite approach at Becoming’s conduct, so he discovered a spot that will, WWE, which is after all embroiled in its personal sexual harassment scandal. What might probably go incorrect with taking somebody like Becoming and making him an authoritative determine in an organization with a protracted historical past of ruthless profession development and quid professional quo engagements?
9. Studying The Athletic story, the factor that stands out to me is the way it looks as if sports activities media corporations really feel just like the Catholic church throughout the sexual assault scandal that rocked the church within the 2000s—shuttling round problematic people to new spots when allegations come up, the place they will proceed to be predators.
Brokers-turned-executives like Ari Emmanuel and Nick Khan, who’re very happy to do their previous buddies a favor by serving to them rating comfortable touchdown spots after they’ve been disgraced, ought to actually be held to job for partaking in this type of motion, which on the finish of the day, is placing harmless staff liable to additional focused habits by these people with dangerous histories which might be being introduced into locations like WWE. They in all probability by no means will—wrestling followers, particularly WWE followers, clearly don’t care sufficient concerning the scandals to make any sizable distinction in reputation.
10. On a extra optimistic be aware, after largely ignoring the US indies for this 12 months, I’ve been making a little bit of an effort to observe extra stuff because the 12 months winds down. One man I’ve been impressed by is Tim Bosby. Bosby, 20, has solely been wrestling since June of 2022 and been working principally in Tennessee and Georgia.
He’s acquired good dimension and does an amateuer-background form of gimmick, I feel the obvious comparability to him could be Jason Jordan, who he considerably bodily resembles. At his age, he’s already fairly superior, and I feel he’s a extremely thrilling prospect that ought to be on everybody’s radar display going ahead.
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