Its A Weird Time To Be A Wrestling Fan

2017: WWE are the only game in town (that isn't named New Japan Pro Wrestling), their feeder school, NXT, is regarded as the best independant promotion even though it was neither independant or it's own promotion and CM Punk is a fading memory.

 Everybody understands that WWE is THE company and that they will never, ever, be toppled from their lofty pearch. 

Fast-forward 4 years to mid-2021. 

 2021: WWE have continued their philosophy of standing alone and ignoring the existance of any promotions not under the WWE banner. They are releasing 10s of "performers", including two of their biggest names in Brawn Strowman and Bray Wyatt. 

The best workers of these are being snapped up by their nearest competitor, All Elite Wrestling. A company that didn't exist in 2017 but now has a weekly show on TNT.

AEW have opened the "forbidden door" which sees them partner up with New Japan, Impact Wrestling and, to a lesser degree, the NWA and AAA

CM Punk is seemingly about to make his return to pro-wrestling... in AEW. . 

Oh, and the most naturally over performer that the WWE have had since CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, is also rumoured to have signed with AEW.

Times have certainly changed fast and these changes are happening in no small part due to what should really be described as a complete disconnect between what WWE's goals are and what wrestling fans want to see.

Pro-Wrestling fans (or sports entertainment if you're one of those cretins that uses WWE as part of your identity the same way Trump supporters do) are pretty simple creatures to keep happy. We want good storylines, good wrestling and matches where the end results mean something. If we can dress that up with cool entrances, good music and some pyrotechnics and lasers, even better.

It seems to me though, particularly with the releases of the last six months or so, which includes but is not limited to some real potentially headline talent in: Ric Flair, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Andrade, and Kalisto, that WWE are no longer interested in providing the fans with any sort of engagement or pleasure. Cutting off storylines on a whim and releasing performers that viewers have become invested in.

Maybe they've simply lost the art of booking. Vince is aging and they've been relying on writers for so long that maybe they just don't know how to do it anymore.

The WWEs promotion of Karion Kross to the main roster (the undefeated NXT Champion) is a shining example of how they've lost their way. Especially compared with how Aleister (now Malakai) Black Debuted in AEW.

Kross WWE main roster debut saw him take a roll-up loss to an ageing mid-carder in Jeff Hardy.

Blacks AEW debut saw him smash golden boy/HHH/Cena booked Cody Rhodes in under five minutes, beating him so comprehensively that he pinned him by placing one foot on his chest.

One of these routes makes a star. The other does not.

So maybe they've lost their way booking wise (they actually lost it a long time ago and this is just the most recent example), but that still doesn't explain what's going on with all these releases. They've all been sold under the moniker of "budget cuts", but the company has the biggest TV deal they've ever had and even under the pandemic of last year posted record profits. So what's really going on?

What's going on, from my perspective, is that big buisness has moved in. WWE don't see themselves as an entertainment company anymore, they're simply a publically traded business. The goals of a publically traded business are not to give value to their customers, but to create the most profit possible for their investors.

Nick Khan is the President and Chief Revenue officer of WWE, and seems very much to be aiming to ensure that the company continue to post record profits. A goal they'll continue to achieve as long as they have big TV contracts. But, and this is a big but, the TV contracts come based on viewership, and as Khans cuts turn more and more people off the promotion, this will become an issue. This is surely something that the company understands.

If the company understands that, then why are they going down this route?

Well, an intersting rumour doing the rounds on the internet is that Khan has been asked to prepare the company to be sold. This would definitly tie in with the releases as WWE will continue to have that TV deal but with far less expenditure for the wrestlers contracts making them a very profitable company in the short-term but with falling profitability in the long-term if the fan engagement issue is not addressed.

I suppose what I'm saying with all of this is that not since the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars has there been a better time to be a wrestling fan. And as the world slowly opens back up and moves out of the pandemic era, things can only get more and more interesting...

So, they are some things that I'd been thinking about and I wanted to post on the internet to see whether anybody else had any thoughts on them?

If you do, let me know in the comments below!

On this Day in Pro Wrestling History

1995 - WCW held its fifth-annual SuperBrawl pay-per-view event at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, before 13,390 fans. The show got a 0.95 buyrate. The results:
- Alex Wright pinned Paul Roma after a roll-up after a dropkick from behind.
- Jim Duggan pinned Bunkhouse Buck (with Col. Robert Parker and Meng) after a running clothesline after knocking Parker off the apron.
- Kevin Sullivan (with The Butcher) pinned Dave Sullivan with a roll-up and grabbing Dave's tights after ramming Dave into The Butcher on the apron.
- WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray (with Sister Sherri)) defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) by reverse decision to retain the title. Knobbs had originally pinned Stevie Ray after Sherri accidentally hit him with her loaded purse, but referee Randy Anderson came to the ring and informed match referee Nick Patrick that Sags threw Booker from the ring over the top rope soon before.
- The Blacktop Bully (with Col. Robert Parker) pinned Dustin Rhodes when Parker grabbed Rhodes' leg as he tried to suplex the Bully into the ring. Parker then held Rhodes foot down for the cover.
- Randy Savage and Sting defeated Avalanche and The Butcher, when Sting pinned Avalanche with a crossbody off the top.
- WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeated WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Vader by disqualification to retain his title, when Hogan attacked Ric Flair, who interfered.

1995 - Koji Kanemoto ends Norio Honaga's third IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title reign in Tokyo, Japan.

1998 - The Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title changes twice in Alexandria, Virginia, as Lance Diamond ends Cueball Carmichael's third reign, then loses the title to Jimmy Cicero.

Former WWE star has passed away!

WWE Superstar Nelson Frazier, Jr., aka: Viscera, Big Daddy V, and Mabel, has died at the age of 43 after suffering a massive heart attack.  
Cause of the massive heart attack is being investigated.  More information as I get it!

Knee-Jerk Reaction (RAW 02/17/2014)

Tonight's RAW is live from Denver, CO. You know, that Denver. Home of the Superbowl losing Denver Broncos. I wonder who will be the first heel to take advantage of that cheap heat. And it's an interesting question of rather or not the Denver fans will cheer for Daniel Bryan. He's from Washington state, after all. And he tweeted his jubilence after the Seattle Seahawks won the Superbowl. A tweet that WWE displayed on RAW. There might be some Denver fans who might hold that against him.

Road to Wrestlemania XXX, Part Two

This is part two of my weekly blog series, where I attempt to predict the final card for Wrestlemania XXX based on the events portrayed on WWE television over the past few weeks.

On this Day in Pro Wrestling History

1996 - ECW ran their Cyberslam event (held in conjunction with a fan convention) at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are the results:
- Judge Dredd & Bad Crew defeated Dino Sendoff, Don E. Allen & Shark Attack Kid. The Sandman then ran out and caned all six men.
- Spiros Greco defeated El Puerto Ricano with a side slam.
- Taz defeated Joel Hartgood in under two minutes with the Tazmission. Following the match, Taz took down several other wrestlers, and fought with Mikey Whipwreck.
- Brian Pillman made his ECW debut, appearing in the ring to cut an obscenity laced promo against Eric Bischoff and WCW, claiming he had been fired by the company. Pillman would end up being carted off by security after threatening to urinate in the ring. As he was carted off, Pillman attacked a "fan" (really worker Chris Krueger) and stabbed him with a fork. This was part of Pillman's famous work/shoot with WCW, trying to convince fans he really was fired from WCW and was a "loose cannon". Pillman would later get WCW to actually give him his release (to make the angle "more believable" as they were trying to work everyone with it) and jump to the WWF.  The ECW promo was one of the best interviews of Pillman's career.
- Buh Buh Ray Dudley defeated Mr. Hughes with a splash off the top rope.
- The Gangstas were scheduled to wrestle The Headhunters, but New Jack was unable to appear. Mustafa fought the Headhunters alone, and lost. This led into the next match....
- The Bruise Brothers (Ron & Don Harris)returned to defeat The Headhunters.
- An injured Tommy Dreamer, suffering from a separaed shoulder, confronted Raven, and the Bruise Brothers (who were there to back up Dreamer) turned on Dreamer, pulling him groin first into a ringpost.
- JT Smith defeated Axl Rotten after a chairshot.
- Francine & The Pitbulls defeated Stevie Richards & The Eliminators (John Kronus & Perry Saturn) in a Triple Dog Collar match when Francine pinned Richards after the Pitbulls gave him a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo.? After the match, the Eliminators gave the Pitbulls and Francine Total Elimination.
- ECW Television Champion 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Sabu went to a 30-minute draw.
- Shane Douglas defeated Cactus Jack. SMW (and future WCW referee) Mark Curtis was the special referee, and handed Douglas handcuffs during the match. With Foley cuffed, Douglas hit him with chairshots and put him in a figure four, with Cactus refusing to submit. Cactus called for Mikey Whipwreck to help him, and Mikey came in and blasted Cactus with a chairshot to give Douglas the win.
- ECW World Champion Raven defeated The Sandman with a DDT on a chair.

1997 - Psycho Sid (Vicious) defeats Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Title during a live edition of Raw from Nashville, Tennessee after Steve Austin interferes and hits Hart with a chair, allowing Sid to powerbomb Hart for the win. This ended Hart's fourth title reign after only one day as champion, having won the belt the previous night at the "Final Four" Pay-per-view event. It began Sid's second, and final, WWF Championship run.  After the match the Undertaker, who had been named number one contender to the title for Wrestlemania, came out and stared at Sid.

On this Day in Pro Wrestling History

1981 - WWF ran at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the following results:
- Killer Khan defeated Dominic DeNucci.
- The Great Yatsu defeated Johnny Rodz.
- Hulk Hogan defeated Rick McGraw.
- The Hangman defeated Frank Savage.
- S.D. Jones defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
- Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales defeated Sgt. Slaughter via DQ when the referee caught Slaughter using a pair of brass knuckles.
- WWF World Champion Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen was ruled a draw when the referee decided that both men were bleeding too heavily to continue.  They kept brawling anyway, until security separated them.
- Rick Martel, Tony Garea & Pat Patterson defeated The Moondogs & Captain Lou Albano in a three falls match.

1985 - Bruno Sammartino ended his retirement, which had lasted for over three years, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, teaming with his son David to defeat Paul Orndorff & Bobby Heenan when Orndroff hit Sammartino with a chair as Bruno had Heenan in a bearhug.

1987 - At a WWF television taping in New Haven, Connecticut, Rick Martel, Tom Zenk & Lanny Poffo defeated Adrian Adonis, Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine.  Adonis, who had been cutting locks of his opponents hair in building towards his Wrestlemania III Hair Vs. Hair match with Roddy Piper, went to cut Martel's hair as he was worked over in the corner by Beefcake.  However, as Adonis reached for his scissors, Martel grabbed Beefcake and reversed positions with him.  Adonis turned, and not realizing the switch, cut off some of Beefcake's hair.  Adonis soon realized his mistake, and as he and Beefcake argued, Martel rolled up Beefcake for the pin.  This was the first step towards the creation of Beefcake's "Barber" persona. 

On this Day in Pro Wrestling History

1997 - Battlanger and Masaaki Mochizuki defeat Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title in Toyohashi, Japan, ending Storm and Yasuraoka's second reign.

1999 - An interesting turn of events took place at ECW's show at the Elks Lodge in Queens, New York (aka the Madhouse of Extreme). Originally, the Public Enemy, who had just recently returned to the company from WCW, were going to continue their new feud with the Dudley Boyz at the show. However, the Public Enemy bolted from the company and went to the WWF. In need of a surprise, ECW brought back Mustafa Saed and reformed the Gangstas with New Jack. However, the reunion didn't last long, as Mustafa turned on New Jack and joined with the Dudleys, revealing himself to be the "financial benefactor" of the Dudleys, and was soon called "Mr. Mustafa".

1999 - Trooper Gilmore defeats Curtis Slamdawg in Mansfield, Massachusetts for the NWA New England Heavyweight Title.

1999 - Steve Sharp defeats Greg Valentine in Springfield, Missouri to become the first World League Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.