After ALL IN on September 1. The pro wrestling world realized there was enough talent on the indies to sell out a 10,000 seat arena and do a fair number in pay-per-view buys. The industry was shook. After the successful night. There is a rumored wrestling promotion start-up happening and it involves some pretty amazing characters. WWE has been the top promotion since the demise of WCW. Others have tried to reinvigorate the wars that were fought in the nineties. This including TNA's attempt to restart the Monday Night Wars. Which they had potential but ultimately flopped. Now a new wrestling promotion is on the horizon. Currently they have gone through a bunch of trademarks:
Now you may ask who is funding this venture? Shahid Khan. Specifically his son Tony Khan. Also to let you know Shahid Khan has a net worth of $6.8 billion, he's the owner of Jacksonville Jaguars. Vince McMahon has a net worth of $2.8 billion, he's the sole owner of the rebooted XFL. Yes, money isn't everything in the wrestling business. At one time Ted Turner was the rich billionaire taking on Vince McMahon then he lost $8 billion in a merger... I think the Khan's would be different. It just depends how they organize this promotion. At least they have deep pockets. They just have to make the right moves. That's they key to this entire promotion. Make the right moves! They can't end up like Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling. It had potential to do something great and it failed. Here is the reason AEW may jump into that number two promotion in the world. First and foremost WWE is so dominant everything looks small in comparison. Ring of Honor still can't get good production value and they can't retain talent despite being able to sell out MSG. You'll always be small, if you play small. So that rules them out as the number two promotion in the world. Impact has been steered in the right direction by Don Callis. Yet I think so much damage has been done to the brand it's a matter of time before Don Callis or the talent get poached away. Lucha Underground is a revolutionary concept of mixing wrestling with an over-dramatic, artsy style TV show, and having it go by seasons. Still it will never reach that number two due to its network, and the format. Lucha Underground provides a great alternative. NJPW is awesome but it's kinda not really in competition with WWE. Which once again isn't a bad thing. NJPW owns a section of the market. Tuesday Night Dynamite is one of the trademarks that should immediately jump out. The name sounds like an old-school WCW show. Maybe that's what they were going for? The biggest debate for AEW right now is if they will get on a traditional cable network. There is many cable networks that desperately need content. During ALL IN, WGN America hosted ALL IN: Zero Hour which acted as the pre-show. I'd assume WGN America would be interested in Tuesday Night Dynamite. They only show Cops reruns on Tuesdays nights. WGN America also had WWE Superstars in the past, and well we all know how that ended. The other option that everyone is timid to mention is streaming. Why not Netflix? Why not Apple? Why not Amazon? Netflix it would help diversify their portfolio, and it could be another test for them in the LIVE sports entertainment arena. They are always looking to try something new because they know Disney and WarnerMedia are coming after them hard in 2019. Yes, Lucha Underground didn't work out on Netflix. There could be a million reasons why but AEW could be something better. Apple is another competitor. They haven't even revealed their streaming model yet but they could easily help kickstart a promotion. The third streaming option is Amazon. Which technically they could do some smooth operating. Amazon is interested in the Fox Sports regional networks. If their bid is successful that could be a secondary home for AEW. Also I could see AEW doing well on Prime. The rumor started that The Elite, Chris Jericho, and Jim Ross were forming a new wrestling company with financial backing from the Khan family. Also the other rumor floating is that two WWE stars are going to leave in April to join the promotion. Which WWE is stacking and misusing talent all over the place.
That's a reason why WWE is signing people like ACH. Who has been in Ring of Honor forever. Same with Trevor Lee, who had a stint in Impact. All these wrestlers are all of sudden going to WWE. There were also reports that WWE offered Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and The Young Buck main event money to come to WWE. It's starting to look like they didn't take that offer. Not to mention Cody Rhodes tweeting out to his followers asking what independent wrestlers are being overlooked. That is AEW scouting at its finest. AEW could be a legitimate promotion. If you start with this core of:
I rather watch a roster of ELITE guys (pun fully intended) than forcing us to get to know some independent wrestler, who will probably go back to working smaller shows in some small town. That's what GFW did wrong. When you look at GFW Amped, the promotions main show that never aired until Impact bought GFW. They had Bobby Roode, Bollywood Boyz, Nick Aldis, Mickie James, KUSHIDA, TJ Perkins, Gallows & Anderson, Eric Young, and Shelton Benjamin. Now more than half of this list is now in WWE. Yet GFW filled the rest of the roster with TNA burnouts and AAA wannabes. AEW will be daunting task but if they make the right moves it will only benefit the world of professional wrestling. AEW will only make NXT and WWE more competitive. Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks want something more. They don't want to simply just settle for Ring of Honor or NJPW. They don't want to have to due their own ALL IN pay-per-views. They want their own promotion. Something that could be successful. So what will come of AEW? That remains to be seen but I believe that they are on the right track. One thing is for sure Vince McMahon hates competition. There is no denying that. He's probably going to snatch up more talent on the indies. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts to drain Impact and Luca Underground. I have a feeling that with Jim Ross and Chris Jericho involved this will be legit. As long as they are actually involved. If they aren't involved then we will have to wait and see how legitimate the promotion becomes. I couldn't imagine Jericho and Ross burning a bridge with WWE for something minor league-ish. No one thought they could pull of ALL IN. Now we have people saying AEW can't be a number two promotion. The Elite like proving people wrong. If your a fan of pro wrestling your biggest hope is that Tony Khan and other investors will be All In. Follow @ZWrestleTalk on Twitter.
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Triple Z discusses his thoughts regarding Survivor Series main event, and where it should go from here. There is nothing like it when Brock Lesnar rises to the occasion. You instantly remember why he's the part-time superstar. The engaged Lesnar we saw on Sunday night was rare. Proving that Lesnar when he feels like it still has a passion for pro wrestling. It only took one opponent to get it out of him. Daniel Bryan. We haven't seen a Brock Lesnar match that good in years. Yeah, his encounters with Goldberg were fine. But this was on a whole new level. At first we thought it was going to be a typical Brock Lesnar beatdown, and all of that quickly changed. Thanks to Daniel Bryan's heel persona.
Bryan brought out the very best in Lesnar. Even getting the beast to chant "Suplex City." Something we rarely see from Lesnar. The match made Brock Lesnar look like he barely survived. He was moments away from tapping out to the Yes! lock. And for a few moments the "smarks" who care about Lesnar only fighting people near his size were gasping. Even though it is ridiculous to point out Brock Lesnar doing a bear hug it is necessary to point out. Lesnar rarely does different moves. Adding a bear hug or any move other than a F5 or suplex into his in-ring psychology is a rare sight. This match should open the eyes to the people making the decisions in the back. Lesnar vs Bryan looked like something out of a NXT TakeOver event. There is ways to move this forward. It is time to reevaluate on how you use Brock Lesnar. The part-time star stock rises when he puts on a performance like that. Yet there is obviously a key to his epic performance. Lesnar has to care about his opponent. It's blatantly obvious Brock Lesnar could care less for Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Braun Strowman. We don't know why he feels this way. Maybe he has a little bit more respect for Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins but who knows. If I'm WWE I would make sure every Lesnar match was with someone he respected and was willing to perform with. Daniel Bryan got it out of him, AJ Styles was able to get a little bit. Would Lesnar have a respectful match with Shinsuke Nakamura? Especially considering Lesnar's ties to NJPW. That could very well be Brock Lesnar's next good match. This also means no more finisher extravaganza's with Roman Reigns were they just do spear-F5-spear-F5. And no more Lesnar hitting five F5's to win a single match. There is obviously some other opponents that I think could bring the most out of Brock. I could see Finn Balor getting Brock to work. Considering how he was on the indies forever and his NJPW ties. I would likened this match to Lesnar's fight with CM Punk. Then my other two options are legends. Kurt Angle, could probably bring out a lot in Brock Lesnar. Then the other legend would be The Rock. Another feud that we thought we were getting. It has been rumored to be the main event of multiple WrestleMania's. The rumor went all the way back to the night after WrestleMania 28. Now it's once again rumored that we could see Brock Lesnar vs The Rock go down at WrestleMania 35. I'm all for that. The Rock will energize Brock Lesnar into performing well. If not WWE now has the sturdy backup plan of just having Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan again. Could you imagine a babyface Daniel Bryan defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the title? That would be quite the the scene and an iconic moment to close out the show. So the matter of the story is that when Brock Lesnar is motivated he puts on an incredible, awe-inspiring match. When was the last time a main roster match truly told a story? It's funny because on Survivor Series you technically had two storytelling matches in Nakamura/Rollins and Lesnar/Bryan. Yet I think the path with Brock Lesnar is quite simple. It's time for him to agree to matches that will be good. There is also another opponent that I think would be fascinating for Brock Lesnar. Matt Riddle down in NXT. The man who claims "he will retire" Lesnar. Riddle has a MMA/UFC background. It's now just a matter to if Brock Lesnar actually respects the guy. So far Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar is my match of the year for WWE main roster. Follow @ZWrestleTalk on Twitter. [Also known as: Daniel Bryan is a stupidly brave maniac] Alright folks let's just get it out there: Survivor Series is scary.
There's a myriad of injuries on the roster, the card's been changing frequently and, as we know WWE likes to do, it can continue to change as the event goes on. One rather curious change is the match between Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar, what was originally meant to be between Brock and AJ Styles. It's an interesting switch, a dream match for many fans out there. Personally I feel as though I have to be cautious with this match, and try not to expect the world of it. First, I feel that Daniel Bryan at any point of his career, would best have this match against Brock Lesnar if it were the early 2000's, when the man was clearly at his wrestling prime and had more than two moves. Yes, Daniel Bryan has had to change his move set a bit to accommodate his prior injuries, but he's still got a loaded arsenal. Brock....well, he's got fewer moves than the Incredible Hulk. Onto my second point, the one that has me more worried. Brock is an absolute brute, there's no doubt about that. The man is scary, not so much in the entertainment way, but in the 'I think this counts as involuntary manslaughter' sort of way. Him, against a man who most were certain would never wrestle again at some point, screams disaster to me. Bryan is very clearly willing to die in the ring because of his passion for it, and Brock typically does what Brock wants to do. It just feels like there's a lot of room here for devastating errors that should not even be allowed to be possible. Considering we're missing out on what would have been show-closing match of the night Lynch vs. Rousey, I suppose watching the possibility of Daniel Bryan being murdered in the ring is almost as good. Follow @ZWrestleTalk on Twitter. Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles are bound to have another classic. Ronda Rousey will face another formidable challenger. Hopefully, WWE ends Baron Corbin and Kurt Angle's power struggle. WWE had to make a pivot for Survivor Series. After Roman Reigns' announcement that his leukemia had returned. WWE had to have him relinquish the belt he fought so hard to get. Things are beginning to take shape on WWE's Survivor Series. The big four pay-per-view was going to steer away from the RAW vs SmackDown theme. WWE had to change its plans. Here is my projection of the card. Of course things may shift. (I'll do it FiveThirtyEight statistical style, so if I get it wrong I can blame it on the "polling errors.")
Lesnar looks to conquer Styles again I'm most looking forward to Styles/Lesnar II. Just due to what AJ was able to do with Lesnar alone. Styles is still a fresh opponent for Lesnar. Hopefully, we get some actual build up to this match. Styles sadly won't have a shot at getting the W. Considering Lesnar will soon be facing Daniel Cormier in the UFC. It's just a matter of timing. Still these two should be able to provide a solid match. Lesnar's WWE status is still up in the air. According to sources he was suppose to be done with WWE until Royal Rumble season. Rousey should lose at Survivor Series Rousey has been blamed for months (by fans) for injuring her opponents. Her match with Nikki Bella at Evolution was decent but some of the spots looked rough. Maybe just maybe her move set is a little to rough for someone with inexperience? I mean her judo throws and her finisher look botch-worthy on occasion. Don't get me wrong Ronda Rousey is still an attraction but WWE needs to still monitor her in order to make her the next "star" of the company. What if WWE has Rousey lose? That would be the best thing for her at Survivor Series. Becky Lynch is a strong opponent with years of experience on Rousey. WWE shouldn't have Rousey go undefeated until WrestleMania 35 for a few reasons.
Now this brings me to the long winded feud of Baron Corbin and Kurt Angle. RAW's power struggle was expected to collide at Survivor Series. Now it's not looking good as WWE may go for RAW vs SmackDown teams. Due to the theme change. I do believe that Corbin/Angle need to end their feud soon though. I still have a feeling Angle will end up on Team RAW or involved with Survivor Series somehow. He was last year. Plus he has to continue his feud with Shane McMahon. The Sad Circumstance of Shawn Michaels
Now my final subject for this blog. Shawn Michaels un-retired in spectacular fashion. Now he is expected to be on a collision course with The Undertaker. Yet seeing HBK wrestle in 2018 bums me out. I just don't have the desire to see a changed man go back to wrestling. Shawn Michaels is bald. Why is that a big deal some may wonder? It ruins his mystique. It destroys the image we once had of him. It's like an old wrestler working on the indys and he no longer looks good. That's essentially Shawn Michaels despite his in-shape look. He can still go but it won't be the same. Triple H is also bald but we got to openly witness the evolution. So it's not as bad as HBK's. Michaels has the chance to put on dream matches. The Undertaker is still waiting for his match. If I'm being honest I'd rather have Sting come back for another run. He could've done so much more but wasn't able too. Some part-time returns feel fresh. Some don't. HBK's doesn't feel right for multiple reasons. Maybe it was because he did stay true to his retirement for eight years or maybe it was because he came back for WWE's controversial Crown Jewel event? WWE's Survivor Series plans are intriguing. Even though they have to be concerned about fatigue kicking in. WWE has done so many events in a short period of time hopefully Survivor Series is able to succeed. Follow @ZWrestleTalk on Twitter. |
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Triple ZCreator of ZWrestleTalk. This page I give you my thoughts on the current state of the WWE product. I look back at the history of WWE. Sometimes even predict the future. If your lucky you get comedic articles too. Archives
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