Triple H made major waves in September when he dropped the insight in an interview that WarGames would make its debut on the WWE main roster at Survivor Series this year with not just one, but two matches under that gimmick. It’s a controversial move, given the match type may be unfamiliar to WWE-only fans who didn’t keep an eye on NXT. By all indications, Vince McMahon, who has owned the WCW intellectual property since 2001, didn’t see value in promoting such a match himself.

Nonetheless, given the rumors Triple H always wanted to work a WarGames match in his heyday, and the way he promoted it when he was in charge of NXT, it only makes sense that he’d make it a reality for the main roster this November. But what do fans want to see out of WarGames?

WWE Should Stick To Conventional WarGames Rules

One of the tricky things about booking WarGames is that fans can be uncertain what to expect. WCW and its predecessors booked it in relatively straightforward fashion with four or five-person teams going against each other, alternating which team got to add new combatants at timed intervals before the match could only via submission or surrender.

WCW contorted these rules almost beyond recognition in its final years to the point the matches were only WarGames in name. From there, NXT itself started running WarGames matches with a three teams of three format. While the resulting match was well-received, it was nonetheless refreshing when the matches to follow were composed of two teams of four.

Keeping the rules simple and traditional to deliver on what old school fans expect is key to the success of the gimmick as WWE both serves nostalgia and rolls WarGames out to a segment audience members who may not have seen it before.

WWE Should Tell Very Different Stories Between The Men’s And Women’s WarGames Matches

There’s always a danger when WWE books two iterations of a major gimmick match in the same night, as they’ve come to do regularly for the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, Hell in a Cell, and others. Will fans still be excited for the second go-round? How can WWE avoid fans feeling like they’re seeing the same story play out twice?

NXT was mostly successful at differentiating WarGames matches on the occasions when they booked two in the same night, so there is hope. There’s room for variation between which performers are booked into the match and what their storylines are, in addition to matters such as which team wins, what the key spots are, or if anyone turns on their team. Having one of the matches dedicated to male talent and the other to female talent will offer one step in that differentiation.

WWE Should Have The Bloodline Go To War

When WWE downgraded its Money in the Bank PPV from Allegiant Stadium to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, major names like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar quickly disappeared from the marketing. Nothing suggests a “throwaway” PPV more than failing to feature the biggest stars.

While Money in the Bank generally had a good reception from fans, it also felt a bit underwhelming when it came to star power—reliant on the eponymous gimmick more so than the talents in the ring to sell the show.

One way to ensure WarGames does not feel like a crutch, but rather a vehicle for meaningful storytelling is to ensure big names and angles are in the mix. The Bloodline is the most obvious choice. Maybe it’s all five wrestlers, Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, The Usos, and Sami Zayn involved as the top pushed group in the company. Otherwise, it could be interesting if they promoted a four-man team with Reigns leading them to victory, or else sitting it out and setting up Zayn to cost them the match and jeopardize his tenuous standing in the faction.

WWE Should Not Feature WarGames At The Expense Of Traditional Elimination Tag Team Action

Survivor Series dates back to 1987, making it second only to WrestleMania as the longest running annual  PPV WWE has, and the original gimmick-match-based PPV. From the beginning and with very few exceptions, the show has featured elimination tag team matches, traditionally among four or five-person teams.

Having two WarGames matches both consumes a large portion of the roster and already sets up two team-based feuds going into the PPV. These dynamics may make booking big elimination tag team matches less practical, but it’s nonetheless a good idea for WWE to maintain some of its roots in this scenario with at least one traditionally formatted bout.

Feature A Surprise Team Member

Triple H has proven himself a master of booking surprise returns and debuts since taking control of WWE creative and talent relations. That includes Braun Strowman, Johnny Gargano, Damage Control, and the pair of Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bourdeaux among the most dramatic examples to date.

Having two matches likely to feature at least sixteen wrestlers invites at least one mystery team member or last-minute replacement to be in the mix. With no shortage of allusions to Bray Wyatt potentially returning soon and other part time talents and free agents conceivably in the mix, it both feels as though WarGames would be a great platform for a major surprise and such a surprise could be a good way of establishing WarGames on the WWE main roster landscape.

In the end, Triple H’s respect for the tradition of WarGames and drive to introduce it first to NXT and now to the main roster bode well for how the concept will be handled at Survivor Series. Time will tell how it all plays out, but it should, at least, offer a unique spectacle for the fans.

In a conversation of great years in professional wrestling history, 1992 has a tendency to go overlooked. The Golden Era in WWE was tapering off and business was slipping downward. Meanwhile, WCW went through its share of transitions, including Bill Watts taking over creative and instituting unpopular rules like making moves off the top rope illegal. Neither major promotion would really find its way the way they did again around 1996-1997 as the Monday Night War took off.

However, 1992 also featured a deceptive number of highlights and important shifts that set up the future of the business, making it arguably the greatest year in wrestling history, at least for the mainstream product in the US

1992 Had The Best Versions Of Important Matches

January 1992 saw the greatest Royal Rumble match of all time. Ric Flair put on the first iron man performance that culminated in a victory as he entered at number three and lasted an hour against a full catalog of WWE Superstars, including the Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Sid Justice, and Roddy Piper as legitimate contenders and a laundry list of iconic names in the supporting cast like Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, The Big Boss Man, and The Texas Tornado to name a few. The match culminated in an electric finish with Hogan and Justice falling out—handing Flair the win and setting each other up as WrestleMania opponents. Speaking of WrestleMania, the event itself would feature arguably the best WWE Championship match in event history up to that point, with Flair defending against Savage.

On the WCW side of the equation, 1992 was host to the greatest War Games match of all time as the babyface Sting’s Squadron not only won an epic battle, but effectively ended The Dangerous Alliance, a great faction that crumbled by degrees after their defeat. This match featured a perfect blend of current top stars like Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Rick Rude, alongside up and coming top talent like Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes, with a fine mix of highly skilled and over role players like Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, Nikita Koloff, and Barry Windham rounding things out.

WWE SummerSlam drew a full stadium crowd in England for an event highlighted by arguably the best main event in the show’s history: Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship. This would prove to the be the first of many one-on-one PPV headliners for The Hitman as he rose up the ranks.

1992 Saw Major Stars Defined

1992 saw the evolution of Bret Hart. He started the year as Intercontinental Champion, stole the show beating Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8, and went on to main event SummerSlam and Survivor Series alike. In between those events, he won his very first world championship, cementing him as a top guy.

January 1992 also saw Shawn Michaels famously superkick Marty Jannetty and throw him through the window of Brutus Beefcake’s Barbershop interview set. More than a simple heel turn or tag team split, this was the launch of one of the most important singles stars of the decade to follow.

Early 1992 was a critical point for The Undertaker as well. After a highly successful first year in WWE as a monster heel, there was a real risk of the character running its course. A babyface turn offered longevity and the rise of an unlikely favorite among the fan base. He’d defeat Jake Roberts at WrestleMania, and though he wouldn’t get back to the world title picture for some time, this run set him up to become an iconic character who spanned decades, as opposed to a monster with a couple-year shelf life.

On the WCW side of things, 1992 was the year when Ron Simmons realized his potential at the greatest level, becoming the first universally recognized black world champion after he defeated Big Van Vader.

1992 Was a Great Year For In Ring Performance

One of the biggest arguments in favor of 1992 comes down to in-ring quality. The world title picture in WWE tells its own story as the first year since 1983 when Hulk Hogan didn’t get his hands on the WWE Championship at all. In his place were a trio of all-time-great workers: Ric Flair, Randy Savage, and Bret Hart holding down the fort and elevating the quality of main event matches to a significant degree.

In WCW, Sting quite arguably reached his peak as an in-ring worker—an incredibly athletic and dynamic powerhouse who took well to being the franchise player. Meanwhile, Vader rose up not just an intimidating monster heel, but rare one who could work at an extremely high level. Add in Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude, and Steve Austin all performing at the highest level and the company was quietly thriving when it came to big matches.

1992 may never get the full credit it deserves, but it was a historically important year, full of great wrestling as the business evolved and prepared for its next boom period. In addition the great signature matches, rise of top stars, and quality of performance on the whole, it was also the first year WWE staged a ladder match and the year WCW innovated Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal, all pointing the way toward even bigger things to come.

Renee Paquette is widely regarded as one of the most likeable non-wrestling personalities in the world of professional wrestling. She made headlines when she debuted for AEW in October, making good on longstanding rumors she may one day join her real life husband Jon Moxley as well as a host of friends from her WWE days on this stage.

Paquette talked over what led to her decision and what it was like to make her first appearance on an episode of her podcast immediately after her debut. Amidst the conversation, Mean Gene Okerlund came up, and she briefly joked about starting her own hotline in the tradition of what the broadcaster did first for WWE, then for WCW back in the 1990s. Whether it was intended purely as a joke or not, the idea has potential.

Renee Paquette Tends To Get Compared Gene Okerlund

No one would ever mistake Renee Paquette for Gene Okerlund based on their physical appearances. However, the two have drawn a high number of comparisons based on the respective roles they’ve played in the wrestling industry, primarily working as backstage interviewers and hosts, in additional to forays into the commentary booth. Most specifically, there’s a relatively frequent assessment that Paquette is “the best backstage interviewer since Mean Gene.”

Paquette, to her credit, doesn’t shy away from the comparison or dispute her standing, but rather expressed in the podcast that she was flattered to be mentioned in the same breath as Okerlund. She even went so far as to reference that the two were able to work together on some projects for WWE, and that she enjoyed grabbing a bite to eat with him after work, describing him as a class act.

An Actual Mean Gene-Style Hotline Could Be a Great Nostalgia Play In The Short Term

Mean Gene Okerlund famously facilitated a hotline first for WWE, then for WCW. The gist was that he would tease major news or rumors on TV, inviting the viewer to call a 1-900 number that charged an initial fee, plus extra money for every minute the caller stayed on the line. Typically, there was a conscious design to keep the customer listening for a while to get more money out of them.

As Eric Bischoff has discussed on his 83 Weeks podcast, it was Okerlund, personally, who brought this business over to WCW, suggesting it as a revenue stream he knew well and could facilitate.

The idea of a hotline itself is pretty outdated in 2022. Just the same, AEW could bring back this concept—be it following the traditional model on the phone as more of a novelty Internet or app-based utility. The nostalgia-factor alone would probably draw some old school fans to call Renee for an inside scoop—throwing few dollars or a download at it for their entertainment.

AEW Could Switch From A Hotline To Something More Modern For Renee Paquette

While Renee Paquette running a fee-based hotline might be able to create some revenue and good will in the short term, the idea probably wouldn’t have much of a shelf life. The Internet and social media are so robust in their coverage of wrestling news and rumors nowadays that it’s hard to image many fans calling an old school hotline nowadays more than a handful of times.

Either after or instead of the hotline model, though, AEW might use similar branding for a more modernized take on the concept. Perhaps it would be a news source with a paywall like Fightful Select or the way The Wrestling Observer offers some of its content. AEW would, after all, have unique access to share news on this kind of platform about upcoming events or matchups, or taking control of news reporting about backstage happenings.

Paquette has already established herself as a highly skilled interviewer via not only her on-air wrestling efforts, but her podcast. Offering conversations, for example, with Tony Khan himself or other major figures from AEW could offer an additional incentive for fans to pay a modest fee to listen.

While wrestling fans by and large enjoy free content, it only seems fair for a promotion to take advantage where there’s a potential revenue stream the fans might clamor for. Renee Paquette is that rare figure in wrestling hardly any fans have anything negative to say about, and no one could blame AEW for cashing in with some variation of a hotline concept, taking advantage of Paquette’s personality and Mean Gene Okerlund nostalgia.

After extended teases, Bray Wyatt at last made his return to WWE television at Extreme Rules. The comeback has sparked quite a bit of speculation. In particular, a great deal of reporting suggested that Vince McMahon was constantly at odds with Wyatt’s creative vision during his original run with WWE. The conventional wisdom is that Triple H will be a better creative partner. One way or another, there are quite a few fresh matchups and storylines available for The Eater of Worlds. There’s also some merit in looking backward, revisiting some concepts that could work better on a second run-through.

What Went Wrong For The Original Wyatt Family

The Wyatt Family originally launched on NXT, and got over enough that the faction was fast-tracked to the main roster. The core group consisted of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan and got some immediate buzz with upper card feuds, culminating in Wyatt working his first WrestleMania match opposite no lesser opponent than John Cena.

The biggest challenge to the success of the Wyatt Family came down to inconsistency. The group more than once got together, went their separate ways, and reunited without much clear rhyme or reason. Moreover, there inconsistency in how Wyatt was pushed, getting built up only to job to Cena at WrestleMania 30, then encounter the same dynamic opposite The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31. Wyatt rose up so far as to win the WWE Championship heading into WrestleMania 33, only to drop it to Randy Orton there (despite the use of newfound magical powers to get in The Viper’s head).

Harper and Rowan faced a similar rollercoaster journey, pushed as monsters only to fail in their bids to take the tag titles off The Usos. They peaked as The Bludgeon Brothers—away from the faction—but when that run got cut short due to injury, WWE dropped it altogether. Braun Strowman experienced a similar story—brought into the group to dually play an impressive heater on screen and to sit under Wyatt’s learning tree backstage, but he enjoyed the greatest successes of his tumultuous run away from the group.

WWE Can Incorporate Firefly Funhouse Personalities

Whether WWE calls a new Bray Wyatt faction the Wyatt Family, The Wyatt 6, or something else altogether, there remains the possibility of leaning into Firefly Funhouse lore more so than the original swamp cult sensibility Wyatt put forth. Costumed figures, mirroring the Funhouse cast, appeared around the arena at Extreme Rules before Wyatt showed his face. Indeed, fans also picked up on hints—the fact that they were human beings rather than puppets, not to mention the women’s championship belts beside the Abbie the Witch figure—that these characters would become physical presences in the ring moving forward.

It’s unclear how well received a wrestling rabbit or pig character would be. The fact that fans are discussing this very real possibility now, though, speaks to the unique aesthetic Wyatt brings to professional wrestling. These unconventional, presumably masked personas would also open the door to radically rebrand some talents whom fans have been conditioned not to take seriously, or who don’t have very well-defined characters out on their own.

A New Wyatt Family Could Offer A Home To Other Talents

One of the more promising elements of a new Wyatt faction is the idea of revisiting old connections and doing them justice, in contrast to the up-and-down booking The Eater of Worlds and his associates have faced in the past. Alexa Bliss has been directionless most of the year, and teaming up with Bray Wyatt again could reignite her career. Braun Strowman still has some buzz from his own return to WWE, but enough time has passed that fans may welcome seeing him team up with Wyatt again, too, before long. As far as the public knows, Erick Rowan is a free agent whom might be recruited back to WWE as well.

The rumor mill suggests Bo Dallas is set to return to WWE. The company shied away from acknowledging he’s Bray Wyatt’s real-life brother in the past, but it may be time to play that card. A number of fans have speculated that between the tease of women’s title belts and her seemingly casting off her Almost a Super Hero persona recently, Nikki Cross would be an aesthetic fit to team up with Wyatt, too.

One of the refreshing aspects of Triple H taking the reins of WWE creative has been how open he seems to factions, with The Brawling Brutes sharpening their focus, Hit Row re-signing, Imperium and The Club reuniting, Legado Del Fantasma getting their call up to the main roster, and Damage CTRL taking shape. (That’s not to mention The Bloodline continuing their dominant run and Judgment Day getting some momentum.) The Wyatt Family, or some variation on the concept, could offer another group with built in creativity and genuinely different identity than anything else WWE has going today, besides giving a wide swathe of talent something interesting to do in the months ahead.

Since its inception, AEW has had its core body of devoted fans. They’re the supporters who believed in the company’s vision of posing a meaningful alternative to WWE. They’re fans of the WWE alumni who have been better used under the AEW banner, like Jon Moxley and Christian Cage, as well as fresher talents AEW gave an opportunity to shine like MJF and Hangman Page. They’re fans of faster-paced AEW style embodied in acts like Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.

However, for all the fans AEW has amassed, the company also has its vocal critics who have only intensified with time, AEW’s higher profile, and particularly a web of controversies that have put the company under siege in recent months. One common talking point from these critics has been that AEW is looking an awful lot like WCW. While there are superficial similarities, these comparisons are mostly wrongheaded.

Why Some Fans Compare AEW With WCW

There are surface level reasons why someone might relate AEW to WCW. Like WCW, AEW is a rival promotion to WWE, and just so happens to air its weekly programming on Turner cable networks. Just as WCW was financially backed by billionaire Ted Turner and his organization, AEW is owned and operated by billionaire Tony Khan. There’s also the narrative line that like WCW relying on WWE-established stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Bret Hart, AEW has heavily featured talents like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Bryan Danielson.

Additionally, the controversy around CM Punk this summer drew a spotlight to issues with talents having undue influence on the product (as Punk arguably did and may still), besides wrestlers like Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks serving in executive vice president roles. These dynamics harkened back to the narrative of “the inmates running the asylum” in WCW, with figures like Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash wielding different levels of formal or informal stroke during their tenures as on-air talents. WCW was all but synonymous with chaos in its late stages. Between the Punk issues, talents requesting their releases, and the most recent issues pitting Sammy Guevara against Eddie Kingston and Andrade El Idolo, AEW has started to feel the same way to some spectators.

The Management Structure Of WCW Posed Very Different Challenges

One of the fundamental differences between AEW and WCW is the management structure each organization had.  Personalities ranging from Bill Watts to Kevin Sullivan to Eric Bischoff to Vince Russo to Kevin Nash dictated the creative direction of WCW at different points. Regardless of each of these men’s talents and limitations, there were always awkward structures around them answering to non-wrestling people within the Turner or Time Warner organizations.

In his first book and his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff discussed his frustrations working with executives who couldn’t even name what night of the week Nitro aired on. Bischoff has gone on to paint a clear picture that, particularly after Time Warner took over, the powers that be were more interested in ridding themselves of the pro wrestling albatross than setting up WCW to thrive.

Like anyone producing a television product, AEW’s Tony Khan has network executives, advertisers, and other business partners to please. The ownership structure and chain of command is much more streamlined, however. It’s possible Khan could run his company into the ground, but if he does, it won’t be because of decisions that were made over his head within the company, which poses a fundamental difference from how WCW was structured.

AEW Had Been Steady In Its Aesthetic

When fans look back on WCW, there are very distinctive different eras they might consider from its twelve-and-a-half year run. In its early days, WCW largely reflected the same talents and style as Jim Crockett Promotions, in particular anchoring itself around Ric Flair and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

From there, Hulk Hogan signed and launched a two year period in which WCW felt like a WWE Golden Era “tribute band”, featuring many of the big names WWE had spotlighted in the 1980s and a cartoonish vibe.

That gave way to WCW’s greatest commercial success when it recentered around a more realistic tone, rooted in the New World Order faction, accented by the Crow version of Sting and the emergence of stars like Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg. The wheels came off in the years to follow as WCW teetered out of control with erratic booking and over-reliance on worked shoot angles.

To be fair, AEW has only existed for a little over three years, so it’s too soon to speak to its long-term style and aesthetic. Just the same, from what we’ve seen so far, the company’s direction has been largely steady with an emphasis on in-ring action, a faster pace, and storytelling that is provocative, while rarely soap opera-esque. This is a style of presentation that bears little resemblance to any stage of WCW, instead feeling a bit more like a hybrid of the original ECW and ROH’s heyday.

In the end, every wrestling promotion has some degree of similarity to others, and over time it’s possible AEW will come to legitimately offer more similarities to WCW. For now, though, there are far more differences than commonalities between the two major promotions, and fans are best served to consider AEW on its own merits.        

One of the realities of professional wrestling is that it’s difficult to predict any individual performer’s career trajectory. It has become a well-known part of John Cena’s story that, at best, he was the fourth brightest prospect from his developmental class behind Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Randy Orton, before emerging as the defining star of his generation.

By contrast, though, there are WWE acts like Crush and Adam Bomb who appeared to have all the tools to be breakout stars and eventual main eventers, only to fall short of that potential. In an even unlikelier outcome, though, these two wound up finding their greatest success teamed up with one another in WCW years later.

Crush Had Several Stages In His WWE Career

Crush debuted in a relatively generic big man role, as a younger third man to join the Demolition tag team, and help cover for Ax’s limitations as he aged out of his full-time wrestling career. Demolition put over a newly arrived Legion of Doom in what felt like a dream blow off of sorts between the two heavy-hitting big men teams of the 1980s, known for face paint and spikes. The feud rang a little hollow, though, for Demolition both having run its course and not being quite the same with a diminished Ax and green Crush representing them.

Crush enjoyed a second life in WWE as a babyface who leaned into his Hawaiian roots, getting a tan and wearing neon as he became a fan favorite. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a roadblock in the form of Doink the Clown. As much as the evil clown had real momentum as a heel act, it was nonetheless hard for the big man to bounce back from losing this feud (though he threatened to as one of the few stars who proved powerful enough to almost body slam Yokozuna when he challenged American wrestlers to try to topple him).

There was one more reboot in store for Crush in WWE, this time as a heel who focused his attention of feuding with Randy Savage. Their issue came to a head at WrestleMania 10 in an innovative variation on a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Crush held his own, but went down in defeat and never really broached that level of stardom again in WWE. He rode out his time with the company the Nation of Domination faction, after which he led the Disciples of Apocalypse group to feud with them in the gang warfare angle.

Adam Bomb Had Big Star Potential In WWE

Adam Bomb emerged for WWE during the New Generation. Big, powerful, and athletic, he overcame what might have otherwise been dismissed as a cartoonish gimmick to mount a winning streak and look as though he were on the cusp of a main event push.

Bomb had new life breathed into his character with a babyface turn. While he did feud with some big names like Bam Bam Bigelow, he nonetheless felt permanently caught in the upper mid-card mix, never breaking through the glass ceiling to better his prospects.

Kronik Became One Of WCW’s Greatest Homegrown Tag Teams

In WCW, Crush went by his legal name, Brian Adams, and Adam Bomb was first billed as Wrath, then reverted to his own real name, Bryan Clark. Each man enjoyed varying degrees of success in the mid-card. Adams was the in nWo mix as an enforcer type for a time. After getting stuck in a strange sub-division of the roster with Glacier for a while, Clark enjoyed a major winning streak, only to be fed to Kevin Nash en route to his feud with Goldberg.

Adams and Clark found one another as part of the New Blood faction, forging a tag team called Kronik. 2000 was a tumultuous year for WCW, but this team presented a real bright spot as the duo were well cast as dominant big men who thrived as heels and faces alike over the course of the year. They had noteworthy battles with The Natural Born Thrillers as well as the pairing of The Great Muta and Vampiro, before settling into a gimmick something like the APA in WWE—muscle for hire that destroyed anyone in their crosshairs.

Unfortunately, Kronik’s tremendous success was largely shrouded by what happened when the team crossed over to WWE during the Invasion angle. Things looked promising when they were positioned opposite The Undertaker and Kane, The Brothers of Destruction. However, The Dead Man and The Big Red Machine crushed them in kayfabe, and Kronik wound up looking terrible in their televised matches, appearing unworthy of their featured spot. Jim Ross discussed the team’s WWE run on his Grilling JR podcast, and suggested that Vince McMahon wanted them to step back into developmental to improve upon their act, but the tag team felt insulted and it was the beginning of the end of their WWE returns.

In the end, the Kronik and its component pieces never quite realized their potential in WWE. For a moment in WCW, though, they were transcendent—one of the best big man pairs and homegrown tag teams the promotion ever had. Their accomplishments have grown lost to the sands of time, but they were a special unit at their peak in 2000.

Things took a turn for the WWE Universe recently, when a clear direction emerged for the next major challenger to oppose Roman Reigns. After The Head of the Table fended off Riddle in a free TV classic, Brock Lesnar in a wild Last Man Standing Match, and Drew McIntyre in front of a lively UK crowd, there were real questions as to where the company could go next with its top champion. They’ve opted for perhaps the least likely route of all, not in a grizzled veteran or wildly popular young talent, but rather Internet celebrity turned wrestler Logan Paul. While quite a few fans have expressed how unhappy they are with this booking choice, its actually a shrewd decision heading into Crown Jewel.

Logan Paul Vs. Roman Reigns Is A Fresh Matchup

One of the key problems with Roman Reigns and his marathon reign atop WWE is that he has run through most of his credible challengers. He’s beaten Brock Lesnar multiple times. He beat Riddle and Drew McIntyre. He retained the title against the likes of Edge, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, Seth Rollins, and Finn Balor. He even beat part time threats like John Cena and Goldberg.

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes are two of the full-time roster members still standing in his way, and it stands to reason they’ll each factor in the title picture when they’re back from injury. Meanwhile, even Braun Strowman, who has a lot of momentum off his return to the company, already lost to Reigns at the front end of his time on top.

Logan Paul is, at least, someone new, with a genuinely different set of skills from other challengers Reigns has faced. On top of that, he does garner a bit of kayfabe credibility from winning his only two matches to date, and on no lesser stages than WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

No One Believes Roman Reigns Will Lose The Title In 2022

The conventional wisdom is that Roman Reigns will retain his undisputed title until at least WrestleMania 39, when fans anticipate a dream match with The Rock. With that match expected, it’s hard to buy anyone beating The Tribal Chief before that point, so WWE’s task, rather than creating doubt, is to put forth the most entertaining spectacle possible.

The jury’s out on whether Logan Paul is the best man for that particular task. Nonetheless, he is an offbeat challenger who just might draw some extra media attention, if only for the seeming absurdity of him getting a shot at the most prestigious title in wrestling.

Logan Paul Has Overperformed In Each WWE Match He’s Had So Far

While Logan Paul has no shortage of haters who want nothing to do with him, there’s also a reality they must face. At WrestleMania, he more than held up his end of the bargain, arguably the MVP of his tag team match paired with The Miz against the Mysterios. From there, he did everything he could to steal the show at SummerSlam, going for assorted high spots and feats of strength against The Miz.

Paul doesn’t really belong in the conversation of world title contenders at this point based on his skills and experience. However, his first two outings have offered reason to believe that he’ll rise to the occasion. Particularly in a match WWE is sure to carefully plan and choreograph around his abilities, Paul will likely as not hold up his end for an entertaining match at Crown Jewel.

Saudi Arabia Is The Best Place To Book Babyface Logan Paul Vs. Heel Roman Reigns

An awkward aspect of Logan Paul’s WWE run is that he has purportedly demanded to remain a babyface, despite having overwhelming natural heel heat. On the flip side, Roman Reigns is over enough in his heel persona that he’s edging on fan favorite territory, despite reportedly insisting he wants to stay heel.

With these dynamics in place, staging the match between these two in front of a Saudi Arabian audience—fans who tend to be happy to be there and adhere to cheering the faces and booing the heels—may be the best answer to keeping each man where he wants to be.

Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul probably won’t be an all-time classic and there are justifiable reasons to criticize the choice for Paul to get a title shot at this stage of his career. Nonetheless, there are also quite a few factors to make this specific choice at this specific time make a great deal of sense.

In the early days of AEW, there was conversation around the company’s so-called Four Pillars: MJF, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, and Jungle Boy. The spirit of the idea was that these were four talents who were relatively unproven on a national stage, but each of whom demonstrated remarkable potential, and AEW might grow alongside these youngsters—the company forging its identity as the four of them became household names.

While MJF and Allin in particular have remained in consistently featured roles for AEW, fans have looked on as the company also welcomed in stars who made their name in WWE, besides prominently featuring stars who had established themselves with hardcore fans in Japan or Ring of Honor.

It’s telling that of the five men who’ve reigned as world champion—Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, and CM Punk—three had previously reigned as WWE Champion and one had been a world champ in Japan. Only Page could be considered a homegrown main eventer.

With AEW seemingly at a crossroads after the high-profile controversies of recent weeks, the time has come to re-center their focus on young talent.

AEW Can Take Advantage Of This Moment Of Controversy To Shift Gears

CM Punk has always been a lightning rod for controversy, but may have reached new heights of heat in recent times, culminating in his wild press conference ranting after All Out and subsequent backstage altercation with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. That, combined with the EVPs’ role in spreading information—true or not—about Punk has created a dark cloud over AEW, and called attention to a need to shift gears and focus on some of the other high caliber talent at their disposal.

Those names might include Jon Moxley who, despite recently reigning as champion, was cast a peg below Punk. There’s also Bryan Danielson, who has selflessly absorbed more than his share of losses across his AEW tenure and Keith Lee whom some fans feel is underutilized in the tag team division. There are younger talents waiting in the wings as well, though.

Injuries Have Exposed The Limitations Of Relying On Older Talents In AEW

In addition to the poor behavior of some of AEW’s more established top talents, there’s also the matter of injuries. Besides CM Punk’s poor behavior after All Out, he also reportedly got injured in his match with Jon Moxley. That issue was compounded by Christian Cage purportedly also being hurt with a similar injury. That’s immediately after Kenny Omega returned from over a half year on the disabled list and after Bryan Danielson missed time.

Injuries can happen to anyone, but it’s also a reality that older wrestlers have more mileage on them and thus tend to be more prone to missing significant stretches because they’re legitimately hurt. It’s another reason why pushing younger names may be the best thing AEW can do at this point in time.

AEW Has Its Four Pillars And Other Young Talents Available To Push

AEW seems ready to go all the way in pushing MJF. At 26, he’s a young talent and AEW can mostly take credit for building him up to main event status. While fans may have been justifiably skeptical about CM Punk putting over the heel when he cashes in his title shot from winning the Casino Ladder Match at All Out, things are more wide open now. With Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson the presumptive favorites to win the vacant title at Grand Slam, it seems entirely realistic one of them would put over MJF—likely as not at Full Gear, staged in front of an MJF-friendly crowd in Newark.

Darby Allin also looks ready for a big push. Beating Brody King in a Coffin Match and picking up the pin for his team over The House of Black at All Out both give him some real momentum to knock on the door of the main event.

Jungle Boy suffered a setback in both losing to Christian Cage, and Cage’s injury meaning Jack Perry won’t get any immediate revenge. However, he has Luchasaurus set up as a natural rival for the weeks ahead. Moreover, being out on his own still suggests Jungle Boy could move up to a better featured spot on the card.

Sammy Guevara is a trickier talent to predict the future for, with real life controversies, and very real heat with the fans perhaps putting a ceiling over what he’ll accomplish in the immediate future. Nonetheless, there’s no denying he’s an incredible in-ring talent and his willingness to play the heel wholeheartedly could pay off in the long run.

AEW certainly has room to look beyond its original Four Pillars as well. Wardlow has gotten over a high level this year and it would only be natural to revisit his issue with MJF in time. The Acclaimed had a gutsy, star-making performance at All Out. Though he’s not that young at 40, Eddie Kingston has been on a journey with AEW and if he can avoid real life controversies like his recent issues with Guevara, he could viably factor into the main event picture again.

Add on Hook, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks, not to mention emerging stars on the women’s side like Jade Cargill and Julia Hart, and it’s easy to imagine a very different AEW landscape in a year’s time.

In the end, not everyone can be featured as a main event star in AEW. Nonetheless, out of a time of unprecedented controversy and chaos behind the scenes, the company may emerge all the stronger if it can capitalize and reprioritize around its deep pool of less established talents.

One of the biggest weekends of the pro wrestling year is upon the fans. WWE’s Clash at the Castle stadium show will be the talk of the UK on Saturday, before a noteworthy NXT When Worlds Collide event effectively closes the door on NXT UK on Sunday. Sunday night, AEW promotes a PPV with a great deal of intrigue around it in All Out.

The weekend is ripe for big happenings that could shift the wrestling landscape. Here are 5 bold predictions for this weekend:

Bray Wyatt Shows Up Somewhere

Ever since his shocking release from WWE last year, Bray Wyatt has been the most talked about free agent in the business. Not only is he a former WWE Universal Champion, but he’s one of the most unique talents of his generation for his creative vision and character work.

There’s no official word about Wyatt’s future in wrestling (or if he even has one). However, the stage is set for it to make a lot of sense for him to return to the national scene this weekend.

On the AEW side of things, Tony Khan has alluded to the roster having more talent than ever after this Sunday, and signing someone with The Fiend’s name value would certainly contribute to that effort and add a fascinating new dimension to the top of the card.

Meanwhile, in WWE, the company seems to have booked itself into a corner. All indications are they want Roman Reigns to continue his historic reign atop the company. However, Drew McIntyre losing in front of a UK stadium crowd risks sending fans home completely deflated.

One of the few ways to defuse that situation in satisfying fashion would be a huge return, and there’s no bigger return they could book at this moment than Wyatt. While the rumor mill suggests Braun Strowman has re-signed, and he’s probably the next best option, he simply doesn’t have the level of fan investment The Eater of Worlds does, and the crowd would surely recover and pop huge if Wyatt appeared.

CM Punk And FTR Launch A New Heel Faction

There has been no shortage of speculation about CM Punk turning heel coming off his quick, decisive loss to Jon Moxley. The rematch scenario invites him to use underhanded means to reclaim his title in front of a rabid crowd that would probably love him just as much (and maybe more) for playing the villain.

One of the more interesting angles for a Punk heel turn, though, would be for him to not only play the villain, but do so with henchmen at his side, in the faction-rich AEW roster. He and FTR have expressed their pleasure in working together on and off screen. Once the duo finishes their business with Jay Lethal and company earlier in the night, they could transition to this new role at Punk’s side.

Pete Dunne Confronts Bron Breakker

Fans have taken some pleasure in seeing Butch slowly morph into something more like his old self as Pete Dunne in recent weeks, including wearing his old ring gear, and appearing on NXT television to acknowledge his past there this week. Now, Dunne feels like one of the most under-utilized talents for WWE’s big weekend centered around the UK.

One way of remedying that situation would be for Dunne to take a bigger step away from the Butch persona, and show up at When Worlds Collide. He’d be an immediately credible challenger to Bron Breakker after he presumably beats Tyler Bate. With even a short run in the main event picture—maybe gearing up to challenge Breakker at Halloween Havoc—WWE could reboot this special talent before he comes back to the main roster with Sheamus and Ridge Holland, or else out on his own.

AEW Sets Up Samoa Joe Vs. Wardlow

With Samoa Joe done filming Twisted Metal for Peacock, and rumored to return to AEW action soon, it would only make sense for him to make a surprise appearance at All Out, taking revenge onJay Lethal and company for the kayfabe injury they dealt him. However, fans gave this angle a tepid response in the first place, so it’s probably best AEW not linger on it for too long.

In getting himself involved in the six-man tag team match pitting Wardlow and FTR vs. Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns, Joe could naturally get intertwined in a story with Wardlow. Maybe the big man wouldn’t want Joe’s help, or maybe’s Joe’s attempts at intervening could backfire and hurt Wardlow’s team. Regardless, Wardlow vs. Joe could be a fun next step in the young TNT Champion’s evolution, and a fresh, compelling matchup to throw Joe into.

Gunther Vs. Sheamus Steals The Whole Weekend

Between the lines ups WWE and AEW have drawn up for the weekend, there’s no shortage of prospective match of the year candidates that could come up. One matchup fans might sleep on, that may wind up not only stealing the show at Clash at the Castle, but emerge as the best bout of the weekend is Gunther vs. Sheamus.

This is a bout between two extremely talented big men, both comfortable working a stiff style, both likely to enjoy a boost from the UK crowd. While NXT and NXT UK fans have seen Gunther put on classics with Ilja Dragunov and Pete Dunne, main roster-only fans may not know what they’re in for here, and this maybe the perfect storm to set up one of the best performances of The Celtic Warrior’s career.

It’s hard to imagine this weekend not being a great one for wrestling fans, who are sure to encounter their share of surprises. That might include ones listed here, or some very different directions for WWE, NXT, and AEW alike.

This Saturday at WWE Clash at the Castle, Roman Reigns defends his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Drew McIntyre. It’s a dream match scenario because the previous match between the two at Survivor Series 2020 delivered at the highest level, and WWE has mostly kept them apart ever since.

Moreover, in the two years to follow, The Head of the Table has only built upon his credibility via a long title reign full of good-to-great matches. Meanwhile, fans have clamored to see McIntyre return to the main event picture after spending most of his time in the mid-card since mid-2021 when Bobby Lashley got the better of their WWE Championship feud.

That’s all the more true in the UK—a setting starving to see one of their own on top, not to mention starving for a PPV. This all comes to a head at Clash at the Castle, but how should this blockbuster match play out?

It’s Not Time For Roman Reigns To Drop The Titles Yet

WWE seems to have booked itself into a corner. The fans at Principality Stadium are likely to be very disappointed if Drew McIntyre doesn’t emerge champion. By the same token, Roman Reigns is on a historic and it stands to reason WWE will want him to remain champion at least until WrestleMania for his presumptive dream match with The Rock.

Ordinarily, the simple enough answer would be for McIntyre to win in Cardiff, then drop the title back to Reigns, but because so much of The Tribal Chief’s identity and credibility are wrapped up in having the longest world title reign in modern WWE history, that simply doesn’t seem like the right move at this time.

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns Has To Deliver

While Roman Reigns beating Drew McIntyre won’t make UK fans happy any way they cut it, one way to mitigate disappointment is to be sure the match itself delivers. Reigns and McIntyre are each exceptional talents and have proven chemistry—as long as WWE gives them time, they’re likely to hold up their end, particularly with a raucous crowd behind McIntyre elevating anything they do.

Delivering a match at or above the level of what they did at Survivor Series 2020 will go a long way toward helping fans feel like they saw something historic, regardless of the finish.

WWE Needs A Surprise to Balance UK Fans’ Disappointment

WWE has a proven track record of using a big surprise to lessen the sting of a disappointing moment or, more to the point, distract from a choice fans might otherwise reject. Consider Seth Rollins cashing in Money in the Bank to protect Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar alike in the main event of WrestleMania 31 and send fans home happy for the sense they’d been a part of something unique and electric.

While history hasn’t looked as kindly on it, one could even lump in Hulk Hogan beating Yokozuna after Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 9 as another example of moving the storyline along, and throwing in a huge twist to captivate the audience.

Incorporating an attempted Money in the Bank cash-in by Theory could certainly factor into Clash at the Castle, though fans aren’t invested enough in the young star to be happy with him taking the title (besides which, that would still mark a premature end to The Tribal Chief’s title reign). Karrion Kross has also interjected himself already in the Reigns vs. McIntyre storyline and could factor in. The real key may rest with something Triple H has already embraced in his short time heading up WWE creative, though: the surprise return.

Having someone emerge to confront Reigns post-match, stealing fans’ attention away from McIntyre’s loss could offer Clash at the Caste a satisfying end. A UK-specific star showing up could have merit to pop the crowd in Cardiff, but unfortunately there aren’t many, if any, main event level talents waiting in the wings. It’s a stretch, but if WWE could book Davey Boy Smith Jr. to fill that role, he’s one of the few faces the fans live would accept, and whom WWE might be able to spin as credible short-term threat to Reigns.

Braun Strowman is a big enough name with former world champion credentials to conceivably fit as well. The best option, if WWE could pull it off, would be to pull the trigger on Bray Wyatt. This is purely fantasy booking as it’s unclear if Wyatt is available or interested in such a return (or if WWE, even without Vince McMahon, wants him). Nonetheless he’s probably the single most buzzworthy free agent out there, besides having a ready-to-tell story with Reigns given it was The Fiend whom Reigns beat for the Universal Championship in 2020, and Wyatt never got his rematch.

In the end, WWE will have its work cut out for it booking a finish at Clash at the Castle that pleases fans at home and in Wales, besides serving their long-term vision. There are no easy answers, but there are creative opportunities available to pull off something special.

Since the mid-1980s, it has been regular practice for major pro wrestling title changes to happen at pay per view events. Prior to that point, title changes and blow off matches for top rivalries tended to occur on the house show circuit, with TV as a marketing tool to get fans into the local arenas.

Once pay per view became the standard, promotions like WWE and WCW understandably wanted to compel their viewers to shell out for super cards and buy the right to watch historic moments. Just the same, cable television has seen its share of title changes, up to and including world championships changing hands.

25 years ago this week, one of the biggest free TV title changes of all time occurred when Lex Luger made Hollywood Hogan submit to the Human Torture Rack on Nitro to bring the World Championship back to WCW from the nWo. As such, it’s a fitting time to look back at the best cable TV title changes of all time.

Roman Reigns Defeats Sheamus For The WWE Championship (WWE Raw, December 14, 2015)

Nowadays, it’s hard to remember a time when Roman Reigns wasn’t a world champion or in the clear-cut top tier of stars in the business. The now-Head of the Table won his first WWE Championship at Survivor Series 2015, but the reign ended mere moments later when Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.

Reigns was unsuccessful at recapturing the title at the TLC PPV on December 13, but one night later challenged The Celtic Warrior again and picked up the duke in a solid match. While any world title change on cable TV is a big deal, but this one was more significant for affirming Reigns’ spot as the new face of WWE.

This time, he’d reign for over a month, and when he lost the title to Triple H in the Royal Rumble, it was clearly set up for him to take the title back in the main event of WrestleMania 32 as his foundation of being WWE’s top star only grew more and more stable.

Lex Luger Defeats Hollywood Hogan For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, August 4, 1997)

Bash at the Beach 1996 saw the nWo begin to dominate WCW. Hulk Hogan turned heel to lead the faction and won the WCW Championship a month later at Hog Wild. From there, his stable ran roughshod over the company’s babyfaces and Hogan enjoyed almost a full year as a heel world champion before Lex Luger stopped him in his tracks on the August 4, 1997 episode of Nitro.

It was a dramatic scene when The Total Package trapped the nWo leader in a Human Torture Rack to secure the submission. Despite Luger not reigning for long, the title change represented one of the biggest feel-good moments in company history.

Booker T Defeats Scott Steiner For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, March 26, 2001)

Booker T defeated Scott Steiner for the WCW Championship on the last ever episode of WCW Nitro. The title was far from its peak, after some inauspicious names like David Arquette and Vince Russo had gotten their hands on it. Nonetheless, it still meant something to be the final world champion the company had on its own terms (in other words, not when the WCW Championship was defended under WWE booking, on WWE television).

In winning, Booker established himself as a torch bearer for the once-proud company as its roster and intellectual property merged with WWE. It was a huge step toward Booker becoming one of the most successful WCW stars to cross over to their former competitor.

Goldberg Defeats Hollywood Hogan For The WCW Championship (WCW Nitro, July 6, 1998)

One of the biggest flaws with WCW booking was a tendency to overcomplicate matters—often failing to give fans what they really wanted in favor of swerves as characters turned heel or messy scenarios led to indecisive finishes. The company got things right, however, on the July 6, 1998 edition of Nitro.

WCW paid off over a year of Goldberg going undefeated with a clean win over Hollywood Hogan to win his first world championship. The title win itself was a remarkable moment, but all the more so shored up Goldberg’ status as a top guy who could remain a draw into his WWE career over two decades later.

Mankind Defeats The Rock For The WWE Championship (WWE Raw, January 4, 1999)

Wrestling fans by and large enjoy a good underdog story. January 4, 1999 marked the culmination of two great underdog stories. Yes, Mick Foley beat the odds when he defeated The Rock—both in kayfabe and reality, becoming an unlikely world champion for the first time, and beating a bona fide megastar in the process. In addition WWE got the better of WCW.

The chaotically brilliant and great moment of Mick Foley capturing world title gold, and WCW spoiling the result, facilitated a huge victory for WWE against WCW. Fans changed the station to give Raw a Monday Night War ratings victory, at the expense of WCW’s infamous Fingerpoke of Doom Nitro.

Wrestling promoters will, understandably, continue to prioritize pay per view or “Premium Live Events” for a lot of their biggest title changes. Nonetheless, free TV title changes have their place for shock value, and at times reaching a larger audience. There’s a rich history of major title changes on TV, and twenty-five years after the biggest win of Lex Luger’s career, it will be interesting to see what modern stars might follow in his footsteps.

The Ric Flair’s Last Match event over WWE SummerSlam weekend, branded as part of Starrcast V, presented a surprising situation for wrestling fans. First of all, there was the matter of 73-year-old Flair wrestling at all, which defied the expectations of most people around what kind of activities a senior citizen could take part in. From there, the sheer interest in the card was remarkable.

On the side of wrestlers, the event took on a unique flavor with matches representing a wide variety of promotions taking place on the card. On the side of fans, there was enough interest to move from a small-scale event at the Nashville Fairgrounds to a full-fledged, more conventionally staged show at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

The event became the talk of social media and a draw on pay per view. Based on the success of what happened, questions arise about whether the same formula could apply with a different featured legend.

Ric Flair’s Last Match Represented A Unique Set Of Circumstances

Ric Flair is one of wrestling’s biggest legends and greatest talents, and has in some ways traded on being a crazy old man for the last 25 years-plus. It’s with these factors in mind that building a whole card around him having one more match could draw fans and fellow wrestlers alike.

It would not work to plug just anyone into such a spot. With all due respect to retired stars like Buff Bagwell or Marc Mero, they simply wouldn’t be able to command an audience like Flair.

Moreover, Ric Flair’s Last Match traded on family and tradition. The event was promoted by Flair’s son-in-law Conrad Thompson and featured another son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, as The Nature Boy’s tag team partner. The show also tapped into the Jim Crockett Promotions name—branding synonymous with Flair’s heyday, and a brand there are plenty of fans in their thirties or older still have a lot of nostalgia for.

There Are A Handful Of Legends Who Might Pull Off Something Akin To Ric Flair’s Last Match

Tthe list of mostly-retired stars who could draw like Ric Flair is small, and there’s no one with as intimate a relationship to Conrad Thompson to work his marketing wizardry on putting the event together. There are, nonetheless, a handful of legends who conceivably could have an event like this built around them, too.

Hulk Hogan is the first name that comes to mind, who could likely pull off a performance at a comparable level to 73-year-old Flair, playing the greatest hits (albeit with fewer bumps), and tapping into a similar demographic of fans age-wise who were WWE stalwarts. Bret Hart comes to mind as well, as not quite the same level of cross over celebrity, but someone with an enormous following, particularly if such an event were to be staged in Canada.

For better or worse, most of the other candidates range from unlikely to impossible, be it for for clear lack of interest or ongoing connections to WWE, and WWE likely not being interested in promoting a show like this. Those stars include Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels. The Rock might also qualify, but his level of celebrity make him all the less likely to do something away from the WWE spotlight in wrestling.

The more realistic candidates may include legends like Mick Foley, Jerry Lawler, or Diamond Dallas Page (who all appeared at Ric Flair’s Last Match); Chris Jericho also seems like someone who could draw, though for now, that would be under the AEW banner.

A Show Like Ric Flair’s Last Match Could Be Built More Around The Supporting Cast

While advertising a show as the last match of any lesser star than Ric Flair probably wouldn’t be as much of a draw, it’s conceivable that a match like that could still be the main event, or at least a featured bout on another independently promoted, stand-alone event. After all, Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett may have been the match that drew fans in Nashville, but it certainly wasn’t the objective best match of the night.

So, someone like Mick Foley wrestling one more match could draw, while top stars from AEW, ROH, Impact, or New Japan—or perhaps a crossover, “forbidden door” encounter like Josh Alexander vs. Jacob Fatu could close the show, especially if a promotion were willing to pull the trigger on a title change at such a show.

In the end, it may be for the best that Ric Flair’s Last Match remain a stand-alone, unique event in wrestling history. It probably shouldn’t become a pattern for geriatric wrestlers to risk their bodies or lives, and the precise circumstances surrounding this event probably won’t repeat themselves. However, when one event succeeds in wrestling, as in so many walks of life, there’s always a temptation to do it again or for imitators to arise. It will be interesting to see if this unprecedented event were to become a new template.

Ring of Honor has a long, important history that includes the rise of top wrestling talents and major stars like Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, and quite a few others. The promotion gets particular credit for its role in keeping independent wrestling, and a more work-rate-oriented style alive and thriving.

That’s during a time after WCW and ECW were out of the picture and in a time when WWE turned to its bread and butter of churning out super hero types like John Cena and Batista in the mid-2000s.

The promotion lost some buzz over the years, though, and the emergence of AEW in particular seemed to displace ROH from the marketplace. So, it was quite a turn when AEW owner Tony Khan bought ROH and announced the brand would carry forward.

Death Before Dishonor will be ROH’s first PPV since Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania weekend, and perhaps more importantly, its first PPV formally under the ownership of Tony Khan.

• ROH Death Before Dishonor Preview

What Is Claudio Castagnoli’s Future?

Claudio Castagnoli was arguably the hottest free agent in wrestling after he declined a contract renewal offer from WWE. The rumor mill suggested he might wind up back under the WWE banner, but the landscape changed when he instead debuted for AEW, making an immediate impact as a mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door and an addition to the Blackpool Combat Club, factoring into the second-ever Blood and Guts Match.

At Death Before Dishonor, Castagnoli challenges John Gresham for the ROH Championship. Given his WWE pedigree and the momentum he’s established in AEW so far, he wouldn’t be out of place winning.

However, reigning as ROH Champion would seem to imply more of a commitment to that brand—not that Castagnoli couldn’t still appear for AEW, but that he might be less likely to move into the AEW Championship picture or otherwise become firmly entrenched in the Dynamite rotation. The results Saturday night may be very telling about the former-Cesaro’s future.

Does The Show Have An AEW PPV Atmosphere?

AEW can be polarizing among the wrestling community, but one point that falls undeniably in their favor is that their hardcore fans create an electric atmosphere every time AEW stages a major show.

AEW PPVs in particular have a strong record of not only satisfying fans with their match quality and booking, but the crowd contributing to the success of the show, staying lively even for almost all of a marathon show like May’s Double or Nothing.

ROH Death Before Dishonor can’t necessarily be expected to emulate quite that same feeling, with a bit less passionate pre-established fan base, a bit less marquee talent, and a venue with only about half the capacity of buildings AEW typically runs for PPVs.

Just the same, with the buzz of AEW crossovers, not to mention ROH relaunching, there is reason for optimism, and it will be interesting to see if the live crowd makes this show feel like a huge deal before the first bell even rings.

How this atmosphere plays out may prove important in determining how Tony Khan and company approach ROH on the whole moving forward.

Where Does FTR Go From Here?

FTR is one of the most talented tandems of their generation, clearly committed to the tag team craft, and earning endorsements from no lesser names than Bret Hart and CM Punk. Many fans anticipated they’d be challengers to and likely as not take the AEW Tag Team Championship off The Young Bucks, but that honor went to Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland.

There are all manner of possibilities for where the AEW tag titles go from here, but if FTR retains the ROH Tag Team Championship at Death Before Dishonor, it does create questions of whether they’ll be more focused on defending those titles than chasing gold in AEW.

One way or another, FTR vs. The Briscoe Brothers is likely to be great—especially under Two-Out-Of-Three-Falls rules—but there’s a question baked into the result about whether FTR gives The Briscoes their win back and moves on to other things, or cements themselves among ROH’s top acts.

Will Women’s Wrestling Steal The Show?

Merceds Martinez has impressed as a dominant ROH Women’s Champion since spring, showcasing the hard-hitting and technical style she never quite got to put on display during her WWE tenure. At Death Before Dishonor, she faces one of the most intriguing challengers available to her an another seasoned veteran and a legit technical wizard—Serena Deeb.

Like other title matches on this card, there’s a possibility the loser, in particular, may be featured in AEW in the near future. The bigger question, though, is if ROH may do the unlikely and emerge with a women’s title match that steals the show on Saturday, or perhaps even arrives as a consensus pick for one of the best women’s matches anywhere this year.

How Separate Will ROH Be From AEW?

One of the key questions that will hang over fans throughout Death Before Dishonor is the degree to which the event signals a new birth for ROH, or the degree to which ROH talent will remain more of a subsection of the AEW roster.

Wrestling fans are conditioned to feel jaded about separate wrestling brands under the same ownership, given WWE’s less than consistent handling of its different rosters over the years. On one hand fans might have more faith in Tony Khan to differentiate; on the other hand, the Forbidden Door concept he’s so infatuated with may mean that, by design, Khan keeps the borders between AEW and ROH loose.

Regardless, Death Before Dishonor may signal what the future holds in terms how much this show feels like an extension of AEW, who goes over, if any AEW talent make surprise appearances, or how the evening otherwise turns out.

ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022 may have more buzz around it than any ROH-branded event in years for all of the questions hanging over it, the brand’s absence making fans hunger for it, and talents like Claudio Castagnoli and Samoa Joe being back in the mix. However, the major matches play out and wherever the titles fall, it’s sure to be an event worth watching, and one that charts a course for ROH and AEW in different ways moving forward.

A lot can happen between now and WWE Survivor Series 2022. It’s possible Roman Reigns will lose the his unified world title to Brock Lesnar in their Last Man Standing Match at SummerSlam.

Theory is also lurking with his Money in the Bank briefcase, offering a way for Reigns to drop his titles while both saving face and pushing a fresh talent whom WWE seems highly invested in. Drew McIntyre is the presumptive challenger to Reigns at Clash at the Castle, and if there were ever a time to reinstate The Scottish Superstar on top, that would be the venue.

However, the prevailing wisdom is that The Head of the Table will remain on top until at least WrestleMania 39, where he has a rumored dream match awaiting him with The Rock, or else the possibility of WWE going all the way with a returning Cody Rhodes and having him unseat Reigns.

So what should WWE do in the mean time? The answer may sit no further than the SmackDown broadcast table.

No One Thinks Reigns Is Going To Lose At Survivor Series

One of the more awkward dimensions of Roman Reigns having such a long reign atop WWE as that the more time goes by, the more certain it seems he’s keeping the title until at least WrestleMania 39. Moreover, there seems to be less and less chance of him dropping the title to an underdog, as it would disrupt not only The Tribal Chief’s reign, but the aura of invincibility the company has carefully cultivated around him over the last two years. This dynamic hit its nadir when Finn Balor challenged Reigns, and absolutely no one bit on even the Demon version of Balor pulling off that win.

The bottom line is that, unless WWE were to pull the trigger early on bringing back The Rock, it’s hard to fathom anyone beating Reigns at what’s, at best, the fourth biggest PPV on WWE’s calendar, especially so close to the launch of the Road to WrestleMania.

If There’s No Drama About Who’s Winning Or Losing, WWE’s Job Is To Make The Story And Match As Entertaining As Possible

The question of who will win or lose a match is one of the most fundamental sources of drama professional wrestling has at its disposal. Once the outcome of a match is no longer in doubt, WWE has to find other ways of creating drama and entertainment for fans.

The 1989 trilogy of matches between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat is widely remembered as one of the greatest series of bouts in wrestling history. Ask a more casual fan who won which matches out of the three, though, and they may well not be able to say. This was a case of match quality superseding the outcomes of the contests at hand.

Similarly when Cactus Jack challenged Big Van Vader in a Texas Death Match at WCW Halloween Havoc 1993, there was little question The Mastodon would retain the WCW Championship. It was brutality, storyline, and a wild blow-off match that became iconic, though.

If WWE is unwilling to have Roman Reigns drop the WWE Championship at Survivor Series and everyone knows it, WWE’s job is to find other means of delivering the most entertaining story possible. Pat McAfee is the man to deliver.

Pat McAfee Is The Most Entertaining Man In WWE Today

Pat McAfee is a truly unique phenom in the landscape of WWE. His run at the SmackDown broadcast table has placed him among the best color commentators, and indeed one of the best talkers in general in all of wrestling. Moreover, he has exceeded expectations in his every WWE match to date.

McAfee beat Theory at WrestleMania, and it stands to reason he’ll prevail over Happy Corbin at SummerSlam as well. These victories will ultimately make him about as credible as any full-time babyface on the WWE roster—at least in terms of kayfabe—to challenge Roman Reigns for his undisputed championship.

Between his gift for gab on the mic and his tendency to over-deliver each time he steps in a wrestling ring, Pat McAfee is an ideal choice to tide over Roman Reigns through the fall, before he gets to more competitive title defenses in WrestleMania season.

Roman Reigns has accomplished a great deal in his WWE career. Not least of all, he has main evented WrestleMania six times to date, placing him behind only Triple H (a seven-time WrestleMania main eventer) and Hulk Hogan (an eight-time WrestleMania main eventer) for the most appearances in the last match of the show ever.

WrestleMania 39 could mark a unique opportunity for The Head of the Table to move into a tie for the number one spot, by main eventing both night one and night two of the biggest show of the year.

WWE Needs Reigns For Two WrestleMania Scenarios

Assuming he’s healthy to compete, it’s all but a given that Roman Reigns will work at least one WrestleMania main event in 2023.  However, WWE finds itself an extraordinary circumstance in which there are two feuds that demand his presence. One is his widely rumored showdown with The Rock that has been the subject of speculation for years at this point.

WrestleMania 39 is the perfect stage for Rock vs. Reigns, for happening in Los Angeles with the backdrop of Dwayne Johnson’s movie stardom, and for some assurance that the pandemic won’t prevent a capacity crowd for both nights of ‘Mania in 2023. On top of that, the window may be narrowing on Rock being physically able to work a full-impact match at this level, besides which Reigns has attained a level of stardom to justify a showdown of this magnitude.

Cody Rhodes also figures into a WrestleMania main event scenario, though. The American Nightmare made a triumphant return at WrestleMania 38 and won a trilogy of matches opposite Seth Rollins. While his pectoral muscle injury threatened to derail his momentum, the gutsy performance he put on at Hell in a Cell only added to the mythos around the man.

Rhodes returning at and winning the Royal Rumble feel all but inevitable, as long his recovery progresses in time. While, in theory, WWE could split the world titles and have Rhodes challenge someone other than Reigns, he’s also about the only full-time WWE Superstar who feels realistic to “pull the sword from the stone” and reign as champion after The Tribal Chief.

Reigns Beating The Rock Is The Perfect Capstone to his Historic Title Reign

As much as The Rock is a legitimate A-List celebrity and ultra-credible in the world of wrestling, it doesn’t make much sense for him to win a world title at this point. He’s fifty years old and entrenched in Hollywood. Rather than Rock beating Roman Reigns, he’d be the perfect man to give his cousin his “lifetime achievement award”—a victory over a full-blown icon to cap his historic title reign.

The ideal scenario could see Reigns beat Rock in a hard-fought match at night one of WrestleMania 39. From there, Reigns would be on a whole new level to move on to his underdog challenger, Cody Rhodes, for night two.

Cody Rhodes Should Be the Man to Beat Roman Reigns

One of the challenges the John Cena vs. The Rock rivalry faced from 2011 to 2013 was The Great One’s limited schedule. The part-time status left Cena holding the bag to cut promos on his own and work a field of other opponents, with the knowledge he was always going to find himself feuding with Rock in the end.

While Roman Reigns has already transitioned to a reduced schedule, it’s reasonable to expect he’ll be around plenty in WrestleMania season, at least cutting promos. For The Rock, he’ll surely make some appearances, but can’t be expected to be present week in and week out.

Enter Cody Rhodes. After winning the Royal Rumble, The American Nightmare can be the man who’s present every week to push his own issue with Reigns. Moreover, while Rhodes doesn’t have Rock’s star power, he can lean into that with his family’s working class ethos—selling that he’s the one who always shows up to work and busts his butt.

Rhodes beating Reigns at night two of WrestleMania 39 could tell a terrific underdog story, besides even protecting The Head of the Table with him having the excuse that he was worn down from working a big match the night before.

WWE’s Future is Wide Open After WrestleMania 39

A part of Roman Reigns being pushed so definitively as the top star in WWE—including two years as Universal Champion and already having WrestleMania main event victories in back-to-back years—is the presumption the company was setting up the intergenerational, intrafamily dream match between him and The Rock. With that match out of the way, and with the historic reign having run its course, WWE will be free to think outside the box with its top title and with Reigns himself.

What will that mean for the company, its top title, and its top star? Part of the fun is that that future is unclear. While there is merit to long-term booking and the credibility of a long-reigning champion, the scenario of Reigns winning one main event and losing the other at WrestleMania 39 opens up all manner of possibilities for where things might head next, making the top of the card less predictable than its been since 2020.

It’s too soon to predict what will happen at WrestleMania 39 with much accuracy, and there is a case to be made that it’s better to spread the ‘Mania main event wealth than concentrating it all on Roman Reigns. That’s especially the case with Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey also rumored for the show. Nonetheless, working these two matches, in back-to-back nights of main events would fit the push WWE has bestowed upon Roman Reigns and offer an epic conclusion to his storied reign atop the company.

The Blackpool Combat Club has become a real favorite among AEW fans. The faction features some of the company’s best-liked stars in Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and most recently Claudio Castagnoli, not to mention up and comer Wheeler Yuta, and the foundation of William Regal standing in their corner. Together, they tap into a combination of a hard-nosed but technically sound style, real life bonds, and an undeniable cool factor.

Now that Moxley reigns as interim AEW Champion, it feels like only a matter of time before CM Punk will clash with him to decide an undisputed champ after he returns from injury. Might that be the gateway, though, to a much longer story in which Punk crosses paths with the other members of Mox’s faction?

Punk Defeats Moxley in the AEW Championship Unification Match

When CM Punk returns from injury, it stands to reason that he would win a title unification match over whomever reigns as the interim champ. After all, Punk was a major score for AEW to sign in the first place, and every indication is that Tony Khan wholeheartedly believes in him as a standard-bearer for the company. So, we can expect Punk to pick up where he left off when he is able to return to action.

It’s hard to predict where creative will go in the months ahead, and, all the more so, recent months have demonstrated that fans can’t take anything for granted when it comes to wrestling injuries. If he stays healthy and there aren’t major creative shifts, though, it seems likely Jon Moxley will hold the interim title until he can face Punk.

Rather than a one-off confrontation between Punk and Mox for who gets to call himself champion, it be a multi-match feud, and also the starting point for Punk fighting his way through more of The Blackpool Combat Club.

CM Punk Successfully Defends The AEW Championship Against Bryan Danielson

Since CM Punk and Bryan Danielson both arrived in AEW in late summer 2021, it became an instant dream scenario that the two might reprise the classics they previously put on together in ROH and WWE rings.

Danielson worked in the AEW Championship picture immediately upon his debut, challenging Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, while Punk bided his time, getting the ring rust off before he had his first title opportunity at Double or Nothing.

Moving forward, Danielson is the kind of talent who will never feel out of place in a main event scenario, and there’s every potential for him to put on a classic against Punk in one of his first major AEW Championship defenses. Adding on some ongoing animosity between Punk and the stable Danielson and Jon Moxley have been such an integral part of would only enrich their issue.

CM Punk Passes The Torch, Dropping The AEW Championship To Claudio Castagnoli

CM Punk worked his WWE debut opposite Darby Allin and went onto PPV feuds opposite Eddie Kingston, MJF, and Hangman Page—each less established stars who more than held their own, but also benefited from the rub of feuding with Punk.

In facing Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, Punk would be taking a step away from this trajectory, working fellow WWE alumni and wrestlers who have won world titles in their pasts. Punk can get back to giving back to the business in a feud with Claudio Castagnoli to wrap up his engagement with The Blackpool Combat Club.

There remains an open questions whether talents who defect from WWE to AEW are better off. Christian Cage, Toni Storm, Keith Lee, Miro, Samoa Joe, Ruby Soho, and others are among the big names who remain in a gray area of making a big splash when they arrive, and then moving into the background.

Castagnoli could wind up being the case to prove AEW’s willingness and ability to elevate underappreciated talents. He’s long overdue to be booked as a top guy, and it would make a major statement for him to get a legit main event push and world title reign after beating Punk in the classic match this duo is more than capable of putting together.

There’s no shortage of great promos, storylines, and matches awaiting CM Punk opposite The Blackpool Combat Club in the months to come. It could be a testament to the faction, Punk, and AEW on the whole to see their collaborative effort ultimately elevate the uber-talented Claudio Castagnoli to new career heights.

WCW Fall Brawl 1997 saw a traditional WarGames match pitting the Four Horsemen against representatives of the New World Order. The pairing made sense with the Horsemen traditional masters of the gimmick against the faction that was in many ways their successors as main event heels and WarGames fixtures (they’d feature in WarGames scenarios from 1996 until the company stopped running these specialty matches).

The main point fans remember from this match, though, was that newly minted Horseman Curt Hennig turned on his allies to join the nWo, costing them the match and arguably putting the last nail in the coffin of The Horsemen as a legitimate threat. What if Hennig hadn’t turned heel at all, but rather remained a Horseman?

WarGames Itself Might Have Been Great

The 1997 edition of WarGames wasn’t bad—certainly not as poor as the more experimental editions in the years to come that were really only WarGames in name. Nonetheless, it didn’t stand out and most fans only remember it for Curt Hennig promptly turning on his team and setting up a nasty finish with him threatening to slam Ric Flair’s head in the cage door to get his teammates to surrender.

While Hennig was no longer in his prime, he was still an elite worker. His efforts, combined with Flair’s, and with Syxx on the opposing side could have made for one of the last great WarGames matches in WCW, whether or not the Horsemen won in the end.

Curt Hennig Might Have Been A WCW Main Eventer

Curt Hennig is often considered one of the great missed opportunities as it pertained to all-around talents whom WWE never pushed to full-fledged main event status. WCW could have made good, minting their own new top guy with a babyface Hennig, backed by The Horsemen, a credible challenger to Hulk Hogan’s WCW title, and perhaps even a world champion.

Hennig was the kind of performer who might have singlehandedly elevated the WCW main event picture, including headlining opposite fellow stars who could go in the ring like Randy Savage or Scott Hall, besides still working feuds with Bret Hart or Diamond Dallas Page with more stakes attached.

The nWo Vs. The Four Horsemen Might Have Been A Great Faction Feud

Looking back, on paper, fans might think of the New World Order vs. The Four Horsemen as a great rivalry between iconic stables. The reality is that the Hollywood Hogan and company mostly dominated the feud, outsmarting The Horsemen when it mattered and prevailing in most major match scenarios.

Part of the problem was that The Horsemen were hamstrung with outstanding talents like Dean Malenko, who nonetheless weren’t over with fans at the main event level, leaving Ric Flair as their only star with the credibility to hang with the top five or so stars of the nWo.

Curt Hennig could have bridged that gap, pushed as a top-level babyface who re-legitimized the group, rather than getting lost in the shuffle as just another guy in the nWo. Like the very best faction feuds, this one might have run across multiple team scenarios and different one-on-one matches between the two lineups.

In the end, we’ll never know quite what would have been if Curt Hennig had stuck with The Four Horsemen rather than joining the nWo. Just the same, Hennig did feel like a squandered talent there for his forgettable work with the nWo after the original turn and getting wedged into The West Texas Rednecks faction, which he made the most of but was a bit beneath his talents. Working alongside Ric Flair as the top Horsemen—and perhaps even still feuding with him in time—could have been special.

When wrestling fans hear the name Roddy Piper, a number of different concepts might come to mind.

He was, perhaps, the greatest talker in wrestling history and certainly the host of the greatest wrestling talk show of all time. He was one of the best heels ever, and a darn good babyface too.

Then there’s the matter of WrestleMania.

Absolutely no one has a legacy at the Showcase of the Immortals quite like Hot Rod, ranging from all-time classic performances, to matches fans thought were his last, to a series of downright bizarre matches, to playing an interviewer, guest referee, and a number of points in between.

Roddy Piper’s Historically Great WrestleMania Performances

The original WrestleMania certainly wasn’t the greatest iteration of the event, but was one of the most historically important ones for establishing the WrestleMania brand and cementing WWE’s place atop the wrestling world.

Roddy Piper’s contributions to the event can’t be overstated. While Hulk Hogan was explosively popular and it was a score to sign Mr. T as his tag team partner, Piper was the engine of the heel side of that equation—the bad guy whom fans were all too eager to pay to see get his comeuppance against the heroes.

Paul Orndorff was the muscle and a formidable villain in his own right, but there’s no question Piper was the top bad guy on the show.

On the flip side of Piper’s great heel work at WrestleMania 1 came arguably his greatest babyface performance and perhaps the best match of his WWE career at WrestleMania 8. There, Hot Rod went out of his way to put over Bret Hart, taking a rare pinfall loss to drop the Intercontinental Championship.

It’s telling that, after this important victory, Hart would work world title matches at three out of the next four WrestleManias.

Roddy Piper’s First And Last Retirement Matches

At WrestleMania 3, a babyface Roddy Piper battled Adrian Adonis in a match that was billed to be Hot Rod’s last time in the wrestling ring. By all indications, he really did mean to transition to Hollywood, and did take part in his share of films in the years to follow.

Seeing him put Adonis to sleep and pass the upper mid-card babyface torch to Brutus Beefcake, who cut Adonis’s hair afterward, was a fitting enough send-off.

Of course, Piper wasn’t really done by a long shot.

Twenty-two years later, he’d work his true final match for WWE at a WrestleMania, when he teamed up with Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka in an elimination handicap match against Chris Jericho.

Hot Rod was a shell of his former self by then but performed respectably in an entertaining spectacle.

Roddy Piper’s Unusual Encounters At WrestleMania

Roddy Piper took diversification of his WrestleMania resume to the next level with his efforts at WrestleManias 2, 6, and 12.

WrestleMania 2 saw him headline his leg of the event from the Nassau Coliseum in a boxing match that went off the rails with celebrity visitor Mr. T. From there, he engaged in an even uglier spectacle at WrestleMania 6 with Bad News Brown.

The otherwise forgettable match achieved infamy for the poor choice for Piper to wear black paint over half his body.

Piper may have had his strangest match of all at WrestleMania 12 in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl with Goldust.

This was one of WWE’s first stabs at a cinematic match, staged outside before it gave way to a high-speed chase, clearly deriving from real-life OJ Simpson theatrics that was still in the news at the time.

Finally, the battle returned to the arena and culminated in the ring with Piper stripping Goldust’s garb to reveal lingerie underneath—a humiliation that was apparently profound enough for Hot Rod to be declared the winner.

Roddy Piper’s Guest Referee Appearances At WrestleMania

After appearing in the main event of the first WrestleMania, set in Madison Square Garden, it was only fitting that Roddy Piper returned to the venue for WrestleMania 10, this time to serve as guest referee for the last match of the show—a WWE Championship clash between Yokozuna and Bret Hart.

Piper counting the pin offered some symmetry to the first decade of WrestleMania, in addition to calling back to Hot Rod and The Hitman’s history from WrestleMania 8.

Piper officiated Hart’s match again at WrestleMania 11—a less auspicious affair when Hart won an I Quit Match over Bob Backlund.

While Hot Rod’s role felt a little random in this context—and a number of fans were annoyed with his insistence on repeatedly asking if either man gave up into a mic–it nonetheless kept Piper in the ‘Mania mix, adding another unconventional chapter to his history with the event.

In addition to the matches Roddy Piper wrestled or officiated at WrestleMania, he appeared at other events as well.

He hosted editions of Piper’s Pit with Morton Downey Jr. and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleManias 5 and 21, respectively. He was also Virgil’s cornerman against Ted Dibiase for WrestleMania 7 and interfered on Mr. McMahon’s behalf against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 19.

He made a series of oddball backstage appearances for WrestleManias 21, 30, and 31, too, all adding up to the most unusual legacy any wrestler ever has, or likely ever will have at WWE’s biggest annual event.

The WWE Intercontinental Championship has a long history. It was the title that served as a stepping stone for men like The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, and Triple H to eventually win world titles. That’s in addition to men like Tito Santana, The Honky Tonk Man, and Don Muraco thriving as Intercontinental Champions in their own right.

The title has suffered from inconsistent booking over the years, though, and particularly as of late it has seemed like an afterthought. Champs like Shinsuke Nakamaura, Apollo Crews, and Ricochet—despite their considerable talent—weren’t booked to do anything of note during their reigns. Gunther won the title IC strap on last week’s SmackDown.

More than a simple instance of a title changing hands, this one might represent much more. Gunther may well be the perfect man to restore the title to its past glory.

Gunther Can Work Great Matches

One of the cornerstones of Intercontinental Championship history was that it was title great matches got built around. Particularly in eras when the main event picture was more consumed with showmanship and star power than technical precision, this was the workers’ title.

It set up absolute classics like Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 3, Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect or The British Bulldog at back-to-back years of SummerSlam, or the first Ladder Match WWE ever broadcasted live at WrestleMania 10, between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon.

Gunther represents an opportunity to return to that tradition. He’s a stiff, polished worker and one need look no further than his NXT UK efforts opposite Butch or Ilja Dragunov to see the kind of instant classics he can deliver, in particular opposite a tough, smaller opponent.

Gunther hinted at what he was capable of when he took the title from Ricochet, and it would be a pleasure to see him actively defend the title in matches like that over the months ahead.

Gunther Seems To Have Earned Management’s Respect

There’s not shortage of talents who’ve done well in WWE’s developmental system but flopped when they got to the main roster. On paper, Gunther is exactly the kind of talent most at risk of suffering a similar fate, given his indie and international pedigree, complete with a focus on stiff offense and technique over playing a colorful character. However, he has been presented as a dominant force in this main roster run so far, up to and including winning the Intercontinental Championship.

A part of why Gunther might have earned management’s respect and admiration is his adaptability. The big man was purportedly not willing to base his career in the US when he first signed on to work with NXT UK. He has changed his mind since that time, though. Moreover, reports suggested management asked him to get more visibly cut to consider him for a main roster run. Gunther delivered.

While his work rate and cardio probably weren’t ever in question, he nonetheless has made major strides in looking like a more traditionally ripped WWE Superstar leading up to his introduction to the SmackDown roster. All of these factors bode quite well for his long-term prospects.

Gunther Is Still New To The WWE Main Roster

Though hardcore fans may have followed Gunther for quite some time, he only got his formal call up to the WWE main roster this past April. Yes, he put over Ilja Dragunov in NXT UK and Bron Breakker in NXT 2.0. That’s not to mention his early elimination from inter-branded Survivor Series in 2019.

Still, in the eyes of the more casual fan, his record remains mostly clean, and having Ludwig Kaiser in his corner offers him a credible sidekick he has already built strong chemistry with. Without the baggage of ever looking like a jobber or someone relegated to the tag team division, the sky’s the limit for what Gunther might accomplish in WWE.

So it is that Gunther arrives as Intercontinental Champion with a noteworthy combination of credibility and optimism for what he might become. Nothing is guaranteed. Nonetheless, at this point he feels like he could the one to reinvent the tradition of the fighting Intercontinental Champion who elevates the title every bit as much as it elevates him across a series of great matches, en route to an eventual main event destiny.

It has been a while since WWE has given its fans much reason to get invested in the Intercontinental title or the person holding it. Between his talent, management’s support, and his bright future, Gunther just might be the man to make this championship prestigious again.

Rhea Ripley is one of the most talented and well-received women in WWE today. After her successes in NXT and NXT UK, she made a splash by debuting on the main roster opposite Charlotte Flair in a match that stole the show at WrestleMania 36.

From there, Ripley’s resume includes a Raw Women’s Championship victory over Asuka at WrestleMania 37, and most recently garnering a high profile angle as the first female addition to the Judgment Day faction.

From her on screen partnerships, to her aesthetic, to her positioning within the women’s roster, more and more reasons have developed for why fans might liken her career to Lita’s.

Like Lita, Rhea Ripley Is A Woman Sharing A Mutually Beneficial Partnership With Men

After a couple of bit parts and false start working as part of The Godfather’s entourage and with Essa Rios, Lita rose to prominence as part of Team Xtreme. The Hardy Boyz were a cool tag team with an edgy look and eye-catching aerial offense. Lita fit that style perfectly.

Having a uniquely talented and attractive woman with them elevated The Hardys, while being paired with a featured tag team got Lita more time on screen and a more clearly defined persona. Later in her career, Lita enjoyed a similar relationship with Edge.

Having a well-known femme fatale in his corner helped The Rated R Superstar feel more credible as a top tier act, while a provocative partnership with Edge helped Lita get over as the top heel of the women’s division.

WrestleMania Backlash saw Rhea Ripley strike up her own partnership with Edge when she joined his Judgment Day faction. The Nightmare, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor have since turned on Edge but the core consideration remains in place.

She‘s a woman, paired with men who have similar dark and edgy personas, and everyone involved stands to benefit from this alliance and the clear identity it lends them.

Like Lita, Rhea Ripley Has A Different Aesthetic

Part of Lita standing out during the Attitude Era was her signature look. In a sea of blonds who looked like clean-cut fitness models, Lita had bright red hair, highly visible tattoos, and a signature look that included a thong peeking out from her pants.

There’s a somewhat similar ethos to Ripley’s act. With short hair, tattoos, piercings, and leather, she stands out from the pack of female performers in WWE, looking a bit edgy, a bit alternative, and perhaps most importantly like a clearly identifiable character no fan is ever likely to confuse with another woman from the WWE roster.

Like Lita, Rhea Ripley Has Lingered One Step Shy Of The Top

Lita was one of the best and most popular female performers of her day. However, it was difficult to ever call her the top woman in WWE, at least in a sustained way. Just as Randy Savage tended to play second fiddle to Hulk Hogan, or Randy Orton spent the better part of a decade one step behind John Cena’s stardom, Lita was a key rival, but ultimately second fiddle to Trish Stratus.

Some of that comes down to timing—particularly when Lita got hurt going into what might have been her biggest push for WrestleMania 21–but regardless, she tends to be remembered more as half of a package deal with Stratus than as the face of the division on her own.

Time will tell how Rhea Ripley’s career wil play out. In NXT UK, though, she shared the top women’s spot with Toni Storm, and in NXT she tended to be featured a step behind Io Shirai and Raquel Gonzalez at different points.

On the main roster, Ripley has had her moments, but Charlotte Flair has tended to get the best of their exchanges and Bianca Belair has surpassed The Nightmare in their cohort of talents, when it comes to kayfabe accomplishments like title reigns and winning the Royal Rumble, as well as overall star power.

At twenty-five years old there is still plenty of time for Rhea Ripley to carve out her legacy. The fact that WWE’s women’s division is much better featured now can be a blessing and curse in comparing her run to Lita’s, as The Nightmare certainly has more opportunities to break out, but also a more crowded roster to overcome to stand out from the pack. Nonetheless, key elements of their presentation and journey have overlapped so far.

When Cody Rhodes cut his first promo back in WWE since his return, he established a mission statement of winning the title his father never had the chance to—the WWE Championship. Based on the way he was booked to sweep a three-match series with Seth Rollins, it would appear he was on track for just that accomplishment.

While his injury to his pectoral muscle may have seemed to derail that momentum the fact that he still won his last match before stepping away inside Hell in a Cell, and delivered such a well-received, gritty performance in the process suggest he may well pick up where he left off and still be on track to wind up WWE Champion. But what will that road look like?

Cody Wins The Royal Rumble As a Surprise Entrant

For the last three decades, there’s been no better established traditional journey to the WWE Championship than winning the Royal Rumble and going on to challenge for the title at WrestleMania. Early reports suggest Cody Rhodes will miss six-to-twelve months for this injury. If he can return on the early end of that range, he would fit the mold of electrifying surprise entrants to the Royal Rumble and would make a lot of sense as a choice to win it all.

Of course, that opens the question of whom Rhodes would challenge at WrestleMania. It would not make sense for him to go toe to toe with Roman Reigns there, assuming the rumored plans are true for Reigns to face The Rock in LA.

Additionally, Reigns is about the only WWE roster member who still feels off limits for The American Nightmare to defeat. Seth Rollins could, however, be in play.

Cody Helps Seth Rollins Win the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble

It’s not unheard of for a world title match to go on after the Royal Rumble at the annual PPV, or with two Rumble matches in the mix, the men’s could go on early while the women’s version closes the show. Whatever the mechanics may be, Cody Rhodes could win the Royal Rumble, then have an active role in Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship later in the show.

Rollins is an established enough top tier star for WWE that he’ll never not make sense in a world title picture. Moreover, given the fact he technically beat Reigns at Royal Rumble 2022, there’s some poeticism to him getting his rematch at Royal Rumble 2023. With only the WWE Championship on the line, Rhodes could be the difference maker in helping Rollins win this match and title.

That finish would protect Reigns, and he might even be confronted by a returning Rock after the match, to offer a reason for him not to immediately seek revenge on Rhodes. Meanwhile it would make some sense to put the WWE title on Rollins, whom Rhodes has unfinished business with after The Messiah attacked him during his last appearance on Raw.

Cody Beats Seth Rollins At WrestleMania

While there’s a large portion of the WWE audience that’s ready to move on from Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, their story really does feel incomplete given the way Rollins attacked an already injured American Nightmare. Rhodes vs. Rollins one more time at WrestleMania can pay off that storyline, give Rhodes a champion to beat who’s not Roman Reigns, and, importantly, would all but guarantee another excellent match. It might even feel somewhat fresh again after ten months of the two not working matches together.

With Rhodes going 4-0 against Rollins, the story could truly be finished between these two, and bring The American Nightmare’s comeback journey full circle with another huge WrestleMania victory.

Cody Rhodes Vs. Roman Reigns

If The Rock vs. Roman Reigns does happen at WrestleMania 39, it’s not clear who would emerge victorious. On one hand, The Rock is a wrestling legend and legit A-list celebrity whom  fans would buy beating Reigns. On the other hand, it seems unlikely Rock will stick around WWE to defend a title or work many more matches at all after this one. Also, Reigns beating Rock may be a proper capstone to his dominant run.

Cody Rhodes would remain one of the few top talents Reigns hadn’t defeated, and with the story of him costing The Tribal Chief the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble—not to mention winning the title himself afterward—it would only be natural for the two to clash after WrestleMania, maybe saving the dream match for SummerSlam.

It’s too soon to say which of the two would make sense as the winner, but it’s a natural destination for both to head to, after The American Nightmare realizes his destiny as WWE Champion.

Time will tell how things play out, with injuries, fan reactions, a Money in the Bank briefcase, and other wrestlers surging with momentum all in play to alter the future of WWE. Nonetheless, the story of Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Champion Seth Rollins (and by extension Roman Reigns) can begin at the 2023 Royal Rumble.

Worked shoots have been a part of pro wrestling for a long time. After all, there were years when wrestlers went to great lengths to protect kayfabe on the premise the business could only work if fans believed everything they saw to be legitimate sport. The matter grew more sophisticated after Vince McMahon openly acknowledged wrestling was a work, and all the more so during the Monday Night War era.

Particularly in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob, playing with the line between fact and fiction became a staple, and arguably a plot device WCW turned to too often and in clunky fashion. There’s still a place to blur the lines between a work and a shoot, though, and AEW and MJF have highlighted just how compelling creative choices around this line can be.

MJF was the Talk of the Wrestling World Heading into AEW Double Or Nothing

For Double or Nothing, AEW built an extremely compelling card with a number of matches hat looked great on paper, the promise of a historic moment or two, and a number of storylines appearing to reach a climax. However, when the day of the show rolled around, there was one aspect of it that superseded all others: what was going on with MJF, and would he even show up?

The rumors took a life of their own on the Internet. While it’s still not entirely clear what was real and what was for show, we do know AEW booked the PPV perfectly with MJF the first wrestler to walk out from behind the curtain. His appearance gave the show an electric feel out of the gate and prevented the questions around his status from distracting from the rest of the event.

Moreover, his match with Wardlow was executed perfectly. The extended squash paid off the storyline, with a babyface getting retribution and giving a heel his comeuppance, yes, but with the short, one-sided match also feeding rumors that MJF might be on poor terms with management, such that he was booked to look badly in the ring.

MJF Cut One Of The Greatest Wrestling Promos of Wrestling’s Modern Era

The buzz around MJF leading into Double or Nothing contributed to an equally buzzworthy performance on the Dynamite after the PPV. MJF cut the promo of a lifetime as he criticized management, weaving in very real issues like Tony Khan signing former WWE talent to big money contracts and pushing them over AEW mainstays.

MJF’s promo was well-timed to capitalize on speculation about him, as well as the momentum AEW had coming off a major PPV. While opinions still vary pretty widely on MJF’s in-ring abilities, there’s little question he’s one of the best promo guys in the world right now. The worked shoot scenario set him up to succeed, and MJF exceeded every expectation with his riveting delivery.

AEW Has Committed To The Storyline

Worked shoot storylines are difficult to pull off. Fans have seen enough variations on angles like MJF feuding with management that they’re inherently skeptical. Moreover, there are practical considerations like a wrestler keeping up the storyline on social media and shoot interviews, or questions about why a company would still be selling a performer’s merchandise if he’s on such rocky terms with them. Add on a never-ending stream of dirt sheets finding the inside scoop and it’s awfully difficult for the modern fan to suspend disbelief.

AEW and MJF have committed to what they’re doing, though. The degree to with The Wrestling Observer, Fightful, and others bit on the prospect of MJF potentially no-showing Double or Nothing after he skipped a meet and greet suggested that AEW had either artfully manipulated or deftly collaborated with these kinds of media outlets to sell their story, rather than having reporters undermine them.

The choice for MJF not to meet fans, itself, may have been part of the plan and while it’s ill-advised for AEW to make a habit out of false advertising or messing with the money fans put down for experiences like this, doing it one time to serve this story feels like a key part of making this angle work. Other choices like Tony Khan refusing to comment on MJF in the post-PPV media scrum and pulling MJF’s merchandise online have further reinforced uncertainty.

A Tradition Of Worked Shoots

MJF’s situation with AEW has drawn comparisons to other situations from the past twenty years. The degree to which MJF is publicly living his gimmick, with some fans suspecting he “went into business for himself” in skipping his meet and greet prompted memories of Brian Pillman’s “Loose Cannon” antics when he made a number of unorthodox choices on his own to cultivate a sense of chaos across his journey between WCW, ECW, and WWE.

In a similar time frame, the early stages of the New World Order angle in WCW had a similar ethos for the shock of seeing Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrive in the promotion and hint that they were invading from WWE.

Moreover, MJF’s promo on Dynamite had harkened back to CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb on WWE Raw from 11 years. There’s a great deal of overlap when it comes to speaking to legitimate concerns about his employer within the confines of what was ostensibly a worked promo, complete with heeling on the crowd in the process. That promo and the angle to follow were key in elevating Punk to megastar status and the seeds are there for MJF to enjoy a similar type of growth.

Fans can’t yet know where AEW is headed with MJF, and it’s a testament to the success of the angle that there is a some doubt as to where the line is between a work and a shoot and whether it’s possible that, even if MJF is working, he still might be out the door to WWE when his contract’s up.

Nonetheless, for a promotion that has thrived off the quality of its in-ring product, AEW may well be telling its best out-of-the-ring story to date with MJF.

With Double or Nothing, AEW wrapped up a three-night stand in Las Vegas. Prior to taking over T-Mobile Arena, they’d staged Dynamite and Rampage at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.

Throughout the three events, AEW offered an experience live that was distinctive from what fans at home saw on TV, including additional content, fan interaction, and a fundamentally different encounter for the live crowd taking in Anarchy in the Arena.

Exclusive Promos Before And After AEW Shows

Each of AEW’s three events in Las Vegas for Double or Nothing week includes some time on the mic before the television product took off. The Acclaimed greeted fans with raps both before Dynamite and Double or Nothing. In addition, Tony Khan got out in front of the live crowd before and after both Dynamite and Rampage. In both cases, Khan expressed his gratitude to the fans and polled who had been in Vegas for the original Double or Nothing PPV, while trying to hype up the audience.

The most memorable promo of all that happened off air came from CM Punk. After winning the AEW Championship, he hung around to express his gratitude to his wife, April Mendez, and express how hard it is to be on the road and wrestle year round. He went on to express an inspirational message that anything worth having is hard, and thanked the fans in attendance as well for making his sacrifices worth it.

Justin Roberts Led The Charge On Fan Interaction

One of the details AEW fans wouldn’t necessarily know about TV tapings from home is the degree of fan interaction that happens before and after shows and during commercial breaks. Ring announcer Justin Roberts led the charge, vamping on the mic and polling the crowd about different matters like who they wanted to see win different

Double or Nothing matches and who was at their first AEW live event.

The TV tapings in particular felt a little more independent in nature, including security letting a child come over the railing to sit on the ring apron for a photo before the show, and Roberts going so far as to announce that his mom was in attendance for her first AEW show. In a heartwarming moment, in between Rampage and extended tapings for AEW Dark, Roberts singled out a fan named Amir out in the arena, asking if he’d dropped something. The cameras put Amir on the big screen as he got down on one knee to propose to his partner.

A Few Oddball Highlights Just For Live AEW Fans

There were a number special, oddball, and otherwise unexpected moments that happened at each of AEW’s events for Double or Nothing week that they did not broadcast. Perhaps the most noteworthy instance came after Double or Nothing went off the fair, before Punk’s promo to the live crowd, as FTR came down to the ring to celebrate his victory with him, complete with putting him up on their shoulders to parade him around the ring. Punk thanked FTR and the fans before his music started to play again. The new champ cut that off, though, saying into the mic that he was going to talk some more, to the amusement of the crowd, before the music stopped and he proceeded with his fuller speech.

Rampage had some unlikely highlights as well. Justin Roberts cited that referee Aubrey’s family was in the crowd, and suggested she should have a match, then booked her into a Rock, Paper, Scissors “Match” with Taz from the broadcast table. Taz had Excalibur coach him through the experience and wound up putting Aubrey over. The final moment of Friday night saw not only Tony Khan, but Bryan Danielson address the crowd, inviting fans to a karaoke event elsewhere at the Mandalay Bay to benefit the local Rescue Mission.

Anarchy In The Arena Could Be Difficult To Follow Live

AEW Double or Nothing’s Anarchy in the Arena match was chaotic by design. While the match has been well received on the whole, it’s noteworthy that the narrative the camera crew and broadcast team cobbled together for viewers at home was quite different from the live experience. With action happening throughout the arena and backstage, live fans were able to see what happened nearby them for a unique spectacle, and of course able to follow what happened in the ring. Fans also missed a fair bit of what was going on, though, left to listen for big reactions from elsewhere in the building and speculate about what might have occurred, or see if there’d be a replay on the big screens.

For all the limitations of the Anarchy in the Arena format, there were also some benefits and shrewd placement of the match on the card. By any measure, Double or Nothing was a long show, and a good portion of the audience was running out of steam by the time Kyle O’Reilly beat Darby Allin. Thunder Rosa vs. Serene Deeb got particularly short shrift from a tired, distracted crowd. Between wild spots and the sheer fact that most fans had to stand up to see any of what was happening, Anarchy in the Arena brought the crowd back to life and helped fans return to their lively, vocal involvement in the final stretch of the show.

All in all, Double or Nothing week delivered live with a unique and entertaining experience for everyone in attendance. Capping it with a world title change and Punk’s engagement with the crowd after the PPV broadcast ended put a fine cap on the three-night run.