Week in Wrestling - Monday, July 12, 2021
WWE News
Bayley Suffers Major Injury
In the worst news of the week, Bayley suffered a terrible injury while training at the Performance Center, and tore her ACL. The reports by WWE say that she will be out for around nine months, which is horrible, considering that puts her out of action damn near to Wrestlemania. I am a big fan of Bayley and she has been doing some of her best work over the past few years in the ring but especially developing her heel character on the mic. She and Sasha Banks carried the women's division for most of the pandemic on all three shows, and Bayley was the longest reigning Smackdown champion. Terrible news.
After her surgery, and in between recovery, it would be so good if she could still make appearances on the shows doing interview segments. I don't think you want her traveling with the injury, so this really sucks that it happened just as they are leaving Florida, which would have made this much easier. But they could have her go to NXT and film some segments that would air on Smackdown here and there or do sit down interviews. Anyway they can keep her presence on TV is a plus, at least until a few months out before her return. Nine months is a long time for her to be off TV and I think she deserves to be utilized.
After her surgery, and in between recovery, it would be so good if she could still make appearances on the shows doing interview segments. I don't think you want her traveling with the injury, so this really sucks that it happened just as they are leaving Florida, which would have made this much easier. But they could have her go to NXT and film some segments that would air on Smackdown here and there or do sit down interviews. Anyway they can keep her presence on TV is a plus, at least until a few months out before her return. Nine months is a long time for her to be off TV and I think she deserves to be utilized.
Jimmy Uso gets Another D.U.I
News broke on the day after the holiday that Jimmy Uso had once again been arrested for a DUI. The last time Jimmy had an incident, it resulted in him being off TV for damn near 6 months back in 2019 and it felt like his wife and brother caught the backlash of his bad decisions as well. Uso obviously has a serious problem that he can't get under control at this point, because this is his third incident involving alcohol, and this incident comes as he's in the highest profile program of his career, a main event program featuring the Universal champion, his cousin Roman Reigns.
I honestly have no more patience for Jimmy, as he's been given multiple chances to get sober and stay on the straight and narrow. But no matter who his actions can impact, he continues to make selfish choices. I believe its time for the company at the very least to suspend him indefinitely and send him to rehab. Hell, I honestly would cut him, but I know he is family to some of their biggest stars, so it may come off like they are throwing him away instead of trying to help him. But they've tried to help him and he continues to do things that hurt himself and put others in harms way. At some point there has to be major consequences for these actions. Others have been fired for far less.
I honestly have no more patience for Jimmy, as he's been given multiple chances to get sober and stay on the straight and narrow. But no matter who his actions can impact, he continues to make selfish choices. I believe its time for the company at the very least to suspend him indefinitely and send him to rehab. Hell, I honestly would cut him, but I know he is family to some of their biggest stars, so it may come off like they are throwing him away instead of trying to help him. But they've tried to help him and he continues to do things that hurt himself and put others in harms way. At some point there has to be major consequences for these actions. Others have been fired for far less.
I honestly feel bad for Naomi and Jay. Both of their careers have been impacted by mistakes Jimmy has made. But I'm super glad the company decided to break Jay out of just being a tag team wrestler last year and gave him his own identity. Jay appears to have his head on straight, and shouldn't be penalized because his twin brother is not on TV. Of course his heart is with his brother, but he can't let his brother drag him down.
On Smackdown, Jimmy was featured in multiple segments. It was obvious that he looked awkward and emotional throughout the night, and all common sense would tell you that this was going be the night they destroy him and get him off TV. But no, while Jimmy, Jay, and Roman did get beat down by Edge and the returning Mysterio's, they also announced a six man tag with the six men for this Friday's first Smackdown back on the road. I have to believe that they are just trying to wrap him up at the PPV this Sunday, and he'll be off TV and sent to rehab. I have to hold out hope that they will do the right thing and just not think the guy can just keep working and this won't continue to be a problem.
Bianca vs. Sasha win an ESPY
The ESPN award show featured a WWE category on Saturday night for Best Moment of the year, and Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks were recognized for being the first black women to headline a Wrestlemania card. To many, this meant absolutely nothing. In fact, I saw so much criticism and anger towards the ESPY's for even having a WWE only award, and of course that was mostly from people who wanted their favorite wrestling promotion acknowledged, so that was expected. But then there were those who felt WWE shouldn't be getting congratulated or praised for finally featuring black women in this position, and rolling these women out as tokens.
I have so many thoughts on this topic, that I would never be able to fit everything that I need to say in this update. So later this week, I will be publishing an article focusing on why I have a such a problem with people who don't understand the importance of representation of black people in particular, in wrestling, and why I get so frustrated with people who try to make everything about affirmative action. Look out for that later this week.
I have so many thoughts on this topic, that I would never be able to fit everything that I need to say in this update. So later this week, I will be publishing an article focusing on why I have a such a problem with people who don't understand the importance of representation of black people in particular, in wrestling, and why I get so frustrated with people who try to make everything about affirmative action. Look out for that later this week.
WWE RAW/ SMACKDOWN
Riddle is the Answer
I really liked the follow up on Matt Riddle this week, where he was featured in a very good match vs. AJ Styles. To be honest, when you look at the type of characters Vince likes to push, Riddle pretty much checks just about every box. He's a good looking guy with good size, he is a great performer in the ring and doesn't mind taking the stupid dialogue they give him and making something good out of it. He's Vince's next Kurt Angle. Kurt would take all the silly stuff and make it work, but when it was time to go in the ring, he could do it all. I see Riddle being able to excel, if they allow him to build properly. I think the live audience will love him, Bro.
The Women are Better than this
If you look at the women WWE has on the roster between RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and NXT UK, there is absolutely no excuse that not only are the same women featured in the same combinations every week on the main roster, (which is an issue for the men too), but some of the women they choose to feature are far worst than the options they have under contract. Why am I being subjected to watching Alexa Bliss do magic, Eva Marie and Doudrop do the dumbest breakup angle ever, Nikki Cross be a joke, and Nia Jax and Reginald drag Shayna Baszler down to obscurity. Over and over again. Asuka and Naomi and being wasted away, doing absolutely nothing, while the tag team champions, Natalya and Tamina are far past their prime and occupying valuable TV time on two shows. Does that make sense?
On Smackdown, they decided to announce a replacement for Bayley, who was scheduled to face Bianca Belair at Money in the Bank for the Smackdown women's title, prior to her injury. You would think that the replacement would naturally be a big star, maybe someone like Sasha Banks, who has never received a rematch nor been seen since the Friday after Wrestlemania. But maybe that's the plan for Summerslam, so they didn't want to hotshot her return. So maybe it would be the next best contender on Smackdown or even a call up from NXT who has been on a roll. But no. the Smackdown women's roster outside of Bianca and Bayley has been so thin and booked so bad, that the new challenger for Bianca is Carmella. Yea, the woman who repeatedly loss to Sasha Banks earlier this year, and we just saw lose twice to Liv Morgan and be rewarded by being gifted a spot in Money in the Bank. The roster has been so poorly constructed, that that's what they were left with. Pathetic.
Seeing how thin their roster is, on Friday, with no build, Shotzi Blackheart and Teagan Knox showed up on Smackdown and defeated Natalya and Tamina. The match was clunky, and the whole thing smelled of desperation. If you wanted to get these women over and add some punch to their debut, how about have some foresight and build their debut up! How about let them cut some promos and educate the fans on why these two are the right team to come in and defeat the tag team champions. Any fan who watches NXT knows that Shotzi is in a tag team with Ember Moon, although she has teamed with Knox in the past. Also Tegan just made her big return on NXT after weeks of build with the battery charging, and she attacked Candice LeRae. Just another case of kneejerk decisions with no foresight.
Also on Smackdown, it was announced that Toni Storm is coming soon. This is long overdue, as Storm has been ready for quite some time. She will be an excellent addition to the women's division and hopefully they have a plan on how to use her. I do wonder if they will make her a heel or face. A feud with Sasha Banks is something both women have wanted for awhile. I bring that up because you can be the greatest talent in the world, but if the company doesn't pair you with the right dancing partner, you will flounder.
Also on Smackdown, it was announced that Toni Storm is coming soon. This is long overdue, as Storm has been ready for quite some time. She will be an excellent addition to the women's division and hopefully they have a plan on how to use her. I do wonder if they will make her a heel or face. A feud with Sasha Banks is something both women have wanted for awhile. I bring that up because you can be the greatest talent in the world, but if the company doesn't pair you with the right dancing partner, you will flounder.
Which brings me to the reason WWE has no excuse on why their programs are so repetitive and they feature lackluster female talent far too often. In the photo collage above, I have taken 20 women under contract to the company from all of their brands. These 20 women represent a variety of some of the greatest in ring talent in the world. Are you telling me that someone with a brain couldn't look at this list of talent and couldn't book at the very least three women segments on RAW and two on Smackdown? Do you know how many programs I could build with just those 20 wrestlers, whom I feel are either excellent workers or at worst vastly improving young talent. You could easily present great fresh matchups, and compelling stories. And that's not to say every once in awhile you won't use some of the other females not featured here, but the women below should not be the focal point of your women's division for various reasons, in my opinion.
Some of these women are great on the mic, and could be used as managers for other women or valets for some of the male talent who need a second, but they don't need to be wrestling on television or dominating screen time. Other older women, like Natalya, could be better served as a coach and in a special program every 6 months or so, but should not be the tag team champions. Then there are some who can still be on the roster, but don't need to be used regularly. Then some, I'm just releasing and letting them go find a job elsewhere. You look at the picture and I'm sure you can conclude who fits where.
The bottom-line is, the WWE should be ashamed of themselves for not capitalizing on the depth of great in ring women talent they have available to book on Monday and Friday night's. There is no excuse.
The bottom-line is, the WWE should be ashamed of themselves for not capitalizing on the depth of great in ring women talent they have available to book on Monday and Friday night's. There is no excuse.
NXT
I love Hit Row!
Another week of magic from Hit Row. This week they showed their rap skills in Swerve Scott's championship celebration that I found to be quite entertaining. This group feels so fresh and current and in a different world, you could make them a main event act on the main roster. But history has shown that things are never left to be organic and flourish authentically once creative puts their hands on things. Let's hold out hope that Hit Row is kept together as a unit and not feuding with each other in a month.
What's the Plan for Cole
Adam Cole defeated Kyle O'Reilly in a hell of a main event of the Great American Bash. Cole is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever be in NXT, and as I said last week, this should be his final match here, and he should be moving up to main roster. I could see Cole in a program against a Riddle on RAW, easy. I could see him being used in a variety of ways on Smackdown. He may never be the world champion, but he's better than just floundering in the same programs on NXT. I say this because I think he's that good, and he needs a new stage.
Is Gargano winning this title?
I think we've covered the fact that Johnny Gargano is miscast in his role as a geek heel, but nobody can deny that when the bell rings, the guy is one of the greatest wrestlers there is. Because of that, many are thinking that he will be defeating Karion Kross and winning the NXT title. We already know Kross is being called up to the main roster soon, so common sense says that they'll want to get the title off of him. But I don't think you have to take the title off Kross in order to call him up. What if Kross is called up, as champion, and helps shine a light on NXT by being on both shows. I wouldn't rush to take the belt off Kross if it's not against a string opponent who can carry the belt for awhile and be taken seriously. Gargano's current gimmick is too goofy and I don't think he's the right guy to win that belt right now. Hell, if you watch the TV, it should be Samoa Joe!
ALL ELITE WRESTLING
Aleister Black is Here
The wrestler we knew as Aleister Black in WWE made a surprise debut on Dynamite last week, laying out Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes with Black mask kicks. I have always loved Black and called him a lock to be one of the next huge superstars in WWE, after I saw him look so great in NXT. For me, Black should have been the next Undertaker, and he would've been a perfect fit for the next "Deadman" gimmick. He is a phenomenal in ring talent and he has physical charisma that you can't teach. I am so glad that AEW jumped on signing him, and I hope they push him to the moon. I see no holes in his game, none, and I am so glad he got away from Vince McMahon, who finds ways to make people look worst instead of better.
Black debuted with a new name, Malakai Black, and he attacked Arn Anderson, which clearly sets up a program with Cody. Look, I like Cody as a person. I've met him and his wife and had a great conversation with him. But I honestly don't like the booking. I would've liked him to come in and be a baby face or tweener right off the bat, allowing the fans to embrace him. But hell, Cody is a heel to me, so maybe the crowd will turn on him. Question is, will Cody book himself to lose a feud to Black or will he drop one and get the win at All Out to win the feud. That will go a long way in determining how they will ultimately book Black in AEW.
Black debuted with a new name, Malakai Black, and he attacked Arn Anderson, which clearly sets up a program with Cody. Look, I like Cody as a person. I've met him and his wife and had a great conversation with him. But I honestly don't like the booking. I would've liked him to come in and be a baby face or tweener right off the bat, allowing the fans to embrace him. But hell, Cody is a heel to me, so maybe the crowd will turn on him. Question is, will Cody book himself to lose a feud to Black or will he drop one and get the win at All Out to win the feud. That will go a long way in determining how they will ultimately book Black in AEW.
It was a Mess
After the Bucks defeated Kingston and Penta in the tag team title main event, I asked myself, what was the point? Why beat the Bucks for the first time in forever two weeks ago, only for them to use every shenanigan in the book to defeat the challengers the following week? Who is this setting up a match with? All the tag teams on the roster, who is the team that is ready for a title match with the Bucks? Nobody has been built to be a strong contender. The last two programs were against makeshift teams in Moxley and Kingston and now Kingston and Penta. What are we building to with the Bucks and this heel act that gets more annoying by the week. I just am failing to see the big picture here. Is there a great team I'm missing that is waiting and ready? FTR and Santana and Ortiz are in a feud that will not only never end but never make it into the ring, so they don't seem to be the goal here. The Good Brothers? The Dinosaur and Jungle Boy? Bear Country? A lot of questions and honestly its frustrating, for a company that touts their infinity for tag team wrestling.
All of This?
While I enjoyed the promos of both Jericho and MJF and enjoyed them beating the hell out of the fan who tried to jump in the ring more, I was left asking myself, what's the goal here? I think MJF is a bonafide superstar on the mic who is getting better in the ring, however, like I said last week, he and Sammy G. should be the focus, not Jericho. I get it that Jericho is the leader of the group, but I hate this stipulation that he must defeat four guys to get to MJF. MJF isn't the world champion and Jericho isn't some young rising star who needs to battle his way to get to the big bad at the end. This is dumb. What if they have Jericho defeat FTR, Spears, and Wardlow, in order to get to MJF. That will mean that the 50+ year old Jericho just defeated your entire top heel faction. And for what? You may as well flush MJF's head down the toilet again while you're at it. I hate this. AEW is the young upstart promotion featuring young fresh talent. Guys like Jericho need to be pulling back and using their star power to prop up young guys. If the goal is him to put MJF over at All Out, that's great. But having him defeat four guys to get there, is stupid. Especially since Sammy G is floundering with Shawn Spears.
Omega vs. Hangman Build
The build to Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Adam Paige continued last week and largely was a repeat of the previous week with the Dark Order coming out to confront Omega and a returning Don Callis, who was excellent on the mic. But this week things got physical, when the Good Brother and Nakazawa attacked the Dark Order, which led to Hangman coming out to make the save. Omega and Paige did a stare down and the crowd seemed pretty hot for it. Me, I just don't have that emotional investment in the Paige at all, and I love Kenny Omega, but his current character is cheesy to me. I miss NJPW Kenny, The Cleaner, leader of the Bullet Club. But the crowd will determine how hot this feud is by the time we get to All Out. I will be interested to see how they develop the story over the next few months.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
ROH Best in the World in Baltimore
Last night I was scheduled to attend the ROH Best in the World show here in Baltimore but an emergency at work caused me to have to skip the show and go in. Very frustrating, but that is the hotel business. So I will have to watch the show this week and will have a report next week. My apology.
Impact Slammiversary
This Saturday night is Impact Wrestling's Slammiversary. Yes, I know you wouldn't know by watching AEW Dynamite every week, but Kenny Omega is the Impact World champion. Here is the lineup for the show.
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