The Thread Killer

From a career success standpoint, Andrade’s move from AEW to WWE has definitely been lateral at best. I don’t think he’s any better or worse off. The best he can hope for is a run with a midcard title. I am guessing the major selling factor in him coming back to WWE was the fact that his wife works there, and he is apparently pretty good friends with Punk which obviously did not endear him to the AEW locker room. Actually, come to mention it, you will probably be able to say the exact same thing for Malakai/Aleistar Black.

There has definitely been a noticeable change in the WWE ring style over the last couple of years. They have definitely slowed things down, and they are also trying to make some specific moves mean a lot more than they used to. A great example would be the piledriver. Now, whenever somebody delivers that manoeuvre in WWE, the announcers react like it’s a major deal. Part of that change has been that yeah…there is a lot more emphasis put on guys staring at each other, facial expressions and even talking to each other in the ring and having the microphones pick it up. Some of that I really like, and some of it I don’t. The changes to the booking and creative have been really noticeable as well, WWE is so driven by stories right now, more than I can ever remember it being before. It’s definitely a different style than what you see in AEW. Those guys tend to throw everything they have at each other, and I don’t think there is anywhere near as much of an emphasis put on selling, psychology or character development. I’m willing to bet you could probably go into an AEW PPV totally blind, not knowing any of the angles, and you would simply be impressed by the fast paced matches. Whereas I remember, I watched Summerslam with a friend of mine who hasn’t seen any WWE programming in ages and he didn’t understand the entire Rhea/Dom/Liv angle, for example. And that’s just because he hadn’t been watching the television leading up to the event, so the stakes didn’t mean anywhere near as much to him. Before anybody freaks out, I am not saying the WWE style better but I am also not saying it’s worse. It’s just different. It is basically two totally different styles and presentation methods for Professional Wrestling. I don’t think the difference in style between the two companies has ever been more apparent than it is right now. But then again, that makes sense when you think about it because obviously both companies are trying to appeal to totally different demographics. I am guessing AEW is happy to appeal to the hardcore modern Pro Wrestling fan, whereas the stuff WWE is doing now is definitely more entertainment based and aimed at families and kids. WWE is like a soap opera with Pro Wrestling as the end result, whereas AEW seemed to me to be more an athletic exhibition with nowhere near as much emphasis being placed on “telling a story.”

Scott Steiner’s son Brock is playing college football, but he has already made it pretty clear that once he is finished with football, he definitely intends to try and get on with WWE. I’m just imagining a new, younger version of the Steiners… definitely something to look forward to. Just not for the guys in the locker room if the two younger Steiners act like their fathers.

Yeah, I did not post a lot of comments during the actual Rumble itself last night because I was just enjoying it, but it definitely ranks in the top third all time of Royal Rumble matches. Just based on the talent alone, if nothing else. But there were some great moments in there. One of my favourite moments was when Roman was spearing the shit out of everybody and laying them out, and then Breakker turned around and did it to him. The look on Heyman’s face was priceless. And as you said, Penta and Fatu both came out of that match with a bigger shine as well.

You make an excellent point. Having had some time to think about it, the result of the Men’s Rumble is starting to make a bit more sense to me. Sometimes I think I tend to get trapped in the online “smark” bubble and assume that just because people don’t like how a particular guy works or other stuff about him, then he must not be worthy of a particular level of promotion. Let’s face it, if nothing else WWE is a business that is designed to generate revenue and that has never been more true since the company was sold and became part of TKO. The fact is for whatever reason, and whether we agree with it or not, Jey Uso is extremely popular. Most importantly to the company, he apparently moves a ridiculous amount of merchandise, and he is also extremely popular with children. One moment that really jumped out to me last weekend during Saturday Night’s Main Event, was during Uso’s entrance. Some parents had their little boy dressed up exactly like Jey, and on his way to the ring, he stopped to acknowledge the kid and they (sigh) “yeeted” together. The kid could not have been older than five or six years old, and it was pretty adorable, I’m not going to lie. Even for a bitter old crank like me, I have to admit it was very endearing. WWE is probably more than happy to sacrifice “match quality” for merchandise sales and popularity with children and families. Having thought about it, it probably does make sense to have laid the foundation of Jey being totally unable to beat Gunther up to this point, but having earned another chance to do it on the biggest possible stage. It’s not the match I necessarily wanted to see, I enjoy Gunther a ton and there are a bunch of guys who I would rather have seen him match up with, but from a business and marketing standpoint, this might be a smart way for them to go. I don’t necessarily like it, but I’m starting to understand it.

Overall, I thought this was a great show and both Rumbles definitely delivered.

I know he hasn’t wrestled in ages, but it was hard not to notice that Cena looked pretty rough in there, as well. He’s definitely starting to look his age, and I don’t know if he can really hang in a Wrestlemania Main Event. Then again, Uso is not really anything to write home about either, and he hasn’t been inactive for ages like Cena. I can only assume we are going to see all sorts of shifts in creative between now and Wrestlemania. It’s not like they are going to give us Gunther vs. Uso again, and I can’t see Cody vs. Uso either, really. Also, did tonight signify a full-blown heel turn for Rollins? It kind of came off that way.

I have to give them credit…I totally did not see that coming.

What the fuck?!?!?!

My new dream match is Bron Breakker vs. Jacob Fatu.

Man when Carmelo Hayes is on, that guy is smooth.

They are saying it was only one foot but I don’t know.

I generally don’t enjoy Ladder Matches, but that was about as good as you can expect to get from one. For what it was, I thought it was pretty good. Those guys are going to SORE for a good while. Damn.

Considering how much they charge for beers at these big stadium shows, if I was drinking one and somebody grabbed it and used it to hit their opponent in the face, I’d be pissed. I’d be all like: “HEY! I know you’re upset, but that was my beer, you son of a bitch!”

He slammed Cody on the ladder OWWW

The eternally miserable John Mellencamp looked absolutely thrilled to be there

Street Profits.

Yeah, thankfully it seems like the crowd got a bit more into it towards the end. The muted crowd reaction certainly wasn’t due to a lack of effort from the participants.

Damn, Ciampa got his face legit busted up there.

Well in my case, it worked lol

Best one I can remember, and definitely miles ahead of last year. I was happier with the winner last year, but this year at least the match was way better.

I know everyone here hates Charlotte, but all I can say is thank goodness Nia Jax didn’t win that.

Holy shit, that crowd reaction for Alexa Bliss.

It was an accident!

Whoa, Ivy eliminated Lyra.