The Thread Killer

Just when you thought Michael Cole couldn’t be any more annoying…

I think Tama Tonga has some limited potential, but Tonga Loa? Yeesh. Mind you, if you are even indirectly related to Dwayne, you are probably safe.

Yeah, with Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Bronson Reed all out with injuries, I guess Solo has to re-staff.

Welp, Jeff Cobb is here, and Jacob Fatu doesn’t look entirely pleased with that. Fun match otherwise, not surprising considering the participants.

You know what I have found really interesting, is how the crowds have reacted to the Lucha Brothers as individuals in WWE. If you had asked me beforehand, I would have told you that for sure Fenix would be a massive star in WWE and definitely outshine Penta. I know Penta has a headstart on Fenix, but to me it seems like the fans are way more invested in Penta than they are in his brother. I would assume that has something to do with Penta’s look, and all his theatrics with the whole “Cero Miedo” thing (because Lord knows WWE fans just LOVE to act like trained seals and repeat things) but I always looked at Penta as the weaker brother. Of course, in my opinion Penta has been booked way better on Raw than Fenix has been on SmackDown. This whole angle with Fenix and Legado Del Fantasmo is going nowhere fast and that’s not helping anybody. I saw an interview with Nick Khan this week where he was talking about their internal metrics and ratings and stuff like that and he said that Penta has been a needle mover for sure, both in terms of merchandise, but also fan interest from the Latino market. I am definitely looking forward to the eventual day where they bring the two back together, but in the meantime, I’m definitely enjoying Penta’s solo run.

I hear what you’re saying, but to be honest the way they had booked that angle, Jey pretty much had to win at Wrestlemania, otherwise there’s no way he would ever be taken seriously again. He was 0-3 against Gunther already and after that beating Gunther laid on Jimmy, Pro Wrestling logic pretty much dictated that Jey had to get revenge. Besides, as much as I like to knock the WWE creative team, I can’t honestly say they haven’t done a good job with Gunther. From the minute he showed up, he has been pretty much unbeatable. He has held a title pretty much the entire time he’s been there, whether it was the NXT UK title, or the Intercontinental title, or the World title. He has been booked so strong that he’s pretty much bulletproof at this point. Having said that, I have to assume this whole deal with McAfee is being done as either a way to write McAfee off WWE TV (as in Gunther pretty much destroys him tonight) or they are using it as a segue into Gunther’s next feud. I don’t expect this match to be 50-50, if I recall correctly a couple of years ago they did pretty much the same thing where McAfee was around for the “road to Wrestlemania” but then afterwards he left because of his other commitments. I assume they are going to use this to get him out of the broadcast position and move Corey Graves back in. If everything I am speculating about is wrong, and this is just some bizarre match they decided to book for no reason, then I will take back everything I said. But my hope is that this is going to be used to make Gunther look like a total killer and move him into his next angle.

I actually don’t have a major problem with them not having both major titles defended on the same show. Besides, apparently Jey Uso is defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Logan Paul at SNME at the end of this month. Besides, he just defended it on Monday against Rollins in what was a shockingly good match.

WWE can’t seem to have consecutive good TV shows lately. Last week’s episode of Raw was brutally bad, but then they bounced back this week with a good episode, capped off by a surprisingly decent Jey Uso/Seth Rollins match. And that Paul Heyman promo to start off the show this week was an all timer, in my opinion. But the momentum has already fizzled out, and this week‘s episode of SmackDown is pretty much a death march so far. Which wasn’t helped by a 10+ minute Nia Jax/Jade Cargill match. There was no scenario in which that match was ever going to be any good.

I agree. I basically thought they were just a poor man’s Public Enemy or Nasty Boys type team, but they’ve grown on me a bit. I quite liked that match they had with Fraxiom at Stand and Deliver on Wrestlemania weekend. Speaking of Fraxiom, did anybody else catch Nathan Frazer basically landing on Elton Prince’s face when he hit the Shooting Star Press last Friday on SmackDown? Ouch. Dude was busted up.

Oh yeah I heard about that. Supposedly Vince doesn’t want to hand over his phone. I can’t imagine why.

So has anybody else heard this news story going around that there was some sort of match between Sami Callahan and Mance Warner on Wrestlemania weekend that was so bloody that TNA has banned blading and blood altogether?

Being the dumbasses that they are though, TKO actually took it on the chin last year financially because they lost that massive anti-trust lawsuit against all those retired fighters. They ended up having to shell out something like $375 million after that fiasco. And TKO really needed that money so they could buy the Professional Bull Riding Association, because everybody knows Bull Riding is going to be the next big thing. I expect by this time next year, this forum will be BRO (Bull Riding Only) and we will be voting on the GBRE (Greatest Bull Rider Ever) and there will be a thread devoted to finding old, black and white footage of French Catch Bull Riding. Oh and plus, TKO have a Saudi Arabian Boxing League to pay for.

This is not a discussion I am particularly passionate about and I don't have any strong feelings about these releases either way, honestly. As I said in my original post, I hate to see anybody lose their job. I am guessing some of the people on this list might not catch on elsewhere and end up out of Pro Wrestling altogether. And that is legitimately regrettable. Even if some of them sucked. All I'm saying is, the majority of the talent releases are in developmental. I don't see any names on that list that of people who realistically had a shot of making it on the main roster and becoming major stars. And the ones who were on the main roster weren't exactly setting the world on fire. It's not like they were randomly pulling names out of a bag and firing them. TKO/WWE may have wanted to save money, but WWE has been doing rounds of roster cuts right after Wrestlemania for years. And as heartless as some WWE releases have been over the years, as a long time UFC fan let me tell you, WWE has nothing on UFC when it comes to ruthless contracts and cutting people. That's an organization where unless you're one of the top stars, you're basically always a couple of losses away from getting fired. If you find yourself on a losing streak, you can pretty much guarantee your ass is getting cut...and sometimes with a publicly humiliating lecture from Dana White at a press conference on your way out the door. Once again, let me stress...I don't endorse this type of behavior, I don't think it's morally admirable or even a good way to run a business, but it certainly isn't surprising to me, one little bit. TKO is clearly applying the same standard they have with the UFC to WWE...namely if they don't see anything in you, your ass is getting kicked to the curb, contract or no. As I have said repeatedly, I don't know why the hell they signed half these people to begin with. Their developmental roster is overcrowded to the point of absurdity.

I have seen a lot of people complaining about these releases online, especially about the cuts made to the Women’s division. You never want to see anybody lose their job of course, but let’s be realistic here. There are approximately 30 roster spots for women on the WWE “Main Roster.” Even with these cuts made over the past 24 hours, there are still 45 women in the WWE developmental system, on the combined WWEID/Evolve and NXT rosters. And that’s not counting women they can poach from TNA or other free agents they can sign like Mariah May. That’s just insane. They literally have more prospects than they do roster spots. At some point, they are just going to have to make some room, and that’s obviously what they are doing here. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good thing, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing either, especially if you are not a fan of WWE. You have to guess that Tony Khan will be scooping up a lot of the talented women who are cut from WWE, especially because ROH has such a strong focus on women’s wrestling.

That man is clearly an unparalleled wordsmith, and is destined to go down as one of the greatest orators in Pro Wrestling history.

Reportedly SmackDown will finally be going back to 2 hours as of June 6.

You can laugh all you want now, but when Real American Freestyle Wrestling is packing arenas around the country and getting record setting TV ratings, we will see who gets the last laugh…brother. Once people see that Hulk Hogan is involved, they’re going to automatically want to check out the product, because his brand isn’t at all toxic. This is an idea whose time has come, just like the original XFL.

Ugh that episode of Raw was mind-numbingly awful. I know there’s usually a lull after Wrestlemania but…damn. There is such a thing as too much Seth Rollins and that was WAY too much Seth Rollins. He’s like the Moxley of WWE. The Shield curse lives, I guess. That was total crap.

That TLC match on Smackdown was pretty nuts. That was better than half the matches on Wrestlemania.

Didn’t JCP used to do War Games in baseball parks all the time, on the Great American Bash tours?

I’m glad for Tozawa that he has had a long, and I assume profitable career from his time in WWE, but I feel bad that he has been reduced to a comedy act. Honestly, I think Otis and Maxine Dupree are probably right where they should be in their careers, but Tozawa could have been more, if not for the language barrier and his size. I’ve never liked Dar from the get-go.

Cardona has always struck me as one of those guys who grossly overestimates his own value to the Pro Wrestling business. Full marks to the guy for getting his YouTube show so popular without any help from the company, but realistically, I don’t think he was ever meant to be more than a midcarder at best. It’s too bad he wasn’t satisfied with being 1/2 of a fairly popular tag team.

I liked his team with Cardona, “The Hype Bros” I thought they were a lot of fun. It’s a shame they didn’t stay together, but apparently Cardona did not want to.

Mojo Rawley. Believe it or not, his new talent agency seems to be doing a great job of not only negotiating deals for his clients, but getting their name out there in the press.

You have many “hot takes” when it comes to opinions on Pro Wrestling. Some I do not agree with. (L.A. Knight is “the shits” for example.) Some of your opinions make me question your mental health and think that perhaps your Internet privileges should be taken away. (Really, this just applies to your theory that Mauro Ranallo is a good announcer.) However, some of your opinions are quite correct. For example, your feeling that Christian Cage is a much better worker than Edge, and could be an all-time great. Strongly agree. I also would not disagree with you in your analysis of the original Dangerous Alliance. I think they would be much more favourably remembered if they had lasted longer, but based on talent alone, it’s hard to argue against them.