NintendoLogic

Don't get me wrong, I think it's irredeemably awful. But it's a merch mover, so it'll be kept around in some form. And I'm sure Alexa's downside is significantly lower than Bray's, which surely factored into it. Or he's clearing the books for a sale.

She's not wrong, though. Like I said a while back, Bray's days were numbered once it became apparent the Fiend gimmick works just as well with a pretty blonde woman. The same thing happened to Brodus Clay when he came up with the Hall of Pain gimmick for himself only to see it given to Mark Henry. Obviously it's WWE's fault and not the gimmick recipients in both cases, but knowing that ideas you come up with can be taken from you and used to get other people over has to be a morale killer.

Enough people noticed the absurdity of a Domino's commercial airing right after Gage using a pizza cutter as a weapon that they surely would have found out even if WWE hadn't said a word. In any event, AEW higher-ups know how the game is played and handing that kind of ammunition to their enemies is a boneheaded move. They should have learned their lesson from the Moxley/Omega lights out match when they got fined by the Maryland State Athletic Commission after someone stooged on them. I agree that they'll be fine in the long run as long as they dial it down, but the trend is in the opposite direction. In just the past six months, we've had an exploding barbed wire deathmatch, a lights out match, a WarGames match, and a Texas death match in addition to Jericho/Gage. At this rate, they'll end up like mid-80s JCP where every big show has blood and gimmicks up and down the card. And presenting yourself as the rebel alternative doesn't work when you're dealing with corporate sponsors who are acutely sensitive to adverse publicity. WWE knows all about that after Snickers forced them to drop Moolah's name from the women's battle royal at WM34.

So Domino's is considering pulling advertising from Dynamite thanks to the Gage match. Pissing off sponsors with deathmatch garbage is an inexcusable own goal when the company is otherwise firing on all cylinders. But hey, there's always that coveted PBR sponsorship.

Those matches don't need the title, but the title needs them. Omega against Punk or Bryan will completely overshadow any Page title defense unless it's against a big-name outsider like Tanahashi. It's never a good idea for the world champion to look like a secondary player. There's a reason All Japan and NOAH almost always had guys lose their first match back after an injury layoff. It makes sense that they would need to work off the ring rust before they can hang with the top guys, and it sets the table for them to get their revenge once they're back in ring shape. If Omega defends against Punk and Bryan, it'll be an even bigger rub when Page knocks him off. And they can get their wins back after Omega drops the belt.

Meltzer said on the Board that Lesnar and AEW have never had serious talks, so make of that what you will. I'd pop if he went back to New Japan and laid Okada out with the Verdict.

Fantastic stuff as usual. It sure seems like a lot of Japanese wrestlers came from broken homes. A minor correction: the baseball team was called the Lotte Orions, not Rotterdam.

A woman's right to date who she wants being determined by a wrestling match? What kind of retrograde bullshit is this? Someone needs to alert feminist trailblazer Stephanie McMahon. There's no way she'd stand for it.

Buckle up, brothers. The bullshit meter on this one is going to be off the charts.

Her track record as a trainer needs no introduction, so I'm sure she'll be a tremendous asset as a player-coach.

Deathmatch wrestling and moronic fans: name a more iconic duo.

Update: Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Jushin Liger/Kensuke Sasaki (WCW, 12/29/92) Despite a godawful Philly crowd more interested in directing homophobic abuse at Douglas than the action in the ring, this manages to be one of the best tag matches in WCW history and an excellent companion piece to the tag title match at Starrcade the previous day. Liger and Sasaki don't quite go full Southern heel, but they do unleash just about every double-team maneuver in the book, including a spike piledriver and a Hart Attack. Some quality arm work from Steamboat and Douglas in the early going, including Steamboat doing a running splash on Liger's arm and Douglas standing on Sasaki's arm in a top wristlock and then bringing his weight down. Ironically given the future enmity between the two, the Douglas-in-peril section begins when he gets thrown off the top rope Flair-style. This may be the best US work of Liger's career, as he brings both the high-end offense (he nearly takes Steamboat's head off with a spinning heel kick at one point) and the character work (kicking Douglas' hand away when the reached for his corner and then talking trash to Steamboat on the apron in particular standing out). Speaking of Steamboat, he works his heart out while waiting for the tag, cheering Douglas on like an overexcited Little League dad. They both come together when Sasaki has Douglas in a Boston crab and Steamboat and Douglas are standing side-by-side on the floor, Steamboat exhorting Douglas to make the ropes and Liger yelling at him to give up. I got a kick out of Douglas running in to break up a pin only to immediately eat shit when Sasaki sidestepped his dropkick. I thought the ending worked really well because Steamboat had been left for dead on the outside and he and Douglas had taken so much punishment that a surprise pin was the most plausible way for them to pull out the victory. They also did a great job of making it look like Sasaki didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. ****1/2

According to Dave's bio, Misawa and Kawada got into a fist fight backstage at some point after they both had become stars. Neither one went down and it eventually got broken up, but Misawa's face apparently was in worse shape. Echoing everyone else's praise, this is incredible stuff. That Kawada soup anecdote is depressing as hell.

Speaking of the Bulls, the latest Observer says that AEW is looking to trademark the phrase First Dance (presumably a takeoff of The Last Dance). The plot thickens. It'd be even more incredible if Samoa Joe were part of this. But he decided he'd rather wrestle Karrion Kross in NXT.

It was also Ricky Steamboat's WWF theme.

No one's going to unseat Roman. That's the whole idea behind his current push. They're trying to make him the top babyface by having him kill off all the other babyfaces until the fans basically have no choice but to cheer for him. I don't think it's going to work out the way WWE hopes it will, but getting Roman over is the goal and everyone else has to be sacrificed along the way.

The sad thing is that more network involvement would likely make the show even worse. Recall that the 24/7 championship came about because USA was pitching ideas to improve ratings for the third hour of Raw. All the ideas were terrible, but Vince new he had to use one of them and the 24/7 title was the best of the bunch. Also, it was reported a while back that USA was pushing for NASCAR and NFL-themed episodes of Raw.

Also, Vince loves to bring former enemies back into the fold. Levesque is more the type to hold grudges, but he seems to have lost much of his power. Like I said in the AEW thread, there's a good chance WWE is leaking this as a preemptive strike after being unable to come to terms with Punk. If AEW signs him, they'll have spoiled the surprise. If they don't, it'll be a letdown. It's a win-win for them.

Fightful is reporting that CM Punk is in talks to return to the ring and WWE higher-ups think AEW is his most likely destination. That's obviously huge if true, but you have to consider the source. It's likely WWE sources who are leaking this since AEW runs a tight ship when it comes to keeping surprises under wraps. It's entirely possible they have no idea how close Punk and AEW are to an agreement and they're putting it out there because they couldn't come to terms with him on a deal. If it happens, they'll have lessened the impact by spoiling the surprise. If it doesn't, it'll feel like a letdown.

I'm increasingly convinced that WWE was only ever really interested in Scarlett and the promise of a huge push to Karrion Kross was a Trojan horse to get her to come along.

Edge is the main example. The funny thing is that it wasn't even intended to elevate him, just get over the MITB cash-in concept. That's why he lost it right back to Cena. But he actually drew ratings as champion and became a made man. And like it or not, the Heist of the Century at WM31 played a big role in elevating Rollins. The main thing to keep in mind, though, is that they were both heels. It's not really possible to spin cashing in on a weakened opponent as a babyface move, which is why the MITB concept is so terrible. Not only does it devalue the titles, it creates a bias toward heel champions.

Why not? Roman's already beaten Cena. And Cena being in a title match makes no difference because he's an actor now. If anything, Roman avenging his title loss by sending Cena back to Hollywood makes for a more compelling story.

Is there a compelling reason for Edge to not win tonight? If Roman wins, he'll have run through everybody. The only other main event babyface left in the company is Drew McIntyre, and Lashley's beaten him like a drum. Having Edge as champion would at least create some fresh matchups. And it might be nice to have at least one babyface champion in the company to put some smiles on faces.

So it looks like DBS Jr. is officially back in the fold. And he's just as bland as ever.

His contract expired last year. WWE let it happen because they figured it made no economic sense to use him during the pandemic and he was out of everyone else's price range. According to the latest Observer, there are those in the company who think Reigns/Lesnar has the potential to be a big program due to the Heyman connection and they don't want to dilute it by bringing Brock back to job to Lashley. There are so many problems with that idea I don't even know where to begin, but that's the thinking. In other news, Mandy being moved to NXT was apparently a trade with Aliyah being sent to Raw. She's received six years of the best wrestling training imaginable, so she's sure to knock 'em dead on the main roster.