Hey everyone. welcome back to another edition of “Blogs Count Anywhere”, the complementary blog to #607TWS & the ODPH podcast. Last week’s blog had issues loading so hopefully this one goes a bit smoother. Enough about that, lets talk some wrestling!
WWE opened up the week on the reactions to the Elimination Chamber PPV. We now have a new champion. We have now entered the Miz era on Raw & I’m super excited to see it. Miz has proven he can handle being champ. His last title reign (10 years ago?!) was very underrated imo, so well see how long this one lasts. One wrestler making the most of the changing of the guard on Raw is Bobby Lashley.
Lashley dropped the US Title on Sunday but made a huge impact during Drew McIntyre’s celebration of winning the Chamber match. Lashley took Mcntyre out so Miz could cash in Money In the Bank. On Monday, Lashley made his intentions known: he wants the championship. The Hurt Business has done a world of good for Lashley & this move makes all the sense in the world. Super excited to see how he arrives at wrestlemania: champion or in a title match. Either way, it’s a win.
Smackdown led off with an odd-paced promo by Roman Reigns. A rare mis-step from him these days. Rest of the show had solid matches plus the official announcement: Sasha banks vs. Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania. CAN. NOT. WAIT. for that one!
In NJPW news, Jon Moxley retained verses KENTA. Definitely didn’t see this ending coming on NJPW Strong & that raises more questions. Where do we go from here with both guys? Mox is in the AEW title match for AEW revolution. Does Kenta now appear during this? Is this tied to the “Forbidden Door” talk? only time will tell, but this has to be the upset of the week.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Switching gears to AEW…..It’s a week later, but THAT still happened. I’m not super excited to see this match but Sting took a Brian Cage powerbomb at age 61. Granted, a lot of “wrestling logic” can happen during a street fight match, but not sure where this is all heading. We went into pretty big length on 607TWS about AEW signing older wrestlers instead of pushing new stars. The logic here is a bit puzzling, but if Sting wins, where does he go from here? TNT championship picture? World Championship?
The bigger question I have is: What does this mean for Starks & Cage? Both has been under-used imo thus far & losing to Sting & Darby at this stage isn’t helping matters. Cage, a former Impact world champion made a big splash when he debuted …. and then fell off the main show. Team Taz deserves a lot better showing on the weekly show.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Another star who’s been lost a bit in the shuffle is Adam Page. His “money match” with Matt Hardy has been picking up steam but when is AEW gonna push this guy back in the world title picture like he was when the company started 2 years ago. Page & MJF are their 2 young cornerstones to build off of for the future, yet they are nowhere near the title or mid-card title.
Instead the BIG news (pun intended) was their signing of Paul Wight fka The Big Show. After being with WWE for 20+ years, he’s left & is scheduled for commentary on a new YOU-Tube show, “AEW Dark: Elevation” along with returning to the ring.
Pro: Wight can definitely help with the younger talent on the roster (One name that immediately comes to mind is Wardlow) with his knowledge. He’s an established name.
Con: Perception is reality & this announcement was perceived to be a “game changer” for AEW. Wight, who’s been on spot part-time wrestling duties while exploring other avenues, was crowned by some as the missing piece for them to overcome WWE. At this stage of the game, he’s not.
I have no doubt he will do well on commentary but as for moving the needle to get AEW over 1 million views per episode of “Dynamite”, I don’t see it. Sting couldn’t. Shaq couldn’t (thus far) & Snoop didn’t, even with how viral his “frog splash” went. Any expectations of this being the “missing piece” are misleading imo. They have a very talented roster but how many times are the new stars featured on Dynamite? Why is it that the big marquee signings are not talent to build on like Page & MJF, but rather former stars from WWE & WCW that the newer audiance isn’t tuning in to see en mass? Ratings don’t lie.
Until there’s a solid direction from the powers that be over there to be “the new alternative” to WWE, AEW isn’t moving forward. It’s staying in neutral.
On their AEW Unrestricted podcast this week, Red Velvet was the featured guest. Check it out here.
That’s all I got for this week so makre sure you’re following 607TWS on Twitch & the ODPH podcast for more pro-wrestling talk! Till next time…..Thanks for reading