What a Crazy time in Pro Wrestling

Man, a lot of stuff has happened since the last writing and the Royal Rumble both good and bad. Tremendous changes in the WWE, Wrestlemania 40 lining up to be the biggest one ever, AEW doubling down on the wrong things, big free agents finding new homes, and the pending fall of Vince McMahon all have happened in that time. So, here’s my take on the events that have happened since my last post in January.

WWE’s biggest week overshadowed with Controversy.

Well, let’s start with Royal Rumble weekend where the rumble was eventful and another big hit for WWE but going into the event there was some damning news that almost ruined everything. That Friday an article was printed about a complaint towards Vince McMahon that revealed some unpleasant details that could potentially bring down the very thing he created and build, however an immediate resignation and distance from McMahon prevented some sponsors from withdrawing from the Rumble but unfortunately overshadowed their big news earlier that week  of Monday Night Raw was heading to Netflix for a significant offer and that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had joined the board of directors for TKO holdings.

This certainly is not the end of the McMahon controversy that seems to be only the beginning of what may be the end of the promotor’s standing in the public eye, but the WWE seemed to not be derailed completely by this as they head to Philadelphia for Wrestlemania in April.

Wrestlemania Kickoff Presser = A New and Different Direction for WWE

After the Rumble, the WWE did a kickoff press conference in Las Vegas, the week before on Smackdown Cody Rhodes was going to select Roman Reigns for his main event at Wrestlemania but instead stepped aside to give the match to… The Rock who was returning for the long-awaited match against Reigns. BUT the reaction from the fans that weekend was not welcoming to the idea of this match happening instead of Rhodes finishing his story which led to trending topics on X/Twitter like #WeWantCody and #RockySucks which made the event Vegas something to watch.

The event was something that more interesting and exciting than any recent episodes of Raw which started with Rock’s appearance on Pat McAfee’s show calling fans of Rhodes the “Cody Cry Babies” which by the time the event started Rock was met with mixed cheers where he showed the legendary family tree of his and Reigns that we know as the Bloodline. As Rock tried to explain how the match with Reigns being the biggest main event would be ever out Cody Rhodes to join Rock, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins on stage to call out the entire situation and declare that he wanted to face Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania for the title.

But Rhodes said that the ancestors of the Bloodline would be ashamed of their behavior, the Rock stepped up took offense to Rhodes slapping him starting a small skirmish that led to a backstage confrontation with Triple H setting up the road to Wrestlemania officially.

AEW Revolution will be Pivotal to Their Future

Switching over to AEW that has been under much scrutiny (cause by themselves) go into this weekend’s PPV Revolution that can either be the beginning of a potential turnaround they need or the beginning of the fall of the Promotion with the main event matches on the show. For AEW title champion Samoa Joe takes on challengers Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page which many expected to be a one-on-one match with Swerve but became a triple threat with the addition of Page, who is not the most popular with the fans right now where Strickland is now the must-see part of the promotion leaving us guessing and worried as to where this can go coming out of this weekend.

The other main event is Sting’s retirement match which was the selling point for fans to go to Revolution being held in Greensboro, North Carolina Sting’s old stomping grounds from NWA/WCW but the opponents challenging Sting and Darby for the AEW tag titles are the returning Young Bucks who went through another change embracing the perception of them being “evil EVPs” which is possibly too to do since CM Punk is gone and brawl out being almost 2 years old. Their return has not been received well even when they attacked Sting, Darby Allin, and Sting’s 2 sons left something to be desired as they tried to get the fans to hate but it may be for the wrong reasons, followed by Darby Allin’s attempt to do a “pipe bomb” like promo only made things confusing which leaves many wondering how will this end?

Does Sting go out on top? Or do the Young Bucks win potentially creating a finger poke of doom level situation that AEW does not need right now. This match will be the test to see where the once world-renowned tag team egos are when it comes to the very thing they helped created but have done more harm than good since then. I’m sure Revolution will have some solid matches that will please fans but the results of these two matches will be a sign of what is to come for Tony Khan and AEW going forward.

The Demise of Vince McMahon

Lastly, we come to the bombshell of the complaint that was published by the Wall Street Journal from victim Janel Grant revealing some unsavory behavior by McMahon and potentially others of sexual assault and potential sex trafficking that led to McMahon’s resignation from TKO holdings, Brock Lesnar being left off the Royal Rumble along being possibly blacklisted, and former right hand man John Laurinaitis turning against McMahon in a separate suit.

This article has opened potentially pandora’s box of more examples, incidents, and allegations that involve McMahon and his abuse while in charge of the WWE throughout the years that could lead to severe penalties along with others going down with him for enabling the acts or simply turning a blind eye to it all which makes this the tip of the iceberg of what is to come from this scandal that start almost two years ago.

McMahon claims the complaint is untrue but with a potential barrage of people coming forward with more McMahon horror stories can be the absolute undoing of McMahon and everything he worked to build for decades. Of course, everything is alleged and has not gone to trial yet but as a lifelong pro wrestling fan this is absolutely tragic and unfortunately takes away from a long-awaited resurgence in popular culture for wrestling that has incredible interest that has not been seen since late 90’s or the 80’s.

 Hopefully the record breaking stuff WWE is doing is separated from the mess involving McMahon especially with WWE going in a new and different direction with product from how its presented to how it looks making a statement that anything and anyone that reminds fans of Vince McMahon they have moved on from which is still early in the process but hopefully is a sign of a new era for WWE that does not involve Vince McMahon that a vast majority of fans have been waiting for.