Wrestle Review: The Biggest News Submitted by Andy Sullivan on 01/04/2019 at 11:15 PM
All Elite Wrestling was announced this week. Cody, the Bucks, Hangman Page and Brandi Rhodes are the only signees as of now. It looks like Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian might sign as well. That's a pretty good start. I'll hold any judgement or cynicism. Cal it guarded optimism. I'm intrigued about the possibilities but I'm not going crazy.
Next week, Impact Wrestling is moving to Pursuit TV. What is Pursuit? I went searching because, honestly, I had no idea. I didn't even know where the channel was located. What I discovered is that it's an outdoor and hunting channel. A wrestling show is going to be on an outdoor and hunting channel. Does anyone else find that strange? Also it's in standard definition, which is a bummer. Yes, I still record and watch the show later.
A new era in WWE and the main event for Royal Rumble is Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles(again). This is what they did with AJ and Nakamura. Well, except that they never had Nak go over. I love that Braun gets his title match with no-show Brock at the Rumble. It's going to be a little bit disappointing when Lesnar retains again. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.
Tidbits: I love that Mustafa Ali is getting a monster push. Is Braun Stroman, Universal Champion ever happening? I mean, his major push, when he should've become champion, was earlier in 2018 Seth Rollins could also be in the running for the WrestleMania championship scene. Triple H kinda alluded to the "old" Seth Rollins this past Monday on Raw. That should be interesting to watch unfold.
The coming week should be interesting all around the wrestling world. Will the "old" Seth Rollins continue to shine? What will happen Monday when Braun and Brock are both at Raw? On the Smackdown side of things: how does the Daniel Bryan/AJ Styles story progress? What about AJ and the McMahon's? Give me more Becky Lynch: I can't get enough of her!
One last thing to ponder: how will Impact fare on a hunting channel? Okay, we might know the answer to that last one!
I couldn't end this without mentioning the passing of a true legend: "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Mean Gene was a staple of the WWF when I was a kid. It was Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Hennan on commentary and "Mean" Gene interviewing the top superstars of the day. He was a staple of Superstars, Wrestling Challenge and all four pay-per-views. See, back then it was just Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series. To me, Gene WAS WWF back in those days.
I wasn't old enough to recall his AWA days so I can only speak knowingly about his WWF/E work. The 76 year-old Robinsdale, Minnesota native was truly one of a kind. Interviews he conducted with, among others, the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan are stuff of legends. Speaking of legends, his work on the early WWE Network series Legends House was good stuff as well. His Andre the Giant AWA interviews(Andre once palmed Gene's face like a basketball), his hilarious stuff with the late Rowdy Roddy Piper, stuff with Ric Flair and countless others will be remember forever. Thank you, Mean Gene Okerlund. You, sir, were one of a kind. There will never be another. You will be missed.
