ASK TITO: Vince McMahon Lawsuit, Hulk Hogan at RNC, Will Ospreay vs. MJF, WWE & TNA, and More

The EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING is back to answer your current event questions with my snappy answers. And we’re on the heels of a very tough week for the United States of America when a former President, current Presidential candidate, and WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump was almost assassinated. Could you imagine if this 20 year old kid, who somehow found his way onto a rooftop that was just 150 yards away, was successful? We’d have complete chaos and pandemonium right now instead of this call to “turn down the temperature” on political debate.

I don’t want to get too deep into this situation further, but I believe wrestling fans need to badly “turn down the temperature” about their tribalism regarding their favorite wrestling promotions. A few years ago, I turned my Twitter (now “X”) account in Private Mode because I was growing tired of getting threatened simply by stating a opinion on a scripted wrestling show. And of course, I couldn’t resist punching back… Best decision that I ever made was getting off Twitter/X because it was getting so nasty. And for what? Expressing an opinion about wrestling.

As I’ve advised before, the hatred online for expressing an opinion has always been there… I started during October 1998, right in the thick of the “Monday Night Wars” and the growing WWE Attitude Era, and I was getting hammered daily for my daily columns. Then, message boards were growing in usage and that was another place for negative feedback.

But I think lately, there is MORE to anger online… Social Media is easier to use than sending emails or logging into a message board, especially since there were no Smartphones during the late 1990s and most of the 2000s. However, I believe that Americans are strained financially and are frustrated that our elected officials won’t help them. Forget inflation of 2022-2024, it SUCKED during 2004-2007 when gas prices first exceeded $2 then $3 and then $4 per gallon along with boosting prices on food back then. Unlike then, the minimum wage was increased on the Federal level for 3 stages up to $7.25 because of inflation but that wage hasn’t seen any increases since 2008.

Translate that to wrestling, fans are venting their frustrations towards the WWE or AEW products or opposing fans of the products they dislike. As I’ve stated before, the Mr. Tito column series is basically my vehicle to vent. I had a serious death in the family and I was getting worked like a dog during one of the years of the late 2010s, and you could tell that by the pure rage I was venting against the WWE in my columns (WWE deserved it, too). I notice with friends and family who argue about politics, they are a tad too aggressive with their opinions but underneath their political biases is something in their personal or professional life that is frustrating to them without any solutions in sight. Hence why they fall for any populist running for office who promises one thing, does nothing about solving their problems once in office.

Furthermore with wrestling, have you seen the prices to attend the WWE events? Holy cow… Living here in the great state of Ohio, I saw the prices to attend SummerSlam 2024 and was immediately like “F that” but I’m cheap… HOWEVER, many WWE fans can afford it because the WWE isn’t price gouging them on the WWE Network by ditching the Pay Per View model. Watching the WWE Network for $9.99 per month was an absolute steal and better yet on Peacock, you get better content in addition to paying the $9.99 or so (probably higher now) instead of rewatching all of the same old WWE or WCW events.

In my opinion, if Endeavor and TKO opt to switch back to the Pay Per View model, they could see a major shift in the purchasing power of their fans. They’ll go from paying around $120 to $150 to watch all 12 months of Premium Live Events to paying $50-$60 for monthly Pay Per Views at $600-$720 per year. WWE fans will be asked to sacrifice something to remain a dedicated fan instead of being able to successfully afford BOTH watching Paid Live Events and attending LIVE WWE events in-person.

I think that AEW going to a monthly Pay Per View model is NUTS… Asking your fans to pay $50 monthly is a lot to ask and as a result, I’d expect attendance and other AEW expenditures to drop (already declining due to low quality demand).

If WWE keeps all of their content on Netflix and let’s it be part of their monthly price (up to $20) to watch BOTH Monday Night RAWs and Paid Live Events, that is a TREMENDOUS bargain for WWE fans. They could ditch Cable/Satellite entirely as a wrestling fan and NEVER look back, if and when that happens. Getting rid of that price gouging Cable/Satellite package would free up more cash to attend WWE live events and buy more merchandise.

AEW meanwhile? Wants to over-charge consumers for monthly Pay Per Views and remain on expensive Cable/Satellite packages.

Reward your fans with loyalty and bargains, not try to price gouge them to discourage fans from consuming more of your product. WWE fans are getting a bargain on the WWE Network, therefore have more expendable income to burn on other WWE expenditures.

On to your questions.

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Why did Janel Grant, filer of the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, ask for the wellness physician’s records?

Reportedly between November 2019 and April 2022 (just before the allegations came out to the WWE Board), Janel Grant made at least 60 visits to the WWE’s recommended wellness doctor or related physicians. According to her filing, they provided her drugs without knowledge of what was in them and used IVs with again, no knowledge of what was in them.

In other words, what I think Janel is hinting at is that she was supplemented substances to poorly treat her and keep her under the control of the weird game that Vince McMahon put her through. And the other part about this wellness clinic is that an employee (maybe the physical trainer that is close to Vince?) is an employee there.

Just evidence collecting, which will probably put Vince McMahon in deep trouble.

Seriously folks, Vince McMahon’s stuff just gets worse by the month. While we all knew that he cheated on Linda McMahon, the extent of games that he played with WWE employees or persons he groomed to become WWE employees is outrageous.

The big shoe that has yet to fall is the person who won the biggest NDA/Settlement prize of $7.5 million during 2018. That stemmed from an actual female wrestler during the mid 2000s in which Vince was asking for sexual favors for a push. When that shoe drops, and I have a few theories on who it may be (I won’t suggest them to protect the innocent), that is where the Vince story takes its worst turn. You could argue that the relationship with Janel Grant was consensual at first but got out of hand… This was a non-relationship and just quid pro quo, done at a time well before #MeToo or #SpeakingOut stuff was even thought of.

THAT is what I expect the Department of Justice to really uncover, unless their clock runs out during 2025 and their investigation suddenly stops…

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Thoughts on WWE letting wrestlers keep their names if they leave the company?

It’s a case-by-case basis and always has been. Triple H didn’t let Mercedes have her “Sasha Banks” name, for example. The bigger the star, the greater the chance that WWE holds onto the copywritten name.

HOWEVER, I could see WWE retaining a wrestler’s name from another promotion rather than just renaming it. In my opinion, I still say renaming Brian Pillman Jr. was a mistake, as his value in his birth name and not something entirely different. Ditto for Curt Hennig’s son (credit to Brian Last for recently discussing this), who was never able to be called “Hennig” on a WWE show. Yet, someone like Randy Orton gets over because of that “Orton” last name and selling second generational. Roman Reigns has a different name just due to difficulty pronouncing his name.

I call BS or else we’d see Sasha Banks in AEW.

I think what WWE is doing is letting signed talent, moving forward, to retain their name in the WWE and while working for the WWE, they’ll effectively borrow that copyright. Then, when the wrestler leaves the promotion, the name is allowed to join them. Stephanie Vaquer, for example, won’t get renamed. Dragon Lee was allowed to debut in WWE as Dragon Lee and will probably be allowed to retain that name once he leaves.

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What are your thoughts on Call of Duty getting WWE skins?

It’s great and it’s awesome exposure for the WWE. I’m a pretty hardcore Fortnite and Fall Guys player in the Nintendo Switch and I use WWE skins for both. For Fortnite, I have John Cena, Bianca Belair, and Becky Lynch and for Fall Guys, I have Undertaker and Macho Man Randy Savage. Recently, I won a Fall Guys session with the Macho Man skin and it was a proud day in my house…

The more, the merrier in my opinion… Make WWE characters as big members of pop culture and the way you accomplish that is to place skins in big games like this. Tens of millions of people play these games daily and if someone wants to know more about Rhea Ripley, they could easily look her up online and see what she does on YouTube. If they like it, BAM, new wrestling fan gained by WWE.

The cool thing about skins available in Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Fall Guys is that you don’t have to buy them. Thus, it’s not over-exposing the WWE because you have the choice. I chose to buy John Cena (love using his “You Can’t See Me” taunt in Fortnite), Bianca, and Becky just as I only choose to buy Undertaker and Macho Man in Fall Guys (could have bought others, but I chose not to).

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Thoughts on Will Ospreay vs. MJF on AEW Dynamite?

We all watched “Who Killed WCW?” and a point was made on how WCW giving away Hulk Hogan vs. Bill Goldberg on FREE television rather than making huge bank on Pay Per View was foolish. By giving away a 60 minute match for free on television, what incentive is there to see a rematch, possibly at “All In”, for $50-$60. THAT SAID, AEW’s television properties need more help than their Pay Per Views. Sinking below the 700,000 mark when you’re trying to negotiate new TV deal is bad optics, so thus I understand the move.

Hogan vs. Goldberg was different because WCW was still high in viewership, even though RAW began to beat them… But that was due to WWE growing and WCW not fully yet declining. WCW declined after Goldberg and Hogan because they rushed Goldberg to the title and there was literally nothing left for him to accomplish other than a dominant WCW Title run… Not headlining Pay Per Views directly after July 1998 is what made the Hogan vs. Goldberg match look foolish, while pushing Hogan as the top star for his matches involving Rodman/Malone and Jay Leno. THAT is what began to kill WCW.

To MJF and Ospreay’s credit, that was a great match… Both are tremendous athletes to pull off as many athletic moves in 60 minutes. Can’t say that it wasn’t “action packed”, but I would say that it was a typical Will Ospreay “million moves per minute” match rather than a well worked MJF match that has psychology involved. Still, I’m tired after playing like 20 minutes of pick-up basketball with friends and these guys are going 60 doing more athletically intense moves. My hat is off to them…

BUT – As I keep saying about AEW… “LESS IS MORE”. Wrestlers don’t have to get all of their s**t in for every match and cram everything in. Let matches breathe and give fans a chance to connect to what is happening. Furthermore, what happens pre-match is potentially more important than the match itself. AEW is placing too much reliance on their in-ring matches, which have to happen anyway, rather than enhancing quality control on storylines and promos BEFORE the match.

Wrestling this style of match will add mileage to a wrestler… Personally, I don’t think Okada is the same wrestler that we saw during most of the late 2010s. Ditto for Kenny Omega. Both guys work the same way of cramming as many moves into a match as humanly possible. Will Ospreay is just 5 years younger than Okada and in my view, he takes more higher risks than Okada did. I don’t know, folks… It’s probably GOOD that Ospreay works once a week because his high energy, high risk style would wear him out with a harder schedule.

Was it good enough to merit a big rematch at Wembley Stadium? Probably, as MJF beat Ospreay for the AEW International Title and it could be a big moment for Will to beat MJF back at All In 2024 in London.

I’m not ready to call it “Goldberg vs. Hogan 2024” yet, because Tony NEEDS VIEWERSHIP BADLY right now for AEW Dynamite. WCW during July 1998 did not, and were in a panic only because RAW surpassed them but WCW Nitro still had high viewership. You know, viewership that both AEW and WWE would kill for today on Cable/Satellite television. Both WWE and WCW were well above 4.0 (5-6 million viewers) in the ratings back then and WCW wouldn’t start consistently sliding below 4.0 until the Spring of 1999.

BUT, a free match is a free match for a company that relies on Pay Per View dollars because their existing TV deal is kind of low.

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What is happening at Warner Bros. Discovery with recent layoffs?

It’s called “TROUBLE”. When you have $42 BILLION in DEBT, you’re kind of hurting for certain.

Think about how poorly WBD is run… They have DC Comics, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbara, and many, many other major big brands or franchises. That should translate into pure honey from movies, television shows, video games, merchandise, theme parks, etc. NOPE, losses everywhere from this poorly run corporation that HAD TO play hot potato several times between AT&T and Discovery.

Now, TNT is done for because they are losing the NBA coverage. Inside the NBA is what everyone cared about on that channel and they have no need for their reruns or movie replays with commercials. Nobody nationally cares about the NHL or MLB, while they overpaid for their NCAA tournament coverage.

With Warner Bros. Discovery having HIGH DEBT and laying off employees, while reportedly shopping around selling PARTS of their company, do you really think that AEW will do better than their $110 million initial offer from WBD? And who else would buy your content? Comcast/NBC/Universal, not happening due to WWE’s exclusive rights. Paramount Global is in the process of being acquired and they have high debt. Disney has MORE DEBT than Warner Bros., so that’s not going to happen especially after Disney doubled their NBA payment. Amazon just got in bed with the NBA and will keep funds pumping into the NFL as well, so that’s likely not happening unless AEW gives them a bargain. I just don’t see it with Apple TV.

Granted, well run places shed employees… Happens all of the time. But Warner Bros. Discovery is killing entire divisions, which indicates to me that they are removing costs for something.

Crazy thing is that someone like Amazon or Apple could look at those properties and consider acquiring WBD as a bargain due to the high DEBT that WBD has. “I’ll buy it for $60 billion”, which would be cheaper than what Disney overpaid for 20th Century Fox properties (over $70 billion). Great time to rip them off!

WWE positioned themselves with 2 companies that are thriving. Comcast/NBC/Universal and Netflix, while WWE is on an upward swing. AEW is declining and their options are companies with high debt, streaming impossibilities, or are in the process of being potentially sold. Just bad luck by AEW joining a company BEFORE Discovery bought them and messed things up worse than AT&T did and that’s amazing.

I also predict that NXT is going to do REALLY WELL on the CW Network. I boldly predict that and I think you’ll see WWE become better bed fellows with TNA wrestling because of that TV deal.

AEW may get lost in the rear view mirror soon, which is why they should take whatever deal Warner Bros. Discovery is willing to give them while being allowed to shop around another show to a streamer (or get on Max).

Messy, messy, messy…

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What did you think of Hulk Hogan’s speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC)?

It was fascinating… One could say that Hogan is risking his brand by getting into politics, but I think his ship has sailed in terms of peak revenues for his stuff. Plus, Hogan has his own liabilities such as the sex tape and then the very racist discussion afterward. Honestly, it was a risk by the Republican Party to bring Hulk Hogan and we’ll see what the reaction truly is… BUT, I felt that Hogan did his job well. He was his wrestling character but he was very clear in articulating his political points. I think he energized a crowd that was on its 4th day and probably heard from politicians saying the same talking points prior to Hogan speaking.

Personally, I thought a bigger liability was having UFC’s Dana White at the RNC instead, considering he’s on video smacking his own wife. I’d even argue Linda McMahon, too, who was President/CEO for some of the NDA Settlements. She had to know of incidents as President/CEO through 2009 for the WWE, particularly the BIG one for $7.5 million for a female wrestler during the mid 2000s.

I’m not here to praise Hogan, stand up for his past transgressions, or promote politics… But Hogan, on a big stage with probably 20-50 million people watching him, did a great job hyping the crowd and talking politics.

You know, I’ve written columns for the past 10 years describing how Donald Trump has been using pro wrestling tactics his entire life, as he’s basically a character who can cut good promos and has charisma. Hosting Wrestlemanias 4 and 5, being lifelong friends with the McMahon family, and further participation in the WWE product has made an imprint on him. He talks trash like a pro wrestler and knows how to be polarizing for both his supporters and opposition… Yet, he gets a reaction from both.

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Will NXT or WWE take Joe Hendry from TNA?

Settle down, guys… Nobody is leaving TNA, unless TKO buys them (real possibility). What everybody keeps forgetting is the FACT that NXT will begin airing on the CW Network during the Fall of 2024. What that means is that WWE is on broadcast television and up to 100 million households.

NXT and TNA will talent share and help each other… TNA’s owners know that the ownership in WWE is now more open and transparent and can be trusted, whereas Vince McMahon wouldn’t have given them the time of day and would only work with them if it benefitted WWE. Things are different now and I think both companies see a major opportunity to work together, especially as TNA struggled to work with AEW.

Just stay tuned, folks… That CW NXT show is gonna ignite and you’ll possibly see a TNA invasion of it as an angle at some point and potentially a real partnership deal with TNA and TKO.

It’s great to be Joe Hendry because he’s getting over and through talents like him and Jordynne Grace, it will open opportunities to be a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble while being on the CW Network that has 100 million households watching you.

It’s just going to get better… If you’ve been a loyal TNA fan, strap in. You’re going to see your promotion elevated through its partnership with WWE, especially when that CW deal officially begins.

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Where do you see the Presidential Election going now?

First and foremost, what happened on 7/13/24 in Butler, PA was tragic and could have become much worse had WWE Hall of Famer and Presidential candidate Donald Trump not turned his head as the shots rang out. Holy cow… Had he been shot dead, there would be chaos, riots, and carnage everywhere. Like him or not, nobody deserves shot at. Period.

With that said, there’s a lot of sympathy for someone taking a bullet to run for President. I think we’re now leaning into “landslide” territory on the Electoral College front with this sympathetic momentum. It’s very likely that 85-90% have already made up their minds on whether they are voting for President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump. It’s that 10-15% in the very middle who can be easily swayed. During 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Debate #1 and along with the economy sliding and COVID spreading, the momentum went with Biden with that 10-15%. Now, that 10-15% has been unsure of an older Joe Biden, have been affected by high rates of inflation, but were hesitant on voting for Trump because of January 6th and other issues. However, Donald just took a bullet by running for President and is standing defiant afterward. That stuff matters to that middle 10-15%.

Think of it like Ronald Reagan who won the Presidency, but had a Democrat majority pushing back on his agenda and tax cut proposals during 1981. Ronald gets shot and suddenly, public perception of the guy is through the roof and they put pressure on those House Democrats to work with him on his policies. Taxes were cut, among many other things… The sympathy momentum is there.

I still see a LACK of energy on the Democrat side, which I would have suggested would cause Biden to lose anyway. Biden of 2020 was energetic and passionate, whereas the Biden of 2024 is worn out and exhausted. The past 4 years of following a bad recessed economy, cleaning up inflation caused by excessive printing and borrowing during 2020’s recession, and many international flare-ups have aged him quickly in his late 70s and early 80s. I would have predicted a similar win for Trump seen during 2016 with the Electoral College win by capturing the “Blue Wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Now, with Trump being shot at in Pennsylvania, he’ll capture that sympathy vote there and momentum could carry there.

The J.D. Vance VP choice is interesting, though he carries a ton of baggage for being a flip flopper for the sake of chasing whatever is popular. He bashed Trump during 2016-2017 but becomes a fan of his when the opportunity arises to run for Senate in Ohio during 2022. However, I watched J.D. Vance debate Tim Ryan in that Ohio Senate race and he carved Ryan up. Ryan tried to bring up the same flip flopping stuff on Trump and Vance talked around it every time while having a photographic memory of anything Tim Ryan did or voted for in the past. If a VP Debate happens, I would bet on Vance to do well against Kamala Harris as he’ll smooth talk around any criticisms of him while having a photographic memory to recall on any of Harris’s past transgressions or what she may (or may not) have done for the past 4 years.

Lack of energy on the Democrat side + newfound momentum on the Republican side following an assassination attempt = probable Donald Trump landslide.

And I don’t think that switching to new Democratic candidates will matter. Kamala and Gavin aren’t draws in the Midwest… Too early for Shapiro in Pennsylvania to run. Gretchen Whitmer, I feel, could be the first female president but giving voters just 4 months to really get to know her may not be the best use. Plus, if Biden steps down, how do you not push the Vice President to be the top of the ticket? That’s a big problem for the Democratic Party, which is why you almost have to stick with Joe Biden and maybe wait for 2026 and 2028 to rebuild the party. If Trump and Vance get in there and are too aggressive in catering towards only those who support their agenda, then they’d be prime to lose in future elections and Democrats may want to save their best for then.

I just think the momentum is too strong with Trump, no matter whom the Democrats place against him now. He was almost shot running for President and momentum from that will carry him to the finish line, maybe even a large landslide. Then as Democrats, you work on creating a deep bench of good candidates that are young, vibrant, accessible, and have a warm personality that everyone can relate to. Joe Biden just ran out of gas and inherited a tough deck of cards that aged him quickly for the past 4 years. Donald Trump can only run 2 terms and this will be his last ride, so thus 2028 will be a fresh opportunity unless his Supreme Court allows him to attempt to tie or break FDR’s record.

I also think that Democrats haven’t articulating their successes since 2021… They inherited COVID, a crashed economy, and lots of inflation on the way. During 2020, the government borrowed and printed RECORD amounts of money and that set the stage for inflation. COVID cases have dropped, economy has added millions of jobs, and inflation has calmed down (it takes years, see early 1980s). Yet, the Democrat Party has no way to articulate facts and are terrible at marketing themselves. Biden was unable to refute any lies Trump had at the debate, but that just adds to their inability to champion success. Sorry, but we’re MUCH BETTER now than 4 years ago. 2020 was a dumpster fire!

Just from what I see here in Mid July, Trump may win in an Electoral College landslide. We’ll see on the popular vote and exceeding 50% on total votes.

And if Trump gets in, Vince McMahon is gonna get pardoned or the Department of Justice dogs will get called off! And then maybe Endeavor/TKO gets a few extra reviews by the IRS and SEC…

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