ASK TITO: WWE Bad Blood 2024 Predictions, Hall of Fame Snubs, AEW Video Games, and More

Welcome back to the EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING where I take your questions on current events from emails, comments sections, and social media and provide my snappy answers. Honestly since Wrestlemania 40, it’s been somewhat quiet on the news cycle and hence fewer columns in the latter half of the year versus the first half of the year. Then again, everything imploded for Vince McMahon and almost turned me into a daily columnist again.

Speaking of Vince McMahon… I have completed the Netflix documentary, as I was watching 1 episode per night with my wife. Overall, I thought it was a good documentary but it was more like an extended A&E biography of both Vince and the WWE rather than a controversial piece. It pretty much laid out the history of Vince McMahon’s life and WWE’s ups and downs, while doing it in a highly produced way. While it produced “nothing new” for me, longtime wrestling fan, it was captivating to my wife who didn’t regularly watch wrestling or knew about any of its wild stories. THAT is who this documentary was made for!

I honestly found it to be more of a tribute to Vince McMahon rather than a scathing piece… For what he could comment on before things blew up during the Spring of 2022, Vince was open about various controversies and presented his side of the story on things like steroids, Owen Hart, and for the first time ever, he openly talked about Chris Benoit. Personally, I was expecting the documentary to get deeper into the cut-throat nature of him destroying territories, the harassment of the female referee, Jimmy Snuka cover-up, and other ruthless business tactics he had intimidating arenas and Pay Per View providers, but it’s difficult to cover someone’s 50+ year career in professional wrestling.

Right now, we have Cancel Culture who are aggressively scrubbing anything in pop culture associated with someone who is accused of either crimes or immoral behavior. From 2022 and especially 2024, Vince was effectively cancelled as if his 40+ years of contributions as WWE owner didn’t exist. What I especially liked about this documentary is that it preserves what Vince McMahon created and allows him to speak freely. Thus, future generations can check out this documentary and see the positives versus the negatives of what Vince did. It’s important to showcase what Vince created because it had a lasting impact on pop culture and maybe the world, as I noted during a 2016 column for Lords of Pain where I said Donald Trump was essentially a wrestling character out there on the campaign trail.

That said, two things can occur at the same time. Vince McMahon gave us a great WWE wrestling product but he also needs to be held accountable for his sexual accusations in which he paid $20 million to be swept under the rug. Now that Vince has “retired”, the Department of Justice can sort that out, as can other courts regarding any additional lawsuits. I believe that the DOJ will try to catch Vince on his sexual crimes, but will lack evidence or the NDAs themselves will shield Vince. However, the financial fraud part is where they’ll get him as he paid out each settlement with WWE money even though each were treated as personal matters. With WWE being a publicly traded company and also paying taxes, THAT is where they’ll go… Unless Donald Trump is elected and either the Department of Justice looks elsewhere or Vince will be fully pardoned.

I enjoyed Vince’s Netflix documentary, but gained nothing new from it other than Hulk Hogan finally admitting about being a rat about unionizing before Wrestlemania 2. After decades of denying it, despite Vince McMahon confirming that as a fact in court, Hogan admits it and said that it wouldn’t have worked anyway. What a goof… If the entire roster, plus Hogan, unionizes before Wrestlemania 2, Vince would have been screwed. Instead, Vince rewarded Hogan by paying him more and kept paying the highest stars more money as a way to negate any unions forming. If anything, the documentary confirmed that Hogan is an even bigger POS than before.

Worth your watch, but don’t get your hopes up on anything new if you’ve been a longtime wrestling fan. Just kick back and enjoy the nostalgia, as this documentary is packed with it.

Onto your questions.

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ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers

Why won’t the WWE induct Sid, Sable, Demolition, etc. into their Hall of Fame?

Same reasoning why it took forever to get Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Warrior, and Scott Steiner into the Hall of Fame. What the WWE doesn’t want are shoot interviews happening at their glorious events. Any wrestler who is outspoken and has said critical or outrageous things in the past pose a risk for WWE’s live event. Before Bruno got in, he was highly critical of Vince Jr. and the growth of steroids in the WWE. Ultimate Warrior said many controversial things but also took WWE to court regarding his tenure. Scott Steiner said lots of things online…

WWE doesn’t want that drama at their Hall of Fame ceremony. What they want is a fan friendly event and in return, the wrestlers can advertise that they are a “WWE Hall of Famer”. It’s a simple trade, but not every wrestler is 100% behind that handshake deal. WWE wants to TRUST who they are putting out there with a live microphone and not worry about what could be said.

Sid recently passed away and it’s SAD that he never made the Hall of Fame while alive. But watch his shoot interviews, as he’s very expressive with his opinion and he’s very critical of what happened during 1991-1992 with things that were promised but WWE didn’t deliver. That said, I’m surprised Sid didn’t get in earlier during the early 2010s angles with Heath Slater. That seemed like they were on the same page.

Demolition has been on various concussion lawsuits against the WWE, while Ax fought the WWE over various copyrights through the years. This is WWE’s best creation as a tag team, in my opinion, and it’s a total shame that they are not in. BUT, what WWE doesn’t want is for them to bring up any past heat with the company on their live broadcast.

Then you get to Sable… She’s difficult to handle, but if someone crapped in my luggage (X-Pac) and was the recipient of other rude exchanges backstage, I’d be difficult too. Sable came back to the WWE after their lawsuit settlement and did things like flirt and make-out with Vince McMahon, as you saw on the documentary. However, she was a big part of why Brock Lesnar left the WWE, as they began dating and she had a big influence on him and continued to be during the later 2010s. If you wanted to keep bringing in Brock, you better pay him higher wages for those limited dates.

Pete Rose just passed away and I’m willing to bet that he’ll now get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Very likely that someone like Sid will now get in and his family, without controversy, can represent him now. It’s a shame that we can’t get the real wrestlers when they are alive, but the WWE has a policy on their Hall of Fame and any wrestlers willing to participate must abide by it.

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Do you think that it’s a mistake for AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery to keep having higher priced Pay Per Views as opposed to just airing them on MAX?

Well, here’s a crazy opinion that I have… You should get used to watching WWE PLEs on Peacock for now, because once that goes away, I wouldn’t be surprised if Endeavor/TKO bring back the Pay Per View model for WWE.

It’s called the “Law of Demand”… If you’re giving away a premium wrestling product for $9.99, while having high expenses to create content for that WWE Network, and yet consumers are willing to pay $50 for it… See how that works?

Reason why WWE Network was created is because WWE’s Pay Per View buys were dropping. Why were they dropping? BECAUSE THE PAY PER VIEWS SUCKED!!!!! WWE was absent of quality through 2014 and about to suck even harder as the decade wore on. However, by subscribing to the WWE Network, it kept many fans along for the ride and tolerating WWE’s low quality 2010s Pay Per Views.

After 5 years as a company, AEW goes from earning way less than $100 million to upwards close to $185 million per year while having some streaming ability on MAX. That’s a win for AEW. They still have people willing to pay for their Pay Per Views, so why break that business model?

I believe Endeavor/TKO is gonna shred that WWE Network in the near future… So enjoy that cheap PLE sensation that you have now with WWE big events.

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What are your thoughts on AEW possibly seeking a new video game developer for their next game?

It’s an open admission that their “Fight Forever” video game was a flop, period. It wasn’t just a poorly selling flop, but a BAD GAME. After years upon years of development, AEW Fight Forever poorly performed on all platforms with glitches and slowdowns due to framerate issues. Crazy thing is that the game barely tried in the graphics department, which means that it should have performed better but it didn’t. Then, that online mode that tried to create a Fortnite game but with wrestlers was total trash.

This is the easiest example of why placing wrestlers with ZERO managerial experience as key executives of your wrestling promotion is a BAD idea. Kenny Omega was in charge of this video game and made things very difficult for developers by repeatedly changing his mind and causing many restarts of the development process. We have about 30 years of great wrestling games and features to look at by comparison rather than changing things on the fly, which AEW did.

Because Fight Forever flopped, there is a LACK OF TRUST for the 2nd game no matter who the developer is. I’ll predict it now that the 2nd game will flop harder than Fight Forever UNLESS the developer is as revolutionary as AKI was for THQ WCW games. Highly doubtful that this would happen, especially in today’s video game market where creativity isn’t encouraged.

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What are your predictions for WWE Bad Blood?

My predictions? I hate you guys… You KNOW that I hate making predictions on PPV/PLEs. Back when I wrote daily columns, PPV predictions columns were an EASY way to achieve writing daily. But trust me when I say this, it was TORTURE for me to write those prediction columns. Why? Because I don’t give a damn who wins or loses, as I just want a GOOD match that benefits both parties. The winner is put over by winning a title or climbing the ladder, while the loser of the match put in a “fighting effort”.

Here are my predictions for Bad Blood, as I struggle not to call it by the show’s older name “Badd Blood”.

– CM Punk will defeat Drew McIntyre in Hell in a Cell, thus beginning CM Punk’s big push and likely aim to feud with Roman Reigns following Wrestlemania 41. SummerSlam 2025 with Punk vs. Roman would sell any outdoor arena, including one in New Your City next year (well, New Jersey).

– I’ll predict Liv Morgan retaining her title against Rhea Ripley. We’ve seen it in the past that just because someone is suspended in their air within a smaller cage, it doesn’t mean interference won’t happen. Too obvious… Either the cage gets lowered and Dominik is allowed to interfere, or someone else will interfere… I think there is more to milk with this feud to carry it through the rest of the year. Personally, I think Liv Morgan has found her character and she’s deserving of a reward to keep it going as champion. Why not?

– Bayley will retain her women’s title over Nia Jax, but may be at risk for Tiffany Stratton cashing in immediately after a grueling match. It’s time and Tiffany is ready for the spotlight, as she’s exceptional and WWE could draw serious money to build her up as a massive heel for someone to take down at Wrestlemania 41. That said, I could see WWE milking this feud one more month if Tiffany accidentally hits Nia in the head with the briefcase to cost her the match. That, or Tiffany takes out both Bayley and Nia with the briefcase. Lots of possibilities, which could make for a GREAT match and for some GREAT drama.

– Damian Priest should smash Finn Balor. Triple H refuses to give up on that 180 pound soaking wet Balor, as we’ve endured this nonsense for the past 10 years. Recreate the Cruiserweight division and push it seriously with Finn Balor on top. Sorry, but I just don’t find it believable that he could defeat a wrestler much taller and heavier than him. That is why boxing, amateur wrestling, and UFC have weight classes.

– Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa/Jacob Fatu is a total mystery to me. For one, you’ll likely have interference from the Haku brothers and I could see the WWE using that as an opportunity to allow Solo or Jacob to pin Roman’s shoulders to the mat. That said, I could also see a surprise reveal with maybe the Rock causing interference to set up something at Survivor Series and then marching onto Wrestlemania with Cody vs. Rock at Royal Rumble, Roman wins the Rumble, and then it’s Rock vs. Roman at Wrestlemania 41. I just don’t know… But what I do know is that Roman versus this rebooted Bloodline feels too small and the group needs a bigger villain that matches his star power. I’ll lean Bloodline wins here via interference, but I hope that it’s more than the Haku brothers doing so.

Wouldn’t it be CRAZY if this was a whole scheme to lure Cody Rhodes into a “false sense of security” only for Roman to turn on Cody to reform the Bloodline with Roman as its leader? Wouldn’t that be insane? With Rock vs. Roman still on the table, I don’t think so but you never know…

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What are WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump’s chances to win the 2024 election?

Well, he got a lucky break in the form of a natural disaster with Hurricane Helene. Lately, he’s been successfully lampooning the Federal Government’s response to hard hit Georgia and especially North Carolina and I believe that propaganda is working to retain both of those states and maybe preventing Florida from flipping too. Hey, luck is part of the game… John McCain tanked as a Presidential candidate when the stock market crashed, just as Jimmy Carter’s presidency was over thanks to the Iranian hostage crisis.

Thanks to the hurricane sealing the deal in the South for Trump, the “blue wall” gets the attention once again with Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Kamala Harris needs to win all 3 to become President, while Donald Trump just needs Pennsylvania to win, assuming he also wins Georgia and North Carolina. If you’ve been to Pennsylvania, as I repeatedly have lately, you cannot avoid political ads, signs, and billboards in that state. That is where most of Trump’s money is going while the Democrats have spread their money throughout different states.

Thought the VP debate benefitted both candidates, probably helping Trump more because most people just watched the first half where J.D. Vance performed better than he did in the 2nd half and vice versus for Tim Walz. Democrats are running with January 6th stuff again, while Trump is effectively using the destruction of a hurricane to pile on criticisms of the current administration for which Harris belongs to as VP for Joe Biden.

But then you have things like the economy… Inflation is not increasing at a rate seen during 2021-2023, job market is still strong, and other metrics. There’s a chance that voters may value the difficult task of following the brutal 2020 year in which Trump was still President. Biden has been in a peculiar position of having to mop-up 2020 with a divided Congress while having an ex-President on the sidelines criticizing his every move. Given bizarre accusations of eating pets in Springfield, OH if voters will see through the lies and conspiracies constantly thrown at the wall by the ex-president and WWE hall of famer?

I predict either a close election that hinges specifically on Pennsylvania, or Kamala’s momentum is quietly strong and may make major surprises on election day. I think the Springfield, OH stuff was a low moment for Trump’s campaign, while I also think there is a chance that Women overwhelmingly push to see the first female President who will also try to protect their reproductive rights. Because of the hurricane criticisms, I think that the former is what we’ll see with Pennsylvania deciding it… And that state could go either way.

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What are your thoughts on Tito Jackson passing away?

First of all, let me explain where “Mr. Tito” came from as an alias. During the 1990s, there was a Jackson family mini-series which showed the rise of the Jackson 5 musical group and it was a difficult path for the sons of Joe Jackson. Joe ruled things with a violent iron fist and when I watched the mini-series on Vh1 one day during 1996, Joe Jackson screams at the Tito Jackson character to “go outside and get a switch”. No this wasn’t a Nintendo Switch but rather pulling a limb off of a tree and stripping off its branches to allow Joe Jackson to whip his poor son, Tito, for using his guitar. If you think of a tree branch, especially a smaller one that has flexibility, that acts like a whip and it’s going to hurt badly!

I was in an early version of a chatroom at my cousin’s house, connected to a 28K modem, and we were trolling people in a chatroom. Obviously, I didn’t want to use my real name while my immature younger self was being an a-hole, so I went with “Tito” thanks to this mini-series. From there on out, I was “Tito” for any anonymous online activity. Then, during October 1998 when my then-favorite wrestling website Lords of Pain was advertising for a daily columnist, I applied for it and I added a “Mister” in front of it to look a tad more professional but also mysterious. In wrestling, someone with “Mr.” in front of it was always a bit curious and it worked. Here my arse is, 26 freakin’ years later and am still called “Mr. Tito”.

So yeah, I’m very sad that the influence behind my online name has passed away. I loved the Jackson 5 and began listening to them on a whim when needing to select CDs for that Columbia House deal. To my surprise, their Greatest Hits collection was amazing and I became a big fan. So, it’s out of love and tribute when using “Tito” as an online alias. For the record, I have NEVER made a dime off of using that name.

Tito Jackson passed away on September 15th, 2024 at the age of 70 due to a heart attack and just missed his 71st birthday.

Honestly, it was Tito that really caused the spark in Joe Jackson to create the family band Jackson 5. While it was obvious that the family had musical talent, it was when Tito played the guitar for his dad and showed that he had legitimate musical talent that things began to change. Tito broke the string on his guitar, hence the need for the “switch” in the mini-series, but after the string was fixed, Joe demanded that Tito play for him as Tito was sneaking playing the guitar while Joe was working in the steel mill. That’s where it all ignited and in my opinion, Tito had the toughest task out of the brothers by having to sing and dance while playing the guitar at the same time. In my mind, that’s the coolest Jackson and hence why I’m proud to use “Tito” as a nickname.

May he rest in peace…

Peace out!

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