IWC Scum — Some Headache Inducing Thoughts as We Settle in Restlessly for WrestleMania 42

Welcome back to the column that puts the incessant whining and complaining in IWC. I’m a mouthy miscreant named SkitZ who’d rather give his two cents online than gamble my life savings away for WrestleMania tickets.

After getting a cavity filled a week and some change ago, I’ve been experiencing waves of aching discomfort that gnaw at my nerves much like WWE’s booking lately. The tooth is coming out on Tuesday, so here’s hoping this weekend’s event comes anywhere close to the level of satisfaction awaiting me on the other side of said extraction. Below are some jumbled, pain-fueled takes to distract me in the meantime.

…For the love of non-disclosure agreements, Jey Uso and a certain female from NXT can’t seem to keep their hands off one another whenever there’s a camera rolling. Is the former World Champion hiding his fling with Jaida Parker in plain sight? The fact that Jey’s relationship drama is currently the most interesting thing about him shows just how far YeetMaster Flex has fallen over the past year.

…And Jey’s little stunt brawl with Cam’ron can’t be a good sign for WrestleMania. Just how many wannabe celebs are we gonna have at ringside acting as slumberjacks for this 6-man tag match? Wrestling logic suggests that LA Knight and The Uso’s will finally finish off The Vision tonight with a decisive victory, so then how come I keep picturing it ending with IShowSpeed pinning The Megastar? Is this a trauma response?

…Also, why is Pat McAfee’s face so red? Does he suffer from rosacea? What’s with the recent flare ups? It’s hard not picking apart the flaws in Pat’s recent SmackDown appearances.

…I know WWE’s a big fan of jumping on trends once they’ve been done to death, but the dizzying number of podcasts they dish out every week has effectively killed whatever’s left of kayfabe. To make matters worse, it’s just devolved into an incestuous little circle of the same 20 people appearing on each other’s shows. I mean honestly, what is this – pillow talk with Hunter and Stephanie? Vince’s still involved behind the scenes, isn’t he?

…Wrestling fans have eaten up every bit of this Oba/Brock feud thus far, but is Femi about to be spoonfed a big old bite of humble pie along with the rest of us? The Ruler should defeat The Beast in convincing fashion on Sunday night – that much is obvious – but how much faith do you place in WWE making the correct decision right now? Perhaps they view all these weeks of Lesnar selling for Femi as the put-over? I keep getting flashbacks to what happened with Cena at Wrestlepalooza. Imagine the reaction when Brock beats Oba in 7 minutes… The amount of burial tweets bogging down my Twitter feed afterwards might be too much to dig myself out from underneath.

…Lesnar has a job to do at the start of Night 2, and we can only hope it involves laying down for the three count. Speaking of which, Iyo Sky seems to be doing a lot of that lately after taking the wrestling world by storm in 2025. In recent months, we’ve watched The Empress of the Sky’s WrestleMania hopes freefall right into the toilet. From a surefire Tag Team Title defense alongside her bestie Rhea, to a long-anticipated showdown with former friend Asuka, to serving as nothing more than Ripley’s cheerleader on Sunday night.

…Is it just plain bad luck for poor Iyo or could there be more going on behind closed doors? Some people tend to think it has something to do with the backlash Triple H faced for letting Iyo cling to him backstage like a stripper pole during the Unreal series. Others simply chalk it up to bad booking on the Temu Creative Team’s part. There’s even conspiracy theorists like myself who believe Sky’s exclusion was intentional. Perhaps a form of punishment for not engaging in a proposed throuple with Hunter and Stephanie? It’s the only scenario that makes any sense in this perverse noggin of mine.

…Then there’s this unfinished business between Iyo and The Kabuki Warriors. The latter of which are inexplicably waiting on the sidelines in case Nikki Bella’s hobbled ass isn’t able to wrestle this weekend. Rumor has it that she’s scheduled to be replaced by Paige, which is great for a return pop, but then where does that leave the beef between Iyo and her former allies? Are we really saving the payoff for the Backlash PLE? Could there be plans for Asuka & Kairi to cost Rhea the WWE Women’s Championship as a revenge tactic on Iyo? Something tells me it might get awfully crowded at ringside during the Ripley/Cargill match.

…A crowd is something Giulia hasn’t quite won over thanks to her booking on the main roster. Tiffany Stratton controls them with a simple hand gesture, yet it’s done jack shit to land them on the WM42 card. Following a winning streak in 2025 that lasted the better part of a year, Ludwig’s ex couldn’t even get a United States Title shot on the SmackDown before Mania. Tsk tsk, Tiffy. Suddenly announcing that you plan on leaving for Hollywood within three years? Probably not the smartest business move at the moment. We look forward to your career on OnlyFans though when it doesn’t work out.

…Why on Earth would WWE bring WrestleMania back to Las Vegas after how nonexistent the audience was in the same venue a year ago? I blame TKO. The fans in attendance for last night’s episode of SmackDown didn’t inspire much confidence heading into this weekend, but let’s be honest. Who the hell would waste money on tickets to the RAW and SmackDown preceding Mania when you know full well it’s gonna be an action-lacked promo fest?

…Along with returning to Sin City for WM42, I couldn’t help but notice a startling number of similarities between this year’s card and the previous one. For example, LA Knight is still feuding with the Samoans, Drew McIntyre’s opponent just got a little bit shorter, Liv needs major assistance from Raquel to walk out with gold, Cody’s defending against another GOAT forced to turn heel, Penta’s in the IC Title match, Jade being overshadowed by her opponent, Finn and Dom fighting for the second consecutive year, as are Punk and Roman, while Sami Zayn fades further away from his World Title aspirations. Oh and Seth Rollins’ injury prone ass is bound to steal the show once again. But yeah, is anyone else reeling from this overwhelming sense of deja vu? Or is that just the meds kicking in for my throbbing tooth?

…Following what we can only pray was the ending to The MFT/Wyatt Sicks saga, I found myself actually feeling kind of bad for Solo. He’s been arguably the most consistent act on the blue brand for three and a half years now, yet hasn’t wrestled at any of the four WrestleMania’s that have passed him by since joining the main roster. Creative could’ve easily built a nice story that culminated in Sikoa versus Tama Tonga at Mania. Or even had Tama turn face, join Nakamura, and challenge The MFT’s for the Tag Titles in Vegas (rather than throwing the belts on Truth & Priest). Either path would have been a better route than what we ultimately landed on. Whatever shred of aura The Wyatts had is officially gone. That shit is untraceable.

…I understand the mindset behind Sami versus Trick remaining a singles match, especially with the double turn being a damn near guarantee at this point. The shift is more difficult to pull off with a third party involved, but even so, I can’t shake the feeling that this should’ve been a triple threat involving Carmelo Hayes. Eh, you know what they say – no good deed goes unpunished. Besides, it could always be worse. Look no further than Ilja Dragunov, who closed out 2025 on an excellent run and has done no wrong since, yet you’d swear he must have given the guy’s booking as of late.

…If you think Pat McAfee’s been insufferable thus far, just wait for the irreparable damage he does to this long anticipated title bout between Cody and Randy. Triple H says the Pat stuff has people talking and claims “that’s a good thing”, which is hilariously delusional. Nobody wanted it, the build didn’t need it, and McAfee’s mere presence has torn the storytelling to shreds. The best we can hope for now is Rhodes and Orton getting a solid 20 minutes out there alone before the shenanigans ensue.

…Wouldn’t it also be more beneficial longterm to have a buddy of Cody’s like Royce Keys standing ringside instead of Jelly Roll? I don’t think I can sit through another one of the singer’s heartfelt pep talks; complete with intense eye contact and constant arm grazing. Please cram Jelly Roll into an unrelated backstage segment and leave it at that. Kit Wilson should be running circles around him.

…Hearing Roman mention how there’s still a ton for him to do in WWE creatively, and then following that by saying he’s done with the company should he lose to Punk pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? I’ve had this mounting suspicion ever since Reigns won the Royal Rumble that he’d go on to dethrone the reigning champ at Mania. The Tribal Chief’s barely sniffed a World Title over the past two years, and critical acclaim has plummeted over said period, so of course the higher ups wanna revert back to Roman. And as much as I love CM Punk, who’s gone above and beyond with the World Heavyweight Championship in Seth’s absence, it feels like we need a change of pace moving forward. I’m honestly expecting Reigns to go over clean, and then Punk to take a vacation along with his wife after she drops the Intercontinental Title back to Becky.

…Then again, I’m the same doofus who thought we were in store for a Je’Von Evans/Kofi Kingston match at WrestleMania, so what the fuck do I know? The cards for Saturday and Sunday both have the potential to be special, but can we truly rely on WWE to deliver after the egg they laid at the same event last April?