ASK TITO: PAC Passing Away, Max Caster’s Promo in TNA, WWE MITB 2026 Briefcase Winners, Gunther’s Creative, and Much More
The Excellence in Column Writing is finally back to provide snappy answers to your questions sent in via social media via private messaging (for long-time fans), email (also long-time fans), the comments below, and the lunatic inside my head, as there’s someone inside my head but it’s not me. Lots of news stories hitting the fan lately, so it’s a perfect opportunity to answer current events questions.
Many of my long-time readers have been asking “where have you been”, as my column volume has dropped off a bit. Well, for one, I write when I want… There’s no schedule for yours truly, as I just write when I’m feeling it… But, there’s some method to the madness as to why I took a few weeks off. No, it wasn’t for the 9/22/2026 column, as I’ve clearly followed that up with my 10/15/2026 column. I’ve been saying it for YEARS how dangerous putting on big events is within the Middle East. I’m not afraid of that topic.
No, I’ve been laying low because of my 9/16/2026 column that raised questions about AEW having a drug testing policy (or not) in the wake of Brian Cage admitting to using steroids and other PEDs on a podcast. Then, tragically on September 27, 2026, PAC from AEW (formerly known as Adrian Neville or Neville in WWE) passed away in his vehicle just after he performed at AEW’s All Out 2026. Almost immediately with the early indications of his death, as he was drooling and medication was found in his vehicle, I was immediately like “oh sh*t!”.
Now, in my column, I was making a point that because Brian Cage admitted to using steroids and other PEDs, that creates a question on if AEW has any kind of Wellness Policy. Then, I brought up quotes from wrestling insiders, like Dave Meltzer and Sean Ross Sapp, who indicated that there may not be testing but that AEW contracts state a “right to test” as needed. My only point was to bring up the FACT that Brian Cage caused a “smoking gun” situation, as I would have never wrote that column if he said nothing. But he did, and I wanted to simply question if AEW was protecting its wrestlers.
I guess it’s a sigh of relief… But it’s a shame PAC is no longer with us in the end. From all indications, he was a good locker room guy, always easy to work with, and very talented. In my opinion, both WWE and AEW could have utilized his talents more as he had the ability, the look (though shorter), and was charismatic inside the ring to pull off the “larger than life” needs that pro wrestling desires. However, he did 6 years in WWE and 7 years in AEW, along with a 10 year career before joining WWE. That’s pretty good imprint on the business, folks.
His death was officially ruled as bronchial asthma. If left undiagnosed or untreated, it is indeed lethal as asthma is inflammation of your airways.
Now, here’s what I’m curious about… A Wellness Policy isn’t just about drug testing. In fact, it’s often a program offered by most corporation for insurance purposes as a means to help get costs down. WWE implemented one for drug testing specifically, following the death of Eddie Guerrero in late 2005 and then ramped up its seriousness during mid 2006 due to Chris Benoit’s downfall and then the online pharmacy stuff right afterward. To a normal company, it’s usually bloodwork and a physical examination. WWE’s Wellness Policy did both the examination and the drug testing, and in FACT, it saved MVP’s life when he was in the WWE and an examination found an unknown heart condition that he’s treated ever since.
THIS is why ALL pro wrestlers in a corporate wrestling setting NEED TO BE INSURED and with that, required to have regular physical examinations.
The physical activity of performing, along with maintaining your look, makes it essential to require your performers to be examined for any health reasons.
Treat wrestlers like human beings and employees, not bulls going against a matador. They aren’t just “independent contractors”, and often times, you have to save people from themselves.
There are MULTIPLE studies out there that show men, in particular, refuse to see a doctor. Just doing various Google searches of various studies shows that 50% of men refuse to do annual examinations, 65% of men will avoid going to the doctor unless they absolutely have to, and men are more unlikely to see a doctor versus women by a big margin of various polls (ranging from 33% to 50%, depending on the survey).
I don’t know what happened to PAC. Was he diagnosed previously with asthma or not? Did he just forget to take his treatments? Did he forget his inhaler when an episode came up? I don’t know… BUT, if you have performers putting their bodies on the line, you should require regular examinations of the human beings you’re employing.
We don’t have the full facts here, but I strongly implore both WWE and AEW to TAKE CARE OF YOUR WRESTLERS and PROTECT YOUR WRESTLERS FROM THEMSELVES.
And for the record, I HAMMERED the WWE about their LACK of drug testing for years during the 2000s. I was sick and tired of so many wrestlers dying due to enlarged hearts, mixing pills and alcohol, and just dying so young. It was a regular occurrence. On top of that, WWE didn’t care about when wrestlers had concussions. They forced wrestlers to work through head trauma and in my opinion, that destroyed Chris Benoit and put him on the path of destruction. He was already intense naturally, but lacking any concussion protocol and a serious drug testing policy just poured gasoline on someone with the bad genetic make-up who would either kill or get killed because there was no “off” switch to pushing his body to the limits.
However, WWE implemented the serious Wellness Policy during 2006 and then later implemented a concussion protocol. That has SAVED LIVES.
PAC’s death is a teachable moment… Wrestling promotions need full Wellness Policies that examine their wrestlers regularly, especially based on the physical stress that performing, maintaining, and traveling causes. Lots of mental health issues, too, of living out of your suitcase and working long hours on top of all of that.
Personally, I’ve tried to rid some of my own stubbornness of seeing doctors and they’ve found a few things here in my 40s that I’m working on and I’ve seen real improvements. Your bloodwork can paint a real picture of what’s going on internally, while being honest with a doctor of anything that’s ailing you could also help. Just find the right doctor, as many are too quick to prescribe something versus actually recommending a lifestyle change that could be more beneficial.
I’m just going to tell you this truth as someone who is rounding the bases of his 28th year as Mr. Tito here in late October… This pro wrestling stuff gets REAL often.
You spend so much time, become loyal, and get emotionally invested in wrestlers that it’s a literal gut punch when someone passes away. I am seriously not over Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero’s deaths, while Chris Benoit’s stuff bothers me to this day. I’m still sad about Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) passing away suddenly, as he had a lot of runway left in his career. Sid Eudy was one of my favorite wrestlers, and it was so sad to hear him passing of cancer but then seeing WWE piss on him for his Hall of Fame induction. 2-time champion deserved better than what the WWE gave him.
But damn, we’re enduring lots of hard hitting stories… The deaths, but literally all of the crap involving Vince McMahon and his scandals. There’s WAR in the Middle East and we’re debating whether WWE should have events right in the middle of that region where an airport was bombed. Just scandal after scandal, as I’ve literally seen it all for the past 28 years as Mr. Tito and almost 40 years as a wrestling fan.
YET, the highest of the highs of pro wrestling always keep us hooked… We’re always chasing that high because when wrestling clicks on all cylinders, there is NO better form of entertainment. Lots of lows with wrestling, too, such as what I mentioned above but many bad matches, many bad pushes, many bad angles, and many awful and unfunny comedy segments… BUT, because the highs are so good, we keep coming back. I’ve tried to put down the Pro Wrestling AND Mr. Tito crackpipe down multiple times, but then I need another hit…
RIP PAC. Thank you for all that you’ve done for pro wrestling.
Onto your questions.
ASK TITO: YOUR QUESTIONS, MY ANSWERS
What are some of your favorite PAC/Neville matches?
I’m not the best person for this question, as since I cut Cable during 2015, I’ve watched most of the WWE television on condensed Hulu or YouTube or watching highlights on Premium Live Events. Because of that, I’ve missed chunks of Neville’s WWE career. Without cable, I’m also not watching as much AEW as I could and am also reliant on clips for them on televised shows. However, I’ve watched most of AEW’s Pay Per Views through 2024 and probably all of WWE’s on WWE Network during his career.
For AEW, I always thought PAC had good in-ring chemistry with Kenny Omega for some reason. They just clicked perfectly and seemed to know how to properly work with each other. I hate to admit this, but I LOVED the PAC match with Orange Cassidy. By far, Orange Cassidy’s best match and PAC sold everything perfectly to make the match look legit but also feeling like the perfect comedy match.
His match in NXT with Sami Zayn in late 2014 incredible and worth checking out. That was probably my favorite WWE/NXT match that he had. I’m a tad hazy remembering anything that stood out beyond that peak match, as he was soon joining WWE and they didn’t really use him other than the Cruiserweight division that WWE didn’t care about.
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(From my boy Thurl): What are your thoughts on Max Caster being terminated from TNA by rapping about the Riyadh Airport being bombed?
There’s a line in pro wrestling… Sometimes it bends, sometimes it doesn’t. However, I would suggest that the line that should NEVER be crossed is making jokes about DEATH. People died as a result of the Riyadh airport bombing. He made a joke about that, and hence why TNA (maybe with WWE coaxing them because of their relations and WWE/TKO’s relations with Saudi Arabia) terminated him. Max has been very apologetic because he instantly blew his TNA opportunity, while probably never landing a WWE spot as well. The AEW door closed before that, but is probably welded shut, too.
To me, my question is “where are the adults in the room?”. For one, Max should think about what he says on screen. Joking about an incident where people died maybe crosses that line… However, who produced that match and that rapping segment from TNA’s standpoint? Did they ask Max about what he was going to rap about or did they give him full freedom to say whatever he wanted to say? Either scenario creates issues, as TNA should assume liability if they knew he was going to say that but if they gave him freedom, it’s as I said above, sometimes you have to protect wrestlers from themselves. Max thought it was a quick way to get heat, versus thinking of something more clever to say instead. He went for the short-term gain versus the long-term one, and it cost him a job and probably forever ruins his reputation in the business.
That said, I think he should be given another chance… Many wrestlers have done FAR WORSE and were allowed to return. He said words, which I think could be corrected.
Problem with Max Caster is that he worked for TNA who has relations with WWE. WWE is bed and about to send their wrestlers to Saudi Arabia who recently had their airport attached by Houthis fighting a war on behalf of Iran. If TNA wants to do business with WWE, they’ve got to play by WWE’s rules…
I think if you were a promotion like GCW or JCW, I’d sign Caster immediately and advertise that he’s “unfiltered” but behind the scenes, have someone clear what he says first just to, again, “protect a wrestler from themself”. But the fans won’t know that a producer is filtering him slightly and it will work, and Max Caster will become a star there.
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What are your thoughts on the 2026 Money in the Bank briefcase winners?
I agree with Tiffany Stratton winning, disagree with Penta.
Tiffany is still young, I didn’t think she had a good run with the Women’s Title before, and she’s very talented and deserving. And good lord, she regularly breaks the internet with her social media photos and that stuff still matters. Personally, I thought she was above and beyond the top wrestler in that match and most deserving to win the briefcase.
Penta is Jey Uso all over again. Very popular merchandise seller and a WWE fan favorite, but lacks the intangibles to grow the business beyond the existing WWE fanbase. That, and he’s too reliant on his style within his matches and if an opponent can’t work his style of match, it falls apart. Remember when Penta debuted and everyone applauded him as looking tremendous? Yeah, because Chad Gable sold everything like a champ and does that with everyone.
If you’re going to hold a briefcase with a world title shot, the person holding it should be world title worthy. A main eventer has intangibles in terms of charisma, look & size, personality, mic skills, psychology, and athletic abilities that is magnetic towards ANY type of consumer, not just dedicated wrestling fans. You already have the wrestling fans’ money, as they are marks and they’ll keep eating the BS sandwiches you feed them. Hence why we’ve had MANY bad world champions… But if you want to grow the business, the world champion has to absolutely WOW a non-wrestling fan.
I just think a guy in a mask who can do flippy moves has been done repeatedly, and also, better by other performers. He’s good, but just not exceptional to be on the very top of the card that draws in big houses. I don’t mind him maybe getting a World Title shot on RAW or Smackdown, where he’d lose in a good fight… But to be positioned to actually win the title and especially with the CHEAP MITB cash-in, I just don’t think it’s going to work. He needs to do more or expand his skillsets to take that next step beyond literally the same performer we saw in AEW who is very dependent on his opponent overselling his complicated moves or stunts.
You’ll call me a “madman” for that take, but when he’s another short-term champion and resembles Jey Uso, you’ll thank me for being right.
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Do you believe that Gunther has been used properly?
For the most part, the WWE has used the maximum of his abilities. That said, I’d argue that losses to Jey Uso and Sami Zayn on very big stages were particularly damaging to Gunther and during the timeframe of those losses, we should have had a match against Brock Lesnar then. Instead, he loses to both Zayn and Jey and we’re supposed to patch that damage together by defeating two older guys in Bill Goldberg and John Cena?
BUT, I don’t see “all time great” stuff with Gunther. Great performer and great heel, but we’ve seen the same schtick for many years now. He’s dominant but then the arrogance gets the best of him to cause him to lose. Rinse and repeat… However, I don’t think he has many more dimensions to his character other than that smug or dominant heel. Or, maybe because he was denied an opportunity to work toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar, he didn’t get a chance to turn “serious mode” on for an entire match.
I don’t know, folks… He’s a two-time World Champion and that shows WWE has used him reasonably well. I struggle arguing against that point, but I think the opportunity to really get him over with creative “smoke & mirrors” was to have him remain Intercontinental Champion and not lose it to Sami Zayn and then go on to challenge Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar to unite the titles. THAT could have helped him… BUT, without that serious moment, he’s got nothing but the same character that we’ve seen for years and it’s not drawing as well as it could.
Gets into my overall point, as described with Penta above, is WHO ARE YOU PUSHING, WWE? With due respect to the World Titles, they are NOT participation trophies. Yeah, I understand wanting to reward Sami Zayn and Jey Uso for their hard work, BUT there are plenty of great midcarders in the WWE Hall of Fame who NEVER got even close to the WWE Title. Anyone care to debate the greatness of Razor Ramon, Jake “the Snake”, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Big Bossman, and many others with me? You can have a great career and not win the World Title, but I think that WWE during the 21st Century doesn’t think that and that’s why business has declined since the end of the 20th century.
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Do you think that the “Street Fighter” movie will propel Cody, Roman, or other WWE careers into film?
Obviously, Hulk Hogan and then especially the Rock and John Cena have paved the road for “larger than life” character to easily translate their work onto the big screen.
Street Fighter is projected, as of early Sunday morning when I write this, for a $31 million opener. That would be a “disaster” if this were a Marvel film that was made for $200 million, but Street Fighter was made for just $82 million. So, it will do OK and I figure it will grow further on streaming and disc purchases.
This is where I’ll reveal myself… I was a hardcore Street Fighter 2 arcade player when I was a young kid, especially when the Championship Edition was released and the expanded roster occurred. I remember getting the issue of Swatpro, which was Gamepro’s secrets and tips side magazine, that revealed all of the special moves of the game for the first time. I memorized that thing and then took my knowledge to the arcade. All of the local gamers, who didn’t figure out the moves already, were like WTF when I was flying across the screen repeatedly as M. Bison or throwing fireballs or uppercuts all day long as Ryu (preferred him over Ken).
I’ll give kudos to Cody Rhodes for looking like Guile, but the attitude of the character is just a tough off. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns played Akuma in Street Fighter… HEY ROMAN, Akuma does NOT have a beard! Shave that damn thing to look the part in the movie! Otherwise, it’s Roman Reigns playing in a Street Fighter movie. “Oh, I can’t jeopardize my look for WWE shows”, the hell you can’t! This is a major movie and you need to look the part to make this a credible effort. It’s about as dumb as Jean Claude Van Damme barely even trying to look like Guile in the first Street Fighter movie effort.
It’s when movies compromise with actors, that’s when films go to crap.
Big 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even the fans somewhat agree that this movie is just OK with 80%.
Back in the day and if you ever encounter me to play Street Fighter 2, Ryu and M. Bison were my guys though I love to play newbs as E. Honda just to mess with them.
As time will tell, I think that CM Punk and Roman Reigns playing a pair of animated zebras in Zootopia 2 will have a bigger impact than sort of looking like trademark characters in the Street Fighter series. Many of these video game to live action series transactions just don’t work, as we’re on multiple tries for Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, and now Street Fighter. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat’s appeal is that they are multiplayer games and that’s why they sell. Their backstories are secondary. So far, Nintendo is doing OK with the animated Mario films, but the real test will be the Legend of Zelda game next year. I think that will succeed because Zelda is about the story more so than the gameplay.
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ