ASK TITO: 27th Anniversary Edition Covering the Past 27 Years of Pro Wrestling (WWE, WCW, AEW, etc.)
Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing, as today we’re celebrating the 27th anniversary of when I began writing wrestling columns on 10/26/1998. I started off, thanks to Calvin Martin, with LordsofPain.net, helped out Top-Rope.com on the side as a favor to one of LoP’s news writers, and then during August 2020, I made a leap over here to NoDQ.com operated by Aaron Rift. I’ve had a great run, produced well over 5,000 columns, and I’ve met many great wrestling fans and people within the pro wrestling industry. I’m very grateful to be here today, 27 years later, to express my THANKS to the websites who have platformed me and anyone who has read me.
Thank you so much!
For today’s column, I’m going to be utilizing the “Ask Tito” format to look back on my 27 years covering the industry as a writer along with a few forward looking things.
The thing that makes me most proud is that every column was 100% my own opinions without any outside influences or financial considerations telling me when, what, or how to write. It’s been my choice to do this on a VOLUNTARY basis for 27 freakin’ years because it’s my hobby and I’m personally trying to do a service to help advise the pro wrestling industry with what I write (whether you agree that I’ve been successful at doing that or not). I could have “sold out” (or “souled out”) many times, as other wrestling websites tried to lure me away many times along with just about every major sports website trying to dabble in wrestling content. But in joining them, they’d tell me when, how, or what I’d write with a few of the sports sites wanting me to sign a deal to copyright my “Mr. Tito” name. Years later, the writers that I know who took that money have been let go or replaced with writers who will take much less.
Since I wasn’t whoring myself or my good name out for the cash, I’ve been able to have FULL creative freedom and editorial power of what gets posted. Both Calvin and Aaron just let me do my thing, with only rare occasions where they had to pull back on the reigns. In return, they’ve enjoyed thousands of columns posted to their websites free of charge and many columns that could draw as well as a news story or a results post. Then, the added bonus of when a wrestling personality would respond to a column or when a wrestling audience member would hold up a sign saying “Tito LoP” or “Tito NoDQ”.
Working for great platforms like LoP and NoDQ have given my columns great attention and with that, many good sources of information who have reached out to me from WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, AEW, and many independent wrestlers. Much of them enjoy the debate of what I posted in my column, some of which will confirm or refute something that I wrote. I’ve heard some CRAZY stories in my day, particularly the early to mid 2000s WWE where that faucet was quite leaky with storytelling by those within the company. For those who personally reached out to me, THANK YOU, as you really helped shape my opinion and understanding of the wrestling business as I became older.
To many, many readers… Especially the long-time ones who have been with me from the start or from 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, or over 20 years ago. I love you so much! I have many, many long email chains of going back and forth with many long-time readers that has provided me a much needed escape in the middle of the day between meetings or when I’m on the road somewhere. Many of you followed me over to NoDQ, which I appreciate, as I hope that you’ve enjoyed the many content avenues that NoDQ can provide as well as the open opportunities to participate as a content provider yourself.
I joined NoDQ because they seemed to have a family atmosphere with all of the volunteer help that it has and a good culture… I can confirm that after being here over 5 years, and I especially enjoyed meeting Aaron Rift, his wife, and their friend at the 2025 Royal Rumble. I really enjoyed that moment… I wish that I could have done more on-screen content, but hey, you gotta have willing dance partners who can put away their fevered egos and just have fun. I literally made myself available almost daily between August 2020 and December 2021, but only got 2 debate shows out of it. What a shame… There is no “I” in team, and I’m certainly not the only person said individual has had a problem with for the past 5 years. Oh well, I’ve written great columns here at NoDQ and I have zero regrets joining this team.
To the haters out there… Notice how I haven’t flinched for the past 27 years? No matter how many personal shots fired at me, threats made (which I forwarded to officials), and bizarre internal attacks made by jealous co-workers… I kept writing. I once had an entire group on a forum come after me and tried to spam an area where I was posting content, yet I didn’t back down. I’ve been called every slanderous name in the book for simply having a wrestling opinion, and I didn’t back down. Then, when I do hit back, I always LAUGH at the “victim card” that the hater pulls out. I used to LAUGH at any time someone would try to message any webmaster that I worked for and ask that my columns be deleted or cancelled. I even heard of a few cases where advertisers were contacted. Remember, it’s hard to cancel someone who provides a net profit to the website because there’s zero expenses (other than server bandwidth for my long columns).
No matter how hard you’ve punched me, I’m still here… And in return, I’ve always been professional and maintaining a good image for the websites where I’ve worked. Even when punching back at the trolls. I’ve seen others throw racial or homophobic slurs, referring to others as a leader of Germany during the 1930s who started World War 3, and even a recent claim that my Mom must have consumed Tylenol. This is the kind of COMPLETE TRASH that you have to deal with in a public forum where you simply post your wrestling opinions, yet here I am, with my head still high and producing columns in SPITE of you.
If you really hate someone who writes columns on a volunteer basis, then you need to look in the mirror and re-evaluate yourself. CLEARLY, there is something else in your life that pisses you off or disappoints you. But I’m not your punching bag for whatever that is! Never have been, never will… If you’re showing anger towards a columnist who professionally posts his opinions on wrestling, how are you treating co-workers, friends, or family? Or do you just act that way on a keyboard and are much more cowardly in-person? I don’t know, but many of you who spread negativity all over NoDQ’s comments section and social media need to find a way to reduce your anger or bitterness. Other people online should NOT be your punching bags or vehicles for venting because something in your personal life sucks right now. Get help, or if you want to have a conversation with me outside of your wrestling gimmick online, then let’s have it to clear the air. I’ve mentored many employees and helped a few get in the right path who were on the wrong direction.
On my end… If I ever hit back too hard, especially when I was younger, then I apologize… Hopefully, as I’ve become older and wiser, I’ve shown much more restraint. That said, if you throw slurs, attacks, or threats at me, you deserve getting put in your place.
On top the 27th anniversary column, utilizing the “Ask Tito” format to look back but also look forward.
ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers
Do you have any regrets from what was written in your columns for the past 27 years?
My early columns… I was young when I started and didn’t fully understand the pro wrestling business within my first 2-3 years worth of my columns. I probably showed a ton of immaturity in the way I assessed how the business worked and who could be to blame for when things go wrong with a promotion. If a storyline or a match went wrong, I was often blaming the wrestlers versus the promoters for putting the wrestlers in a position to fail. Many wrestlers hit back and I deserved it.
With time, I began to read more books, speak to many wrestlers or personalities, and incorporate my growing education and corporate career into how I presented my columns. I started to see how the many mistakes that promoters made, past and present, and that began to shape how my columns would be come by the mid-2000s and then by my 2010 return from my mid-2006 retirement.
My other regret is not knowing much about the long-term effects of concussions and prescription drugs to call out the WWE and other promotions for not policing that better. Eddie’s death during late 2005 and then Benoit snapping during 2007 really bothered me and I seriously stopped watching wrestling from mid-2007 through late 2009 because of being ashamed at what I missed and for spending so much time watching a WWE company who didn’t save their own wrestlers from themselves. Modern WWE implemented a Wellness Policy and a concussion protocol program, so by late 2009, I started giving wrestling a try again and then I returned to writing around February or March of 2010. Been pumping out many columns again ever since.
I also wish that I jumped into YouTube when it was created… I was actually good at editing videos back then and I could have made decent videos for the time to maybe make that as a bigger leap from my columns. But, life was presenting other opportunities at the time and I didn’t go all-in as I could. No regrets, but I feel that during 2005-2006, I would have used my Adobe Premiere skills of that era to good use to make great content.
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What do you believe was your BEST column that you have ever produced?
Recently, I wrote about how maybe Netflix paid too much for WWE RAW and used the economic term “Winner’s Curse” to discuss that. That was a follow-up column to what I originally wrote during 2005 discussing how Viacom paid too much for RAW during 2000 and overpaid for a WWE promotion that peaked and was about to go downhill. I had lots of detail in that column, along with actual graphs (love that Image Bucket back then!) to prove my point. Very detailed column where I broke down what happened on TNN and Spike TV, how that compared to Smackdown on UPN’s trend, and the reasons for the decline.
In terms of QUALITY columns, that 2005 entry about the “Winner’s Curse” for Viacom overpaying for RAW is my very best. That said, I believe that I wrote many great columns during 2024 and 2025 that could compete with that one for extra research performed and ideas put together.
Personal favorite, though, was my “I Told You So: Triple H Just BURIED CM Punk” following the Pay Per View after SummerSlam 2011 because I was calling out how Triple H showed pure disdain for CM Punk and was legitimately trying to sabotage his “Summer of Punk” momentum. I saw the body language that Triple H displayed and I went out on a limb to repeatedly say, weeks into WWE Night of Champions 2011 predicting that Triple H would win and nobody believed me. Then when Triple H won the match, I immediately wrote that column as a middle finger for all of those who personally attacked me over that opinion. Then as 2011 unfolded, CM Punk was further humiliated in multiple Pay Per Views in a row and then had the lamest World Title run after that where he barely main evented any show. Then the 2013 podcast with Colt Cabana confirmed it, as did Kevin Nash revealing that Triple H told him that he was going to bury Punk at Night of Champions and beyond.
The amount of pageviews this “I Told You So: Triple H Just Buried CM Punk” made was staggering… Just insane what that specific column drew.
I really love doing the Predictions columns at year-end, too…
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What do you consider to be the BIGGEST story that you covered in your 27 years writing columns?
Technically speaking, I was retired during Chris Benoit’s double murder and suicide during June 2007. As I said above, I stopped writing from mid-2006 through early 2010 to handle some personal achievements in my life, so to speak. That said, I did write a few columns in LoPForums about Benoit, as many there were showing an ignorant stance on the situation and trying to deflect blame from Benoit or WWE for not taking care of Benoit. So, I put them in their place and that column was later featured on LoP.
If we take out the Benoit story…
WCW’s closure was massive, as I remember it, but became disappointing at the end and sort of died without much of a whimper. That SHOULD be the top story, but it wasn’t.
Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero’s deaths really bothered me and I could probably argue their deaths as having massive impacts.
The recent Vince McMahon stuff has been MASSIVE, that involves the scandal erupting during June 2022, his early 2023 return and sale to TKO, Vince’s downfall during January 2024, and now wondering what his next move could be. Vince McMahon was a constant throughout much of my run as Mr. Tito, so to see that shattered and shifting to a new corporation and newer people handling the WWE is quite massive.
As I look back, however, I see a story that nobody mentions as possibly the biggest story in my 27 years… I go back to October and November of 1999, as seismic changes began in the WWE. Vince Russo left the WWE and joined WCW during October 1999. Say what you will about Russo, but he had a stranglehold on WWE Creative and once he left, that created major opportunities for others and changed how WWE shows were written and then heavily scripted. Also in October 1999, WWE announced their IPO for intentions to form a public corporation. That would change the game on how WWE would operate, moving forward, as shareholders and other corporations became what WWE cared about versus the fans. As the 21st century moved on, WWE’s opportunities to grift fans increased.
In my opinion, though, the straw that really broke the camel’s back was when Stone Cold Steve Austin left the WWE due to his neck injury becoming so excessive that it required surgery. At Survivor Series 1999, Austin was hit by the vehicle and you wouldn’t see him wrestling regularly again until the Fall of 2000. For almost 1 year, there was no Steve Austin presence in the WWE locker room and that caused WWE Creative to be reshaped without catering to him and also caused other wrestlers to get their tenacles into the WWE process, namely Triple H. HHH not only increased his role as a WWE main eventer, but began attending WWE production meetings where he could have say on other wrestlers or storylines. And then he began dating Stephanie.
When Steve Austin returned to wrestle full-time again during the Fall of 2000, the promotion completely changed and began losing its way. By late 2000, Stephanie began running creative, a writing team was hired and put together, and guys like Jim Ross, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, many agents, and the wrestlers themselves began losing any creative say in favor of the new writing team or what the corporate WWE or corporations that it worked with wanted. Think about how much the Parents Television Council had as an impact on WWE and then when WWE moved back to USA Network, the PG era began. And then corporate sponsors had a say in everything, like making threats on toy production if a wrestler did something (remember Mandy Rose getting fired because of Mattel’s pressure?).
In my opinion, the WWE becoming corporate during October 1999 and then losing foundational pieces of the Attitude Era like Austin, Russo, Ross, Brisco, and Patterson changed things. For example, instead of realizing that USA Networks was a great home for WWE content, the newly formed WWE corporation chased boosting the Income Statement by signing with Viacom. Having RAW on TNN/Spike TV hurt that program, along with dealing with the many failed promises that Viacom made.
WWE becoming too corporate is what led to Vince McMahon being dismissed, whereas if Vince said or did stuff like that during 1998 or 1999, it would get swept under the rug and it did as he admitted to many infidelities back then.
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What was the Best Wrestler, Best Tag Team, Best Pay Per View, and Best Match that you seen as while writing for the past 27 years?
John Cena is the best wrestler that I covered. Keep in mind that I started during October 1998, so the growing chunks of Austin and the Rock getting to that main event scene weren’t covered. That said, I did proudly cover that massive peak year of 1999 with Rock and Austin and I consider November 1998 through Wrestlemania 15 (April 1999) the best storyline that I have ever seen.
But John Cena, in my opinion, did more with less… He saved the WWE from the 2000-2004 decline by becoming the babyface main event follow-up to Rock and Austin through 2005 and that run ended with a terrible SummerSlam 2014 squash by Brock Lesnar. Cena carried the WWE through those tough Benoit years, through the WWE roster weakening through the late 2000s and the early 2010s, and WWE cancelled houseshows when Cena couldn’t make a show. Nobody sold more merchandise than Cena, period. And now, in my opinion, he’s beloved during 2025 because of that great WWE career that people are just now appreciating and that’s translating into his acting career being successful.
Best tag team? Gotta hand it to the Dudley Boys. Always great, always entertaining. Just the perfect pairing of 2 human beings together to form a tag team. LOVE that 3D finisher.
Best match? Oh boy… I’d have to say Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 21 was the best match in my 27 years as Mr. Tito that I covered. It’s perfection and Dave Meltzer is a total idiot to not give that 5-stars, let along 7 or 8 stars as one of the best matches ever.
As for Best Pay Per View… Oh man, I was here for both Wrestlemania 17 and Wrestlemania 40. But I’ll go one further, as Royal Rumble 2000 is my favorite Pay Per View that I covered. You had the Royal Rumble, which was great that year and epic as usual. But then you had the Foley vs. Triple H street fight which was an absolute battle. On top of that, Dudleys and Hardys tore the house down with their tag team battle. And then you had Tazz debuting and oddly peaking against Kurt Angle in Madison Square Garden. I really like SummerSlam 2002 and SummerSlam 2013 as very close seconds to that.
I’m just going to say this… Wrestlemania 17 will never top my list due to that STUPID Steve Austin heel turn in Houston, TX. Completely idiotic and set the tone for WWE sucking for the rest of 2001. Made ZERO sense and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, to this day. Wrestlemania 40 also does with its ending, as I still don’t understand what the hell “Bloodline Rules” mean when Cena and the Undertaker could interfere?
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Could WCW have saved itself during 1999 or beyond, in your opinion?
In the words of Scotty from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, “he’s dead already”. When I began writing during October 1998, WCW was already in free fall. They peaked through July 1998 by blowing their load on Goldberg’s push and had terrible plans afterward as Hulk Hogan was still headlining shows despite Bill being champion. And then Bill’s inexperience made him look bad as champion, so WCW lost either way with Hogan or Goldberg headlining shows.
As I’ve said before, Eric Bischoff was like the 1994 San Francisco 49ers who sacrificed the future by signing free agents to win now versus sustain many years of winning later. For Bischoff, he paid a ton of money to Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash and thus that paid off during 1996 that fed into 1997 and 1998. But once their NWO act got older, WCW had no second act as a follow-up especially with the way they sabotaged Sting and Bill Goldberg wasn’t experienced enough to sustain as a main eventer. Fans were tired of preferential treatment going Hogan’s way and tuned off, while WCW and Time Warner had to pay those big contracts that Bischoff helped get sign for all of those veteran wrestlers. Then by 1999, WCW began getting increasingly corporate and things were made worse when AOL would get their corporate tenacles into everything.
WCW, to start 1999, had terrible creative, expensive contracts, preferential treatment for Hulk Hogan always, unable to move on from NWO, and had zero youth movement worthwhile to replace any of the overpaid veterans besides Goldberg who turned out to have terrible 1999 and 2000 years for WCW. WCW was “dead already” by the time Vince Russo showed up and he lacked the support system in WCW that he had in WWE to help him succeed. Hence the utter chaos with a toxic culture there that couldn’t be fixed.
Obviously the 2001 WCW revival as part of the Invasion was botched, but so were the attempts during 2002.
I just think the magic was there for WCW from June 1996 through December 1997, and wrestling fans were ready to move on to the interesting things WWE was trying to do especially after Mike Tyson and Steve Austin got into a shoving match on RAW during January 1998. WCW refused to change and therefore began dying for the next 3 years.
I blame Eric Bischoff’s mismanagement of the company, following him joining the NWO during November 1996, and beginning to care too much about his on-screen character versus managing the company backstage as the #1 “killer” of WCW. I’ll debate that with anyone… Just watch Bischoff’s ego growing throughout 1997 and then being very repulsive throughout 1998.
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How are those 2024 predictions going?
Well, let’s take a look… Keep in mind that I write and post them on 12/31/25, as many things can happen during a calendar year and the last 3 years have been pure chaos with Vince McMahon’s unexpected drama erupting.
#1 – Vince McMahon will force his way back into the WWE or TKO, or sue them. I believe that I’m close on this one, but nothing has happened yet. Vince has formed his own company and seems to be doing something behind-the-scenes.
#2 – AJ Lee will return to the WWE and wrestle at least once. BOOM, point on this one. Called it.
#3 – WWE will change its Premium Live Event model and make it more expensive for WWE fans. DAMN, got this one too! $29.99 ESPN+ that will go up next year, compared to the much cheaper Peacock option.
#4 – Kevin Owens will be tempted to join AEW, but ultimately remains with WWE. Point, Owens signed a new 5-year WWE deal during February.
#5 – The Rock will perform, inside the ring, at Wrestlemania 41. Damn it, so wrong on this and very disappointed.
#6 – The Rock will hold a WWE World Title at least once during 2025. So very wrong on this.
#7 – Paul Heyman is definitely turning heel on Roman Reigns during 2025. POINT! Wrestlemania 41, baby!
#8 – WWE and TNA’s relationship will expand during 2025. BIG POINT, they are in a relationship with crossing over functions.
#9 – Shane McMahon will join AEW. Miss, but we were close. Negotiations did indeed happen, but Shane ultimately avoided them. I believe TKO struck a deal with him, quietly, to avoid jumping to AEW.
#10 – Demolition finally gets into the WWE Hall of Fame. Close. Both members signed a WWE Legends contract during February, but did not get into the Hall of Fame. I definitely think that 2026 is their year.
#11 – Major restructuring changes are in store for Warner Bros. Discover that will have an impact on AEW. KABOOM! Nailed this one to the wall! WBD has announced an attempt to split into 2 corporations, while also putting itself up for sale.
#12 – WWE and UFC will try to cross-promote, but it shall fail miserably. I’ll take it… Both promotions have tried to have locations in the same area, and while WWE is on a hot streak with attendance, I don’t see it as a boom for UFC. They have different fanbases.
#13 – Jordynne Grace will join AEW, not WWE. Total miss. But technically speaking, my “not WWE” is true as she’s stuck in the NXT promotion rather than the WWE one.
#14 – Tony Khan is going to shake up his back-stage management group. Point, just read this article, which describes him taking on more creative control. Several other stories posted throughout the year shows the EVPs are becoming even more negligible.
#15 – Cancel culture is coming for Triple H. I’m taking the point. The whole Hurt Business stuff kept coming from interviews, attempting to paint HHH as a “racist” again. Furthermore, lots of blame was coming HHH’s way for Wrestlemania 41’s ending and having “heat” with the Rock.
I’m scoring roughly 9 out of 15, but I think some of my predictions for 2025 were MASSIVE and landed. One of my better years, honestly, and I’d argue several of them are close to happening.
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What are your wrestling predictions for 2026?
Here we go…
#1 – Vince McMahon will announce a new promotion, either as wrestling, combat sports, or a rogue league of another sport.
#2 – Demolition into the Hall of Fame (finally)
#3 – WWE attendance will decline significantly.
#4 – Warner Bros. Discovery will be sold, but AEW will retain its TV deal.
#5 – Stephanie McMahon obtains an official executive title and job with TKO and WWE
#6 – TNA will be sold to WWE, officially
#7 – Chris Jericho will return to WWE
#8 – Saudi Arabia will make yet another large investment in WWE, whether that’s acquiring a piece of TKO or permanently buying Royal Rumble/Wrestlemania or just signing extensive deals to be the exclusive homes of those.
#9 – ESPN+ and Netflix will have a conflict over Netflix airing PLEs internationally
#10 – John Cena will be lured back for Wrestlemania 42
#11 – The Rock returns to WWE during 2026, begins to lay the groundwork for 2027 opportunities such as Wrestlemania 43
#12 – More Hollywood opportunities will come Roman Reigns’s way, thus making him less available during 2026 than he was during 2025
#13 – Brock Lesnar and Gunther will wrestle at multiple PLEs during 2026
#14 – “Tell-all” stories or books will come out on Triple H by former WWE employees, with some stories creating controversy.
And finally…
#15 – TKO will further automate their office and backstage operations, leading to considerable layoffs of WWE personnel during 2026.
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Mr. Tito’s LAST WORD: Folks, that all I have left my the basement for now. It was an absolute pleasure serving you for the past 27 years. THANK YOU to my readers and the websites who hosted me throughout these many years. For those who have hated me for many years, you’ll have to find someone else to kick around unless a massive news story brings me back from the shadows.
Until then, just chill till the next episode whenever that may be.
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ