ASK TITO: Follow-up on Tessa Blanchard, WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 Predictions, Ryan Nemeth, and More
The Excellence in Column Writing is back in your face to answer questions sent in by readers via email, social media, and the comments below with a focus on current events. Here’s a tip for any would-be columnists out there… Nobody cares about retro columns. There’s only 1 guy who does it well, Mr. Scott Keith of RSPWFAQ, but outside of him, nobody cares about your opinions on the past or past events. If you want eyeballs, stick to current events and grow a pair of balls to take a position and stick with it.
For example, last week’s column about Tessa Blanchard following TNA fans chanting ”she’s a racist” at her. While fans have the right to chant whatever they want, I found it ignorant to chant something like that rather than giving Tessa a second chance to succeed. She used a slur and spat on a fellow wrestler during 2017, which was reported on during 2020, and has been blacklisted ever since. My point was that she lost enough of her peak years as punishment and deserves second chances, JUST LIKE EVERYONE. Especially for words or just being an a-hole, compared to the many second chances given to people who have committed actual crimes.
Many wrestlers have been pulled over by the police for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) for driving a vehicle while impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Why aren’t you chanting “D-U-I” at those wrestlers? Why aren’t you chanting “drugs” every times said person throws a punch?
And why aren’t those wrestlers cancelled for getting a DUI? Does it take actually hitting someone and then killing them, like Tammy Sytch, to cancel them? Is that what it takes?
So we’ll cancel Tessa for words, but not anyone using a vehicle as a potential weapon while using illegal substances or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol?
And let me go a step further… Everybody loves Jacob Fatu and I’m incredibly happy that he’s in the WWE… But it took a while for him to get there. Why? Not because of his wrestling talents, but for robbery at the age of 18. Everybody chalks that up to Fatu “being a kid” and “making a mistake” while he was younger. I 100% agree with that, as Fatu’s story is a great one of redemption and he’s a tremendous asset to the WWE. But why can’t Tessa Blanchard’s words and spitting at the age of 22 be forgiven?
I see tons of hypocrisy with pro wrestling fans and they have some bizarre trance that has them fully against giving Tessa a second chance. Maybe it’s because their indy darling female favorites hate Tessa and they’ve been given instructions to hate her?
Either way, my Tessa Blanchard column did well because it was a current events column that had an opinion that you knew was 100% legit and right, even if you had to swallow your pride and act like you disagreed with it. Right O’Shea Jackson Jr., who took a swipe at NoDQ and my column? You know, the guy who literally portrayed his father in the Straight Outta Compton film smashing up someone’s office with a baseball bat which happened in real life. Good thing that Ice Cube was given a second chance over those antics to continue making great music, that we all love, while positively contributing to society insomuch that we can just laugh at him smashing up someone’s office with a baseball bat. That and he was able to provide and be a great father to you. See how second chances work, O’Shea?
Everybody has made mistakes as a teenager and in their 20s as their brains are still fully forming through the age of 26. Thus, give them a second chance to prove themselves. Now, if Tessa continues past behavior, then I’m 100% in agreement with you that she’s unfit to exist in the wrestling business.
Guarantee that most of you reading this said or did horrible things to other people, or used language that is deemed inappropriate now. Hell, just spreading gossip on someone does a ton of damage to reputations. And again, I see what many of you monsters post on Social Media about other people and it’s repulsive and disgusting.
Have I made my point, especially to those who just over-react to the headlines without reading the F’N column?
On to your questions.
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What are your Elimination Chamber predictions?
I agree with a prediction said on the recent NoDQ Review with Cody Rhodes telling the Rock “NO” to his proposition and then the winner of the Elimination Chamber will become the Rock’s apt pupil for his new corporation stable. If that angle happens, I believe CM Punk will use his “Paul Heyman favor” to have Heyman negotiate a sell-out deal with the Rock to help him win the Elimination Chamber. Then, we’ll have major heat with Cody vs. Punk for Wrestlemania 41 and a credible reason for Cody to drop the title.
I see the pros and cons with John Cena turning heel and being the Rock’s buddy, but I just don’t see it being a long-term thing and seems like WWE wants to cash-in with Cena’s retirement merchandise.
CM Punk wins the Men’s Elimination Chamber…
I am struggling to predict the Women’s Match. Though I’d LOVE to see Bianca Belair win it and give us the big match with Rhea, I think their match needs more time to build it up. Just doesn’t feel right and I sense that Jade Gargill will cause something to happen. Rhea is a babyface, so I could see Liv Morgan sneaking out with the win and causing Rhea and Liv to be milked one more time. Personally, I’d love to see Alexa Bliss just get a bigtime match and see what she can do with a workhorse like Rhea. But I’ll predict Liv.
Kevin Owens will win in controversial fashion to prompt a rematch with Zayn at Wrestlemania 41. That or Randy Orton helps Zayn win and sets up Orton vs. Owens instead. Take your pick.
I don’t know on the Tiffany Stratton/Trish Stratus vs. Nia Jax/Candice LaRae. Congrats to Candice for getting a big PPV match… I could see Trish and Tiffany winning, but then Tiffany turning on Trish immediately after the match or maybe on the next TV show. I think that Tiffany vs. Trish vs. Charlotte could be a possibility for WM 41, as Charlotte just isn’t getting any traction. Plus, her and Trish mixing it up would be interesting.
Looks to be a good show.
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Thoughts on Ryan Nemeth’s lawsuit against AEW, Tony Khan, and CM Punk?
If you’re willing to put forth the legal costs and the time, anybody can file a lawsuit. But if you’re willing to waste money and time, you can also be laughed out of court.
Fact is that Tony Khan paid Nemeth the agreed upon money to provide wrestling services for AEW. That part has been fulfilled and thus AEW/Tony should be off the hook. Just because Tony didn’t use you as a wrestler doesn’t mean he didn’t pay you to literally do nothing. And at any point, you could have requested your release from said relationship with AEW and he’d probably let you go, given that anytime they used you, it just didn’t make any traction.
CM Punk was holding you down, eh? That’s funny, as wrestlers don’t have access to the creative process. Sure, AEW Collision was “Punk’s show”, but not really. It was just a brand split show and a terrible one at that. Tony and the EVPs make decisions around AEW, and so thus any lawsuits should be aimed their way and not a fellow independent contractor.
It will get thrown out of court, or Tony will settle it so that discovery of AEW won’t publicly happen due to this lawsuit.
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What do you think Vince McMahon’s next move will be?
He has formed his entertainment company and many are wondering what he’ll do… In my mind, he’s going to create a per-event promotion for pro wrestling and maybe consider boxing. I could see him purchasing the rights to NWA from Billy Corgan and then amplifying that with single-night Pay Per Views rather than a traveling promotion. Vince knows that it takes YEARS to build up a traveling event promotion, especially on the scale that he specifically wants it, but holding Quarterly Pay Per Views would work better for his energy and age while not fully competing with WWE.
Brock Lesnar would headline Vince’s periodical Pay Per Views, too… And if someone likes what they’ll see, they’ll make financial offers to Vince to make it full time. Plenty of billionaires out there, and will likely be growing those numbers in the next 4 years, for Vince to utilize and not specifically spend his money.
I also think that Vince sees potential on boxing to make spectacle events… If the Pauls can drive millions to watch their boxing events, then maybe Vince can do more with that sport. Plus, Vince tried to be a boxing promoter during the 1980s with his Titan Sports and didn’t do too well. Vince never forgets and loves to keep trying.
Vince buying the NWA and turning it around would be icing on the cake for him after defeating them in the past and now he’s buying them.
So, I’m predicting one-off wrestling Pay Per Views and maybe some boxing, only going weekly if a television partner is willing to join him.
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Do you think there is opportunity to do USA vs. Canada feuds due to recent events?
Actually, you may be able to get away with USA vs. the World based on what happened yesterday. Geesh. I can only imagine Ronald Reagan turning in his grave based on how his party now positions itself for Russia rather than calling them the “evil empire”.
Honestly, I wouldn’t bring international matters into the WWE at this point. People are way too sensitive today versus 30-40 years ago when most everyone was on the same page. And the Hart Foundation angle only came about because you had Bret Hart and he was legitimately getting cheered in Canada while Shawn Michaels was receiving boos. And Bret had deep and well known ties to Canada, while having his family members in the stable with him. You don’t quite have that infrastructure now.
A few years ago, they tried the “We the People” angle with Jack Swagger and while they tried to push him as a heel, many in the audience cheered for him. Then, you have a case with Hulk Hogan getting booed out of the Los Angeles Monday Night RAW on Netflix’s first night.
Wrestling needs to be a total escape from reality. Let’s worry about fighting over who is the “head of the table” rather than inserting international affairs into the equation. Besides, it’s cheap heat to mention world events, anyway, and shows a lack of creativity with your creative team. Watching the news is completely depressing, along with certain sports *cough*NBA*cough* injecting politics to make the experience miserable instead of enjoying the competition. Thus, Pro Wrestling needs to focus on being entertaining for anyone that tunes in and you can do a wide range of antics for heels to do rather than supporting a political cause.
With every vote now being 50/50, it’s not worth pissing off half of your audience with a political or xenophobic angle. Try being more creative than that.
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Should female wrestlers be allowed to keep their Only Fans accounts?
I think about OnlyFans the same way that I did with the Playboy deals… Does that answer your question? While WWE thinks websites like OnlyFans is inappropriate, one could argue that placing their talents in a magazine that reached more people than OnlyFans was inappropriate. Yet, during the 2000s, they did it often. And WWE got a piece of the action.
So if WWE got a piece of the OnlyFans action, then maybe it would be allowed… But WWE has morphed into a “family friendly” corporation since the late 2000s, notably when they began letting Comcast and their sponsors dictate their content and who was employed. Remember, it was Mattel who had a hissy fit when Mandy Rose was found out to be making OnlyFans content and then the WWE terminated her.
I have no problem with it… OnlyFans isn’t widely available and takes money to observe it… There’s enough protections there to keep the kiddies out of it.
That said, I’d be cautious of any WWE female joining OnlyFans if that were available. The more you open the door to the fans, the more stalkers that will develop. This is one of the reasons why I’m against wrestlers getting too close to fans on Social Media, as loners will begin to believe there is a relationship between someone liking their posts. That obsession only strengthens the more you bare it all on OnlyFans.
Many male fans can get too attached, as I mentioned above, Pro Wrestling is their escape from reality. When reality sucks and communicating via Social Media or tuning into OnlyFans are pleasing to them as escapes, that can create a dangerous emotional bonds. Hence why I understand why any female wrestler is very cautious when dealing with fans.
In the end, WWE and AEW just need to pay their talents more money and cover more of their travel, lodging, and food. Provide healthcare and create pension funds, too. Quit underpaying your talents who are sacrificing their bodies in the ring.
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