ASK TITO: John Cena’s WWE RAW Promo, Nails in Jon Moxley’s Back, Alexa Bliss Not at WM 41?, and More
The Excellence in Column Writing is back and we’re here to provide snappy answers to your questions sent to me via email, social media, and the comments section below. Folks, I don’t need to say that “I TOLD YOU SO” about All Elite Wrestling (AEW), but I literally TOLD YOU SO in my LAST COLUMN on 3/14 following the spotfests and hardcore matches featured on AEW Revolution. Here is exactly what I said, word for word, on 3/14:
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True rock and roll music story for you… Years ago, there was a 1980s hairband called W.A.S.P. and you can look up what those letters stand for, if you wish. Like most 80s hairbands, they were glorified pop bands who drew people to the arena based on presentation for the most part because honestly, their music wasn’t that good. Presentation would include larger speakers, pyrotechnics, and other adult-themed antics that made the 1980s so fun as a decade to grow up in… WASP was heavy into the pyrotechnics, though, and overdid it one night trying to compete with other bands of the time.
WASP’s lead singer was named Blackie Lawless and one night, he put on a device around his waist that would allow him to shoot fireworks from his crotch. Quite a ridiculous idea, I know, as what if something were to go wrong with that device? We’ll, you’d have a cooked hotdog. And that’s exactly what happened! While on the stage, the device malfunctioned and gave Blackie various degree burns on his crotch. OUCH!
The best part was afterward, when medics were treating him backstage. Blackie screamed at the band “I wouldn’t have to do this if we wrote better songs!”
And THAT is how I feel about All Elite Wrestling (AEW). They are the equivalent of a BAD 1980s hairband who will do anything for attention, even if it injures the wrestlers.
I keep hearing the AEW marks raving about what a GREAT show AEW Revolution was and when you look at the highlights, your eyes get big from the bloody messes and the big spots off the cage. But after that event, will you remember it? By AEW Dynamite, most people will have moved on because they are so desensitized by the violence, high spots, and the high speed tempo that Tony Khan enables of his wrestlers.
But do you know what everyone remembers and are still talking about to this day? John Cena turning heel on Cody Rhodes to join the Rock’s “corporation” heading into Wrestlemania 41. That wasn’t even a match, as it was supposed to be a segment where Cody Rhodes and John Cena stare down after John Cena won the Elimination Chamber. Then, the Rock comes out and the rest was history… Cody turns down the Rock’s offer and John Cena double-crosses Cena. When your heel turn is so good that it prompts many sports medias to cover it but many people meming it to represent the Trump/Vance vs. Zelenskyy meeting, you’ve hit a homerun.
Like WASP couldn’t write good songs, AEW cannot write good creative.
Want to know what draws beyond 10,000 for big Pay Per Views or more than 4,000 seats for television shows? CHARACTERS.
AND doing MORE WITH LESS.
Want to know why the Rock and John Cena have stayed very healthy into their 40s and 50s, besides whatever pharmaceutical goods they allegedly are taking? Because they relied on CHARACTER while wrestling a very safe style inside the ring. In fact, both the Rock and John Cena were very careful with their opponents and rarely injured their opponents. Furthermore, tickets were sold to their matches based on what they did BEFORE the event to hype the show versus what they may do inside the ring.
Nobody is interested in Okada, Will Ospreay, Mercedes Mone, MJF, Adam Copeland, or the majority of AEW’s roster’s characters. We have zero attachment to any of them… The closed one we associate with, who is preserved and healthy is Christian because he dedicates himself to be a CHARACTER on-screen rather than being too dependent on the energy he brings inside the ring for his matches.
Sure, AEW Revolution was a fun ride, but what do they have to show for it after that event? Eventually, that sugar high of violent or spotty matches wears off and results in lower attendance or buyrates per show. AEW is in their 6th year as a promotion and have spent millions building that roster, yet their attendance, viewership, buyrates, and merchandise sales are LOWER now than just a few years ago. They are declining and are lucky that a high debt Warner Bros. Discovery is desperate for live sporting content or else they’d really be screwed. With WBD carrying like $45 billion in debt and reportedly looking to sell their channels and maybe even key properties, there’s no guarantee that a deal will be available with WBD in 5 years.
With John Cena’s heel turn, which was not during a match but a segment, we’re all curious as to what happens next. And at high ticket prices, fans are willing to pay a metric ton to see what happens next.
Characters and doing more with less.
Very simple formula, Tony.
To quote Bill Hicks, AEW should be focusing on “Evolution” rather than “Revolution”. Stop this high spot dangerous in-ring style and focus on creating characters who can draw money by doing less.
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And now we have Jon Moxley with NAILS in his back from his recent FREE television match on AEW Dynamite against Adam Copeland.
First of all, Adam Copeland, where the hell are you as a veteran? You should tell Moxley and AEW management that you’re NOT going to slam Moxley on freakin’ nails. That spinal cord is quite important to your body, as are all of the organs in the middle of your torso. How can you call yourself a “wrestling veteran” when you go along with this dangerous crap? By being the enabler to bad behavior, you’re downgrading your legendary status as a wrestler. That guy we all respected in WWE who built up his name and character for decades is now another hardcore wrestling mark. What a shame… I understand that you’re cashing paychecks that probably exceed what I’ll make in a lifetime, but have some dignity and grow some balls in influence some much needed change in AEW. AEW needs a locker room leader instead of another yes-man.
To Jon Moxley… You were a GREAT AEW champion, even with the damn COVID pandemic happening during your title reign. Wasn’t your fault, but you did your best to hold the company together through 2020. Your free agent signing helped legitimize AEW from the start… But since about 2022, you’ve gone back to your independent ways of wanting to do violent hardcore matches. Sorry, but bleeding often cheapens the impact of when it could happen to make a storyline point. Instead, you’ve over-exposed that to the point where bleeding isn’t credible, at all, in AEW especially when morons are leaning against the wall and punching themselves in the head (right Christopher Daniels?). What the hell, man?
Violent matches, always bleeding, and now, having nails sticking into your back and being willing to do that. You have a beautiful and caring wife with Renee and she has given you the gift of fatherhood with your daughter. AEW has pays you a guaranteed contract worth millions that won’t be expiring anytime soon. Why risk all of that just in attempt to shock the audience when you have the personality and in-ring talent to impress them with much less effort? You’re doing long-term damage to your body and actually risking death when it comes to jamming nails into the middle section of your back which could damage your spine or organs.
And SCREW YOU Tony Khan for being the complete enabler to this hardcore garbage. One of these days, someone is going to DIE or BREAK THEIR NECK on your watch and that’s going to be your legacy. Not your terrible booking, which causes the need for all of these lousy hardcore matches, but the piss poor management of your own talent. When any of them wants to do something violent, simply tell them “NO”. Don’t give them any ideas, either.
But AEW has this culture of enabling their wrestlers to become risks to themselves and Tony seems to get off on the SHOCK VALUE of his matches having violence or high spots. And for what? Risking LOSING sponsors or television providers just to pop less than 700,000 viewers and less than 4,000 fans in attendance? If you start losing sponsors, you’re screwed, and you’re with a Warner Bros. Discovery who just let the NBA go and has completely neglected their many great Warner Bros. properties. Once some of those sponsors start backing off, the pain will begin because their TV deal with WBD is the only thing keeping the lights on and Papa Khan isn’t going to fully burn more of his own money to keep this going.
For any AEW fans who think that driving nails into Moxley’s back is “great”, FINGER OF SHAME to you. You’re not a wrestling fan, as you’re someone thirsty for blood violence of other human beings in an unprofessional manner. You’re sick in the head, actually…
And don’t give me “ECW did this 25 years ago”. Did they? Because I seem to remember ECW being character driven, as everyone on that roster had a purpose and a connection made to the fans through their personality and promos. Any violence that happened had a storyline reason and everyone, besides New Jack, looked for ways to safely pull off stunts that looked real. Ever hear any ECW talk lately? They are all coherent and some of them did a ton of self-medicating, yet they are still able to speak with actual thoughts. Why? Because they were more careful than you think… For every barbed wire match or stunts through tables, they had more in-ring action than they get credit for doing. That allowed ECW wrestlers like Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Dudleys, Tazz, Rob Van Dam, Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, Public Enemy (in WCW), Al Snow, Stevie Richards, and many others to easily translate into careers in WCW or WWE. WWE only selectively signs AEW wrestlers, most of which had prior WWE experience.
AEW is a toxic workplace with a terrible owner, terrible EVPs, and shows zero care or concern for its employees. The wrestlers there deserve better, while also need protection from themselves as well.
The nails in Moxley’s back could have been easily prevented if Adam Copeland stepped up and said “no” to both Moxley and Tony, while Moxley could have said “no” to Tony if that was his idea. Instead, stupidity like this will drive nails in AEW’s coffin.
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ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers
What did you think of John Cena’s promo on Monday Night RAW?
It was fantastic and it cut deep into the WWE fanbase… Cena is “all in” with this heel turn, as I was worried at first when he said “I’m not a babyface, I’m not a heel, but I’m a human” but then proceeded to not only rip those who hated him, but the longtime fans who supported him.
Loved the Brussels crowd and their chants made it better… Man, WWE is finding some incredibly hot crowds in Europe lately.
My issue, and I 100% agree with Stevie Richards on this, is what Cody Rhodes did… Excuse me, what he DIDN’T do. If someone attacks you the way John Cena did, you go out there and kick his arse. You don’t grab a microphone and just talk to them. Cody looks like a CHUMP out there, wanting the “REAL John Cena” to return. Huh? Didn’t he throw away the “real John Cena” by attacking Cody and aligning himself with the Rock?
That would be like Sting in 1996, after Bash at the Beach 1996, cutting a promo on a heel Hulk Hogan and saying that the “real Hulk Hogan” should return. No, Sting knew that Hulk Hogan was well beyond the point of return and he had to ponder his next move. Then when WCW thought he joined the NWO, he walked away from both groups of traitors and formed the Crow Sting. In other words, he changed and did something different than what a scripted babyface would do.
Stupid, stupid, stupid… Easy to see what happens next and that’s the “real” John Cena returning next week or sometime soon, and luring Cody into a trap that he’ll obviously fall into. Bloody beatdown of Cody will follow.
I spoke about this HEAVILY for the build-ups of both Wrestlemania 39 and 40, as the columns are out there to read… Cody isn’t a great promo, as both Roman and Paul Heyman talked circles around him. However, Cody is liked by many fans because he’s Dusty’s son, he bolted AEW, and he’s a good guy who is highly respected. On top of that, he’s had some amazing breaks with the Seth feud, winning the Rumble TWICE in a row, feuding with the Bloodline at their peak, mixing it up with the Rock, and now feuding with John Cena during his heel turn. Scary part is that John Cena has to keep cutting scathing promos to keep blossoming as a heel instead of holding back to help subsidize Cody Rhodes as a babyface.
Cena’s promo was an A+, while Cody’s response gets a C+. Just not that strong or authentic on the mic for Cody and again, why wouldn’t he want to just attack Cena versus just talking to him? Babyface John isn’t coming back, at least for the moment. Maybe it plants seeds for Cena to snap out of it later, but for now, WWE is running with heel Cena because they literally have nothing else going for it.
Hence why multiple Triple Threat matches are being booked for Wrestlemania.
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Should John Cena have changed his look and/or music?
Cena addressed it in his promo about the marks wanting to dress like him and “that’s my voice” and “my time is now” alluded to on the theme.
Many, including me, were expecting an overhaul of everything… Yet, Cena in the same outfit can change his character simply by cutting a GREAT promo. That’s the talent of John Cena, as he’s been getting incredibly over since late 2002 when he finally gained confidence in his microphone skills on the WWE stage.
Cena proved in one promo that talent matters, no matter what they are wearing, what the theme music is, and what the gimmick is.
But I think there is magic in Cena sticking it to the fans by refusing to change the look and music. “I’m breaking up with you”.
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Do you think that Alexa Bliss will miss Wrestlemania 41?
There’s always a multiple-person match shoved into Wrestlemania…
But I’ll call it now… Alexa Bliss is the #1 most over female in the company and I’d further argue that Liv Morgan is still the #1 heel for the women. Why aren’t they featured in the top female matches? I can make the same argument about CM Punk and Roman Reigns being sidelined in a non-title match at Wrestlemania 41.
Honestly, I’m giving up on why women are here one minute, and then gone for weeks or months the next. I realize that some have families while not being as durable as men inside the ring, but the extensive time that’s given off to them has been fascinating lately. WWE went from a work 300+ days per year at minimum to working half the year, at most.
Sorry, but I’m pushing Liv or Alexa over Iyo Sky any day of the week. I’d argue both are equally as good of workers as Sky, while both have 30 million times the personality and charm as Sky as well.
We could have had Bianca and Rhea blowing the minds of WWE fans in Las Vegas, but this Iyo Sky wet dream of Triple H and WWE marks got in the way.
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Should Kamala get into the WWE Hall of Fame?
Do we need filler spots in the Hall of Fame?
Look, I like the gimmick of Kamala and it worked really well for almost 30 years… But he was a midcarder. God bless his soul, as Kamala passed away during August 2020 as COVID-19’s symptoms preyed on his existing health issues. But he was always a midcarder for larger promotions and was never pushed seriously to the top.
Kamala was also part of the same concussion lawsuit that Demolition was on during the 2010s… Instead of promoting the more worthy wrestlers to the Hall of Fame recognition, especially as they are still alive to accept it, you’ll promote the midcarder from that same lawsuit. Goes to show you how afraid the WWE is for anyone to speak ill about the WWE on the microphone during the ceremony.
WWE needs to stop treating their Hall of Fame like children’s sports. Not everyone deserves a trophy.
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Should Sting be allowed to induct Lex Luger into the WWE Hall of Fame?
Of course, it’s just a Hall of Fame induction and it’s for Lex Luger, Sting’s longtime friend. Simple as that.
Now, the same AEW marks who LOVE seeing Jon Moxley get nails driven into his back will say “Sting is under AEW contract” and “what has WWE done lately to help AEW?”. Well, I’d say that WWE’s existence during 2018 helped create the desire for an alternative promotion to be created and thrive for the first few years. How about that, Dave Meltzer? How about letting go many top wrestlers that you’ve signed? Moxley, Jericho, Mercedes, Christian, and others? Lowballing Okada, Omega, and Ospreay allowed you to overpay for them and WWE could have outbid you…
It’s one thing if WWE wanted Sting to wrestle… It’s another just to help honor his friend.
For Luger, it HAS to be Sting. Nobody else had Luger’s back like the Stinger and their love for each other runs deep for decades.
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Should I buy TKO stock?
Sigh, here we go again with this reader question… If you have a spare $149 per share to spend, you can do whatever you want. Anything that I advise here is at your own risk and expense.
Personally for me, purchasing stocks should NOT a short-term thing unless you have absolute skill in the ability in buying stocks at the bottom of their declines. That’s hard to map out, as you never know when any change in Federal Reserve policy, Presidential policies, a major corporation posting good or bad earnings, or an international event that affects supply could affect things. Lately, the threat of trade wars thanks to implementing excessive tariffs have caused massive fluctuations in the market.
Stocks, for those who aren’t hardcore with statistics and algorithms, should be a long-term investment. Buy a stock of a solid corporation that is low on debt, has goods/services that will always be in demand, and has the ability to re-invent itself as needed. When a company like that sees a drop in their stock price, that’s when you strike… Then, you just sit on that stock for like 5-10 years as it gains naturally in value or gets pumped up when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates. During that 5-10 years, you’ll be able to collect dividends, too… So you’ll gain extra cash with dividends and then gain in the stock’s price, and then ultimately cash out when the time is right (be aware of the capital gains tax, yo).
The Stock Market is NOT a game for the weak or inexperienced… Large financial institutions are using computer technology and now artificial intelligence to know when to buy and sell stocks all day long. How in the hell can you and your Excel spreadsheets compete with that?
When considering TKO stock, you’d possibly buy it on the belief that WWE, UFC, Bullriding, and maybe other sports that they’ll invest within will be here for the next 20 years. And then you’ll turn to TKO’s financials and see lots of revenue coming in from each artery, but they have a metric ton of debt that is coming due soon. They peaked recently at $176 per share, too, which appears that the stock could be underpriced. However, both WWE and UFC are expense and personnel heavy, with lots of liability due to talents getting injured. I’d also want to know the succession plans for both Dana White and Triple H, as I have concerns about that (Nick Khan, too). Businesses need to have clearly defined organizational charts if and when they lose significant managers.
Personally, I usually look at 52-week highs versus lows and then review financials for those who appear to be at the lows for a bargain. TKO’s low was $82, so thus $149 may be still a little high.
But I don’t know. Be careful with your money, and in my opinion, keep enough savings or cash to allow yourself to survive for 6 months if you can. If you can’t meet that standard, review your expenditures and consider any changes. I see lots of turbulence in the markets right now with the trade wars going against points where consumers have high credit card debt and depleted savings accounts.
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