ASK TITO: Pat McAfee's Greatness, WWE's NIL Program, Jeff Hardy's Release, CM Punk vs. MJF, Johnny Gargano's Future, and More

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter by going to the following link: @titowrestling

Welcome back to your weekend Excellence in Column Writing. It’s that time of year, the Holiday Season. For whatever you celebrate this month, enjoy it with friends & family to the best of your ability. Why? To quote the 1980’s rock band Cinderella, “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. If you lose a friend or family member, it’s permanent… All you have is memories, pictures, videos, or any personal belongings but their physical presence is gone. I lost a parent a few years ago and it still hurts to this day… If you have any Grandparents, Parents, brothers or sisters, or close friends… Cherish moments together because you never know when it could be your last moment physically with them.

With that said, not everyone is fortunate to have a loving family or a good friend system. Many people are quite lonely during this time of year and need a helping hand. If you see someone struggling, acknowledge them or lend a helping a hand. Just a little bit of shine can go a long way and give a few more moments to live for in an individual.

Speaking of inclusive, how lucky was the WWE to sign Pat McAfee as their WWE Smackdown announcer? What a great guy… Did you guys see his Announcement Video on YouTube? In short, Pat signed a new sponsorship deal with FanDuel worth millions and he practically gave it all away. And not just to his co-worker friends or his parents, but he gave millions to charities, hospitals, schools, and little league organizations. He did this before with a prior sponsorship deal, as he gave it away to his staff members… This time around, he went above and beyond and donated money to many great causes.

That is who the WWE signed to be their WWE Smackdown announcer… Pat McAfee is a quality human being who retired early as a NFL punter in order to build a sports media brand that keeps growing and growing. Think about what amazing goodwill that Pat just did for these FanDuel donations. For one, Pat obviously looks great for his donations and if you’ve listened to this good hearted guy for years, he’s NOT doing that for show. He’s 100% legit, as anybody in the Midwest or Pittsburgh area with humble beginnings are. Then you have FanDuel sponsoring the guy and look at what he does with the sponsorship money. Instead of keeping it for himself, he spreads that money around to his co-workers and many great causes. Goes to show you that FanDuel is backing the right guy and will continue to do so for many years.

As we move forward with the WWE, Pat McAfee is the kind of guy that the WWE needs more of to help the WWE grow for the future. Pat is a self-made man who built a sports media brand from scratch and has many great ideas to keep that brand growing. WWE needs that kind of thinking badly and should inquire if Pat is willing to sit in on a Creative or Production meeting on occasion… That, or at least provide some consulting if he hasn’t already. Pat McAfee is a big wrestling fan on top of being ambitious and hip to trends.

The reason why the WWE has deteriorated for the past 20 years because they have been hiring failed Hollywood writers or corporate yes-men. Nobody backstage has the care or concern to make the WWE product better but are in total fear of what Vince McMahon thinks instead. Furthermore, most of the corporate yes-men are just there to make money for short-term gains no matter how it wrecks the company long-term.

WWE lucked into getting one of the hottest sports media guys to announce their WWE Smackdown shows. Had the guy not been a wrestling fan and took chances on having wrestlers be on his popular daily radio/YouTube show, WWE wouldn’t have him. Then, one day, when the interview with Adam Cole goes wrong, it somehow creates a wrestling angle to help create a huge match on the following NXT Pay Per View. By luck, Pat McAfee bought a wrestling ring to place in his barn for fun and he actually received some legitimate in-ring training from Rip Rogers, one of the key Ohio Valley Wrestling trainers with Danny Davis and Jim Cornette during the 2000s. Obviously following Pat’s 2 NXT Takeover matches where he shined despite the lack of experience on a big wrestling stage, his foot is in the door to do something bigger. Pat McAfee is KILLING IT as the color commentator on WWE Smackdown.

WWE should seek out more guys like Pat McAfee to help revive the WWE brand and less corporate suits and Hollywood writers who obviously cannot cut it writing for TV shows or movies (so how could they succeed writing wresting shows???). People can hate on Nick Khan, but he’s ambitious and a risk taker… He’s changing how the WWE operates, looks at expenses, makes revenues from unlikely sources, and might be advising on how the WWE develops talent. Many people have tried to marginalize the talent cuts that Nick Khan may have advised on, but which wrestler released by the WWE from 2020-2021 has actually drawn big elsewhere? AEW has many on their roster and they are now drawing under 900,000 for AEW Dynamite.

WWE needs more “out of the box” thinkers working for them and NOT the same old guard (Vince, Triple H, Bruce, PS Hayes), NOT ex-Hollywood writers, and NOT corporate soul suckers.

Pat McAfee is a great dude and the WWE is lucky to have him on their shows.

Onto your questions…

———————————–

ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers

What are your thoughts on the WWE releasing Jeff Hardy?

It’s sad… Obviously, there is something going on and at the same time, Jeff Hardy is another victim of the wrestling business. Nobody backstage with the WWE during the early 2000s sat down with Jeff to maybe explain that dangerous dives and moves off of ladders and through tables might add up to major pain down the road. Reportedly, Michael PS Hayes was agenting the entire Hardys, Dudleys, and Edge/Christian feuds and was heavily encouraging the high risk stuff. It’s no surprise that Jeff needs to constantly self-medicate to keep his wrestling career going.

And if this was an act just to get out of a WWE contract to join All Elite Wrestling (AEW), then MAJOR Fingers of Shame should be given to not just Jeff Hardy, but AEW scheming to reunite the Hardy Boys just for the Young Bucks to get pins over them in tag team matches. What Jeff Hardy needs is medical attention attention while seeking legal advice regarding why the WWE created an environment that encouraged high risk moves to be taken. The high risk wrestlers of the late 1990s and early 2000s, who were encouraged to do the high risk stuff weekly, are the ones who influenced today’s style of wrestling which is nothing but high risk stunts. Meanwhile, wrestlers are getting hurt weekly because of this style.

It’s sad but at the same time, Jeff needs help and NOT the wrestling business to drag him back in. I wish him the best…

Now, if the recent match incident didn’t happen, would Hardy still be employed and obviously he would be. WWE likes having that household name around to keep the older fans happy. Other than that, there wasn’t much else the WWE could do with the 44 year old wrestler who has lots of mileage on that body. Many have suggested that maybe he’d get a quick Roman Reigns feud, but that would have been fun for a few weeks. He’s not the same guy, kind of like Vince Carter at the end of his NBA basketball career. He can still go, but he’s less effective and can’t quite hit the flashy moves any longer. At least with Vince, he evolved and tried to shoot 3 pointers to remain relevant whereas Jeff was still trying the same old act.

Best wishes to Jeff… Just get help for your body and that way it can reduce the need for self medication. Stop being in denial and start to focus WHY you are in so much pain daily. Unsafe working environment in the WWE began that pain and you could help Pro Wrestling turn back into a sane working environment where jumping through tables isn’t the norm.

*****

Do you think that CM Punk’s promo at this past AEW Dynamite show was beneficial?

I’m with the NoDQ Review guys on this one… The purpose of this promo was to get MJF over and I believe that has been the purpose of this feud. In my opinion, MJF will be the next AEW Champion. MJF will escape the CM Punk feud and Hangman Page will retain the AEW Title or have a back & forth with Bryan Danielson. In the end, Page will be champion and MJF will take the title from his hands.

While having CM Punk and Bryan Danielson around are nice, they aren’t homegrown and are not young. MJF is an AEW original wrestler and is very young. He’s the future of this business and utilizing CM Punk to help elevate him is smart. Especially after AEW botched his debut… I could see CM Punk putting over MJF and then snapping to turn into a heel himself afterward.

Make no mistake, the chips are probably going on MJF’s color and they should be. He’s the most talented guy on that roster right now with the most upside potential. Page as champion isn’t drawing, so it’s time to build his demise and MJF should be the one who defeats him to become the new AEW Champion. Then, just let MJF talk smack on the entire company…

*****

Where do you think that Johnny Gargano ends up?

It’s too crowded on that AEW roster, Impact is lousy, ROH is dying, and NWA is too small. Japan is too far away, especially when becoming a father soon. I believe that he’ll stay with the WWE and will debut for one of the main rosters soon. For one, he’s a guy that Triple H and HBK are probably fighting hard for and that will pay off. Secondly, I believe that the WWE misses having that “Daniel Bryan type worker” around. Now, Gargano isn’t quite as good as Bryan, but he could be reasonable.

But you have to add the Wife into the equation, too. Does she come back to Pro Wrestling? She’s 36 and she almost has 2 decades of in-ring experience.

I think that Gargano looks at the landscape and stays with the WWE… WWE has been a little too nice to him on his exit and gave him good TV time to end his NXT run. Maybe give him a weeks off to relax and recharge, then debut him with the WWE main roster by having him enter the 2022 Royal Rumble. That big pop on that Rumble entrance would be huge for some good early momentum with his new WWE digs. Then go from there…

Now, I could be totally wrong as I wrote this part of my column BEFORE Johnny signed up with Twitch to start streaming video games again (*facepalm*) and Pro Wrestling Tees. That suggests that he’ll be joining AEW…

*****

What is your opinion on WWE’s NIL program for recruiting future wrestling talents?

First of all, to understand what “NIL” is, you’ll have to understand how the landscape in college athletics has changed. “NIL” in the college world stands for “Name, Image, & Likeness”. A major Supreme Court ruling allowed the freedom of college athletes to be allowed to benefit financially from their “Name, Image, and Likeness”. In the past, athletes were beholden to their colleges and the NCAA, and thus if they opted to seek any financial opportunities outside of their scholarship, it was not only a penalty to them but to the college as well. Colleges have had to forfeit wins and bowl games due to a player trying to make money on the side. Meanwhile, the NCAA was making a fortune from merchandise, video games, television rights, etc., off of their scholarship players’ “Names, Images, & Likeness”.

Now that we’ve established that, what WWE “NIL” is “Next in Line”. It’s the WWE beginning to exploit the new “NIL” ruling in favor of college athletes and begin careers for potential future wrestlers AFTER they graduate college. In other words, these folks are still in college and will be utilizing WWE’s resources to potentially prepare them for life after college. This will likely cause each participant to try Pro Wrestling, as making professional sports is hard and in the case for Women, besides Golfers and Tennis players, a much more lucrative career choice.

This is a SMART decision by the WWE, if you ask me. They are creating a NCAA pipeline to the WWE with this “Next in Line (NIL)” program and will present to college athletes, who are just not good enough to make it to the pros (few are, actually), another athletic venue to become famous. NXT 2.0 is all about getting bigger and younger athletes and this NIL program will feed NXT 2.0 exactly what the WWE needs. In other words, the WWE is just repeating with Gerald Brisco and Jim Ross did 20-25 years ago. Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin were college amateur wrestlers when WWE began scouting them and made inquiries through their Minnesota University coach.

This is exactly what the WWE and Pro Wrestling needs… NEW PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROCESS! Sorry, but the current wrestling crop hasn’t produced any major stars since the early 2010s, if that. I made a comment the other day about “WWE needs more guys who shoved kids into lockers, not the kids who were shoved into lockers”… What’s happened is that the wrestling industry has been infiltrated with wrestling fans who became pro wrestlers and that was their only athletic outlet. However, when it comes to needing a locker room leader or someone who expresses confidence on the big wrestling stage, it comes up very short with many of these wrestlers. WWE needs to sign more ALPHA MALES who are not just “larger than life” in stature but in presence as well. Is there any doubt about how many heads ex-Football player the Rock or ex-Amateur Wrestler Brock Lesnar turn when both walk into a room? NO!

Most of the best pro wrestlers had some sort of athletic beginnings BEFORE Pro Wrestling. Steve Austin played sports throughout school, Rock played football for University of Miami, Roman Reigns played football for Georgia Tech, Brock Lesnar was an Amateur Wrestler, Kurt Angle was a very accomplished Amateur Wrestler… But if Pro Wrestling was your ONLY athletic endeavor, it leaves you shortchanged because rehearsing pro wrestling moves is ALL THAT YOU KNOW. Other intangibles about being a great athlete and obtaining confidence from your teammates is not there. The indies and especially AEW are full of guys whom their only athletic experience has been trying to become a pro wrestler. They were a fan first and then tried to live out their dream by only trying wrestling without any other sports background. THAT is the difference that I keep talking about.

You’ll think that I’m wrong but when WWE has a legitimate resurgence in 2023 with a whole bunch of new wrestlers that you haven’t seen before and at least 1 of them breaks out, that lightbulb of “hey, Tito was right” will come on. You’ll realize then that my criticisms of how Triple H was operating the NXT/Performance Center stuff from mid 2012 through 2019 was 100% right. You are NOT going to grow the WWE with talent who are older, come from lousy Impact wrestling, or who are inches away from being 6’0″ tall or are under 200 pounds. Just not happening and that’s why Triple H failed to generate a top drawing Main Eventer with his system. WWE is correcting that wrong now by signing wrestlers who are bigger and younger but now, they are aggressively going after NCAA athletes.

Big win for the WWE, in my opinion, and AEW better start having meetings with Jim Ross to figure out better ways to create pipelines into AEW. However, AEW has 4 Executive Vice Presidents who are overruling any input that Jim Ross could have and that’s why AEW’s roster is full of Indy or ex-WWE guys that WWE no longer wanted. This “WWE vs. AEW” feud is over in my mind and that’s because WWE is looking at things long-term while AEW tried to put all of their chips on short-term and failed big time by failing to capitalize on the big signings of Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk. Go ahead and sign those other ex-WWE wrestlers or raid Ring of Honor… Problem is the AEW system, just like the TNA system was the problem for many ex-WWE guys who tried to join that.

Good job, WWE… You might be interesting again in a few years. Anyone critical of this WWE NIL program doesn’t know what they are talking about and is too beholden to what they think is a thriving Indy scene.

That said, get better trainers at the WWE Performance Center or this could fail bigtime. Give Rip Rogers a phone call and utilize Paul Heyman’s services to train on Promo cutting.

*****

Are you retiring again?

I like the “again” part of the question. As I have been hinting at, “you don’t want to miss my 12/25, 12/28, and 12/31” columns and “I have no plans for 2022”, my run as Mr. Tito is coming to an end. It’s my personal choice, as I’m struggling to enjoy watching Pro Wrestling here in 2021 and the way that AEW fumbled the debuts of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole were my “last straw”. WWE is unwatchable to me and my only hope was that AEW couldn’t screw up these 3 major free agent signings. Well, they did, and the surrounding AEW is still utter crap.

It’s become that “Mr. Tito” is my only thread holding me together as a Pro Wrestling fan and I want to snip that final thread completely. I almost fully walked away like this during 2018, as many long-time readers will recall, but then AEW’s arrival of HOPE brought me back for 2019. But AEW has failed me and WWE has become worse, somehow. As good as some of the Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns stuff have been on WWE Smackdown, you get goofy segments like Lesnar joking with Sami Zayn that was total cringe. They can’t even book their last remaining top stars correctly. Meanwhile, AEW is just not jumping off the page with their booking and the refuse to correct any wrestlers who have bad habits.

I want to strongly emphasize this… NoDQ has been GREAT to me, particularly its owner Aaron Rift. If Pro Wrestling was at least reasonable or decent to watch, I would still be writing for NoDQ through 2023, at least. I was hoping to make “25 years as Mr. Tito” and then go from there. Certainly, I was hoping to do more video content, but negotiations with other parties always fell through on their end. However, that didn’t let me down because I could still write columns, which I love to personally do and have been doing as a volunteer basis since 1998. That’s right, Aaron Rift or LoP’s Calvin Martin have never paid me a dime for doing these 4,000 columns or so that I’ve produced for them.

So basically, if the Pro Wrestling part of it isn’t fun, then why am I writing about it? I’ve got a major personal project about to blossom for 2022 and that’s where I want to focus my creative energies, especially if that becomes a potential lucrative career. In addition, my professional workload has significantly increased and I’ve been dipping deeper into those early mornings that I’ve been writing columns lately. I find myself writing most of “Ask Tito” on Saturday mornings and the Tuesday columns on Sunday nights. If wrestling isn’t good enough for me to care, then I don’t want to utilize what remains of my free time to write about boring wrestling.

I know, I’m the “Brett Favre of Pro Wrestling columnists” by retiring a few times. Let’s quickly explain those retirements, shall we?

– Mid 2006 – I retired because I just bought a home, was about to get married, and took up a new job. This one actually lasted until early 2010 when I began writing non-wrestling blogs for Lords of Pain’s new Blogs Forum section. Then, one day I decided to review RAW during like March 2010 and it was well received…

– Late 2011 – I was mad at the WWE for the “Summer of Punk” stuff but I was also internally sabotaged by other columnists at Lords of Pain. I was posting on the Blogs Forum there and I was outdrawing them significantly in views. They spammed that Blogs Forum with the intent of ruining that platform that made me successful. I quickly came back for 2012 and decided to show them who the real columnist was… After 2 years of trying to compete with me, most of them left LoP and have never returned (well, 1 returned after I joined NoDQ).

– Late 2018 – I had enough of the WWE and was burned out from writing about it. True story, I almost joined NoDQ during 2018 but I opted to hang it up instead because I was tired of the WWE. Then, AEW arrived and revived me. Then, I joined NoDQ during 2020.

Technically speaking, twice… That 2011 thing was just internal sabotage, as after I posted the “CM Punk is buried”, I had mad momentum at that time as I was the only one who called that internal sabotage of CM Punk in the WWE early and others hated it.

So basically, this is 2018 all over again because what I hoped would “save” wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, isn’t happening and I’m tired about writing about 2 lousy wrestling promotions. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and told Aaron Rift of my intentions of the 12/31 Predictions column being my last column via private messages on October 23rd. Many of you have noticed the pure rage that I’ve had against both WWE and AEW in my columns lately… Well, now you know. The end is near, pro wrestling has lost another dedicated fan, possibly one of the most dedicated ever…

This is the last time that I speak about any said “retirement”, as there will be NO retirement speeches, just straight-up columns. 12/25 will be my annual Wrestling Wishlist column, 12/28 will just be a hate filled column about my disgust on pro wrestling, and then 12/31 shall be my annual Predictions column. I’m going out with a BANG, baby, and will hold nothing back in those columns, particularly that 12/28 column with some “Bad Tito” elements thrown in.

As I keep saying repeatedly, THANK YOU to all of my readers, both long-time and ones I have gained recently. I write these columns for YOU, as proven by my insanity to refused to be paid to write these things. Also thank you to Calvin Martin and Aaron Rift for giving me amazing platforms to post columns unfiltered and with full freedom of speech. Both have been great to me and kept me loyal to their sites.

That’s it, not another word… I’m just going to write my columns and when that 12/31 Predictions column posts, that will be my last one. And then, I’m fully disconnecting as Mr. Tito. If you need me, copy my email address from above and I’ll still be keeping that email active.

Show is still going to go on until 12/31… You’ll still get 2 columns per week from me and then 12/25’s Wish List, the interesting 12/28 column, and the finale with my 12/31 annual predictions column. All straight-up wrestling columns, no retirement drama.

I love you guys!

So just chill… Until the next episode!

Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments.

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ASK TITO: Pat McAfee’s Greatness, WWE’s NIL Program, Jeff Hardy’s Release, CM Punk vs. MJF, Johnny Gargano’s Future, and More