ASK TITO: Randy Orton’s New WWE Deal, Warner Bros. Discovery Problems, AEW All In, and More

(Title photo was AI generated, FYI…) And it’s been a while, since I have written a column for NoDQ… Welcome back to Ask Tito where I provide my snappy answers to your questions provided via social media, email, or the comments below with a preference on current events questions. Been a busy month for yours truly, as many don’t realize what a workhorse yours truly is in real life. Look at how hard working I am as a columnist, but think about that as a cog in a professional financial machine.

In addition to being busy, I’m going to be totally honest… I don’t have much to write about lately. WWE is hitting on all cylinders and I just don’t feel that I’m at a point where I can advise them. They are executing better than I could ever imagine for a modern wrestling company. Even the goofy Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax segment the other night on WWE Smackdown. Aaron Rift was telling me that it reminded him of the Vince McMahon booking days, but it was totally giving me the vibes of the Rock joining the Nation of Domination. Nia is the Queen just as Farooq (Ron Simmons) was the leader of the Nation, while a young upstart (Rock then, Tiffany now) began pushing their own ideas to make them totally miserable. Eventually, Nia Jax is either going to get frustrated and turn on Tiffany or Tiffany will turn on Nia. Either way, it will be compelling.

Think about this… Triple H’s WWE has FIXED Nia Jax. How about that? You didn’t see that coming.

Everybody is thriving in the WWE, as the culture has been fixed to be welcoming to most wrestlers and the creative has actual logic behind it. I’m just sitting back and enjoying it, without any cynical eyes watching on how I’d prefer it to be. No, I’m now in the mindset of “what will they do next” with real excitement to see the next show. Jacob Fatu just attacked Roman Reigns and I’m excited to see what happens next.

On the flip side, I could write many columns on why AEW is a complete dumpster fire… SO MUCH that I could comment on, from the Observer Boys being total hypocrites in how they cover WWE vs. AEW, MJF saying questionable things on social media, or to the awful booking that is place for the main event and women’s scenes. I watched AEW Dynamite in full this week while I was on the road and I was just cringing at the Mercedes segment and the use of their Kamille as her bodyguard. Complete and utter crap.

I love how Dave Meltzer has been blaming AEW Dynamite’s LESS THAN 700,000 viewership on the NBA Playoffs first and then the Olympics. Excuse me, but hasn’t AEW Dynamite been head-to-head with the Olympics before and also a higher rated NBA? YUP! WITHOUT the Olympics excuse this week, they only did 703,000. THAT IS AWFUL!!!!! Zero excuse around that other than POOR BOOKING and a POORLY CONSTRUCTED TALENT ROSTER, period.

If I were Warner Brothers Discovery, I’d lowball them on the television deal due to (a) declining viewership, (b) poor business plan to grow future business, and (c) lack of top drawing stars that they could market.

Sorry, but the signings of older Adam Copeland, older and less motivated Mercedes, and the Observer Boys favorites in Okada and Will Ospreay has NOT caused growth in AEW’s business. In fact, it appears to have turned viewers off. Wrestling fans don’t know if they are watching the WWE retirement tour or what Dave Meltzer wants. Either way, wrestling fans don’t want to watch it. I’ve even heard diehard AEW fans from the past getting tired of what is going on.

For the past few weeks, I could have written multiple columns slamming AEW… But I didn’t. Just not worth it, as the lower viewership and the poor attendance speaks for itself. It’s like during the 2010s when both TNA and Ring of Honor were declining. No need to comment on it because not only do I not want to make myself miserable by covering it, but their results speak for themselves.

I’ll just let AEW fall in to the abyss and continue to laugh at diehard AEW fans who want to micro-manage what less than 750,000 viewers means. I have zero reason to following this POORLY OPERATED promotion by Tony Khan and I’m calling for Tony’s Dad to step in ASAP to save it. Either Tony needs help or he should be forced out. Ditto for the Young Bucks, who are AWFUL as EVPs. They need to go, too.

On to your questions.

ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers

Thoughts on Randy Orton signing a new extension with the WWE?

Was there any doubt? Seriously, why would Randy Orton even think of going to AEW, especially if the WWE still wants him around? Orton still has value and is still over with WWE fans. While he’s not the same worker, thanks to some serious injuries, he seems to be having fun performing with a wide variety of performers and is featured strongly at or near the top.

And Orton saw what happened to Adam Copeland… They made him jump off the top of a cage and now he’s out with a broken leg.

In 5 years when the contract expires, he’ll be in his late 50s and there’s a strong chance he’ll join WWE’s management team at that point. He’s close with Triple H and always has been, and I could see him being valuable as a road agent or maybe eventually replacing a retiring Shawn Michaels (HBK is 59 now) to oversee the NXT/developmental system.

I have to say that I’ve admired how Randy Orton has matured in the past few years… He was a politician, like Triple H, through the 2010s as a performer and I wonder if the recent bouts with injuries has humbled him a bit. Orton was the type of performer whom I could easily see if he was winning or losing based on body language. Not so much now, as he seems to not care any more about wins or losses. He finally realizes that he’s always over, no matter what, so thus taking a loss no longer matters.

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Do you believe that Warner Bros. Discovery will sign AEW in light of recent news?

In case you missed it, Warner Bros. Discovery had their company downgraded to “negative” as an investment by Standards & Poors (S&P) and their executive overseeing the television properties is about to retire. WBD has over $40 billion in debt and recently had to let their NBA coverage go despite having it for over 30 years.

While paying AEW like $125 million is cheaper spread across 52 weeks than airing syndicated shows or movies for those timeslots, the bigger issue is how low advertisers pay for pro wrestling shows ESPECIALLY declining ones.

If Tony wants to stay with WBD, he should take whatever deal that they give him. Can’t go on Comcast, CW Network, or Netflix… Paramount is in the process of being purchased. Disney has too much debt and has never hosted wrestling before (ESPN did before Disney bought them). Amazon is in bed with both the NBA and NFL right now to be interested, and it just doesn’t fit the Apple business model.

Tony has painted himself into a corner by not extending earlier while also giving networks more leverage because of his declining product. In other news, Tony Khan is a freakin’ moron.

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Where will Becky Lynch end up?

Her husband is in the WWE and she was a Triple H signing for NXT… Need I say more?

She’ll be back in the WWE, possibly by Royal Rumble. I believe Becky is taking a much needed break from the grind to be a mother and to heal up. Seth Rollins inked a brand new deal and I’m guessing she saved her money well while performing.

Becky finally has an extended break to heal up, be a mom, and think about her next move. Lots of equity still remaining in her character along with utilizing her wrestling mind to help mold other stars.

I could seriously see Seth and Becky working for the WWE for the next 2 decades as both wrestlers and backstage managers. Both are worth it because they know the business well inside and out while caring for other performers.

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Thoughts on AEW’s All In event going to Texas for 2025 rather than Wembley again?

I would have advised them to move the event… You don’t want to burn out a particular site and venue for back-to-back years, let alone 3 straight years.

They will have their event at Global Life Field which is where the Texas Rangers play baseball. Its capacity is around 40,000, but for a concert, it was able to add more seats to the field to get near 43,000.

The possibilities are endless if booked and marketed right. If I were AEW, I’d define All In as their #1 event without a shadow of a doubt and that’s probably why 2023 and 2024 has sold tickets well in London. They need a big show that everyone wants to see, even if they don’t want to see their other shows. For example, many older wrestling fans will tune into just Wrestlemania.

If they need help, they are close to the Mexican border and could do more cross-promotional matches to help boost attendance.

No criticisms here, as it’s good to move their biggest event to a new site to freshen up things.

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Thoughts on recent passings of wrestling legends?

Going to be honest here, I did not see much of the Wild Samoans’s career. Obviously, they have relations to the current Bloodline storyline, but I didn’t follow their careers and lack that emotional connection. For any fans who loved them, sorry for your loss. For Roman Reigns in particular, I’m very sorry that he has lost his father and uncle in such a short period of time. That’s a shame.

For Kevin Sullivan, I watched him perform during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Considering the guy was short at 5’9″, didn’t have the most imposing physique, and wrestled against massive opponents, the guy made up for it with character and promos. Sullivan made a huge imprint on World Championship Wrestling (WCW) both on-screen and then backstage as part of many creative teams.

While the Dungeon of Doom was an absolute trainwreck, I enjoyed that chaotic group as they tried to feud with Hulk Hogan and others. Again, Sullivan should have no business in comparison to Hulk Hogan, but he made it work and that’s the feud we watched during late 1995 and early 1996. Then, who could forget the Chris Benoit feud? Those were BATTLES and probably influenced how most matches were worked with brawling around the ring. Unfortunately, that feud sprouted Kevin’s wife Nancy Sullivan (Woman) leaving Kevin to be with Chris Benoit. 10 years later, that move would prove to be fatal.

Sullivan gets such a bad rap for his tenure with Creative during early 2000, but he was handed a very chaotic situation with Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett being injured while Scott Hall got fired. Then, Benoit/Malenko/Saturn/Eddie all requested their releases due to the falsehood that Kevin would bury them in creative, even with Kevin awarding Benoit the WCW Title. Sullivan had a massive talent loss just after following a different creative regime operated by Vince Russo. Of course, early 2000 WCW was dull because they lost talent and they were creatively confused by sending Russo home and wanting to immediately go a different direction. Then, months later, they bring not just Vince Russo back but Eric Bischoff too.

By all accounts, I’ve always heard that Kevin Sullivan was a good dude and well liked by most who worked with him. May he rest in peace along with the Wild Samoans.

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