ASK TITO: WWE Crown Jewel Predictions, Tony Khan's Ego Inflating for AEW?, CM Punk, Ticket Sales, and More

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The EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING has returned for the weekend edition of Mr. Tito’s Funtime as I shall answer your questions sent via email, Twitter, or in the comments section below with a preference towards current events for the questions (being honest here). I’m here to be the “equal opportunity hater” on all of your favorite wrestlers, matches, and promotions. You know it.

Funny thing is happening with my “Ask Tito” columns… Somehow, you, the readers, like these weekend columns that are PACKED with content in comparison to my Tuesday/Wednesday single topic rant columns. That was quite different from the past when my Tuesday/Wednesday columns were the higher viewed columns than the Ask Tito weekend columns. Either I’m getting too radical on Tuesdays or packing the weekend column full of information on the weekend? Who knows…

Here’s something that I want to say to ALL of my readers, both young and old… Many of you are accusing me of just being negative all the time yet if you actually READ my columns, you’ll see that my columns are critical and then offer ADVICE to the promotions. In my last column entitled “Tony Khan Needs to be More Patient with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) or He’ll Blow It”, many of you just read the title of the column and went on the attack. YET, if you actually read the damn column, you’d see that it was full of advice, historical lessons of pushing too hard, and good booking suggestions to differentiate AEW from WWE.

Folks, it SICKENS me that the WWE lost over 2 million North American fans permanently since 2014. For the most part, I was predicting that the declines would happen. Hell, that is why I was so upset at CM Punk and Daniel Bryan getting dismantled by the WWE. Both guys were white hot and then had WWE Creative dismantle them for political reasons. Doing things like forcing Roman as a Main Event babyface, pushing Jinder freakin’ Mahal, always returning to Randy Orton, doing stupid stuff with Bray Wyatt, overpushing Charlotte Flair, and everything with male wrestlers in NXT for the past 9 years caused the WWE to decline in the short-term while giving the WWE zero plans for the long-term.

Meanwhile, AEW has ample opportunity to get off to an even better start yet we had to endure the Dark Order for 2.5 years now, the Bucks making other tag teams look foolish, the awful Kenny Omega title reign, confusing Cody Rhodes storylines, and everything 2020 for any ex-WWE star that appeared.

So if you think that it’s JUST ME being negative, then maybe you should question how loyal you are to the old WWE cause or how hopeful you are about AEW.

For years upon years, I’ve been told that “wrestling was better than ever” by all of the PWG and New Japan Observer loving marks and yet the NUMBERS do not back it up. Wrestling was at its BEST 20-23 years ago when Alpha Males were on top of the business and doing record breaking numbers. Go show me on either the WWE or AEW rosters who compares to Steve Austin, the Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat, Kurt Angle, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Dudley Boys, Edge Christian, Hardy Boys, the Undertaker & Kane in their physical primes, and the DEEPEST midcards ever along with the OVW “Class of 2002” right behind them… Try to tell me about “workrate” and I’ll show you Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio in his prime, Dean Malenko, Ultimo Dragon, etc.

Wrestling PEAKED during the Monday Night Wars and that’s a fact. All of the data shows it. Go ahead and tell me that WWE has “grown internationally” but those foreign TV deals barely contribute to the WWE’s bottom line. Besides, many countries place WWE’s programming on premium Cable channels and that is why WWE’s YouTube numbers appear higher than normal (70% of YouTube numbers are from foreign viewership, FACT).

The FACT is that WWE struggles to draw 2 million viewers. The Attitude Era was pounding out 6-8 million viewers nightly through 1999 and early 2000. Throughout 1999 and much of 2000, the WWE sold out 15,000 to 20,000 arenas in moments. Now, they struggle to sell 5,000 tickets per show and only strong business for their marquee Pay Per Views. And guess what? For those Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble events, the WWE is always pulling names from the past to appear on those shows to help boost attention and viewership.

We’re all celebrating when AEW Dynamite receives 1.1 million. TNA wrestling, on the horribly promoted SpikeTV, did 1.5 million like clockwork before Dixie Carter turned into Dixie Wrecked.

And let’s not get into this idea that there “is more stuff to do now” or “more entertainment options” as if the 1990s were the Stone Ages. You have DVRs, we had VCRs. Same damn thing. Sega, Nintendo, and Sony were video game options back then with All-Time great games to play. The Internet existed back then, believe it or not. I should know because I wrote damn columns starting in October 1998 from my “Compaq from Hell” computer at 56K modem speed. FURTHERMORE, studies show that teenagers and college students WENT OUT MORE back during the 1990s whereas today, they stay at home. Thus, with more people staying home, especially during pandemic times, they should be more available to watch more television.

Oh, and here’s a FACT that burns everybody… There are about 10 million more Cable/Satellite subscribers RIGHT NOW than we saw during the Monday Night Wars. That and Monday Night Football was on ABC and could actually push 30 million viewers for a great game. ESPN has never sniffed those numbers for their NFL games. Meanwhile, Michael Jordan existed during those Monday Night Wars years yet wrestling still grew.

How about this? WWE and WCW’s numbers GREW during the summer back then. Why? Because we wanted to see MORE of Austin vs. McMahon or the New World Order.

QUIT scapegoating me as a “negative fan” when you KNOW that the quality of the pro wrestling product has not only declined for the past 20 years but it has SEVERELY declined for the past 7 years.

Numbers don’t lie, and neither do I.

Did you enjoy those apples? On to your questions.

———————————–

ASK MR. TITO – Your Questions, My Answers

What is your opinion of the tone and quotes of Tony Khan regarding WWE and Vince McMahon?

Didn’t I just write a column on Tuesday called “Tony Khan Needs to be More Patient with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) or He’ll Blow It“?

And of course, right after that Tony Khan delivers additional quotes about money, the head to head this weekend, some smack talk on Vince, and now moving in the AEW Rampage “buy in” show to go against the 2nd hour of Smackdown.

Look, I’m happy that Tony Khan’s AEW has brought back the “spirit of competition” as well as being happy for an additional place of employment. You need enthusiasm for this job. But what you don’t need is an ego. Ask Eric Bischoff who got ahead of himself during 1997-1998, especially 1998. That’s why I keep saying that November 1996 was the “day that WCW died” because when Eric Bischoff joined the New World Order, his success started going to his head and it was on display via Bischoff’s NWO character. For Tony Khan, we’re seeing WAY too much of him as the AEW President. Instead of letting the wrestlers do the talking and selling of the business, it’s all about him. His loose lips on Twitter is getting ridiculous.

I know that Vince McMahon is old and over-exposed his on-screen character in the past (makes my point about Tony), but for the past decade, you never hear from him on Social Media and he rarely appears on television. However, when Vince does make an appearance, it’s huge and actually pops a number.

What I don’t want to do is damper Tony Khan’s enthusiasm for growing AEW because honestly, his promotion is actually “saving” the wrestling business temporarily. It’s more wrestling to consume and talk about for fans, wrestlers have another place of employment, and it could light a competitive fire underneath WWE’s arse. Tony should just let his AEW promotion speak for itself while not feeling the need to constantly brag about it, ESPECIALLY since none of your shows have ever defeated WWE in TOTAL viewers. I want to express TOTAL viewers because the MAJORITY of wrestling fans are above the age of 34. AEW’s numbers below 34 are actually weak and they have a lot of convincing of the 50+ fanbase to tune in as well. Maybe spike the football when you defeat the WWE in TOTAL viewers one week and maybe I’ll listen.

LESS IS MORE, Tony Khan. Until you actually wrestle in the ring, let your boys do the talking. Be proud of that AEW roster that you’ve built in LESS than 3 years. Don’t flush away the progress that you’ve made building up to CM Punk’s debut and the weeks thereafter. Wrestling fans NEED you to succeed or else we’ll go back to the 2018 stagnant version of the WWE which was lame as hell. Furthermore, wrestlers need an additional place of employment to cool off or to help boost wages overall for talent. Don’t blow it…

I always made the analogy that AEW was like WCW during the mid 1990s when Eric Bischoff took over… You can see some obvious parallels from Eric stumbling during 1993-1995, just as Tony did from 2019-2020. However, I worry that Tony may be skipping the 1996-1997 parallels to Bischoff and jumping right into 1998 Eric Bischoff whose ego couldn’t control itself. Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it (George Santayana quote).

We’ll see if the lower head-to-head numbers humble Tony or not from the October 15th, 2021 Cable match-up between WWE Smackdown and AEW Rampage. As I predicted on Twitter, I’m expecting 750,000 for AEW Rampage and 1.2 million for Smackdown.

Tony has to realize that poking the bear (Vince McMahon) is the worst possible thing to do right now. Let your product grow and do the talking. Instead, you’re trying to brag while being in 2nd place. Meanwhile, WWE is rebuilding NXT to cater towards developing stars that will fit the WWE product… With many AEW contracts about to expire, WWE could go on a mini-spending spree to buy AEW talents as well. Vince McMahon destroyed the entire Territory system of the 1980s and taking down major promoters like Verne Gagne, Fritz Von Erich, while convincing others to sell immediately. Meanwhile, Jim Crockett tried to keep up but just piled on debt which forced him to sell to Ted Turner. Then, just over 10 years later, Vince McMahon finished off Ted Turner’s WCW. Bear in mind that WCW was beating WWE from 1996-1998 and then WWE rose from the dead to become more powerful than ever.

If the younger and larger wrestlers being groomed in NXT 2.0 pan out, as many of us see big things for Rick Steiner’s boy, look out. If Gable Steveson works out, look as out as well. Meanwhile, what does Tony Khan have on his bench? Uhhhhhhh… Everything Tony is doing for his newer wrestling promotion is for the short-term only. WWE is getting into long-term planning mode with its talent and that should SCARE Tony Khan into realizing that he has caused a sleeping giant to wake up.

*****

Should we be concerned about CM Punk’s “paint a picture” quote?

No, I agree with most of it… It’s funny to hear Internet Wrestling Fans complain about how Bryan Danielson is getting instantly pushed on one hand while CM Punk is working his way up the ladder. It’s funny and ironic. On Punk’s end, he’s been out of the ring for 7 years and probably a bit rusty. That said, I think he’s working with the lower end of the midcarders and having competitive matches with them. For an accomplished guy like CM Punk, who did try MMA briefly, I’d expect him to dominate those matches just a little more. However, I also believe that Punk wants to be a teacher of the young talents that he wrestles.

For a few weeks now on NoDQ Review, Jargo and Virtue have both been discussing how CM Punk is “planting the seeds” of a future heel run. After all, CM Punk’s best moments were when he had an edge to him and that was mostly delivered as a heel. Look at his 2011 run, which was a heel… Then, he was a babyface for the end of 2011 and for 3/4 of 2012… He was kind of lame as a straight-up babyface character. Then, the WWE actually turned him heel during 2012 by having Paul Heyman join him. And then Punk was back again, as he did great heel work for the first half of 2013.

For all we know, CM Punk could be sandbagging it out there on purpose to not only knock off ring rust, but maybe start burning that goodwill obtained from his returning Chicago Rampage speech. Maybe he’s trying to overexpose himself as a babyface so that it becomes a major shock when he does turn heel. Maybe that is what the “painting a picture” comment is about? And that he’s warning fans not to blow it by anticipating too much?

My only worry with a HEEL CM Punk is who will be the babyfaces against him? Bryan Danielson. Cool, but we’ve seen them work together many times already. He already worked with and defeated Darby. Adam Page? You know, many diehard AEW fans have high hopes for that AEW original but I just cannot get his 2018 All In actions out of my head. I just can’t… Cody Rhodes doesn’t know how to act like a babyface. Meanwhile, AEW will always have Kenny Omega and MJF taking up air in the room as heels.

THIS is what Pro Wrestling is missing, for both AEW and WWE. Both shows LACK a top drawing Babyface that wrestling fans can legitimately believe and causes them to want to hand wrestling promotions their money for tickets, merchandise, and time. WWE hasn’t had it since John Cena (though they could have had it with Punk & Bryan, they blew it) and AEW has always been lacking a top babyface. Moxley did an OK job, though, all things considered and had to endure being champion during COVID. Then, he returned to his deathmatch roots…

Until that #1 babyface arrives, I don’t care what you do with CM Punk… Whether he’s the most dastardly heel or not, he’ll be nothing without a #1 babyface dance partner. Much of his success during 2011, I now realize, was due to him feuding with John Cena. Cena gave him an amazing match at Money in the Bank 2011 and it felt like the WWE had a legit rivalry that they could push for years. Nope, after SummerSlam 2011, they avoided each other until off and on for a few times during 2012 and then John Cena vanquished him during 2013 before his Rock match. Opportunity lost…

Honestly on my end, I’m just happy to see CM Punk back and I’m probably blinded by that fact. I waited 7+ long years for him to return and I’m just excited to have my favorite wrestler from the first half of the 2010s back inside the ring, where he always should have been. I anticipated Punk being that #1 babyface draw and let’s be honest, based on Dynamite consistently being above 1 million now, attendance booming in the North for AEW shows, and merchandise drawing strongly… He has performed well. But AEW hasn’t jumped on the numbers since and that’s due to AEW still being AEW with its flashy and overexposed wrestling matches. I also don’t think that CM Punk draws well with the younger fanbase, as he’s more of the champion of the latter half of the 18-49 crowd or the 50+ fans. Anytime that AEW has popped a rating due to Punk, it has been a boost of the older fans who have missed him.

*****

What is your thoughts on declining ticket sales for both WWE and AEW?

In economics, any product that is sought after or has higher rates of satisfaction will see INCREASED Demand for said product. In other words, if someone really likes a product, they’ll go out of their way to enjoy it or pay extra to consume it.

Right now, both WWE and AEW are struggling with ticket sales in certain markets and I find it cute that both fanbases are laughing at each other for it. Little do they know is that they have the SAME problem… Well, roughly the same problems. As I wrote in my 12/21/2020 column entitled “For 2021, the WWE Should REDUCE Ticket Prices”, the WWE has been actively price gouging its remaining and loyal fanbase that it discourages other consumers from trying to attend live WWE events. However, since the WWE puts on a weaker product right now, fans beyond the loyal fanbase aren’t willing to part with their incomes to see live WWE shows.

Both AEW and WWE are struggling right now with their booking and their inability to market their stars. AEW is like “hey, we have Bryan Danielson and CM Punk” and fans are like “well, what are you doing with them?”. Well, CM Punk is wrestling midcarders as a babyface wrestler and Bryan Danielson is doing the same exact thing he did in the WWE. Wanna play? WWE is like “we have Roman Reigns and… well, we have Roman!”. If you eat cake everyday, even the cake gets boring to eat.

Fact is that both products are over-saturated. Look at what both promotions are asking you to do right now:

– Watch 3-4 hour Pay Per Views on Sundays.
– Watch WWE RAW for 3 hours on Mondays
– Watch WWE’s NXT show for 2 hours on Tuesdays
– Watch AEW Dynamite for 2 hours on Wednesdays
– Watch WWE Smackdown for 2 hours on Fridays and follow that up with an additional 2 hours of AEW Rampage.

LESS is MORE, folks… Been saying that for years. I know that many of you in the Comments section HATE when I bring up history, specifically WCW, but when WCW added 2 hours of WCW Thunder during 1998, it thinned out their product. WWE quickly burned out its wrestlers, bookers, and fans with the introduction of WWE Smackdown during late 1999.

I also think that the Delta variant is doing its damage for mass gatherings, too. That version of COVID-19 is proving to be more deadly than what was seen during 2020 and we’re not even done with 2021 yet. THANK GOD many of us are vaccinated or the death rate could be even worse.

In my opinion, WWE needs to be more considerate with its ticket prices, both products have over-saturated themselves, and COVID-19 is a bastard.

And I know that I’ll get the “CM Punk isn’t a draw” crowd… And then I’ll ask them how ticket sales were going in the Midwest where CM Punk is extremely popular and was selling out most places. ProWrestlingTees keeps announcing record breaking merchandise sales thanks to CM Punk… AEW Dynamite has yet to drop below 1 million viewers since CM Punk joined, as they were trending below 1 million before he joined. THINGS LIKE THAT. AEW has been mostly been touring Florida and thus the Miami shows aren’t selling well because they are over-saturated in that state. PLUS, AEW really hasn’t helped the rest of the roster surrounding CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. You tune into Punk/Danielson and then its the same old AEW stuff that we’ve endured for the last 2 years.

I just think that both WWE and AEW are presenting LOW QUALITY programming right now and that causes people to not want to spend their TIME & MONEY along with not daring to go out with COVID-19 Delta lurking. Simple as that.

*****

Do you think that an incident like what Jon Gruden has endured in the NFL could happen in Pro Wrestling?

I guess that you missed the Hulk Hogan story? Hogan had a video leaked where he is on video tape openly using the N-word and he was cancelled for what, 2-3 years, because of that? WWE welcomed him back and that’s primarily due to most wrestlers in the locker room being white. Why the pressure built on Jon Gruden is because he was mocking NFL Players’ Association president DeMaurice Smith with stereotypical comments about his lips and the majority of NFL locker rooms are black. Gruden almost survived this until the NFL leaked more emails where Gruden attacked anyone kneeling for the National Anthem, used homophobic slurs to describe Roger Goodell, and other stuff for the past 10 years.

Remember – Hogan did that Sex Tape during the mid 2000s and the video was leaked during the early 2010s. His past caught up with him with whomever had the agenda to leak it.

Besides the Hulkster, who ultimately was allowed to return, wrestling has been policing its own for alleged inappropriate behavior. Did you miss the #SpeakingOut controversy that caused many wrestlers to not only lose their jobs, but are pretty much blackballed from ever coming back? Say what you will about the Warrior, but wrestling promotions were listening to his political rants during the 2000s and stayed far away from him. It wasn’t until Warrior settled down with his life, became a Dad, and just chilled out during the 2010s for the WWE to start talking to him again. Now, they have an annual award named after him.

And let’s get back into the Tessa Blanchard debate. This is a case where everything is just accusations with Tessa and ZERO evidence. Yet, those accusations are carrying weight as neither the WWE or AEW has employed her and both WWE/AEW need depth in their Women’s divisions badly. Not just depth, but they need stars badly! However, because many former female opponents and locker room members had personal issues with Tessa, she has been blackballed from WWE and AEW. Many in the Internet Wrestling Community are backing those female wrestlers and why wouldn’t they? They “like” their comments on Social Media and give them access…

Did you see that news story with Chelsea Green commenting on Tessa Blanchard during the 2018 All In show? Tessa was Impact Champion at the time and actually brought the title to the show to represent Impact Wrestling. However, this apparently upset the other ladies backstage as if Tessa were trying to show them up. No, she was representing her company and I’m sure that Impact expected their champion to be on full display. THIS is the kind of stuff that has been circling around Tessa Blanchard.

The issues with Tessa is that she’s super competitive as a talent, very aggressive in the ring, and she has a tendency to get upset backstage at anyone she deems as not “pulling their weight” inside the ring after a match. I believe most of the alleged incidents were always post match discussions when she was furious about something that happened inside the ring. That’s what a competitive person in their early to mid 20s could do. Tessa is oldschool and resembles her Dad, Tully Blanchard, greatly who was equally as competitive inside and outside of the ring.

But accusations have blackballed Tessa from joining the WWE vs. AEW war and man, she would be an amazing contributor to one of their rosters. Nope, as these accusations are to be believed and even though Tessa has strongly denied the accusations, the Internet Wrestling Community believes in the alleged victims of a pissed off Tessa. No evidence or no witnesses other than the accusers, but the Internet fanbase believes in the accusers (getting close to a celebrity online is intoxicating). I keep repeatedly hearing that both WWE and AEW has expressed worries about her, as the WWE will only bring her in for the bare minimum financially and return to NXT while AEW won’t sign her because many friends of the accusers work for AEW and are in the ears of the EVPs.

Been there, done that… It goes to show you what a much more powerful entity that the NFL is compared to the WWE. NFL Owners are tight and try to work in secret while Coaches perform the will of the owners. Had Dan Snyder of the Washington ~~Redskins~~ Football Team not had accusations of a hostile working place, those emails wouldn’t have been reviewed and eventually leaked. Then, you’d never know about what Jon Gruden said or what other parties involved with Washington said as well. Furthermore, Jon Gruden insulting the NFL Commissioner in those emails is what has caused his troubles, I believe. That was a hit job.

*****

Thoughts on Ted Dibiase and son owing money to the State of Mississippi?

Everybody has got a price, am I right?

Honestly, I have been following this story for a while and it doesn’t surprise me. Throughout my time here on earth, I’ve always found that people who are preachy and act all righteous tend to be the ones hiding something underneath… Or they are just straight up hypocrites or display double standards often.

Look, you can do many great things in life that can go unnoticed. However, it’s when you’re advertising those great things openly is when I begin to become suspicious of you. The fact that the State of Mississippi nailed the entire family of the DiBiases is remarkable. It’s very likely that Ted and his 2 sons kept poor documentation to explain where those funds went and thus the request to return funds. Ted Jr. really got nailed, as they are requesting $3.9 million to be returned in comparison to Ted Sr. owing $772K and the other son Brett owing $226K.

My advice is to be careful of those who present themselves as “holier than thou” and act like they can do no wrong based on what they worship or any organizations that they belong. Usually, something is bubbling under the surface and their attitudes are usually that they can press the “reset” button every Sunday for forgiveness. It doesn’t work that way when using the plural version of the word “mistake”.

Furthermore, if you ever receive government grants for anything, DOCUMENT the use of every single penny used and don’t waste it on stupid stuff. Use the grant to purchase what needs to be purchased and if there are any funds remaining, return them. It’s pretty obvious that the DiBiases either had poor documentation and/or their documentation showed things that the grants weren’t intended.

*****

Which wrestlers could leave AEW during 2022 and join WWE?

The news of Scorpio Sky announcing that he just signed a new 5 year has me intrigued, as that’s a lengthy contract for wrestling but it begs to question how aggressive AEW might be right now signing their talent to long-term deals with 2022 coming up.

As far as I know, most of the AEW talent signed during 2019 were on 3 year deals and most of the talent were signed between January and April of 2019. Thus, there could be many expiring contracts happening during the first few months of 2022 and maybe the WWE could pick off a few? After all, the WWE does need talent and the probably wouldn’t mind not only hurting AEW, but having said wrestler join WWE to job to Roman Reigns repeatedly along with other top WWE wrestlers.

Obviously, I’m watching Jim Ross closely. We know that he has a 3 year deal because he has said so on his Podcast. Based on him buying a condo in Jacksonville, attending Jaguars games in the corporate box, and enjoying the opportunity to work regularly again, I would see Jim Ross re-signing with AEW. However, I could also see the WWE going after him to assist with Talent Developmental. Triple H was demoted from the position during 2020 and has been replaced by a mixture of corporate stooges plus John Laurinaitis. I could see WWE throwing money at Ross to return to help with the process and to scout talent nationwide.

As for wrestlers who could jump… Could you imagine if the WWE made a play for Adam “Hangman” Page? That’s a possibility to me because as AEW accumulates ex-WWE talent, opportunities for someone like him to dwindle. I believe that the WWE might take him seriously as a talent (unless they watch his performance at the 2018 All In event). AEW has been weird with his booking and the right amount of money may have him jumping ship. He is only 30 years old…

Chris Jericho still has a good relationship with Vince McMahon and the WWE. I could see him returning, maybe in a backstage role or on-screen role? I always wonder if he’s truly happy in AEW right now, post-AEW Title run.

With the EVPs losing booking power backstage, I could see Cody Rhodes or Kenny Omega possibly jumping to the WWE. Once Omega is beat for the AEW Title, he’ll run out of steam as a performer. WWE is that one notch on his belt that he never accomplished (besides brief developmental deal) and with Kenny turning 38 as this column is being posted, his time is running out to try the WWE just once. With experience outside the WWE under his belt, I could see WWE giving Cody a try and they have the resources in place to give him and his beautiful wife attempts at reality shows that AEW doesn’t have. The real question is what are the terms of the EVPs to exit the company? They probably don’t have expiring contracts, as it would be AEW’s choice to terminate and buy them out of their EVP positions. You just have to wonder what their no-compete clauses are, however. With them being EVPs, it could be a year. Seriously.

The real issue is just joining the WWE. It’s a miserable place right now and completely operated by corporate analytics. With NXT being taken over by that process as well, there is no safe haven to work there. Furthermore, the nice contract that you receive could be terminated in months if the WWE wants to and without recourse.

Most AEW talents, in my opinion, know that AEW is on the upswing and WWE, unless they find a diamond in the NXT rough, is on the downswing. I’d also worry about WWE long-term because Vince isn’t getting any younger and under Nick Khan, they’ve become more corporate if that was possible. I’d worry about that company without Vince McMahon in the way, as it would purely operate on analytics and become entirely synthetic. Furthermore, the life and growth of the WWE depends on the new TV contracts that they obtain in 2024.

*****

Which podcast assistant is better? Brian Last or Conrad Thompson?

Technically speaking, the Podcasting Empire that Conrad Thompson has built is impressive. His many shows are dominating the charts and I can imagine his Ad Free Shows, Patreons, etc. are also rolling in money.

That said, give me Brian Last for complementing his wrestling titan in a better fashion than Conrad. Both Jim Cornette’s Experience and Drive Thru shows are Jim’s and Jim does the majority of the speaking while controlling the direction of the show. Brian Last is there to help Jim get that accomplished only, though he does insert his opinion here and there. Meanwhile, all of Conrad’s hosted shows are controlled by him and they are each the “Conrad Thompson Show” with special guest (former wrestler or personality). He dominates the show and completely controls the direction of the show. While I think the format works best with Eric Bischoff, I felt that Jim Ross did a great job on his own as I want to hear more of that wrestling genius talk instead of Conrad. That said, the best parts are when Conrad will call out Eric or Bruce’s bluff, but you have to endure 2 hours of a podcast to get to those moments.

And then you get to the Ads… Holy cow. Unless you are willing to pay money for the Ad Free Shows platform, you are enduring many unfunny ads from Conrad. That is where the real cringe fest happens for me. Don’t quit your day jobs in real estate or podcasting as these ads are not funny even though Conrad tries to inject comedy into them. Those are pre-taped bits, too! Meanwhile, Jim Cornette does the ads on a live broadcast and improvises comedy around his ads better than Conrad does preparing his.

Brian Last knows that his job is to help Jim Cornette put on a great show. However, Brian is not dominating the discussion on that show. Conrad is and that’s why I prefer Brian over Conrad. Furthermore, I only hear Brian on Jim Cornette’s show. If you’re listing to Ad Free Shows, it’s Conrad dominating most of that network’s top shows. Thus, if you wanted to listen to Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard, or Jim Ross, get ready for lots of Conrad Thompson controlling the format and discussion of each show. Brian Last creates an environment that just supports Jim and allows Jim to take the shows in whatever direction they want. In fact, Last and Cornette purposely don’t talk during the week so that their interactions on both the Experience and Drive-Thru feel genuine.

Brian Last for me… And yes, I heard Brian’s shoot comments on the “guy from Alabama” on his recent 605 Super Podcast. Those were quite interesting.

And finally…

What are your WWE Crown Jewel 2021 Predictions?

I predict that it will be another LAME show because it’s in a quiet environment with jet lagged wrestlers. Speaking of jets, will there be any flight delays this time around? Did the checks clear?

-Mansoor (hometown kid) will defeat Mustafa Ali
-Finn Balor will become King of the Ring
-Shayna Baszler will defeat Zelina Vega and Doudrop (Vega obviously eating that pin)
-Bobby Lashley will defeat Bill Goldberg in probably another awful match
-Big E retains WWE Title over Drew McIntyre
-RK-Bro Retains Tag Titles over AJ Styles/Omos (WWE wants to start pushing Omos)
-Bianca Belair wins the Women’s Title over Becky & Sasha
-Seth Rollins defeats Edge in the Hell in a Cell match, setting up the 3rd match
-Roman Reigns will defeat Brock Lesnar to retain the WWE Universal Title.

For Roman versus Brock Lesnar, I predict that Paul Heyman will act like he’s siding with Brock Lesnar during the match and then double-cross him. That will keep this Roman vs. Brock feud hot for a few more months, maybe headlining Survivor Series and/or Royal Rumble.

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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