Is there enough Friction In Wrestling currently? – By Wrestle G
Hello NoDQ.com readers I am back once again to talk all things Pro Wrestling with you all. So, Let’s get right into it.
Crown Jewel was last week, and AEW Full Gear is coming up this coming Saturday. Everyone got to Saudi Arabia and back in once piece so on that basis the event was a success. As for Bell to Bell, it wasn’t terrible, but I guess that’s the bar I have with WWE these days. There are some brights spot but pretty much around the card right now I just don’t feel a lot of life. The Bright spots are Sami Zayn who I think is one of those performers where the world title has brought out the best in him and he’s grown into it better than many I’ve seen.
I still love Roman with a championship I think he has an aura that is simply unmatched, trying to take him down is still seen as a huge challenge by everyone he comes up against, and it is hard to keep that mystique about your character. Roman was right to win as the bloodline have to lose at Survivor Series, but Sami looked like he belonged and got the rub afterwards. Good piece of business.
Elsewhere the cash in for Tiffany was expected but well executed. The promo Chelsea Green did set the table nicely. One day though I really want them to get behind Chelsea long term and stick with it. There’s only so much underdog fighting against the odds she can do. Treat her and present her like she’s a top star and people will believe it and get behind her.
Je’von and Penta being tag champs I don’t hate and with the upcoming USA vs Mexico survivor series match I like the bit of tension that’s brought in. My biggest grip with tag team wrestling particular in WWE is that it is too focussed on thrown together teams and it just doesn’t have booking support. We’ve lost another team in the creed brothers in recent days. Booking a tag division shouldn’t be difficult and a mashed up team winning the belts should be booked as a good shock rather than the norm and a booking crutch.
Lastly the last man standing with Cody and Orton was ok. But Cody needs to keep amping this heel turn and keep the build on TV. Over the past week he has been dropping Heyman’s name been dropping the fact he wants to turn heel. Doing that will only lessen the impact of the full reveal of the turn. Although I have a theory this turn already started some months ago……
Both Orton and Rhodes could never really get the stench of Pat McAfee off of this feud. Which is a shame as It always had potential. Rhodes needs something fresh going into Mania because that Saudi crowd was very pro Orton which surprised me.
Overall, the PPV was solid and in ring action was good. Solid C grade show. The concept of the Crown Jewel champion feels laboured and outdated but it will continue as long as the Saudi Cheques keep cashing.
Full Gear predictions:
AEW World Championship Match: Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher.
I am a little surprised this match has come round so soon. Fletcher in my opinion should be the man built up to take Ospreays title. The best course of action I can see here is that Ospreay wins this one and it sets Fletcher off on a 6 month arc of getting himself better to finally topple his mentor. The promo work from Wednesday was amazing and we know how well these two gel in the ring.
5 stars in coming.
Winner – Will Ospreay.
AEW World Championship Match: Mercedes Mone vs. Marina Shafir.
It’s long overdue for me for Marina Shafir to be in the mix in the women’s division. She has pulled off the enforcer role in the Death Riders superbly and has tonnes of credibility from it. This match is a huge litmus test for her. Can she deliver in ring in a big main event match?
If she can, then sky’s the limit. But regardless of performance, she isn’t winning this one. Mone Retains
Winner – Mercedes Mone
AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship Match: The Brawling Birds vs. Wrathlander.
Really glad to see Jamie Hayter back in the ring. I can’t see the Birds losing this they need to be built up some more.
Winners – Brawling Birds
AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: The Young Bucks vs. Jake Doyle & Mark Davis
Do you know what would have been kind of cool? If the squash win for Doyle and Davis had happened here and for the titles. That would have been something so off brand and unexpected that it would have really impacted on PPV. Dare they actually do it again on PPV? I’d love them to but there’s no way that AEW isn’t giving us the Bucks vs Motor City Machine Guns.
Winners – The young Bucks
AEW World Trios Championship Texas Deathmatch: Hangman Page & Brodido vs. Swerve Strickland & The New Level.
I’m a little surprised that this match and an anarchy in the arena match are on the same card. This is likely to be one of the most brutal matches that the New Level have ever been involved with in any of their incarnations. I get a sense Swerve is being set up for something Single, so I think Hangman and Brodido retain.
Winner – Hagman Page and Brodido.
AEW National Championship Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ilja Dragunov.
Give them 25 minutes and inject it into my veins. Dragunov needs more of these matches as he catches back his confidence. However, I wouldn’t take the title off of Ciampa just yet
Winner – Tommaso Ciampa
Anarchy in the Arena: The Death Riders & The Conglomeration vs. The Cut.
A Very strange teaming up with the Death Riders and the Conglomeration I am hoping this leads to the conglomeration becoming something more interesting, Orange Cassidy in particular is long overdue a character change. The Cut has come together somewhat out of the blue, but I’m intrigued to see how this plays out. The Death Riders bless them are in a rebuilding phase I hope this match goes a long way to achieving that.
Winner – The Cut
Moving on to the main topic of this week’s column then
What’s in a screw job? Analysing the attitudes of today’s main event talent
This week saw the 29th anniversary of the Montreal Screw job. Firstly, Wowsers, 29 years! It’s hard to believe that. I am getting old! But it is 29 years removed from one of the most pivotal moments in Pro Wrestling history. We saw Bret Hart have the WWF title forcibly removed from him. We won’t go over the whole thing here many better people have detailed this story and its impact and its legacy. What I am going to do today though is dig into the core issue of this event, this screw job essentially happened because Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels wanted to be the top man in the company and the other guy was in his way.
Hulk Hogan leaving in 1993 left a gaping hole at the top of the card. Having been the mainstay at the top since 1984 Vince Mcmahon needed a new person to anchor his title belt and draw some money. Both Shawn and Bret immediately set their sights on that spot being theirs. Bret had already flirted with the title for the early 90s, and his overseas drawing power very much fell in his favour, Shawn had a bit more of an uphill struggle being a little bit smaller and having more of a fluid high flying style that Vince had never put in the main event scene.
Both Shawn and Bret knew deep down they had things going against them and the approval of Vince would be paramount. Vince for his part loved trying to create tension between stars to try and get more out of them. 1997 Saw Bret take the reigns initially with a Heel turn that solidified him as the most interesting character in all of wrestling with being a heel in America and a babyface everywhere else. Shawn started 97 retired but quickly returned to begin Degeneration – X one of the pillars of the burgeoning Attitude era.
That drive for both men to be at the top of the mountain ate them both up. It resulted in Shawn bumping himself back into retirement and Bret ending up in creative purgatory in WCW. But that fire that burned in both performers, is it there today in the current roster? Does it need to be? Or is it an outdated concept?
Starting with WWE we had murmurs of both Cody and Roman having battles over creative in both of their WrestleMania main events. We saw how Cody battled and politicked to ensure his royal rumble win led to him finally winning the title at WrestleMania 40. This felt like the first time in a while where two guys were battling in and out of the ring to be the top guy. And look what we got out of it? One of the most interesting builds to a WrestleMania main event with a crazy couple of main events on night 1 and night 2. I wholly believe that the re-introduction of the World Heavyweight championship has watered down that desire that we saw creep up around Mania 40.
The World heavyweight championship gives guys a crutch to lean on, it gives them another avenue. It isn’t all or nothing anymore. And that to me has chipped in the competitive edge. Roman has clearly made it his mission to build that title the same way he did the WWE belt and I’d argue that’s working. But having just one champion with all of the current people in the mix for both belts feels like a recipe for excitement. We need that back.
On the AEW side of things I feel like backstage they have fostered the most supportive and collaborative group together to try and pull AEW business up. I think that’s the perfect environment for Tony Khan and I also think his locker room more reflects his personality currently. The competitiveness to be the best in AEW now comes between the ropes. There’s a reason that AEW PPV’s have the consistency they do bell to bell, you have the wrestlers out there trying to steal the show. The main reason Will Ospreay has that AEW world title right now is that when the bell rings he’s the best in that company, his level is better than everyone else and his consistency is there.
But I do wonder if some of the AEW matches would benefit hugely from a bit more bite? A little more forearms laid in from people with a little chip on their shoulder? I get the sense we see that from MJF at times and his matches improve greatly for it. I always get the sense Andrade has it in him as well. I want to feel like some guys in AEW want that spotlight, not just have the great match but have the rewards for having those great matches.
One thing I think stops a lot of talent from feeling this way is the money. A lot of the money is very equal these days. Guaranteed for hundreds of thousand/millions of dollars per year does take an incentive away. Of course, your money is going to go up being the main guy but the chasm between spots on the card and your compensation isn’t as wide as it was previously. Does that take some of the drive away? Do you need a world title if you’re doing what you love and are getting paid handsomely for doing so? I’d suggest it plays a part for some.
I think what we have at the moment is a bit of a status quo. Guys are happy they are getting paid; they have options of where to go if they want a change of scenery. There are multiple world titles to go for and the chances of having a run have increased massively compared to the good old days. But as we saw with Cody and Roman there is an electricity on the screen when you can tell both men want the spot more than anything. There’s excitement weather your watching on TV or reading about the back and forth in the dirt sheets.
I personally miss that feeling of real competition. But I think its sadly dwindling. With HHH and Tony Khan we are in the era of the collaborative booker. In ring that works, for compelling feuds I think it takes away.
But what do you think? Is it something that is best left in the past? Or do we want to see more guys with a bit of a chip on their shoulder?
Let Me know in the comments below, you can also find me on X via @Wrestle_G or TikTok via @wrestleg I’d love to hear from you as always.
Thanks for reading,
Until next time,
Cheers,
G