Mr. Tito Presents… Twas the Night Before Pro Wrestling Christmas – 2024 Edition (WWE, AEW, etc.) + Year-End Awards
‘Twas the night before Pro Wrestling Christmas, when all through the TKO house,
Not a sexual predator was stirring, not even Vince McMahon’s spouse.
Tried to continue being TKO’s Board Chairman without any care,
But details of that lawsuit soon began to flare.
Wrestling fans were nestled all snug in their basement beds,
While visions of a Vince McMahon-less WWE danced in their heads.
Yet, they still complained like they always do,
Because even when Triple H presents them with quality, they are still shrewd.
When out of the blue there arose such a clatter,
The WWE booked Rock vs. Roman Reigns for a the last match that matters.
Yet, the marks went to their keyboards and created quite a chatter,
And caused the once-in-a-lifetime match to get flushed down the crapper.
When what my wondering eyes did appear,
That Cody Rhodes’ finishing of the story would headline Wrestlemania 40 this year.
As luck would have it, the Rock would somehow be turned heel,
The return of Hollywood Rock and now the final boss would soon be revealed.
Wrestlemania 40 happened and it was almost too good to be true,
That the post-Wrestlemania 40 Spring and Summertime kinda blew.
No Rock, no Roman, or CM Punk to entertain us,
Instead, the Wish.com version of the Bloodline looked quite sus.
Haku’s kids tried and tried to be cool and worked hard to be replacements,
But little did they know that they’d cause viewership and attendance displacement.
While Jacob Fatu debuting was fun and exciting,
Having Solo Sikoa rushed to the main event was hardly nail biting.
To the top of the card, Drew McIntyre finally figured it out,
But it took trolling CM Punk to end his WWE creative drought.
Feud of the year they had, as much of their stuff was sold as real,
Now Drew McIntyre is going after the OG Bloodline as a heel.
So up to the housetop of TKO’s television negotiations they flew,
Receiving billions and billions from the Netflix and USA Networks crews.
Meanwhile, AEW signed a new extension with Warner Brothers Discovery,
Yet with $45 billion in debt, WBD will soon be in bankruptcy and recovery.
Now Okada, Now Mercedes, Now Ospreay, and Copland,
To lower viewership and attendance to further diminish AEW’s brand.
Tony Khan is the worst president of a wrestling company or promotion,
But Dave Meltzer proudly supports AEW with his tissues and lotion.
Say his name and he appears is not what Santa Claus does,
But Joe Hendry appearing in NXT created quite the buzz.
Goes to show you that theme music still matters,
As Jim Johnston helped make Stone Cold a big star simply by making glass shatter.
As we head into Rumble to Wrestlemania season and WWE is working overtime
Creating more responsibilities with Saturday Night’s Main Event and Netflix may create too much of a grind.
Over-exposure with too much to watch is what hurts the wrestling business,
Because less is more is a harder concept to achieve rather than telling ever TV executive “yes”.
Down the SNME chimney Jesse Ventura came with a bound,
Welcomed back by WWE fans enough he’s said the craziest conspiracy theories around.
Jesse he still craps on Hulk Hogan for being a rat and snitch,
But Hulk Hogan has now found a new arse to kiss and become a political b***h.
Oh 2024, what a great year for pro wrestling,
Well, maybe not AEW is what I’m guessing.
But hey, a new year is approaching and wipes the slate clean,
Though owning a wrestling promotion through nepotism makes you a drama queen.
I hope that you have wonderful Holiday Season and help make everything right,
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
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2024 Mr. Tito Awards for Pro Wrestling
Event of the Year: Wrestlemania 40
Easy on this one… Top 5 Wrestlemania of all time, and with more viewings, maybe the best. The show lived up to the hype, was loaded with great matches, and delivered on the hype and excitement of its co-main events.
Match of the Year: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre – Hell in a Cell
These two deserved it. They had a true blood feud and they finished it off right in the cage. I’m somewhat sad that Drew didn’t get the best of him in the end, but CM Punk has some real HUGE opportunities ahead of him for 2025 whereas Drew has many prime years still left in him.
Wrestler of the Year: Drew McIntyre
He figured out his character and then pretty much helped carry the WWE through the rough months of the late Spring and Summertime after Wrestlemania 40. His feud with CM Punk was intense and put out nothing but quality matches. CM Punk isn’t the worker that he used to be, so thus Drew did some carrying in their feud and should be commended for that.
Female Wrestler of the Year: Liv Morgan
Being honest, I was a big critic of her past work… Really didn’t have much of a character and her matches were OK. For 2024, they had her flirting with Dominik Mysterio and a character arose… What a great job she did to become a compelling character and with that, her match quality improved. I could watch her and Rhea feud forever.
Promotion of the Year: WWE
Come on. Who made a profit for 2024? WWE. Who didn’t? AEW. WWE’s business killed it during 2024, even after Roman/Rock weren’t there, they still kept moving on with their deep roster. AEW is a dying promotion with too many expensive non-drawing free agents from late 2023 or early 2024 now on their roster.
Booker of the Year: Triple H
BY A HUGE MARGIN… AEW was creatively terrible this year, WWE made unique decisions based on unusual circumstances. For example, CM Punk gets injured and Drew McIntyre legitimately trolls him online. WWE made a big blood feud with those two that lasted for much of 2024. Online fans attacked WWE for booking Rock vs. Roman at Wrestlemania, so in turn, that gave WWE an opportunity to turn the Rock heel. Triple H has also created an environment that empowers others backstage to get involved instead of micro-managing everything. TRUST exists backstage in WWE land, does not in AEW.
Columnist of the Year: Mr. Tito
Each and every year.
Love you guys, have a Merry Christmas!!!
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ