State of Mind: Roxanne Perez isn’t Ready, Jey Uso and more
It’s amazing how there’s just something that bothers you. It’s so irksome that it becomes a distraction. That’s how I’ve felt about Roxanne Perez. She’s incredibly talented, has the look, and natural charisma, but something about her just hasn’t fully grabbed me, and what that was has always been just out of my grasp.
Until tonight.
After a long day, I came home, smoked some great indica, ate a hybrid edible, grabbed two cold slices of pizza from the fridge for a 10 p.m. dinner, and cuddled up with my wife and pulled up Vengeance Day on Peacock. In this state of mind, as they highlighted the feud between Roxanne, Bayley, Giulia, and Cora, it clicked.
She doesn’t deliver her promos with emotion. They showed the highlights of her promo after she lost her title, and there’s nothing in her tone. I can’t tell if she’s supposed to be angry, smug, ironic, confident… because there is no emotion. She comes off as someone just reciting lines.
She speaks well. Her cadence is usually good; she rarely stumbles over her words, but she has no feeling behind those words, no matter how well she delivers them. Now I replay it in my mind. I see it often in her promos. It’s wooden, and it becomes painfully obvious because if you watch when the unexpected happens, that’s when she does stumble with her words.
But this is what I couldn’t put my finger on with her. Is this a knock? No. I do see a bright future for her. It just means she’s not there yet. Maybe she needs to grow more on the acting side of things, or perhaps she’s not fully comfortable with her character? Or is she so focused on delivering her lines correctly that she’s overlooking any kind of emotion?
Who knows? But she’s young. I’m confident she’ll get there; she’s just not quite there yet.
Now, a few odds and ends.
I have no issue with Jey Uso winning the Rumble. Love him or hate him, the dude is insanely over. Even if it’s only because of a phrase as simple as “Yeet,” he’s a draw right now. WrestleMania isn’t about matches; it’s about the spectacle and creating moments. Right now, what’s a bigger spectacle than a WrestleMania special entrance for Jey Uso, interacting with 70,000 fans yeeting? What a great moment it would be for Jey Uso, the man always looked at as nothing more than a tag team wrestler, who has always come up short with Gunther, finally winning that championship no one ever foresaw him winning. It just screams WrestleMania.
I don’t want to see John Cena fight for the championship at WrestleMania. The story is always about the chase. SummerSlam is two nights and is taking the full WrestleMania treatment now. Cena was last eliminated from the Rumble. At Elimination Chamber, he’s the final elimination for whoever wins. At Money in the Bank, he has the briefcase almost in his hands when the winner knocks him off and takes the case for himself. Running out of chances, his last chance is King of the Ring. He wins King of the Ring to finally get his chance at SummerSlam. Book it.
As for Mania, the two biggest mainstream names need to be put together. John Cena vs. Logan Paul draws in new people. It also gets coverage on ESPN, late-night talk shows, and podcasts outside the wrestling demographic.
One last thing: If you have AMC+ or Shudder, then check out Bad Match. It’s a good wrestling horror movie with a menacing Chris Jericho as the villainOne last thing: If you have AMC+ or Shudder, then check out Bad Match. It’s a good wrestling horror movie with a menacing Chris Jericho as the villain cult leader.
Current Playlist:
*Crazy Rap by Afroman
*Always Watching You by Escula Grind
*Raw Meat by Fae Fatale
*Holiday by Turnstile
*Middle Child by J. Cole
*King Kunta by Kendrick Lamar
*Sun//eater by Lorna Shore
*Dead Skin Mask by Slayer
*Closer to the Sun by Slightly Stoopid
*Dig Up Her Bones by Misfits
Follow me @donwayho.bsky.social