In case you missed it, go to YouTube.com to watch the replay of the live stream of AAA Noche de los Grandes from May 30, 2026. Just go to the 1 hour and 11 minute mark, sit back & enjoy.

The funny thing is that the El Grande Americano gimmick was supposed to be a joke and “something to do” for Chad Gable. However, even though the gimmick seemed to be a tad tasteless at first, Chad took it seriously and was starting to get over on WWE television. Then, unfortunately, Chad got injured and rather than shelving or ending the gimmick, WWE made a unique decision to put Ludwig Kaiser under the mask. Just as it was CLEARLY Gable, this was CLEARLY Kaiser… But, and I’ve heard this from independent wrestlers who have wrestled under a mask, something happens when you mask up… The character takes over and the confidence goes through the roof.

Kaiser went from wrestling as a parody character to taking it damn seriously by incorporating himself into the Mexican community and heritage while actually speaking Spanish with the character. After portraying a heel for most of his WWE career, this babyface charisma comes out of Kaiser and he’s able to connect with fans in Mexico.

Then, out of a stroke of pure luck for Kaiser, WWE purchases the AAA promotion during Wrestlemania 42 week and now, he was given a platform to shine further. Many thought WWE and especially TKO would “ruin AAA”, especially with Alberto Del Rio as champion, but WWE and TKO haven’t yet. In fact, it’s thriving and growing into being a valuable asset for both WWE to manage and TKO to own. As you saw last night, the two El Grande Americanos put on a major main event that had AAA fans fully invested.

The amazing thing is how a real life arrest could have added to Ludwig Kaiser’s popularity in Mexico. The “Elevator Incident” has been a subject of debate, as Ludwig was reportedly getting very romantic with his Andrea Bazarte while another person was in the elevator. Reportedly, he said something to the effect of “have some manners” but other reports said he said something more such as “I’m going to call ICE on you”. Kaiser reportedly jumped out of the elevator and fought the guy, getting the better of him, and then Kaiser was arrested afterward. I believe the “victim” said something lewd, as Kaiser has too much to lose by getting arrested. Whether it happened or not, Kaiser possibly stomping a guy for saying “I’m gonna call ICE on you” endeared him with fans further within Mexico. Yet another stroke of luck, though the legal process will be a painful thing for Kaiser.

Now, one thing that I want to address is this whole “Undertaker is a better booker than Triple H” and “AAA is better than WWE” chatter happening online.

For one, Triple H is Chief Content Officer. Anything that happens in AAA or NXT is reported upward to Triple H. The Undertaker does NOT have a direct to the offices of TKO. No, he reports directly up to Triple H. Now, Triple H is a less micro-managing boss, as HHH gives his direct reports a ton of freedom. For example, look at Shawn Michaels running the NXT promotion with mostly creative freedom. Further, look at Michael P.S. Hayes right now as a match producer. Hayes is THRIVING and is seriously evolving into being as great as Pat Patterson in match design and producing.

Further, look whose talent that the Undertaker gets to have on his AAA promotion… Most of those guys are Triple H signed guys and the El Grande Americano wrestlers, both of them, were signed by Triple H originally and given those gimmicks by Triple H’s creative team. Wrestlers thriving under HHH’s creative direction, such as Dominik Mysterio and Lola Vice, are wrestling for AAA as well. I’ll shut my mouth when Undertaker takes a raw talent and morphs him, but Undertaker is basically taking existing WWE talents and putting them on a new platform and in a new environment.

If Undertaker was such a creative genius, why didn’t Vince McMahon EVER promote Undertaker to any creative decisions? You could suggest “well, Undertaker was a wrestler”… Yes, a part-time one with plenty of free time to help with creative. But he was NEVER asked by Vince. Further, Undertaker retired from in-ring action following the 2020 Wrestlemania yet he still wasn’t invited to join the creative team from 2020-2022 when Triple H was no longer there.

FACT is that the Undertaker was placed in charge of a creative team for AAA under Triple H.

Another FACT is that a Vince McMahon-led WWE would have NEVER purchased AAA. Remember, Triple H had major pushback when he tried to open NXT installations overseas such as in Europe (which gave us Walter aka Gunther along with Ludwig Kaiser). The WWE without Vince McMahon did purchase AAA and under Triple H’s role managing both TALENT and CREATIVE, AAA is thriving and placing Undertaker in charge, with full creative control, was a Triple H decision and he has the right to change it, if needed. But he won’t because he nurtures his direct reports instead of micro-managing them.

Another fact to emphasize is that Vince McMahon HATED smaller wrestlers AND hated Lucha Libre style wrestling. He’s dabbled in it at times, but always squashed it in the end. He gave major pushback to pushing Eddie Guerrero back in the day and he loved Rey Mysterio only because he sold metric tons of merchandise. Any attempts at having a Lightweight Title or Cruiserweight Title were always crushed by Vince, while any attempts to push smaller or foreign wrestlers (unless they fit what he personally liked, weird or tall) were also stomped on.

There is NO WAY that Vince McMahon would ever let Chad Gable vs. Ludwig Kaiser headline a show, ever.

Even if Vince McMahon would have purchased AAA, he’d ruin it. Remember what happened when he tried to revive Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) multiple times? And DAMN, he completely ruined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and its top stable New World Order (NWO).

However, AAA was purchased by today’s environment with Triple H in charge who takes better care of talent and provides them better opportunities, while empowering over members of WWE management to succeed without having someone breathing down their necks. In one night, both Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser were catapulted into big stars and now WWE firmly has a 4th promotion and platform for its wrestlers to success and to cover more territory to sell to fans.

My only worry is that executives at TKO are getting HARD at this opportunity to pull revenues out of Mexico… “Another ATM machine, boys!”

Before TKO sends Pat McAfee or Jelly Roll to be featured on the next big AAA show, let’s just take it in and enjoy what the WWE has accomplished in LESS THAN 2 MONTHS as the owner of AAA…

For anyone saying “this was better than Wrestlemania 42”. Huh? WWE owns AAA, so AAA is a WWE promotion. If AAA takes off and does well, the WWE does well as a line-item on TKO’s Income Statement. AAA is managed by WWE and its wrestlers are employed by WWE.

This was like the many times when someone would say “NXT’s PLE was better than any of WWE’s PLEs this year”. So? NXT is owned by WWE. That’s a GREAT thing when another branch of WWE succeeds. More money and more opportunities for WWE to grow its already absurdly big brand.

Congrats to WWE… They have TWO “Match of the Year” candidates with CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns from Wrestlemania 42 and now the El Grande Americano Mask vs. Mask match-up and we’re only 5 months into 2026. WWE is now drawing strongly throughout all of North America. Oh no, they’re getting stronger!

Let’s get a reasonable understanding of what has happened for the past 4 years… Triple H returns to Creative and Talent during June 2022. Everything associated with WWE has exploded in growth ever since, WWE has more stars to market than ever, more revenues poured in that ever, and HHH’s management styles empowers others to DO MORE with their role in WWE. Prior to June 2022, WWE was too dependent on Vince McMahon’s opinion and decisions THUS limiting its growth. Now, HHH allows others to succeed and make independent decisions without him hand holding them as Vince would. As long as Undertaker doesn’t make ridiculous decisions with AAA, Triple H will let him thrive AND allow Mark to get the credit.

Are you picking up what I’m putting down? Get in a rowboat by yourself and see how far you can go upstream. However, if you have a full team with you and grabbing paddles to row in unison, you’ll go further and faster up the stream.

AAA succeeding is a bi-product of a successful WWE culture in place led by Triple H. The spin-offs from the main WWE will be successful because Triple H won’t micro-manage them. He’ll just monitor from far away and add any feedback that he feels is necessary. Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser just benefitted massively from a changed WWE culture that led it to buying AAA and giving them a platform that main roster WWE didn’t.

May 30th was a GREAT night for the WWE, period, and a GREAT night for fans in Mexico because now AAA has competence in management and an open door policy for other WWE talent to walk through and perform in front of them.

Now, the WWE has major opportunities with Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser. For Gable, he’s free of the gimmick and can now be pushed as what he said after his match with Kaiser… He’s a former Olympian. If I were WWE, I’d push Gable HARD like the next coming of Kurt Angle but serious this time.

For Ludwig Kaiser, he’ll be able to draw serious money in Mexico for a while, but he has serious potential to return to the WWE as El Grande Americano or even himself. I think now, WWE has a serious babyface challenger to place against Gunther and their past alliance creates the easiest storyline to tell, ever.

For me, I’m now fully invested in AAA and shall watch more of their content. I was loosely keeping up with it here or there, but I want more of what I just snorted on Saturday Night.

That’s how you do it, folks… Wrestling is that simple. Anytime you see momentum, you nurture the talents involved to see where it can go. During previous years, WWE did their best to destroy careers after killing momentum that Vince McMahon didn’t personally agree with. Hence trying to kill CM Punk’s momentum during 2011 or Daniel Bryan during 2013, while guys like Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Dean Ambrose had to leave the WWE to find success elsewhere (luckily, WWE gained Cody and Drew back).

As an executive, let your managers manage and trust them to do their job. Not only does it build a stronger culture, but it places lesser pressure on 1 manager. “No man is an island” as John Donne once said. AAA is going to keep blossoming because Undertaker can have FUN at his job and be allowed to keep having fun!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: The Impact of the El Grande Americano Mask vs. Mask AAA Match and Why AAA is Thriving with WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Now, the ones who were called out insisted that good ol’ Mr. Tito was “crashing out”. If you have been following politics lately, many Generation Z (defined as being born between 1997 and 2012) commentators have been using that slang term to label how someone is reacting. For example, it’s often used to describe our current President of the United States and WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump when he posts over 50 times on his Truth Social account or when he goes on the attack during a speech or press conference. “Crashing out” is defined as a slang phrase by the Merriam Webster dictionary as ”to become suddenly, uncontrollably angry or distressed”.

When I wrote that column on 5/1, I was perfectly chill and calm when I wrote it… I never used vulgarity, personal attacks, or hatred within that column whatsoever. There were just a handful of stories that came out, based on past opinions, that validated what I said previously so hence why I wrote a column about it. The “Told You So” title came from my famous 2011 column, one of my highest drawing columns ever, when I hammered fans for not seeing the Triple H burial of CM Punk during their one-on-one PPV match that year. Every reaction by opposite parties was their actual quotes, as I wasn’t slandering anyone. YET, in return, those who were called out went NUCLEAR and posted a zillion times beneath my column.

Awwwww, poor babies… Does it suck when the shoe is on the other foot?

Look, folks… I’ve been writing these very columns since October 1998 and I estimate that I’ve written at least 4,000 to 5,000 times for LordsofPain, Top-Rope, and now NoDQ combined. Each of those columns have generated thousands or tens of thousands of page views and often come with loads of criticisms. I’ve even received death threats in the past. I always laugh when someone even suggests “Tito can’t take feedback”, yet when you look at the vulgarity and insults of said feedback, you wonder why I either ignore it or decide to hit back. But what I LOVE is when I turn the tables on the haters and it causes them to “crash out” in response.

If you ever notice, it’s the same 4-5 haters grandstanding in my comments section each and every time.

And if you notice, good ol’ Tito does NOT censor what they say. Their feedback is clearly posted without any censorship.

The “Mr. Tito TOLD YOU SO” column was just a means to hold people accountable and it worked very effectively. My 5/1 column was ranked #5 among ALL viewed NoDQ posts, and that includes news posts that normally draw much better than opinionated posts. Further, another NoDQ columnist tried to get a rub off my good name by writing a response column. Many haters claim that nobody reads my column, yet how is it getting enough page views to keep up with news posts? How is it generating so much feedback? Why is it prompting other columnists to respond to me with their own columns?

Like me or not, I still got it. Actually, I never lost it. Every website that I’ve posted a column on, it’s the most viewed opinionated piece by a margin.

And I’m BACK IN YOUR FACE today with more “I told you so” vindication based on past opinions that were heavily criticized.

If you don’t like what I’m posting, DON’T READ IT! You have my personal invitation to F off and never read my columns again. How can I be relevant if you’re not reading my columns? Ever think of that? Instead, the haters just keep adding fuel to the fire.

Let’s get into this week’s “told you so” topics.

Told You So #1 – TKO is greedy

Since late 2024, I’ve been HAMMERING the TKO corporation, holding company corporation of UFC and WWE, for their corporate greed whether that’s about their ticket prices, signing up for services that will price gouge WWE fans (like ESPN), or giving Saudi Arabia opportunities to host Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania before other deserving countries.

Yet in response, such as where my buddy Joe often posts, he asks “touch the doll where TKO touched you” or something to that effect. Many of you have felt that I’ve unjustly attacked TKO, even suggesting that Triple H has been behind much of TKO’s greed. Yeah, the EVP of Creative and Talent is making corporate decisions instead of the layers of executives above him in both WWE (Nick Khan) and TKO’s organizational chart and board of directors.

Let’s take this past week… Reportedly, multiple wrestlers were requested to take a 50% paycut by WWE or else become released. New Day, who were just 1 year into a 5 year deal with the WWE, refused to take said 50% paycut and were released.

Let’s review WWE’s revenue streams, shall we?

– Earning $500 million per year from Netflix
– Earning $280 million per year from NBC/Universal
– Earning $320 million pear year from Disney/ESPN
– Earning $100 million for Royal Rumble 2026, $250 million for Wrestlemania 43 to be hosted in Saudi Arabia
– Increased merchandise revenue from Fanatics deal
– Higher event revenue from cities paying extra to host + ticket sales

Per TKO’s 10-K report, WWE earned around $1.7 billion during 2025 alone. However, from TKO’s 10-K report, I cannot find a line-item expense report for WWE specifically. Rather just what is defined as TKO’s net income of $546 million from a $4.7 revenue pie for everything. In other words, TKO spent more than $4 billion in expenses for 2025!

While putting on a WWE show is capital intense and same with their marketing expenses, and the same goes for UFC… There’s no way that TKO isn’t netting a wider Net Income from their combined activities.

And WWE employees are not taking a large portion of WWE’s expenses, trust me on that one.

WWE has up to 200 wrestlers on their combined roster, if that. Some are like Roman or Brock and are breaking the bank, while others in developmental make up to $100,000 per year or lower card wrestlers on main WWE wrestles make up to $300,000. Fewer live event gates to payout versus before. No Pay Per View money to distribute, so less going on top of downside guarantees. We could be reasonable and suggest that WWE wrestlers, on average, make maybe $1,000,000 per year… So if we had $200 million in total WWE wrestler salaries among 200 wrestlers, that’s a lower expense digging into that $1.7 billion revenue number. In fact, that’s LOW in terms of total labor costs. NFL players, for example, earn 48% of the league’s revenues with other leagues being similar. We’re looking at maybe 12% for WWE wrestlers?

Thanks to TKO being a publicly traded company, you can truly begin to see where the money is REALLY going.

Publicly traded companies have to release a Proxy Statement each year that describes executive compensation.

If you add up the total compensation among the 4 top TKO executives, they are pulling in a combined $43 million (bonuses + base salary). That’s JUST the top 4 executives, as they have Senior VPs, Vice Presidents, and other levels of officers and staff reporting upward to them. It gets expensive, real fast. Plus Board of Director compensation and one board member that appeared was WWE CEO/President and TKO Board Member Nick Khan with his $24 million in compensation. We also have stock awards, on top of previous stock awards of offerings (like Rock begin given like $30 million in TKO stock for joining the TKO Board).

TKO reports $1.9 billion in operating costs and $1.5 billion in selling, general, and administrative expenses.

Then you go further into the well…

Endeavor, who bought WWE, had $5.7 billion in debt before they were acquired by Silver Lake and that investment group has a metric ton of debt due its fund being involved in various acquisitions such as purchasing Electronic Arts or a part of Intel. TKO, itself, is reporting $3.8 billion in debt.

Members of Endeavor operate as agents for WME, including TKO President/CEO Ari Emanuel. Pat McAfee, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and others are represented by WME… Hence, any money that they make in WWE goes directly back to the agent executives of TKO.

The FACT is that TKO is burning through cash on other expenses other than the WWE’s or paying off its executives other management. WWE is no longer a wrestling company but a money transfer service.

You’re getting ripped off as fans because of pure financial greed by those who founded Endeavor, those who just bought Endeavor, and those who use revenue streams to justify borrowing even more money from banks. Sooooooo much commercial debt on the balance sheets of the largest banks and I present that some day, an economic crash will come when these big corporations are totally unable to pay off these big loans to perform these acquisitions. Disney is like $40 billion in debt and there are many corporations like that carrying a ton of debt.

But as loyal WWE marks, you’ll somehow still defend TKO’s greed and be willing to pay $29.99 for ESPN Unlimited, high ticket prices, or enjoy seeing your Netflix subscription price increase.

*****

Told You So #2 – Triple H as EVP of Talent

This one will be brief… Besides New Day, who were both John Laurinaitis signings, the majority of WWE releases seem to be Triple H signed wrestlers.

I keep telling you, folks… Triple H’s biggest weakness is assessing talent. That, or he’s spread himself too thin that he overthinks or doesn’t think about talent signed. I also think that he has a WEAK head trainer in place with Matt Bloom who dazzled fans, for years, as A-Train, Prince Albert, or Lord Tensai.

Triple H’s system has struggled to groom and develop main event talent that are as great as what Jim Ross or John Laurinaitis signed. That’s just a fact. HHH’s best guys, pre mid-2012 signings, have been Kevin Owens and Gunther as wrestlers who developed in HHH’s system. Oba Femi and Bron Breakker, by the way, were John Laurinaitis signings…

I continue to maintain that WWE could instantly improve its developmental system by luring Jim Ross away from AEW. Be humble and praise Jim Ross, while letting him consult WWE’s management team on scouting, development, and getting the most bang for your buck. Let Ross hire new trainers on the male side, as the women’s wrestling side is pretty good in WWE developmental.

HHH just isn’t good at signing younger MALE talent and then developing them into bigger stars. The success stories for his system is less than what Ross and Laurinaitis signed.

*****

Told You So #3 – Vince McMahon should NOT return to WWE

Many wrestling marks, who love to nitpick what Triple H does or blame Triple H for TKO’s meddling have an odd affinity for wanting Vince McMahon to return. Sure, I’ll agree that Triple H isn’t perfect and yes, the past 2 years of Hall of Fame self-glazing has been ridiculous between him and Stephanie… But I’ll take WWE since mid-2022 versus ANYTHING during the 2010s when Vince McMahon micro-managed everything and tore up any script handed to him.

Let me remind you of the 2010s…

WWE tried to push Miz, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Finn Balor, and Jinder Mahal as World Champions. Seriously, WWE tried that… I could even argue that maybe Braun Strowman was a reach as champion.

Overpushing an inexperienced Roman Reigns from 2014 through 2019. And that was on top of destroying the John Cena cashcow at SummerSlam 2014 and diminishing CM Punk’s top spot role. Roman was not ready for the top role and headlined many Wrestlemania’s with BAD matches against exceptional opponents.

Brock Lesnar dominated everyone, yet had to lose to Seth Rollins twice in one year. Made zero sense.

As an older WCW fan, I was happy to see equity put back into Bill Goldberg… But damn did he get overpushed and looked terrible doing so.

Flushed the tag team division down the tubes. Yes, New Day beat Demolition’s record for a lengthy title reign, but who, besides the Usos, were actually considered as a great tag team as opponents? Go back and look who Demolition wrestled during their reign and it’s a literal who’s who of best of all time tag teams!

First half of the decade had awful women’s wrestling with no care or attention to it. This promoted “Give Divas a Chance” and then Triple H’s great crop of females arrived during 2015. However, Vince only pushed Charlotte while everyone else had to bow down to her. WWE had so much potential with Sasha Banks that they wasted, while it took years to recognize Becky Lynch’s talents. How Vince took a top merchandise selling Bayley and morphed her into what you see today is beyond me.

Remember Corporate Kane and the Authority? Ugh…

Summer of Punk ruined… Daniel Bryan marginalized by Randy Orton and the Authority (“B+ player”).

Ridiculousness of the Wyatt Family. Went from a cool stable that was feuding with the Shield to completely goofy. The Fiend was an awful gimmick change, especially when you set him on fire and he had to wrestle in a burned outfit for a while until miraculously healing.

Stardust, anyone? That was Cody Rhodes and that was how WWE used him during the 2010s. Drew McIntyre was in 3 Man Band as a jobber!

Jobbing great in-ring wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler.

Many, many poor attempts at comedy.

And remember with Vince McMahon, not only did he create trouble with women in the office space and backstage at arenas (allegedly with MDA payouts), he was the one who sold out to Saudi Arabia and also forced the sale to Endeavor.

You’re an absolute IDIOT if you want Vince McMahon to return. Things have been SO MUCH BETTER creatively for the WWE since June 2022 when Vince stepped down and Triple H took over without Vince micro-managing his job. HHH, for example, made the Bloodline angle better by adding Sami Zayn to it and made the Cody vs. Brock feud better and end strongly to continue Cody’s push. CM Punk has thrived working for the older Triple H, while WWE has a collective group of wrestlers who can draw and not just the top 1-2 guys that Vince pushed to the moon.

So STOP it with your Vince McMahon love. You’re a mark for the past, yet you don’t even realize how BAD the past was.

Let’s measure WWE in quality based on decades, shall we?

1) 1990s
2) 1980s
3) 2020s (so far)
4) 2000s
5) 2010s

FACTS since Triple H took over Creative during mid-2022: Attendance boomed, viewership went up, merchandise really went up, and new TV deals broke the freakin’ bank.

Want to know why TKO can price gouge on WWE events? Because Triple H’s creative puts on quality WWE shows and fans, with high demand for WWE products, are willing to fork over their hard-earned dollars.

Go ahead, deny my 2010s facts… WWE sucked during that decade and we’re much better off NOW than we were a decade ago. RAW went from 4 million viewers to less than 2 million, attendance dropped to below 5,000 often for shows, houseshows began getting cancelled, and Pay Per View buys dropped so much that the WWE Network was created.

TKO cannot price gouge if 2020s WWE lacked quality. Period.

*****

Told You So #4 – AEW still isn’t good

I need to give credit where it’s due about AEW… Through late 2018, I had it with WWE’s terrible creative (see above) and I seriously thought about walking away. Then, AEW arrived and created competition and made wrestling fun for a brief while.

Then, however, the wheels fell off… AEW was quickly exposed as a company with weak leadership under Tony Khan and a toxic workplace for many that has prompted the likes of Jade Cargill, Cody Rhodes, and CM Punk to leave the promotion and thrive in the WWE afterward. The backstage attacks by the Young Bucks and their flunkies really hurt things and their free agent signing spree has proven ineffective for drawing. Many consider their shows and matches great, but their bouts are often about shoving as many high risk moves per minute to keep that sugar high going of wrestling fans.

The end result is that AEW is consistently under 700,000 for its flagship AEW Dynamite show and most of its shows struggle to sell up to 5,000 with LOW ticket prices in place. Pay Per View buys have declined.

While most wrestling publications and YouTube channels are bashing WWE and trying to somehow encourage AEW, I find that a struggle… Yes, I even once advised to help AEW succeed by forcing yourself to watch them, but even I acknowledge that as a mistake. Their shows just aren’t good, and I don’t necessarily blame the wrestlers. I blame the guy at the top, Tony Khan, and the management team that surrounds him.

For Sting to go out there and compare Tony Khan to Ted Turner was insulting. Tony is a “maverick” just like Ted was, proclaimed Sting. Love ya, Sting, but maybe you’ve taken too many bumps inside that ring.

Without Ted Turner, there was no competition against Vince McMahon. Ted provided the channels to host wrestling, while buying an almost bankrupt NWA Mid-Atlantic to keep a promotion alive. That is way different starting up a promotion with lots of money behind it and being a distant 2nd place while being a place where ex-WWE free agents often struggle.

The NERVE of Tony to once say Ted Turner “didn’t know 1% of what I know about professional wrestling or WCW would still be on TBS/TNT”. Ted Turner’s WCW promotion defeated Vince McMahon and changed the business for the better. You never defeated Vince McMahon, EVER, and briefly helped wrestlers get paid. Now, WWE wrestlers are being forced to take 50% or else go to AEW to suffer.

Again, numbers don’t lie… Under 700,000 viewers for the flagship show, fewer tickets sold despite lower prices, poor merchandise sales (they closed the merchandise division!), and lower Pay Per View buys.

AEW is LUCKY to be in an environment where LIVE sports content is winning ridiculous sums of money by cable companies. That won’t last on the next contract, as the Ellisons are receiving TKO money for UFC being on Paramount+ and I fully expect them to get the WWE RAW contract and maybe the PLE one in 5 years. Enjoy the television money, while you can, because you’re day of reckoning is coming UNLESS you get your crap together and develop the next irresistible star… But you don’t have a developmental system that could create one.

Therefore, stop telling me “WWE sucks, watch AEW instead” when watching AEW is a less enjoyable experience than the corporate WWE experience.

*****

Told You So #5 – WWE is too veteran dependent

This relates to my “Triple H is bad at Talent Relations” argument, but we just saw a WWE Backlash event where (a) Oba Femi was left off the card, (b) Bron Breakker had a few botched moves, and (c) Jacob Fatu immediately lost to Roman Reigns.

That’s your next crop of wrestlers behind your Punks, Codys, Romans, and Seths…

This is the MAIN WEAKNESS of the WWE that if a competent AEW were in place, they’d exploit it and create a BETTER developmental system to create brand new younger stars to overcome WWE. Instead, AEW has a poor developmental system and relies on free agents to hopefully “save” them. Sorry, but nobody is tripping over themselves to see the latest Will Ospreay match and he is a great in-ring worker, I have to admit. But he, too, is a veteran and AEW is a roster loaded with veterans versus newer and exciting younger wrestlers who will be the big stars of tomorrow.

WWE will continue to push the same 4-5 guys at the top and they’ll get older, while their replacements are currently non-existent. Having a strong developmental system matters and the WWE just doesn’t have that under Triple H. I’ve been telling you so about him as EVP of Talent Relations for over 13 years now!

——————

LAST WORD: See, no “crash outs”, just ol’ Tito spitting facts and proving my past positions as being correct. Watch the usual suspects lose their minds in the Comments section because that’s what they usually do underneath popular columns. If what I do was so easy to replicate, why aren’t there more people trying this?

But go ahead, leave your comments… I always need new fodder to use for the next “Told You So” column.

So just chill… Until the next episode (or crash out, LOL)!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO TOLD YOU SO: TKO Forcing WWE Wrestlers to Take 50% Pay Cuts, WWE Better During 2020s than 2010s, AEW’s Struggles, and More appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Seeing lots of feedback on Wrestlemania 42 with it mostly being “weak night 1, stronger night 2” and many are even questioning the idea of a 2-night Wrestlemania. I don’t know, those 6-7 hour 1-night Wrestlemania shows were brutal. THAT SAID, these PLEs on ESPN are shoving in so many advertisements, as you’re probably watching like 30% advertisements now.

Here are my takeaways from Wrestlemania 42 and I’ll put them in a is of 10 to keep it convenient.

#1 – Pat McAfee heel turn meant NOTHING for Wrestlemania 42
Told you so that it was BAD BOOKING to randomly turn Pat heel and have him join Randy Orton, whom he had zero connection with previously and ditto for Cody Rhodes. All news reports show that it was Pat’s agent, Ari Emanuel (also the President/CEO of TKO) forcing the issue following Pat signing him to become his agent during February. Pat was so out of place and acting as if a wrestling mark was out there to be a heel manager. He attacked Cody to start the match but then got his arse handed to him to put on a stretcher job. He later returned in a referee shirt (WTF??) to interfere further, but then Randy Orton turns on him?!? Wait, what was the point of Pat McAfee turning heel? Orton would then lose the match anyway.

After the match, Randy Orton punted Cody Rhodes and legitimately injured Cody. That’s BS and hopefully TKO tightens the bolts to ensure something like that doesn’t happen again. Cody’s eye may be permanently damaged by that or could have been.

#2 – Happy for Paige, though confused about the Women’s Tag Title situation
Paige is one of the best women’s talents and it’s a shame that her relationship with Alberto Del Rio shook up things for her personally and professionally. That said, she’s still young and she looked fantastic in that ring on Saturday. The crowd gave her flowers, too, and it was a nice moment to see her winning. However, that Wrestlemania 42 match was supposed to be the coronation of the Bellas winning the tag titles and not just Brie & Paige. This possible snap judgment decision to give them the belts kind of rubs the shine off of the Bellas winning the tag titles if Brie already won the tag titles.

#3 – Retirement for Alexa Bliss? Is AJ Lee gone?
Alexa Bliss posted a big THANK YOU on his social media accounts and I think her big tribute to Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania was also a “goodbye” to the business. I think this is it for her, as she might be stepping back to be a mother full-time or possibly have more children. In my opinion, the WWE used her incorrectly since that MASSIVE Royal Rumble 2025 return in which her pop blew the roof off of Lucas Oil Field’s stadium (I was there, it was LOUD). HOWEVER, I do appreciate that her teaming up with Charlotte Flair helped repair Charlotte internally and allowed Charlotte to find the joy in pro wrestling again.

After her match with Becky Lynch, AJ Lee announced that she’d be stepping away from the ring too… She’s been in and out of the ring since her return, so taking long breaks is common… But I think she accomplished all she wanted to with a comeback and just wants to chill with a normal life. I wouldn’t be surprised that CM Punk, too, steps back and maybe considers starting a family with AJ Lee. Why not?

#4 – CM Punk was amazing.
That’s a 47-year old dude out there in the Main Event of Wrestlemania 42 and I’m so proud of him, as he finally headlined the big show and CRUSHED IT with a 5-Star Match with Roman Reigns. Best part was CM Punk selling the effects of the match, as he should because he took multiple Superman punches + a shot with the steel steps as he was hanging upside down from the top rope on the outside. That moment when he collapsed during the GTS meant everything. CM Punk just delivered Roman his BEST Wrestlemania main event match and remember, Roman has many of them in his holster. Punk delivered huge and cemented himself as an all-time great.

Honestly with CM Punk, where does he go now? He came back, proved that he could be a professional in a reasonable setting, and headlined Wrestlemania which was his goal during the 2010s when he walked out of the WWE. I would not be surprised if he retired, knowing that he righted the wrongs of his prior WWE career and also proved AEW wrong with this amazing second WWE run.

#5 – Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
Very happy that Oba Femi won and if I were WWE, I’d place a rocketship onto his arse and light that thing on fire to push him to the top. THAT SAID, I really didn’t like how the match went, specifically the complete no-sell of the F5 by Oba. Sorry, but that move ended the Undertaker’s streak and defeated many people in the WWE. It barely hurt Oba, who went on to Chokeslam and then Powerbomb Lesnar with barely any effects of that move. Other than that gripe, I’m glad that Brock Lesnar did business here and put the younger guy over.

And then, Brock Lesnar retired… Those fans in that Las Vegas stadium really felt that and in return, Lesnar got emotional as he was unlacing his boots and hugging Paul Heyman. Since 2012, Lesnar has dominated our lives as pro wrestling fans and in my opinion, Lesnar was the “saving grace” from the 2010s being even worse than what they really were with Vince McMahon’s creative micro-managing.

I still think he’ll wrestle Gunther at SummerSlam and possibly defeat him there, but I’d be perfectly content with Lesnar retiring here. Him hanging it up after losing to Oba makes Oba’s win even more impressive. “I made Lesnar retire”. That’s much different from Gunther defeating Goldberg or Cena because you knew their retirements were coming up. This was more of a random decision, as Lesnar just retiring sells the fact that he knows his time is now up and cannot defeat a monster like Oba Femi.

#6 – Jade Gargill experiment is over.
Look, I won’t deny that Jade looks like a million bucks. She’s beautiful and sculpted like a god. I’ll never deny that… But damn, was she built with 2 left feet? For as hard as both AEW and WWE worked, they tried and tried to make her a professional wrestler but it just did not stick. This goes to show you how natural talent makes a great wrestler and not fully the promotion with its smoke & mirrors. Rhea Ripley bounced all over that ring to sell whatever Jade sent to her, but to anyone watching for a long time, we know what’s going on and know which wrestlers understand how to work.

#7 – No surprises at all.
Many were expecting surprises, including myself, for both Cody/Orton or Punk/Roman and we got nothing… The Rock still hasn’t shown up yet and wasn’t behind Pat McAfee. Once again, this “TKO Era” likes to present surprise appearances throughout the year but craps the bed when it comes to its top show Wrestlemania.

#8 – Concerns over wrestler safety.
I’m surprised that TKO doesn’t show more concern for wrestler safety… There were crazy moments in that Ladder Match and then the “punt” by Randy on Cody could have caused permanent damage to Cody’s sight. There are ways to make things look convincing without, ya know, actually harming another wrestler. Night #1 was a bummer with a bad main event between Cody and Orton, thanks to stupid interference from Pat McAfee, and then to have Cody get legitimate injured was the crap icing on the cake.

#9 – 50,000+ fans still isn’t bad.
I thought that the Las Vegas football stadium looked full and the crowd seemed loud. Getting 50,000 at those high ticket prices is still an accomplishment. AEW’s top show, All In, has less than 20,000 tickets sold in Wembley this year and that’s with cheaper ticket prices. All In last year only did around 22,000 last year and again, with cheaper tickets. History will show that the WWE raised ticket prices too high for Wrestlemania 42 and probably should have gone to another city rather than burning out Las Vegas for a second year. However, all things considered, they still sold over 50,000 tickets and that crowd was still hot.

But damn, quit price gouging loyal WWE fans, TKO. You have all of that TV revenue money, Saudi money, getting Las Vegas to pony up for another year, having Fanatics ripping off fans for merchandise… Bunch of greedy bastards. Think about this, folks… All of this WWE and UFC revenue pouring in and these idiot executives at TKO still have $4 billion in debt. Now, I realize that every company utilizes Commercial Loans to finance things rather than burning through cash but Endeavor itself had over $7 billion in debt before a private equity firm, Silver Lake, bought them to restructure that very debt. That tells me there is more greed within Endeavor and TKO than even we know.

#10 – Roman is champ again, don’t blow it.
Since Wrestlemania 40, Roman Reigns has only wrestled TWELVE TIMES… For both 2024 and 2025, Roman disappeared for 3 months following Wrestlemanias and then would often be barely available during some of the fall months. Yes, I totally agree with the concept of “less is more”, but at least appear and do something. Brock Lesnar made more frequent appearances with his part-time contract than Roman has for the past 2 years.

Even during 2023, Roman would disappear for months as World Champion which is why RAW created its own World Heavyweight Championship to counter that extended absence.

I’m NOT saying to wrestle every single RAW or Smackdown, or perform on every single PLE. Cody Rhodes did that and over-exposed himself since Wrestlemania 40. What I’m saying is show up for the actual paying WWE fans in attendance and tuning in on television.

What is hurting the NBA right now? Players taking nights off, even when they are fully available to play. This “load management” stuff has devalued seeing the NBA live and in-person, along with destroying viewership numbers for regular season games (good lord, what did NBC and Amazon just over pay for?).

Roman is champion again and instead of taking blocks of months off, just fly him in for an appearance… How hard is it to fly him on a private jet just to cut a promo?

Again, I’m not asking for him to WRESTLE at every RAW/Smackdown or perform at ever single PLE… Make appearances and make your presence felt.

WWE, in my opinion, has suffered since Wrestlemania 40 because BOTH Roman Reigns and the Rock disappeared after teasing they’d finally wrestle. The friction from their egos being on the same Bloodline team and then Roman losing at Wrestlemania 40 should have set things in motion. But noooooo, Roman takes 3 months off and Rock only appeared 1 more time during 2024. Then, the opening show of RAW on Netflix was a total joke and Roman honestly hasn’t recovered since.

Now is the time to re-establish Roman as the #1 wrestler for the WWE and we need to see him just a little more… Not saying wrestle every night, but good lord, is it asking much to perform on at least half of the PLEs and maybe show up to 1 or 2 shows per month? That fits well into the “less is more” concept.

Overall, Wrestlemania was “meh” for Night 1, and pretty good for Night 2. Overall, good show despite the struggling hype and TKO meddling to get there.

Wrestlemania 42 reminded me of how much TKO sucks with the sponsors everywhere, 3-4 minute advertisement breaks, and the over-produced show.

*********************

THE LAST WORD

60 minutes for a Hall of Fame speech for Stephanie McMahon.

Tell us how much of a mark of yourself that you are without telling us that you’re a mark for yourself.

Look, Stephanie McMahon was a good on-screen character for her time… I thought her 1999 work as the victim of the Undertaker’s scheme was good and then I liked her teaming up with Triple H through 2000. After that, it was total hit or miss with her often being a dominant heel that never “got hers”. She kept away from any babyfaces retaliating against her, aside from Ronda Rousey beating her up at Wrestlemania in that mixed tag match.

She had a long tenure as EVP of Creative from late 2000 through late 2013. Lots of issues with that time, too… Yes, she did hear John Cena rapping on the back of the touring bus and then incorporated that onto WWE television… But her creative almost got him fired throughout 2002 before that! So many issues with the 2000s WWE, from letting Triple H run RAW into the ground from 2002-2003 to being agitating to Paul Heyman when he was running a successful Smackdown show. The way that women were treated was terrible under Stephanie, as we endured 3 Minute Warning and Divas Search under her creative watch. Ironically, it was her husband Triple H who took better care of female wrestlers creatively.

She didn’t deserve 60 minutes and it’s a CRIME that WWE made fans sit through her speech early in that show.

The FACT is that Stephanie McMahon would NEVER be a character, let alone an executive, if her name wasn’t “McMahon”. This Communications major would probably be working in a marketing department somewhere or maybe a news reporter for a TV channel. Instead, she was pushed to the very top because of her name. Don’t get me wrong, she has some talent… She grew up around the WWE and understood how to cut a promo or generate heat as a character. However, her ego often got in the way and she never let anyone one-up her as the opposition (besides Rousey).

Meanwhile, Sid Eudy is a “legacy” inductee to the Hall of Fame and he received less than 2 minutes of a video on that show. What a joke. Sid was a two-time WWE champion and became said champion because WWE’s pushed Shawn Michaels FAILED to draw as World Champion. Sid won at Survivor Series 1996 because HBK was tanking and then regained the title when HBK “lost his smile”. Sid helped the WWE safe face back then when they needed a credible champion. Yeah, I know, “scissors Sid” or “softball Sid”, but at least Sid didn’t compare his family to the victims of 9/11 like Stephanie McMahon did.

Triple H is too nice of a husband… He restored her confidence by putting her back on WWE shows and now this 60-minute Hall of Fame speech. But come on, quit self-glazing yourselves. WWE’s Attitude Era was built on the Rock and Steve Austin’s characters and whatever they did. FACT is that WWE houseshow attendance began to slide after Austin left to have neck surgery during November 1999 and then RAW’s viewership began sliding after Wrestlemania 16 before it joined TNN. Then from 2000 through 2004, RAW’s viewership kept sliding with Triple H dominating that show as the champion of that brand.

If you want to make a good argument about “getting rid of Triple H”, the past 2 Hall of Fames would be your argument. They are kind of rewriting history from their 2000s and 2010s transgressions, which is a shame because Triple H legitimately saved the WWE from itself during June 2022 when he took over during a very complicated time with Vince McMahon’s bad office behavior towards women being fully exposed.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

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Now, I have a bone to pick with the yes-man WWE fans who went out of their way to attack wrestling fans who even DARED to question the creative of Pat McAfee turning heel and being injected into the Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes feud. They were called “negative”, “bitter fans”, and claimed to “like nothing WWE does” with their own words with them, as yes-man fans, supporting Pat McAfee’s sudden usage. However, the fans were simply asking for LOGIC in a storyline within 2-3 weeks of Wrestlemania. Pat McAfee hasn’t been in the WWE since 2025 and had ZERO involvement or heat with either Randy Orton or Cody Rhodes. Contrast that with Stephanie McMahon’s involvement, as she has past ties with Randy Orton such as working together in the Authority storyline.

Hell, I was attacked regarding my April 4th column where I discussed the illogical decision of adding Pat McAfee to the feud. I even had several NoDQ personalities attempt to call me out.

BUT, what I didn’t know when I wrote my April 4th column is what was behind Pat McAfee’s sudden appearance on Smackdown and being entered into a Wrestlemania 42 night #1 main event.

Back on February 19th, it was revealed that Pat McAfee obtained a new agent to represent him and help him land more TV and movie roles. Guess who he hired? The President/CEO of Endeavor and Chairman of the TKO Corporation Ari Emanuel. Yeah, that’s right, Ari didn’t give up his day job when he joined Endeavor and after overseeing both WWE and UFC.

According to Bloomberg’s reporting, Pat changed agents with the intent of becoming the “next Sylvester Stallone”.

And now, things are beginning to make sense.

Folks, the WWE is just a big platform for Ari and his fellow agents to push their clients through for publicity as well as being a gigantic ATM machine.

Think about the fascinating CONFLICT OF INTEREST that Ari now has. He represents Pat McAfee as an agent and gets him work with the WWE, including a major Wrestlemania 42 payoff. Agents reportedly make up to 10% of base salary and up to 20% of any major sponsorship deals of their clients. Ari is making money from his role at TKO and then at the same time, making up to 10% of any payoffs from Pat McAfee being at Wrestlemania 42 and prior WWE shows. That’s double dipping, baby.

Further, Ari is using his position as an authority figure to FORCE one of his clients onto the shows. There’s the true conflict of interest, as he’s showing bias towards Pat because Pat pays him money along with earning money himself whenever Pat now appears in the WWE and on Wrestlemania 42.

Oh, and by the way, Ari Emanuel also serves as Executive Chairman (formerly President/CEO) of the WME Group formerly known as William Morris Endeavor. Take a guess who represents The Rock? Brad Slater is his agent and he works for WME Group… Oh, the Rock joined the TKO Board of Directors and TKO awarded him $30 million worth in equity which the WME Group probably receives at least 10% for representing the Rock.

Do you know who else WME Group represents? Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Logan Paul, Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair.

Now you understand why TKO was fully behind John Cena’s retirement, though anyone should have been. Cena is great!

Now you see why Cody Rhodes has been pushed so strongly since TKO took over the WWE during 2023.

And now you see why TKO looks the other way regarding Brock Lesnar’s possible involvement in Vince McMahon’s scandal.

Makes sense why Logan Paul gets favorable attention in the WWE for his part-time role (being totally honest, he’s talented and I cannot deny that).

Now you see why Roman is kept strong (he should be, anyway), and is allowed to take lots of time off to film movies. WME Group is getting a piece of that Street Fighter money!

Now you see why Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are still being pushed so strongly.

If I were entering the WWE, I’d seriously hire WME Group to represent me. Why? Because it’s almost a guarantee to get pushed and keep getting pushed in the WWE. Plus, they’re 100% OK with you taking excessive time off from the WWE as long as you’re filming a movie, which WME Group gets a cut out of as well.

Do you now see what Vince McMahon forced a sale of the WWE to during 2023? He sold out to a bunch of agents who will do anything in the interest of his clients, even disrupting the creative of a wrestling show.

And with celebrity involvement, such as Pat McAfee, it really shows issues with TKO’s management because they are OK with Pat McAfee making extra money to work for the WWE but they HATE paying out regular wrestling talent (unless represented by WME Group).

WWE is no longer a wrestling company. It’s a platform for WME Group to present their clients and use as an ATM to pay themselves and their clients.

That’s why TKO Corporation SUCKS and that’s why I 100% stand by my stance of boycotting Wrestlemania 42 as I stated in my March 24th column.

And that’s how you do it, my fellow NoDQ staff… Question things that are illogical and then look at FACTS. Y’all have egg all of your faces by blindly clapping like a circus seal to anything WWE does.

Also, you cannot call me a “WWE hater”. If you read my columns, I’ve been very favorable of praising the WWE since it extinguished senile Vince McMahon from running the company and micro-managing everything daily. As someone who was critical of Triple H as an EVP during the 2010s, I’ve been supportive of him during the 2010s.

These WWE marks are the ones who thought Steve Austin’s 2001 heel turn was “brilliant”, WCW/ECW Invasion was great during 2001, NWO was handled great during 2002, unmasking Kane and bringing in Kane during 2002-2003 was amazing storytelling, anything involving Stephanie McMahon on-screen was top-notch, and pushing an inexperienced Roman Reigns and having him read scripted lines during the 2010s was incredible EVEN THOUGH Monday Night RAW lost over 2 million viewers and WWE lost thousands in attendance back then. They are the circus seals clapping for Pat McAfee being shoved into Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton.

TKO loves these “loyal to a fault” WWE fans… They can rip them off with higher ticket prices, cause their Netflix subscriptions to balloon in price with the WWE deal, and force them to pay $29.99 to ESPN for PLEs (double or triple of what they previously paid). These yes-man fans are also the ones overpaying what Fanatics wants for WWE merchandise, which causes WWE merchandise to be expensive for everyone else.

You’ll keep being wrong, and TKO will keep bending you over a chair and showing you who is your true daddy. Meanwhile, my money will go elsewhere and my eyes won’t have to see the multiple sponsorships and ads shoved into Wrestlemania 42 this weekend.

Did you get all of that? I hope that you did. You loyal yes-man WWE fans make me sick because of how easily TKO can exploit you.

Unlike you, you can’t buy me. I’m the WWE watchdog and have been for the past almost 28 years. I’ll hold the WWE accountable when they are falling off the path, but I’ll also hold yes-man fans accountable for their dirty deeds and ignorant statements.

And I’ll hold AEW accountable, too… I do that simply by not watching them and covering them. They mean nothing to me thanks to Tony Khan’s awful management of the company and its creative.

Onto your questions.

——————————

ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers

Do you think CM Punk will be held accountable for his anti-TKO remarks or his comments about Ari Emanuel?

I’m struggling to think that CM Punk or Cody Rhodes’s comments about Pat McAfee were “shoots”. For one, Cody is represented by Ari Emanuel’s WME Group and therefore, I don’t think he’d purposely speak ill will about his agent and boss that way. CM Punk, on the other hand, doesn’t have an agent relationship with WME Group and could therefore have a chance to be more authentic with his comments.

Look, I wouldn’t doubt that the analytics and the creative minds have read into fan anger and have since opted to create a new storyline regarding it. During 1998-1999, you had the Corporation storyline and I wouldn’t doubt that this storyline is brought back. However, I could see CM Punk and Cody Rhodes being smokescreens for something peculiar to possibly happen at Wrestlemania. What if Cody Rhodes and Pat McAfee were truly in this together and screw Randy Orton? And then, on night 2, CM Punk flips into a heel and becomes a corporate champion too? Then, you’d have WWE favorites Randy Orton and Roman Reigns going up against the Corporate-backed, with possibly The Rock behind it all, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.

On that point, I hope so… WWE is in dire need of a massive storyline and a strong heel stable that could shake up the company for a few years. WWE has lost a ton of quality since the Bloodline storyline fell apart after Wrestlemania 40.

You cannot convince me that Cody and Punk were just allowed to attack TKO management and allude to higher ticket prices… Sorry, but I don’t believe it.

Something is happening this Sunday, I think, or maybe escalated even further on the RAW after Wrestlemania. I think that WWE knows they’ve been treading since Wrestlemania 40 and running on that show’s fumes.

*****

What are your Wrestlemania 42 predictions?

You do realize that I HATE making PLE predictions, right? But, since I like you, I’ll go for it…

The Vision/IShowSpeed vs. The Usos/LA Knight – Toss up, but I don’t trust a team with LA Knight and with Heyman at ringside. I’ll go with Vision and their celebrity partner, whom TKO wants to look good in their platform, to win the match.

Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre – Drew is old news, for the moment, and Jacob needs a big win. Fatu for the win.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan – That concussion issue seals Stephanie’s fate, but Liv was going to win anyway based on the big Rumble win. Liv is the #1 female star and is going to get pushed to the moon with a very dominant title reign.

AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch – How much will we see AJ Lee after Wrestlemania? She’s here and then she’s gone for a while. I’ll go AJ Lee, as I don’t know where WWE wants to go with Becky.

Fatal Four Way for the Women’s Tag Titles – If Nikki didn’t get hurt, I’d go Bellas here. But since she’s hurt, I’d have to see who the replacement is and go from there. I’ll go safely with Charlotte and Alexa Bliss regaining the tag titles here as the biggest stars of the match.

Seth Rollins vs. Gunther – With Gunther possibly facing Lesnar at SummerSlam, I think he needs a big win over a guy who defeated Lesnar twice previously. Gunther for the win!

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton – I’m going Cody. I’m smell a set-up and a double turn here. Pat McAfee just doesn’t fit with Orton and could be setting up Cody to be the “corporate champ” and maybe we see the Rock here and approving. I don’t know… But I don’t see Orton getting the better of this feud.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar – The great thing about Brock Lesnar is that he can lose but always remain strong because, well, he’s Brock Lesnar and one of the toughest human being to ever walk this planet. But that’s the problem, because defeating him doesn’t always look credible. Oba wins here, but in a very close fight to keep Lesnar strong for his retirement match at SummerSlam 2026 against Gunther.

6-pack Ladder Match for IC Title: I’ll go Penta to retain his title and look strong in a good Wrestlemania spot.

Jade Gargill vs. Rhea Ripley – Writing is on the wall, Jade isn’t what WWE would hope she could be. Rhea is going to defeat her and I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE parts ways. She looks like a million bucks, but has two left feet in attempts to be a performer. Muscles are cosmetic, too. WWE likes Rhea Ripley, especially Triple H, so thus she wouldn’t be in this Wrestlemania spot to just lose on the biggest stage.

Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams – Trick Williams for the win to get the US Title off of Sami, just in case WWE has bigger plans for Sami at Wrestlemania 43.

Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio – You can bring back the demon all you want, but it’s still Finn Balor. Dom wins here because he has far more long-term value to WWE than Finn does.

CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns – Two babyfaces against each other… I sense that one of these guys will turn heel, but I’m also feeling that for Orton vs. Cody. Hard to bet against Roman Reigns in this spot, as the World Title spots haven’t been as strong since Roman’s combined reigns. I’ll go Roman here, though I wouldn’t be shocked if CM Punk wins via screwjob of something. Just feels weird that Punk cuts an anti-TKO promo just before Wrestlemania…

And there you go…

*****

Thoughts on Sid Eudy getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame’s “legacy wing”?

Ugh. WWE should have inducted him when he was alive, BUT they had legit fear over what Sid Eudy (aka Sid Vicious aka Sid Justice aka Sycho Sid) would say. The BEAUTY about Sid Eudy was that he gave zero damns about the rest of the world and he knew about his own self-worth to a wrestling promotion. In other words, he knew that wrestling promotions needed him more than he needed them. His look, appeal, and even talent could land him jobs anywhere. Hence why WWE and WCW gave him multiple chances.

That’s what many other wrestlers need to realize… The power is on the guys taking the bumps inside the ring, not the greedy promoters especially if you’re talented or have the right look. CM Punk walked out of the WWE during 2014 and for years, you’d hear “CM Punk” chants. Know your worth and stop letting the promoter dictate terms.

I get why WWE didn’t induct Sid while he as alive, which is the same feeling why WWE avoided putting in Bruno or Warrior. Sid was conducting shoot interviews where he was very honest about his career and might do the same on the microphone. However, I saw him come back to WWE RAW for the Heath Slater stuff and he was a total professional for that.

To me, Sid is a bigger addition to the Hall of Fame than Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie McMahon is only there because she’s the daughter of Vince and was handed every opportunity. Yes, Stephanie made the most of it, but she’d never get a foot in the door on her own and has never worked beyond the WWE. Sid drew money everywhere he went, even after he did controversial things. He stabbed Arn Anderson repeatedly with scissors and still found work as a main eventer…

There’s so much politics with the WWE Hall of Fame, but it’s funny how much they care about something that lacks a physical building that you could walk into…

*****

What are your thoughts on Danhausen in the WWE?

You know what, I heard this guy is really nice in real life and is good with fans. I don’t want to cook him here…

To me, his value would only be to a company with a legitimate Cruiserweight Division as a wrestler. He’s like 5’10 and under 200 pounds (like a slightly lighter version of Finn Balor).

As a non-wrestler, I just don’t see the value and WWE isn’t doing well with him so far. AEW was often confused how to use him, too.

Seems like a nice guy, though, so I’ll leave it at that.

*****

Thoughts on Darby Allin winning the AEW title?

It’s a Lifetime Achievement Award… He’s an AEW original, worked hard for the company, and they are rewarding him. This is literally similar to Jey Uso winning the title.

Is it the right decision? Of course not! There are bigger drawing and bigger wrestlers to make world champion over both Darby and Jey. However, sometimes, you gotta reward loyalty and also show that climbing the ladder for a long period of time is worth it.

You might be expecting me to totally crap on this decision, but I look at that AEW roster and there really isn’t much on that roster to impressively defeat MJF. What makes me laugh is that AEW spent a metric ton on other wrestlers and they aren’t defeating MJF, but an undersized yet loyal Darby can.

AEW can make anyone champion at this point… They haven’t been the same promotion since 2022 when they allowed gossip and drama ruin their promotion and then foolishly rewarded those EVPs with new contracts through early 2023.

Congrats, Darby. For any longtime AEW fans, this probably felt rewarding and I don’t want to rain on their parades.

*****

In your opinion, what are the following bests from Wrestlemania?

Best Wrestlemania? Still gotta be Wrestlemania 17, even though the Stone Cold heel turn still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Wrestlemania 40 was amazing, but WM 17 has the way better undercard.

Best Wrestlemania match? Damn… Gotta go with Austin vs. Bret Hart from WM 13, with HBK vs. Kurt Angle from WM 21, Undertaker vs. HBK from WM 25, and HBK vs. Razor from WM 10 as close seconds. Damn, I love me some Hogan vs. Rock from WM 18, too!

Best Wrestlemania legacy? Undertaker has that streak, Hogan had massive matches for the first 9 events… But Shawn Michaels is Mr. Wrestlemania, period. So many great matches to choose from.

Best Opening Match? Come on, Bret vs. Owen Hart from WM 10.

Best Wrestlemania of the last 10 years? WM 40, but I really like WM 39. Very underrated WM.

Best Wrestlemania celebrity involvement? Love Bob Ueker getting choked out… I’d have to go with Snoop Dogg’s improvising after Shane tore his quads. That was impressive how he literally saved that segment as a professional.

*****

Enjoy Wrestlemania 42!

I need some big things to happen at Wrestlemania 42 or the post-RAW show for me to really care. Otherwise, writing will continue to be scarce for me especially with TKO’s greedy hands controlling the WWE company.

Crazy thing to think about is that Vince McMahon could have just retired and let HHH/Stephanie run the company after him, and they’d be just fine without Endeavor. Endeavor, itself, has about $6 billion in debt while TKO, itself, has around $4 billion in debt. Think about how insane that is with how much of a CASH COW the WWE has been since 2023 with their TV deals, Sponsorships, Saudi money, and ripping off cities with PLE deals.

So, screw TKO. And I have better things to do than to support their nonsense while dealing with yes-man fans who will defend them.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post ASK TITO: Pat McAfee, WWE Wrestlemania 42 Predictions, Sid as “Legacy” HoF Inductee, Darby Allin Winning AEW Title, and More appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

And Punk spoke of many, many truths… While I think that Roman Reigns has greatly improved during the 2020s versus the 2010s, as I 100% agree about Roman being Vince’s pawn during the 2010s and wrote extensively about that myself, but I also agree that the really painful part about Roman is how the Bloodline angle, storyline, and stable made him a star which Punk alluded to. CM Punk is right, as Roman’s family connections made him a star from getting a WWE job, receiving the pushes during 2010s (yes, those Wrestlemania main events SUCKED from the 2010s), and then the Bloodline. Since the Bloodline angle ended during 2024, especially after Wrestlemania 40 with Roman’s extensive summer vacation, he’s not been the same star. The matches aren’t as good, the heat is no longer there, and he’s just another brick in the WWE/TKO wall. Plus, he’s never there… Always an extensive vacation after Wrestlemania and he barely wrestles.

I also enjoyed CM Punk taking shots at Pat McAfee, TKO for their ticket prices, and many other things said.

Many are calling it “Pipe Bomb 2”, which would be a sequel to the original Pipebomb from June 2011.

Nah, I think it should be called “Pipe Bomb – Part Deux”, which would be a play on words like the sequel to the movie comedy Hot Shots called “Hot Shots Part Deux”. Why? Because anything you see on WWE these days, thanks to TKO, is like a comedy.

Do you REALLY think that CM Punk would just waltz on out there and cut a shoot promo on his own company or say purposely scathing things about Roman Reigns? If so, I have a bridge to sell to you… You are so gullible.

For one, if WWE/TKO were to fire CM Punk today for his “Pipe Bomb Part Deux” promo, where would he go? He already burned down the AEW bridge, though I think those chumps would possible take him back to obtain the numbers he drew during 2021-2022. Sorry, but Punk isn’t going to TNA or JCW, and who knows if they’d want a guy in his late 40s who has burned down relations with AEW or supposedly WWE now. Plus, TNA has a working relationship with WWE.

Secondly, CM Punk is making 7 figures as a base salary and it can get up to 8 figures with merchandise and live event payouts. This isn’t 2011-2014, as he’s scoring serious cash now.

Third, CM Punk burned his bridge with WWE during 2014 and is still repairing it… So why would he piss it away now? Punk enjoys his WWE career now, has a great relationship with the management of WWE, and who knows, he might stick around to work with them once he retires. Plus, I believe that CM Punks WANTS to be in that WWE Hall of Fame as soon as he retires. That’s a cherry on the top of his great career.

Fourth, why would CM Punk conduct an unscripted shoot promo just weeks before main eventing Night #1 at Wrestlemania 42? Yeah, he main evented Night #2 last year, but Night #1 is what truly matters and is the REAL main event of Wrestlemania. Why would he jeopardize that?

IT’S A WORK, and everything CM Punk said on the 4/6/26 RAW was 100% cleared by WWE Creative and possibly TKO as well.

And CM Punk is allowed to cut this promo because WWE badly needs more eyeballs on Wrestlemania 42 and more butts in the seats there in Las Vegas. Social Media engagement regarding Wrestlemania is both down and feeling negative, according to reports, and Wrestlemania 42 barely has over 40,000 tickets sold versus selling just over 60,000 last year for both nights. Punk cutting a scathing promo is the same reason why Stephanie McMahon and Pat McAfee were brought back last week. We’re in pure desperation mode right now because the VETERAN HEAVY WWE has over-exposed their top stars and they aren’t drawing RELATIVE TO THE HIGH PRICES. They’d probably draw more tickets if TKO didn’t want to price gouge…

I’m not falling for it… CM Punk during 2011 had nothing to lose, as his contract was up after July’s Money in the Bank 2011 event. So, they just let him cut a promo to see if that would spike interest in this random John Cena vs. CM Punk match that was supposed to put over John Cena so that he would face and lose the WWE Title to Alberto Del Rio during SummerSlam 2011. However, CM Punk’s promo was the most talked about thing in a while for WWE and they (a) had to sign Punk to a new contract and then (b) give up the title belt to Punk. And then WWE sabotaged Punk once they had him trapped in a 3-year deal.

2026 CM Punk is happy with the WWE, making great money, and working much less days, per month, than the 2011 CM Punk did. He’s happy, he’s comfortable, and being taken great care of by WWE right now and has received a non-stop push at the top. He’s the current World Heavyweight Champion! And I also think he knows that his career is up and can walk into the sunset under good terms for his exit.

You’re getting worked…

BUT…

If this worked shoot promo backfires on WWE and TKO sees some adverse numbers in their data, I could see some accountability happening after Wrestlemania 42. In other words, that accountability will be with Triple H and his Talent/Creative departments. Make no mistake, I think there is some rift (not an Aaron Rift) or friction between Triple H and the Rock. That, or the Rock prefers to install HIS GUYS but Triple H is in the way. I believe many of the Endeavor folks like Triple H and Triple H being in the good graces of Donald Trump also helps solidify HHH in his WWE spot. While Triple H isn’t afraid to get a photo with the President, the image-conscience Rock would be. I’ve seen Rock in photos with Barack Obama, but never Donald Trump.

HOWEVER…

If anyone inside WWE’s Creative Team or in TKO’s Board Room were smart, and sometimes I question that, they’d realize a tremendous opportunity on their hands.

Rather than having Cody Rhodes and CM Punk conduct “shoot” interviews about how angry they are at TKO, why not do a full fledge angle about TKO?

Or in other words, bring back the Corporation? But this time, the Corporation represents what TKO apparently wants out of the WWE and not just the McMahons.

Right now, what are wrestling fans mad about?

(1) High live event ticket prices, which TKO controls.
(2) High merchandise prices, which TKO controls.
(3) High streaming costs for PLEs or RAW, which TKO has forced upon fans. ESPN has doubled or tripled PLE viewership prices for most fans, while Netflix has raised prices TWICE since RAW began on Netflix to start 2025.
(4) Higher costs around cities surrounding WWE events. If you want to host a big WWE event, cities are paying massive dollars and in turn, that increases ticket prices and causes cost-push inflation everywhere else because of how much the city paid to host a WWE event.
(5) Sponsors all over WWE rings and telecasts, along ads throughout shows. TKO controls that.
(6) Selling out Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania to Saudi Arabia

If fans have heat towards TKO corporation, why not exploit that with a wrestling angle?

If you want The Rock to return, the “Final Boss” returns and forms a Corporation stable. After all, he was a major part of that 1998-1999 Corporation stable thanks to his heel turn at the GREAT WWE Survivor Series 1998 event and WWE Title tournament. Then he could assemble a stable of wrestler loyal to him, maybe have Paul Heyman join the Corporation as its mouthpiece (helps keep the Rock off television, if needed), and that’s the massive Good vs. Evil angle that dominates WWE business for the next few years.

Or how about this as an angle? Seems like CM Punk positioned himself as the babyface with his shoot promo, calling Roman the pawn of Vince McMahon from the 2010s. What if CM Punk joins the “TKO Corporation” and uses the Rock to help him defeat Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 42? And then that PERFECTLY sets up Rock vs. Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 43 in Saudi Arabia (unless that gets moved, holy cow, this world is getting dangerous!).

Or how about this? What if Roman Reigns and The Rock reunite at Wrestlemania 42 and Roman becomes the TKO Corporation’s “corporate jewel”? The babyface stuff isn’t working as well as it could, so thus Roman returns as a heel and is vicious as the dominant WWE World Champion as a Corporation member.

WWE, you have the MASSIVE ANGLE right here… People HATE what TKO is doing to their favorite wrestling promotion since their childhood. EXPLOIT THAT!!!!!!!!!

TKO Corporation stable… It’s RIGHT THERE as an amazing storyline to exploit. Hell, you could have the Rock acting like he’s in charge of the TKO Corporation and Triple H representing the WWE babyfaces who don’t want to play the corporate game (yes, I know that many suggested Rock vs. Triple H storyline a few years ago).

And I hope that someone backstage at WWE events realizes this and maybe that’s why Pat McAfee returned, why Stephanie returned, and why Cody & CM Punk both chose to cut “shoot” promos. CM Punk mentioning ticket prices makes me wonder if the wheels are already in motion.

Maybe, just maybe… Wrestlemania 42 could get interesting and/or the RAW after Wrestlemania could get crazy.

IF that happens.

And if it happens, I’m back baby!!! I’ll go from writing like once a month to multiple times a week if we can get a WWE vs. TKO Corporation angle. I’m good with that and done under the right circumstances, it would draw huge.

Thanks to PRICE GOUGING by the GREEDY TKO Corporation, the WWE might have a massive “us vs. them” storyline. Wow, how lucky are they?

People HATE what TKO is doing to their childhood favorite WWE, so exploit that and put it in the storyline! The Corporation returns as a wrestling stable with the Rock leading it and possibly with either Roman Reigns or CM Punk as corporate sellouts as the top heel wrestler.

OK, I could work with that… And you may take my creative idea for FREE, if you’d like.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: CM Punk’s 4/6/26 “Pipe Bomb 2” Promo Was Great, But Obviously a Scripted Work by WWE and TKO appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

James received a metric ton of heat when he made this video stating “no review, I refuse” prior to the movie’s release. For taking this stance, he was called “sexist” because of the all female cast. With due respect to the cast, most of them have seen success elsewhere along with the film’s director. The issue was disrespecting the franchise of the past, having bad CGI, and just not writing a good movie. In the end, James won because Ghostbusters 2016 drew poorly at the Box Office and then the Ghostbusters franchise received a real sequel to the 1980’s movies during 2021. Furthermore, the 2016 Ghostbusters was later renamed to Ghostbusters: Answer the Call” probably to help reduce confusion versus the initial 1980s classic film. In the end, he was right…

With that said, I’m going to take a similar stance that James Rolfe took with the 2016 Ghostbusters film as it relates to WWE’s Wrestlemania 42. I’m not buying ESPN+ for April, nor will I find anywhere to watch it.

No review, I refuse!

Why?

It’s not so much about WWE’s Creative Team… I’d rather take the WWE of the 2020s versus the WWE of the 2010s.

Difference is that the WWE of the 2020s is actively trying to RIP YOU OFF while the WWE of the 2010s was surprisingly fan friendly and was convenient to watch. I only had to pay $9.99 to watch Wrestlemania back then versus $29.99 now.

And money isn’t the issue. I could easily buy ESPN+ and watch it without any dents in my finances. Hell, I could buy several thousand subscriptions for a month and be OK.

The issue is GREED from the TKO Corporation.

TKO has removed the FUN out of the WWE.

Even during bad years, you knew that it was a WWE trying to please its fans. When they tried to force something, they often course corrected to appease fans with growing unrest. And when you looked at the wrestling ring, you didn’t see ads splashed all over it. Much of the 2010s wasn’t chasing Saudi Arabia (though that began during early 2018) or using leverage of cities against each other for better deals (New Orleans got robbed of Wrestlemania 42). The $9.99 WWE Network that began during 2014 improved the morale of WWE fans, as they no longer had to pay absurdly high Pay Per View rates while having great access to WWE’s back catalog.

The way that TKO is completely ripping off fans through elevated ticket prices is BS, while also not sharing a bigger piece of the TKO revenue pie with the wrestlers is also BS. WWE wrestlers are severely underpaid right now and THEY, not the garbage TKO executives, are taking the bumps in and out of that wrestling ring. The wrestlers, not the TKO turds, are hopping into planes and rental cars to take the physical punishment while also being away from their families.

I’m happy that Ronda Rousey joined AEW, but I’m even more happy that she’s independently fighting MMA matches again WITHOUT the UFC also owned by the TKO Corporation of greedy bastards. In fact, she’s been quite critical of UFC lately as seen by a recent interview where she stated “It used to be that UFC was the best place in combat sports to make a living and get paid fairly, and now it’s no longer. It’s one of the worst places to go. It’s why so many of their top athletes are leaving to go and find pay elsewhere.”

Ronda knows that the UFC she fought for is no longer the same company. Endeavor’s intense greed has turned UFC into just a brand and a platform where fighters individually cannot stand out or maximize their payouts. This same Endeavor company purchased the WWE during 2023 and is doing the same thing under the TKO banner. They are gathering up revenues while the wrestlers are analyzed with analytics and statistics to see if their baseline salaries are worth their productivity provided to WWE. Hence why R-Truth was released after his John Cena match, along with many other wrestlers recently (Braun Strowman twice, for example).

Unfortunately for TKO, the weakest area of Triple H’s game is talent development. His tenures as EVP of talent from mid 2012 through early 2020 and then from mid 2022 to present have NOT generated consistent and strong main event talent versus what Jim Ross produced through OVW through 2004 and John Laurinaitis with FCW through 2012. Hell, John Laurinaitis’s return to Talent Relations during early 2020 through mid 2022 signed stars such as Bron Breakker and Tiffany Stratton who were quick learners and elevated early to be big successes on the WWE roster. Triple H has Gunther and then a whole bunch of guys that he’s tried to shove to the top (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Karrion Kross, etc.). Bunch of brooding EMO guys, like HHH’s own character.

TKO probably wants Triple H to sign younger athletes, but the problem is that the WWE Performance Center and NXT just struggles to groom male wrestlers. Therefore, if there is ever anything that finishes off Triple H with TKO, it is his poor handling of Talent Relations. Sorry, but Performance Center head trainer Matt Bloom isn’t getting the job done with developmental wrestlers because as a wrestler himself, he lacked charisma, psychology, personality, and microphone skills and therefore has nothing to teach younger wrestlers. Shawn Michaels is naturally gifted and therefore cannot translate being a prodigy to younger wrestlers either.

But I also think that WWE’s recent style of matches of being unable to stay inside the ring, fighting around the arena, going through tables, and taking death defying stunts is conducive for any developmental wrestler program to succeed, either. Culture matters and when WWE isn’t teaching basic fundamentals of how to work inside the ring and connect with fans, wrestlers from developmental will struggle immediately and long-term on the main WWE roster. Jim Ross succeeded because he had an operation of scouts to find talent and then trusted hands within Ohio Valley Wrestling (the Jim Cornette & Danny Davis brand, not the current version that had that the unfortunate referee incident that I hope Al Snow successfully corrects moving forward).

Today’s WWE has open tryouts and those potential wrestlers get to work in the pampered environment of a safe and air conditioned developmental center and have housing provided to them. Then, they get to be trained by Matt Bloom who can tell them stories about how he was called Prince Albert, A-Train, Lord Tensai, and many other goofy names. Zero hunger to be great, thanks to the environment, and a terrible trainer who won’t push the wrestlers to be great. Complete lose-lose situation for ANY new WWE developmental wrestler, especially the younger ones that Triple H prefers to sign.

Because WWE cannot develop strong, young talent, they are becoming too veteran dependent. Hence why we have Roman vs. CM Punk and Cody vs. Orton headlining Wrestlemania. This is why John Cena and Brock Lesnar were still appearing, though WWE will miss both with Cena retiring last year and Lesnar set to retire this year (I predict that Lesnar won’t retire, he’ll keep taking that TKO and Saudi money).

Maybe 2 years ago, Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk would have been an exciting match-up. Roman was still in his prime and close enough to his historic World Title run while CM Punk was still fresh off his AEW exit. Now, however, we’re years removed from not just Roman’s great World Title reign but also the Bloodline’s existence. The Bloodline angle ended poorly, too, not giving fans what they truly wanted and that was Roman Reigns vanquishing the “Final Boss” with The Rock. Instead, we get “part-time” Roman who wrestles like 5-6 times per year and lacks that fire he once had with the original Bloodline group. CM Punk is older and lost that rebel edge he once had by becoming a full blown company man to help erase his prior reputation from difficult AEW years. Plus with age comes a slower and more careful working body, especially with Punk’s recent injury history.

We’ve seen the best from Cody Rhodes, peaking when he won at Wrestlemania 40. Nothing has been a fraction of great compared to that moment and he’s just not as strong of a draw as the champion versus the chaser with a purpose. After all, we wanted Cody to win so that he could “finish the story” of a Rhodes winning the WWE Title. He accomplished that but didn’t have much of a follow-up act. Randy Orton has been tried many, many times in the main event. It’s not that I think he isn’t talented, but there’s always that disconnect with various wrestlers and too many heel and babyface switches to figure out who his character really is.

Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi… I hope that it is good, but we all know Brock could kill Oba ins seconds if he wanted too. Plus, anyone wrestling Brock has to wrestle HIS style. Take those German Suplexes and shut up!

I like Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan… But their opponents just aren’t on their level with Stephanie Vaquer and Jade Cargill. Stephanie has the look, but just not the established roots in the WWE for who she really is and why she was rushed to the championship so quickly. Sorry, but Jade Cargill isn’t working. No matter how hard you try, the talent isn’t there though the look is always there. You either have athletic ability to look convincing as a wrestler or not. Her muscles are purely cosmetic, too, as she actually struggles to lift her opponents inside the ring. Jade looks great, I’ll give her that, but her matches are hard to watch and I’m baffled as to why she hasn’t learned how to work yet.

Thanks to the poor WWE developmental system under Triple H, WWE has to be come too dependent on veteran wrestlers to hopefully draw fans. However, we’ve already seen the best by each of these veterans provide their best stuff already. So why pay absurdly high prices for Wrestlemania 42 tickets and then deal with the entire city of Las Vegas nickel and diming you on everything along with airlines really price gouging right now thanks to high oil prices. Las Vegas is even going as far as banning local bars and restaurants from airing Wrestlemania on their televisions just to help attendance. THAT is desperate.

Both nights of Wrestlemania 42 were hovering around 37,000… Recently, they tried a few sales to help goose that number, such as “3:16” day but that has only caused ticket sales to be just above 40,000. Again, lower the ticket prices all you want, Las Vegas isn’t lowering theirs within the city and neither are Delta, American Airlines, or United to fly to Vegas.

Wrestlemania 41 did just over 60,000 and that was with the massive John Cena heel turn causing tickets to jump from just above 50,000 to over 60,000. You’ve got NOTHING in terms of interesting storylines this time around, just slapping CM Punk and Roman Reigns together which we already saw last year on Wrestlemania 41 in that three-way with Seth Rollins.

I’m sure that I’d probably enjoy Wrestlemania 42 if I watched it… But, I refuse to help TKO make an even bigger pile of money that they refuse to share with their wrestlers.

This isn’t the WWE of the past or of your childhood. It’s a phony wannabe version of it now owned by TKO Corporation. It started becoming that way long before Endeavor purchased it and I believe the initial culprit was Nick Khan. Nick “the dick” has been boys with Endeavor and the Rock for years before he joined the WWE and thanks to Nick, WWE began profit maximizing through massive TV deals and getting the entire country of Saudi Arabia to pay up stupid amounts of money. Yet also in return, wrestlers don’t get paid… Then, when Vince McMahon wanted to sell his company, it was Nick’s Endeavor folks who purchased the company. Imagine that.

Now, with the Endeavor overlords wanting to please their TKO shareholders and Nick Khan 100% on-board as a complete yes-man to his agent buddies, this price gouging model will never end.

And let’s STOP with the “if Vince McMahon were here, it would be a different WWE”. Yeah, because female WWE employees would be sexually harassed, used, and passed around before signing a non-disclosure agreement with millions to shut up. Secondly, Vince hired Nick Khan and signed off on his Saudi deal, changing WWE Networks, and the newer TV deals. Finally, it was Vince McMahon as the top WWE stock shareholder who forced the WWE sale during early 2023 to Endeavor. On top of all of that, all of you online dorks called for Vince’s head during the 2010s… So spare me on the “bring Vince back” nonsense. Vince DID NOT have to sell to Endeavor during 2023…

If you want to keep feeding this TKO money pit, be my guest. Your choice, your money & time, just as it’s my choice and my money & time. I know that WWE’s wrestlers aren’t getting paid nearly what they are worth and I don’t want any of my dollars transferring to the TKO demon executives. If you want to obey your TKO masters with ticket price gouging, ESPN+ price gouging, buying that terrible WWE 2K26 remake of the previous year’s game (seriously, $149.99 for one special edition of the game), and having ads shoved down your throat… Then congratulations, you are no longer a WWE mark but have become a USEFUL IDIOT for the TKO Corporation. That’s on YOU, brother.

I refuse to give TKO my time to watch 2 nights of Wrestlemania 42, nor do I want the fat bastard TKO executives to get any of my money. Therefore, NO Wrestlemania 42 for me, as I won’t be buying ESPN+ (I can see the NFL draft on other channels) and thus won’t be reviewing the show.

This isn’t the WWE anymore. It’s TKO Corporation’s idea of what they think WWE should be.

It’s only a matter of time before Triple H either retires or moves onto politics, and then the creative really goes downhill once The Rock’s hand-picked doofus takes over (likely Brian Gewirtz, who struggled to write storylines during the 2000s for RAW). With a terrible developmental system and then bad creative, WWE will be screwed once many of these veterans wrestling on Wrestlemania 42 gets older.

TKO sucks and they need useful idiots to keep lining their coffers. This isn’t your WWE promotion any longer.

Join me and just loosely follow the WWE product, watching whatever you want and whenever you want. Life is good when you’re not paying money within an abusive relationship.

No Wrestlemania 42 review because I’m not a bitch to TKO Corporation. I refuse!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: WWE Wrestlemania 42 in Las Vegas and on ESPN+. No Review. I Refuse. (TKO Sucks!) appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

But why? Why are there calls for Triple H to be fired or forced to resign?

For one, I think that Triple H is getting blamed for the TKO Corporation’s decisions. Even though Triple H has NOTHING to do with strategic or financial decisions made by TKO, he is somehow receiving blame for the price gouging at live WWE events, on merchandise, and now streaming PLEs on ESPN+. Further, HHH is also getting blamed for the many corporate sponsors that WWE programming shoves down your throat on the ring and plugs throughout the show. On top of all of that, HHH is getting blamed for exporting top WWE shows to Saudi Arabia such as Royal Rumble 2026 and Wrestlemania 43. HHH is also taking blame for placing Wrestlemania in expensive Las Vegas for a second year and moving away from rightful New Orleans who lost Wrestlemania 42. WWE President Nick Khan and TKO Board deserves those darts, not HHH. Triple H being great at creative helped create the demand to be exploited with high prices, but HHH doesn’t set prices for WWE shows. TKO does.

I also think that many WWE fans are upset about Triple H’s public allegiance to the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump is a very polarizing individual and a lightning rod for debate, yet HHH isn’t hesitant to obtain any photo opportunity with him. The WWE audience is a mixture of fans from a variety of political beliefs which is contrary to the TKO counterpart, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), who are diehard MAGA supporters. When Dana White supports and appears with the President, their fans cheer it on… It’s different with WWE fans, I believe. While they knew Vince McMahon’s political allegiance, he wasn’t that public about it other than helping Linda McMahon run for Senate and a few photo ops when Linda was a cabinet member during Trump’s first term. Vince was truly a good friend of Donald Trump, yet he didn’t rub it in because he wanted everybody’s money.

In addition, I think that after Wrestlemania 40, Triple H’s tone towards RAW and Smackdown changed and he has put more energy and focus on the PLEs and Saturday Night’s Main Event shows instead. While RAW and Smackdown have mostly been Infomercials for PPVs and PLEs since the Monday Night Wars concluded through March 2001, both shows have become worse for the past few years. In return, though, I’d argue that PLEs under Triple H have IMPROVED and I’m 100% for shorter events with 5-6 matches. Sorry, but 10+ match shows running for 4-5 hours are brutal to watch especially when 2/3 of those matches don’t deserve to be there, AEW.

I think that if fans skipped RAW and Smackdown, while just viewing Saturday Night’s Main Event and PLEs exclusively, they would be a much happier as WWE fans with a lot more time on their hands. And then you’ll appreciate Triple H more for his creative decisions since mid 2022.

Personally for me, I’ve seen Triple H’s tenure with CREATIVE as being a MASSIVE UPGRADE from the Vince McMahon tenure that ended through 2022. I can remember when the same fans bashing HHH now were ripping Vince’s decisions to shreds for about 20 years prior 2022. You know how I know? Because I wrote damn columns and covered the industry during that period of time, while listening to YOU and YOUR gripes about the wrestling business. You HATED Vince and were appreciative when he stepped down when the Janel Grant allegations were made public. Then for mid-2022 through 2024, you praised HHH’s creative decisions. And I agree, and said so as a major Triple H critic for his executive work of the 2010s (which we’ll get into in a second).

What did Triple H make better with Creative?

– Improved the Bloodline: Added Sami Zayn to shake-up the group and add drama, while getting Jey Uso over to sell a ton of merchandise as a fan favorite.

– Made Cody Rhodes into a bigger star. Built upon the bicep tear, built him up through 2023 with the Rumble win, big Wrestlemania 39 match, and then a strong feud with Brock Lesnar. Vetoing Cody turning heel, which the Rock wanted to do, versus John Cena turning during 2025 was a great decision by HHH.

– Better focus for Women’s wrestling. Without HHH, we don’t have a strong women’s division and it was very Charlotte dependent before his tenure. While Charlotte still gets booking love, others are receiving opportunities.

– John Cena’s heel turn that saved not just Wrestlemania 41, but interest in John Cena for the rest of 2025 when the Rock refused to make himself available. John Cena is a bigger star now than ever thanks to his 2025 run. Wrestlemania 41 gained over 10,000 tickets sold after February 2025 thanks to this heel turn decision.

– Gunther. He’s HHH’s top signed prospect and has flourished with HHH as the writer.

– CM Punk’s WWE return. This was all Triple H and CM Punk has returned mostly to his prime form under HHH’s regime.

– PLEs are way better and have better finishes to events, leaving you wanting more.

Now, could things be improved creatively with WWE? Yes, of course… Nobody is perfect. But I’ll take mid-2022 to 2026 Triple H as Creative Lead versus Vince McMahon micro-managing multiple Creative Leads since the peak of the Attitude Era during mid 2000. Yeah, there are many masked men and mysterious things in boxes these days, but the main event scene in the WWE is more exciting with Roman, Punk, Drew, Cody, Seth when healthy, and Gunther versus overpushing Brock Lesnar as too dominant and pushing an inexperienced Roman Reigns to the top during the 2010s. Given that Vince’s exit based on $20 million NDA payouts with female victims could have placed WWE in shambles, Triple H has been the steadying hand that not only kept the WWE going but made it BETTER as well.

That said…

The internet wrestling community FAILS to recognize Triple H’s TRUE weakness as a WWE executive.

As described above, Triple H is mostly good at Creative. While there are some flaws, he makes mostly sound decisions and delegates authority to a large creative staff and doesn’t micro-manage them as Vince did. And trust me, putting up with Bruce Prichard is no easy task but HHH does it well and empowers others to make creative decisions.

I also think that HHH does well producing Live Events and also empowering others to produce live events or matches. I thought less of Michael P.S. Hayes as a backstage suck-up to HHH and Stephanie over the years, but Hayes is THRIVING as a producer of top WWE matches. He’s seriously entering Pat Patterson levels of respect with how matches are ending and that’s a pure compliment from me.

So creative is going well and as are WWE live events, especially PLEs and SNMEs… So what’s the true weakness for the WWE?

TALENT RELATIONS.

THAT is the WWE’s real weakness right now and for the next 5 years unless a serious turnaround happens.

Ever notice how VETERAN-DEPENDENT the WWE has become recently? Brock Lesnar and John Cena still have big roles, and Randy Orton is still relied upon too. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre are not spring chickens. Roman Reigns and a mid-40s CM Punk are headlining Wrestlemania 42. Seth Rollins has a ton of WWE miles on his body and is getting repeatedly injured.

Behind them? You’ve got Gunther and… I guess Bron Breakker, but is he really ready for the big time? Oba Femi could be a big star, though I thought his star wasn’t shining as bright when Brock Lesnar entered the 2026 Rumble match. I love Dominik Mysterio, but I just cannot buy him as a Main Eventer. Bronson Reed and Jacob Fatu have to remain healthy and available to make it to the top. I’m not as crazy on Reed as Triple H is, however.

I just don’t see the current younger wrestlers or the upcoming developmental crop rising to effectively replace the top male wrestlers of today in the WWE.

About a year ago, NoDQ’s Virtue posted a list of WWE wrestler ages, with most top WWE stars nearing 40 or within their 40s. While Pro Wrestling allows top stars to venture into their 40s and remain effective, it’s also the decade where wrestlers get injured so easily. Literally everyone is holding their breath that CM Punk and Roman Reigns make it to Wrestlemania 42 without injury.

But I want to take Virtue’s point a step further… During the 2010s, I was HEAVILY critical of Triple H’s tenure as EVP of Talent relations from mid-2012 through early 2020. I argued that compared to Jim Ross managing Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and John Laurinaitis managing Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), Triple H’s signings and management of wrestlers produced FEWER main event stars with staying power. I argued that point until I was blue in the face, but I think that it needs revisited because Triple H’s creative of 2026 is very veteran dependent. And those veterans happen to NOT be his signings.

For example, the Wrestlemania 42 main event is CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns. Both Punk and Roman were John Laurinaitis signings, FACT. CM Punk began during 2005 when John Laurinaitis took over Talent Relations and managing Ohio Valley Wrestling from the corporate end. Roman Reigns signed during 2010 and joined Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), which became WWE’s developmental territory after Laurinaitis chose to move away from OVW. Roman remained in the developmental system when Triple H took over Talent Relations during mid 2012, but Roman was only under HHH’s supervision a few months before his WWE debut at Survivor Series 2012. I always laugh when people claim Roman was a “Triple H signed wrestler” or a “Triple H trained wrestler”, but facts aren’t on your side. Besides, if you want to claim Roman as a “Triple H guy”, then you’ll have to OWN the terrible main event work Roman did during the 2010s. Suffering Succotash!

As an exercise, let’s go back to 2010 and chart every MALE wrestler who won a World Championship and then describe which EVP of Talent Relations was in charge when they began their WWE career. This should prove my point rather easily.

Jim Ross through 2004 – Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW)
John Cena
Brock Lesnar
Randy Orton
Batista
Rey Mysterio Jr.
The Rock
Chris Jericho
Kane
Edge
Christian
Mark Henry
Big Show
Goldberg

John Laurinaitis, 2004 through mid 2012 for OVW & Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), NXT 2.0 from early 2020 through mid 2022
The Miz
Sheamus
CM Punk
Daniel Bryan
Alberto Del Rio
Seth Rollins
Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley now)
Roman Reigns
Bray Wyatt (HHH brought him back after release, may he RIP)
Jinder Mahal (though HHH brought him back, made him champion during 2017)
Kofi Kingston
Drew McIntyre (HHH brought him back, gave him his best push)
Bobby Lashley
Big E Langston
Jey Uso
Jack Swagger
Dolph Ziggler
Cody Rhodes (signed him twice)

Triple H – Mid 2012 through early 2020 with NXT, mid 2022 to present with NXT
AJ Styles
Gunther
Finn Balor
Kevin Owens
Damien Priest
Braun Strowman

Wow… Obviously, Jim Ross is the kingpin and his signed and then developed wrestlers have smashed it in the WWE for DECADES now. Getting over 20 years of star power for a talent is remarkable, let along a few stars who have actually transcended wrestling. Ross’s guys are serious pop culture heroes.

But damn, look at Johnny Ace here… His 2004-2012 tenure as EVP of Talent Relations has really stocked the WWE talent pool on the male side of the ledger. As much as he’s mocked, he really did a number raiding independents for their talent and it gave WWE a solid base of talent for 20 years as well.

THEN, Laurinaitis was Talent Relations manager during early 2020 through mid 2022. Guess who he signed? Bron Breakker and Solo Sikoa. Both guys, though needing more experience, have made significant contributions to the WWE. Solo was a very important member of the Bloodline while Breakker is a top WWE star today despite his youth and inexperience.

And then we get into Triple H. Let’s be totally honest here… Finn Balor and Kevin Owens are solid hands, but are NOT long-term main eventers. They are, as Triple H described, like Chelsea Green… They are guys whom future main eventers work with to get to that level. Finn Balor is too small as a top guy, while Kevin Owens just isn’t the top guy draw BUT he complements the main eventers well as a solid opponent or again, getting someone else over. In the same vein, though not a world champion (yet), Sami Zayn has been one of HHH’s best signings and he’s complemented the rest of the roster well. It’s arguable if he’s a top guy or not, but I think he’s a very important WWE roster member.

Sorry, but Damien Priest and Braun Strowman as World Champions… Ehhhhhh. Strowman had the look and some skillsets, but his “paying his dues” comment plus getting owned by Brock Lesnar really diminished his stature. Damien Priest looks the part and wrestles the part, but just isn’t a top guy based on intangibles that make main eventers like mic skills, psychology, charisma, and connecting with the audience emotionally.

For HHH, Gunther and AJ Styles are his prized pigs. AJ was a great free agent signing that gave WWE 10 solid years of action, while Gunther is a current top guy who could get bigger (damn, that Jey Uso loss at WM 41 still hurts though). Props to him for those guys, though Gunther is the only one developed from his system to be a long-term main eventer with drawing power who always belongs there.

Then, for Triple H, you look at who he TRIED to push as NXT Champions… Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura were solid free agent signings, but HHH bought them with too much mileage. Both gave WWE great years and great matches, but not enough to go further than upper midcarders (though Samoa Joe’s work with Lesnar could have been something). I could argue the same about Bobby Roode as an older free agent.

But then you have HHH’s real reaches at creating future superstars. I liked Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano as a tag team, but as singles main eventers? Nope, too small and also lacking intangibles as a main eventer. Loved Adam Cole, though, but the guy is too small unfortunately despite the legit intangibles he really had. Cole would have been the perfect guy to push as the Cruiserweight Champion if they dared to care about that title. Keith Lee had some bad health luck, but I think that maybe he looked better in the smaller NXT pond versus the WWE and even AEW spotlights. We’ve tried pushing Karrion Kross and Aleister Black for YEARS but they just don’t impress as top guys. Triple H repeatedly believed in Andrade and it just never worked, though most saw him being an issue due to his smaller size and some backstage matters.

TALENT RELATIONS is the Achilles heel of Triple H in the WWE. We have almost 14 years of a sample size to prove that, especially with Wrestlemania 42 being dependent on Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk to draw fans to expensive Las Vegas.

Yes, HHH has success with the Women’s division. Zero disagreements there. HOWEVER, he has the “pick of the litter” with female athletes because unless you’re a tennis player or a golfer, you’re not going to make much money in female sports. WNBA struggles to ever make money, pro soccer and volleyball leagues struggle or fail, and boxing/MMA women’s matches are mostly undercard fights and only have exceptions when they draw on their own (Ronda Rousey was a beast in her day!). That, and HHH has a strong female trainer with Sara Del Rey.

But the men’s side of the ledger, ehhhh… Triple H LACKS having good scouts who are looking throughout the country for athletes to try pro wrestling. The one exception was when Mark Henry did it and he obtained Bianca Belair, but then WWE let him go. Then, Triple H has a WEAK head male trainer with Matt Bloom aka Prince Albert aka A-Train aka Lord Tensai. If you watched his career, he wrestled the big man style without much selling or psychology while he lacked promo skills, charisma, and personality to draw as such a wrestler. I still laugh at the failed hard 2003 push as A-Train on the Smackdown roster that derailed a younger Edge’s push while the Lord Tensai stuff became comical quickly during 2012. THAT is your head trainer?

Think about what could happen in 5 years with this current WWE roster. Much of the top guys will be in their mid 40s or early 50s. Who replaces them? Sorry, but I’m struggling seeing Bron Breakker, Oba Femi, Jacob Fatu, Dirty Dom, and others effectively replacing CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, or Drew McIntyre. Gunther is 38 years old, by the way, which means he’ll be 43 in 5 years.

WWE is too veteran dependent right now and that is because THEY HAVE TO. The NXT developmental promotion and the WWE Developmental Center is FAILING to train MALE wrestlers to be ready to eventually replace the long-time WWE main eventers that John Laurinaitis or Jim Ross signed during the 2000s. Seriously, think about that… WWE is too dependent on guys signed 2 decades ago!

If I were operating another promotion, say All Elite Wrestling (AEW), TNA, or even Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW), I would make a concerted effort to develop young talent and then groom them into becoming the next big stars that WWE doesn’t have. AEW has blown their massive opportunity of listening to Jim Ross instruct them on how to construct a developmental system and have instead realized on signing nothing but free agents or anyone California Indy/NJPW mark Dave Meltzer likes. Edge, Christian, Mercedes, Will Ospreay, and Okada have NOT brought attention to AEW as free and only increases their expenses.

Go back to your history books, folks… How did the WWE defeat WCW during 1998 and then put them in their rear-view mirror through 2001? Yes, those signings of Steve Austin, Triple H, and Mick Foley were massive… But the signing and development of Kane, the Rock, Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle were incredible and gave WWE fresh stars compared with the aging veterans of WCW. WCW died because they refused to push younger faces to the top besides Bill Goldberg who has issues as an in-ring performer outside of spearing and jackhammering wrestlers in less than 1 minute. That’s why Chris Jericho’s 1999 debut was enormous and still appreciated by fans to this very day.

WWE is a “dead man walking” because they are veteran heavy and AEW cannot catch them because they, too, are veteran heavy. I think that we’ve officially hit the peak of the John Laurinaitis signings from 2004-2012 and Triple H’s tenures between 2012 to present haven’t restocked the pond with fish that could grow into even bigger and more impressive species.

Triple H as EVP of WWE’s Talent Relations IS the ultimate weakness of the WWE. Unless another promotion exploits said weakness of the WWE, we’re about head into a darker period for Pro Wrestling for the next 5 years or more.

Thus, online fans need to STOP focusing on WWE’s Creative but on TALENT RELATIONS… That’s a more valid Triple H criticism than anything else tried lately by online marks.

You’re welcome for the playbook, but you can read my columns during the 2010s to see that I’ve been incredibly consistent of being critical of Triple H’s talent signings, talent assessments, and talent developmental.

The Game sucks at signing and developing talent, period.

And why AEW hasn’t spoke to Jim Ross about signing and developing young talent is beyond me. Tony Khan is a total idiot for not utilizing an absolute genius on his payroll. I would give Jim Ross a staff of about 10 or more people and have them dedicated to learning whatever Jim Ross can teach them and then go execute what he taught them.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: The REAL and LEGIT Criticism That Most WWE Marks Are Missing about Triple H appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Wrestlemania 42 isn’t selling tickets at the rate of how Wrestlemania 41 sold them one year ago at the same venue. FACT. While around 45,000 tickets is still impressive for any live wrestling event, during this time last year, Wrestlemania 41 sold just over 50,000 tickets.

Both Wrestlemania 41 and 42 were held at Allegiant Stadium (home of the Raiders) in Las Vegas and can house up to 72,000 for larger events. Wrestlemania 41 was just over 60,000 for night 2 while being just over 58,000 for night 1. Again, while those numbers are great for any wrestling event, this is WRESTLEMANIA and Royal Rumble 2025 that preceded it at Indianapolis did just over 70,000 in attendance.

Wrestlemania 40, meanwhile, did just over 60,000 for both nights and thus Wrestlemania 41 drew less than that. And now, unless something changes, Wrestlemania 42 will decline below that.

In other words, it appears that maybe WWE peaked through 2024?

Well, imagine Wrestlemanias 41 and 42 without the extreme price gouging by the TKO machine.

According to Sports Illustrated, the average ticket price for Wrestlemania 40 in Philadelphia was $341. One year later, Wrestlemania 41 had an average ticket price of $635!

If I go to Ticketmaster.com right now, as Wrestlemania 42’s average ticket price will be computed later once sales are final, but everything is higher at every seating level for 2026 versus 2025 in the same Las Vegas stadium.

And that’s on top of the excessive price gouging that the city of Las Vegas has, whether it’s for landing at their airport, ride share costs, taxes on damn near everything, super high food prices, higher hotel rates (especially for bigger events), and fees on damn near everything. Total visitors, thanks to the higher prices, has declined by about 7.5% during 2025 versus the previous year.

Hence why Las Vegas was desperate and cut a check for a reported $6 million to the WWE to return to Las Vegas for a back-to-back Wrestlemania. WWE also gets a piece of the ticket prices and can sell their merchandise, too.

Through 2026, they are seeing yet another decline in attendance… For both 2025 and 2026 in Las Vegas, if they retained the average ticket prices seen in Philadelphia for Wrestlemania 40, they would have EASILY sold out both Wrestlemanias 41 and 42. Give your fans a break on the ticket prices and then the hotels, air travel, food, etc. don’t feel as excessive. Price gouge on the ticket prices, and then things change.

Simply put, this is economics 101… Law of Demand states that there is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded. Increase the price, you should expect consumers to buy less. Decrease the price and make things cheaper, consumers will buy more.

HOWEVER, there are outside factors that could BOOST the desire by consumers to spend more or less on goods and services, such as:

1) Tastes & Preferences – If you really like a good, then you’ll be willing to PAY MORE for a particular good of service. In my opinion, WWE Creative improving since Triple H took it over during June 2022 has improved wrestling fans’ desires to attend WWE event and consume MORE of their products even with rising prices.

2) Income – On average, incomes have increased since the pandemic year of 2020 by around 14%. However, many businesses closed up during 2020 and caused many to obtain new jobs. Furthermore, if you look at the average real disposable income, it’s highly skewed towards top wage earners who are raising that inequality gap. Many speak of a “K-Shaped Economy”, in which people at the top are doing really well while people at the bottom are struggling as witnessed by high credit card debit and exhausted savings. 2025’s economy struggled for that lower portion of the “K”, as only 181,000 combined jobs were created compared to 2024’s 1.5 million job creation number. Prices on utilities are eating people alive now (electricity and gas), while the costs of food and housing haven’t gone down at all.

3) Expectations – In other words, how good does your consumer base feel about (a) job security and (b) income security? According to consumer sentiment numbers, really low… December 2025 numbers are rolling in and it appears that consumers cutback on Christmas spending this year.

4) Prices of Related Goods – This refers to substitute goods, which can replace WWE as a wrestling product, or complement goods, which are used alongside with attending WWE events. First and foremost, the WWE is the #1 company by a margin and every statistical category proves that. Dave Meltzer can spike his stupid Observer awards with AEW wrestlers, but WWE crushes them on business each year with viewers, attendance, merchandise, and TV rights. Even with higher ticket prices, people aren’t attending AEW events with much lower ticket prices. FACT. But on the complement front, prices for hotels, food, and travel have all gone up or remain high especially for Las Vegas.

Market Size – # of Consumers – Thanks to the WWE’s business boom of 2022-2024, WWE has grown their fanbase. With more fans in place, there are more fans to exploit with higher prices than ever.

The FACT that wrestling fans STILL attend WWE events, despite the high prices, shows that TASTES AND PREFERENCES for the WWE product is still strong. Thus, the blame does NOT go to WWE Creative as led by Triple H. HHH is doing a great job, as he made the Bloodline better during 2022 thanks to adding Sami Zayn, made Cody Rhodes even bigger, swallowed his pride and brought back CM Punk, repackaged Drew McIntyre to have his best years yet, and proved that yes indeed, Liv Morgan is a massive star. RAW consistently obtains 10,000 fans, as it has returned to being WWE’s flagship show. And again, over 40,000 highly priced tickets sold for Wrestlemania 42 is still impressive and WWE is making millions off that event. AEW would KILL for any of their events to sell 40,000 tickets domestically at their lower prices.

Let’s be honest about Wrestlemania 42’s booking… Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk is truly their best match-up possible, aside from the Rock returning to finally wrestle Roman Reigns. Pushing Liv Morgan is the best outcome possible on the women’s side. Possibly having Brock Lesnar vs. Gunther is another big match, if that actually happens. Whomever Drew or Cody wrestle will be big… It’s not like WWE Creative is screwing up Wrestlemania 42, given what is available.

But at super high prices, fans have a saturation point to where it’s not worth getting price gouged by BOTH WWE and Las Vegas in one weekend.

As the Million Dollar Man used to say… “Everybody’s got a price”, but that works in the opposite way when someone is spending their hard-earned income. Wrestlemania 42 could feature hot women, walking around in the nude, and then stopping to blow you… And it still wouldn’t be worth $500 to $14,000 for a seat in Las Vegas plus travel, hotel, and other forms of price gouging.

Then we’ll get the Vince McMahon marks, who always look the other way when it comes to assaulting women and then having them sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA)… ”Vince wouldn’t charge high ticket prices!” Well, when he was micro-managing creative for the last 15 years through mid-2022, he didn’t have a product that actually grew fans. Those 2010s years, especially, were ROUGH to watch and saw RAW viewership going from just above 4 million during early 2015 to being under 2 million by the late 2010s. THAT was Vince McMahon and his clown show of rewriting scripts that got himself off.

Facts to consider about Vince McMahon:

(1) The first PLE event in Saudi Arabia was during April 2018, 5 years before the sale to TKO.

(2) WWE doesn’t go on sale if Vince didn’t force himself back onto the WWE Board of Directors during early 2023 plus adding 2 board members of his choice. Then, the WWE Board under Vince’s leadership began shopping around and sold to Endeavor. Vince, as majority shareholder, certainly helped the vote go in favor of selling.

(3) Vince McMahon became chairman of the TKO Board during 2023 and remained there through early 2024. Very likely that prices of WWE events and merchandise deals were among the discussions with the Endeavor folks also on that board.

(4) Helped negotiate the Netflix deal which pays the WWE $500 million annually. Success for them, but higher Netflix subscription rates for you. Higher deal with USA Networks, too, for WWE Smackdown which could be influencing your higher cable bills.

(5) Vince McMahon added Nick Khan to the WWE during August 2020, and he worked as a negotiator on behalf of the WWE before that year. Nick has been heavily involved in WWE’s pricing strategy.

I hope that puts to rest the “Vince wouldn’t have done this” argument, because he’s every bit as greedy as the folks running TKO. Anytime his WWE had growth periods during the 1980s with Hulkamania and later with the Attitude Era, ticket prices did go up significantly.

How about this? I wrote a column during 2014 about how WWE created the WWE Network because their Pay Per View model was dying. Why? Because they went from pricing WWE PPVs from $29.99 to $44.99, not including the Big 3 events. WWE killed their own PPV market by creating more PPVs and raising the price. That was during the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s. Who was in charge of WWE then? It was Vince McMahon. He only formed WWE Network BECAUSE HE HAD TO due to demand decline for buying Pay Per Views and piracy ramping up because of higher prices.

But when he had a chance to sell WWE Network, he did so immediately to NBC/Universal… From there, your $9.99 price started ticking up on the Peacock streaming network if you didn’t want commercials.

Oh, and how about this with the WWE? As Vince McMahon is landing these big TV deals with NBC Universal for both USA Network/Peacock and FOX while raking in the money from Saudi Arabia, what happened to the wrestlers? Did they get paid more? Nope… In fact, pay has plateaued after the initial AEW scare and many talent cuts happened during 2020-2022 while the WWE pocketed all of the revenues from these big deals.

So STOP IT with the “I want Vince McMahon” back crap. He was equally as greedy as the folks from TKO, but his Creative SUCKED from 2006-2021 and wasn’t able to price gouge like TKO now can with better creative in place under Triple H. Furthermore, why would you want Vince back? Are you OK with him having female employees or workers sign NDAs to participate in his sick games?

TKO is the problem, along with other greedy corporations. Tired of high grocery prices? Well, only a handful of corporations own the top grocery store chains. Kroger’s CEO literally admitted in court to price gouging and the only punishment they saw from it was being disallowed to acquire one of their competitors. We only have 3 cell phone companies now and they can price gouge all they want… Netflix trying to buy Warner Bros. for $83 billion. Do you think that won’t cause a price hike for both their streaming service and also at theaters? If Paramount/Skydance gets Warner Bros. for over $100 billion, which they are seriously offering, do you think that won’t cause higher prices for their content? Pharmaceuticals, banks, and other corporations are acquiring each other and taking out massive loans to do so. That all has a price and that will be passed on to you.

Notice how TKO is receiving higher than ever streaming revenue, $250 million from Saudi Arabia for Royal Rumble 2026 and Wrestlemania 43, payouts from United States cities, and sponsors on everything inside and outside of the ring… But yet, they cannot appreciate or show any loyalty to:

(a) Loyal WWE fans who helped support WWE before its 2022 growth rate

(b) Wrestlers who helped make WWE great. Severely underpaid, as it baffles me why they won’t unionize.

Do you know what the scary thing is?

“News insiders” are claiming that the WWE is “panicking” due to lower Wrestlemania 42 ticket sales. Are you kidding me?

WWE still has over 40,000 fans paid and at higher ticket prices, they are likely close to Wrestlemania 42’s financial gate already (especially if the 30% higher number is true). Furthermore, the $6 million check from Las Vegas to move away from New Orleans has already been cashed. Trust me, Vegas is happy with getting 40,000 people there and plugged into their hotels, casinos, and eateries. Lastly, no matter what the attendance is, WWE is earning $325 million per year to stream WWE PLEs on ESPN+.

Nick Khan, the Endeavor folks, and the rest of the TKO Board are high fiving right now.

If they wanted, they could let Saudi host all Wrestlemanias and Royal Rumbles moving forward. Hell, maybe they could sell them a piece of the company for several billion dollars.

The more CORPORATE you become, the more obsessed about pleasing ONLY the shareholders you become.

Folks, we’ve been on a 25+ year journey from when the WWE made their initial public offering (IPO) on October 19, 1999. On that day, the WWE became a publicly traded corporation with shares of stock officially selling on the stock market. With that, WWE now had to post their financial statements to the public and those are used to drum up support for investors to buy more of WWE’s stock. As WWE begins to warm up to pleasing shareholders on keeping profitability high (revenues up or stable, but expenses controlled or lowered), they began to attract other corporations. Remember when they returned to NBC/Universal? Comcast helped introduce the PG Era. Remember when Mattel helped Mandy Rose lose her job? And then selling to Endeavor during 2023 after the same company put their corporate fangs into UFC and ruined that sport.

TKO has only been here for about 3 years of that corporate WWE journey…

Go ahead, push Triple H out the door… Do you really expect that the corporate barons on the TKO board will adequately replace him? Do you really trust the same corporate trolls who are price gouging you on events, gouging you on merchandise through Fanatics, causing you to pay ESPN $29.99 per month, causing higher prices at Netflix, and selling their biggest PLEs to the largest bidder to put someone of quality in WWE Creative? NOPE, they’ll put in someone who will read TKO’s analytics and focus group data to do just enough to maximize profits.

Sure, bring Vince McMahon back, the guy who SOLD to Endeavor during 2023. He’ll cause those prices to go down against the same executive management who forced him out the door during 2024?

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Do you really want to put the SCREWS to TKO?

You’ve got to play the long-game, folks… What matters most to WWE and TKO are the TV rights deals.

(1) Don’t watch RAW on Netflix at all. Watch clips on YouTube or WWE’s social media account, which are LEGAL ways to view what happens. If you get the viewership so low, then Netflix may begin threatening to opt out early at 5 years from the 10-year deal.

(2) Don’t watch Smackdown on USA Network at all. Same thing, watch clips on YouTube or WWE’s social media about, both are LEGAL ways to view what happens. Smackdown deal is also up at the end of 5 years and lower viewership could impair WWE’s next deal.

(3) Sparingly watch ESPN+. If you’re a viewer of PLEs, maybe consider “doing without” for the non-big 3 events. Again, you can legally catch clips on YouTube or WWE’s social media accounts. If you need to watch Rumble or Wrestlemania, then just buy for January and April only. You could also take Stephanie McMahon’s advice and VPN your way into International Netflix…

(4) Boast on Social Media. Openly brag about how you’re NOT viewing WWE events on Social Media and hashtag WWE every time. They are monitoring this stuff closely and will panic if they see a massive trend. Make it known WHY you aren’t subscribing to services that air WWE television.

I’d suggest “don’t attend WWE events”, but WWE will ship more events overseas…

Things won’t change if you keep giving TKO your money, despite their desires to price gouge you or force you into being a customer of a price gouger like ESPN+.

Wrestlemania 42 ticket sales have sagged due to TKO’s greed at accepting a $6 million check from Las Vegas to move away from New Orleans and then TKO decided to raise prices significantly anyway. That’s what a greedy corporation does and they suck.

But I’ll argue that Triple H is doing his best with his current resources, creatively… My only issue with him is the same exact issue that I had with him during the 2010s: he struggles to sign and develop male main eventers. Kevin Owens, Gunther, and AJ Styles are his biggest success stories. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were FCW talents and signed by John Laurinaitis, and even Bron Breakker was a Jon Laurinaitis signing while HHH was gone from Talent Relations. The top WWE guys are getting long in the tooth and I lack faith in the younger crop to fully replace them.

If you’re asking me today what happens to Triple H… Some bad injury luck or retirements from the older roster will cause numbers to decline during 2027-2028, which could prompt the TKO board to pressure him to resign. When he does, I’d expect some Hollywood type, likely handpicked by the Rock, to take over and you’ll see a WWE go from SUCK to BLOW like never before. And then Triple H will get the last laugh because the current management will share the same problem of being unable to develop younger talent while there will be a major lacking of veteran talent to carry things through. Netflix will drop WWE by early 2030 and they’ll probably return back to the arms of NBC/Universal but at a lower price than what Netflix was paying them. And then, TKO cashes out and sells WWE and its properties to someone else or another company.

And then the WWE will be lost forever, thanks to becoming corporate.

In short, overall, I’ve enjoyed Triple H’s tenure since mid 2022. I’ll take his tenure at creative versus Vince’s micro-management of Creative from 2006-2021 and without the NDAs for mistreating women. Triple H has created a compelling WWE product that fans are actually willing to pay high prices for, though Wrestlemania 42 may prove to be the breaking point.

Greedy ass TKO can go to hell!

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: Wrestlemania 42’s Weak Ticket Sales are an Indictment of TKO, NOT WWE Creative appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

WWE Royal Rumble 2026 was kind of just there… It’s a culmination of TKO Corporation’s greed and hosting a big event in a country that doesn’t deserve it. Now, don’t get me wrong here folks, I have nothing personally against anyone living in Saudi Arabia. Mmmmmkay? My issue is that events such as Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble were BUILT by North American audiences and those audiences should enjoy the riches of attending such events locally. The only exception that I’d grant, but on a limited basis, would be England who has supported WWE heavily for years. The only reason Saudi Arabia is hosting Royal Rumble in 2026 and Wrestlemania for 2027 is due to their ability to cut $100 million or $250 million checks to the TKO Corporation.

Creatively, Royal Rumble 2026 did its job… I 100% agree with Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan winning their respective rumbles and becoming the #1 contenders for both divisions. Why? Both are the most consequential stars in their divisions and have the biggest emotional connections to the audiences. Fans are HUNGRY to see the Roman Reigns from 2020-2023 to return and not the summer vacationing teacher that we’ve endured during 2024-2025. Liv Morgan, since her heel turn and pushing sexiness, has been the “straw that stirs the drink” that not only creates emotion in the division but crosses over to the men’s division such as her work with Dominik Mysterio. Furthermore, Gunther AND Drew McIntyre should have won because their opponents were upper midcarders without that extra special something-something to make them appeal like main eventers.

For anyone thirsty to blame everything on Triple H, it’s hard to find any creative decisions to nitpick on other than say maybe a few wasted spots in the rumble featuring multiple wrestlers wearing masks. And yes, that includes La Parka whose newer version looked like a shell of the older version.

The issue with 2026’s Royal Rumble is that (a) you’re asking 60-70 performers to fly around 13 hours and become massively jet lagged by jumping ahead into multiple time zones.

Then, (b), you’re asking 60-70 performers to “relax” in a country who is still evolving… Yeah, you know how the female wrestlers are dressed like they are all Power Rangers? Well, they can’t quite do much sight seeing in a country that is still learning how to provide freedoms to women. On top of that, Saudi Arabia has quite the police state and controls literally where everyone goes or what everyone does especially for anyone from different countries.

I feel for the female WWE wrestlers there… Those complete bodysuits have to be uncomfortable and probably wore each performer out by overheating. For any female performers who lasted long inside that ring, they probably slept quite well on the plane flight back from pure exhaustion.

And then you have the environment itself… Last year, for example, I wanted to attend the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis on a whim and I just did it. I had the freedom to buy tickets, albeit very expensive tickets. Here in Saudi, you can’t quite do that… They are very selective on who goes. Notice the fewer amounts of females in the crowd? While males mostly attend WWE events here in North America, its at least a 70-30 ratio there at most. Had to be like a 98 to 2 ratio here in Saudi. On top of much needed gender evolution, Saudi people also lack economic freedom and finances to attend big events like North Americans can freely do. And get this, their ticket prices were MUCH LOWER than they are in North America. WWE didn’t control ticket prices here, as that was all controlled by the Saudi government. Even with CHEAPER prices, they struggled to fill that makeshift stadium that they built for the Oil Rumble 2026.

There were many empty seats at the event, as maybe Saudi built TOO BIG of a stadium that matches the current demand of those who could or wanted to attend.

Seemed to me that the crowd size became bigger and bigger as the night went on, and the event seemed to be full by the time the Men’s Royal Rumble began.

Hmmmmm… The stadium was quite empty for the Women’s Royal Rumble. Gee, why was that?

Well, when your country operates under a government that bases itself fully under the laws of a religion, aka “Sharia Law”, then the centuries’ long held beliefs of said religion are still firmly in place. For many countries in the region, women still have to cover themselves up heavily while being denied rights. While Saudi Arabia improved in recent years towards things women are allowed to do, most married wives need permission from their husband to do certain things and that includes getting out of a bad marriage. Thus, when you have a belief system that women are property and their lives are controlled, many potential male attendees of a WWE event might not be excited to see free women wrestling in a Royal Rumble match. While the WWE ladies were covered, those bodysuits were quite tight on most of them and that likely offended many in that country. HENCE why the stadium was empty for the opening Womens’ Rumble Match, in my opinion.

Having WWE’s #2 or #3 top event in a country that DID NOT build it into a successful franchise deflates that event… Even during weaker WWE years, North American fans always went bonkers for the Royal Rumble EVEN WHEN the booking was bad (such as the 2014 Rumble, when Del Rio or Sheamus won, or any of the mid 1990s ones). While the crowd did open up towards the end of the Rumble, it wasn’t as excited as North American crowds were towards this event.

Because, again, if you wanted to attend the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble, you did so on your own expensive dime. You WANTED to be there and were willing to pay a ton of money to do so. I was there in Indianapolis, as 70,000+ of us PACKED the streets of Indy that day. The atmosphere was full of energy and excitement, and if you rewatch that event, it showed. Indy fans made Jey Uso look like a real star.

I’m sure many of you will say that I “hate Saudi Arabia”. No, I just hate the concept of another country, who has been responsible for higher energy prices, using $100 million of their oil money to buy things that were made in America. And they are only purchasing these events to help sanitize their past and create a presentation that everything is OK now. If everything was OK, then let this country have fair elections to choose its leaders instead of the absolute monarchy that is in place right now along with the inability to freely practice the religion of your choice that isn’t state-run. There’s a reason why we have “separation of church and state” here, and why problems occur here when that’s relaxed.

Let’s face facts… The WWE Corporation, formerly run by Vince McMahon, and now the TKO Corporation, run primarily by the Endeavor/Silver Lake folks, are GREEDY and only care about money. Going to Saudi Arabia for the Royal Rumble was an easy $100 million decision to jerk off its shareholders, just as accepting $250 million for Wrestlemania 43 is as well. Forcing WWE fans to pay $29.99 to ESPN is also a greed-based decision by TKO and that app SUCKS to use to watch WWE events. TKO has openly admitted to raising ticket prices on purpose to maximize revenue obtained at events.

What you saw in Saudi Arabia yesterday at the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble was a bi-product of that greed by the TKO Corporation. Wrestlers were tired from the traveling and their moods weren’t the best having to be in a country that isn’t fully free. But Rumble in Saudi is not about them, as it’s about the brand being there to obtain that $100 million check.

Next year, Wrestlemania 43 will be there… Same staleness and lack of energy issues will exist for that show as well, and it’s for TWO NIGHTS. That’s right, we get to watch TWO shows in this corporate and controlled environment. Oh, what a joy!

But hey, we’ll probably get Roman vs. Rock at Wrestlemania 43, which is probably what at least $50 million of that $250 million is paying for.

It would take Rock vs. Roman for me to want to watch another event held in Saudi Arabia. These events lack energy or excitement, the atmosphere is stale, and the wrestlers deserve a bigger piece of the financial pie when wrestling there. We know that they aren’t, as a big lump sum paid by a country isn’t in the same financial category as tickets sold or merchandise purchased.

Overall, Rumble 2026 was an OK show, but it just lacked energy and excitement for me because WWE remains a complete “fish out of water” when going to countries that didn’t fully help them become a powerhouse company. North America and most European countries (England, France, Spain, Italy) did, and hence the energy is there for most bigger events. Here, it’s not and it’s deflating watching these shows during an afternoon as a viewer.

Happy, though, that Roman and Liv were the winners and let’s see BOTH get on major rolls for the rest of 2026. WWE needs Roman Reigns to be a serious wrestler again, as his vacationing and film shooting diminished the major star that we saw from 2020-2023.

Not a great Rumble PLE, but I don’t blame anyone who technically works for “WWE”. TKO is a greedy corporation and Nick Khan cares too much about numbers on a spreadsheet versus quality. He sucks.

Here are a few random notes and observations from Rumble 2026:

– Having 2 El Grande Americanos was stupid and felt incredibly out of place for this show. And both versions barely lasted, making it an even bigger waste.

– Mr. Iguana needs to NEVER be seen on WWE television ever again. Seriously. Complete clown show. If we’re going to use reptile puppets, then bring back Santino.

– I understand there is meaning behind “Royce Keys”, but damn that’s a massive name downgrade for something as cool as “Powerhouse Hobbs”. Despite his big debut, though, he barely did anything and could barely move inside that ring. There comes a point where the muscle mass becomes too much on the tendons in your arms and legs to do anything. I wish him luck, but this isn’t a massive free agent signing. Gotta be quick on your feet and not just stand there and look puzzled like someone just ran over your foot with a car.

– No Chris Jericho debut, but I’m OK with that. On either RAW or Smackdown this week, if that countdown hits and Jericho comes out to declare that he’s in the 2026 Elimination Chamber match, that works more effectively than debuting in front of a Saudi audience who might not appreciate your WWE return as much.

– Happy for Brie Bella, the one true “surprise” entrant of the Royal Rumble. And the fans in Saudi Arabia popped for it, too, remembering who she was married to. If I were the WWE, I’d push the Bella Twins HARD as a Tag Team and go after the tag titles. With both being older, tagging up can keep both ladies used in a conservative fashion.

– I really don’t care who attacked Bron Breakker. Ohhhh, another masked man who can do Seth Rollins’s moveset. Just getting old… You’re creating mysteries about a WEAK Vision stable that just isn’t working and is wasting a perfectly good Paul Heyman as its wiseman.

– Oba Femi looked impressive in the Rumble match until Brock Lesnar arrived. That tells me that Oba has a while go to before being pushed as a top WWE guy. The reason why Lesnar is so effective is that he’s legitimately fast for his size. Femi should learn from what he saw and invest in more flexibility drills or cardio because just standing there and waiting for people to bounce off of you gets old after a while. Lesnar is effective because he’s aggressive and comes at you like a wild beast attacking its prey.

– Watching the other females in the Rumble versus Chelsea Green made me think that they aren’t really that much over than her. It’s amazing how much wearing a full body suit can neutralize someone, particularly Tiffany and Alexis.

– Shoutouts to several on the NoDQ Review last week. They spent damn near a half an hour debating how Finn Balor should win the Royal Rumble when they could have wasted their breath on other more interesting topics. I was HOWLING with laughter when Finn Balor didn’t even appear in the Rumble match. Oops!

– There was one spot in the Women’s Rumble where someone entered the ring by climbing to the top rope and like 5-6 women were standing there, waiting for said person to jump on them. Completely blatant and stupid. WWE has to STOP doing that.

– I didn’t see money in Gunther vs. Roman until they were the final 2 last night in the Rumble. In case you missed it, while Goldberg and Cena could not defeat the Sleeper Hold, Roman got out of it… But what I LOVED about Gunther’s Rumble performance is that he was selling a leg injury because he was in a match earlier with AJ Styles. Hence why his Sleeper Hold might not been as effective against a more energetic Roman Reigns.

– Randy Orton looked incredible in the Rumble. How does he still have more in that tank, despite the mileage and injuries. “RKO out of No Where” always gets over with me.

– I’m pretty confident in my Wrestlemania predictions… I believe we’re going to see Roman challenge CM Punk for his title with a slight chance of Seth Rollins joining unless he’s feuding with someone from the Vision. Cody Rhodes is going to win the Elimination Chamber and we’ll see Drew vs. Cody. On the women’s side, I don’t care how it’s booked as long as Liv Morgan wins the title somewhere. Rest of that division is a confused mess. And then after Wrestlemania 42, the Rock is going to appear and challenge Roman Reigns at the $250 million Wrestlemania 43.

Could Rumble have been better? Sure, but overall, both Rumble matches were decent and the two singles matches, Gunther/Styles and Drew/Sami, were good. I didn’t see anything out of that Sami match that suggests he should headline and win a World Title at Wrestlemania 43. We’re at the peak of his career right now and there’s nothing left in the tank to get even more over. Rumble 2026 was hampered by being in Saudi Arabia, as the wrestlers were tired, women had to wrestle in body suits, and everything has TKO’s corporate micro-managed stamp on it.

Go ahead and keep crying about Triple H… He has ZERO say in how TKO operates, nor does he have any control over Nick Khan. Remove HHH out of the picture and you’ll get what the former agents at Endeavor want and those guys represented many in Hollywood. HHH is the last remaining person keeping the WWE looking like WWE… Once he’s gone, TKO will put in their YES MAN who creates storylines based on what TKO specifically wants or what the Artificial Intelligence (AI) writes.

Triple H didn’t negotiate with Saudi Arabia. FACT. Triple H didn’t negotiate with any corporate sponsor that sponsored Royal Rumble 2026, FACT. And Triple H didn’t negotiate with ESPN to allow WWE fans to be price gouged for $29.99 per month, literally doubling or tripling what fans used to pay on Peacock or WWE Network.

Many are foolishly dreaming about Vince McMahon returning without thinking about how he micro-managed creative while harassing women into signing NDAs. But don’t forget, Vince (a) hired Nick Khan and (b) begin the deals with Saudi Arabia. Vince also sold to Endeavor. Sure, bring back the guy who sowed the seeds of WWE becoming more corporate while also harming women. Don’t look now, Ashley Massaro’s name just came up again as her name just appeared in the Epstein Files…

You cannot celebrate Liv Morgan’s recent few years and Rumble win without considering the 1 guy who consistently tried to push her and that was Triple H. Vince didn’t want to push someone like Liv at all.

It’s hard to fly wrestlers 13 hours across multiple timezones into a very restrictive country and expect a great show. Won’t happen now, nor will it happen in over a year for Wrestlemania 43, especially for 2 nights of it.

TKO is sucking the life out of the WWE and once all of these veteran wrestlers and backstage folk are gone, it’s going to suck real bad and even more sponsors will be plastered all over these shows.

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First and foremost, YES, I’m 100% aware that “kayfabe is dead”. For the past 35 years, it’s been well established in the mainstream that wrestling is scripted entertainment versus being an actual sport (though most suspected it was scripted well before that). However, as I stated in my last column, I REALLY dislike seeing how micro-managed the production table controls everything inside the ring. Every move, every big spot, and every finishing sequence is controlled and the wrestlers appear to have ZERO creativity inside the ring in the WWE. That said, it does give WWE a polish that AEW and other promotions lack and fewer WWE moments on Botchamania… But if we didn’t see WWE Unreal, we wouldn’t be exposed at HOW scripted the WWE is. That’s my main point.

Look, WWE has my money, time, and attention. WWE doesn’t have to try to win me over as a fan and I’m in that upper half of that 18-49 demographic.

However, for that lower half of that demographic, the WWE needs to hook them in… If you’re a newer fan and willing to try WWE on Netflix, you’re getting MIXED signals between watching Monday Night RAW and then catching WWE Unreal. RAW is presented as a credible sporting event, but then WWE Unreal shows you all of the magic tricks behind the matches or the Creative Team meetings behind it all. To newer fans, showing how the sausage is made could kill those fans from immediately getting hooked to WWE.

That said, if I was a newer fan, I’d honestly find WWE Unreal more appealing than RAW on Netflix. I’m seeing more REALITY and HONESTY on WWE Unreal than I’m finding on the PLE infomercial known as 2-3 hours worth of Monday Night RAW. Give me the choice of binging like 6 hours of content versus watching RAW for 52 weeks… I’ll go with binging just 6 hours of content.

Just seems to me that WWE Unreal undercuts growing the WWE. It’s good for older fans to watch, but exposes too much of the business for newer fans coming in. It sends mixed signals on what they are watching.

For the record, I’m consistent on my opinions about the WWE-sponsored behind-the-scenes shows. Whether it was Tough Enough, Total Divas or Bellas, or the NXT Behind the Curtain. These shows are about as stupid as a magician doing a magic show and then putting out a behind-the-scenes video of his tricks later. Just kills the effectiveness of the mirage or the suspense of disbelief.

You can partially tell wrestling fans that something is scripted, while also avoiding to show them everything. There’s a big difference between wrestlers or promoters talking during press conferences and interviews with media versus showing the production table calling the match to the referee, move for move, from the backstage area. And then the wrestlers and the producers meet at the production table to openly talk about what went right and what went wrong.

I took some notes on the show and let’s cover several discussion points from the show.

I hate Bruce Prichard
Let me just get that out of the way, first… My ears bleed when I hear him talk, as he’s such a Vince McMahon mark and he’s clearly there, by proxy, to represent the Vince McMahon point of view. Sometimes that point of view is good, but many times it’s outdated and caters towards what only Vince McMahon would enjoy or laugh at. Plus, I’d rather have that Vince McMahon point of view come from the actual Vince and not a kiss-ass stooge whom I wouldn’t trust to be in my creative team. Just hearing this goof try, for years, to present his point of view on these WWE shows or on his stupid podcasts just makes me want to vomit. He, along with John Laurinaitis, would be the 2 links if Vince McMahon would volunteer to be in a “Human Centipede” program, and Bruce would volunteer to be linked directly to Vince so that he could kiss his arse 24/7.

I completely cringe whenever I hear Bruce talk about wrestling, as he’s full of lies and speaks only to what might impress Vince. Bruce’s only value is being a decent idea man, but I wouldn’t let him speak on behalf of WWE to give him any kind of spotlight.

Bruce’s hierarchy that limits Chelsea Green
Case in point about buh-buh-buh-Bruce, he talks about Chelsea Green’s position on the card. He suggested that Chelsea is the person you wrestle to get to the top echelon of stars such as Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Tiffany Stratton. But then the show discusses how Chelsea has already wrestled all of the midcarders below that top group.

Sooooooo, if there are no other potential females to rise up the ladder through Chelsea, then why not push Chelsea?

See, this is the Vince McMahon mentality of buh-buh-buh-Bruce. Top wrestlers are cemented in stone and nobody can touch them, EVEN IF said top wrestlers are giving you diminishing marginal returns. Sorry, but when was the last time Charlotte Flair was really good? She’s always solid, but top tier good, she lost that when Becky Lynch outgrew her during that Ronda Rousey set-up for Wrestlemania’s main event. Charlotte’s sourpuss attitude for the past few years, too, doesn’t make her a draw anymore. When was the last time Alexa Bliss was good? Sorry, but the Wyatt stuff took her down because that angle ended poorly. Her return, after a few years absence, was big last year at Royal Rumble 2025 (I was there, it was loud), but the bloom is off the rose and we’ve seen everything from her. Tiffany Stratton was rushed to the title too fast and it has overexposed her inexperience.

You know who hasn’t been pushed at the top yet? Chelsea Green. You know who is capable as a worker? Chelsea Green. Why not try her if Alexa, Charlotte, and Tiffany are just stable at best?

And why is there no plan by this WWE and TKO Corporation to create steps to improve Chelsea to help her potentially land in that tier? Instead, Bruce said she was stuck as the “maker” of other talent in that top tier.

Don’t forget, Becky Lynch was in that SAME ROLE years ago. Vince McMahon didn’t like her and Kevin Dunn hated how she spoke and looked. Seriously, Captain NDA and Bucky Beaver’s own bizarre tastes & preferences almost held Becky down. Yet, it took fans literally revolting against shoving Charlotte and Ronda down our throats to get Becky to the top.

So F YOU Bruce, you Vince McMahon loving hack. You are rotten for this business as a stooge and recycling Vince’s old playbook.

2025 was a better year than online fans think.
Just watching WWE Unreal, I’m reminded of how good the John Cena heel turn was, the many great match-ups John Cena had during 2025, the great heel turn of Becky Lynch on the RAW after Wrestlemania, Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman double swerve at Wrestlemania on Punk and Roman, Seth Rollins selling the leg injury and then cashing in the MITB effectively at SummerSlam on Punk, and just how good, overall, that Money in the Bank and SummerSlam were for 2025. That Seth Rollins knee injury angle was executed perfectly, and him interrupting CM Punk’s emotional and tearful World Title win was incredible.

I’m going to call it right now… 2025 was BETTER than 2024 for the WWE. Yeah, I said it. I’ll give you that the first 4 months of 2024 were amazing, but the latter 8 were awful for WWE. First 4 months were solid for 2025, but the latter 8 months of 2025 were WAY BETTER than 2024. Don’t you guys remember the rest of 2024 where we had this makeshift Bloodline team forming, no Roman Reigns at all taking an extensive vacation, and nobody big fought Cody Rhodes after he won the title?

History is going to show that Rock and Roman helped make Wrestlemania 40 into a spectacular show, but both men left the WWE hanging throughout 2024 and then with early 2025 as well. How this Creative Team pivoted from that uncertainty to book a great 2025 is impressive and should be commended.

2025 WWE > 2024 WWE, there, I said it.

Snitch culture with WWE Producers
During Money in the Bank’s ending, you saw the WWE producers panicking in the back because LA Knight and Seth Rollins not performing the finish exactly as advised. Mind you, both men had their bells run multiple times by this high risk match and then receiving no respect for that…

But to hear Chris Park whining to Bruce Prichard and then Triple H that they didn’t correctly do the finish that he personally advised them to do was ridiculous. Complete covering your arse, there Abyss. And Park did this tattling effect during Season 1 of WWE Unreal, too, when one of his matches went too long and he blamed it specifically on the wrestlers.

If I were the wrestlers involved and saw how Park was blaming them for his poor micro-managing of the match, I’d go right to Triple H and say “WHAT THE HELL” regarding this complete stooge. Because otherwise, management cliques stick together and something Park says to Bruce or Triple H could ruin a career of a wrestler unintentionally.

Park being a stooge made it seem like LA Knight was the issue, and not possibly Park’s ineffectiveness as a match producer. I can see how LA Knight gets heat backstage due to these stooges or possibly being unable to script everything perfectly as the producers or agents want.

Too much revealed from Lyra Valkyria
Yes, things went wrong in that SummerSlam match with the zip ties coming undone and then being unable to get them off. But why are you getting on camera and crying about it? It happened, move on. The more attention to you place on that error, the more it emphasizes that error and reminds the viewers of what went wrong.

But there Lyra is, crying to the camera about it going wrong… It just shows weakness in a form of entertainment where you’re supposed to present yourself as a tough fighter. Instead, you over-exposed an error that happened instead of simply moving on.

Becky Lynch is the real one.
I loved how raw Becky Lynch was as a human being. I’ve heard reports that she’s not the best person to have for appearances or autograph signings, but I think she’s just a tough individual who is focused on business and seems quite introverted off-camera. Through WWE Unreal, you clearly saw that and that’s probably why fans haven’t had the best times with her at WWE autograph events. However, she appears to be a great mom, loving wife, and a damn hard worker and a generous worker to others as a wrestler.

She’s one of my all-time favorites and seeing her operate, behind the scenes, made me respect her more. The fact that she was upset that she had to lie to others about Seth’s injury really proved what a good person she really is along with her loyalty to the WWE and her family. A great moment with Becky was when she obtained new music and a lyric made her remember her Dad being there at events.

That’s why I’ve always been “Team Becky” over the entitled “Team Charlotte”.

Lots of CYA on the R-Truth “contract expiration”
The one part where I thought Triple H looked weak was trying to cover up TKO’s contract decision on R-Truth. TKO’s analytics looked at Truth’s age and compared them with the higher salary he had for over 15 straight years of service, and thus the delta in the equation told them that R-Truth wasn’t profitable as a wrestler. R-Truth was straight up told he wasn’t getting a new contract, yet HHH tried to suggest it was due to a lack of communication.

BUT – Again, as I keep telling y’all, as WWE fans, you have the power to make a difference. Your raising of absolute hell about Truth getting released made a difference and WWE made good for R-Truth and his family. Funny as it turns out, TKO’s analytics might have been right as R-Truth hasn’t done that much since he returned, but there’s nobody like R-Truth out there. 2 funny moments per year justifies his contract. When he tried to enter the Women’s Rumble or when he thought the Rumble was a Money in the Bank match… THAT is natural comedy that you cannot teach.

Kind of awkward to see everything play out with Truth and WWE, as I could clearly sense that Triple H had difficulties speaking during this part of the documentary. But hey, being a team player, sadly, is part of being a corporation.

My opinion of Michael P.S. Hayes is improving
I think that PS Hayes has moved into the Pat Patterson role of being a match producer for main events and coming up with great finishes. Both in Season 1 and Season 2, Hayes is acting like a responsible elder statesmen and giving great advice to the wrestlers. Some of the more successful matches that WWE has had recently has been under his watchful eye. I also liked how he challenged WWE management on the Iyo Sky high spot, questioning the safety of doing that and if it was worth it. With Hayes being the one who agented the TLC matches between Hardys, Dudleys, and Edge/Christian and allowing all 6 to risk their lives, it shows that Hayes has come a long way.

Throughout the years, I’ve heard inside stories on what a suck-up he was to both Vince and Triple H/Stephanie that I’m quite pleased to see ol’ PS Hayes just doing a great job and looking fashionable while doing it.

My Final Thoughts on WWE Unreal Season 2
To me, Unreal Season 2 proved that WWE is in good hands with Triple H as a leader. If you watch his Creative Team meetings, he actively listens to his staff instead of disregarding their opinions like Vince once did. However, I think he needs to remove the snake on the team that will forever hamstring his efforts and that is Bruce Prichard. That’s the Vince McMahon presence and I think Bruce has too much of a presence. I also think that Road Dogg is an ineffective member of the team, as he has now sunk the battleship of two separate runs of Smackdown while heading up its creative.

If WWE Unreal, however, would just edit out more of the producer desk calling in moves for every match covered, the show would be much better and add better value to RAW, Smackdown, or PLEs. The wrestlers just look like puppets out there. Personally, I just don’t think seeing how scripted the WWE matches are is a benefit for onboarding fans. That and Unreal is just a more appealing show than watching the PLE Infomercial known as RAW.

For Season 3, which is coming out during Summer 2026, I’d recommend toning down the in-ring communications. Make the matches seem more real… I’m OK with the wrestlers talking about their personal lives or interactions with other wrestlers. To me, the ring is the workplace and the different character comes out when inside the ring. Is that any different from a person who acts differently at work versus at home? I know guys who are absolute aggressive savages at their workplace but loving family men when they come home.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Unreal shows but am irked with how much they expose the business and worry that it harms WWE’s growth by exposing too much. That’s a reasonable opinion, right?

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