The rest of the card delivered though…especially the war between Mike Perry and Nate Diaz. In another life, Nate Diaz would have been an amazing professional wrestler. He got a nasty gash on his head during the fight an tapped over a 1.0 on the Muto scale. So if your a bloodsucking freak like me who loves a good crimson mask in the worlds of Gordon Solie…check out that fight. Okay, enough with the MMA talk. Someday they’ll admit it’s a worked shoot…but that day hasn’t come yet.

In the world of wrestling, no one stays retired forever. Well, Jack Brisco did…but he was a rare acceptation to the rule. This past week on RAW, the WWE got us good when it came time for the Oba Femi open challenge. We were expecting another squash from Oba. Instead we got a squash from BROCK LESNAR. It was totally unexpected and I thought it was awesome. Brock’s “retirement” last month at Wrestlemania was seemingly perfect. But we all know The Beast wasn’t going out like that.

The one thing I don’t like about this return is it’s so painfully clear we’re probably going to see Brock get his win back. “Okay Kid, I put you over at Mania…now it’s time to return the favor”. There’s nothing wrong with someone getting their win back per say…it’s just Oba is a sure fire hit. Everyone loves doing that damn strut when he’s walking to the ring. Oba losing back to Brock Lesnar so quickly would really hurt his momentum. As we know the WWE is notorious at killing guys momentum. It is called 50/50 booking. One week you win…the next I do….after that we’re back to square one.

I’d say that’s been the WWE’s biggest problem for what’s going on decades now. They start someone hot and they pour water all over it and cool them off. The WWE would be stupid to do that to Oba because Oba Femi is what Brock Lesnar was in 2002. The rocket is fueled up. It’s time for liftoff. Now he got the big win at Mania. That’s great. But this open challenge thing just was not working. Sure it’s fun to see Oba launch someone up into the sky, but we need something with substance to keep the rocket flying.

I’m thinking back to when Brock debuted in 2002 and he was just laying waste to everyone. Yeah, he was a heel with Paul Heyman…but that didn’t matter. People liked this ass kicker and he went from rookie phenom to World Champion pretty damn quickly. I want to see the same thing happen with Oba. He needs to dispatch Brock once again and put himself in a position to win the World Championship. I really don’t want to sit through another four years of Roman Reigns as World Champion.

Speaking of Roman Reigns, the WWE has another rocket wanting to take off and that’s Jacob Fatu. I thought that at Backlash, Jacob should have won the title outright. But since that didn’t happen we need to see him win the upcoming Tribal Combat match with Roman. Is it for the title or just acknowledgment of one’s Tribal chief? Well, I just looked it up and apparently it’s for both. Jacob needs to win this match because where do he go from here if he doesn’t? The WWE always backs themselves into corners like this with people.

Seriously, what is Jacob Fatu going to do if he loses the Tribal Combat match? He has to acknowledge Roman as his Tribal Chief and he’ll have lost another chance at the World Championship. This is why Roman should have lost the title at Backlash. Jacob is screwed if he loses this match. I can’t think of any scenario where he loses and it’s a good thing for him. So I hope for his sake we see Jacob Fatu win this Tribal Combat match.

Honestly, Jacob should have stayed on Smackdown. He could have went after Cody. I mean we all like seeing Cody get mauled…so why not give the people what they want. Instead for some reason they moved GUNTHER over to Smackdown to beat up Cody. Was Jacob Fatu vs. Cody Rhodes even ever considered for post Wrestlemania? I just hate when people are shifted around in the WWE for no reason what so ever. Jacob Fatu showing up on RAW felt so random. Luckily for them though, the feud with Roman has worked and it’s gotten Jacob over even more. They just need to do something right for once and have Jacob Fatu win.

Now as for why Gunther moved over to Smackdown, supposedly (and this is just speculation)…Gunther is supposed to face Brock Lesnar in Lesnar’s real last match in his hometown of Minneapolis at Summerslam. If Gunther wins the WWE Championship at Clash in Italy, I could see him defending against Brock at Summerslam. Lesnar is a “free agent” so he can go to any show in the WWE that he feels like.

How we’ll get Gunther vs. Brock…I don’t know. What I do know is Gunther should definitely win the WWE Championship. I would much rather see Homelander Rhodes have to work his way back up than him being at the top of the mountain.

So to circle back to my earlier points, we have two rockets ready for flight. Oba Femi and Jacob Fatu are primed and ready to go. If the WWE was smart, they would hit the launch button now.

On that note I am done for this week. I think next time around I’ll cover AEW just because it’s been so long since I have and this weekend they have their Double Or Nothing PPV live in Queens, New York. It looks like a really good card and AEW has been slowly but surely regaining their footing. AEW PPV’s always over deliver so I’m sure it should be fun to watch.

As always if you want to leave feedback you can do so below, on Twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: Oba Femi and Jacob Fatu are rockets ready to launch appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

For those who don’t watch MMA regularly or have seen previous Ronda Rousey fights, we’re getting allegations of “fixed”, “rigged”, etc. While I’d normally agree, especially when the grifting Paul brothers are involved, I think that many are giving the MVP promotion too much credit for rigging something. A very motivated and 39 year-old Ronda destroyed a 44 year-old Gina Carano who last fought during 2009 and spent much of the year losing 100 pounds. Carano never faced anyone as capable as Rousey, hence the humiliating defeat.

While I wished that they could have fought longer, I was pretty satisfied with the bloody battle between Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. Nate Diaz was bleeding from multiple places, as I impressed with how he didn’t just pass out during the fight from so much blood loss. Sometimes, the main event for both boxing and MMA cards can be disappointing but something on the undercard pops to keep you relatively satisfied.

Honestly for me, it was on Netflix versus blowing through Pay Per View dollars… So I didn’t lose my arse on the event, as I consume Netflix heavily to get my money’s worth. I’m still smarting from the FRAUD known as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao that took my $99 (or $33, splitting it with 2 buddies).

That’s what you get from boxing or MMA events… High risk, but high reward. Thanks to boxing and MMA being legit competitive sports, when their main event matches hit, you’ll remember it forever. When it thuds, it really hurts and angers you as a customer.

My Dad loved boxing and we purchased many boxing Pay Per Views during the 1990s… There were many skunks, such as the Mike Tyson fight or pretty much any late 1990s Tyson fight… But then you’d get matches that you’d never forget, like Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield or the night when George Foreman SHOCKED the world by defeating Michael Moorer for the world championship. It was a literal roll of the dice, as the highs were amazing and the lows were disappointing. Yet, those highs were so good that you dared to roll that dice.

I remember how great UFC was through the late 2000s and early 2010s. Promotion was full of stars and had major cards that often delivered with various weight classes. I took a chance on multiple Pay Per Views with Brock Lesnar on it and he almost always delivered, as he’d take a beating for much of the match and then pull off a miraculous comeback.

But, both UFC and boxing have had their induced lows… For boxing, you had to watch Don King’s involvement as most of those matches were always fishy in nature, in my opinion. The multiple world titles really hurt things, too, as it diluted who the real world champion was when the belts were split up. I was so mad when Riddick Bowe threw away one of the world titles, as I knew it would create chaos with the world titles.

For UFC, the sale to Endeavor really hurt the promotion’s quality. What you’re seeing now in the WWE is what UFC has endured since 2016. Wrestlers not getting paid and minimized versus pushing a brand, more ads crammed into events, more ads all over the octagon and arena, and fewer diehard fans in the crowd versus corporate types (higher ticket prices often does that). UFC has become a completely nameless promotion other than Dana White as its president.

With Pro Wrestling, as I’ve argued for YEARS as Mr. Tito, you truly get your BANG for your BUCK. 3 hour shows with multiple matches going 20-30 minutes and often providing scripted moments that you’ll never forget.

Wrestling provides low risk (cheaper than MMA or boxing) with often moderate to high returns. Rarely do you get a skunk Premium Live Event or Pay Per View for wrestling. When WWE cost $9.99 per month for its WWE Network, it really felt good to watch the WWE’s biggest shows of the year.

Which brings me to WWE’s Premium Live Events from 2026…

For one, you’re paying for ESPN Unlimited for $29.99 per month, which is either more than triple or double of what you were paying with Peacock (depending on which streaming package that you had). Then, WWE is delivering SHORTER matches on PLEs now… That’s right, if you watched WWE Backlash 2026, only ONE match was above 20 minutes long in length and that was the opening match that aired on ESPN 2 between Rollins and Breakker.

How about Wrestlemania 42? Night #1 featured 4 matches out of 7 that were under 10 minutes long, while Night #2 had 4 out of 6 matches that were at or under 10 minutes long. Only the 2 main events went above 20 minutes of that event.

WWE PLEs are PACKED full of advertisements now, with them either being required advertisement spots per ESPN Unlimited or WWE running their own ads.

And that’s on top of an event with a ring littered with ads now, while each match has their own sponsor.

TKO is now requesting that many WWE stars take a 50% paycut…

Yep, Endeavor is morphing WWE right into another UFC model. Grift the fans and television network for as much money as you can and deep pocket the money obtained. Rinse and repeat.

Part of the allure for having boxing or MMA on Netflix is to try new things that the other professions wouldn’t try, while creating unexpected match-ups. UFC reportedly turned down Carano vs. Rousey, expecting it to be the mismatch that it turned out to be. Yet, this MVP promotion did 27 million for its first MMA event on Netflix.

Makes me wonder how much TKO will “butter up” Netflix to let them go the full 10 year term of their contract or maybe re-sign for something higher once the first 5 years are up. After all, what could stop someone from starting their own one-off wrestling event that airs on Netflix? TKO having the WWE could be a deterrent for any rouge one-off wrestling events from happening.

What made wrestling interesting again was during 2018, Cody Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and their friends held the first ever “All In” event. They drew 10,000 fans and eyeballs to Pay Per View without any promotional machine behind them. Cody and the Bucks proved that a big event without a major promotion to not only happen, but draw. This “All In” 2018 event was so successful that it inspired the Khan family to join up with Rhodes and the Bucks to form All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Since then, you’ve had real choice in wrestling to consume either WWE or AEW events and that choice has given us incredible events since the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

But now, here we are in 2026, and WWE is in first place by a distance after widening the gap during 2023. Complacent, WWE has now reduced the quantity and quality of its PLE events by shortening the matches and inserting more advertisements. The end result is a lot of starting and stopping, just like an overly corporate boxing or MMA event.

So yeah, WWE PLEs used to be a guaranteed great evening of wrestling but now it’s like a disappointing boxing or MMA event. Well, maybe it’s like UFC for the past 10 years. Once this current crop of veterans fully retire from the WWE, WWE will be like UFC with brand over wrestlers pushed harder than ever and lots of ads shoved in your faces during events.

WWE should be delivering great matches and fewer ads… They should remind boxing and MMA fans of how risky it is to watch their big events, as the main events often disappoint. Instead, we’re getting shorter matches and more advertisements.

TRUSTING that a WWE PLE was great was a guarantee that used to be in place… But now, the dream is over… TKO has taken over and has ruined yet another thing in the WWE.

TKO has so much revenue coming in from WWE and UFC, yet it still has a high level of debt. Endeavor and its daddy Silver Lake also have a high level of debt. Seems like it’s a management issue within the Endeavor and TKO groups on grifting and being unable to operate a company without high levels of debt.

The dream is over, what can I say? The dream is over, yesterday… And so, dear friends, you’ll just have to carry on, the dream is over.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

The post MR. TITO: What Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano’s MVP MMA Event “Disappointment” Could Teach WWE & TKO About Their Recent PLEs appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Several people accused the fight of being “worked” which led to former WWE star Shayna Baslzer writing the following message via Twitter/X…

“If you want to know how fast the memory of MMA fans gets erased, 17 seconds isn’t even her fastest win and people think it was worked, lol. What about her :14 win over Zigano? Or her :16 win over Davis? Or her other 5 wins under :30? Or her 9 total wins under a minute?”

If you want to know how fast the memory of MMA fans gets erased, 17 seconds isn’t even her fastest win and people think it was worked, lol. What about her :14 win over Zigano? Or her :16 win over Davis? Or her other 5 wins under :30? Or her 9 total wins under a minute?

— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) May 17, 2026

A fan wrote, “Come on Shayna, we all know that was fixed harder than a WWE event LOL.” Shayna replied, “Wrong. The people that actually know and have followed MMA know this is a low IQ take as it pertains to fighting.”

Wrong. The people that actually know and have followed MMA know this is a low IQ take as it pertains to fighting

— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) May 18, 2026

The post Shayna Baszler responds to the claims of Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano being “worked” like a WWE match appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

According to the California State Athletic Commission, Rousey earned $2.2 million and Carano earned $1.05 million before bonuses or other arrangements. After the fight, Rousey said she does not plan to return to competition, citing her desire to have more children, while Carano said she felt good and did not rule out fighting again.

Several wrestling personalities were in attendance for the show including WWE’s CM Punk and AEW faction The Death Riders.

Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano FULL MMA FIGHT#MVPNetflix #RouseyCarano pic.twitter.com/cBvy7G1Ijt

— AlAudhli 𝕏 العوذلي (@alaudhli) May 17, 2026

The post Former WWE star Ronda Rousey earns $2.2 million for 17 second MMA fight victory appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I love that fight being my [last] match. I think it would’ve probably gone much better over at like Bloodsport or something like that, but I think it was kind of the best way for me to be able to say goodbye. And being the true heel, I wanted to give the big middle finger to all the fans on the way out and put on the fight that I wanted to put on with my best friend.”

“[I wanted to] have a great time and shove that fight, that match down their throat. Because there were so many moments in that [match,] it was kind of like our wrestling love letter to MMA [where we were] recreating all these moments that happened in MMA that we really loved that people in pro wrestling just wouldn’t recognize.”

The post Ronda Rousey says her final WWE match was a “big middle finger to all the fans on the way out” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Vince McMahon was just more far gone and more difficult to work with, and there was a lot of inner turmoil going on in the company. It was kind of a sh*tshow, and nobody ever knew what was going on.

The post Ronda Rousey on her second WWE run: “The process was just such a clusterf*ck sh*tshow” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“It’s a little bit weird, but also familiar—but also, it’s like AEW, so it’s nice. It’s a little more laid-back.

The post Ronda Rousey says her AEW Revolution appearance was “a cool little bit of a ‘f*ck you’ to TKO” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

It was indicated to Fightful that Rousey received the reaction AEW was aiming for in her heel role, though it was also noted that Rousey may have anticipated a different response.

Sources within TKO and WWE believe Rousey is motivated to oppose WWE, UFC, and TKO, and they do not expect her to return to WWE in the near future. Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com stated the following about Rousey’s appearance…

“Rousey, who is not shy about promoting her projects, to the best of my knowledge, did not push AEW after the angle. The angle would lead you to believe there would be a Rousey vs. Storm match, which would get some attention, although we’ve heard nothing at all indicating it is happening. One person close to the situation did say that this did fit into Rousey’s vendetta against TKO for negotiating with her for more than one year for the Carano fight and then in the end, when it didn’t happen on PPV, essentially changing the compensation, figuring they had nowhere else to go.”

The post News regarding Ronda Rousey’s appearance at AEW Revolution 2026 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Ronda Rousey is back, and she’s ready to shake up the world of combat sports.

Two MMA legends are coming to Netflix.

RONDA ROUSEY vs. GINA CARANO
Saturday May 16
LIVE only on Netflix#RouseyCarano pic.twitter.com/zqdSC7l4in

— Netflix (@netflix) February 17, 2026

The post Former WWE star Ronda Rousey making her return to MMA appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Roman Reigns—they tried so hard to get him over for so long, and there were ‘f*ck Roman’ chants. No one wanted him because he had so many of those advantages, you know? He was young, good-looking, talented, came from a famous family—and no one identified with that.

It wasn’t until Paul Heyman came in and found a way to repackage everything as the ‘Head of the Table’ and all of that—that is Paul Heyman’s genius—that got him over. So much of what is working in that company is due to Paul Heyman or his guidance. He’s like the guy behind the scenes who’s everyone’s mentor, and a lot of the best ideas originated from him. My graphic novel originated from him. Yeah. I mean, Paul Heyman deserves a f*cking shrine in my mind.”

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