Can’t Knock The Hustle: Alternate Routes

If you’ve been a reader of mine for a long time, you know that I like to find column inspiration anywhere I can find it. Frequently, that means I get ideas from pop culture that has nothing to do with pro wrestling.

Other times, I’ll “borrow” an idea almost completely, just switching wrestling in as the main topic of discussion. This is one of those times.

Back in March, a new podcast called Alternate Routes debuted on whatever platform you consume that sort of media. The show is hosted by former ESPN SportsCenter anchors Trey Wingo and Kevin Frazier.

The premise of the show is a simple one. They look at various events in sports history, and they play the “What if…” game with those moments. A recent episode was dedicated to wondering what would’ve happened if the Chicago Bears drafted Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft, instead of taking Mitchell Trubisky like they did.

It’s easy to just say things like “the Bears would’ve been better and the Chiefs would’ve been worse” in those types of scenarios. Wingo and Frazier do a lot of deep diving, though, coming up with not only things that would and wouldn’t have happened, but also going further down the “butterfly effect” trail and looking at some wilder scenarios that you might not immediately think about. They close things out by looking at who were the biggest winners and losers of what actually happened, as well as what we missed out on with the alternate scenario not actually taking place.

As of the moment I type this, there have only been ten episodes of the show, but it has already become appointment listening for me. The show makes my mind start to wander, and I think about how a pro wrestling version would work.

I’ve come up with a very lengthy list of the sport’s biggest “What if…” scenarios. Now, that doesn’t mean I’ll do a column for every single one of them. It also doesn’t mean I’ll post them regularly. Some of them fit better at a particular time of year (anniversary, etc.), and others will simply take a long time to thoroughly unpack. When I have the time, however, I will tackle a different subject and break them down just like the podcast does.

First up, as you probably figured out based on the title of the column, is a big one from 1996…

 

What if Sting was the “third man” for the nWo at Bash At The Beach 1996?

 

I’m sure most of us are aware of the story by now, but for those of you that aren’t aware, let’s get ourselves caught up.

WCW was running a “hostile takeover” storyline with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who had just signed with the company after becoming very successful with the WWF. The battle between WCW and the “Outsiders” created a match at Bash At The Beach where Hall and Nash promised a “third man” to face WCW’s squad of Sting, Lex Luger, and “Macho Man” Randy Savage in a six-man tag. During the match, Hulk Hogan came out and looked like he was about to save WCW, only to have him deliver his patented Leg Drop to Savage, turning heel and setting the entire wrestling world on its ear.

As the story goes, Hogan was pitched on the heel turn, but was against it and didn’t think it would be a good idea after all the years he spent as the top babyface in the business. Even after he somewhat warmed up to the idea, Eric Bischoff, who was Senior Vice President of WCW at the time, wasn’t convinced that Hulk would follow through with the turn, so he created the “Plan B” of having Sting be revealed as Hall and Nash’s tag partner, with the full details being worked out if Hulk declined the idea.

Obviously, Hogan agreed, and the nWo was officially born at Bash At The Beach.

So… what if Sting did end up being the third man?

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The first thing to mention is a pretty obvious one.

If Sting is the nWo’s third man, that means Hulk Hogan isn’t, and if Hulk Hogan isn’t, that probably means we never get the “Hollywood” Hogan character. That’s a very safe assumption to make. If one of the hottest angles in the business wasn’t going to convince Hogan to turn heel, even after live crowds had already started to turn their backs on him due to societal changes, I can’t imagine that anything would’ve done the trick.

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Now, look at the flip side of that coin. If we don’t get “Hollywood” Hogan because Sting joined the nWo, that also means we probably don’t ever get to see the “Crow” version of Sting, either. Going back to look at the transformation, Sting felt betrayed by WCW and his best friend, Lex Luger, after they accused him of joining the nWo. It was a fake Sting that was working with the nWo, but even though Sting repeatedly said that it wasn’t him, nobody believed him. This would lead to him declaring himself a “free agent” and would become silent, not saying a single word in a promo for over a full year.

With Sting as a heel in the nWo, he would’ve had a darker character, sure… he had already ditched his blonde hair for longer, dark hair… but all of that silent, brooding stuff would’ve been out the window. As the new leader of the nWo, he’s going to be cutting a ton of promos. You could make the argument that he wouldn’t have cut as many promos as Hogan ended up doing as the leader of the group, but he still would’ve been involved in plenty of talking segments on Nitro every week after the turn.

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Let’s keep digging.

If there’s no “Hollywood” Hogan or “Crow” Sting, that obviously means there’s no “Hollywood” Hogan defending the WCW World Championship against Sting at Starrcade 1997. One could argue that the year-plus storyline of “Crow” Sting and the Hogan-led nWo was the best that WCW ever delivered. The “proof” is in the 1.9 buyrate (700,000 buys) for the show, which is the highest in WCW History by a healthy margin. WCW fans were waiting with bated breath to see Sting and Hogan finally square off, and more of them than ever were willing to part with their money to make sure they saw it happen.

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Running with this, what happens to Starrcade 1997 without the “Hollywood” vs “Crow” match and story behind it? It’s another safe assumption to make that Starrcade doesn’t end up being the highest-grossing show in company history.

If Starrcade 1997 isn’t the largest show in WCW’s history, does the drop-off in overall excitement also translate to WCW’s product on television? In the real world, WCW’s Monday Nitro was in the middle of its famous streak of defeating the WWF’s Monday Night Raw in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. The streak began on June 17th, 1996, which was the week after Kevin Nash showed up to align with Scott Hall, and things really started taking off for WCW once Hogan turned heel.

If Sting turned heel at Bash At The Beach 1996 instead of Hulk Hogan, does the winning streak for Nitro reach 83 weeks? I don’t think it does. I’m not saying Nitro’s rating falls into the toilet the night after Bash At The Beach because people were so disappointed in the reveal of the “third man.” Far from it, actually. I think there would’ve been a lot of intrigue in a heel Sting character then, even if it would’ve been for different storyline reasons, as Sting wasn’t “sent from the WWF” to “declare war” on WCW. However, I think that intrigue would’ve been different than what we got with a Hogan heel turn.

Raw wouldn’t defeat Nitro in the ratings until April 13th, 1998. That was the week that brand new WWF Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin challenged Vince McMahon to a match, and the entire episode was built around Vince accepting the match and training for it, only for the whole thing to be a swerve, as Dude Love turned heel by attacking Austin before the match could get underway.

With “Stone Cold” seeing a meteoric rise in popularity throughout 1997 and into 1998, and with the rest of the WWF product gaining a ton of creative momentum, it took a red hot nWo to help carry Nitro to all those ratings victories. If the nWo wasn’t as hot because Sting was their leader instead of Hogan, it’s not a stretch to think that the WWF’s momentum would’ve had them end the ratings streak sooner than they did.

If Raw defeated Nitro in the ratings sooner, what are the dominoes that might fall because of it? That’s part of the fun here. If the nWo “suffers” some, then WCW “suffers” some. If WCW “suffers” some, they might begin their real decline a lot sooner. If WCW begins their real decline a lot sooner, they might lose the Monday Night War a lot sooner. If WCW loses the Monday Night War a lot sooner… what happens then?

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Here’s a wild branch on that tree…

If WCW loses the Monday Night War a lot sooner and goes out of business much earlier than March 2001, how much of a bad taste does that leave in the mouths of TNT (and later, TBS, with WCW Thunder launching in January 1998)? If it does leave a bad taste in their mouths, even with new ownership decades later…

Does that mean TNT and TBS aren’t looking to jump in bed with AEW for the company’s launch? Kind of a “been there, done that” thing with the brands not wanting to deal with professional wrestling anymore.

Before anyone says anything, I’m not saying that Warner Bros. Discovery choosing not to enter a partnership with AEW means that Tony Khan’s company wouldn’t have gotten off the ground. If they weren’t able to get the partnership and put Dynamite on TNT, you can bet your asses the show would’ve ended up on another station. There was too much money involved on Tony Khan’s side of things for it not to happen somewhere.

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HOWEVER…

What if Dynamite ended up on a “lesser” station, with less available homes than TNT, does that alter the course of company history? The debut episode of Dynamite had 1.409 million viewers, and the show saw between 900,000 and 1,000,000 viewers 12 more times in the show’s first year of existence. If they’re on a “lesser” station, not only are those viewership numbers down right off the bat, simply based on who can access the show, but that also means less money coming in for television rights and all that jazz.

If the company’s television viewership is lower right away, and if the company’s revenue is lower right away, and if the company’s imprint on the wrestling business is lower right away… that makes their mountain a lot higher to climb. They could still climb that mountain, of course. It just might take a lot more time and effort.

Just for shits and giggles, though, let’s say Dynamite saw less viewers. Remember the Wednesday Night War? Does NXT fare better? I would think so. Let’s say that they perform better, and maybe even that they win a bunch more head-to-head battles. You know what gets affected there? The way the wrestling public views Tony Khan. Remember, it was TK’s social media activity, gloating about how well Dynamite was doing against NXT, that had a lot of people start looking at him in a negative light. That is almost directly responsible for a lot of the “tribalism” that we continue to see, four-and-a-half years after the debut episode of Dynamite.

I think Tony Khan is viewed in a much more positive light by all sorts of fans, and not just AEW diehards, in that scenario.

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Alright, let’s get back to WCW, though.

Even if you’re a gigantic Sting fan and have supported everything he has done during his legendary career, it’s not exactly breaking news to say he doesn’t have the same star power and name recognition as Hulk Hogan. Sting is great, but Hulk Hogan was one of the biggest stars in the world, period, not just the world of wrestling. People that had never watched a minute of pro wrestling in their lives knew who Hulk Hogan was, and what he did for a living. That brings me to my next important question.

Without the megawatt star power that Hulk Hogan has, is WCW able to reach out to mainstream celebrities like the NBA’s Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone, or television’s Jay Leno, to not only make appearances for the company, but to actually wrestle? I’ve already mentioned that Starrcade 1997 was the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WCW history. Do you know what the second highest-grossing pay-per-view in WCW history is? Bash At The Beach 1998, headlined by a tag match that saw Karl Malone teaming up with Diamond Dallas Page to take on “Hollywood” Hogan and Dennis Rodman. While we’re at it, do you know what the ninth highest-grossing pay-per-view in WCW history is? Road Wild 1998, headlined by Hogan teaming up with Eric Bischoff to face DDP and Jay Leno.

You can argue on whether or not those matches were good, or whether or not it was a good idea to bring those celebrities in to wrestle, but you can’t argue the success. Those events brought in so much mainstream publicity to WCW. Do they get that with Sting in Hogan’s place? I don’t think so. Even expanding on the point a bit, Hogan was in the main event spot for eight of the top ten highest-grossing pay-per-views in WCW history. Even when the company wasn’t using celebrities for extra attention, Hogan was more than enough to have people tune in for their television shows and spend money on their pay-per-views.

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Now, let’s focus on Sting for a moment. When he became the “Crow” character, it’s something that he used for nearly the rest of his career until his retirement match at AEW Revolution two months ago. That’s well over a quarter-century where he was known and recognized for the “Crow” look and vibe.

If he joined the nWo in 1996, though, and we technically never got a “Crow” Sting, what happens to the rest of his career?

Does he remain “nWo Sting” for the rest of his time in WCW? How about if he did what Hulk did in real life, where he stayed in the nWo colors for a while, but returned to his old (red and yellow for Hogan in 1999, neon for Sting) colors for a nostalgia pop?

If we’re to assume that the alternate universe Sting still goes to TNA after WCW goes out of business, and if there’s no “Crow” character for him to be, what does he do? If you remember the early days of TNA, guys like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were there, damn near playing “themselves” on-air, continuing the nWo characters without saying or wearing anything nWo-related. I would assume that’s the route Sting would go, basically playing a continuation of whatever he was doing in the nWo.

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When a lot of people think about Sting’s run in TNA/Impact, though, they think about one thing… the “Joker” version of his character. Think back to what brought the “Joker” Sting character to life. When Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff arrived in TNA, Sting knew the evil that they were capable of, and he warned everyone that Hogan and Bischoff weren’t the company “saviors” that many hoped they were. With nobody listening to his pleas, Sting slowly began a descent into madness, and the “Joker” character was born.

It was a bit of a play on what made him become “Crow” Sting in the first place. However, if everything changed from Bash At The Beach 1996 and on, that “Joker” Sting origin story doesn’t work. Steve Borden is on record saying that the “Joker” character is the version of Sting that is most like the real man behind the paint, based on his sense of humor and penchant for doing voices, impersonations, and different accents. That’s cool and all, but a heel Sting in the nWo doesn’t translate to becoming “Joker” Sting all those years later?

Okay… so maybe you could say that a heel Sting in TNA would start to get increasingly more alarmed that a face Hogan, his biggest rival from the Monday Night War days of WCW, was in TNA. You could sell me on the idea of Sting losing his mind that way, becoming more of the “Joker” character. The only issue there is that “Joker” Sting was designed more to be a face. Again, it was an extension of Steve Borden’s real-life personality, with humor and jokes running rampant. A heel version of that particular character would’ve needed to mirror Heath Ledger’s version of the character in more than just face paint. Much darker, much more sociopathy, and more of a violent streak. That doesn’t seem like something Steve Borden would’ve been comfortable doing, considering his strong opinions on the WWF/WWE product and why he never wanted to sign there for years and years.

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When it comes to Hulk Hogan and his “creative control” in WCW, just about everything has already been said and discussed.

Just about.

If Sting turned heel in 1996 and joined up with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the nWo, it’s pretty easy to picture Hulk Hogan as one of the top faces in WCW as they try to bring the heel squad down. The first run of the nWo lasted nearly four years, with all sorts of splinter groups and mini-factions along the way.

Raise your hand if you think a face Hogan, leading the charge for WCW, would’ve battled the nWo for nearly four full years.

You’re a dirty, lying bastard if you have your hand up right now.

What if the “Hulkster” would’ve been responsible for the nWo being disposed of in two years instead of four? One year, instead of two? God forbid, six months instead of one year? Imagine the nWo forming at Bash At The Beach 1996 and then disbanding at Starrcade 1996 just under six months later?

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You can make all the jokes you want for this next one, but outside of hardcore University of Georgia and Atlanta Falcons football fans, I’m not sure any of us know who Bill Goldberg is in this alternate universe.

Maybe we do, but just not on the level we know him now. Goldberg’s television debut took place on the September 22nd, 1997 episode of Nitro. That’s nearly 15 months after Hogan’s heel turn and the formation of the nWo. When WCW first rolled Goldberg out there for the world to see, not a single person on the planet expected him to become one of the biggest stars in the business, especially in such a short amount of time.

However, if the nWo was led by Sting, instead of Hulk Hogan, and if the group’s success isn’t something that was sustained, what happens on the July 6th, 1998 episode of Nitro? If you remember, that was the night we saw Hogan defend the WCW World Title against Goldberg in the Georgia Dome before over 41,000 fans, creating one of the most memorable matches and moments in WCW history. Even if the Sting-led nWo was still around in July 1998, is Sting vs Goldberg in the Georgia Dome on the same level as what we really got? I just can’t see it.

Without an nWo that was one of the hottest acts in the history of the business, does Goldberg’s accelerated rise to the top of WCW happen as quickly? Does it happen at all?

Let’s say Bill Goldberg never goes on to become GOLDBERG. Not only do we not get the Hogan match in the Georgia Dome, but we probably don’t get his 23,718 match winning streak, or whatever the hell the made up number ended up being. No losing to Kevin Nash at Starrcade 1998 after being hit with a cattle prod by Scott Hall. No big debut for the WWF on the night after WrestleMania 19. No costing Brock Lesnar the WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out 2004, leading to one of the most memorable (for the wrong reasons) matches in WrestleMania history between Bill and Brock. No big return to WWE in 2016. No ruining the momentum of Kevin Owens by defeating him for the Universal Title at Fastlane 2017. No attempted murder of The Undertaker at Super Showdown 2019. No ruining the momentum of The Fiend by defeating him for the Universal Title at Super Showdown 2020.

None of it.

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Craziest Scenario If The Alternate Route Happened

 

I’m not 100% sure if everyone will consider this “crazy,” but I’ll mention it, anyway.

If Sting was the nWo’s third man at Bash At The Beach 1996, Owen Hart is still alive today. As an added (and related) bonus, the Montreal Screwjob never happens.

The thinking behind it is pretty simple.

I’ve already mentioned that WCW probably doesn’t see the same level of success with Sting at the helm of the nWo. We talked about how Nitro’s winning streak over Raw probably doesn’t come close to approaching the 83-week mark. With the WWF’s ultra-deep and ultra-talented roster taking them to the top and giving them the “lead” in the battle of the companies, the WWF is a lot bigger, a lot faster.

That means Bret “The Hitman” Hart doesn’t leave the company in November 1997. The WWF is winning the war, and perhaps by a sizable margin, so the company is flush with cash. That means Vince McMahon doesn’t have to go back on the mega contract he gave to Bret, saying that he can’t afford it anymore. Then, we don’t get the Montreal Screwjob, because Bret isn’t being forced to drop the WWF Championship when he did out of fear that he would take the physical title belt to WCW.

Bret stays with the WWF, and because he never steps into a ring with Goldberg, he doesn’t have an errand boot to the head send him into an early retirement.

With Bret still in the WWF, I don’t think Owen Hart ever becomes The Blue Blazer again, because he probably continues working with Bret in one way or another. Even if, for whatever reason, Owen does work as the Blazer again, things would’ve been a lot different. It has been made clear that he didn’t want to do the harness stunts for the BB entrances. With his older brother still in the WWF mix, I can see Bret standing up to Vince and saying that those entrances are absolutely, positively not happening. If Owen said that to Vince, I don’t picture the old man changing his mind. Owen didn’t carry the same weight as Bret did. As long as it wasn’t with a threat to jump to WCW, Vince would’ve acquiesced to Bret’s demands.

No wild Blue Blazer entrances (or no Blue Blazer at all) means Over The Edge 1999 doesn’t feature one of pro wrestling’s worst tragedies, and Owen Hart lives on. Martha Hart has said that Owen was looking to step away from the business and spend more time with his family, so I don’t think he would’ve been wrestling for much longer. He would’ve celebrated his 35th birthday on May 7th, 2000. With a milestone birthday, and a new century rolling around, I think Owen would’ve sailed off into the sunset around that time or soon thereafter.

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Who Was The Biggest Winner Of What Really Happened?

 

Hulk Hogan.

That was easy.

Facing one of the biggest gambles in the history of the business, Hogan was smart and savvy enough to understand that a change needed to be made. 1992 and 1993 saw the WWF fan base begin to grow weary of Hogan’s face act. Once the initial excitement of Hulk “jumping ship” to WCW began to wear off, the WCW fan base was also starting to grow weary of his face act. The heel turn gave Hogan a fresh coat of paint (specifically in his beard), and it allowed him to become one of the biggest heels the sport has ever seen for years. That carried him all the way back to the WWF in 2002, where he got more big WrestleMania pay days, another WWF Championship reign, the only Tag Team Title reign (with Edge) of his entire career, and a bunch more moments that may not have happened if he kept the red and yellow in 1996.

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Who Was The Biggest Loser Of What Really Happened?

 

I’m not saying this to be a smartass in any way, but it’s the Hart family.

I laid my reasoning out already. The Hogan-led nWo dominated the wrestling world for months and months, helping WCW beat the snot out of the WWF time and time again. That led a bunch of dominoes to fall, which had Bret Hart leave the WWF, flounder in WCW, feel helpless as his brother died performing a stunt at a WWF pay-per-view, and then had his own career come to an early end due to Goldberg’s foot.

Because of what happened with Owen, Bret would go on to feud with Owen’s widow, Martha, after they had differing views on working with WWE again, as well as on whether or not Owen should be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame one day.

All of that tragedy and drama completely outweighs other “losers” that only had to deal with lesser pushes and things of that nature.

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What Would We Have Missed Out On If The Alternate Route Happened?

 

The first thing we would’ve missed out on is decades of incredibly popular merchandise sales.

nWo merch probably would’ve sold well with Sting at the helm, but not as well as the Hogan-led group, and as we talked about, probably for nowhere near as long. The real nWo was so popular that the group’s shirts continue to be among the best sellers on the WWEShop website to this very day, 28 years after their initial formation. That’s insanity.

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Another thing that we would’ve missed out on is that “Hollywood” Hogan vs Goldberg match from the Georgia Dome. Again, say whatever you want about the Hogan and Goldberg characters… and say whatever you want about Bill Goldberg and Terry Bollea as human beings… but that match was one of the most epic and memorable televised wrestling matches of all-time. I really and truly do not believe that Sting defending against Goldberg on that night would’ve been anywhere near as memorable.

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This one might be more of a personal one, but it’s always been something that I’ve found hilarious, so I’m including it. If Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have joined the nWo, where he interacted with the cooler, hip wrestlers like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Konnan, and others, then we wouldn’t have gotten Hulk trying to be young and hip himself.

Most of you have seen the pictures and videos by now. One famous shot has Hulk wearing those WIDE leg jeans, probably made by JNCO, in a parking lot somewhere. There’s the famous clip from his Hogan Knows Best show where he was riding around in his tricked out truck listing to “I Luv It” by Young Jeezy on repeat so that he could learn the words and rap along.

There’s more than just two examples, but this column is already too long. Like I said, that stuff has always been hilarious to me, so I have to include it when discussing things that we would’ve missed out on.

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There was a lot to dislike about Hogan’s return to the WWF and the run he had from February 2002 until July 2003, when he quit the company after being unhappy with different creative decisions and match payoffs.

However, one thing that I really liked about that particular time, and something that we all would’ve missed out on, was the crowd reactions to Hulk being back “home.” Look no further than the crowd in Toronto for Hulk’s match against The Rock at WrestleMania 18. Look no further than the reaction he got the following night when Raw was in Montreal, which was one of the loudest and longest reactions a wrestler has ever gotten. Look no further than the following month, when Smackdown was in… Montreal again… when the reaction Hulk got in his old red and yellow colors lasted for nearly five minutes on television, but was edited down from being over 15 minutes long, bringing him to tears on multiple occasions.

Incredible moments. Goosebump inducing moments. Real emotion filled moments. We don’t get any of it without the several years of “Hollywood” Hogan terrorizing the industry.

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Conclusion

 

I have been a fan of Sting for almost as long as I’ve been a fan of professional wrestling. No matter where he was, and no matter what version of his character we were seeing, I have enjoyed it all, every step of the way.

With that said, I’m not sure it would be possible for me to be happier that Terry Bollea made a decision on that fateful 1996 day that would not only change the course of his own life and career, but also change the course of the entire sport forever.

Sure, we would eventually get Sting in the nWo for about five months in 1998 when he joined the red and black “Wolfpac” version of the group, but that simply wasn’t the same.

The list of moments, matches, and memories that we got from Hogan and the nWo is lengthy. Whether you were a fan during the Monday Night War, or have only seen stuff from that era on YouTube and on the many WWE-produced documentaries through the years, you were taken on a ride that you’ll probably never forget. As fans of this great sport we love so much, we can’t ask for much more than that.

Did I miss anything? Do you have a super crazy scenario that we would’ve seen play out (inside or outside of the wrestling business) if Hogan would’ve turned down a heel turn and Eric Bischoff was forced to go with Sting as the nWo’s third man? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.

Now, let’s get to a shortened version of my Weekly Power Rankings, followed by my regular playlist of the songs I was listening to as I put this column together.

 

 

Weekly Power Rankings

Lyon, France: The crowd at Smackdown was great, but that Backlash crowd may have been the single best crowd I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching wrestling.

Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles: Most of us viewed this as merely a formality, assuming there wasn’t a chance that Cody was going to be booked on a multi-year journey to “finish the story” and then drop the Undisputed WWE Championship in his first defense of it. While Cody did win, as expected, I don’t think anyone told him and AJ that the match was merely a formality as a glorified house show main event. They went out as if they were in the final match of WrestleMania, and they tore the house down in front of an absolutely insane crowd.

Randy Orton & Kevin Owens vs Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga: This sure seemed like Tama Tonga’s WWE “initiation,” didn’t it? In his first match with the company, he got the holy hell beaten out of him, and will have the scars and marks all over his body for a while. The match itself was great, with all four men stepping their games up to impress the rabid fans in the building. We also got a new addition to The Bloodline, but more on that a bit later.

The Elite & Kenny Omega: Now, this was more like it. I did enjoy the risks taken with Jack Perry and The Young Bucks attacking Tony Khan, but having them attack Kenny Omega in Kenny’s hometown of Winnipeg? That was very well done, and it’s going to have fans frothing at the mouth for Omega to eventually make his return to the ring for some revenge. The Elite attacked Tony Khan in the city he currently resides, and then they attacked Kenny Omega in the city he’s from. If I were Glenn Kulka, I wouldn’t answer my phone for any unknown numbers, with Dynamite coming to us from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this week.

Adam Copeland vs Buddy Matthews: Copeland has now taken the role in AEW that Bryan Danielson had for a while, and that CM Punk had before that, where he just has matches on a weekly basis that are probably going to be the longest of the night. If he keeps having high quality performances like Danielson and Punk before him, this isn’t a complaint from me in the slightest.

Gunther & Ilja Dragunov: Both of them have been drafted to Raw. It’s worth pointing out that WWE will be having their Bash In Berlin pay-per-view in Berlin, Germany on August 31st. Dragunov moved to Germany when he was five years old and started his career there. Gunther, on the other hand, truly began making his name in the business for Westside Xtreme Wrestling, based in… Germany. Just throwing that out there.

WrestleMania 41: After a lot of speculation that Minneapolis, Minnesota would get to host next year’s edition of the sport’s biggest event, it was Las Vegas, Nevada that swooped in and got the gig. One of the biggest party cities in the world… one of the biggest parties in all of sports… legalized gambling at every turn… legalized prostitution at brothels all over the city… night two falling on 4/20… this is going to be the craziest week in wrestling history.

Wes Lee: It was great to see the former NXT North American Champion make his return to the company after a back injury that had him contemplating retirement at one point. I wasn’t expecting to see him for a while. In December, it was announced that he was set for back surgery that was originally set to keep him out of action for 8-12 months, but he made it back in just under five months. He’s going to make for a great challenger to current North American Champion, Oba Femi, who has been facing nothing but fellow “meat” wrestlers recently.

Chris Jericho vs Katsuyori Shibata: The never-ending cycle for Jericho continues. He’ll have a match that ends up being really good, followed by promos and character work that everyone hates and makes them call for his retirement, only to follow it up with another match that ends up being really good, and so on and so forth. Here’s the really good match. Expect top tier tomfoolery on AEW programming this week.

Damian Priest vs Jey Uso: This loss brings Jey’s record in World Title matches of any kind to 0-5. He continues to be one of the most over wrestlers in all of WWE, as evidenced by that incredible entrance he had at Backlash, but that hasn’t been enough for the company to have him reach the top just yet.

Tanga Loa: People were expecting Jacob Fatu to make his WWE debut at Backlash. Instead, The Bloodline added Tanga Loa, who automatically adds intrigue to the tag division, as he and his brother, Tama Tonga, are tag experts, winning a total of 12 title reigns for companies across the globe. Jacob Fatu’s time will come, but for now, The Bloodline continues to add firepower for the inevitable “Civil War” that they’ll have.

Rated RKO Show: A fun “talk show” segment on WWE programming. Simple, yet effective, heat building for Backlash. A red hot crowd. Paul Heyman continuing to show why he is one of the sport’s all-time best on the mic, selling just how dangerous Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga are now that they’re going off-script and doing whatever they want. Good stuff all around.

New Catch Republic vs Authors Of Pain: A good week for AOP in the ring (more on that in a bit). It’s just unfortunate that they seem to have been caught up in the black hole of stink that Karrion Kross has surrounding him. Everything he touches has turned to silence, and that stretches to AOP now, too.

Willow Nightingale vs Skye Blue: It was good to see a different side of Willow and her character, even though it hasn’t exactly sold anyone on her successfully defending the AEW TBS Title against Mercedes Moné at Double Or Nothing later this month.

Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Authors Of Pain: Like I said, it was a good week for AOP in the ring, with two entertaining matches against opponents of different in-ring styles. Can they overcome the extra hurdles that have been placed in front of them with their connection to Karrion Kross? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Natalya vs Lola Vice: It’s pretty clear that NXT has big things planned for Lola Vice, and I’m fine with that. She is a week shy of being 18 months removed from her pro wrestling in-ring debut after a successful-albeit-brief MMA career with Bellator. Her wrestling work is coming along nicely, and her confidence seems to be through the roof right now. NXT could have another big star on their hands here.

Oba Femi vs Ivar: Meat, meat, meat, meat, and more meat. Like I said earlier, I’ve been enjoying these matches for Oba Femi, but I’m very happy that his next opponent appears to be Wes Lee, allowing everyone to see him in something different. It has literally been three months since we’ve seen him face anything other than a fellow “meat” wrestler. It’s time.

Bayley, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill & Naomi vs Asuka, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai & Tiffany Stratton: The match was good. No denying that. It was absolutely taken to another level because of that Lyon crowd, though. A perfectly fine way to combine the two upcoming women’s matches at Backlash, as well as building more of the story between Bayley and Bianca for something in the future.

Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill: While the match itself featured a ton of awkward moments, one of which seemed to last for multiple minutes, congratulations to the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions that were crowned at Backlash. They already look like they’re going to be unstoppable in kayfabe. You know what that means? One of them is turning heel on the other at some point down the road.

Patrick Mahomes: At the rate he’s going, Mahomes is going to go on to become the best Quarterback in NFL history when it comes to statistics and possibly in Super Bowls won. In Kansas City, he is a living, breathing God. It was a really big deal for WWE to get him to make an appearance on Raw from Kansas City, and for him to actually get involved in something that was happening on the show. That’s why it made things so weird that he was friendly with the heels. It doesn’t really matter, as he was still getting cheered. It’s just something I found strange.

 

 

This Week’s Playlist: “Like That” by Future, Kendrick Lamar & Metro Boomin… “Push Ups” by Drake… “euphoria” by Kendrick Lamar… “Family Matters” by Drake… “meet the grahams” by Kendrick Lamar… “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar… “Gangsta Shhh” by Spice 1, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross & Q Bosilini… “Houston To The Bay” by Spice 1, Paul Wall, Lil Flip & Lashae Love… “Real G’s 2” by Spice 1, KXNG Crooked, B-Legit & Domino… “Bring Me Down” by Point North… “Brave The Impossible – Vol. 1” by The Veer Union… “Don’t Look Any Further” by Dennis Edwards & Siedah Garrett… “Give Me That” by Boosie Badazz, Webbie & Bun B… “Swing” by Savage… “Afro Puffs” by The Lady Of Rage… “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” by Tommy Richman… “Yeah Glo!” by GloRilla… “Bruised and Scarred” by Mayday Parade… “Check Yes, Juliet” by We The Kings… “Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus… “Just The Girl” by The Click Five… “My Friends Over You” by New Found Glory… “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard… “Only One” by Yellowcard… “The Glory Of Love” by New Found Glory… “Broken” by Seether & Amy Lee… “Careless Whisper” by Seether… “Tonight” by Seether… “Say You’ll Haunt Me” by Stone Sour… “The Reason” by Hoobastank… “Superman” by Goldfinger… “The Impression That I Get” by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones… “Holding Out For A Hero” by Bonnie Tyler… “How Can I Ease The Pain” by Lisa Fischer… “Fix” by Blackstreet & Ol’ Dirty Bastard