AEW Revolution Predictions
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The Tragic Tale of Baron Corbin
I know that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. You know that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. I don’t think the WWE knows that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. Corbin made his debut in NXT about 10 years ago, and since then he hasn’t made an impact in the WWE. He won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal (which means nothing now), he was a United States Champion (I don’t recall any big moments from it), he won the Money in the Bank Briefcase (lost it due to punishment) and won the King of the Ring (which means nothing).
You have a guy of Corbin’s size, very athletic, unique look, fun move set, can portray a bunch of different personalities and you not only leave him on the bench, but do everything in your power to make him look like a joke every time he’s in the ring.
Lone Wolf gimmick was good. Seeing Corbin lose all his money and then become rich was entertaining, but it didn’t lead to any World Titles. It didn’t lead to any big factions. He teamed with Madcap Moss, but that ended pretty quickly.
If Corbin does get released or decides to not accept a new deal, I’d like to see him join Impact Wrestling. There he can battle guys like Joe Doering, Black Taurus and most importantly Moose.
Whatever happens with the rest of Corbin’s career, I just hope he’s utilized properly. I think he can do great things in wrestling, but I don’t want to see him reduced to a jobber and a stepping stone for future world champions.
Artwork from Dream by Wombo
Joe
Buddy Matthews Wins Gold…Kinda
Congratulations to Buddy Matthews for winning the AEW…..TNT…..FTW…..ROH…..the MCW World Heavyweight Championship. Yes, you read that right folks. Buddy Matthews, one of the most talented wrestlers on the planet, just won the MCW Championship…. yikes.
I remember a time, not too long ago, when Matthews was in the WWE destroying everyone in the Cruiserweight Division and then went to the main roster, teamed with Seth Rollins and was released. THEN, showed up in AEW and teamed with Malakai Black and Brody King to do essentially nothing. Am I crazy for thinking Matthews is a superstar talent? Is it possible that these big named companies are just dropping the ball on him?
I’d like to read a quote from Matthews after winning the championship when he was asked when he will be returning.
“It’s all about the travel – it’s how many times I want to jump on a plane and travel 30 hours. To see my family is everything, and my WWE schedule was very hectic. Not that this one isn’t, but AEW – I’m very fortunate to work for a company that allows me to go and see my family. Pop over, and help these guys. It’s really cool to come and do that”
Translation:
Thank you AEW for giving me a contract where I have to wrestle 17 times a year and get to go to the indies and across the world to put together an audition tape for the WWE, Impact Wrestling and NJPW. If Tony Khan can’t find a way to make Buddy Matthews a relevant star in AEW, then he doesn’t deserve to have him.
Where do you think Buddy Matthews should go?
Picture from Dream by Wombo AI
Simptastic Joe
Mark Briscoe: What’s Next?
Mark Briscoe is dealing with real life issues that are more important than wrestling. In no way am I trying to be disrespectful to him and his wrestling ability.
With the tragic passing of his brother Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe is on the verge of fading into irrelevancy and unemployment. The Briscoe Brothers were one of the best tag teams in pro wrestling. And the only reason they aren’t a household name is because they had the misfortune to be employed by Ring of Honor.
For those of you that don’t know, mainly because ROH isn’t on any tv channel and the company is terrible at trying to grow the company, The Briscoe Brothers have held the ROH Tag Team Championship for 12 times. Jay has held the ROH World Championship 2 times in his career while Mark has held 0 individual titles.
Jay had IT, Mark does not. Jay can be the top of a company, he could deliver promo, he looked the part, could sell a move, great finisher, there was nothing Jay couldn’t do in the world of wrestling. Mark is good, but not great. Teaming with Jay took a lot of pressure off Mark, which is why they were such a successful tag team.
Mark acts like a wild animal in the ring. He doesn’t wrestle, he fights. Which obviously is his character, but it doesn’t look good in long matches or against top talent. Jay has been at the top of the company. Put on great matches against Adam Cole, Samoa Joe, Jay White, Bandido and a ton of other opponents I watched in preparation for this article.
What happens to Mark now? Where does he fit in on AEW? As I said before, a successful singles career is not in his future. Are you going to team him up with someone? Who? Now the WWE has given us some interesting tag pairings that looked strange at first, but were successful. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, Team Hell No, Ricochet and Aleister Black, The Bar were all fun to watch.
Who does Mark team with? I’ve looked through the AEW roster, I don’t see any pairings that work. The only thing that would work is some big faction, maybe Lance Archer, Mike Bennett, but the more I write this the more ridiculous it sounds.
Mark was his own unique character. Teaming with Jay fit the theme they were trying to portray. There is nobody in wrestling that I think fits with Mark. And now that Jays gone, Mark is lost in the shuffle. Looking at the current AEW roster I found 60 wrestlers more equipped the be the head of the company in some capacity over Mark and none of them seem to mesh with Mark in a tag or faction capacity.
Tony Khan is doing a terrible job at managing his 5 shows. Dynamite, Rampage, Dark, Elevation and ROH are all clumped into one roster and you might go weeks before a feud or one of your favorite wrestler is on tv. For Mark to survive in the company, he needs to be placed at the top of a show and be on a roster of wrestlers that aren’t head and shoulders above him.
Where do you think Mark Briscoe is going in AEW and how would you book him going forward?
Simptastic Joe
Reigns vs Zayn: Not Over Yet?
I said many times that I have a Love/Hate relationship with Brock Lesnar. I’ve seen many fantastic matches where he fought Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, Triple H and others, but there have been a lot of terrible matches with Lesnar as well. the bad matchres consist of German Suplexes followed by an F5 and sprints to the finish of the match. A lot of high spots that get a quick reaction, but nothing long lasting.
This match was a bad Lesnar match in reverse. Slow, painfully slow. To the point where I questioned if Sami Zayn is even a good wrestler anymore. Zayn’s last couple of years in the WWE have been more theatrical than focusing on in ring ability. Yes, he was great in NXT, but I would say the most impressive thing he did on the main roster was his feud with Braun Strowman in 2016, which was 7 years ago. Since then, he has been bottom tier on the roster, lackluster feuds and essentially struggling to hold any type of spotlight. This could very well be the first time watching a wrestler be elevated to potential WrestleMania Championship match based on emotional storytelling and not in ring ability.
All this match did was show that Roman Reigns can command an arena doing very little wrestling. Roman yelled at the crowd, yelled at Zayn’s wife, mouthed off to Zayn’s father, yelled at the crowd again. Every now and then Zayn caught Reigns monologuing and took advantage, but not for long. It felt like watching a retirment match where Zayn’s career was on the line and we saw glimpses of great moments from his past.
Of course the referee went down, bringing in Jimmy Uso to Superkick Zayn until the ref woke up. The Jey Uso hesitation with the chair was interesting, but makes me wonder if this is leading to Jey and Zayn winning the tag titles, which wouldn’t surprise me, but would be an immense letdown of storytelling. Zayn winning the title from Reigns is the only outcome that makes sense. Anything else is a massive letdown.
So what did this match accomplish? That Zayn isn’t at the level that Reigns is? That the fans will chant for you more if your parents had unprotected sex in that city? This feud is over to me. Obviously, we have WrestleMania and an unfinished Jey Uso moment of truth, but this is now Cody Rhode’s time.
Did they bring back Rhodes to win the Royal Rumble and not be the focal point. That we are getting a Triple Threat Match for the titles that again reiterates the fact that Zayn can’t win the big one? So now, they’re sacrificing Rhode’s potential WrestleMania moment for Zayn, when his moment should’ve been in Canada. What a waste.
Art work from Dream by Wombo AI Art
Simptastic Joe
Where Are You Going With This?
AEW needs a proper developmental brand to help build up wrestlers. NXT makes sense for the WWE. Wrestlers stay there for a few years before going to the main roster after winning championships or being there for long enough that fans will recognize them on the main roster. My issue with AEW’s lack of developmental brand makes me question the path of Captain Shawn Dean.
Dean has a very bright future in the world of wrestling, but I don’t know if AEW even believes in him. He was thrown in a garbage match against MJF, with resulted in Dean winning because CM Punk came in the ring, attacked Dean and technically ruined MJF’s undefeated streak. And this coming week on Dynamite, Dean will be facing MJF again and I’m predicting Wardlow will come out to the ring, which will distract MJF and Dean can get the rollup win. Maybe sparking a tag match between Shawn Spears and MJF vs Wardlow and Dean.
Whatever the outcome, Dean isn’t booked to be a realistic wrestler in AEW. Sadly, I predict Dean will be a roster filler for the most part, we will see him a little more in this MJF and Wardlow feud, but Dean’s roster spot will be on Dark and Elevation helping other wrestlers increase their win/loss record.
What do you think about Shawn Dean’s future in AEW?
Simptastic Joe
Brian Kendrick: Love It / Hate It
Brian Kendrick, former WWE wrestler, has finally be granted his release from the company and instantly got signed to AEW AND has a match tonight against Jon Moxley!
I love the signing because Kendrick was probably one of the most undervalued and underrated WWE wrestlers in his time there. He held the Tag Titles with Paul London, but wasn’t as talked about as they should’ve been. The Tag division at that time was very limited. Even when Kendrick had singles run, it was still lack lustered and devoid of any impact. I would’ve to see Kendrick as that Dark Horse wrestler that would be just at the cusp of stardom for years before finally squeezing into the title picture to win it all. Kendrick on AEW adds a whole bunch of dream matches and factions he can be apart of. He still looks in great shape and still carries the same charisma, so no reason why he can’t create some big moments in AEW.
I hate the signing of Kendrick in AEW. Yeah, he has a match against Jon Moxley to start his AEW career, but do we really expect him to win this match? And more importantly, spring board Kendrick into the top tier? Jay Lethal showed up, had a great match against Sammy Guevara and is now buried on Dark. Kendrick and Lethal deserve a lot more respect than that. Both men can still put on a great match, both men are in great shape.
What do you think of Brian Kendrick signing with AEW and how far is his ceiling?
World War Joe
World War Joe 