Tag Archives: Roman reigns

Wrestling

Jay White’s Future

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Jay White is reportedly torn between the WWE and AEW as his next destination. There are pros and cons to each company, so I wanted to go over each.

I wrote that line and spend the next 10 minutes trying to think of a single positive of White going to AEW. The way AEW is operating now, with their lack of storytelling and a not split-up roster on the Tony Khan’s 6 shows, White will be lost in the shuffle very quickly. The WWE is the best and only option for him.

White will be a game changer in the WWE, much like AJ Styles was when he entered in 2016. Styles had one of the greatest years in the WWE in 2016, having feuds with the top talents in the company before winning the WWE Championship.

White has a ton of dream opponents and feuds in the WWE. Austin Theory, AJ Styles, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes, Edge, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Matt Riddle, Karrion Kross, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and that’s just the main roster. On NXT, he has Carmelo Hayes, Greyson Waller, Bron Breakker, Dominik Dijakovic, JD McDonagh, and more to go up against.

Triple H did tease the Raw after WrestleMania being a huge reveal. Could White be that reveal?

Wrestling

There’s The Door: The Sale of the WWE

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It has been rumored that the WWE is up for sale and the buyers might be from Saudi Arabia. Without getting too political, because I don’t know enough about the whole situation, a lot of fans and some wrestlers have come out to oppose the sale to the Saudi Arabia purchaser. Some wrestlers have even said that they will leave the company if the deal goes through. My answer to that is….goodbye.

I’m in favor of the Saudi purchasers. Why? Because they have unlimited money. From what I’ve read, on the internet so take that with a grain of salt, Saudi Arabia is making almost a billion dollars a day in oil. Imagine running a wrestling company with unlimited funds?

Imagine a Pay Per View where the card features Roman Reigns, Okada, Seth Rollins, Jay White, Kenny Omega, Drew McIntyre, Brock Lesnar, Jon Moxley, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes and Bryan Danielson, just to name a few. Great storylines? Hire the best writers in the world to write compelling long-term storytelling.

One of the arguments against it is sponsorship and apparently companies wouldn’t want to be linked to the company because Saudi Arabia is in control of it. You’re telling me that NO COMPANY would want to partner up with the biggest wrestling company in the world? That if they didn’t start their own streaming network that every wrestling fan wouldn’t want to subscribe to it? That YouTube and Rumble wouldn’t allow it to be streamed on their sites?

Now the Woman’s Division might be a touchy subject, but in recent years, women have been able to wrestle in the Saudi Arabian shows at Crown Jewel. Strides are being made for more inclusion of the Woman’s Division.

The deal seems great for the wrestlers, the company and more importantly the fans. The WWE wanted to expand the reach of NXT to other parts of the world and with the Saudi Arabi backing they can do that easily.

In conclusion, unlimited money, unlimited reach, best wrestlers in the world and still keep the woman’s division, so what’s the problem here? I saw, again on the internet, that Sami Zayn has some religion reasons of why he wasn’t able to attend the recent Crown Jewel event. But can’t we use this purchase as a way to connect more than divide? That maybe we can work out our differences, biases and move past it to a more productive and fulfilling future?

Art is AI generated from Dream by WOMBO

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Quick Thoughts: Revolution Predictions

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Zero Hour

Varsity Athletes & Ari Daivari vs Mark Briscoe & Lucha Brothers

Easy prediction. Mark Briscoe will continue his winning streak. Thinking maybe the finish would be the Lucha Brother’s finisher and then Briscoe hits the elbow drop to get the pin. Will it lead to anything? probably not, but the fans want to see Briscoe rack up some wins.

Winner: Mark Briscoe & Lucha Brothers

“Jungle Boy” Jack Jerry vs Christian Cage

This is Jack Perry’s time to steal the show. He’s been stale lately, but I think that’s due to Cage’s recovery time. Luchasaurus will be a factor. I think he is also poised for a singles run, but can he really make that push without Cage as his manager? I do wonder if this match will bring Luchasaurus and Perry back together. If Cage accidentally hits Luchasaurus costing him the match and then Perry comes to his aid after a Cage assault. Would Perry and Luchasaurus be better as a tag team now than as singles competitors in a crowded roster?


Winner: “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

Chris Jericho vs Ricky Starks

Another match to Starks to steal the show. Jericho is with AEW to help develop stars and Starks is a star on the rise. I didn’t like Starks getting a match against MJF early on, I would’ve saved that for after this PPV, but this night should start Starks push towards some serious gold. Everyone is banned from ringside…..riiiiiiigght. I wonder if Starks will get some backup in this match, but I wonder if Starks could be hurt from outside help.

Winner: Ricky Starks

AEW World Tag Team Championship

How did AEW go from one of the strongest Tag Divisions in the wrestling world to this? Does anyone want Orange Cassidy or Danhausen to win this one? How about Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal? I’d rather see The Gunns vs The Acclaimed in a regular tag match than this.

Winner: The Gunns

AEW Woman’s World Championship

Winner: Jamie Hayter

No real description needed. A bathroom break match.

Samoa Joe vs Wardlow

I don’t see this feud ending tonight. I see Powerhouse Hobbs in a Triple threat against these two with Hobbs winning the title. There does seem like a lack of story with Joe and Wardlow going into this match. Joe’s heel turn was too fast and we should’ve seen this team do more than a few Dynamites. I’d love to see this match be a 20 minute brawl. Just two mammoths destroying eachother in endless stiff shots.

Winner: Samoa Joe  

AEW World Trios Championship

The House of Black is one of the most underutilized factions in AEW and tonight is the night for them to get the respect they earned. The Elite will give them one of the greatest matches of the year, but they need to go their separate ways. Not end their friendship, but the Young Bucks need to save the tag division and Kenny Omega has to have some great one on one feuds.

Winner: House of Black

Texas Death Match

I have a love/hate relationship with Jon Moxley. Sometimes I’m thinking “Wow can’t wait to see him” and others times I’m thinking “Really? You gave the belt to this guy again?”. Maybe my biases with Moxley are because I want to see the rest of the roster get a push and prime time booking, but I cannot deny the type of worker Moxley is. I imagine Jim Cornettee just clutched his chest right now.

This match is about building Hangman Page up. I do wonder

Winner: Hangman Page

AEW Championship

I’m nervous reading that Bryan Danielson wants this match to go on first so they don’t lose the crowd. I thought they would be happy to have a full hour to make one of the greatest matches of their careers. The big question is who will interfere to help MJF retain the title? Obviously, his whole character is based on others helping him, which is weird since AEW wants to make him a believable champion.

The Firm is still a factor…I think…or will there be someone else helping him? Can Claudio turn on Danielson? Yuta? I mean it didn’t make any sense story wise for William Regal to turn on Moxley, but it happened. The interference will be the talk of the night more than the actual match.

Winner: MJF

Joe

Wrestling

Cameron Grimes In Limbo

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Cameron Grimes has been patiently waiting for his Main Roster call up and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I don’t recall a moment of Grimes in NXT that screamed he’s going to be a top star. That’s not an attack on his ability, but on the creative team.

Grimes played an old timely coal miner in NXT and then was showered with money when he joined forces with Ted DiBiase, which eventually dissolved into nothing. Or is still going on…like I said Grimes was very forgettable in NXT.

If he does go to the Main Roster after WrestleMania, it should be a total character change. Go full heel, attack a mid-card champion, probably join someone like Bray Wyatt or bring back AOP. Whatever the case, don’t make Grimes have to go out on his own and build himself up. Put him in a faction, take the pressure off him, build on some big matches and then off to the singles division starting with a Money in the Bank match or a multi-man match. Not original, but it’s effective.

Where do you see Grimes going on the Main Roster and who would he fight first?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Buddy Matthews Wins Gold…Kinda

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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

Wrestling

Apollo Crews: The Future Isn’t Bright

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I remember seeing Apollo Crews for the first time and thinking “this guy is a mid-carder at best” and since I made that prediction, the WWE hasn’t done anything to elevate or make Crews even remotely relevant. Crew’s more notable feud on the main roster was teaming with Kalisto and the going against Dolph Ziggler in a handicapped match. Nothing else comes to mind when I think of Crews. Then came his gimmick change where he became African and teamed with Commander Azeez, which was one of the worst character changes to both men’s careers.

Now Crews is on NXT. He is putting together a string of good matches. His last feud with Carmelo Hayes was good, but it didn’t elevate Crews at all. After the match was over, Azeez attacked Crews to start a new feud, which will end……..I don’t care. Both men aren’t doing anything of value now. This feud won’t propel them to title shots or faces of the company. They are B or C- wrestlers, not by their own ability, but by the creative decisions around their characters. Maybe a fresh start in a new company might be the best thing. Zack Ryder took full advantage of his WWE release to become Matt Cardona and now looks ready for the big stage.

What do you think about Apollo Crews and how would you book him going forwards?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Reigns vs Zayn: Not Over Yet?

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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

Wrestling

HookHausen

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Hook might be one of the best written characters in AEW. They are smartly pacing his build, picking the perfect opponents and setting up meaningful feuds. But aligning Hook with Danhausen might be a detriment to his character.

The title picture in AEW is very crowded, but I can see Hook making that jump next year. Right now, the goal is building him more. Fighting against Tony Nese is a fantastic move in the right direction. Nese is highly athletic and is skilled enough to put on a show against anyone in AEW. I would make this a main event match for Rampage and give them a 20-minute match of pure wrestling and hard hitting. Hook needs to win the match, but only by a hair. Not his usual endings, where he puts his opponent in Red Rum and walks away after a tap out. I want to see Hook get the submission and then lay there in the middle of the ring, exhausted and beaten.

Now, to HookHausen….no…..just no. I don’t like Danhausen at all. When I said that online, I was sent a bunch of matches of Danhausen’s top matches and I wasn’t impressed at all. Danhausen isn’t good for AEW. The company is going in a more serious direction with its signings.

I will admit, I find some of Danhausen’s antics humorous. I was at Revolution and jumped and pointed to Danhausen appearing from under the ring and then cursed Ricky Starks, However, antics doesn’t translate over to money. Maybe merchandising, but try booking Danhausen as a main event fighter and see how that does.

So, pairing the men together isn’t going to be good for anyone. It might seem “fun” on paper, but overall, we aren’t going to see the duo going against FTR, the Young Bucks reDRagon, The Gunn Club, the House of Black and the Lucha Brothers.

Even having Danhausen manage Hook in some way is bad for business as well. Team Taz is a fantastic team and due to bad booking they could’ve been even better. Hook is an essential piece of that team and Team Taz having Danhausen walk to the ring with Hook doesn’t make the faction look as strong.

What do you think of the pairing of Hook and Danhausen and what teams do you picture them fighting?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

NXT Spring Breakin’ 2022 Prediction

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Grayson Waller vs. Nathan Frazer

Grayson Waller is who NXT should be building up as champion. I think Nathan Frazer is a good opponent, but shouldn’t be the focal point of the future of the 2.0 division. Waller is getting lost in the shuffle compared to his War Games teammates. I would’ve argued that Waller shoudlve been moved the main roster before WrestleMania in a match against AJ Styles, leading to a partnership between the 2 men.

Winner: Grayson Waller

The Creed Brothers vs. The Viking Raiders

The Creed Brothers have been sensational recently. I disagree how they won the titles, but if I had to put the belts on someone it would be them. The team is a more athletic Authors of Pain and even though they are very similar, you can see uniqueness in their moves. The Viking Raiders were a fantastic team on the main roster, I just don’t think they had the right opponents to create instant classics.

Winner: Creed Brothers

Natalya and Lash Legends vs. Cora Jade and Nikita Lyons

Nikita Lyons is the future of the Woman’s Division. This match will be focused on her mostly and the other women just adding her dramatic win.

Winner: Nikita Lyons and some other girl

Cameron Grimes vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship

Is the Bloodline going to interfere in this match? Is this all part of Roman Reign’s  proficy to get all the gold in the WWE? I think it’s the perfect time for it. the Bloodline and Reign’s title run can only last so long. Sikoa needs to get himself in that group as soon as possible to make sure he gets proper screentime.

If this doesn’t happen then Carmelo Hayes is my favorite to win. The future ids bright for Hayes and I don’t believe in Cameron Grimes. I feel like he is a filler champion and that NXT really doesn’t know how to write him.

Winner: Solo Sikoa

Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Championship

Love Joe Gacy, but now isn’t the time to hold this belt. I think they’ve been playing title hot potato too much between Bron Breakker and Dolph Ziggler with all their matches. Fight for the title on a PPV and then it changes on RAW? Kinda weird to me.

The only way I see Gacy winning this match, is if we unveil a new teammate for him. Harland has been released, and Gacy needs a big on his team. I see Gacy as the new Bray Wyatt and needs to start recruiting the future faction of NXT.

Winner: Bron Breakker

Movies and Shows

Johnny Depp DC Bound?

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With Johnny Depp cutting ties with Disney forever, I highly doubt we’ll see him in a Marvel movie. DC should take advantage of this by immediately firing Amber Heard (yes, I made the case to keep her in a previous video, but that was before the trial) and cast Depp in a role. My first choice for Depp would be Green Arrow, mainly because of his facial hair, but I think the perfect role would be Jason Blood.

Blood, and his counterpart Etrigan, aren’t the first character’s fans name when ranking their favorite superheroes, but Blood and Etrigan are a very interesting duo. I think DC, and Marvel alike, shouldn’t be focused on the bread-and-butter characters, but trying to make others in their universe work on the big screen.

Maybe a great time to introduce Blood into the DCEU would be during the rumored Zatanna movie. DC is starting to explore the supernatural with Doctor Fate and Constantine, so having Blood have some kind of a cameo in the movie makes sense. I would be ok with total tease of Etrigan, where we see the aftermath of a fight, a bunch of guards are torn to pieces and we see a slight glimmer of Etrigan as he is engulfed into flames and Blood emerges.

What do you think about Johnny Depp joining DC and who would you like to see him play?

World War Joe