Brand Expansion

At WrestleMania, Shane McMahon faced The Undertaker inside Hell In A Cell with control of RAW on the line. This had many people speculating about whether WWE was going to use this storyline as a catalyst to do another Brand Split, into RAW and SmackDown like they did back in 2002. RAW & SmackDown doesn’t get me too excited. Those are different colors with the same flavor. It works with beer on St. Patrick’s Day but doesn’t work for year-round wrestling. What I’d like to see is two separate major brands that would make the fans feel like they had more of a CHOICE again. I want WWE & NXT.

 

WWE could keep RAW on Mondays, and NXT could have SmackDown. The rosters would combine at Pay-Per-Views / Network Specials. The rosters would never have inter-promotional matches on TV, only at the special events & maybe the Slammys (which should maybe be moved off of RAW, retooled, & put onto the Network anyway). WWE would maintain its “sports entertainment” flavor, and NXT would maintain its “pro wrestling” vibe. WWE would stay PG, NXT would be TV-14. This is the trick used by Disney where they don’t release Rated-R movies under the “Disney” label, but they release Rated-R movies under studios they own (For example: “Deadpool” from Disney-owned Marvel Studios). WWE can still be a family-friendly brand, whereas NXT can have more freedom.

WWE Superstar ShakeUp 2018

If WWE is really building to Rousey vs Charlotte at WrestleMania 35, I would shift Paige over to RAW to add a female GM to the mix to really highlight the winds of change. If needed you could use the rationale that it is no longer healthy for Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon to be sharing professional duties after the feud and match they had, and that Stephanie lobbied her daddy to get Kurt off of her show, but kept Ronda on to hopefully make an example of her. Charlotte and Ronda would team up against Stephanie until greed or competitiveness gets in the way for one of them. This would also create the proper opportunity for Bayley to once again become a true underdog, unless her old friend Carmella can pull her to the dark side.

RAW Men

WWE Power Rankings (PWI, CBS Sports, & Me)

PWI (For Period Ended July 13, 2017)

RAW

10. Big Cass

12 Days of Wrestling Fan Christmas: Day 6: Summerslam in Chicago

This is the post where I play the WWE Ambassador for Chicago.

I would love for WrestleMania to be in Chicago, but the average temperature here that time of year (let’s use this year’s Mania date of April 2nd) is

12 Days of Wrestling Christmas: Day 5: Kurt Angle’s Return to WWE

Kurt Angle made his World Wrestling Entertainment debut at the tail end of 1999 at Survivor Series. From 2000 to 2015 – on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s yearly rankings of the 500 best professional wrestlers – he never finished lower than 48th, was in the top 25 14 times, the top ten nine times, the top five five times, the top three four times, the top two three times, and was #1 overall in his second full year in 2001. He’s been a World Champion for WWE, Total Nonstop Action,  and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics with a broken FREAKIN neck! There’s nothing left for Kurt Angle to do except

12 Days of Wrestling Fan Christmas: Day 4: Jay Lethal in WWE

On the 4th day of wrestling Christmas, I hope that WWE gives their Universe a man who is a 15-year pro, who turns only 32 in April. A man who has held titles in Total Nonstop Action wrestling and Ring Of Honor.

A man who first generated mainstream buzz over 6.5 years ago when he performed a legendary promo segment with THE Man, the Nature Boy, Ric Flair.

12 Days of Wrestling Fan Christmas: Day 3: A Sami Zayn trade to SmackDown Live!

With a Win-Loss record of 120-73 in WWE, I can’t claim that WWE is burying Sami Zayn. Not even close. What I can claim is that they aren’t utilizing him to the best of his abilities, or to the best use of their brands.

I thought the logical choice for Sami Zayn’s entrance and introduction to the non-ROH & non-NXT viewers of the WWE Universe would be as relatable underdog, who also happened to be former best friends and now enemies with Kevin Owens. On the WWE roster in 2016, however, his identity seems to be “Kevin Owens’ pesky babyface enemy”. I loved his debut at the Royal Rumble, where he got revenge on Kevin Owens by eliminating him. That was GREAT.

Then they were in a match for the IC Title at Wrestlemania! GREATER! Logical progression, but wait, there are 5 other guys not named Kevin or Sami in the match. Not so great. Zack Ryder winning the IC Title was one of the 2 or 3 biggest highlights and moments of WrestleMania 32, but it should’ve been for the US Title. Kevin and Sami deserved a special end to their epic feud. Well, it should’ve been the end.

Does anyone want to guess how many times, including the Royal Rumble, Sami Zayn faced Kevin Owens this year? 10? That would be nice, to try and keep it somewhat special, but a little unrealistic if you factor in live events. Maybe 20? That seems a bit more fair. We’re actually not even close? 25? 30? 35? 45? 50? 55? Keep going. It was

12 Days of Wrestling Fan Christmas: Day 2: Continued Commitment to the Cruiserweights

One of the most exciting developments of professional wrestling in Two Thousand Sixteen has been The Revival of the Cruiserweight Division. The cruiserweight style, also known as X-Division style, has been very popular in successful in World Championship Wrestling in the late 90s-early 2000s, and again in Total Nonstop Action wrestling since 2002. It has not, however, been very popular or successful with Vince McMahon. Vince has been known to be big on size, but as we’ve seen with the rise of Conor McGregor in the UFC, size isn’t everything.

The most exciting fighters often aren’t the largest fighters. The same goes for professional wresters. With Triple H garnering more power and influence in WWE, the cruiserweight division found a new advocate and new life. With that being said, I hope the WWE continues their commitment to the cruiserweights, and these 3 cruiserweights in particular.

12 Days of Wrestling Fan Christmas: Day 1: A Women’s Royal Rumble Match (& 40 Men in the traditional Rumble Match)

Dear Pro Wrestling Father Christmas

aka Sports Entertainment Santa,

I’ve been a very good wrestling fan this year, and most years since roughly 1990. Let’s not talk about 1992-1997, or 2002, or 2007-2009. I lost my way a little bit during those years. I’ve been really good lately though, and I have a list of things I’d like this year. You won’t find any turtle doves, but maybe a few frog splashes. It contains no gold rings, but maybe a big gold belt. There will be no pipers piping, with all due respect to the Hot Rod Rowdy Roddy Piper.

Without further ado, my first wish(es).

1st Day of Christmas Wish: A Women’s Royal Rumble Match.

We’ve reached a funny point in our country where wrestling fans are more progressive about equality for women than the general public, if the presidential election is any indication. Women’s wrestling has been on a steady rise over the past decade, starting with the TNA Knockouts, then the Four

Chicago is MLB’s Most Valuable City

 

With New York City and Los Angeles, Chicago doesn’t come in first in a lot of city-based statistics. When it comes to baseball, however, that’s an entirely different story. Chicago is the MVC for the MLB. There is no more valuable city to baseball this season than our very own 606.

The two best records in all of baseball belong to the Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox. These crosstown rivals are generating headlines across the nation for their hot starts. While it is fun to celebrate the early success, and they get to keep these early wins for the rest of the season, let’s take a closer look with the help of some stats* to see who has a better chance of keeping it up the rest of the way.

McPicks: Roots and Picks for WWE PAYBACK

Guys, I’m excited. Wanna know why?