What's up, fools?

We started on time this week? We failed. 

Monday Night HEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAATT

It genuinely seems like Vince has thrown in the towel when it comes to babyface stars. Like, they know they'll fuck them up anyway, so why bother. All his faves are heels. Constantly standing tall on every show. It would explain the inexplicable Becky Lynch heel turn.

Poor Big E might be the worst booked world champion in over a decade.

All the heat would be fine if the babyfaces ever got one over on the heels at the end, but even that rarely seems to happen. 

But..but... Bruce said that WWE is a babyface territory!

Bron Breakker, locker room leader. 

I'm in! 

I've been out of commission for a few days due to a stomach bug running through my household like Brock running through geeks, but I love that the Buddy Roberts/Kurt Angle "bad wig and headgear" gimmick is still alive and well in 2021.

A power bomb through a poker table, even a gimmicked one, seems like no bueno. 

Ivy Nile is a beast, I love how her finish is a basic move in principle but it looks like she's gonna tear someone's head off. 

Kevin Owens re-signed. He's 37, he's made in WWE (whether he could be much more than what he is is debatable). I guess it would have been fun to see him work elsewhere. There goes that one.

yup a multi year deal per fightful.  I think I saw it was in the seven figure range

Hope for him it's got a can't cut clause. If you're going to sell out for cash, they better at least pay you the cash.

4 minutes ago, Migs said:

Hope for him it's got a can't cut clause. If you're going to sell out for cash, they better at least pay you the cash.

That's what I thought as well. Good for him if he wants to get paid, but hopefully he has made sure that he actually does get paid. 

I would have enjoyed Kevin Steen in AEW so it's disappointing in that sense, but there are so many amazing talents out there, including released wrestlers whose non-competes should be up soon, that my disappointment is really more of a "Oh well, on to the next one then" shrug. The supply of elite wrestlers far exceeds the major-league demand for them right now, that is for sure.

Funny thing is that when you look at the direction the company is taking for the future aka huge young muscular guys with good looks, I don't see where a guy like Kevin Owens fits in. Of course he's an upper echelon guy and will stay at that level I guess, but his biggest role lately was basically cannon fodder for Roman Reigns (ok, everybody is, I know), and he's not from that generation where even as a second fiddle to Cena you'd be considered as a star (like Edge, although he really hasn't moved the needle one bit) so he's not gonna get that "people from way back when were big stars" treatment when he's 40. 

Could it also be a matter of WWE wanting to prove that they could retain any major talent to jump ship to AEW at all costs? I mean, sure Kevin has been booked strongly as of late and he probably still will going forward but I'm sure that WWE management felt it was crucial for them to at least retain someone of importance to prevent the "they all wanna leave" mantra going around lately.

Anyway, time will tell if this was the right move and there goes that Mount Rushmore reunion. An UE one will do though.

Yeah, props to KO for securing the bag but this has all the earmarks of WWE wanting to change the narrative of everyone fleeing. 

FWIW I also get the impression WWE believes Gargano is going to return after taking some time off, having NXT open with a video package about him was very off-brand for them to put so much focus on someone not officially under contract anymore. 

Yes and no. I agree that they put a lot of emphasis on Gargano in that package but considering the narrative throughout the entire night about him, it was much about what Grayson Waller did to him as well. So, I guess that package filled 2 purposes; one that is seemingly already successful and the other depends on what Gargano does next.

The one thing, and it's been said by several people, is that at this point the reaction to this in relation to his potential AEW jump is gonna be : well, ok, too bad, whatever, next. That's how ridiculously stacked AEW's roster is right now. A year ago, it would have been a pretty big disappointment probably (if you had the idea that he could jump). Today ? Not so much.

Have to think they see a lot more value in KO, who has been used as the ultimate utility player on both brands since being called up, working with just about everyone on all levels of the card, versus NXT standouts who Vince probably hasn't worked directly with more than 2 or 3 times. 

AEW being hot is also over inflating the “everyone wants to be there” camp along with a ton of other factors that aren’t normally considered outside of wishcasting. The security the company has set up for guys like Kevin and Johnny means a lot, and I’m sure they were able to come to agreements that were very good on both sides. 
 

Business-wise, this was gonna happen, but also, AEW is overflowing right now, and just “taking everyone in WWE that’s being misused and putting them in AEW” displaces a ton of folks who ARE being used correctly in AEW. And Tony has been smart about making sure everyone in the company he uses is valued regardless of whether they’re on the main shows, Dark, or rotating through their Indy appearances. 

It probably helps that KO is in a different phase of life in that he's not going to care about not being able to stream on Twitch or outside business opportunities younger folks would.

Also he was the guy who Vince booked to give him a shoot headbutt on TV so he obviously sees a lot in him (which is odd considering he's the complete opposite of everything WWE is supposed to be looking for now).

So apparently he wasn't able to negotiate a no-cut clause. Which, I mean, as mentioned, Vince took shoot headbutts from him on live TV to get him over, so clearly they see a lot of value in him, unlike most of Hunter's male hires, so hopefully it works out for him, but man, WWE's practices in the last couple of years really make the initial contract figure something of a mirage. 

It feels risk free for KO though. If WWE fire him in April, for example, do you think AEW would pass on him? He's able to take this new contract that he's happy with in WWE, safe in the knowledge that AEW provides a safety net in case he does get cut. 

Yeah it's no lose for him. Get the big money from Vince and if he gets buyer's remorse and cuts him he knows he has options.