Last Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Ricky Starks took an absolutely gigantic leap forward as a performer delivering the promo of his career. Ricky Starks showed the world that he has heart. It is often said that first impressions cannot be overcome as people form opinions based on those impressions especially in professional wrestling. Ricky Starks destroyed that notion this past week on Dynamite in my opinion. Ricky Starks not only delivered an incredible promo this week but shattered whatever image or perceptions that the wrestling fans had of him and whatever ceiling that they thought he could never break through.…
Browsing: Honestly
Turning a career trajectory around after heading in the wrong direction and false starts is not an easy thing to do, but WWE appears to have finally found the right direction for Austin Theory. This past Monday morning, I posted an article calling for WWE to rebuild Austin Theory, and as we saw on Raw, that appears to be exactly what WWE is attempting to do. In my article, I recounted the false starts and bad booking decisions that have plagued Austin Theory during his WWE run and his great run in Evolve. Austin Theory is a potential prodigy in this business…
The one forbidden door that may never be open is one between WWE and AEW…well unless hell froze over. I know before I write a single word of this card, I’m going to get comments like why didn’t you book this person in the match, or how could you say this person should win or my personal favorite being accused of being a mark for either WWE or AEW. To all the complainers, I’m one of the most unbiased writers in the wrestling community. I watch both WWE & AEW and many other promotions as well, and if you look…
At only 25 years old, multiple WWE creative teams have shown that they can completely screw up the booking of a young talent. WWE needs to seriously right the ship with Austin Theory’s booking and rebuild him. Austin Theory is one of those truly rare prodigies, that despite his very young age he is leaps and bounds more advanced than many of his peers at the same age. I personally first became aware of Theory during his run in Evolve. What I witnessed in Evolve from him was a very young talent maybe only 19 or 20, but he already…
During the past year, the idea that talent from a particular company will appear in a rival’s promotion has made the wrestling industry very interesting as it makes everything unpredictable and exciting for fans. The surprising work within promotions and surprises has brought a term that is sometimes thrown around that being “forbidden door.” The idea of a forbidden door is meant to excite fans about a product, but it is just a ploy created to bring more eyes to a promotion. Rarely, do promotions work together, so observing how AEW has worked with TNA, and AAA, and seems to…
With talk of Triple H shaking up the PPV schedule, I think now would be the perfect time for Hunter to bring back an annual tournament PPV. Triple H has long been known as a student of the game and someone that has appreciated the history and prestige of championships. There is a reason that there are several pieces of wrestling memorabilia in his office and why one of the first things he did once he took over was show video packages touting the history of the U.S. & IC Championships. Hunter understands that re-establishing the prestige of the U.S. &…
The question is AEW making the right decision buying CM Punk out of the rest of his contract, despite being their biggest free agent signing? There have been a lot of allegations thrown around over the past several weeks since the events that took place at the All Out Press Conference. I had previously written about my thoughts on the train wreck that was that press conference. My opinion on that press conference hasn’t changed, I still think CM Punk was completely out of line to go off like that and Tony Khan lacked the leadership ability in my opinion to…
Turning MJF babyface, the legit hottest heel in the business in the middle of his feud with babyface, Jon Moxley now is a massive mistake. Professional wrestling has been around for a very long time and is one of the oldest forms of entertainment. There have been promotions all over the world and with completely different styles and in different languages. Despite these differences there are two true constants that lead to success in this business, quality storytelling and the very simple babyface vs heel. To me there are three core questions that need to be answered in any feud…
MJF and William Regal absolutely delivered on AEW Dynamite, with a promo that was one of the best of the year from any promotion. Before I get into this column, I want to address my absence from Wrestling Republic these past few weeks, I was dealt a terrible fate of suffering not just one tragedy, but two tragedies back-to-back 16 days apart. Needless to say, I was in no condition to write anything. So, I want to take this time to personally thank my WR family particularly Clark Taylor, Coby Galenzoski, Ben Allison, and Ben “Soul” Loughran, who have been…
Bray Wyatt’s return at Extreme Rules was incredible and if this White Rabbit mystery taught us anything, it’s that Bray is the most creative person in Professional Wrestling. 31st July 2021: WWE announced Bray Wyatt was released from the company. 8th October 2022: Bray Wyatt comes back to WWE in one of the best returns in Professional Wrestling history. Bray Wyatt has been a fan favourite in wrestling since his debut with the Wyatt Family. So, when WWE released Bray, many fans like myself were upset and confused by WWE’s decision. But thankfully he’s now returned to the company and…