Quite Frankly w/ Frank Peteani 10/2/24

Hot takes on AEW and WWE.

This is the launch edition of something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I’ve wanted to do an article where I give my unapologetic, unfiltered hot takes on things going on in wrestling — mostly involving AEW and WWE. I’m going to go “around the horn” on the major stories going on with both promotions and I’m going to shoot straight and give my opinions. Ready? Let’s go.

AEW

I thought the match between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness was fine last week. It wasn’t a barn burner that I think everyone wanted, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t watch ROH back in the day, but in recent years I’ve become aware of the important parts of their history — Danielson-McGuinness being one of those parts. Pretending like Danielson might not come out was stupid and I don’t understand that strategy. Like, people didn’t think he’d be there? Really? I mean if anything, that could have turned people off from watching Grand Slam. The viewership numbers were disappointing and you can’t help but wonder if people took the idea of Danielson not being there literally and said sorry, I’m not watching. Knock it off, Tony. Stop with the nonsense of creating potential drama. You’re not good at it. Just book the shows with the matches you want and everything will be fine.

I have mixed feelings about Jon Moxley being Danielson’s challenger at WrestleDream. Personally, I’d have Danielson retain and find a way to have this faction Moxley is building keep their heat. Danielson should lose the title to someone that needs the boost, not Moxley, who’s been the champion a million times. Swerve getting it back perhaps is a way to go, but I don’t have a good feeling about him getting it back. I feel like he had his run, but I hope I’m wrong. Hangman Page? Maybe. Then they can go back to him vs. Swerve for the title (again, if Swerve is earmarked for another title run). Or, was this all about Darby Allin eventually becoming champion? Does he eventually earn his title shot back and challenge Danielson? I have a feeling Tony Khan wants Darby to be champion at least once, but I don’t know how he fits into the picture. There’s this other guy you may have heard a few things about. They tell me Will Ospreay is pretty good at pro rasslin’. What about him?

Jokes aside, if I’m Tony, the worry should be about how you’re going to move the title between Ospreay, Swerve, and Hangman Page over the next year or two. There’s your money.

On social media Monday they announced that Danielson is putting the world title on the line against Kazuchika Okada for his Continental Championship. The Continental Championship is only on the line for the first 20 minutes. Forget about the stipulation — which is dumb. What does the Continental Championship mean in the pantheon of AEW? Why does Danielson want it? Number two, Okada is so defined down by hanging out with the Bucks and calling everyone a bitch that I don’t care about a match between he and Danielson right now. I know it will be good in the ring. I’m not worried about that. I want to be emotionally invested, though, and I’m not.

What am I to think about Kyle Fletcher? He was going to use the screwdriver if not for Will Ospreay’s intervention. That’s what we saw. Is he caving into Don Callis’s ways? There are mixed reports out there on his Aussie Open partner Mark Davis. Is his potential return tied into what they eventually do with Fletcher? Are they eventually Callis’s prize team?

I love MVP and have since day one. He has the potential to be a fantastic manager. I don’t know how I feel about him supplanting Prince Nana as Swerve’s manager, though. Swerve doesn’t need a mouthpiece. That said, I’m not excited about him bringing in Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin. Maybe a fresh look in AEW will change my mind and it’s too early to tell at this point. Just not sure Lashley fits.

WWE

Smackdown

I think everyone has Kevin Owens eventually turning on Cody Rhodes. I understand that thinking and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s happening based on what happened on Smackdown this week. There’s another thing to consider. What if Kevin’s actions are just pure frustration, which happens between friends from time to time. We can all relate, right? What if it’s all a decoy and Randy is turning? Randy did say there’s very few people he trusts in the business and Cody is one of them. Public displays of friendship and adulation often signal trouble is around the corner. I’m not excited about an Orton heel turn because we’ve seen it a lot over the years. In 2024, the crowds are actually into him.

Bayley defeated Naomi clean to earn a match for the WWE Championship against Nia Jax. That wasn’t what I expected. I expected another garbage finish leading to a triple threat match. I’m happy they did it this way, but I could care less about Bayley challenging Jax. You know why? I’m kinda over Bayley, but more importantly, I have a feeling she’s not beating her and Naomi will be the reason. I think they want to turn Naomi heel and a feud with Bayley will be first up. Now, they’ve tried Naomi as a heel and I don’t remember it working. She’s too likable. When they made her a heel a decade ago, she was different and the WWE was different (still run by Vince). If this is in fact the plan let’s hope they have something planned.

Does anybody really like this story with Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax? I understand the skit of Nia borderline choking Tiffany and expressing dismay over not ridding Smackdown of Bayley or Naomi was to continue to tell the story of Nia controlling her. I think eventually they want Tiffany to be a top babyface and sure, the path to that could be to knock off the very hated Nia. I get that. I just hate that they’re making Tiffany afraid of cashing in her Money in the Bank (or Tiffy in the Bank) on Nia. You’re the Money in the Bank contract holder. She looks silly. I’m assuming they’re going for a Miz-Damien Sandow thing for those who remember that story a decade ago. Sandow eventually stood up to Miz, but it was way past due. Also, they need to work on Tiffany’s talking on TV. She sounds like a cartoon version of a “mean girl,” which I think is the idea of her character? I have girls on the cusp of being teenagers and they are turned off by her. They love the Mean Girls movies. She isn’t no Regina George!

Raw

Good on WWE for pivoting with Bron Breakker. The title change to Jey Uso makes sense now. The crowd is into him especially with the dog barking bit, so you might as well go with the flow. We’ve seen them fight the tide way too many times. Given the backstage interaction with Gunther later in the show, you could see a world title match between them down the line. (Maybe Bron is a Royal Rumble winning candidate and will challenge Gunther at ‘Mania? It’s early for that but tell me your Royal Rumble winning candidates in the comments!.)

Speaking of Gunther, I’m glad we finally got to the match between him and Sami Zayn. It made sense to drag it out. Like Sami said in their interaction, Gunther was afraid because of the WrestleMania loss. Gunther agreed and tied in his reputation and his relationship with his family. I liked all of that. Now, I don’t know if Paul Levesque had this all planned out when they decided to have Sami beat Gunther at ‘Mania, but it’s a smart story even if we know Sami is not winning the world title. There may be some people that don’t like this match being on Raw and think it should be on Bad Blood. I disagree. First of all, television is equally as important as PLEs. Second, you have two huge matches at Bad Blood (Cody & Roman vs. Solo & Jacob and Punk vs. Drew). Let Sami vs. Gunther have its “own show.” Plus you need to give people a reason to watch TV following a PLE other than just fallout from the show.

Back to Jey Uso. I think he’ll do well as Intercontinental Champion. I’ll admit the “yeet” drives me crazy because I think people are more into that than Jey himself. You know what though, the wrestling industry is about giving your customers what they want and they love Jey whether it’s about the “yeet” or not. You eventually had to pay off Jey’s popularity with a singles championship and the now meaningful Intercontinental Championship is a way to go. Xavier Woods is a good first challenger. We all remember the long-standing respectful rivalry between the Usos and New Day, right?

Speaking of Woods, I’m a little trepidatious about him turning heel, but I’m glad they’re apparently splitting up New Day. They’ve needed to split for a while. Even though New Day has been a babyface faction for years since their initial heel run, Woods has been obnoxious, so he’s got that going for him. We know Kofi can be a solo babyface, but before he joined New Day he was just involved in the meaningless Intercontinental or U.S. Championship hot potato game. Nobody cared. This is a different WWE. I’ve always liked Kofi and I would think they have something in mind for him other than just being a legacy babyface, although that might be the plan after he wraps up his pending feud with Woods.

Speaking of New Day, you’re hearing mixed reports that Big E, in a few months, could be pursuing an in-ring return depending on medical reports. I won’t worry about that right now, but if that comes to fruition, he’ll factor into what goes on between Kofi and Woods.

I know Zoey Stark beating Lyra Valkyria in under ten minutes may look like WWE is down on Lyra. I don’t blame anyone for feeling that and I probably agree. Lyra was a King of the Ring finalist this year. The thing is they are pushing this Pure Fusion Collective faction hard (whether you like it or not) so they have to win matches and sometimes look dominant. It’s not like Lyra has this long resume of winning and capturing championships. She’s on the rise (we think), as is Zoey. It’s almost like Ken Shamrock and the Rock back in late 1997-1998. They were both inexperienced but worked together for a while and almost “grew together.” Paul Levesque and the Rock worked together a lot as inexperienced stars as well. I wouldn’t give up on Lyra, but she likely needs a character change.

I didn’t care about Kayden Carter and Katana Chance’s return (it feels like the crowd agrees) and man, please don’t give Katana a microphone anymore. Get them a manager or don’t even bother.

I don’t know if the bit in the Hell in a Cell cage was necessary between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, but I appreciate the swath of security. I’m glad they kept it short and sweet. It didn’t move me because this already feels like a big match.

I don’t care about the match between Damian Priest and Finn Balor. They beat down Priest this week and I get the idea was to put heat on Judgment Day and make it look like Priest is outnumbered come Saturday. They also have to pay off Balor costing Priest the world title at SummerSlam. I just don’t care. On the other hand, Dominik Mysterio in a shark cage for the match between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship ought to be entertaining. It is for the championship, right? Their feud hasn’t felt like that major part mattered.

Look, I know the Last Monster Standing match might have been fun for a lot of people and there were cool visuals like meat slapping meat, the ring breakage (which I guess they need to do every ten years), etc. It was a good main event for the live crowd and they built it up well on Raw. It just didn’t matter. I didn’t care who won and as it turns out it was a way for Seth Rollins to return and pay back Bronson Reed for taking him out. I understand protecting Bronson, but it still makes the match useless, and nobody really advances.

Closing Thoughts

This week on The Brass Ring Media flagship show, Tyler and Zack talked about Raw going to two hours. One of Tyler’s big talking points was centered around how many things people really care about on a three-hour show. We all know that many segments and matches have been put on the show over the years to fill television time. I’m hoping that changes. Smackdown generally feels more compact and tighter. As far as the Bad Blood PLE, I’m looking forward to it overall. There are a few things I’m looking to see play out. What happens with Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns? Who wins Hell in a Cell? Does Rhea Ripley get the championship back? Even if she does, for me, the women’s division on Raw looks dire, so I don’t know if I care about who the champion is.

As far as AEW goes, with the TV deal looming, it will be interesting to see things play out. The Grand Slam rating was a bad sign, but not a death sentence. It still feels like a promotion with great wrestling on a regular basis, but not much in which you can get emotionally invested in. I’m glad the FTW title is retired. Maybe Bryan Danielson can win the Continental Championship in 20 minutes on Dynamite and merge it with the world title?

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