In the minutes leading up to night one of WrestleMania 41, I was looking at all of the news that had already happened. The events of the Hall Of Fame ceremony, Rey Mysterio’s injury, and so on.
There was a lot to take in. In typical WrestleMania week fashion, there’s always a ton of things going on, in and out of the ring.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that WWE has really screwed the WrestleMania schedule up.
It was the aforementioned Hall Of Fame ceremony and Rey Mysterio injury that really got my mind working in overdrive.
When it was announced that this year’s Hall Of Fame ceremony would begin at 10pm, local time, fans across the world groaned in unison. That’s 1am on the east coast of the United States! 1am as a starting time! We’re not talking a super late start for a 30-minute sitcom, either. WWE Hall Of Fame ceremonies are notoriously lengthy, and sure enough, this one was, too, going nearly three-and-a-half hours.
Why?
What is the benefit of running any type of show at 10pm, local time, and having it go until 1:30am? I can’t even imagine being in somewhere like Florida or New York and staying up until 4:30am to watch the entire thing online.
Before I actually got to watch any of the ceremony myself, I did see clips and pictures of it online. Do you know what I saw again and again? Tired people in the audience. Not just fans being tired, but current and former WWE personalities tired, bordering on falling asleep in their seats.
Why would you do that? I just don’t understand why you place your employees in a situation like that. It’s WrestleMania week, which means almost everyone in the company is working non-stop to begin with. They’re tired. Exhausted. Worn out. They’ve been wrestling and doing constant media appearances. Putting them in that spot doesn’t seem like a great idea.
I’ve already seen people talking about how “disrespectful” it was to have WWE wrestlers seemingly falling asleep at a WWE event to honor WWE’s best performers of the past. The optics are poor, no matter what.
I’ll get back to the Hall Of Fame and the issues that come from it later, though.
Now, I want to switch the conversation over to Rey Mysterio and his unfortunate injury on Smackdown.
Less than 24 hours from his WrestleMania match against El Grande Americano, Rey suffered some sort of lower body injury on Smackdown. The injury would later go on to be revealed as a torn groin, but all we knew at the time was that his injury was enough to keep him from performing at WrestleMania.
Rey Mysterio is 50 years old. He has a ton of miles on his tires and engine, so to speak. It’s safe to say that he doesn’t have a ton of WrestleMania matches left in him before he has to hang up his boots and retire from the business. It’s a true shame that he had to miss Mania this year, especially when he was so close to the finish line.
Again, I ask…
Why?
With WrestleMania right on the horizon, why was Rey in a position where he could get injured before the show?
Why is anyone in that position?
Look, I get it… pro wrestling is a dangerous sport. As the famous philosopher James William Ross likes to say, it ain’t ballet. Wrestlers can get hurt in any match, whether it’s the night before WrestleMania, at WrestleMania, or during a random televised match in June. I understand that. I’m not saying that WWE wrestlers should avoid contact for 363 days out of the year and focus on only wrestling at the biggest show they have.
That’s when my mind started combining the Hall Of Fame concerns with the Mysterio injury news.
WWE needs to switch things up for WrestleMania week in the future.
There was a time when the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony had its own night to shine. Smackdown didn’t air on Friday nights, so Friday is when we would get the standalone ceremony. It started at a normal time for normal human beings, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world when the event ran a bit long.
Obviously, things have changed with Smackdown moving to Fridays. That presented a weird decision for WWE, either having to move the Hall Of Fame ceremony to something like the Thursday night before WrestleMania, or to do what they’ve been doing and have the ceremony take place after Smackdown.
The Hall Of Fame isn’t going to work on Thursday.
However, it hasn’t been working after Smackdown on Friday nights, either.
In the past, we’ve seen stories about WWE officials complaining about the crowds that the Hall Of Fame ceremony would get, as they felt too many fans would leave the arena after Smackdown ended, leaving a less-than-ideal atmosphere for the ceremony.
The company’s idea was to move the Hall Of Fame to a different venue than the one hosting Smackdown. We saw how that went.
What’s the solution?
Why not put the Hall Of Fame ceremony in the Smackdown time slot on Friday night?
Not only does that potentially give you more eyeballs on the event, but by taking the in-ring action away from one show, you help to preserve the WrestleMania card. Again, I’m not calling for WWE wrestlers to be placed in bubble wrap all year long. It’s just one episode of Smackdown.
I suppose you could say that the episode of Raw before WrestleMania should receive a similar type of treatment, but I disagree. It’s almost a week away from WrestleMania, and it isn’t even held in the same city as the Mania location.
Giving the Hall Of Fame ceremony its own day again would help give them better and fresher crowds, both of the fan and wrestler variety. The inductors and inductees can feed off of that extra energy, and it would hopefully provide some more entertaining ceremonies like we used to get every year.
Giving the wrestlers even one extra day off would help to prevent unfortunate injuries with the finish line of WrestleMania coming up quickly.
Because I know we’re probably never going back to WrestleMania being a one-night event again, I think this would be the best refresher for the overall weekend.
Friday night, and a normal time, we get the Hall Of Fame instead of a regular episode of Smackdown.
Saturday morning/afternoon, we get NXT Stand & Deliver, with Saturday afternoon/evening giving us WrestleMania.
Sunday afternoon/evening, we get the next edition of WrestleMania.
Monday night, we get the “Raw After Mania” episode of Monday Night Raw.
I don’t think any of that is an unreasonable ask.
Now, if only we could do something about getting more hardcore fans into the building for WrestleMania, instead of filling the stadiums up with celebrities, influencers, businessmen, and people like that.
Weekly Power Rankings
John Cena: Whether you liked the match or not, the fact of the matter is that John Cena is now a 17-time World Champion. He is the officially recognized record holder for most World Title reigns in the history of the sport. That’s an incredible accomplishment, and it’s a record that many people thought would stand forever.
CM Punk vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns: Incredible levels of drama, hard work from everyone involved, enough star power to keep an entire city alive for weeks, and a heel turn that could be a game changer on WWE programming for the next several months at minimum. Easily one of the best Triple Threats in WWE history, as well as one of the best main events in WrestleMania history.
Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita: I can’t believe AEW continues to have matches like this on free television. Going in, this was clearly something that could’ve been a pay-per-view main event. Sure enough, they delivered a pay-per-view main event quality match.
Oba Femi vs Je’Von Evans vs Trick Williams: You could make an argument that all three men here are the present and the future of the business. They worked their asses off here, with all three of them shining with their own unique style of in-ring work.
Iyo Sky vs Bianca Belair vs Rhea Ripley: You could make an argument that all three women here are the present and the future of the business. They worked their asses off here, with all three of them shining with their own unique style of in-ring work. This will go down as one of the best opening matches in WrestleMania history.
Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Hank Walker & Tank Ledger: FrAxiom are the best tag team in the world today, and have been for a long time. Their opponents know that they need to step their game up, or they will be left in the dust. Hank and Tank did just that, delivering the best performances of their young careers, and they looked like stars in the process. This was a real coming out party for the duo.
Gunther vs Jey Uso: I know that there are a ton of complaints that Gunther tapped out, and did so in relatively quick fashion. I’m not on board, though. In kayfabe, Gunther had just been on the receiving end of three top rope splashes, a spear, and a powerbomb, all in quick succession, before the sleeper was ever locked in. He was spent. The match was fun. Plenty of hard-hitting action, and the feel-good finish that the live crowd enjoyed.
Athena vs Mercedes Moné: If we’re being honest with each other, this is another match that could’ve been an AEW pay-per-view main event, but was given away on free television. I’m not knocking them, by the way. WWE does it. WCW did it. ECW did it. TNA does it. Any promotion that has had television and pay-per-view access is guilty of it. I’m just pointing it out. This was a great match, though.
Bron Breakker vs Dominik Mysterio vs Finn Balor vs Penta: I still can’t believe that the WrestleMania crowd turned Dominik Mysterio into one of the most over faces on the WWE roster in a single night. The face turn might not stick, depending on how the follow up is booked, but it might behoove WWE to lean in and go with it. They might have something special on their hands.
Adam Cole vs Claudio Castagnoli: I like that Cole is really starting to find his footing (no pun intended) after returning from his injury. He has been racking up impressive in-ring performances, and looks like he could be a major player for AEW again.
WWE Unreal: The company announced a new docuseries to debut on Netflix this summer, promising that viewers will be taken into the company’s writer’s room for the very first time. This has the potential to be an incredible series, and also the potential to be an absolute stinker, with no in between.
Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre: A very physical contest, as it should’ve been. We know that WWE isn’t going to push the envelope too far with their hardcore matches, but for their style, this worked really well.
“Hangman” Adam Page vs Josh Alexander: Alexander is AEW’s latest big free agent signing. He then promptly lost his first match with the company, and then saw his second match make him a background player in a storyline that featured the reunion of Roppongi Vice. Sigh. At least this match was a lot of fun.
Cody Rhodes vs John Cena: I know that I’m rating the match a lot higher than many of you seem to be, and that’s fine. I’m fully admitting that it wasn’t a five-star technical classic, but I was never expecting it to be. Most of the complaints I’ve seen have been about how slow the match was. Of course it was slow! John Cena isn’t the youngest guy in the world! Were you expecting this to be like watching Rey Mysterio vs Juventud Guerrero in 1996? Cena’s entire heel character is about NOT giving fans what they want. He only cares about winning, and not entertaining the crowds. In that respect, this was a great performance from the guy.
LA Knight vs Jacob Fatu: Really good work from both men. Jacob was able to step up, knowing that it was the biggest match of his career. LA Knight was also able to deliver one of his better matches, looking good in a loss. I’m very interested to see how Fatu is booked as a champion, and just who will be able to dethrone him.
Komander vs Nick Wayne: Nick Wayne is the brand new RoH Television Champion. The title has about the same value as those $20 toy title belts you can buy from WalMart, but hey, it’s something. The match was good, but that’s not a surprise.
Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair: It wasn’t clean and crisp like other matches, but I don’t think it should’ve been. After the build and the “shoot” promos, it wouldn’t have made sense to make this a technical bout. It resembled more of a fight, and that helped to make it stand out.
NXT Women’s North American Title Ladder Match: When you watch a Ladder Match, you’re expecting a train wreck in the best possible way. This was certainly a train wreck, and yes, that’s a compliment. Sol Ruca is really coming along nicely in the ring, and she has “future star” written all over her. The company has given her the Women’s Speed Title and the Women’s North American Title in the span of a few days, so I think they see it, too.
Stephanie Vaquer vs Jaida Parker vs Jordynne Grace vs Giulia: In a match like this, you hope that everyone involved can come out of it looking strong, no matter the outcome. That’s what we got here. The champion retained her title, and a future match with the former champion is still on the table, while the other two competitors looked like they belong in the title scene on a permanent basis.
Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata & Powerhouse Hobbs: A fun, wild brawl that we all expected. It’s unfortunate that whatever is ailing Hook prevented him from being involved in the match and the title victory, though.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods: Yet another Tag Team Title reign for The New Day, further cementing them as one of the absolute greatest teams in wrestling history.
Ricky Saints vs Ethan Page: If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that Ricky owed Ethan a ton of money and refused to pay him. “All Ego” beat the holy hell out of the champion here. It made for a more entertaining match, though.
Joe Hendry: Complain all you want about the TNA World Champion losing in three minutes. The fact of the matter is that Joe Hendry not only wrestled at WrestleMania, but he faced one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time. On top of that, he now has official WWE merchandise. Not only that, but with WWE’s collaboration with Topps, Hendry’s WrestleMania patch is going to be included in a one-of-one trading card at some point in the future, which means he’s going to be included in officially licensed WWE cards. This was a big win for the guy.
The Return Of TLC: It has been nearly four-and-a-half years since a TLC Match has taken place on the WWE main roster. If you’ve been waiting to see another one, your wait is coming to an end. It was announced that The Street Profits will be defending the WWE Tag Team Titles against DIY and The Motor City Machine Guns on this week’s episode of Smackdown in a Triple Threat TLC Match. Yes, the match should’ve taken place at WrestleMania, but I’m trying to focus on the positives here. I have a sneaking suspicion that the match is going to end up with a spot on my Power Rankings in next week’s column.
Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria: I would prefer that Lyra not have two different titles at the same time, and am pretty tired of WWE’s obsession with doing things like that in recent years, but congratulations to the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. It was great seeing Becky Lynch make her return after being gone for 11 months.
WWE Acquiring AAA: I don’t think AAA has the same prestige as it once did, but WWE acquiring the famed Lucha Libre promotion opens a lot of doors for the future. We’re already set to get a Worlds Collide event in June, featuring AAA wrestlers taking on wrestlers from NXT. We’ll probably get some appearances on main roster shows by AAA wrestlers, as there are numerous names they could work with on Raw or Smackdown. WWE could very well rebrand AAA to “NXT Mexico” or something along those lines, in their attempt to dominate the world wrestling scene.
This Week’s Playlist: “The Grinch” by Key Glock… “Street Lights” by G Perico… “Gangsta” by G Perico & E-40… “Commas” by G Perico… “BAD LUCK” by We Came As Romans… “For You” by The Devil Wears Prada… “The End Aesthetic” by Wind Walkers… “Gravy” by UGK… “Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz” by Montell Jordan… “I’ll Do Anything” by Montell Jordan… “Close The Door” by Montell Jordan… “It’s Tricky” by Run-DMC… “Rock Box” by Run-DMC… “Down With The King” by Run-DMC, Pete Rock & CL Smooth… “I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify… “You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down” by James & Bobby Purify… “So Many Reasons” by James & Bobby Purify… “Thugz Cry” by Bizzy Bone… “Friday” by Ice Cube… “Come On Over” by Fiji… “The Way You Do The Things You Do” by UB40… “Red Red Wine” by UB40… “Here I Am/Small Axe (Come And Take Me)” by UB40… “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You” by UB40… “As We Enter” by Nas & Damian Marley
