Backlash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Networkevent produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDownbrand divisions. It was broadcast on June 14, 2020 with all the matches taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. While the majority of the event aired live, the match between Edge and Randy Orton was pre-recorded on June 7. It was the fifteenth event in the Backlash chronology.
The event was originally scheduled to take place in Kansas City, Missouri; however, the event had to be moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like WWE's other shows since mid-March, Backlash was moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, though unlike the previous shows, Backlash was not announced until after the start of the pandemic, which made it WWE's first PPV event to be announced during the pandemic.
Kick-Off: Singles Match for the WWE United States Championship
Apollo Crews (c) defeated Andrade (with Angel Garza and Zelina Vega)
Triple Threat Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Bayley and Sasha Banks (c) defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross and The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce)
I said it on Twitter after the match was over, but I'll say it here too. The IIconics are fucking rotten in-ring workers. Everything they do comes off sloppy or poorly executed and I can't shit on them without pointing out that Bliss and Cross aren't that much better. Bayley and Sasha had their work cut out for them leading these two teams through a barely passable effort for all those involved here. This was the first match in a long time where the IIconics didn't embarrass themselves, so I guess that's something.
Singles Match
Sheamus defeated Jeff Hardy
I dare say this was the best match on the card, even though I'm not a fan of another intoxication storyline for Jeff Hardy, especially when he still has another pending court case coming up later this year.
Singles Match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Nia Jax ended in a double countout
For the love of all things holy, PLEASE send Nia back to the Performance Center to get some proper training. It seemed like Asuka and Nia were butting heads to get anything going in this match, despite the fact that Asuka was able to lead her through some great bouts in the past. Sadly, Asuka was unable to make a miracle happen on this night. (Cringes) With that draw finish, you know that they are dragging this out for another month or two.
2-on-1 Handicap Match for the WWE Universal Championship
Braun Strowman (c) defeated The Miz and John Morrison
I got up during the entrances, warmed up my dinner, and by the time I came back this was over. No one should be surprised to see that Strowman retained.
Singles Match for the WWE Championship
Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Bobby Lashley (with MVP)
Lana walks out and costs Lashley the match just like everyone and their mothers saw coming. Can someone tell Lana to lay off the spray tanning? Just because she's married to a black man in kayfabe doesn't give her the excuse to start looking that shade of Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair burnt orange.
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match The Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders - Match never started
I couldn't even begin to tell you what the fuck did I just watch with that shit. I didn't like their bullshit segments leading up to this match and I didn't care for this either. At this point, I think we need to all agree that both WWE and AEW are running these "cinematic matches" into the ground. It's not something we need to be busting out on every single PPV now. As much as I loved Hanson and Rowe in Ring of Honor as War Machine, I'm to the point where I can't stand their WWE incarnations.
Singles Match
Randy Orton defeated Edge
Was this the Greatest Wrestling Match... (hold for dramatic pause) Ever? No, but it was good match, despite all of the editing and reshoots for botches. What's ironic about this is that this match was LONGER than their WrestleMania match, but the major difference here was that it wasn't fucking boring from bell to bell. I thought they dove a little too hard into stealing finishers and relying on too many near-falls towards the end like this was a New Japan match, but overall it was much better than their last encounter. Samoa Joe deserves the credit for keeping this exciting on commentary as well. Everything he said added and uplifted the in-ring action, even during those moments where the students in the crowd from the Performance Center were phoning in "This is awesome!" and "Fight forever!" chants. I did chuckle at WWE piping in crowd noise from old shows in there too like no one wasn't going to catch that as well. After Edge's unfortunate injury during reshoots, we won't be getting the third match in this series at Summerslam. That should be a good thing as it would give people time to properly digest these first two matches before rushing into a third in this series.
Less than a week ago, I said the following on my personal Facebook account:
The more I read online everyday and see on the various news outlets, social media, and pretty much with people out and about everyday, I can't help but agree with Solomonster (podcaster that I listen to frequently) said about 2020 thus far: "2020 has come around and a LOT of people have been showing their @$$... and not in a good way either."
From people showing their true colors on bigotry, racism, and just overall STUPIDITY, I know can't look the same way at a lot of people from this point forward. It's really sad too. By the day, it seems like my respect for more and more people is going down the drain fast.
Unfriend me or block me, I don't care at this point. This is real life and not a popularity contest like we're all back in high school. People flourish off positivity in their lives and can do without the negativity, so in a crazy turn of events, this is a purging in a sense for a lot of people.
I'm 35 going on 36 years old. In a lot of avenues of my life, I firmly believe that my silence is golden. I don’t speak publicly on a lot of subjects, but the widespread awareness of #BlackLivesMatter makes me want to say SOMETHING and it took me a long time how to put my feelings into the right words.
"Somewhere I Belong" by Linkin Park is a song that still resonates with me to this day, much like a lot of their songs.
From as far back as I could remember, I never felt like I belonged, regardless of my skin color or interests, even to this day. Sure, there's seldom few people that I click with and get along with regularly, but I can count those who I truly feel comfortable around that aren't family or childhood friends on one-hand if I'm perfectly honest. Most of those individuals are people I have met on the Internet and haven't interacted with in a real life setting either. Part of it is me being an introvert that I've went into detail about in the past, but the other part is a massive disconnect with society as a whole the older I get.
I blame childhood bullies and peers putting the notion in my head of never being “not black enough” for my race. It's accepted into society now with the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has swept over the world, but I was a comic book nerd growing up. On top of that, I was a black comic book nerd at that. I'll admit, I'm never as upset and outspoken as everyone else when it comes to the outrage and demand that there should be more heroes of color in those mediums. I have been into this stuff for so long that I just got used to it. If there was a hero or character of color I would instantly gravitate or identify with them, but that didn't stop me from admiring and identifying with the white/Caucasian heroes/characters either. I don't know what to properly describe it as, but I never developed what I see online nowadays as this hatred for anything that isn't represented with other cultures and races in mind for proper identification from the viewers/spectators, such as the mindset that thinks that we need multi-racial versions of established heroes and other beloved fictional characters. How about we show some originality and create our own characters of color instead to represent us and fill in the gaps as needed? Or here's a better idea, shine some light on lesser known characters of color and different ethnic backgrounds and/or sexual preferences. I like the latter more since there's more potential to give those established lesser known characters the love and appreciation - and better yet, exposure to a wider audience - that they deserve.
I don't want people to think I'm totally against multi-racial variants of established heroes either. I cried watching Avengers: Endgame in the theater at two different occasions:
The first was during the film's climax when Captain America said the one thing I thought I would never hear in a live-action movie for the longest time - "Avengers Assemble!". Kids today will not understand the gravity of what it means that Marvel Studios and Disney have done with taking Marvel Comics' heroes, who were widely regarded as their B through D tier heroes in comparison to their powerhouses in Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four (all held hostage by Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox at the time) and made this cinematic universe actually work without the latter to lay out the groundwork. So as a kid who grew up being ridiculed and picked on for majority of my youth to the early point of my adolescent life, it broke me to see these beloved heroes that I have loved reading about and even attempting to draw over the years stand all together on the silver screen.
The second time was during the film's ending (spoiler warning) after Steve Rogers/Captain America took all of the Infinity Stones back to the past, only to return as an elderly old man. He asks Sam Wilson/The Falcon to sit down with him. Bucky silently nods and gives the go ahead. From here, Steve takes his iconic shield from out of his bag and hands it to Sam. Steve then asks, "How does it feel?" Sam hesitates and replies with, "It feels heavy... like it belongs to someone else." I lost it. I'm not even going to lie, because I knew how controversial yet powerful the decision to make The Falcon be the new Captain America in the comics continuity was when they did it. Anthony Mackie is definitely the right man to pull this off and carry the burden. Not a lot of people still don't agree with this decision to this day since Chris Evans was so beloved as Captain America/Steve Rogers on and off-camera, but if Marvel Studios are looking to continue making waves for another decade or more, then they need a different type of Captain America, especially for where the world is headed in the next decade or so. I did a paper in college talking about how superheroes and comics work best when they are reflections of the time periods that they originate from. That fact is still applicable today, now more than ever.
Turning beloved non-white characters into white/Caucasian counterparts to suit needs in live-action cinema is definitely whitewashing though and that deserves the shit storm that it brings every time it happens. That shit isn't going to fly anymore when this stuff isn't digested by a niche minority anymore. The majority sees a lot of the stuff that was swept underneath the rug for so long and it's the same thing that's happening with what's going on with black lives. Nothing isn't going to be swept underneath the rug and forgotten about. People are speaking out. People are demanding for a change. People genuinely want an end for the bloodshed.
“Treat people how you want to be treated.”
The was a lesson that my parents burned into my mind at an early age. I carry that with me in all walks of my life, even to this day. I guess that's why it frustrates me more than it should when there's people in our lives that habitually take advantage of said kindness and take it lightly.
Examples:
One co-worker who tried to cost me my job on not one but multiple occasions over the course of the past three years. Always confronted this person with a smile in all of our interactions all the way up to the day of her departure this past week. I wasn’t going to give this individual the satisfaction that they got under my skin. You beat hatred with a smile. I wasn't going to reduce myself to going down on her level.
I can’t even call certain individuals on message boards and forums that I associate myself with regularly as acquaintances at best who say controversial shit on the regular just to get a rise out of not only me, but all of those around them just to see the sparks fly on that website or on social media as a whole. I will never understand those individuals that get off of others’ misery for their own amusement. People take up these hobbies online and seek out others with similar interests to connect and distance themselves from the negativity and angst in their daily lives. There's no reason to go on the Internet and be a dick just to stroke your own ego. I've lost too many friends to suicide, no thanks to dipshits and others bullying and verbally assaulting them for no reason. It's easier said than done to tell someone to have a tough skin and to just deal with it. Words hurt and leave deeper wounds than any knife or sword. I distance myself from people a lot - more so for their own protection than anything and for my own mental clarity. If someone pushes me to that point of getting mad enough to offer a rebuttal to the shit that comes out of their mouths, trust and believe that I'm not apologizing after the fact. On the flip side though? I'm getting too old to argue with people on the Internet that I have never met before nor don't know me personally in any shape or form outside some message board posts. What's really frustrating that it's so easy to get caught up in all of this information that comes from the wealth of technology at our disposal. It's up to everyone to find that point where you go "That's enough and step away." Too much of anything isn't good for anyone. That's the same from all of this information that we absorb from the Internet, television, and those around us in our everyday lives.
A positive example? During my college days, I had a particular work study job that saw me working with other students of various ethnic backgrounds, races, and even religious faiths. On that very same job, everyone would ridicule this one Muslim co-worker for his practices and what not. No one would want to work nor talk with him. One of the supervisors was even maliciously screwing with his pay when he was the hardest worker they had. I told him what this supervisor was doing and let’s just say that the supervisor at question wasn’t in power much longer. That particular Muslim co-worker and I hit it off as friends for a very long time. I haven’t kept in touch with him since we left college, but by chance he met my father on another job that they landed at the same time and he was able to help my father in a similar manner. Anyone who knows me personally will tell you that my dad isn’t the most patient with modern technology, so he needed help in that regard. My Muslim friend was able to educate my father in learning the technical skills required to keep his job when their peers were willing to let him sink and fail. To this day, years later, my dad still tells me about how much my Muslim friend thought highly of me for what I did for him when we were both in college.
Here's another positive example. When I got to college, I felt more estranged from everyone else than ever before. That shit that everyone tells you about you go to college to reinvent yourself and make all of these new friends and what not is complete bullshit. I felt more like a social outcast in college than I have ever did in my grade school years. I never felt "black enough" since I didn't know about all of these pop culture black films, didn't live and breathe Scarface, Blow, or any other crime film, or I couldn't name 10-20 rappers on a whim. I was still that black nerd who liked my comic books, anime, and video games. I ended making a friend who I met on a whim when I was hanging out in one of the 24/7 computer labs. This white girl was getting slut-shamed by some of her so-called friends and frat boys. I didn't see her for any of that. She merely asked me if I wanted to hang out and it just took off from there. She didn't even had to acknowledge me at all being there that night. All of the crazy trips to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, all of her silly texts and songs from her mixtapes and CDs are still stuck in my head to this day. Hell, I hung out and talked with her more than my roommates at the time and she remains to be one of the very few people I still keep in contact with from college. She treated me like a good friend should and I extended that courtesy to her as well. She didn't have to give me the time of day, but saw me alone and offered her friendship. I doubt I would have had the mental stability to survive my first year of college without her in that regard.
I believe in God and his teachings, yet I have a lot of friends who are atheists and those of different religious faiths altogether. I have always made it a point never to force my religious beliefs on anyone else and would kindly ask those that I call friends to do the same. Who am I to tell you or anyone else for that matter what to believe in? If I can’t respect your beliefs then how can I expect you to believe mine? It all goes back to treating people how you want to be treated.
My Own Experiences
The Police
Truth be told, I have worked with law enforcement, either during my past working security or even knowing them personally from my own brother-in-law working as one in the past. My oldest sister works in Criminal Law and I have accompanied her to several law enforcement conferences over the years. One of her mentors that passed away a few years ago was a great man and a close family friend. He died of natural causes, so I won’t tarnish his legacy by saying that he had anything to do with what has scarred this country in recent memory. I’ll just say that man was loved by his peers and my sister like a second father.
One the flip side, I worked with a police officer in one of my former places of employment for a VERY long time. He treated me with respect and we had no issues out of the years that we worked together. That is until one fateful day. I don’t know if he got up on the wrong side of bed or what, but he went off on some other members of color in the office that day, saying some derogatory terms which got him reprimanded by Human Resources. I was called in to testify on his case as a character witness. I didn’t lie for him. I thought that one situation was extremely uncharacteristic for him, but otherwise, I thought he was a good person. That being said, I couldn’t look at him the same again after that day, not that he was around much longer after that.
That being said, I’ve seen the good that the police are capable of, but I’ve seen the bad too.
Two more examples hit close to home really. You probably seen it on the news. A peaceful protest in the capital here in my home state turns ugly as the police are forced to take militaristic action to resume control of the situation after having one of their cars flipped over. Fortunately, there weren't any causalities in this particular situation, but I can't say that it was a pretty site to watch unfold on the local news that evening.
Another was literally less than two weeks ago where I was at work and the police from all over the area started filing into the parking lot of our place of business. No one happened to inform our establishment that there was going to be a local protest up the road in town. As a result, the local law enforcement chose our area to gear up like they were going to war. Highway patrolmen, off-duty cops, and local and out of county officers kept piling on in. As one of the few people of color at my current place of employment, I was fucking scared out of my mind seeing these guys gearing up with enough firepower to put down a sizable platoon. I took photos and recorded video on my phone (both of which I would share on this platform but I'm pretty sure someone would be easily able to trace back to me...) and sent it to my boss. Normally, I would take my daily walk/jog around the property for exercise, but that was one of the few days that I took my black ass straight home after my boss gave the okay to evacuate the building. I don't know nor want to know how that played out with that many cops in one area for a small town's protest.
#BlackLivesMatter
Back when I was commuting to and from college, I would start my morning commute about 6AM and wouldn’t get back home until after midnight after doing both of my work study jobs, daily coursework, and getting homework done while on campus. One of two cops would stop me at two different points of my drive home almost every week. I never told anyone about this until now, but that was another nerve-racking moment of my life as a man of color. Here I am, alone and tired on my drive home and this guy is giving me the riot act, asking me where I’m going and what I’m doing when I have my passenger seat full of textbooks and what not from my college coursework. Out of all of those interactions for roughly two years, I only got ONE speeding ticket. The rest of those times were just the police heckling me for no goddamn reason. They could’ve killed me and left me for dead on that dark backroad and no one would’ve been the wiser.
Ever since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes over the past year, I’ve been exercising a lot by walking around local neighborhoods, parks, or wherever I can squeeze it in. The place of my current employment has about a mile or two around the entire campus/compound, so I try to get a walk in around that entire area during my lunch break. Sounds innocent enough right? I would think so too, but once every week, there would be a police car that would follow me around the ENTIRE loop around the vicinity. Mind you, I’m the only person of color making rounds in this area. I’m not going to lie. That shit scares the fuck out of me. We’ve read the stories about blacks being gunned down for no reason while going for their morning jogs. I don’t want to be another statistic. It’s shit like this that is always on the back of my mind when I’m going for a walk which is for my own physical health but in the back of my mind, I’m fearing for my life too. All of this just because I’m a man of color.
I'm sure every has heard of the murder of Breonna Taylor who was gunned down in her own Louisville apartment by police blindly firing into her home, thinking it was a drug bust... or so they have said. When I heard of that story, I thought back to how many times when I would come home from working 2nd or 3rd shift on my old dead end security job, only to see the police show up in the neighborhood where the apartment that my older brother and I were sharing, only to bust yet another one of our neighbors on drugs. Who says that couldn't have been me shot dead in the middle of the night? Thank god that I don't live in that environment anymore, but that was my living situation when I was barely making ends meet back then.
Ever since this COVID-19 thing went in full swing, I never stopped working nor got laid off. Instead, my place of employment increased my hours, so I’m still out in the public everyday. I’m already diabetic so I wear a facemask everywhere I go. Being a man of color, I instantly get singled out like I’m about to rob any place I go to while wearing a facemask on though from all of the awkward stares and glances. It’s already fucking frustrating to be wearing this mask where I’m already feeling claustrophobic the longer I wear it, but here I am again, fearing for my life too if the wrong person gets the wrong idea why I’m wearing a facemask.
White Privilege
As far back as I can remember, I remember seeing my white peers and classmates having certain “advantages”. Some would cheat and lie their way through their coursework onto the honor roll and high academics. Others would lie and cheat their way into positions of power and authority that they are clearly not qualified for, only to hire their close friends and family members with even fewer skills necessary to do said job. For example, I have seen one place of employment hire a white colleague that I knew personally, who didn’t have any credentials to perform the desired A++ IT position into that position, but allowed him the time to go to school and get the said degree off-the-books while upper management lied about his background and experience level(s). How do I know that? Because I applied for the very same job (while working for a different department within said organization) with several other peers of color (all fresh out of college with IT degrees, mind you) and was shot down for the same position. That "free ride" in a sense didn't pan out after the organization was forced to do a widespread thorough background check on all of the workers' credentials, so he was fired and removed out of his position faster than a hiccup for working under false pretenses.
I couldn’t help but find that experience a bit daunting. This isn't the only time I've seen this happen and I know it won't be the last either.
Many of you know that I have been a fan of professional wrestling for a very long time. You have to be blind and/or the special kind of stupid not to see that something similar is going on in WWE. How many blonde white women has Vince McMahon pushed to the moon? How many white guys have been elevated to top spots in that company while the black wrestlers, along with just about any non-white talent, hit a glass ceiling and are reduced to being comedy goofs and jobber fodder? I was happy to see Kofi Kingston win the big one at WrestleMania last year, but let's be real here. Kofi was NEVER part of their original plans. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to go in that direction. Much like their moves with pushing women for their so-called Divas Revolution and the infamous Warrior Award during Hall of Fame as part of WrestleMania weekend, it's just a publicity stunt and PR move to garner good press and add brownie points to their public reception. The biggest thing that's laughable about the Warrior Award is that The Ultimate Warrior was a known bigot. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but the truth's out there. Maybe his wife, Diana Warrior, feels differently, but I'm not going to forget the words that came out of his own mouth.
Oh yeah, let's not forget this moment in WWE history that has been ironically swept under the rug.
I get mad thinking back to this storyline every single time that someone reminds me of it. All of these years later and Bruce Pritchard still makes excuses for it and tries to say that this didn't have any "racist" intentions when it was ALL over that storyline. Triple H was in bed with the boss' daughter at that point and could have changed it but no, this asshole went along with it. I praise him for all of his work with NXT and stuff in the years that followed, but this is still one blemish on his WWE career that I won't ever forget. Instead, a lot of people tend to overlook that fact.
Oh yeah, let's not forget that known racist Hulk Hogan is still employed by that company, who to this very day, still hasn't given a formal apology for what he said. Yet somehow, someway, this asshole is still employed and tolerated by this company.
Getting Mad
Every time one of these new reports come out of black lives being lost to police brutality, random gun violence, another tragedy from school shootings, etc., you always look on social media and see the same song and dance. "We have to do better." It goes around for a few days and then people go right back to their usual behavior. Nothing changes. It happens time and time again.
In so many avenues of life, I feel so powerless, especially when it is engraved in your head by social conventions that you don't matter. In Superman: The Animated Series, Superman stood up to Darkseid and was beaten to an inch of his life, unable to stop the pending invasion from Apokalips. Darkseid came to Earth, expecting the people of Earth to cower and beg for their lives. Instead, it took ONE man to stand and hold their ground to tell Darkseid they weren't handing over the Earth without a fight. Who was that man? It wasn't Superman - it was Dan Turpin.
Dan Turpin wasn't a Superman - he was just an ordinary man doing the right thing. That's what I aspire to do every day. I envy that degree of courage to stand up when others will do or say nothing. I want to do good and inspire others to do good, despite the fact that's often easier said than done. It's easy for me to spout off at the handle about stuff I don't agree with or rave about things that I love on here, but difficult to take a stand.
I'm no martyr but it frustrates and irritates me to no end when you have these social justice warriors (SJWs) on not only Facebook, Twitter, and other avenues of social media, but across other websites and networks, like message boards, Discord, DeviantArt, Tumblr, and various blogs. These individuals paint this picture that they are so high and mighty that if everything doesn't go their way or carries out every request at any and all whims, they call themselves a sacrificial lamb that will bring said platform down with their departure. It's easy to be brave online behind a keyboard as an anonymous user with your IP address hidden behind a VPN. I feel like these "internet celebrities" (if you can even call them that) talk a big game but wouldn't stand with anyone for these causes if it arrived at their doorsteps. Over the last few weeks, I have heard a lot of shit come out of the mouths of podcasters, YouTube/Twitch streamers, and other popular outlets in nerd culture that has been either really tone deaf and/or completely insensitive of what's going on in the world right now. I'm not ashamed to admit that I went around unfollowing and unsubscribing to a lot of channels and outlets I have enjoyed in the past when it's clear these individuals only care about me as long as I'm eating out of their asses with a silver spoon.
What makes me mad with a lot of these killings is that it could have been me more often than not in similar situations. There's not a single day that I don't worry about my oldest niece and nephew going to college and having to fend for themselves as men and women of color in the state that the world we live in has become. The sad reality of this matter is that it's nothing new. It's just the fact that modern technology is recording and exposing more and more of these tragedies and bringing them to the surface. I will repeat myself for those who still don't get it. Imagine yourself in the shoes of George Floyd, lying on the ground with a police officer holding his knee on your neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. You know that you're going to die with there being nothing within your power that you could do to stop it. Your life flashes before your eyes in those final moments and the only thing you wanted to do is to see your mother and loved ones one more time. All of this senseless violence all because the color of your skin. That's what makes me - and a lot of people like me - angry.
I want to clarify something too. I don't want my white friends to think that I think their entire race are to blame or I have it against all cops. The white friends that I have don't have to explain themselves nor apologize or make excuses for what their relatives and/or ancestors have done in the past. I know what's in your hearts. For the white people who may be reading this that I don't know personally, I want to see what YOU do in the present day with your own actions. Acknowledge what's going on today and has been going on for decades now. Listen to your friends and colleagues of color about their experiences. Stop making this about you.
Last but not least, all lives do and will ALWAYS matter but right now, the focus is on the importance and awareness of black lives being lost to police brutality and senseless violence. If you can't understand and do that much, then I don't know what to say to you.
Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox by pinfall.
You're going to hear me say this throughout the entirety of this write-up, but I felt that this was a match that should have been on NXT television either last week or this coming week. Candace LeRae and Mia Yim didn't really advance their feud as they merely walked off to the back for Shotzi and Tegan to continue their lackluster feud with Kai and Sonya Deville's big sister, err Raquel Gonzalez.
Shout out to Dakota Kai with the Hana Kimura tribute in her gear tonight though.
I just didn't think this was a great opener at all (especially by TakeOver standards), even though all of the girls tried to make this watchable and I have see FAR worse women's matches than this.
Finn Balor defeated Damian Priest by pinfall.
I was talking about this with a friend on Twitter last night during the show and I couldn't help be bored watching a Finn Balor match. I can't knock both guys either as I knock both of them are capable of knocking it out of the park. I can't put my finger on what it was, but the vast majority of this match I wasn't feeling until the finishing sequence.
There's no way in hell I would have agreed to take that back bump onto the corner of the steel steps. Don't forget that's how HBK almost got permanently put on the shelf from back injuries. You can't take shit like that lightly.
I felt that Priest needed the win here more than Balor did. It just didn't feel right. I get that they are trying to carry Balor's momentum over until travels to and from the UK are allowed again for we can FINALLY get that match between him and WALTER, but I didn't think a loss here to Priest would have hurt him too much, especially when we don't have a date for whenever this global pandemic is going to die out completely. I guess they could have had Imperium come out and cost him the match, allowing Priest to pick up the win but it would have meant more if Priest beat Balor without any outside help/interference.
This one is a tough call period as Balor didn't need the win, but you couldn't give Priest a win from a screw job to Balor either. Either way, they booked themselves into a corner with this one.
Keith Lee defeated Johnny Gargano by pinfall to retain the NXT North American Championship.
Johnny Failure didn't let me down in this least with another losing effort. That being said, the right man won here. Keith Lee should not have lost the title tonight and nor did Gargano deserve to win it at this point of his new heel persona. The onslaught of no selling every big move and spot in this match - which has become a Gargano staple at this point in all of his TakeOver matches - really annoyed me to no end here. My boiling point was with the keys to Lee's eyes and that didn't end it there, only for Lee not to sell that at all, just like Gargano didn't sell the Shoulder Block through the plexiglass.
I'm surprised the match didn't end to both competitors being exposed to outside pathogens and bacteria after this spot.
For all of Gargano's amazing in-ring talent and ability to tell a narrative with his matches, you would think that after all this time at the PC, he would learn the value of selling. Less can mean a lot more than trying to fit in 30-50 unnecessary spots in one match for cheap pops, dude.
I did laugh at the usage of the door cam when Gargano locked himself out of the "house" setup on the entrance tunnel. That got a good laugh out of me about halfway into this match.
#Respect. #BlackLivesMatter
I found myself rolling my eyes at Candace and Mia showing up a few minutes after that with a costume change.
How I imagined the convo between Mia & Candace to stop fighting backstage to do an outfit change:
"Homegurl. Let's stop. I wanna change mah clothes for my man's match up next."
— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) June 8, 2020
C'mon now. We're starting to get to Brandi Rhodes level of silly with these mash-up appearances in the show with little to no continuity. Mia and Candace walked out during this match like this was their first time seeing each other tonight and we didn't get any update on their brawl backstage. It was like "welp, moving on..." after the opener stopped.
We did get this gem of a segment backstage afterwards though. Where the hell did they dig up Todd Pettengill from anyway?
Backlot Brawl: Adam Cole defeated Velveteen Dream by pinfall to retain the NXT Championship.
Out of all of the "cinematic matches" that WWE and AEW have put out over the course of the last few months, I have to say that this one ranks as low as the Final Chapter between Ciampa and Gargano from a month or so ago. I just wasn't feeling this at all. I was thoroughly entertained at Dream's Negan attire though, despite the fact that he looked exactly like Ron "The Truth" Killings/R-Truth when he was in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling when he was gunning for the NWA-TNA World Championship.
That was a gnarly gash on Cole's arm from taking that bump onto the windshield of the car from off that ladder. After like two to three camera cuts, it was cleaned up though. That was another issue with this match - all of the unnecessary camera cuts. It made this match feel overproduced and it came the cost of holding my attention. Every time they would get something going, there would be a few camera cuts like they have to show the mock "crowd" of onlookers while everyone re-positions and clearly cooperates to setup the next spot. At this point, you took me completely out of the suspension of belief that this is any sort of a "brawl" or "street fight". Instead, it came across as poorly planned fight choreography.
Karrion Kross defeated Tommaso Ciampa by submission.
THIS looks oddly familiar...
...To THIS.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record at this point, but Kross needs to be REALLY careful about not getting Marc Mero'd by Sable... errr Scarlett in his corner. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was eyeballing that outfit she was wearing more than actually caring about the bulk of this match.
I read that tweet shortly after this match started and I CANNOT unsee that now.
As for this match, there's not much really to talk about. Ciampa talked up a good game, only to get squashed in less than six minutes. Kross definitely needed to win here, so I'm not going to argue that, but I was just a little underwhelmed that they put this match that far up on this card in terms of match order. I almost completely forgot that it was booked for tonight until it came up after the NXT Championship Match. Kross needed to win in a convincing, dominating fashion and I'm not going to argue that decision here in the least. I won't admit that I agreed with the execution though. I will admit that this match had me more interested than the actual build getting to it though.
Triple Threat Match: Io Shirai defeated Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley by pinfall to win the NXT Women's Championship.
I'm not going to say that this was the best that I have seen from these women as I think we all can say that we've seen MUCH better outings from all three women involved. It didn't feel like they were telling a story here; instead, it felt like they were checking off the bullet points on the list of big spots that they wanted to hit. I had to laugh at one point when the referee had to stand in Io's way to get her to hit the brakes on offense as the cameras was playing catch up with the replays and what not.
Io putting the IYH set to good use here.
I'm sure this is a minor gripe for everyone else, but I groaned in disgust watching Rhea and Charlotte roll around the ring to reposition themselves for the best camera angle at that point too. I know WWE loves their dynamic camera angles and shots, but some of these TakeOver matches would benefit with a static/fixed camera angle and only change cameras for ringside action and/or dives. All of this diving and/or rolling out of the ring (watch Rhea do this on several occasions in this match) to hide out of the field of vision on the current camera to setup the next spot is more distracting than anything. Every time that happens in one of these multi-person matches, I'm always asking myself when and where is the other opponent who has been "hiding" going to reappear from "out of nowhere." I like that stuff used sparingly, not in every one of these matches.
SHIIIIIDDDD. That bump looked it like it sucked royally. How Rhea isn't concussed off of that is a nothing short of a miracle.
Looking at that bump in slow motion, I have to say that both Io and Rhea are at fault there. Io for misjudging the distance and Rhea for sitting up to prep and tense her torso up for the impact far too early. Just yikes... That being said, I'm glad that Io FINALLY won the NXT Women's Championship, but NXT are dirty at how they did this finish. Charlotte Flair won AND lost the title without being pinned or submitted to any of the NXT Women on their current roster. Her reputation is untarnished. She didn't give not a single rub to the women in that division. I still don't understand what was was the point of having Charlotte chop Rhea Ripley's legs off when she was red hot on momentum following 2019. The only way I can see Rhea redeeming herself is going up to the main roster and beating Charlotte on a PPV AFTER Charlotte has won back the Women's Championship from either RAW or SmackDown! There's no reason to take that belt right off of Io after she just won it. I'm still pissed off that Io didn't beat Shayna Baszler for it in that fateful Steel Cage Match that I ranted about last year. Charlotte Flair gets off scotch free from coming back to NXT and putting that women's division through the ringer with not a single woman on that roster besting her while she was there. That's just really fucked up to say that NXT had such a strong outing at Survivor Series last year.
(Shudders) I really hope that she's not going back to take back the RAW Women's Championship from Asuka. Charlotte ending Asuka's winning streak is still another travesty that should not have transpired either. In either case, good riddance to Charlotte on the black and yellow brand. She didn't do a goddamn thing to boost or elevate that women's division while she was parading around on all three shows every week. I won't deny nor undermine Charlotte Flair's abilities in the least, but it's long overdue for her to be giving back to these divisions and helping elevate them instead of ruling with an iron fist. The number of promising potential threats and competitors for her in the coming years is looking smaller and smaller by the day from the way how WWE booking treats almost anyone who is matched up to face The Queen.
I have to wonder though. Who are they going to match up against Io in the meantime?
Overall, I didn't think this wasn't a bad show. Just not a show that holds up to the high standard that the NXT TakeOver specials are known for. That much can't be helped without the raging fans at Full Sail University or any other venue they could have held this show at unfortunately due to the global pandemic.
The event was originally scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The venue, however, canceled all events up through May 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. AEW moved the event to the Jacksonville Jaguars complex in Jacksonville, Florida, with most matches taking place at Daily's Place—an amphitheater adjacent to TIAA Bank Field—while the main event match took place in the stadium itself, subsequently being the first AEW event to take place in a stadium.
Buy-In Preshow: Tag team match to determine the No. 1 contender for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?) defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)
Weren't Best Friends already at the top of the rankings anyway? Besides, how in the hell did these two teams get a spot in this match when they were lower than the Dark Order, who were at the top of the rankings when the pandemic started? I get that Evil Uno and Stu Graysen haven't been able to make the TV tapings since the pandemic started, but shit, at least address that the Dark Order won't be able to properly defend their spots when Brodie Lee is sending out his jobber minions in the same goddamn faction to do his bidding. They could have done like Catrina did with Sinestro de la Muerte in Lucha Underground and have her minions lose their match and more importantly, the Trios Tag Titles at the time, and have the minions take the L in Uno and Graysen's absence. It's a darn shame too as I like Private Party, but holy shit do these guys come off green on TV.
Casino Ladder Match for a future AEW World Championship Match
Brian Cage (with Taz) defeated Darby Allin, Colt Cabana, Orange Cassidy, Joey Janela, Scorpio Sky, Kip Sabian (with Jimmy Havoc and Penelope Ford), Frankie Kazarian, and Luchasaurus
A nothing match with a ton of nothing spots. Correction - a lot of STUPID spots. Darby Allin is lucky that he didn't shatter his ankle with that skateboard stunt through the ladder. Double goes for that toss by Cage (AKA Mr. "I Didn't Sign To AEW") into the ladders that he was riding on. I'm a little split on Cage's debut though. He should have went into that match and tore through everyone instead of one big spot and they buried him - literally for a few minutes to emerge out of the abyss like the Creature from the Black Lagoon and win the match. The right person won, but I can't write home about much else in this match.
Singles Match
MJF (with Wardlow) defeated Jungle Boy
I thought this was easily the best match on the entire show. MJF played the part of the perfect heel here, selling Jungle Boy's offense, but not letting him get too much before hitting the brakes and getting his own shit in to make it exciting. I wasn't sure who was going to win this, but I was glad MJF came out on top. Jungle Boy could have won this too and it wouldn't have harmed MJF as good heels always have a reason to fire back. In MJF's case though, I think he's being positioned to challenge for either Cody's TNT title or Moxley's World title sooner more than later, so it's better to keep piling up wins for him that regard.
Tournament final for the inaugural AEW TNT Championship
That photo of Mike Tyson yawning sums up my thoughts on this match in a nutshell. Out of all of Cody's PPV performances in this company to date, I have to say that this was his weakest showing. Where was the fire from him after Jake Roberts pretty much dry humped his wife Brandi on live television a few weeks ago? We didn't get a Dusty-eseque fired up promo from him or anything going into this match and that was a major disservice to the work that both Jake and Archer have put into this feud over the last few weeks.
I don't necessarily agree with the decision to have Cody win the title first either. Speaking of which, goddamn that's an ugly ass title, but I'll give them a pass for the fact that commentary mentioned that it's incomplete at the moment. I get that some people feel that Cody had to win a title since he can't challenge for the AEW World Championship and that's the problem right there. He's a EVP of the damn company. He can give himself a title reign any time he goddamn pleases. It would have made much more sense to have Cody's anger get the better of him and cost him the victory over Archer, then CHASE for the title like a good babyface should instead of this odd tweener bullshit that he and Brandi have going on. Then Cody's reign could be ultimately ended by Darby Allin FINALLY getting his win over Cody since he still hasn't managed to climb that hurdle.
Singles Match
Kris Statlander defeated Penelope Ford (with Kip Sabian)
After the injury that sidelined Britt Baker, Penelope Ford was named as her in-ring replacement. Out of the trio that consists of her, Kip Sabian, and Jimmy Havoc, Ford's easily the most entertaining and talented out of that bunch. Sabian comes off as a cheap knock off of Sammy Guevara but without the charisma and void of any sort of personality. That being said, I did chuckle at him showing up to support her on crutches and covered in bandages.
No Disqualification and No Countout match for the AEW Women's World Championship
Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose (c)
Shida got a lot of mainstream attention for her Tifa (Final Fantasy VII Remake) inspired ring gear for this title match. Fans of hers will be quick to point out that she's been doing a lot of Tifa-related cosplays on her social media channels. More of those photos are up on reddit though if you're interested.
I was REALLY surprised that AEW actually put the title on Shida here. It was the right decision too though. Shida is easily the best female worker they have on that entire AEW Women's Division and it would benefit the growth of that division in the long haul to build that division around her for a while. Having Nyla Rose not appear on television when this pandemic started hurt a lot of the momentum she gained after beating Riho for the title, but nothing came from it afterwards when they finally brought her back on Dynamite outside of one fired up promo from about two weeks prior to this match.
This match was just a clusterfuck of hardcore spots and near-falls littered throughout, but I did appreciate that it took a sizable effort from Shida to put Nyla down. If they want to revisit this match, Nyla can easily say that Shida only won because she hit her with everything except the kitchen sink to win the title. I don't see Nyla buried here as there's something to be salvaged. I saw some people calling this the beginning of AEW's equivalent of Awesome Kong and Gail Kim and could only laugh as this feud isn't even in the same galaxy as that epic clash of talents.
On a side note, I don't know whether it was AEW's decision or Shida's own, but she started a YouTube channel following her own geeky exploits in a similar manner as what WWE's Asuka does with KanaChanTV. I thought the videos she had up so far were in poor quality and just came off odd, especially when the channel has only been around for about two weeks. Despite the fact that Shida's English is surprisingly well (shocked the hell out of me when she spoke on Dynamite a few weeks ago...), I don't think she has to go the same route as Asuka to garner new fans. People already genuinely like her organically by watching the AEW product.
Singles Match for the AEW World Championship
Jon Moxley (c) defeated Mr. Brodie Lee by technical submission
After this match, I went to Twitter to see the reactions and instantly got confused seeing people say that this was the best match Mox and Lee had since their CZW days, when I was watching this and thinking that this was a copy and paste of a lot of their WWE encounters. It wasn't very good and it wasn't bad either. It was just okay in my eyes. They took me out of it after the the fact the spot through the ramp/walkway wasn't the finish though. That would have been perfect to end on without having to do nothing else to keep Brodie Lee looking strong. I didn't think Lee deserved to be in that spot to challenge for the belt next anyway, especially for his PPV debut in the company. It just felt wrong to begin with. Lee passing out in the hold works too, I guess, but I can't say that I was crazy about this match as a whole.
I'll be honest about this too. In WWE, I never saw what was the big deal about Moxley when he was Dean Ambrose and went he got "released from prison" and back on the indies, I thought I was finally was going to see what was the big deal, only to be disappointed with roughly every performance since then, outside of a few of his NJPW outings.
Stadium Stampede Match
Matt Hardy and The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz)
I'm going to tackle this write-up similar to the one I did for WWE Money in the Bank 2020's main event. I honestly don't have much to say about this show up to this point other than it had a lot of ups and downs, but I was entertained for the most part, outside of some rather questionable decisions across the board on this show.
I do have a bit of a rant to make though in response to Jericho's response to criticisms to the main event.
"If you don't like this match, then you don't have a soul."
Who is @IAmJericho referencing that didn't think highly of @AEWrestling Stadium Stampede Match?
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 28, 2020
I have two words for Chris Jericho: FUCK YOU. I get sick and tired of this mindset that it seems like anyone and everyone is grading AEW on a curve for two reasons: 1) They are the new hotness - i.e. current flavor of the month that hasn't turned away their hardcore fanbase (read: marks) for their product like IMPACT/TNA have done over the last decade and a half or more. 2) People are accepting ANYTHING that's not WWE and will make any and all excuses to support said product because it's not part of WWE's stranglehold over the wrestling industry. It's increasingly and alarmingly apparent that the wrestling industry as a whole - not just AEW - can't handle the single shred of constructive criticism about their "art" that they call wrestling. I call bullshit for what I see it as and I'm not sugarcoating it for anyone, whether I love the talents involved or not. There's a lot of stuff I like about AEW, but on the other hand, there's a lot of stuff they do I DON'T like. The thing that frustrates me that the same podcasters, YouTube wrestling personalities, wrestling journalists, and even people I know personally will shit all over IMPACT, MLW, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, or any other promotions that would do anything remotely like some of the stupidity I have seen presented on the AEW product as "professional wrestling". The main event was typical WWE-style comedy from start to finish. This wasn't the "sports-based presentation" that Tony Khan clearly lied to us about that was going into the sales pitch that was going into promoting this company. It's pretty much WWE Lite in a lot of aspects... while being IMPACT Lite in others. You want proof? Go back to Slammiversary XV and watch Jeremy Borash and Chris Parks against Scott Steiner and Josh Matthews and you'll get an oddly familiar scene of Scott Steiner and Mathews chasing after Park and JB in a golf cart while Steiner shouted “Follow their fat asses!”
It's strangely similar to the meme worthy moments of Sammy Guevara being chased by Matt Hardy and Kenny Omega in a golf cart on the last few AEW broadcasts. To be fair though, JB and Hardy are friends and produced a ton of that Broken universe content when they were in IMPACT together, so that was probably a shoutout/tribute to Borash in that regard. That being said, I actually enjoyed most of this spectacle that was the main event. Much like WWE's Money in the Bank main event, this wasn't a goddamn wrestling match. It's a cinematic spectacle with wrestling being a very minor component of it, much in the same vein of choreographed segments on Lucha Underground that a lot of people disliked at the time of that series' popularity, but raved about this match when it's essentially the same thing with lower production values. Fucking double standards, I swear... Chris Jericho is merely reacting like Edge following the critiques on his WrestleMania match with Randy Orton just because everyone isn't drinking all of the Kool-aid for everything and anything AEW spews out. There were parts of this match that I thought were genuinely entertaining, but there were other parts where I thought it was just bad WWE-esque comedy that merely got a pass because it's AEW. I'll gladly take that label of not having a soul if it means I can stand by my opinion that not everything this company puts out is peaches and rainbows like the hardcore fans of AEW act like each and every week.
AEW Dynamite (May 27, 2020)
Results:
1. The Young Bucks and Matt Hardy defeated Private Party and Joey Janela. Isiah Kassidy took a superkick and a More Bang For Your Buck and got pinned. After the match, Matt Hardy helped an injured Marq Quen to the back.
— The Butcher and the Blade attacked the Young Bucks in the ring. Then FTR (the Top Guys formerly known as the Revival) drove an old-fashioned truck into the arena and ran to the ring. After a brief staredown with the bucks, they attacked the Butch and Blade.
AEW would be nuts to blow their loads on this highly anticipated feud and match between the Young Bucks and the former members of The Revival from WWE. I'm thinking that the Bucks win the tag titles from Hangman and Omega during their inevitable falling out down the line and THEN feud with FTR for the belts. By that point, FTR should have enough wins garnered underneath their belts to warrant a title opportunity, along with the fact that they should be making sure their ranking system means a damn. Other than that, I can't say that I was really impressed with FTR's debut here. It's hard to judge what impact this move made without a crowd, but with AEW the only other major work in town still in progress during this pandemic, FTR's options were pretty slim anyway. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded seeing them throw down with the guys in ROH and NWA's tag team divisions first before joining AEW, but that's just me being selfish. The Young Bucks vs. The Revival was a match that people have wanted for a very long time and they might as well give it to the people before fans stop caring about it.
2. Brian Cage (with Taz) defeated Lee Johnson. Cage threw Johnson all over the ring, then pinned him with the Drill Claw.
I don't know how to feel about Taz managing Brian Cage yet. I hope it doesn't end up like Jake Roberts with Lance Archer, where it feels like he's cutting promos for himself having a potential future match than getting Archer over. I do applaud AEW for not sleeping on the lost art of wrestling managers.
— Britt Baker, with the help of photos, a cork board, and red string, claimed that her injury wasn’t an accident but a conspiracy, which Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida, and Nyla Rose are all conspirators, with Aubrey Edwards as the ringleader. Doctor Baker said she’ll be back for All Out.
I can't wait for the week when Rebel finally snaps and slaps the shit out of Britt Baker. Unfortunately for Mrs. Adam Cole, she won't be returning to the ring until All Out in September. That has to suck for her royally since she was really coming into her own with this heel persona. As for this conspiracy theory with referee Aubrey Edwards, I think they need to drop this. I get that Aubrey Edwards is well liked in and out of the ring in AEW, but there's no reason to be drawing her into the women's division for a storyline. Let her just call the matches.
3. Hikaru Shida defeated Christi Jaynes. Shida hit the Falcon Arrow to pin Jaynes.
Apparently, Christi Jaynes is a regular from AEW Dark. She's not bad but was the perfect opponent to show what the new champion could do. Glad to see that Shida wore her Tifa-inspired ring gear to Dynamite for people who have not seen the PPV could see it here too.
4. Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) and Jimmy Havoc defeated SCU. Penelope Ford averted the SCU Later by grabbing Frankie Kazarian’s leg, and Jimmy Havoc pinned Scorpio Sky.
I just don't get where they are going with pushing this trio of Sabian, Havoc, and Ford. It's increasingly apparent that Havoc is rotten in matches that don't involve weapons in any capacity. SCU did their best to make this passable but it still dragged on a bit too long for my taste.
5. Jungle Boy won the Battle Royal, last eliiminating Orange Cassidy, and became the Number One Contender for the TNT Championship.
I thought they made the right choice with Jungle Boy going over in this match, especially after his performance at the PPV. He's able to instantly bounce back from the loss to MJF. If Jim Cornette was watching this, I'm sure he would have lost his mind when "My Lil' Dog Pockets" AKA Orange Cassidy was one of the final two competitors in the match. I don't like that they are teasing MJF and Warlow potentially falling out either. It's FAR too soon to be thinking about that, especially when they haven't even been together as an unit for that long.
— Vicki Guerrero and a bunch of cheerleaders introduced the Inner Circle for their pep rally. They’ weren’t in the best mood because they lost, but they gave each other presence to cheer themselves up, and Jake Hager read a creepy poem. Jericho said the gift he really wants is Mike Tyson’s head on a platter. Sammy Guevara revealed that the cheese platter and bubbly have already been consumed. Then Mike Tyson entered with his entourage. Jericho demanded an apology for being knocked out by Tyson years ago, and a brawl ensued. The locker room emptied out, and Jericho and Tyson were separated.
When Hager was reading that poem, I kid you not that I was having Heidenreich poem reading flashbacks from SmackDown!. That being said, I thought that segment was pretty corny for the most part, much like a lot of these Inner Circle segments as of late. They've been swinging a lot more misses than hits with these WWE-style comedy segments with Jericho's faction and this one definitely went down as a miss in my eyes. The callout to Mike Tyson seemed to be out of left field until Jericho's reference to their altercation in WWE, back when Tyson was one of those celebrity guest hosts to Monday Night RAW when that was a thing. Tyson was on Jericho's team against D-X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels during one of their MANY reunions over the years) and Tyson turned on Jericho to rejoin D-X. I heard that shit come out of Jericho's mouth and went, "REALLY?" only to see AEW do the poorest facsimile/recreation of the Mike Tyson/Stone Cold Steve Austin face-to-face during the height of the Monday Night Wars.
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) May 28, 2020
This had me crying laughing - not just from Tyson struggling to rip his own T-shirt off - but from how comically bad this came across on live television. Tyson had his entourage with him, which included several MMA fighters, who the commentary team failed to identify as well. So is this going to be a filler feud for Fyter Fest (whenever that's going to be booked in this summer) to kill more time for the Blood & Guts Match between The Elite and Inner Circle? In either case, Chris Jericho can deny it all he wants on whatever podcast he goes on or dirt sheet report he blabs to, but AEW is merely rehashing an idea that got mainstream attention in the Attitude Era for AEW. You have to be the special kind of stupid not to see that's what this is. It's not a bad idea to get some mainstream attention on their company. They aren't even a blip on any casual fan's radar in terms of awareness in wrestling. When someone thinks wrestling, they think WWE. With Mike Tyson working a match or two with AEW, that would get some much needed mainstream and casual fans' attention onto their product. That's what AEW desperately needs too to grow (one of many things actually...). They can't be a hardcore niche product for their cult following of fans forever. That's what put ECW under and several promotions just like it over the years.
