February 22, 2021 - Evan Luebbe

AEW Dynamite 2/17/2021

February 22, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

After competing in an Unsanctioned Lights Out match at the first Full Gear Pay-Per-View in November 2019 (on Chris Jericho’s 49^th birthday), Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley had to step it up as far as the stipulation went for their first Pay-Per-View match for the AEW World Championship. They chose an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. Kenny Omega defeated Moxley on the Winter Is Coming edition of Dynamite to win the AEW World Title, but this will be the first Pay-Per-View title match between the two men.

The feud between the top two stars in AEW today could be even past Revolution so the company can make even more money off a second Pay-Per-View match between Omega and Moxley. This will presumably be the top rivalry AEW can offer for at least the next several years, so Tony Khan would be wise to take advantage of this and book Omega and Moxley in as many matches as possible until the rivalry dies out in terms of fan reception. Mox is essentially the closest thing possible to a present-day version of Stone Cold Steve Austin, while Kenny cannot be compared to a wrestler past or present. The AEW World Champion has innate physical ability beyond anyone else.

One of the Original Five Members of The Inner Circle is Out

February 22, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

Sammy Guevara has instantly become a massive babyface in AEW after telling Chris Jericho on February 10 that he was finished with The Inner Circle. He was fantastic as a heel for over a year since The Inner Circle’s formation on the first ever episode of Dynamite in October 2019.

The stable was originally formed to give The Elite a rival faction to feud with for the time being. That came to fruition in May 2020 at Double or Nothing in the first Stadium Stampede match. The Inner Circle had simply run its course as there was not much of anything left for them to do together as a stable.

Sammy Guevara has been treading water since he challenged Kenny Omega for the AAA Mega Championship back in April 2020. A couple months later in June of last year, Matt Hardy tried to get Sammy to buy into the fact that he might never have the level of stardom he dreamt of if Guevara stayed with The Inner Circle and under the shadow of Chris Jericho. Mind you this was several months before MJF even came into the picture, Sammy’s issues with Maxwell were just the final straw.

Unfortunately, Sammy did not listen to Matt Hardy at the time as this turned into a full-fledged feud which culminated in a brutal match at All Out in which Matt Hardy was nearly rendered unable to compete in the match because he hit his head early in the match. The end of The Inner Circle will provide an excellent springboard for Sammy to jump off and begin the rest of his career as he is still not even 30 years old.

Don’t expect Chris Jericho to ever do anything again related to The Inner Circle. Jericho has never been a fan of relying on nostalgia to get a cheap pop from fans as is so commonplace in wrestling – nostalgia is a big thing in the world of professional wrestling. It’s refreshing that Jericho never opted to use the strategy throughout his entire 30-year career.

That’s part of the appeal of Jericho – you are always going to get something new with him. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t, for example Le Dinner Debinair with MJF (I didn’t love this musical segment, but I respected Jericho for being willing to try it) or Chris Jericho’s Rockin’ Rager at Sea cruise in January 2020 (which was a major hit). Kenny Omega and Hangman Page even won the AEW World Tag Team Championships on that ship.

Bobby Lashley, the CEO of The Hurt Business, is experiencing the best run of his WWE Career

February 22, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

Lashley’s run could culminate with a WWE Championship victory in the near future. Bobby Lashley is more determined than ever to do everything in his power to turn 2021 into his year. “I know that my finish line is soon. I won’t be here for another 10 or 15 years like Ricochet or Cedric. I’m running to the finish line, and I’m hitting it hard. This is the year for me.” At 44 years old, Lashley knows every night he has in the ring could legitimately be his last, so he is looking to take advantage of the fact that his good friend MVP has helped him as well as the rest of The Hurt Business become top draws in WWE.

15 years ago, Lashley made a promise to himself that he would become WWE Champion. Now in 2021, that appears very possible and realistic. Bobby is currently the United States Champion and is set to defend his title on February 21 at Elimination Chamber in a triple threat match against Keith Lee and Riddle.

Prior to that, Lashley returned to WWE on Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania 34 in April 2018 after having been gone from the company for 10 years. While he was away, he significantly improved in terms of wrestling – most notably in TNA/Impact – as well as MMA fighting in Bellator. Lashley finally feels ready to have the responsibility of carrying the company on his shoulders.

The time Bobby spent with Lio Rush in late 2018 – early 2019, being presented in somewhat of a comedic form (becoming a two-time Intercontinental Champion in the process) did wonders in terms of reacquainting him with the WWE universe after a decade away. People started to remember who Bobby Lashley was.

“The world title, that’s been my priority since I came back. That has not changed. When I returned to WWE, I came in and paid respect to the guys who were here.” That’s a good attitude – pay your dues, even if you have been with the company previously. “Ever since, I have been focused on taking steps to show I am the guy.”

A scenario could be easily envisioned for Lashley to become a contender for the WWE Championship following the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View heading into WrestleMania 37 (even if this were to happen, Roman Reigns would still be the main event, presumably with Royal Rumble winner Edge as his challenger). In this hypothetical scenario, Lashley would drop the United States Championship to either Riddle or Keith Lee (without being pinned) and put one of them over. This would free Lashley of a title so he could go after whoever comes out of the Elimination Chamber as WWE Champion.

Lashley is interested in a potential showdown with Drew McIntyre because he believes McIntyre has an “old-school” mentality. The two men have had matches together before and were also tag team partners for a short time. Their mentalities also differ. McIntyre was “The Chosen One,” while Lashley takes a more workmen-like approach towards life in general. Brock Lesnar could be a great possibility to make this potential Mania match a triple threat. Brock is always a possibility until the last minute because he has been inserted at the last minute before.

For right now, Bobby is taking his run as United States Champion (which has already lasted five months) seriously. WWE is working to continue to present him in a realistic manner so that his work is viewed as authentic. He is currently set to defend his title against two superstars in Lee and Riddle who have both been on the main roster in WWE for less than a year. “I thought the United States title was perceived for a long time as just another title, but it has so many great names behind it. I am legit as it gets, and I have a lot of pride in defending this title, especially against guys like Riddle and Lee. Riddle’s ideal for a Fight Pit, and I would love to do something like that for the US title.” A little backstory: Riddle’s last match in NXT came in June last year against Timothy Thatcher in the Fight Pit. Thatcher has had another match in the structure since then.

Lashley offered a unique perspective when asked by Sports Illustrated about The Undertaker saying on the Joe Rogen Experience podcast that the current WWE product is “a little soft.” Bobby somewhat agreed (so do I for that matter) saying, “Years ago when I was on the roster and we were on the road, if you ran into trouble, you knew the people with you would scrap and fight for you. This roster, you don’t know. We hardly even travel anymore. Back in the day, we used to always get tested on the road. It was so different back then. If you didn’t toughen up, you were out. I don’t think this roster would allow that to happen. It’s a different time now. That’s why what we are doing with The Hurt Business is so unique. We wanted to be different, and we were determined to capture that ground-and-pound, old-school fights style. There is no one else like us.”

Lashley and MVP, who are longtime friends from their days in WWE together from 2005 – 2008, began planting the seeds for the inception of The Hurt Business back at the 2020 Royal Rumble. MVP made his return to the company originally for a one-off appearance so his son could see him wrestle.

He and Bobby Lashley started talking backstage about ideas and angles they could do together for television, and that led to MVP appearing on Monday Night Raw the following night so his son could see his father Bobby Lashley in a match with his favorite wrestler – Rey Mysterio. It turned into a full – length contract with WWE. It’s hard to get the business completely out of your life once you get a taste of the feeling of being immersed in the energy of so many other people – who are just reflections of yourself.

Here is what Bobby Lashley had to say about MVP: “We have been friends for a long time. That extends beyond wrestling. We worked together outside of WWE, and he would come to some of my fights in Bellator. That’s the kind of friend he is. It was great that he came back to WWE (Rumble 2020), and he wanted to do a one-off at the Rumble so his son could see him wrestle. After that, we started talking. I thought he had so much more left. I said to him, ‘Let’s do something together,’ and that’s how it all started,” Bobby (the formation of The Hurt Business).

Bobby Lashley’s career is flourishing since the creation of The Hurt Business, with MVP as the mouthpiece, Shelton Benjamin as Bobby contemporary right around the same age, and Cedric Alexander as the young upstart who could one day be the face of WWE. However, Lashley would be ignorant not to recognize the fact that his career is much closer to the end than the beginning. He is using his old-school mentality to get the absolute most out of his final stretch in WWE by becoming a world champion.

Braun Strowman has been out of action since Royal Rumble due to an Infection in his Bloodstream

February 22, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

Braun Strowman left WWE immediately following Survivor Series in November 2020 take time to heal from a knee injury (according to kayfabe Adam Pearce suspended The Monster Among Men for putting his hands on a WWE official). Strowman made his return to WWE programming at Royal Rumble 2021 – entering the Royal Rumble match at number 30 and eliminating three superstars before being eliminated himself – but has not appeared on TV since.

It has recently come to light that the reason for Braun’s absence since the Rumble has been because of an infection which spread to his bloodstream, but fortunately he has taken antibiotics and gotten the infection under control. The infection did, however, cause The Monster to lose about 15 pounds in five days. I know this feeling myself because I had a staph infection in my back when I was 15 years old. Not fun at all.

It will be interesting to see where Braun Strowman lands on the WrestleMania 37 card after becoming Universal Champion for the first time last year (as a substitute for Roman Reigns). One would wholeheartedly assume that he might be a major part of the event on April 10 and 11^th at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (same venue as Super Bowl LV) considering what he did last year. However, before winning the Universal Title as a replacement last year, Strowman did not have a very prominent role at Mania the previous three years. His biggest WrestleMania moment up until last year was winning the RAW Tag Team Championship with a 10-year-old kid named Nicholas.

NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day

February 22, 2021 by Evan Luebbe

The name of this Takeover brings back memories of the WWE Vengeance Pay-Per-View from 2005 when Triple H and Batista had one of the bloodier matches of the century so far over the World Heavyweight Championship (which no longer exists as of 2013. Batista came out on top over the 10-time World Champion The Game at the time). Good ol’ JR called it from the beginning “This match will not be for the weak at heart. That’s the grandfather in me.”

Every match at the 33^rd edition of NXT Takeover was unbelievable. This is a testament to the benefits AEW provides NXT by competing with the brand every week. Triple H is inspired each week to do absolutely everything in his power to make NXT as good of a product as it can possibly be. This is obviously the case anyway without any competition, however every business benefits significantly if it has some competition to make it, and its competitor, better. AEW and Tony Khan are motivated the same way by NXT: you take a few strategies from your competition that you like and implement them in your own unique way and throw out what you don’t like.

Finn Balor keeps a firm grip on the NXT Championship, and might set his sights next on feuding with Adam Cole for leadership of The Undisputed Era as subtle foreshadowing has been hinted on NXT TV over the past several weeks

Finn Balor is operating on a completely different playing field right now. Every movement in the ring is incredibly precise. It’s not super surprising that The Prince retained his NXT Championship against Pete Dunne – the more surprising term was that of Adam Cole. WWE is in the process of telling the story in which Balor is subtly forming a cautious alliance with The Undisputed Era – particularly Kyle O’Reilly, who has gained a great amount of respect for Finn over the past few months after engaging in a heated rivalry over the NXT title.

Adam Cole could most likely sense this, and maybe thought his leadership of The UE could potentially be in jeopardy a few months down the line, so the leader of the faction decided to let both O’Reilly and Balor know where he stood on the matter by superkicking them both. The night ended with a newly heel Cole at the top of the ramp and Kyle O’Reilly and Finn Balor in the ring confused over exactly what just happened.

A match for the NXT Championship could be orchestrated for the next Takeover between Adam Cole and Finn Balor for not only the title but also the undisputed leadership of the UE. This would be a rematch from the match on the September 8 in addition of NXT TV in which The Prince originally won the title.

In the meantime, Roderick Strong was caught in the middle and not sure whose side to take. Bobby Fish will also be caught in a similar predicament upon his return from injury (Fish is a great wrestler, but slightly injury prone. This makes sense considering he is the oldest member of The Undisputed Era. Unfortunately, this may mean that WWE might need to let Bobby Fish go in the not too distant future – not because of a lack of talent but because the company cannot afford to have him eating up a roster spot if he is constantly hurt and not helping better the product).

Pete Dunne delivered a great performance in his first NXT Championship match. Dunne may not have quite as much chemistry with Balor as he goofed with Tyler Bate in 2017, but it was still a great match. The addition of Pat McAfee to the presentation of Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch has significantly benefited all three men in the charisma department – even if it only lasted a couple months.

Pete Dunne is one of those smaller guys who has done an excellent job of honing his craft over the past number of years. This story is similar to that of a Daniel Bryan, so perhaps in the future Dunne could be called up to the main roster and Daniel Bryan could collaborate with the writing team on SmackDown –of which he is already a member – to give Dunne a rub and help get his career jumpstarted by hopefully getting him over with the WWE universe.

Io Shirai remains dominant as NXT Women’s Champion and will likely hold the title for at least a year, that being until June 2021

It was undoubtedly the right decision to keep the NXT Women’s Championship on Io Shirai. She is consistently excellent in the ring and has been for years. The Genius of the Sky is clearly head and shoulders above every other woman in NXT at the moment.

This stage felt somewhat big for Toni Storm. It seemed like a bit of a stretch at this stage of her career, however it was not too much of a stretch and it will still serve her on her career path. Mercedes Martinez, however, has been ready for a stage like this from a wrestling standpoint for probably at least several years. She has just not found herself from a character standpoint until recently.

Martinez was called to the main roster and put with RETRIBUTION on RAW. She was not necessarily resonating with the product she was putting out on a weekly basis, so she used this self-awareness to go back to NXT where she felt she would be happier and deliver a better television product for WWE. Martinez’ breakout moment so far was back in October in a steel cage match with Rhea Ripley right before she was called up to Monday Night Raw.

MSK could become a pivotal part of the tag team division in both NXT and the main roster in the future – winning the Dusty Cup just two months after being signed by WWE

The company decided to go with a pair of rookies to win the seventh edition of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. MSK debuted in NXT just a couple months ago and the first thing they do is win the Dusty Cup after having already made a name for themselves in Impact! Unfortunately, the Grizzled Young Veterans lost in the finals of the Dusty Cup for the second straight year. This team was off TV for months on end in 2020 because they were stuck in the UK because of travel restrictions due to the pandemic.

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is getting bigger by adding a women’s version this year for the first time as well as the men

The decision to have Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales come out on top in the first ever Women’s Dusty Rhoads Tag Team Classic was probably the most interesting decision of the night. Gonzales and Kai both appear to be on the path to becoming NXT Women’s Champions in the near future no matter if they got the victory. From this perspective, one could have developed the notion that it might have been more beneficial for all involved If Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart got the win.

Moon has been treading water since she returned to NXT in October 2020 after about 2 ½ years on Monday Night Raw (1.5 if you take away the time it took for her to heal from our Achilles injury). One could make the argument that a victory like this was exactly what she needed to get some momentum going again. Blackheart has done several different things in NXT and is still searching for a role that suits her best within the company.

It is hard to envision a scenario where Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales dethrone Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax, but they make for interesting challengers that legitimately have a chance to win – maybe even on an episode of NXT TV.

Gargano retains the North American title but the Japanese Kushida impresses; Gargano once again proved why he is Johnny Takeover as this was far and away the best match of the night

Johnny Gargano’s current storyline in NXT may seem a bit childish and geared more toward the inner entertainment side of the company – therefore one could make the argument that he will be better suited on Monday Night Raw. But no one can argue that the three time North American Champion is fantastic between the ropes. The right call was made in terms of keeping the title on Gargano as he is more relatable right now due to the simple fact that he is American and Kushida is Japanese.

However, Kushida is working on this. He wrestled his best match to date as a member of NXT (after signing in April 2019). He is gradually developing more of a character and tailoring it from the very polite and respectful Japanese wrestling culture to the more outspoken American culture. He is not quite there yet, but Kushida has the potential to evolve into a champion within the next couple months – assuming he has done the work necessary to improve his English because this helps so much as far as relatability – because we all know it’s no question that he has the skills between the ropes.

The new draft class at the WWE Performance Center in 2021 is rather exciting, particularly two names. The first is LA Knight (Eli Drake). Personally, I have been hoping for the last couple years that WWE would get their hands on this guy because he fits the mold that Vince McMahon typically goes after perfectly. He has already made a name for himself in TNA/Impact! As a former World Champion as well as the NWA. He will be a massive star in WWE assuming he does not have attitude issues. Knight was with WWE previously from 2013 – 14 and Triple H has explicitly talked about how he was always a fan of LA Knight, but it just did not work out with WWE – no one’s fault.

The second star out of the 2021 draft class that is worthy of talking about is Taya Valkyrie, who has been wrestling for over 10 years and is a former Impact Knockouts Champion and is a current champion in AAA (in Mexico). The last part of the last sentence is a big deal because normally when superstars have signed with WWE, they have been required to drop the titles they hold in other promotions. It’s a good thing to see WWE relaxing a little on this policy, probably because they see AEW, WWE’s main competitor, working so much with other promotions and collaborating to get a better product.