ASK TITO: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel, NXT 2.0, Samoa Joe, Ric Flair, Tommy Dreamer, and More

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter by going to the following link: @titowrestling

Welcome back to the weekend edition of the Excellence in Column Writing… Man, Pro Wrestling has truly become like Politics. Unless you 100% declare that you are in favor of either WWE or AEW, many in the Internet Wrestling Community slam you as a fan. You can’t like both sides or partially like both sides. Wrestling has become like Politics, as many of us in the Middle of the Right and Left just won’t dedicate themselves to just 1 political party. There are many Republicans who don’t like the brand of politics that Donald Trump has brought to the table or the Q’Anon Conspiracy theories, while there are many Democrats who would just rather support Labor Unions and Government programs rather than pushing major cultural changes that the hard left wants.

One week, I’m branded an “AEW Mark” and then the next I’m a “WWE Mark”. Yet, what most of you don’t realize is that I’m an equal opportunity critic and all you have to do is click ANY of the columns archived below.

But since I haven’t picked a side, both the AEW and WWE fanbases attack me…

The beauty of my unbiased positions and taking hardline stances in my column is that many of my opinions and predictions have come true. Such as:

– Roman Reigns will never become a superstar unless he becomes a heel.
– Paul Heyman is the greatest manager ever.
– Triple H not only failed as Talent Developmental manager, but with most of his other backstage roles too.
– EVPs are the problem in AEW, as Tony Khan is cleaning up much of their messes and has eventually developed a culture that guys like CM Punk or Bryan Danielson could join.
– Many WWE fans took John Cena for granted. He truly is one of the greatest WWE performers of all time.
– WWE pushing the wrong guys as World Champion without any build-up would cause WWE’s business to decline. See everything since 2014. In 2016 as the Draft happened, I predicted that RAW being headlined by Roman and Rollins would take RAW “permanently under 3 million viewers”. Well, we’re under 2 million now.

Many of those takes were early adopter ones and it’s great to see many of you joining the pro wrestling thought revolution. Many of you are holding onto the hope that Triple H was great at his Talent Developmental job, but I’m willing to bet that the revamped system will find someone that Triple H couldn’t.

Time to answer your questions… I’m starting to realize that these Ask Tito columns are essentially becoming 4-5 columns lumped together. Hmmm…

Onto your questions.

———————————————

ASK TITO: Your Questions, My Answers

What are your thoughts on Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns being booked for the Crown Jewel Pay Per View in Saudi Arabia?

First and foremost, I want to make something VERY clear before I state my real opinion on this matter. I have no problems with the WWE holding shows in Saudi Arabia. That’s the WWE’s choice and business and the WWE is just going there to provide entertainment for a country trying to modernize itself after centuries of prior cultures and practices. Secondly, I’m very happy that Saudi Arabian fans get to see live WWE events. Good for them, as it’s great to see your wrestling favorites live and in person. I’m happy for any Saudi fan attending that show.

THAT SAID – North American fans built the WWE and they continue to fund it as the majority fanbase throughout the entire world. While the Saudi Arabia government can cut a check to the WWE for $20 million, WWE fans can pack Madison Square Garden and pay ridiculous prices for tickets at that New York arena. Who buys the most WWE merchandise? North American fans. Who invests mostly into WWE Network? North American fans. Where is WWE touring much of the year with their price gouging ticket prices? North America.

When a major and unique match-up presents itself, such as HEEL Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the FIRST TIME during 2021, it should be at a North American arena FIRST and then maybe the rematch goes to Saudi Arabia. I’m perfectly fine with the rematch going there.

And I have made the SAME argument for other Saudi Arabia unique match-ups being there instead of presenting themselves for North American fans to see live at an arena. As bad as Bill Goldberg vs. Undertaker and Kane/Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels/Triple H were, many loyal wrestling fans would have tripped over themselves to buy tickets to see those match-ups at a live arena. Goldberg is WCW royalty and he’s wrestling the Undertaker for the first time?!? Shawn Michaels is RETURNING TO THE RING for the first time since his Wrestlemania 26 retirement? Take my money, WWE!

But yet, the WWE is ignoring the North American fanbase that built them and continues to support them by giving Saudi Arabia the big match-ups that would easily draw here in the United States. Sad thing is that the WWE doesn’t realize that Saudi Arabia will still cut them a check for those stars appearing on the show anyway, so why not give them the scraps and give loyal North American fans the gourmet meals?

WHO has bought into Roman Reigns being a heel and being managed by Paul Heyman? We did here in North America. We’ve fully bought into the new Roman Reigns character and Bloodline storyline. And then our excitement peaked with Brock Lesnar returning at a North American event because of the possibility of Roman and Brock fighting over Paul Heyman. It would be great to see that live and in person. If you put such an event within driving distance of me, I’d probably try to attend as would many other WWE fans.

Nope – Saudi Arabia gets it first. I hope that everyone enjoys watching Lesnar vs. Reigns on the WWE Network early in the morning. What a joy to see those events unfold with a mostly quiet crowd. If you held that unique first time match up (saying “first time” because Roman = HEEL) at a North American venue, a naturally SOLD OUT arena would go bonkers for it the entire time.

That’s my opinion… We, as North American WWE fans, get taken for granted all of the time even though that it’s our loyal dollars that keep pumping into WWE. Furthermore, if 2 million of us didn’t watch WWE on a loyal basis every Monday or Tuesday (now Fridays on FOX), those billion dollar television contracts also don’t exist. Would other countries care to show us the dollars on the TV contracts that they pay WWE? I’ve studied WWE’s financials and the United States television contracts dwarf what other countries are paying.

I have the same arguments with Comcast constantly. Why are you giving these cheap deals to new customers and sticking it to your older customers who have paid for your products for years? That’s my tactic to get a better deal…

Now, this Crown Jewel match-up with Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns happens AFTER the Extreme Rules Pay Per View match-up between “the Demon” Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns. Many are suggesting that this diminishes any storyline possibilities of Finn Balor winning. Nah, not really… For one, most don’t believe that Finn Balor has a chance at winning but two, you could always have the Usos interfere and cost Balor the match to “keep him strong”. And then have a big rematch later between those two. It will be OK, all 100 of you Finn Balor fans, as there will be another night to fight. You only get Brock Lesnar for a few matches per year, so strike when the iron is hot or when the Saudi Arabian government is ready to cut that $25 million check.

*****

What did you think of NXT 2.0 and its Viewership performance?

First of all, if “NXT 2.0” would have seen FEWER viewers than the previous week’s NXT show, the Internet Wrestling Community would have been on the attack. Instead, they were oh so quiet this week… Gee, why is that?

For me, I couldn’t tell the difference between Triple H’s NXT and Bruce/Vince’s NXT 2.0. Why? Because HHH’s version of NXT was beginning to bore me and pretty much has since its 2019 USA Network debut. Just DULL booking, especially for 2 hours.

It is very likely that this “ratings pop” will end next week and NXT will slide back into barely above 700,000 viewers or lower.

Whether you have Triple H or Vince/Bruce in charge of NXT, it is going to FAIL because it’s in a death spot for televised wrestling. Years ago, I wrote columns regarding how WWE Smackdown was failing to grab viewership numbers even when the shows were great or they had high profile matches. Why? Because after watching 3 hours of RAW, do you really feel like watching 2 more hours of wrestling on Tuesdays? And if there is a Pay Per View on Sunday Night, you’ll be watching 2-4 hours of wrestling per night on 3 straight days. Hard to do if you have to work the next morning or have a family.

“RAW Fatigue” is real, folks… Enduring 3 hours of WWE programming on Monday is asking a ton of wrestling fans and they just don’t want to do it again on Tuesday nights. Thus, no matter WHO you place in as the Creative Director of NXT, it’s going to fail no matter what. NXT’s show could be LOADED with top prospects and have a great booker like Paul Heyman booking it, nothing would change. NXT being on Tuesday Nights, following RAW on the previous night, will always limit that shows potential. “Less is more” needs to be a concept used more often in Pro Wrestling and asking your fanbase to support 5 hours of wrestling over 2 nights and with a Pay Per View, potentially 9 hours over 3 nights is ridiculous.

*****

Do you believe the rumor about WWE Creative wanting Adam Cole to be a manager for Keith Lee?

Here’s the thing… Guys from the Observer, PWInsider, Fightful, and Torch are speaking directly with WWE sources. Now, we could argue the validity of what those WWE sources are telling them, but the fact is that it’s WWE employees delivering news to those insider news sources. For example, Dave Meltzer regularly calls the WWE offices for information and that probably gets him into a conversation with a WWE official.

^^^ Each of those folks either have Newsletters or Paywalls to sell. Do you believe that any of them would want to risk their reputations by making something up?

Furthermore, have you ever noticed that WWE never sues any of these wrestling news insiders? Because, again, WWE is providing the information to them. WWE is also smart, too… They willingly give insider news tips to a select group of news insiders while they crack down or threaten any anonymous sources who leak information elsewhere. That helps WWE control and test things…

I also believe that Adam Cole is a professional. Unlike FTR who spilled their beans about the WWE the second that they left (had proof of a ridiculous gimmick, too), Adam Cole isn’t willing to burn a bridge with the WWE. He may need to return there someday to continue earning a living. If you’ve noticed, Cole has NOT bashed his former WWE employer and he has a valid reason to leave with Britt Baker working for AEW and many former friends working there too.

When there is smoke, there is a fire somewhere… WWE sources fed that information about the Creative idea of using Adam Cole as a manager for Keith Lee. Now, whether that was done on purpose to test the marketplace of that idea or to diminish an exiting Adam Cole, we’ll never know. But a WWE source delivered that newsbyte, that’s a fact. I wouldn’t doubt that it was done to make the exiting Adam Cole look week, as it’s an attempt to give the impression that WWE only thought of him as a mouthpiece or manager for another wrestler. WWE could just be using their few media sources to convey that Adam Cole was just a NXT guy.

Again – These news insiders are being fed information directly from WWE sources. Now, whether WWE is playing them or testing out things, that’s a different story. When a company source provides information to you, it’s a rock solid story that these insiders are going to report. Because again, if they posted something false or not sourced, they could get sued or endure harm to their reputation as a business.

The true lesson in all of this is how smart Adam Cole is as a business man. Just look at how professional he is about the WWE after he left them. WWE will hire him back someday, if available.

*****

Thoughts on Samoa Joe losing the NXT Title due to an injury?

Conspiracy Theorists are out and about on this one, as Samoa Joe conveniently gets injured before NXT 2.0 starts to make that title vacant. As it turns out, he reportedly didn’t get cleared by WWE Medical to work for the next few weeks and the “injury” won’t keep him out for a long period time.

I don’t know what to think on this one, to be honest… Samoa Joe does have an extensive track record of being injured since the middle of his TNA career. Before he even joined TNA, he worked intense and brutal matches on the independent circuit and with Ring of Honor. There’s lots of mileage on that body.

So yeah, he could be injured… Or WWE is using that reputation as an opportunity to reboot the NXT Title for NXT 2.0.

THEN maybe we could see Samoa Joe join the RAW or Smackdown roster. We’re going to see the end of Finn Balor as an opponent for Roman Reigns. I’m willing to bet that Brock Lesnar vs. Roman will be potentially saved for Survivor Series or Royal Rumble (and/or Saudi Arabia), so thus you have many Pay Per Views between now and then to find opponents for Roman. Having a high profile match with Joe would be great and then keeping him around on the roster wouldn’t hurt either (if he can stay healthy).

I’m 50/50 on this one… I could see an opportunity work fans is on the table here to (a) reboot the NXT Title for the newly branded NXT 2.0 and (b) move Samoa Joe to the RAW/Smackdown rosters where he could feud with either Big E or Roman. Gotta fill those October, November, and December Pay Per Views with something.

*****

Ric Flair is now trending… Do you think that the “Plane Ride from Hell” story will affect Flair joining AEW?

Oh yeah – I think that eventually, AEW might bring in Ric Flair because they ultimately want to sign Charlotte Flair… But for now, no way. The story from Vice TV’s Dark Side of the Ring where Flair reportedly had the flight attendant grab his privates is going to stick. We had heard for years that Ric Flair was flashing people under his rob and chasing flight attendants. However, we didn’t hear anything about what he may have forced one to do.

The most shocking thing to me about the “Plane Ride from Hell” is how Vince and Linda McMahon were on the same flight. Furthermore, they were the ones agreeing to pay for additional cards of liquor for the boys to enjoy. The ONLY reaction Vince had to the wrestlers getting out of hand was to send Jim Ross back there to break things up, particularly when Brock Lesnar and Curt Hennig were rough-housing.

For Ric Flair, the WWE Network made a cartoon that actually made Ric’s antics on that flight into a laughing matter. Secondly, I was completely shocked by ESPN actually producing a 30 for 30 on Ric’s career and being a major ladies’ man. That was shocking to me considering how politically correct that ESPN has become and how much they push identity politics. Throughout Ric’s entire career, either women wanted to be with the Nature Boy or maybe there were a ton of enablers. You never heard any accusers of bad behavior coming out against Ric.

Well, until now… If you question the flight attendant’s credibility, then consider that Rob Van Dam was on this show and actually saw Ric Flair cornering that flight attendant in that kitchen area. Now, the scarier thing is how NOBODY on the entire flight thought that Ric needed to at least put on a pair of pants. Not one person stopped him throughout the flight until it was too lately and the flight attendant credited Goldust for convincing Ric Flair to back off. RVD saw it happening… Maybe everyone was too blitzed to care or just thought it was the “Nature Boy being the Nature Boy”.

Now, the question is this… Should Ric Flair be “cancelled” for something that he did about 19 years ago? Are we going to punish a clearly intoxicated Flair for going overboard for 1 night? The thing that I find more troubling is how the WWE didn’t punish Ric for his antics, as he cost the WWE money in a financial settlement with the accuser. Curt Hennig and Scott Hall were terminated immediately for their roles in the flight from hell, and Jim Ross had to talk Vince out of releasing Goldust (props to JR for probably saving Dustin’s wrestling career). While he does have some legal troubles, none of it from any female accusers. Maybe if there was a pattern of unwanted behavior, but for now, he has the Plane Ride from Hell night in which he was very intoxicated and nobody on the WWE chartered flight tried to stop him.

Watch what happens, folks… Other women will come forward following this Plane Ride from Hell story coming out. I believe that is why Car Shield is “pausing” their commercials with Ric Flair starring in them for the moment. Usually, things will snowball after the first accusation is made. Ric has been with thousands of women and you never know what could get accused.

Man, I was shocked at hearing Tommy Dreamer heavily defend Ric. What is that going to get you, Tommy? What exactly has being the enabler awarded anybody in the past? I was shocked by Dreamer talking down the flight attendant’s accusations and also RVD actually seeing Flair cornering the attendant. Just a bad night to be commenting on a controversial issue of the past.

Just a mess… We’ll see what happens. Will people forgive Ric for one bad intoxicated flight or will one night on a flight define the rest of his life? Will other incidents begin to get reported on Flair? That will determine whether Ric appears for AEW or not.

But to the Flair family and ALL of his longtime friends: Get Ric some help. If you see him still drinking like a fish, then step and limit his intake. Two of Jim Ross’s incidents with Flair, both the Plane Ride from Hell and the WWE 2K event, involved a heavily intoxicated Ric Flair. If he’s still into that kind of lifestyle, even at his age and health concerns, step in and take care of him.

*****

Should Impact Wrestling have suspended Tommy Dreamer for his comments?

Look guys, Impact has to be careful about losing any of their 125,000 viewers on AXS for their weekly show… Maybe the less than 500 people that watch their shows on Twitch unless they air older stuff might get offended if Dreamer remains.

If you ask me, Tommy Dreamer is (a) sticking up for the boys and (b) might not have known that another witness, like RVD, actually saw what Ric was possibly trying with the flight attendant. But I would imagine part (a) trumps everything, as Tommy was probably attempting to “stick up for the boys”.

However, I just don’t know who Impact is trying to impress. They are drawing NOTHING as a promotion on the AXS Network and Pay Per View numbers are still low. The AEW involvement has done nothing for the promotion long-term. So who is Impact trying to impress here? You need to have the public’s attention to be protective of your public image.

We’ll see if Tommy releases a statement or not in response to this controversy…

*****

What do you think of AEW booking Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson already?

It’s a mistake… That’s a first-time match-up in AEW to sell for a Pay Per View. I understand that scoring in the New York market is important but so is driving Pay Per View revenue. Furthermore, rushing Danielson to the front the of the line might be too early as well. Then, if Bryan wins the title, that could create an interesting reaction by the loyal AEW fanbase.

I wouldn’t have Bryan defeating Kenny Omega just yet… Lessons need to be learned about the Kurt Angle move to TNA during 2006 and how he immediately defeated Samoa Joe multiple times. That killed Joe’s credibility instantly and in my opinion, he never recovered. Bryan Danielson was just in the Main Event of Wrestlemania against Edge & Roman Reigns… Why have him defeat your company’s World Champion immediately? No, Kenny Omega has to win this to firmly show that AEW’s champion can defeat a man who gave Roman Reigns a strong fight.

Whether it’s in New York or not, AEW is burning through a big match-up and that’s what they need to sell for Pay Per Views.

So just chill… Until the next episode!

Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments.

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ASK TITO: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel, NXT 2.0, Samoa Joe, Ric Flair, Tommy Dreamer, and More