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Right now, everyone is trying to predict what will happen for Royal Rumble 2025, Wrestlemania 41, and what’s next for the Bloodline. Will the OG Bloodline fully reunite with Roman, Usos, and Roman (maybe Sami) or will the Rock be behind the Solo version of the Bloodline the entire time? How does WWE Champion Cody Rhodes factor into this?

For me, I have zero critiques of the WWE Creative process right now and I trust where the Triple H led faction is heading under the Endeavor/TKO banner and life-without-Vince McMahon.

That says a lot about Triple H because I was VERY critical of his Talent Relations EVP work from mid-2012 through early 2020 and his EVP of Creative work from late 2013 through the Fall of 2019. Wrote many, many columns about it. Gee, as it turns out, those tenures that Triple H had during the 2010s presided over a DECLINING WWE who was only lucky that USA Network subscriptions were also declining so they’d pay a higher price for live sports content.

Facts about most of the 2010s WWE:

• TV viewership declined, particularly after early 2015 when Roman’s bigger push began.

• Live Attendance began to decline, particularly when John Cena began leaving the road (WWE gave refunds for various shows he was advertised on)

• Merchandise began to fall, particularly as John Cena left the company. Cena actually remained the #1 merchandise seller until Roman finally caught Cena’s declining numbers after 2015.

• WWE Network subscriptions fluctuated, often when Roman was overpushed for a particular quarter or set of quarters. Then, WWE would have to bring Roman Reigns back and try someone else to defeat him. Rollins couldn’t get over beating Lesnar, for example.

Do you see the common theme of my criticisms of the WWE during the 2010s, particularly the latter half and the ACTUAL F’N DATA?!? WWE was making the wrong talent and creative decisions, period. Creative was all over the place and depushed everybody but Roman, Rollins, and Lesnar while Triple H could not manufacture a main eventer from NXT that he personally signed. WWE during the late 2010s was entirely dependent on the OVW and FCW signed talent to pull the wagon.

BUT – Since August 2020 when they FINALLY turned Roman Reigns heel just as his experience level was ready and then placing him with Paul Heyman (biggest influence on Roman) and ESPECIALLY since June 2022 when Vince McMahon “retired” the first time to allow an EXPERIENCED Triple H to return to the helm, WWE is highly entertaining again. I look forward to each event and honestly don’t care if I see a mindblowing match. What matters is the BOOKING LEADING UP TO THE MATCH and the RESULT of the match. Go re-watch that ending to Royal Rumble 2023 and tell me that’s not the BEST finish to a Pay Per View ever (besides Hogan’s NWO heel turn from BATB 1996).

In addition to the Roman Reigns finally thriving, thanks to the heel turn and joining Paul Heyman, members of the Bloodline group or storyline are getting over. Both Usos matter as individual wrestlers now, particularly Jey Uso. Solo Sikoa could have taken years to get his WWE spot but he fit perfectly into the Bloodline. Sami Zayn was in the Jackass match at Wrestlemania 38 and lost, but his career gets saved when HHH places him in the Bloodline and uses him in a unique way. Zayn goes from getting pinned by Johnny Knoxville to winning the tag titles in 1 freakin’ year. Then, Cody Rhodes and the Rock get heavily involved and we have the GREATEST Wrestlemania of all time with #41. Sorry, but I HATE that ending of Wrestlemania 17.

Then, look at all of the veterans thriving or finding second winds under HHH… Obviously Cody, but Seth Rollins has been nothing but great with the return of HHH. I thought Lesnar had one of his best runs during 2023 with Cody. CM Punk has returned, made amends with Triple H, and is thriving in his culture. Took a while, but Drew McIntyre found himself and is KILLING IT during 2024! Kevin Owens and Randy Orton matter on the WWE roster.

And remember my criticisms of Triple H as a Talent Relations EVP? Ehhhhh, he was kinda right on Gunther. That said, kudos to Vince McMahon for the name change and convincing him to shed just a few pounds. He’s done nothing but thrive since becoming Gunther. WWE doesn’t want to admit it yet, but Gunther is going to get a HUGE win over Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 41 and probably Bill Goldberg along the way.

Then you look at all of the younger wrestlers… Look at Dominik Mysterio. Guy does nothing but thrive under HHH’s booking and same with the ladies who are with him. Rhea Ripley is a great talent, no doubt, but she needed something for her character and Dominik was that medicine. Same with Liv Morgan, whom Triple H told us for YEARS she was a star. Nobody believed him and BOOM, character adjustment to make her a heel and more sexy than before, money is being printed. NXT’s culture has been repaired with some positive influences, both Triple H and HBK becoming better at their jobs, and a better overall culture that once you join the WWE, you’ll have the best of chances to succeed like never before.

The one thing that Triple H has always did great was empower women. You can tell he’s a girl dad, but he has taken athletes from around the country, taught them how to work thanks to an excellent trainer named Sara Del Ray, and now, they are thriving with better creative opportunities. Fact is that Vince McMahon has issues with women, as seen by lawsuits, NDAs, and other allegations. Triple H is the opposite, as he’s a proud married man and has nothing but utter respect for his female co-workers. They are thriving and he treats them like they are his own kids.

Think about this for a moment with the WWE culture… Go watch the WWE Hall of Fame before Wrestlemania and then watch night #2 of Wrestlemania 40. Stephanie sat ringside, front and center, for the Hall of Fame speech and when Paul Heyman put her over bigtime, the entire crowd popped with praise for her and what she’s likely been through with family. Then, the popped for Triple H… Night #2 began with Stephanie McMahon saluting the Philadelphia crowd before the show and you can see that confidence back in her eyes again. Watch this video of Triple H showing pride in Stephanie as she addresses the Night #2 crowd. That’s a good man, right there, and the RIGHT guy to lead the WWE right now.

Folks, I’m heading into my 26th year as a columnist named Mr. Tito. First thing that I covered was WCW’s Halloween Havoc 1998, which was the show with the terrible Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior match though DDP vs. Goldberg was great (if you saw it, damn show went over and cable companies cut it short).

I was there for the continued climb of the WWE’s peak years of the Attitude Era and WCW not knowing what to do next after the New World Order storyline and putting the WCW Title on Bill Goldberg. Thus, in my early years, I probably came off as a WWE “mark” and a WCW “hater”, at least that’s what my threatening emails said. That said, I was pretty excited when Vince Russo joined WCW as head writer during late 1999 and I enjoyed those shows, though I thought reforming the NWO was a tad desperate.

Let’s head into the year 2000, though… WCW gave us an unorganized mess with a Kevin Sullivan (RIP) led creative committee after Russo was was released, depleted its talent roster (letting Jericho go during 1999, letting Benoit/Eddie/Malenko/Saturn go during early 2000) By the time both Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff returned, they had a depleted roster and tried desperate things to create shock value. Obviously, it didn’t work, but the Titanic already had hit the Iceberg during late 1998 anyway. Veteran wrestler salaries were too high and guaranteed, while Bischoff’s new WCW set and rebranding of the company’s logo was a failure. Sort of in the words of Scotty from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, WCW was “dead already” by the time Vince Russo returned during the Spring of 2000. AOL/Time Warner was in their right mind to cancel that money losing wrestling company’s television contract.

WWE hit its peak during 2000… Wrestlemania 16 sucked, besides the 3 way ladder match. “McMahon in every corner”. Then, having to watch 2 hours of RAW and now 2 hours of Smackdown plus 12 freakin’ Pay Per Views, the WWE blew through all of its big matches quickly. When Steve Austin returned, he returned to a changed WWE and he was never the same… Turning him heel was botched at Wrestlemania 17, but the WCW invasion was a complete cluster as led by the new head writer of the WWE Creative Team, Stephanie McMahon.

Look at viewership, attendance, merchandise sales, and pop culture influence from mid-2000 through 2004, it declined for the WWE. Hence why I was more critical of the WWE than ever, particularly of that awful RAW brand where Triple H mowed through everybody and was unstoppable as a dominant heel champion. Smackdown was fun, but Paul Heyman had creative clashes with Vince and Stephanie and he was out by early 2004. Then Smackdown really began to decline, particularly by 2005 when RAW began to receive the better talent.

But John Cena saved it… Business grew with him as the #1 draw during 2005, 2006, and would have kept growing had it not been for Chris Benoit stuff during June 2007. Took WWE about a year and a half to get over that hangover, along with cleaning up its promotions for drug use and bad concussion procedures, and WWE was growing again by 2009. Then, many wrestlers took steps back from full-time to part-time (Undertaker, HHH) and several began retiring or leaving (Christian, Edge, Chris Jericho, Batista). Cena had to carry the promotion on his back during those lean years with Sheamus and the green NXT/Nexus wrestlers and that’s when the unfair “Super Cena” attacks came, which I fought back against as an older yet wiser wrestling fan. “Gotta have good dance partners”, which is why the CM Punk stuff through Money in the Bank 2011 was so excellent.

POINT BEING, when your company is CLEARLY DECLINING, I am going to present my opinion and be critical of it. However, if it grows and causes me to second-guess or suspend disbelief on storylines and/or appreciate the growing opportunities for everyone on the roster, and the business is CLEARLY INCREASING, then I’ll be less critical of it. See how that works?

In summary…

WWE was growing during 1998-2000, I was less critical and enjoyed their product. Mid-2000 through 2004, very hit or miss as a promotion and business declined, hence I was critical. 2005 through 2006 was pretty solid, to be honest. I enjoyed what I saw before I took my 3-year hiatus from the late Summer of 2006 through early 2010. I was very critical of the WWE during the 2010s, particularly from 2015 when WWE tried to push an inexperienced Roman Reigns to become a John Cena clone. But then, WWE fixes Roman during August 2020 and Triple H assumes the mantle again with experience and lessons learned, and WWE has been largely enjoyable to me for the past 4 years.

What about All Elite Wrestling (AEW)?

Well… I probably looked the other way during 2019, hoping they’d become a competitor and I truly liked what Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley did that year. I was kind of questioning what they EVPs were doing with their characters and then the Dark Order and Nightmare Collective gets unleashed to embarrass the company during late 2019. I had some worries, but I had some optimism too because WWE was releasing wrestlers and maybe that could create opportunities for talent.

2020 rolled around and I personally thought AEW, at first, handled the COVID-19 era better than the WWE. Their shows were a little more exciting than the crowd-less WWE shows at the Performance Center. Jericho, I thought, did a great job as the initial AEW World Champion and I thought Jon Moxley handled the duty well during 2020. And then Kenny Omega wins the title and just that whole stuff with the TNA crossovers left me with a bad taste. Kenny wasn’t a good champion during 2021 and didn’t quite represent what he once was in New Japan during the 2010s. A step was clearly loss, though I wish him great health in these recent times.

Then, the other WWE released wrestlers began to debut… Miro with a pink Mickey Mouse shirt and being a “best man” for a wedding. Matt Hardy’s disappearing acts… And many more, as many of those wrestlers quickly realized that the “grass wasn’t greener on the other side”.

The CM Punk brought some life to AEW during 2021 and early 2022, but he just seemed off… Seemed a little older, a big slower inside the ring, and lacking the strength he once had. He was prone to injury and that would cause him outages later. But then, the jealous EVPs in both the Young Bucks and their cult following backstage (Hangman Page and other flunkies) began to go off-script during television shows and spreading lies to the AEW propaganda minister, Dave Meltzer. With a wimpy trust-fund baby of an AEW company president named Tony Khan, he held NOBODY accountable for their actions and that prompted a thin-skinned CM Punk to take matters into his own hands. The All-Out 2022 Media Scrum saw Punk crapping all over AEW publicly and then instead of holding meetings to discuss employee issues, the EVP Young Bucks decide to charge into Punk’s locker room for a fight.

1 year later, this CM Punk stuff is hanging over AEW’s head and when it returns, it’s on a different AEW show and then everything blew up at All In 2023 in London. Tony, instead of assuming any accountability himself, terminates CM Punk and he gets to join WWE without any non-compete clause. Amazing… AEW’s roster starts falling apart with injuries and begins to really decline, completely exposing how uncreative Tony Khan is with a weaker roster. Give Paul Heyman that roster, he’ll make it spit gold.

Tony Khan’s response to AEW’s decline after botching CM Punk’s run was to overpay for veteran free agents such as Adam Copeland (Edge) in his 50s, Mercedes Mone-ay (Sasha Banks) who isn’t as motivated, Okada who appears to be past his NJPW prime or is being used poorly, and Will Ospreay whom the AEW propaganda minister Dave Meltzer rates highly with his stars but cannot show us the merchandise sales or the tickets sold to prove how truly great Will is. Now, the next gimmick that Tony might try is bringing in Shane McMahon. Go ahead, see if he’ll tear another quad tendon trying to show everyone that he can wrassle.

All power to AEW for getting a nice contract from Warner Bros. Discovery for something between $150 to $185 million per year. Congrats… But remember, a declining WWE scored nice television deals during 2019, too, even though their viewership and popularity in North America was clearly declining. Getting money out of a desperate Cable/Satellite channel network has become the norm, as channels like TNT and TBS are NOT getting the viewership in the re-run market or re-airing movies. Streaming services are KILLING them on that. Thus, ESPN has to overpay for NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB, TNT has to overpay for MLB/NCAA basketball/NHL, and now Amazon and NBC just overpaid for the NBA. Warner Bros. Discovery backed out of paying $2.5 billion annually because they have $45 BILLION in Debit right now. Thus, paying up to $185 million per year is a lot cheaper and probably profitable to WBD than paying $2.5 billion per year.

BUT – Facts still remain for AEW through October 2024:

• Viewership keeps declining and is beginning to be consistently below 700,000 (yikes)

• North American live audiences are way down, as filling any 4,000 seat arena is a true struggle.

• Pay Per View buys are getting lower… Uh oh.

• Merchandise has been declining since Punk left

Those are called “economic indicators” and those are aligning with my critical opinions about AEW.

Just like the DECLINING indicators matched up when I was ripping WCW during the late 1990s and early 2000s, WWE from mid-2000 through 2004, and then the latter half of 2010s.

Facts matter…

Now, I know there will be a fellow NoDQ columnist named J.P. Tokusen, a big AEW fan and LOVER of commenting on my columns, will go berserk and will not only flood my comments section with pro-AEW propaganda (while ignoring the facts that I presented), but he’ll likely write a response column where he’ll mooch off my name once again.

Instead, J.P…. Look in the mirror. Why are you so frustrated when you defend AEW to other wrestling fans? Why are you so mad? Why are you so passive aggressive towards other wrestling fans who don’t share an opinion that is perfectly exact with yours?

LOOK AT THE FACTS… Viewership, DOWN, attendance, DOWN, Pay Per View buys, DOWN, Merchandise sales, DOWN… Nobody cares about them on Social Media, other than bashing them and AEW propaganda ministers trying to fight back. Nobody cares about their YouTube channel after a big debut, as each debuting wrestler quickly becomes “one of the guys”.

Furthermore, marks like YOU and AEW propaganda minister Dave Meltzer ignore WHY AEW is failing. They are failing because they LACK the infrastructure to succeed as a wrestling company.

You need the following:

(1) Strong ownership who holds people accountable

(2) Strong Talent/Creative Manager who is fair and uplifting to its talent.

(3) Good supporting road agents or other executives

(4) Well trained roster who are empowered to entertain.

WWE has Endeavor now, very strong ownership who has printed money off of UFC for years. Look at those ABSURD television deals they have now. Holy cow… Triple H is a strong talent and creative manager, thanks to years of experience. HHH empowers direct report managers to be creative and help other talent succeed (HBK is thriving!). Lots of great road agents and WWE executives/senior management supporting everything now in a post-Vince world. WWE’s roster is STACKED and has years of depth to push through with younger wrestlers on the way up.

Let’s take a look at AEW… Oh boy, the owner is Tony’s dad and he’s not holding Tony accountable, even as AEW reportedly loses money. Tony is failing at creative and I’d argue the Talent Relations is also week, especially when it’s the EVP Young Bucks who are scouting and encouraging the signings of talent. AEW has actually lost a bunch of trusted backstage hands over the years, so I’d say #3 is now negative. Well trained roster? Lots of injuries occur and too much reliance on dare-devil stuff rather than slowing things down with psychology to connect better with fans rather than a constant sugar high. Wrestlers are either too old or are missing charisma, promo skills, and other intangibles that make wrestlers get over BESIDES the in-ring stuff.

Jim Ross is RIGHT THERE and under AEW contract. He built that WWE roster with the farm system model and WWE uses it to this very day. If Tony Khan and the immature EVPs aren’t picking that man’s brain or empowering him with a fully trained staff to implement a better system, they will never win and that roster will be too reliant on free agency and not wrestlers who can be coached up.

Hypothetically, if AEW begins significantly growing during 2025 and the data shows it, I’ll praise them. Hey, there’s something good going on here…

Conversely, let’s say WWE somehow gets worse in 2025… Well, I’ll negative comments about them.

If you think that I’m a “WWE mark” or am too “pro-WWE”, then I implore you to find my Lords of Pain columns from 2000-2004 and 2010-2020 to see how favorable I am to WWE. And I was holding Vince McMahon accountable for any bad actions that he did, such as lacking a Wellness Policy, deaths of wrestlers, and felt that many of his on-screen choices were disgusting and immoral. And again, I quit watching his product from June 2007 through early 2010 because his Wellness Policy was a joke and Benoit, and others, were easily obtaining performance enhancers and using them freely.

FINGER OF SHAME if you even dare press that “Easy Button” to call me a “WWE Mark”.

Boy, I have 26 YEARS of covering pro wrestling to prove that I am an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HATER of any professional wrestling promotion. I call it right down the middle and always have. Ask many readers who are still with me for all of these years. THEY KNOW.

Why do I even bring up AEW?

Because they REFUSE to look at history. “Those who cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it”, George Santayana once wrote.

You cannot be a company manager AND be a mark for the boys. Eric Bischoff found that out during November 1996 when he decided to foolishly join the NWO and let the on-screen ego trip begin. Slowly but surely, the wheels began to fall off during 1997 with very loose creative and lots of expensive contracts being signed. By 1998, Eric’s ego had blown up and he refused to evolve his product, keeping himself and Hulk Hogan in the spotlight. By early 1999, he just repeated 1998’s mistake with the NWO still around with Hogan and Bischoff there on top.

I personally thought Vince Russo‘s downfall during 2000 was when he got too involved with the on-screen product as his own character rather than empowering other wrestlers instead. Made himself freakin’ WCW World Champion.

Dixie Carter was a total mark for the boys in TNA and an easy pushover.

I would actually argue Triple H believed in the hype of many of his NXT wrestlers from the 2010s, but then Vince would just look at them when called-up and say “really?”. You want Finn Balor as a HEAVYWEIGHT champion? You’re getting too close to your NXT guys, Hunter.

Again, I’ve done this for 26 freakin’ years. I know my facts and I know my history. You don’t, which is why you hate seeing the truth when I post it. How do you like them apples?