It has been a fair number of months since I last retched out one of these columns. Has the wrestling landscape changed in the interim? Yes. For the worse. Look, I'm not the kind of smart mark who makes a habit out of carping and grousing on the current state of pro rasslin', but certain failings are simply glaring. AEW won't make it out of this blurb unscathed either. At the very least, The Fed seems to be drawing impressive numbers and feathering its nest with dollars on top of dollars. The product is irrelevant, apparently.
On the subject of irrelevance, does it even matter who steps in as CEO? Vince still has creative control, scandals be damned. On the other network, the guy in charge is in over his head. Tony Khan's callow inexperience is bleeding through to both of his television shows. While I prefer AEW by an olympic mile, it can't be argued that the inflated roster is drowning in excess titles and a superfluity of tournaments. The fact that the All-Atlantic Championship is being contested in Japan should tell you something. Ask yourself; do you honestly care who wins the belt?
I understand that the recent rash of injuries hasn't helped anyone, but this should have been seen as an opportunity to focus on homegrown stars. The casual viewer isn't familiar enough with Hiroshi Tanahashi or Kazuchika Okada. Jay White and Will Ospreay are generational talents, but they're getting lost in the shuffle. Okay, I'm done bellyaching. In spite of what I deem as imperfections, I look forward to Wednesday nights. I fucking dread Monday nights. And then there are Friday nights. Goddamn. On the whole, Smackdown is watchable spurtz entertainment, but I cannot abide by Max Dupri's Male Model Cumporium, or whatever the fuck it's called. What happened here? What??? Happened???
Remember when Eli Drake had a credible future? 'Tis a pity. Right now, the most consistent promotion in the United States might be MLW. Note that I didn't say "best," but give it a looksee. MLW's flagship show is on YouTube, and mercifully, it only runs for an hour. Brevity is the soul of shi--er, wit. Brevity is the soul of wit.
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