No time to waste this week! Let’s dive right into the mailbag and see what you all have for us!
Dustin N kicks us off with…”When will we see more XPW inductions? That entire promotion was pure Wrestlecrap.”
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but we keep a giant spreadsheet of potential inductions, squashes, and ICFYTs. I don’t remember a lot about XPW to be honest, but as always, if you can give me specific examples (and if you have links to videos it’s a huge help!), I will definitely get those on the list.
Rob N continues on that track with…”Has RPW (Real Pro Wrestling) ever been inducted?”
No, not sure what that even is. As a reminder, our general rule is that we don’t induct things that are essentially indy promotions, not sure if that falls into that category or not, but as noted above, hit me up with links and we can add it to our to do list.
Craig B wants to know…”How do you feel about WWE going head to head with practically every AEW pay-per-view? Personally, I think it’s petty as hell and they should be shamed for it.”
Every time I see them do something like this, I think about when Vince made a ridiculous comment on some documentary years back about how Ted Turner would “steal” his talent by outbidding him and then say the WWF would always just try to do their best without hurting the other guy. Then of course the WWF would do everything they could think of to hurt the other guy as much as possible. All that said, it’s competition, and competition makes everything better. AEW just did a giant PPV number with All In Texas and why was that? It was because they did a looooong term storyline that got folks invested. Everyone wanted to see the end of Mox’s title reign and it paid off. Think back to WCW’s biggest show ever, where Eric did the same with Sting and Hogan. It’s all about getting folks hooked. Remember that WWE put THREE shows on the same weekend as All In Texas and it didn’t seem to hurt AEW that much. The thing that will hurt AEW the most isn’t WWE – it’s AEW itself. They have to stay focused on giving folks stories and characters the audience gets into. Not doing that is the biggest threat, because in a lot of ways it feels like WWE and AEW have two entirely different fan bases.
Mr. Anonymous asks…”You’ve probably got a ton of questions on this, but will the Raja Jackson incident be eligible for a Gooker nomination as it took place in a ring in front of an audience, but is so unfunny and unpleasant that it would be essentially a similar situation to Eddiesploitation where it just wouldn’t be fun to write.”
I don’t think I want to get anywhere near that one. I could play the ‘no indy inductions’ card, but honestly, it’s just kind of something I don’t think folks would find a lot of humor in so safe to say it won’t be up for the Gooker this year.
Frazer S wants us to see him with…”Does John Cena’s retirement match being on Saturday Night’s Main Event make it feel less special?”
Honestly, it feels far less special than if it were at a WrestleMania. It’s honestly kinda strange they aren’t doing it at Mania. But I guess the feeling is that folks are paying $20,000 or whatever to go to that show then what’s the difference? Use the Cena retirement to either help a new partner or counter AEW. When you’re on fire as WWE is currently, it doesn’t really matter what’s on what shows. In time it will, though. In time it will.
Arya W ponders…”What’s your favorite angle or character ever inducted?”
Due to recency bias, it may be Skinner. Still can’t believe he told us in his intro vignettes he was planning on literally carving people with a knife. Thinking a bit more deeply though, it’ might be the Dustin Rhodes character Se7en. As I was writing that one, I had a line about how folks blame Vince Russo for that, but I said if it was a Russo creation, the pale horse would have been called the “baloney pony.” No idea why that made me laugh so hard, but I called Blade in tears howling at it, and soon he was too. It’s sophomoric humor and to this day I STILL am laughing. And since Russo is now a friend of mine, it’s all the better. I created WrestleCrap to make my friends laugh, and it’s very cool I’ve made so many new ones along the way.
And honestly, I can’t top that as a door closer for the mailbag. Keep those questions coming and I’ll keep answering them!