Welcome back to the first installment of The Mop-Up for 2024, I’m your host, the one and the only, Chris Hyatte. 2024 is off to a hell of a start in the world of professional wrestling, with two weeks in a row of back to back competition from all three major wrestling organizations. As always, I’m here to look back on the week that was!
WWE Raw (1.8.24)
A night of surprises led to BWM Inc.’s first direct head to head competition loss, with WWE Raw edging out AEW Dynamite by just under 10,000 viewers. A statistical tie for all intents and purposes, but a victory for the company nevertheless.
It’s hard to deny the WWE’s momentum under Murrey, who kicked off Raw announcing the wrestling industry will never die (sentiments echoed by BWM Inc’s promo video for our upcoming PPV, Genesis.) It seems fitting that Murrey, the man who created it all, reiterated that despite Mickey’s rehashing the should-be-tired storyline of the self-imploding company and his promise to kill the business, the only company that’s in danger of going extinct here is the third-rated PWI (but more on that later.)
As if that wasn’t enough of a reason to get hyped, Murrey announces that we’ve got three debuting legends tonight (legends are free game for all three companies, after the World of Wrestling recently established rules on new, rookie talents). Murrey’s promo is interrupted by his ringing cell phone, which he ignores stating it’s probably an HCW main eventer trying to get a contract. (As if ‘HCW main eventers’ even exist.) In all of the discussion surrounding the WWE’s blockbuster week, no one seems to be focusing on this phone call. Sure, it could have been a throwaway line to poke fun at the HCW, but I’ve got the feeling that if we pulled that thread a bit, we’d see there’s something up Murrey’s sleeve.
Next, we cut to the backstage, where we see the newest addition to WWE’s ever-growing Celebrity Wing, the one and only Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). In what immediately becomes an iconic duo, the Good Doc is seen injecting a magical elixir that he created in his lab into the ass cheek of yet another new signing, Ryback! The crowd is stunned, and I must admit, in 30+ years as a wrestling fan, I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. And I mean that in the best of ways. This pairing is going to be a massive ratings draw for the WWE, mark my words. Ryback then debuts against the Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock, and the elixir proves effective as the Big Guy captures the gold in his first match with the company!
We come back from commercial break and the ring is decked out for the new talk show hosted by Johnny Lawrence (who some improperly still believe is a fictional character portrayed by William Zabka) called The Dojo. Love it already. (As an aside, we need more of this in pro-wrestling. Sure, Hash has 4:20, but let’s be honest, it’s a shell of what it once was and the gimmick has ran its course.) His guest is the WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Lawrence wants to know who McIntyre is going to defend his title against at the Royal Rumble, and McIntyre drops some hints mentioning various Warriors. Murrey’s back out and says he made a promise and he’s going to deliver, and we see Batista debut. He’s in the best shape of his career. I’ve always been a low-key Batista fan, so it’s nice to see him in a main event picture after being absent for most of this era. But, that’s not all! We also get the debut of The Rock (who I’ve got on good authority was released from the AEW by Sami Zayn as a gesture of good will to Murrey). Rock and Lawrence have some magic on the mic, and it looks like we’re getting a three-way at the Rumble for the WWE title.
In the main event, the WWE’s first-round draft pick in 2023, The Viking Raiders, successfully defended their tag titles against The New Day, Street Profits, and Strowman & Ricochet. After the match, the Raiders grab a microphone and call out the team of Nakamura and Kushida. The Street Profits, with the assistance of Bobby Lashley, attack the champions before the shocking arrival of the Ultimate Warrior, who comes to the save of the champs! (More on this later)
Overall thoughts: Jeff Murrey is at his best right now, performing at a level not seen since the LWF. The man who created the world (of wrestling) is showcasing that after 30 years, he’s still atop the world and shows no signs of letting up. His critics will say he can’t keep this momentum up, and that there are only so many surprises he can pull out of his sleeves, but thus far his critics have been wrong. Murrey’s momentum is undeniable, and the critics need to suck it up and admit it.
PWI The Wrestling Show (1.8.24)
Boy, PWI has always had the most creative show names, let me tell ya! (eye roll) We kick the show off with a Premier Athlete Tournament Quarter Finals match with Lance Archer and Mystico. We get a rafter’s match, and though it’s the first one since last season, there are only so many ways a match like this can go, and they’re limited because once you fall off the platform, you’re done. Personally I’d like to see this match only utilized when it makes sense from a storyline perspective, but that’s just me. Mystico advances after a four minute match.
Backstage, we see the PWI tag team champions of both divisions discussing Mickey’s announcement that the men and the women will unify the belts. Mr. Perfect and Mr. Kennedy show up and offer to help the ladies out by entering the match on their behalf. I don’t have a lot of feeling on this, other than I suppose I should just keep my mouth shut since I have begged for fewer titles for years, and now that I’m getting what I wanted I shouldn’t be so nitpicky about the possibility of male on female violence. You know me, just a whiny social justice warrior…
Spears and Cardona are in the back, and Cardona trips Spears as he walks by. In a meandering promo, Cardona shits on Spears’ lack of success under Murrey Entertainment. Spears says Murrey didn’t see anything in him, and Cardona says he did, but he talked him out of it. I am a big fan of these two individually, but this segment was just okay for me, dawg. Cardona laughs at Spears’ loss to Dragonfly (which did hurt him, if we’re being honest) and the two break into a brawl that sees Cardona get the upper hand.
LA Knight and Karrion Kross run into one another, and I’m sad to see that Knight’s star has fallen so far since his initial debut. He came in with all the momentum in the world, and even though he’s still a favorite to to win the Premier Athlete Tournament thanks to his placement in the semi-finals, he’s definitely cooled off since he came in and immediately won the Immunity and Extreme Championships. Knight cuts a promo that’s weirdly heelish, and Kross challenges him to an Extreme Championship match next week on Mayhem. Knight ends it with a “sike!” after a proposed handshake. (It’s as if the top brass are intentionally making him look less cool at this point. *facepalm*)
Next we get a Massacre 6 match with the women, which Charlotte Flair wins. I’ve got no complaints. I love the women’s division (for the most part), I love the stipulation, and the right woman won. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Backstage, Teo and Attitude agree with me that they’ve not done much of importance since losing the tag belts. It sucks, because these two are coming off a hot period in their careers, and those hot periods are always unfortunately followed by a cool-down. It’s just the nature of the business. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, as I’m not sure anyone’s necessarily clamoring for another feud between the two, and Teo technically never got his world title rematch that he should have gotten literally years ago. They announce they’re going to try to get a rematch for the titles.
Dragonfly confronts Ted DiBiase. He’s upset because DiBiase promised him the world, and he feels DiBiase isn’t living up to his promises. Dragonfly says he’s the only thing that matters in the wrestling business, and says DiBiase is washed up and can’t let go of the past. Dragonfly says all he sees is the members of the Million Dollar Corporation falling left and right. He wants answers from DiBiase, and he wants him to prove his worth. (I’m digging this version of the story we’ve seen once before, although it’s pretty hilarious that DiBiase is able to parlay himself into a main event storyline after all these years. The man knows what he’s doing!)
Backstage, Aidan English is hysterical as he stands in front of his broken table. The Hurricane shows up and wants to know if he needs help from a hero. Aidan wants to be left alone. He can’t get any air time on TV, and when he does, he gets put through a table. Plus, Lumis keeps stalking him. Hurricane tries to console him, but Aidan’s turnaround is short lived as Lumis shows up and the scene ends with English screaming, “Just leave me alone!” (It’s like a modern day Edge/CM Punk feud. I don’t hate it, and this was probably English’s best efforts since leaving Murrey Entertainment.)
Next, we get a tag team match with The Young Bucks taking on International Incident (Miro & Barrett). The Young Bucks were at one time the most sought-after tag team in the industry, but they’ve cooled considerably in that time, recently losing to International Incident and also just disappearing for weeks at a time. I have it on good authority that the bookers in PWI “just forget about them” at times, and honestly, it shows. Here’s to hoping that turns around for the Bucks, because they’re an incredible tag team. The Bucks pull off a win in the rematch, and if PWI can remember to book them, maybe we’ll see some more of them in 2024.
We get a promo for Armageddon 4, and then we cut to Granddaddy Duxen and Petey Williams in the backstage arguing about the tournament. Williams hits him with a fresh insult calling him old, and Duxen tells Williams he needs to take a bath. Williams says he doesn’t like to beat up the elderly, but he wants to win the last tournament just like he won the first. Nothing offensive here, and it furthers the tournament storyline.
Randy Orton is out, and he’s upset that Mickey worked so hard to get him in the company only for Dragonfly and Mickey to hold him down. He says Dragonfly serves himself, and he intends to keep Dragonfly from hitting 500 days as champion. He calls out Dragonfly, but instead we cut to Mickey who is in an undisclosed location that’s definitely not his throne room (spoiler: it’s his throne room.) Mickey says it’s true he sought Orton, but not because he wanted him for his talents, but because he wanted to make a mockery of the first EWA World Champion. Mickey says he’s still in control of the company and the industry (though the ratings prove otherwise) and that Orton represents everything he hates about the industry: i.e. winning and his competition. He calls out the EWA/AEW and even WWE. He says he’s the God of Death in pro wrestling, and he’ll use the Ultimate weapon to dispose of Orton. We cut back to ringside and the lights go out, and suddenly it’s the ULTIMATE WARRIOR! Warrior becomes the first of the era to seemingly appear in two places at once (again, more on that momentarily) Warrior lays out Orton, as it looks as if the Viper has another obstacle on his march towards Dragonfly. Good shit here, truly. If this is really Mickey’s swan song, it’s going about as well as it could go. The only way it could go better is if Mickey starts backing up his insults with some ratings victories.
In a bit of a cool down from the real main event we just saw, Becky Lynch retains her Women’s Championship against Sharon Carter and Liv Morgan thanks in part to Ruby Riott.
The show ends with the PWI Logo, only for us to get a post-credit vignette with the Cult of Bliss approaching Finn Balor. Bliss says that the only way to revive Bray Wyatt is with a sacrifice. I won’t dig too much into why Balor is standing next to a massive open flame, hell, maybe that’s just what he does in his down time? Who am I to say? I’m not here to kink shame. They say Balor isn’t worthy, but the Fiend wants him. They tell Balor it’s too late to run, and he needs to Let Him In, which is coincidentally the same thing I tell my wife on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The show ends with the Firefly Funhouse logo.
Overall thoughts: A solid outing from PWI, who despite their third place ratings position has managed to close the gap week over week in the first few head to head contests of 2024. A few issues with pacing, but truly, a good effort. We’ll see if they can maintain that momentum with HCW Asylum next week, which has traditionally been a weaker product since being reintroduced last year season by Ted Brown.
WWE NXT (1.9.24)
Murrey kicks off the show denying the allegations that he enlisted the Gold’s Gym bodybuilder Flex Fuller to impersonate the Ultimate Warrior. He then makes it official: At the Rumble, Drew McIntyre will defend the WWE title against The Rock and Batista!
Backstage, Lexis King tells his pro Drew McIntyre that he’s going to prove his worth tonight by defending the NXT title, and says Drew should do the same by putting his WWE title on the line against the Ultimate Warrior*!
King manages to retain the NXT title against Kushida, who will join Nakamura in challenging the Viking Raiders for the tag titles at the Rumble. I’m a big fan of King thus far, as he’s already found more success in the business than his father Brian Pillman did in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Backstage, Gargano promised to win his wife back by studying Austin Theory, who is cool and collected. The camera cuts as we see Gargano heading towards Candice’s locker room. (Theory and Gargano have the potential to be ones of the most fun acts of 2024, and this weird cucking storyline has me oddly excited to see how it all plays out!)
Whatever may or may not have transpired in Gargano’s attempts to make contact with his estranged wife didn’t seem to help him much, as “Mr. Wrestling” was unable to topple Butch thanks in part to assistance from his pro Sheamus. It should be noted that Theory was not at ringside to support Gargano as the plot continues to thicken like Candice’s GYATT.
In the highly anticipated main event, Drew McIntyre faced the Ultimate challenge when he defeated the Ultimate Warrior. And by that I mean Johnny Lawrence dressed as the Ultimate Warrior. After the match, Zabka grabs a mic and says that he’s come to a realization. For the longest time, he’s just been playing a role. He is, not, in fact, the Ultimate Warrior… his real name is… Johnny Lawrence. LMAO. (How is it possible that William Zabka is legitimately one of the biggest draws in wrestling in this, the year of our Lord 2024?!?)
Murrey’s music hits and he screams for them to “get him!” as Lawrence quickly gets into a dramatic karate pose, ready to wax on and wax off all his foes. Instead, he’s dismantled by Ryback, Curtis Axel, Hook, and Flex Fuller as we see the formation of Murrey’s Misfits to close the show!
Overall thoughts: How does Murrey keep doing this?!? One blockbuster show after the other. At this point, we critics need to admit that Murrey could make gold out of a roster made of literal shit, because he’s created more stars this era than MMouse Enterprises and BWM Inc. have perhaps combined! Maybe HCW should enlist Murrey’s help to make something of note from the HCW’s roster? Good shit. I’ll be back next week!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 