Hello everyone and surprise! I am back before Sunday with a new installment of Wrestling with Lenny! In fact, this is the 19th Installment on the 19th day of the year! Woo hoo!
Anyways, I have decided to change things up a little. As long as there continues to be consistent content to discuss, I will continue to post MULTIPLE times each week! Fun, huh?
Yep, thought so. So, as part of this shake-up, I am going to deviate from the Top Ten today so as to specifically review and offer predictions for AEW and WWE!
Alright, let’s get started.
The Reviews
AEW:
- Athena Star and Angelina Love most certainly piqued my interest this past Monday. I was impressed with the incredible performance by Star in her warm-up against Bayley, but the way that AEW is treating the PWI legend in Angelina really warms my heart. Star respects her as an equal in helping revolutionizing the industry for women, and I am not offended at all that she didn’t note Amazon’s contributions. Why? Well, Amazon’s story has been told for the past 25 years that she has been a central figure, and she has already had her dream matches with Star. This will definitely be a match of the night when it happens, but more on this later under the predictions!
- Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan again seized the moment as Nash came in to lecture Hulk about stealing the moment in their recent tag match. Hogan had done little to nothing before taking it upon himself to win the match for his buddies for no reason other than his own glory. Nash was irritated about this, but it appeared that Hogan was already emotional. Nash left out of frustration and we see that WWE gave AEW one of their top stars in Matt Riddle! Riddle has apparently corrupted Hulk by treating him to a new vitamin: the Vitamin Cannabis! Funny stuff, and I can already see that this is only going to add to the hilarity down the line!
- The Beat the Co…er, Clock Challenge got off to a start this past Monday with Kevin Owens and Bryan Danielson winning their respective matches in under 10 minutes. I have to admit that I wasn’t really feeling the concept with the first bout, but Danielson’s bout brought me around, and now I feel things will get extra interesting as the final two qualification matches are seen this Monday. Again, more on this later!
- I was genuinely shocked that Jurassic Express pulled off the victory over the Lucha Brothers. I shouldn’t have been surprised – especially since Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus were highly sought after by Megan in the draft this past summer when she nabbed them from the WWE roster -, but I also know that the Lucha Brothers are highly sought-after as well. Mickey drooled over the prospect of getting their contracts only to have them whisked away from under him. I don’t think this hurts Penta and Fenix too much, but I am curious as to how they will bounce back in this stacked tag division. Not looking promising.
- Yes, the biggest story of the evening and the primary reason that AEW reclaimed the top rating over WWE and HCW was the drama surrounding Benny, Splinter, and Sami Zayn. Splinter has been teasing since last week that a big revelation was coming about something that Benny and Zayn wanted to hide. In fact, Splinter claimed it was THE reason that Benny had Megan kidnapped back at Starrcade. Splinter was all ready to spill the beans before FUCKING MENOTAUR (not Mentaur, as so many of us had wrongly called him for decades) RETURNED TO ATTACK SPLINTER!! Reviving the classic rivalry between the rat and the horned beast was undoubtedly a little fan service with scandal sprinkled on it to help further suspend our discovery of what the hell Benny has been keeping from us, and it was gold. I NEED ANSWERS!! Can’t wait to see what happens Monday.
WWE:
- William Zabka is consistently the best thing about wrestling today, and it will take a lot to change my mind about that. The moment he awakes from this stupor will be the saddest day in entertainment. Seriously. The video package at the end of NXT this past Tuesday which made an appeal to “Johnny Lawrence” as some triumphant person who really exists and needs saving touched my heart and made me cry in laughter. Jesus Christ. I didn’t think we would be carrying on with this gold beyond the initial sign of insanity that we saw at Starrcade, but here we are, and I am loving every damn minute of it!
- A breath of fresh air in addition to Mr. Zabka has been the sudden creation of Murrey’s Misfits. Hook trying to inform everyone that Christopher Lloyd is not a real doctor absolutely killed me. Is everyone in WWE drinking lead? I mean, how else can we explain Zabka being convinced that he is Johnny Lawrence and everyone but Hook forgetting that Christopher Lloyd is an actor who played a mad scientist in a movie about time travel? LOL! Not only did I love this, but the Misfits were essentially formed as a knee-jerk reaction to the Flex Fuller/Ultimate Warrior snafu, and I am convinced that Murrey has firmly returned to a level of genius that we may have not seen from him since either the LWF or even the original WWF!
- I was very distraught over the trade after Starrcade which sent Austin Theory to WWE. Yes, I have to admit that I was a mark for him almost as much as I am a mark for MJF. His stuff with Johnny Gargano has been entertaining and definitely in keeping with Theory’s personality as a typical jock. Theory has entered into an affair with Candice LeRae (more on her in a second) and Gargano has been left in the dark as a blithering idiot following blindly behind the trail of the man sleeping with his estranged wife. There’s a few hilarious things about this: Gargano even said with his own words that he was betrayed by his wife, yet he – for some reason – remains oblivious to the fact that she is having affair with his “Pro”, and Gargano’s “Pro” actually came to the spotlight around a year AFTER Gargano. LMAO!
- It seems that my critique this past Sunday actually got through to Murrey and company…sort of. They certainly heard about my rant that their Women’s Division has become an afterthought, because they declared this past week that Candice “the Harlot” LeRae will challenge Asuka for the Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble. Why? Did she win a match to earn this? I guess that getting some championship seed shot into you Theoretically is enough to earn a shot. Hmmm. I am a little perplexed, but I shouldn’t complain too much. At least the women will get back into the picture, and I am confident that this match will deliver. It’s a step in the right direction.
- Finally, I just have to get this off of my chest: who the hell can take that title off of Drew McIntyre??? Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of Drew. Loved his tenure here in PWI (though, he definitely fell short of some expectations). He always gives us a great show in and around the ring, and his title reign has been very good. HOWEVER, I am seeing a major dilemma develop for Murrey’s company: Drew is running out of serious competitors. Maybe the Rumble will flesh this all out, but I am starting to doubt that anyone not named Drew will be the WWE champion before the end of the year! Time will tell.
The Predictions
- Logan Paul hosting this contract signing between Cody and MJF promises to be controversial, and I am predicting that this particular moment on the next Dynamite will serve the purpose of both building Cody’s match with MJF and setting the stage for Cody to feud next with Logan. It will be good all around!
- Despite my earlier misgivings about the Beat The Clock Challenge, I know that this is an intriguing concept which will be ripe with shocking upsets, and I am calling right now that Danielson’s inability to beat Kevin Owens’s time this past week will come back to haunt him, because I believe that the Dragon will shockingly not beat the time for one of the next mystery participants; thus costing Danielson a chance to challenge Styles …yet. The plot thickens!
- My final prediction of the week is that Candice LeRae will capitalize on her undeserved title shot by taking the WWE Women’s Title from Asuka on the 27th. Yes, it will be a good match, but I see more of a near-future push for LeRae than I do a title retention for a champion who we haven’t seen for quite some time.
That’s all for today! What will I write about on Sunday? Stay tuned!!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 