Welcome to the first of two weekend Chris Hyatte columns; I’m sure all the “Chris Hyatte crybabies” will be relieved to see I’m expanding my workload, since we see the effect I have on the industry from behind these keys. Hell, I even got not one, but TWO shoutouts on WWE programming this week! But, we’ll talk more about that later, we’ve got a lot to cover this week so let’s Mop-Up!
WWE:
- The Chris Hyatte Crybabies: Last week, I must have touched a nerve with The Great One when I mentioned that if I were booking the shows, I’d have put him on Raw where he could have lifted the show to a ratings victory in head-to-head-to-head (cause there’s three shows, people, try to keep up) competition. This is after the rest of last week’s segment was totally glowing about The Rock, and the return of “Hollywood Rock” as a main stage attraction. Honestly, I don’t mind the hashtags and the tweets and the call-outs, because I really do think the WWE has gold with this character. The fact that the Rock ignores 90 percent praise and concentrates on the 10 percent negative is EXACTLY what makes his current run great! For the first time in a LONG time, the Rock is totally unleashed and himself. And now, he’s not only the WWE Champion, he’s making a compelling argument that he’s on the same levels as Dragonfly and AJ Styles. Sure, the Rock’s reign has been nowhere near as long yet, but it’s starting with a bang and he’s got nowhere to go but up. We could be talking about an All Time Great run, if WWE handles this correctly. Pretty amazing considering that three months ago, the Rock was sitting on the bench as a member of the AEW Roster.
- Fuck the Critics: The WWE this week totally rebelled against any criticisms they’ve gotten, past or present. I mentioned the Rock (who again showed up not on Raw, but NXT) above, but it wasn’t just the Rock feeling rebellious. WWE has often been criticized for its less than compelling booking of the women’s division, which in a time in which the PWI Women and the Knockouts have worked towards the continued legitimization of women’s wrestling, the WWE is out there pulling swerves with Lacey Evans beating up a lesbian with a vibrator. It’s so absurd and offensive that it’s honestly genius! It’s a great short-term pop and puts more eyes on the division than they’ve gotten to date. We went from having no women showcased to like five or six in a week, but WWE’s doing it in their own way. I’ve got no complaints, and I’m eagerly awaiting the follow-up.
- Murrey & his Misfits: This continues to be one of the most compelling stories in the industry, and this week, Jeff Murrey (perhaps the biggest misfit of them all) gave us a great contract signing segment that showcased Board Members Jake Roberts and Roddy Piper in their new hilarious roles, while giving Reed and King the rub from the ratings pop. It was a great idea to mix the two stories this week, because Reed and King came out of it better than they went in, and the increased exposure with Murrey’s drawing power gave them a chance to get more eyes on their feud. That’s not even mentioning all the other chaos the Misfits got into this week, but I’ll continue with that below.
- Doc Brown meets Johnny Lawrence: Short and sweet, the de-facto leader of the Misfits and the brains behind the operation met face to face with Johnny Lawrence, the hero of Cobra Kai. Brown offered Lawrence some magic potion, but Lawrence didn’t need the potion to kick Flex’s ass. What’s great is, he really didn’t, because he went 30 Minutes in the first of two Iron Man matches we saw this week. Not only to Lawrence go the distance, he won! It’s getting harder to deny that Lawrence might legitimately deserve a title shot with the momentum he’s mustered since his GoFundMe. Additionally, the continuation of the sub-plot with Lawrence and Ryback was pretty great too, with arson continuing to be a theme in the WWE as Ryback torched Lawrence’s beloved corvette. This isn’t over, not by a long shot, and I’m gonna love the eventual showcase between Ryback and Lawrence.
- Axel’s Last Stand: Man, was it a bad week for the Hennig boys, with Curtis Axel finally taking a stand against the Misfits only to get his ass kicked by the stable’s newest member, Elias! Axel’s been the stables sole voice of moral clarity for a while now, and he’s been on the age as his values conflict with the group’s actions. There’s been speculation from Lenny Mouse for a while now that Axel would want out of the group, and turns out Lenny finally got something right! (Can I just say how much I hate that twat? I guess I’m sorta like The Rock afterall, because I didn’t mind Lenny until he disgraced my name last week. Keep my name out your fuckin’ mouth, rodent!) It is interesting to see Elias join the stable, since the last time we saw him he was crying over a broken guitar and beatdown from the Misfits, but who knows, maybe he got some of Doc Brown’s elixir and saw the light??? Good shit, all around.
PWI:
- Mickey’s Mania: Mickey and Benny went head to head this week, both kicking off their respective shows with bouts of mania and signs that they’re losing their minds. Mickey and Executioner beat up Ted Brown after accusing him of playing mind games such as hacking into the smart controls in his house. I mean, I get it. If someone was messing with my thermostat from behind a screen or flickering my lights, I’d be pretty pissed too. This is a major misdirection from the boys down south, because I’m willing to bet that Ted Brown had no clue what the fuck Mickey was on about during the assault, because it wasn’t Ted Brown — it’s Bray Wyatt. Commentary all but confirmed this on Wednesday Night War when they provided a recap of how the Fiend has brought out the best of everyone he’s beaten. The Crock returns after 2 years and wins a championship, Finn Balor goes from being decimated to being the number one contender, and let’s not forget FRED’s revival after he warred with the Fiend. I have a new bold prediction after this week, and that’s that Mickey Mouse will end his career as a face, because Bray Wyatt is going to FIX him. Mickey is going to lose the Global Conflict war, and as a result I think we might see a few hints of goodness from him. Either way, Mickey had a good week ratings wise, and the story moved forward.
- The Million Dollar Corporation: I recently ranted about having Dragonfly refuse to defect hurt the momentum of the Million Dollar Corporation, who I argued could have been players in the Global Conflict series. This week started off with the return of former Corporation member Bam Bam Bigelow, who sat out the this era up til now. That would have been a big week in of itself had it ended there, but it kept going. On Wednesday Night War, we got the defection of Adam Cole, followed by the defection of Liv Morgan, and then capped off by Attitude! Suddenly, the MDC are players in the Global Conflict series, and we’ve got some fresh new stories with the Teo’s reaction to Attitude’s defection. I’d argue that the Million Dollar Corporation aren’t actually the bad guys in all this, although their tactics sometimes suggest otherwise. Hell, if they win, who is to say DiBiase doesn’t start his own promotion when the PWI falls?? I’m not willing to predict that’s where this is going just yet, but I do like the degree of intrigued their involvement adds to the story. Yeah, it’s complex and at times convoluted, but it’s a massive storyline that touches on the whole roster, so that’s just going to happen from time to time. I admire the company’s ambition with this storyline, and it gives everyone the rub in getting them over. I almost event felt bad for Petey Williams! My one complaint is, I thought Cole’s defection was big enough and needed time to breath. I wanna hear an explanation from him, but it was completely overshadowed by Attitude’s defection so I doubt Cole’s is going to be much more than an after thought.
- Molly Holly: When the Molly Holly and Ivory segment started, I didn’t give two shits. No offense, but that’s what the women’s tag division did to me. However, as it continued, Molly Holly and Ivory got into a passionate debate about their former mentor, Stevie R. Holly remembered the time they had with him foudly, whereas Ivory said all he ever did was get eyes on them (as if that’s a bad thing in this industry?!?) Through the disagreement, Ivory reminded Molly Holly who she was, and Holly’s confidence was believable when challenged by Natalya Neidhart. This really was one of my favorite segments this week, and I found myself cheering for Holly to kick Natalya’s ass! I’m not sure if MMouse Enterprises was just trying to give Holly a short little side feud, but I think they may have accidentally kicked off a career resurgence because I’m totally invested.
- HCW: As much as it pains me to admit this, because I’ve been an out-spoken critic of the HCW revival, but they had a REALLY good show this week. Like, best show since they’ve returned under Ted Brown’s leadership type of good. We talked a little about the Bam Bam/Million Dollar Corporation stuff and the Mickey stuff, but it wasn’t just that. HCW saw Metal Head defect to the HCW, a hilarious Edge Court segment, AND The Crock’s first title victory in 15 years! Him and LA Knight are a feud I care about right now, and so long as the company doesn’t forget to use them for two or three weeks, this program can gain a lot of steam that’ll really help LA Knight, who was faltering no matter what that idiot Lenny says after an incredible performance this past fall. I really wish there was time to cover everything in detail, but I’ve only got the five bullet points for each company to work with. Otherwise, this could have been a full column on how great this show was. Shoutout again to the Edge Court, in which we got cameos from Andy Kaufman, Rocky Johnson Jr., Hans Gustav, Vince McMahon, Jon Godwin, and R-Truth!
- AJ Lee: AJ Lee continues to be a high point for PWI programming, fresh hot off the angle last week where she snapped and assaulted Charlotte Flair after Becky said they weren’t friends anymore… this week, we got her getting comforted by Britt Baker, but unfortunately the Good Doctor made a mistake when she suggested perhaps they were never as close as AJ thought they were. AJ swears she’s not crazy, and then reacts in a crazy manner. Good shit, and solid character progression and continuation of the AJ/Charlotte/Becky storyline.
That’s all for this week’s Mop-Up, but fear not, I’ll be back with more before the weekend is over!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 