HOLA!
Your favorite wrestling reporter/analyst/superfan here for a special report!
Yes, yes, I know you were wanting the next installment of “Wrestling with Lenny”, but have no fear, my loyal followers and potential converts to Maxwellianism, that next volume will come by 2am tomorrow, as a mega-post with a review and preview!
For now, though, I have been in the room as the leaders of the industry have been heatedly tossing back and forth proposals for the WOW Draft this year. The wildcard, of course, has been the involvement of PWI/HCW, as the fate of both companies is unclear as of right now.
Murrey and Elizabeth came into the WOW negotiating room with a radical proposal to have EVERYONE on the table, save for the champions, the consequences for which were unclear to Benny and Sami as well as Catherine, Nash, Blaster, and Dibiase. Oh yeah, and it should be noted that Mickey – for obvious reasons – sat out these negotiations for the first time since the 2011 Draft which preceded the Fifth Era (that one saw Catherine and Benny on opposing sides).
Back to the fun of the negotiations, Benny and Sami seemed to ally with Catherine/Nash/Blaster/Dibiase (fuck it, we’ll just say PWI/HCW for them from now on…sheesh) to prevent the aforementioned radical proposal as PWI/HCW presented the counteroffer of exempting all champions, plus ten more (with a cap of two tag teams overall). This exempted a total of 19 stars per company.
AEW, though, indicated that they were hopeful to expand the number of tag teams exempted to 3 as an amendment to PWI/HCW’s proposal. This would have increased the total number of possible stars exempted to 20.
WWE shot back defiantly at first, declaring their confidence in “bringing the smoke” regardless of the rules, but then they conveyed their concerns that the terms were unclear (specifically regarding the continuation of the stable and tag team rules), and that they wanted more picks per company in the later rounds as well as the elimination of tag teams being grouped together for each pick (so as to inspire a true shake-up). This was unpopular with AEW, as they were concerned about WWE standing to gain the most as they had the fewest tag teams and stables of all three promotions.
AEW retorted first by counter-proposing that there should be 25-30 rounds of individual picks followed by a coin flip for an additional 30 rounds wherein 2-3 picks would be eligible for each company for each additional round.
Murrey expressed that he wanted the order of the draft decided this year by a roll of the die instead of by rock-paper-scissors. He and Elizabeth also doubled-down on opposing the exemption of tag teams or stables for exemptions or picks. They finished this response by exclaiming “SHAKE IT UP!”
AEW disagreed a little, but expressed that they would compromise with WWE on this, only if it meant expanding the number of additional exemptions after champions to 15 (which would have meant that each company could have had as many as 23 exemptions).
Everyone came to agree that – like last year -, draft order should again determine Starrcade match order. However, Murrey noted that the rules not changing from last year with respect to the stable/tag team selection, they were in danger of losing the Final Judgment and Doc Brown 6 with the other two promotions presently having more dispensable talent.
It was at this time, as Murrey pulled back from his protest that he was caught on the hot mic admitting to Elizabeth that he was ok with whatever AEW and PWI/HCW decides, because he just likes “to stir the pot”. He just wanted to have a great deal of uncertainty, which was respectable in this humble MJF-follower’s opinion.
Murrey then chose to convey openly his desires for a major shakeup, and stated that he saw the beginning of the Seventh Era emerging at Starrcade this coming June.
Sami spoke up on behalf of Benny at this time, and said that they respected the urgency that Murrey did regarding a true shake-up, but that they wanted to “preserve some semblance of our company’s identity”.
Murrey replied that the preservation of a company’s identity is precisely what the exemptions are for, but that wasn’t enough for Sami, as he pointed out that WWE has one more title than everyone else does.
It was at this time that Dibiase spoke up amongst those on the PWI/HCW side of the room and worked with Catherine to propose one final counter-offer:
2024 WOW Draft Proposal
- Each participant is capped at 20 individual active superstars for exemptions (including champions)
- Each participant is capped at exempting 10 partially-active retired legends
- All of administrative is automatically exempt
- Order of draft to be decided by rolling of a die, or by rock-paper-scissors if the die is not available
- There will be a total of 50 rounds (with an option to keep going if the decision is unanimous)
- First 20 rounds will give each participant one pick a piece
- Next 20 rounds will give each participant two picks a piece
- Final 10 rounds (and beyond) will give each participant three picks a piece
Murrey and Elizabeth, after confirming that this rule dealt with the stable and tag team rules – neither of which were popular on the WWE side last year -, they nodded their heads as Murrey said “I’m okay with the proposal”. Then, AEW followed suit by saying that they could live with the proposal after confirming that the cap of 20 exemptions a piece was universal.
After the deal was signed and delivered to WOW Chairman Bunny, Murrey remarked on how this year’s draft had more eligible stars than the NFL draft did yesterday. A truly awe-inspiring fact!
So, while the actual days of the draft as well as Starrcade have yet to be decided (though, it will occur at some point within the week following Father’s Day), we have a real picture of what to expect this year.
I will have way more to say about this in a month when the Sixth Era comes to an end, but I have mixed feelings about the end of this current era. It was way better than the lost era that was the Fifth, as we saw more consistent and exciting participation across the board. I’m also excited for what looks to be perhaps the most complete, most competitive, and most exciting era of all time in the impending Seventh Era, but there was a part of me that was happy to see the Sixth Era get close to outlasting the Second Era to become the second longest of all time.
Having said that, I want to analyze what awaits us for this up and coming Draft, Starrcade, and new era, but we don’t yet know all of the players. Yes, AEW and WWE will be there, but what about PWI-HCW?
As of right now, we have what looks like one of four possibilities: HCW is the only one to survive the war, with Ted Brown’s vision succeeding. The second resurrection of the Undisputed Wrestling Alliance, but this time with a Premier and Extreme Division led by Catherine and Nash. We also have the possibility of Ted Dibiase and Blaster prevailing and creating the Million Dollar Wrestling League (maybe they should just call it MWL, for short, or something like that).
And unfortunately, there is the equally possible outcome of Mickey succeeding and ending this run entirely for PWI and HCW.
If that happens, then we will get a 7th Era where WWE and AEW will go to war one on one, which will be exciting for many great reasons, but Mickey is banking on his grand scheme killing off the entire business by sucking all of the excitement out of the room and leading to AEW and then WWE succumbing shortly after the Global Conflict concludes.
I could go on, but I need to prepare for the largest “Wrestling with Lenny” update to date outside of any draft edition. There is plenty to be excited about it, and thanks to the negotiations today, the near-future of this industry is as bright as ever!
Until later on tonight…this has been Lenny Mouse, and I thank you for reading!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 