Mission 030: The Prime Period of the Prime Era

Mission 030 – The Mission? Assessing the Peak of our Prime

Well, here we are as I return for the Thirtieth Installment of “Quest for Truth”! I’ve been preoccupied for much of the past month, but this business is constantly going forward and I have to tell what I thought about recent events since our last mission!

Ethan topples HBP while Hurricane Gets Gold

To be completely honest, I was not a fan of HBP dropping this title so soon. Tragically, for reasons we will get into shortly, HBP was given a mystery opponent when his original foe no-showed. Then, Ethan Page came out and stole HBP’s momentum en route to becoming the face of the midcard in NXT.

Meanwhile, as HBP fumbled his big redemption, his catering buddy bought a new title of his own from eBay; the ULW Undisputed Championship!

Seeing the fate of the ULW Title had me rolling as Hurricane claimed his new prize, and the adventures of Helms and his belt ever since has been the highlight of WWE in the intervening weeks. I truly hope this story never stops, and I am unfortunately required by Lenny to state that Cash Mouse Entertainment no longer recognizes this hunk of metal and leather as the ULW Undisputed Championship. In order to see the real title, stay tuned to see who comes out on top of the 40-man tournament to witness who is awarded the new ULW Undisputed Championship!

Karrion and Trick prepare for war

So, the reason that HBP had to fight Ethan Page was that his opponent, Karrion Kross, was a no-show, and now have found out that he jumped out of the picture so that he could come back to take on Trick in an effort to reclaim his former NXT Title.

Look, I think that this is good for Trick’s reign, but I sincerely hope that Karrion bids farewell to NXT after this program is through. Not because Karrion doesn’t add anything to the brand, but rather because I believe that Karrion has outgrown the developmental phase. He has literally been trapped in the developmental phase since his arrival in PWI’s Ascendant Class in 2021.

Do I want WWE to drop this story? Hell no. This, like I said before, is good for Trick. It’s just risky for Karrion as the longer he stays in development taking losses the more he loses any degree of his mystique; which is his chief appealing attribute.

Anyways, I have enjoyed what we’ve seen so far here, but just needed to vent (again).

Flex Squad jumps ship

In the midst of Matt Riddle’s bout with Jesse Hash at “Sympathy for the Devil”, we saw a shocking moment wherein WWE’s Flex Squad jumped ship to AEW in order to assist in Hash defeating the Original Bro.

I really was floored by this, and now I am curious as to what Zen Hogan is supposed to do. Perhaps Zen has outgrown his group, but I am still in shock. Now, Midget Hogan and Jesse Hash have a solid alliance to thwart the efforts of High-Minded, so this will definitely be a space to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

Roxy gets a Strap

When she worked in ULW during her rookie year, Roxanne Perez was a young talent that the top brass of CME was very high on. Losing her in the draft was somewhat expected, but it was met with a great deal of sadness. Now, the fruits of her labor have finally produced a title for Miss Roxy as she captured the new NXT Women’s Title against Indi Hartwell.

I have some thoughts regarding Indi, but for now Roxy has the attention of the wrestling world in what I think was an underrated emergence as a new player on the industry’s stage. She’s definitely going places, and I am excited to see what she does for the division in NXT and WWE as a whole!

New World Tag Champions

Speaking of new titles, Stephanie McMahon awarded Johnny Gargano and Ciampa with the new WWE World Tag Team Championships. Their first opponents will be Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh, and we saw a brief preview of that impending feud. I would say that there is no way that the new champs lose the titles at Survivor Series, but…this is WWE at the end of the day. No one is safe…except for the Rock.

Orton falls again while Brodie Lee rises

The ongoing story featuring Brodie and his Guilty Remnant brought the new group into a confrontation with Randy Orton. Orton has had a rough past few years. First, he was traded to PWI, then he got screwed by Mickey out of a world title, and later found himself capturing the PWI/ULW Undisputed World Title, only to lose it on his first defense at Starrcade against Bray Wyatt. Then he spent all of last season trying to get back to the top only to get traded to AEW before he could get a chance to take on CM Punk again.

Now, Orton is in the throes of another rough patch, but this time in AEW. No, he doesn’t necessarily need to be conquering left and right (and he is also unlucky due to his timing as Ospreay is on the rise and the Dual Dominion Title…we’ll get to those in a few), but I hope that eating big losses isn’t his permanent status.

Of course, this may merely be the latest stage in his journey to rediscovering his ruthless self. We’ll see.

The Wyatt Sicks becomes Hollow

The Wyatt Sicks had a big night despite some losses at Halloween Havoc (which is interesting considering what we saw with the Wyatt Family elsewhere on the same night) with the biggest moments being that Dexter Lumis is the new US Champion and the group now has a leader in Joe Gacy.

Gacy is someone who Mmouse Enterprises was keeping their eye on during the Sixth Era as he wrestled through the territories. He is a cult leader similar to the early phase of Bray Wyatt, and he is incredibly talented and charismatic. Keep your eyes on this guy; he is the future!

The High-Minded Costume Contest

One of my favorite things that we’ve seen since our last mission was the costume contest featuring the members of High-Minded getting judged for their costume contest. The best costume was Hogan’s portrayal of Slammu as I laughed out so loud, but then I was taken aback when Riddle’s Doc Brown costume prompted the real Doc Brown to arrive!

If it weren’t for the current dual threats of comedy of Hart/Goldberg and Hurricane, I would be afraid of what this means for WWE and comedy, but we should never count them out, to be frank.

Still, I am curious as to whether this means Brown has joined High-Minded or what it is that the company will do with him. Either way, great stuff all around!

WIN and the CEOs

WWE’s administrative instability continues as Rock has sold his company and now finds himself subservient to the group of men he tried to terminate not too long ago. As part of this shakeup (and the preceding brief feud with Rock), Murrey created WIN and the CEOs.

This is another example of why WWE will likely never have a shortage of comedy bits, but I was very happy to see the twist wherein Gunther and Dragunov were paired together as henchmen for this new supergroup.

I’m still puzzled by the breakup of Vince and Seth, but I will maintain an open mind. These latest developments hold a lot of potential, and they have my attention!

The Dual Dominion Flop and what’s next for Cardona?

When it was announced earlier this year, the first-of-its-kind interpromotional title (outside of the WOW Undisputed Title) was a foundation-shaking revelation. The strap was introduced with a great deal of hyper-anticipation at Starrcade and provided a much-needed boost for Cody Rhodes as well as a reboot for Matt Cardona.

Then…Seth Rollins torched it, and the title was gone before it could even reach a year old.

I am at a loss for words with this development. Sure, WWE has been mass-producing new titles as if they were the Weimar Republic printing cash, but I felt like this title was a great way to prominently feature up and coming talent across the board. There were limitless possibilities.

Now? Cardona has lost his title and is back-tracking from being a two-time world champion to competing for NXT’s Midcard Title? I want to puke.

Like with Karrion, Cardona should finish whatever story is going to come from his feud with Ethan Page and then get as far away from the developmental brand as possible. Cardona never needed a developmental brand to become a game-changing world champion, but this could be a way to keep skyrocketing Ethan’s stock.

Bret and Bill get a talk show

The dynamic between Bret Hart and BILL Goldberg has been good television for the past few months. The “Owen Hart Memorial Title”, won by Bret, was a goofy little twist, and now the two are quasi-friends with a talk show. There was some nonsense on the first episode (where Goldberg was weirdly hostile to Bret after being an ass-kisser for him since their “title” match), but it was overall funny.

A lot of potential for comedic interviews and furthering other angles with these two. I am happy with this twist of fate and can’t wait to see what comes next!

The Rock, the Revolutionary, and the Body

Seth Rollins had a great first win in WWE at Halloween Havoc, and he is on the path to challenge the Rock for the WWE Title, with Jesse “the Body” Ventura overseeing the bout.

I have noted before that I was not a fan of the premature ending to Seth’s relationship with WIN, but it is what it is. Now, it seems like the latest twist here is that these two competitors are now in the crosshairs of the new Administration, and Jesse is the temporary enforcer of their will.

I do think this latest twist will add to the fun, but I still feel confident that the Rock survives this and all other challenges en route to toppling Duxen’s record. Either way, it will be fun to watch!

Lee gives Ospreay a lay-up as he buries Olson’s Push

Speaking of world title scenes, Sean Olson opened the Hallow special for AEW by dropping his AEW World Title to the fast-rising Will Ospreay. This happened after the stunning return of Brandon Lee to screw over his brother.

The classic war continues, and I am beyond happy to see that Lee is not permanently in the past just yet. I do think that this rivalry will have a true swan song soon, though. They always deliver, though, so enjoy the ride!

As for the new champion, Will is not dropping this title any time soon, and I am more confident in that than I was about Olson’s reign, because building Ospreay has been a top priority over at BWM Inc. since last summer. It’s effectively the MJF push all over again!

Benny’s Grip Loosens with the Arrival of Uncle Howdy

Finally, we come to the biggest tale in professional wrestling. Interestingly, now with the Hollow in WWE, the Wyatt-Mouse saga is officially the first-ever story to span the entire industry simultaneously. Remember that the Hollow began as the Wyatt Sicks as it features acolytes of Bray Wyatt, and now that Uncle Howdy (Bo Wyatt) has emerged in AEW, the Wyatts are involved in one way or another in all three promotions, and this arguably even threads the Mouse family through all three indirectly and directly.

The touch at “Sympathy…” that I loved the most in the run-up to the main event was the scene wherein Benny and Danhausen ordered the show’s producer/director to avoid showing Benny for the rest of the broadcast. Benny’s dependence on Danhausen has been awesome to see, and the connection of all of this to what we’re seeing in ULW has made this so much more captivating than it already is.

The key component of this story at “Sympathy…” that sold it for me was the arrival of Bray’s brother Bo as Uncle Howdy to assist the returning and thriving Megan Mouse in shocking the world with her new alliance, attacking Danhausen, and then her own husband!

A dark new age has begun for AEW and WWE while it also looms over ULW. Arguably, the business continues to produce the best content we’ve ever seen as we have undoubtedly witnessed the Prime Era at its peak!

How does it get better than this? We will see. Stay tuned for the preview for this week’s episode of Ascendant as well as more website updates to come over the next 24 hours!

Until our next Quest, this has been Johnny with yet another mission!