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As Baseball Hall of Fame member Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back. Something could win you over.
WWE’s top dog Roman Reigns said something that suggests he’s looking back: “CM Punk wasn’t as good or as (popular) as John Cena… (he) didn’t budge. needle like The Rock.
Punk, 42, left WWE in 2014 and hasn’t wrestled since. He showed up on TNT on Friday night, making his All Elite Wrestling debut with huge success. When he was with WWE, Punk often resented a glass ceiling perceived for performers who were seen as undersized or who were not supportive.
What Reigns said about Punk is 100% correct.
But the same statement also applies to Reigns.
Heck, this applies to almost every wrestler of all time. The Rock is the # 1 crossover star in wrestling, and Cena isn’t far behind.
But Reigns’ house is built largely of glass. WWE first positioned Reigns as one of the best guys in 2015, but he failed to break through for half a decade. He ultimately lived up to his efforts when he went bad and was partnered with manager Paul Heyman. Heyman, one of wrestling’s best creative minds and speakers, has since steered Reigns’ ship in every way he can.
The Rock and Cena never needed this, as long as we bared our souls. (Full disclosure: Punk was also affiliated with Heyman in WWE.)
AEW added Punk, will add Daniel Bryan next month, and creatively outperformed WWE in everything WWE does that doesn’t involve a few rock-solid stars. WWE owner Vince McMahon still holds the creative reins at 75 and seems more out of touch than not.
AEW told a better story with the improvement talent Fuego Del Sol than WWE managed to do with the immensely gifted Big E. (Wrestling is first and foremost a story.)
WWE is fading away. AEW is a phenomenon – although it needs to stabilize its TV ratings and walks a difficult tightrope between retraining old WWE talent and showcasing those who are young and not yet overexposed, it is where long term success lies. (The punk knows it. The first name he mentioned on his Friday promo was Britt Baker, 30, AEW’s top female star.)
Reigns’ statement was odd, unless he had never looked at himself in a mirror. (It sounds questionable.)
Reigns either says what he was told to say or what he thinks McMahon means. Either way, he’s a stooge for the company and incredibly mean-spirited.
It’s the same WWE arrogance that allowed World Championship Wrestling to beat WWE one-on-one for 83 straight weeks in the Monday Night Leaderboard War from 1996 to 1998.
But maybe AEW will provide WWE with the same boost that prompted McMahon to relinquish some creative control, deliver the ‘era of R-rated attitude’, reclaim supremacy and, ultimately, to absorb WCW. (The details of this story might fill a book. In fact, they did.)
AEW is not yet as good as its cult supporters think.
But AEW is a bigger threat than WWE realizes.
Reigns and WWE looked back. Something is, indeed, winning over them.
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