Here’s what matters today in wrestling 👇
Image Credit: AEW
When you’re an upstart wrestling company you’re often looking for anything that can get some mainstream attention. AEW’s been getting some of that lately, but not for anything that’s happening in the ring. It’s all about what’s happening just outside AEW rings, specifically their fans chanting “F ICE” before Brody King’s matches. AEW hasn’t encouraged it specifically, but they did let Brody wear an “Abolish ICE” shirt on television some months ago and they haven’t censored the fans. There was some talk last week that Brody was taken off TV at the request of Warner Bros. Discovery, but WBD immediately shut down those rumors and said they had nothing to do with who was or wasn’t appearing on Dynamite. They didn’t use their minority stake of ownership in that instance.
In an ordinary situation, I would say that steering clear of anything political would be a smart move. Unfortunately, we live in a time where everything and everyone is political. The ICE matter is a no-win situation, either you make their supporters mad by suggesting they haven’t done their jobs perfectly, or you make their detractors mad by not saying anything & sweeping it under the rug. Either way, you piss off half your audience. WWE has already chosen their political lane, with their Head of Creative & his family heavily involved in the current administration. Not to mention the status of the president as a longtime supporter of WWE & UFC. From what I know about Tony Khan I think he’d be perfectly happy to just make wrestling matches and ignore everything that happens outside the ring, but that’s not the world we live in. The best solution for AEW is likely to let the fans voice their opinions as they’re doing, and hope potential viewers keep watching after the fans stop chanting.
WRESTLING HEADLINES
•Finn Balor Ends Winless Streak at Recent WWE Live Event
Image Credit: WWE
Balor defeated Je’Von Evans on Saturday night in Lubbock, Texas, breaking a 166-day winless streak. His last victory prior to that was on the September 1 edition of Raw, where he beat Dragon Lee. Yes, this is the man challenging CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. Yes, win & losses still don’t matter in WWE. I won’t complain too much because Balor is going to have a good in-ring wrestling match with Punk, but there’s zero drama over who’s winning. It’s tough to blame people that are tuning out until Roman Reigns comes back.
Image Credit: AEW
We all have different tastes in wrestling commentary. Booker obviously has his detractors, as he’s won the Wrestling Observer “Worst Television Announcer” award three straight years. I whole-heartedly disagree with the WO readers’ assessment of Booker. I can’t think of an announcer currently working who’s done more to get talent over than Booker T has in NXT. Trick Williams has been over since debuting on SmackDown…a lot of it has to do with Trick himself since he’s very charismatic, but Booker acting as his main cheerleader on NXT certainly helped him move up the food chain. (Trick’s also borrowed a few things from Booker in-ring that have helped, it’s easy to see the influence Booker’s had on him.) Stephanie Vaquer’s issues connecting with a largely English-speaking audience were helped by Booker marking out for her on commentary. Booker T might not be your traditional announcer that calls all the moves or always has a one-liner in his pocket, but he brings an excitement to his work that can be contagious. There’s always a place for that.
MORE MUST-READ LINKS FROM 411MANIA
→Hall's WWE RAW Review 2.16.26
→A Look Back at the Phenomenal Career of AJ Styles Part 3: From Bullet Club to Boneyard
→The Great Eight: The Top 8 NXT Black and Gold Era Men's Wrestlers
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– Steve Cook