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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 5/15): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Zach Graham, PWTorch Contributor

May 16, 2019

Former champion reportedly returning to WWE
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

  • WWE announced that the WWE Network will not be available on certain devices beginning May 21, 2019. The email sent out says in part, “Unfortunately, several device manufacturers have stopped updating the operating systems of older products, which may impact your ability to stream high-quality video.” Some of the devices they listed include Apple TV (3rd Generation and earlier models,) Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows 10 Desktops. SOURCE
  • WWE announced the name of the next Saudi Arabia show as well as a few matches. The show will be called Super ShowDown (the same name they used for the Australian show last year). They also announced that they will be having another 50-Man Battle Royal, Goldberg vs. The Undertaker, and Randy Orton vs. Triple H. The announcement also says that Kofi Kingston, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, A.J. Styles, and Brock Lesnar will all compete. SOURCE
  • Sami Zayn replaces Braun Strowman in the Money in the Bank Ladder match this Sunday.

•WWE Weekly Event Results

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Belfast, Northern Ireland) 5/8/19

(1) Apollo Crews beat EC3
(2) Mojo Rawley defeated Titus O’Neil
(3) Beth Phoenix & Natalya beat Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(4) Ricochet & Aleister Black beat The Revival
(5) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(6) Becky Lynch (c) defeated Tamina & Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(7) Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, & Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, & Drew McIntyre

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Dublin, Ireland) 5/9/19

(1) R-Truth & Carmella beat Andrade & Zelina Vega
(2) Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura and The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(3) The IIconics (c) beat Kairi Sane & Asuka to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
(4) Xavier Woods beat Sami Zayn via Disqualification after Kevin Owens attacked Woods
(5) Kofi Kingston beat Kevin Owens
(6) Samoa Joe (c) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the United States Championship
(7) Becky Lynch (c) defeated Charlotte to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Brussels, Belgium) 5/9/19

(1) Apollo Crews beat EC3
(2) Ricochet & Aleister Black beat The Revival
(3) Finn Balor (c) defeated Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(4) Braun Strowman & Roman Reigns beat Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley
(5) Mojo Rawley defeated Apollo Crews
(6) Natalya & Beth Phoenix beat Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott and Lacey Evans & Tamina Snuka in a Triple Threat Tag Team match
(7) Seth Rollins (c) beat Baron Corbin to retain the Universal Championship

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Helsinki, FInland) 5/10/19

(1) R-Truth & Carmella beat Andrade & Zelina Vega
(2) Xavier Woods beat Sami Zayn
(3) Charlotte defeated Naomi
(4) Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura and The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(5) The IIconics (c) beat Kairi Sane & Asuka to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
(6) Samoa Joe (c) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the United States Championship
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) beat Kevin Owens via Disqualification to retain the WWE Championship
(8) The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) beat Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Aix-en Province, France) 5/10/19

(1) Beth Phoenix & Natalya beat Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(2) Apollo Crews defeated Mojo Rawley
(3) Ricochet & Aleister Black beat The Revival
(4) Finn Balor defeated Elias
(5) Titus O’Neil beat EC3
(6) Becky Lynch (c) beat Tamina & Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(7) Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Braun Strowman beat Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, & Drew McIntyre

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Stockholm, Sweden) 5/11/19

(1) R-Truth & Carmella beat Andrade & Zelina Vega
(2) Xavier Woods beat Sami Zayn
(3) Charlotte defeated Naomi
(4) Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura and The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(5) The IIconics (c) beat Kairi Sane & Asuka to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
(6) Samoa Joe (c) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the United States Championship
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) beat Kevin Owens via Disqualification to retain the WWE Championship
(8) The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) beat Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Newcastle upon Tyne, England) 5/11/19

(1) Beth Phoenix & Natalya beat Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(2) Ricochet & Aleister Black beat The Revival
(3) Walter (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the United Kingdom Championship
(4) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(5) Titus O’Neil beat EC3
(6) Becky Lynch (c) beat Tamina & Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(7) Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Braun Strowman beat Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, & Drew McIntyre

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Oslo, Norway) 5/12/19

(1) R-Truth & Carmella beat Andrade & Zelina Vega
(2) Xavier Woods beat Sami Zayn
(3) Charlotte defeated Naomi
(4) Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) beat Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura and The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(5) The IIconics (c) beat Kairi Sane & Asuka to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
(6) Samoa Joe (c) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the United States Championship
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) beat Kevin Owens via Disqualification to retain the WWE Championship
(8) The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) beat Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Liverpool, England) 5/12/19

(1) Ricochet & Aleister Black beat The Revival
(2) Titus O’Neil beat EC3
(3) Beth Phoenix & Natalya beat Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan
(4) Walter (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the United Kingdom Championship
(5) Becky Lynch (c) beat Tamina & Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(6) Apollo Crews defeated Mojo Rawley
(7) Finn Balor (c) beat Elias to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(8) Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Braun Strowman beat Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, & Drew McIntyre

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Bournemouth, England) 5/13/19

(1) Finn Balor (c) beat Andrade to retain the Intercontinental Championship
(2) The IIconics (c) defeated Asuka & Kairi Sane to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
(3) Walter (c) beat R-Truth to retain the United Kingdom Championship
(4) Aleister Black defeated Randy Orton
(5) Samoa Joe (c) beat Matt Hardy
(6) Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) defeated The Usos & Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(7) Kofi Kingston (c) beat Kevin Owens via Disqualification to retain the WWE Championship after Sami Zayn interfered
(8) The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a No Disqualification match

SOURCE

WWE Live Event – Raw Roster (Paris, France) 5/14/19

(1) Becky Lynch (c) beat Tamina & Lacey Evans to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
(2) Robert Roode beat Chad Gable
(3) The Lucha House Party defeated The Singh Brothers
(4) Braun Strowman, A.J. Styles, & Rey Mysterio beat Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, & Jinder Mahal
(5) Bayley & Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott
(6) Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins (c) beat The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
(7) Seth Rollins (c) beat Baron Corbin to retain the Universal Championship

SOURCE

If you attend a live event, please send results to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!

•WWE TV Match Results

Monday Night Raw TV Results 5/13/19

(1) The Miz & Roman Reigns beat Bobby Lashley & Elias via Disqualification after Shane attacked The Miz
(2) Mojo Rawley defeated Apollo Crews
(3) Baron Corbin beat Ricochet
(4) Nikki Cross beat Natalya, Naomi, and Dana Brooke in a Fatal Four-Way match
(5) Rey Mysterio defeated Cesaro
(6) Sami Zayn beat Braun Strowman in a Falls Count Anywhere match to take his place in the MITB Ladder match

Smackdown Live TV Results 5/14/19

(1) Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega) beat Finn Balor, Randy Orton, and Ali in a Fatal Four-Way match
(2) Shane McMahon, Elias, Daniel Bryan, & Rowan beat Roman Reigns & The Usos
(3) Kairi Sane & Asuka (w/ Paige) beat Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville

205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 5/14/19

(1) Humberto Carillo beat Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Mark Andrews, & James Drake in a Fatal Four-Way match
(2) Tony Nese defeated Ligero

WWE Main Event (Aired on Hulu and WWE Network) 5/16/19

(1) Titus O’Neil beat EC3
(2) The Revival defeated Lucha House Party

SOURCE

•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events

WWE Money in the Bank on May 19 from Hartford, Conn.

  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. A.J. Styles for the Universal Championship
  • Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship
  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans for the Raw Women’s Championship
  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
  • Samoa Joe (c) vs. Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship
  • Tony Nese (c) vs. Ariya Daivari for the Cruiserweight Championship
  • Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) vs. The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships (Kickoff Show)
  • Roman Reigns vs. Elias
  • The Miz vs. Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match
  • Men’s Money in the Bank match
    • Entrants: Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, Ali, Randy Orton, Andrade
  • Women’s Money in the Bank match
    • Entrants: Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Dana Brooke, Natalya, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Ember Moon, Carmella

WWE Super ShowDown on June 7 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
  • Triple H vs. Randy Orton
  • 50-Man Battle Royal

•Upcoming Events

Wed. 5/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England
Wed. 5/15/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Getec Arena, Magdeburg, Germany
Thur. 5/16/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Flydsa Arena, Sheffield, England
Thur. 5/16/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany
Fri. 5/17/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
Fri. 5/17/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, Germany
Sun. 5/19/19 WWE Money in the Bank, XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Mon. 5/20/19 WWE Raw, Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y.
Mon. 5/20/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass.
Tue. 5/21/19 WWE Smackdown, Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, R.I.
Mon. 5/27/19 WWE Raw, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Mon. 5/27/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Tony’s Pizza Events Center, Salina, Kan.
Tue. 5/28/19 WWE Smackdown, Bok Center, Tulsa, Okla.
Fri. 5/31/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho N.M.
Sat. 6/1/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Extraco Events Center, Waco, Texas
Sat. 6/1/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Sun. 6/2/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Sun. 6/2/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Foster Communications Coliseum, San Angelo, Texas
Mon. 6/3/19 WWE Raw, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Mon. 6/3/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Tue. 6/4/19 WWE Smackdown, Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, Texas
Fri. 6/7/19 WWE PPV Event, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Sun. 6/9/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.
Sun. 6/9/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stockton Arena, Stockton, Calif.
Mon. 6/10/19 WWE Raw, SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Mon. 6/10/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nev.
Tue. 6/11/19 WWE Smackdown, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Fri. 6/14/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Sat. 6/15/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colo.
Sat. 6/15/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
Sun. 6/16/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Maverik Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Sun. 6/16/19 WWE Live Event, Raw Roster, Pechanga Arena, San Diego, Calif.
Mon. 6/17/19 WWE Raw, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mon. 6/17/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, Calif.
Tue. 6/18/19 WWE Smackdown, Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif.
Fri. 6/21/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Adams Center, Missoula, Mont.
Sat. 6/22/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash.
Sun. 6/23/19 WWE Stomping Grounds, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Wash.
Mon. 6/24/19 WWE Raw, Angel of the Winds Arena, Everett, Wash.
Mon. 6/24/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Toyota Center, Kennewick, Wash.
Tue. 6/25/19 WWE Smackdown, Moda Center, Portland, Ore.
Thur. 6/27/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Fri. 6/28/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Ryogoku Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Sat. 6/29/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Mississippi St. Fair Coliseum, Jackson, Miss
Sat. 6/29/19 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Ryogoku Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Sun. 6/30/19 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Monroe Civic Center, Monroe, La.
Mon. 7/1/19 WWE Raw, American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Tue. 7/2/19 WWE Smackdown, AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

•Latest TV Highlights

Monday Night Raw

  • The Miz & Roman Reigns opened Raw with a segment of Miz TV. Roman (using the new Wildcard Rule for the second straight week) walked to the ring slowly before sitting down with The Miz to discuss his match with Elias on Sunday. He talked up Elias’ ability, but said he hasn’t won any championships in WWE. The Miz then pointed out that they’ve never really seen eye-to-eye but they’re both former champions and now both in movies. Eventually Shane would come out to interrupt after The Miz started talking about him. Shane then said Miz TV is over and announced a tag match between Reigns & The Miz and Bobby Lashley & Elias. Roman and The Miz would win via Disqualification when Shane attacked The Miz ahead of their match on Sunday.
  • Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Lacey Evans all had a contract signing for the two Women’s Championship matches on Sunday. Becky mocked the similarities between Lacey and Charlotte calling them twin sisters. Becky turned her attention to Charlotte talking about a little voice in the back of her mind talking about how she hasn’t delivered lately despite being groomed to be the top woman. Before signing the contracts Becky said one of her opponents is under pressure not to lose for the first time on PPV (Lacey) while the other is under pressure not to lose her millionth (Charlotte). Eventually this lead to a two-on-one beat down of Becky which ended with her going through the contract table and Charlotte and Lacey standing tall over Becky.
  • Sami Zayn stole Braun Strowman’s place in the MITB Ladder match. Early in the night, Sami approached Shane McMahon to complain about the WWE fans causing wrestlers to act recklessly. He then tried convincing Shane to replace Strowman in the MITB match with himself, but Shane said he can’t just replace him. Sami said he’d fight Braun for it, but he wanted it to be a Falls Count Anywhere match. The match was booked for the Main Event. In the main event, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin would eventually come out to assist Sami in defeating Strowman. As Sami celebrated the unearned victory Corbin threw Sami back onto the stage from backstage and Braun chokeslammed him through the announce table.

Smackdown Live

  • Kevin Owens and Kofi Kingston meet for the final time before their WWE Championship match at MITB. In the final segment of Smackdown, Kofi Kingston entered the ring that was set up for the Kevin Owens show. Kofi invited Owens out, but Owens appeared on the big screen instead. He narrated some highlights of bigger moments he’s had including turning on Jericho at their Festival of Friendship. Kofi called him to the ring again and Owens came out, teasing getting in the ring until Kofi chased him down. Sami Zayn eventually came out to help Owens and after a moment of Kofi being beaten down, Xavier Woods came out to assist Kofi. Kofi eventually made a comeback and hit Sami with a Trouble in Paradise to finally stop the heel attack.
  • Roman Reigns opened Smackdown by saying he had unfinished business to take care of and called out The Miz. The Miz came out and talked about getting his retribution on Shane at MITB after his actions on Raw. Shane came out to interrupt and was joined by Elias. Eventually Shane told Roman and The Miz to leave the ring, but when they wouldn’t, Daniel Bryan and Rowan joined Shane and Elias and surrounded the ring. The four attacked Reigns and Miz, but the Usos would come out to even the odds. Backstage, Shane told Bryan, Rowan, and Elias that they’ll be wrestling Roman and The Usos, but not The Miz because if he gets near the ring he’d lose his cage match with Shane at MITB. In the match, Roman was taken out at ringside by the heels and Shane McMahon would pick up the win by pinning Jey Uso after a Coast to Coast.

•Listen to the latest Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-Show – Smackdown Post-Show

PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by Jason Solomon from the Solomonster Sounds Off Podcast to review Smackdown with live callers and then answer email questions. They discuss the Lars Sullivan fine and controversial message board posts with some backstage insights, the loose guidelines on the Wildcard Rule execution, the Kevin Owens-Kofi Kingston angle and final WWE Title match hype, Shane McMahon’s ludicrous push, Roman Reigns, the upside and concerns with Bray Wyatt’s new character, and…

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “Wade Keller” on your podcast app of choice

•WWE Social Media Highlights

Becky Lynch was very busy this week. First, Big E was hitting on her mom.

https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/1126717454468521985\

Then, Becky got in a Twitter “fight” with Beth Phoenix, which turned into the reveal that Becky and Seth Rollins are dating.

•Closing Commentary

– Normally, I don’t notice much from the weekly WWE house show circuit, outside the fact I can copy and paste an entire week of shows quickly because they’re literally all the same, but two of the shows from last week caught my eye. On May 9, 2019 WWE ran a show in Brussels, Belgium. It was the Raw roster performing and the final match of the night is what caught my attention. A Baron Corbin vs. Seth Rollins Universal Championship match. On May 14 the Raw roster was in Paris and this match also took place. Now, sometimes there’s not much to read into these house show results, but sometimes we can see an upcoming feud forming based on house show lineups and results. For example, we saw Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn unite on Smackdown to take out Kofi, and if we look at the house show results from this past week, we can see that they’ve been put together in matches against The New Day all week, so this wasn’t too surprising. I’m extremely nervous that we could end up getting a Baron Corbin vs. Seth Rollins feud. This is the rare occasion where I hope I’m so far off the mark people will look back and laugh at me, but I can’t help but see this and get concerned. I’m sure the logic here is that Baron Corbin has a ton of heat. I mean, the guy gets booed out of the building every night it seems. Based on that alone, it makes perfect sense to have your baby face champion take on a hated heel, but I don’t think they’re assessing Baron Corbin’s heat correctly.

I actually don’t despise Baron Corbin as much as others seem to, but I would prefer a large majority of the roster before Corbin if we’re handing out championship matches or feuds. Within seconds of thinking about who I’d rather see Rollins feud with, Samoa Joe and Drew McIntyre initially come to mind. With Drew, I’m conflicted because I feel like we’ve seen Drew lose a number of times in the six-man tag matches against Seth, but I don’t remember him ever being the one to actually be pinned, so he’s been protected in that sense. I am kind of tired of seeing McIntyre and Rollins together, but in a singles feud, it should be different enough. If the option is Corbin or McIntyre, I’d prefer they hotshot that program before Baron Corbin, but I think they may hold off because McIntyre has so much potential. If you’re going to start that feud after MITB, I feel that McIntyre would need to ultimately win the championship to keep credibility.

Speaking of Money in the Bank, I don’t think we can read too much into Seth vs. Corbin at these house shows when it comes to the MITB Ladder match. Since title rematches are “antiquated” and not a given when the champion loses, I’m not sure this indicates that Corbin is winning the briefcase again and successfully cashing it in this time. I’m not sure how many people would think this, but I don’t think that makes much sense. Yes, Corbin is a heel and it gives Seth someone to chase, but I’m still nervous as ever that we get a Corbin-Rollins title feud. While I’m on this topic, if someone cashes in and wins the championship with their MITB briefcase, will the champion get a rematch? I mean, if automatic rematches are antiquated, what an advantage to cash in on someone! This, however, is WWE, which means the champion will, in all likelihood, get a rematch, even though they said that wouldn’t happen anymore.

– AEW announced that they will be on television in the United States on TNT starting this fall, and I couldn’t more excited as a fan of wrestling. I’m not a WWE hater, I’m not a WWE apologist; I’m just a guy who wants to see good wrestling, and competition will force everyone involved to try harder. WWE thinks that they have a loyal fan base that will stay no matter what, and to a degree they may, but it’s pretty obviously dwindling quickly. I think the most telling thing about WWE right now is how much they focus on having a billion dollar year this year. It goes to show that fans don’t matter right now; revenue does, and that’s the issue. Vince McMahon and company have so much money coming in that the fans mean less to them than ever, but this is such a short-sighted way of thinking. Successful companies don’t focus on the short term; they focus long term, and the McMahons appear to be focusing on the short term. Vince has all the money right now, so who cares what fans think? That’s why people are leaving by the thousands and why ratings are so low. I may be crazy, but I think if AEW comes out of the gates and has pretty good numbers, this can quickly change WWE’s focus from profits to fans again.

Now, I will say I do like The Elite crew. I watch the YouTube videos they post, and I also want them to succeed on their own, but I truly think competition can help make WWE TV better for fans too. Vince has no major competition right now, so he can do what he wants. He thinks Roman Reigns is the top guy, so he can push him. If fans boo him, then the fans are just difficult and dumb and they’ll eventually bend to his will (in his mind), so he continues to push the people he wants. If he has competition and people decide to leave WWE for an alternative, then they’ll have to start listening to the fans, or the ratings will continue to slide and in a few years the goal of a billion dollars will be a distant memory. Competition creates innovation in any business, and wrestling is no different. Monopolies also create laziness, especially in a creative industry like wrestling or television. Serious competition to WWE will only benefit the fans and the wrestlers. True wrestling fans don’t hope AEW fails; true fans of wrestling hope they thrive.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 5/9): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

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