Welcome back to another round of Quick Takes—a post that indulges in the topics that aren’t worth dedicating a full article to, but are still on my mind.
Each week, I try to cram in as many smaller talking points as I can via a speedier process, and I invite you to chime in with your own thoughts about these topics and anything else by keeping the discussion going in the comments below! Drop some more talking points in there for everyone to chat it up about, too!
Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s topics.
Ronda Rousey
Major, major congrats to Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne, who announced that they are four months along into pregnancy. First and foremost, that’s a great thing.
Of course, in the bubble of professional wrestling, people immediately bring up “but when is she going to return to WWE?” all the time.
My answer has been, for a long while, and likely will remain, that she’s NOT returning.
Theoretically, what is there for her to do? What big matches does she have on her plate that equal or surpass the main event of WrestleMania with two titles on the line against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair?
I love Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and many others, but they don’t draw the same reaction for a match against Rousey as the others.
The one and only thing they could do is a Four Horsewomen vs. Four Horsewomen match, but it’s several years too late, requires WWE to start treating Shayna Baszler like a beast again (and she’ll never be able to regain that level of credibility and momentum she had before), and you’d have to remember that Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir exist, rather than have them continue to not do anything.
Rousey’s not coming back. The sooner everyone realizes that, the sooner everyone can move on and stop asking about it and wondering if/when it’ll happen. It’ll be months before she could return after she gives birth in a few more months. Even then, is she going to want to go straight from that to doing WWE stuff when she was beaten up, didn’t like the travel and has already felt fulfilled? Or is she going to want to be with her newborn?
That’s not a tough call.
New NXT Logo and Intro Theme
I’ve never been a huge fan of the NXT name, logo, or any of the branding, despite loving the product itself. But boy do I dislike this newest version of the logo with the wings and all.
It’s just noise—much like the theme, as I hate screamo stuff with lyrics I can’t even understand. The NXT part of the logo is now tiny to make room for a random set of wings and a skull and whatnot that has nothing to do with anything. Why? I don’t get it.
Downgrade.
Ivelisse is No Longer All Elite
Catching up to an older story on this one.
Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. Remember how Ivelisse was no-selling in that match against Thunder Rosa? Then, do you remember how some people were saying “there’s nothing to that” and to stop acting as if that’s a sign that Ivelisse was hard to work with?
Look. Maybe she’s right in some fashion in this situation and speaking up was something she should have done. But it seems very suspicious if it’s always someone else’s fault and if you’re someone like Ivelisse who has gone through many companies and developed this reputation in seemingly all of them.
It reminds me of another phrase: “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.”
WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures
I’ve watched the first episode of this show and I think it’s fine. As expected, it’s the type of bland material you see out of all these shows. It follows exactly the same format as everything else, as if these things are being made on assembly lines. They practically use the same camerawork and background music for all types of television like this.
But it was okay. Mick Foley is a treasure in and of himself, so seeing him is always a positive. I like the idea of putting some focus on memorabilia, too, as I’ve always thought the WWE warehouse should be utilized more.
The question’s brought up once more about a physical Hall of Fame, which Vince McMahon is perpetually against.
To be perfectly honest, I can kind of understand why. In theory, it is kind of a money pit.
You pay for the building, staff to run the place and clean it, a hefty amount for insurance, plus probably needing a restaurant of sorts so people can eat there and you can maximize your revenue by making it a destination spot, rather than a pit-stop. Throw in a gift shop and really, what else do you have to offer that would get people coming back more than once? How many people would make the trek to begin with?
Plus, this takes away from WrestleMania Axxess. Isn’t that part of the appeal, being able to see some memorabilia?
Then again, I’ve been saying for years that WrestleMania Week should be something more along the lines of Comic Con, but that’s another discussion for another day.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
