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.
Gerald Brisco, IRS and Sarah Stock Released
WWE is going through yet another round of releases, with this one seemingly targeting people who were furloughed and not necessarily given a full-blown “future endeavors” notice prior to this week.
So far, we know it has taken Gerald Brisco, Mike Rotunda and Sarah Stock. Brisco has been a talent scout for WWE, Rotunda’s been a producer and Stock has been a trainer at the Performance Center.
I think it’s ridiculous WWE makes bigger and bigger profits, but continues to release people. Obviously, business is about making money and people are expendable if all you care about is cash, but it’s just not something I can stomach. The idea that hundreds of employees lose their livelihood because you want to inflate profits even higher than an already record number is just gross.
However, I’ll say that perhaps some of these things are redundancies WWE is realizing. Brisco, for example, is probably better off fully retired. I met him a few years ago while he was scouting talent and even then, he was talking about how hard it was to travel and the wear and tear of doing that over the years, let alone the wrestling. And again, that was something like 6 years ago, so I’m sure it’s only gotten harder.
Rotunda’s been there forever and a day. Maybe he’s better off retiring, too, and just enjoying his life. Stock may even want to do more wrestling, for all we know, but she’s the one that I think is a bigger deal of the trio. But hey, maybe the game plan is to hire some new trainers or transition someone like Mickie James into that role.
These aren’t excuses for WWE. Like I said, I can’t help but feel like WWE is just being cutthroat and pulling the terrible business tactics of looking at nothing but revenue and considering people numbers, rather than human beings. But I can see more of a rationalization for these cuts than if we wake up tomorrow and it turns out another 20 wrestlers have been cut.
Miro Joins All Elite Wrestling
One of the biggest stories of the week is that All Elite Wrestling has signed Rusev (hereby known as Miro) to a deal that will last at least one year, but likely longer beyond that.
His debut was a rather awkward one, in my opinion. Out of nowhere, he’s revealed as Kip Sabian’s best man for his wedding and it appears that will be his moniker going forward: The Best Man.
That, I don’t dislike. Miro can call himself the best man for all sorts of things (the most handsome, the toughest, the best wrestler, etc) and it can catch on. I just don’t get the idea that he’s partnered up with Sabian. I could be wrong about this, and they could be super close in real life, but I get the feeling they probably never even knew each other at all prior to this. At best, they were probably acquaintances. Then again, Glenn Jacobs is in no way related to The Undertaker, so who cares, right?
With other elements, too, I’m split on. I like that Miro will have his chance to show his talents under a less strict working environment. That new hair is awful, though. I like that AEW is where he’s going, because I’ll actually watch that (rather than ROH or Impact that I don’t check out), but I’m feeling blah about the Miro name.
Frankly, I don’t quite understand why Lana signed her WWE deal. She’s not going to be worth all that much in WWE and it seems like they’re splitting the difference to keep their options open for both companies, more than anything else. That’s not necessarily a bad tactic for the couple, but it does present some odd situations. Will Lana not be allowed to bring Miro as her plus one for future Hall of Fame events? Is WWE going to start making her look more ridiculous just to devalue her even more out of spite? What purpose does she truly have now if she’s not progressing as an in-ring performer and likely won’t be much more than enhancement talent anyway? Is that even worth the money her contract is pulling in when they’re looking to cut expenses across the board?
I’m definitely excited to see Miro in AEW, but I don’t think it will be a game changer that suddenly fixes all the problems and makes AEW the forefront wrestling promotion. As far as top people I’d like to see him feud with, perhaps I’ll save that for another article down the line once I’ve had some time to think about it.
Ivar Injured on Monday Night Raw
I’ve been saying for a while that too many people are doing suicide dives to the point where it’s not worth the risk. It’s not interesting anymore, as it happens multiple times in damn near every match on both WWE and AEW shows. Once it stops being interesting and worthy of a pop, is there really any reason to do it and risk the injuries that come about from it?
I say this should be a tipping point where people just stop doing the move. Limit it to only a few people who can do it period and have those people not necessarily do it in every one of their matches.
Hopefully, Ivar is able to heal up soon and get back in the ring feeling better than ever. Here’s hoping he also stops doing this move and some other people learn from this.
NXT UK Heritage Cup
Some of the plans for the Heritage Cup for NXT UK have been clarified. It’s going to be an eight-man tournament with British Rounds style rules and nothing’s been said about the winner getting a title shot or anything else other than the pride of winning the tournament.
I’m totally okay with this just being an extra thing. It’s something to build towards and have some stakes to a match at the future TakeOver event.
As far as the eight competitors, one of them hasn’t been announced. The rest of them are Joseph Conners, Trent Seven, Dave Mastiff, A-Kid, Flash Morgan Webster, Alexander Wolfe, and Noam Dar.
All things equal, I think we can rule a few of these names out right from the start. Conners, A-Kid, Wolfe and Webster don’t strike me as people to give this win to. Seven would be the next I’d eliminate, but even he could win as the sentimental favorite.
It’s really down to Mastiff, Dar and the mystery person in my mind, with the TBA competitor the go-to pick. Who could the mystery person be, though? Honestly, I have no idea. If it’s just a regular member of the roster, then that’s very lame to be setting up such a lackluster surprise. But maybe they’ve signed someone new to the company or they’ve decided to move someone over to NXT UK who is able to travel over there. If it’s just Pete Dunne, as great as he is, I’ll feel underwhelmed even if I’ll be rooting for him to win.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
