One of the classic tales for the holiday season is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. For those living under a rock or from another culture, the long story short is that elderly businessman Ebenezer Scrooge has become so corrupt, cold-hearted, closed-off from society and all-around grumpy that he cares about nothing but money.
It takes the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future to teach him the error of his ways so he can reflect on the way he’s been and change to become a better person, no longer valuing nothing but his business, yet embracing the love of family and community and the Christmas spirit of giving.
Vince McMahon has always been compared to various things, including Scrooge, and now that we’re in the Christmas season to reflect on two years of WWE culling so much of its roster, it has me thinking about what’s happened, what’s going on right now and what’s yet to come.
AEW has been able to pick up some great talent from WWE letting them go, to the point where Vince even joked about giving them some more before inevitably doing just that. It seems heartless and cold, all in the name of elusive “budget cuts” which seem to be unnecessary when the company perpetually reports record profits each quarter.
McMahon’s loss is Tony Khan’s win, and considering how well certain talent has been presented after struggling so much in WWE, it’s curious if or when McMahon is going to have his ghosts come back to haunt him and teach him a lesson.
Indulge me as I wax poetic about this concept and how this story may wrap up.
– AEW’s Ghosts of Wrestling Past, Present & Future for WWE (Christmas / Vince McMahon / Jericho,Punk,BS,MH,CC…Cole/Bryan…future is Owens,Gargano, O’Reilly, etc)
The Ghosts of Wrestling Past
AEW’s foundations are with The Elite and Cody Rhodes, but their first big “get” was Chris Jericho. If you think about it, none of that would have happened had two things went down differently:
1) If Jericho vs. Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship took place at WrestleMania 33 as planned, instead of telling them they’re not good enough, switching that to the United States title and putting the Universal Championship on Goldberg so he could drop it to Brock Lesnar in a rematch.
2) If Jericho’s request to have some WWE stars, even if they’re from NXT, on his cruise would have been approved.
Had either or certainly both of those taken place, it’s unlikely Jericho would have been looking to leave WWE, as he had said numerous times that he would never work for anyone else other than Vince. Their relationship wouldn’t have soured and he wouldn’t have thought about signing with another start-up. Then, it’s impossible to know if AEW would have grown to the same size it is today, or if it would have had less success. There would have at least been a new first champion, that’s for sure.
Several others saw the sinking ship of WWE and wanted out, or were forced out of the company in one fashion or another.
Billy Gunn got his Hall of Fame induction and left. Dean Malenko and Arn Anderson were no longer producers. Dustin Rhodes naturally (no pun intended) followed his brother.
A handful of previously rejected stars, who hadn’t made it in WWE, were given second chances. Scorpio Sky has more name recognition now than ever before and was only given a chance to be an extra in the Team Hell No vignettes. Luchasaurus was booted out of NXT. Lance Archer…don’t bother looking up his time in WWE, as it was awful. The same goes for Colt Cabana, or Scotty Goldman.
Shawn Spears hasn’t won a world title or anything, but that name means more to you than Tye Dillinger, does it not? Also, would you rather have Leva Bates or Blue Pants? Where’s Trent in all this discussion?
It’s doubtful WWE would learn any lessons from someone like Ryan Nemeth or think twice about how Matt Sydal is still around after they kicked Evan Bourne to the curb, but there’s a chance someone like Jake Hager caught their attention, even if it was just temporarily.
But what happens when someone like Sting shows up years after WWE sat around and did nothing with him and proves that he can still be of use not only as a manager, but as a wrestler?
What about when Christian Cage finally comes back from injury, wrestles a hot minute for WWE and chooses to go to AEW instead? No Edge and Christian tag team or feud possible anymore, after all these years.
Big Show leaves, feeling WWE was putting him out to pasture. Mark Henry goes because he wants to contribute and WWE has nothing for him.
WWE might not care so much that Matt Hardy left, but considering how useless Jeff Hardy has been booked since then and his current situation in question about a possible relapse, wouldn’t it have been better to keep The Hardy Boyz around, if not to help out with the struggling tag team division and to try to retain those old fans WWE seems to fully rely on?
Then, there’s CM Punk—a guy who exemplifies how the WWE machine isn’t for everyone and can turn people bitter against the thing they love the most just by being in that particular environment. That’s not to say Punk isn’t likely responsible for some of the things he feels, but considering everything that always comes out about WWE, it’s fair to assume a good portion of his frustrations were based entirely on the way Vince McMahon and company conduct business.
I’m sure all these people were looked at as being in the past; that WWE had moved past them long ago and they weren’t even in their rear-view, so it doesn’t affect the company because of the “who would bother watching them when they aren’t a big deal because they’re only a big deal when WE say they are?” mentality.
But Scrooge doesn’t turn over a new leaf with the Ghost of Christmas Past, does he?
The Ghosts of Wrestling Present
It’s one thing if someone leaves your company and you see little value in them. Good riddance, right? “You can’t fire me, I quit / you can’t quit, you’re fired!” But what about if you’re still worth a damn?
AEW’s second “big get” was to lure Dean Ambrose away from The Shield and to debut as Jon Moxley. He’s been one of the biggest stars for the company, reached a new level of popularity than what he achieved in WWE and was definitively the guy on top of the division for many months, rather than a stepping stone in favor of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
You’ve got guys like FTR, where WWE tried to get them to stay, but they turned down the contracts. They knew WWE wasn’t the environment for them anymore and all WWE’s promises were empty. Doesn’t that get upsetting after a while, hearing “You’re not the cool place to go that will nurture me and I don’t believe what you’re selling me, so I’ll go to the other playground”?
Pac is better than Adrian Neville, is he not?
Serena Deeb has seen more success out of WWE than she did there, where she was basically considered only good enough to train others instead of to be a focal point all on her own.
Look at Tay Conti. She was one of the people struggling in NXT to the point where it made sense why she was gone. Then, she goes to AEW and she’s been infinitely better to the point where she feels like an entirely different performer!
WWE goes out of its way to give several digital show ideas to Ever-Rise just days before they fire them. Now, 2point0 is having just as much, if not more fun, and are a much bigger deal than they were when they were holding down the fort for 205 Live, of all things.
I know Nick Comoroto personally and for him to go from “Nick Ogarelli that we don’t see at all in NXT” to someone who fans are looking at as a potential future star in amazing. WWE took The Wrecking Ball from OTW, chewed him up and spit him out. Then, AEW picked him back up, dusted him off and turned him into a name.
Lio Rush. Tony Nese. Ruby Soho. These are names that can contribute now to the business, aren’t past their primes, and could have been more in WWE had McMahon cared to invest in them.
What do you want to remember more, Miro’s TNT Championship run or the angle with Rusev being upset that Lana was cheating on him with Bobby Lashley, only to find out she was with Liv Morgan, too?
For a while, Andrade “Cien” Almas felt like the company’s answer to the search for the next big Hispanic star. Now, Andrade El Idolo feels like a bigger deal without a belt than he did when he was United States champion, does he not?
Are you not more excited about Malakai Black than Aleister Black? He’s a textbook example of someone Triple H clearly held in high regard and tried to position for a major role in the company’s future, and Paul Heyman was supportive of, only for him to be wasted on the main roster and actively opt to leave for greener pastures.
Then, you get Daniel Bryan. By all accounts, Vince has come around so much to him that he really loves the guy. Not too long, relatively speaking, since he comes back from his injury, he’s so much more enamored with AEW that he leaves WWE because he knows staying where he’s at, despite having family there, is less comfortable than being able to explore his passions in a company that actually likes professional wrestling.
Adam Cole leaves. Who wouldn’t, in his position? If we’re supposed to believe WWE basically told him “Change your name, cut your hair, and you’re too short to matter, so can you just be Keith Lee’s manager?” only to fire Keith Lee not too long after that, then what the hell?
Bobby Fish followed suit not too long after. I’m sure Fish in AEW doesn’t register anywhere near the same to WWE as Cole, but that poses another question about what’s still to come and the ultimate lessons that should be learned.
The Ghosts of Wrestling Future
Did we just see the last match of Kyle O’Reilly in NXT, losing to Von Wagner in a steel cage? It certainly seems like it.
If he goes, that leaves only Roderick Strong from The Undisputed ERA. That quartet was foundational for NXT. They helped define an era of the black and gold brand. That stable is synonymous with those letters, no matter how much WWE wants to wash it away and slap a new coat of paint (quite literally) on it with NXT 2.0’s misguided reboot.
Frankly, I don’t think Strong is sticking with WWE. I fully expect him to be gone in a few months, if not sooner. Diamond Mine already went through numerous changes and can’t seem to settle on a clear direction. Strong’s current the cruiserweight champion, but the belt is being changed into something that has no purpose as the weight limit is being dropped and 205 Live is no longer 205 nor live and is just Main Event for the NXT crew. Marina Shafir’s gone instead of joining Diamond Mine, so how much of a reason is there for Strong to stay? Clearly, he’s “too small” for someone like Vince to appreciate on the main roster, and he’s “too old” and “too indie” to become the top dog in NXT 2.0, so he’s doomed to job out until he’s let go. He might as well just take his hat and leave on his own accord.
There’s a chance we’ve seen the last of Johnny Gargano, too. While things were left a little ambiguous about his future on last night’s NXT, it seems more likely that he’ll be leaving than that he’ll be staying
With that means there’s an even stronger chance Tommaso Ciampa goes once his contract reaches a renewal, or when WWE decides to just cut him. He’s two years older than Gargano and far more beaten up.
Frankly, I think Kevin Owens is 100% gone in January. I don’t think there’s any chance at all he stays, and that WWE knows it, so that’s why he’s in this WWE Championship feud—so he can be the fall guy to take the pin and stretch this out. What another waste of someone who should have been a multi-time world champion, but for whatever reason, was perpetually stuck in the upper midcard after that Goldberg/Lesnar situation.
I assume all of them leave and go to AEW, where they’ll be welcomed with open arms.
But that’s not all. I think AEW is waiting to sign some of the other names who have been released recently, too.
Karrion Kross. Keith Lee. Oney Lorcan. Ember Moon. Buddy Murphy/Matthews. Possibly Bray Wyatt. Maybe Braun Strowman. You’ve got John Morrison and Taya Valkyrie (Franky Monet). There’s Tegan Nox, Davey Boy Smith Jr, Drake Maverick and even a guy like Tyler Breeze. These are names AEW can do something with and it’s almost guaranteed all of them would be more successful there than in WWE.
So when does WWE wake up and realize the entire company can’t sustain itself on nothing but Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar every couple months? How can this company say it has no stars when it refuses to build new ones and releases anyone who is starting to get over?
I think the time is coming soon when the realization is going to hit them. My guess is it’ll come down to The Road to WrestleMania 38 where we’ll have Lesnar and Reigns as the one and only match they’ll truly care about, with three other matches they give a B+ shit about, and then they’ll see how barren the roster really is.
Then, I can see an effort being made to try to keep some of the people who would otherwise likely leave, like AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, Cesaro, Asuka, Shinsuke Nakamura and Ricochet. Suddenly, it’ll be all apologies and promises to give them pushes and go in a new direction. Only then, it will be too late, as the damage has long been done.
The next phase after that, if I’m tossing out my predictions, will be WWE actively trying to keep their wrestlers, only for them to walk. That’ll then turn into resentment out of rejection, with WWE telling itself they never wanted them anyway, only to really feel bad deep down, knowing the reality of the situation.
The cycle will continue until something breaks it. WWE isn’t going to make the next change on its own. Numbers will reach a catastrophic low that NBC or Fox will be upset about, or there will be some kind of public outcry that catches on, or something big enough that will give WWE the “out” to use that as a catalyst. Think #GiveDivasAChance as something they took and said “We’ll use that as the impetus going forward.”
Someone will be a scapegoat. Maybe that’s Nick Khan, and he’s let go, with WWE stating that it has a different philosophy in mind and that they mutually parted ways or something. All of the blame will be put on that person (or, at least, attempted to), similar to how WWE tried to spin the bad viewership of Raw onto the character of Constable Corbin, as if he was writing the damn thing.
Then, there will be some grandiose reset announcement, like how NXT 2.0 came about. New graphics and logos. A promise for a better tomorrow. People from NXT being called up to the main roster. So on and so forth.
They’ll pick a handful of people (maybe 3 women and 5 men) who they’ll put the weight of the world on. You’re our new stars for this new era. Go out there and save the company.
Then, they’ll either succeed or they won’t, but by that time, it’ll be 2025 or later and this whole 2017-2022 range will be considered a dark time like 1995.
The question is…will you even still be watching, or will you be enjoying Christmas dinner sitting around your television screen watching Winter is Coming?
