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.
PWI Top 100 for 2020
These lists are subjective, but they’ve been around long enough that they matter. Bayley topping the list makes sense to me, despite how MASSIVELY frustrated I’ve personally been with the lack of progress on her feud with Sasha Banks. That’s a problem that’s been going on way past this year, though. But she’s been champion for a long time, won the tag titles, was the most prominent woman on the roster for a while, etc. It makes sense.
What doesn’t make sense to me is Becky Lynch at #2. This list is supposed to be from October 2019 to October 2020. That means Becky’s time from October through WrestleMania was more valuable than Asuka?? Asuka won Money in the Bank and two Raw Women’s Championship titles, while Becky limped on with less momentum than she had earlier in her run, won a disappointing match with Shayna Baszler and left due to pregnancy.
I wouldn’t put Riho at #8, either. She won the title in October, but she dropped it in February. I think Nyla Rose being at #16 in comparison is kind of ridiculous, as she should at least be closer.
And Rhea Ripley shouldn’t be #11. She should be higher. WWE screwed her over at WrestleMania, but you figure over the time they are counting this, she won WarGames, Survivor Series, beat Baszler for the title and fought Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.
The Curse of the NXT Championship
Keith Lee drops the belt to Karrion Kross, who gets injured in that match. He relinquishes the title and Finn Balor wins it. Balor gets injured, along with Kyle O’Reilly, in their TakeOver match. Then, Ridge Holland is set up for something and gets injured. Also, it turns out Balor’s injury is now worse than they had originally expected and there’s a good chance he’ll be stripped of the title.
To be honest, I’m 50/50 on this. If Balor’s out long enough that he’s going to miss Survivor Series, I think they need to nip this in the bud ASAP and get a new champion out there. But if he’s got a strong shot to wrestle at that event—and I mean only a STRONG shot—then he should keep the belt. They can’t play hot potato if they can avoid it, but they can’t also just have him sit out Survivor Series and make NXT look weak while having nothing at all going on in the title picture for 2 months.
If he does have to drop the title, what I’d like to see happen is Johnny Gargano win it and tie that into The Gargano Way. Otherwise, if it just goes to Adam Cole, we’re back to where we were in June but with no momentum. I guess if they went with Cole as a babyface, it could be something different, but he’d still be feuding with Tommaso Ciampa, Gargano and the same names.
Frankly, we need an injection of a couple different guys. I keep saying Bo Dallas should return and change his career around. I’d be cool with him winning the title if he’s presented seriously. That would be a refreshing change of pace.
John Cena Gets Married
So John Cena and Nikki Bella go all those years talking about how they do and don’t want to get married/have kids, get engaged, blah blah…and they both end up marrying their rebounds and she has a kid.
I have no interest in celebrity lives, I hate those “reality” shows and I think so much of it is manufactured garbage. Now, after a situation like this, it seems even more likely that a lot of that was just nonsense.
But hey, congrats to the happy couple, if it’s real. It’s just hard to believe any of that anymore as being entirely truthful when so many elements feel like publicity stunts.
Raw Underground Possibly Done
It’s almost as if having a bunch of people huddled around each other and interacting with lots of subsets of other people is a bad idea during a pandemic.
Who’da thought that??? Wear a mask. Stop hanging out in groups because you think you’re immune to the people you “know”. This is only going on as long as it’s going on because people are being stupid. WWE included.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
