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.
T-Bar, Mace, Slapjack, Reckoning and Retaliation
Good lord. WWE continues to give RETRIBUTION a tough mountain to climb. This gimmick could have been great, but it’s been awful.
Now, everyone is Bane from The Dark Knight Rises (clearly, an idea by whoever also pitched Dean Ambrose would do that before) and they have awful names. Mace, Slapjack and T-Bar. We also know Mercedes Martinez will be Retaliation and Mia Yim will be Reckoning. Just atrocious. And Dominik Dijakovic flat out copied lines Bane says in TDKR for a tweet.
This stuff is embarrassing. I saw a great tweet that compared these to Power Rangers villain names and it’s true. But jeez, look up T-Bar on Urban Dictionary. It’s slang for a thong and a BDSM sex toy. Why is that Dijakovic’s new name? He tried to justify it as some acronym for a bunch of other pointless words that are supposed to sound edgy and tough, but this is laughable.
WWE is killing these extremely talented superstars before they get a chance on the main roster. Then, when this reaches the point where Vince is tired of it trying to convince people its cool, he’s going to snap back like a rubber band, notice its been terrible and somehow blame it on the performers, rather than his creative.
WWE Wines
Why is WWE getting into the wine business? Is this a response to Chris Jericho selling the champagne and WWE thinking they need to respond with something similar many months too late?
Carmella has her wine, as do The Bella Twins. Wrestling fans can only be marketed toward so much until you’ve tapped that well dry. Plus, why is Undertaker and Ultimate Warrior the two ideas they decided to go with? I don’t think “wine” when it comes to those two. I would think some classier options would be better. Even Gorgeous George makes more sense to me. Shame they don’t have Goldust, cause that could potentially work.
Then again, I’m not a wine aficionado. I don’t drink at all. So what do I know, right? I’m only 50% the target audience.
RIP Road Warrior Animal
Legion of Doom member Road Warrior Animal has passed away. It goes without being said that he was half of arguably the greatest tag team of all time—and I don’t mean the Droz or Heidenreich or other incarnations. Hawk and Animal helped shape the business in some ways and tons of wrestlers went into the profession because of their love for that team.
Tegan Nox Injured Again?
Rumor has it Tegan Nox tore her ACL again. That’s not 100% confirmed yet, mind you.
If it is true, then we have to talk about the possibility she’s done for good. Three of the same injury in that short of a time span just spells doom for her career. Even if she’s able to return, if you’re WWE, you’re never going to put the belt on her. You could never trust that she’d be healthy for a long enough time span to be able to actually follow through with the title reign.
It’s heartbreaking and not at all fair if this is what her career comes down to. She’s talented and seems like a sweet girl, so I’m hoping this is just rumor and hearsay that turns out not to be true. Here’s hoping that’s just a storyline or even that she’s just staying away due to precautions from COVID or something, rather than another torn ACL or something. Hell, I think it’d even be better if she had a different sort of injury, like a broken finger or whatever. Know what I mean?
Let’s hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect something somewhere in the middle.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
