Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction
AEW All Out, Six-Man Titles & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

I’m Doug and welcome to Wrestling Fact or Fiction. The statements are courtesy of Mr. Jake Chambers and 411mania.com/wrestling. And the opinions given on each statement? That’s all me. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

Statement #1: You’re excited to see Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns as a tag team.

FACT: Excited is a strong word, but the teaming of Cody & Roman was inevitable and makes sense in telling the story. Neither likes the idea, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that stuff. It’s a natural progression in telling the Bloodline story and classic wrestling 101.

Statement #2: The AEW All Out PPV was too violent.

FICTION: There is a place for violence in professional wrestling and it’s part of the magic. The violence didn’t bother me. It was the lack of common sense and things happening to get a reaction, but in the big picture of things, just don’t make sense. A house burned to the ground. Using a cinder block? And the results were no-sold only minutes later. A needle in the mouth? A plastic bag over someone’s head? That chair shot. Every one of those things could be a big moment, but they were just thrown out there, with no purpose or reason, just to be there. That makes no sense. Of course, there are a lot of things in AEW that make no sense, but All Out was overflowing with it.

Statement #3: With the reduction of house shows, 5-match PLE cards, bragging about record gates thanks to historically high ticket prices, more on-screen product placements, and commercials cutting into matches, WWE is currently practicing some heinous shrinkflation.

FICTION: Most of these moves by WWE make good business sense. I barely notice the product placement and if the matches or actions are good, no one else will either. I understand why they’re reducing the house shows. I’m not thrilled with it, but it does work better for the talents overall. They’re still doing the house shows, but just not quite as frequently.

The PLE events may be shorter, but the shows and matches are better as a result. Every match gets plenty of time and the quality has improved. I’d prefer up to seven matches myself, just to give more talents an option to work the big events, but there seems to be more of a focus on the lower-roster talents working RAW and Smackdown, so they’re trying to balance it out. It may all seem excessive, but remember this. The bottom line is that WWE is a business, and TKO bought it to make money. Can they be faulted for taking advantage and trying to increase their profit margin? I don’t think so.

Statement #4: Despite having a lot of factions these days, WWE should avoid making a 6-man tag team championship.

FACT: WWE has plenty of titles already in play and doesn’t need any others. Between RAW, Smackdown, and NXT, there is plenty of gold to go around. There is already more than enough.

Statement #5: Jon Moxley will defeat Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Title and send him into (semi) retirement.

FACT: I hope not. I would love to see Danielson get past Moxley and use his semi-retired, fighting champion status to put over a younger, fresher talent who deserves a push. Moxley just isn’t it. But that being said, I expect Moxley to defeat Danielson for the belt and have another uneventful, boring reign as AEW’s top guy. Again, I hope not, but my gut says that it’ll play out that way. Oy vey!

Statement #6: Pro-wrestling is better when it’s predictable.

FICTION: I like a degree of predictability. A surprise just for the sake of shock value that makes no sense is an absolute waste. But when something happens or we get a surprise and it fits the story, making things better, that’s an incredible feeling. Some predictability is to be expected and necessary to keep a strong and consistent product. But the surprise, the swerve, and the sudden left turn add to the product and excitement and help keep it from getting stale or boring. The consistency catches our attention. The unpredictability keeps us coming back.

And there you go. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Once again, thanks to Jake Chambers over at 411Mania.com for allowing me to play with his toys. It’s been fun. And with that, I’m out of here for now. Take care and be well, my friends. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!