WWE’s huge move
There has been plenty of negative publicity towards WWE in recent months, and rightfully so.
Thursday, the company made huge news, and it has been looked at as positive from all angles, as it announced that Paul Heyman is now the Executive Director of Raw and Eric Bischoff has been hired as the Executive Director for Smackdown.
Both will slowly be worked into their respective positions and each will answer directly to, and only to, Vince McMahon.
The move has created a universal breath of fresh air around the WWE product.
Morale in WWE as of late has been at is lowest since the mid-1990s, but if Heyman and Bischoff are given complete control without Vince meddling, it could give WWE the creative boost that it has so sorely needed for a long time.
Will both shows be massive hits right away?
No, but look for things to go in a much different direction.
It will make sense for WWE to dump the ill-guided Wild Card rule and have both shows separate again, minus the women鈥檚 tag titles as they will still be defended on both shows.
More on this topic next week.
Taylor retains ROH TV title
Friday night, Shane Taylor retained the Ring of Honor TV title with a victory over Bandido.
The match took place on ROH鈥檚 Best in the World PPV.
AEW continues momentum
Saturday night, All Elite Wrestling held its Fyter Fest show which aired on Bleacher Report Live.
AEW will have another show on BL/Live next month.
On This Day鈥�
In 1944, former NWA champion Terry Funk is born.
In 1985, Cody Rhodes was born.
In 2008, CM Punk won his first WWE world championship when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to defeat Edge to win the World title.
In 2009, Sheamus debuts on WWE鈥檚 main roster.
n
This week鈥檚 question: Last week, you mentioned Steve Austin鈥檚 line and I think it is the most important line in pro wrestling history. Without Stone Cold, and without the Austin 3:16 line, does The Rock become the world鈥檚 biggest movie star? Mike, Greensburg.
This is a topic that never crossed my mind.
Had Vince kept running WWE (then WWF) in the mid-1990s the way he had been running it, the company would have gone out of business.
Vince knew something had to change and he took the company in an edgier direction.
The assumption here is that had the product not transitioned to a more adult-oriented content, then Austin would have never given that specific promo.
When The Rock debuted, everyone saw that 鈥淩ocky Maivia鈥� wasn鈥檛 going anywhere and his change in characters happened when WWE was full speed ahead into the Attitude Era and Austin鈥檚 promo expedited the process.
The Rock, as we know him, would have never been allowed to show the charisma which helped lead him right into Hollywood had WWE not gone down the extreme route.
So the guess here is that no, The Rock would not have gone on to be the biggest movie star in the world had it not been for Austin鈥檚 line, although there could be way more detail in explaining why.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.