All Elite Wrestling’s next move
As All Elite Wrestling nears its next Pay-Per-View, it has aired Dynamite on TNT for over four months now.
AEW has found a nice niche for itself, and a huge key moving forward will be long it is going to take to develop new stars.
Sure, talent like heavyweight champion Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Cody are established, but let鈥檚 be honest about where they were made stars. Jericho and Moxley, as Dean Ambrose, were heavyweight champions in WWE, while Cody was stuck under the proverbial glass ceiling at the mid-card level.
Ironically, Cody now has control over the promotion from a booking standpoint, and he will decide who can break through the glass ceiling.
Fittingly, Cody is following in the footsteps of his father, Dusty Rhodes, making sure as the lead writer that his storylines are the best in the company and thus far, fans are more emotionally invested in Cody鈥檚 storylines than anyone else鈥檚 at this point.
An issue AEW is facing is their performers are mostly small. The company really doesn鈥檛 have many physically-intimidating wrestlers on their roster.
It is a safe bet that AEW will sign away some wrestlers from WWE, and Matt Hardy may be next. Hardy鈥檚 deal is up with WWE on March 1 and if he does go to AEW, look for him to be the leader of The Dark Order.
What will be the next step in helping AEW get bigger?
Time will tell.
In next week鈥檚 column, we will look at AEW鈥檚 PPV that will air next Saturday.
WWE Super Showdown Thursday
WWE鈥檚 next event in Saudi Arabia, Super Showdown, airs Thursday at noon on the WWE Network.
In the three biggest matches, Brock Lesnar will defend the WWE title against Richochet, Bray Wyatt defends the Universal title against Goldberg and Roman Reigns takes on King Corbin in a steel cage match.
Another key bout is the Tuwaiq Trophy gauntlet match between Rusev, R-Truth, Andrade, Erick Rowan, Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles.
Taker鈥檚 Mania match
Speaking of Styles, The Undertaker has requested to face him at WrestleMania in April.
Boxing鈥檚 Mania effect
The heavyweight boxing championship fight Saturday night between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder will play into WrestleMania.
If Fury wins the fight between the two undefeated fighters, he could be teaming up with Braun Strowman at Mania. However, if Wilder wins, Fury may not be a part of the show at all.
The hunch here is that Wilder takes advantage of the scar Fury suffered above his eye in his last fight and looks to open it up.
WWE ice cream bars for sale
We discussed the return of WWE ice cream bars a few months ago. They weren鈥檛 supposed to be released until April, but they have been popping up in freezer sections of different chains.
AEW toys
The first line of AEW toy figures will be on display at the Toy Show New York convention from Feb. 22-26.
On This Day 鈥�
In 2011, Triple H and The Undertaker set up their WrestleMania XXVII match during a promo where neither man said a word.
Taker came out first and as he was about to speak, Triple H came out and interrupted. The legends stared at each other before looking at the WrestleMania sign.
Without any verbal dialogue, the two legends immediately had the fans invested emotionally.
This week鈥檚 question
What will WWE do if it rains at WrestleMania in Tampa? Ryan, Connellsville.
The show will go on, as it did the day of Mania 29 at MetLife Stadium just outside of New York City. It rains in Florida almost every day, even if only in 10 minutes spurts here and there.
Regardless, the show will indeed proceed.