The Casual Friday, um, Saturday Morning Edition!

 

Good Morning!

It’s been a little while! I had some existential crises coupled with some commitments to help my pals, that ate into the time I usually spend bullshitting with you, dear reader, about pro wrestling and whatnot. But I’ve also been reading a lot, and it’s all very depressing.

Big websites are kinda being eaten by these moneyed groups – groups that aren’t interested in the work these sites put out, but are interested in either constant growth and increased revenue or in saddling the company with a ton of debt before letting it die. Kotaku just had its editor-in-chief resign after being on the job less than a year, because (allegedly) the owners of the site decided they should be less about reporting and more about producing fifty gaming guides or tips articles a week. As somebody who sometimes has trouble pumping out a single blog post – a post recapping my favorite thing in the world, mind you – this seems insane to me. 

Bloody Elbow, a popular MMA blog, had a similar fate. Less than 24 hours after the site was sold off, writers there were laid off and much of their work was scrubbed from the site. Suspiciously, most of the stuff that was deleted first was Bloody Elbow’s work reporting and investigating the business behind the fights. It’s great work, see, but it could be viewed as “controversial” by the people who run UFC and other fight groups. 

So we’re losing the actual reporting and having it replaced by things like “What did Dave StrongPunch say to his upcoming opponent on camera in a staged confrontation?” or “How to find the third (of seven) special statues in the Stardew Valley update” – things that will get clicks but don’t really have a reason to exist, aside from selling you on the popular game or upcoming PPV. It’s gross! And while I’m not exactly a reporter or journalist over here, I do appreciate the sites that do things like original reporting, or stories that aren’t just reviews or previews (he says as a guy who does just that.)

But I don't want to be all doom and gloom. Yes, media isn’t in the best spot, but we’re getting a lot of worker-owned co-ops that are continuing the traditions of these bought-out shells. For every Deadspin or Kotaku that failed their writers, a Defector or Aftermath have risen from their ashes, sites founded by writers from those sites and continuing to produce good work. These sites are typically subscription based, but I think it’s worth supporting these writers for the same amount one might pay for a Max or Netflix – and you’re getting new content every day, and lots of it, from a variety of good voices. 

“It’s A Soap Opera With More Suplexes and Less Violence”

…in which I discuss the storylines that keep us watching week to week

A weird double-dip this week, as I didn’t publish last week’s Casual Friday because of reasons. I did drop last week’s a little earlier today – you can read it here if you’d like to catch up on Mercedes Moné’s debut and the continued build to WrestleMania – but I think since we’re on a multi-lane highway to both WrestleMania AND AEW Dynasty, you’ll be ok just jumping on with this blog. Still, give that link a click for my ego’s sake, would ya?

This week was kinda packed, with Rampage airing immediately after Dynamite this week because of the college basketball tournament. So we had two three-hour blocks of wrestling on Monday and Wednesday – and a third if you watch Rampage after SmackDown like I do. 

Fortunately, as all roads lead to pay-per-views, most of the actual wrestling shows are serving those shows. While we had *checks notes* some great matches and a ton of promos in the twelve hours of WWE, ten hours of AEW, and four of NXT since last we spoke, we’ve mostly been focused on building matches – even when the matches used to build those matches have been really good! Did that make sense?

So we’ve seen build towards Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, and the tag match leading into that, Cody and Seth Rollins facing off against The Rock and Reigns. But that also means we’ve gotta think about Drew McIntyre, who will face Rollins at some point over WrestleMania weekend as well. With Raw heading to Chicago on Monday, maybe CM Punk – who was involved with both guys before and immediately after his triceps injury – will be involved? Not in a triple threat, at least I don’t think, but maybe as a guest referee, or guest commentator who gets involved. Who’s to say?

The whole Rock/Cody side quest has taken center stage, as The Rock has been using social media to cut some particularly nasty promos on Cody and his family. While I am not super invested in that stuff, as I’m not really a socials guy, people seem to be enjoying it, and those shorts are definitely getting people talking. And they allow Rocky some creative freedom, even if he basically has regressed to the 90s version of himself, questionable promos and all. And if a rising tide raises all ships (is that the phrase?) then Rock getting attention on SmackDown will raise the whole company’s profile on the remaining road to WrestleMania.

It’s really the only thing in flux at this point. Sure, we’re still two weeks out, and we will likely see another four matches or so finalized. But aside from the intrigue of the two heavyweight championships, WrestleMania is all but set. And that’s great! There’s a lot to look forward to and we’ll be here to break it all down for you. Really! I swear!

Over on the All Elite side of things, Kazuchika Okada has become the Continental Champion, defeating Eddie Kingston in a pretty decent match for that title. Okada is a megastar, and putting a title on him while he’s growing more comfortable in his role as a super douche alongside the Young Bucks was a good call. Eddie already seems to have moved on from that title picture, which is fine. The guy has two other titles to worry about, and with Supercard of Honor coming in a few weeks he’ll be defending that Ring of Honor Championship against … somebody. And PAC vs Okada should rule.

Mercedes Mone continues to make her presence known, getting involved in the TBS title picture a bit. I think it’s just a way to ease her into the Willow Nightingale match that seems to be coming, although I can’t imagine they would try to make Willow the bad guy in that rivalry. Willow is just too goddamn lovable to be a heel! And honestly, Mercedes is better as a baddie.

So that’s what comes immediately to mind. Of course, several other storylines are chugging along, and I think it would be better if I try to write a shorter something the morning after shows, and keep Casual Friday just that – a casual talk about the best stuff of the week, and a way to catch up. I know some of you, dear readers, just come here to get caught up on the overall vibe of wrestling, or you’re just being nice and reading the stuff I put out there because you know me, or I said something funny on Twitter or BlueSky. And I appreciate that! I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do things around here, you know?

Speaking of that, I made my friend Sarah in WWE 2K24. While I don’t think I’m going to try to do the whole “animal hospital fights amongst themselves” thing again, I do enjoy making people in the game, and I haven’t played through the mens and womens storylines in a few years. Maybe I should try streaming the game? If I do, it would probably be on Twitch. I’ll let you know on here when I decide to do it, and of course I’ll tweet and skeet before we get started. 

Skeets being the posts on BlueSky. I don’t make these things up.

And! I’m writing this as SmackDown is on, and some fun stuff happened on here as well. KO is a gem despite not really having anything to do at WrestleMania, and he and Randy Orton will be teaming up against the amazing Pretty Deadly next week. Damage CTRL continued their assault on the SmackDown women, with Iyo Sky beating down Bayley before heading to her match against Naomi. After a distraction finish, the champ and the tag champs – and Dakota Kai – took out both Naomi and attempted hero Bianca Belair, with Asuka spitting some poison mist into the eyes of Naomi. I’m hoping this leads to another women’s match being added to ‘Mania – maybe something that gets Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton pulled into it as well? Steiner math gets us 4-on-3 if we assume Asuka, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, and Tiffany Stratton against Naomi, Bianca, and maybe Jade Cargill. That won’t do. Maybe just Naomi and Bianca against the Kabuki Warriors for the tag belts? I haven’t worked this out yet, obviously.

Of course, this week’s SmackDown truly existed for one thing – a face-to-face meeting between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, with both men agreeing to head into the arena alone. It closed the show, because that’s how you get people to watch, and after Roman sauntered into the ring with about ten minutes of TV time remaining, Cody Rhodes followed. Some quality references to both the Shield and Bullet Club followed, as Roman tried to bring Seth Rollins’ loyalty into question. Cody tried to turn the tables on Roman, asking if The Rock was trustworthy. All in all, it was another solid promo segment, ending with Reigns refusing to shake Rhodes’ hand after Cody offered good luck. And, after Roman left the ring, Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso approached the ring, as we all probably should have expected. But! Another pair of hoodies appeared in the crowd, and Seth Rollins and Jey Uso kept things civil as the music in the arena switched from Roman’s to Cody’s, and that wrapped things up.

One last observation: commentary duo Corey Graves and Wade Barrett are pretty good, but it did seem like Graves was really pushing Wade’s old “Bad News” nickname this week. I won’t speculate as to why –  I mean, it is a cool nickname, it just seemed a little pushy is all.

We Watched Some Wrestling!

…in which I recommend some of the best matches I saw last week

Oh boy, there were some good ones! If we’re just doing the one-match-per-company setup (and we should, or I’ll easily get overwhelmed with options) then here’s my picks. WWE wrapped up the Becky Lynch versus Nia Jax storyline, with Lynch scoring a definitive win over the much-improved Jax. Becky has been on a roll lately, getting really good matches out of some often disappointing talent. That’s not to say Liv Morgan or Nia Jax are bad, but they stepped their games up against The Man and it showed.

AEW had at least three I’d love to tag here, but the match between Adam “I was Edge in WWE” Copeland and Christian Cage was a hockey lover’s dream. A street fight in Toronto that brought in hockey jerseys, a goal and stick, and a big board with nails in it (not a hockey thing) this match was just a lot of fun. 

And NXT gave us Drew Gulak taking on Riley Osborne for the Heritage Cup, which means weird rules and technically proficient wrestling.

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! Thanks for coming with me on that journey. No pay-per-views or premium live events this weekend, and the NCAA tournament is pre-empting Collision, so we’re taking the weekend off. Maybe it’s time to go out and see a movie, or check out that X-Men ‘97 that all the kids are talking about.

I’ll see you next week for Casual Friday, but I’ll also try to put something up the mornings after Raw, NXT, and Dynamite. As always, this is a work in progress, and it’s easier to play around with the format now, as opposed to when we somehow end up with actual people reading this stuff. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!