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Bookmark Mr. Tito's Column Archive to read the current and past columns. The EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING by Mr. Tito has returned to LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. I hope that all of my readers had a great Thanksgiving. I am certainly thankful for each and every one of you as well as the LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com platform that I have. I certainly try my best to entertain you each and every week whether you love to read my columns or love to hate my columns. Whatever floats your boat, I appreciate that you're here. I could laugh and do yet another "I told you so" column on a topic like Finn Balor. Reportedly, Finn has lost his Royal Rumble 2018 match against Brock Lesnar. I have YET to hear anybody definitively explain WHY Kane squashed Finn Balor on the RAW following Finn's big TLC Pay Per View win against former WWE Champion AJ Styles. And then beatdown the following week. Now, choked out cleanly by Samoa Joe to drive the nail in Balor's big match coffin against Brock Lesnar for the Rumble. In fact, that's the column that I wrote earlier this week and scrapped it. I don't need to say anything... Until anyone can explain that Kane squash and the Finn abruptly losing his Brock Lesnar match at Rumble... You can only assume that Finn Balor is the Triple H of 1996 with that "Too Sweet" salute with AJ Styles at TLC 2017. Cannot punish Styles because they need him to salvage the Jinder Mahal DISASTER which is killing WWE's Smackdown brand business... If you act like a mark towards your former Bullet Club wrestler friends, notably after Bullet Club made a scene to "invade" the parking lot at a Monday Night RAW, Vince McMahon will make an example out of YOU. Just to add insult to injury, Vince McMahon will depush you and yet put your little moment with AJ Styles on the TLC 2017 DVD cover. That, and that "too sweet" moment is an easy way to sell physical media DVDs here in 2017. Marks will buy anything! But I'll agree with Vince McMahon that Finn Balor is "not over". Take away that WWE over-produced entrance and theme song, what will the fans cheer about for Finn Balor? I can say the same exact thing with Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura. The WWE production machine can make anybody look great from their entrance... Inside the ring, however, is where it counts. Finn Balor is a tremendous athlete, no doubt about it... However, he's a 190 pound wrestler in the WWE that features a Cruiserweight show called "205 Live" which alludes to 205 pounds being the maximum weight limit. Not good on the mic, not the best personality, and the painted up "Demon" character is just strange. Full body paint didn't impress much with Jeff Hardy, who was more beloved by wrestling fans than Finn Balor could ever dream of, and it hasn't with Finn Balor on a bigger WWE stage. Nobody can point to any metric in the WWE that proves that Finn Balor is exceptional on the WWE roster in comparison to other wrestlers also working for the WWE machine. However, I can point to a few 3rd hour pops for RAW on a guy like Braun Strowman to validate why he should get a big match against Brock Lesnar. Nobody can explain that Kane squash match against Finn Balor. There's nobody else on that RAW roster that Kane could have squashed on that RAW roster on the night following TLC 2017? Really? There is NOBODY else on that RAW roster for Kane to squash? ANYWAY... That's all I'm going to say about Finn Balor. ------------------- I always enjoy the hilarity of Tito haters pointing to those BARELY above 3 million viewership numbers... We had 10 consecutive weeks of RAW averaging UNDER 3 million viewers... Then, on the RAW before and after a LOADED Survivor Series 2017, the average number is just less than 100,000 viewers above 3 million... What happens when the WWE cannot stack the cards this much in the upcoming weeks? Here is what SCARES me, though... I've been studying YouTube.com viewership counts for the WWE's channel and I'm noticing that Stephanie McMahon's segments are getting strong numbers so far since her return. Uh oh... The Corporate WWE side will say "SHE'S A DRAW" and we'll probably see the return of the Authority. Yep, just what we need... More belittling of WWE wrestlers who cannot retaliate against her. ------------------- Survivor Series 2017 is being met with weird criticism... I enjoyed the show and didn't hate on the Main Event as much others. Was it great? No... But it had lots of star power and featured a few match-ups that we haven't seen or witness in a while. The ending is what mattered... It is clear and definitive that Braun Strowman is now a babyface. TLC 2017 started the ball rolling and Survivor Series took it to the hoop. However, I'm still worried about the DAMAGE done from No Mercy 2017 when Strowman LOST to Brock Lesnar cleanly in an underwhelming and short match. That was a BIG mistake giving that match to Strowman early and also how bad the match was booked. But the damage could be salvaged... Braun Strowman still must win the 2018 Royal Rumble Match. Then, Strowman goes on to Wrestlemania 34 and definitively drives a stake into Brock Lesnar. It can still work... Fans are still into Strowman because he's every bit the "larger than life" character naturally that the WWE wants Roman Reigns to be. WWE has tried for over 3 and a half years to push and push and push Roman to be the next "larger than life" sensation to replace John Cena. For the resources poured into Roman, which includes defeating Triple H, Undertaker, Randy Orton, John Cena, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan 100% Clean... Not much bang for that buck! Braun Strowman doesn't need that constant flow of big names to defeat to "get over". Furthermore, Braun Strowman doesn't need the Wyatt Family to reunite for assistance. Roman Reigns NEEDS the Shield to salvage his career as a main eventer. See the difference? There's still hope, WWE... Change your Wrestlemania 34 plans from Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar to Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar. PUT BRAUN STROWMAN OVER DAMN IT! ------------------- THE LAST WORD If the reports of Finn Balor losing his Royal Rumble 2018 match against Brock Lesnar are true due to Vince McMahon deeming Finn as "not over", then Finn needs to consider packing his bags when his WWE contract is up. That goes for other wrestlers whom Vince or the WWE Creative Team dislikes or has nothing for... I admire what Cody Rhodes did... He was upset at how WWE used him and he packed his bags and left (took his hot wife too). Then, Cody set sail to wrestle where he wants, when he wants, and he totally disregards the WWE where he came from. He's his own man now and having the time of his life... Between several promotions, Cody is making decent money. The Bullet Club didn't have a major marketing machine pushing it, never has... It was the WRESTLERS getting that group name and merchandise over. Compare that to the recently reunited Shield, it's the WWE marketing machine pushing that brand hard and then the WWE Creative Team freely adds Kurt Angle and Triple H as substitute members. Bullet Club is natural and organic... Could you imagine if the Sinclair corporation actually invested money into the Ring of Honor promotion and pushed that brand harder? They could cross-promote with New Japan even more than really push that brand worldwide. WWE won't change. It's Vince McMahon's world and even when he leaves, it will be his Communications major daughter Stephanie McMahon running the company. If you're Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn who were sent home from the European Tour or Dolph Ziggler who cannot escape the WWE doghouse... GET OUT! Hey Rusev, go somewhere else! And it's not like those WWE paychecks are THAT great when you take into account several things. For one, the Federal Government will take at least a 33% bite out of most wrestlers earning $200,000 and above. But that's the Federal level. States and cities can still have their own Income Tax levels and also nail you on property taxes. Oh, you're on the road often and you need an accountant to handle your finances? Not cheap... WWE doesn't pay for ALL travel, hotel, or food expenses. They don't pay for the many trips to the gym. Company provided healthcare insurance, pension, etc., and other employer benefits are not there. Even if you were able to take home a decent paycheck from the WWE, when will you have time to spend it? WWE keeps you on the road up to 300 days a year. If you're not wrestling, you're making appearances or constantly training or tanning to retain your look. Sadly, "Impact" Wrestling (formerly TNA or GFW) and Ring of Honor are not it... Promotions from Mexico and Japan have to work harder to infiltrate American markets and so far, it's not spreading with the exception of hardcore wrestling fans. What's said is that Impact and ROH have big money behind them yet resources are strained to those wrestling promotions. Ring of Honor/Sinclair could push the Bullet Club as a nationwide sensation. WWE fans are SICK and TIRED of the WWE's political correctness. Could you imagine the WWE Corporation allowing something called "Bullet" Club in their promotion? Oh no, we cannot upset sponsors and ditch that family appeal! Heaven forbid. Last time I checked, the WWE's highest viewership ever occurred when the programming was adult themed... It's up to disgruntled WWE wrestlers to maybe form their own wrestling promotion. I've said it for YEARS about CM Punk. He let the WWE ruin his "joy" for pro wrestling. If wrestlers like Punk or Daniel Bryan would just start their own promotion and do things THEIR way. Extreme Championship Wrestling during the late 1990s proved that a smaller promotion can generate buzz by being unique and featuring wrestlers that other promotions wouldn't. ECW did it with freakin' Infomercials that aired at 1am on Friday or Saturday nights. Imagine what ECW could have done with YouTube to easily promote their product. Holy cow... Follow Cody Rhodes and take a chance... Wrestling fans are starving for a grown up wrestling product. We're back in 1995 when wrestling was also very family friendly and the WWE has been losing thousands in live attendance and has lost 1 million viewers for RAW. In 1996, the raw and violent New World Order stable invaded WCW and began showing wrestling fans a more "mature" product. Then, ECW showed the world how "extreme" wrestling storylines could get. WWE took the momentum from both and fed them into amazing characters like Steve Austin, the Rock, Vince McMahon, Mick Foley, and many more. The result was the wrestling business EXPLODING. Otherwise, plaster on a fake smile and keep cashing into those WWE paychecks. Don't go crying on Twitter about the promoter saying that you're not "over". SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. Bookmark Mr. Tito's Column Archive to read the current and past columns. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2017
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