Ben Allison of Wrestling Republic

Career highlight! Reinstate Becky Lynch as Intercontinental Champion ASAP @ScrapDaddyAP

This is an absolutely STACKED week for Professional Wrestling! Don’t be tribalistic, just enjoy it all🔥 🔴 WWE Raw
• Chad Gable (c) vs Ethan Page (Intercontinental Title)
• Penta, Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee vs The Vision
• Solo Sikoa vs Royce Keys
• John Cena (special announcement)
• Roman Reigns addresses Sami Zayn 🇯🇵 NJPW Power Struggle
• Gabe Kidd (c) vs Taichi (IWGP Global Title)
• Yota Tsuji vs Oleg Boltin vs Kenny Omega
• Yuto-Ice & OSKAR (c) vs Will Ospreay & Callum Newman (IWGP Tag Titles)
• Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs Shingo Takagi & Jeff Cobb
• Super Jr. Tag League Final: Ishimori & Robbie X vs Eagles & Fujita
• Plus full undercard (Wolf/Wato/KUUKAI, Mistico/KUSHIDA, Oiwa, Uemura multi-man, Umino trio) 🩸 AEW Blood & Guts
• Men’s Blood & Guts: Ospreay, Copeland, Darby, Borden & The Young Bucks vs Okada & The Don Callis Family
• Women’s Blood & Guts: Willow, Wrathlander & The Brawling Birds vs Triangle of Madness & Divine Dominion 🟡 WWE NXT (same night as Blood & Guts)
• Grayson Waller (c) vs CM Punk (NXT Title)
• Kelani Jordan (c) vs mystery opponent (NXT Women’s Title)
• Dusty Tag Classic Final: Dar & Moreno vs Hank & Tank (Cody presents)
• Dion Lennox vs Cruz Montana (unsanctioned, Michael Chandler refs)
• The Vanity Project vs Chad Gable, Dragon Lee & Rey Fenix
• John Cena appears 🔵 WWE SmackDown
• CM Punk vs Kevin Owens (No Holds Barred)
(taped after Raw, airs Friday) 🇸🇦 WWE Crown Jewel
• Roman Reigns vs Sami Zayn (Men’s Crown Jewel Championship)
• Chelsea Green vs Liv Morgan (Women’s Crown Jewel Championship)
• Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton (Last Man Standing)
• Bron Breakker & Austin Theory (c) vs Penta & Je’Von Evans (World Tag Titles)

The real winner of the head-to-head NXT vs AEW battle on Wednesday night will be us fans! Two stacked cards and two shows I expect to be very different! It’ll be a brilliant night no matter which order you watch them in, or if you watch them both at the same time! I’m not a fan of counter-programming for the sake of counter-programming, but that’s not what this is. NXT were forced to move because of the Elections, in the same way AEW was forced to move a few weeks ago due to NBA. When it happens naturally, all it means is that wrestling fans will be in for a treat!

From The Undertaker to The Fiend, here are my top 5 scariest wrestlers in WWE history 👀🎃

I’m very excited to see how the WWE creative changes play out in 2027, but most fans don’t seem to understand what it all means. In case you missed it, WWE is about to undergo some significant backstage changes after WrestleMania 43, with Shawn Michaels set to replace Bruce Prichard, with AJ Styles then taking Michaels’ role in NXT. A lot of fans have a belief that Triple H writes Raw and SmackDown every week, when in reality he just oversees the process, and the same for Shawn Michaels in NXT. The easiest way to think of it is like this; ⚪️Overseeing all WWE content: -Triple H (Chief Content Officer) -Bruce Prichard (To be replaced by Shawn Michaels) -Ed Koskey -Ryan Ward 🔴Lead Writer for Raw: -Alexandra Williams -Jonathan Baeckstrom 🔵Lead Writer for SmackDown: -John Swikata 🟡Overseeing NXT -Shawn Michaels (To be replaced by AJ Styles) -Johnny Russo (lead writer) So more than ever before it’s hard to really tell where the credit & blame goes for good & bad decisions, but 2027 will certainly be interesting.

Is this good news for Joe Hendry? Absolutely not. But I don’t think this is as bad for him as a lot of people are saying. The purpose of the match was clearly to make Bronson Reed look strong, not to make Hendry look weak. Countless babyfaces throughout WWE history have gone from being squashed to being in World title programs just a few months later. The best case scenario for Hendry is this online uproar gets fans more behind him, as to this point hardly anyone’s been complaining about the lack of TV time he’s had lately.

I thought last nights episode of AEW Dynamite was brilliant, so why am I complaining about it? Well because next week is the “most dangerous match in AEW” yet the episode hardly built to the two Blood & Guts matches. If a match is that important, the week before it should be the focal point of the show from minute one to the closing segment. Fans should come out of the episode feeling like they can’t week for next Wednesday to come. Instead this weeks show primarily focussed on building a DIFFERENT team vs team match happening a week later at Full Gear. It did a great job of building it, but it’s not the match the show should have been building to. Considering the build for the two Blood & Guts matches, I wouldn’t be surprised if some fans who were on the fence about what to watch, will choose NXT with John Cena and Cody Rhodes next week instead.

Maybe I’m just being grumpy… But why are AEW building another violent & intense multi man match for a week after blood & guts, when that’s meant to be the “most dangerous match in AEW” And why is Kyle Fletcher more focussed on getting a one on one match a week later instead of building blood & guts? And why the week before the most “dangerous match in AEW” do you have Hangman talking about a match he’s claiming is the most dangerous match in AEW Been a thoroughly entertaining episode of dynamite so far, but one which has managed to make me less excited for blood & guts😂 #AEWDynamite

Sami Zayn deserves some serious praise for the work he’s done as WWE Champion. I still believe it was unfair for fans to turn on him, but it’s safe to say he’s made the best out of a bad situation. The beauty of this gimmick is that in every promo he is taking a point which is genuinely true, then exaggerating it x100, making him seem ‘delusional’, despite the fact there is some logic to back it up. I doubt the reign will last long, as I do believe Penta cashing in on him before the end of the year is inevitable. But right he is giving 100% in every match and every promo, and delivering must watch television.

Hopefully this puts an end to the IWC acting like green screen experts😂

Last night confirmed that Bayley is NOT going to AEW and instead will be staying in WWE. If she was on her way out, no way would they have had her beat Lyra, and no way would she have tweeted “Women’s Wrestling Entertainment” following the show. Selfishly as a big Bayley fan, I hoped she would leave for a couple of year run in AEW. I’ve not been a fan of how WWE have booked her since WrestleMania 40, and there are multiple “first time ever” matches for her that I’d have loved to see in AEW. But she’s seemingly made her decision and I’m excited to see what’s next for her! Any fan trying to claim she “made the wrong decision” today is talking rubbish, as it’s her decision to make and she’ll have her own reasons none of us are aware of.

The majority of factions throughout AEW history have failed, and already I fear The Cut will be the next already. For a faction to be successful in the United States, they usually need: 1. A spell of dominance 2. A strong look and identity AEW has a lot of factions, and they can’t all be dominant, meaning they are destined to fail. Meanwhile the majority of factions in AEW haven’t had a visual identity. Saw what you like about the Death Riders, but they got this right from the start and it undeniably helped them. Is there a world where Jay White could dethrone Will Ospreay for the World title, while The Dogs win the AEW tag titles, Juice wins the TNT Title, The Gunns win the ROH tag titles, and Ace Austin wins the TV title? Sure, and I really hope it happens. But am I confident it will? No. The likelihood is Blood & Guts is the peak for this faction, and it’s all downhill from there.

Very rarely do I get genuinely infuriated about how a wrestler is booked, but I’m starting to feel that way about Kyoki. I have 0 issue with WWE having him play even more into his fun / silly side, but at least give him good material. So far he’s done nothing of note, fans have been given no reason to care for him, and now he’s in a storyline built around stealing a stick. If you’re going to sign a talent of his level, at least have solid plans for them to kick off their run.

Zack Sabre Jr’s name needs to be in the conversation everyone you talk about who the best wrestler in the world is. The world is a lot bigger than just America, and you shouldn’t need to have made it in America to be in the BOTW conversation. He’s conquered the UK and Japan, combining the British catch style and the Japanese shoot style to perfection, developing a style so refined that nobody else could be able to repeat it. To anyone who claims he can’t cut a promo, you are simply talking nonsense. He’s brilliant on the mic and has shown a rare ability to do so as both a face and heel while still feeling authentically himself. We all have our own perspectives on what criteria makes the best in the world, but he has to be in everyone’s conversation.

Having the John Cena Classic take place the same day as WrestlePalooza makes absolutely no sense to me. Sure there would be hours between them, but it would take anticipation away from both events. The fact they are considering this instead of counter-programming AEW makes me think that perhaps Cena would prefer for the tournament to not go head to head with Worlds End, and if so fair play! But ultimately from a WWE perspective surely that’s the better move than having to do TWO events in one day in two different parts of the world🤷‍♂️

AEW’s roster is now so stacked that there are almost two dozen wrestlers who are main event standard, but simply not that many main event spots. For now everything’s rosy, but certain stars feeling like they’re being underutilised is now inevitable. It’s a BRILLIANT problem for Tony Khan to have, but one he needs to be wary about. If there are certain names he knows he wants to keep, he needs to make them the priority. I do think it’s almost a guarantee that 3-4 wrestlers from AEW’s upper Midgard / main event scene will make the jump to WWE in the next 5 years for this reason.

If someone is continuously described as “underrated”, by definition it’s hard for that to still be the case, but with Dragon Lee I believe it is! Nobody is ever going to be the “Next Rey Mysterio” but I do believe Dragon Lee could be the face of Lucha Libre for the next 15 years in the company considering Penta is in his 40’s. Has truly been one of my favourite active wrestlers for the last decade, and I really hope WWE have plans for him for the prime of his career. The question now becomes: Who should retire Rey Mysterio? Dirty Dom or Dragon Lee?

Ilja Dragunov vs Shingo Takagi Ilja Dragunov vs Yota Tsuji Ilja Dragunov vs Yuya Uemura Ilja Dragunov vs Hirooki Goto Ilja Dragunov vs ZSJ Ilja Dragunov vs Konosuke Takeshita Ilja Dragunov vs Ryohei Oiwa … Ilja Dragunov in the G1 Climax🤯 I NEED THEM ALL ASAP🙏