Welcome back to another round of Quick Takes—a post that indulges in the topics that aren’t worth dedicating a full article to, but are still on my mind.
Each week, I try to cram in as many smaller talking points as I can via a speedier process, and I invite you to chime in with your own thoughts about these topics and anything else by keeping the discussion going in the comments below! Drop some more talking points in there for everyone to chat it up about, too!
Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s topics.
Captain Insano
This week, AEW filed to trademark Captain Insano—Paul Wight’s character from the Adam Sandler film The Waterboy.
Back in the day, I liked that film. It’s no Oscar contender, by any means, but it made a 10-year-old (or whatever, not positive when it came out) me laugh. I have no idea if it still holds up these days, but I doubt it.
I’m curious. Clearly, AEW plans on doing something with the character. Otherwise, they wouldn’t try to trademark it. But is this going to be Paul Wight’s means to have a goofy character and do the “gentle giant” thing in this company, too? I’d have thought he’d want to get away from that at least for a bit.
This could be a great gag at some point, or a terrible decision to try to reference something most younger fans probably aren’t even aware of. I guess we’ll have to see.
WrestleMania is Back in Business
Get used to hearing that. WWE is going to hit you with it nonstop for the next month.
Any time WWE thinks of a slogan like this, it’s company mandate that everyone has to say it at least a few times every episode. Whether it’s Charly Caruso, Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, whoever…you’re going to hear everyone with the same copy/paste enthusiasm saying this exact phrase.
Someone in WWE has absolutely loved subtitles for PPVs lately. Given the propensity to do this in the 80s and 90s, along with the timing that this has come back along with his hiring, I have to assume this is Bruce Prichard’s doing.
A good tagline can make an event better, like some of the In Your House events. But “The Horror Show at Extreme Rules” and such just don’t land for me.
“Too big for one night” was last year’s WrestleMania slogan to try to divert attention away from the Performance Center location. Back in business isn’t entirely false, but it’s giving me vibes that that phrase, along with WWE’s complete lack of cohesion and creative direction so far, means they literally only care about fans in attendance and not even making sure those fans (and everyone watching on this new Peacock deal) are entertained.
It wouldn’t shock me if there’s a philosophy of “fans will be happy to get ANYTHING, so we don’t have to put in any effort” and I hope I’m wrong about that.
People Power
John Laurinaitis is back in talent relations. This further pushes the idea that Vince McMahon has been more concerned lately with surrounding himself with people who don’t question his ideas and simply go with what he wants, rather than people who strive for the best product.
The more “yes men” Vince hires, the worse the product will get. Nobody will challenge for something better. It’ll just be an echo chamber.
WWE has been in a rough patch for a few years. This restoration of Laurinaitis back in this role makes me worried it’s going to be at least another 5-10 before things improve.
Hall of Fame Plans
Molly Holly was announced as the first member of the Class of 2021. Well-deserved.
Apparently, the Hall of Fame will take place virtually this year as part of The Bump, featuring the 2020 and 2021 classes.
Having seen the Slammy Awards, I’m underwhelmed. I’m glad it’s still happening, mind you, but it’s not going to feel at all like a Hall of Fame with everyone on grainy webcams in their homes.
If WWE has people ringside for NXT shows and will have thousands in attendance for WrestleMania, I think this should have been a show inside Raymond James Stadium or something, too. Put the roster on the lower level and fans spread out. Give people a chance to have their actual moment.
Of course, I still think an even better thing to do would be to have the ThunderDome have any sort of live interaction element where you can hear the fans, so they could interact. That would be even better, since that keeps people safer. I don’t know if they’ve even tried doing that, or if they have, what the problem is with not implementing it (a tech issue or a personal choice to avoid it entirely).
The Hall of Fame isn’t going to really feel like the Hall of Fame this year, but at least it’s happening, instead of being pushed to 2022 or further.
What are your takes on these topics? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
