Last night was a momentous occasion as it was Mrs. Deal’s birthday, turning 50. It’s hilarious because literally no one thinks that is her age as she doesn’t show it, like at all. I told a former co-worker that she had a big birthday coming up and they replied, “Oh, she’s turning 40?” I was like, you were at our wedding…do you think 30 year old RD married a 17 year old?” It’s great for me of course, as I get a trophy wife out of the arrangement and she gets, well, whatever it would be you’d classify me as these days. Just another blessing God has given me for which I am incredibly thankful. Kinda like how I’m grateful for all the folks filling the mailbag with questions this week…
Chad A kicks us off with…”What can AEW do to bring back to bring back good faith that they had prior, it seems far too many people crap on it than praise it and just find reasons to hate it like they did with WWE during Vince’s final years in the company?”
There’s no quick fix, so I’d just stick to being the company that provides the best in-ring product. I think the news of the new TV deal will help stabilize things. Pretty sure a lot of folks thought for whatever reason they were going to simply vanish as so many other companies had, but with this influx of new cash they’re going to be around for a while. And with that will come renewed optimism and fan interest because folks will know they’re not cheering for a lame duck promotion, but one that has staying power. I know that ticks off a lot of the tribal folks but as I’ve said a million times, any industry is better with competition. Wrestling is no different. Think back to early 90’s WWF – while it was a gold mine for me, it was horrible for everyone else. It wasn’t until Nitro showed up and challenged Vince that things changed. When WCW died, there was nothing to push the WWF, and we got a lot of horrible years strung together. Keep WWE on their toes and good things happen for everyone. And hopefully Tony uses some of that money to better staff AEW not in the form of more wrestlers, but in front office staff, folks that can get them marketing deals, and advertising to better promote the live events.
Robert R gets spooky with…”Favorite horror movie?”
I am not a huge horror fan, but I really enjoyed the original Halloween. Probably helps that I am a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan. More than anything “modern” I love the Universal classics from the 1930s, with Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man near the top of the list.
Arya W observes…”Thoughts on Ospreay vs Rick O’Shea being on Dynamite instead of the ppv days later which currently doesn’t have anything announced for it?”
It’s interesting because AEW likes sometimes to have a match on TV that leads to the same match on PPV. I don’t know that will be the case here, but yeah, it’s odd to be sure. That said, after watching Rick O’Shea vs. The Beast Mortus this week, I MUST have an Ospreay-Mortus match in my future. It is required. Can’t wait for that to inevitably happen.
Brian B asks…”RD, why isn’t Portillo’s a national chain?”
I’m always interested in regional chains like Portillo’s. I don’t know if it’s the one closest to me or what, but I am not overly impressed with the food. I think perhaps it’s a classic case of “what you grew up with” as there’s a Skyline Chili right across the street from our Portillo’s, and I would go to Skyline ten times out of ten versus Portillo’s. When I was a kid, it was always a treat to go to Skyline, as they were ‘local’ to us, but it was like a 25 minute drive to the closest one, so we didn’t get it all the time. Still love it to this day.
Craig B gets us back in the ring with…”Is there any setting that you’ve never seen a wrestling show that you think would rock for one?”
I LOVE wrestling shows at non-conventional places. Thinking back to that AEW show on Jericho’s cruise or even better those Nitros at Club La Vella…wrestling needs more of that for sure. Heck, even those events WCW would run at Disney MGM outside just looked so much more interesting than another arena. I always wondered why WCW never ran in the middle of a college campus when they had that kind of following. WWE could FOR SURE do that now and I think it would be fantastic. Show a bunch of younger people excited about seeing Cody or Roman or whoever. It’s there and would be so cool. So yeah, middle of a college campus. Make it happen!
Tony N ponders…”Which Weird Al track would be the perfect name for a pay per view event, any promotion considered?”
“Amish Paradise”. There’s another location that would be fantastic for a wrestling show!
Mike M wraps us up with…”You mentioned possibly retiring in last week’s mailbag—were you serious, or is it more of a Terry Funk-type “retirement”?”
It would be a lie to say I’ve not seriously considered retiring from WrestleCrap, simply because I’ve done it more or less 25 years nonstop. Yes, there have been a few breaks here and there, but for the most part, it’s been almost half my life. Sometimes I ponder if there are other things I’d rather do, which I think is just normal. Plus finishing up my run at the silver anniversary with Art (who, let’s face it, is every bit as good as I am these days) and the incredible Jordan Mishkin at my side could be fitting. At this point, I am not planning on it though. We keep a running list of potential induction ideas and…
…well, there’s still a lot of work to do, you know?
And to that end, let’s wrap it up for another week. Keep those questions coming in rightchere and I will keep answering them!