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TJR Q&A: Lesnar Facing Reigns Again, Heel Becky Lynch, More

Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns

It’s that time once again for some questions and answers, also known as the TJR Q&A for the 78th time on this fine website. There’s a lot going on, so there’s a lot to discuss. The questions come from the Facebook page right here and I selected over of the best questions. Let’s roll.

1. Jeremy Bennett
Where do you think is the best fit for Buddy Matthews?

It seems like it will be Impact Wrestling based on what I’ve seen, which could be good for him because he can be a top guy there. I think if he was in AEW he might do okay at first, but their roster is so deep that he may get lost in the shuffle. So many AEW guys barely wrestle on Dynamite. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. And the more ex-WWE guys they bring in that make a lot of money, the worse it will be for the AEW people that were there before.

2. Kelsey Graham
Hey John, what would you say is the most underrated feud of the past 10 years?

Randy Orton vs. Christian was awesome but that’s 10 years now, so I’ll pick something more recent.

I thought AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose on Smackdown in 2016 was outstanding for both guys. It helped make Styles a main eventer while Ambrose had his best run in WWE. The James Ellsworth stuff was silly, but it was fun and the feud benefited both guys a lot.

Also, I really liked The Usos vs. The New Day on Smackdown in 2017. That was great for both sides.

3. Aj Giacobbe
Is wwe going to be sold after Wrestlemania?

Probably not, but I assume people will guess WWE will be sold all the time moving forward.

4. Andy Mullen
I always thought NXT was at its best when it was still a “developmental” on the WWE network. Do you think a reset for NXT could be the right way to go?

You can already tell they are using some newer guys after this week’s show. It did work in 2015, but I don’t know if the talent roster is as good as that group was. Think of the women there and look at them now. I think Io Shirai is at that level, but not sure about the others.

I think the right way is a mix of having the guys like Odyssey Jones and Duke Hudson while also having the guys like Kyle O’Reilly and Johnny Gargano. It’s good to have a mix.

5. Geoff Landtbom
Do you think that some fans might be making too big a deal about Becky squashing Bianca? She hadn’t wrestled in an actual match for 16 months and they were never going to bring her back just to lose.

Yeah they are making a big deal out of it. I stress patience for stuff like that. If Becky did it to a heel wrestler nobody would care. Bianca is a face and has been so protected this year, so to see her lose like that will piss people off. I get it, but I’m interested in the follow up with Becky as a heel.

If Banks was healthy then I doubt we would have seen Becky in a match. Maybe she would have appeared, but I doubt they would have done what happened.

6. Parker Solseng
Will WWE be trying to book more stadium shows or is it just a Vegas thing?

I think we’ll get three or four per year. I was a bit surprised that they announced MITB in Allegiant Stadium. I didn’t expect that, but it’s cool. I assume they’ll do WM in the major stadiums, then Royal Rumble and SummerSlam in stadiums going forward. Why not? Sell more tickets. Make more money.

7. Stuart Pretswell
What will be the plans for Brock Lesnar going forward? Especially with Paul Heyman now aligned with Roman Reigns.

I guess we’ll get babyface Brock Lesnar now. He won’t appear every week, he won’t talk that much, but I think the fans will pop for him kicking ass and going after Roman’s title. He can say Heyman turned against him, so the fans would like that.

I assume we get Roman vs. Brock at the Saudi show in October.

8. Julie Ann Chambers
I always have categorized NXT as a separate entity then Raw and Smackdown…but I noticed recently that NXT is like becoming more like them with the extra superstars sitting in the back and firing of superstars…what is your opinion of this? Also, do you think Vince is highly impacted NXT?

It is separate in a lot of ways because there are so many people with different experience. There are a lot of wrestlers there that are there to develop and learn, but also some veterans. I think the releases were just done because they had so many people under contract and they don’t need that many, so they probably felt it was necessary.

9. Timothy Mercer
Do you think Adam Cole winds up in AEW?

Yes but I’d prefer he stay in WWE. I’m not biased to any company, but I would love to see him feuding with some of the top guys in WWE and getting a push. If he goes to AEW that’s fine too. I just don’t see how AEW is supposed to find time and a spot for everyone.

10. Daniel Lerma
Do you see WWE moving more ppvs to Saturdays since Summerslam was supposedly the most watched Summerslam ever? I think it gives a better chance for fans overseas to stay up late and not having to worry about work/school the next day. Not sure how much does WWE cares about that though.

Probably not. While I do agree with your point about fans overseas and also parents with young kids (they can stay up late on Saturday since Sunday is a day off), I think WWE prefers Sunday PPVs. The main reason why is because I think of UFC and boxing events taking place on Saturday. If you’re WWE, you don’t want to compete against those. That’s why I think Sunday PPV will remain.

11. Kenny Brophy
With Becky turning heel, do you think it’d be smart for her to change her entrance music?

Yeah maybe so. Her husband Seth Rollins did so it makes sense for her too. The current song is catchy and memorable, but as a heel it might be worth the change.

12. Joshua Millwood
Will the NXT “rebrand” really be the death nail everybody thinks it will?

Absolutely not. The brand will continue to exist. The entire company is so big, healthy and strong. It’s weird how negative some fans are about everything. I don’t really get it.

13. Rusty Rowe
Are the negative opinions of wwe reversible?

Society is negative in general especially after the last two years of dealing with Coronavirus that made people stay home and be miserable. I always say pro wrestling right now is very strong, it’s not even close to being that bad or like as bad as the worst times were.

14. Daniel Hill
Do you now think AEW has as good a roster as WWE if not better? Depth and quality?

In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. Both companies don’t use everybody right, but that’s what happens when you have big roster.

15. Adam Garcia
Do you think the recent signings of Punk and alleged or potential signings of Danielson, Rotunda, and possibly Cole along with the deep pockets of Khan will create a power shift in wrestling in the next year or so?

I think the viewership numbers will probably get close in the US, but there are a lot of things that matter other than that. If you think of the worldwide reach that WWE has, the licensing deals and all this other stuff, it’s a huge company. But I think AEW is definitely growing. Happy to see it. Happy for their success.

16. Cody Moore
If you had complete control of Bray Wyatt what company would you go to and what kinda character would he have?

I liked the original Bray Wyatt gimmick from NXT and early days in WWE. The guy that was a cult leader with beards with dudes following him. It was ended way too soon. It could have been so much more. I don’t care what company. I watch them.

17. Aquil Hall
Since we have a lack of challengers for both belts do you think going back to one brand would help the overall product??? Like who am I really suppose to believe is gonna beat Lashley on that roster?? Randy is tagging and so is AJ… I think one brand helps both shows.

If you did that then you can probably cut 50 wrestlers that are never going to get TV time or booked on live events. I don’t think that would be smart.

18. Josh Warner
Who do you feel will defeat Bobby Lashley for the title?

A Big E cash in would be cool! I think they need to move some guys over from Smackdown and put over a Kevin Owens or Finn Balor. Somebody like that would be cool. The next draft is in October, so it’s coming soon.

19. Toby Alexander
Tentative WM38 main matches?

Too early, but I think they want to do Roman Reigns vs. Rock in the main event. It will be about a month before Rock turns 50. I hope it happens. And if they say it’s Rock’s last match ever win or lose it would be HUGE news story.

20. Damie Sinanan
Do you think with Punk, Bryan and hopefully Bray and Braun along with their current talent that Dynamite may eclipse Raw in terms of viewership? even if just for one or two weeks?

I think it might happen at some point this fall because Raw will get hurt by the NFL on Mondays. With that said, I think the TV ratings system is very overrated by people that cover and watch wrestling. It’s a weird obsession for some people. They talk about the ratings more than the shows. I don’t get it. I’m sure there are better ways to track an audience watching too, especially in a world where people are cutting cable.

21. Dale Schofield
Do you think that from a fan’s perspective, AEW dropped the ball a bit by making the CM Punk debut so obvious. I appreciate the business side of it, but I just don’t think you can beat that suprise factor with returns in wrestling.

They basically advertised it by leaking the story out, so I think that was smart because they sold 16,000 tickets. It was a boring show other than the 15 minutes that Punk was there. The main event was Jon Moxley beating a guy in four minutes. And they taped a couple of hours of AEW Dark matches. It was boring other than Punk’s appearance.

22. Brandan Kelly
Do you think Brock Lesnar takes the title from Roman Reigns?

Probably not. Now I think Reigns holds it until WrestleMania at least, but I don’t know.

23. Robert Lee Thomas
With the new additions to AEW, more on the way, and Hangman out of the picture for now, who do you think is the next AEW champion?

I would have Hangman win it at the November PPV. He’s out because his wife is about to have a baby, but he should be around by then.

24. Nate Kuhl
How long will the title reign of RK Bro be? Is it a given that Orton turns on Riddle setting up a match between them at Wrestlemania next year?

I think your timeline is pretty good there. Hold it for a few months, maybe Orton turns on Riddle in the Royal Rumble, then they lose the titles after that and then Riddle beats Orton at WM.

25. Dangelino Ochoa
WALTER’s reign as NXT UK champ was 870 days. Pete Dunne before him was 685 days. A combined 1,555 days. My question is in your opinion will Ilja Dragunov have a reign that long? I personally hope so.

Hopefully not. Those reigns are too long. It gets kinda boring after a while. Walter had no shows for many months last year because of COVID too so that’s part of it. Maybe Dragunov holds it for six months, but I don’t think it will be two years.

26. Charlie Pérez
What’s your take on AEW’s loaded roster having the same issues as WWE?

There’s only so much TV time. It’s going to happen to any wrestling company when you have as many people as both companies have. What AEW has going for it is their fans are so passionate and don’t feel bad by past things the way WWE fans do. For example, even though the AEW fans were mad about the bad explosion at the end of the Omega/Moxley, it’s not like AEW fans are that mad at AEW for it. If WWE did it, they would be so angry. So there’s a difference between the companies.

27. Leonard Maglasang
Is there a match/card that happened within your area that you regret afterward not attending live? Mine is the 1st Takeover Brooklyn for Sasha-Bayley of course but also having Balor-KO in the Ladder Match, Justin Thunder Liger’s 1 appearance and the Vaudevillains / Blue Pants moment.

WrestleMania 6 and 18 in Toronto two hours from me. Wish I was at both. Probably some Detroit ones too like WrestleMania 3 (I was barely watching) and WM 23 too.

28. Derek Wright
Who do you think will surpass Ric Flair/John Cena’s 16 world titles? Cena, Charlotte or Orton?

Charlotte Flair. I mean it’s not really the same thing when you’re in an era of having two World Titles and the women’s division is a lot smaller than the men’s divisions. I don’t know when Cena will win again, so Charlotte getting to 17 is most likely.

29. Roderick Walker
Who do you think should become a first time women’s champion next?

Io Shirai on Raw or SD. Liv Morgan would be a good choice too.

30. JD Robert
Do you see anyone currently with AEW joining WWE eventually?

I don’t know. It’s hard to predict. It has to be somebody that lets their AEW deal expire and then go to WWE, but I don’t know who is the first or when. If they have three-year deals then we might see some people in a year from now.

31. Giles Hart
Do you feel AEW has it correct so far for the most part when it comes to the use of legends?

I like how they are using legends like Jake Roberts, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. It’s good to see them being involved.

32. Jacob Nicodemus
Do you think LA Knight can potentially become a huge star?

I think he’s got a lot of skills especially as a talker and a look, but he’s short at like 5’10” and he’s 39 in November. Most people don’t realize he is that old. It’s true, though. I like him a lot. I hope he gets a shot on Raw or SD for sure. I just don’t know how realistic it is.

33. James Tascar Mayhew
Is AEW making a “fatal WCW like” mistake, in hiring so many former WWE guys, or is it really going to depend on the booking?

On the one hand it probably will help the audience grow just like it helped WCW. But the issue is, how do you balance it with your current guys along with the WWE legends? I mean guys like Punk and Danielson to me are great additions because they’re unselfish guys. It’s hard to find that right balance. I’m sure Tony Khan will try.

34. Jason Benjamin May
Do you see Riddle being a top guy in the near future, like in the next two or three years?

Hopefully within the next year. He signed a new deal earlier this year. I think he’s good enough to be a top guy. I like him a lot. He is a babyface with a genuine connection with the audience, which is a huge plus. The fans really like him, so that helps him and his future in WWE.

35. Richard Rue
How good an in-ring performer would you say Sable was? Currently watching Wrestlemania 15 and her match with Tori was quite terrible!

Great body. Not very good in the ring. She could do enough in matches in that era, but not in today’s era.

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That’s all for now. Thanks to everybody that participated and to you for reading. Check out our Q&A archives here as well.