Brian Damage
This Week in Wrestling: Week 41 of 2025
It seems that both WWE and AEW are beginning to trend downward with wrestling fans. In the case of AEW, it has been a longer time trying to recapture the audience they once had. In both cases, it appears to be a case of storytelling not up to par. Sure, for WWE, they are seeing record profits, it certainly helps that ticket prices are through the roof and the company has multiple outlets that are paying extravagant fees to air its programming. As WWE seems to be pushing itself away from affordability for the average fan, this is a time for Tony Khan and AEW to capitalize.
Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case, as a majority of fans aren’t tuning in to Dynamite or Collision every week. It’s like beating a dead horse, but a creative reboot is needed for AEW. Sure, they have one of the most stacked and talented rosters in all of wrestling, but that doesn’t equate to bankable stars. What works in places like Europe and Japan, doesn’t necessarily work in the United States. It would really behoove Khan to hire someone from the outside to take over booking of the promotion and do a full reboot.
Looking at WWE, they have been very stale as well. Triple H needs to start utilizing some of his talent better. It has been reported that Triple H and his creative team are doing some restructuring to try and right their ship for 2026 and beyond. I have to give them credit for at least doing that and trying to tell wrestling stories better. Triple H’s job probably depends on it.
For me, the entire TNA vs NXT storyline is what interests me to a small degree. There is no question in my mind that the working relationship between TNA and NXT has helped TNA a great deal. They are in negotiations to get a much better TV deal, attendance has been solid and the storylines are clicking much better. You have to give initial credit to Scott D’Amore for laying the groundwork to get TNA where they are today. Maybe Tony Khan could persuade D’Amore to join AEW’s ranks as a creative consultant? It certainly couldn’t hurt…could it?
Photo Gallery
The Road Dogg vs Corporate Brian James
What a maneuver! Courtesy of the 1990 Wrestling Summit
A cool look at the late, great Gorilla Monsoon’s license plate
If Dominik Mysterio was a Pixar movie
Apparently the “DX streaker” reappeared recently at WWE’s Wrestlepalooza a couple of weeks ago.
Jaida Parker
NXT’s Zaria without the war paint on…
Arianna Grace
Saraya
Noelle Foley
Brooke Adams
Torrie Wilson
Liv Morgan
Video Gallery
Here’s a classic promo featuring former New York Yankee great Don Mattingly doing a Macho Man impersonation..
CHICC
My bad, Smackdown match between Priest & Black was a Last Man Standing match not a streetfight.
Seems lately WWE’s best PPVs are the overseas tours this year?
CHICC
Scott D’Amore has been doing quality shows reviving Maple Leaf Pro I can’t see him wanting to leave when he can keep making waves in his homeland. There’s been a few great shows with TNA in the past year that are worth watching on youtube.
Been enjoying the Perth tour, Smackdown had some great matches Priest & Black’s streetfight being my fav while Cena & Styles Crown Jewel match was outstanding to see them using finishers in respect as a homage. All around a great PPV.
David Fullam
Had Liger come to the WWF, I bet the Shooting Star Press would be renamed “The Flip Flop Drop” or something equally silly.
Brian Rochester
I actually focus on fantasy wrestling. There’s nothing in WWE that thrills me now. AEW is hit or miss.
Luke
WWE’s not gonna change as long as it’s making money. AEW’s not gonna change as long as it doesn’t need to make money.
Basically, we (the people who like actual pro wrestling) are fucked.
177613735
I have heard that this week’s Smackdown was actually pretty good. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t say one way or the other. I just hope these two companies can get their heads out of their asses. TNA has been steadily good and NXT has been hit and miss for me, but the TNA stuff they do has kept me interested. New Japan is an absolute mess and I enjoyed the small samplings I have seen with AAA in Mexico…although it has become a bit WWE centric.
Luke
I think I’m just gonna stick to the legal and not so legal (but morally fine) sources of 80s wrestling when I need a fix. I still have plenty of territories to catch up on. I’m just gonna keep playing the new stuff in the corner of my screen because for some reason I can’t give up on wrestling no matter how much it bores me…
Not enough life to squeeze in anything but the big two. In addition to the month or so of content they put out every week, I’ve got around 15 hours of good-to-great wrestling podcasts.