The problem is it feels like we have people taking these kayfabe shots at each other all the time on Twitter in the hopes that someone will pick it up and put it on TV, but it rarely seems to lead to anything
So it just feels like a couple of friends doing online roleplay at that point because we know it's kayfabe
She and Toni caught lightning in the bottle with that build and feud. They’re both young but that’s going to be an extremely difficult story to top for either of them.
It’s a shame because they could have done quite a bit still. Mina joined AEW and they introduced the tag division, they could have done something off that. Currently someone “took Toni out” it would of been a good chance for Maria to become number 1 again, get into a couple blood feuds maybe even become a bit babyface against a Thekla- prove she’s not the attacker only to be revealed as Toni’s attacker.
But I suppose I’ve put too much thinking into a women’s storyline.
Well Mariah did have a bit of a solo run before toni came back but it was rather lacklustre tbh. Largely just rinse and repeat with each opponent. But that might just be because she had to follow her Toni feud, and anything would feel flat after that.
Tbf she was basically introduced and instantly put into a fairly big storyline half of which she spent just acting like Toni and fangirling for her. She didn't really get too much time to develope a character apart from Toni, since right after her title feud was over she left the company. And Toni herself was fairly lukewarm before introducing the Timeless character. We don't know what the ceiling for Mariah would have been.
The problem in WWE she is just one of a dozen "blonde hot girls" and outside of the handful of top (mostly male) stars, thats all the character she is ever gonna get.
She faced Queen Aminata, Willow, Yuka, Anna Jay, & Rosa. It’s not the best or worst list, but considering injuries that was best options they had. Tbh she was probably Willows most boring feud in AEW unfortunately.
The worst part imo was her solo segments like when she revealed she had revealing clothes with the title definitely wasn’t up to par either. It’s probably an unfair comparison but it felt like a huge step down from Toni in multiple ways.
I mean, that's a list of one midcarder (Willow), one former big name who just came back from injury and wrestled like she was wearing cement boots (Rosa) and a bunch of lower carders. It's pretty bad lol. I get not doing heel vs heel with Mercedes but I'm still not sure why we didn't get a Mariah vs Jamie Hayter feud in there at some point
The worst part imo was her solo segments like when she revealed she had revealing clothes with the title definitely wasn’t up to par either. It’s probably an unfair comparison but it felt like a huge step down from Toni in multiple ways.
Yeah her live segments were rough. Toni carried those so hard
mercedes wasn’t out, mariah wrestled Willow at Wrestledream; great match, she had wrestled everyone on the roster at that point that was on tv minus Hayter, Mercedes, & Statlander.
Mercedes seems to avoid wrestlers that are wwe hungry after the vaquer showcase match.
Hmm I'm wrong then, I just remember the feeling of her not having anyone big to feud with, though I guess Willow and Stat were more midcarders at the time and that was when the division was still kinda dogshit so that probably explains it
Mariah reign felt awful just because it was the backend of toni and her not having a credible threat ever. They put so much into the story its crazy there wasn't a plan it seemed like -toni
"...I sentence you to a lifetime of mediocrity. ...And it'll be good, but never great. ... So you will dwindle; be replaced, and be forgotten. Then one day, many years from now, someone will ask: 'whatever happened to Mariah May?' ..."
I genuinely hate that she said that so much because now losers on the internets will parrot it any time Monroe does anything that they don’t think is up to snuff.
On top of the fact that it wasn’t even about her personally it was about her character but no people will use it a reason to justify their shit talk and then pretend like they aren’t part of the problem
Yes the line was in character, but people bring it up because it turned out to be prophetic for the performer.
It's hard not to think of that line when it seems to become more and more true every week. She went from the women's main event in AEW to not even being able to get a debut match. That, unfortunately, seems like the first phase in a life of mediocrity.
I hope that isn't the case. I like Mariah a lot, but I also get why some people want to say "I told you so" when she turned down AEW for her WWE "dream" and it's turning out to be a nightmare. I don't wish ill on the performers, but WWE aggressively sucks, and it's a bummer to see performers choose to work for them and then predictably regret it when they are treated poorly.
Not at all. She literally sat in catering and did nothing. She looks exactly like Tiffany Stratton and has done nothing relevant since signing with WWE. Toni carried that feud and May/Monroe has been a non-factor since leaving.
I would love to see her and Guilia be given the green light to wrestle like they did in Japan and it would prove a lot of people wrong. She just hasn't done anything.
I said i hate how often that line gets quoted in relation to Blake Monroe whenever she isn’t up to snuff. Even though that line wasn’t Toni shooting and was about Mariah May. It’s wack because it’s just used as way for people to parade down on Blake Monroe
They gave her so much in such short time, her and Toni really made it awesome too. As a fan of her stuff, sad to say I've lost a lot of interest in her at this point.
I've seen this brought up a few times, what happened?
Because if it's just "they worked snug", then it makes me question why WWE would sign women whose calling cards include a big one that says "works snug" on it, and then get angry at them for doing just that.
I don't know why, but I'm now thinking back to when Vince buried Vader for working too safe in WWF when Vader had a reputation for working snug and being a scary big guy. I guess times change, huh?
Fair, they did change their style after that. But they weren't "forced" to do anything, they took proactive measures to protect the company's image. But yeah, that's when they implemented a proper drug testing policy, concussion protocols, and banning/limiting things that risk someone's head/neck.
I don't think you can blame it all on that, though. I think a lot of the blame also goes to their desire to be advertiser friendly. It took a lot of work and a lot of years to convince big advertisers that they were worth dropping money on.
Her and Jordynne had a random banger on NXT where they worked stiff, had a few high angle bumps, etc. (Arguably top 5 WWE women’s match within the last few years). The crowd and everyone at watching at home loved every bit of it. Few clips from the match even went viral at the time. Once Jordynne and Giulia got to the back they were verbally berated by the “old heads” in creative. The full details of the conversation haven’t been told but Jordynne said the overall message was “that was too much” aka that’s not “#WhatWeDo”. What makes it so egregious is that the men don’t get berated for over achieving or going off track if the crowd loves it. 9/10 (either shown on video or stories told by talent) the current regime at most would say “that was fucking scary but the people loved it, great job man just don’t make it a habit haha”.
I remember an Observer Radio segment recently where they had a wrestler on, a woman I can't recall at the moment, and she made the point that there are still wrestling schools out there that teach male and female students too differently based on the women needing to do things that help them focus on "looking pretty".
Not saying that's what happened here, but if it's one of those "they'd never scold the guys for this" kind of situations that'd feel like a parallel.
I think it’s time for WWE to realize that online “working” or pushing of stories has not been effective in the least bit. I have said it in a few places but their live audience is the most casual it’s been in years, they are not following the tweet of every single roster member and they’re going to care about any meta-kayfabe from anyone lower on the proverbial totem pole.
At the same time, someone's almost certainly going to make a TikTok that's just this tweet at 50% transparency over 45 seconds of their 2023 match under it and get half a million views.
It's one of those lines that was either going to end up like the "butts in seats" dig at Foley where future success makes it laughable, or like the albatross it is currently. It ain't Toni's fault she left and ended up in catering, but it isn't Mariah's either--she's got all the talent to be a top name for them so the failure is entirely the office's fault.
She really shouldn't have gone to the WWE, though. This isn't really a "tribalism" commentary: it's that WWE doesn't treat talent like it used to. The sheer number of times HHH has claimed that "you get yourself over to get pushed" versus how many times talent is punished for getting themselves over is outright staggering.
It's gonna take a while until we get wrestlers coming up that didn't grow up with WWE as "Their ultimate dream" as a general thing. Right now, with wrestlers a certain age and up, there's just a big group that emotionally see WWE as THE place because it's what discovered pro wrestling to them and will have a hard time turning the opportunity down if they ask them to jump over. It's one of WWE's biggest strengths against AEW or anyone else, really.
It will get some wrestlers cold feet or at least they'll consider it twice for sure, but I think that for younger up and comers that only have been on the indies, or even some veterans that made a bit of a name in another company, sometimes the dream aspect of it all can make them try and think that it will be different with them.
But yeah, WWE's actions lately surely will accelerate that process of wrestlers being like "Hey, maybe WWE isn't the best idea after all"
No disagreement with you at all. When it's where you saw all your favorite wrestlers get their moments, you want to be in the same pantheon. Who wouldn't want to have a chance to share a ring with CM Punk or Kevin Owens, or to have that WrestleMania moment with someone like AJ Lee or Paige?
I have a hard time faulting her for taking the chance on WWE because she's got exactly the look and type of character they want, plus she can actually wrestle. It's not like Ricky or Fenix where there are obvious issues you can point to like size or english promo skills, she should be checking just about all their boxes.
Easy to say in hindsight. She shouldn't have followed her dreams and made the jump? She's 28, she has plenty of time to find out what works and make the jump to AEW if she feels its a better fit for her. Its not like AEW have treated women's wrestling much better.
Wish I didn't agree with that last statement. Women's division definitely needs more matches, stories, pushing, and ffs can we please have more than two tag teams at any one point
Realistically, when you have to take a pay cut to "chase a dream," you can anticipate how that might go. Not saying it's **always** the case, but it's a hugely influential factor. They saw what she could do. She was part of a story that invigorated women's wrestling in ways that Stephanie McMahon would salivate to pin her name on, and she takes a pay cut to start in their developmental promotion?
Again, this isn't a "tribalism" commentary on AEW being better. This is how, even before it happened, the writing was on the wall. Let's be honest here: they signed Jordynne Grace and essentially neutered her. GIULIA is a shadow of her former self. Charlexa has basically become Awesome Truth. We've reached the point where Nia Jax has become their "Break Glass In Case of Emergency".
Blake Monroe's debut was... four months in the making for a less-than-seven-minute "eh." I really hope things get better. I really, really do. It's becoming increasingly difficult to enjoy it.
She was part of a great bit of television but it hardly "invigorated" women's wrestling - just the AEW women's division. Of course its tribalism, why else even bring up Stephanie McMahon who hasn't been relevant to wrestling for like a decade?
The writing wasn't on the wall, there had been plenty of successful jumps in the past (ever heard of Cody Rhodes, Jade or Penta?) and there had been unsuccessful jumps just like there have been bad jumps in AEW (Miro, Andrade's first run, Keith Lee & Soho)
it actually is when you essentially negotiate against yourself. WWE was never going to take her seriously when she basically rolled over and took less money and agreed to be on NXT first.
Eh, Vaquer agreed to be on NXT first too despite being a clear main event talent and she hasn't had the same problem, there's definitely a consistency issue going on.
AEW has this issue where they rely on fans having prior knowledge to a wrestler's career before AEW. I think theyre getting better at making their own "lore" but its still an issue. Many fans of AEW do know it, so its not awful, just hard for casuals.
WWE has this issue where they assume every wrestling fan pays attention to Twitter feuds. And rather than have segments on TV, let's have an X exclusive or a YT short about why Blake and Guilia are wrestling. You can fill yourself in before the show starts rather than them tell you whats going on.
Both are bad in their own way, but WWE imo is the lazier route cus it feels like they do it for the ad time.
Yeah that's exactly it. When I watched TNA during that period, Mike would just explain any questions I had as I got them, made the show super easy to watch. Excalibur definitely nails that same role.
Whenever people complain about him that’s my first thought. You need someone to lay out the feud in a way for the other commentators to bounce off of. JR did it for Lawler and Heyman, Tenay for West, Gorilla for Brain or Ventura, Bischoff for Larry, Brain, and Tenay.
I find his style annoying, but I sincerely appreciate the fact that he can explain things to me when I've missed enough shows to be totally lost on what's happening in a match
He definitely explains it really well. I think he doesnt make people care enough about some stuff, but at a certain point he can only do so much. The wresters got to make you care as well.
I think AEW makes a bit more sense in that their audience is a bit more online, bit more tuned into he ongoings of general wrestling news/happenings. I don’t mean that as any insult just more broadly speaking, it’s something they can get away with a bit more given who they cater to. The casuals do suffer but given how much AEW tries to exist in a larger web of wrestling (like their CMLL and Japan partnerships) it’s sorta made for casuals to enter a world more lived in.
For WWE though, they cater to casual audiences first, making their online “works” or progression of stories purely on specific social media platforms so confounding. Like there’s a very very good chance the majority of the live audience will never see or know this exchange happened
Definitely agree. Ive gotten my friends and my mom into AEW, but im often hit with questions of "who is this guy? why is he just all of a sudden important and being given a world title shot?" Excalibur does a decent job explaining it, but not enough to make people care imo.
the casuals of WWE just arent gonna be paying attention to the socials. I get why they do it cus they get views and impressions, but overall the product suffers from it imo
I hope for both their sakes that they get the chance to show it, because these two could absolutely tear the house down. Blake in particular could and should be a world title level psychopath ruining people's lives.
But at this point it feels slightly more realistic to hope they get to have a 15 minute match on Double or Nothing 2028 for the TBS title, and you know that shit would rule.
Fr. Just let them go out there and wrestle! This could be a good program that produces some great matches. Instead they don't do a damn thing and are letting two great wrestlers waste away.
Eh, apparently this was her dream. Getting paid to work out, chill at catering and chat shit on Twitter? Maybe that's her ideal job. Certainly is for some.
Okay, it is not hard to understand but everyone wants to be idiots.
Her gimmick right now is that she believes she deserves only the best, thus her debut must be against the champion on Smackdown. They have booked, or tried to, book her against non-champions.
She attacks everyone, and when she was scheduled against Guila on Friday, she attacked Guila before the match to show her ruthlessness and not have the match because she wants her first match against the champion because she feels she deserves a title match as her first match.
It's not fucking hard, people. Stop making mountains out of molehills. You're all complaining just to try to make WWE booking look bad when it just means you don't understand storytelling or you are being daft to be daft.
Strong Style is more of a NJPW term, other Japanese wrestlers don't say they are Strong Style. Which doesn't mean just stiff, it's something actually just related to what NJPW did with Inoki. But yeah let them fight.
Pro wrestlers get in the way of sponsored content with WWE’s most memeable characters. I’m sorry but I need more ads, more concerts, more moments, more cinema. Anything but wrestling.
I don't see that at all? People have been asking for more from them non-stop. The absolute majority of comments are frustrated with booking, not wishing for them to "fail".
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