AEW Fight Forever, Candido, State of Women’s Wrestling, and MORE – The Wrestling Estate Mailbag Week of June 5, 2023

The Wrestling Estate’s newest weekly series is back again! This week, I answer YOUR burning questions about the goings on in the world of professional wrestling with two massive pay-per-views behind us. If you’d like to have your question answered in future weekly mailbags, feel free to email us at thewrestlingest@gmail.com.

Q: At this point, what do you make of women’s wrestling in both major companies? Who has the upper hand?— Brian I., Philadelphia

There are certainly pros and cons to what AEW and WWE are currently cooking up in each of their women’s divisions. But, since you asked me to compare, I’ll try to do that. First, let’s pretend we could throw all WWE and AEW women into a draft pool and pick out the best five wrestlers to build a division around. Gun to my head, I’d probably pick Rhea Ripley, Jamie Hayter, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Britt Baker in that order. This could just come down to a matter of personal preference, but one would also have to figure names like Charlotte Flair, Toni Storm, Bayley, Jade Cargill, Ronda Rousey and Thunder Rosa would also be in the mix.

The point I’m after here is I believe the top talent in both companies is pretty comparable, and the more I think about it, the more similarities I see in the strengths and weaknesses of both divisions. Neither company has been great at creating compelling episodic television storylines for their women. Ripley’s primary storyline involvement is as the de-facto leader of The Judgment Day, a stable otherwise dominated by men. Lynch vs. Trish Stratus is a solid non-title feud in a company that historically hasn’t done them well. Also, one thing I noticed about Belair at this year’s WrestleMania was the degree to which she felt like a star despite having virtually no solid programs under her belt, save for Sasha Banks. Yes, Belair is a big match performer, and perhaps more so than any other woman in the world right now, but it is notable how her WrestleMania performances against Banks, Lynch and Asuka have carried her reputation atop the women’s roster.

On the flipside, AEW seem more willing to take bites at the apple in regards to women’s programs, but their division seems to be a bit more top heavy. As much as Tay Conti has improved since leaving WWE and NXT, I haven’t really seen how joining the Jericho Appreciation Society has helped her, and I really don’t see it in Anna Jay at all. Jade’s reign of terror was great theatre, but she never really found the William Regal equivalent to her Goldberg; someone who could simultaneously elevate her while simultaneously posing a threat and putting on a great match. Maybe that was always supposed to be Kris Statlander, but I might be the only person on the internet who HATED the finish to their angle at Double of Nothing 2023. The argument was that it kept Jade strong while giving someone else a turn with the TBS title, but for a reign built in the manner Jade’s was, I can’t help but feel a bit cheated it ended in such a cheap manner. Nevertheless, talent is not the issue for either division. Booking is.

WWE, of course, just made Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler women’s tag team champions, which, from my perspective makes them arguably the most compelling holders of the belts to date. The onus is now on Triple H and co. to create meaningful challengers, and if they can, they will have no problem creating bankable stars to replace the likes of Charlotte, Lynch and Bayley when they age out. I’d give the same critique to AEW for their women’s midcard, and really, the entire product from top to bottom. I saw a lot of tweets over Double or Nothing weekend about how AEW should not return to Las Vegas for its lackluster turnout for the pay-per-view. It couldn’t possibly be that Tony Khan and friends just need to put on their big boy pants and write a more engaging television show, could it? The booking just needs to be sharper, simpler and cleaner. There was a time where AEW’s women’s division did lack talent, but I don’t think that’s a case that can be made anymore. Like WWE, they have all the tools in their toolkit, they now just need to get a gameplan and find a way to make people care.  

Q: Did you happen to catch the Dark Side of the Ring Season 4 debut that focused on Chris Candido? — Ian G., Pensacola, Fla.

I did! As expected, we were treated to a fantastic look into the life and times of Chris Candido like we’ve never seen before. Quick story I may have told before on a podcast: One of the first episodes of TNA Impact! I had seen (and maybe the first one I watched from start to finish) happened to be the one where he managed The Naturals to the NWA World Tag Team Championships over vaunted rivals America’s Most Wanted. Candido had no problem garnering heat with me. I had already been conditioned to Kurt Angle embellishing his condition to cling to power as the Smackdown General Manager, so I was under the impression Candido wasn’t as hurt as he claimed to be. Candido was dressed in a button down and khaki shorts; like a guy who had to catch Happy Hour at the Windrift immediately after the show.

He felt like a geek to me, so when his assist earned The Naturals the tag titles, I was naturally upset! I came to find out minutes later that Chris had tragically passed away after the tapings due to a blood clot in his knee and the episode was dedicated to his memory. It was the first time in my wrestling fandom I felt like an asshole! I had aggressively rooted against a man who passed away in the days leading up to the airing of the episode, unbeknownst to me. Years later, I learned more about Candido and what kind of mind he had for wrestling. If there’s one thing that comes across loud and clear in his Dark Side of the Ring episode, it is that he had a love and passion for pro wrestling few have been able to match.

Co-creator Evan Husney, as well as Candido’s brother and former wrestler Johnny Candido, have described the episode as the story of Chris with Tammy Sytch as a supporting character. I think that was the outlook that was needed for this kind of joint and hopefully newer fans were able to learn something about Candido that brought a smile to their face and helped them find a deeper appreciation for this crazy habit we all have.

If you want more Chris Candido stories, you NEED to check out the latest episode of Cafe de Rene with Rene Dupree. Rene chats with Chris’ brother, Johnny for two and a half hours about untold stories about the legendary “Cook.” Paul London and Ace Darling, the inaugural winner of the ECWA Super 8 Tournament, also pop in to join the fun.  

Q: Based on what’s been shown so far, what are your thoughts on AEW Fight Forever? — Jimmy G., Reading, Pa.

If you have followed our humble little wrestling site over the last six years, you would know we are big wrestling video games enthusiasts. So it should come as no surprise that we are taking an interest in THQ’s impending launch of the much-anticipated AEW game, “Fight Forever.” The game has had an up-and-down development cycle, citing the Yuke’s combat engine as well as older, revered wrestling games as influences while leaving something to be desired in the graphical department. Not to mention, the game saw a handful of unofficial delays as well as some conflicting information between AEW management and THQ before finally receiving its June 29 release date. Personally, I think the name is corny as hell. It is named after one of the most canned, silly chants you could hear at a wrestling show, and I don’t love it. That said, I think there is going to be a lot to like.

One thing I’ve come to terms with in the video games I usually play is that I am more the happy to sacrifice graphical prowess for a smooth running game that is fun to play. Any game that makes use of the Yuke’s engine seen in games like “WWF No Mercy” and the “Def Jam Vendetta” series is automatically going to be a fun game. This much we know. So barring any graphical glitches or hiccups in the frame rate, AEW Fight Forever should be a fun time for those looking to take a break from the simulation style of the WWE 2K series. It might even be the alternative to the WWE games that AEW is trying to become to the actual WWE product. We also learned that Owen Hart will be a playable character in a wrestling game for the first time since Showdown: Legends of Wrestling. I grew up on this series before I ever picked up a “Smackdown” game, so maybe one day I will do a retrospective on that series.

But as it pertains to “Fight Forever,” I think the roster is going to leave something to be desired as it looks to be backdated at least year, but this won’t be a problem so long as there is a strong Create-a-Wrestler mode and means of sharing content. My guy RGT 85 praised the game for its use of blood and sort of dragged the WWE 2K games for not steering into that more, but again, this is arcade style vs. simulation. The WWE 2K series is meant to simulate the pacing of a real wrestling match, and for some, that will not translate into a fun video game. It also means getting hit with a kendo stick 10 times isn’t necessarily going to create a crime scene on the canvas, but again, it’s all up to personal preference. I’m sure we’ll have more coverage of “Fight Forever” on the site as we get closer to  the game’s launch later this month. But if you asked me today, I’d say I’m planning on picking the game up, and that’s even with WrestleQuest set to drop in early August.

You can follow The Wrestling Estate on Twitter @thewrestlingest and Jack Goodwillie @jackgoodwillie.

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Jack Goodwillie

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