Jon Moxley is a superstar. Chris Jericho has mega heat. Adam Page is the future of professional wrestling. Tag Team Wrestling has a new life. Cody Rhodes killed the Attitude Era and the Elite Era is here to stay.
All of that became reality in on night.
Killing The Attitude Era
Cody Rhodes came out and said that he wanted to kill the Attitude Era. And he did that. His match against his brother, Dustin Rhodes, showcased why the Attitude Era is done. WWE had been riding the Attitude Era for 20 years. On Saturday night, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Tony Khan killed the Attitude Era.
The ironic part of that sentence is that a big portion of the match saw Attitude Era bleeding and angles, but that’s irrelevant to the case. This group of wrestlers killed the Attitude Era.
Moxley Is Over
When Jon Moxley came out, the crowd was into it. They were freaking out. In a 10 minute segment, Moxley was more over than his 8 years in WWE. He came out, he kicked some ass, and the crowd ate it all up. No jokes. No funny moments. Just Moxley.
For the last year of Moxley’s run in WWE as Dean Ambrose we saw many fans wanting to see Moxley rise as a top star. WWE never let him be himself. In 25 seconds, from walking down form the backstage area, Moxley was the most over person in the entire building and all of wrestling.
Jericho Is Heat
I was in the building on Saturday. Oh, wow. Jericho is a heat machine. His victory of Omega and the promo that followed was nothing but heat. Who would have thought that Chris Jericho, a man who once did a promo about ass cream, would be legitimately the biggest heel in wrestling.
I think Jericho is on to something. Without him, AEW wouldn’t be legitimate, in my opinion. You have Cody, the Bucks, and Tony Khan. Without Jericho, AEW would probably just be a TV shirt company that put on wrestling shows. Jericho has brought tons of eye balls to the AEW platform.
It’s Hangman’s Time
Hangman Adam Page is a future star. He’s got it all. He looks great, he can work, and he can talk. When Page’s music hit during the Battle Royal, he was over. People wanted him to win. People want to see Page run with the top title of the promotion.
I spoke with Page after the show: he seemed humbled, willing, and ready. He isn’t taking this responsibility lightly.
Tag Team Focused
I grew up in an era of wrestling where Tag Team Wrestling was not a priority. I don’t remember a time, other than the TLC era, where tag teams were important. During the match between The Young Bucks and the Lucha Bros, the crowd fell in love with Tag Team wrestling.
For the first time in my almost 20 years of watching wrestling, I experienced tag team wrestling that mattered.
All in all, Rest in Peace, Attitude Era. Long live The Elite Era.
