PWI Weekly for November 11, 2024
Viva Wrestle Vegas!: Cody Rhodes, The Big WCW "What If?," And More
With November well and truly upon us—and winter just around the bend—we’re already dreaming about spring and warmer temperatures. And of course, in wrestling, there is no bigger springtime event than WrestleMania.
Next year’s event will emanate from Las Vegas, Nevada, and will surely be a scorcher both in and out of the ring. With “Sin City” on our minds, this edition of the PWI Weekly has a distinctly Vegas feel.
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
When Cody Rhodes walked away from WWE in 2016, he took a massive gamble on himself. He bet that he could make Rhodes, the wrestler, mean more than Stardust, the gimmick. And he was right. With successful tenures in NJPW, Ring of Honor, and elsewhere, Rhodes enjoyed a highly commendable run as an independent wrestler. However, so much more was to come.
Readers of PWI know very well about the gamble Rhodes took in promoting 2018’s All In and how it eventually gave rise to the creation of AEW—an even bigger gamble. In both instances, “The American Nightmare” bet on himself. He also knew he could help change the wrestling landscape. Both times, he emerged victorious.
But perhaps his biggest gamble ever was walking away from the company he helped found—and where he was an Executive Vice-President—to return to life as a traveling wrestler for WWE. Many scoffed at the idea; but, in typical Rhodes fashion, the son of the son of a plumber went all in on himself again. Less than three years later, he is WWE champion, the top-ranked competitor on the “PWI 500”, and perhaps the biggest star in the industry.
Call it luck if you must … just don’t discount the risks Cody Rhodes has taken. When it comes to games of chance, there is no higher roller than him.
WHAT IF …
It’s not uncommon for wrestling fans to fantasy-book matches or wonder what the industry would look like if some key events had gone down differently. One of those things very nearly happened in 2001. To this day, we wonder just how different wrestling might have been.
Prior to WWE’s purchase of WCW in 2001, a conglomerate called Fusient Media Ventures (led by Eric Bischoff) made an offer to Time Warner to purchase the ailing World Championship Wrestling. The company did so with intentions to make some sweeping changes that might revive the one-time wrestling juggernaut.
“The plan was that WCW would move to Las Vegas and do weekly tapings out of the Hard Rock Cafe,” Bischoff would tell WWE.com some years later. “We were going to shut it down for a period of time, then relaunch.”
As we know, Fusient and Bischoff never completed the purchase. WWE swooped in to buy its former competitor on the cheap. Still, it’s fun to look back and think what a Vegas-based WCW might have looked like, particularly after ECW had folded. We could have had Joey Styles and Tony Schiavone calling a Nitro main event featuring Rob Van Dam. Kevin Nash might even have reverted to his Vinnie Vegas gimmick.
Okay, maybe not that last part. But hey … stranger things have happened!
TERRITORIAL DISSINGS
Never let it be said that JJ Dillon didn’t know a winner when he saw one. The man who guided the careers of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and others always seemed to bet on sure things.
In this classic promo from World Championship Wrestling television, Dillon tells Lex Luger about being a betting man.
FROM THE VAULT
Nick Bockwinkel grapples with Larry Zbyszko during a July 1987 AWA event in Las Vegas. The show, attended by 2,300 fans, saw Bockwinkel defeat Zbyszko, while Greg Gagne unsuccessfully challenged Curt Hennig for the AWA World title.