Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner! I am Steve Cook, and I absolutely nailed everything that happened on Super Bowl Sunday. If you read my column on Saturday, you didn’t even need to watch the game. Of course the Buccaneers won. They had Tom Brady. As I’ve told you before, you don’t bet against greatness, and betting against Brady is like betting against Michael Jordan’s Bulls or Bill Russell’s Celtics. You might as well flush your money down the toilet if you’re thinking of betting against that.

I told you the under was the smart bet, because all of the hype heading into the game was about the offense, and whenever that happens we end up with a lower-scoring game than expected. The Buccaneers put up plenty of points, but there weren’t enough on the other end. I also told you that the best bet on Gatorade color splashed on the winning head coach was blue, since the Patriots had used blue the last couple of times they were able to get Bill Belichick with it, and Brady had enough stroke to pick the Gatorade dispensed on the sideline. Sure enough…

The Gatorade was Blue pic.twitter.com/x6I4nZD24I

— Official Bookmaker (@bookmaker_eu) February 8, 2021

It was an up & down year for me with the NFL. Pretty sure that calling everything that happened at the Super Bowl pushes me over the top and solidifies my “expert” status. Granted, I achieved this by going in the tank for Tom Brady, but if you’re going to shill for somebody, it might as well be the GOAT. Honestly, I don’t see how people that still hate him at this point sleep at night. Just give in already! Accept it for what it is! Denying reality will just make you angry and useless to the world.

There’s a political joke there, but I’m gonna leave it alone. Gonna be nice to the opposition. Let’s get to what you all click on this column for, the wrestling news!

AEW & New Japan

We have to start this week with something that’s a rarity amongst Internet wrestling writers. Many of us have a tough time admitting when we’re wrong about something. We usually just sweep it under the rug while moving on to the next hot take.

Me, I feel the need to own up to when I get something wrong. Especially when I’m so sure I’m right about something. Like last week, when I said with 100% certainty that this whole Moxley/KENTA thing on NJPW Strong wouldn’t lead to anything important on AEW television. I absolutely thought they might mention it on commentary prior to the match, and then not say anything after the match aired.

I did not think that KENTA would appear at the end of Dynamite to make Moxley Go 2 Sleep. I also did not think that KENTA would do a match on the next week’s episode, as I didn’t expect him to appear on AEW Dynamite. Some crazy stuff going on here, which was easier to make happen than I originally thought.

As it turns out, the heat between AEW & New Japan came down to two things. One being the fact that Harold Meij wouldn’t do business with the Elite guys. Once Meij got relived of his duties with NJPW, things got easier. The other issue, which is easier for people like you & I to understand, is the fact that AEW was not an established brand in North America. New Japan likes to rely on established partners in various countries. Ring of Honor was their partner in the United States. They didn’t know that the Elite & Tony Khan could form a promotion that could be a viable partner. They underestimated what AEW could be. Once AEW established themselves as a viable partner with international reach, New Japan saw the value.

Let’s be honest. This isn’t the sort of thing that’s going to draw in those casual viewers. People are going to slam this thing because of that. They’ll use it as evidence that AEW is only interested in catering to their hardcore demographic, because nobody outside of that demo cares about Japanese wrestling. They’re not entirely wrong. I, for one, am happy to be catered to from time to time. Also, it’s kind of nice to be able to watch a show and not feel compelled to defend it by saying “it’s not for us”.

We don’t know how far this thing can go, and as long as things are the way they are, that dream match supercard can’t happen. As a wrestling geek, I am marking out over the idea of AEW, NJPW & Impact Wrestling crossing over, and I’m also hoping that Ring of Honor gets involved since I review their show for 411. Would be nice!

New Japan on Roku

We’ve been hearing about this New Japan TV deal in North America for awhile, and in most circumstances I would be ready to dump on what they came up with. People were hoping for New Japan to get a nice slot on a channel people could find on their cable systems. Vice was a popular suggested destination, and apparently there were talks with ESPN as well. Neither of those happened, so they got a deal on the Roku Channel. It’ll be like the show they had on AXS, older stuff for an hour.

Doesn’t sound like much, but it works for me. I have a Roku box since Tony Sly told me to get one for fifteen years. So I’ll be able to view whatever they put on Roku. Sounds good to me!

Cesaro Re-Signs

There was a brief period of time where Cesaro’s WWE contract was about to expire and people thought he might go somewhere else. That led to Shinsuke Nakamura getting the push in the gauntlet match on SmackDown a few weeks ago, and apparently Shinsuke’s job going forward will be to make stars. I hope he does, WWE could definitely use some!

Cesaro was apparently the original choice for that role, as Daniel Bryan has been pretty insistent on featuring him. In an somewhat related note, it’s interesting how nobody noticed the difference between Daniel Bryan & Edge on the creative team until Dave Meltzer wrote a sentence or two about it in his newsletter. One wants to push other people, the other wants a main event slot for themselves. I’m not even blaming Edge for it, as I know some otters that are totally buying into his deal. Just noting the difference between him & Bryan, who could have a main event slot for himself if he wanted it. Doesn’t seem to be a priority for him.

Cesaro has reportedly agreed to a new deal with WWE, and people have thoughts & opinions about it. My thoughts & opinions: whatever makes Cesaro happy is good with me. Also, I don’t think he’s been as underutilized as people claim over the years. We’re talking about a seven-time Tag Team Champion here, and I happen to think he’s best as part of a tag team. I know that “tag team” is a dirty word to some of you, but I think there’s a lot of value in somebody that can make a perfect tag team with just about anybody. Cesaro is the Bobby Eaton of his generation, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s kept him under contract for a very long time. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

Cutler Cut

Steve Cutler, formerly one third of the truculent trio known as the Forgotten Sons, was released by WWE last week. In normal circumstances, most of us would shrug our shoulders & move on to the next thing, as Cutler wasn’t exactly a featured performer & WWE has become ridiculously profitable by letting people like him go. We don’t move on because outlets like the Wrestling Observer & Fightful tell us he got released because he got the coronavirus.

Cutler’s been quiet on the issue, but his girlfriend, Deonna Purrazzo, has been vocal in his defense on social media. She admits that they both tested positive early in January, but defends their decision to party with other wrestlers & points out that other wrestlers that attended the party are still employed. I’m guessing those other wrestlers are hoping that they remain nameless, especially if they’re expendable.

We don’t know if testing positive for the coronavirus after partying was Cutler’s only offense. He’s certainly not the only person contracted by WWE that’s done that, so there very well may be other issues at play that we don’t know about. We probably won’t know either, since the coronavirus angle is what the wrestling media is going with at the behest of Cutler & Purrazzo. Maybe it is just that. WWE’s probably getting frustrated with their workers continually ignoring requests to not party all the time party all the time party all the time during a pandemic.

Listen, it’s easy for me to say this because my social life hasn’t changed all that much over the past year. Might be hard for y’all to believe, but I’m not a popular guy. Never been particularly well-liked by my peer group. I don’t get invited to very many parties. So it’s easy for me to tell people to stop going to parties & spreading viruses. It seems like an easy thing to do from my perspective. Maybe not from that of a popular person that loves being around other people.

Should WWE be firing people for getting sick? Probably not, but I understand a certain level of frustration people there must be feeling towards their workforce. They keep getting sick and missing time at work, forcing plans to constantly be changed. WWE keeps having these outbreaks, and they’re not as good at covering it up as other wrestling promotions are.

Lars Let Go

PWInsider reported last week that Lars Sullivan had been released by WWE some time back. It was a bit surprising, not only because Lars had been a project they’d been trying to build for awhile, but because there was no notice on WWE’s website. No future endeavors! It was like WWE was hoping we’d forget he existed with them. And we did for about a month or so.

Lars’ last straw was continuing to no-show TV tapings, which had been a problem with him in the past due to anxiety. He confirmed during an interview with Fightful that his anxiety issues had gotten the best of him, and he & WWE mutually agreed to part ways.

Its very similar to what happened with Kylie Rae. Kylie got more sympathy from the public though, largely because she wasn’t known to post racist & homophobic comments online. Maybe it’s not fair to Lars, but people will hold that stuff against you. Hopefully he gets better, figures things out & finds some happiness on his own terms.

Tyler Reks Transitions

You might remember Tyler Reks from early 2010s WWE. Reks started in ECW before moving to SmackDown. Career highlights included beating Kaval to earn a spot on SmackDown’s Bragging Rights team & teaming with Curt Hawkins to kidnap Matt Striker. Reks left WWE in 2012 to spend more time with family, and didn’t do much in the pro wrestling scene afterward.

Reks made some news last week by coming out as a trans woman. Now known as Gabbi Tuft, she’s the first former WWE Superstar to make a transition in gender identity. We haven’t seen that a whole lot in wrestling in general. Nyla Rose is the only active transgender wrestler working for a major company. It’s not something we’re used to discussing, and I’m just happy I’ve gotten better at handling these things with age. Me trying to write about a topic like this in 2005 wouldn’t have been good. I had no idea what was going on back then. So young and stupid.

I tend to avoid reading the comment sections on news items like this one, so I don’t know how the majority of wrestling fans have been reacting. Hopefully they’ve been supportive. I can’t imagine what it’s like to spend your life being one thing when in your heart you know that you’re the opposite. Going through that, then deciding to make the change and dealing with the reactions of others that see you a certain way…that takes a strength I don’t think most people have. I doubt I would be able to. Fortunately, I am very confident in my identity as an ugly male that has no appeal to the opposite sex, and have no desire to explore other avenues. Especially at my advanced age.

We wish Gabbi the best, and hope people treat her with the respect she deserves.

Butch Reed

Butch Reed, most known for his stints with Mid-South Wrestling, WCW & the WWF, passed away last week at the age of 66. He suffered two massive heart attacks within a week and was unable to recover.

My Mid-South watching hasn’t gotten to the part where Reed shows up yet, but people speak very well of his work there. His WWF stint is mostly remembered for his chance to be Intercontinental Champion falling by the wayside due to a series of no-shows. That WWF road schedule was no joke, and claimed many a victim back in the day. Reed denied this for many years, but came clean later on.

I’m most familiar with Reed as one-half of Doom, the team he formed with Ron Simmons that won the WCW Tag Team Championship. Simmons would go on to further glory as the first black World Champion recognized by a national wrestling promotion. Reed did not have similar success, Doom was pretty much his last major run. I was pretty excited to hear that Reed was still watching wrestling recently, and saw Will Hobbs as the next “Hacksaw”, reminding him of himself back in the day. A great compliment to a youngster.

He did wrestle part-time while pursuing a career on the rodeo circuit in the 1990s. So you could say he spent his later years in wrestling riding producers of bullshit while Ron Simmons spent his later years in wrestling teaming with one.

And on that note, I’ll see you next week!