I’m man enough to admit when I make a mistake. Last week, I predicted that AEW’s ratings would go back up now that MJF had returned. Well, turns out I was wrong. Not only did they not go up, they went down to startling levels. They were utterly trounced by NXT, something that no one would believe years ago. I’ve seen the excuses people have been bandying about (Juneteenth, the Kendrick Lamar concert, Black Panther being the lead-in instead of The Big Bang Theory, etc.) (the optics on those excuses are not good) but let’s be real here: the Young Bucks just aren’t draws and making them the centerpiece of the show is hurting things. Especially since they’re playing heel authority figures. One of the reasons that WWE’s ratings cratered in the mid-2010s was the Authority and seeing it replicated (albeit not nearly as badly as that) is just baffling. And it doesn’t help that it’s Forbidden Door season, which always leads to AEW losing viewers. Forbidden Door usually delivers great matches but it utterly alienates people that just want to watch their favorite wrestlers take on wrestlers that might be there next week. I have a feeling that this year’s Forbidden Door will have a less than good buy rate. The mystique of Forbidden Door has been utterly devalued by NJPW and CMLL wrestlers showing up seemingly every other week. The only Forbidden Door feuds that have people interested is Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa and Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay. The latter involves zero non-AEW signed wrestlers and the former is the only other feud to have an actual story behind it. I hope AEW can right the ship because, even if you don’t like it, you have to admit that it keeps WWE on its toes and we can’t let them get complacent again.

Other notable things from around the wrestling world this past week:
-After months of speculation, Jacob Fatu finally debuted on Smackdown this past Friday. He made an explosive debut, joining the Bloodline and attacking Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens. He should make a great addition to the Bloodline (still salty about him stiffing a charity last year though).
-Kazuchika Okada head a dream match with Último Guerrero on Collision that should have been great. Should have, because it was just awful. They had Guerrero wear a mask so they could do a spot where Okada stole it before making the pin but they never told him about that until he arrived. An AEW backstage worker had to make him a mask in an hour and it shows. Guerrero was careful not to attack the worker, who did the best they could with the circumstances, but still this company is owned by a billionaire.
-The Wyatt Sicks had another segment on Raw this week and it was outstanding. It was an “interview” between Bo Dallas and Uncle Howdy and it took one of the biggest criticisms the group has encountered head-on: the accusation that the group is just exploiting Bray Wyatt’s memory. The segment was just great, something I think Bray would have loved if he saw it.