WWE RECENT NEWS: Tribute to "The Man They Call Vader"

First and foremost, I want to take some time to write about a tragic loss that affected the entire WWE Universe, the WWE Staff, and anyone who had the pleasure of working with such a great man. Leon White, also known as Vader, passed away Monday evening at the age of 63. This one really hurt to see, as they all are. Vader was a huge part of my childhood, and my first real interest in the art of professional wrestling. I remember vividly being legitimately scared of this big man from the Rocky Mountains. I fondly think of the many matches and the feud with Sting he had. I used to wake up at 5:30 am, maybe even earlier, just to watch the WCW Power-Hour. That was the only WCW show I knew of at the time. Later on I saw him enter the WWF, and I had the pleasure of seeing him live a couple of times. Man, as an eight-year-old kid, he was a monster. His in-ring abilities were second to none, for a man of his mammoth size. I am so grateful that I got to see this artist perform live and in person. Vader was always a big star to me because he was a pioneer for the "big guy" wrestlers. Moonsaults from a man that size defy logic. Thank you Leon White for taking the WWE (WWF) universe to a place of sheer amazement. Every story needed a good bad guy, a good heel. Back then in the simple world of good guy wrestlers and bad guy wrestlers, you were the baddest. I will always remember what you brought to my childhood and professional wrestling. Thank you for always reminding us what time it is. Vader-time!! Rest in Peace Leon White. My hat's off to you sir on a job well done and a life well lived.

Alright, everyone, Money In The Bank is now over, and I got to say, it was one of the better shows, as of late. My favorite outcome, and a favorite among many, is Braun Strowman winning and becoming MR.Money In The Bank. WWE has coined it more appropriately, he is now "Monster In The Bank". So now what happens? Well, most MITB winners are almost guaranteed a title win if they hand their cash in properly. It may be just me, however, but I honestly think that the lengths WWE creative has pushed and built up Strowman, he could quite literally just stroll down to the ring, demolish whomever the champ may be, and walk out with the Universal Championship. He would make it look easy. So let's just say that pretty much everyone with a brain that watches WWE pretty much expects Braun to be Universal Champion the moment Brock Lesnar actually is booked to appear. Will he cash in at Summerslam? Will he cash in sooner, assuming we might see Lesnar before then? I doubt that the WWE would be okay with promoting the big "Summerslam Lesnar Match" without Paul Heyman and Lesnar actually showing up for at least one Monday Night Raw before then. Although, maybe, he will not be appearing until then, further angering the WWE universe. Also, who will Lesnar be facing? WWE Universe is still speculating on, who it will be. Roman Reigns and the whole story behind him make it seem like its still not over. Where does that leave Seth Rollins now that he is no longer Intercontinental Champion? The story of the Universal Title is, in my opinion, the main attraction of Monday Night Raw. I commend and congratulate the WWE for building this story and figuring out a way to make the Universal Championship so prestigious that we barely ever see it happen. Imagine the state of the WWE when we finally get to see this title back on television more often.

Over the last few days, the internet was abuzz with news about Big Cass (I would provide his real name but I really do not care to look it up lol) and how he was released. At first, people assumed it had something to do with how, against Vince McMahon's wishes (which is one of the cardinal sins in the WWE, if not, the sin of all sins) Cass went off script. During a segment on Smackdown Live, he brought out a little person dressed as Daniel Bryan and basically assaulted him. While I am sure many people laughed, Vince was furious. Naturally, everyone thought it was a long expected termination because of that. However, the reasoning behind his termination was about a culmination of things. The attitude being one of them. Most recently, he was noticeably angry about having to lose against Daniel Bryan and was very verbal about it to WWE officials. Also on a WWE bus that was taking talent from city to city, he kicked down the bathroom door, forcing the rest of his WWE colleagues to have to use the toilet without a door. He kicked it down because he thought someone locked him in as a joke. I can see why he was mad, but it's still a workplace. A preexisting attitude problem that was well known in the locker room and then damaging equipment is not a good thing to happen when you are already skating on thin ice. So between going off script (the biggest one), and the many issues with attitude towards coworkers and superiors, the bus incident probably was the straw that broke the camel's back. If he did not end up getting himself fired, the WWE was probably already thinking to part ways with him eventually anyway. My opinion is, sure he has the size and moderate talent, but the WWE does not need him at all. We have Drew Macyntire now who will be leaps and bounds more professional and successful. WWE also did not publicly wish Cass luck in his future in any way. I bet you dollars to doughnuts that he did not leave amicably.

With Summerslam slowly making its way closer and closer, WWE TV is expected to get better and better as the weeks draw close. Let's hope the talent and the creative team get everyone interested again over the last bit of television lulls. Ratings have been the lowest for RAW and Smackdown in a long time. Money In The Bank shook things up a bit. So I hope that this momentum keeps up. I think the WWE should work on some more surprises somehow. Comebacks, plot twists, etc.

Anyways folks!

As always, we wait patiently for Monday Night Raw!

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