5th Issue 18 January „19 Triple H Tony Khan Kenny Omega Priscilla Kelly Finn Balor WWE NXT Superstar John Cena Diamond Dallas Page 1 -CONTENT- PG.2 AN INTRODUCTION WITH KIERAN PG.3 FINN BALOR PG.5 ALL ELITE WRESTLING: DOOMED FROM START? Hey everyone I am Kieran Johnstone from sunny Ayrshire, Scotland (not too far from where Drew PG.7 DIJAKOVIC McIntyre and Noam Dar were born), one of the writers INTERVIEW here at Too Sweet Magazine. I‟ve been here since Day One (ish), writing on everything from All In to WWE to Ring of Honor. I‟ve got a varied scope of wrestling, but PG.9 DIAMOND tend to believe that storytelling and believability are the DALLAS PAGE most important things. Outside of the squared circle, I play guitar and are a long suffering Manchester United. PG.11 CHANGES Feel free to send me a DM on Twitter (@kcj_01) and I‟ll answer any questions you may have. WE NEED IN WWE! PG.13 TEARS OF Other Writers: NOTE: BLOOD Tom Yamamoto This Magazine is unofficial and Nick Whitworth has no connection with the Santos Esquivel Jr. featured Talents, mArtist & PG.14 JOHN CENA Mohammed Faizan Organization. The views expressed are that of the Twitter: @TooSweetMag individual writers and not of Too FB: /TSCwrestlingMag Sweet Magazine. No content PG.16 WRESTLE Instagram: @TooSweetMag found in this Magazine may be KINGDOM copied , edited or published Website: anywhere else. Toosweetmag.wordpress.com PG.19 TAKEOVER BLACKPOOL 2 BY NICK WHITWORTH he former Prince Devitt, Balor was making a name for himself on the UK indie circuit and slowly on US soil before landing a spot on the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster. That is where Devitt started to become a household name but it wasn‟t until he formed the now infamous Bullet Club is where his career skyrocketed him to main event status. As the group become more and more well known worldwide, we all knew it would be only a matter of time before WWE came a calling. Balor was taking names and kicking ass in Japan and fans worldwide were paying attention. With his Demon character and his in ring skills you can‟t help but be drawn into his matches. He was and is everything WWE needs. The news broke that he had signed with WWE and will be heading to the NXT brand. Switching gears from the Prince Devitt name which he worked so hard to get over, he under went a name change becom- ing the now famous Finn Balor. There was zero charac- ter change done to Balor, just a simple name change. Triple H obviously saw money in Finn as he was in- stantly showcased like a major star. Hunter let him be everything he was including letting him break out his Demon character for the big matches, only guiding him on some of the WWE ways of doing things. 3 With one look at Balor you can tell he can be a major player for WWE and could easily be the company‟s top baby- face. His good looks and his chiseled physique along with his Demon character then including his in ring talent makes him appealing to all age demographics. Finn is easily marketable and can very well be a heavy moving merchandise ma- chine for the company. Triple H pushed Balor to the moon by putting the NXT title on him relatively quick by having him defeat then champion Kevin Owens at the Beast In The East event held in To- kyo, Japan. He would go on to hold the strap for almost 300 days and played a pivotal role in the NXT boom we current- ly have been witnessing. Without Balor leading the pack who knows if the brand would be where it is today. That right there shows you just how much star pow- er Finn has. We all knew his time would come for a main roster call up and that happened on July 19th 2016 when he was drafted 5th overall to Raw in the WWE draft. He was higher then key players like Brock Lesnar and John Cena showing the world he was in for a real solid push on his new brand. One month into his Raw run, he went on the defeat Seth Rollins to become the first ever Universal Champi- on. We were all about to watch Balor be- come the next WWE megastar. Little to us all he suffered a shoulder injury during that championship match and had to re- linquish the title the next night on Raw. Such a shame as he was just beginning his major push for the company and this injury derailed said push. Since his return he hasn‟t been able to gain back that same momentum but Balor oozes star power so just given the right opportunity Balor will seize it. I am not sure if Vince became gun shy with him since he went all in on him right out of the gate but he his track record shows that he can be the man to lead and can be the guy to carry the company. I am sure when the time is right we will see the Demon and when we do we all know we are in for a real treat. Finn Balor deserves a chance to regain the title he never lost. Until the time comes when Vince decides to give him another run we can all just sit back and wait patiently… But my gut says that time will be a lot sooner then we think.. 4 the arena. Throw in the very expensive cost of visiting Vegas, as well as the dis- tance needed to travel for international fans, and it covers the event in an even higher chance of running at a loss. Thirdly, we are at this point still unsure of how other key promotions will work with All Elite Wrestling. The events at NJPW‟s Wrestle Kingdom 13, with all members of Bullet Club except Jay White losing their matches and titles, seem to indicate that there will be no BY KIERAN JOHNSTONE working relationship between them. This will in turn mean that there is very little chance of a working relationship be- tween Ring of Honor and All Elite Wres- tling, due to the former‟s close ties to NJPW. With few other large promotions to work for, it may actively discourage talent to sign up. This, coupled with the fact that Kenny Omega‟s future is still up in the air, could be another huge set back. This one is a lot more hypothetical than the others, but if all three of the above were take a turn for the negative, I very particularly wise goal at present. Now, much doubt a successful businessman that may admittedly sound like a rather like Khan would continue his invest- nihilistic view, which it probably is. ment. I imagine that this will be highly However, there are several factors to be unlikely, as he was probably well aware considered. of the slow burn that revenue of wres- tling takes to yield. However, if one year The first is the lack of knowledge of the from Double or Nothing there is little to majority of this roster and the brand to show for his money, there could be a the average American viewer. While the very quick end to All Elite Wrestling. signing of Jericho and PAC, as well as While this may seem like I am not inter- the previous mainstream success of tal- ested in All Elite or want it to fail, it is ent such as Cody and the Addiction is a purely the opposite. I really would love big coup, it is still not guaranteed to pro- to see this new and exciting brand to vide ratings. When you consider that flourish for years to come, and hopefully he major talking point of the last Ring of Honor – the second largest wres- one day compete with the likes of WWE week in wrestling has been the an- tling company in America, where many and NJPW. However, putting all your nouncement of All Elite Wrestling, an signees have previously wrestled – only eggs in one basket and shooting for the organisation founded by Cody Rhodes, averages about 125,000 views per week moon straight away can be a lethal dose The Young Bucks and Adam Page. With on network TV, this could really hurt of poison in any company. One only has backing from Shadid Khan – patriarch of their exposure when the current press to look back 20 years to the fate of the Khan empire said to be worth over dies down. WCW, to see that sometimes money $6,000,000,000 – and several note wor- The second factor is the risk of running doesn‟t always guarantee success or lon- thy roster members already signed, such such a large venue for their first show. I gevity for a wrestling promotion. as former WWE superstars PAC (FKA personally thought All In was the best as Neville) and Chris Jericho, as well as pure wrestling show of 2018, but I was notable independent talent including shocked that they sold out the 11,000- Christopher Daniels and Britt Baker. The seater Sears Centre so quickly. Running main question has been what will happen the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – a mas- following their Double or Nothing PPV, sive 17,000 capacity venue – for their so here‟s my opinion: first show, with little more than a few I, for one, believe that All Elite may nev- well established contracted talent and a er become a serious contender to WWE, few months to market the event, I have however I feel that this would not be a serious doubts about their ability to fill 5 6 BY MOHAMMED FAIZAN 7 In just 4 years of your career, you have Advantages & disadvantages you face in wrestled all around the world then may it the ring as a guy of your size.