Welcome! Previously on GBU, Orange Cassidy was a bit too casual, Bo Dallas gave a high-level performance, and Bronson Reed had active Twitter fingers. Now, with WWE Survivor Series: WarGames looming, we’ll take a look at the state of things leading up to the PLE, along with AEW’s post-Full Gear ongoings, plus everything in between.

There’s lots of good, with scoops of bad and ugly on the side to fill out this Thanksgiving weekend serving of the week in pro wrestling.

The Good

“Raw” and “Smackdown” possibly returning to three hours

If the rumors are true, soon we’ll be back to lengthier programming, which yes, does mean more commercials but also means more time to feature a roster full of talent. Hopefully that means we’ll get less six-man tag matches or hasty backstage segments jamming multiple people into less meaningful moments rather than prominently featuring folks in significant spots.

WWE sharing statistics

If it hasn’t been said yet, let me be the first to push for MORE STATISTICS IN PRO WRESTLING. AEW shares wins and losses, and every so often WWE will throw out random numbers in their broadcast. Like ahead of the CM Punk and Drew McIntyre match at “Bad Blood,” the broadcast shared that there have been 53 cell matches in history. That’s fascinating, right? And above, you’ll see a graphic showing that Bianca Belair has the most wins in WWE this year at 24. Again, interesting.

I, for one, would love to see more stats on a regular basis throughout all of professional wrestling.

Behind-the-scenes of CM Punk’s 2023 Return

As compelling as statistics are, behind-the-scenes looks are also such a treat. My only complaint about the footage of CM Punk’s shocking November 2023 return to WWE is that there should be more of it.

I could watch a full hour of everyone backstage reacting to his return (even with obnoxious YouTube ads interrupting every five minutes).

WWE’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship

We got the US Women’s title recently, and now this? Fantastic.

These new belts will do wonders for the WWE’s women’s division and my hope is that they’ll be handled with care to establish a level of prestige and a signal of even higher success for their holders. I wouldn’t even be mad if Tiffany Stratton cashed in to grab one of ’em.

Big Justice’s spear

That right there is a solid spear. The pop it draws only adds to the moment, but respect to Big Justice for the hit stick (and QT Marshall for selling it like he got wiped out by a small sedan).

This Shinsuke promo

Though his comeback was sudden and I’m not fully convinced WWE will put the US title on Shinsuke (or take it off of Knight) just yet, I’m enjoying what we’re getting from this feud. WWE promos in general have been on fire of late, but this one feels worthy of rounding out the week’s straight-up good.

The Good Point Being Made

Spoilers from pre-taped shows stink, but the benefit outweighs that

I’m guilty of complaining about spoilers from pre-taped shows, but it’s worth knowing how such scheduling benefits the superstars. As Michin pointed out, a double-booked night allowed her more family time around the holidays.

Tough to complain about knowing in advance who won a “SmackDown” main event when you consider the positives that came of it.

The Bad

Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii slapping the hell out of each other

I’m sure Dana White would vehemently disagree with me on this, but I’m not a fan of watching two people trade undefended slaps for several minutes. The best and worst part of this video is when Jericho (with his mouth bloody and chest bright red from repeatedly having the sh*t slapped out of them) tries to get a disinterested crowd fired up, as if they should be out of their seats for his Power Slap audition.

This one is 🍅 **CERTIFIED BAD** 🍅.

Ricochet losing to an ordinary clothesline

Fans are using this moment to have at Ricochet, criticizing him for leaving WWE or making fun of him for losing to a very ordinary (low-key subpar) clothesline, but I presume he’s not doing the booking so there’s someone else who should be getting grilled for this decision.

The thing about a fresh start, which is exactly what Ricochet had upon arriving in AEW, is you have to establish that he’s a legitimate player and a top-level contender. So, even though he practically did a backflip and folded his body up to sell it, losing to a clothesline is undeniably BAD for Ricochet.

The Ugly

Bron running full speed into the corner of the announce table

Soon, “The Ugly” section will be rebranded to “The Gnarly Thing Bron Breakker Did This Time.”

In this instance, he sprinted head-on into the sharp corner of the announce table, and frankly he’s lucky not to have brokken his sternum.

The Ugly (In a Good Way)

New Day’s intense segment

I believe if this segment took place at Georgia Tech stadium instead of a dimly lit backstage area, fans would fully be appreciating it as the cinema that it is. For real, this was Emmy-worthy stuff here, folks. The build-up to the New Day’s 10-year celebration has been been mostly entertaining, although perhaps slightly drawn out, but Woods and Kofi cranked it up several notches with an exchange during which they traded slicing verbal jabs the way Jericho and Ishii exchanged slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap after slap.

Anyway, whether it was Woods bringing up Kofi’s quick Championship loss to Brock Lesnar or Kofi bringing up Woods’ lack of championships, seeing two guys abandon the power of positivity to instead spew toxicity was something to behold. I can’t wait to see how it plays out during the decade of New Day celebration.

Until next time, let’s hope for good, prepare for bad, and expect some inevitable ugly.