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Why CM Punk Returning to WWE Means for Pro Wrestling

At Survivor Series: WarGames, Chcago’s own CM Punk returned to WWE at the end of the show. As expected, the building went crazy. CM Punk had not been in the WWE for somewhere around 10 years, and his big return had everyone on their feet. We all know what happened with Punk and AEW, so we will not touch that. On the other hadn, some superstars were not happy with Punk’s return. World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins was visibly upset, and he did not hold back. Now if this was a work or if it was real, we do not k now, but fans around the world are excited for what is to come. CM Punk is one of the biggest names in all of pro wrestling, and being back in WWE means the world to wrestling fans. WWE is truly at its peak, and we should allbe grateful for what we have in front of us.

Personally, I look forward to the feuds that he can have. Rollins, of course, but more notably I would love to see matches with guys like Finn Balor, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Punk is still capable of putting on great matches, and I would love to see a feud between those guys. 

Pro Wrestling is in the best shape that it has ever been in. We have so many different promotions where wrestlers can go to find their stride. With all the names in wrestling now, there has never been more eyes on the sport. Fans around the world should not only realize this, but they should be happy about all the wrestling they have access to. Instead of complaining about AEW or WWE, we should be grateful that we have all these different options for wrestlers to showcase their abilities. 

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William Nylander: Pending UFA

Right-winger William Nylander has been with the organization for many years, since being drafted in 2014. He has been an immense help on the wing for the last 6 years, teaming with the likes of John Tavares, and Auston Matthews. He is one of the best wingers in the league, his shot, and his speed ranks among the best wingers across the whole league. He is puck dominant, but he is able to handle the puck well enough to be able to get around the best defences to get towards the net. On the power play, his shot from the left flank is an absolute bomb, his ability to move around the ice and find shots from all different angles is one of his specialties. Nylander is a consistent 70-80 point guy, and playing with the star centres that he plays with gives him that little extra nod over many other wingers. He blends in well with the line he plays on and he is able to find space on the ice and beat players to get where he needs to be. 

Nylander’s contract is up next year, making him a pending UFA. He has held out on his RFA deal in the past, but I believe that he wants to stay a Maple Leaf. He likes playing in Toronto, and he likes playing with these guys. John Tavares says that Nylander was “built to play in Toronto”, which I support 100%. Nylander is the kind of player that is a Maple Leaf. Like Marchand is built like a Bruin, Judge is built like a Yankee, Brady was built as a Patriot, Nylander s built like a Maple Leaf. His current deal, at $6.9M, is a great value deal for the kind of player that he is. He will be looking for a pay raise, and with he can rising next year, he might be lucky enough to get the raise he wants.

Nylander is rumoured to want close to $10M AAV on his next deal, which I myself am iffy about. Nonetheless, it is up to newly minted General Manager Brad Treliving, to assess what Nylander is worth. I hope the two sides can figure something out, because I too believe Nylander was built to play in Toronto.  

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Just posting this. No explanation or anything. Just this. #BiggioForMVP

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What to Expect from the Toronto Maple Leafs

In just one short month, the Toronto Maple Leafs will kick off the 2023-24 season, and with many changes from the front office to the players, there is a lot to unpack. Firstly, they’ve hired a new GM, Brad Treliving. Tre has slowly put his mark on this team early, not being afraid to sign the big free agent players, like Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi. He has signed players that will help this team now, and help us with a playoff push. Getting to the players, they’ve signed Bertuzzi, Domi, John Klingberg, and Ryan Reaves, the latter I am not so excited about. We have signified that we are a team to compete and that we will put everything out on the ice night in and night out. Lets look at some of the new guys and what they can bring to the table.

Tyler Bertuzzi: Grinder, can play in the dirty areas, and fills a deep hole that we have in our LW position. Can score and make plays, but more importantly will not back down from a challenge and do his best to beat players to the puck.

Max Domi: A true grinder. Dedicates his game to the physical side of hockey. A small guy, but like his dad he isn’t afraid to go after guys to get the puck, and he isn’t afraid to put the body on a guy to make a play. A great fit to the 3rd line, or the Tavares line if Knies does not work out.

John Klingberg: A good offensive defence man, but a horrible defence man, if you know what I mean. He is one of the worst defensive players that the NHL has, and it is noticeable. His upside, he can easily be our PP2 QB, and when Rielly isn’t on, he fills the Rielly role on LD2 very nicely. Not too sure what to expect, so I will be optimistic.

Ryan Reaves: So bad. I hate this signing with everything in me. This is the biggest waste of 1.35M that I have ever seen. Hate it and hate it more each day. 

This team that they have built is the best Maple Leafs team that they’ve had in a long time. A true first line with a threat coming right back to it in the Tavares line. The defence still isn’t all that good, with 2 guys who can’t defend a pylon, but they’re paired with guys who can shut things down. The goaltending, well that’s really up in the air. Sammy and Wall are two good goalies, but Wall might be ready to make the jump intoning a true starter. If Sammy doesn’t do well this year, and Woll steps up, were looking at the new goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team overall, is looking a lot better than they did last year and years prior. We have a true identity and we are not a team to be messed with. Now, the real question is, how far are they willing to go to get to the top? 

They have a gruelling schedule ahead of them, with many other teams getting better, and the top teams have stayed atop the league. The Maple Leafs are determined to finally make that jump to the next tier, and with the core still in their prime, they are ready and willing to finally show what they are capable of. 

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Why LA Knight must be pushed

LA Knight is one of WWE’s biggest stars, and he’s only been on the main roster for a couple of months. He has some undeniable quality that makes him connect with the fans and that allows him to be one of the most over superstars in the company. His attitude era like style of mic work, paired with his inane trash talk ability, makes lots of fans reminisce about the guys like Austin and Rock, from the infamous Attitude Era. His feuds have been decent, nothing super notable where he has been God tier, but he has still done his job and put a show on for the fans. 

LA Knight first became popular around January of 2023, when he had been put in a feud with Bray Wyatt, which honestly was really fun. Bray was able to help elevate Knight and have more eyes put on him, which in turn made people tune into promos and have LA shove the “Yeah” down everyones throat. The match itself wasn’t all that, glow in the dark matches aren’t the greatest idea. The feud itself and promos and everything else were really good, and helped promote LA Knight to the fans. 

My favourite feud, and the most recent one, was against The Miz. Miz is one of the greatest mic workers in the history of the company, so this was a true test to see if LA could hang with someone on the mic with the caliber of The Miz. I believe he was right on par with Mike, having now introduced a way more aggressive and heated side of him, it was now proven that Knight can hang with some of the best. He has worked on the in ring aspect for awhile, and he is getting better and better with each match he gets under his belt.

All in all, I see LA Knight as WWE’s next big star. He is so over with the fans, he is a great mic worker, and he can produce well enough matches to not mess anything huge up. Cause who’s game is it? With everybody sayin: L-A-KNIGHT… YEAH!