Hey-yo.

No, we did not hear Jericho’s music.
No, we did not get every surprise the IWC begged for.

What we did get is a massive edition of Straight Shoot Unfiltered, and we went big on purpose before Raw takes over your Monday night.

This is not a skim-and-go drop. This is a sit down, lock in, and actually spend some time with it kind of edition. We packed this one heavy, because the moment called for it.

You are getting a double wide Darrion’s Drop, where the conversation pulls back, slows down, and digs into the bigger picture that has been bubbling under the surface all Rumble season. You are also getting banger reviews from MrTeshk, breaking down what worked, what missed, and why it all matters as WrestleMania season comes into focus.

We also loaded this issue with more on the Straight Shoot community, because this is bigger than just content. It is conversation, perspective, and people who actually care. In the middle of it all, you will find a subscriber poll you need to vote in, placed right where it belongs as a pause before diving headfirst into the Royal Rumble breakdown.

One heads up before you go further. This newsletter is a unit.
Open it in your browser. We did not trim anything down, and there is a good chance your inbox will not hold it cleanly.

Most important thing. Stick around until the very end.

That is where you will find the full Royal Rumble review video with Jack O’Hara and MrTeshk waiting for you on YouTube. Watch it, drop a comment, and say Darrion sent you. You never know who is feeling generous with giveaway entries after a long editing night.

Thank you for riding with us. This one is powered by you.

Now let us get into the chaos.

P.S. Want to listen instead? Hit Listen Online at the top right of your email or browser.

Before we jump back into everything, we need to take a quick second to say thank you.

The screenshot above tells the story. In the month of January alone, Straight Shoot Unfiltered and MrTeshk pulled in a wild number of views across our platforms. That does not happen without you. Every click, every watch, every message, every share matters more than you probably realize.

The truth is simple. We do this because we love wrestling, we love creating, and we genuinely love this community. Your support is what allows all of us at Straight Shoot to keep pushing content, expanding the newsletter, and leveling things up week after week.

And if you are new here, welcome. We are glad you found us.

As a way of saying thanks, we are giving away something special.

One lucky subscriber is taking home a Topps Chrome Green Refractor Rey Mysterio, serial numbered 75/75. A true end of print card featuring one of the most iconic luchadors of all time. The green refractor pops, the image is classic Rey, and the numbering makes this a real collector piece.

This card was generously donated by our friends at MAKSPAKS, and it is being given away as a genuine thank you to the Straight Shoot community.

If you are subscribed, you are already entered.
If you just subscribed, you scored bonus entries right out of the gate.

And here is the pro tip.

MrTeshk is almost always live on Twitch while Darrion is grinding away editing this very newsletter. That is where more ways to win, extra entries, and giveaway updates get dropped in real time. If you want every possible edge, that is where you want to be.

This Monday’s drop is powered by you.
We appreciate you more than you know.

Now let us get back to the chaos.

There is a second conversation running parallel to the creative backlash sparked by WWE Unreal, and in many ways it cuts deeper than any finish, push, or storyline debate. This one is not really about who won the Royal Rumble or who is headed to WrestleMania. It is about money, ownership, and who truly benefits from decades of physical and emotional labor now that WWE operates under the TKO umbrella.

Since the TKO Group Holdings takeover, fans across Reddit and long form wrestling blogs have started asking questions that feel less reactionary and more structural. The product feels more corporate. Decision making feels tighter and more centralized. Priorities feel increasingly focused on brand optimization, content pipelines, and quarterly performance metrics. WWE has always been a business, but many fans believe something fundamentally shifted once Endeavor and TKO took control.

That unease exploded into the open thanks to one example that became a lightning rod in the discourse. Marc Mero.

Mero shared a royalty statement that stunned even longtime fans who thought they understood how harsh the system could be. According to the document, content featuring Mero generated nearly forty thousand dollars in revenue during a single reporting period. His actual royalty check for that quarter came out to just over seventy dollars. The breakdown made it even harder to defend. Thousands earned from documentaries and compilation releases. Single digit and low double digit payouts to the talent whose likeness and career were being monetized.

Online reaction was immediate and visceral. This was not framed as an isolated relic from a different era. Fans recognized it as evidence of a system that still exists today.

What made Mero’s example hit harder was his historical importance. Marc Mero played a key role in getting Sable over during the Attitude Era. He stepped back, sacrificed his own spotlight, and allowed her character to flourish. That decision helped create one of WWE’s biggest crossover stars of that time. Sable became a merchandising powerhouse, landing magazine covers and creating moments that still circulate heavily in WWE’s video library today.

Mero’s contribution was not small. His compensation tells a very different story.

Reddit threads dissected this from every possible angle. Some fans argued this is exactly why modern wrestlers are fiercely protective of their brands. Others tied it directly to the TKO takeover, pointing out that corporate consolidation almost always squeezes labor hardest. When shareholders and parent companies become the priority, royalties and long term residuals are often reduced to costs that need trimming.

This concern dovetails uncomfortably with what WWE Unreal revealed. The series showed writers unsure of direction. It showed creative confusion and indecision. What it did not show was talent having leverage. Combine that with Mero’s royalty example and a clearer picture begins to form. Fans are not just frustrated with bad storytelling. They are worried about exploitation becoming normalized.

Many bloggers have pointed out that WWE’s content machine has never been more valuable. Streaming deals, licensing agreements, international distribution, and constant repackaging of legacy footage continue to generate revenue. Every era feeds the modern product. Yet the people who physically created those eras often see little to nothing from that ongoing success. Under TKO, those fears feel amplified, especially when compared to long standing complaints about fighter pay and benefits in UFC.

All of this collided head first with Royal Rumble season.

Royal Rumble season always exposes the fault lines in WWE’s relationship with its audience, and 2026 has been no different. Coming out of this weekend, the discourse feels louder, sharper, and more conflicted than usual. On one hand, SmackDown delivered a show many fans genuinely enjoyed, and the Royal Rumble itself produced moments that will absolutely shape WrestleMania season. On the other hand, the IWC did what it always does when expectations run into reality. It turned restless almost immediately.

That context matters, especially with MrTeshk’s SmackDown and Royal Rumble breakdowns coming later in this newsletter. Those reviews deserve space because there were real positives worth highlighting. This Drop is not about stepping on that work. It is about zooming out and addressing the tension sitting underneath all of it.

WWE Unreal landing in the middle of Rumble season could not have come at a more volatile time. January is when fans are already hypercritical. Every entrant is judged. Every winner is dissected. Every absence becomes a conspiracy. Unreal did not create that energy, but it absolutely poured gasoline on it. Suddenly, every questionable creative choice has a behind the scenes face attached to it. Every missed payoff feels intentional instead of circumstantial.

The Royal Rumble itself became a lightning rod. Some fans praised the pacing, the surprises, and the long term implications. Others immediately labeled it underwhelming or predictable. Reddit threads flipped from excitement to exhaustion within hours. That cycle has become routine. WWE delivers a major event, the live crowd reacts, and then the internet spends the next forty eight hours convincing itself that it should have felt something different.

What makes 2026 especially interesting is how many moving pieces are actually in play. John Cena’s story is officially done. Gunther has been cemented as the ultimate villain, not just a dominant champion but a career ender archetype fans love to hate. New talent is clearly being positioned, particularly on SmackDown, which desperately needs fresh energy outside of the United States title scene and the men’s tag division. Factions are circling again, partly out of necessity as SmackDown stretches toward three hours and needs more faces on television.

At the same time, Seth Rollins’ injury, Bron Breakker’s turn, Austin Theory’s alignment, and Paul Heyman’s positioning all suggest long term plotting that simply has not had time to breathe yet. That patience is where the disconnect lives. WWE is asking fans to wait. The IWC, historically, is bad at that.

This weekend proved something important. No matter how strong the matches are, no matter how loud the crowd reacts in the building, the online audience is primed to be unsatisfied unless every story hits immediately. That does not mean the criticism is invalid. It means expectations and delivery are operating on different clocks.

Add Unreal to the mix and the trust gap widens. Fans are no longer critiquing the fiction alone. They are critiquing the process. They are questioning competence, priorities, and motivations behind the booking. Royal Rumble season magnifies all of it because this is the one time of year where fans feel like anything should be possible.

The Drop?
This is no longer just about bad booking or missed creative beats. It is about a system that asks fans for patience while simultaneously revealing how fragile and corporate the machinery behind the curtain has become. Marc Mero’s seventy dollar royalty check tied to tens of thousands in revenue is not ancient history. It is a warning. Royal Rumble 2026 did its job in setting the table for WrestleMania season. The real question is whether WWE can now follow through in a way that earns back trust from a fanbase conditioned to disappointment. MrTeshk will break down what worked and why it mattered. This Drop is about the bigger picture. WWE is entering 2026 asking for belief at the exact moment fans have been shown how messy the kitchen really is. The next two months will decide whether this becomes a true payoff year or just another chapter of unreal expectations.

Friday, January 31, 2026
From KAFD, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This was supposed to be a go home SmackDown. One night before the Royal Rumble. One of WWE’s biggest weekends of the year.

Instead, this episode felt like it barely acknowledged the urgency of what tomorrow represents. There was star power, plenty of talking, and multiple logical matchups on paper, but almost none of it felt desperate, dangerous, or time sensitive. For a show meant to ignite the Rumble weekend, this landed closer to filler than fuel.

🎤 Opening Segment: Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, The Vision

Cody opened the show in suit mode, laid out his Rumble intentions, and immediately ran into something unexpected. The crowd turned on the idea of him winning again. That alone should have been a moment to pivot emotionally, but instead the segment kept rolling forward on autopilot.

Orton was massively over and made his intentions clear. Jey did his quick momentum beat. Sami brought actual stakes by grounding everything in tomorrow’s title match against Drew. That part worked.

Then The Vision arrived with Paul Heyman and hijacked the direction of the segment. Heyman talked. Faces talked back. Orton snapped. Nick Aldis booked the most obvious eight man tag possible.

The biggest issue was not content. It was time. This segment ran far too long for a go home show and drained urgency instead of building it.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Strong star presence, but bloated pacing and predictable direction hurt the sense of urgency.

🥊 United States Championship
Carmelo Hayes (c) vs Rey Fenix

This was the clear high point of the night.

Fast, sharp, and fluid from the opening exchange. Fenix’s creativity meshed perfectly with Melo’s counters and confidence, and the match never lost rhythm. This felt like two wrestlers who understood they needed to deliver something meaningful on a flat show.

Melo retained clean and looked like a champion who belongs in big spots.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
The best match on the show and the only segment that truly felt alive.

🧩 Backstage Progression Notes

Ilja Dragunov and The Miz continued their program with simple, effective heat.

Brock Lesnar calling into Pat McAfee to confirm his Rumble entry added weight without eating screen time.

Drew McIntyre questioning Sami’s decision to wrestle the night before their title match was smart champion logic.

The women’s tag scene remained cluttered and unfocused with multiple teams talking but little urgency.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Efficient progression, but nothing here raised the emotional temperature.

🎤 Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss Promo

The best friends tension tease was fine, but it immediately fell into the same trap as earlier segments.

Talk. Interruption. Nick Aldis books a tag match.

For a second time on the same show, a promo existed primarily to justify an impromptu match instead of building anticipation for tomorrow.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️½
Serviceable, but repetitive and lacking go home intensity.

🥊 Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez

The match itself was solid. Bliss played face in peril well, Flair hit her comeback beats, and the interference chaos led to a clean enough finish.

Nothing was wrong here. It just did not feel important.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A fine television match that did not move the needle.

🔥 Jordynne Grace and Jade Cargill Pull Apart

Short, physical, and effective.

Grace framed the Rumble as life changing. Jade attacked. Officials separated them. Direction established.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Quick and purposeful, which is exactly what this show needed more of.

🥊 Axiom vs Johnny Gargano

Good wrestling, clean execution, and a definitive finish that finally closed the mask story.

The problem is that the story never truly caught fire, so the ending felt more like closure than payoff.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
Solid work, but the feud never earned real heat.

🎤 AJ Styles and Gunther Promo

For a career on the line match happening tomorrow, this lacked electricity.

Styles talked farewell tour. Gunther stayed cold and dismissive. The “tapped out” line landed, but Gunther leaving without escalation made the segment feel oddly restrained.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Logical and clean, but it needed more urgency for what is at stake.

🥊 Ilja Dragunov vs The Miz

Dragunov won clean, sold like death, and looked intense throughout.

This was exactly what it should have been.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
Simple, effective, and did its job.

🏁 Main Event: Eight Man Tag
The Vision vs Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso

The match had energy in spurts. Orton’s hot tag worked. Cody played face in peril well. There were a few Rumble tease moments.

Then the finish arrived exactly how everyone expected it to.

Drew McIntyre attacked Sami for the disqualification.

The inevitability killed the moment.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
Finish rating: ⭐️½
Predictable booking drained the hype instead of amplifying it.

The post match chaos was the best part. Fatu hit Drew. Cody dove on Fatu. Sami dropped Drew. Bron Breakker standing tall was the right final visual. It just arrived without the adrenaline it deserved.

Three Stars of the Night

🥇 Carmelo Hayes
🥈 Ilja Dragunov
🥉 Randy Orton

Final Thoughts

This SmackDown failed its most important job.

A go home show should feel frantic, emotional, and dangerous. This one felt padded, cautious, and designed to get through the night without committing to anything bold.

There were good moments. Melo versus Fenix delivered. Orton was massively over. The final visual hinted at Rumble chaos.

But the overall structure relied on long segments, repetitive booking, and a main event designed to avoid consequences.

On the night before the Royal Rumble, that is simply not enough.

Final Score: 5.2 / 10

A Nostalgia Check Between Reviews!

Alright, quick pause from the reviews, because this image hit us straight in the childhood.

This is one of those moments where wrestling fandom splits right down the middle. Two eras. Two vibes. Two completely different definitions of cool.

On one side, you have The Rock, The Undertaker, The Dudley Boyz, and Kane. Gritty themes. Arena shaking pyro. Characters that felt larger than life and a little dangerous. These were the days when entrances mattered, catchphrases lived forever, and your favorite wrestler felt like a superhero.

On the other side, you have Stone Cold, DX, The Hardy Boyz, and Mankind. Chaos. Attitude. Car crashes disguised as matches. This was beer baths, ladder wars, thumbtacks, and the feeling that anything could happen at any moment.

Both sides shaped wrestling forever. Both created icons. And depending on when you fell in love with wrestling, you probably already know which pill you are taking.

So let us make it official.

Saturday, January 31, 2026
From Riyadh Season Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This was a hot Royal Rumble. The crowd was engaged, the pacing stayed tight, and WWE delivered a card that felt big from start to finish. Even with a couple booking decisions that will split opinion, the show consistently felt important, loud, and forward-looking.

The only real cloud hanging over the night was Drew McIntyre versus Sami Zayn. Not because of match quality, but because both men were placed into a situation where the outcome could never fully satisfy the moment. Outside of that, this was a strong Rumble that advanced multiple WrestleMania paths at once.

🌟 Show Presentation and Atmosphere

The stadium visuals hit. The arrivals were polished. The crowd was locked in once the bell rang and stayed there for the duration of the show. While some of the spectacle elements ran long early, the in-ring pacing never stalled.

Segment rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A big fight atmosphere that made the entire card feel elevated.

👑 Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner: Liv Morgan
Time: 1:06:55

Charlotte and Alexa starting together was an easy and effective story hook that immediately created tension. From there, the match built steadily rather than relying on shock eliminations.

The NXT presence mattered and did not feel like filler. Lash Legend had a breakout performance that noticeably raised her stock. Liv worked the match perfectly as a calculated, opportunistic heel and never felt out of place in the final stretch.

Key moments that landed included Natalya eliminating Becky, Liv eliminating Raquel, and the urgency of the final sequence with Sol Ruca and Tiffany Stratton.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Strong work throughout with a winner that made sense for where the division is headed.

🪦 AJ Styles vs Gunther
Stipulation: Styles must retire if he loses

This was slow, violent, and deliberate in the best way. Every piece of the match mattered. Styles wrestled like a man fighting to keep his career alive. Gunther wrestled like someone who enjoys taking that away.

The ref stoppage finish fit the story, and the post-match moment carried heavy emotional weight. Styles’ hesitation, the crowd reaction, and the gloves coming off and going back on made this feel unresolved in a compelling way rather than final.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
A classic Gunther match with real stakes and lasting emotional impact.

🏆 Undisputed WWE Championship
Drew McIntyre (c) vs Sami Zayn

This match was very good, and it still hurt the show.

Sami in Saudi is built for a miracle moment. Drew losing the title three weeks into his reign was never realistic. That tension hung over everything.

They worked smartly around Sami’s back injury and Drew’s brutality, and the table spot reinforced how far Drew would go to keep the championship. The double Claymore finish was decisive, but it landed with emotional deflation rather than closure.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️¾
Strong execution trapped inside a no-win booking scenario.

👑 Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner: Roman Reigns
Time: 56:10

This match delivered chaos, star power, and long-term setup.

Oba Femi looked like a monster early. Bron Breakker’s quick elimination immediately signaled future conflict. The Brock Lesnar and Femi faceoff felt like a WrestleMania billboard being printed live.

Late entries mattered. LA Knight’s return hit. Jacob Fatu brought instant fight energy. Roman’s entrance felt cinematic, and the final stretch with Roman, Gunther, Orton, and Logan Paul felt like main event chess.

Roman eliminating Gunther clean to win was a massive, decisive ending.

Match rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼
A strong Rumble with clear direction and a finish that felt important.

Five Stars of the Night

Roman Reigns
Liv Morgan
AJ Styles
Gunther
Lash Legend, Oba Femi, Sol Ruca

Final Thoughts

This was a high-energy Royal Rumble that did its job. It advanced WrestleMania stories, elevated new names, and felt like a major event rather than a placeholder show.

Liv Morgan winning added real volatility to the women’s division. Gunther retiring AJ Styles reinforced his role as a career-ending villain, even if the story feels unfinished. Roman winning signals a return to center-stage positioning that makes sense if he is more active in 2026.

Drew beating Sami was correct for the title timeline, but it left an emotional hangover that dragged slightly on an otherwise strong night.

Final Score: 7.75 / 10

If you want the extended fallout breakdown with deeper context and replay-driven takes, it is live now on Straight Shoot Unfiltered YouTube.

Be Good People🤘
mr.teshk

P.S. not signed up yet?
SUBSCRIBE HERE for raw takes and no-filter wrestling talk multiple times a week.