I’m Laurie Blake, welcome to the WrestleTalk News, on Fridays we wear pink.
Our top story today concerns some ex-WWE talent who are supposedly soon to once again be WWE
talent.
After Papa H took over from Mean Old Man McMahon as the creative force behind WWE he went on
a bit of a reinstatement spree, bringing back a number of notable names who had found themselves
released in the company’s previous rounds of ‘budget cuts’.
Then WWE went into a hiring freeze, happy to play with the toys it had, but Christmas
is coming and Santa’s elves have been hard at work, why not get yourself a new toy thinks
Triple H?
Or an old toy with a new lick of paint, like the Transformers Generation 2.
That’s a reference for Luke Owen.
Anyway, there has been a rumor floating around for a while now that the Authors of Pain could
be set to make a WWE return very soon.
Fightful Select have been looking into it and discovered that there is indeed a plan
for AOP’s Akam and Rezar to come back to WWE TV in the near future.
Fightful’s report says that the plan is for them to join the Smackdown brand, though
that is subject to change.
And the current thinking is that Paul Ellering will be joining them on TV.
Way back in January this year Fightful had heard chatter about WWE interest in the pair,
but it actually transpires in the new report that the two have actually been signed to
the company for a year and a half!!
So right in the midst of Triple H’ rehiring spree?
Fightful said the pair were at the WWE Performance Center back in August 2022.
While some talent ride the release roller coaster, sometimes up, sometimes down, there
are others who have had much more of a steady rise in WWE: like Bayley.
Though some doubt about her WWE future would have been cast by her buddy Sasha Banks aka
Mercedes Monet walking out of the door and working with other promotions.
Though it looks like Bayley is sticking around in WWE for now, as WWE sources have claimed
to Fightful that Bayley has signed a new multi-year deal with the company.
Apparently WWE has been locking down multiple high level talent to long-term contracts,
Bayley’s being viewed as a priority as both a top level in-ring and onscreen talent but
also as a well-liked member of the crew backstage among both staff and talent.
Another name from WWE’s Women’s roster could also be sticking around for the foreseeable:
Trish Stratus.
The Hall of Famer had a bumper year in 2023, feuding with Becky Lynch as the marquee moment,
though she hasn’t been seen since her defeat at Payback.
However, it seems like Trish isn’t ready to hang up her boots just yet, speaking on
GAW TV she reminisced on the year that was and potential plans for the future:
"2023 was probably the most insane year I've had on all fronts.”
“I have a lot of things that are percolating and we'll let you know when we can let you
know.
I'm excited.
We're on a roll here.
Good things are happening, new opportunities and stuff that I didn't even think I could
tap into that I am.
It's been fun.
I can't wait.
Ending it off with: “That was fun.
I look forward to doing that again next year.
I'm so excited."
In contrast to those who’s 2024 is strictly WWE, a whole bunch of recently released talent
now have the opportunity to explore ALL the options out in the wider world of wrestling.
That’s because as of yesterday, December 21 the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali,
Shelton Benjamin, Matt Riddle and more were officially set free after fulfilling their
90 day non-compete clauses.
We’ll start with perhaps the biggest name of the lot, Dolph Ziggler, who was announced
for his first match away from WWE in two decades at World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico
on January 6.
Ziggler has been linked with moves to AEW (cough The Devil) and even to TNA as their
rumored biggest-ever signing that Scott D’Amore has been hyping up lately.
Ziggler is also advertised for another appearance in the new year alongside The Original Bro
Matt Riddle at the MCW Fan Jam and Anniversary shows on February 4.
Speaking of Riddle, as reported earlier this week, he will be making his return to WWE’s
recent courtroom rival MLW, taking on Jacob Fatu at the promotion’s Kings of Colosseum
event, also on January 6.
But it seems like Riddle’s MLW return is far from a one-off, as the promotion’s CEO
Court Bauer has confirmed on Busted Open Radio that Riddle has indeed signed a contract with
them, saying:
“He’s going to be on virtually all of our shows going forward.
Where that takes us down the road, we’ll see.
He’s able to work for other places, just to let everyone know that.
He’s primarily with us.”
While Riddle puts pen to paper with MLW, another man who has also done the same is Mace or
Maaaa-ceeee I should say.
And by pen to paper I do not mean a contract as in a post that mirrors that famous Cody
Rhodes global check-list from way back when, Mace has listed some rather interesting future
opponents.
Rattling off dream matches with the likes of “ur mom” and “ur dad” as well as
a true spectacle with renowned grappler “Godzilla” and of course the number one heel in the history
of video games Final Fantasy 7’s own “Sephiroth”.
I for one, can’t wait to see those.
In the meantime though both Mace and Mansoor are hitting the indies, already appearing
at Deadlock Pro Wrestling’s show on December 10.
With further appearances at Effy’s Big Gay Brunch and in GCW also set for January.
Speaking of GCW, one released star has already appeared for the promotion, wasting absolutely
zero time in returning to work.
That being AJ Francis AKA Top Dolla, who showed up in a mask at the GCW Holiday Special yesterday,
attacking Joey Janela.
The former Hit Row star had previously been announced for the promotion’s Look at Me
event on January 26.
Unlike Dolla, Shelton Benjamin is seemingly begrudgingly exiting his 90-day non-compete,
posting a hilarious video on Instagram dubbing his voice over a clip of Godzilla awakening
from slumber.
So does that confirm that Mace’s dream Godzilla match is in fact just a match with Benjamin?
Maybe…
Lastly we finish the roundup with perhaps the most bombastic of all announcements as
Mustafa Ali showed his creative flair that he rarely got to show in WWE, by teasing a
whole heap of matches in 2024.
In a well-produced video posted to social media that mimicked the political vignette
he did in NXT before his release, Ali announced a whole 2024 campaign, with a video that potentially
teased a move to AEW among other things.
Ali showed off a bunch of stars who he seemingly is keen to face including Kazuchika Okada,
Matt Cardona, Mike Bailey, Vikingo, TMDK and AEW stars Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland.
Ali’s confirmed indy dates see him competing for many different promotions such as PROGRESS,
Defy, GCW and more.
Two such dates will see Ali take on names featured in the video, with a sure to be insane
three-way against Vikingo and Gringo Loco announced for Dreamwave’s February 10 event;
as well as a match with Mike Bailey for Prestige on February 25.
Two potential match of the year contenders already confirmed for 2024.
You love to see it.
Now to a major new update on a story that could have major implications on WWE and AEW;
that being the apparent interest of Warner Bros Discovery in potentially picking up WWE
Raw in 2024.
As you will no doubt be aware, Raw's TV rights are the last on the negotiation table for
WWE at present, with SmackDown signing with USA Network and NXT with CW.
While WBD had floated around as a potential home for Raw, it didn’t seem all that likely.
That was until David Zazlav’s number one guy CM Punk stepped foot back in the company
and as Dave Meltzer put it on Wrestling Observer Radio: “opened a closed door”.
With AEW’s contract with WBD also up in 2024, it truly is an uncertain time for both
companies in regards to a potential future on the network.
Something only seemingly made more uncertain by a new development; that being the news
of a huge merger between WBD and fellow entertainment juggernaut Paramount.
Speaking yesterday on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer gave us all some piece of mind on
how the merger could affect any potential WWE or AEW deals for WBD in 2024.
“They’re in merger talks, the first stage.
I don’t anticipate that whatever happens, I don’t think that this potential merger
is going to affect (potential WWE or AEW TV deals) because it’s going to take time to
put that together.
Meltzer continued to explain that due to WBD being a bigger company financially, it would
be them still making the decisions, not “new people” from Paramount.
As for the status of WWE’s potential future on WBD, Meltzer also revealed that a deal
is “majorly” and “absolutely” still in play, news that will not be music to Tony
Khan’s ears no doubt.
However, Meltzer believes that AEW’s lower cost compared to WWE’s reported $400,000
asking price per year for Raw could play in TK’s favor.
“(In terms of) cost per viewer, Raw is so much more expensive than AEW, even if AEW
had a big raise, it’d still be cheaper per viewer.
“Also the AEW viewer is a 13% higher money earner than a WWE viewer.
There’s that value too which is rarely talked about.
Although saying that, Meltzer admits WWE is always going to be “number one” bringing
in more viewers and in-turn making the station “look better” in the rankings of the TV
stations, compared to what AEW can offer.
Finishing up today we have news of… would you look at that?
An AEW star finishing up with the company.
How fitting.
That star is QT Marshall, who if you’ve been keeping up with the news has already
made public that he is departing AEW, with Tony Khan also confirming as such.
Despite technically being a member of AEW up until his contract expiry on January 1,
Fightful Select is reporting that Marshall has already “effectively finished” with
the company.
According to the report Marshall isn’t a presence backstage and hasn’t been at any
AEW shows in many weeks now.
The future of Marshall has been the subject of much speculation since his announcement
of his impending departure, with WWE a rumored destination, unsurprising due to his close
friendship with Cody Rhodes AND his reputation as a bit of a jack-of-all trades worker both
on-screen and backstage.
However, despite many in WWE reportedly pushing for the company to sign Marshall, he is reportedly
“adamant” on continuing his in-ring career, something he had little opportunity to do
in AEW, and likely maybe wouldn’t in WWE either.
A potential sign that may be set to go on his own indy run of sorts provided recently
by the new Fightful report, which reveals that the former AAA Latin American Champion
plans to use his own Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling trademark.
How exactly, I don’t know.
But make sure to stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com for any updates.