I’m Laurie Blake, welcome to the WresteTalk News, on Fridays we wear pink.
Our top story today is about a forgotten AEW star, left in the bottom of the toybox by
Tony.
Next week’s launch of AEW Collision on June 17 is set to see many long-lost AEW names
make their return to our screens.
Miro, Thunder Rosa, Andrade El Idolo, Scorpio Sky and…
Phil, nobody forget Phil.
Or his friend will bite ya, allegedly.
Yet, there is another star that’s not been seen a while that may not be joining the new
Saturday night AEW crew and that is Serena Deeb.
Strange considering she too is a former Punk ally so you would have thought she’d fit
right in.
According to Fightful Select, the veteran Deeb “has not been around backstage”,
and hasn’t been “brought up creatively”.
This is despite her being a fairly prominent player in the women’s division prior, Deeb
hasn’t been seen on AEW programming since an October 18 episode of Dark Elevation.
She’s basically gone from limbo to disappearing from the planes of existence.
Has she been totally forgotten about, has there been a falling out, is she injured.
Is she a surprise return?
But without an announcement Tony however will I know that there is a surprise coming?
Her last actual prominent match came even further back on the September 28 Dynamite
where she lost to then interim women's champion Toni Storm in a lumberjack match.
Given the extra weekly TV time available starting next week hopefully AEW’s creative will
find something for Deeb to do as she really is an asset to that division.
AEW have many fish to fry though, as aside from Collision coming to screens, they’ve
also got the runback of their NJPW cross promotional event Forbidden Door in the pipeline.
And that means that stars from both companies are hungry to get themselves on the card - perhaps
none more so than KENTA who was tweeting recently that he would be keen to work the show if
the money was right.
Fightful Select have now discovered that the working plan is for KENTA to work the show,
and while the deal isn’t finalized, both companies are reportedly operating on the
assumption that he will definitely be working the show.
And perhaps most excitingly of all the man being touted as his opponent in internal discussions
according to Fightful Select is none other than CM Punk, Go To Sleep, no YOU go to sleep.
What do you reckon?
Who should KENTA face at Forbidden Door?
Let us know in the comments.
Sticking with Forbidden door and some more news from Fightful Select who did some digging
regarding Mercedes Monet working with AEW prior to her recent injury.
Fightful noted that before she was injured talent at NJPW and AEW believed she would
work Forbidden Door with Saraya as the rumored opponent.
They were unable to confirm if this truly was planned and Saraya reportedly was never
approached with the idea, but the two have a good history to draw on as they worked together
in Saraya’s last match for five years back in 2017.
More news in a mo, but first this word from our episode’s sponsor.
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That’s his inside voice?!?
While much of AEW’s focus is understandably on Forbidden Door and all the exciting NJPW
stars coming across for the June 25 crossover event, one of their very own Japanese stars
may be set to become a major player in the company in the future.
I am of course talking about Konsuke Takeshita who shocked the world by aligning with Don
Callis and taking out Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing on May 28.
However, despite Takeshita only just turning to the dark side, could AEW already have their
eyes on that eventual babyface turn?
Well, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW’s “long-term plan”
will eventually see Takeshita become “one of the biggest babyfaces in the company”.
Obviously that is pretty inconceivable at present when you hear the reactions both him
and Don Callis are getting on a weekly basis however, time heals all wounds.
Heck I reckon if Takeshita turned around next week and blasted Don AEW’s long-term plan
would be achieved in an instant.
Moving across the shore to WWE now and they too have got their own cases of wrestlers
who are MIA at present.
Most notably is former two-time WWE Champion Drew McIntyre who has not been seen in a WWE
ring since getting butchered alongside Sheamus by Gunther at WrestleMania 39.
While McIntyre’s WWE status has been a major topic of discussion, particularly due to his
reported stalemate over negotiations over a new contract, he did get drafted to Raw
so a return was looking promising.
And now we have some comments from current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins
who appeared on Mark Andrews’ My Love Letter to Wrestling podcast, maybe hinting a return
to the WHC title scene may be imminent for Drew.
When naming potential challengers for his lovely gold belt Rollins named stars such
as Cody, Sami, KO etc.
Rollins would also name drop the Scottish Warrior alongside them, however, his comment
did mention Drew’s current health status saying: “We’ve got Drew McIntyre on the
injured list at the moment right now.
So, yeah take this one either way, for one Rollins mentioned Drew as a potential challenger
but also seemingly confirmed he’s still on the sidelines.
It’s important to note that according to a report from Dave Meltzer three weeks ago,
McIntyre’s absence was now more a creative issue than anything else, so hopefully Drew
is back fighting fit at the very least.
Should Drew McIntyre return in London and win the Money in the Bank as a monster heel?
Yes… yes he should.
Let us know what you think of that idea in the comments below.
Speaking of Mr. Seth F Rollins, he has certainly been a busy boy already since winning that
WHC hasn’t he?
He’s not only already defended the title in the main event of Raw against Damian Priest
but he’s also been doing the same at WWE live events, tonight’s Smackdown in a dark
match, your back garden, the local supermarket, you name the place Rollins will defend his
title there.
Which of course means WWE’s third brand NXT was bound to see a share of that sweet
Rollins pie, with former NXT Champion Bron Breakker making waves this week by challenging
Rollins to a WHC match.
While the match has not yet been confirmed, Breaker’s challenge made sure to mention
that it would take place on a Tuesday night not a Monday.
And now we may know why that is… surprise surprise its ratings…
what else?
Yes, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer elaborated on the decision and
noted that the push for stars like Rollins to appear on Tuesday nights is coming from
WWE President Nick Khan himself, saying: “The deal is, this is a Nick Khan thing,
bring more main roster stars to NXT every week, boost the ratings, and try to boost
your price for a renewal from USA Network because the ratings are higher.”
This push from Khan was then addressed by the man himself as well as some changes to
NXT’s identity as a whole coming soon…
With WWE’s TV deals with FOX and NBC Universal set to come up next year, Khan in particular
is out to make the individual WWE products appeal as much as they possibly can.
While Raw and Smackdown are juggernauts in their own right, for NXT its of course more
of a hard sell.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Khan noted the viability of having NXT as not only a
developmental for the main roster but WWE’s third brand, one that features crossover from
main roster stars.
Khan said: “We think NXT has the viability to be its
own standalone brand instead of just being a developmental system – a third brand,
if you will, where you can see cross-over from our superstars on Raw and SmackDown to
NXT while our young talent develops there.”
Interestingly this cross-over may also be set to go the other way as well as WRKD Wrestling
on Twitter has reported that NXT tag teams are going to also be “getting mixed in with
main roster matches.”
Khan made sure to mention that NXT ratings were “trending up” ahead of the negotiation,
something that with the appearance of Rollins as well as other known ‘ratings draws’
Baron Corbin, Mustafa Ali and Dana Brooke is likely to continue.
While WWE may be leaning on their main roster stars to give NXT a shot in the arm they may
not need to for much longer.
as a pair of new WWE recruits may be WWE’s next pet project.
The talents in question are the Hayely and Hanna Cavinder or the Cavinder Twins as they
are often referred.
The pair of former college basketball stars were signed by WWE as part of their NIL program
in late 2021.
However they only just made their TV debut this past week on NXT, appearing as part of
the celebration for Thea Hail after she won the number one contender battle royal.
Now they weren’t the only PC athletes in the segment however, interestingly they were
mentioned by name.
This is all despite still not signing a WWE contract as Dave Meltzer noted on WOR that
the pair are still on their NIL deal.
However, Meltzer did reveal WWE’s current opinion of the twins following their TV debut,
saying:
“They (WWE) are real, real high on them, but they haven’t even started training yet.”
The Cavinder Twins would then speak to The Athletic following this and revealed their
current status with the company, saying:
“I don’t think we’ve talked about a timeline.
We take it day by day.
We came out here and we’re going to a RAW event later in July.
We’re going where our feet are, understanding, getting more into it and seeing where it takes
us.”
The article also noted that both Hayley and Hanna had their official full introduction
to WWE on June 7, which included a promo class and video/photo shoots, with a full tryout
slated for some time in July.
While NXT may have some new faces very soon, what of the stars that recently made the jump
from the gold brand to the red or blue brands?
While some stars have still yet to be seen…
Odyssey Jones anyone?
Others have seemingly been handled with a bit more care and attention.
Part of this has been the airing of pre-taped vignettes for many debuting stars such as
JD McDonagh and the reportedly well received Katana Chance and Kayden Carter.
However, interestingly you may have noticed that this has also been applied to several
returning main roster stars too such as husband and wife Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
While vignettes are a wrestling trope as old as time they are an effective way to showcase
talent and hammer home who they are.
And according to Fightful Select this approach from WWE has been well received by the talent
in question.
Fightful’s report notes that many of the segments were filmed weeks in advance, with
their sources telling them that talent are “enjoying them”.
There you go, a positive happy picture being painted of WWE’s locker room.
Never a bad place to finish up.
Have you checked out Oli and Luke's predictions for Money in the Bank in 3 words only?!
Yes it’s the return of the 3 Count check out by clicking the video over there.