Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News, I am “The Other One” Luke Owen.
With WWE trying to spin the plates of Mixed Match Challenge, the Mae Young Classic, Super
Show Down and Crown Jewel - it’s easy to see why Evolution has sort of fallen through
the promotional cracks. So far only three matches have been confirmed - with Shanya
Baszler vying for Kairi Sane’s NXT Women’s Championship, Lita taking on Mickie James
and Alexa Bliss facing off against Trish Stratus. Stratus vs. Bliss was announced just before
Summerslam, but so far the only real build the match has had was an in-ring segment with
Elias several weeks ago on Raw. That was until last night when Alexa Bliss had one of her
Moments Of Bliss - telling a story of when she met Trish Stratus when Alexa was just
seven years old. According to Bliss, Trish was pretty rude about the situation and crushed
her dreams.
The only problem with this promo is the timing. Bliss was born in 1991 - the same year Bill
& Ted’s Bogus Journey hit cinema screens - and would have been 7 in 1998. Trish Stratus
on the other hand started her WWF career two years later in 2000 - the same year Dude,
Where’s My Car hit cinema screens. And using Scott Steiner maths that means Bliss only
has a 141 and ⅔s chance of meeting Trish when she was seven years old - and that spells
trouble for her at Evolution.
Seemingly a few people noted this to Bliss on Twitter, as the former Raw Women’s Champion
tweeted after the show, “I never said I was good at math.” Well now I don’t know
what to believe in wrestling anymore. If Alexa can’t do simple adding up than kayfabe is
just out of the window. Now show me that clip again where the dead mortician man and his
demon brother beat up the company’s COO and the old cowboy. God, wrestling is cool.
Also returning to Raw last night was Liv Morgan - one week removed from being concussed due
to a stiff kick by Brie Bella during a six-woman tag match. Morgan - complete with new hair
- was at ringside for Ruby Riott’s match against Ronda Rousey, and nothing was mentioned
about her pulling out of their match at Super Show Down.
A lot has been said about The Kick Heard Round The Internet over the last seven days - with
several wrestlers putting in their two cents about the topic. However Brie’s husband
Daniel Bryan has spoken up in defence of his wife in a series of tweets - slamming WWE
fans who have placed the blame on Brie as nothing more than cyber bullies. Bryan tweeted,
“I am proud of how strong my wife is. After accidentally injuring Liv Morgan last week,
the first time Bri’s ever hurt another performer, she’s been subject to a constant barrage
of social media attacks. Almost every wrestler has accidentally hurt someone, but rarely
do you see this kind of hate when it happens.” Before posting a few stories about how he
concussed Randy Orton in 2012 and Nigel McGuiness in 2009, and how he kicked Andrade “Cien”
Almas in the head just a few weeks ago adding, “Despite all of that, never did I receive
the backlash Bri did this week. With all the negative things said about my wife, nobody
was harder on her than she was on herself… Thank you to the many people who reached out
to support her, both publicly and privately. We all wish Liv Morgan a speedy recovery.
#EndCyberbullying.”
Brie herself posted on Instagram along with a photo of her daughter Birdie, “Happy people
don't waste their time or energy being cyber bullies... miserable people do. If you aren't
living the life you wish I pray that you find what makes your heart happy and stop wasting
energy on promoting hate.”
Maybe WWE will be spending the next couple of months promoting their Network changes.
Oof that was a bad segue.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported back in 2016 that WWE were planning major
changes to the WWE Network - including adding in a tiered payment system - and now Mike
Johnson of PWInsider is reporting these changes could come into effect in 2019.
Johnson reports that Vince McMahon is overseeing the changes with Kevin Dunn and the company’s
chief of staff Brad Blum. The rumoured 2016 tiered system would have seen a free option
of the Network with commercials introduced where you can watch up to five hours a month
of other WWE content but this wouldn’t include the PPVs or NXT; a $5 option that gave you
all the PPVs but not NXT or its TakeOver shows; a $10 plan which is how the Network currently
is but with live episodes of NXT; and a $15 price point which gives you the Network commercial
free,“access to independent wrestling content”, and features like chat rooms, second screens
and offline content downloads.
Johnson adds that WWE are putting “a lot of time and effort into mapping out the future
of original programming on the service”, which includes previously reported programs
like a morning news show, the history of FCW, Xavier Wood’s Arcade Challenge, Fashion
Files and a Broken Hardyz sitcom. There are also rumours WWE will introduce TV-14 content
to the Network, which could include another ECW revival and a show described as WWE’s
version of Game of Thrones.
Johnson ties this report into their story from last month- where Impact Wrestling’s
Scott D’Amore and Ed Nordholm met with WWE. Although Impact have denied the meeting was
about selling their library, PWInsider report that WWE are “looking at the idea of acquiring
other video libraries.” According to Johnson, WWE already own the video libraries for Progress,
ICW and Evolve - and Dave Meltzer is reporting that WWE and German-based company wXw also
have a working relationship now meaning they could be added to the Network too. Johnson
doesn’t state when in 2019 these changes will happen, but adds that “plans are in
motion” and “Once they are indeed satisfied with their chosen direction, we'll start to
see some official announcements pop up and then, if all goes well, some implementation
next year.”
Was there fan fury at this week’s Raw? Click the video on screen right now to check that
out. And get your tickets to see WrestleRamble live this November at the Prince Charles Cinema.
I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.