Here is your news for April 27 2020
Here are some major headlines for today.
Jerry Lawler Explains Ramen Noodle Moonsault Comment On WWE Raw
Vince Mcmahon Sees Big Things In New Superstar
WWE Superstar Causing Backstage Trouble
Nia Jax Drops New Video For Her Haters
Why Renee Young Got Heat From WWE ?
Prominent AEW Wrestler Was Once Considered To Win The MITB And MORE!!!!
We’re kicking off with news from Monday Night RAW, as it wasn’t too long
ago that Jerry Lawler came under fire for describing an Akira Tozawa
senton as quote “Ramen noodle Moonsault,” which many fans deemed
stereotypical and racist.
After WWE edited the line out on rebroadcasts of the show, Lawler
addressed the situation on his podcast, saying he heard Mauro Ranallo call
moves he thought sounded made up, so he tried to think up names for
moves himself. He said:
“I would say something like, ‘There’s the Ramen Noodle moonsault’ and he
would say, ‘Oh, King! You know there’s no such thing!’ And we would just
go on. I was doing it just to play devil’s advocate with Mauro. If I were still
doing commentary with Michael Cole or JR, we had the chemistry to where
each one of those guys would have known that I was almost making a fool
out of myself by claiming like I was acting like I knew what this
unbelievable looking move was.
“Then either Cole or JR would have said ‘Oh, King! You know better than
that!’ With Byron and Tom, we don’t have that chemistry yet. We have
only been working together for a short time so when I said that, they
didn’t even acknowledge it so it kind of went out and they just kept talking
and I kept talking. I didn’t think anything about it either.”
We’re not quite sure the “my broadcast partners didn’t call me out for my
bad commentary” is much of a defence, and it should be noted that the
King never apologised for his comments, and doesn’t seem to see anything
wrong with what he said.
From one legend of WWE to a new face in the company, as Cal Bloom lost
decisively to Sheamus on last Friday’s SmackDown, but according to
Wrestling News, Vince McMahon and several others have taken a shine to
the second-generation Superstar.
The son of Beau Beverly, Bloom is already receiving high praise, as the
Wrestling News reported:
“Everyone is comparing him to a young Edge,” said one WWE source. “He
is rough around the edges but he has something and Vince thinks he can
be a big deal but it will take some time.”
It’s no secret that Vince McMahon prefers big guys like Bloom, and with so
much praise being given for the second-generation Superstar by
Performance Center trainers, we doubt that his loss to Sheamus will be the
last time fans see him.
Whilst Bloom’s career in WWE is just beginning, Zack Ryder was released recently
after 14-years with the company, and has already hinted at his future outside of the company.
Older fans will remember Ryder’s WWE Internet Championship, which was never
used on WWE TV and was retired when WWE cancelled his Z! True Long Island
Story YouTube series, and now the former Superstar is seemingly bringing the title back.
On April 21st, Ryder, who will now compete under his real name Matt Cardona,
registered trademarks for “Internet Champion and “Alwayz Ready,” a phrase he
would sign off tweets with whilst with WWE, letting the higher ups know that he
was constantly looking for an opportunity.
Of course, WWE rarely gave him anything to work with, but now he can use the
catchphrase however he wants, after filing the trademarks with Michael Dockins,
the same attorney who has registered a lot of AEW trademarks.
Dockins was also the attorney that Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood used when
filing their trademarks, and it’s interesting that so many stars are using the
Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick Law firm.
Back to WWE now, and whilst the company is still producing weekly content, fans
just aren’t tuning in like they used to.
For the past few weeks, ratings have slumped, and last Friday’s edition of
SmackDown, which featured appearances from Triple H, Shawn Michaels and
Vince McMahon barely broke 2 million viewers.
Now, a source from Ringside News has said that “everyone is afraid to talk about
it,” referring to the falling ratings, which were described as “very bad.”
Whilst SmackDown isn’t doing well, the blue brand is garnering an average of
200,000 more viewers from RAW, as the FOX Network is much larger than USA,
and RAW also has a third hour that brings their average viewership down.
Given that most sports shows have been shut down due to the ongoing situation,
FOX has given WWE more airtime on FS1, but the FS1 block of WWE programming
that airs on Tuesday Nights before WWE Backstage clearly haven’t led to an
increase in viewers.
Hopefully, WWE will be able to figure out what they need to do in this
unprecedented situation, but for now, things continue to go from bad to worse for
the company’s ratings.
Speaking of the blue brand, one man who hasn’t been seen in quite some time is
Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, who wasn’t on SmackDown last Friday, or
the week before that.
Though Zayn had oral surgery to blame for missing the April 17th show, Ringside
News is reporting that Zayn did not miss last week’s show due to surgery but were
told that “Sami has been a complete pain to the SmackDown team.”
The source added that “he stirs up other members of the locker room,” and said
that “he’s always trying to cause trouble.”
Time will tell when Sami will appear on Friday Night SmackDown again, as whilst
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura were on the show last Friday, they weren’t joined
by the Intercontinental Champion.
Zayn is currently not booked for any matches at Money in the Bank on May 10th,
but for now, it sounds like the creative team is having a difficult time coming up
for something to do
One person who will compete at Money in the Bank is Nia Jax, and whilst the
former RAW Women’s Champion has her eyes set on the briefcase, she’s having
some fun along the way.
Recently, Jax caused a stir online after being rough with Kairi Sane on RAW, and
even used the botched move to send a message to Ronda Rousey in response to
the Hot Rod’s comments about wrestling being fake.
Now, Jax has uploaded a video captioned “When hates try to come for me,” along
with several emojis that show her confidence.
Nia seems to be in a very good mood in the video, and whilst she does have a few
haters, it seems the Irresistable Force is paying them no mind.
We’ve got news from WWE Backstage next, as it wasn’t too long ago that AEW
World Champion Jon Moxley popped on the show to say hi with his wife Renee
Young, and whilst everyone on the show had a laugh, those backstage in WWE
didn’t find it so funny.
Whilst speaking to PW Insider Elite, Moxley was asked if his wife got heat from
WWE aver his appearance, and said the short answer was yes, but didn’t go into
much detail afterwards.
The former Dean Ambrose hasn’t had made any appearances on Backstage since
then, whilst his Young continues to host the show each week, and even had a rare
appearance on the latest Friday Night SmackDown.
Back to news from WWE’s recent releases, as though over a hundred employees
were fired, some are being still being used on TV.
Drake Maverick is still a part of the NXT Cruiserweight title Tournament, where he
has the chance to save his job, though it’s being reported that NXT stars have
been given a 30-day non- compete clause, much shorter than the main roster’s 90
days, although Fightful Select are reporting that not all NXT Superstars are being
held to the 30-day rule.
One person who is also reportedly still close to WWE is Sarah Logan, as the
wrestling Observer newsletter noted in their latest issue that Logan was backstage
for RAW this week, and whilst a segment was planned for her, it was ultimately
cut. They said:
“A segment where she’d be linked up with the Viking Raiders, has been dropped or
may take place in the future. But even if she is on Raw next week, that doesn’t
mean her firing was rescinded”
It’s no secret that Logan is married to Erik of the Viking Raiders, and the 26-year-
old has remained close to Orlando, in case WWE needs to call on her again.
The last fans saw of the former Riott Squad member, she was selling a broken arm
thanks to Shayna Bazler, but it may be just a matter of time before Logan is back
with WWE, and with the Viking Raiders.
We’re looking at AEW now and Cody Rhodes had a busy weekend on Twitter,
where he answered fans questions, and revealed big plans for him in WWE that
never transpired.
When one fan commented that Rhodes should have won Money in the Bank, the
former Superstar said that the plans changed for Dolph Ziggler to win, just hours
before the show, and said that the change helped him grow into the person he is today.
Another fan later commented that out of the AEW roster, Jungle Boy should get
more screen time, and Rhodes agreed, saying he hopes to have a singles match
with the young, popular star this year.
Now, back in January, WWE fired their co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle
Wilson, reportedly due to an internal conflict with Vince McMahon.
Since then, both parties have kept hush about what happened when the pair were
let go, though a recent SEC filing has uneathered the paperwork, which said that
Wilson and Barrios qualified for “discretionary bonus payments,” for 18 months,
but also had to inform WWE within 5 days, if they got any other jobs in the time period.
This extra 18 months of salary started one week after the pair were fired, and it’s
only fair to see them receive such a generous severance package, after both
worked with WWE for a very long time.
Speaking of firings, Lance Storm was just one of many producers furloughed from
WWE earlier this month, but this has left him open for a return to the ring.
On Twitter, a fan asked Storm about the rumours of Chris Jericho wanting Storm
to be his final opponent, and Lance replied saying “We’ve both talked about doing
that,” so it is a possibility.
If you’ve read Chris Jericho’s first autobiography, then you’ll know that Storm and
Jericho met when they were both training, and given that Storm’s last WWE
match took place in 2005 against Jericho, the pair could cross paths again, when
the Fozzy star hangs his boots up for good.
We’re going back in time now, as yesterday marked 20 years since David Arquette
won the WCW World Championship, in what is remembered as one of the worst
booking ideas by Vince Russo and WCW’s creative team.
After WWE on FOX sent out a tweet to celebrate this landmark moment,
Storm shared his views on the title change, saying:
Should probably add he pinned Eric in a tag team match to win the World title from
his own tag partner, celebrates with him despite just losing the world title. To be
the man, you’ve got to beat the…. oh never mind
It should be noted that Arquette, a huge wrestling fan, didn’t want the title, and
instead donated all his WCW earnings to Darren Drozdov, and the families of
Owen Hart and Brian Pillman.
It’s often said that hindsight is 20/20, and looking back, it’s obvious that Arquette
as World Champion didn’t help WCW, but given that fans are still talking about it
to this day, the controversial decision certainly left an impression with the fans.
We’re taking a look at Chyna next, as after the WWE Hall of Famer’s departure
from WWE in 2001, the ninth wonder of the world never returned before her sad
passing in 2016.
Speaking on a Backlash 2000 edition of Grillin JR, the AEW commentator explained
the reasons behind her leaving, saying that money was a factor in the decision. He said:
“She wanted a million dollars guarantee because she felt like she was
worth more being a female, being more unique, than Stone Cold, some of
the other guys. There was only a handful of guys making a million dollars per year.”
Ross added that Vince McMahon left the decision about Chyna’s contract up to him, saying:
“I said, ‘Vince, if I can’t get a decent number, we may have to pass on it.’
He said, ‘Well, that’s your call.’ I couldn’t give her a million dollars a year.
Could she have earned over a million dollars per year? She probably did a
couple of times, if I remember correctly, but that guarantee was just too big.”
18 months after her negotiations, Chyna left WWE in November 2001, and would
be inducted into the WWE hall of fame posthumously in 2019, as part of DX.
We’re moving from the ring to the football field now, as Vince McMahon has
commented on being sued by former XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck.
Luck, who joined the league in 2018, is claiming that his $20 million contract
agreed that he would receive all money owed to him if he was terminated without cause
In the league’s bankruptcy filings, Luck wasn’t listed as a creditor, as he was fired
less than a week before the league declared bankruptcy, and in a statement by
Vince McMahon’s offices, it is being claimed that the WWE Chairman had cause to
let Luck go. The statement reads:
“Oliver Luck’s services as Commissioner and CEO of The XFL were
terminated by a letter sent to him on Apr. 9, 2020 which
explained the reasons for the termination. As to the lawsuit he
filed, his allegations will be disputed and the position of
Mr. McMahon will be set forth in our response to his lawsuit.”
This is certainly an interesting time for McMahon, who recently released a ton of
WWE staff as an alleged cost- cutting measure, and could soon be paying a lot
more of his own money out, if the courts rule that he let Luck go, without a good reason.
And finally we’re ending with news from WrestleMania 37, and after the success
of this year’s two-night event, Triple H made the case for the show being a multi-
night event in the future.
On the After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves, the King of Kings argued that the
two shows was much more enjoyable than one eight- hour event, and added:
“It’s a week long festival and I think that the big main-stage
attraction needs to be those two nights and it’d be this weekend
of events. I do think that’s probably a change that; with chaos
comes the genius and maybe that is the genius of it.”
The Game added that that there are many in the company who have been pushing
for WrestleMania being a two- day event for quite some time, but right now, it
doesn’t seem like the 2021 show will be a multi-night affair.
According to a report by Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer
Newsletter, there are no plans for next year’s show to be a two-night event.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that plans won’t change between now and March
28th next year, but for now, fans can expect one night of entertainment for the
showcase of the immortals, which may take place at the SoFi Stadium in California.