I’m Laurie Blake, welcome to the WrestleTalk News.
On Wednesdays because Luke is taking time off after doing all the stuff for SummerSlam
so will instead be covering me on Friday and you can all rag on him from not wearing pink
then which means I’m here now on Wednesday and on Wednesday we wear pink.
Our top story involves the big behind the scenes goings on in WWE, the merger with the
UFC Endeavor.
Those of you with a superstitious mindframe might take Saturday’s MMA style match between
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler as an indication of how this particular merger is going to
go.
I can’t say, I don’t know if it’ll be a harmonious marriage made in heaven, or a
scrappy mess that somehow misses the point of both wrestling and MMA simultaneously,
and yes one of those was a jab at the match from SummerSlam.
Though points for the Chaos armor gear, Shayna.
All’s I know is that this merger is happening soon.
At the time of the merger’s announcement it was revealed that it wouldn’t be complete
until late 2023, and now thanks to an Endeavor press release we now know that the transaction
to combine the two companies will complete mid-to-late September.
Which brings with it some bad news - one is the report from a while back that Vince’s
role in WWE Creative is “likely to grow”.
And the fact that part of the reason for the merger will be to consolidate certain roles
in both companies into a singular role that deals with both WWE and the UFC.
Which inevitably means layoffs are a coming as Endeavor streamlines it’s operation.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, who reported on the press release, was inundated with queries
about the potential layoffs and whether people imagined it would stretch to talent and he
had this to say:
“I don’t have a strong impression about whether talent cuts will coincide with closing.
Employee layoffs are widely expected unfortunately.”
With the deal going through next month, it’s only a matter of time before the restructure
is revealed, so hold on to your butts.
Back to talk about the actual kayfabe side of wrestling which has only mildly less backstabbing
and corporate shenanigans.
Saturday night at SummerSlam we got the next depth of depravity as brother turned on brother
when Jimmy Uso returned to WWE to take out his twin Jey during his match with Roman Reigns.
Talk about tribal grief.
Now Roman Reigns reportedly suffered an injury during the match, which Fightful Select has
confirmed, though The Head of the Table is still expected to appear on Smackdown this
Friday.
But that’s about all we know of what’s to come next in the ongoing saga.
Why did you do Jimmy?
Jimmy Jim Jim Jim Jim, why did you do it?
Common consensus though is that this will lead to a brother vs brother match, potentially
at Payback next month, in one of the more confusing bits of wrestling to watch since
choosing to play as Aubrey Edwards in AEW Fight Forever and still having her there as
referee…
Though apparently some would like the sibling smackdown to take place on a grander stage,
as reported by WreslteVotes on Twitter:
“Hearing that at least one creative force backstage wants WWE to wait for WrestleMania
to do the first Uso ‘Brother v Brother’ match.
However that’s unlikely at this point I’m told, with the feeling that 35 weeks is too
long of a stretch.”
Following news of not only Roman Reigns’ injury worries and Sonya Deville’s unfortunate
torn ACL injury in a matter of days comes yet another potential blow to WWE’s plans
as it appears that Sami Zayn is set to join the injured list.
Now, if you watched Raw this isn’t brand new information, as Zayn’s injury was used
as a vital plot device, facilitating not only JD McDonagh’s attempt to impress the Judgment
Day but also the Shinsuke Nakamura heel turn at the end of the night.
However, while it was used as part of the storyline on the show, there clearly is a
real issue there, namely that massive golf ball of Sami’s left elbow.
Yes, in a throwback to John Cena’s infamous 2013 injury, Sami’s elbow was noticeably
trying to burst out of his skin on Monday night and now we have a bit of clarification
on what the sitch is courtesy of the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Melzter.
Speaking on Wrestlign Observer Radio, Meltzer confirmed that McDonagh’s attack on Zayn
was a “cover” for Zayn’s legit bursa sac injury, which is the technical term for
what was growing out of his elbow.
Fightful Select also later added that all of Zayn’s spots on Raw were planned to happen
with nothing changed due to the injury.
Meltzer also speculated on what WWE may do with the Undisputed Tag Titles now that both
Zayn and Kevin Owens are on the shelf.
Despite Owens being out, Meltzer said that he can still “work” with the company just
currently allowing him time to rest and recover from his ongoing rib injury.
However, this was meant to just be short term, hence why Zayn and Owens haven’t relinquished
the tag titles.
Although now, with Zayn also hurt, plans are obviously less clear.
We at WrestleTalk would like to wish both Zayn and KO all the best in their recoveries.
While Zayn and Owens shouldn’t be out for too long, one man that we likely shouldn’t
expect to see on WWE TV for a while is The Beast Brock Lesnar.
Following the excellent conclusion to the not so excellent feud with Cody Rhodes at
SummerSlam, Lesnar of course brought Cody in for a good ol’ Brock lock, AKA a nice
warm embrace.
This heartwarming moment of humanity from Lesnar had the feel of a passing of the torch
almost, with questions regarding Lesnar’s long-term WWE future already in question earlier
this year.
Lesnar stated in an interview with UFC legend Daniel Cormier prior to WrestleMania 39 that
he wasn’t sure how long he would continue in WWE, as well as revealing that he even
considered himself retired as far back as WrestleMania 36 in 2020.
While this would suspect many to perhaps anticipate a Brock farewell soon, what we perhaps do
know is that that farewell did not come at SummerSlam.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Lesnar will be back in WWE, however,
it likely won’t be until around WrestleMania 40 season.
Meltzer revealed that Lesnar was in fact originally advertised to feature on another PLE later
this year, however, that now looks to not be the case.
With Lesnar embracing Cody at SummerSlam one can only hope the version of Brock we see
is more happy farmer Brock and less…
well angry farmer Brock.
Sticking with those MMA guys and gals, there is also a little update on the status of Ronda
Rousey following SummerSlam.
Reports suggested that the ‘Rowdy’ one would be set to depart WWE following her match
with Shayna Baszler on August 5, however, according to PWInsider, Rousey is still currently
listed on the company’s internal roster at present.
This may be a matter of time to change however, as Baszler made reference of sending Ronda
packing from WWE on this weeks Raw and Rousey herself took to Instagram to say:
@qosbaszler you were the reason I got into this business…
Now I got no reason to stay.
Curiously however, Dave Meltzer did describe Rousey’s SummerSlam match as her WWE farewell
“at least for now” so perhaps she may be back after all.
Like a Royal Rumble surprise entrant or something, that worked out well last time right?
As well as injuries, heel turns and a whole lot of Triple H booking, this week’s Raw
saw the debut of our brand new commentary team on Monday nights going forward.
This ‘brand new’ team is of course not very new at all, as WWE decided last week
that they would be swapping the Raw team of Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves with the Smackdown
team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett.
The exception of course being that Cole would also be remaining on the blue brand as well
as moving to the red one.
This is of course a whole heap of Michael Cole in our ears from week to week.
With PWInsider reporting that the Endeavor overlords want to establish Cole as the face
of the product going forward.
While fans were rather confused by the change it seems as if the feeling is shared by one
current commentator within the company also, as NXT’s Booker T discussed the decision
on his Hall of Fame podcast.
Booker’s feeling of perplexity towards the decision is not only the toll that doing both
shows may have on poor Michael Cole, but also why WWE decided to not give an opportunity
on main roster to long-time NXT voice Vic Joseph instead.
Booker said: “[Michael] Cole ain’t never gonna be able
to retire [laughs], he can forget about it.
It’s hard finding the next Michael Cole, too.
But I’m glad in a lot of ways, but I’m perplexed in certain ways, just because I’m
waiting on Vic to get a shot.”
“I’m waiting on Vic Joseph to get a piece of the action, champagne wishes, caviar dreams
and all that.”
Joseph did previously have a brief stint on WWE’s main roster on Raw in 2019, but has
not received another chance since, being the NXT’s lead since August 2020.
How do you feel about WWE’s commentary changes?
Would you have done things different?
Let us know in the comments below.
With us now in the eighth month of 2023 and the Endeavor deal nearing its completion,
it seems as if FINALLY, WWE are set to bust out the old chequebook once again.
Yes, despite this time last year seeing anyone and everyone return to the company, 2023 has
obviously been very quiet for signings, reportedly due to the aforementioned Endeavor acquisition.
But now, with Kairi Sane seemingly on her way back in the autumn, Nick Aldis potentially
joining as a producer (still weird) and Carlito also… somewhere, there may be another to
officially add to the recruitment list.
This is former AEW star Brian Pillman Jr, who was previously reported to be potentially
joining WWE following the expiry of his AEW deal last month.
Pillman was spotted at the WWE PC shortly after his AEW departure, with a deal reportedly
being in place between the two parties two weeks ago.
And now, it seems as if we have some extra confirmation that Pillman will in fact be
heading to WWE, as Fightful Select have confirmed that the second generation star is in the
process of relocating to Florida and is believed to have now signed with the company according
to PWInsider.
PWInsider also notes that Pillman was even slated to be in attendance at last night’s
NXT in Orlando, however, it’s currently unclear whether that indeed happened.
Moving across to Pillman’s now former home of AEW and its time, dare I say to take a
peek at those Collision ratings.
Y’know, the ones that went up against SummerSlam.
And… yeah, it went about as well as expected.
After a very strong showing in both viewership and the 18-49 demo for the week prior’s
July 29 episode, with 739,000 viewers and a 0.27 rating respectively, the highest in
both since the June 17 premiere, things went way, way worse this week.
According to Wrestlenomics the August 5 Collision finished 16th overall among cable originals
and dropped around 43% in viewers scoring around 417,000 on average.
Collision also drew just a 0.13 in the 18-49 demo, a drop of over 50% on the week prior.
These numbers are the shows lowest since its existence began, however, in AEW’s defense
not only was there SummerSlam to contend with but also UFC and the anticipated Jake Paul
vs Nate Diaz boxing match.
But still, yikes.
That’s a sore one.