Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News - I’m Oli Davis, and in today’s ep-BOBBY
HERE Bobby Lashley Loves His Sisters
Not now, Bobby!
I’ve heard enough about your three wonderful sisters this week.
But I will reveal the winner of WrestleRamble’s caption competition for that Bobby Here image
from Tues-.
Oh wait, can I just say something, please?
...I love you, my three wonderful sisters.
Great contribution, Bobby.
On this week’s Raw, Renee Young conducted a sit down interview with Lashley to finally
establish his character with viewers a month into his WWE return.
And WWE’s ingenious way to that was… have him tell three mundane stories about growing
up with his sisters Cathy, Jessica and Francis.
At the end of that segment, Bobby looks into the camera like he’s got a gun pressing
into his back to tell his sisters that he loves them.
Which is exactly the image we asked you all to send in your best captions for.
After an honourable mention to Why Do We Watch Wrestling’s Grand Theft Auto referencing
‘Bobby Lashley is wasted’, the real winner of… absolutely nothing because I didn’t
sort out a prize.
Of bragging rights - is Darth Malous’ caption ‘Michael Hayes presents Bobby Lashley: Buried
Alive’.
This is, of course, a reference to the reason Bobby left WWE back in 2008, where Hayes allegedly
made racist comments to Lashley.
You can find out more on that wonderful story by clicking the i above my head once you’ve
done watching this video.
And now from Bobby Lashley… to booby Lashley ...segue!
Charlotte Flair Injury Following Charlotte Flair having to miss a
week of SmackDown dates back in March because of dental work, the 128-time Women’s Champion
will reportedly soon be taken off the road to fix another cosmetic issue.
The ACE Comic Con announced yesterday that Charlotte would be missing their Seattle show
because she needed surgery, and Carmella will be replacing her for the dates.
According to PWInsider, “Charlotte Flair will be undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured
implant”.
Apparently she’ll have the procedure following the WWE European tour, so Charlotte will still
appear on WWE for the next ten-or-so days until she gets it seen to.
And unfortunately, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, she won’t have that
sweet, sweet Greatest Royal Rumble pay cheque to fund the surgery.
More Greatest Royal Rumble Controversy On an episode of Jerry Lawler’s Dinner With
The King podcast, he revealed he’d heard the company’s female wrestlers were getting
“a heck of a payoff” for not being allowed to feature on the Greatest Royal Rumble show
- because of women in sports not being culturally accepted in the country.
PWInsider later confirmed Lawler’s belief, reporting that WWE paid their female performers
as if they were on the show.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, has since pushed back on this claim, writing
“The only thing we know is that none of the women performers knew anything about this
and the word going around is that it was denied when asked about.”
Although Dave Meltzer points out that any money paid to the women for the Greatest Royal
Rumble would be “in checks that haven’t come out yet anyway”.
And still, almost two weeks since the Greatest Royal Rumble show, even more controversy around
the event is still bubbling to the surface…
Saudi Man Arrested For Criticizing Wrestling ...because despite WWE promoting Jeddah as
such a “progressive resort city” - my god, it’s just so progressive and beautiful
- a man has reportedly been arrested for criticising wrestling being brought to Saudi Arabia.
This comes from the social justice Twitter account ‘Prisoners of Conscience’, who
report on those imprisoned for their beliefs in the country.
“It is confirmed to us that Sheikh Badr bin Ali Al-Otaibi (بدر بن علي العتيبي)
is arrested on 29/04/2018 because of his critique against Wrestling, coinciding with the event
of signing a ten-year deal between #SaudiArabia and WWE to bring professional wrestling to
KSA.”
Myself and the majority of people watching this are lucky enough to live in societies
where freedom of expression is mostly not something you’re imprisoned for.
It’s that fundamental right that allows us to critique whatever we want without fear
for our freedom.
One would’ve thought that an opinion on professional wrestling - its highs, lows,
business practices, which countries they run in and whatever the Bobby Lashley segment
was- would be very far down on a society’s list of jailable offences.
Sadly, if this report is to be believed, in Saudi Arabia that’s not the case - meaning
if you or I were born in that country, we wouldn’t be able to have conversations like
this as freely and publicly as we’re having now.
Which is a terrible, terrible shame.
Are TNA and WWE working together?
Find out by clicking the video onscreen now!
And give us a subscribe to keep up to date with all the latest backstage wrestling news.
I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.