Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News - I’m Oli Davis, and today’s episode is
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this video - download Battle Breakers now! Go go Battle Breakers. And they’re not the
only heroes stuck in technomagic crystals. Metaphorically. If WWE contracts were technomagic
crystal-it’s a hard one to Segway from, OK.
As a quick recap so far, this year alone has seen the following WWE superstars either publicly
or reportedly request their releases from the company:
Mike and Maria Kanellis. The Revival. Hideo Itami. Tye Dillinger. Goldust. Sasha Banks.
Mike Kanellis again. Luke Harper. Sin Cara. ACH/Jordan Myles. And, most likely by the
time I’ve finished saying all this, Mike Kanellis for a third time.
Of all those, only Itami, Dillinger and Goldust were granted their releases.
And now we have yet another one to add to the list: 205 Live and NXT wrestler Oney Lorcan.
PWInsider is reporting that Lorcan actually requested his release at the end of last month,
with multiple sources confirming their report, and - true to their current form - WWE have
not yet granted it. The Wrestling Observer have since corroborated this, with Dave Meltzer
revealing Lorcan had been “unhappy” for quite some time.
Supporting the reports, Lorcan himself has changed his Twitter name to Biff Busick - the
name he used on the independent scene before getting signed by WWE in 2015 - where he continues
to post totally sane tweets like this: “MY DAD SAYS IF I EVER GO TANNING AGAIN
HES GONNA KICK MY ASS” “My girl wants to party all the time, party
all the time, party all the time My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time,
she parties all the time Whoooohooohoohoo (party all the time) She likes to party all
the time (party all the time) Whoooohooohoohoo” And an amazingly Photoshopped image of Dave
Meltzer sitting at his computer typing the text ‘Biff Rules’. I just can’t see
the joins, how do they do it? After making his name in EVOLVE and CZW, Lorcan
was signed by WWE in 2015, where his hard hitting style and bald head found its perfect
partner in Danny Burch at the start of last year. The two have been an NXT tag team since,
but have rarely been in the championship picture, despite an excellent match against the Undisputed
Era at 2018’s NXT TakeOver: Chicago. He also debuted on 205 Live in March as a singles
star in the Cruiserweight Division. Of the now 12 people who have reportedly asked
for their releases this year though, only three have been granted - and none since February.
Those are bad odds. But WWE’s stance on that might be about to change.
Apparently the reason behind WWE granting Itami, Dillinger and Goldust’s releases
at the start of 2019 is because the company thought they wouldn’t pose a threat to them
outside it. Itami was going to move to Japan, where he debuted for New Japan as KENTA. Goldust
was apparently too old, and Dillinger was only a ten chant.
The last two quickly proved that mindset wrong, with Goldust joining his brother Cody in All
Elite Wrestling to have what is still my favourite match of the year, and Tye followed him to
have another good blood feud with Cody as Shawn Spears being packaged as a serious mid
card act with Tully Blanchard. WWE quickly stopped granting releases to frustrated wrestlers,
and even started offering ridiculously large sums of money to anyone with their contracts
expiring soon - with JR even revealing “an undercard guy… early 30s… just signed
for half-a-million dollars.” Last Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter,
however, writes that WWE’s stance on this might be changing…
Dave Meltzer has written: “It was noted [WWE] may be giving releases to some people
with the idea they don’t believe they would be going to AEW, or if they do, wouldn’t
help them.” The case Dave Meltzer was writing about specifically
there was NXT wrestler Jordan Myles, aka ACH, who has publicly accused WWE of racism, initially
sparked by them creating a racially insensitive t-shirt design for him.
While the shirt was never actually sold, and WWE claim ACH actually signed off on the design
before changing his mind, the controversy has grown into a hashtag on Twitter, with
ACH and others promoting a For The Culture movement. Then, last week, ACH went to Twitter
again to state he forking quits the company. He’s now conducted a live Q&A on Twitter
to answer questions about the situation, and he’s already talking about where he wants
to go next: “New Japan, not that I got anything against
AEW, but New Japan, I love New Japan. I feel like I got a lot more left to accomplish there."
ACH has previously wrestled for New Japan in the 2017 and 2018 Best of the Super Juniors
tournament. One fan asked if ACH was legally able to move on from WWE, though, to which
he replied: "Legally, no. Mentally, yes," I’m sure that argument will totally work
in court! But if ACH is intending to go to Japan, WWE
might release him to just be rid of the controversy, as he won’t be going to AEW.
And ACH isn’t the only one who might be leaving the company soon…
BROKEN BRILLIANCE SEGWAY! The brand new episode of Matt’s YouTube
series Free The Delete - a not so subtle play on the Young Bucks’ series Being the Elite
- sees Hardy continue to search for his Broken character, asking Vanguard 1: “Teleport
me back to 2016 when I was the hottest act in the business!”
He then beats up a guy fixing his piano while screaming: “No I’m not at work, because
I’m not booked, Terry. And that pisses me off!”
The most significant factor here is that Matt’s talking about his ‘Broken’ character,
which he can’t use in WWE as they changed the name to ‘Woken’. With reports from
Fightful that WWE don’t have plans to use Jeff Hardy anytime soon following his recent
arrest, perhaps the Hardy brothers could leave the promotion when their contracts expire
in April to reignite their Young Bucks feud in AEW.
And they’re not the only one with question marks over their WWE future. As Rusev Cucked,
Rusev Not Re-Signedka? Since returning after a five month hiatus,
real life married couple Rusev and Lana were quickly put in a cuckold storyline, where
Rusev would see his wife get jiggy with Bobby Lashley on a weekly basis. He couldn’t even
escape infedility in the beautiful progressive city of Riyadh!
Looking at how Mike Kanellis was also put in a breakup storyline with his real-life
wife Maria on re-signing with the company - oh wait, news just in, Mike has asked for
his release yet again - some thought the same might have happened to the Bulgarian Brute,
with one fan tweeting: “WWE have their stars on 5 year deals, and
you just don't see how any of these guys are going to reach their potential. Rusev made
a huge mistake re-signing.” A piece of breaking news, that Rusev himself
disagreed with: “Who said I’ve re signed !?!?”
If Rusev and Lana really haven’t committed their future to WWE yet, there contracts are
reportedly up very soon. News hot tag to Luke!
Thanks Oli! That was a lot of information about men blokes wanting to leave WWE, but
what about the lady folk of professional wrestling that also reportedly want to leave?
It’s been a bumpy ride for Kairi Sane since joining WWE in 2016, from the highs of winning
the Mae Young Classic and the series of matches and title switches with Shayna Baszler on
NXT TakeOver events and WWE’s first-ever and currently only all-women PPV Evolution
- which had nothing to do with the Saudi Arabia controversy whatsoever - to the lows of being
brought up to the main roster despite not finishing her storyline with Io Shirai, and
being thrown into a random tag team called The Kabuki Warriors with Asuka who only a
few months earlier had been the Smackdown Women’s Champion beating the company’s
top star Becky Lynch, and doing nothing because WWE had more or less given up on their women’s
tag team division after giving the belts to The IIconics.
Thankfully a heel turn has rejuvenated the team - who are now the current WWE Women’s
Tag Team Champions, however it’s now being reported that Sane’s contract - which she
signed in 2016 - is coming to an end, and she might not be re-signing.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio over the weekend that Sane’s contract is
up in early 2020, and while her tag partner Asuka is happy staying in the US, The Pirate
Princess could head elsewhere. Meltzer said, “I could definitely see [Sane] leaving.
I don’t know that she’s gonna leave, but she’s definitely expressed interest in exploring
other options.” However before you all jump on the Kairi Sane
to AEW confirmed bandwagon, it’s interesting to note that Takaaki Kidani, the head of Bushiroad
who recently purchased Stardom, said in a recent interview with Tokyo Sports that he
wants to bring back Kairi Sane and Io Shairi to the promotion once their WWE contracts
expire in an effort to build Stardom back up. So it’s either going to come down to
whether Sane is looking to explore other options like Meltzer is reporting, or whether she’s
happy making a lot of money on the main roster in WWE. However it should be noted that when
she signed with WWE in 2016, she was reportedly making less than what she made in Japan.
At this point it might be easier to do news episodes about wrestlers staying with WWE…
...As there is a possibility that Rey Mysterio could be on his way out too.
Mysterio signed a 2-year deal with WWE last year, which means his contract expires in
2020, however it’s being reported that WWE offered Mysterio an 18-month opt-out clause
- the same offer WWE gave The Young Bucks, Cody and Kenny Omega before they launched
All Elite Wrestling. What this means that 18 months into his 2-year contract, Mysterio
can choose to leave WWE and not complete the remaining 6 months.
The current report is that Mysterio’s opt-out comes shortly after WrestleMania, but that
also depends on whether WWE have added time to the contract due to his shoulder injury
- similar to how WWE have added six months to Luke Harper’s contract due to his injury
in 2018. But before you all jump on the Rey Mysterio
to AEW confirmed bandwagon, someone asked Big Daddy Meltz about his thoughts on this
situation on the ol’ Twitter Machine, and Bruce Prichard’s best friend replied, “He
signed for 18 months but I don't see him leaving because they have the angle with Dominick's
debut.” It was reported early after Mysterio signed
with WWE that one of the big draws for him penning the deal was that his son Dominick
would have access to the WWE Performance Centre, and it would be an open door for him to sign
with WWE right out the gates when he was ready for his main roster debut. And with reports
that Mysterio is looking to retire in the near future and pass on his mask and gimmick
to his son, could that convince him to stay in WWE?
Bray Wyatt revealed the new look for the Universal Championship on Friday’s Smackdown - so
check out Pete Quinnell’s review of it! And watch all the highlights from this past
week’s WrestleTalk Live shows by watching Vinny Schway’s highlight cut. Thanks for
watching and a special thank you to our Patreon Pledge Hammers, some of which you can see
scrolling their way into my stomach. I’ve been Luke Owen, and that was wrestling.