In this WrestleTalk News, WWE were very impressed with a certain AEW Dynamite debut this week,
the company also posted record financials once again, right after that recent round
of releases and AEW NJPW Forbidden Door tickets sellout swiftly - all that and more in this
episode.
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[SUPPORT WRESTLETALK] WWE doesn’t view AEW as competition, but
it does view it in a window shopping for wrestlers to try and bring back kind of way.
Especially this week as the former Big Cass, W. Morrisey made his Dynamite debut to take
on Warldow at the behest of MJF.
Morrisey was released from WWE back in 2018 because of reported behavioral issues, the
later star cited depression, anxiety and alcohol addiction as key factors in his release.
It’s been a difficult road for Morrisey to where he is now working with Impact and
appearing on Dynamite in great condition.
But the debut got people talking, even in WWE, according to Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian
who said the E were very interested in Morrisey: “I’m not gonna say that WWE is gonna take
him but I can tell you that WWE is definitely impressed by him.
There’s no way around it, man.
I got a message last night while he’s coming out and somebody wrote, ‘did you see this
F’N guy?’” Zarian also said he had messages from people
asking when Morrisey’s Impact contract is up:
“I got a couple of messages about him from people.
People wanting to know when his contract ends.”
It’s been noted that Morrisey’s Impact contract was due to expire last November and
since then he has been working on a per appearance handshake deal with the company.
So I guess if you want him WWE, come and claim him.
Though it was a strong showing Morrisey ultimately fell foul of Wardlow’s powerbomb shenanigans,
though it only took one to topple the giant.
According to Dave Meltzer the decision to only use one powerbomb was purely ‘political’
as it would be viewed as humiliating for Impact Wrestling and Morrisey if Wardlow had powerbombed
him over and over again with ease.
If WWE did want to re-sign Morrisey they certainly have the money to make him a good offer as
the company just posted its Q1 financial reports for 2022 and once again there is some record
breaking revenue.
The company brought in $333.4 million in revenue, an increase of 27% and a quarterly record,
Vince McMahon said this “strong start” to put it mildly was down to a number of key
factors: “We continued to effectively execute our
strategy, including staging the most stupendous WrestleMania ever in early April.
WrestleMania, as well as our other successful premium live events such as Day 1, Royal Rumble,
and Elimination Chamber, further expanded the reach of our brands and enhanced the value
of our content as evidenced by increased ticket revenue and viewership.
We continue to monetize our intellectual property across various platforms through our media
rights agreements, both domestically and abroad, as well as through the monetization of new
original series, including our expanded partnership with A&E.”
So once again WWE release a bunch of stars and then post record revenue not a week later
- it appears to be an effective strategy for adjusting the numbers and appeasing shareholders,
That’s food for thought Morrisey, if WWE does come
a calling.
The investors call also had a few surprising bits of info embedded amongst all the talk
of OIBDA, VAT and NFTs was an abbreviation I actually care about RPGs.
At one point Stephanie McMahon stepped up to tout the success of WWE 2K22 saying the
game had impressed fans and “earned back their trust”.
She them teased another new game coming soon: “We continue to see strength in the performance
of our mobile games, with 2K and Scopely’s Supercard and Champions, and recently signed
a new deal in the role-playing game space that will be announced soon.”
Could definitely be another mobile game, but we can live in hope of a massively multiplayer
rpg where the whole world are the stars on a wrestling show - that promotion would almost
have as large a roster as AEW.
One more interesting point came out as WWE Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick fielded
a question about Performance Centers and whether the company would be looking to expand their
training facilities potentially including alternate locations.
Riddick answered saying that they are looking at expanding and improving the Performance
Center system, but there are no details or decisions made yet.
But more pcs would be a good thing to train up all of those people they have let go…
Jokes aside with the company pivoting its hiring to collegiate athletes from other disciplines
the Performance Center is going to be an even more vital tool in WWE’s star factory than
before.
Ley’s whizz across the taboo barrier to talk about Forbidden Doors, namely THE FORBIDDEN
DOOR ALL CAPS PPV jointly being run by AEW and NJPW.
Tickets for the show went on sale yesterday and proved to be an instant sellout - during
the Ticketmaster presale over 20,000 people were in the queue with all tickets quickly
selling out as the companies released them in batches.
WrestleTix on Twitter have the lowdown: “Instant presale sell out for the AEWxNJPW
Forbidden Door show at the United Center.
Less than 40 minutes (mostly because AEW didn't release every ticket initially) and well over
20,000 people in the queue.”
“They did hold back some sections for the general public on-sale tomorrow.”
Noting that the current set-up at the United Center is for 14,000 in attendance.
General sale is also expected to sell out basically instantly.
Tony Khan took to Twitter to thank fans for buying more than 11,000 ticket:
“Thank you amazing wrestling fans who purchased tickets to @AEW x @njpwworld #ForbiddenDoor
ppv!
We sold over 11,000 tickets today, with a small allotment still held back for the general
sale tomorrow!”
Sticking with AEW you’re probably aware of the plight of Top Flight’s Darius Martin
who returned to screens in March after having missed a year being out with an injury.
Unfortunately whispers started in late April that Draius had suffered a leg injury and
would be out once again.
Martin confirmed that he would be missing some significant time, but said that what
had happened was nothing to do with wrestling.
Speaking on the Universal Wrestling Podcast Malakai Black provided an explanation saying:
“I wish him a speedy recovery.
He had a really nasty car accident.
He’s out for another, like, six to nine months.”
Here’s hoping Darius makes a full recover and finally gets that return run later this
year!
And finally, some former WWE Raw Tag Team champions are reportedly planning their return
to the ring.
According to Fightful Select the former Authors of Pain are looking to get back into the squared
circle after having not performed in the more than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic
started.
But Akam and Rezar have reportedly been in touch with other wrestlers about an event
they plan on running in Dubai in early June, not only planning on promoting the event but
also wrestling on the card.
A source said: “I’m not sure how often they’ll be wrestling, but they’re planning
to do this one.”
This puts the rumors of both men being retired from wrestling that surfaced last year to
bed after there were reports that Rezar told a reporter he was no longer a wrestler and
one promoter was told they were retired when
he tried
to
book them.