In this WrestleTalk News, more Vince McMahon payments uncovered, wrestlers unhappy at AEW
and yet our latest tease of a Wyatt Family return to WWE.
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get Dexter Lumis to weirdly stand outside your window.
Man, he’s intense.
It’s been a rough few months for behind-the-scenes wrestling, but at least two AEW stars have
shown love can still thrive backstage: with Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti getting married
over the weekend.
Being a pro wrestling couple, there were, of course, a bunch of pro wrestling guests
from across the WWE/AEW divide in attendance.
Nikki A.S.H.
was even one of Conti’s bridesmaids.
Nikki A.S.H. to AEW confirmed.
And a cute video of AEW President Tony KHAAAAAN has come out, showing him hitting some classic
white man moves with the happy couple.
But weddings aren’t just a time for happiness.
They’re also to make some guests feel very uncomfortable because the ‘happy couple’
have stayed friends with both you and your ex and you came alone, but Megan decided to
bring her new man Tommy.
I hope you’re so happy tog- And that’s precisely what happened at Tay
and Sammy’s wedding, with former best friends forever Tony Khan being in the same venue
as the man who left him, WWE’s Cody Rhodes - with Conti responding to a fan question
showing the American Nightmare was also there.
Awkward.
Quick, dance Tony, dance the pain away.
The AEW president’s issues, however, are infestimately small compared to his now departed
rival in WWE.
Improper use of company funds segue.
Move aside, big four pay-per-views.
My favourite recurring event in the year is WWE’s quarterly earnings reports.
I’m genuine.
I find them fascinating.
I think it’s just me, Luke Owen, and Brandon Thurston.
So imagine my dismay when WWE announced they’re delaying the release of their Q2 earnings.
Q2, business fans, of course ended at the end of June.
Typically WWE then release a summary of the previous three months’ revenue performance
a few weeks later, fire someone to take the blame for falling ratings, then host an investor
call to answer questions the stock market doesn’t actually care about like, when is
Bray Wyatt coming back, or what really happened in Saudi Arabia?
But in WWE the last several weeks, it has been anything but business as usual, with
Vince McMahon finally deciding to retire/being forced out due to mounting allegations of
sexual misconduct against him.
In their SEC filing to notify business business business that their report will be slightly
delayed from the original 9th August deadline, WWE specifically blamed their continuing investigation
into the extent of the NDAs Vince paid out, which began back in April, as to why.
They had already stated back on 25th July “that certain payments that Vince McMahon
agreed to make during the period from 2006 through 2022 (including amounts paid and payable
in the future totaling $14.6 million) were not appropriately recorded as expenses in
the Company’s consolidated financial statements.”
And now they’ve revealed they’ve found even more.
The WWE statement continues: “Since that time, the Company has determined
that two additional payments totaling $5.0 million, unrelated to the allegations that
led to the Special Committee investigation, that Mr. McMahon made in 2007 and 2009 should
have been recorded in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Together, these unrecorded expenses total $19.6 million.”
I’m starting to get the idea that WWE didn’t really have to make budget cuts over the pandemic!
This now totals at least six incidents over a 15 year period.
Who knows how many more the investigation will find, or how many never came forward.
Just like Al Capone, it’s the accounting that will likely prove Vince’s ultimate
undoing.
These payments should be considered personal expenses, but WWE’s statement implies they
haven’t all yet been paid by McMahon himself - noting “All payments underlying the Unrecorded
Expenses were or will be paid by Mr. McMahon personally.”
As icky and gross as the sexual misconduct allegations are, the crux of the invesgitaion
has always been did Vince improperly use company funds to cover them up?
The statement teases we won’t know the answer any time soon, as “The Special Committee
investigation remains ongoing.”
The creative side of WWE has gone an immediate overhaul with Vince stepping down and being
replaced by Triple H to experiment with bold new ideas like consistent and coherent storytelling,
basic foreshadowing and actual wrestling.
But one of the biggest annoyances of WWE TV is still there in nauseating sight: the camera
cuts.
Unfortunately, according to multiple sources, that ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Firstly, Fightful Select has reported that the Senior Vice President of Production Kevin
Dunn, the man responsible for WWE’s motion sickness house style, will remain in the company
for the time being.
Although he was very much a Vince McMahon guy, and rumoured to be the head of his own
faction behind-the-scenes against the Triple H and Stephanie team, WWE don’t believe
they have anyone capable of replacing him right now.
And secondly, even more depressingly, even if they did, the camera cuts likely wouldn’t
change.
Bryan Alvarez has revealed WWE’s production style was developed by Dunn, but “there
are other people there that like the shaking and the zooming and the cuts… people there
like it.”
So if that’s sticking around for the time being, let’s focus on all the former stars
getting brought back by daddy Trips!
Following Fightful Select reporting Shawn Michaels has been tasked with bringing Johnny
Gargano back to WWE, Monday’s episode of Raw had several subtle references to him:
Ciampa locking in Johnny’s signature Gargano Escape submission, and Corey Graves saying
on commentary if you want something done, do it yourself - a reference to Ciampa and
Gargano’s tag team together DIY.
It’s very similar to the subtle nods to Cody Rhodes in the weeks before he made his
return at WrestleMania.
Now, speaking at an Asylum virtual signing, Gargano spoke about the WWE returns of people
like Dakota Kai and Karrion Kross and said: “I’ve seen.
I’ve noticed.
It’s exciting times all around.
You never know what could happen.
Keep watching, [Candice & I are] going to show up at some point, wherever that may be.
I promise.
We will.
We’ll be making some magic at some point in the future, I promise.”
But as great as Gargano returning would be, there’s one free agent return far, far bigger.
Over the weekend, Bray Wyatt posted his first tweet since Triple H had been made head of
WWE creative.
In typical Bray style, it’s a cryptic poem, referencing everything from The Undertaker
to Ring of Honor.
Replying to fan speculation of whether this could mean an imminent appearance in either
WWE or AEW, Wyatt posted: “It’s not meant to be cryptic.
It’s a reminder to myself and others that need reminding just how special this business
is.
And how lucky we are to have it.
Put your microscope and biases aside and read it again.
#DooDoo” In other words, he knows exactly what he’s
doing.
Stop teasing me Bray.
Since then, though, Bray’s former Wyatt Family brother Eric Rowan, who now wrestles
as Eric Redbeard, tweeted following Monday’s episode of Raw:
“Patient persistence sometimes leads to interesting doorways…”
Considering the likes of Kross, Kai and Lumis - released wrestlers who have been rewarded
with a WWE return because they haven’t yet signed for AEW - that doorway could definitely
be interpreted as a path back to WWE.
And because speculationamania is running wild, brother…
Bray and Braun also back to WWE confirmed.
But it’s not just free agents who are considering WWE returns now Triple H is in charge.
It seems like contractually signed AEW wrestlers are thinking about it too.
Miro’s social media activity over the weekend implies he’s not best pleased with his role
in AEW right now - first expressing frustration that a relatively unknown guy from a another
promotion Mance Warner was getting a title shot on Friday’s Rampage - and then liking
a tweet that read: “Are you still in AEW?
Seems you had it better in WWE” Miro signed a four year extension with AEW
back in March, which will take him through to 2026.
He’s currently 37 years old, and he had previously said he’d likely hang up his
boots at the end of that contract.
But now speaking to Renee Paquette on her Sessions podcast, Miro’s stance has changed,
citing how great his body feels when he’s only wrestling once a week, rather than the
intensive schedule he had on the road with WWE.
“I think, after this contract, I thought I was going to be done.
I can go more.”
Miro’s a smart guy.
With WWE now a far more viable option in the future, it makes sense to delay your retirement.
Because if the business continues to stay this competitive, you could be set to make
a lot of money playing both sides of each other.
Speaking of!
There’s been a slight update from Dave Meltzer on MJF, who tweeted:
“Everything is secretive but everyone in AEW assumes he's coming back at some point
but they don't know for sure and Khan hasn't told anyone as far as I know.”
MJF hasn’t been seen or mentioned on AEW TV since early June following his pipebomb
promo on the company.
AEW star and trainer Dustin Rhodes, meanwhile, has his own brand of diplomacy, saying in
an interview: “If your contract’s up and you’ve had enough with AEW, go, get the
f*** out.”