Here is your news for December 12, 2019
We're starting off with some huge news from AEW today, as the company has seen
another personality appear, who fans wouldn't expect.
On a recent episode of AEW Dark, Tazz stopped by to help provide commentary, and
before this week's episode of AEW Dynamite in Garland, Texas, it was Vickie
Guerrero's turn to don the headset.
The former RAW and Smack Down General Manager isn't under contract with WWE,
but we haven't heard anything about her signing with AEW either, meaning this is
probably just a one-off appearance.
With that said, this appearance could become a regular thing if AEW likes her work, as
her shrieks of "EXCUSE ME!" could become more common on AEW Dynamite.
Speaking of the new promotion, it's been clear over the past several months that
WWE doesn't want their Super stars going to AEW, but that hasn't stopped stars like
Jon Moxley and Shawn Spears from making an impact.
With Luke Harper, Sin Cara and the Ascension all being released this week, it looks like
the trend of WWE stars joining AEW isn't over yet, though this works both ways.
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, AEW's Santana and Ortiz revealed that WWE were
looking to sign the duo, and this interest level raised significantly only after AEW showed up.
In the interview, the duo confirmed that there was a substantial offer made by the
McMahon-led promotion, but Santana and Ortiz feared they would get lost in the
shuffle, as so many tag teams have done.
This was clearly the right choice for Santana and Ortiz, who have done big things as
part of AEW, and thanks to their allegiance to Chris Jericho's inner circle, are almost
always in the main event picture, something we doubt would have happened in WWE.
Back to WWE now, and whilst CM Punk gave his ideas for how the Rusev-Lana-Lashley
saga should end on this week's edition of Backstage, not everyone is a fan.
During the show, Punk jested that the Bulgarian Brute and the Destroyer should
wrestle at TLC, but in a Loser Keeps Lana match, with the Ravishing Russian being
suspended above the ring in a shark cage.
Though many fans were entertained by Punk's idea, one person who didn't see the
funny side was Lana herself, who took to Twitter to brand the comments misogynistic
and asked Punk to try and move forward with the company after his many years away.
This wasn't the only big thing Punk had to say about WWE this week, as the Best in the
World commented on the Roman Reigns Dog Food segment from SmackDown, as well
as Seth Rollins' heel turn on the latest edition of RAW.
Unfortunately, this appearance by Punk didn't help in the ratings, as this week's show
brought in 127,000 viewers with their 11PM EST time slot, down from last week's 138,000.
There was also a fall in the 18-49 demographic, as this week's show brought in a 0.6
rating, which was also down from last week's 0.8.
Out of the top 150 cable television shows, WWE Backstage ranked in at number 128,
and whilst Punk may believe seeing Lana in a shark cage is the best way for this feud to
end, the Russian will need some serious convincing.
We're heading into the trenches for the Wednesday Night Wars now, as this week's
edition of Dynamite saw Chris Jericho try to recruit Jon Moxley to the inner circle.
After the former Ambrose had dispatched both Alex Reynolds and John Silver, Le
Champion came out with his cohorts, and said he'd been impressed with the Lunatic so far.
Placing an Inner Circle shirt on Moxley's shoulder, Jericho promised that joining the
group would be a true Paradigm shift, before leaving the ring without coming to blows.
In our first match of the night, the new tag team of the Blade and the Butcher
impressed, as they picked up the win over Cody Rhodes
and their hand-picked partner for him QT Marshall.
This is just the latest in a series of bad luck for Rhodes, who lost his Full Gear match to
Chris Jericho and was turned on by MJF, but after this week's match, Darby Allin
appeared to shake the former NWA Champion's hand.
It seems that Rhodes has at least one friend in AEW, but after what happened with
MJF, it'll be interesting to see just how far he can trust Allin.
Speaking of MJF, the cocky heel appeared next with Wardlow in tow next, and despite
Rhodes' incentives last week, was not in a fighting mood.
After being promised money by Rhodes to fight, MJF confirmed that the pair will do
battle, but only after calling the VP fake and mocking his lisp.
Saying that the match will have special stipulations, MJF said those steps will be
revealed on the first Dynamite of 2020, as it seems this feud is far from over.
Women's division action next as Big Swole picked up a win over Emi Sakura, hitting her
Dirty Dancing finisher to get the win.
With Hikaru Shida watching at ringside, Swole made a big impression in the contest,
and we can't help but suspect AEW Women's Champion Riho was watching as well.
After an interview segment with PAC, it was time for Tag Team action, as Kenny
Omega and Hangman Adam Page picked up the win over Kip Sabian and Shawn Spears.
Interestingly, it was Page who got the win after hitting the Buckshot Lariat, but this
only came as he made the blind tag on Omega, something that the Cleaner may not be too happy with.
A backstage video showed Bradi Rhodes hyping up a new client after insulting the
entire women's division, and up next Chris Jericho and Jake Hager joined Jim Ross on
commentary for the next match.
Seeing Sammy Guevara take on Luchasaurus, the match was a back and forth affair,
but ultimately it was the Prehistoric Powerhouse who got the win, hitting The
Extinction to get the win.
This victory was short-lived of course, as the Inner Circle instantly attacked
Luchasaurus, but the numbers were equalized when Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt joined the fray
When Perry caught Le Champion with a hurricanrana pin fall, Stunt slid in to make the
pin, and whilst Jericho may be right with his screams of it doesn't count, it did give
fans plenty to think about.
In our main event, The Young Bucks picked up a big win over Proud and Powerful, as
they defeated Santana and Ortiz in a Texas Street fight.
Despite the interference of Sammy Guevara, the Bucks were able to get the win
thanks to a couple of Meltzer Drivers on chairs and have earned themselves a shot at
AEW Tag Champions the SCU on next week's show.
Whilst AEW Dynamite was a jampacked show, the same can be said for NXT, as the
show kicked off with a huge title change.
After weeks of taking it to Lio Rush, Angel Garza has captured the NXT Cruiserweight
Championship, and the match saw both men take a page from the other's book.
During the contest, Garza would drop Rush with the Man of the Hour's own Come Up,
though the then-Champion would answer this with Garza's own Wing Clipper.
After multiple pin fall attempts failed to get the job done, Garza would lock in the
reverse full-nelson to force the submission, ending Rush's reign, and becoming the
first-ever Mexican NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
After that explosive opener, it was time for Cameron Grimes and Raul Mendoza to
follow suit, and it was Mendoza who got the win, getting some retribution for being
attacked by the Technical Savage last week.
Mendoza's victory wasn't all on his own though, as he got a big assist by Kushida, who
distracted Grimes during the match, and after costing him the win, added insult to
injury by taking Grimes' signature hat, and trying it on for size.
In a prelude to next month's World's Collide tournament, NXT's Jackson Ryker took on
NXT UK's Travis Banks, in a hard-hitting match from the start.
Though the leader of the Forgotten Sons quickly overwhelmed Banks with his brute
strength, the Kiwi Buzzsaw used his quickness advantage to battle back, cutting Ryker
down to size.
Hitting the Slice of Heaven before Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake had a chance to get
involved, the New Zealander got the upset win on this occasion, and gave some
momentum to NXT UK.
In the first one-on-one contest between the two, Mia Yim was unable to topple
Dakota Kai, who is continuing her mean streak that boiled to the surface at Wargames.
A sign of this darker side of Kair came when she smashed Yim's face into the esposed
turnbuckle, after distracting the ref with the knee brace of Tegan Nox that she still carries.
Though Yim came up short, this wasn't going to stop her getting revenge, as the Head
Baddie in Charge got her revenge by bringing Kai atop a platform and sending her
crashing through a table below with a devastating back suplex.
After Breezango picked up a win over the former 24/7 Champions the Singh Brothers,
and Bianca Belair got the win over Kayden Carter, it was time for the main event of the
show, which saw Finn Balor, Keith Lee and Tomasso Ciampa battle it out in triple threat action.
A match with huge stakes, the winner would receive a shot at NXT Champion Adam
Cole on next week's edition of the gold brand, giving all three plenty of incentive to do
everything they could to win.
At one point, Bálor creatively turned a Spirit Bomb attempt by Lee into the Coup de
Grace, while Ciampa evoked gasps from the Full Sail crowd with an unbelievable Air
Raid Crash on The Limitless Superstar despite a 100-plus pound difference.
Never one to miss out on a chance to make the NXT Universe bask in his glory, Lee
also wowed the audience with a massive second rope Moon Sault.
After the smoke was cleared though, it was Balor who stood tall, dropping Lee with
another Coup de Grace to seal the victory, and a shot at the NXT Champion.
Balor's 2015-2016 reign with the title remains to be the longest title reign in NXT
Championship history, and whilst the Prince would love to add another reign to his
impressive career, that will be easier said than done next week, when he battles the
leader of the Undisputed Era.
We've got more news of the legal action against former WWE Superstar Brodus Clay,
who is being sued for se**al harassment along with Fox News
According to Britt McHenry, the tabloid network quote "publicly says it now has ‘zero
tolerance’ for se**al harassment. This is a dangerous lie. In practice, Fox News remains
a sanctuary for se**al harassers, coddling and enabling the men who abuse female employees.”
McHenry has alleged that Clay, who has his own show Un-PC under his TNA name
Tyrus, sent her pictures of her genitals, and threatened to do the same if she spoke out against him.
The former Superstar's attorney has released a statement on the matter to the Wrap, saying:
“As we have previously stated, Ms. McHenry’s allegations have been fully
investigated and we are confident our actions will be deemed entirely appropriate in
litigation. We expect all of her claims to be dismissed."
This isn't the first time a member of FOX News has been accused of se**al
harassment, as the network's Bill O'Reilly left amid harassment claims years ago, and
even their founder Roger Ailes stepped down due to similar claims from multiple
sources back in 2016.
We'll make sure to follow this story as it progresses but for now it's obvious that Clay's
attorney doesn't think their client will be found guilty of any wrongdoing, despite
McHenry's claims of having evidence.
Back to WWE now, and this week marked the huge return of John Morrison, who has
come back to the company after an eight-year absence.
After the news was broken on WWE Backstage, Morrison made his first official WWE
appearance in years on the Bump, where he spent a lot of time on the show.
During one segment, the former ECW World Champion was even greeted by his old
tag partner The Miz, who appeared via satellite, and went down memory lane with the
Shaman of Sexy.
Older fans may remember Miz and Morrison's antics on their own web show The Dirt
Sheet, and Miz commented on the hit series, saying that they would come up for
material during the long drives. He said:
"Those four-hour drives suck, but when we were riding together doing The Dirt Sheet
those drives would fly by because we were laughing and coming up with stuff the
whole time.”
During the Dirt Sheet, both Miz and Morrison weren't afraid to imitate whoever they
were feuding with at the time, and when Morrison asked the A-Lister if he remembers
dressing up as Hardcore Holly, the answer was an emphatic yes. Miz said:
“Oh, I remember. I told him I’m not doing it; I’m not doing it. I asked him, ‘Why don’t
you do it?’ He said: ‘Because you do it better.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not doing it.’ So, then after
like thirty minutes of conning me into doing it, I do it and literally I’m almost in a fight
backstage because I did an imitation that was pretty good to be honest.”
Morrison would go on to reveal that after the pair next showed up on RAW, Holly
shoulder-checked the Miz in anger, saying "I saw that episode of the Dirt Sheet, you
think you're funny huh?"
Whilst the stoic Hardcore one may not have been amused, thousands of fans tuned in
to the Dirt Sheet each and every week, and with the two Super stars back in the same
company, a reunion show may be in the works, if Vince McMahon allows it.
And finally, today we're ending with some news about copyright, as the WWE is
always looking to own as much pro wrestling property as possible.
This attitude has led to some conflict with AEW Vice President Cody Rhodes, who has
tried to own anything connect with his late father the American Dream Dusty Rhodes,
including hosting a January AEW show called Bash at the Beach, named after the
famous WCW Pay Per View.
Now, the PW Insider reports that WWE applied for a ton of new trademarks last week,
many of which include WCW Pay Per View names, such as Souled Out, Greed,
World War 3.
These weren't the only Pay Per View names WWE applied for however, as they also
sent one out for former WWF Pay Per View Fully Loaded, as well as old ECW names
like Hardcore Heaven and Heat Wave. and living dangerously
Though fans have speculated that this means these old shows are returning, it's much
more likely that this has been done to stop the names being taken by AEW or any
other promotions.
In this list of applications, the company also filed a trademark for the Brock Lesnar
Catchphrase "Eat Sleep Conquer Repeat", as McMahon is doing some conquering of
his own, at least in the trademark department.