Here's more wrestling news for June 14h 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Ex-WWE Superstar issues first statement since surprise release
AEW’s Thunder Rosa accused of deliberately making her opponent look bad in match
Tammy Sytch wants to have the lawsuit against her and her boyfriend thrown out
U.S. Champion Theory continues teasing feud with John Cena.
Road Dogg responds to belief that people were released from WWE for being close to Triple H.
Update on Chris Jericho-MVP altercation, both men speak on the matter
"I broke my neck twice for this company just to be let go." Paige reveals more about her impending departure from WWE.
Drew McIntyre reflects on anniversary of his WWE release And more
We’re kicking off today Troy Donovan, who was abruptly released from WWE this week.
Donovan, who served as one of Tony D'Angelo's wise guys on NXT, wasn't cut due to the usual budget cuts, but it's said that a violation of WWE policy forced him out of the company.
Now, Donovan has given his first statement since being released, and while he didn't explain what the policy issue was, something definitely went down.
In a tweet, Donovan thanked fans for their support, and said that "mistakes happen and lessons are learned."
The now former NXT 2.0 Superstar received a ton of support in the comments, including from WWE newcomer Thea Hail, who borrowing a line from FInding Dory, encouraged him to "just keep swimming."
We may never know what exactly led to Donovan's release, but certain mistakes were made, ones big enough to quickly bring his career with the biggest wrestling promotion on Earth to a sudden end.
Over to AEW now, as on last week’s Dynamite, the company booked a rushed Women’s title match between Thunder Rosa and Marina Shafir that failed to excite fans.
Fans were quick to criticise the match, and now the AEW Women’s World Champion is taking some blame.
After rewatches and analysing the footage from the bout, several people have said that Rosa was ‘sandbagging’ during the match, ma king her body go limp and refusing to help Shafir tell a story in the ring.
Shafir seems to agree with this attitude, as on Twitter, she liked multiple tweets that said that Rosa didn’t want to put on a good match with her, with one tweet directly stating that Thunder Rosa was sandbagging.
Britt Baker also liked a tweet saying Rosa was sandbagging during the match, and this isn’t the first time she’s faced these kind of accusations.
After an infamous 2020 match with Ivelisse, it was reported that Thunder Rosa did “everything to damage” the former AEW star’s reputation backstage.
Ivelisse also tweeted her thoughts on the Rosa-Shafir match, saying that she’s enjoying seeing a lot of people say she was right when it comes to the AEW Women’s World Champion.
Thunder Rosa hasn’t directly responded to the claims, but did tweet from a convention, wishing the best to those who do not have the best wishes for her, so we’ll have to see what comes next for the AEW star.
We’ve got an update on the Tammy Sytch saga now, as the WWE Hall of Famer is looking to put at least one of her legal troubles behind her.
In March, Sytch was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of 75-year-old Julian Lasseter, and in addition to nine criminal charges aga inst her, Sytch is also facing a lawsuit from the family of the deceased.
According to a report from PW Insider, Sytch and her boyfriend Jam es Pente have filed to have the lawsuit dismissed, claiming that the Lasseter’s own behaviour limits the amount of responsibility the
former WWF Diva should take. More specifically, the filing says that Lasseter was “negligent and that his negligence would bar
recovery,” essentially claiming that his own actions behind the wheel were a more important factor in his death than anything Sytch did.
It has been claimed by both Pente and Sytch that Lasseter just happened to die of a pre-existing medical condition at the time of the crash, and that he did not wear a seatbelt at the time.
Even if this lawsuit is thrown out, Tammy Sytch is looking at facing seri ous jail time if convicted of the criminal charge of DUI Manslaughter, and we’ll keep following these cases as more information comes out.
Now, later this month, John Cena will return to WWE TV to mark the 20th anniversary of his debut on the main roster.
WWE haven't confirmed what John will be doing on the show, only that he will be there, but the current rumor is that a United States Champ ionship match with Theory is in the works at Summerslam.
The pair have had some back and forth on social media, but Theory has now taken their budding feud to the next level.
Ahead of a WWE Live event in Springfield, Illinois, the U.S Champion donned Cena's 'Word Life' shirt, which John wore during his early years in WWE.
WWE even shared a video of Theory in the Cena shirt on Instagram, giv ing credence to the idea that they'll face off at Summerslam, and time will tell if Big Match John has one more reign as United States Champion.
In January, WWE released a lot of backstage names from their NXT 2.0 brand, and as the bad news broke, fans noticed that a trend was emerging.
William Regal, 'Road Dogg' Jesse James and Samoa Joe were just some of the names cut, and fans quickly realised that everyone released had some kind of connection to Triple H.
The Game lost control of NXT in September 2021, around the same time as his cardiac event, and after the releases, many said that their friendship with Triple H had cost people their jobs.
Speaking to ITR Wrestling, Triple H's DX Comrade Road Dogg was asked about this, and said that the quote "conspiracy theory" is not how things actually went down.
“I don’t think that’s the case. I think what they did, it’s business… they cut me and my brother and 13 others that day…from a business decision, you just saved yourself probably $5-10 million in a year… if
by trimming that fat, my name came into play because I was a Hunter guy. I can’t speak to that and I don’t think that would be the case.” Talent signed by Triple H, talent who teamed with Triple H, and even
Regal, who was a groomsman at Triple H's real-life wedding to Stephanie, all lost their jobs, but this was not to do with their connection to the Cerebral Assassin.
Last week, Chris Jericho and MVP had an altercation when the WWE Superstar went to visit some friends working for AEW at a Houston hotel.
MVP reportedly tried to talk to Jericho, hoping to settle some beef between the two, but when that didn't work, the pair started arguing.
Now, both men have been able to address the matter, as Jericho and MVP have given statements to Fightful Select.
When asked about the matter, MVP gave the diplomatic answer, saying that there's always two sides to a story, and the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Jericho meanwhile was not as civil, as he repeated what he said to MVP on that night by telling Fightful:
"Nothing else to say. I don't fight jobbers. Nuff said."
While an anonymous AEW worker called WWE's head of talent to tell them about MVP's actions, they opted not to ring any higher-ups in AEW about Jericho, as the two are unlikely to patch things up anytime soon.
Now, on July 7th, Paige's career with WWE will come to an end, finishing an eleven-year tenure for the former Divas Champion.
After her retirement in 2018 due to neck issues, WWE kept Paige on in multiple roles, including as a General Manager and as a fixture on WWE Backstage, but it has been years since fans last saw her on TV.
During her latest Twitch stream, Paige revealed more about WWE's decision to fire her, saying that she was fighting up until recently to have some kind of role on TV.
One idea Paige pitched was to serve as the manager for SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey, and while the pair would have been interesting, WWE ultimately decided against the idea.
It was during this same stream that Paige made it clear she's not thrilled about what's happened, saying:
"I broke my neck twice for this company just to be let go."
Paige did briefly serve as the manager for the Kabuki Warriors, but that partnership was short-lived, and while she once hoped to return to TV as Rousey's mouth-piece, she'll now have to find work in other promotions.
And we’re ending today with Drew McIntyre, who is one of WWE’s biggest stars right now, but that wasn’t always the case.
In June 2014, eight years ago, McIntyre was released from WWE as the company didn’t see a future for him, less than five years after being praised as a future World Champion by Vince McMahon.
Taking to Twitter, McIntyre reflected on his journey on the past eight years, saying that it’s been a “hell of a journey” but that plenty more work needs to be done.
McIntyre’s return in 2017 saw him capture the NXT Championship and Raw Tag Team Titles before winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 in 2020.
Drew has also kept his word when it comes to a UK based stadium show, as Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales will take place this September after years of McIntyre promising to bring a Premium
Live Event to the island. While not confirmed by WWE themselves, it’s likely McIntyre will face Undisputed WWE Universal
Champion Roman Reigns at the Wales show, and time will tell if, eight years after being released, if Drew is the one to slay the Tribal Chief.