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Here is your news for May 23 2020 Is Brock Lesnar Facing Bobby Lashley? Is WWE Bringing Back Released WWE Wrestlers? Wrestling News! 3 00:00:16,099 --> 00:00:18,635 And your headlines for today include
WWE Working On A Dream Match That All Fans Have Been Waiting For!
Now WWE Fires off Cease Desist Letter To The Former Revival
Is WWE Planning to Rehire Releases Superstars!
Vince McMahon Is Making Life Difficult Backstage!
Buff Bagwell Reveals The Truth Behind His Bruised Face
WWE House Shows May Never Return
We’re starting off today with news from Brock Lesnar, as a long-speculated
dream-match for the Beast is reportedly in the works.
According to Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue, Lesnar is allegedly set to face Bobby
Lashley down the line, which explains why the Almighty has been so dominant as
of late, with his only loss post- WrestleMania being via DQ during a gauntlet
match. He said:
“Lashley has been very open, anytime he's asked anything. He returned to the
WWE because he wants to take on Brock Lesnar. And the fact is, that this was
something that he took into contract negotiations with the WWE when he made
his return. He wanted that to be respected. It's definitely still coming.”
Before Lashley faces the Beast however, the former ECW Champion will have his
first WWE title opportunity in over a decade next month, when he faces Drew
McIntyre at Backlash.
Whether Lashley is the one to take the title off the Scotsman remains to be seen,
but if he does, it could be a matter of time before he defends the richest prize on
Monday Night Raw, against the Beast Incarnate.
Two men fans won’t be seeing in WWE anytime soon is FTR, as though they’re out
of the company, that doesn’t mean they’re not having issues with Vince McMahon.
Shortly after their departure from WWE, images came out of a gimmick that
planned to turn them into clowns, and the pair even put out a shirt on PW Tees
featuring the concept aft for the unused gimmick.
According to Bodyslam.net, this led to a cease and desist letter being sent by the
company two weeks ago, as WWE claimed that they own the copyright on the
images used, despite some edits being made, including Wheeler’s Flava-Flav style
clock saying ‘FTR’, instead of the Revival.
Now those shirts are gone, as WWE didn’t want the former Tag Champions
making any money off their image, and whilst Vince McMahon himself handed the
pair the image during their last meeting, that apparrently wasn’t a transfer of ownership.
This isn’t even the only cease and desist the pair have received, as also got one
over The Revolt name, as the former Top Guys are still a huge thing, even outside of WWE.
We’ve got more news from WWE’s recent releases, as the company cut a lot of
Superstars last month, due to the ongoing global situation and cost-cutting measures.
Whilst the amount of Superstars let go was unprecedented, there is hope for
those cut, as according to Sportskeeda’s Tom Colouhue, the WWE has prepared a
shortlist of stars that they chose to release, who they’re hoping to rehire, once
things go back to normal.
With that in mind, there are some Stars the company won’t be taking back, as Tom said:
“There are people they do not plan to rehire under any circumstances and people
who did choose to leave and this is why they are not to immediately trying to
rehire Drew Gulak now.
“At the moment, the shortlist of people they want to bring back at some point in
the future, or at least hope to be able to, does not include anyone who has been
released from NXT thus far.”
As we all know, we are currently living in unprecedented times, so hopefully many
Superstars will be able to get their jobs back, after the current situation eases off.
We’re looking at WWE Smack Down on FOX now, as AJ Styles has officially been
moved to the blue brand.
After it was announced that the Phenomenal One would be competing in the
Intercontinental title tournament, it was believed that this was part of his four
brand-to-brand invitation appearances, though Michael Cole confirmed on this
week’s show that Styles is now team blue.
Cole also added that Styles had been traded to Smack Down for Superstars who
will be named later, as fans will have to wait until this Monday’s RAW to see which
Superstar or Superstars will be taking AJ’s place on the three-hour show.
Speaking of the Phenomenal One, Styles certainly made a big impression on his
first night back on SmackDown, as he advanced in the Intercontinental Title tournament.
After Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, Jeff Hardy got the roll-up victory over
Sheamus, the pair have advanced in the tournament, with the semi finals set for
next week’s show.
There, Jeff Hardy will face Daniel Bryan as the YES! Man advanced defeating Drew
Gulak, whilst AJ Styles will battle Elias, who qualified for the semis with a win over King Corbin.
The winners of these two matches will face off, and will not only have the
bragging rights of outlasting 7 other Superstars, but will be crowned the brand-
new WWE Intercontinental Champion
That wasn’t all to talk about regarding SmackDown, as the show also saw a graphic
in memory of former Superstar Shad Gaspard shown, after the Cryme Tyme star
heroically sacrificed his own life to save his son, when they recently went swimming.
Sonya Deville also made a big impression on this week’s show, competing
alongside Dolph Zigggler to face Otis and Mandy Rose, though it was her attire
that got fans talking.
Online, many fans noticed that the former MMA fighter looked very similar to
Matt Hardy with her camo pants, though we doubt that this was an intentional reference.
If Deville starts screaming that things are wonderful or speaks in a weird, kinda-
British accent, then maybe this comparison will be valid, but until then, fans can
expect the former Fire and Desire to keep feuding on SmackDown.
We’re looking ahead to Backlash next, as Universal Champion Braun Strowman
will defend his title in a handicap match.
On this week’s SmackDown, it was announced that both The Miz and John
Morrison will challenge for the title, after the show kicked off with an edition of
the Dirt Sheet, that culminated in the Monster Among Men defeating Miz despite
Morrison’s interference
It’ll be interesting to see how Strowman does in this match, as fans will remember
him losing the Intercontinental title earlier this year at Elimination Chamber, in
handicap rules.
Time will tell whether history will repeat itself for Strowman, and the Backlash
card is coming together nicely, with a WWE Title match between Drew McIntyre
and Bobby Lashley, and Edge Vs. Randy Orton also booked for the show.
Now, earlier this week we covered a worrying Cameo video from Buff Bagwell,
which showed the former WCW star with a bruised face and saying some very
concerning things.
It looks like we weren’t the only ones to pick up on the video, as in a Facebook
Live video, a much healthier- looking Bagwell said that his phone was “blowing
up”, because of the cameo video.
Bagwell, who had no bruises, explained the cameo video was due to several
factors, and admitted that his slurred speech was because he was drunk that
night, and needed to finish the videos soon.
As for the bruises on his face, Bagwell said they were caused by a faceplant to the
pavement after he tripped over his dog, and showed the not- so-good-boy in
question to the viewers.
It’s certainly good to see Buff doing better after such a worrying video, and
hopefully Bagwell, was able to laugh at himself over everything that happened,
will try and avoid getting wasted and falling over his dog, the next time he goes on Cameo.
Back to WWE now and we’ve got news from the company’s corporate side next,
as last week saw the departure of Michael Mansury, who previously worked as the
Vice President of Global Television Production, but unlike many recent departures
from the company, this wasn’t a release.
Given that Mansury was regarded by many as Triple H’s Kevin Dunn, implying that
he’d take over as Executive Producer for WWE once The Game takes the reins of
the company , Mansury’s departure was a huge surprise to many in the company,
though it seems the signs leading too his departure had been there for some time.
The Wrestling Observer News letter noted that tensions backstage may have been
a factor in Mansury leaving, as it said:
Everyone that is seen as a potential successor to Dunn has their life made difficult
and they get constantly criticized to Vince McMahon, who would then hear people
talk negatively about the person in the spot. Mansury had also reportedly gotten
impatient regarding upward mobility.
It's no secret that Dunn has worked closely with Vince for years, which may
explain why the Boss is reportedly so hostile to anyone else.
Whilst Dunn has worked with WWE for years, Mansury was also considered a life
by those around him, as he was with WWE for eleven years, though after all that
time, it seems the promotions didn’t come fast enough for the now former WWE employee.
We’re looking ahead to Monday Night RAW now, as next week’s show will see a
triple threat match to determine RAW Women’s Champion Asuka’s challenge at
Backlash on June 14.
Interestingly, the match features NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, who will
challenge both Nia Jax and Natalya, though it seems unlikely she’ll win, as she has
her hands full in NXT with Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley, and is coming off a loss to
SmackDown Women’s champion Bayley.
Natalya is also an unlikely choice, as she is coming off a loss herself, which Jax has
already gone after both Asuka and Kairi Sane, making her the likely choice to win.
Though it’s likely Jax will win, the company could always swerve us, as fans will
have to wait until this Monday to know for sure.
Next week’s show will also see WWE Champion Drew McIntyre be the guest on
MVP’s VIP lounge, and given that Drew will be challenged by MVP’s client Bobby
Lashley, we’re expecting things to get physical this Monday.
Now, we all know that the WWE recently furloughed a lot of backstage staff,
including nine producers, with the idea being that they’ll bring them back, once
the company can host house shows again.
However, according to Bryan Alverez who spoke on Wrestling Observer Live, the
company may not get the chance due to the ongoing global situation, as he said
that they may or may not ever do house shows again.
This isn’t the first time this idea has been mentioned, as Vince McMahon raised a
lot of eyebrows when he said that WWE may not be in the live event business
anymore, due to the situation affecting how the company does business.
We’ll have to see what WWE decides to do, as there’s a lot of uncertainties, and
given that AEW has opted not to do house shows, saying the model is outdated, it
looks like WWE may be following a similar attitude, very soon.
And we’re finishing this video with news from All Elite Wrestling, as though the
company has signed many names who were big in WWE, including Chris Jericho,
Jon Moxley and Brodie Lee, fans shouldn’t expect to see Ric Flair appear on Dynamite.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc, the Dirtiest Player in the Game revealed why he’ll never
be seen on AEW as he discussed his new contract with WWE. He said:
“Well it’s not for life but I hope they [WWE] keep renewing me. You never know
but I’m obviously not gonna go anywhere else if they didn’t renew me. Tony [Khan]
told me that he wouldn’t even ask me to come to work there because he knows
how tight I am with [WWE]. Our friendship is one thing but he respects my loyalty
to the company.”
“That’s how much respect [Khan] has for me and my relationship with the
company which speaks volumes to what kind of guy Tony is. The same would apply
to my daughter and WWE.”
Its interesting that Flair included his daughter in the conversation, as it’s likely that
Khan’s promise to never sign the 16-time World Champion, extended to his
daughter as well.
With that in mind, there’ll be no shortage of stars who are hoping to be picked up
by AEW, and whilst speculation continues that Flair’s old WCW rival Sting could be
joining the company very soon, fans shouldn’t expect to see Flair Stylin’ or profilin’
in an AEW ring.