In this WrestleTalk News, Sasha Banks has reportedly been released from WWE, Vince McMahon
is embroiled in a scandal, Oli’s review of Dynamite and more.
Subscribe and enable notifications to always on for daily wrestling news videos.
What with all the MJF work-shoot-not-a-work-not-a-shoot-work-shoot brother stuff going on, Stephanie McMahon
taking her leave of absence, CM Punk being injured, and Jeff Hardy being arrested, you’d
be forgiven for forgetting about one of the other biggest news stories of the year so
far: Naomi & Sasha Banks’ walkout from WWE.
Slow down wrestling news!
The duo walked out of an episode of Raw on May 16, and exactly one month later, Raj Giri
of WrestlingInc is reporting that Sasha Banks has been released from her WWE contract.
Giri did not specify whether this was a WWE decision or something Banks had requested,
but it’s also worth noting that Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, who let’s be honest is
sort of the barometer of good wrestling reporting these days, was not able to verify Giri’s
report.
In an update on Fightful Select, Sapp reported: “Fightful reached out to numerous WWE reps,
one of which got back to us and stated "Not that I've heard" in regards to the release…Thus
far, nobody in WWE has explicitly shot it down, they've just said they haven't heard
about it.
This is as it pertains to talent, front office, public relations, and staff.
If Sasha Banks has been released, the company has kept it very quiet.”
Banks is still listed on wwe.com as part of the roster, though that Select report also
noted that there was an “urgent” email sent out to a live event venue to remove Banks
from advertising for their show, though this could just be linked to her suspension and
lack of involvement in the show rather than a release.
Stay tuned to wrestletalk.com to keep up with the latest.
Well, that’s obviously the biggest wrestling news story of the day, glad we can take it
a bit slower now - oh.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the WWE board is investigating a secret $3million
settlement between Vince McMahon and a former employee he allegedly had an affair with.
The former employee was said to have left WWE in January this year, after being there
since 2019 as a paralegal.
The WWE board reportedly began the investigation in April, and have uncovered more non-disclosure
agreements of a similar nature with both Vince McMahon and Head of Talent Relations John
Laurinaitis.
McMahon allegedly hired the former paralegal to a salary of $100,000, which then increased
to a salary of $200,000 after they began a sexual relationship.
It also alleges that McMahon “gave her like a toy” to Laurinaitis thereafter.
WWE has yet to comment publicly on the situation, but an internal message to its staff reads:
“The Wall Street Journal has published a report about WWE with allegations that we
and our Board of Directors take seriously.”
Fightful Select has added to this report, saying that sources indicated to them that
the alleged relationship between Vince and the paralegal was “suspected” at the time.
When Laurinaitis was re-given the Head of Talent Relations role in 2021, female talent
reached out to Fightful to express their displeasure with the choice, and with these new allegations,
one female talent reportedly told Fightful: “I'd rather get all my s*** sent to me in
a trash bag when I get fired than have to deal with him, and neither are good options.”
Looking back to April when Nia Jax tweeted about “perverted” higher ups in the company,
which would have been after the investigation was underway, which Fightful Select is reporting
was “dismissed” backstage as her being “bitter”, and with Stephanie McMahon’s
leave of absence from the company recently, things are not looking great for WWE backstage
right now.
Stay tuned for the latest on this and all wrestling news at wrestletalk.com.
And now hot tag to Oli.
Now before we get on with the rest of the news, I’d like to say a big thank you to
this episode’s sponsor…
SurfShark VPN!
Which you can get 83% off and 3 months free if you go to Surfshark.deals/WrestleTalk and
use the code WrestleTalk.
SurfShark VPN lets you trick your device into thinking it’s in another country, which
opens up a whole world of content libraries.
If you’re in the UK, you can watch US Netflix, which has a far bigger selection of movies!
If you’re outside the UK, you can watch BBC iPlayer!
And if you’re in the US, you can finally get access back to the ollllld WWE Network,
with its far superior functionality!
We’ve all been using SurfShark here at WrestleTalk for years, it’s our official VPN, and it
doesn’t just let us gain access to ALL THE WRESTLING, it also secures our networks by
encrypting Internet traffic, keeping our location and download history private.
My collection of ultra swole Pokemon must be protected at all costs.
And my favourite feature for this is that SurfShark knows when my phone leaves a trusted
connection like my home or work internet, and it immediately turns on to prevent interference.
It’s like having a babyface wrestling faction for your phone.
So sign up to SurfShark today by using our link in the video description below - surfshark.deals/wrestletalk
- where you’ll get 83% off and 3 months free if you use the code WrestleTalk.
We’d really appreciate if you at least check them out as they’re a great company and
we love working with them.
Support WrestleTalk, and support your internet privacy with SurfShark.
Now it’s time for my review of the AEW Gimmick Match Spectacular… in about 5 minutes.
The Road Rager special of AEW Dynamite kicked off in a big way.
It’s that huge stipulation you probably forgot was happening: Chris Jericho vs Ortiz
in a hair vs hair match.
It’s the first of its kind in AEW history.
It’s one of the biggest stipulations in wrestling.
Putting this match on, with this build, is like doing a Hell in a Cell match for Bobby
Lashly vs Theory all of a sudden next week.
But lacklustre set up aside, AEW’s in-ring wrestling is always superb, elevated even
more by an excellent crowd, and insanely fun booking with the warring LAX, Blackpool Combat
Club and Jericho Appreciation Society.
Eddie Kingston took out Jericho behind the referee’s back - what a babyface - for an
incredible near fall, but JAS had a new member up their sleeve: Fuego Del Sol, who cost Ortiz
the win, and then revealed himself to actually be Sammy Guevarra, reuniting three fifths
of the Inner Circle.
Wait a second, Jake, that’s my jacket.
Ortiz, meanwhile, took a page out of Suzuki’s book - you can appear even stronger in defeat
when you shave your own head as you scream over and over “Blood and Guts, Blood and
Guts, Blood and Guts.”
Hair vs Hair stips aren’t enough for you.
Well then here’s one guy taking on twenty security guards in an elimination match.
Who’s booking this show, 13 year old me?
Actually that does look like 13 year old me.
This was a fun idea, but repetitive and clunky in execution.
Firstly, ring announcer Dasha got the rules wrong, annoying eliminations when security
guards hopped off the apron, confusing everyone.
The security guards used the flawless tactic of ‘quick boys, attack him no more than
two at a time!’, and Wardlow’s pinning four to six guards in piles at a time got
samey.
Afterwards, Dan Lambert and Scorpio Sky appeared in the skybox, building Wardlow’s TNT title
feud, but their own UFC fighters sided with Wardlow, helping him powerbomb Mark Sterling.
I tell you who’s not going to stand for any of this stipulation nonsense: Dax Harwood.
Also Will Ospreay doesn’t need stipulations, because he’s his own walking ladder match.
Following Rampage’s excellent six man tag, they fought in a singles match here.
It was a brilliant styles clash, Dax’s hard hitting old school wrestling against Will’s
video game insanity.
In an amazing detail, Dax hit a flying headbutt off the top rope - which, as Excalibur pointed
out, the last time a member of FTR went to the top rope, it was Cash Wheeler last year,
and it led to them losing the AEW tag team titles.
The New Japan’s lion pride spirit was incredible, with Dax even kicking out of an Oscutter,
but Will brutally followed it up with a Hidden Blade to win.
For me, this was match of the night, on an excellent night of wrestling.
A post-match brawl with the Best Friends, FTR and United Empire followed, including
a returning from injury Orange Cassidy!
It was later announced Cassidy will be facing Osprey at Forbidden Door.
A match I never knew I wanted so much, because I still do think Ospreay should be booked
in a serious feud for his first AEW run.
Kevin Kelly just walked through the Forbidden Door for a video interview in the Mox vs Tanahashi
video package.
That’s it, shut the door.
It can’t get better for me than this now.
Moxley cut a typically great promo on Tanahashi in their face-to-face, saying he’s chased
Horse Shoe around the world, and that there’s a lot of championships on this planet (too
many if you ask me), but there’s only one Ace.
It was a perfect ‘you’re great, but I’m better’ wrestling promo, building up both
you and your opponent.
But then Jericho interrupted, saying the only reason Mox is there is because he didn’t
face him last week (begging the question again, why weren’t you there?) and then he introduced
even more JAS members - adding Lance Archer and Desperado from Suzuki Gun to attack Mox
and Tanahashi, announcing a Forbidden Door six man of Jericho, Sammy and Minoru Suzuki
vs Kingston, Yuta and Shota Umino.
Rather than interpromotional warfare, these stories are very much about uniting heels
with heels and faces with faces across the promotions.
That’s a smart way to solve the Survivor Series problem of having all normal storylines
on pause while you build the show.
In the second All Atlantic qualifier match, Miro took on Ethan Page.
Miro was heavily the babyface here, a role he can slip into amazingly easily.
He advanced very decisively, taking out Lambert on the apron, and tapped out Page to win.
Toni Storm beat Britt Baker surprisingly decisively in a de facto No. 1 contenders match to Thunder
Rosa’s title, who chased off Jamie Hayter early on.
It’s weird to see Baker lose so easily, and now is the time to start building someone
else, but I don’t feel this match elevated Toni as much as it should have.
Hangman Page can’t catch a break.
He wanted to face Okada at Forbidden Door for the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but Jay White
won it off him over the weekend.
This prompted White to attack Hangman from behind, saying he’ll pick his challenger…
which also isn’t going to be Adam Cole.
This is a good bit of intrigue, but it feels like they’ll have to rush the resolution
with go-home angles next week.
…unless White’s opponent ends up being a returning Kenny Omega, Omega facing the
guy who kicked him out the Bullet Club?
It’s the sort of dream match that doesn’t need a huge build.
And as WWE has proved, giant go-home angles are sometimes all you need to sell the pay-per-view.
And the main event was the Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express in a ladder match for the
tag team titles - a match the Hardys were pulled from.
Which even without Jeff’s arrest I’m pleased about, otherwise I would’ve spent half the
match worried about injuries.
With that removed, this was an all-time great Dynamite match.
Jungle Boy ran up ladders like he was in an MC Esher painting.
People were going through tables at a clip of one a minute.
Matt Jackson lost a shoe.
But Luchasuaurs got the big ladder out the ring through loads of tables spot, isolating
Jungle Boy.
With Nick Jackson bleeding heavily from his nose, the Young Bucks unhooked the titles
to become two time AEW Tag Team Champions.
But wait, there’s more!
Christian finally turned on Jungle Boy, hitting a conchairto on him to end the show.
The lacklustre Jurassic Express title reign is now in the past, and I’m optimistic about
heel Christian and the champion Bucks.
What did you think of AEW Dynamite?
Let me know in the comments.
This felt like a big time special episode, with three gimmick matches, a title change,
loads of debuts and angles.
Which is exciting, but it’s also the definition of hot shot booking.
Not everything worked, and Forbidden Door still feels underwhelming just one show away.
There’s a potential show of the year in here somewhere.
This week’s Dynamite is 88%.
But while AEW have all the titles, WWE have found themselves with none.
Watch on to find out about how WWE creative feel about Roman Reigns…