Here's Your wrestling news for December 22nd 2021
And your headlines for today include
Vince McMahon Adamantly Against No-Cut clauses In New WWE Contracts ; How WWE Backstage Reacted?
WWE May Return To The ThunderDome With Possible Shutdowns!
What Happened After WWE RAW With Becky Lynch?
WWE Has Significant Plans For AJ Styles & OMOS In 2022 ; Real Reason For Sending AJ Styles To WWE NXT!
Former WWE Superstar Reportedly Planning A Full-Time Comeback!
Tony Khan Responds To WWE’s Reported Interest In MJF!
Rikishi Says Umaga In The WWE Hall Of Fame Is “Long Overdue” And More!
We’re kicking off with WWE, who re-signed Kevin Owens to a lucrative new contract last week, but one that doesn’t include a no-cut clause.
Typically, these clauses were incentives for the very top names to sign new deals with WWE, but as we’ve seen this year, Bray Wyatt and Braun
Strowman didn’t have the no-cut clause as part of their contracts.
According to Fightful Select, this clause isn’t being offered to anyone anymore, as they report:
We’re told that the subject of no-cut clauses was broached and that several people of influence within the company were open to that,
but eventually talent was told it isn’t negotiable or something WWE was willing to utilize in their deals at this point.
It was noted that Vince McMahon himself has been “adamantly against” the idea of no-cut clauses, as he didn’t want a situation where they cannot release
a talent. During a segment on this week’s RAW, McMahon said he loves firing talent, a line that was
universally panned as tasteless given how many Superstars have lost their jobs since April 2020. The idea of McMahon being power-mad who loves
firing people was a huge part of the Attitude Era, but with fans now knowing more and more about the lives of the wrestlers employed for WWE,
hearing someone get fired doesn’t get the same reaction anymore.
Whatever the future holds, McMahon, Nick Khan and the rest of WWE are showing no signs of slowing down their cuts of talent, and from now on, nobody
will be safe from the dreaded budget cuts.
In March 2020, WWE was forced into hosting TV tapings without any live fans in attendance, due to the ongoing global situation.
At first, shows took place in the Performance Center, before the debut of the Thunderdome at Summerslam last year, which saw a virtual fan environment,
first at the Amway Center and later Tropicana Field.
It wouldn't be until July this year that fans could return, but WWE may soon be forced to go back to the Thunderdome.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, there is a chance that WWE might have to go back to using the ThunderDome again in Florida
if the state issues any mandates again. This isn't just a WWE problem, but AEW could also have to go ahead without full crowds soon, and
would presumably returns to the Daily's Place in Jacksonville Florida. Meltzer added that both companies are confident
that mandates won't be announced in Florida, and that WWE could return to the Performance Center if needs be.
The problem there is that it would mean zero fans again, and no fans against even a couple hundred fans in the Daily’s Place for AEW would be bad news for
Vince McMahon
Meltzer did argue that with the baseball season still months away, WWE could hire a stadium if they need a new home for the Thunderdome, which
could allow for socially distanced fans.
Both WWE and AEW struggled without full crowds, and though neither wants to go without fans again, the decision won't be up to them.
WWE obviously doesn't want to go back to the Thunderdome, and are confident that mandates won't be enacted in Florida, but they're wisely
preparing for a worst case situation.
That's according to a source within WWE, who told Ringside News that "there are a lot of contingency plans that are being discussed."
The source went on to say that WWE is prepared for "all scenarios playing out" even those which means fans will only be present at TV events in a virtual sense.
For now, WWE will keep touring, and will do so until they're told they aren't allowed to, a fear that the company is hoping never comes true.
Raw news now, as this week's show saw neither Becky Lynch nor Liv Morgan wrestle during the show, but both the Raw women's Champion and
her challenger both saw action after the cameras stopped rolling. In a post show dark main event, Lynch faced Morgan
and Bianca Belair In a triple threat title match, one which saw The Man get the win and retain her title. Though Lynch won it was the faces who had the
last laugh, as both Morgan and Belair hit their finishers on the RAW Women’s Champion to send the crowd home happy
On TV Lynch and Morgan have been building their feud, which will see a singles title match at Day 1, and with Belair finishing up with Doudrop during
this week’s show, expect the EST of WWE to return to the title picture soon after this week’s huge triple threat encounter.
Next week, AJ Styles will face Omos, in a grudge match between the two former RAW Tag Team Champions.
This match came about after the duo split this week, following weeks of reports that WWE was preparing to break up the team after a year together.
Though it was expected that the pair would be splitting, many fans were surprised it happened so soon, and that’s probably because their
break-up was moved forward. According to WrestleVotes, the Omos and Styles split wasn’t meant to happen until much later on
but that WWE sped up their program because they both have “significant plans” in early 2022. WWE reportedly wants any feud between them to
be over and done with before the Royal Rumble, meaning their feud will be a very short programme that’ll play out on TV.
It’s not clear what the significant plans for Styles and Omos are, but with WWE wanting their feud to be over before the Rumble, its entirely possible
that the company has plans for either Styles or Omos to emerge victorious in the Men’s Rumble match at the end of next month.
Speaking of Styles, the Phenomenal One was on last night’s NXT 2.0, in what marked his first appearance on the brand.
During the show Styles confronted Grayson Waller, and there’s a very special reason for why the former World Champion made his presence on the
paint-splattered brand. According to Dave Meltzer, Styles’ appearance was due to NXT 2.0 going against ‘NFL on Tuesday,’
for the first time in history, and expected to get destroyed in the ratings. Since the relaunch of NXT into NXT 2.0, it’s no
secret that the brand has struggled when it comes to attracting the 18-49 demographic that the relaunch hoped to obtain, and we’ll have to see
In the ratings if Styles’ appearance helped save the show this week from the NFL.
When Mike Mondo, aka Mikey of the Spirit Squad debuted in WWE in 2006 he made a quick impression, winning the World Tag Team Championships on his
first night on RAW. Released from WWE in 2008, and making a brief return in 2016, Mondo hasn’t appeared regularly in
the ring since 2019, but is ready to get back in the ring. PW Insider reports that Mondo is working towards
a full-time comeback in 2022, and we’re wishing the former World Tag Team Champion the best of luck with his plans to be a full-time wrestler once more.
In recent weeks, MJF hasn’t exactly been quiet about the fact that his current contract with AEW expires in 2024, and that he’s more than happy to jump ship to
to WWE if Tony Khan doesn’t meet his asking price. Last week, Andrew Zarian reported that WWE are interested in the three-time Dynamite Diamond
Ring winner, as are their broadcast partners at FOX and the USA Network. In an interview with CBS Sports, Tony Khan
was asked about WWE wanting to sign one of the four pillars of his company, and was very okay with the competition bringing up someone who’s
on his roster: “I think that’s great. I encourage that. I think they should keep talking about him because he’s a
wrestler that’s a big part of AEW and is signed here for a few more years. So I think please keep giving us that buzz because he’s been getting great ratings
for his segments. And those have also been featuring CM Punk pretty regularly as they continue to interact.”
“You know, [WWE] had some wrestlers I really wanted to sign there. And I signed him, Bryan Danielson and Adam [Cole] and Ruby Soho.”
As for now, MJF has been feuding with CM Punk, which has so far been a war of words, but that’ll all change tonight.
On Dynamite, MJF and FTR will team up against the trio of Punk, Sting and Darby Allin, in what will be a huge six-man tag team match.
MJF’s contract with AEW runs through the next couple of years. But he appears to be looking forward to what could be a bidding war for his services,
recently tweeting that his contract will be the “bidding war of 2024.” The salt of the Earth has also said he’s a businessman
and will listen to whatever offers come his way, and we’ll just have to keep waiting until 2024 to see where exactly MJF ends up after his current contract expires.
And we’re ending with Umaga, a character who made his debut on WWE TV in 2006, and came from the Anoa’I wrestling family.
A two-time Intercontinental Champion, Umaga tore through the competition until his release IN June 2009, mere months before his untimely death in
December that same year. Now, Umaga’s brother, former WWE Superstar Rikishi is making the case for Umaga to be inducted
into the WWE Hall of Fame, as he tweeted that the induction is “long overdue” and used the hashtag #UmagaForHOF2022.
At this time, no names have been announced for the 2022 class of the Hall of Fame, but it could be the Samoan Bulldozer who joins Rikishi as a
Hall of Famer, if the superheavyweight gets his wish.