Here is your news for April 28 2020
Lets dive into some of the major headlines for today
WWE Fires Employee After 35 Years With The Company
New Paul Heyman Guy Out of Money In The Bank Tournament
WWE Not Addressing Velveteen Dream Allegations
WWE Hall Of Famer Running For US President
Current WWE Wrestler Sending Cash To Struggling WWE Fans
Released WWE Star Teases AEW Debut and MORE!
We’re starting off today with news from WWE’s recent releases, as yet another
huge name was cut earlier this month, that we are just learning about.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that WWE released Gerald Brisco from his
contract, as part of their cost- cutting measures, and explained that the
reason his name didn’t get out, was because WWE didn’t release a full list
of internal firings.
Brisco had been with WWE since 1984, and was one of Vince McMahon’s
most trusted advisors for years, and worked alongside Pat Patterson in
the Attitude Era as the stooges.
In more recent years, Brisco was helping scout talent for the company,
and hopefully the Hall of Famer will be the last firing to come out from
the company’s widespread cuts on April 15th.
From wrestling to politics now, as former WWE Superstar and Governor of
Minnesota is reportedly considering a bid for the U.S. Presidency.
As a politician, Actor, and wrestler, Ventura is no stranger to controversy, and
took to Twitter about testing the waters, and said if he was to run, he would
represent the Green Party. He said:
OK, I’ve decided I’m going to test the waters. IF I were going to run for president,
the GREEN party would be my first choice. I’ve endorsed the party and I’m testing the waters.
He added:
To be clear: I haven’t filed anything. I authorized a letter of interest
that was sent on my behalf to the Greens and I’m testing the waters
for Green Party nomination. I’m an independent. I’m not a Democrat
or a Republican because I know they’re not the solution.
It’ll be interesting to see just how far the Predator star goes in his Presidential
aspirations, as its possible that President Trump may not be the only WWE Hall of
Famer to occupy the Oval Office.
Back to WWE, and this weekend saw allegations of Velveteen Dream sending
inappropriate direct message to minors on Instagram, though the former NXT
North American Champion has denied all accusations, saying that the photos used
are of him, but they were used by someone else without his permission.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE hasn’t
commented publicly on the matter, and hasn’t responded to any requests from
the veteran wrestling journalist, and added that this lack of a response has made
things interesting. He said:
“It will be interesting to see if Velveteen Dream’s there or not.
Everyone’s been completely quiet on that story, so I don’t know what that means.”
Meltzer isn’t the only one to be shut out by the WWE, as Ringside News has also
said their requests for a comment have fallen on deaf ears.
This is a very bad look for the Dream, who has denied these accusations, though
following these claims, a story came out about ********* mischief charges being
brought against Dream, but ultimately dropped, earlier this year.
As one of NXT’s most popular and promising stars, it looked like the 24-year-old
was set to get a shot at Adam Cole’s NXT Championship, and hopefully WWE will
be able to get to the bottom of this situation as soon as possible.
From one controversial star to another now, as we’ve got an update regarding
Brock Lesnar, as fans haven’t seen the Beast since his Wrestle Mania 36 loss to Drew McIntyre.
Now, it looks like it may be a while before fans see Lesnar again, as during the
WWE 2020 1st quarter investors call, Vince McMahon said “we no longer have
Brock Lesnar,” which caught the interest of many on the call.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer questioned whether Lesnar would
return to WWE, as he’s historically kept details regarding his contract a secret,
whilst Bryan Alverez argued that Lesnar, who has signed short- term deals in the
past, isn’t likely to compete for the company as long as there is no crowd.
Time will tell whether Lesnar returns to WWE, as he may be waiting for the
company to bring back live fans to their shows, but given the current situation, the
former World Champion may not have a choice but to compete in front of an
empty arena once again.
AEW news now, and whilst Cody Rhodes has been looking to trademark as many
terms related to his father the American Dream, the WWE isn’t making things easy for him.
After Cody filed trademarks for “Slamboree” and “The Match Beyond,” WWE filed
to oppose this claim on March 24th, and after their notice of opposition expired on
April 23rd, WWE filed for a90- day extension, which will expire on July 22nd.
The term Slamboree, comes from the Pay Per View that Dusty Rhodes created,
whilst ‘The Match Beyond’, was the term used for WarGames to signify the start
of the winning period.
In the past, Cody has trade marked several WCW names, including Bash at the
Beach which was used for an episode of Dynamite, and time will tell whether the
AEW Executive Vice President gets to use the Pay Per View name his father made
famous all those years ago.
Back to WWE, and we’ve got even more news from this month’s huge
releases, as Luke Gallows filed a trademark for the name *** Ferguson on April 22nd.
Older fans will remember that the name was used by Gallows as part of
Colt Cabana’s Wrestling Road Diaries, whilst WWE did a PG version named
Tex Ferguson, for Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
Gallows previously filed for the name in July 2017, but allowed it to expire
in April 2018, but given that he and Karl Anderson were released by WWE,
it looks like *** Ferguson may be making a comeback.
We’ve got some truly amazing news from Paige next, as the former Divas
Champion knows that not everybody is as financially stable as she is at the moment.
On Twitter, the former Smack Down General Manager asked her followers
what’s the biggest struggled for everyone right now, and after reading
many heartwrenching replies, asked those responding for their Venmo accounts.
It wasn’t too long after that fans revealed just how generous the British
Superstar was, with one fan’s mother being able to afford a much needed
inhaler thanks to her donation, and another fan being able to afford food for the family.
One fan wasn’t so pleased with Paige’s generosity, as he said that she
shouldn’t help fans who received a stimulus check from the government,
though many people pointed out that not everyone received a check, and
Paige questioned why she shouldn’t help out if she can.
This is some much needed good news in these worrying times, and it’s
great to see that Paige is using her own success to help those struggling in
the current situation.
But what do you think about Paige reaching out like this? Leave your
thoughts in the comments below.
We’re looking at WWE’s 2K Video Game series next, as although the
company has cancelled WWE 2K21, the company will still release a game
for fans to play this fall.
The new game, titled WWE 2K Battlegrounds, will be a brawler from
World War Z and NBA 2K Playgrounds developer Saber Interactive, and
will feature over the top depictions of wrestlers, complete with outlandish
moves and environments.
The 2K21 game was cancelled after the disastrous reception to WWE
2K20, and in an open letter, 2K revealed that the 2K19 servers will remain
open for the time being.
In that same letter, the company spoke about the future of the 2K series,
adding that the year-long break will ensure that the development team at
Visual Concepts have more time to create a much-better game than last
year’s instalment, which will entertain veterans of the series, as well as
newcomers to WWE’s brand of games.
To turn WWE 2K around, the company has hired Patrick Gilmore as
executive producer, after his work as the Boss of Amazon Games which is
about to release their own MMO new world.
WWE 2K20 was the first game primarily developed by Visual Concepts, as
the company had worked with Yuke’s in the past, and whilst fans will have
to wait quite some time before 2K21, gamers will still have their WWE fix
this fall, with Battlegrounds
One person fans won’t see in Battlegrounds is Deonna Purrazzo, as she was
released this month despite it looking like she was going to be called up to
the main roster.
Whilst this release was a shock to many, one person who wasn’t surprised
was the Virtuosa herself.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, the former Superstar revealed that she had been
unhappy in the company for the past 6 months, and let people in the
WWE office know this. She added:
“We had conversations where I said, if nothing is going to happen for me, I’d just
rather be let go. I think, overall, I was really. I must have been afraid to ask straight
up to be released but, once they fired me, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, this is what I
wanted.’ I was never scared of that. Exciting times is more what I’m looking
forward to than being sad.”
Whilst she may no longer be a WWE Superstar, its good to see that
Purrazzo is keeping optimistic for the future, as the Virtuosa isn’t letting
this recent release set her back.
With so many stars being released lately, It’s hard to keep track of who’s
still in the company, but despite not appearing recently on WWE, Kalisto
is still a contracted Superstar.
On YouTube, the former US Champion explained that he is out with a
shoulder injury that he got in December, while competing in Los Angeles.
Hopefully, the Lucha House Party member will be able to return to the
ring soon, but for now, he needs to take time at home to keep recovering
and stay isolated.
One person who was let go from WWE this month was No Way Jose, but the
former Superstar is already looking at his prospects outside of the company.
While speaking to Inside the Ropes, the former RAW and NXT Superstar revealed
he has a much different plan on the indies, which includes ditching the smiling No
Way Jose character. He said:
As good as the character was for me in terms of making a living, I
don’t want to continue that character. I just feel like it did what it did
and if people want to book me for that or whatever, it’s gonna be
possibly one off or whatnot but I have so much more to show. I have
a more serious side, I have an aggressive side
It’s clear that the conga line is gone and Jose isn’t looking to start it back
up again, and this could be the change the former Superstar needs to
jump start his career.
Of course, fans will have to wait and see what kind of Jose will arrive on
the independent scene, as due to the ongoing situation, Jose won’t be
appearing on any shows, anytime soon.
One person who did survive the recent cuts was Jeff Hardy, who has seemingly
turned over a new leaf following his DUI arrest last fall, but now the Charismatic
Enigma will have to wait a bit longer for his day in court.
The PW Insider is reporting that Hardy’s court date has been pushed back once
again, as it was originally scheduled for November 7th last year, then we pushed to
April 6th, and will now take place on July 16th.
The report also stated that this latest postponement, is due to the ongoing global situation.
WWE isn’t waiting until July to use the controversial Superstar, as he has been the
focus of several videos lately, and is currently expected to feud with Sheamus
upon his return to action.
Hopefully when Jeff does return full-time to the ring, the ladder match specialist
will be able to keep clean after entering inpatient rehab for the first time last year.
We’re heading back to AEW now, as Episode 201 of Being the Elite has been
uploaded, and included a big tease for the future of the company.
During the episode, the Young Bucks joked that they wouldn’t be able to top the
last episode, but looked into to the sky and saw some sky- writing that spelled out FTR.
Of course, this is tease for the Revolt, who previously wrestled for WWE as the
Revival, and after years of the Bucks and the Revolt teasing a match online, it
looks like it’ll finally take place.
Now, we previously reported in January that former WCW star Van Hammer hit a
child with his car, and after being charged with felony hit and run, as well as
failure to stop in a crush, as well as DUI with injuries to another person, the
former wrestler is claiming he’s not guilty.
According to PW Insider, Hammer appeared in court this week, though not
physically present, and pled not guilty with a pre-trial date set for June 10th in
Florida’s Palm Beach County Court.
The 60-year-old WCW star was arrested in January when he struck a five-year-old
who was riding their bicycle at the time, and after a witness identified him to
police, officers noted that Hammer smelled of alcohol and refused a breathalayzer.
It was estimated that Van Hammer was driving 58 miles- per-hour in a 35 zone,
and we’ll keep you updated as this story develops.
RAW news next as last night’s show was supposed to see a United States title
between Andrade and Apollo Crews, that ended with andrade being declared winner with crews
unable to continue
On Twitter, WWE explained that Crews has suffered a knee injury and after being
and after being visited by trainers, it was confirmed that the RAW Superstar
is out of next month’s Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Though this is unfortunate news for Apollo, who was seemingly going to have his
first push In years, his injury does leave a spot open for someone else to enter the
Men’s ladder match, and it’ll be interesting to see who WWE chooses to replace
the athletic heavyweight.
And finally we’re ending with news from Monday Night RAW, as fans got to see a united
states title match tonight
next week show will have a different title
up for grabs. As Street Profits defend their RAW Tag Team titles against the Viking Raiders
During this week’s edition of RAW, Ford and Dawkins said they were tired of
dealing with the Vikings, and looked to finish things next week, and the match was
quickly confirmed by Byron Saxton.