Here's more wrestling news for May 28th 2021
And your headlines for afternoon include
WWE Releases As Many As 60 Staff Members As Part Of Latest Round Of Cuts; Major Rumors Of Vince McMahon Selling WWE!
WWE Creative Have Been Asking For Finn Balor’s Main Roster Call-Up!
Will Ospreay Provides A Worrying Update After Suffering A Gruesome Neck Injury!
John Cena Slammed Hard By Politicians And Talk Shows Hosts After Public Apology To China!
Released WWE Tag Team Talk About Possibly Signing With AEW Or Impact Wrestling!
Why Mustafa Ali Personally Spoke To Vince McMahon?
Scrapped Plans For Sasha Banks To Feud With Veteran WWE Superstar Revealed! And More!
We’re starting today with WWE, who had major layoffs this past Tuesday, and now we know how many people were let go.
According to Wrestlenomics, over 60 people were cut from WWE, as part of their plan to merge several departments into one brand,
with the cuts letting go of redundant positions. These merged departments are now to be led by WWE’s Executive Producer & Chief of Global
Television Distribution Kevin Dunn, with help from President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan. WWE Studios was one of the hardest hit by the
cuts, as Wrestlenomics reports that Susan Levison, who had worked as the Senior Vice President & Head of WWE Studios is no longer
employed, after joining WWE in 2019. She was executive producer on WWE’s Netflix film The Main Event, the WWE Legends
Biography specials, The Big Show Show, WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, and Rumble.
The Netflix Film Rumble isn’t set to be released until January 2022, but it’s already lost it’s executive producer, a worrying sign for the movie.
As we previously reported, WWE hosted a video meeting with employees this Wednesday to address the layoffs, which was led by Khan and
Chief Financial officer Kristina Salen but CEO Vince McMahon didn’t make an appearance.
Whilst it’s reported that both Stephanie McMahon and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque did make an appearance, neither spoke,
and that role was left for Kevin Dunn. Dunn explained that WWE Studios, their Advanced Media Group and TV department
will all be consolidated under his new department, ‘WWE Media.’
When Khan spoke, he tried to give encouraging words to his remaining employees, at one point becoming emotional while recalling a story
of a young woman who’d make a daily 4-hour commute from work to college, with the idea behind this story is that Khan wants employees
to emulate that kind of worth ethic. After letting most employees work from home for the past year, depending on their department,
it’s been reported that employees will return to work at WWE’s Headquarters in Stamford on July 6th, according to Wrestlenomics.
Though employees won’t have to be vaccinated, those that aren’t will have to wear masks under an ‘honor system’ the company is introducing.
Alongside recent talent releases across both NXT and the main roster, the company is eliminating “redundancies” and strengthening their bottom
line. That could come with even bigger plans in store. Rumor has it that Nick Khan who recently
secured even more power as WWE President this week, is now preparing WWE for the next chapter in the company’s history.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the various firings this week, and the plan to merge multiple departments into
one division, saying:
“There’s going to be people with more work, but they wanted to cut the headcount down because they’re trying to increase their profitability and
that’s, I mean if they’re trying to set the thing up for a sale, that’s a good thing to do.” The idea of Vince McMahon selling WWE would
be the single biggest change in the wrestling world in decades, and whilst it’s always said that McMahon plans to work until he dies, several
signs point to a sale. Despite the past year, WWE has been boasting record profits, making the company a various
tempting option for potential buyers, and with the company producing content with an insane value in the realm of streaming, we might see WWE
go on the market eventually.
Recently, Finn Balor said he’d be open to making a return to WWE’s main roster, and it certainly seems the former Universal Champion is focussed
on getting back to RAW or SmackDown. After losing to Karrion Kross in their NXT Title match this week, Dave Meltzer discussed Balor’s
future on Wrestling Observer Radio, saying that he was moved to NXT to fight AEW Dynamite, and now that fight is over.
It was also said that Balor has ‘served his purpose’ on the gold brand, bringing some veteran knowledge and star power to the show.
Meltzer isn’t the only one convinced of a Balor call-up, as Wrestle Votes reports that RAW’s creative team have been asking for him for
months, but NXT’s crew also adores Balor too. Ultimately, the decision will be made by Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon, but after an
incredible second run in NXT, it certainly seems time for Balor to re-enter the main roster, and the world title picture.
Earlier this month, Will Ospreay had to vacate the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship after suffering a neck injury at Wrestling Dontaku
and now we have an update on his condition. Taking to Twitter, the British wrestler admitted that the prognosis isn’t good, and that he’ll now
need an MRI for how lower back, as it’s believed that he’s also suffered a similar amount of damage to his back as to his neck.
Though he said things aren’t looking good, Ospreay said he remains determined to return to the ring this year, and we’re hoping for the best for
him after this major setback in his career.
This month, John Cena said Taiwan will be the first country to see Fast and Furious 9, and after angering the Chinese media, who argue
that Taiwan is part of their country, issued a very lengthy apology in their native language.
Cena learned Chinese while filming Project X with Jackie Chan, but outside of the Asian superpower, his apology hasn’t gone down well at all.
Marco Rubio dragged Cena, claiming that the Chinese Communist Party are now controlling what Americans say, whilst Megyn Kelly called
the apology “stomach-turning,” whilst Tom Cotton branded Cena ‘pathetic.’
Senator Rick Scott really let the 16-time World Champion have it, calling his apology “insane,” and adding that Cena should be
standing up for Taiwan as they face increasing threats and aggression for China’s General Secretary Xi Jinping.
Ben Shapiro said that Cena is a quote “pathetic coward,” is he isn’t willing to say that Taiwan is a country and Hong Kong should be free, and
in a rare sign of unity, those on the left are just as frustrated at Cena as those on the right.
On his late Show, Stephen Colbert added his own subtitles to Cena’s apology, which he sarcastically suggested didn’t go far enough,
as in this parody, Cena claims that Taiwan isn’t even a place, and said that he’ll give Tibet something to complain about, followed by an
photoshopped Attitude Adjustment to the Dalai Lama, rechristened the Dalai Slam-A
Obviously, Cena’s apology was done because they don’t want China boycotting the Fast and Furious franchise, but John’s attempt to save
has caused him even more trouble.
Last month, WWE released the IIconics, after splitting the duo last year, and now the pair are looking ahead to what’s next in their careers.
Speaking to Busted Open Radio, Peyton Royce discussed AEW, saying that they feel they could really help their women’s division, but also
discussed Impact, who already have an established division, and their own female tag team titles.
Billie Kay concurred with her partner, saying they want fans guessing where they’ll go next, but right now, the two best options are AEW
and Impact. Billie also pointed out that their good friend and fellow Australian Tenille Dashwood is with Impact,
and teased a stable, and wherever the IIconics go next, they’re confident they’ll go there together.
Back to the ring, and for weeks, Mustafa Ali has been putting out instant classics on Main Event against Ricochet, which sadly, few
people are tuning into. This week, the former US Champion got the win in a two-out-of-three falls match, and this week
Ali spoke to Sean Waltman on the Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast about his career once it was made clear creative had nothing for him, either during
or after Retribution. He explained: The Main Event stuff happened because, after the fallout with RETRIBUTION, which was kind
of like, you know, again, plans changed with that. I’m kind of sitting there for a few weeks realizing they don’t really know where to put
me and the request was simple. I just knocked on Vince’s office and said, ‘Hey, if you don’t have something for me right now,
I get it. I’m the type of talent where if I don’t use it, I’m gonna lose it. You got to get me in the ring. I need to perform. Can I just have
Ricochet for four weeks on Main Event?’” Ali went on to acknowledge that he and Ricochet have been killing it on Main event, adding:
“As much love as the matches are getting, I think the promos that we’re doing on our own are getting just as much, if not more,
maybe. It’s this kind of thing where I just wanted to, ‘Oh, y’all forgot about it for a sec, let me remind you real quick. Put me in the
ring and you guys will go, ‘wow.’ Give me a microphone or a camera and you will go, ‘wow.’”
The former Retribution leader also pointed out that with so much content around, Superstars need to constantly be engaging fans, and
whilst fans may be loyal to him, they’ll forget about him if they don’t see him in the ring, or WWE’s various media platforms.
For now, the one person Ali needs to impress is Vince McMahon, and there’s no reason to believe the Chairman will change his tune,
despite RAW’s decline in both quality and ratings. Whilst Ricochet does appear on RAW
occasionally, he’s usually on the losing end of things, but he’s doing better than Ali, as it’s unclear when we’ll see him again on Monday
Nights.
And we’re ending today with Sasha Banks, who dispatched of the likes of Bayley, Asuka, Carmella and Nia Jax, during her recent reign
as SmacKDown Women’s Champion, but fans didn’t get to see every plan the WWE had in store.
Speaking on Oral Sessions, Women’s Tag Champion Natalya said there were plans for her to feud with Banks over the SmackDown
Women’s title, but all those plans changed with Bianca Belair won the Royal Rumble, which saddened the Canadian Superstar
Natalya added that though she was excited to wrestle the Boss, it was her husband and WWE producer Tyson Kidd who said she should
work with Tamina, which helped the Queen of Harts bounce back after the planned Banks feud was scrapped.
Now, Natalya and Tamina are the women’s tag team champions, a long-overdue reign according to many fans, whilst Banks will be
back for WWE’s first SmackDown with live fans on July 16th.