Coming up in this WrestleTalk News, WWE sued, new AEW titles coming, even WWE don’t know
who the Fiend is and more.
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What, objectively, is the best thing about the United States?
If you said Disneyworld, the first amendment or High-fructose corn syrup - you’d shockingly
be wrong.
Because People magazine have scientifically revealed the true answer is Rock ‘The Dwayne’
Johnson.
He is so running for President… and I’m there for that!
And I bet as soon as he’s in office, he’ll get a call from his former employer asking
a few favours.
Because WWE is getting sued again.
Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H and a bunch of other company directors are
accused of withholding information from investors while selling more than $300 million worth
of WWE stock This can all be traced back to WWE’s relationship
with Saudi Arabia.
Who knew that business deal would backfire in their faces, several times over?
The lawsuit alleges that back at the start of 2018, WWE told its investors that it expected
to grow international media rights revenue - thought to, in large part, be down to the
mega money deal with the Arab state.
One of the Crown Jewels in this relationship was a five year deal with the Orbit Showcase
Network to exclusively broadcast WWE programming through to the end of 2019.
But OSN told WWE privately it was going to terminate that agreement 9 months early because
it wouldn’t be doing any more sports broadcasting.
The lawsuit then lays out the alleged timeline stemming from the ripple effects of these
behind-the-scene talks: -WWE failed to disclose OSN wasn’t just
exiting the agreement early, they wouldn’t be doing any more wrestling deals for the
foreseeable future.
-“The Saudi government failed to make tens of millions of dollars in payments to WWE”
in the event of OSN terminating the agreement.
-Negotiations for a replacement deal “had reached an impasse”
-Meaning WWE’s Middle East and North Africa operations, a key part of the company’s
stock market worth, “were not expanding, but rather were rapidly deteriorating.”
Skip to the end… the lawsuit alleges WWE “Falsely informed the public a month later
that a new deal would soon be reached.”
But hey, that’s pro wrestling, right?
You got to hype that upcoming match.
It’s all a work, brother.
Well, the problem really comes with the named WWE directors - McMahon, Triple H, etc - selling
that $300 million worth of stock while shares were at a higher price, a price potentially
driven up because of the promise of a new Saudi Arabia deal - which the lawsuit claims
WWE misled investors about.
Allegedly, the “full truth” about the situation wasn’t revealed until the 6th
February 2020 - amidst “disappointing financial results”.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because, it is.
WWE have already agreed to pay $39 million to settle another lawsuit over its relationship
with Saudi Arabia.
As they say, though, suing someone is easy.
It’s the winning part that’s difficult.
Stephanie sells WWE stock frequently.
While Vince arguably had a valid business reason at the time: selling WWE stock to fund
his XFL relaunch.
Looking back at all the controversies, do you think WWE’s Saudi Arabia deal is worth
it?
Not from an ethical standpoint, because that’s a hard no.
But from a business standpoint.
When does money outweigh bad press, dodgy business partners and potential legal action?
Let me know in the comments because I’ll be replying to people for the first 30 minutes
after this video goes live… from outta nowhere.
Before we get on with the rest of the episode, I’d just like to say a huge thank you to
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Like I’ve said before, every Tuesday morning I wake up thinking ‘is this the week?
Is this the week WWE make Raw good again?’
And, for every single week since mid-March, the answer has been a resounding: nope.
But there’s a school of excited thought the company is just in a holding pattern of
putting on the same episodes of Raw and SmackDown over and over and over again because they’re
saving all the good stuff for when fans come back live in July, on the road to SummerSlam.
You know, just like when WWE turned things round before with the draft.
And the wildcard rule.
And the On Their Way To WWE NXT call-ups.
And Retribution.
And Raw Underground.
And that time the McMahons said we’re the authority figures now… ah crap.
But that’s part of being a WWE fan, right?
Being miserable for 95% of the time, because the 5% of good stuff recaptures, if only for
a week or two, the magic of having your mind blown watching wrestling as a kid.
And, hopefully, the Summer will see that happen.
After Andrew Zarian had already posted “a lot of exciting stuff” is coming in WWE,
and there are reports the company wants SummerSlam to be this year’s full WrestleMania, Stephanie
McMahon has now hyped “there’s going to be a lot of surprises” for SummerFest in
an interview with Yahoo Finance.
Stephanie also explained why WWE merged its digital and TV departments last month, in
a move that lost over 35 people their jobs.
“When you consider the fact that we had three different media teams really doing a
lot of the same work, we realized that there was a lot of duplication and inefficiency.
So it’s really just being more prudent businesspeople and looking at our business in a different
way.”
But that isn’t to say the company isn’t recruiting.
According to PWInsider, WWE has rehired John D’Amico, who was their Director and Production
Manager for Live Events.
He had been with WWE since 1989, but was released last September because they weren’t touring.
After 32 years of service.
They couldn’t even give him 9 months of contingency pay during their most profitable
year ever.
Elsewhere, PWinside is reporting NXT is also undergoing a restructuring.
With Samoa Joe returning to the promotion on Wednesday, George Carroll Jr joined the
writing team that same night.
Carroll Jr has been MLW’s Senior Talent Coordinator since 2019, and previously worked
as New Japan’s Director of US.
And furloughed longtime employees aren’t the only things coming back.
There’s also King of the Ring!
King Corbin talked about the tournament’s return on The Bump, specifically mentioning
Xavier Woods as someone he’d like to face - with Woods publicly saying he wants to win
King of the Ring.
Definitely not a WWE authority figure Adam Pearce then tweeted:
“I know that I have had many conversations with @BaronCorbinWWE on this very topic.
Stay tuned.”
WrestleTalk’s own Good Money Louis Dangoor then tweeted Pearce seems to be suggesting
King of the Ring might happen, to which Pearce himself responded:
“Adam Pearce didn’t “suggest” anything.”
Yes you did.
You said you’ve had conversations.
Stay tuned.
What else could that mean?
To be fair, he definitely isn’t a WWE authority figure so I guess it’s not up to him.
Speaking of definitely not WWE authority figures…
Definitely not Raw general manager Sonya Deville is reportedly ready to return to the ring,
according to Ringside News.
Deville hasn’t wrestled since she lost a ‘loser leaves WWE’ match to Mandy Rose
at SummerSlam last year, which was reportedly a way to cover for the real-life court case
she was dealing with against her alleged stalker.
Apparently Deville was originally meant to return to the ring around WrestleMania, but
it was pushed back “another week, another two weeks, another week, another two weeks.”
Maybe it’s just another case of holding out for the return of fans.
Maybe that’s the same for The Fiend Bray Wyatt.
PWInsider reported last week he’s being “purposely kept off TV,” not because of
any backstage heat.
He’s just laying low for a while to make his big return in front of fans.
So low, that not even WWE’s official Instagram account is tagging him.
In a recent gallery post of past Hell in a Cell matches, The Fiend has been incorrectly
tagged as Jeff Hardy.
To be fair, I wouldn’t want to be tagged in that match either.
The Fiend to AEW confirmed.
Also, new titles to AEW confirmed.
AEW have made two Twitter teases, posting a fleet of an AEW title’s side plates, and
another out-of-focus shot of more championship gold with EYES EMOJI.
AEW currently has a World, Women’s, Tag Team and midcard TNT belts officially, along
with a not-recognised FTW belt for Taz.
These posts could just be teasing official replica championship belts coming to AEWShop
- an important step in branching out of their core business, just being a t-shirt company
- or these are the long-rumoured trios championship belts, which Kenny Omega announced on the
Jericho cruise last January.
Do you want to see trios championships in AEW?
Tell me they’ve got enough bloody factions for it in the comments down below.
And they might’ve just announced the perfect place to crown the inaugural champions in…
their first ever stadium show AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam!
The show will take place in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City on the 22nd September,
Replying to a fan saying ‘good luck getting that many people in attendance’, Cody Rhodes
said “I’ve been told this before.”
The Bucks updated their bio to read: “If NYC sells out (because of us) & we decided
not to go, that’d be the second time that’s happened.”
- referencing the New Japan/Ring of Honor Madison Square Garden show from 2019.
But the best reply goes to hometown King Eddie Kingston:
“Look this is big for real.
I ain't f****** around this is big.
I AM COMING HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME wITH @AEW!!!!
NY STAND UP!”
It’s unlikely former WWE wrestler ACH will be a surprise debut on the show, as just like
Lio Rush last week, he’s announced his retirement from professional wrestling at a young age
- posting a black square on Instagram with the caption: “No need for the dramatic or
emotional word play.
As of today I will officially step away from professional wrestling.
Thank you all for the support and love.”
ACH has wrestled for ROH, IMPACT and New Japan since 2012, where he was briefly in WWE’s
NXT as Jordan Myles - but shockingly quit the company the same year he signed saying
he “refused to work for racists” after a t-shirt design controversy.
He’s since expressed regret at how he handled the situation.
ACH, like Rush, has announced his retirement before, but has continued to wrestle.
Maybe it’s all a work for ACH and Rush to come back as a heel tag team who’s always
retiring.