Here's more wrestling news for June 16th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Vince and Linda McMahon haven’t lived together in decades claims ex-WWE star
Ryback weighs in on Vince McMahon hush money allegation
AEW criticised for rushed Interim World Title tournament
Lance Storm explains how Jeff Hardy’s situation is like recently deceased wrestler
Ex-AEW star has plans to manage husband in WWE
Tyson Fury teases return to wrestling and massive opponent, and it’s not Drew McIntyre
What happened this week after AEW Dynamite: Road Rager went off the air?
Sonya Deville opens up on two-years since attempted kidnapping
Daytime star Wendy Williams is ready to throw down with MJF And more
We’re starting off with Vince McMahon, who is currently facing an investigation by WWE’s board over an alleged hush money payment.
It’s claimed that the Boss organised a $3 million payment for a paralegal he allegedly had an affair with within the last three years.
It was in 1966 that Vince married Linda, his wife to this day, but in addition to this allegation, it’s being claimed that the pair haven’t been close in a very long time.
Speaking on his Café de Rene podcast this week, ex-WWE Superstar Rene Dupree claimed that while wrestling’s original power couple are still married, that they haven’t lived together in decades.
Vince and Linda have appeared on TV together countless times, and there’s been multiple storylines which have seen the WWE CEO kiss other, far younger women.
As uncomfortable as his angles with Trish Stratus and Sable may seem, these were part of WWE entertainment programming, and while we advise taking Dupree’s claims with a pinch of salt, this is
just the latest twist in this latest controversy for the Chairman of the Board.
Plenty of people have weighed in on the investigation into the WWE Chairman, and it should come as no surprise that Ryback has shared his two cents.
For years, the former WWE Superstar has had issues with McMahon, claiming that WWE are illegally supressing his social media accounts.
Responding to the accusations against McMahon, the Big Guy said he’s glad not to have signed a non-disclosure agreement with WWE, is looking forward to winning his legal battle over the Ryback
trademark and said the company “manipulate almost all talent on their lopsided contracts.”
The replies, like usual, didn’t exactly go Ryback’s way, as fans claimed that WWE hasn’t offered him a contract to come back, and questioned his previous claims that he’d already won the trademark dispute.
Ultimately, Ryback isn’t likely to stop taking aim at WWE anytime soon, and with these allegations against the Chairman, the Big Guy will have plenty to say in the coming months.
At Forbidden Door, AEW will crown an interim World Champion, which has had an interesting tournament so far.
We know that AEW’s Jon Moxley will face New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi to crown an interim Champion, but some of the strategy behind this storyline has faced criticism.
On last week’s Dynamite, Kyle O’Reilly won a battle royal, but lost to a fresh Moxley later in the night, securing the former World Champion a spot at Forbidden Door.
On his Drive-Thru podcast, Jim Cornette hit out at the battle royal stipulation and the bizarre booking that made the match totally meaningless:
I don’t agree with the battle royale, that just clutters the thing up and it’s mark booking… If they just said that ladies and gentlemen, right now, Tony Khan and members of the AEW staff are meeting to
determine how an interim champion will be crowned.
O’Reilly may have outlasted 20 other opponents last week, but his big win meant nothing after losing to Moxley later on the show, and this bizarre booking hasn’t gone unnoticed.
One name not expected to appear at Forbidden Door is Jeff Hardy, who has been suspended without pay due to his r ecent arrest.
This latest run in with the law marks Jeff’s third DUI arrest within ten years, and plenty has been said about what could have been done to prevent this incident.
While Jeff is ultimately responsible for his decision to drive while ineb riated, there’s been a discussion about how wrestling has influenced him, and whether promoters bear respobsility for his behaviour.
On Figure Four Daily, Lance Storm argued that wrestling has had a role in Jeff’s action, and gave an example from another star of the ring:
“This isn’t just with Jeff, but I think one of the cruxes of the problem is anyone I know who has battled addiction… Scott Hall is a great example of this. He gets away from wrestling and often gets help
from DDP, gets away from wrestling, gets sobered up and cleaned up, and then he takes bookings, gets back on the road, and falls off the wagon again.”
There’s no word on when Jeff will be back, or if he’ll return to AEW TV at all, but this isn’t a problem exclusive to the Charismatic Enigma.
When Big Swole departed AEW in November 2021, her exit from the company was far from a pleasant experience for either side.
After Swole said that AEW lacked structure and diversity, Tony Khan fired back saying her wrestling was not good enough for AEW, but she could soon have a role in WWE.
Speaking to Sportskeeda this week, Swole was asked about any future plans, and said that she's pitched to her husband to join WWE.
Swole's husband is WWE's Cedric Alexander, and the former AEW star said that while they are "yin and yang" on certain things, she'd love to manage her hubby.
Ultimately, any hiring decisions will have to go through John Lauri niatis and Vince McMahon, but after seven months gone from AEW, we'll have to see if WWE's Chairman gives Big Swole a call.
Now, for years, Tyson Fury has teased a return to WWE, f ollowing his one and only match for the company back at Crown Jewel 2019.
On that night, the Gypsy King got a countout win over Braun Strowman, and while Fury has teased a match with Drew McIntyre in recent years, there's now another star he wants to face.
Speaking in an interview with Good Morning Britain, Fury once again confirmed his retirement from professional boxing, but called out none other than The Rock for a match.
Saying that he's now looking to do exhibition matches, calling them "Hollywood-style entertainment," Fury added that he'd like to face fellow boxing legends such as Mike Tyson and
Lennox Lewis, as well as the former WWE Champion.
Of course, the issue is that Rock is incredibly busy in Hollywood, and while the first quarter of his 2023 schedule is clear, WWE hopes to see the Brahma Bull face Roman Reigns.
As for Fury, there's no sign of when, if ever, he'll be back in a WWE ring, but the boxing star isn't finished with wrestling yet.
More from AEW now, as this week’s Dynamite was the first night of their Road Rager event, but the show didn’t stop for the fans live in attendance after the cameras finished rolling.
In the main event of the show, The Young Bucks captured the AEW World Tag Team Championships for the second time, dispatching of Jurrasic Express, and post-match, Christian Cage turned heel on
the former Champions.
Appearing after the show, Tony Khan apologised for Café’s actions, and announced multiple matches for this Friday’s Rampage.
It was confirmed that Jon Moxley will face Dante Martin, Jade Cargill will defend her TBS Title against Willow Nightingale, Max Caster & Gunn Club will battle Ruffin It and Darby Allin will take on Bobby Fish.
Interestingly, Khan made no reference to Jeff Hardy or his situation, as the AEW President is looking to move forward with his show, without any reference to the controversial yet popular wrestler.
In the summer of 2020, Sonya Deville avoided a kidnapping attempt after a fan came to her home with all the tools to take the WWE Superstar by force.
The shock of the incident and the subsequent legal battle led to Deville taking months off WWE TV and even longer away from the ring, and the former MMA fighter has said that the memory of what
happened continues to haunt her.
Speaking to Forbes this week, Deville said how she’s still not really figured out what’s next for her, but is taking extra preca tions to prevent any incidents like this ever happening again.
She added that she’s “taking it day by day,” and while she loves her fans and loves interacting with them, everyone needs to know where the line is and never to cross it.
Deville realises that she’s put herself in the public spotlight, but that doesn’t mean her boundaries shouldn’t be respected, as the inci dent from nearly two years ago remains fresh in the mind of the
former WWE authority figure.
And we’re ending today with MJF, who hasn’t been seen in some time on AEW programming, but the Salt of the Earth is still causing trouble out of the ring.
This week, daytime star Wendy Williams discussed interacting with MJF at an airport, and their brief meet-up showed just as much of a heel he is.
Williams explained that she was there with her son, a big wrestling fan, who wanted nothing more than to get a photo with the AEW star:
I was very nice and I tapped him gently on the leg. And I said, ‘Excuse me, are you the famous wrester MJF?’ He snapped back, he said, ‘No!’ So I said, ‘Okay, well do people tell you that you look
like the famous wrestler MJF?’ Then he snapped back and went, ‘ Yes!’ and he put his headphones on and turned away from me.” Williams’ son never got his picture, though it sounds like he was
kind of pleased to get to experience MJF’s heel work in person, as the Dynamite Diamond Ring winner proves why he’s considered one of the best heels today.