Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk MECHANEWS - I am Luke Owen.
And why yes, I am sporting the new Oooh Wendy t-shirt available now from WrestleTalkShop.com
- thank you for noticing! It is rather fetching, and available in all sorts of sizes. From
the very biggest to the very smallest.
And speaking of the biggest to the smallest - segue - and this week saw Big Shot threaten
AOP manager and 205 Live General Manager (though I’m not sure they’re the same character?)
Drake Maverick so much that he pissed his pants. Hilarity ensued. This of course was
followed up on Monday Night Raw - about the only storyline from Survivor Series that was
actually followed up on - but Big Show didn’t mention it on Smackdown. And that could be
because, it turns out, Show had no idea who Maverick was before Survivor Series.
In an interview with Busted Open Radio, Show revealed that Maverick was tweeting him to
promote the Survivor Series match between The Bar and AOP and was using fighting words.
“The guy that’s the manager of that tag team, what is it, AOP? DRAKE, whatever his
name is, he keeps popping up in my social media feed talking trash. And I’m like ‘what’s
this dude’s issue. He needs to take my name out of his mouth.’ You know what I mean?
I’ve dated women bigger than him, he needs to shut up.” That was a spot on impersonation.
Show was so annoyed by these tweets he called the WWE office to ask if this was someone
backstage that he needed to have a serious word with, and they had to tell him that he
was a character on TV and this was all part of their Survivor Series feud. Show adds:
“Well, I didn’t know he was on the show. For the longest time, I thought he was one
of the writers backstage… We’ve got some talent that looks like they ought to be writers
and some writers that are in better shape than the talent. I’m all confused, I don’t
know what to do.” So I guess we can add Big Show’s name alongside Jerry Lawler in
the “is on TV but doesn’t actually watch the product” category
Perhaps Show will remember the name Lars Sullivan, who we’re being told by WWE is coming soon.
To what brand is anyone’s guess as it was played on both Raw and Smackdown this week
- and he’s scheduled for a match with Keith Lee next week on NXT. He is being called up,
however, and Dave Meltzer has reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter,
“There is no specific destination or major program formulated, but the plan is for him
to get a super push. He is the Vince McMahon kind of guy.” So what you’re telling me
is that Vince McMahon has an affinity for large perspiring blokes? I feel like there’s
a joke there somewhere in all of this…. Ah forget about it, it’s probably not that
funny. But Lars might not be the only NXT call-up
on the horizon.
Despite only being in NXT for a cup of rather pricey coffee, it’s being reported that
EC3 is on the cards for a main roster call-up. Not only that, but he was supposed to be called
up after Summerslam before plans changed. Mike Johnson of PWInsider noted on one of
their latest Elite Audio podcasts that the plan was to call up EC3 after NXT TakeOver:
Brooklyn IV - where he lost to Velveteen Dream. According to Johnson, EC3 was never set for
a long stint in the developmental brand to begin with, but sadly a concussion he suffered
in that Dream match scuppered his post-Summerslam call-up plans.
Johnson reports that WWE are now just waiting for the right time and storyline to bring
him up, adding that “the entire makeup of NXT is going to change in the upcoming year”.
...What the hell was that? Well that was the second annual Eli Drake
Gravy Train Turkey Trot match from last night’s Thanksgiving special of Impact Wrestling - which
the whole show was built around. I’ll be honest, I thought this was going to be the
episode where Raven returned to Impact Wrestling. So essentially I was like this for the whole
show: For the last few weeks here on the MECHANEWS
we’ve been talking about Impact Wrestling’s deal with PopTV and when that could come to
an end. Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Impact
will likely stay on Pop until the first quarter of 2019, even though the channel has bumped
them to the later 10pm slot. And PWInsider have added that Impact have been in talks
to move their weekly TV show to WGN America - who hosted the All In pre-show - TruTV - the
home of Impractical Jokers - and SyFy - who used to host Smackdown and WWE’s ECW revival.
But perhaps we won’t see the former Impact World Champion Austin Aries on the show when
it does move next year. Aries’ contract expired after Bound For Glory last month,
which saw him drop the World Championship to Johnny Impact and then flip off Don Callis
and the crowd as he walked to the back, no selling the finish. Several outlets had reported
that if Aries wasn’t at the recent Las Vegas Impact tapings - as that’s where he lives
- then it would be likely that he is officially done with the company and the ending of Bound
For Glory was not an angle. However Dave Meltzer has reported in the latest Wrestling Observer
Newsletter that Aries was backstage for one of the Las Vegas Impact tapings, however “Right
now there are no plans for him although that could change tomorrow.”
Which brings us nicely to… And this week’s Wrestler You Know in a film
you (probably) don’t know is current Impact World Champion Johnny Impact/Morrison/Mundo
- featuring in the straight-to-DVD release 20 Ft Below: The Darkness Descending - which
also stars the legendary Danny Trejo. The film is directed by Marc Clebanoff and is
about a documentary filmmaker who enters into abandoned New York Subway tunnels and stumbles
upon a whole world of darkness - including ex-cop Jake, Danny Trejo’s Angel and a couple
of gang members - one of which is Johnny Impact - or Former WWE Champion John Morrison as
he’s credited in the film’s trailer. Former WWE Champion, eh? 20 Ft Below was released
on DVD in 2014, and Aint It Cool News called it, “dull in parts” while HorrorNews.net
said it was, “essentially one cliché after another strung together until they approximate
something you might run into on the Lifetime channel.”
We are currently nearing the three year anniversary of AJ Styles finding his way to WWE, debuting
at the 2016 Royal Rumble. Fightful are reporting that Styles is one of the several WWE stars
who’s deals are set to expire in January 2019 - which one would assume would also include
Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as they all left New Japan Pro Wrestling at
the same time. According to Fightful, Styles is looking to negotiate a new deal that would
look like the one Randy Orton has - where he would work TV tapings but not as many live
dates, with one source saying that AJ requested he drop the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan
as holding it means he has to be on the road away from his family.
Fightful add that Styles is in a good position, as WWE stock is up from where it was at the
start of the year thanks to the Saudi Arabia deals as well as the new television contract
from Fox - and many stars backstage are looking to get a pay increase while negotiating new
deals. According to the report, Styles knows he has other non-WWE options and he can use
these as leverage while negotiating - something that could become even more interesting given
the news this week about All Elite Wrestling and those two WWE stars who have reportedly
already agreed to join the new promotion next year.
Someone who could also be negotiating a new WWE deal is the current Universal Champion
Brock Lesnar. The Beast surprisingly picked up Raw’s main championship back at Crown
Jewel when many expected he would be out the door so he could train for his UFC fight that
is rumoured to happen in the first quarter of 2019 - though Dana White has recently said
he’s not sure if that match will take place - however other outlets are reporting that
Lesnar is currently scheduled to work Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, but not TLC, Elimination
Chamber, Fastlane or anything post-Mania. When Lesnar won the belt a few stories went
around saying that Brock could hold onto the Universal Championship until WrestleMania
- where he would then lose it to Braun Strowman . However it was announced on Raw that if
Braun beats Baron Corbin at TLC he would get to face Brock for the championship at Royal
Rumble - which is rumoured to be the direction so long as Braun is cleared to compete following
his bone spur surgery. So if Lesnar is facing Strowman at Royal Rumble,
where does that leave him going into WrestleMania? Well according to Dave Meltzer in the latest
Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “Lesnar is right now scheduled to face Seth Rollins at
WrestleMania.” Meltzer notes that he hasn’t been told that Strowman is winning the Championship
at the Rumble, so this could be either a title match or just a single’s match, but he does
write, “Lesnar vs. Rollins is scheduled to play off Roman Reigns in some fashion,
so Reigns’ name and illness are scheduled to continue to be used in storyline going
forward.” And making predictions on WrestleMania will
soon actually mean something here at WrestleTalk..
…as we introduce WrestleTalk’s new prediction system: WrestleLeague!
We’re going to be tallying up all the correct predictions for major wrestling events up
to and including the Royal Rumble - which includes TLC, Wrestle Kingdom and Impact Homecoming
- where the person with the least correct predictions will have to record a wrestling
entrance theme cover of the SWAFT Nation’s choosing. Previous covers have included #PotatoThrower
and Stephanie McMahon - so which track could be next?
And following NXT TakeOver: War Games and Survivor Series, I can reveal that I am currently
bottom of the table with 7, behind Laurie Blake’s 8 and Oli Davis’ 9.
But, in the larger scheme of things, we’re not very good, as the full table of WrestleTalk.com
writers has Andy Datson at the top with 12. Andy, you might remember, is the guy who filled
in for myself and Laurie on the Evolution WrestleRamble review... and is also the guy
who’s in charge of putting everyone’s scores together.
I’m totally sure there’s nothing untoward there at all.
Have you bought the latest WrestleTalk merchandise? Click the icon on screen to be taken there
right now! And check out Laurie and myself talk about this week’s NXT in the WrestleRamble.
I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.