Here's your News for August 14th 2020 3 Big Stars Released By AEW! A New Video Of Lars Sullivan Resurfaces! Summerslam Changes! WWE News! 2 00:00:03,603 --> 00:00:05,605 And your headlines for today include
3 Big Names Released By AEW!
Shocking Original Plans For The Cage Revealed By Erick Rowan!
WWE Gives A Major Health Update About Keith Lee; An Upsetting NEWS For Fans!
WWE Planning For A Major Change For Summerslam Title Match!
Nikki Cross Drops A New Video And Explains Her Actions!
A New Video Of Lars Sullivan Resurfaces!
WWE Possibly Snags Big Orlando Venue For SummerSlam & Future Television Content!
MJF’s cameo on WWE NXT was referenced on AEW Dynamite And MORE!
We’re kicking off with some AEW news today as the company has reportedly made some big releases.
According to Dave Meltzer, both Jimmy Havoc and Bea Priestly have been let go, with their profiles also
being removed from the company’s website, though no explanation for this has been given.
It wasn’t too long ago that Havoc faced claims on conduct, which led to
AEW releasing a statement saying that he was undergoing therapy for his health issues and
problems. The last time fans saw him in the ring was during the June 16th Dynamite,
where he teamed with Kip Sabian to lose to the Young Bucks, whilst Priestly’s last appearance was back
in March where she teamed with Nyla Rose, and she’s been stuck overseas due to the ongoing global situation.
These two aren’t the only ones cut from the company, as Sadie Gibbs confirmed on Twitter that she’ been
let go due to undisclosed circumstances. Like Havoc and Priestly, Gibbs
name was removed from AEW’s website, and she added on Twitter that she wishes she’d had more
time to showcase her character. Time will tell where Havoc, Priestly and Gibbs go from here, as with the
current situation in the U.S showing no signs of slowing down, finding work for a wrestler will be a difficult
tasks. We’re focusing on former WWE Superstar Rowan now, as the former
SmackDown Tag Champion has spoken about his final few months w ith the company.
Before his departure, fans will remember Rowan carrying something to the ring, which turned out to be
a large spider, and whilst the gimmick never went anywhere, Rowan spoke to Sportskeeda this week about the
original plans. He said:
“Originally it was pitched that it would be a rodent or a rat and it was going to be killed by the babyface
Champion to show that I had cared about something and that babyface turned heel, so that didn’t work.
Well ok, then I asked them what is it now, then they just kept extending it, extending it and extending it.”
He added that his idea was to get a bigger cage and put actress Jyoti Amge from American Horror Story
in there, with the idea being that Rowan was protecting her, though obviously, that didn’t happen.
Instead, fans waited for months to see a big, albeit fake-looking Spider in Rowan’s cage, and after a
disappointing reveal that didn’t go down well with fans, the former Tag Champion was released this past
April. Over to NXT now, and there’s an update on the condition of NXT
Champion Keith Lee following this week’s fireball attack by Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
After the show, Lee’s girlfriend and fellow Superstar Mia Yim confirmed he’d been taken to a nearby medical
facility, and now WWE has shared an update, saying that he’s left ER, but is still experiencing some blurred
vision. Their report added that the NXT Champion is still expected to defend
his title against Kross at TakeOver 30, though they’ll continue to monitor his condition.
Kross has had his eyes on the NXT Championship ever since Lee won the gold from Adam Cole, and with
this latest attack and Scarlett by his side, it may be just a matter of days before a new champion is crowned.
Fans will be able to watch TakeOver 30 next Saturday on the WWE Network, and that’s not the only big
thing coming to the streaming service. After months of speculation, it’s been confirmed that independent
wrestling shows will be coming to the streaming service, with Evolve, xWx, PROGESS and
Insane Championship Wrestling all coming soon.
Sports Illustrated were the first to report that the company had purchased the tape libraries of
of these promotions, which was later confirmed by WWE themselves.
This new content will start airing on the Network tomorrow, and will include Best of Specials for NXT
Champion Keith Lee and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Despite rumours that indie content
would only be available for fans paying a higher amount, this content will now be for the standard price
of 9.99 a month, as the company has reportedly scrapped plans for a tiered Network.
We’re not sure if this new content will lead to a rise in subscriptions of the WWE Network, but now fans
are subscribed will be getting more bang for their buck.
We’re looking ahead to Summerslam now, and though Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles doesn’t have a
match for the show yet, that could soon change. According to PW Insider, Styles is
slated to face Jeff Hardy at the Biggest Party of the Summer, and though this should be a great match,
the company doesn’t have look to get the wheels in motion. It’s also been reported that this
Styles-Hardy feud was originally planned for the episode that was meant to be taped last week, though
that taping was cancelled.
Despite rumours that Matt Riddle would be challenging for the gold, it seems the King of Bros will keep
feuding with King Corbin, and though many expected Big E’s singles run to culminate with a possible IC title
match, fans can look forward to seeing the Phenomenal One and the Charismatic Enigma face off next
Sunday. More SmackDown news next, as Alexa Bliss is ready to tell-all about
her recent involvement with the Fiend.
Two weeks ago, the former Women’s Champion was attacked by Bray Wyatt’s alterego, though last week,
Bliss was able to escape another attack, seemingly by showing him affection.
Now, Bliss will have an interview on tonight’s edition of SmackDown, and it’ll be interesting to see what
the Petite Powerhouse has to say about the Fiend, Universal Champion Braun Strowman, and
where she fits in their feud. This week’s SmackDown will also Strowman confront Wyatt,
as well as Big E continue his singles run against John Morrison.
Tonight’s show will also see a triple- brand battle royal, with the winner receiving a SmackDown Women’s
title match at Summerslam, and fans will have to see who challenges the role Model Bayley next Sunday.
With Bliss being involved in the Strowman-Wyatt feud, fans haven’t seen much of Nikki Cross, who
seems to have had a frosty relationship with her bestie as of late.
After all, it was only moments before Bliss was attacked by the Fiend that she was shoved down by
Cross, who was clearly frustrated after coming up short in her pursuit of the SmackDown Women’s title.
Taking to Twitter, Cross explained how she’s been feeling, saying:
I keep replaying it over and over in my head, pushing Alexa down like that. I think I just let the obsession
of becoming SmackDown women’s champion get to me too much. I left my best friend like that. I left
my best friend… and for what? I didn’t win. So what was it all for? And I just… I just want to talk to her so badly.
I just want to tell her I’m sorry I did this and this is all on me, all of it. I left my best friend alone and vulnerable.
There’s a lot of ways this storyline could go from here, as it’s possible that Cross will also be part of the
Fiend-Strowman-Bliss angle, and this is all building to what should be an interesting Universal title match
at Summerslam.
One person fans won’t see at Summerslam is Lars Sullivan, who resurfaced this week after a lengthy
hiatus from WWE’s radar. Once thought of as Vince McMahon’s next top monster, an anxiety
attack derailed his debut earlier this year, and cost him a feud with John Cena leading into WrestleMania.
After debuting, past comments from Sullivan containing h messages were
made public, and following a knee injury and his past in the industry also being made public,
Sullivan was no-longer being discussed backstage. Now though, the Freak has
re-emerged on Social Media, as he took to Instagram to post some videos of his training, including lifting 600lbs.
Whilst any plans for Sullivan to be a top monster may be gone, The Freak is still in great shape, and we’ll
have to see what WWE does with him when he’s able to return.
Now, it’s no secret that WWE is itching to get out of their Performance Center, and it now
looks like that may have happened. Recently, WrestleVotes teased that the company is looking
at using Orlando’s Amway Center, and when though a rep for the venue told them that they’re closed until
2021, they added that if something was finialised recently, they wouldn’t know yet, so it’s a possibility.
A different source from WWE also said that the company is not just hoping on using the Amway Center
for Summerslam, but also for other events going forward, which means that limited fans could eventually
return to WWE’s shows. With a capacity of 18,846, even having the arena being a quarter full
would mean over 4500 fans would be there, far more than what WWE has at the moment at the Performance
Center. Like everything right now though, any plans to host Summerslam or
or other events outside the Performance Center could change, though Superstars are reportedly
very happy with this news, as WrestleVotes reported:
Strong sense of enthusiasm at the Performance Center today… All TVs after this coming Monday’s RAW
will indeed be live and from the Amway Center in Orlando. Some normalcy on the horizon.
Hopefully, this will mark the beginning of things going back to normal for WWE, as the company is relying
on their ratings picking up, when they get back in front of real fans.
Over to AEW now, and this week’s show saw a special segment from MJF, that only the most eagle-
eyed of fans recognised. During the show, the cocky heel was shown walking backstage,
and when Lee Johnson got a bit ahead of him, MJF shoved him back to make sure he knew his place.
Online, fans pointed out that this was in-fact a reference to MJF’s brief appearance at NXT TakeOver:
Brooklyn 2 in 2016, when he played a security guard that walked ahead of then-NXT Champion
Samoa Joe, leading Joe to shove MJF back, just like he’d do to Johnson years later.
It was a fun little reference for MJF to show off how far he’s come, and given that he’ll be facing
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley for the title at ALL OUT, he may soon be the one walking
backstage with gold over his shoulder.
Speaking of AEW, the company had almost double their usual amount of fans for Dynamite this week,
which led to some new safety protocols in place.
With full security outside the venue and metal detectors and checks upon arrival, the
company took things seriously, as they also socially-distanced fans on every other row.
One person who experienced these protocols first-hand was Chris Jericho, who used WWE’s own
segment to tout Dynamite win over NXT in the ratings.
Posting a picture of Keith Lee’s burn, Jericho pointed out the .32 rating Dynamite did compared to
NXT’s .16, as the DemoGod is once again very pleased to be on TNT instead.
And we’re ending today with some excellent news concerning NXT Superstar Shotzi Blackheart.