Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News, I am Luke Owen.
Press the thumbs up, and leave your comment below as I’ll be replying to as many as
I can for the first 15 minutes of this video going live.
Zack Ryder was at one point the most popular wrestler on the WWE roster.
His show Z!
True Long Island Story had given Ryder cult-like appeal, with We Want Ryder chants filling
arenas around the world during matches he wasn’t a part of.
Sadly WWE never thought to capitalise on this momentum - presumably because he got himself
over on Twitter and YouTube before WWE knew what they were and thought Tout was the future
- and he quickly faded into the lower midcard and the crowd stopped caring.
Ryder hasn’t been on Raw or Smackdown since April this year, and hasn’t featured in
a PPV match since the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania pre-show.
He was moved to Raw in the Superstar Shake-Up, and has become a staple part of Main Event
- a show I imagine many of you didn’t know existed.
Well, according to Barnburner, things could be looking up for Ryder.
As he’s reportedly set to elevate up from Main Event… to 205 Live...
I mean it’s not a major jump but it’s at least something.
Barnburner are reporting that Zack Ryder is being considered to be the next name after
Mike Kanellis to move from Main Event to the 205 Live brand.
What do you think SWAFTNation?
Is Zack Ryder going over to 205 Live a good thing for him?
Let us know in the poll above my head, and Oli will read out the result in tomorrow’s
news.
Former 205 Live wrestler Austin Aries found himself in the headlines yesterday after his
match with Johnny Impact at Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory 2018.
Aries lost his Impact World Championship to Impact - but as soon as the bell rang he got
to his feet, flipped off colour commentator and Impact management member Don Callis before
walking out up the ramp swearing at the fans.
This moment has overshadowed the match itself, and has left a few people asking whether this
was a work, a shoot or something in between akin to WCW’s Bash at the Beach 2000.
Both myself and El Fakidor Laurie Blake said in our WrestleRamble review that we believed
it was a work, but Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live has said it could be a work
that turned into a shoot but is also still a work, much love HH.
In the week leading up to Bound For Glory, Impact posted a tweet that called Aries short.
This reportedly got Aries mad as he doesn’t like people making fun of his height - and
he responded by calling Impact’s wife Taya Valkyrie “husky”.
This led to a battle of words on Twitter which were all taken down at the request of Imapact
Wrestling.
Bryan Alvarez speculates that the brawl at Abyss’ Hall of Fame induction was planned,
but it got out of hand which led to a team member of the PPV sponsor getting knocked
over, which Alvarez reports upset Anthem Sports greatly.
But is Aries really gone from Impact?
Well, according to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live: “Austin Aries has gone home.
He’s is not going to be on TV for as long as they tape.
He was not fired to the best of my knowledge.”
Former X Division Champion and current Impact Wrestling producer Petey Williams on the other
hand told Dennis Farrell on the Wrestling Perspective podcast that this isn’t a work
at all, saying, “Austin Aries' contract is done.
That match was his last match under contract with Impact.”
What we do know for sure is that, as Alvarez reported, Aries was not at the TV tapings
- with his cohorts Moose and Killer Kross having matches with Tommy Dreamer, KM and
Fallah Bah.
According to reports, Johnny Impact cut a promo about how “this is a crazy business”,
which led to a match with Fenix for the Championship.
Aries wasn’t mentioned at all.
However Alvarez has speculated - speculated not reported - that this might not be the
end of the story.
“My belief is that this is all an angle, he's been sent home and then at some point
down the road he's going to do the big invasion comeback deal and that's where it's all going
to go.”
Maybe if Aries really is done with Impact Wrestling, he could head back to WWE.
However he might be part of an unhappy locker room.
The reports of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi have dominated mainstream news headlines over
the last few days, and has become a hot topic in the wrestling world due to WWE’s 10-year
deal with the Saudi Arabian government - who are accused of plotting to detain and kill
Khashoggi after he was vocally critical of them in his work for the Washington Post.
Despite pressures from the political landscape, WWE appear to be moving ahead with Crown Jewel
on November 2nd - which is being headlined by a Universal Championship triple threat
and Shawn Michaels first WWE match in eight and a half years.
PWInsider first reported that WWE were still working on their travel plans for Crown Jewel,
with Dave Meltzer adding, “unless the state department tells them they can’t go or Donald
Trump tells them they can’t go, they’re going.”
But although Vince McMahon appears to be determined to do this show, Bryan Alvarez reported on
Wrestling Observer Live over the weekend, “I can't say every wrestler, but many wrestlers
don't want to go.”
This has since been backed up by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, who reported: “Speaking
on the condition of anonymity, multiple members of the WWE talent roster have expressed discomfort
with the idea of performing in Saudi Arabia, especially given the nation’s poor record
with human rights”.
Now it should be noted that Barrasso hasn’t had the squeakiest of track record when it
comes to his backstage WWE reporting.
However Sports Illustrated is a much larger news platform than a lot of sites reporting
on WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.
And as such, WWE have released a statement on the claims that their talent is unhappy
about working Crown Jewel - telling WrestlingInc, “As always, we maintain an open line of
communication with our performers, as we continue to monitor the situation.”
Watch Oli Davis’ review of Raw in about 4 minutes by clicking the video on screen
right now, and get your tickets to see WrestleRamble live at the Prince Charles Cinema this November
by clicking the image.
I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.