Here is your news for January 31 2020.
We're starting off with huge news from WWE's corporate side, as longtime
co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson have departed from the company.
Now that they are no longer on the Board of Directors, Frank Riddick III has been
named the interim Chief Financial officer, reporting to Vince McMahon, whilst the
company has commenced a search for both a permanent Chief Financial Officer and
Chief Revenue Offer.
In a statement, McMahon said:
“I would like to thank George and Michelle for their 10+ years of service and
contributions to the organization. I am grateful for all that was accomplished during
their tenure, but the Board and I decided a change was necessary as we have different
views on how best to achieve our strategic priorities moving forward. We have a deep
team of talented, experienced and committed executives across the organization, and
the Board and I have great confidence in our collective abilities to create compelling
content, engage our global fanbase across platforms, increase revenues, and drive
shareholder value.”
This news caused WWE stock to plummet, dropping more than 20 per cent, and the
company is set to reported its Fourth Quarter earnings of 2019, next week on
February 6th.
One person who saw the big change-up was CM Punk, who took to Twitter to jokingly
ask how does he interview for the vacant roles.
Of course, the idea that Punk would be given such a corporate role is ridiculous, but
we can't help but wonder what the interview process is for a job like that.
We're looking ahead to next month now, as the WWE has reportedly locked another
huge name for their Super Showdown event on February 27th in Saudi Arabia.
PWInsider is reporting that Hulk Hogan will be at the event, and this will be the
Hulkster's third trip to Saudi Arabia with the WWE. The report reads:
“WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan is slated to be part of the Thursday 2/27 WWE Super
Showdown in Saudi Arabia, PWInsider.com has confirmed. “
Hogan first appeared at Crown Jewel in 2018 to host the show, and managed Team
Hogan to victory over Team Flair at Crown Jewel 2019.
Time will tell what the Hulkster has planned this time, but expect Hulkamania to be
running wild on Riyadh next month.
From one hall of Famer to another now, as more details have emerged on the new
contract of Edge.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer said that the reported
figure of $3 million a year is accurate, but the report by talkSPORT about the number
of matches he will have is off.
Meltzer noted that thanks to AEW, Edge was able to leverage himself into getting one
of the highest deals in WWE history, which allows over 5 matches a year, and 25 TV
appearances per year.
To put it to scale, Edge is being paid more than most Superstars, but not as much as
Brock Lesnar, and Goldberg was paid $2 million just for his match against The
Undertaker last year.
Both Edge and Daniel Bryan being cleared has made fans wonder who is next, as Hulk
Hogan has spoke about having one final match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania.
The Hulkster has been working hard to get in shape ahead of his Super ShowDown
appearance, and according to Meltzer, Sting's name has also been thrown around for
an appearance in Riyadh.
One man who will be missing the Saudi show though, is AJ Styles, who suffered a nasty
injury during the Men's Royal Rumble match.
Being eliminated by the returning Edge, some fans speculated that it was the Rated-R
Superstar, who had been away from the ring for nearly a decade, who was responsible
for the injury, though Styles refuts the claims.
On his Mixer channel, the former WWE Champion spoke openly about the injury, it
was his own excitement to see Edge back that caused the injury. He said:
“Just so everything is clear, Edge did nothing, absolutely 100% nothing wrong. His
move, his spear, everything was perfect the way he did it. If there is any blame put on
anybody about what I’m dealing with my shoulder it’s me. 100% me. I was
‘over-brothered’ as they say. I just went crazy with my bump there. The only problem
with flipping over the way that I did was the first thing to hit was my left shoulder. And
I thought I had dislocated my shoulder.
They wanted to get me out of there right away and I told them I can’t roll under the
bottom rope. That’s not how the Rumble works. I said ‘I’m staying in, somebody is
going to have to throw me over”
Later on, Styles would see confirm that he had a separated shoulder, but is optimistic
that he will be back before WrestleMania 36.
With WWE's biggest show of the year just nine weeks away, we'll keep up to date on
how Styles recovery is going, and whether he makes it to WrestleMania after all.
We've got some news for tonight's edition of SmackDown, as this week's edition of the
Blue brand will take place at the BOK Center in Tulsa, just two days before the
Superbowl airs on FOX.
Fittingly called Super SmackDown, the show will feature Intercontinental Champion
Shinsuke Nakamura defend his title against Braun Strowman, after the Monster issued
a challenge, following a non-title victory earlier this month.
After the non-title win, Strowman challenged Nakamura then, but Sami Zayn claimed
the King of Strong Style was too busy with the Rumble.
In a rematch from last week, The Usos and Roman Reigns will take on King Corbin,
Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, and this also follows up from the Rumble Pay Per
View, where the Big Dog toppled the King, and also made it to the final two in the
men's Rumble match.
In a fatal-four way tag match, The Miz and John Morrison will face The Revival, the
Lucha House Party and Heavy Machinery, with the winning team getting a shot at the
New Day's SmackDown Tag Titles at Super Showdown on February 27th.
It should be noted that Miz and Morrison have been a thorn in the New Day's side for
the past few weeks, so it's likely that these four will be facing off in Riyadh.
We're stepping outside of the WWE now, as Dave Meltzer has reported that Luke
Harper will sign with AEW, and his debut date may already be set.
Harper, who left the WWE in 2019 after a unique year, may be back on screens in
weeks according to Meltzer, who wrote:
"Jonathan Huber (Luke Harper), 40, is expected to sign here and debut on 3/18 in
Rochester, NY, which is his home town. He’s expected to use his old ring name, Brodie
Lee. He could legally start as early as 2/12 but it’s for the best to debut him in
Rochester where it’s guaranteed to get a big reaction.”
The latest rumors pointed to the former Intercontinental Champion showing interest
with New Japan, and it was back in December that Harper and WWE parted ways after
seven years.
But who would you want to see Brodie Lee feud with in AEW? Let us know in the comments.
Though Luke Harper may be long gone, he wasn't the only person released in
December, as both members of the Ascension were also let go.
Despite this though, the WWE applied for two trademarks on January 24th this year,
and one of those trademarks is 'Viktor', one-half of the Ascension.
After the pair of Connor and Viktor found major success in NXT, holding the gold
brand's tag titles for a year, they were called up to Monday Night RAW in 2015, but
were squandered.
Within weeks of their call-up, the pair were established as jobbers, and never captured
tag team gold before their release in December 2019.
From releases to returns now, as Naomi made her big return during the Women's
Rumble match, but not everyone was a fan of the former Smack Down Women's Champion.
After developing a reputation for being able to stay in the Rumble match, this year
saw Naomi form a bridge from part of the announce table after she was sent over the
top rope but her feet didn't leave the floor, and she simply walked over the bridge to
return to the match.
On F4WOnline, the spot didn't go down well, with those reporting on the match
branding Naomi both an idiot and a "motherf***er" for the spot, causing the athletic
Superstar to snap back on Twitter.
Fellow high-flyer Mustafa Ali also caught what had been said, and commented on
Naomi's athletic ability in the ring, showing that WWE Superstars stick together when
being accosted by rudeness.
Onto NXT news now, and this week's injury report has seen Tommaso Ciampa, Trent
Severn and several members of the Undisputed Era make the unfortunate list.
Starting off, Seven reaggravated his bruised larynx as a result of his match against Finn
Balor on the January 29th episode of NXT, though there was no mention of if he will miss time.
The British Superstar was ambushed by Balor prior to NXT in the parking lot, as the
former Universal Champion has shown he isn't messing around.
From the Undisputed Era, Roderick Strong, Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish were all
attacked on this week's NXT, thanks to an enraged Tommaso Ciampa.
WWE medical ruled that the welts and bruises all three members of the faction
suffered were consistent with being hit with a pipe and no further updates have been
revealed at this time.
Though Ciampa took out all three men, he too made the list, as the injury report
revealed that the Blackheart required three staples to close a wound in his head that
he suffered in a brawl with NXT Champion Adam Cole towards the end of the show.
Often, the injury list is comprised of both serious and kayfabe injuries, as it's become
an effective way to carry on stories, out of the ring.
Heading back to the Royal Rumble now, and behind the shocking return of Edge, and
the epic victory of Drew McIntyre, MVP also had a very memorable week this week, as
he too made an appearance in the Men's Royal Rumble match.
Capping off his return with a match against Rey Mysterio on RAW, the former US
Champion revealed that his match against Rey was his last match with WWE, and also
revealed that he will be finished for good in the ring very soon.
In a follow-up statement, MVP clarified that he hadn't signed a deal with WWE to
return at the Rumble or face Rey, and that he had come back so that his son could see
him wrestle in person, and watch him face his favourite wrestler in Rey Mysterio.
A former United States and Tag Champion, MVP has competed around the world since
his WWE debut in 2006, and the self-professed Franchise Player has clearly earned his retirement.
As we've previously reported, the original plans for the Royal Rumble was for Roman
Reigns and Shayna Baszler to win their respective Rumbles, but obviously that didn't happen.
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Vince McMahon
changed his mind about a week ahead of the Pay Per View, and the Boss' desire to
make the WrestleMania main event as strong as possible led to McIntyre's victory.
In an interview on WWE's The Bump, McIntyre spoke about his win, and the emotional
impact it had on him, saying:
“I honestly didn’t believe I was winning until it happened and my legs just ceased to
work after Roman hit the floor and I heard the reactions. I think I managed a couple of
turns and my leg just gave out on me.”
McIntyre will have to avoid a similar situation during the WWE Championship match at
WrestleMania, as if he slows down for a second, Brock Lesnar will be more than happy
to take advantage of him.
Interestingly, McIntyre was always slated to eliminate Lesnar in the way that he did,
but the belief was that eliminating Lesnar would mean that he didn't have to win the
Rumble, as a feud with the two would still happen, had Roman won the match and
challenged the Fiend for WrestleMania.
Changing the plans was definitely the right call, as fans turned on Roman heavily
following his 2015 Rumble victory, and now both the Universal title and WWE
Championship matches can still take place.
The top women’s matches at WrestleMania will be Shayna Baszler challenging Becky
Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship and Charlotte Flair challenging Rhea Ripley
for the NXT Championship.
There is no word yet on what is planned for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Back to AEW now, and we all know that a pro wrestler's finisher is important to them,
whether it be Bret Hart's Sharpshooter, Stone Cold's Stunner or John Cena's Attitude
Adjustment.
Sometimes though, a finisher will need to be changed for an opponent, and one
person who knows all about that is Jon Moxley, who spoke to Fightful Select about
changing his finisher from a Headlock Driver into a DDT. The report reads:
"I asked him why he changed his finisher from the headlock driver to a DDT. His
answer? Randy Orton was too tall and he didn’t like doing the former to him. “
Nowadays, the Paradigm shirt is the way he ends most of his matches, and it's
interesting to know the little things that can help change a career.
We've got some news from the world of commentary now, as Mauro Ranallo is in a
good place at the moment.
On the Sekeres and Price radio show for TSN 1040 in Vancouver, the Commentator
was asked about leaving social media following Survivor Series in November, after
Corey Graves mocked Ranallo, causing the latter's Bi-Polar disorder to flare up. Ranallo said:
"It was a blessing in disguise. I have nothing really to say about Corey Graves or
anyone else in my professional existence in the sense that everyone is entitled to their
own opinion, everyone is able to critique everyone the way they would. I would never
do something like that to a co- worker but that has been addressed and if anything, I
even publicly thank Corey Graves because he was the straw that broke the proverbial
back in terms of my social media activity and I will say here and now, I have
deactivated all of my social media since November and I would implore everyone,
especially those with mental health issues. Social media is so dangerous to those of us
with mental health conditions and I know in the media and our everyday lives now,
people are being hired and fired by their social media followings or the amount of
information they post or how popular they are.”
Ranallo continued:
“I think it’s a disease. So out of that situation with my colleague, I am no longer on
social media. I will never get back on social media. I can’t tell you how many kids,
people in general, in doing research, there was nothing beneficial to me..... Being in
the media, being a sports commentator for combat sports, I am following as much as I
can, I know as much as I ever did. So for anyone suffering with mental health issues, I
would suggest decreasing, or deactivating your social media.”
Following his commentary at NXT TakeOver WarGames 3, Ranallo was absent from the
2019 Survivor Series Pay Per View, and would go on to delete his Twitter after an
attack by his Bi-Polar disorder.
The 50-year-old combat sports announcer would miss a single episode of NXT to deal
with his condition, before returning to a raucous ovation by the Full Sail crowd, and it's
great to see Mauro in a much better place mentally.
And finally we've got news of the late WWE Hall of Famer Chyna, as the mother of the
former Intercontinental Champion has approved a documentary on the ninth wonder
of the world.
The only authorised documentary on Chyna, her mother Jan LaQue has said her
daughter led a remarkable life, and is pleased to see it be put to film in an accurate
and respectful way.
The film, which will cover Chyna's rise to prominence in the late 90s and early 2000s,
will be produced by Erin Hayes, who also spoke about approaching the topic with
respect, and fans can find out more by visiting TheJoanieLaurerStory.com,
to find out more.