Across their NXT brands WWE has the best women’s division in the world and it is going from
strength to strength with this latest signing.
Legendary Japanese star Meiko Satomura has now been confirmed to have signed with the
E and will be joining NXT UK after it was reported as a possibility back in October
A promo package for her aired on last night’s episode after Kay Lee Ray said that after
a year on top of the division she wanted to face the best in the world.
Meiko clearly took that as a challenge saying “Be Prepared” - new Lion King based gimmick
incoming.
I can see it now with the hyenas… and not so subtle facist references…
Triple H took to Twitter to react to the news calling the signing “an absolute game changer”
- you can never sure if he’s referring to himself in the third person though.
Satomura had a brief appearance in WWE during the Mae Young Classic back in 2018 and then
returned to the independent circuit and Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling where she will reportedly
retain her role as president.
This new position at WWE is as both a ‘player and a coach’ so expect all the NXT UK women
to be kicking each other in the head for the next sixth months.
Obviously signing overseas talent in the UK or US is a tricky business given the current
state of the universe because just like taking veg into Australia, customs just aren’t
having it mate.
And with the Royal Rumble looming WWE would be looking to fly folks in from all over the
place in order to pad 60 spaces worth of surprises - especially on the women’s side because
unless they use ALL of NXT too they just don’t have the numbers.
So it’s interesting then that PW Insider have confirmed that WWE has filed a lawsuit
against US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the district of Connecticut.
Immigration attorney Martine G. Cuomo filed the suit on behalf of the company, Cuomo is
a partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy the world’s largest firm dedicated to corporate
immigration.
An electronic summons was issued on January 27th to Immigration Services and an answer
is required in 60 days.
The current contents of the filing are sealed to the public though so we’ll have to wait
and see what this is all about.
But is there potential this is over loss of earnings or costs incurred from talent being
barred entry into the US?
Because one expected appearance could set off a chain reaction of finding and paying
new talent, full rewrites of the show and creative calamity.
Otherwise known as Monday in WWE.
Which is one of those jokes with a grain of truth right in the centre of it because Ringside
News are reporting that they were told that the current flow of information in WWE’s
creative process is the worst it’s ever been.
THE WORST?!?
Wadding up the sweet sweet transfer of ideas is one Bruce Prichard who can supposedly block
opinions from getting to Vince McMahon from nearly everyone except a very small group
of names, who I guess have his phone number?
That group includes Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, who probably just ask him questions
at family dos, Kevin Dunn, Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman and Daniel Bryan.
I’m not exactly sure how Pritchard is gatekeeping opinions from reaching Vince, tbh I’d love
to know as someone who works on the internet this could be a handy anti-troll skill.
But saying that I think the last few years of WWE programming have proven that it is
not good to create an echo chamber around the boss, especially one who already thinks
his ideas are the best, the big F off button that makes the crowd cheer can’t be helping.
But credit where it’s due WWE has managed to listen to the likes Roman and Bryan more
recently who have both come up wit gold: Roman’s tribal chief character and Bryan working with
Nakamura and Cesaro.
Speaking of Daniel Bryan, with only a couple days to go, he is still top of the betting
odds to win the Men’s Royal Rumble this year, which I would like so I can win the
Jampionship.
Bianca Belair is also still top of the women’s list too.
Which I would also like so I could win the Jampionship.
But just three days from the event the other odds have begun to shift, which could indicate
that rumours and reports are coming out of backstage about supposed plans - or just gut
feelings from the betting companies, betting is a lot of gut feeling so I’m told.
After it was announced on Raw that The Rated R superstar is back and entering the Rumble,
Edge shot up to the second best odds to win and over on the women’s side Alexa Bliss,
impervious to damage while possessed, hopped up the rankings to number two too.
Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair are close behind her now.
Depending on how accurate these bets are there’s every chance WWE will change the booking at
the last minute in an effort to swerve fans and keep up the level of surprise and according
to some reports that is heavily being considered.
And they are having a six hour rehearsal on Saturday so it could all be switched then.
So now’s the time to start saying “I heard Goldberg was going to win” within earshot
of WWE in the hopes they swerve on the swerve and go back to Bryan.
With Rhea Ripley now third favourite to win the women’s rumble that might be because
she’s been moved to the main roster properly.
While discussing Rhea Ripley’s status for the Royal Rumble Dave Meltzer said that she
was already “on the main roster”.
And that her debut was supposed to occur “a couple of weeks ago” but was being held
off - because plans are subject to change, and I am getting worried about this Rumble.
Ripley was last seen on NXT being powerbombed through the stage by Raquel Gonzalez in a
feud ending extravaganza and an inevitable follow up clash between her and Charlotte
Flair seems like it’ll be something WWE want to pursue, but obviously Charlotte is
busy trying to reign in her randy dad so we can’t do that yet.
Hopefully when we do get round to it though, WWE does it right this time and gives Rhea
the rub because she could become a major star for them.
That’s something Mick Foley would like to see because he was talking about it on his
Facebook and said that “WWE dropped the ball” with the Ripley vs Charlotte storyline.
Adding: “Despite having an outstanding match at WWE WrestleMania, the loss to Charlotte
greatly slowed the young Australian’s momentum - and with it, the opportunity to be on the
major face of her brand, and that rare transformative wrestler who can attract new fans to the product.”
Charlotte was also meant to attract new fans to the NXT product, but while she managed
to grow the viewing figures slightly, it wasn’t a lasting effect and definitely didn’t put
over new stars as strong as it should have.
Foley summed up WWE’s problem with Flair when talking about the Ripley match saying:
“Charlotte Flair is already one of the greatest performers in WWE and wrestling history....But
she simply did not need that victory at WrestleMania.
Rhea Ripley did.”
The Royal Rumble is famed for its nostalgic cameos, wheeling out the legends of the past
to remind everyone how much better it used to be.
But if The Undertaker had his way, it wouldn’t just be the occasional cameo that’s reverted
to the past, it would be the entire locker room.
As he revealed on his now infamous appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, he prefers a time
when the locker room was more ‘tough’, when people had guns and knives in their bags
instead of playing video games.
Several current wrestlers have indirectly responded to Taker, including Xavier Woods
and Drew McIntyre, but now one of Taker’s most storied rivals from years gone by has
weighed in too on Twitter.
And he doesn’t agree either.
“Today’s professional wrestlers are every bit as tough as the wrestlers of my era were.
Just my opinion.”
But that doesn’t mean that everyone is in disagreement with Taker though, as he’s
found support from none other than the current challenger for the WWE Championship, Goldberg.
Shocking, that.
Appearing on the After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves, Goldberg commented on the locker
room being ‘soft’ these days: “...times are quite different than they
were back then today but people are soft, people take offence to things way too quickly.
Get a little thicker skin, boys and girls, that’s all I can say.
When legends came in when I was in the business, in the beginning, I was greatly appreciative
of the eyes they brought to our product and one day those young kids are going to be just
like me and I hope that karma comes back to bite them in the ass, that’s all I can say.
Because at 54 years old, I don’t know one of them that could be doing what I do.”
As humble as ever, Bill.
But instead of the separation of old and new, what about combining them into one team?
The team of Ricochet and Jeff Hardy lost to Jaxson Ryker and Elias on Main Event, to which
Ricochet seemed to be a bit chipper about the situation, tweeting:
“Say what you all want about #MainEvent but if I get to tag with @JEFFHARDYBRAND and
do my own version of “Poetry In Motion” with him!?
It’s cool with me!”
Before following up with: “Hey @JEFFHARDYBRAND maybe WE should go
after those Tag Titles!?
🤘🏽🤘🏽” But that would be betraying Jeff Hardy’s
true tag team partner, the one who he has forged a legacy with that will be felt for
generations.
I’m talking about the Hardy Bros.
That tag team that WWE saw enough potential in to trademark the name.
And finally today, let’s take a look at the viewership numbers for Wednesday night,
as NXT and AEW Dynamite were remarkably close in viewers.
Dynamite managed to score an average of 734,000 viewers, while NXT managed 720,000.
Interestingly, while NXT won the usual demographic of 50+, they also scored higher in women aged
18-49, and women aged 12-34, possibly due to the Women’s Dusty Classic.
AEW also featured an outage during their broadcast on TNT, meaning there was a black screen for
almost the entirety of the Lance Archer vs Eddie Kingston opening match, which could
have affected the numbers.
There’s potentially a major surprise lined up for the Royal Rumble, click the video to
the right to find out more, and the video below that to watch WrestleTalk’s predictions
for the show, including some major stipulations for the Jam That Jampionship that will be
mine when Everything Will Be Fakidor.
I’ve been El Fakidor Laurie Blake, Jam That Jam.