Here's More wrestling news for April 23rd 2021
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And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE Makes Big Changes To Talent Relations Department!
Interesting News About WWE’s Decision To Break The Undisputed ERA!
AEW Has Big Plans For Blood & Guts Match!
Former TNA President Dixie Carter’s Home Was Caught On Fire! Update On Carter’s Situation!
WWE Developing Anime Series With Crunchyroll!
"This Kid Can Get It All Together" - Triple H Showers WWE Superstar With Praise!
John Cena Reveals What Vince McMahon Thinks About Him Leaving WWE For Acting!
Why WWE Wants Bad Bunny Again In WWE?
Triple H Offered A New Role For Kurt Angle In WWE! And More!
We’re starting this video with WWE, who shook up their rosters last week with the release of ten Superstars, but their talent
relations department has also undergone a major change. PW Insider reports that Nicole Zeoli, WWE’s
Director of Talent Relations since 2018 is no longer with WWE, eleven years after joining. WWE referee John Cone has also lot his spot
in talent relations, where he served as a senior manager, but will remain as a referee for the company.
As mentioned previously, Mark Carrano has reportedly been fired, after it was revealed that he’s the one responsible for sending the
personal effects of released Superstars in trash-bags. PW Insider also reported that more departures
could’ve taken place, but they were unable to confirm more. It wasn’t too long ago that WWE shook up
their talent relations department by bringing back John Lauriniatis, and with Carrano gone, the former RAW GM is the sole
head-honcho in this department for the time being.
Speaking of major changes, Kyle O’Reilly is enjoying his singles push after the Undisputed Era was shockingly broken up, and according
to O’Reilly himself, this was a last-minute decision. Speaking on Sean Waltman’s podcast,
O’Reilly said the decision to split the group did suck at first, but it was a decision made “literally within hours” of it playing out on
on-screen at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. Given that O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole in an epic Unsanctioned match during Stand and
Deliver, it seems a reunion, if it ever comes, won’t be for a very long time, allowing O’Reilly to enjoy his new cool Kyle gimmick.
On Instagram the former NXT Tag Champion addressed fans who are comparing him to AEW’s Orange Cassidy, and joked that
apparently nobody else can wear a denim jacket in wrestling. O’Reilly explained that the clothes he’s
wearing have a story to them, and that he’s just trying to express himself, and for now, the real Kyle O’Reilly wears denim jackets,
regardless of what anyone else says.
AEW news now, and the company has got big plans for their upcoming Blood and Guts match.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Melter reported that the match on May 5th, will likely be the only live-match on the show,
though it could include pre-taped segments. It’ll be interesting to see how the match goes, a year after the Elite was meant to face the
Inner Circle, and whilst Cody Rhodes couldn’t bring the wargames name to AEW, as WWE owns those copyrights, he’s doing
the best he can with this match between the Inner Cirlce and the Pinnacle.
Impact news, and former company CEO Dixie Carter had a narrow escape this week, as her house in Nashville was saved from a fire.
On Twitter, Carter thanked the Nashville fire department, and a Good Samaritan that called when she saw flames, saying the house was
saved thanks to their quick-thinking. We at Slat Rock are sending our best wishes to Carter and her family, as they look to come
back from any damage caused by the fire before it was quickly extinguished.
Over the years, WWE have had plenty of animated projects, from teaming with Scooby Doo to Camp WWE, but now a new project
could take things to the next level. Yesterday, WWE President Nick Khan confirmed during a company earnings call
that WWE will team with the popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll to produce a WWE branded Anime, saying:
“As we continued to expand WWE’s brand beyond the ring, we remained focused on developing the slate of original programming
from WWE Studios. We sold a multi-episode anime series to Crunchyroll, which is now owned by Sony.”
The world of wrestling and anime are no strangers, as Jushin Thunder Liger got his name and gimmick from an anime of the
name and we’re sure that known CrunchyRoll users like Xavier Woods, Keith Lee and others will be excited at the prospect of
becoming anime characters themselves very soon.
With his interesting look and talent in the ring, Damian Priest could fit right in an anime setting, as the Archer of Infamy has received
a major push in recent months. Joining the main-roster, Priest was booked in one of WrestleMania’s most high-profile
matches alongside Bad Bunny, The Miz and John Morrison, and a lot of this success is down to Triple H.
Speaking on ESPN’s Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, the Game, who oversaw Priest’s development in NXT, had praise for the former
North American Champion, saying: "I looked at Damian Priest, I've seen him for years, and I thought 'man this kid is- he's
talented. Everything I know and have heard about him, are positives on all levels. Then he came in to work with us, I remember,
at a little bit of an older age right, but I was like 'Man, this kid can get it all together.' Triple H said "But when I met him and started
working with him, I'm like 'Man, He's just like a sponge', he's just never had anyone help him get to where he needed to be. Once that
light bulb started going off for him, I was like 'This is a game changer for him', He's a little bit older but he's in good shape. He's finally
getting the opportunity to put all those pieces together because he wasn't afraid of the change and that challenge."
With Bad Bunny gone for the time being, Priest will have to figure out what’s next for him on RAW, but with Triple H one of his
most vocal supporters, things are looking good for the former North American Champion.
Whilst Priest’s main-roster run is just getting started, John Cena’s is winding down, as the 16-time WWE World Champion, like his
old adversary The Rock, has forged a path in Hollywood. It’s Cena’s movie commitments that are
reason he hasn’t wrestled In over a year, and missed WrestleMania 37, and while speaking to Bleacher Report, John said that
Vince McMahon is “empathetic” toward his decision to become an actor. He said:
The guy who runs the joint isn’t saying, ‘Screw it, get down here! It’s on a weekend, I know you’re not working!’ He approaches
those choices with empathy, saying, ‘This is a great opportunity for you, John. You’re always a part of this family, and if you do well,
we all do well. After making his name in WWE, Cena’s career is thriving outside the company, and fans will
soon be able to see a lot more of him as Peacemaker in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, as well as the HBO series he’s filming.
All this success does mean that Cena’s days as a wrestler are unquestionably coming to an end, but it’s good to hear that Vince McMahon
understands why Big Match John can’t be around as often.
WrestleMania news next, as Bad Bunny impressed fans with his performance during night-one, where he teamed with Damian
Priest to defeat The Miz and John Morrison, and the numbers prove WWE were right to bring him in.
Not only does Bunny break records in music, such as the record he broke with his recent ticket sales, but he also did big things for
WWE in terms of their Hispanic viewers. During a conference call, Stephanie McMahon said how any RAW appearances
featuring the hip-hop rapper saw a 31% increase in Hispanic persons 18-34, and that his social media engagements during
his storyline equalled nearly 700 million. Bunny has been praised by everyone he came into contact with in WWE, from Triple H
to Randy Orton to Damian Priest and even the Miz. As one of the biggest names in current music,
it may be difficult for Bad Bunny to work a WWE return into his busy schedule, but odds are he will be back after getting bitten
by the pro wrestling bug in a big way.
WrestleMania week also marked the end of the Wednesday Night Wars, as NXT is now on Tuesday Nights, thanks to NBC-Universal
moving a lot of it’s sports content thanks to the ending of the NBC Sports Network, though AEW have taken credit for ‘scaring’
NXT off Wednesday Nights. One person pleased to see the Wars end is Eric Bischoff, who’s appeared on WWE and
AEW programming in the past year, and said on his 83-weeks podcast that it was great to see WWE move to Tuesdays, claiming the
move has worked out for them with increased viewing figures. Bischoff also said how the move has
worked out for AEW, who’s first post-War Dynamite got 1.2 million viewers, their second highest ever, as it seems this move
has worked out for everyone involved.
And we’re ending this video with Kurt Angle, who recently ruled out a possible appearance in AEW, citing ongoing projects he has with
WWE. On his podcast, Kurt didn’t explain what these ongoing projects are, but he has
explained some plans the two parties had that ultimately fell through.
During an ‘Ask Kurt Anything’ Q&A session on AdFreeShows, Angle claimed that he was asked by Triple H to conduct training sessions
at the Performance Center. He said: He wanted me to come down once a month to NXT. Nothing transpired from it, but you know,
maybe in the future, there might be some possibility. I like training people. I just don’t have a lot of time right now to do it.
Angle also joked that despite the ongoing situation, which has kept people in their homes for months at a time, that he’s somehow
still kept very busy. As a former WWE Champion, King of the Ring, Grand Slam Winner and Olympic Gold
Medalist, we can’t think of many better people to train WWE’s next generation of Superstars than Kurt Angle, and WWE
would be wise to keep the Olympian around for a training session, if his schedule ever frees up.