Here's more wrestling news for November 29th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Why Vince McMahon Will Never Sell WWE?
"I Thought My Dad Was Kidding" - RAW Superstar Was Surprised When WWE Booked Him To Face Seth Rollins!
Red Notice Officially Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Movie Ever!
Why Undertaker Was Livid ?
An Unexpected GESTURE From WWE!
Several AEW Contracts Set To Expire Soon
Jaxson Ryker Talks About Departure From WWE! And More!
We’re kicking off with Vince McMahon, the head honcho of professional wrestling, who even at 76, continues to oversee all WWE puts out.
Over the past two years, WWE has been releasing a ton of Superstars, with over 82 names being cut this year alone, leading many
to believe that WWE is trying to look more profitable to appeal to a potential buyer. One man who knows McMahon well is his
old rival Eric Bischoff, and on his 83 weeks Podcast, the former WCW leader explained why he doesn’t believe McMahon will ever sell
to someone else. “Vince holds the legacy of his father and grandfather so highly…Vince holds that legacy,
and that he’s got Stephanie and Shane and by virtue of marriage Triple H, and he’s got grandchildren. I just would believe that,
I’ve always believed that Vince would be far more predisposed to allowing his family to carry on that legacy that means so much to Vince.”
Both McMahon’s father and grandfather, Vince Sr and Jess McMahon respectively, were promoters, and the Chairman respects the legacy he has
and what he can leave for the next generation of McMahons. The idea of McMahon selling up gained serious
steam this year, and it would be the biggest wrestling news story in literally decades if it ever happened, but for now, the Chairman
of the Board remains in firm control of his company.
Dominik Mysterio knows all about having a legacy to live up to, as the son of arguably the greatest masked wrestler to make it big in the
United States, Rey Mysterio. Upon making it as a WWE Superstar, Dominik’s first match was with Seth Rollins, which
came at Summerslam 2020 and saw Rollins get the win. Speaking on the Kurt Angle show, Dominik said
that it was his father who told him that his first match would be with the former Universal Champion, and thought Rey was joking at first.
When Dominik realised his dad was serious, he was pumped for the match, saying that with little over two years of training under his belt
he felt he was ready for this huge match. In the end, Dominik wowed fans at Summerslam, with Vince McMahon himself
praising the young Superstar afterward, can get the reaction he did.
With his debut match exceeding even the wildest expectations, it’s no wonder why both Dominik and Rollins have said that the match was very
special to them, and despite the company not being as interested in Dominik right now, the future remains bright for the young Superstar.
At Survivor Series 2021, the Rock didn’t appear, but there was plenty of promoting his new film Red Notice.
Co-starring alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, this is just the latest blockbuster for the Great One, which is setting new records on Netflix.
Last week, we reported that the film was on track to being the most watched Netflix Original movie of all time, and on Instagram yesterday
The Rock confirmed that the record previously held by Bird Box has now been smashed. The film, also the most expensive Netflix Original
movie ever, hasn’t fared well with critics, who have called it yet another generic action film by the Brahma Bull, but this formula
continues to work out for the former WWE Champion.
In 1993, The Undertaker proved he could be a team player by joining the ‘All Americans’ team at that year’s Survivor Series, and surprised
fans with a one-off attire. During an episode of RAW, The Phenom revealed he was joining the team by opening
up his iconic trenchcoat, revealing the Betsy Ross flag of the United States. Speaking on The Bump this week, The Undertaker
discussed that attire, and how he wasn’t sold on the big reveal. He said: I’m as big a patriot as will come down the road…
But when Vince [McMahon] presented that to me, I was like, ‘There is no way in heck I am gonna walk out there and open my coat with
that flag’. [But] he thought it was so cool…I was like “This is not what The Undertaker does!’”
The Deadman may have not been a fan, but the All-American team of himself, the Steiners and Lex Luger emerged the victors in the main event,
but all these years later, the Undertaker hasn’t donned this pro-America jacket.
Back to the present, as AEW is having to go on without Jon Moxley, after the former World Champion chose to go through inpatient rehab for
his problems with alcohol. This is a decision Moxley made himself, but if he had chosen, the former AEW World
Champion could’ve gone to WWE’s sponsored rehab, which is open for every past and present Superstars
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio this week, Dave Meltzer said that Moxley’s rehab programme didn’t come from WWE, but that the fact
he works for AEW wouldn’t be a problem for Vince McMahon. Meltzer explained that WWE have paid for several
former Superstars when they were in Impact Wrestling, who were considered WWE’s biggest rival before AEW showed up.
There’s no word on when Moxley will be back in the ring, but Tony Khan has said that he’s doing better every single day, and it’s respectable that
him being in AEW would not have been a problem for WWE, had he chosen to go through their rehab program
It remains to be seen whether Moxley will be back in time when AEW returns to Chicago, which is planned to be in early 2022.
The Windy City will play host to an episode of Dynamite on February 2nd, but this show isn’t going how the company would’ve hoped so far.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer argued that AEW could be risking burning out the Chicago market with how often they’ve been running
shows in that area. Speaking about the February 2nd show, it was noted that the ticket sales have been the
lowest for a pre sale for any AEW event in Chicago since the company was founded in 2019. Not only are the pre sales numbers the lowest for
any Chicago show, but they’re the lowest by a good amount, but it’s worth noting that this statistics is only comparing pre-sale tickets
and not the general public tickets that went on sale last weekend. After last week’s Dynamite, which also took place
in Chicago, CM Punk announced the company’s return for just a few months time, but AEW is playing a risky game by having the
same shows take place in the same city so frequently
More from AEW, as the company has amassed a stacked roster over the past two years, but that roster may be getting much smaller real soon.
During PW Torch Audio, Wade Keller reported that several contracts are set to expire in 2022, but that the Young Bucks have already signed a two
-year contract extension. Keller went on to say that Tony Khan isn’t someone who plays hardball for long when it
comes to contract negotiations, but he isn’t someone to offer a crazy amount of money to people either.
This is the exact opposite strategy to what WWE did in 2019, as they offered lucrative deals to stars who were barely being used, just to keep
them away from AEW. In his report, it was said that the hope is that Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega will re-sign
with the company, and that neither man has shown any desire to leave or problem with Tony Khan.
We know that some big names aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, as MJF’s deal is up in 2024, while Britt Baker signed a contract
extension earlier this year, but it’ll be interesting to see who’s left AEW by this time next year.
And we’re ending today with Jaxson Ryker, who was one of WWE’s releases this month, and who’s now opened up about being let go.
In an interview with Wrestling for the Faith, the former Gunnar said he doesn’t have any resentment at WWE for being let go, and that
he looks forward to the future when he can wrestle again. Comparing his departure from WWE to his
departure from Impact Wrestling in 2015, Ryker said that when he left Impact, he was in a bad place both financially and spiritually, and it hit
him much harder than being let go from WWE. Like everyone from the main roster, Ryker will now have to wait out a non-compete clause,
which should expire on February 16th 2022, and we’ll have to see what he does next, and whether a return to Impact is on the cards for
the former TNA Television Champion.