Here's your wrestling news for November 18th 2021
And your headlines for today include
“It’s really sad.” Becky Lynch doesn’t hold back in scathing attack on Ric Flair
Kenny Omega set for extended hiatus after Full Gear loss
Beloved former WWE World Champion turns heel on AEW Dynamite!
Former WWE writer says he never got paid by the company!
Tribute to the Troops ratings spell bad news for Monday Night RAW
Edge reveals just how much of a toll his matches take on him
Former WWF Women’s Champion fighting liver disease
Jinder Mahal announces huge new project outside of WWE
Zelina Vega credits WWE Hall of Famer for advice after becoming Queen
AEW wrestlers show massive support for woman fighting for her life And more!
We’re kicking off today with Survivor Series, as Becky Lynch will face Charlotte Flair this Sunday in a match that’s more than personal.
Things have been tense between the former best friends ever since Flair went off-script during their title exchange, leading to a
backstage altercation between the two. Charlotte isn’t the only Flair on Lynch’s radar however, as she has previously had problems
with Ric Flair, over the trademark for the name ‘The Man.’ Now, the two are back at each other’s throats,
as during RAW, the Nature Boy said he was going to make the trip personally to see daughter win on Sunday.
When Lynch stopped by the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, The Man didn’t waste time addressing that tweet, saying:
“I wrote out a response that would’ve been quite biting, and I deleted it and I let it go because I think it’s really sad. This a legend
at one point. This legend, a 16 World Champion Ric Flair, is now jealous of me. That’s cool, it’s cool for me. And he’s now trying to use me to
get clout.” Harsh words by the RAW Women’s Champion, which apparently could be much harsher,
this got a response by Ric, who tweeted that he was “So disappointed” in Lynch. Flair said that his comments, where he wants to
see Charlotte quote “beat the piss” out of Lynch, were made out of respect and said that he has made Lynch millions over the Man trademark.
The two-time Hall of Famer concluded by saying neither WWE or Lynch own the title ‘The Man’ and said he will always be the Man, and that
Lynch should ask her husband. Ric may want to see Charlotte win in person this Sunday, but WWE remain hesitant to
associate with the Nature Boy after Dark Side of the Ring, and whether he’s there or not, Lynch’s problems with the Flair family go far beyond just
Charlotte.
At AEW Full Gear, Kenny Omega's 346-day reign as World Champion ended at the hands of Hangman Adam Page.
Omega's reign, the longest of any male Champion in company history, saw the cleaner carry the company during unprecedented times, and the
Cleaner has more than earned himself a break. PW Insider is reporting that Omega may be away for an extended period of time, but not
through his own choice.
Their report notes that Omega is set to be evaluated for medical issues this week, and is expected to undergo shoulder surgery.
The former AEW World Champion has been reportedly dealing with mounting injuries for quite some time, stemming all the way back to
the start of AEW, which came after Omega's intense run in New Japan. Despite his injuries, Omega insisted on sticking
with the Hangman storyline, and see it come to completion. Even without the AEW World Championship,
Omega remains the AAA Mega Champion, which he'll defend at TripleMania Regia 2 next month, which will hopefully be the
Cleaners last big match before some much deserved time off
Bryan Danielson had a much better time at Full Gear than Omega, as he became the new number one contender for the AEW World
Championship. Defeating Miro, this was the biggest win to date for the former WWE Superstar, but the fans
won’t be cheering Bryan from now on. Interrupting Hangman Page’s World title celebration last night, Danielson turned heel
referencing his WrestleMania 30 title win, and said he was ready to work the next day. Getting boos from the crowd for just mentioning
WWE’s biggest Pay Per View of the year, Bryan further turned heel, saying that the Virginia crowd were booing hard work
The segment ended with Danielson saying he wasn’t going to face Page for the World title that night, which also got boos from the crowd,
and there was a small brawl prior to Danielson taking on Evil Uno. Despite being one of wrestling’s most beloved
performers and coming back from a two-year retirement, it didn’t take long for AEW to turn him heel, and we’ll have to see what this
darker side to Bryan Danielson does next
Back to WWE and from 2008-2012, actor Freddie Prinze Jr worked with WWE, first working as a member of creative, and later as a producer.
The star of I Know What you Did Last Summer, it’s no secret that Prinze remains a huge wrestling fan, which may explain why he didn’t make any money
from the company. On his own podcast Wrestling With Freddie, Prinze Jr explained how WWE refused to haggle
when it came to the figure they were willing to pay him. He said: “It was $250,000 to write for them and it wasn’t
number that they were going to budge. And so I said, ‘You can keep all that money and give me stock. I’ll just take stock in the
company and bet on myself, right?’ Because I was just dumb, and against my manager’s advice, that’s what I did and signed the contract.”
We don’t know how much stock the actor received, but throughout his years employed, the average price of WWE stock was $12.58
a share. It’s impossible to say whether Prinze still had his stock when the price surpassed $100 a
years back, but it goes to show that not everyone is interested in money when it comes to working with WWE.
Back to the present, as last week, WWE hosted it’s Tribute to the Troops special, in respect to the United States Armed Forces.
These shows are richly deserved, but they’re not exactly must-see TV, as WWE often books highly predictable encounters that almost always see
the faces come out on top. However, this year’s special has proven to be far more successful than it’s previous
counterparts, as Wrestlenomics reports that the special drew close to 2.03 million viewers, with a 0.51 rating in the 18-49 demographic
This makes the show more successful than this week’s RAW, which drew 1.585 million viewers and a 0.42 rating, the 7th lowest viewed RAW
in the show’s near 30-year history. The Troops special’s success is especially impressive considering that it was taped at the
Toyota Arena, in Ontario California on October 15th, meaning fans have had a month to check the spoilers for the pre-taped event
This is good news for the 19th Tribute to the Troops, but worrying news for RAW, as the show must do something drastic after losing
to a predictable, hour-long event which fans knew the results of for a month.
Edge wasn’t at this year’s Tribute to the Troops, and hasn’t competed since his Hell in a Cell match at Crown Jewel.
As a part-timer, fans shouldn’t expect to see Edge back in the ring anytime soon, but the Rated-R Superstar is using his time wisely.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Edge discussed his career both before and after his retirement, and said the biggest thing he’s learned
is that his body takes much longer to heal: “Before, when you can do it every night, that’s not the case anymore. Now, you know, after
match and I’m like, ‘Okay, I feel great. Maybe I could do one more the next day’ but that’s pretty rare. It’s usually a good two-to-three
weeks until I’m like, ‘Okay.” During this year’s draft, Edge was chosen by RAW, but has yet to appear on the red brand,
but with the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania getting ever closer, it’ll be just a matter of time before Edge is back in the ring
We’ve got some worrying news from former WWF Women’s Champion Bull Nakano, who has been struggling with health issues over
the past year. In a translated report from Oricon News, it’s revealed that Nakano has been dealing with
alcoholic cirrhosis, a kind of liver disease, and was even hospitalised due to it last year. It’s worth mentioning that drinking too much was
very common on the road, especially when Nakano was in the WWF, and the report thankfully adds that the former Women’s Champion
is clean and doing much better now. After leaving the WWF in 1995, Nakano would work for WCW before her retirement, at
which point she became a highly successful professional golfer, and we’re pleased to see she’s doing much better in her fight against
liver disease.
When Jinder Mahal returned to WWE in 2016, few fans expected the meteoric rise to the top he experienced.
After years of being a jobber, Mahal won the WWE Championship in 2017, and he now has another major role outside of the ring.
This week, it was announced that Mahal will be in season 2 of ABC’s Crime Drama ‘Big Sky’ as a character named Dhruv.
Little else is known about Mahal’s character, but the former World Champion certainly looks imposing in the photo that accompanied this
announcement. On SmackDown, Mahal and Shanky are currently feuding with Hit Row, but the Modern Day
Maharaja will be kept busy, both in and out of the ring.
Zelina Vega knows a thing or two about making an impactful return after being released, as just over a year after being cut from WWE,
she won the very first Queen’s Crown Tournament. Defeating Doudrop in the finals at Crown Jewel, the win has put Vega in the difficult position
of having a royal gimmick, and she went straight to the modern-day master of monarchy for advice.
On the Out of Character podcast, Vega said she spoke to Booker T for advice, saying the 2006 King of the Ring is her favourite king ever.
Vega added that she wants to be people’s favourite queen of WWE ever, and not just remembered for being the first winner of the
Queen’s Crown tournament. Speaking about her iffy regal accent, Vega said that she’s being tagged by UK fans,
who have informed her that’s not how the English accent sounds, but said that’s the point and that her accent is deliberately bad.
Vega is clearly having a lot of fun in her new role, which will hopefully lead to big things for the talented Superstar, so the next time you
see the Queen of WWE on screen, speaking in an accent that sounds more Australian than the Queen of England, you should know you have
Booker T to thank.
And we’re ending today with AEW, as their roster have gone the extra mile to support someone in a terrible situation.
Recently, Canadian wrestler Kimberly Ford contacted the company, and spoke about her friend Jessi, who is fighting for her life In
hospital after having 8 feet of bowels removed. Ford asked if anyone could help her friend smile, and AEW’s roster quickly acted, sending a ton
of support. Matt Hardy, Lance Archer, Evil Uno, Thunder Rosa and even AEW’s music guy Mikey Rukus,
alongside indie wrestlers who also shared their support. In an update, Ford thanked everybody for their
love and support, and we’d like to join the throngs of wrestlers by sending our best wishes to Jessi at this difficult time