SEScoops

Author: Anutosh Bajpai

  • Former WWE Star Barry Orton Passes Away At 62

    Former WWE star Barry Orton passed away yesterday at the age of 62. He was the uncle of current WWE superstar Randy Orton and the son of Bob Orton Sr.

    The wrestling veteran had made his debut in 1976 and competed for promotions such as ICW, WOW, NWA, and IWF before retiring from active competition in 1991.

    Orton also had a couple of stints with the then WWF in the 80s. His first run started in 1984 and ended in 1988. He returned to the company in 1990 but he was released only a year later.

    Before his first WWE run, the former wrestling star also wrestled under a mask for 3 months as Assassin #3 with Jody Hamilton as a replacement for Hercules Hernandez who had recently been unmasked.

    He also tried his hands with the managing role and he managed Jason the Terrible in Stampede Wrestling while making appearances as the masked Zodiac.

    After his retirement from the pro wrestling world, Barry Orton transitioned to an acting career though he mostly did minor roles in movies such as Killer’s Mind and Timecollapse.

    We at SEScoops send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late star.

  • Kurt Angle On How Vince McMahon Convinced Him To Join ECW

    Kurt Angle was one of the two big stars who was originally drafted to WWE\’s version of ECW when it was first revived by the company and his joining gave the brand some much-needed legitimacy.

    During the recent episode of his new podcast, the former world champion talked about the early days of the extreme brand and revealed how Vince McMahon convinced him to join ECW.

    Angle explained that the boss promised him to be the face of the newly created brand and he also bumped his pay to make sure Kurt was not losing money:

    “When Vince decided to start ECW, he came to me and said ‘Hey I want you to be the face of this new company that I’m starting, ECW. We’re going to ramp it up and I want you to be the face but I’m going to tell you this. You’re going to work in smaller arenas and make less money.’ I said ‘Why would I want to do that?’

    What he did was, I would do the house shows and T.V.s and then the PPVs, Vince would triple my [pay] so I would get the same money as I would if I was on RAW or SmackDown.\” said Angle, \”He did promise that and did go through with it.”

    WWE did not hold a draft in 2006 but the ECW representative Paul Heyman got one pick from Raw and SmackDown each for the roster of the newly revived ECW.

    When given the chance, Heyman chose Kurt Angle and RVD as the two names for his brand in May 2006. Though Angle didn\’t last in the company for long after this and he asked for his release in August.

  • Rhea Ripley\’s Raw Debut Date Confirmed

    WWE has confirmed that the former NXT women\’s champion Rhea Ripley will be making her Raw debut on Fastlane follow-up episode of the show this Monday.

    The company announced the former champion\’s main roster call up on the Red Branded show back in February. They had been airing promos for her arrival since then but the officials had not confirmed the date for her debut.

    Rhea Ripley signed with WWE back in 2017 and competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic where she was defeated by Dakota Kai in the second round.

    The female star made her NXT debut after this and became the inaugural NXT UK women\’s champion after joining the newly established brand in 2018.

    She made her surprise return to the NXT brand in 2019 and Ripley went on to win the NXT women\’s championship after defeating Shayna Baszler towards the ending of the year.

    The NXT star kept the title until WrestleMania 36 where she dropped it to the 2020 women\’s Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair at the event in April.

    She continued competing in the NXT brand in the following months. Rhea Ripley also participated in the 2021 women\’s Royal Rumble but she has been away from in ring action since then.

  • AEW Star Reportedly Has Backstage Heat For Botched Spot

    AEW star Jack Evans reportedly has backstage heat due to a botched spot.

    This week\’s episode of Dark saw Evans face Dark Order\’s 10 in a singles match in the main event of the show. The fans saw Jack delivering a Phoenix splash to his opponent toward the ending of the bout.

    However, the high-flying star caught 10 in the face with an elbow while delivering the move, leading to the Dark Order member being busted open and bleeding heavily. The two then went right to the finish which saw 10 picking up the victory.

    The injured star needed to get work done after the match and according to reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the incident led to Jack Evans getting heat \”from the people you don’t want heat with\” in the company.

    \’-1\’ also jumped in the ring after the bout and he shared a fist bump with a bloodied 10. This spot which was edited out of the show at one point, sparked some controversy. This led to Amanda Huber defending AEW in a Instagram post after people said that a young child shouldn\’t be doing that.

    Jack Evans was then not seen in his partner Angelico’s corner on the Dynamite episode the following day, though there is no word yet on if his absence was related to the events of Dark and his backstage heat.

  • Charlotte Flair Edited Out Of WrestleMania 37 Graphics

    WWE has removed Charlotte Flair from the promotional graphics for the WrestleMania 37 event seen on social media this week.

    The company released the ticket information for the upcoming PPV recently and they had several stars tweet out the promotional graphics for the ticket pre-sale on Thursday.

    The stars then posted a similar graphic today, promoting the general on-sale of the tickets, which have nearly sold out already.

    What\’s interesting to note here is that while Flair was featured in the WrestleMania graphics posted on Thursday, she has been edited out of the promotional material circulated today:

    The former champion had also tweeted out a stand-alone graphic of herself like many other stars for the pre-sale but she did not promote the general sale today.

    Charlotte Flair has been rumored to face Raw women\’s champion Asuka at WrestleMania this year but a match between the two has not officially been announced yet.

    While the Queen did appear on Raw two weeks ago to make it clear that she wanted to face Asuka for the title, she did not make an appearance on this week\’s episode of the show.

    Charlotte\’s fiancé Andrade has recently been in news after asking for his WWE release and these changes are making fans wonder if the two events are related.

  • Updated: Triple H Was Absent From This Week\’s WWE Programming

    Update: In an update to the situation, Dave Meltzer noted the following about Triple H\’s absence from TV tapings:

    \”His situation is being kept secretive but it was said he was quarantining, but not that he has COVID.\”

    Original: WWE Executive Vice President Triple H was not present backstage at this week\’s episode of Raw and he missed this week\’s episode of NXT as well according to reports from Wrestling Observer Radio.

    Though there is no word yet on why the former world champion was absent from the shows and there is no confirmation on whether or not he will be at Sunday\’s Fastlane event.

    Triple H was not the only name who missed the Black and Yellow brand\’s weekly show and several other names who were expected were not seen on WWE programming this week either.

    The company had announced Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, and Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher for the episode but both these matches were nixed.

    Ciampa ended up facing Barthel in a one on one match. After the changes, Leon Ruff and Isaiah Scott were not seen on the show at all and Timothy Thatcher also missed the episode.

    Both Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae were not present in the arena either but they did appear via a pre-recorded segment from their home where the duo checked in with Austin Theory.

    There have been reports of a recent COVID-19 outbreak in NXT though there is no confirmation on if any of these changes were related to the outbreak.

  • Eric Bischoff Gets Emotional After Learning About His HOF Induction (Video)

    WWE announced yesterday morning that the former WCW President Eric Bischoff will be one of the inductees for the 2021 class of Hall Of Fame.

    The news was broken to the former Raw general manager by Corey Graves during an episode of the after the bell podcast and the wrestling veteran got emotional when he learned about it.

    WWE commentator Vic Joseph later shared a clip of it on his Twitter account and you can watch Bischoff\’s reaction to the news in the video as seen below:

    Eric Bischoff became the Senior Vice President of WCW in 1994 and he remained the top executive of the company until 1999. He has had multiple stints with WWE since then with his most recent run being his tenure as the Executive Director of SmackDown in 2019.

    He is the second name to be announced for the 2021 Hall Of Fame class after the company confirmed former women\’s champion Molly Holly as the first inductee of this year\’s class.

    Eric Bischoff and Molly Holly will be joined by the inductees of the 2020 class of Hall Of Fame during the ceremony this year after WWE officials had to halt the ceremony last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    The 2020 class will see the likes of Batista, nWo, The Bella Twins, JBL, Jushin \”Thunder\” Liger and The British Bulldog being inducted in the Hall Of Fame.

  • Shawn Michaels Regrets Coming Out Of Retirement At WWE Crown Jewel

    Shawn Michaels stayed true to his promise of retirement for 8 years after he lost a career vs. streak match to the Undertaker at the WrestleMania 26 event in 2010.

    However, the WWE Hall Of Famer came out of retirement for one more match in 2018 when he teamed up with Triple H to face the Brothers of Destruction Kane and The Undertaker at the Crown Jewel event.

    During a recent interview with New York Post, Michaels opened up about the match and when asked about it, the wrestling veteran admitted having regret over the decision for the first time.

    “I do, I had no idea that from Mark’s (Undertaker’s) standpoint he was looking at it as that might be the one he could walk away on. That’s something I think to myself now, oh my goodness, I wish I’d have known that.”

    Shawn is referring to the comments made by the Undertaker during his Last Ride documentary where The Phenom had revealed that the bout could have been his last match if things had gone as planned.

    Though later in the interview, the former world champion said that the Crown Jewel match was still fun for him and he explained that he is satisfied with his overall career.

  • RVD Talks Nixed Romantic Storyline With Stephanie McMahon

    Former WWE star RVD recently had an interview with The Dropkick Podcast where he talked about things such as finding success as a singles star and more.

    During the interview, the hardcore star also talked about his early days in WWE and revealed an interesting angle that was planned for him before it was nixed.

    According to the former ECW champion, the officials had planned a romantic storyline between RVD and Stephanie McMahon but it had to be nixed because of his girlfriend at the time:

    “Something that comes to mind is when I first got there they wanted me to do a bit of a romance angle with Stephanie and myself. And my evil ex was like the most insecure b—h on the planet and I was like thinking, ‘oh my God, this gonna cost me so much grief at home.’

    We had a talk, me and Stephanie, and she said, ‘you know, just think of this like you’re an actor’. I was like, ‘that’s cool, except you call me Joe Blow because I’ve been Rob Van Dam for the last ten years’.”

    The former TNA star first became famous during his 5-year stint with the original ECW from 1996 to 2001 before the company folded. He was part of the company\’s final PPV Guilty as Charged in 2001.

    RVD was signed to a short-term WWE deal several months after the folding of ECW. He went on to have a long run with the company after impressing the officials which lasted till 2007.

  • Keith Addresses Absence From WWE: \”One Day I\’ll Explain It All\”

    Former NXT champion Keith Lee has issued a short obscure statement addressing the fans on his recent absence from the WWE programming.

    The Raw star took on his Twitter to share a message with the fans. He claimed that he hears their chatter and one day, he will explain everything:

    \”I hear many of you. I see many of the messages. One day, I will explain it all for the ones true to me. For now, know that I more than appreciate the continued support. And WHEN I return, it will be filled with all the love I have for those that represent this #LEEGION\”

    Keith Lee has been out of action since his match with Matt Riddle during the February 8th episode of Raw. He had been out of the ring several weeks before that as well and his last match before his bout with Riddle was during the January 11th episode of the show.

    The former NXT North American champion was announced as a competitor for the triple threat United States Championship match at the Elimination Chamber PPV but he was pulled from the show.

    He was replaced by John Morrison in the match also featuring Riddle and Bobby Lashley. At the time, the company had said that Lee was dealing with an injury. There have been no updates on his status since then. This new statement from Keith Lee is only expected to fuel the chatter about his absence further.

  • Mustafa Ali On What Vince McMahon Originally Thought About His Talking Skills

    Mustafa Ali has been part of the WWE roster since 2016 and while he started out as a babyface, the former 205 live star is currently in middle of a run as a heel as the leader of Retribution.

    The high flying star recently had an interview with TV insider where he talked about things such as his evolution in the company, the reaction Retribution has gotten from the fans and more.

    When asked if it took a lot for the WWE creative to give him the freedom to say what he wanted, Ali shared his experience with the WWE chairman Vince McMahon and explained how he won his confidence:

    \”I can only speak of my experience with [Chairman] Vince McMahon and the creative team, but not really. You can always tell them what you’re capable of doing, or you can show them. The first time I told Vince McMahon I’m a talker, he didn’t believe I was.

    So I recorded my own promos. I record my own videos.\” said Mustafa Ali, \”It’s a lot easier to show them what you’re capable of doing than telling them. I’ve got a pretty good range in terms of saying the things I do.\”

    The 34 year old star also discussed Retribution\’s mix reaction from fans and explained that they haven\’t gotten the chance to explain their motives.

    While Mustafa Ali acknowledged that being part of the group provides them the opportunity to be on TV every week, he said that he hasn\’t been able to explain who they really are. You can check out his full interview here.

  • Bobby Lashley On Who Came Up With The Name For The Hurt Business

    While Bobby Lashley made his return to WWE in 2018, his career really turned around after the formation of the Hurt Business which has since led to the All Mighty winning the WWE championship for the first time in his career.

    The current champion recently had an interview with The Wrap where he talked about his time in the company since his return in detail including his storyline with Lana and more.

    During the interview, Lashley discussed the origin of the Hurt Business. The Raw star revealed that he was the one who came up with the name for their group and explained where he got the idea from:

    “It was me. I was thinking about this before, I was thinking about the whole thing before, Originally, a boxing coach that I had down in Coconut Creek at American Top Team. He used to always wear this T-shirt and I was like, man, that is incredible man, that needs to be in WWE because that’s my character.\”

    The former TNA star then talked about the formation of the group. He remembered how MVP\’s return was originally going to be a one night thing and he explained how they chose the other members of their group:

    “And then when MVP had that Royal Rumble, he was only going to do that, but when he was there, we had worked before and I told him, ‘you are kind of a mix between Suge Knight, and Don King.’ I said, ‘If you mix all those up that is you.’ And I told him about this and then me and him got together and he was like, ‘We can make a real little faction out of this.’

    And of course we thought about Shelton (Benjamin), because Shelton wasn’t really doing anything, everybody knows how good Shelton is. I was like, man we got to bring Shelton, because Shelton gets it. And then we needed a young boy to come up, and Cedric (Alexander) is phenomenal.\”

    Lashley aligned himself with MVP in May last year. They were joined by Shelton Benjamin a month later in June to create the Hurt Business. The three fueded with Apollo Crews, Cedric Alexander and Ricochet for a while before Alexander joined the trio as well.

    Apart from this, Bobby Lashley discussed how his current WWE run is different than his previous runs with the company and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.

  • Kurt Angle On Possibly Wrestling For AEW

    Kurt Angle had fun with the rumors of him joining AEW and competing for the promotion when the Big Show teased the signing of a Hall Of Famer worthy talent for Revolution. While Christian ended up being the big reveal, it doesn\’t end the possibility of the Olympic Gold Medallist joining the AEW roster somewhere down the line.

    On the latest episode of his The Kurt Angle Show podcast, the former WWE star talked about the rumors of Big Show potentially wrestling for the company. When asked if we could ever see him coming to AEW to wrestle, he replied negatively:

    “I don’t think so, I texted Big Show and said congratulations on signing with AEW and he said ‘Oh man, I feel like I’m 25.’ I was like holy s–t, you’re going to wrestle? He didn’t answer me, but he said he felt like he was 25 again, I guess that means he’s going to wrestle, I don’t know.”

    Kurt Angle also talked about how surprised he was with Big Show\’s AEW signing and he said that he thought Paul Wight would remain with WWE for the rest of his life. While the former Raw General Manager declined the possibility of wrestling for AEW, he did not completely rule out the possibility of making an appearance for the company.

    Do you see Kurt Angle making an appearance for AEW somewhere down the line? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

  • Bad Bunny Wins Grammy For Best Latin Pop Album

    Bad Bunny is now a Grammy award winning artist.

    The WWE 24/7 Champion won the award during the event this Sunday night for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album for his second studio album YHLQMDLG which was released last year.

    The pop artist not only received the award during the show but he joined in Jhay Cortez on stage to perform the song Dákiti during the 63rd Grammy Awards.

    Bad Bunny has recently been making WWE appearances. His first such appearance took place during the Royal Rumble event earlier this year.

    The singer was there to perform his song Booker T but he also got involved with The Miz in a segment later on in the show where he delivered a top rope dive on the former WWE champion.

    Bad Bunny started making regular Raw appearances after that and he has aligned himself with Damian Priest who helped Bunny in winning the 24/7 championship from Akira Tozawa during the February 15th episode of the show.

    The 24/7 champion has continued his feud with The Miz and his partner John Morrison as well and it\’s rumored that Bad Bunny and Damien Priest will face these two stars in a tag team match at the upcoming WrestleMania 37 event.

  • Damian Priest On His Mt. Rushmore Of Wrestling

    The newest Raw star Damian Priest recently had an interview with The Irish Sun where he talked about a number of things and also revealed which stars he would include in his Mt. Rushmore of wrestling.

    The 38-year-old Puerto Rican star made his wrestling debut in 2004 and after competing for promotions such as ROH, he finally signed a WWE contract in 2018.

    When asked about the 4 stars he would put in his Mt. Rushmore of wrestling, Damian Priest picked up the likes of the Undertaker and The Rock:

    “Four sucks. I have so many. Undertaker’s definitely on there, The Rock is there, and I think it has to be Triple H and Shawn Michaels, Undertaker’s always going to be there. He’s the one that made me fall in love with the business when I was a kid.

    And The Rock – just the way he is, not just the wrestling.\” said Priest \”I came from a similar background. I came from nothing.”

    The former NXT star has reportedly made a positive impression on people backstage at Raw since his main roster call up earlier this year.

    Damian Priest has recently aligned himself with Bad Bunny and reports suggest that these two will be teaming up to face The Miz and John Morrison at the upcoming WrestleMania 37 event.

  • Andrade Requested WWE Release Earlier This Week (Updated)

    Andrade is creating buzz this morning after the former NXT champion has taken some actions which are making people wonder about his WWE future.

    The former NXT star as seen in the below screenshot has removed all mentions of WWE from his Twitter bio and the profile is no longer verified on the social site:

    \"\"

    Update: SEScoops has learned that Andrade requested his release from WWE this past Monday at Raw. The news was first reported by WrestlingInc. It is unclear at this time whether or not his release will be granted, but we can confirm – Andrade wants out.

    Andrade\’s WWE Run

    Andrade had a promising start to his WWE career and he quickly rose through the ranks in NXT after his signing in 2015. He had a successful run with the NXT title.

    He was then moved to the main roster in 2018 and the former US champion was said to be one of the talents seen as future stars by Paul Heyman during his run as the Executive Director of Raw.

    Andrade\’s push came to a screeching half after Paul Heyman was removed from the position. It’s been said that Vince McMahon does not see Andrade as somebody who can draw money for WWE.

    The Mexican star\’s last storyline in WWE was when he was teaming up with Angel Garza but he has not been part of any angle since their breakup. Andrade hasn\’t been seen on WWE programming since October 2020.

    There is no word yet on what these recent actions mean for the future of the WWE star but we will keep you posted as more details about his status with the company become available.

  • Kenny Omega Opens Up About Explosion Dud At AEW Revolution

    AEW put out another great PPV in Revolution which was main evented by the Barbed Wire Death Match between Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley featuring some pretty extreme moments.

    However, the disappointing finish to the event overshadowed the efforts of everyone involved and the failed ring explosion which was hyped up by the company led to a lot of criticism from the fans.

    The reigning AEW champion and the Executive Vice President Kenny Omega broke his silence on the dud during an interview with Wrestling Observer Newsletter and he admitted that it was a deflating experience:

    “Yeah, it was really deflating to do so much preparation, test the explosions, have them be impressive in the rehearsal, and then have it be something so much different than what was promised.\”

    \"\"
    Kenny Omega Arrives at AEW Revolution (Photo: AEW)

    Kenny Omega On Death Match Preparation

    Omega continued by explaining how they worked hard on the different aspects of the match to make things entertaining and it sucked for it all to end in a disappointing finale:

    \”It made me appreciate everyone who worked hard and did their part even more, though. But like you said, we really wanted to have a good one, and we added real barbed wire to help with the feeling of danger so we really risked a lot. Again, I loved the match; glad we did it, sucks about the finale.”

    Kenny Omega is not the only person involved to have commented on the finish of the show and both Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston also cut a promo on the AEW champion during this week\’s episode of Dynamite.

  • Backstage News On The Original Plans For NXT Women\’s Tag Team Championships

    General Manager William Regal introduced the NXT women\’s tag team championships during this week\’s episode of the show and he also crowned the inaugural champions. However, reports from the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Live reveal that the original plans for the introduction of the title were different and it explains why the company had to change them.

    According to the report, the original plan was to present the winners of the Women\’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with the newly made titles. Though the company rushed the women\’s tournament and it took place alongside the men\’s version of the competition, which was not the initial plan.

    The problem with this decision was that the title belts were not ready in time to be presented to the winners of the tournament Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez during the Takeover: Vengeance Day event in February. Kai and Gonzalez were then promised a shot at the women\’s tag team titles held by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler instead and the match took place at last week\’s episode of NXT.

    The officials then came up with the idea for the screwjob finish after receiving the belts before last week\’s episode which saw Jax and Baszler retaining the titles. This set up the big reveal at this week\’s episode of the Black and Yellow brand where William Regal presented Kai and Gonzalez with the championships.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkGP8WBQT7c

  • Asuka Reportedly Dealing With Concussion

    Raw women\’s champion Asuka is reportedly dealing with a concussion.

    The February 23 episode of Monday Night Raw saw the Empress Of Tomorrow teaming up with Charlotte Flair for a match against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.

    Not only did Asuka suffer a loss in the bout but the women\’s champion also lost some of her teeth thanks to a brutal kick from Shayna Baszler.

    Now the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the Japanese star not only suffered physical damage but the kick also resulted in a concussion.

    Asuka hasn\’t taken part in active competition since then and there is no word on how long she might have to stay out of action before being allowed back in the ring by WWE doctors.

    While the plans have not been confirmed, there are rumors that Flair is currently scheduled to challenge the former NXT women\’s champion for the Raw women\’s title at WrestleMania 37 this year.

    This new report, however, puts a question mark over these plans and it\’s making fans wonder if this could force the management to change the plans for the bout.

    If this does happen, it will be the second time Flair\’s WrestleMania plans have to be altered as she was originally pencilled to face Lacey Evans before the latter announced her pregnancy.

  • Dax Harwood Tweet Sparks Speculation About Chad Gable\’s WWE Status

    A lot of people believe that Chad Gable deserves more opportunities than he has been given in WWE and now a new tweet from an AEW star has started speculation about his status with the company.

    Alpha Academy member Otis recently took on his Twitter to send birthday wishes to his trainer and the former American Alpha member also responded to the tweet saying Otis was his #1 guy.

    What\’s interesting here is that AEW star Dax Harwood also took note of this exchange and posting a reply of his own, he claimed that Gable is not allowed to respond to him for \’2 more months\’:

    This tweet from the former WWE tag champion has started speculations about the status and future of Alpha Academy leader with many wondering if we could see him leaving the company soon.

    Chad Gable signed with WWE in 2013. While he had a pretty successful run in NXT as part of the American Alpha tag team with Jason Jordan, his career has dwindled after their move to the main roster and the break up of the duo.

    His run as Shorty G had led to criticism about WWE management\’s handling of the star and even though he quit the gimmick late last year, Gable hasn\’t done much since then either.

  • Christian Cage On The Length Of His AEW Contract

    We are only 3 months into 2021 but Christian Cage already has had an eventful year. He first made his in ring return after 7 years at Royal Rumble and since then, he has made the big decision to sign with AEW.

    The former WWE star recently appeared on the Oral Sessions podcast where he talked about things like Edge\’s reaction to his in-ring return and more.

    Discussing the hype AEW had created for him before his big debut at Revolution event, Christian revealed that he was surprised as well because he hadn\’t signed the contract at the time:

    “I didn’t know. As far as I knew at that point in time, it was going to be a complete secret, and I was going to show up, and it was going to be a complete surprise, honestly, on Wednesday, there was nothing signed.

    So, it was a shock to me when I heard it,\” said Christian, \”Tony [Khan] and I hit it off fairly quick. We felt comfortable enough to definitely to get something done and worked out at that point.”

    The former world champion also commented on the length of his AEW deal and said “It’s a long-term deal, I’m not here for just a couple of matches now, like, I’m here for the long haul.”

    Apart from this, Christian discussed things such as the opponents he is looking forward to facing in AEW and his Royal Rumble return. You can check out some more highlights from his interview here.

  • Former WWE Writer On Vince McMahon: The \’Mad Genius\’ Still Exists

    WWE chairman Vince McMahon is often targeted by the fans for incoherent WWE storylines. He is frequently called out for having lost his touch. Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz was recently interviewed by Comicbook to discuss Young Rock (NBC) and more.

    During the interview, Gewirtz spoke about Vince McMahon\’s casting in the show. When discussing fan perception of Vince McMahon being out of touch, he told a story of how presented the Nexus storyline to the boss in 2010.

    \”I would say to anyone…the snarky ones who sit back and go, \’the old man\’s lost it,\’ or \’he\’s not attached,\’ or what have you, I would say you don\’t mean Vince.  I think the best example is us sitting around the room one day and then, almost at the top of his head, he pitches the entire Nexus angles — if you recall from 2010 when all the NXT guys turned on [John] Cena and stripped the ring.\”

    Vince McMahon, the \’Mad Genius\’

    \"Vince
    Vince McMahon

    Gewirtz continued by sharing the reaction of the creative team to the idea. Everyone at the meeting was shocked and thought it was an amazing concept. Although McMahon may keep up with many social trends, the \’mad genius\’ that he\’s famous for still exists.

    \”It was very, very highly buzzed about. It just seemed like maybe the idea did percolate in his head, but he verbalized it for the first time in the meeting. We were all looking at each other like, \’wow, that was absolutely amazing.\’ He might not be up on the latest social trends or whatever, but the mad genius still exists and probably always will.\”

    The Nexus storyline saw the 8 rookies from season one of NXT rebelling against the WWE management. Their goal was to secure WWE contracts for its members. The group\’s 14- month run saw many ups and downs. However, the faction created a lot of buzz during its existence.

  • Shawn Michaels On NXT Possibly Moving To Tuesday Nights

    There have been rumors of NXT moving to Tuesday nights after WrestleMania 37 and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels recently commented on the possibility.

    The former world champion who has been one of the minds behind the success of the Black and Yellow brand and has mentored a number of NXT talents recently had an interview with Joseph Staszewski of The New York Post.

    During the interview, Michaels was asked about the show possibly moving nights and how it might affect them. Replying to it, he said that nothing would change for them and they will still try to put the best show:

    “It’s always clearly easier when your sort of destination programming, so to speak, Nothing would change certainly for us. We still try to put the best show out there that we can. Clearly, I know that’s everybody’s goal.

    I think it would only be fair to say everyone knows that when you are not competing against another similar show that it makes it a little bit easier.\” said Shawn Michaels, \”It allows people to enjoy that. And then you think about the follow from Raw the next night. So, clearly, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”

    The former DX member also commented on the possibility of introducing women\’s tag team titles for NXT. He said that they certainly have the depth for it.

    This interview of Shawn Michaels was published before tonight\’s episode of NXT where General Manager William Regal not only confirmed the creation of the new titles but he crowned the inaugural champions as well.

  • MJF Forms New Faction, Turns On The Inner Circle (Video)

    MJF has formed a new stable of his own featuring stars such as FTR, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, and Tully Blanchard after getting kicked out of the Inner Circle.

    Chris Jericho had announced an Inner Circle War Council for this week\’s episode of Dynamite after he and the former MLW star failed to capture the tag team titles at the Revolution PPV this past Sunday.

    The segment then saw the former world champion teasing some changes to the group and as they were discussing their next move, Sammy Guevera showed a video of MJF. In the video, the AEW star was trying to convince Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz to go against Jericho and telling them that it was time to remove Y2J from the leadership. MJF told the guys to get Jericho after the reveal but they sided with the former WWE star instead. However, MJF came prepared and he revealed that he had been building a group of his own this whole time.

    MJF Turns on the Inner Circle

    The lights then went out and FTR, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, and Tully Blanchard were present when it came back. The new group attacked the Inner Circle.

    The new AEW stable dominated the Inner Circle in their first outing and the show ended with the faction power bombing Chris Jericho off the stage:

    It appears we will get a feud between these two groups in the coming times and it would be interesting to see if this stable helps MJF in reaching the main event status and capture the world title in future.

    You can watch the entire segment here:

  • Christian On Edge\’s Reaction To His Royal Rumble Return

    Christian recently appeared on Renee Paquette\’s Oral Sessions podcast where he opened up about the circumstances leading to his in-ring return and his signing with WWE\’s rival promotion.

    The AEW signing of the former world champion is a bitter-sweet deal for his fans as he will get to compete against a plethora of exciting talent but it also means that we will probably never get to see him having a proper reunion with Edge.

    Though they did get to share a moment at Royal Rumble in January when Christian made his in ring return. During the interview, he revealed Edge\’s reaction to his comeback:

    “Well, he was one of the very few people who knew. When I told him what I was thinking, he was very supportive,” he noted. “When you get to that point where you think it’s gone, and then it comes back, it’s like what just happened?

    “When he came back at Royal Rumble from the year previous, he’s always been good at keeping his nerves in check. I’ve never seen him nervous before. And he was super nervous for that Rumble.\” recalled Christian, \”I was there to lighten the mood. And he kind of did the same for me. It’s just reverse roles. He’s a great sounding board.”

    Apart from this, the former WWE star talked about his AEW signing. He explained that he has no animosity towards his former employers and that joining AEW was just the better choice for him.

    Christian also explained how his AEW deal came about. He revealed that he had signed within a week of initiating the talks with AEW president Tony Khan.