Author: John Bass

“Major Cuts” Are Coming To The WWE Main Roster & NXT, Office Employees Cuts Coming today

On Tuesday, Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group acquired WWE and merged it with the UFC to form TKO Group Holdings. The two companies will operate as separate entities.

WWE CFO and President Frank Riddick III will be ending his tenure with the company at the end of this month. This comes after he received a $5 million bonus from the sale.

Additionally, WWE President Nick Khan sent out a company-wide email to employees on Thursday (see below) to inform them that they should work remotely on Friday so WWE’s HR team can perform “workforce reductions” in private. Employees will be notified of their terminations as the decisions are made throughout the course of the day.

According to a report from Nick Hausman, it has been confirmed that major layoffs will be taking place at the Stamford, CT headquarters later today. Additionally, it was noted that “major cuts” are also expected to be taking place on the WWE main roster and the NXT brand. It remains to be seen whether the talent cuts take place today (Friday) or in the coming weeks. We know for sure the office cuts are coming today.

As you’d expect, the reason for possibly splitting up the timeframe between the office and talent cuts is due to the bad PR that always comes with massive layoffs. Usually, the office cuts take place first. But it’s possible both could end up happening today. We’ll see.

Nick Khan sent a email to WWE employees on Thursday, you can read that below:

“As part of WWE’s transition into the newly formed TKO Group Holdings, we are evaluating our existing operations and systems to identify potential synergies across the business. This effort includes workforce reductions, which will take place tomorrow.

Those whose roles have been impacted will be notified by our Human Resources Team, who will share the details of their severance package. We are asking that everyone work remotely, Friday September 15th, so we can insure all conversations are handled privately and respectfully. We’ll send out a company-wide email once all of tomorrow’s conversations have happened.

Our company is home to the most talented, creative, and hard-working employees in the world. WWE is a special place, which makes moments like this difficult. Just know that we have nothing but gratitude and admiration for everyone we have had the privilege to work alongside.

Thank you for all your contributions and dedication.

Nick Khan”

Source: eWn

Traci Brooks To Be Inducted Into Impact Wrestling Hall Of Fame 

One of the most memorable Knockouts in IMPACT Wrestling history, Traci Brooks will be inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall Of Fame at Bound for Glory weekend.

During the 1000th episode of IMPACT Wrestling, the 48-year-old star and her husband Frankie Kazarian teamed up to wrestle the duo of Eddie and Alisha Edwards. The two teams fought with everything they had. In the end, Kazarian and his wife managed to pick up the win.

Following the match, Frankie Kazarian took the microphone to make a special announcement. He revealed that on October 21st in Chicago at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, the original Knockouts will be inducted into the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Traci Brooks took to Twitter to share her excitement. She was beyond honored to join the elite list of wrestlers as part of the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame. Brooks also confirmed that her match last night was her final bout in her professional wrestling career.

Brooks also mentioned that it was an honor to have her final match teaming up with her husband. She’s also looking forward to being inducted into the IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Fame at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view in the presence of her son.

“This little farm girl from St. Mary’s, Ontario Canada just wanted to wrestle. I never dreamed of one day being in @IMPACTWRESTLING Hall Of Fame beside the amazing Don West & Mike Tenay. My last match with my wonderful husband by my side & my son in the ring for my HOF announcement,” Traci Brooks tweeted.

Don West and Mike Tenay will also be inducted as part of the 2023 Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2023 at Bound For Glory.

MLW Fusion Preview 9/14/2023

MLW FUSION featuring the return of Salina de la Renta, streaming 8pm tonight on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS (find a provider). 

Salina de la Renta is en la casa! What’s on the Empresaria of Lucha’’s agenda this week as she continues to make quick moves and reconsolidate her power?

The World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane invites the media out for a filter-free press conference. What’s next for the captain of the BOMAYE Fight Club? 

Breaking news on MLW’s next FITE+ premium event drops this week on FUSION. Slaughterhouse will feature a DOUBLE main event. The first match is revealed tonight! 

Whispers of The Calling’s ominous presence abound. Could Rickey Shane Page, AKIRA and the devout masked followers be in the house tonight?

When the moonsault hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore… or Love, Doug when he wrestles Little Guido for the first-time ever!

“International Popstar” B3CCA is in the house and in action against Tiara James. James, who makes her debut, faces an emerging contender to the World Featherweight Championship in B3CCA. Will B3CCA inch closer to a title shot? Will Tiara take a win in a triumphant debut? 

Microman goes one on one with Sam Adonis! Can MLW’s 3 feet of fighting fury finally teach Adonis a lesson in respect after last week’s deplorable punting incident?

Plus an MLW newcomer joins forces with The Second Gear Crew in their ongoing war with The Calling.

In middleweight action, Ichiban battles TJ Crawford. Crawford, who has proven to be a heavy hitting technician, doesn’t think much of the hype for Ichiban. Wasting no time, Crawford demanded (and reportedly threatened) league officials for a match with the masked fighter and now it is official. What happens when The NumberOne Dojo’s Kokujin Katana” rumbles “The Silver Sniper”?

Jagger Reid And Rip Fowler Reportedly No Longer With WWE

Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler are “gone” from WWE, according to Dave Meltzer on the “Wrestling Observer Radio” show. The veteran pro wrestling journalist noted that Fowler and Reid’s contracts with the Stamford, Connecticut-based promotion were up and presumed an angle would have played out on television. Meanwhile, a source within WWE had no information regarding the duo’s reported departure.

On “WWE NXT” this past Tuesday night, it was indicated by Joe Gacy and Ava Raine that the tag team formerly known as the Grizzled Young Veterans were no longer a part of the Schism faction. Reid and Fowler had been a part of the group for a number of months.

Back in April, the duo were denied their release from WWE. Reid, who previously performed as James Drake, wrote on social media, “As of today, WWE has denied my request for my release. I want to thank you all for your support throughout my career, I’ll never take that for granted. My contract with WWE expires on 14th October 2023. I’m excited to share our next chapter, once we are free agents.” Fowler, who previously performed as Zak Gibson, also posted a similar statement.

Despite wanting out of their contracts early, Reid and Fowler remained an integral part of the “NXT” show. During the “NXT” Battleground pre-show media call in May, WWE’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels mentioned that he wanted the duo to stay with the promotion. He also said that he understood how the tag team felt and that there would be no hard feelings. The former “NXT UK” Tag Team Champion’s most recent match in WWE took place on the August 29 episode of “NXT,” where they were defeated by Julius and Brutus Creed in a steel cage match.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling 1000th Episode Preview 9/14/2023

Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV is all-new as it celebrates the 1000 episodes of the weekly show. Here are the matches that have been announced for the show:

  • X-Division Championship: Lio Rush (c) vs. Chris Sabin.
  • Frankie Kazarian & Traci Brooks vs. Alisha & Eddie Edwards
  • Team 3D in action for the first time in 7 years, the former 2-time IMPACT World Tag Team Champions and world-renowned duo of Bully Ray and Devon are set to compete in tag team action – but who will their opponents be? One thing is for certain, someone is going through a table on this historic night!
  • Feast of Fired Match featuring Moose, Heath, Maclin, Laredo Kid, Johnny Swinger, Crazzy Steve, Joe Hendry, Yuya Uemura, Jonathan Gresham, Black Taurus, PCO, Sami Callihan, John Skyler, Chris Bey, KUSHIDA, Brian Myers, Kevin Knight, Bhupinder Gujjar, Jai Vidal, John E. Bravo and more.
  • 10-Women Knockouts Tag Team Match: Deonna Purrazzo, Savannah Evans, Gisele Shaw and Angelina Love w/Velvet Sky and a mystery partner vs. Impact Knockouts Champion Trinity, Jordynne Grace, Gail Kim, Awesome Kong w/Raisha Saeed, aka Cheerleader Melissa. and a mystery partner

ROH Preview 9/14/2023

ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub. 

You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show: 

  • ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Rocky Romero
  • Ethan Page vs. Griff Garrison
  • Josh Woods Open Challenge
  • Mercedes Martinez in action

Velvet Sky Reveals What’s Next For Her Following NWA Departure

While Velvet Sky recently departed the National Wrestling Alliance, she is still interested in doing more commentary work for another company.

Speaking on a recent edition of “Busted Open Radio,” the former Beautiful People member opined on what’s next for her, the NWA locker room being a breath of fresh air, and more.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On if she wants to keep doing commentary: “I will say, I honestly had a blast at the NWA, in the commentary role. I like to try to be versatile in this industry, not just be known as Velvet Sky, the wrestler. When you put your whole youth into something and that part of of life comes to an end, it’s like, I’ve been in the industry since I was 20 years old. 22 years later, I’m still a part of it, even though I’m not active in the ring. I would like it to kind of stay that way, as far as being involved in the industry in some role. If I’m not, again, I’m totally fine because I’m totally at peace and I’m totally happy and satisfied with what I have done in the wrestling industry as far as being in IMPACT and my time in NWA as a commentator, which I really did enjoy. Joe and Tim, they took me under their wing, and I learned a lot from them. They showed me the ropes of commentary, and I still have a lot to learn. I feel like I was just getting my toes wet in commentary with the NWA. But good things had to come to end.”

On her time in the NWA: “I have nothing bad to say about the company, my time there. That locker room is a breath of fresh air. I wouldn’t mind trying commentary out again somewhere somehow. If it happened, great. If it didn’t, I’m more than satisfied with my time in wrestling and what I’ve done in wrestling, even though wrestling is in my blood, it’s in my heart, it’s in my soul. So of course I would always want to be a part of this industry in some way, shape, or form. So you never know. Never say never. But yes, I would honestly like to try out commentary somewhere or just being involved in wrestling as a whole would be great. If it doesn’t happen again, I’m cool. I’m good. I’m living life. I’m enjoying it. I’m good.”

Source: eWn

Jade Cargill Reportedly Leaving AEW – Believed To Be Heading To WWE

Jade Cargill’s tenure with AEW is seemingly coming to an end, and the former TBS Champion could soon be calling herself a WWE Superstar.

Fightful is reporting that Cargill is believed to be “finishing up” with AEW, according to sources within the promotion.

Sources in both AEW & WWE believe that she will be heading to WWE when the time is right.

There is no word yet of an official offer being made by WWE and that as always, things can change in the world of professional wrestling.

It is currently unclear how long is left on Cargill’s current contract with All Elite Wrestling.

The report indicates that Cargill’s last AEW match may have already been taped, as she took on Kris Statlander Wednesday night in a TBS Championship match that will be broadcast on “AEW Rampage” on Friday.

Counting this week’s “Rampage,” Cargill has wrestled a total of 64 matches over the course of her two-and-a-half year career, all of them in AEW. If Fightful’s reporting proves accurate, she would be the second major AEW wrestler to leave Tony Khan’s “challenger brand” for the established pastures of Vince McMahon (and now Ari Emanuel), and the first homegrown AEW star to do so. AEW’s first major defection came in 2022, when Cody Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38.

Backstage Update On The All In 2023 Attendance – Did AEW Inflate The #’s?

Did All Elite Wrestling inflate their attendance numbers for the All In 2023 pay-per-view event, which took place on August 27th from Wembley Stadium?

Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics recently reported on a public records request about the attendance for AEW All In 2023. Earlier today, the Freedom of Information office for the Brent Civic Centre responded to the original request with the following statement:

“The actual numbers registered entering [Wembley] Stadium through the turnstiles was 72,265 – this is reflective of what attended on the night and not the total number of tickets sold or no-shows etc.”

It’s worth noting that AEW has said all along that the paid attendance for the event was 81,035. If that is true, it would have been a new worldwide record for pro wrestling.

WrestleTix previously announced that the number of tickets distributed for All In 2023 was 83,131.

The WrestleNomics report states that a “typical AEW event has a drop count (also known as a “turnstile count”) that is about 80% to 90% of the paid attendance or tickets distributed.” In this case, 72,265 is 89% of 83,131.

So while it remains to be seen whether 81,035 tickets were actually sold, it is known that 72,265 people did walk through the turnstiles. With that being said, over 10,000 no-shows seems a bit high. Of course, there are also scalpers out there who may not have been able to sell the tickets they purchased.

Source: eWn

AEW Dynamite Preview 9/13/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

  • AEW International Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Big Bill 
  • No. 1 Contender Fatal-4-Way Match: Britt Baker, Toni Storm, Nyla Rose, and Hikaru Shida. The winner will go on to challenge Saraya for the Title at Grand Slam on September 20.
  • Grand World Title Eliminator Final: Roderick Strong vs. ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe. The winner will go on to challenge MJF at Grand Slam on September 20.
  • Hangman Adam Page vs Brian Cage
  • Don Callis to reveal his next Masterpiece
  • We will hear from Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara