Category: WWE

DDP Confirms Former NWO Member Buff Bagwell Has Entered Rehab

It’s been nearly six months since longtime wrestling veteran Buff Bagwell announced he was moving in with Diamond Dallas Page to live in the “accountability crib” and be part of his “Change or Die” docu-series. Unfortunately, DDP took to his YouTube channel earlier today to reveal that Bagwell has suffered a significant setback on his journey to a drug-free life.

“For the most part, [Bagwell] was doing really well, but a lot of times with addiction, it has everything to do with the people you hang out most with. And when he’s with us, our whole force is about positive reinforcement, a place you can be safe. When he goes outside of that, well, those people, they don’t really care about that, or they think they do, but they really don’t … Now, because of some of the negative influences in Mark’s life, and I’m talking about people who love him and enable him, he’s had a relapse, so we had a meeting with all of my people and Marcus, and we all agreed that it was time for him to go to a rehab facility.”

DDP added that they are uncertain how long Bagwell will be at the rehab facility, but he’s currently in a very positive and receptive mindset. According to DDP, the purpose of creating the video is to offer a reason for Bagwell’s upcoming appearances being canceled. Still, they plan to return to regular meet & greets once Bagwell feels confident enough to leave the facility and begin again on the road of recovery. “It’s a tough place, and I’m really hoping that you guys can help support him when he gets out,” DDP said.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Velveteen Dream Arrested Twice In The Space Of Six Days

The former WWE Superstar has been charged with trespassing, battery, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Patrick Clark, better known to wrestling fans as Velveteen Dream, has been out of the spotlight ever since he was released by WWE in May 2021. Well, actually, he’s been out of it for a little longer than as his last match in the company came five months prior. Dream is back in wrestling headlines this week, but for all the wrong reasons.

As reported by F4W Online, Dream has been arrested not once, but twice for two very different reasons this month. In fact, the two arrests were just six days apart. According to Orange County, Florida’s court records, Clark was arrested and charged with trespassing and battery on August 20. An arraignment for those charges was originally set to take place on September 28, but that has since been canceled.

Six days later on August 26, Clark was arrested again, this time for possession of drug paraphernalia. Clark’s photo showed up on a website called Orlando Mugshots, revealing the charges made against him. The former WWE Superstar has since paid bond for his release and has also pleaded not guilty to the battery and trespassing charges brought against him.

Clark showed a lot of promise as Velveteen Dream when performing under the NXT banner. His age combined with his talent made it seem likely he would be a huge star on the main roster for years to come. That trajectory was derailed when some serious allegations were made against Clark. The wrestler was alleged to have sent explicit photos to underage fans.

WWE claims to have conducted an investigation into the allegation, reporting back that it discovered no wrongdoing by Clark. His time with the company had already been irreparably damaged by that point, and Clark’s last outing as Dream was a losing effort against Adam Cole in December of 2020. News of the above arrests comes just days after Clark restarted his campaign to be rehired by WWE.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 8/29/2022

Vince Russo says he secretly worked as a consultant for USA Network from 2020-2022

Vince Russo is claiming that he worked as a consultant for the USA Network for the past 2 years.

In a video posted on his YouTube account, Russo says the consulting job lasted from 2020 (just before WrestleMania) until 2022. Russo didn’t go into too much detail on his YouTube channel because he wants his followers to find out more by subscribing to his Patreon account.

Russo said the following on the free version posted on his YouTube account:

“I’ve been keeping a little secret for the last two plus years that I want to talk about on this show. I want to come clean. People tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. When I start talking about the network, people actually think they know more about the network, and where the network stands pertaining to Raw and its audience and its numbers, than I do. Well, bro, I’m gonna break the news to you on this show. I’ve not said this publicly before from March, pre mania, bro. It was right before Mania in 2020 up until this past Mania in 2022. So basically, bro for two years, I was consulting for the USA Network, bro…”

“For two years, bro, the USA Network paid me very, very, very well. Now, if you want to know how this came about, let’s take a couple of steps back and I will explain this to you. I got in contact with the Vice President at the USA Network who was overseeing Raw, he knew who I was [and] called me back immediately. And we had a long, long, long discussion. And as the Vice President who oversaw Raw…so the first thing he did was he went directly to Vince McMahon….”

“So for two years, two years, I was consulting weekly with the USA Network. For two years, I heard the number and the rating and the viewership and the return on the investment…Don’t tell me I don’t know what the f**k I’m talking about. When it comes to numbers, when it comes to networks. I don’t care if it’s if it’s 1999 or 2020. I know where they stand. I know what they’re looking for. I know what’s acceptable and unacceptable because I had communication with them for two straight years. So don’t tell me I don’t know what the f**k I’m talking about bro when I am working directly with the network that WWE Raw is on.”

In 2021, Russo stated, “After knowing Vince McMahon for 30 years & having great success w/him during my time at WWE–yesterday he & I had our FINAL EXCHANGE. It’s an unfortunate story & sad in many ways, but, Closure is good.” Earlier this year, Russo claimed that Vince McMahon asked for his thoughts on the WWE product. Russo said he offered to work as a consultant for McMahon but he wasn’t going to do it for free. Russo said the following in May 2022: “But I certainly was not gonna do that for free because the product is horrible. I was just looking to help the guy because the product is horrible!”

Source: WrestlingNews.co with credit to Vince Russo

The latest on Sasha Banks and Naomi’s return to WWE

It looks like fans won’t be waiting much longer to see Sasha Banks and Naomi make a return to WWE.

Banks and Naomi reached an agreement to return, now with Triple H running creative. WWE has been waiting for the Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament to play out before bringing them back to television.

The finals of the tournament will take place on tonight’s episode of Raw when Dakota Kai & IYO SKY battle Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah.

During today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Banks and Naomi are expected back shortly, while Bryan Alvarez noted that both stars are back on the internal roster.

“Naomi and Sasha Banks should be back any week now,” Meltzer said.

Bryan Alvarez added, “they are back being listed on the roster, so they should be back at any time.”

Source: WrestlingNews.co

WWE SmackDown Preview 8/26/2022

WWE SmackDown returns tonight to Detroit, Michigan – airing live on FOX at 8/7C.

After it was revealed earlier this week that Gigi Dolin’s injury has taken her out of action, WWE made a major change to the Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament. Toxic Attraction was initially added to the tournament following an injury to Zoey Stark and an unspecified medical issue for Nikkita Lyons, which ultimately saw the “NXT 2.0” team of Stark and Lyons removed from the tournament. Now, instead of finding a second replacement team, WWE has confirmed that it’s scheduled a Second Chance Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match to find out who will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-finals bout will also happen tonight against Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah, meaning that winning team — Dana White and Tamina, Shotzi and Xia Li, Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop, or Natalya and Sonya Deville — will compete twice in the same evening.

WWE Backing Away From Plans To Go TV-14

Any plans by WWE to go TV-14 with their programming are potentially on hold, according to a report. As per PWInsider, while there was some truth to the idea that WWE was considering making their product TV-14, they’ve backed off of those plans, at least for now.

The report notes that the company will not be making the change with its TV rating. WWE Raw on USA and SmackDown on FOX will remain as TV-PG shows for the foreseeable future. This comes after a report in July from Andrew Zarian that an email was sent out among people at the USA Network about Raw becoming a TV-14 show. Future reports noted that the email went out prematurely, and now it sounds like the company has changed their minds altogether.

“WWE will be remaining TV-PG for the foreseeable future on both FOX and the USA Network.” noted Triple H in a company call Thursday morning. The plan seems to be to remain a family-friendly product that can gear its programming towards children not include foul language and blood.

While there will be some fans disappointed that WWE isn’t going to get into some of the more adult content, this isn’t the worst news. With Triple H in charge creatively, the company can still base its storylines on reality and find creative ways to appease the older fans.

So too, some fans believed WWE was only going TV-14 as a response to AEW’s programming and it might not be the best move for WWE to be seen as reactionary. One critique of AEW is that there’s too much blood and foul language for no reason.

The PG audience is a much bigger audience so it makes sense for WWE to cater to it. As for when TV-14 might be back on the table, that could all depend on business and how well or not well things are going for WWE.

Source: TheSportster

AEW’s Chief Legal Officer Has Contacted WWE About Alleged Contract Tampering

It might not be a war, but the healthy competition between WWE and AEW appears to have been ramped up since Vince McMahon retired and Triple H took over as head of creative. Tony Khan has admitted wrestling fans who had grown disillusioned with WWE would naturally be tuning back in to see what’s changed, even admitting there has been an improvement in the quality of his rivals’ product since The Game took over creative.

Outside of the quality of the shows, the biggest talking point since WWE’s backstage changes has been which wrestlers will be going where. Triple H has been bringing people back left and right, leaving some fans wondering if they now regret becoming All Elite. There have even been reports WWE approached someone currently under contract with AEW, presumably to gauge their interest in coming back.

It’s still unclear if that actually happened, and the wrestler approached has not been named. However, according to PWInsider, the topic has been taken very seriously behind the scenes in AEW. Khan held a company-wide meeting hours before Dynamite on Wednesday, and one of the many topics apparently discussed was the alleged approach by somebody from WWE.

According to the report, talent at the meeting were informed that AEW’s chief legal officer Megah Parekh sent an email to Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan. The email warned WWE’s co-CEOs against tampering with contracted AEW stars in the future. Parekh might not be a name many fans are familiar with, but apparently she is effectively Khan’s number two in AEW.

Approaching a talent who is under contract with a rival company is obviously a big no-no. Depending on what exactly is discussed, of course. If someone within WWE did do what they have been accused of, and plan on doing it again, it’s hard to imagine they would do it so overtly that they would leave themselves open to legal action. As for who that talent might be, that will be left to fans’ imaginations for the time being.

Source: TheSportster

News On Next WWE Draft

Wrestling fans have been interested to see what’s in store for this year’s WWE Draft, but it seems as if their wishes may not be granted.

Fightful Select is reporting that sources from the USA Network have told talents that the Draft isn’t slated to happen right after Clash at the Castle as initially reported, but sometime after next year’s WrestleMania. Talents were initially told that the Draft was slated to take place the week after the upcoming event. However, several “Raw” talents were not booked for the September 9 edition of “SmackDown” (when the first night of the Draft was first expected to be held), meaning crossovers of talent between the two brands would be unlikely.

The Draft has not been officially announced by WWE, and there has been no confirmation of dates the Draft will take place, as talents haven’t been told about anything that is happening in the upcoming weeks. The Draft had been listed on the internal calendar for September. There had also been discussions about it being held this month, following SummerSlam. It should also be noted that dates for last year’s Draft were changed a few times throughout the year.

The WWE Draft made its debut in 2002 but was discontinued in August 2011. The company revived it in July 2016 before introducing titles that were specific to brands. In the years following, the company held a Draft every year, dubbing it the Superstar Shake-Up for a few years and including “NXT” as a third brand.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT 2.0 Preview 8/23/22

WWE NXT 2.0 airs live tonight on USA Network at 8/7C.