Triple H, the new Head of Creative for WWE, may not be done bringing back released NXT stars.
WWE fans might be seeing the returns of two former NXT superstars. Earlier today, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that AJ Francis, better known simply as Top Dolla, was slated to be at the August 12 tapings of Smackdown Live in Raleigh, North Carolina. In an update to that report, Johnson added that Top Dolla’s tag team partner, Ashonte “Thee” Adonis, is scheduled to attend the tapings as well.
Several other released talent have been brought back into the WWE since Triple H took charge, including Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross, and Scarlet. Before their release in November of last year, Adonis and Francis were a part of the Hit Row stable alongside B-Fab and Swerve. There’s been no word on whether B-Fab will be returning to WWE as well. Swerve, now one half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions alongside Keith Lee, will obviously not be joining his former teammates.
The Smackdown tag team division has been struggling as of late, so an additional team could be a great benefit to the show.
It’s been more than a year since WWE released Bray Wyatt from his contact, but is a return on the horizon?
Bray Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) is reportedly among the former WWE superstars who could soon return to the company.
On July 31 of last year, WWE stunningly announced that they had released the former WWE and Universal Champion from his contract. Here we are just over a year later, and the 35-year-old Wyatt hasn’t stepped into a wrestling ring since his WWE release. But that could all change in the not-so-distant future.
More details will be released sometime today. But Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com tweeted on Wednesday evening that “some WWE higher ups believe they are more likely to regain Bray Wyatt now than before.”
Vince McMahon was in charge of the company when WWE released Wyatt from his contract. But the longtime WWE chairman announced his retirement after four decades at the helm three weeks ago, and Triple H (Paul Levesque) was subsequently named the new Head of Talent Relations and the new leader of the creative team.
Triple H brought back Dakota Kai (released in April) on a new contract, and she made her return at SummerSlam two weeks ago. Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux, who were both released in November, also signed new deals and returned to WWE on last week’s episode of SmackDown.
Wyatt was one of WWE’s most creative, accomplished and beloved superstars during his run on the main roster. That’s what made his release especially surprising, but it may just be a matter of time until he returns to the company under Triple H’s guidance.
Wyatt’s last WWE match took place against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37. In a surprise, Orton quickly defeated his former Wyatt Family leader after Wyatt was betrayed by Alexa Bliss. On the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw, Wyatt stated that he was seeking a fresh start in a “Firefly Fun House” segment. That “fresh start” was never revealed, as WWE kept Wyatt off of company programming for nearly four months before announcing his release.
The story around Vince McMahon’s hush money scandal continues to get stranger. Allegations that McMahon had made such payments began when the Wall Street Journal posted their exposee on July 8th.
The allegations and consequent investigation by the SEC and federal prosecutors effectively forced Vince McMahon to retire from his role as WWE’s CEO. Now McMahon is back in the news as more hush money payments are coming to light.
New filing from WWE saying they’ve found 2 additional payments together worth $5 million Vince McMahon made that should have been recorded as company expenses, bringing the total unrecorded expenses to $19.6 million.
– Brandon Thurston via Twitter
The story was later corroberated by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Network. Meltzer also added that the $5 million came in two payments to two different people made in 2007 and 2009. In another tweet, Thurston revealed that WWE’s discovery delayed the posting of their quarterly earnings.
WWE expects to be able to report Q2 earnings “within the five day extension period provided under Rule 12b-25 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934”. WWE wrote in a previous filing that they were targeting today for an earnings release.
-Brandon Thurston via Twitter
This ongoing scandal has all but tanked Vince McMahon’s reputation. Professional wrestling already wasn’t the most respected form of entertainment, and McMahon’s hush money payments and allegations of sexual misconduct making their way into mainstream news outlets assuredly made the public opinion of the sport even less favorable.
The history of professional wrestling is about to have some light shined upon it.
According to Variety, Seven Bucks Productions, a company founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and producer Dany Garcia, will team up with the producers of “Dark Side Of The Ring” for a new documentary series on VICE called “Tales From The Territories,” putting a spotlight on the regional promotions that originally popularized pro wrestling in the United States. The series is scheduled to premiere on October 4, 2022, at 10 pm EST. The trailer can be seen below and features interview clips from Abdullah The Butcher and Bret Hart.
“In many ways, the wrestling world is a family, they have great moments, tough times, and everything in-between,” said Brian Gewirtz, vice president of creative development for Seven Bucks Productions and a former head writer for WWE. “There’s a rich history of untold stories which we can’t wait to bring to life.”
“Wrestling is embedded into Dwayne’s DNA and part of the brand ethos of our Seven Bucks Productions, so we are honored to showcase these sensational stories and to create a time-capsule of this legendary industry,” said Garcia. “Being able to honor and highlight the larger-than-life personas that jump-started the wrestling industry, through their first-hand accounts, is immensely special, and the type of storytelling we love to do here at Seven Bucks.”
Joining Seven Bucks as executive producers will be Jason Eisener and Evan Husney, the original creators of “Dark Side of The Ring,” which aired for three seasons on VICE.
“We’re incredibly excited to expand the ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ series with this first-ever exploration of the hidden past of wrestling’s Wild West era, with a dream collaborator in Dwayne Johnson, who has such deep family roots in the history of the business,” said Husney and Eisener. “We can’t wait to showcase the fascinating stories of the pioneers who set the stage for wrestling’s worldwide pop culture dominance.”
There’s a backstage update on John Laurinaitis’ exit from WWE that has given fans insight into what his past few weeks in the company looked like.
Fightful Select confirmed that Laurinaitis was in fact fired last week, as was first reported earlier today. They reported that he was still looped into company e-mails until Triple H was named Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. He was apparently included in a series of company-wide e-mails containing sensitive information related to creative and personnel matters, but was briefly removed from mailing lists during the July 22 edition of “SmackDown”. He was added back to them the following week where he remained.
Laurinaitis’ name was also added to an internal termination list, which supposedly also included McMahon’s name. Several talents in WWE are reportedly happy that they no longer have to deal with him. One top star even called Laurinaitis the biggest snake in the business.
Laurinaitis was first hired by WWE as a road agent back in 2001 after he was brought over from WCW following the company’s purchase of its one-time rival. He was later named the Director of Talent Relations before climbing the company ladder to be promoted to Executive Vice President in 2009. He became an on-screen authority figure as the General Manager of “Raw” in 2011. He would become a road agent once more in 2012 before he was named the Head of Talent Relations again last year.
The element of unpredictability has seemingly returned to WWE programming under the Triple H regime.
Fans who watched last night’s “WWE Raw” are still buzzing about a bizarre backstage segment involving Kevin Owens, Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H. and a car accident in the backdrop.
The aforementioned accident occured just as Owens, in an interview with Kevin Patrick, gloated about injuring Ezekiel and sending him away on a stretcher before their match even started. Just as Owens was being interviewed, a black car in the background drove directly into a structure in the parking lot, prompting a ‘what just happened?’ reaction from Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. who stood inches away from the site of the crash. This was followed by Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H. and several WWE officials inspecting the crashed car.
Interestingly, WWE camera crews cut back to the interview with Owens as if nothing happened in the background.
A little later, when Alexa Bliss and Asuka were interviewed at the same backstage spot, the crashed car was being loaded onto a tow truck with a bunch of police officers sprinting towards the scene.
WWE’s announcers did not acknowledge the incident at all, which added to the bizarre nature of the segment. Some believe it was done in such a way so as to leave viewers guessing and wondering about the person who caused the accident.
The main event of Raw saw AJ Styles defeat the Miz. After the match ended, a commotion began in the crowd. When the camera panned over to it, fans could see Dexter Lumis being dragged away by security. Commentary, in disbelief, questioned whether they did in fact see Dexter in the crowd.
Following the main event bout between AJ Styles and The Miz on the 8/8 “WWE Raw” episode, cameras cut to cops detaining someone that resembled Lumis.
Immediately after the segment, Indi Hartwell, the former kayfabe wife of Lumis, reacted on Twitter with a thumbs-up emoji. NXT announcer Wade Barrett also seemingly confirmed that the debuting Superstar was Lumis.
The return of Lumis has been widely expected since Triple H was appointed as WWE’s Head of Talent Relations and Head of Creative last month. Earlier on Monday, Fightful Select confirmed that WWE was interested in bringing back Lumis.
Since his WWE release last April, Lumis has kept himself busy on the independent scene under his past ring name Sam Shaw. He also appeared at the NWA’s Alwayz Ready pay-per-view back in June, where he competed in a four-way match for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.
Since the start of the Triple H era, the likes of IYO SKY, Karrion Kross, Scarlett and now Dexter Lumis have returned to WWE. Another former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano is rumored to return soon.
Less than a week after Ric Flair’s Last Match, The Nature Boy got physically involved in the main event of WWC Anniversario.
On July 31, the Ric Flair’s Last Match PPV took place. The Nature Boy seemingly hung up his boots for good after securing the win for his team with son-in-law Andrade El Idolo, when he pinned Jeff Jarrett in a figure four leg lock in the main event. However, just six days later, Flair found himself physically involved in the main event of another significant event. The stage was the annual Anniversario show promoted by the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, where Flair appeared as the manager to Andrade, facing off against fellow WWE alum, Carlito.
As reported by Thomas Lowson (SEScoops) Carlito defeated Andrade El Idolo in the last match of the night for WWC Anniverario on August 6. While both competitors are well-known wrestling fans around the world for their respective tenures in WWE, not to mention Andrade’s current work with AEW, it was a pair of WWE Hall of Famers who arguably stole the show. Ric Flair posted photos to his Twitter of him getting into an altercation with Carlito’s father, the legendary Carlos Colon during the match (as well as the icons and their family members posing together backstage).
This was actually a revisiting of a very old rivalry. In Flair’s prime, he worked some of the greatest matches in wrestling history and along that run, Colon challenged Flair for the NWA Championship back in 1983. The Puerto Rican star even garnered a “phantom” title reign—beating Flair in a match never recognized on NWA TV, after which Flair quietly won the title back, as was somewhat customary at the time.
Late in his in-ring career with WWE, Ric Flair actually worked multiple angles with Carlito. That includes Flair beating Carlito to win his lone Intercontinental Championship in 2005. A year later, Flair insulted the youngster’s lack of dedication en route to the two of them forming a teacher-student tag team, only to windup feuding once more. Carlito was arguably a big missed opportunity for WWE, but Flair did his part as a partner and rival in the effort to help him succeed. So it was that there was another layer to The Nature Boy backing his son-in-law, Andrade against this old rival.
It’s for the best that Ric Flair’s altercation with Carlos Colon seems to have remained short and not all that intense given each man is in his 70s and probably best suited leave wrestling to younger athletes at this point. Flair proved in his last match that he’s still up to the task of delivering his signature chops and taking a bump, but he isn’t getting any younger. That match left Nature Boy fans on a high note, and hopefully he won’t press his luck much further.
