The XFL, owned by Dani Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital may merge with the USFL.
The XFL was purchased by Garcia, Johnson, and RedBird Capital in 2021 after Vince McMahon shut down the league due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league made a deal with Disney to broadcast games on ESPN, FX, and ABC.
The inaugural season took place earlier this year, with the Arlington Renegades winning the championship.
Axios.com reports that the XFL is in advanced talks to merge with the USFL, with a 50/50 merger and games broadcast on FOX and Disney-owned stations. Sportico also reports the two leagues are in talks.
It’s been just over two weeks since AEW owner and CEO Tony Khan publicly announced that CM Punk had been fired by the company, “with cause,” due to a backstage incident involving Punk and Jack Perry during All In at London’s Wembley Stadium one week earlier. Despite initial reports that Punk might issue an “explosive response,” to being let go, he has since stayed silent on anything to do with the subject. That silence ended last night, at least somewhat. Punk returned to his occasional gig of doing color commentary for Caged Fury Fighting Championships on Friday, and he and broadcast partner John Morgan made several clear references to the incident at All In.
First, Morgan introduced Punk by saying “look who I ran into backstage,” and adding that Punk was back on commentary “with cause.” Later in the broadcast, Punk suggested the commentary team do a post-fight show, to which he was asked by another colleague if he had time on his hands, and Punk responded “yeah, I got some time on my hands, for the next two months.” At one point, Morgan also playfully mentioned that he and Punk had some things to discuss, and Punk replied with “what do you wanna talk about,” in an equally playful manner.
Nothing is known publicly about whether or not Punk has a noncompete clause with AEW following his firing that would prevent him from working for WWE or any other wrestling company for a certain period of time. That said, Punk’s comment about having two months on his hands has unsurprisingly already led to rampant fan speculation that after that time, he will be free to return to wrestling. Furthering that speculation is the fact that in just over two months, WWE is in Chicago for Survivor Series, although knowing Punk’s penchant for messing with the internet, he may well just be trolling fans on purpose.
Jade Cargill is expected to begin training at WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando, following reports that she is joining the promotion.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the former TBS Champion was ‘finishing up’ her time with AEW with sources in both promotions believing that she is WWE-bound.
Pwinsider is reporting that it is believed that Cargill’s AEW contract has now expired and she is expected to head to WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida this week.
Cargill competed on this week’s episode of AEW Rampage, where she lost to current TBS Champion Kris Statlander and the pair shared a sign of respect after the match.
Sources in WWE believe that Cargill will go straight to the main roster rather than spend time in WWE’s developmental program, NXT.
Cargill is the third AEW name to make the move to WWE, following Cody Rhodes & Brian Pillman Jr., though the latter has yet to appear on WWE programming.
Lee has not competed since April 2022, when she and Jessica McKay lost to Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood on the Impact Rebellion kickoff show.
In August 2022, Lee and her husband Shawn Spears announced they were expecting their first child and would welcome their son Austin Jay in January 2023.
PWInsider is now reporting that Friday’s WWE layoffs have concluded, with Dana Warrior along with more than 100 employees fired. None of the layoffs were talent and talent releases were never scheduled for Friday. Breaking down the firings in totality, PWInsider reports that WWE’s Insights & Analytics team was cut from at least 20 employees down to three, and that the Marketing, Graphic Design and Live Events department was also impacted. In an email, WWE President Nick Khan reportedly informed employees based out of Stamford, Connecticut, that there would be a staff meeting at the new WWE headquarters Tuesday morning, and confirmed the conclusion of the layoffs.
More layoffs have been announced following WWE’s merger with UFC after Endeavor’s acquisition of the company, resulting in the creation of TKO Group Holdings. According to PWInsider, one of the more surprising layoffs included Dana Warrior, the wife of late WWE Hall of Famer Ultimate Warrior. She worked in creative from 2019 to 2022, and more recently was working with the company’s community outreach department.
PWInsider reported Friday’s layoffs included WWE’s Digital Campaign Manager, Alexa Gotthardt, who announced her departure on LinkedIn, and several members of the company’s marketing department, with Brand Director Kimberly Kirkegard and Affiliate Marketing Manager Saverio Brighina both gone. A higher-ranked official — Andy Levine, WWE Vice President, International and Platform Strategy — was also let go. Levine worked for the company since 2018 and wore multiple hats within WWE, including overseeing international social and digital strategy and working alongside other departments like marketing, programming, content operations, business planning, and many more. Other layoffs on Friday included WWE’s Executive Vice President of Development and Digital Jamie Horowitz, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing Catherine Newman, and Director of Enterprise Master Data & Governance Amanda Bloom.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returned (alongside Pat McAfee) to run down Austin Theory in Denver, Colorado on Friday night, and those in attendance at the “SmackDown” Hotel made a lot of noise for the returning People’s Champion, who hadn’t been seen on WWE television since 2019.
McAfee, who had appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” an hour away on ESPN and will co-host “College GameDay” from the same location on Saturday, made the journey to the Ball Arena to greet the WWE Universe, but was interrupted by former foe Austin Theory. After telling Theory he was just out there “enjoying the local laws,” McAfee brought out The Rock, who had appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” earlier in the day, to an objectively earth-shaking ovation from the Denver crowd.
The Rock soaked in the crowd’s adoration for a while before heading down the ring, taking off his jacket, and announcing that “The Rock has finally come back to Denver!” He soon had the crowd running down Theory as well, though those at home listened mostly to a muted broadcast as Fox opted to sensor the organic “holy s*” chants and somewhat less than organic “You’re an ahole” chants. Eventually, Theory tried to get the jump on Rock, but was denied and taken to the ground before the Hollywood star hit Theory with the People’s Elbow. The Rock then gestured for McAfee, who had been dancing and observing in the corner for the segment, to hit a People’s Elbow of his own. The pair celebrated in the ring while Theory was left laying.
In addition to his in-ring segment, Rock briefly encountered John Cena backstage, but as of this writing he has not been seen interacting with any current or former member of The Bloodline. During his “McAfee” appearance, Johnson said there had been plans for a match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, and said he’s open to a match with Reigns at WrestleMania 40. Johnson is also currently dealing with the Hollywood writers’ strike and its impact on his broader media endeavors.
As noted, WWE President Nick Khan sent out a company-wide memo asking corporate employees to work remotely on Friday due to “workforce reductions.” This comes in the wake of Endeavor officially merging WWE and UFC to form TKO earlier this week.
Dave Meltzer noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is looking to cut $50 million to $100 million in costs in WWE to increase profitability. UFC went through extensive layoffs in 2016 when Endeavor acquired the company, and it’s expected that WWE will suffer the same fate. It was also noted that Emanuel previously stated that there would be no underestimating TV rights and sponsorship potential.
While WWE’s on-screen product may not look much different in the near future, it’s the behind-the-scenes that will see potentially massive changes. There’s a thought that WWE creative and talent would go unaffected, but Meltzer reminded readers that UFC employees were also told things that didn’t turn out to be true. It’s currently being labeled a “wait-and-see” situation.
PWInsider has already reported the releases of Jamie Horowitz, Executive Vice President of Development and Digital, and Catherine Newman, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing. Haus of Wrestling reported on Thursday that talent releases from both the main roster and “WWE NXT” are expected at some point, but it was not clear whether those would also happen this week.
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