Backstage News On Tessa Blanchard – WOW

As we’ve noted, Tessa Blanchard and WOW Wrestling reportedly had a falling out ahead of the promotion’s re-launch.

It was alleged that during a mid-April class, Blanchard cut a promo on Samantha Sage, who is known as Americana. The promo reportedly saw Blanchard “tear apart” Sage, which led to other trainees speaking up.

According to a new report from Fightful Select, Tessa Blanchard is not figured into WOW’s plans and she was not at their recent tapings. It was not told officially that she was fired.

While issues between Tessa Blanchard and WOW were first learned in mid-April, sources noted that they had witnessed friction as far back as January.

Blanchard was reportedly “livid” that a planned January tryout was canceled by CBS due to COVID, with David McLane getting the finger pointed at him. Blanchard reportedly believed they could have done a tryout via Zoom or at an isolated school.

One source told the outlet, that things had to have gotten bad between David McLane and Tessa Blanchard because he was consistently on her side for years, even through multiple controversies.

Sources within the company also revealed that WOW was even able to lure back some people that swore they’d never work with Blanchard again only to see “more of the same.” Tessa’s attitude initially was chalked up to just being “passionate” among the higher-ups.

After the initial Fightful report was published, several people reached out to suggest that there could be legal recourse between the two sides and they were concerned about potentially being involved in it.

It was also revealed in the report that AJ Lee was at the recent tapings and worked commentary. After the tapings, a company-wide email went out informing staff that the scheduled early June tapings will be postponed due to a positive COVID test.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Stephanie McMahon Announces Leave Of Absence From WWE

In a shocking turn of events, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon announced yesterday that she is stepping away from WWE for the foreseeable future. McMahon released a statement on Twitter announcing the move, while also signaling she would eventually return to her post.

“As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE,” McMahon tweeted. “WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family.”

McMahon gave no reason for her leave of absence at this time, nor did she provide a timetable for her eventual return. It is unknown at this time who will fill McMahon’s role as CBO during her absence.

Stephanie McMahon began her business career in WWE as an Accountant Executive before becoming WWE’s head writer in 2000; she would eventually be promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Creative Writing in 2006 and then later Executive Vice President of Creative in 2007. She would continue in that role until being promoted to Chief Brand Officer in 2013, which she held until this week.

McMahon’s husband, WWE legend and Executive Vice President for Global Talent Strategy & Development Triple H was forced to retire from wrestling and cut down his workload after he suffered a serious cardiac event last year. Whether Triple H’s health issues played a part in McMahon’s decision today is unclear. The couple has three daughters together, one of whom has already begun training for wrestling.

UPDATE:

Dave Meltzer reports that Stephanie’s leave of absence was absolutely her choice and the decision to step away from WWE for a while had been made some time ago. This is not something Stephanie decided to do yesterday nor does it sound like she was forced or pressured to relieve her duties.

Although Stephanie was contemplating taking a break for some time, it was also noted that virtually no one within WWE knew about Stephanie’s impending exit except for a few who remained tight-lipped until Stephanie released the info on Twitter. This echos reports from yesterday about who within WWE knew this was coming.

In Stephanie’s tweet, she mentioned that she was taking time away to focus on her family. Although that is a big part of the reason for her departure, it was also stated that there is likely more to it and the few people who knew weren’t saying much except that some of the basic reasons being given are not accurate.

As far as what Stephanie’s decision means for the future of WWE, at this point, there’s only speculation.

The newsletter also confirmed what Wrestlenomics reported last night, that WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan will be taking over most of Stephanie’s duties with immediate effect. Furthermore, all those who previously reported to Stephanie will now be reporting to Khan.

Stephanie McMahon has been the public face of WWE for nearly two decades. Besides being the CBO, she is a member of the WWE’s Board of Directors and aside from Vince McMahon, she remains the only original McMahon family member actively working for the company. Stephanie also owns 2.5 percent of the WWE stock which is valued around $116 million.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Details On Why WWE Won’t Fire Sasha Banks Or Naomi [Report]

A new report explains why we shouldn’t expect WWE to fire Sasha Banks or Naomi. Both talents walked out of this week’s episode of Raw.

WWE reportedly isn’t planning to fire Sasha Banks or Naomi despite their decision to walk out of Monday Night Raw together this week.

As previously noted, Banks and Naomi walked out of this week’s Raw taping due to unhappiness over the show’s main event plans.. WWE posted a statement on the matter, claiming that the two placed the Women’s Tag Team Championships on the desk in John Laurinaitis’ office. The statement added that Banks and Naomi “claimed they weren’t respected enough as tag team champions” before departing with suitcases in hand.

It’s easy to speculate that WWE will simply release one or both talents from their current contracts, but that apparently won’t be the case.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Ringside News), Dave Meltzer explained that WWE won’t release Banks and/or Naomi with the obvious reason that they don’t want AEW landing either star. Meltzer also brought up the infamous title exchange incident between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, noting that The Queen wasn’t fired despite her actions

“If it was another time and another place, it’s very possible that they would have been fired, but it’s this time and this place,” Meltzer explained. “I remember when the Charlotte Flair thing happened with Becky Lynch and I was talking to people there and it was kind of, like, if it was another time and another place, yeah, they would have fired Charlotte Flair for what she did on live TV screwing up the angle on purpose. But it’s, like, do you want to send her to AEW? No. And essentially nothing happened and they don’t want to send either of them to AEW. Then you’ve got the whole Naomi married to Jimmy Uso…It’s just a waiting game to see what happens next.”

Source: TheSportster

MLW Fusion Preview 5/19/22

Major League Wrestling FUSION tonight at 8pm ET features a Bunkhouse Brawl, streaming worldwide for free on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturday nationwide on cable and dish on beIN SPORTS. 

  • Bunkhouse Brawl: The Von Erichs vs. 5150
  • World Tag Team Championship: Hustle & Power vs. The Bomaye Fight Club
  • nZo in action

5150 crossed the line when they tossed the Von Erich family’s World Class championship belt into the river and now it is time for a reckoning… Texas style! The Von Erichs and 5150 collide in a Bunkhouse Brawl! 

Following the jaw dropping conclusion of last week’s Fusion, MLW matchmaker Cesar Duran will decide the fate of World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone. Could a dangerous and vengeful El Jefe actually strip Hammer of his championship?

nZo throws out an open challenge to anyone in the league. Who will step up against the “Certified G”?

After dispatching of Bestia 666, Jacob Fatu has a message for Cesar Duran.

National Openweight Champion Alex Kane and Mr Thomas look to add more gold to the Bomaye Fight Club trophy case as they challenge Hustle & Power for the World Tag Team Championship. Will Tankman finally silence the big mouthed Bomaye Fight Club? Or will new champs be crowned?

The first Battle Riot IV control center drops! Who has entered the biggest match in MLW? Find out on FUSION!

Plus: KC Navarro is in the house!

IMPACT Wrestling Preview 5/19/22

The road to Slammiversary continues on an all-new IMPACT! Tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!

The Briscoes will defend their Impact World Tag Team Titles against Violent By Design. It’s a rematch from Under Siege, where The Briscoes won the titles.

All five women scheduled to participate in the first-ever Queen of the Mountain Match at Slammiversary will be involved in a 6-women tag team match.

The following line-up is announced for tonight:

  • IMPACT World Tag Team Championship Match: Violent By Design vs. The Briscoes (c)
  • Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Laredo Kid vs. Mike Bailey
  • IMPACT Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz, Deonna Purrazzo & Savannah Evans vs. Jordynne Grace, Mia Yim & Taya Valkyrie
  • Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)

“Chaos” Backstage At AEW As Multiple Stars Reportedly Disgruntled

MJF isn’t the only one unhappy at AEW, according to a certain source.

It’s rumored that there’s been a lot of discontent behind the scenes at AEW in recent times.

We’ve already seen Cody and Brandi Rhodes walk away from the promotion, which has also failed to agree new terms with lots of the talent they signed in 2019. There’s also lots of talk of MJF being unhappy and the star has teased that he could move to WWE when his contract is up.

According to the Voices of Wrestling podcast, MJF isn’t the only disgruntled wrestler on the brand. The source has cited a source from AEW’s locker room that claims the atmosphere backstage is “chaotic” as wrestlers are displeased over things like not knowing angles or finishes until shows are ready to kick off.

“A source from the AEW locker says that MJF is hardly the only talent feeling some level of discontent, describing the backstage atmosphere as ‘chaotic’ with a lack of structure, with common complaints ranging from not knowing angles or finishes until close to showtime, and things like redundant finishes and angles to set up matches being very frustrating,” Voice of Wrestling reported (H/T WrestleTalk.com).

AEW has had a great start as a promotion but not so much when it comes to 2022. Losing Rhodes came as a huge blow and, with one of the biggest names on the roster openly unhappy, Tony Khan may have a few issues to iron out.

Source: TheSportster

John Morrison Makes AEW Debut As Johnny Elite

Under the ring name Johnny Elite, former WWE Superstar John Morrison made his AEW debut on the May 18 edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS, during which he lost to Samoa Joe in the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament after being revealed as The Joker.

AEW Dynamite “Wild Card Wednesday” kicked off with the first of two Joker’s in the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Cup tournament. Johnny Elite (John Morrison) was the Joker in the men’s tournament facing, Samoa Joe. Johnny was greeted with a massive pop from the audience. Samoa Joe couldn’t care less. The two veterans started the match off with a series of strikes before diving into some more of their flashy moves.

A solid opener then ensued between the two veterans, who had, remarkably, never gone one-on-one before. They were evenly matched for the majority of the contest. Johnny got a lot of his stuff in, but it wasn’t enough to put the big man away. Joe got the win after nailing Johnny with a brutal Muscle Buster for the 1-2-3, advancing to the second round of the inaugural Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in the process.

After the match, Jay Lethal, Sanjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh attacked the Ring Of Honor Television Champion, hitting his shoulder with a lead pipe. Dutt got a few stomps in on Johnny during the attack.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1527077285089759232

Prior to Morrison’s AEW debut, speculation regarding the identity of the Joke was rampant, with many fans expecting to see the likes of Cesaro and Johnny Gargano. Those two are yet to set foot in an AEW ring, but few will be disappointed with Morrison, who is a very good professional wrestler.

Whether Morrison has signed with AEW remains to be seen, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

As you might recall, John Morrison was released by WWE on Thursday, November 18 along with several of his now-former colleagues. According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis informed the eight talents that they were being released due to budget cuts (although as we reported, WWE generated $256 Million in revenue the previous quarter).

Source: TheSportster and AEW Twitter

AEW Dynamite “Wild Card Wednesday” Preview 5/18/22

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite broadcasts live from the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas. AEW is promoting the show as “Wild Card Wednesday”.

AEW has announced the following line-up for tonight:

  • Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Semifinal: Adam Cole vs. Jeff Hardy
  • Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Quarterfinal: Ring of Honor World Television Champion Samoa Joe vs. “The Joker”
  • Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Quarterfinal: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rey Fenix
  • Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Quarterfinal: Dr. Britt Baker vs. “The Joker”
  • AEW Champion Hangman Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita (CM Punk will be a special guest commentator)
  • Wardlow must take 10 lashes from MJF (It’s one of the requirements laid out for Wardlow to get a one-on-one match against MJF at Double or Nothing)
  • A face-to-face confrontation between Chris Jericho and William Regal

Two Released WWE Stars Returning To Ring After Hiatus

Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) and CJ Perry (Lana) are set to return to the squared circle for the first time since their WWE releases last year.

The two women will renew their WWE rivalry in a match to crown the first-ever Women’s World Champion of Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES). WES is a new wrestling promotion created by Legion of Pain, FKA The Authors of Pain.

While Nia Jax wrestled her last match on the September 20, 2021 episode of RAW, Lana was last seen in action on the May 31, 2021 episode of RAW.

Other matches announced for the event include Adam ‘The Titan’ Scherr (Braun Strowman) vs. Alistair Overeem to crown the inaugural WES World Champion, Legion of Pain (Authors of Pain) vs. Westin Blake & Steve Maclin, and Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) vs. Samuray Del Sol (Kalisto) vs. JONAH (Bronson Reed).

The other top women’s match will see Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green team up against Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood to crown the inaugural WES Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley), Lince Dorado and Dirty Dango (Fandango) will also be wrestling at the event.

WES’ debut show will take place June 4th at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. The pay-per-view event will be available to stream on FITE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Latest On Why Naomi And Sasha Banks Walked Out Of WWE RAW

 A new report is providing insight as to why the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions made their decision to walk out of WWE Monday Night RAW.

Early yesterday morning, PWInsider revealed that several sources had told them that the original plan for Banks and Naomi on RAW, a six-pack challenge for the right to face Bianca Belair for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship at Hell in a Cell, would have seen Naomi pin Sasha Banks to win the match and receive the title shot.

Furthermore, Banks and Naomi were to have been featured in several segments building to them facing off in the match. Post-main-event, the partners would have celebrated Naomi’s victory.

Sources say Naomi would go on to lose to Belair at Hell in a Cell. Though not confirmed, it was also noted that some sources believed that Sasha Banks would go on to face WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey at the same event, with Banks also losing.

It was also noted that this led to concerns from Banks and Naomi regarding creativity over the WWE Women’s Tag Titles, and later in the afternoon, an alternative idea was pitched that would have seen Banks and Naomi lose a short tag match to set up their next challenges. While PWInsider couldn’t confirm it 100%, they noted one source told them the planned opponents were Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H., who were at one point also scheduled for the six-pack challenge.

The report goes on to say that Sasha Banks and Naomi were told before RAW by producer Molly Holly that WWE was going forward with plans for the six-pack challenge. This then led to Banks and Naomi informing WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis that they were leaving, giving him the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships in the process. The report echos WWE’s statement regarding the matter during Monday Night RAW last night.

From there, it was said that Vince McMahon was informed of Banks and Naomi’s departure either shortly before or shortly after RAW began. A backstage vignette between Becky Lynch and Adam Pearce setting up Asuka and Lynch as the main event was pitched on the spot, with McMahon approving of it. One source suggested it was Lynch that came up with the idea for the segment.

Finally, those backstage at WWE apparently did not believe Naomi or Sasha Banks took issue with the finish to the six-pack challenge, but rather the duo’s creative going forward as the Women’s Tag Team Champions.

It should be noted that PWInsider’s report seems to confirm a Twitter thread from user @Addidas_Head88 from last night regarding the situation. The thread stated that Banks and Naomi had been upset with WWE for some time due to the promotion’s handling of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, which the duo won at WrestleMania 38.

As of this time, neither Naomi nor Sasha Banks has commented on their walkout or WWE’s statement regarding their walkout.

Source: Wrestling Inc.