Bully Ray Discusses Why WWE Should Put Paul Heyman In Charge Of SmackDown With FOX Move

While still five months away from a premiere, WWE’s new deal with FOX has already generated a great deal of buzz.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding SmackDown’s move to Friday’s on FOX this October. With ratings reaching all time lows this month, there has been a lot of pressure for WWE to perform right out of the gate. WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray gave his thoughts on Busted Open Radio on one way that WWE could make the show successful.

“I find myself confused what is going to happen with the whole Friday night thing and I get what you’re saying about real-time as a wrestling fan what is going to get me to watch wrestling on a Friday night?” asked Bully and then answered his own question with, “From a creative point of view, I would hand Paul Heyman the pencil and say ‘go get em’. Because he is probably the only proven one that comes out to make SmackDown special.”

Heyman, the former head of ECW has been head of SmackDown creative previously, from the summer of 2002 to the spring of 2003. That time is often argued as one of the greatest in SmackDown’s history, a point that was not lost on Bully.

“I think just the fact that people know Heyman is in creative control and that’s not something WWE is going to let out and I don’t think that is something that should be announced. Like ‘Hey Paul Heyman is in charge of SmackDown creative'”, explained Bully. “What I’m saying is that is what I would do. If there is one person that would make SmackDown successful and has a proven track record of making SmackDown a definitively better show than Raw, it was Paul Heyman. Probably what in 2003-2004? We know he can get the job done. I would put the pencil in his hand and say, ‘hey what can you do with this?’ I think his creativity with that show and the way that he knows how to use Characters and gel them with storylines would work.”

Heyman has not been seen on WWE television since WrestleMania. Currently, Brock Lesnar is scheduled to appear at the next WWE event in Saudi Arabia on June 7th.

You can listen to Bully’s comments below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jungle Boy Faces David Arquette At Indie Show(Video), Talks Acting With Father Luke Perry In His Final Film

AEW Star Jungle Boy, Jack Perry, took on David Arquette last night at a Bar Wrestling event. Near the end of the match, Arquette hit a Canadian Destroy for a two-count. Jungle Boy would then sneak in a roll-up for the victory. You can check out clips of the match in the video below.

TMZ Sports caught up with Arquette after the match to talk about Jungle Boy’s abilities.

“He’s just got so much talent, so much heart,” Arquette said. “He’s incredible. He’s super smart. It’s hard to believe he’s so young and so talented, but he started when he was just a little guy.”

Back in March, Jack Perry’s father, Luke Perry, passed away at the age of 52 after a suffering a stroke. He was a huge supporter of his son’s wrestling career, often in the crowd for his shows.

Luke Perry’s final film, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, will also feature his son. Jungle Boy commented about the upcoming movie during an appearance on Talk is Jericho.

“I did some extra work,” Jack said. “He’s like, ‘I want you to be in the same film, or like collection of footage that I’m in’ … and he was really adamant about it. I was like alright dad I’ll do it. My dad was so excited about that. That really kind of reinvigorated him and re-energized him. Because he liked Riverdale, but it was work, it was like his job. He told me, ‘This is like you getting to wrestle Chris Jericho.'”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WATCH: Angelico And Jack Evans Announce AEW Signing

AEW’s tag division continues to take shape, as Angelico and Jack Evans announced they’ve signed with the new wrestling company.

As we first reported, Angelico recently signed on the dotted line after there had been interest from WWE in bringing him to the Performance Center.

The South African wrestler shared a video on Thursday in which he talked about the last phase of his career in Europe and what his goals were throughout.

Angelico then explained how he’s grown tired of that phase and made it sound like he might be retiring … but then he gets a call from his tag partner Jack Evans who asks if he’s ready to do this.

The 32-year-old wrestler replies, “the real question is … are they ready for us?” Angelico then signs an All Elite Wrestling contract.

Watch the video below.

https://twitter.com/AngelicoAAA/status/1126509845228580864

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

AEW TV Deal Reportedly “Virtually Done,” Expected To Air On TNT In The Fall

All Elite Wrestling is reportedly “virtually done” making a deal with Turner to air their weekly television show on TNT in the fall.

According to The Wrap, current plans call for select members of the press to make the announcement one hour ahead of next week’s WarnerMedia upfront event. The arrangement made between the parties allegedly calls for a group of reporters to be informed of the deal on an embargoed basis the night before.

AEW President Tony Khan and a group of wrestlers are expected to be in attendance at the pitch to media buyers. The event is taking place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 10 am ET.

The Wrap’s report says current plans call for the AEW TV show to begin on TNT in the fall. As you may recall, Jim Ross previously stated the show would be two hours long.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Backstage Updates On Luke Harper’s WWE Status And Release Request

Luke Harper reportedly asked Vince McMahon if he could be released from his contract in November, if WWE wasn’t going to use him, but Vince told him to take it up with Triple H. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds that Triple H then didn’t respond to Harper, at least as of press time.

We’ve noted how WWE officials chose to add 6 months to Harper’s contract to make up for the time he spent on the shelf after wrist surgery. The contract was to expire in November.

It looks like Harper will be paid to sit at home as The Observer notes that he has been given no future bookings, but they also will not let him out of his contract. It was reported before that Harper won’t be able to leave the company until around WrestleMania 36 time in 2020.

It was reported in early May that Vince informed Harper, in writing, that the company would not be releasing him from his contract. This was apparently a response to Harper requesting his release back on April 16. You can read our report on what went wrong with Vince and Harper by clicking here.

There had been some speculation on Bray Wyatt trying to get Harper back on TV for his “Firefly Fun House” storyline, but it looks like WWE will not be using Harper while he waits on his contract to expire, unless plans change.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dominik Dijakovic Undergoes Knee Surgery

NXT wrestler Dominik Dijakovic went under the knife this week to have his knee repaired.

Dijakovic shared a video on Wednesday in which he says his knee was surgically repaired this week in Orlando. “I know that many of you, you’d consider this a burden or a setback, but not me,” he explained in the video.

“I consider this a gift. I’m happy that I had a tear in my meniscus. Because this represents sacrifice, this represents discipline, I had to rip away the weakness to rebuild it to be stronger than ever using my blood,” Dijakovic said while focusing the camera on his knee.

No word at this time on when the injury was suffered or how long he’s expected out of action.

Watch the video below.

https://twitter.com/DijakovicWWE/status/1126230636744859651

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Mayor ‘Kane’ Chokeslams Man Through Table During Symposium

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs busted out the iconic mask and signature move of his WWE character, Kane, during an event this week.

Jacobs, a Republican who was elected as mayor of the Tennessee county in 2018, delivered the opening remarks at the National Association of Sports Commissions Symposium at the Knoxville Convention Center Tuesday, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

As Jacobs welcomed the crowd and spoke about Knox County, he was interrupted by a man dressed as an event staffer.

“You know who I am, right?” Jacobs said as the man tried to get him off the stage. “Yeah, I’m mayor, but that’s not all.”

Suddenly, the lights turned red and Kane’s WWE theme music began playing.

Jacobs donned his Kane mask and proceeded to chokeslam the man through a nearby table.

“So, as I was saying,” Jacobs said to conclude the humorous skit. “Welcome to Knox County. I hope you have a wonderful time, and I expect to see you back here very soon…or else.”

Jacobs made his last appearance in WWE in November 2018, losing a tag team match alongside his storyline brother, The Undertaker, to D-Generation X. In a video published by WWE in April, Jacobs said he would not rule out a return to the squared circle.

Source: FoxNews

Mauro Ranallo Reportedly Signs New WWE Contract

Mauro Ranallo recently signed a new deal with WWE.

The contract will keep Mauro as the lead announcer on the WWE NXT brand, according to PWInsider. The terms of the deal were agreed on about a month ago.

The deal will also allow Ranallo to continue working non-WWE gigs in the world of MMA.

Mauro first signed with WWE to work SmackDown in December 2015. He briefly left in April 2017, but returned in June to become the voice of NXT. It was reported then that Ranallo had signed a multi-year deal with the company.

Ranallo has also called the Cruiserweight Classic, and 205 Live for WWE. He does commentary work for Bellator MMA and the Showtime Networks.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Hires Jerry Lynn To Work As A Coach

All Elite Wrestling announced yesterday that they have signed former ECW World Champion, ROH World Champion, WWE Light Heavyweight Champion, TNA X-Division Champion and TNA/NWA Tag Team Champion Jerry Lynn to work as a Coach.

Lynn reacted to the news on Twitter and wrote, “I’m privileged to be a part of AEW!!!”

There’s no word yet on other AEW coaches but names working as Producers, which could be a similar role to what Lynn ends up doing, are Christopher Daniels, Keith Mitchell and BJ Whitmer.

Lynn is a 30+ year veteran of the business who has worked for WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA, ROH and others.

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1126287707636891648

https://twitter.com/itsjerrylynn/status/1126297875284152325

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Angelico Reportedly Signs With AEW

Former Lucha Underground star, Angelico, has reportedly signed with All Elite Wrestling, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. An announcement is expected soon for the 32-year old South African wrestler.

The report noted WWE had interest for Angelico to be part of the NXT brand, but didn’t want to get into a bidding war with AEW over him. WWE’s interest has been there for quite some time with reports of their interest surfacing last year.

It actually went back even further with Angelico noting to Metro in 2017 that WWE had made an offer before he signed with Lucha Underground in 2014.

“I can’t really talk about the details, but there was contact made by WWE before we signed with Lucha Underground in 2014 to both me and Jack,” Angelico said. “We talked it over and decided at that time that Lucha Underground were going to take the risk with it because we really believed in the project. We also had the mentality that if WWE were interested in us in 2014 and if every year we’re still getting better as individuals and as a tag-team, why wouldn’t they still want us a few years later a few years on.

“With a few years to play with we went with the Lucha Underground project, which was fun and new. I can’t speak for Jack, but we don’t regret not going, I think he’s happy with the decision he made as am I. Who’s to say we won’t turn up there one day, but with how wrestling is in this day and age it’s great to be a free agent and travel the world.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.