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.
WWE has announced that a Women’s Tag Team Title tournament will begin this Monday on Raw to crown new champions.
WWE has officially made a decision regarding the Women’s Tag Team Championships. They are not going away and, in fact, WWE has announced that a tournament to crown new Women’s Tag Team Champions will start next week on Monday Night Raw.
Michael Cole and Pat McAfee first shared the news during Friday’s episode of SmackDown, and WWE official Adam Pearce then confirmed after the show in a WWE exclusive video that the tournament would kick off this Monday night. Pearce said, “I am proud to be the bearer of some breaking news.” He added, “Beginning this Monday, live on Raw and emanating from Cleveland, Ohio, I’m happy to announce a tournament to crown brand new Women’s Tag Team Champions.” He then explained that both the Raw and SmackDown women’s rosters are in the process of putting together teams.
There will be plenty of questions heading into Raw. Who will comprise the teams? Which current stars will work together? Which stars might return? And, on the heels of Dakota Kai and Karrion Kross and Scarlett being brought back by Triple H, who else might be an unexpected entrant? One of the bigger questions will be whether Sasha Banks and Naomi are part of the tournament as rumors are swirling that WWE might have a deal in place to bring both stars back.
If that’s the case, it would explain why the tournament is happening and one has to wonder if Banks and Naomi will be the favorites to win considering the titles were last held by the duo before they relinquished the belts and walked out of Raw. Neither has been seen on WWE programming since.
WWE bringing back the championships is good news for the Women’s Division and one can only hope the tag team belts are pushed under Triple H’s creative direction. He’s been making a number of fan-pleasing decisions of late and if he makes those titles mean something, that will be another plus that the WWE Universe will be thrilled about.
Karrion Kross is back in WWE, and in a major way. He was dropped right into the main event scene between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre.
With rumors circulating that Triple H was interested in bringing back Karrion Kross to WWE, it didn’t take long for that rumor to be proven accurate. During Friday’s SmackDown, Kross, along with Scarlett and her hourglass, returned and took aim at one of the brand’s biggest stars.
The closing segment of SmackDown featured a showdown between Roman Reigns, with The Bloodline, and Drew McIntyre. Reigns talked about how much he hates Brock Lesnar before demanding the WWE Universe acknowledge him. That brought out Drew McIntyre who didn’t waste any time asking the crowd if they wanted to see him wipe out the entire Bloodline prior to their upcoming match at Clash at the Castle. Before he could make good on his threat, a strange video was projected onto the entrance screen with a familiar theme song. It was hard to make out who was in the entryway, but it was a female figure. As McIntyre and Reigns looked on confused, Kross came in from behind and attacked McIntyre.
The announce crew wasn’t sure who it was exactly, until Pat McAfee shouted, “Karrion Kross?” Michael Cole then confirmed that was the case when the camera zoomed in on Kross. Cole said, “Karrion Kross, a former NXT Champion has returned.” Scarlett placed the hourglass on the ring apron and turned it over. Kross was staring at Reigns and pointed and tapped his wrist – Tick Tock, as to say Reigns has ben put on notice and his time is running out.
This is a big play by Triple H creatively. Not only did he bring back a recently-released former NXT Champion, but he’s plopped him right into the main event scene on the blue brand. Just prior to a big showdown between McIntyre and Reigns at Clash at the Castle, Kross is now a big part of the picture and it’s unclear how WWE will include him in all of this. Triple H was known to be a fan of Kross’ during his NXT run, suggesting he had all the tools to be a huge star. Clearly, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.
