It was recently confirmed that WWE has furloughed Nigel McGuinness and now another release has been confirmed, though this time it’s an off-screen personality who has been let go by the company.
According to reports from Wrestling Observer, the company has released Chris DeJoseph, who was the lead writer of SmackDown under the Executive Director Bruce Prichard.
DeJoseph previously had a run with the company in the mid-2000s. He was also used as an on-screen character during the time under the ring name Bick Dick Johnson.
He returned to the company last year in December and started working with the promotion again beginning with the TLC PPV.
Chris’ release is even more surprising because he had received a promotion in the company in the last week and he was at the TV tapings earlier this week.
There is no news yet on why he was let go by the officials but reports suggest that it has nothing to do with the budget cuts related to the COVID 19-crisis.
Chris DeJoseph is not the only big backstage name that has left the company recently and Vice President of Global Television Production Michael Mansury also recently parted ways with the promotion.
WWE Superstar and Mayor of Knox County Glenn Jacobs/Kane recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump. The Big Red Machine was appearing on the WWE Network show to discuss the ongoing The Last Ride documentary that features his on-screen brother The Undertaker.
One of the questions posed to Kane was the planning of matches between he and ‘Taker. Kane would discuss how it was sometimes difficult to plan and map out bouts against the ‘Deadman.’ This was because both men were behemoths in stature, and as Kane later mentions, they would prefer to have a smaller performer to work with.
Undertaker vs Kane
“In fact, it was kind of hard because when you have two characters like Undertaker and myself who are very much alike? We do the same things” Kane would begin. “And the characters? Even though they’re mere opposites they’re in many ways…they’re almost exact clones. They’re very, very similar.”
Kane elaborated further, saying “how do you construct a match? When you have the Undertaker who’s indestructible, and Kane who is indestructible? You have to figure all that stuff out. Also you don’t want, for instance, you don’t want The Undertaker to look ‘normal’ by Kane beating them up. So you have to figure out ways to get around all that.”
Kane would finish by saying that planning matches with The Undertaker was always an epic undertaking. The Big Red Machine would also bring up the aforementioned ‘David vs Goliath’ approach. “Frankly, for me it’s always been an epic undertaking, ‘Taker would tell you the same thing. It’s always been easier to work with a smaller guy because you have a built in story; to kind of have the David vs Goliath, you know? The Rocky Balboa story, whereas when you have the Clash of the Titans? It’s harder to do traditional storytelling in that fashion.”
Have you been enjoying The Last Ride? Let us know in the comments
AEW star Darby Allin recently appeared on the AEW Unrestricted podcast. The former pro skateboarder discussed a number of topics during the interview with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards; these included his love of documentary film-making and his straight edge lifestyle.
Arguably the most famous Straight Edge (no drink, no drugs, no casual sex) wrestler in history is CM Punk, who used the movement and its beliefs as part of his on-screen gimmick. Although in reality Punk is actually sXe, with his father’s alcoholism being one of his main driving factors towards the clean living lifestyle.
Although Darby Allin does not explicitly bring up his Straight Edge lifestyle on television, it is a huge part of his belief system and mentality.
Darby Allin on sXe lifestyle
“There’s lots of reasons” Allin began, describing why he decided to live a sXe lifestyle. “But, you know, just growing up and having friends, close friends and family members kind of waste their life on drugs or alcohol? It kind of sucked to see that they couldn’t reach their full potential in life.”
Darby Allin elaborated further, saying “they’re sitting around wasting life, blaming it. ‘Oh, I didn’t make it to where I wanted because of alcohol and drugs.’ I was sick of hearing these excuses. So I told myself, a long time ago. If I fail in life? I can’t blame it on alcohol or the drugs, it’s gonna be 100% my fault. I have no one to blame it on except my own self.”
Unfortunately drug use and professional wrestling have gone hand-in-hand over the past few decades; with iconic performers losing their lives due to misuse of alcohol, illegal drug use and prescription pills.
“Since I’ve started with wrestling I haven’t taken a pain pill or anything” Darby Allin revealed. “I don’t even take aspirin. And that’s a shock to some because of the stuff that I do. All I’d have to credit for it? It’s just stretching and like, you know, icing and just eating, taking care of yourself.”
Do you think that Darby Allin could end up being one of the biggest stars in AEW? Let us know in the comments
The May 29th episode of WWE SmackDown aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. Jeff Hardy & Elias were both removed from the IC Title tournament after a hit & run segment to open tonight’s show.
SmackDown Results (5/29)
Sheamus won a Battle Royal to get back in the IC Title Tournament
Lacey Evans vs. Sonya Deville ended in a double countout
Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss
Shorty G def. Cesaro
Daniel Bryan def. Sheamus to advance to the finals of the IC Title Tournament
In addition to the takeaways below, Kurt Angle officially announced that Matt Riddle was coming to SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown kicked off with a hit and run angle on Elias. The car belonged to Jeff Hardy and the person seen leaving the car was wearing a black shirt and pants. Kayla Braxton then interviewed Universal Champion Braun Strowman as a witness. Strowman stated that they need to catch the son of a bitch that did this because it was ridiculous.
The “police officers” were then shown grabbing Jeff Hardy out of the bushes. Hardy complained that his head was killing him as the officers said Jeff smelled like alcohol. Jeff stated that he had not been drinking and grabbed his head in pain. They then put handcuffs on Jeff Hardy as Jamie Noble tried to calm Jeff down.
Renee Young said that Jeff appeared to be drunk and the rental car was in his name. Hardy started freaking out as Elias was being loaded into the ambulance.
The superstars then argued backstage about who would replace Elias and Jeff Hardy in the tournament. AJ Styles demanded a free ride to the finals of the tournament and was given it. Daniel Bryan didn’t take the cowardly way about and it was announced that a Battle Royal will go down to determine Bryan’s opponent in the tournament tonight.
Just to reiterate..
I’m happy to be working at @AEWrestling for @TonyKhan on Wednesdays.
Opinion: I saw tons of people complaining about this angle because they are using Jeff Hardy’s substance abuse issues in the past and thought that was low. I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t need my wrestling storylines to be politically correct. I just want them to be entertaining and this has my interest. I cannot imagine getting offended by an obviously ridiculous wrestling angle.
Someone set Jeff up (likely Sheamus) and it will make for compelling television. The storyline isn’t going to end at Jeff Hardy being guilty of drunk driving. Any wrestling or WWE fan knows that. This is one of the only interesting storylines WWE has done in a while and people instantly bashed it.
I’ve always longed for the days of the Attitude Era and this reminded me of it. The only offensive thing in WWE has been their lack of creativity as of late but this certainly wasn’t an example of that.
Sheamus Won The Battle Royal To Get Back Into The IC Title Tournament
Photo Credit: WWE.com
King Corbin dominated the Battle Royal early and eliminated three superstars including a returning Drew Gulak. Corbin then launched Ziggler over the top rope and turned around into a Superkick from Jey Uso. Corbin tumbled over the top rope and was eliminated as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
Shorty G eliminated Nakamura and Cesaro. Cesaro then got back into the ring and sent Shorty G over the top rope and somehow none of the referees caught it. The Battle Royal was down to Sheamus and Jey Uso. Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick and eliminated Jey to win the Battle Royal. Sheamus will face Daniel Bryan in the semifinals of the IC Title Tournament.
New Day joined Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for a Moment of Bliss. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks interrupted and joined them in the ring. Sasha was wearing a Hana armband to honor Hana Kimura.
Sasha threw her jacket on Alexa and Bliss got pissed off. Nikki calmed Alexa down and congratulated Bayley on her victory over Charlotte last week. Bayley claimed that she was the most dominant champion in SmackDown history and wondered why Alexa didn’t look impressed.
Bliss mocked Sasha Banks for being the only one without a championship in the ring. Bayley referred to Alexa as “Charlotte Jr.” and stated that Banks was the leader of the women’s division. Sasha added that they put the Women’s Tag Team Championships on the map and they wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for them.
Banks said that they can take the titles back whenever they want. Bayley then made a match between Banks and Alexa Bliss and pissed Sasha off because she wasn’t in her wrestling gear. Bliss hit a Dropkick as SmackDown went to a break.
Match Recap: Sasha beat Alexa down to start things off as Nikki Cross and Bayley joined commentary. Cole asked why Bayley would volunteer Sasha for a match and Bayley avoided the question. Banks connected with a Meteora as Nikki Cross started up a “Lexi!” chant. Alexa climbed to the top rope and Bayley hopped on the apron. Nikki jumped on the apron and Bayley shoved her onto Alexa. Sasha hit Bliss with Double Knees and rolled her up for the pinfall victory. It was later announced that Bliss & Cross will defend the Women’s Tag Team Championships against Bayley & Banks next week.
Opinion: Nikki Cross on commentary screaming at Bayley made this match way more fun than it should have been. There are so few teams in the women’s tag team division that it makes sense for Banks and Bayley to enter a feud with the champs.
Shorty G confronted Cesaro after the Battle Royal and it led to a match later on SmackDown.
Match Recap: Shorty G went after Cesaro’s left leg to start off the match but Cesaro battled back with a massive Clothesline. Cesaro followed that up with an impressive Powerbomb and went for the cover but Shorty G kicked out at two. Shorty G dodged an uppercut and rolled up Cesaro for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: The announcers played this up as a massive victory for Shorty G tonight. I don’t really consider a roll-up win this monumental moment for Chad Gable. He’s a terrific in-ring talent that has been saddled with a terrible gimmick that will likely never work. Escaping with a win over Cesaro in a short match isn’t going to solve that problem.
Sheamus battled Daniel Bryan in the semifinals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. The winner of the match will go on to face AJ Styles in the finals.
Match Recap: Sheamus controlled the action early and taunted Bryan while doing so. Sheamus dominated through a commercial break and launched Bryan into the barricade when SmackDown returned. Back in the ring, Sheamus continued to beat Bryan down and boasted about defeating him in 18 seconds at WrestleMania.
Bryan fought back and went for a Crossbody but Sheamus caught him with an Irish Curse Backbreaker. Sheamus locked in a Texas Cloverleaf submission but Bryan reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Sheamus hit Bryan with White Noise and went for the cover but Bryan kicked out at two.
Daniel sent Sheamus with a Dropkick but Sheamus shrugged it off and clubbed Bryan to the canvas. Sheamus set up for the Brogue Kick but Jeff Hardy showed up on the entrance ramp. Bryan capitalized with a Running Knee for the pinfall victory. After the match, Jeff Hardy attacked Sheamus in the ring. Sheamus then retreated up the entrance ramp to close the show.
Opinion: I thought this week’s SmackDown was a very good show and the Hardy & Sheamus storyline was the best part of it. It will be interesting to see where this storyline goes in the coming weeks. It wasn’t explained at all how Jeff got out of jail so quickly but it doesn’t need to be because this is wrestling storyline. The hacker could have provided proof to the authorities that Hardy was framed or Jeff broke free. Either way, this is entertaining as hell and I’m looking forward to next week’s show.
The start of this week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown was different as WWE did an interesting storyline involving Jeff Hardy.
Also, fans now know who will be in the finals of the tournament that will determine the new Intercontinental Champion as those competitors have been revealed.
The semi-finals of the tournament were supposed to take place on Friday’s episode of SmackDown in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on FOX. The pair of matches were Jeff Hardy vs. Daniel Bryan and Elias vs. AJ Styles.
However, the show opened with a car parked on a curb with the hood open and Elias on the ground. Once EMT’s and police arrived, they found Hardy nearby and arrested him. Police found an alcohol bottle as well as the registration in the name of Hardy for the rental car. Elias was taken away by ambulance.
Hardy has a history of drunk driving and issues with alcohol abuse.
Thus, after a backstage meeting, it was determined that Styles would advance to the finals while Bryan would take on the winner of a 10-man battle royal in the opening contest.
This contest was won by Sheamus, who took on Bryan in the main event. As seen on the show, Bryan went over Sheamus thanks to a distraction from the returning Hardy.
The finals of the tournament between Styles and Bryan will take place in two weeks on SmackDown.
Just one week after making their promotional debut, FTR is slated to do their first AEW interview.
All Elite Wrestling announced on Friday that The Revolt, formerly known as The Revival, will be doing an interview with Tony Schiavone on next Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite on TNT.
It should be noted that this episode has already been taped. The former WWE stars made their debut this past Wednesday after The Young Bucks & Matt Hardy defeated Private Party & Joey Janela in a six-man tag match.
They did so when they made the save for The Young Bucks from an attack by The Butcher & The Blade.
AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter to hype next week’s show by writing the following:
“Thank you for making it one of the most successful weeks we’ve had at #AEW, with great viewership for Double or Nothing + Dynamite! #AEWDynamite is back Wednesday with a huge card!”
Update AEW Dynamite Card
AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Jungle Boy
AEW Tag Team Champions Hangman Page and Kenny Omega vs. Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc
Chris Jericho will be in action against Colt Cabana
The dispute between Ric Flair and WWE is over. It all started over the ownership of the rights to “The Man” trademark.
It was revealed on Friday that the WWE Hall of Famer recently reached a deal to transfer the rights to his two trademarks for the company.
USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) shows in its listings that Flair’s LLC assigned the entire interest and the goodwill of the trademarks to WWE on Tuesday, May 19.
These are the same trademarks that started the tension between the two sides as Flair filed for it on August 22, 2019 and August 26, 2019. This came after WWE had billed former RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch as “The Man.”
The reason for that is due to his feeling that the intellectual properties belonged to him as he had used that name for years.
During this time, Flair went public about the issues in various interviews. In fact, he stated that he thought WWE should have paid him for use of the nickname for Lynch.
Flair mentioned in his original trademark filing that he first used “The Man” in commerce back in 1976. The former WWE Champion recently signed a new deal with the company.
Daria Rae Berenato, better known to wrestling fans as Sonya Deville, is reportedly looking to get acting roles in the near future. Deville has a history in film and has even produced her own movie. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Deville may even be up for the role of “Batwoman.”
“Deville, who is repped by Anderson Group Public Relations, is attempted to be pushed for acting roles,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report continued to say Deville is rumored to be in the running for the Batwoman role.
Batwoman is a series on the CW Television Network that received generally favorable reviews for its first season. Lead actress Ruby Rose decided to leave the role of Batwoman, however, as she found it to be too time-consuming. Now, the series must replace her for it to continue, and apparently, Deville is in the mix for the role.
Deville was formerly the host of UFC Afterbuzz before she signed with WWE. Her IMDB credits also include the TV series’ Tattoo Nightmares, Black Days, and Comedy Joy Ride.
Deville was also a producer on the 2013 film “The Honour.” She portrayed the role of JuJu in the film as well.
“Christian Conservative Sarah discovers her daughter Judith is gay and in love with a Muslim Neighbor. Sarah will do anything to save the immoral soul of her daughter,” reads a description of the film.
The season 2 finale of Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring drew a record-high rating for the show and network. The episode drew 626,000 viewers with 390,000 from adults aged 18-49. Season 2 averaged 423,000 viewers per episode and 242,000 in adults aged 18-49. It is now officially the highest-rated original program for ViceTV in the network’s history.
Producer for the show Evan Husney spoke to SI.com about the show’s future. During the discussion, he noted that Vice wants to produce a 3rd season in the series.
“A third season is something everybody involved wants to do,” Husney said. “Vice wants to make a Season 3, we would love to see it happen, and we’re in those stages of conversation.”
Unfortunately, Husney pointed out that the ongoing pandemic has left production in the television industry in an uncertain period.
“Right now, there are just a lot of question marks about the future of production, and even the future of the world. Our show deals with a lot of travel, and we’d love to go international to places like Japan in Season 3, but there is a lot of uncertainty in terms of that.”
NXT announcer Nigel McGuinness has been furloughed by WWE. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this was done as part of the recent cuts the company made last month.
“The reason Nigel McGuinness hasn’t been around is that he was one of the people furloughed during all the cuts,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
McGuinness signed with the promotion as a commentator in 2016. He made his commentary debut with the company in January 2017 for the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. He’s also worked at commentary for Main Event and 205 Live.
Last year, the WWE Network released a documentary on McGuinness’s career titled Chasing the Magic: The Nigel McGuinness Story.
As a wrestler, Nigel McGuinness is a former ROH World and Pure champion. He defeated Samoa Joe for the Pure title in 2005 and held it for 350 days before dropping it to Bryan Danielson. McGuinness won the ROH World title from Takeshi Morishima in 2007. He held that title for 545 days before dropping it to Jerry Lynn in 2009. Also in 2009, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Nigel McGuinness as the 6th top wrestler in their annual PWI Top-500 rankings.
Major League Wrestling has announced the launch of a new weekly digital series, MLW Pulp Fusion.
Pulp Fusion is billed as a spinoff to Fusion. The show will act as a “creative bridge” while live events are on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MLW CEO Court Bauer commented on the new project in a statement sent in to SEScoops.com.
“Pulp Fusion serves as the creative tissue that connects what happened to the league and its athletes in the wake of the shocking conclusion of the May 9th episode of MLW FUSION,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer. “Along the way fans will learn what’s ahead as they take a wildly unique dive into the world of MLW each and every week.”
Wrestling fans get a candid look world of MLW with a spotlight on the athletes and rivalries of the fight league. The first episode is now live on MLW’s YouTube channel.
MLW Pulp Fusion (Episode 1)
Check out the premiere episode below. This week, we check in with The Dynasty, Mance Warner, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Konnan, LA Park, Injustice and many more.
Samoa Joe returned to the RAW commentary team last month. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Joe is considered to be Jerry Lawler’s permanent replacement in the role.
“(Joe) is also now considered the permanent replacement for Lawler as an announcer,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Samoa Joe is still not medically cleared to return to a wrestling ring. Joe was injured during a commercial shoot back in February. He was reported to have suffered a concussion. Shortly after that, he received a 30-day suspension for a failure of the company’s wellness program.
It is not clear what Joe’s role will be when he is medically cleared to return to competition. There is speculation that he could continue as an announcer but also participate in angles and matches.
As for Jerry Lawler’s role on the RAW commentary team, there was concern about bringing Lawler in for the shows during the pandemic due to his age and history of heart problems. Lawler is 70 years of age and suffered a cardiac arrest on the September 10th, 2012 episode of RAW from Montreal.
Joe’s last match for the promotion was on February 10th, 2020. On that night’s episode of RAW, Joe teamed with the Viking Raiders and Kevin Owens. Joe’s team lost to Seth Rollins, Buddy Murphy and the AOP.
Jim Ross says that AEW had plans to begin non-televised live events before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
JR was a guest on Wrestling Observer Live when he was asked about the possibility of AEW running ‘house show’ tours. Host Bryan Alvarez noted that there are positives and negatives to holding live events.
“What are your thoughts on should they be doing more house shows for everybody’s learning abilities?” Alvarez asked JR.
“Absolutely and I think that’s the plan,” Jim Ross responded. “There were some live events pencilled into the schedule before the virus. You can’t get better working one night a week, nobody, I don’t care who you are. There are some minor exceptions, like I don’t know that Chris Jericho needs to work 4 or 5 days a week to be great.”
“A lot of guys need to continue to work and they need to work under the supervision of the coaches in AEW so they can continue to re-learn some of the fundamentals, primarily slowing down, using more psychology and selling,” JR continued.
“Getting house shows are important for us to develop talent especially and for revenue going forward but who the hell knows when that’s going to be? It ain’t no time soon apparently.”
You can watch JR’s appearance on Wrestling Observer Live here:
Tony Khan on AEW Running House Shows
Last June, AEW President Tony Khan said if AEW does do house shows, they won’t be having their roster doing 5-6 of them a week.
“If you do see us do house shows, they are going to be top shows with the top people, which means we’re not going to be doing five or six a week of them,” Khan said.
“So when we get into weekly TV, I’d like to get into a good rhythm of where we’re doing, let’s say, between 100-120 shows a year, it’s pretty busy but it doesn’t mean every performer is going to be on every show. It means you’re going to get a combination of our top performers every night.”
The trash talk between Chris Jericho and Mike Tyson continued after this week’s AEW Dynamite went off the air.
Jericho called out Mike Tyson on Dynamite, saying that he’s got unfinished business with the boxing legend stemming from an incident on Monday night Raw a decade ago. Tyson and his entourage then confronted Jericho and a massive pull-apart took place to close out the show.
After Dynamite went off the air, AEW cameras caught up with Tyson backstage. “Iron” Mike had a very clear message for Chris Jericho.
“Hey, I’m telling you this is not over, I’m coming back and Jericho is going to get his a** kicked,” Tyson said.
Cameras also caught up with Chris Jericho. Le Champion was so upset at what occurred that he was hitting things backstage with his baseball bat, Floyd.
“You want to see what happens?!” Jericho said. “I’ll make you pay, Tyson, I’ll make you pay!”
Jericho and Tyson actually teamed up together on RAW 10-years ago. This was the incident that Jericho was referring to on Dynamite. Jericho and Tyson were taking on D-X when Tyson turned on Jericho and knocked him out.
Official buys for AEW Double or Nothing are not currently available but several signs are pointing to the possibility that it could have done better than any other PPV in company history. This is coming off of the UFC’s last PPV trending to have done big numbers as well.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, estimates of PPV purchases for the show sit at 115,000 to 120,000 buys, which would rank it just over last year’s Double or Nothing. The report notes that streaming numbers for B/R Live in the United States and FITE internationally are up 10-15% from previous shows. If a similar trend is seen from cable purchases, that would put this year’s Double or Nothing ahead of last year’s, which was the most purchased show in company history. Last year’s event was the first-ever AEW PPV and was headlined by Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega.
During his segment on Dynamite, Cody referenced the PPV having exceeded expectations as well.
Cable purchases of AEW’s last PPV, Revolution on February 29th, are not yet available for comparison, however. The event was headlined by Jon Moxley challenging Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship.
The opening match on Dynamite this week featured Joey Janela teaming with Private Party against Matt Hardy and the Young Bucks. At the end of the match, it appeared as though Marq Quen was injured and needed assistance getting to the back. Hardy ended up helping his opponent from the match to the back and leaving the Young Bucks alone in the ring.
Quen was not actually injured in the match, however, the worked injury was just a way to get Hardy out of the ring so Butcher and the Blade could attack. This then led to FTR’s Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler making their AEW debuts.
Matt Hardy Praises Private Party
Hardy took to Twitter to praise the members of Private Party. He noted that Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen remind him of a young Hardy Boyz team.
“Glad you’re injury wasn’t too severe, Marq Quen. The bond that you & your partner Isiah Kassidy share reminds me of a young me & Jeff Hardy. Very happy that you 2 have this great opportunity at AEW,” Hardy Tweeted.
Wednesday night was not the first time Matt Hardy has been in the ring with the members of Private Party. Just 1-year into the pro-careers of Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, Private Party and the Hardy Boyz wrestled a couple of times for House of Glory. On August 9th, 2016, the Hardyz defeated Private Party for the HOG tag team titles. Each team was then involved in fatal 4-way for the belts later that year. Santana & Ortiz won the titles in that match.
WWE legend The Undertaker was Peter Rosenberg’s guest on this week’s edition of the Cheap Heat Podcast on ESPN Radio.
They discussed a wide variety of topics during the conversation, including the Last Ride docu-series, working with Hulk Hogan, the Montreal Screwjob and much more.
They started off by talking about the creation of The Undertaker character and his first meetings with Vince McMahon in 1990.
The Undertaker says he was impressed by Vince McMahon’s early vision for the gimmick. He also recalls envisioning the Undertaker character being similar to horror movie icons like Freddie Kruger and Jason Voorhees.
The Undertaker’s Early Character Development
“[Vince] brings me up to Connecticut, we meet and he’s got storyboards of what he thinks this character is, and it’s just like, wow, this is really cool. It’s really different. Immediately, my mind is just spinning. I’m thinking, Freddie Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees – all these super villains that are in these slasher movies. But then I’m also trying to figure out how it applies to professional wrestling. Originally, he gave me the likeness and then a lot of it was put in my hands to develop.”
The Undertaker says it took him some time to flesh out the character. At the time, he was known as a big guy who was athletic and could move around the quickly. It took him some time to settle in to the slow, plodding menace he’d eventually develop into.
“It took me a couple times out to realize, well, this isn’t going to work for what I envisioned for this character. I had to slow down some of my pace and some of my athleticism. Then i figured out, ‘I’m going to go really slow and then I’m gonna bang and blow it out of the water and catch people off guard with it, just like they do in the movies.’ So i’m trying to figure out all those elements of how to make it work in a wrestling ring.”
Proving WCW Wrong
Before he joined the WWF in 1990, The Undertaker was working in WCW as “Mean” Mark Callus. At the time, The Undertaker felt like WCW was a better fit for him than the cartoonish WWF. When his WCW contract expired in the summer of 1990, he became very discouraged. WCW refused to offer him a pay increase. The reality of the situation got worse when WCW officials told him nobody would pay to see him wrestle.
The Undertaker used that negative experience as motivation. As The Undertaker character was taking shape, he thought about how he could differentiate himself from the rest of the WWF’s main event stars.
“There were so many over-the-top characters already [in the WWF],” he began. “Everything was over the top. So I was trying to figure out how am I going to separate myself from what everybody else is doing? How do you stand out with all these already established performers?”
“Vince had had that [Undertaker] character for a while,” he said. “He just didn’t have the right guy that he felt could do it. I guess he needed somebody big that didn’t have much personality (laughs). Here I come stumbling in on that. So I got lucky there.”
“When [WCW] told me that nobody would ever pay to see me, you can imagine the size chip that went on my shoulder. It was like, “Ok, screw you guys, you will regret the day that you didn’t sign me.” It’s so crazy how things work out. If they [WCW] would have given me a little extra cheese, that’s where I wanted to be. I didn’t know any better, but I figured I was a more mainstream wrestler, that’s where WCW was at the time. Vince had all these different characters, and that didn’t really seem to suit where I wanted to be. I wanted to be there with Flair and Arn and all those guys. That just seemed to fit my outlook on wrestling.”
Undertaker says he wasn’t asking WCW for a big raise and would have stayed for a small pay bump.
” Beleive me, I wasn’t asking for the Lex Luger deal or the Road Warrior deal. It was a little extra cheese. ‘Nobody’s gonna pay money to see you. We’re gonna give you the same deal.’ I’m like, ‘OK, writing is on the wall. They didn’t even put me up a little.'”
Getting in to the WWF
The Undertaker says Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard are the two men responsible for getting his foot in the door with Vince McMahon.
“So, Paul [Heyman] is managing me at the time that this all came about. Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard are close. So Paul and Bruce were talking and Bruce was working on Vince. I guess Bruce had finally gotten Vince to agree to watch the Great American Bash [match] that I had with Lex Luger. Maybe a week before that, I really screwed up my hip in match. So I can barely move. But i know i’ve gotta go out and do something. So Vince watches the pay-per-view and says, ‘Yeah he’s ok, nothing special.’ But Bruce said, ‘Does it matter that he can barely walk going into that?’ That grabbed Vince’s attention a little bit. Bruce kept working on Vince until finally I got a meeting.”
“We Don’t Have Anything For You”
Vince McMahon wound up canceling the first meeting he had scheduled with The Undertaker. This was right around the time Brutus Beefcake was badly injured during a parasailing accident. Expecting that his meeting with Vince McMahon would go well, he already gave notice to WCW that he was leaving.
“So now I’m basically working down there, they think I have a contract, I’m working in WCW without a contract. We finally went to the Meadowlands [Arena] I think, the next morning i had a meeting at [Vince’s] house. Even then, I went in thinking, I got this. I had the meeting, maybe two hours i spent with Bruce and Vince and JJ Dillon and Pat Patterson. I have this meeting and think i’m being impressive and charming. At the end of the meeting Vince looks at me and goes, ‘We don’t really have anything right now.’ (laughs). I already gave my notice thinking, I’ve got the meeting, the job’s in the bag, Ive already given my notice down at WCW.”
When asked if Vince McMahon was ribbing him, The Undertaker doesn’t think so. He legitimately thinks Vince just wasn’t ready to integrate him into WWE storylines yet.
“[Vince] didn’t have anything. He’s like, ‘Well, maybe after Mania we’ll have some slots opening up. I was like ‘Ok, well, thank you, I appreciate your time’ and out the door I went. They did within a few weeks call me and said ‘Hey, Hogan’s doing this movie out in LA.’ They wanted me to go read for it [Suburban Commando]. I read for the movie and got the part, the worst movie ever. It was awful, it was truly awful. But you know, that kept me busy for a little while. Then finally, I got a call [to debut at Survivor Series 1990.]
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
AEW won the night in total viewers and in the key 18-49 demo, but both shows were up. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 731,000 viewers, up from last week’s 592,000 In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.19 rating, up from 0.13 last week.
The episode featured Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher with Kurt Angle as the special guest referee in a Cage Fight, Drake Maverick vs. Kushida vs. Jake Atlas in a Triple Threat to determine the Group A winner of Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, and Charlotte Flair & Chelsea Green vs. Io Shirai & Rhea Ripley.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 827,000 viewers, up from the 701,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.32 rating, up from the 0.26 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured bouts such as Matt Hardy and The Young Bucks vs. Private Party and Joey Janela, A Battle Royal will take place to determine the first contender for the AEW TNT Championship, and a pep rally for The Inner Circle that led to a brawl with Mike Tyson.
Chris Jericho says the stage is set for boxing legend Mike Tyson to compete inside an AEW ring. “Iron” Mike and his entourage of UFC legends have garnered mainstream attention for their brawl with the Inner Circle on this week’s AEW Dynamite.
During the discussion, Jericho said it was amazing to have Mike Tyson in AEW. He called the chaotic brawl was the perfect chance to re-introduce Tyson to wrestling fans and pave the way for additional appearances.
“It was totally wild and woolly,” Jericho said. “It just shows that now more than ever Iron Mike Tyson is someone who’s very buzz-worthy.”
Mike Tyson has been hinting at a return to the boxing ring. The 53-year-old has released several training videos to the amazement of fight fans across the world. Jericho says Tyson is in great mental and physical shape. He wants to be in the spotlight gain and AEW has the buzz Tyson is looking to latch on to.
Mike Tyson in AEW
Chris Jericho was asked directly if we will see Mike Tyson is able and to compete inside an AEW ring. Le Champion responded in typical Jericho fashion.
“It’s not up to him, that’s up to me,” he said. “Of course, he’s capable. Wrestling is all shapes and sizes and there’s a lot of different ways to do it. If he’s agreeable to doing something with us, then we work to his strengths and eliminate his weaknesses that’s what wrestling’s all about.”
A wrestling match involving Mike Tyson would require a lot of smoke and mirrors. Even if Tyson is heavily protected and simply throws a few of his signature knockout punches, a special attraction bout of this magnitude could be major business for AEW.
Visit DigitalSpy to read their full interview with Chris Jericho.
Outspoken pro wrestling personality Jim Cornette recently reviewed AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV on his Drive Thru podcast. As you may have guessed, Cornette wasn’t exactly a fan of what he saw on the PPV itself.
It wasn’t just the content on the actual show that Cornette took issue with. Before the event AEW President Tony Khan tweeted out an image featuring himself, Mike Tyson, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts and Lance Archer.
The photo (see below) shows all of the stars, including the on-screen rivals Cody and Archer, smiling for the camera displaying the new AEW TNT Championship.
We’re minutes from our biggest show of the year #AEW Double or Nothing! It’ll be one of the best PPVs you’ve seen in a long time, I promise, it’s a great card with huge wrestling matches, some great stories + the return to ppv of @MikeTyson! Order if you can, you won’t regret it! pic.twitter.com/OBymriutfN
Cornette, as an old school style of wrestling promotor, took massive issue with this. “As I mentioned, I was not looking forward to seeing this show” Jim Cornette said on his Drive Thru podcast.
“Part of the reason why? We cannot forget about this, to preface the programme? Apparently they tweeted out a picture of Tony Kahn, Lance Archer, Cody and Arn [Anderson] on one side with The Young Bucks and Mike Tyson in the middle and Lance Archer and Jake Roberts on the other side. All mugging and smiling for the f*cking camera.”
Jim Cornette
Cornette would describe why he had an issue with on-screen rivals being part of the promotional image like this.
“After what Jake what two weeks ago? He dry humped Cody’s wife and put a snake on her! But because Mike Tyson’s star power is so magnetic, he was able to bring these two feuding entities. These two blood rivals together to mug for a picture and smile so they could tweet it out right before the f*cking show because they were so proud of that hubcap f*cking belt.”
Are you a fan of the new TNT Championship? Let us know in the comments
Chelsea Green is no longer part of the Robert Stone brand. Green teamed with Charlotte Flair against Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley in victorious fashion last night. After the match, Green fired Robert Stone in a clip shot exclusively for social media.
“Every since signing with the Robert Stone brand, it’s worked, we’ve worked. After tonight, Chelsea Green is the hottest she’s ever been. That’s why, you’re fired,” Green said to Stone.
At first, Stone seemed to feel Green was joking but it dawned on him at the end of the video that she was being quite serious.
Actually I’m kidding. I don’t wanna fire you. Were you kidding??? Let’s talk. Did you block my number ????
Video of Chelsea Green firing Stone can be viewed below:
A recent segment on NXT also involved Aliyah attempting to convince Robert Stone she would be a good fit with his brand.
Chelsea Green Gone From The Robert Stone Brand
Green debuted in NXT on the January 29th episode. She surprisingly dropped the match to Kayden Carter but would avenge the loss on the February 19th edition of NXT.
Green then qualified for a #1 Contenders ladder match by defeating Shotzi Blackheart on the March 4th show. On April 29th, Green defeated Xia Li to bring her single’s record on the brand to 3-1. Her victory alongside Charlotte Flair last night was her 4th victory in NXT thus far.
Brie Bella has said that she is worried about her marriage to Daniel Bryan. In a promo clip for tonight’s episode of Total Bellas, Brie tells her sister Nikki that she is worried that her and Bryan are growing apart.
“He and I both … We don’t have a lot of time together as a couple,” Brie said. “At times we feel like single parents, when he comes back in town, I leave. We’re kind of growing apart, we’re not growing together.”
Brie continued to talk about how the couple has started to want different things. Bryan and Brie were married in 2014 after 2 years of dating.
The couple has planned a romantic getaway to Sedona, Arizona to work on their relationship.
“In the last eight years, Bryan and I have just wanted different things than what we’ve both wanted together in the beginning. I think we really need to come up with some compromises, and I know that if I want my marriage to work, I have to go into Sedona so honest. I can’t come back to Phoenix with any regrets.”
Bryan is scheduled to face Jeff Hardy this week on Smackdown. The match is a semi-final tournament match to determine a new Intercontinental Champion.
WWE taped next week’s episode of RAW at the Performance Center yesterday. During the show, Kairi Sane was injured while performing in a match with Nia Jax. According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, Kairi Sane was bloodied up after hitting the ring steps during the match.
“Everyone who I’ve talked to has said no one’s blaming Nia Jax, this was not Nia Jax’s fault even though other things have been,” said Dave Meltzer.
“Basically Kairi Sane got whipped into the ring steps. One person said that she may have stumbled but she was trying to take it on her side. She did take it on her side, her head did hit the steps,” he continued.
“Her head hit the steps, she was bloodied up, she was knocked silly.”
It is not yet known if Kairi has a concussion or not, however. The match was stopped and it is not clear if the match will air on television or if it will be edited before airing.
Kairi’s last match to air on WWE programming was a victory over Ruby Riott. The match aired on the May 5th episode of Main Event.
Chris Jericho’s Rock N Rager at Sea is still scheduled to set sail in 2021. Jericho gave a big update yesterday on the cruise that is currently scheduled to happen on February 1st to 5th, 2021.
The cruise is now advertising 4 days of wrestling matches, 3 Fozzy concerts, an event titled “Family Feud with Chris Jericho,” autograph sessions, live podcasts and more. Jim Duggan, Ted Dibiase, Bully Ray, and more are already confirmed for the event.
Those who have sailed on the cruise before can prebook now. First-time cruise-goers can sign up for presale here.
Last year’s cruise featured the taping of an episode of AEW Dynamite branded “Bash at the Beach.” The promotion stated after last year’s event that they would air Dynamite live from the cruise in 2021.
“We recognize we’re in the midst of uncertain times right now – times that call for extra flexibility, special value, and an absolute assurance that your health and safety are being closely looked after,” reads ChrisJerichoCruise.com.
Several new protocols will be coming to the cruise industry following the resumption of their businesses. The cruise line Jericho uses for the Rock N Rager at Sea has already stated they will no longer be greeting guests with high-fives.
“We expect new protocols to continue changing and the planning for your event will continue evolving right alongside them. One measure we’ll implement right away is saying goodbye to our beloved welcome high-fives. However, you can still count on a friendly Sixthman face upon your arrival to greet you and welcome you to the party!”
More information about health protocols for the cruise can be found here.
Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite from Daily’s Place Amphitheater featured prominent branding for HBO Max, the new streaming service from WarnerMedia.
HBO Max launched this week and includes programming from TNT and other WarnerMedia properties. HBO Max logos appeared all over the ringside area on AEW Dynamite, including the ring apron, turnbuckles, ring posts, announcers’ booth and more.
There has been some speculation that AEW programming, either Dark or show, could end up on the streaming service as well.
Kevin Reilly is the chief content officer for HBO Max and also the President of TNT, TBS, and truTV. He spoke with Variety following the extension of AEW’s deal with TNT. During the discussion, Reilly spoke highly of AEW and noted that AEW Dark could be moved off of YouTube and onto a WarnerMedia property.
“We just figured, ‘Let’s bring it onto the network and make it a place where you truly plant up and coming talent,’” Reilly said regarding Dark. “I think we’ll start doing more packages there and filming some behind-the-scenes stuff, not for the matches that night but with other talent to plant stories and grow things that could eventually become another show in and of itself.”
AEW President Tony Khan also wished WarnerMedia luck on the launch of HBO Max yesterday. He wrote on Twitter, “Thank you all who watched Double or Nothing & made it a huge success 2 years in a row! We’ve officially been in business for 1 year now & we owe it all to great fans supporting us + Kevin Reilly & our partners at WarnerMedia! Good luck on the big #HBOMax launch today, my friends!”
Get your free trial for HBO Max at HBOMax.com. A trailer for the new streaming service can be viewed below. WarnerMedia’s vast catalogue of films and TV shows are included.
