Wrestling

WWE Wants CM Punk Back In The Company

WWE apparently wants CM Punk to return to the company, according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

While speaking about Mauro Ranallo’s return to the company, he wrote about how some people will leave the company on horrible terms but most end up returning. Meltzer wrote, “That’s why, no matter what is said, WWE wants C.M. Punk back and even though Punk was adamant about never doing it, history tells you time heals a lot of wounds.”

Despite WWE wanting Punk to return the company, he apparently has no intentions on it according to his wife, AJ Lee. During her recent book tour, AJ Lee said that she misses wrestling but her husband does not. It’s also worth noting that Punk is still going through a legal battle with WWE’s doctor Chris Amann, so it looks like a return anytime in the near future won’t be happening.

The Ross Report Recap w/ Lita & Madusa – Great Balls of Fire Analysis, Strowman is WWE’s ‘Next Big Thing’, Mae Young Classic, More!

Ross thought that Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar had a great match at last Sunday’s Great Balls of Fire event.  He thought the match was believable at every turn, and Joe actually had the majority of the offence during the bout. He liked the story that both men told, and he didn’t have a problem with the finish of the match at all.

Some fans were aggravated by the fact that it only took one F5 to defeat Joe, and this is a tale of the times in Ross’ opinion. Fans have become accustomed to wrestlers kicking out of each other’s finishing moves, and he thinks that’s a problem for the wrestling business. A wrestler’s ‘finisher’ is supposed to ‘finish’ the match, and he believes that apart from big events like WrestleMania, finishing moves should be protected.

He admits that the outcome of the match was somewhat predictable with Lesnar winning but he thinks there will be a rematch at some point down the road, maybe as soon as SummerSlam if Joe is able to defeat Roman Reigns on RAW next week.

Ross thinks that Braun Strowman has a chance to be the ‘next big thing’ in WWE. After seeing Strowman walk away from that crash at Great Balls of Fire, Ross feels it’s hard to root against him, even if he’s supposed to be a heel. Strowman is a powerful, believable character who Ross thinks fans can get behind. He says that Strowman is the type of performer that you build a company around.

Vince Russo’s The Brand Recap – Paige & Del Rio Drama, Disco Inferno in WWE, Breaking Down Triple H’s Success, More!

Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane and Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno).

Lane asks Russo and Gilbertti for their opinions on the rumours that Paige was sitting ringside at Slammiversary last weekend wearing a mask in order to protect her identity. Gilbertti says that he can’t lower his IQ enough to discuss this on an intellectual level. Russo says that if that was Paige, it’s easy to tell that this was a desperate move by her in order to get out of her contract.

Paige clearly wants to be with her boyfriend Del Rio in Global Force Wrestling, so Russo doesn’t understand why both parties can’t get on the same page here and make that release happen. WWE has actually referenced Paige’s leaked sex tape on WWE the last couple of weeks, but then they removed those references from the replays.

Gilbertti doesn’t understand this because the average age of their fans is 54, yet they’re still acting like they have to market to a young demographic. Russo says that if this was the attitude era, Del Rio would have been signed after Paige’s tape was released, and the storyline would have consisted of Del Rio and Paige accusing Xavier Woods of releasing that tape. This would have been a great storyline and everyone would have been talking about it.

Reason WWE Stopped Using Pyros During Entrances

Many of you may have aware that there hasn’t been any pyros being used on WWE television lately. It was most noticeable at Sunday’s WWE Great Balls of Fire event when Brock Lesnar was making his signature entrance to the ring and no pyros went off and all you heard was Brock’s scream.

Dave Meltzer discussed the reason why pyros haven’t been being used on WWE programming lately during the Mailbag segment of today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer claims that WWE decided to stop using pyros as a cost-cutting measure. The company believes the pyros aren’t needed so they just stopped using them.

Major Update on Austin Aries’ Release from WWE

It was previously reported via Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio that Austin Aries asked for his release from WWE and the company granted it. However that doesn’t appear to be the case.

In the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Radio, Melzter claimed that it was actually WWE’s idea to release Aries from his 3-year contract with the company. The word is that a lot of the writing staff didn’t like him and he appeared to be thrilled when he was handed his release because he wasn’t happy with his current position on the roster.

In regards to his future, Aries can still use his name outside of WWE because he used it prior to signing with the company. Aries is locked into a 90-day period where he is being paid by WWE and can work dates that WWE proves during that time.

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Main Event Plans for This Year’s SummerSlam

While the current betting odds favor Braun Strowman to defeat Roman Reigns at tonight’s WWE Great Balls of Fire event, Dave Meltzer claimed on Wrestling Observer Radio that the plan is still for Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at this year’s SummerSlam event.

As previously reported, original plans called for Reigns to walk out of WrestleMania 34 as WWE Universal Champion, however WWE made a decision to move the match to SummerSlam instead. These plans were changed sometime around the time Braun Strowman returned to WWE programming.

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Inaccurate Reports of Kevin Owens’ DVD Being A Hot Seller

It was reported last week that Kevin Owen’s DVD is currently a hot seller, however that may not be the case exactly.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that this story surfaced when several fans received emails from stores like Best Buy and Amazon saying that they don’t have any copies of the DVD available and won’t for several weeks. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a hot item and could be an indication that these companies have under-ordered the DVD because the demand was slightly higher than previous WWE releases. These companies are waiting for a new shipment DVDs before the next batch becomes available for customers.

As of this writing, there is no concrete numbers available in terms of what Owens’ DVD sales are like because it’s a new release.

Another Reality TV Show In the Works for The Bella Twins?

It looks like The Bella Twins may be getting a third reality television show.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer News Letter that The Bella Twins may be doing a non-wrestling show that would include topics such as cooking, fashion, and traveling. This idea for this show apparently came about after the success of their YouTube channel.

Velvet Sky Announces Retirement

Former Knockout Velvet Sky has retired from professional wrestling, according to WNPR in Connecticut.

Velvet Sky announced that she has retired and she is back in school at Post University to finish up the college degree that she put on hold to pursue her wrestling career. Velvet apparently wants to be a personal trainer and is working with the next generation at a wrestling school in Danbury, CT.

Kurt Angle Says GLOW Is Helping Bring More Attention to Wrestling

Kurt Angle talked about the success of GLOW on his recent interview with the Dallas Observer recently.

He talked about GLOW’s recent popularity which led wrestling into mainstream environment again, and the main event women’s matches:

I would say that GLOW’s popularity had an influence on us having women’s main event matches. But the WWE has been working on their women’s division for years, and we’ve already been leading up to having the girls main event TV shows.

A few years ago, WWE made the decision to stop referring to the women wrestlers as “divas.” When I was in WWE the first go-round, the women were having bikini pillow fights and it was all about the look of the girl. Now it’s all about their in-ring ability. GLOW is helping bring more attention to wrestling and women’s wrestling in particular. I think people who watch WWE will watch GLOW and vice-versa.

GLOW is Netflix’s latest show which is based on a promotion of the same name, called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. The show was released via Netflix on June 23, 2017.

Possible Reason Why WWE Booked A Flag Match at WWE Battleground

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, WWE announced that John Cena would face Rusev in a flag match at the upcoming WWE Battleground event. Bryan Alvarez speculated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live that the reason WWE decided to have a flag match between the two was in case they decide to have Rusev win.

“The Flag match is essentially the professional wrestling version of capture the flag. For the match two flags are placed on opposite turnbuckles, each representing a specific wrestler or team of wrestlers, and the object of the match is to retrieve the opponent’s flag and raise it while defending the flag in the wrestler’s corner.”

According to the rules (seen above), the match will conclude when a specific wrestler retrieves the flag of their opponent. This means Cena doesn’t have to actually be pinned to lose the match. Historically, WWE normally has gimmick matches as a blow-off match in a feud or as an “out” for a screwy finish.

Eric Bischoff Rips WWE Booking a Flag Match at WWE Battleground — Says It’s Boring

Former WCW President and former RAW GM Eric Bischoff talked about the Rusev-Cena flag match on his podcast, Bischoff On Wrestling :

“I hate it. I just hate it. I haaaate it. I hate it. God, whose idea was that? Vince McMahon, if you are listening to this or someone that works for you is listening to this re-think that. That is just… gwuck. My teeth hurt just listening to you talk about this”

He continued:

“What’s a Flag Match?! What the hell is a Flag Match?! It’s like it’s been around for a thousand years and eeeeverybody knows what a Flag Match is. So, I am going to take your flag? Or, you’re going to take my flag? I am sorry… do not care. Boring. Here is what I do believe now once I take off my cynical hat. If you want to build up a story, create emotion, build anticipation, have a sense of reality, give yourself an element of surprise and wrap it all in some great action you’ve got to be a little believable. The stakes have to be a little relatable. What are the stakes?! You are going to grab my flag? Huh? You are grabbing my flag? That’s what I am going to get pissed off about and fight my heart out about? You’re going to grab my flag. I am sorry. I am sleeping through that one.”