GeorgPrime
Banned
Ruby Riott is great 
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Wrasslin' Thread 20XX |OT| New Age WrestleGAF
- Thread starter Bullet Club
- Start date
- Sports
GeorgPrime
Banned
Time to release some more wrestler
Bullet Club
Banned
Terrible news.
RIP Bobby Eaton
Bullet Club
Banned
"And then we've got Tony Khan, who wanks dogs"
Bullet Club
Banned
NickFire
Member
Overall I'd say Tony Khan is doing a really good job and helping bring old school wrestling back. I'm a little nervous about his reaction to some stupid rap song because it gives me Vince vibes. Just please don't start overly scripting every promo and everything should be fine.
heel ronda is so good come back we miss you
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
Wow. Never thought I'd see Dixie Carter again. Outside of maybe a dvd or documentary about the rise and fall of tna.
oh god noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Naked Lunch
Member
errr...people have been singing it in the crowd even before covid happened. Pretty sure it all started when Sammy Guevara sarcastically sung it over the mic one show during the intro. Even when Jerico was full heel he couldnt stop smiling about it - any other circumstance he would tell the crowd to shut up. He seems pretty proud of it.
NickFire
Member
Agreed with everything you wrote. I'm still wondering where they even learned the words.
Naked Lunch
Member
I mean they play it everytime he comes out - even when he commentated on dark a bunch of times. Any, even semi fan of AEW has heard it tons of times by now. I think it pretty cool being the creator and singer of your own intro music. The song kinda took off more than anyone expected ide imagine.
Its just another cog in the resurgence of pro wrestling aew is partaking. Stuff like this song and Best Friends Trent's mom Sue and the mini van are just hilarious and awesome.
Bullet Club
Banned
Judas has 50m views on Youtube & 41m listens on Spotify, so it's fairly popular.
Bullet Club
Banned
Bullet Club
Banned
NickFire
Member
I imagine for a lot of wrestlers that decision will be a tough choice.
if am him id go be with my girl and that is aew.
The offer from the WWE probably went like this
WWE - We'll put you on Raw and have you lose in 2 minutes to Jeff Hardy, Reginald, and Lucha House Party
Cole - I'd don't quite like that offer
WWE - Ok Ok since you pushed we'll let Goldberg destroy you in 15 seconds and that's our final offer.
Bullet Club
Banned
Classicrockfan
Banned
bobby fish ,bronson reed,and Mercedes Martinez really,guess sacrifices had to be made to pay adam coles salery ,that vince is going to offer him.
Wow, if I was Cole and Dunn I'd sign with AEW at this point because I'd figure if I re-sign there's a decent chance that they'd screw around with me and then release me anyway.(You know, given those releases. They can get a better deal now than after the WWE dumps them.)
Soodanim
Member
It will be interesting to see what happens if/when that sale happens, they’re certainly trimming a lot of fat at Titan Towers
Bullet Club
Banned
GeorgPrime
Banned
So. Vince McMahon wants to take control over NXT and he wants to change some stuff. First priority is now.... "NXT will now focus on big guys that they can build for the mainroster"
I hope Adam Cole quits and joins AEW/NJPW/Impact.
time to quit watching NXT now as well.
Backstage Details On WWE Making Big Changes To NXT, Adam Cole's Status
WWE releases have become a regular occurrence in 2021, and it was reported on Friday that WWE released a dozen talents from NXT including former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the recent releases in NXT are part of a change in...
stillrealtous.com
I hope Adam Cole quits and joins AEW/NJPW/Impact.
time to quit watching NXT now as well.
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And stupid garbage that Vince thinks is funny. Can't forget that.
Soodanim
Member
I haven’t finished listening yet, but the start of Corny’s latest episode is a rough start. Even thought it’s not the first take he breaks down into tears within seconds, you can tell how completely and utterly crushed he is. He asks Brian to speak so he can have a break for a minute. It gets easier as they start talking about good times and memories, and at one point Jim sends a sincere, heartfelt thank you to Tony Khan for kind words about Bobby and asks people to pass it on to him and make sure he gets it.
Jim has always been a passionate guy so totally understandable.
RavageX
Member
I had a hard time listening at first. Definitely feel for the guy.
Bullet Club
Banned
It's very sad.
Here it is for those that haven't listened to it.
Here it is for those that haven't listened to it.
Fox Mulder
Member
So. Vince McMahon wants to take control over NXT and he wants to change some stuff. First priority is now.... "NXT will now focus on big guys that they can build for the mainroster"
Backstage Details On WWE Making Big Changes To NXT, Adam Cole's Status
WWE releases have become a regular occurrence in 2021, and it was reported on Friday that WWE released a dozen talents from NXT including former NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the recent releases in NXT are part of a change in...stillrealtous.com
I hope Adam Cole quits and joins AEW/NJPW/Impact.
time to quit watching NXT now as well.
A shame. NXT is great, but if Vince never likes the talent that comes out of it then I can see why it gets nuked.
Bullet Club
Banned
That's some high quality sports entertainment...
jufonuk
not tag worthy
Jimmy Havoc Living Normal Life Outside Of Wrestling
Jimmy Havoc has not been seen in a wrestling ring since June 17th of last year. Not long after this match in AEW the company would release Havoc after allegations of emotional and verbal abuse were brought about by an ex-girlfriend of his. AEW did send him to counseling to address mental health...
www.bodyslam.net
Bullet Club
Banned
Another good episode of Dynamite. Things are heating up!
Dante Martin is going to be a big star.
Dante Martin is going to be a big star.
dam good to see lee not dead.
Damn, now Dominic DeNucci died. (I'd occasionally see him when my dad was watching wrestling.)
Bullet Club
Banned
DKehoe
Member
Here's the section from the most recent Observer about the NXT cuts
WWE had another round of layoffs on 8/6, but even though the names for the most part weren’t nearly as big as those of the past, as they were all NXT talent, the story behind it was more interesting.
Even though they were NXT releases, it was Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis who were the ones who decided who would be cut. Those in NXT said that not only did Paul Levesque, who runs NXT, nor Shawn Michaels have a say in the cuts, but they weren’t even aware of them until after Laurinaitis started calling the talent.
It led to real morale issues in NXT, a division which has not had this problem in the past.
It’s largely based on what was said to be a new company directive for the product and a behind-the-scenes power struggle involving those who fear for their positions if and when Levesque takes over and thus want to undermine him, and those who support Levesque. Since ultimately everything is Vince McMahon’s decision, it was surprise since it’s been considered a given that Levesque would be running the wrestling end and Nick Khan the business end if something happened to Vince McMahon.
Levesque had been thought to be untouchable, but in failing to stop AEW’s rise, and eventually losing the war, it gave both his detractors and those who felt he would replace them the obvious ammunition. The idea is he was in control and in a fight, and his vision for the product failed to attract younger viewers. Partially if not largely because of going against AEW, NXT was the oldest skewing wrestling show among the major national shows. Within both the television and wrestling business it was considered a given that with the WWE backing that it would eventually dominate Wednesday, an the opposite happened.
Those within the company noted how toxic the situation became because it was more of a power grab and people looking out for their own futures and considering the talent as pawns in this deal.
The idea is that Levesque had stocked NXT with too many wrestlers who had no main roster potential, in his being quick to sign independent talent as fast as possible if they showed potential, to stockpile and keep from AEW.
The idea was that NXT, which was originally set up and funded to be a WWE developmental project, was filled with 5-foot-8 guys who were past 30, and the mentality of McMahon is that those people can’t be main roster stars for the most part, as there are exceptions to every doctrine. The idea is they wanted bigger people, and more characters developed. One person noted the mindset is that when WWE would sig independent talent, they would first have to beat “the independent” out of them when it came to work style, but then when in the main roster, they had to beat “the NXT” out of them.
This toxicity led to Karrion Kross, the NXT champion, losing twice on Raw while NXT was building him as unstoppable and having run through the roster for a showdown with Samoa Joe, and then Dakota Kai, who is challenging for the women’s championship at the next Takeover, losing a match taped for Main Event this week to Aliyah.
Of the 13 releases this past week, who would all have 30 day non-competes, the biggest surprise was Bronson Reed, who until recently had been North American champion, and was being groomed for the main roster.
Those internally said that when Reed got his tryout matches in recent weeks, that McMahon decided against him, and felt due that if he’s not going to be on the main roster, what is the point of keeping him. It was the same mentality regarding other cuts, including Bobby Fish, Mercedes Martinez and Tyler Rust, who were involved in current storylines, as well as Jake Atlas and Ari Sterling, who are new to the company but came in highly regarded. In the end, the decisions on all were made based on the idea that the decision makes didn’t see them as main roster talents and thus, why are they there.
Another aspect to NXT is that they have not done one house show, nor is one scheduled, since the pandemic ended. There has been no talk at all of the national touring they had been doing. There was talk of starting to run a regular loop of shows around Florida to give talent experience. We had heard months ago a push to get everyone vaccinated with the idea that running in some of the Florida markets, where the populace leaned heavily right, they’d be running shows with fans who weren’t vaccinated and wouldn’t want to wear masks. The idea was to start in July, and here we are with no talk at all of running anything. NXT is loaded with newer names who badly need ring time in front of fans, especially many of the high-level athletes that come highly regarded. But they are not getting that ring time. None of those wrestlers were among the ones cut. Another idea, the idea of starting up an Evolve-like promotion with the talent that is there but not being used on NXT television, and having a weekly one hour show done for Peacock is another idea that hasn’t been talked about amidst the budget cutting.
Reed, real name Jermaine Haley, 32, had signed in January 2019. He had gained a lot of momentum in recent months because he was very athletic for a relatively short 300 plus pound wrestler. One would think that virtually every company should have a interest in him, as he knows how to work for his size, has great agility and hung with the top talent in the world in PWG and well as NXT. He could be a headliner in ROH, a player in Impact, and with AEW, he’d be a good pick up but the question is how many people can AEW add to a roster where so much good talent really isn’t getting a lot of television time.
Bobby Fish, 44, could have been valuable as a veteran good worker to work house show matches with the younger athletes they have starting out. With the Undisputed Era breakup, he was the biggest victim of all because it didn’t appear they would be doing anything with him.
Similarly, Mercedes Martinez, real name Jazmin Benitez, is 40, and there’s your answer. She was signed in January 2020, shortly after she appeared as a surprise on the 2019 AEW All Out show in the women’s Casino Battle Royal. With nearly 21 years of ring experience all over the world at different styles, she could be valuable on the road working with less experienced women. She was called up to the main roster as part of Retribution, but asked out. That probably didn’t help her cause, but what likely hurt her was age and the idea that those in power decided she was not main roster material.
Leon Ruff, real name Dartanyon Ruffin, 25, is acrobatic, but he’s very small and he’s not anywhere near Rey Mysterio, the lone major exception to the rule of that level of size and the main roster. He was just signed in October of 2020 although he had worked as enhancement talent on NXT television. He was given a comedy push to be North American champion in a program with Johnny Gargano and Damien Priest, and they tried to make him serious later, but after he lost the title, they basically stopped pushing him and he hasn’t been used on NXT television of late. But his size, being like 140 pounds, was one where those thinking about Vince McMahon’s main roster would not see him as having any real potential unless he was really good at comedy and if they wanted a small comedic guy Drake Maverick would be on the main roster.
Tyler Rust, real name Russ Taylor, 34, had been in wrestling for 17 years on Southern California indies, including with PWG before PWG got big but when PWG was still using some of the best talent in the world. His being cut was notable because NXT had spent weeks building up the debut of The Diamond Mine, headed to Malcolm Bivens as manager, with Roderick Strong Rust and Hideki Suzuki. But the original idea had also included Arturo Ruas and Marina Shafir, who were cut before the group started on television.
Jake Atlas, real name Ken Marquez, 26, is a former competitive gymnast who has been wrestling five years. He signed in October 2019 after being courted by AEW and WWE. He had friends who heavily pushed he idea of AEW to him, including noting that even if his dream was WWE, he’d have a better shot in AEW to be a star and WWE would want him more.
He was sensational on the indie scene, but the WWE version had most of his most exciting parts of his game eliminated because his style didn’t fit within the style WWE teaches. He is openly gay. He had been doing NXT and 205 Live. The release was a surprise if only because of his age and potential, but evidently they didn’t see that potential. He’s also not a big guy and at his size, I could see them thinking he’s not a main roster player. If he were to be put on AEW television in a 13:00 match with Jungle Boy in New York, the two would tear the house down and he’d be a star from day one there.
Ari Sterling, the former Alex Zayne, real name Alex Bradenburg, 35, was likely a victim of age. He can do spectacular things in the ring but the combination of age and having a totally non-WWE style probably didn’t help him. He was working with New Japan and ROH before the pandemic and had only been with the company a short period of time. He was being used as a 205 Live regular. Kona Reeves, real name Noah Pang-Potjes, had the size at 6-foot-4, and look, but never stood out in the ring. He had been given several chances in NXT but his stuff never really resonated.
Zechariah Smith, 30, was a 7-foot former college basketball player at Cal State-Bakersfield, Howard College and Morgan State. He had never advanced to television and with Omos as a character, unless he stood out in the ring which he did not, just being a giant didn’t make sense when you have a bigger giant.
Asher Hale, real name Anthony Henry, is 180 pounds and 36 years old. He had been used until this past week as a 205 Live regular.
Giant Zanjeer (Sukhwinder Singh), is another near 7-footer from India. With Shanky, they have a guy his size who is younger. He’d been around for some time and had not advanced even to NXT. He was pushed on the TV special WWE did for the Indian market.
Desmond Troy, real name Denzel Dejournette, 26, was an All-American collegiate heavyweight from Appalachian State University. He placed eighth in the 2017 NCAA tournament and was signed the next year. He had done some NXT television but never had a push.
Also cut was referee Stephon Smith.
Even though they were NXT releases, it was Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis who were the ones who decided who would be cut. Those in NXT said that not only did Paul Levesque, who runs NXT, nor Shawn Michaels have a say in the cuts, but they weren’t even aware of them until after Laurinaitis started calling the talent.
It led to real morale issues in NXT, a division which has not had this problem in the past.
It’s largely based on what was said to be a new company directive for the product and a behind-the-scenes power struggle involving those who fear for their positions if and when Levesque takes over and thus want to undermine him, and those who support Levesque. Since ultimately everything is Vince McMahon’s decision, it was surprise since it’s been considered a given that Levesque would be running the wrestling end and Nick Khan the business end if something happened to Vince McMahon.
Levesque had been thought to be untouchable, but in failing to stop AEW’s rise, and eventually losing the war, it gave both his detractors and those who felt he would replace them the obvious ammunition. The idea is he was in control and in a fight, and his vision for the product failed to attract younger viewers. Partially if not largely because of going against AEW, NXT was the oldest skewing wrestling show among the major national shows. Within both the television and wrestling business it was considered a given that with the WWE backing that it would eventually dominate Wednesday, an the opposite happened.
Those within the company noted how toxic the situation became because it was more of a power grab and people looking out for their own futures and considering the talent as pawns in this deal.
The idea is that Levesque had stocked NXT with too many wrestlers who had no main roster potential, in his being quick to sign independent talent as fast as possible if they showed potential, to stockpile and keep from AEW.
The idea was that NXT, which was originally set up and funded to be a WWE developmental project, was filled with 5-foot-8 guys who were past 30, and the mentality of McMahon is that those people can’t be main roster stars for the most part, as there are exceptions to every doctrine. The idea is they wanted bigger people, and more characters developed. One person noted the mindset is that when WWE would sig independent talent, they would first have to beat “the independent” out of them when it came to work style, but then when in the main roster, they had to beat “the NXT” out of them.
This toxicity led to Karrion Kross, the NXT champion, losing twice on Raw while NXT was building him as unstoppable and having run through the roster for a showdown with Samoa Joe, and then Dakota Kai, who is challenging for the women’s championship at the next Takeover, losing a match taped for Main Event this week to Aliyah.
Of the 13 releases this past week, who would all have 30 day non-competes, the biggest surprise was Bronson Reed, who until recently had been North American champion, and was being groomed for the main roster.
Those internally said that when Reed got his tryout matches in recent weeks, that McMahon decided against him, and felt due that if he’s not going to be on the main roster, what is the point of keeping him. It was the same mentality regarding other cuts, including Bobby Fish, Mercedes Martinez and Tyler Rust, who were involved in current storylines, as well as Jake Atlas and Ari Sterling, who are new to the company but came in highly regarded. In the end, the decisions on all were made based on the idea that the decision makes didn’t see them as main roster talents and thus, why are they there.
Another aspect to NXT is that they have not done one house show, nor is one scheduled, since the pandemic ended. There has been no talk at all of the national touring they had been doing. There was talk of starting to run a regular loop of shows around Florida to give talent experience. We had heard months ago a push to get everyone vaccinated with the idea that running in some of the Florida markets, where the populace leaned heavily right, they’d be running shows with fans who weren’t vaccinated and wouldn’t want to wear masks. The idea was to start in July, and here we are with no talk at all of running anything. NXT is loaded with newer names who badly need ring time in front of fans, especially many of the high-level athletes that come highly regarded. But they are not getting that ring time. None of those wrestlers were among the ones cut. Another idea, the idea of starting up an Evolve-like promotion with the talent that is there but not being used on NXT television, and having a weekly one hour show done for Peacock is another idea that hasn’t been talked about amidst the budget cutting.
Reed, real name Jermaine Haley, 32, had signed in January 2019. He had gained a lot of momentum in recent months because he was very athletic for a relatively short 300 plus pound wrestler. One would think that virtually every company should have a interest in him, as he knows how to work for his size, has great agility and hung with the top talent in the world in PWG and well as NXT. He could be a headliner in ROH, a player in Impact, and with AEW, he’d be a good pick up but the question is how many people can AEW add to a roster where so much good talent really isn’t getting a lot of television time.
Bobby Fish, 44, could have been valuable as a veteran good worker to work house show matches with the younger athletes they have starting out. With the Undisputed Era breakup, he was the biggest victim of all because it didn’t appear they would be doing anything with him.
Similarly, Mercedes Martinez, real name Jazmin Benitez, is 40, and there’s your answer. She was signed in January 2020, shortly after she appeared as a surprise on the 2019 AEW All Out show in the women’s Casino Battle Royal. With nearly 21 years of ring experience all over the world at different styles, she could be valuable on the road working with less experienced women. She was called up to the main roster as part of Retribution, but asked out. That probably didn’t help her cause, but what likely hurt her was age and the idea that those in power decided she was not main roster material.
Leon Ruff, real name Dartanyon Ruffin, 25, is acrobatic, but he’s very small and he’s not anywhere near Rey Mysterio, the lone major exception to the rule of that level of size and the main roster. He was just signed in October of 2020 although he had worked as enhancement talent on NXT television. He was given a comedy push to be North American champion in a program with Johnny Gargano and Damien Priest, and they tried to make him serious later, but after he lost the title, they basically stopped pushing him and he hasn’t been used on NXT television of late. But his size, being like 140 pounds, was one where those thinking about Vince McMahon’s main roster would not see him as having any real potential unless he was really good at comedy and if they wanted a small comedic guy Drake Maverick would be on the main roster.
Tyler Rust, real name Russ Taylor, 34, had been in wrestling for 17 years on Southern California indies, including with PWG before PWG got big but when PWG was still using some of the best talent in the world. His being cut was notable because NXT had spent weeks building up the debut of The Diamond Mine, headed to Malcolm Bivens as manager, with Roderick Strong Rust and Hideki Suzuki. But the original idea had also included Arturo Ruas and Marina Shafir, who were cut before the group started on television.
Jake Atlas, real name Ken Marquez, 26, is a former competitive gymnast who has been wrestling five years. He signed in October 2019 after being courted by AEW and WWE. He had friends who heavily pushed he idea of AEW to him, including noting that even if his dream was WWE, he’d have a better shot in AEW to be a star and WWE would want him more.
He was sensational on the indie scene, but the WWE version had most of his most exciting parts of his game eliminated because his style didn’t fit within the style WWE teaches. He is openly gay. He had been doing NXT and 205 Live. The release was a surprise if only because of his age and potential, but evidently they didn’t see that potential. He’s also not a big guy and at his size, I could see them thinking he’s not a main roster player. If he were to be put on AEW television in a 13:00 match with Jungle Boy in New York, the two would tear the house down and he’d be a star from day one there.
Ari Sterling, the former Alex Zayne, real name Alex Bradenburg, 35, was likely a victim of age. He can do spectacular things in the ring but the combination of age and having a totally non-WWE style probably didn’t help him. He was working with New Japan and ROH before the pandemic and had only been with the company a short period of time. He was being used as a 205 Live regular. Kona Reeves, real name Noah Pang-Potjes, had the size at 6-foot-4, and look, but never stood out in the ring. He had been given several chances in NXT but his stuff never really resonated.
Zechariah Smith, 30, was a 7-foot former college basketball player at Cal State-Bakersfield, Howard College and Morgan State. He had never advanced to television and with Omos as a character, unless he stood out in the ring which he did not, just being a giant didn’t make sense when you have a bigger giant.
Asher Hale, real name Anthony Henry, is 180 pounds and 36 years old. He had been used until this past week as a 205 Live regular.
Giant Zanjeer (Sukhwinder Singh), is another near 7-footer from India. With Shanky, they have a guy his size who is younger. He’d been around for some time and had not advanced even to NXT. He was pushed on the TV special WWE did for the Indian market.
Desmond Troy, real name Denzel Dejournette, 26, was an All-American collegiate heavyweight from Appalachian State University. He placed eighth in the 2017 NCAA tournament and was signed the next year. He had done some NXT television but never had a push.
Also cut was referee Stephon Smith.
NickFire
Member
It reads like an old double screw job angle. I like it. Much more entertaining than everything WWE except Roman right now.
Classicrockfan
Banned
Ric Flair Signing With AEW Soon?
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair may be headed to AEW soon. Flair was released from his WWE contract two weeks ago after contacting WWE…
www.wrestlinginc.com
NickFire
Member
Flair vs. Sting in a loser gets their hip replaced cage match?Ric Flair Signing With AEW Soon?
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair may be headed to AEW soon. Flair was released from his WWE contract two weeks ago after contacting WWE…
Has anybody told Vince he owns NXT? I mean as a long time wrestling fan the stuff he's been doing reminds me of how he'd treat indy companies in the past. Raid their talent only to keep it away from them. (Sometimes ruining the talent and then firing them when the stupid gimmic doesn't workl.) Sometimes work out a deal and then just screw them over and put them out of business. You read on how the WWE would treat other companies in the past and it looks like he's trying to do the same things to NXT.
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
Christian Cage is Impact world champion. What year is this? Lol. Kinda cool.
Bullet Club
Banned
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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Soodanim
Member
The surprise here is how old Flair is now. I thought he was going to topple down those stairs, he needs to stick to flat surfaces
Bullet Club
Banned
jufonuk
not tag worthy
They had to cut away when Ric started to take the stairs .. but either way.
Vince has lost control of his “toys” and now others are treating them better and making better use of them.
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Soodanim
Member
Man. I know Ric’s Ric and wants to be Ric forever, but he can hardly move these days. Couldn’t get to Kenny quick enough to grab the belt, and the chops were in slow motion. Figure 4 wasn’t bad, but I wonder how much that took out of him.
He’s going to die in the ring, isn’t he