Last night the five leading members of RETRIBUTION opened Raw and had news looks somewhat resembling Bane, Predator, Jason Voorhees, and Hannibal Lecter. During this opening, Tom Phillips on commentary announced the group has been officially signed to the red brand. This was mocked on social media as hiring a group hellbent on destroying them made zero sense from WWE’s perceptive. We would later find out the male member of the group will be going by the names Mace, T-Bar, and Slapjack, who are Dio Maddin, Donovan Dijakovic, and Shane Thorne, respectively. It’s assumed Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez will also acquire new monikers, but they have not yet been revealed. The male trio would main event the show losing by DQ to against Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander, and Shelton Benjamin. The secondary RETRIBUTION members attacked The Hurt Business following the match, but much of the roster, including Drew McIntyre, came to make the save. The show ended with Randy Orton appearing and hitting McIntyre with an RKO.

The Forgotten Sons stable, consisting of Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler, and Wesley Blake, were in line for a big push once called up to the main roster. The plan was for them to defeat The New Day to become SmackDown Tag Team Champions, but they were taken off television shortly after debuting.

Their departure was because Jaxson Ryker caused a backlash towards WWE after tweeting support for Donald Trump following the George Floyd tragedy and BLM protests. Not only did he bring unwanted publicity, but he also had a lot of heat with other wrestlers, including Kevin Owens, Mustafa Ali, and Sami Zayn. Ryker was sent home, and the other members were left in limbo despite their attempts to distance themselves from Ryker’s opinions.

It’s now understood that WWE’s creative team has been told to come up with ideas for The Forgotten Sons and work them into a storyline so they can be brought back to SmackDown. It isn’t known if Ryker will be part of the group when they return as he isn’t currently listed on WWE’s internal roster, while Cutler and Blake are.

Ryker’s absence from the list could just be an oversight as he is in the doghouse. That said he hasn’t done himself any favors as last week again caused controversy on Twitter by supporting a couple purposely wearing their masks incorrectly on an airplane. We should know his status over the coming weeks.

Following on from a match against Thunder Rosa on AEW Dark, it has been announced All Elite Wrestling has signed Serena Deeb to a contract. She had previously worked as a coach at the WWE Performance Center but was part of the mass layoffs this past April.

Deeb is best known to wrestling fans for her time on SmackDown as part of Punk’s Straight Edge Society. The group promoted a straight edge lifestyle where people refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. She would memorably make her debut by having her head shaved on television and would act predominantly as valent but occasionally wrestling. However, just over six months after debuting, she was released by the company for breaking kayfabe by not maintaining a straight edge persona in public.

Paul Heyman joined what was known as Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993 and went on to replace Eddie Gilbert as booker. He would talk then-owner Tod Gordon into rebranding it as Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994, before purchasing it himself in 1995. Between then and when the company ceased operations, he gained a reputation as a first-rate booker. Former ECW World Champion Raven would go as far as to call him “the most creative genius the business has ever seen.”

However, Brian Myers, one of the biggest ECW fans you could ever meet, who worked with Paul Heyman recently when he was Curt Hawkins, felt that genius no longer exists. He’d state this in an interview on the latest Talk’n Shop podcast.

Paul Heyman is no longer involved in writing WWE television, and his reputation has suffered since being removed from his position of executive director position of Raw in June. He now works for WWE solely as a talent where he is aligned with Roman Reigns on SmackDown, although it is believed he does contribute to Reigns’ storylines.

A video of pro wrestling legend Keiji Muto, also known as The Great Muta, has gone viral thanks to a Twitter user’s humorous caption. In the video, which was initially shared online over a year ago, a shirtless Muto is seen eating watermelon with a knife. It isn’t the most exciting video once you accept that he isn’t going to spit out the seeds. However, it took on a whole new lease on life when @HoodFoot418 retweeted it with the below caption.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”2CHFll1g” upload-date=”2020-09-20T01:23:04.000Z” name=”Keiji Muto Eating A Watermelon” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

As of writing, the video has been watched over 975,000 times, thanks to 32,000 retweets, and shows no sign of slowing down.

Keiji Muto was one of the first Japanese wrestlers to achieve a significant success outside of Japan after wrestling for WCW. He also had massive success in his home country, winning the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times and IWGP Heavyweight Championship four times. Although if the video continues to spread at its current rate, it’s possible he’ll soon be known to younger fans predominantly for this.

Our very own Chris Jericho was recently interviewed by Inside The Ropes on several topics. One of the fascinating observations he made was comparing his AEW stable, The Inner Circle, to the iconic WWE faction D-Generation X. He’d also confirm that at present, they aren’t looking to add anyone to the group.

DX’s initial incarnation was WWE’s top heel group but blew up once X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg joined, and soon after, crowd reactions forced WWE to turn them face. This resulted in them becoming massive merchandise sellers and members and bringing home seven figures a year. The Inner Circle is currently still in their first heel run, but much like DX were, are very popular among fans, and it seems AEW and the group are prepared to embrace a face turn once the time is right.

Jericho would then acknowledge that the groups make up is not who he initially planned but notes that they have fantastic chemistry despite being very different characters.

While it’s hard to imagine the group consisting of anyone else, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson signed with AEW rather than re-signing with WWE at the time, they would have taken two of the group’s spots. It’s also understood that MJF, Rey Fenix, Penta el Zero M, and Anthony Ogogo were all considered but ruled out for different reasons. Jeff Cobb also appeared as a hired gun for the group to take out Jon Moxley, but never signed with AEW, had he then perhaps he would have become an official member.

During a recent interview with the Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, Kurt Angle was asked about WWE’s succession plan once Vince McMahon passes away. He was very diplomatic in his response with regards to Stephanie, Triple H, and Shane. He did, though add that Vince isn’t going anywhere soon and was told by the man himself that he would be around for another 30 years.

Vince living to 105, seems incredibly optimistic when you consider his grandfather Jesse McMahon passed away aged 72, and his father, Vince McMahon Sr. lived until he was 69. However, his mother recently turned 100, so if Vince takes after her, he might just have a chance.

Yesterday, we reported that Melina is re-joining WWE, nine years after being told that creative had nothing for her. However, she has taken to social media to deny this, and you can read excerpts of what she posted below.

It should be noted that both John Morrison and Edge refuted reports they were returning to WWE once news initially broke, and we know what happened with them. It’s possible her actual contract hasn’t been signed and returned to WWE yet, but it is telling she wrote, “these sites ruined a great surprise.” which appears a weird thing to include if she isn’t actually returning.

Many eyebrows were raised after an image of Tessa Blanchard appeared in WWE’s new video game WWE 2K Battlegrounds. You couldn’t play as her, but her silhouette was shown during the loading screen, as you can see below.

It’s now been confirmed by the photographer who took the photo, Basil Mahmud, who works with Impact Wrestling that the image is being removed in an upcoming patch.

Mahmud is refusing to comment further, so it isn’t known how the image came to be used in the first place, or if he received any financial remuneration.

In somewhat surprising news, WWE has re-signed Melina Perez, nine years after they released her. It’s believed WWE has a role in mind for her and is looking to fast-track her to television. WWE had reached out to her to compete in the women’s Royal Rumble match in January, following her making an appearance at 2019’s Raw Reunion show. However, at the time, she was signed with Billy Corgan’s National Wrestling Alliance. Now her deal has expired, WWE made her an offer.

Melina’s association with WWE began back in 2002 when she auditioned for Tough Enough. She’d be eliminated early, but would go on to be signed by WWE and sent to OVW, which at the time was a developmental terror. She debuted on SmackDown in 2005 as the valet of Joey Mercury and John Morrison, collectively known as MNM. She’d go on to have a successful singles career where she became WWE Women’s Champion three times and won the Divas Championship twice. She was released in 2011 after being told creative had nothing for her, although it was believed to be due to her having backstage heat.

While there is interest from the company, Tessa Blanchard isn’t yet a WWE wrestler. However, she does appear in WWE’s brand new game WWE 2K Battlegrounds. She isn’t a playable character, but her silhouette unquestionably appears during a loading screen, as you can see below.

The photographer of the photo, Basil Mahmud, who works with Impact Wrestling, where the original image was taken, is obviously bothered by this and has tweeted 2K Sports, the publisher of the game about this.

How a non-WWE wrestler and a copyrighted image appeared in the game remains unclear. Saber Interactive Incorporated developed the game and will now likely have to explain to WWE and 2K Sports why they used the photo without permission and probably offer financial compensation to avoid legal action.

Much like AJ Styles, Miro sometimes uses his Twitch channel to share his experiences and opinions with fans. Now, in one of his latest streams, he declared that he wants to wrestle Kenny Omega now that he is in All Elite Wrestling.

Having signed a long term contract with AEW, it seems inevitable that the par will wrestle each other, and when they do, it has the potential to be an exceptional match.