Yesterday we reported that WWE had given their talent until October 2nd to end deals with third parties. This means talent can no longer make money on sites like Twitch and Cameo’s, which has obviously upset many wrestlers.
It’s now been claimed by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer that Lana’s advertising an energy drink brought all this about. Seemingly WWE wasn’t happy it didn’t go through them, so they did not receive a cut.
You can watch what looks likely to have been Lana’s last Bang Energy drink advertisement, that she posted on August 26th below.
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The straw that broke the camel’s back was CJ Perry [Lana] ‘s Bang Energy drink commercials.Dave Meltzer
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WWE has sent an email to talent informing them they have 30 days to stop working with third parties or else face fines, suspensions, or possibly termination. You can read an excerpt of the email below.
Some of you are engaged with outside third parties using your name and likeness in ways that are detrimental to our company. It is imperative that these activities be terminated within the next 30 days (by Friday October 2). Continued violations will result in fines, suspension, or termination at WWE’s discretion.WWE
This means wrestlers will need to end their relationships with YouTube, Twitch, Cameo, and other similar services. This is bound to upset several wrestlers as big names could make significant money. Big E, for example, has earned $62,509 since he began doing Cameo messages.
The email isn’t clear to whether a wrestler using their real name could be a way around WWE’s mandate, and talent is expecting an update at the next set of TV tapings. Paige has already reacted by changing her Twitch name from officialpaigewwe to sarayaofficial, seemingly believing this will be a workaround.
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Pentagón Jr.’s real name is a closely guarded secret, but he has established his wrestling moniker across multiple promotions worldwide. Now though, he is dropping the name he began using in 2012 due to AAA owning the trademark on it.
AEW has a working relationship with the Mexican promotion, so there was previously no issue, but now AEW has several projects they want to include Pentagón Jr. in and, for obvious reason, would rather not pay AAA. So from now on, he will be using the name Penta el Zero M. This is a name he owns the legal rights for after creating it in 2017 to wrestle for Tijuana based Crash Lucha Libre.
His younger brother and tag team partner Rey Fénix took action last week by submitting a request to secure his name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This should ensure there are no issues with AEW marketing him with that.
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In news that nobody expected, WWE has announced that Akam and Rezar, collectively known as the Authors of Pain, have been released. The announcement was very brief and to the point, stating:
WWE has come to terms on the release of Akam and Rezar (AOP). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.WWE.com
Akam, real name Sunny Dhinsa had been with WWE since 2014 after being scouted by Gerald Brisco as a collegiate wrestler. Rezar, real name Gzim Selmani is a former MMA fighter and signed with WWE after a tryout in 2015.
The duo formed as a tag team in NXT and won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, NXT Tag Team Championship, and WWE Raw Tag Team Championship during the WWE run. They had become a featured act as Seth Rollins enforcers on Raw; however, they haven’t been on Raw since Rezar suffered a bicep injury in March, and with him shelved, Akam was also taken off television.
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During a media call ahead of AEW’s upcoming All Out PPV, Tony Khan, the founder, co-owner, president, and CEO of the promotion fielded questions from wrestling journalists. During the call, Khan somewhat surprising took a shot at WWE by outright saying AEW’s previous pay-per-view Double or Nothing was better than WrestleMania 36.
I thought Double or Nothing was like the bastion of ingenuity to be able to sit back, and it’s like, okay, you know, with what we have, how can we do a great pay-per-view?
This might be the pull-out quote of the press conference, but I’m going to say it, I thought Double or Nothing kicked the crap out of WrestleMania. It was a much better pay per view. We were both operating under difficult circumstances.Tony Khan
This comment has sparked controversy online, with AEW fans backing Khan’s claims, while WWE fans reacted angrily and defended WrestleMania. Obviously, Khan is entitled to his opinion, and of course, a wrestling promoter will favor his product. However, looking at how both shows did in Wrestling Observer Newsletter subscriber polls and on CageMatch.net does seem to validate Khan’s claim. Wrestling Observer subscribers gave WrestleMania 57.6% thumbs-up, and Double or Nothing 91.8% thumbs-up. Cage Match visitors gave WrestleMania 36 an average score across both nights 5.97 while giving Double or Nothing 8.38.
While both shows did feature excellent wrestling, WrestleMania did under deliver in its men’s world championship matches, with both lasting under 7 minutes combined, plus the Firefly Funhouse match, which was very divisive. AEW had the advantage of running after WrestleMania and learned from WWE’s mistakes. AEW delivered a card without filler and was headlined by the Stadium Stampede match, which some critics have called a potential match of the year contender.
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All Elite Wrestling’s “All Out” pay-per-view takes place this weekend, and we have a FITE code to give away to one lucky fan so they can enjoy the event for free. The show features nine huge matches, three of those are title matches. You can view the full card below.
Please note entries close on Saturday, 5th September, at 10:00 AM ET, and the winner will be sent the FITE code via email by 11:00 AM ET. By submitting your entry, you will also be subscribing to the WIJ Newsletter, which you can unsubscribe from with one-click. Only one entry per person. The code is only valid outside of the US.
So, for your chance to win, just answer the following question:
Which Premier League team is Tony Khan the Vice Chairman and Director of Football Operations for?
A) Crystal Palace
B) Fulham
[contact-form to=”james@webisjericho.com” subject=”All Out Comp”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Answer” type=”text” required=”1″ options=”Crystal Palace,Fulham”][/contact-form]
If you’re not lucky enough to win, you can order the iPPV through FITE at this link.
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Both the wrestling and MMA worlds are buzzing following the news that Brock Lesnar is no longer under contract to WWE. Though, Chris Jericho doesn’t consider Brock Lesnar to be a free agent, as he’d tell Sportskeeda during a recent interview.
The only reason why the rumor’s there is somebody said “free agent.” I don’t think he’s really a free agent at all. I think it would take so much money to pry him away from Vince McMahon on Brock’s end and then for Vince to approve that. I mean, Vince has two billion dollars in the bank. What are you going to spend on Brock Lesnar that Vince isn’t going to match? And Vince and Brock have a strange love affair, to begin with.
I think it’s just another one of the dances that Vince and Brock like to have where Brock’s contract expires, Vince lets it expire, and then they stay away from each other until the next Saudi Arabia show or the next show that has people in the crowd, or WrestleMania, whatever it may be. So I don’t think Brock is really a free agent in the sense of the word. I just think he’s like currently not under contract right now.
He’s a very, very smart guy, and Vince is a very smart guy as well, so I think they appreciate the duel that they have with each other. Chris Jericho
Jericho’s comments will likely disappoint fans of All Elite Wrestling who, over the past few days, have been speculating on possible dream matches. Seemingly if AEW does reach out to Lesnar, WWE will back up another money truck at Lesnar house to make sure he doesn’t become All Elite.
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AJ Styles asked to be moved to SmackDown after Paul Heyman lied to his face about his involvement in Gallows and Anderson being released back in April. Styles didn’t want to work with Heyman, who was the executive director of Raw. So when Heyman appeared on last week’s episode of SmackDown, many fans were left wondering how Styles would feel about again being on the same show as Heyman.
Styles has now addressed this during a late-night Twitch streaming session.
It is what it is, I could care less. It’s water under the bridge. Listen, I’m not saying I forgot what he’s done, but I’m not going to be the guy that holds a grudge. It’s one of those things where he knows he pissed me off and how I felt. Just because I don’t trust him doesn’t mean that I can’t get along with him professionally. I’m not going to do or say anything mean to him. It’s over. My buddies are doing fine. I was concerned about them when this whole thing went down, but they are doing great.AJ Styles
It’s understood that Heyman will have some input into Roman Reigns’ storylines as he is his onscreen manager, however outside of that, he isn’t involved on SmackDown’s creative. Seemingly issues could only arise if Reigns and Styles end up working together in the future.
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The Rock has shared a video on Instagram where he reveals that his wife, two youngest daughters, and himself have tested positive for COVID-19. He shared that they’ve had it for the past two-and-a-half to three weeks, and while his daughters only suffered from a sore throat, it was rough for him and his wife. Thankfully, no one in the family is contagious now, and they are all starting to feel better.
The Rock would say that testing positive was one of the most challenging things he and his family have had to endure, and said it was not like overcoming an injury, being broke, or being evicted. He would also stress that people should be wearing masks.
This baffles me that some people out there, including some politicians, will take this idea of wearing masks and make it part of a political agenda, politicizing it. It has nothing to do with politics. Wear your mask. It is a fact, and it is the right thing to do, and it’s responsible thing to do. Not only for yourself and your family but also for your fellow human beings. The Rock
You can watch the full video below.
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NXT moved from the Network to the USA Network in August 2019 to disrupt AEW’s upcoming Dynamite series. Its job was to act as counterprogramming to take viewers away from Dynamite, but it didn’t prevent TNT from renewing Dynamite through 2023 and greenlighting a second AEW series.
Now WWE Insider @WrestleVotes is claiming there have been discussions about moving NXT to an alternative night.
Over the past month or so, discussions have transpired regarding NXT moving off Wednesday nights. No decision imminent, however, talks are ongoing. The numbers over the next 2 weeks might have some impact on this decision. Wrestle Votes
While @WrestleVotes is not always correct, they have delivered on scoops in the past, such as revealing Hall of Fame inductees and Wellness violations before WWE. If they are accurate and NXT does end up moving, it will undoubtedly look like WWE failed. However, it may not be WWE’s choice as the USA Network will have a massive say in what night NXT airs since they pay between $50 and $30 million for the rights depending on who you believe. Ultimately going against Dynamite is costing the USA Network both viewers and money.
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Renee Young departed WWE following SummerSlam last month, and her decision came as a big surprise to fans who had followed her eight years in the company. Now going by her maiden name Paquette, she has revealed while speaking to the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast that her decision to quit came after Fox canceled WWE Backstage. The FS1 show had vastly fluctuating ratings, and Fox chose to suspend production to save costs and had taken away one of her most notable roles working for WWE.
I found out that Backstage gets canceled. But it was really with Backstage being canceled that I was like, “What am I doing” I’m not really doing anything anymore, and my skill set of being a host, there’s just nowhere for me to do it anymore. Even with Talking Smack coming back, I had heard the rumblings that Talking Smack was making its way back; I was planning on perhaps doing that. But I was like, “You know what? I feel like I’m taking steps backward.” Renee Paquette
Following the announcement she was leaving, fans began speculating where she would end up working next, with many predicting she’d join her husband, Jon Moxley in AEW. She’d touch upon this in the interview, stating that she’s had no talks with AEW and currently has a non-compete clause that is longer than the standard 90 days.
There has been no talks. Literally, the second anybody leaves WWE it’s “they’re going to AEW.” Obviously, I knew it was going to come up.
I do have a non-compete that is for quite a while. If anyone is waiting for me to show up in 90 days, they’re going to be waiting a little longer than that. I think everything that they’re doing there is great. I think that there could be a ton of spots that I could step in and work and do some stuff there. Renee Paquette
Renee Paquette is a significant loss for WWE and will be a great addition whenever she ends up. While AEW does seem likely based on her comments, both FOX and ESPN are just as viable options for her. We’ll have to wait until next year to find out for sure her next destination.
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With Karrion Kross having vacated the NXT Championship following a shoulder injury that occurred during the match he won the title in, WWE set up a 60 Minute Iron Man match to crown a new champion. The match airs tonight but was actually taped last week and featured four former NXT champions, Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider has revealed on his subscribers only audio show that the match ended in a tie, and the two men with the most victories will now meet again next week to find the actual NXT Champion. Annoying, Johnson didn’t confirm the two wrestlers’ names, but other unconfirmed rumors claim it was Balor and Cole.
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