fightful

WWE Producers For Vince McMahon's first week out of power

Fightful has learned the following producers for WWE Raw for July 25

- Logan Paul/Miz fight: Michael Hayes

- Theory promo: Michael Hayes

- Drew McIntyre vs. Theory: Chris Park

- Rey Mysterio's celebration: Petey Williams

- Mysterios vs. Judgment Day: Petey Williams

- Bianca Belair promo: Jason Jordan

- Alexa Bliss vs. Doudrop: Molly Holly

- Impaulsive TV: Shane Helms

- AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler vs. Alpha Academy: Adam Pearce

- Ri...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: SummerSlam Review -- What The H

(STARTING 5 MINUTES AFTER THE MAIN EVENT)

Triple H's first big show as the man in charge had its ups and downs, with a huge return (three, actually!, well, four, but that last one sucked) and a match pulled from the card for no reason.  

But the big question is "Who walked out of Nashville as the Super Duper Mega Awesome Double Champ?"  

Everything might still suck. Let's talk about it.

Youtube Link   
2022-07-31 03:07:02 +0000 UTC View Post

News on Bayley, Io Shirai, Dakota Kai returns.

WWE saw a huge addition to their main roster. Dakota Kai is back, Io Shirai is on the main roster, and Bayley has returned from injury.

Bayley has been training at the WWE Performance Center and Flatbacks for weeks in preparation for her return to the ring. Talent that we spoke to Saturday afternoon believed she would be set to return.

Dakota Kai was brought back to the company, and was a name that several people in the company thought Triple H would make a priority to bring bac...

Select Exclusive: WWE SummerSlam Pre-Show Predictions and more w/Rob Wilkins and B/R's Chris Mueller and Erik Beaston

Join Rob Wilkins and Bleacher Report's Chris Mueller and Erik Beaston for the FIGHTFUL SELECT EXCLUSIVE WWE SummerSlam Pre-Show with Predictions and more.

• Network: Peacock
• Venue: Nissan Stadium
• Location: Nashville, Tennessee
• Event Date: July 30, 2022 7:00PM

Undisputed Universal Championship - Last Man Standing
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar

SmackDown Women's Championship
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rond...

CARD Haul! Jersey Fusion

SRS is all about these Jersey fusion cards. He opens THREE today!

WWE Summerslam Backstage News MEGAPOST

Hey guys, SRS here. Going to try this method for PPV days. I'll constantly add to this as I get information from around Summerslam, so be sure to check back!

LINEUP AS OF 6:30 EST

- Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair: (produced by TJ Wilson)

- Logan Paul vs. Miz (produced by Shane Helms)

- Bobby Lashley vs. Theory (produced by Adam Pearce)

- Mysterios vs. Judgment Day (produced by Jamie Noble)

- Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin (produced by Abyss)

- Usos...

Notes, Producers, Backstage News From Vince McMahon's Last Week In Power In WWE

Notes from WWE Raw & Smackdown for the last week of Vince McMahon in power.

WWE Raw July 18:

- Bianca Belair vs. Carmella: TJ Wilson

- KO Show with Riddle: Shawn Daivari

- Rey Mysterio vs. Damian Priest: Jamie Noble

- Ezekiel vs. Seth Rollins: Kenny Dykstra

- Angelo Dawkins vs. Omos: Adam Pearce

- Street Profits vs. Omos & MVP: Adam Pearce

- AJ Styles vs. Theory: Michael Hayes

- Alexa Bliss, Asuka & Dana Brooke vs. Doudrop, Nik...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown 7/29 -- Baby Steps

*STARTING AT 12:15 am EST*

There was an almost 40 minute banger to start the night, and some interesting character development throughout the show.

There was also a bunch of bullshit.

Hunter is doing what he can to make WWE a better product, but he's still too beholden to Vince's ideas and idiosyncrasies. 

Cut ties, Trips. Start afresh. It's the only way.

We'll see what happens after SummerSlam, when a lot of loose ends will be tied up.

WWE Smackdown Plans

Fightful Select has learned the following plans for Smackdown
-Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
-Pat McAfee and Happy Corbin altercation
-Aliyah vs. Lacey Evans
-Ronda Rousey & Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville & Natalya
-Street Profits and Usos referee instructions segment
-The New Day vs. The Viking Raiders
-Special Counsel “special address." Brock Lesnar is listed for this segment

Coexisting After Dark w/ Rob & Maggie SPECIAL GUEST Will Washington

Will Washington is the guest for Coexisting After Dark! Rob & Maggie ask very little wrestling questions. We ask the questions, so you can learn more about the people behind the microphone. 

Youtube Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17IENKlIbTY&t=3s

WWE Tryout notes

- Big E, Bianca Belair, Triple H, Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon at the WWE tryouts.

- Matt Bloom, Jim Smallman, Creed Brothers, Robbie Brookside, Ivy Nile, Lash Legend are all helping with the tryouts.

- NBA star Dwight Howard is still here and WWE cameras are following him.

- The tryout drills were in front of a live audience. They then went to a team promo style tryout

- Seth Rollins is in Nashville at the tryouts. Becky Lynch and The Miz also showed up.
2022-07-29 16:14:48 +0000 UTC View Post

WWE wrestler says he was approached about Mike Tyson

The worlds of boxing and wrestling are forever linked.

Fightful spoke to Bobby Lashley ahead of his Summerslam match against Theory, and asked about his fighting career. Lashley says he still hopes and plans to fight and even asked Vince McMahon after Money in the Bank about the possibility of fighting in the UFC, which was quickly rejected.

Lashley also claimed that he was approached "by a bare knuckle boxing company rep" about the possibility of whether or not he would conside...

Johnny Gargano IMPACT appearance notes

Johnny Gargano appeared in a video for IMPACT Wrestling tonight speaking about Alex Shelley.

When Fightful asked if this was set to lead to more, we were told it was more of a favor for a friend. We were also told that Gargano is not in talks with IMPACT

Update On Jonathan Gresham-AEW

Jonathan Gresham doesn't figure into AEW/ROH creative plans as of now after asking for his release.

Fightful Select reported Sunday that Gresham asked for his release from the company. The situation was confirmed by both sides as "getting heated" privately. However, we were told from the AEW side of things, they were happy with how the match between Gresham and Claudio Castagnoli came off, and many respected ...

Rocky Romero On Conversation Between NJPW/WWE, AEW Work, Fixing Forbidden Doors

Fightful spoke to Rocky Romero ahead of NJPW Music City Mayhem on July 30, and he had some interesting notes.

He said he's spoken to Nick Khan one time, and it was regarding the potential of NJPW being added to WWE Network or the tape library. He said that the conversation was a short one, and while he didn't say it himself, we've long been told NJPW's side of things rejected the offer.

He had a goal coming out of the pandemic to work with as many companies as possible and to be t...

News on Josh Woods-AEW

Fightful has learned more about the ROH/AEW agreement, and some of the talent that is working within it.

It was established to Fightful that not everyone who was on ROH Death Before Dishonor is signed, either to a tiered or a full-time deal. There were several former ROH talent who appeared on the show and are still completely free agents.

We noted that we'd heard that former ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods was at ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV, last week's Dynamite, and appeared on t...

The List Goes On 7/27

SRS and Jimmy Van PARTY ON!!!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/P0eqIEaDw2I

Details behind Riddle vs. Rollins being moved

Riddle and Seth Rollins is off of Summerslam, and Fightful Select learned a little more about the process behind that. 

WWE announced Wednesday that the match would not be taking place, citing an injury to Riddle. We're told that the injury is kayfabe, and there are a plans to do the match down the line. Those we spoke to claim it was due to "creative adjustments."

We're told talent was informed Monday, and the working plan was to have the match take place at Clash at the Cas...

Drew McIntyre on WrestleMania win, Nashville, More

Fightful spoke to Drew McIntyre at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada ahead of his Nashville homecoming.

Both Drew & Sheamus relocated to the home of Summerslam, which is also where Nick Aldis, Mickie James, Dixie Carter, Miro and Lana all reside. Drew admitted that Sheamus had convinced him to move there after living there for years.

He spoke about his WrestleMania championship win, and we tried to find out the specific date as it's still unknown when exactly it was...

Many former WWE talent feel they'd still be there if Triple H had been in control

Triple H being at the helm of talent relations and creative already has talent outside of WWE interested.

Fightful has spoken to countless (or actually a couple of dozen) former wrestlers who left WWE for a variety of reasons about Triple H gaining more control within the company, as well as Stephanie McMahon's influence.

Talent who left dating back to 2016 spoke with us about how different things would have been if Triple H had been in control much earlier. One who left that year...

Vince McMahon Needed "Filtered" During WWE Creative Meetings

With Vince McMahon now effectively done with his duties in WWE, a much clearer picture of the creative scene is being painted.

Fightful has heard from many within the creative process who said that many of the creative writer's assistants effectively needed to "filter" Vince themselves in ways. Specifically, we were told that the assistants often had to know what to not write for Vince McMahon when taking notes for him. We've also heard that the "minutes are heavily edited."

We're...

Titus O'Neil Reiterates He's Not Retired

Fightful spoke to Titus O'Neil at Three Square Food Bank

Titus told FIghtful that he's not retired, and fully plans to return to the ring one day. A WWE source did confirm he's not considered to be on their "active roster." He hasn't put a time table on a return, but he said that he will discuss it with WWE when he feels the time is right, but it "will happen." As of now, he's fully embraced his role as Global Ambassador with WWE.

We asked him about Fred Rosser/Darren Young's NJPW...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 7/25 -- A Spoonful of Sugar

!!! STARTING AT MIDNIGHT EST !!!

It's the first Raw EVER without Vince at the helm.

New daddy The HHH is in charge now, and we like our new daddy very much.

Already there's been a marked improvement over recent episodes with many more positive changes on the horizon.

We might have to change the name of the show.
Everything's just ... SWEETER now.

Somehow, everything sucks ... less. Let's talk about it!

Youtube Link
2022-07-26 03:42:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Details on Triple H's talent meeting before WWE Raw

Triple H is leading up creative in WWE in place of Vince McMahon, and is talking to talent about it.

The move was announced on July 25, and at that night's WWE Raw tapings, the new EVP of Talent Relations and head of creative spoke at a talent meeting. Talent that we were able to speak with said that the meeting went really well, and there as a lot of optimism surrounding the change in creative from others in the company.

Triple H led the meeting and promised the talent transparen...

Plans for WWE Raw at MSG

Fightful Select has learned the following plans for tonight's WWE Raw from Madison Square Garden, the first in the post-Vince McMahon era.

- A segment listed as a "Miz-Logan Paul fight" is to open

- Roman Reigns in ring promo 

- Drew McIntyre vs. Theory

- Lashley & Drew McIntyre vs. Theory and Sheamus. Ridge & Butch are to be around, too.

- Rey Mysterio 20th Anniversary celebration

- Mysterios vs. Judgment Day

- Bianca Belair promo

...

Some WWE Raw notes for tonight

- WWE executives were told last week that the July 25 WWE Raw for Madison Square Garden was the highest grossing WWE Raw of 2022.

- WWE had set travel for Edge to WWE at MSG, but we're told some elements of that travel had been canceled today. We don't know what that particularly means or if it affects him being on the show.

- Maryse was planned to travel to WWE Raw (at least internally) as of this morning.

- Talent planned for WWE Raw as of last night included MVP, Drew McI...

SPECIAL LIVE! 1 PM EST SRS Q&A & Backstage Report

For the first time ever, SRS is doing a LIVE Backstage Report Podcast, and combining it with a Q&A, mainly about this week's stories!! 

Tune in live, and drop your questions below or the Youtube video comments!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/bYAAMwmiOic

Utami Hayashishita notes

Fightful's Scott Edwards spoke to STARDOM’s Utami Hayashishita ahead of the 5 STAR Grand Prix to discuss the tournament, her time since losing the World of Stardom Championship, and so much more. Utami made it known that she plans on being the first-ever two-time 5STAR Grand Prix in STARDOM history as well as named two interesting names as the opponents she is most looking forward to facing off with. Utami also discussed the prospect of facing KAIRI in the future, saying she looks forward t...

More news on Triple H being head of creative, Bruce Prichard impact

"WWE executive Paul Levesque will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative, in addition to his regular duties."

The chips are starting to fall within WWE, and Triple H is working in creative again. Immediately after the WWE's PR report, Fightful clarified with WWE that Triple H would indeed be heading up creative in addition to accepting those roles.

On Friday, Ed Koskey and Bruce Prichard were largely in control of the direction of the show and producers were told ...

Vince McMahon said Shane McMahon "Would Never Get Another Pop In WWE"

Shane McMahon has been out of favor with WWE since a chaotic Royal Rumble that left a lot of WWE Superstars generally unhappy completely separate of his involvement.

As reported back in February, Shane McMahon was removed from his involvement in WWE after he attempted to make too many changes to the WWE Royal Rumble match. Brock Lesnar, among others, took issue with the adjustments, and reports of Shane being "unprofessional" emerged. Beyond that, general chaos and confusion about Shane...