fightful

GCW backstage notes (updated)

Fightful Select has learned the following in regards to GCW

- There are several people who aren't currently booked for the show set to be there tonight at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

- AEW's Marko Stunt and ROH's Amy Rose were both seen around this afternoon.

- There was talk of at least one match being changed on the show due to a replacement. We've reached out to GCW's Brett Lauderdale and haven't heard back.

- Most of the roster we've spoken to have said that they exp...

Fightful Weekender (1/23): IMPACT SPOILERS, GCW PREDICTIONS, NXT UK, 205 LIVE, MLW, NWA, WARRIOR, BTE, ACTION/IWTV

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- Show to watch on IWTV - ACTION & IWTV: "Southeast First"

- IMPACT **TV TAPING SPOILERS**

- NXT UK (1/20) results

- 205 LIVE (1/21) results 

- MLW: "Azteca" (1/20) results

- NWA: "Powerrr" (1/18) results

- WARRIOR WRESTLING 18 results

- BTE: "Nick's Lost Luggage" recap

- "The WRLD On GCW" predictions

Smackdown Producers this week

Fightful has learned the following producers for WWE Smackdown on January 21

- Michael Hayes produced several segments: the Usos, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens segment, KO & Rollins vs. Usos, and the Rick Boogs, Nakamura and Jeff Jarrett backstage segment.

- Shane Helms produced Kofi Kingston vs. Madcap Moss.

- Molly Holly produced Aliyah vs. Natalya.

- Petey Williams produced Viking Raiders vs. Los Lotharios.

- Naomi vs. 2022-01-23 22:08:21 +0000 UTC View Post

Two stars pass on WWE Royal Rumble offer

As it turns out, Mickie James isn't the only IMPACT Wrestling talent that WWE reached out to for the Royal Rumble.

In addition to Mickie, Fightful has learned that several other wrestlers that have been released since the pandemic were contacted for the Royal Rumble. The IInspiration, formerly known as WWE Tag Team Champions The IIconics were offered a spot in the Rumble match, but Fightfu...

WWE Raw Producers for this week

Fightful has learned the following producers for January 17's WWE Raw

- Becky Lynch's promo and Doudrop/Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan & Bianca Belair were produced by Shawn Daivari and Pat Buck.

- KO Show was produced by Jamie Noble and Petey Williams, but only Williams was credited for the Damian Priest vs. Kevin Owens match.

- Abyss produced the Alpha Academy and RKBro Gradua...

Peacemaker Episode 1 Review with Rob Wilkins

Rob Wilkins gives you a Peacemaker (starring John Cena) review for "A Whole New Whirled:

Video: https://youtu.be/LYSsTMnHsvQ

Inside The Royal Rumble 2: Stories Behind One Of WWE's Most Exciting Matches (Video, Audio and Feature!)

Editor's Note: We ask that this feature not be aggregated until public release on Monday at Noon EST. Thank you for understanding.

This is not a final draft. If you have any corrections, please reach out!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/pCEz0jLks_U

***************************************************************************************

The WWE Royal Rumble.

Perhaps the most unique match in wr...

More on Lio Rush-AEW, More Expirations On The Horizon

Lio Rush announced today that his AEW contract expires on February 14th, and he will be a free agent.

Last night, Fightful learned that many talent and staff at Rampage became aware that Lio Rush wouldn't be remaining with the company. From AEW's side, we're told that the contract expiration is one of many that is running out over the next month or so, and there's a possibility that some of those expirations will be used  moving forward. We're told they won't be publicly announced...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown 1/21--LET MY PEOPLE GO

!!!STARTING SOON AFTER THE END OF THE FIGHTFUL YOUTUBE POST-SHOW!!!

Mustafa Ali asked for his release. They said no.
SOMEHOW, they said no.

Sami Zayn re-signed. To "have fun," he said. "Having fun" is apparently selling a cattle prod shot from Johnny Knoxville.

Also, the brand split is officially dead. And Big E is officially back in the midcard.

Also also, the Sonya and Naomi thing is going to continue forever, and there may never be a payoff.

Everything suc...

Tonight's Smackdown plans

Fightful Select has learned the following plans for tonight's Smackdown, which are subject to change as always.

- The Usos Acknowledge Roman

- Kofi Kingston vs. Madcap Moss

- Aliyah vs. Natalya

- Viking Raiders vs. Los Lotharios

- Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair. However, Sonya Deville will be the special referee

- IN-ZAYN self defense

- Ricochet vs. Sheamus

- Jeff Jarrett is slated to make an appearance backstage with Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura...

Update on Jonathan Gresham-IMPACT Wrestling

Jonathan Gresham has made an impact....in IMPACT Wrestling as ROH Champion.

Gresham has been a free agent since the week after winning the original ROH Title at Final Battle, getting his release papers a couple of weeks before the new year. Pretty quickly he booked an appearance at IMPACT's Hard To Kill show, defending the title. At the subsequent tapings, he defended the championship against Steve Maclin in a very well received match. We're told that Gresham is backstage at the IMPACT ...

Co-Existing With Rob & Maggie (1/21): GUNTHER, Mox, GCW, More

Rob and Maggie are back and they have a lot to talk about. They discuss WALTER/Gunter, Vince McMahon, Jon Moxley, AEW Dynamite, GCW, and more.

Video: https://youtu.be/zwu8Saj63P0

Figure Haul: Debra, Outlaws, Jeff Jarrett

Yeehaw, it's time to look at some wrestling figures!

SRS Q&A Podcast (1/20/22): Over 30 minutes of questions answered!

0:48 - Do you know if Mustafa Ali's request for release has been granted?

1:17 - What happened to Brock + Lee Johnson vs. FTR?

1:24 - Any Rumble surprises you've heard about that you're excited about?

1:33 - How do you see WALTER / GUNTHER's booking going ahead?

1:49 - Any more "Making a Finisher" videos coming?

2:33 - Do you know if they had planned to make Moxley's AEW return a surprise?

2:59 - Is Marina Shafir signed to AEW?

3:06 - How possible is ...

Mustafa Ali not getting his release granted by WWE

Mustafa Ali publicly requested his release recently, which many expected to be granted. However, we're told that's not WWE's plan at the moment.

Those that Fightful Select heard from confirmed that WWE and Ali have spoken with each other and that Ali was informed that they would not be granting his request for a release at this moment, and as of njow it isn't the plan. Ali has years left on his WWE deal, but hasn't been used on WWE TV or even at tapings in over two months. While some su...

Sami Zayn re-signs with WWE

Last month, it was reported by Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there was backstage chatter that Sami Zayn re-signed with the WWE as his deal was coming due. Fightful Select has been able to confirm that Zayn did actually re-sign with WWE and is locked down for several more years. One person we talked to around that time said Zayn was kind of private about the negotiations, but that WWE made it clear they wanted to retain his services.

TVA Sports had reported that Zayn's deal was set ...

The List Goes On 1/19

- Maryse

- AEW development

-GCW

- WWE's statement on AEW

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/-FyY8qqDVa0

Update on an AEW original's contract

AEW is heading into their third full year as a television company, and we're going to see some contracts coming up -- some set to be renewed, others not.

We mentioned over the past week that Cody Rhodes and had his contract status changed, but he's not the only one.

Fightful spoke to Joey Janela for an interview, after hearing that his deal had been renewed at some point, but he clarified that his deal would be up in May as things stand right now. Janela said during the interview ...

AroLucha Pivoting To Become An Animated Series

AroLucha is headed in a new direction -- an animated one. The latest update from the company for investors informing them of the major pivot. 

Once planned as an actual wrestling company, the group went silent for years before re-emerging with this new plan.

AroLucha sent the following to investors: 

Dear Investors, 

We are very excited to announce the new direction of Aro Lucha! We are pivoting, like some of the greatest companies of the last 100 years...

Big internal push for WWE to sign indie wrestler

WWE looks to restock their cupboards following a series of major releases with their recent tryouts. Among the names that participated at the recent WWE tryouts included Monster Factory project Notorious Mimi and 20-year old ROH Champ Rok-C. There have been times in the past that WWE has passed on talent in their teens as being "too young," but it seems like that isn't the case any more. Fightful specifically heard that Rok-C performed well at the WWE tryouts, and there was a significant push...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 1/17--Professional Non-Wrestling

A main event booked to an obvious non-finish, a big Women's Tag Match that lasted 5 minutes with a terrible finish, a big grudge match that didn't happen.

Also, a graduation ceremony, a talk show and a woman-to-woman face-to-face.

The wrestling is inconsequential and the entertainment, ISN'T.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/VrO--VGPVNk

WWE Raw plans for tonight

Fightful has learned plans for tonight's episode of WWE Raw. As always, these can change and often do.

- Becky Lynch is set to open the show, followed by the "can they co-exist?" tag match with Doudrop joining her against Liv Morgan & Bianca Belair.

- The KO Show is to feature Seth Rollins.

- Kevin Owens is scheduled to face Damian Priest

- An Alpha Academy graduation ceremony

- Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory

- Reggie vs. Omos

- Maryse promo<...

Fightful Weekender (1/17): TERMINUS, IMPACT SPOILERS, GCW, NXT UK, 205 LIVE, MLW, NWA, IMPACT, WEST COAST PRO

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a special Monday edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- Show to watch on IWTV - WEST COAST PRO: "Situation Critical"

- TERMINUS results + my experience being there live

- GCW: "Most Notorious" + "Say You Will" results

- NXT UK (1/13) results

- 205 LIVE (1/14) results 

- MLW: "Azteca" (1/13) results

- NWA: "Powerrr" (1/14) results

- IMPACT **TV TAPING SPOILERS**

Details on recent MLW departures

We have an update on a couple of MLW contracts that rapidly changed.

Recently, Fightful reported that Dom Garrini's multi-year deal that he'd signed in 2019 actually extended into 2022, leaving him with a year remaining on his deal. That has already changed, as PWInsider reported Garrini and Kevin Ku have procured their releases. Fightful has learned that creatively MLW didn't have anything for Garrini and Kevin Ku after Tom Lawlor exited the company, in addition to Garrini's health iss...

Cody Rhodes is a free agent; more updates

Cody Rhodes is a free agent.

Fightful Select has learned that the current AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes is technically a free agent. Cody's contract expired at the end of 2021, and he's been working in All Elite Wrestling without a contract ever since.

Based on sources we followed up with in AEW this morning, we're told that some have known about this over the past several weeks. 

In speaking with 2022-01-17 16:26:22 +0000 UTC View Post

SRS Backstage Report Podcast (1/16): Ali, Graves, Lita, MORE!

- Mustafa Ali requests release

- Ali's argument with Vince

- Corey Graves cleared

- Lita and AEW

- Jake Something's contract

- Lio Rush, Zicky Dice, Avalon, More

- Street Profits' deals

- Royal Rumble news

- Injuries, contracts

Smackdown producers this week

Fightful has learned the following producers for the January 14th Smackdown.

- Jamie Noble and Shawn Daivari produced the Usos in-ring promo and Fatal 4-Way top contender match.

- Molly Holly produced the Aliyah vs. Natalya match.

- Sami Zayn's InZayn segment was produced by Adam Pearce.

- Jason Jordan produced the Lita and Charlotte segment.

- Ricochet vs. Sheamus was produced by Abyss/Chris Park and Kenny Dykstra.

- Shane Helms produced Kofi Kingston vs. ...

Argument with Vince McMahon may have led to Mustafa Ali's WWE absence

Mustafa Ali wasn't on Smackdown this past week, which prompted Fightful to dig about the wrestler's status. Since then, he's announced he requested his release from WWE.

Fightful learned that Mustafa Ali asked for only one show off for paternity leave, even though he hasn't appeared on WWE programming since back in November. We're told that even before that, he wasn't at Survivor Series or the Smackdown prior, which initially just looked like the company was extending his paternity leav...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown 1/14--Welcome to SmackAss

SmackDown was a truly incomprehensible waste of time last night, because SmackDown is a truly incomprehensible waste of time EVERY week.

One of the most embarrassing women's stories ever. Oh, not THAT one. The OTHER one. But yeah, that one too.

A team that has won 2 out of their last 5 matches is now #1 Contenders. Better than what they're doing on Raw, I guess. 

Madcap Moss pinned Kofi Kingston clean while wearing short-shorts.

And this Roman/Seth build isn't bui...

Note on Street Profits' contracts

To address some inquiries from readers, Fightful has a bit of an update on the Street Profits.

In our contract expiration form, the Street Profits contracts were listed as "at least through 2021." This was because the duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins signed what were described as "multi-year contracts" in 2019, which by definition would mandate they be through this year. Considering their absence from WWE Raw of late, we had questions from readers asking if their deals were coming ...