fightful

Rumor killer on Becky Lynch/"The Man"

We've had numerous readers as us to post more confirmations and rumor killers, so we'll be doing more of that here on Select, and we'll start with one associated with a WWE Raw star.

Recently, Ric Flair in a now-deleted tweet stated that Becky Lynch and WWE could no longer use "the Man," which we're told isn't true. We've learned that WWE and Becky Lynch wanted to move away from using it for the time being, under Lynch's new character. However, WWE is still selling and marketing "The Ma...

More on Kairi Sane and WWE

Kairi Sane's WWE deal is finally coming to an end in February, according to the Wrestling Observer. Fightful has learned more about her time with the company.

Kairi's deal is set to expire in February, but WWE sources that we spoke to said that it's not a done deal that she'll depart the company, those most expect her to allow her contract to expire.

The same sources indicated to Fightful that in 2020, Kairi Sane made it clear that she wanted to return to Japan. WWE honored that r...

Several big names sign for upcoming QPW shows

In a follow up to last week's QPW story, we're told Killer Kross, Kalisto Adam Scherr and EC3 have officially signed and will be a part of the group's upcoming shows.

In addition, we can confirm that the group has been in touch with John Morrison and Bobby Fish about working the shows, though we can't confirm that they've signed on the dotted line as of yet. QPW was also interested in bringi...

Figure Haul: WCW Mongo, Nash, Sting, Bret, DDP, Kidman

SRS is in the WCW TOY BIZ collecting GAME!!!

CoExisting With Rob & Maggie (DREW): NXT, Reigns, Page vs. Danielson, More!

Maggie is out sick today, so I got a replacement. Drew Nicholas (@BigMoneyDrew) takes over for Maggie this week. We cover NXT New Year's Evil. We also talk WWE releases, Wrestling News, and so much more.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/IiB4ZQdNwSg

Tons of details behind Samoa Joe's WWE release

The list of NXT cuts grew, as Fightful learned that Samoa Joe was released by WWE for the second straight year.

An interesting note was that when WWE provided Fightful a statement on Wednesday, they told us that talent wouldn't be a part of those cuts. This paints a pretty clear picture that they saw Samoa Joe, Timothy Thatcher and Danny Burch all done in-ring.

We're told that talent at the Performance Center had actually learned of Samoa Joe leaving WWE on Wednesday, even though ...

Samoa Joe released, more details to come

This will be posted publicly, but we wanted to give our subscribers the heads up, Fightful has confirmed Samoa Joe has been let go from WWE. The company has confirmed the news to us. 

SRS Q&A Show January 6: NXT Changes, HOOK, HHH, More

- Roderick Strong/WWE

- TBS/AEW

- Drew McIntyre plans

- Triple H

- Hook

- MJF almost got kidnapped by a pilot

- Lesnar vs. Lashley

- Best/worst backup storylines

News on WWE's next Saudi Arabia show

Fightful Select can confirm Andrew Zarian's report of the next WWE Saudi Arabia show being planned for February 19.

Fightful has heard that a February date had been in order for months, dating all the way back to the last show held in Saudi Arabia. Those that we spoke to in WWE say that Febuary and "late fall" seem to be stable, reliable dates for the Saudi Arabia shows.

As of now, staff and talent have the date in their internal calendars as February 19, which is a Saturday, and ...

SRS Q&A questions

Hey guys! Q&A time

Guidelines

- I will try to answer the questions I know. Your question isn't wasted if I don't. It shows me what I need to ask around about.

- 1 question per subscriber

- No "are you a fan of?" "fantasy book this" "top 5" or "favorite" questions please! We try to keep these as newsworthy as possible

If you're a new subscriber, comment your question below. I'll delete the field after I'm done recording.

For aggrega...

IMPACT Wrestler was offered deal right after leaving WWE

Fightful spoke to undefeated IMPACT Wrestling star Steve Maclin ahead of IMPACT Hard To Kill.

Maclin said that he and Trey Miguel worked heavily with Shawn Daivari in setting up their match in July, and he said they all pretty well knew where they were going from that point on, and it's continued for the five months since.

Originally, IMPACT wanted to bring him in a tag team, but Maclin spoke with Westin (formerly Wesley) Blake and said that it was important to him that he at leas...

WWE tryout producer brought on full-time

Things have went well for WWE producer Petey Williams. Williams has been with WWE on a trial basis for several months now, and we're told that he's passed that period and WWE finalized a deal with him to bring him on full-time as a producer. Those that we spoke to in the company say that a contract was recently offered, and was completed this week. Several WWE Superstars that we've spoken to since he's come onboard spoke highly of his producing, and noted that they grew up watching his work. ...

SRS AEW on TBS live discussion

Since this is a big show, we'll do a live discussion for it. What's up you guys

Tons of details on NXT layoffs, changes within the company.

A ton of shocking NXT personnel cuts came on Wednesday, with WWE telling Fightful "With the continued evolution of NXT 2.0, we've decided to part ways with some of the staff based in our Performance Center. We thank them for their many contributions throughout the years and wish them the best." Unanimously, the talent and staff familiar with the PC, NXT, and NXT 2.0 have said this is directly to remove numerous 2022-01-05 23:47:04 +0000 UTC View Post

List Goes On 1/5- Punk/Okada, Women's Division

- Okada/Punk

- Women's Division

- More!

video: https://youtu.be/NfKLHrH7N_M

Tons of Bron Breakker notes

Fightful spoke to NXT Champion Bron Breakker hours after his big win, and he told us that he knew that he was debuting on NXT 2.0 the day before it happened. Prior to that he'd just been worried about learning and practicing his craft. For the New Year's Evil entrance, he didn't get a lot of advance notice, and was admittedly cautious of something going wrong and the set being pulled down.

Speaking of that, he actually had his first match in the fall of 2020, when he went to a signing w...

Live for subscribers: Bron Breakker interview at 12:15 EST

SRS speaks to the new NXT Champ!

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: The Rest of Raw 1/3: The Future Is Still Never

!!!Starting right after the NXT Post-Show!!!

After technical difficulties cut the show short last time, I decided to bring Kate to the party, along with the usual cast of characters from Team KaLex.

Join us as we review the 3rd hour of Raw from last night.

It's going to be better than it sounds, I promise.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/MJ07_c7bMUE

Issue 6 Of Fightful Magazine For Sale; Get It Free!

It's a new year and we'd like to thank you, our Fightful Select subscribers for supporting what we do. And so we're offering you a holiday gift!

Fightful Select will be giving out a FREE digital copy of Fightful Magazine Issue #6 (Jan/Feb 2022) to all Select members!

To receive your free digital copy of Issue #6, head over to the ...

Jeff Hardy Was Set For NXT Appearances Before WWE Release

Jeff Hardy was planned for an NXT run of some sorts.

Not only was Jeff Hardy factored in a lot of plans on the WWE main roster until January, he was planned for an NXT run as well. Hardy was released by WWE in December, and it left the company scrambling, as Jeff Hardy was originally planned to be the "Shaman" for MSK. Just days before the reveal was to happen, Hardy was released by the company, and Matt Riddle had to rush to film content with MSK to make it work.

We're told there...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 1/3 -- The Future Is Never

NOTE: Woops! Alex's internet went out. Sorry for the abrupt ending.

We're on the road to the Royal Rumble and everything is terrible.

Oh, some of it might seem good right now, but as they say, LET IT PLAY OUT.

By the end of the month, you'll all be able to see it, too.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/FZRs5oLVOe4

WWE Raw plans tonight

Fightful has learned the following plans for WWE Raw, which are subject to change as always:

- RKBro vs. Alpha Academy

- Reggie & Dana Brooke vs. Tamina & Akira Tozawa

- Becky Lynch in ring promo

- Women's Tag Team Title match

- Street Profits vs. Apollo & Azeez

- An "Alexa Bliss Story" is mentioned internally, as well.  We have no clue what that means beyond that. 

Previously announced by the company were

- Brock Lesnar ki...

Gail Kim/Chelsea Green Interview Notes

Fightful spoke with Chelsea Green recently, who confirmed a report that she was slated to appear for AAA around TripleMania. However, the two sides haven't been able to match up time lines. As far as the ROH call to announce their hiatus, she said she found out on Twitter, as she wasn't a full-time, contracted talent there.

Gail Kim also participated in the interview, and we spoke of the E...

SRS Select Backstage Report Podcast: Toni, Swole/AEW, McIntyre, More

- Day 1 news, main event, Reigns, Lesnar, more

- Toni Storm release

- Big Drew McIntyre update

- Tony Khan/Big Swole/AEW reaction

- ROH deals

- WWE Raw

- Miro update

- Veer coming

- Palumbo

- MLW

News on WWE Raw's skeleton crew last week

Things were dire for WWE on Monday.

In addition to Big E, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Omos and others not being at the show, Bobby Roode, Rhea Ripley, Zelina, Finn Balor, Austin Theory all also didn't appear on the program. Producers were also split between the Detroit Raw and the Orlando Smackdown house show -- in which Roman Reigns didn't appear. Adam Pearce, Kenny Dykstra,...

A ton of info on WWE Day 1 main event, reactions

WWE's Day 1 saw significant changes, as the show was hit big time by Roman Reigns testing positive for COVID.

We're told that match times were adjusted, segments were added, and video packages added to help make up the time lost in losing the WWE Universal Title match. Talent was informed mid-afternoon yesterday that the WWE Championship match would be changing, but they hadn't been told of the original plans for a winner before that. Those that we spoke to believe Big E was set to win ...

Fightful Weekender (1/2): GCW, JCW, IWTV WRESTIVAL, 205 LIVE, IMPACT HARD TO KILL PREDICTIONS

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

Topics:

- Show to watch on IWTV - ACTION + SUP: "KEVINNNN!!!"

- GCW: "Til Infinity" + "Die 4 This" results

- JCW: "Dead End" results

- 205 LIVE (12/31) results

- BEYOND: "Heavy Lies The Crown" results

- LIMITLESS: "Worcester" results

- IMPACT: "Hard To Kill" predictions

Major update on Drew McIntyre

Saturday night's WWE Day 1 show saw an angle to set up a potential absence for former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. 

After McIntyre's win over Madcap Moss, McIntyre was taken out backstage in a segment by Moss and his partner Happy Corbin.

WWE's Twitter posted "@DMcIntyreWWE suffered a cervical neck strain with severe contusions.  Upon further evaluation by medical staff he will have a follow-up with an orthopedic cervical specialist."

Fightful has learned that this ...

WWE Day 1 Producers

Fightful has learned the following producers for WWE Day 1

- The main event WWE Title 5-way match was produced by Jamie Noble.

- TJ Wilson/Tyson Kidd and Molly Holly produced Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch.

- Adam Pearce & Michael Hayes produced the Edge vs. Miz match.

- Shane Helms & Kenny Dykstra produced RKBro vs. Street Profits

- Abyss (Chris Park) produced Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss.

- Shawn Daivari produced the New Day vs. Usos match.

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: WWE Day 1--Premium Post-Show Event

**STARTING 10 minutes after WWE Day 1**

It's the #TeamKaLex Premium Post-Show Event, talking WWE Day 1, Roman testing positive, Brock being put in the WWE Title match, more.

Also we'll talk Rampage, and yeah, also THAT TWEET.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/kWb3Ev7HKho