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Update on Jaxson Ryker

As if Friday wasn't indication enough, there's still heat on Jaxson Ryker within WWE. As we mentioned recently, Ryker had been home in North Carolina and hadn't been brought to Orlando to the site of WWE tapings in months. At one point, Ryker wasn't even featured on internal WWE roster sheets. It should be reiterated, there was never any internal heat on Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler, and wrestlers and staff Fightful spoke with felt bad that they were caught up in the situation. One WWE sourc...

Backstage Praise For Smackdown Angle And Performance

We heard a lot of positive reaction in response to the Kevin Owens/Roman Reigns angle on last week's episode of Smackdown. Not that it would be a surprise to anyone, but the Roman Reigns performances and execution of his angles have been well received ever since he reappeared at Summerslam. After Owens was relegated to little or no use for months, several that we spoke to felt that he was able to rise to the occasion and match Reigns from a promo perspective.

SRS Figure Haul, Episode 2!

Vince McMahon Insistent On Doing Show, Update On Filming

WWE plans on filming Tribute To The Troops this Friday, in a much different manner than usual for obvious reasons. Wrestlers have a very early call time from what we understand, with talent from Raw and Smackdown informed that they would be on the show. When Fightful inquired about it, we were told Vince McMahon was insistent on doing the show, even with the altered format. 

MLW Wrestler Still Under Contract, Puts Over Taping Protocol

I spoke to Jordan Oliver ahead of GCW Silme Season, and he informed me he was still under contract to MLW, and appeared at their Restart tapings. He said that he was initially nervous signing a contract at such a young age, but badly wanted to work on TV and gain that experience. He also mentioned there were many non-MLW stars that visited the tapings, including champions of other companies. He put over MLW for their COVID protcols and keeping them safe. 

Allie Kat Update

We're dropping an interview with her shortly, but we spoke to GCW's Allie Kat, who is one of the most booked wrestlers on the independent scene. She told us that she hasn't had any conversations with major companies, but is keeping her ear to the ground as that seems to be her ultimate goal. Still, she was excited for the constant flow of WWE PC recruits coming into the company

The Latest On AEW Working With IMPACT Wrestling

Lots was made about IMPACT Wrestling working with All Elite Wrestling after Kenny Omega and Don Callis announced the former would be appearing on Tuesday's IMPACT show.

Some within IMPACT Wrestling had heard of the news, but were told there wasn't much to it when they'd asked management about it at the most recent set of tapings. Several in AEW had also heard that Don Callis would be coming in to work an angle, but weren't sure the extent of it.

Almost nobody that we spoke to expe...

SRS Q&A Show: Women's Wrestling, Rousey, More

- Women's tag title rant

- Fightful Championship/BTE Championship

- WrestleMania plans

- Sonya Deville, Lana, Mia Yim, Blake Christian, Elayna Black

- NJPW morale

- AEW media call

- Working with ADHD

- Saying nice things about people

- Ronda Rousey

- Dream/Theory

More on STING signing with AEW

In the initial moments after his surprise AEW appearance, several AEW wrestlers we've heard from say that they had no idea Sting was coming into the company, or that he'd be there before they arrived . The initial reaction we got from talent has been shock and excitement, with many not knowing the extent until right before the spot. He was not seen around the venue this afternoon by many, but others heard that Sting would be appearing.

We've since heard from another name in All Elite W...

Original Plans For Chelsea Green Revealed, Plan For Mickie James Story

We've been digging even more about Chelsea Green and her not being used prior to her ill-fated Smackdown debut, and a pitch that was going around about her. Originally, a big push was made and plans were put in order for Chelsea Green to almost emulate Mickie James' 2005-2006 "obsessed fan" storyline with Trish Stratus. The story had a pretty solid plan and we're told that several in creative were very excited about it, but it inexplicably got scrapped. The story that we've heard would have h...

The List Goes On (12/2): Trios Titles, AEW, NWA

- Undertaker

- WWE Production

- AEW Trios Title

- Bayley PWI 50

- NWA Update

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ZNvs8hxXkKk

Frustration From Wrestlers Highlighted By Liv Morgan Documentary

Liv Morgan's recent WWE Network documentary was praised and criticized within WWE over the past week. Morgan is well received as always, but the stop-start creative, changing of plans and broken promises were something that multiple WWE main roster stars from the top to the bottom of the card highlighted to Fightful when speaking about the feature this week. One wrestler said that they fear missing any time because they're concerned they might not get on the show, and if you allow yourself to...

Another Top NXT Star Gets COVID-19

Another top WWE star on the NXT brand  tested positive for COVID-19 recently, but this one didn't necessarily have the concern attached to it that previous positive tests have had that led to an outbreak. This wrestler is said to not be around large crowds of people very often, especially within NXT. The brand has long been criticized from the outside to within their own walls for their handling of the pandemic and the subsequent return to training, odd schedule of tests and overall perf...

SRS Q&A Questions

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- limit to three per subscriber

- no top 5, favorites, "are you a fan of?" Or book this questions

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 11/30--Mask On, Mask Off

It sure is going to be a great match when AJ Styles loses to Drew McIntyre at TLC.

Also there are some interesting character development possibilities for Cedric Alexander.

Those are about the only positive things I have to say about last night's Raw, which started inexplicably and only went downhill from there.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/SfHjmXKWSPM

Lots of creative changes for WWE Raw brand

Fightful has been informed that creative plans shifted for “virtually everyone at the top of the Raw roster” following Survivor Series. The original plan was for Braun Strowman to challenge Drew McIntyre as reported by Wrestling Observer. However, the injury that he sustained caused the tournament to be put together, and several programs to be adjusted from anywhere between one to three week...

Shotzi Blackheart's WWE Royal Rumble appearance

The interview is up momentarily, but Shotzi Blackheart revealed to us that she didn't know that her Royal Rumble appearance this year would be happening until the day before. She got on a plane and flew to Houston, and got no sleep ahead of the match. She'll be included in a major Royal Rumble feature that we drop the week of the 2021 show. 

Jeff Hardy Update

All indications are that Jeff Hardy was okay after his nasty Swanton spot. Hardy jumped from the ring post to ringside, onto Elias, who was on a table. Hardy barely cleared the steps by the post. We've also asked about Elias, considering the rough landing.

News on WWE Raw script

The final draft of tonight's WWE Raw was sent out less than 25 minutes before the show went on the air. We're told the last couple of weeks have seen some considerable changes, including some that were well beyond WWE's control. We'll have more on that this week.

NXT WarGames Location

For those wondering, the NXT Takeover Wargames show is still planned for the WWE Performance Center's Capitol Wrestling Center. Many readers inquired as to whether the show would be moved to physically fit the cages and rings, but it was indicated to talent and potential attendees that the Wargames show would still take place at the CWC.

Fightful Weekender (11/29): 205 LIVE, NXT UK, MLW, IMPACT, ROH & more!

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with another edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- Show to watch on IWTV - AIW: "Thunder In Indianapolis"

- 205 LIVE (11/27) results

- NXT UK (11/26) results

- MLW: "Fusion" (11/25) results

- IMPACT (11/24) results

- ROH (11/23) results

- UWN: "Primetime Live" (11/24) results

- BTE: "One Chip Challenge" recap

Sean Ross Sapp's Backstage Report Podcast (11/29): Omega, Vince, More!

- Lots of Kenny Omega news

- LUTHER

- Alex Gracia

- Vince McMahon

- Thunderdome, Amway, Tropicana

- IMPACT filming multiple finishes

- Stats, contracts, injuries!

AEW-Luther notes on AEW Game, his main event against Jericho

Fightful's Jeremy Lambert and Joe Hulbert spoke to AEW's Luther for a show that drops Tuesday. Here are a few notes ahead of the hour long dicussion.

- He was not fond of his time in WCW.

- He cites Lee Johnson as a big future star, and wants to wrestle Young Bucks in a match that is less than four minutes.

- Luther hasn't been scanned for any AEW games as of yet.

- Luther is planning on launching a podcast in the near future.

- He's switched up his shoes and adm...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown 11/27--Table Manners

Last night's SmackDown was a bit of a mixed bag.

Everything Roman was a part of was great. Jey and KO did amazing work in there, too, and we got a great Sami/DBry match as well.

Everything else ranged from pretty bad to abjectly terrible.

Does one great storyline and one great match cancel out all that other suckitude?

Let's talk about it.

video: https://youtu.be/T10BgFOPX-4

Alex Gracia Update After AEW Appearances

I spoke with Alex Gracia about the constant looks she's got by ROH, AEW, WWE and IMPACT. She's gotten feedback from all of those companies, and WWE seemed to think she needed a bit more experience after her 2019 tryout. Her 2020 tryout came as the pandemic was ramping up, and they had to cancel the tryout midway through, fly her home and quarantine her as a result. She was disappointed, but knew there was nothing that could be done about it.

She put over Thunder Rosa as someone who has ...

SRS Smackdown Live Blog

Note: Trying a different method and style to see how you all like it.

Opening Segment

Roman Reigns is fantastic as usual, telling Uso he doesn't command the respect of his team because they don't feat him. Uso plays the downtrodden, sad that he disappointed the head of the table role. Reigns' command of tone and tempo in what he says maximizes every work. Specifically,...

IMPACT Filming Multiple Endings To Several Stories

There have been numerous names from the IMPACT Wrestling tapings noting to us that the turnover in the company among prominent stars has led to them filming multiple top angles with different finishes. In addition to different finishes, we've heard that alternative wrestlers or personnel are used in a variety of situations that way they're not constantly showing recent footage of wrestlers celebrating with people who are no longer involved in the company

SRS Q&A Podcast (11/27): Over 125 questions answered!

- Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss

- Royal Rumble winners

- Ethan Page, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, The Acclaimed, Aleister Black

- Alexa Bliss character

- Kota Ibushi, Brodie Lee, FTR, Cardona

- Ambrose & Cena trademarks

- Mike Tyson

- SRS' figure collecting

- Divas title

- New match types

- Over 125 questions!

Survivor Series Bonuses For WWE Talent

We heard from several people within WWE that there were flat bonuses determined even before Survivor Series happened. There were several people that were told they would be given $15,000 bonuses for appearing on Survivor Series in a highlighted match. We aren't sure if that's across the board or if there are additional levels. Several WWE contracts are constructed to feature television and WWE Network bonuses.

How Often Is Vince McMahon around?

Based on what we've heard, the move to Amway didn't have Vince McMahon popping up any more than usual. At the WWE PC, McMahon was stowed away in his office throughout most of the day and didn't appear outside of it much. We have been told that he has been attending the tapings and sitting in Gorilla for the shows, which wasn't happening very often on the Smackdown side for the months leading up to the pandemic. It had got to the point where Vince was rarely even at Smackdowns on Fridays befor...