Wrestling News & Rumours Thread ***NO CHAT***

Lithium93_

Chuck Noland wrote: »

I can see them coming back down the road when H has more power

They and Triple H could be waiting a while for that to happen then :pac:

sky88

XFL looks like it’s done Understandable in this climate and not even getting 1st season done so Vince has more time to put towards the product

The White Wolf

Itssoeasy wrote: »

The revival have officially left WWE. Thank Christ for that although bad timing given it's during a global pandemic. Hopefully when the world starts to get back to something normal they go to the NWA for a time and as probably will happen they go to AEW and educate the rest of that division the rules of tag team wrestling.

Tin foil hat stuff from me I know but I wonder if Dash being left in the final cut of the Edge documentary was a last ditch effort to throw a spanner in the works and get at least Dash to stay. They really put him over when they could of cut it where he was just a randomer training with Edge.

CastorTroy

I don't think Edge would've approved him being cut since I'm sure he would've had some say on what to use.
The fact he helped him get back into ring shape and was one of the few that knew he was coming back.

The same way The Rock, was it, let people know Zack Ryder helped with his training when coming back

Itssoeasy

The White Wolf wrote: »

Tin foil hat stuff from me I know but I wonder if Dash being left in the final cut of the Edge documentary was a last ditch effort to throw a spanner in the works and get at least Dash to stay. They really put him over when they could of cut it where he was just a randomer training with Edge.

Ah I wouldn't say tin foil hat stuff but in fairness at time you wouldn't put anything past WWE and vince but as CastorTroy said I don't think edge or Beth for that matter would go for that happening.

Riddle101

CastorTroy wrote: »

I don't think Edge would've approved him being cut since I'm sure he would've had some say on what to use.
The fact he helped him get back into ring shape and was one of the few that knew he was coming back.

The same way The Rock, was it, let people know Zack Ryder helped with his training when coming back

Wasn't it Curtis Axel who trained The Rock? Maybe Zack also had a hand, but I do remember The Rock giving praise to Curtis.

CastorTroy

I knew it was one of the lower card guys

Itssoeasy

Is it a case of not if the revival aren't the only wrestlers released soon it's just a case of how many ? I'm not saying I'm hoping it happens but given what's going on in the world and all that I could see WWE maybe cutting bait with some people ?

DM_7

Worth noting the revival were asking to be released.

Itssoeasy

DM_7 wrote: »

Worth noting the revival were asking to be released.

A fair point to add. I'm just saying is it possible that WWE release the other people who aren't happy ?

johnnyryan89

Wasn't one of their contracts up this month anyway?

Agent Coulson

After the hoarding of talent and tying down average talent to long term contracts to prevent them signing for anyone else how long will it be now till Vince will decides cancel a lot of those contracts due to the crash in WWE stock price and no live events for the foreseeable future there is a lot of downsides being paid out now.

The White Wolf

Agent Coulson wrote: »

After the hoarding of talent and tying down average talent to long term contracts to prevent them signing for anyone else how long will it be now till Vince will decides cancel a lot of those contracts due to the crash in WWE stock price and no live events for the foreseeable future there is a lot of downsides being paid out now.

Was only wondering about that myself the other day. Can't see the suits being happy with Vince when you hear stories such as Edge's where Vince went completely over the odds in his contract offer just to put AEW in their box.

Agent Coulson

Reading what Edges contract is that’s nearly a better deal than Lesner has.

Plenty of time to keep up with his acting gigs as well.

Itssoeasy

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Reading what Edges contract is that’s nearly a better deal than Lesner has.

Plenty of time to keep up with his acting gigs as well.

It's hardly surprising that edge got a sweat deal but he deserves it IMO. I'm surprised Orton hasn't the same deal although he has a kind of in between deal.

Itssoeasy

Lithium93_ wrote: »

They and Triple H could be waiting a while for that to happen then :pac:

Yeah if vince takes after his mother who was born in the 1920's and is still alive then yeah triple h and Stephanie will be waiting a while.

sky88

https://twitter.com/consciousgary/status/1248741760974696448?s=21

Monokne

Yeah they trademarked those a month ago. Excited to see them in NXT. Save them for the next show with an audience.

Itssoeasy

Monokne wrote: »

Yeah they trademarked those a month ago. Excited to see them in NXT. Save them for the next show with an audience.

I hope they get a match with the rock n roll express in the nwa because even thought Ricky and Robert are getting up in age, I think the way the revival approach wrestling and their obvious love of old school tag team wrestling that match could be a classic.

Chuck Noland

Monokne wrote: »

Yeah they trademarked those a month ago. Excited to see them in NXT. Save them for the next show with an audience.

AEW?

Itssoeasy

The observer is reporting that WWE will be returning to live shows from next Monday. I don't get this mentality. Which is more important to WWE ? The money or the health of their wrestlers ? Obviously there won't be any fans but how it's allowed to reportedly go live again I don't know.

LineOfBeauty

Itssoeasy wrote: »

The observer is reporting that WWE will be returning to live shows from next Monday. I don't get this mentality. Which is more important to WWE ? The money or the health of their wrestlers ? Obviously there won't be any fans but how it's allowed to reportedly go live again I don't know.

The money. 100% the money.

leggo

Same reason UFC tried to run 249 I’d say: they’re contracted and need to show to their partners that they can fulfil their obligations. If the NBA or Premier League stops all activity, they won’t get paid but they can afford the temporary losses and don’t have to worry about losing their spot because they help prop networks up with their content and someone else will pay. WWE and UFC don’t have the same amount of capital, not to mention that they have competitors breathing down their neck who may step in if they void their contracts. And WWE are specifically contracted to do X amount of live shows per year, not doing so would risk voiding the entire deals and release the network of any obligation towards them. I highly doubt either WWE or the networks thought to plan for something like this because this has never happened before in our lifetimes, which significantly gives the networks a leg up.

Dana White seemed happy enough to back down once ESPN let him off the hook. In hindsight I think ‘Fight Island’ was a stunt that they were willing to follow through on if forced. Now ESPN can’t possibly release them from their deal because they asked them to stop, while Dana can play the “We’re ready to go when asked” card. I’d say if USA or FOX gave WWE a similar directive, they’d alter their line of thinking. That’s not to say that they’re forcing them to continue, we don’t know that. It’s just I can see it being an awkward staring match that goes unsaid where networks still need content (TV watching has gone way up at least over here during this) and will hide behind their contracts until it becomes totally untenable to do so.

Not as sexy as ‘Vince is evil’, I know, but an assessment that’s in-line with how the real world works.

LineOfBeauty

leggo wrote: »

Same reason UFC tried to run 249 I’d say: they’re contracted and need to show to their partners that they can fulfil their obligations. If the NBA or Premier League stops all activity, they won’t get paid but they can afford the temporary losses and don’t have to worry about losing their spot because they help prop networks up with their content and someone else will pay. WWE and UFC don’t have the same amount of capital, not to mention that they have competitors breathing down their neck who may step in if they void their contracts. And WWE are specifically contracted to do X amount of live shows per year, not doing so would risk voiding the entire deals and release the network of any obligation towards them. I highly doubt either WWE or the networks thought to plan for something like this because this has never happened before in our lifetimes, which significantly gives the networks a leg up.

Dana White seemed happy enough to back down once ESPN let him off the hook. In hindsight I think ‘Fight Island’ was a stunt that they were willing to follow through on if forced. Now ESPN can’t possibly release them from their deal because they asked them to stop, while Dana can play the “We’re ready to go when asked” card. I’d say if USA or FOX gave WWE a similar directive, they’d alter their line of thinking. That’s not to say that they’re forcing them to continue, we don’t know that. It’s just I can see it being an awkward staring match that goes unsaid where networks still need content (TV watching has gone way up at least over here during this) and will hide behind their contracts until it becomes totally untenable to do so.

Not as sexy as ‘Vince is evil’, I know, but an assessment that’s in-line with how the real world works.

Waiting until leukemia survivor Reigns backed out of TV himself and, it currently seems, still calling on Bryan with his immunodeficiency to work these live shows though kinda paints a different picture. Roster apparently far from happy about the news.

DM_7

Itssoeasy wrote: »

The observer is reporting that WWE will be returning to live shows from next Monday. I don't get this mentality. Which is more important to WWE ? The money or the health of their wrestlers ? Obviously there won't be any fans but how it's allowed to reportedly go live again I don't know.

Do we know what provisions they are making for people?

Depending who they are using for tv, arrangements wrestlers and other staff have at home in between tapings and at tapings it might not be as great a risk as we would imagine.

A lot of people on tv seem to be local to the PC, either just out if it or still part of it. Lots live in the general area.

They don't have live events to go to. In between PC days they can stay at home, people like Reigns or Miz have stayed home for good reason already.

I imagine things are more in the middle of the 'should not be on' and 'all is fine'.

leggo

Just to be clear: I think, from a moral standpoint, they absolutely shouldn’t be running. AEW either. Wrestling without social distancing just isn’t possible and you just can’t mitigate the risks of a pandemic to zero. I cringed when Britt Baker stopped to give someone a hug and kiss at ringside on Dynamite this week: totally unnecessary breaking of guidelines for zero gain and from someone with a medical background!

But it’s the networks who deserve the heat here, they need to step in. It’s unreasonable and unrealistic to expect companies to commit suicide when they can convince themselves there’s another option. Not even from a total greed standpoint, they have an obligation towards their employees too and the frontline ones who’ll be hurt most would be the ones who’d suffer from this rather than your Lesnar’s and Orton’s.

LineOfBeauty

leggo wrote: »

Just to be clear: I think, from a moral standpoint, they absolutely shouldn’t be running. AEW either. Wrestling without social distancing just isn’t possible and you just can’t mitigate the risks of a pandemic to zero. I cringed when Britt Baker stopped to give someone a hug and kiss at ringside on Dynamite this week: totally unnecessary breaking of guidelines for zero gain and from someone with a medical background!

But it’s the networks who deserve the heat here, they need to step in. It’s unreasonable and unrealistic to expect companies to commit suicide when they can convince themselves there’s another option. Not even from a total greed standpoint, they have an obligation towards their employees too and the frontline ones who’ll be hurt most would be the ones who’d suffer from this rather than your Lesnar’s and Orton’s.

Sure they shouldn't run but minimizing the risk by pre-taping, getting stuff in the can is the way to go if they have to produce content. Asking these guys (some of the guys who they've asked being among those most at risk) to leave their house, travel and do this stuff is outright dangerous. The question somebody asked here is, do WWE care more about the money or their employees. The answer is clearly money.

And according to Meltzer there was no pressure from the respective networks put onto WWE to produce live shows, if you believe him it's WWE trying to appease the networks, which fits with Vince running Mania in the 1st place when nobody else thought that they should. This guy refuses to job to a virus and in doing so he might get some people very sick.

ThePott

It's honestly a bigger issue in general than people realise. In the coming months this is going to be an absolute bloodbath of fighting over contract clauses and money between tv networks, sporting leagues and cable companies. It is very likely that some of these organisations are in breach of contract even during something as unprecedented as this. There's not necessarily a guarantee that a pandemic would even be covered by insurance in many instances. It's why so many seasons have been suspended as opposed to cancelled because if they are cancelled then in theory networks can go after organisations for not delivering. It differs from network to network/sport to sport though.

There's a great article on all that here:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-sports-cancellations-set-up-media-fights-over-refunds.html

In the case of WWE or AEW, they should not be filming but if they don't deliver then in theory their networks and parent companies can come back asking for a refund for failing to deliver on the terms of their agreement or possibly have them in breach of their deal and as a result take legal action or force them to re-negotiate, which neither AEW or WWE would want.

sky88

Actually thought I read that they can only run certain amount of tapes shows per year same for aew as well which if true it’s terrible from the tv stations


But if wwe are going to do it live 3 times a week it is just completely terrible and irresponsible like it was bad enough then and aew we’re taping shows but at least they were taking precautions and it was 2 or 3 days then done

ThePott

Wouldn't surprise me either. You'd don't buy Smackdown Live with the intentions of it being taped. Again we have no idea whether the networks would even enforce that clause. When there's been issues with other sports in the past generally speaking they don't always go after the organisation as they want to keep them happy and are a valuable brand to them. Not that WWE would be on that level.

Guessing that WWE or AEW though don't want to run the risk that the Networks could come after them for breaking contract. So it would surprise me if Fox/USA or TNT or their parent companies have said; "you can't tape this much as per our contract" but it wouldn't surprise me at all if WWE or AEW was aware that they can't tape that much according to their contracts and don't want to deal with the possibility that when all this is over that they have to give refunds, face legal action or contract renegotiations.