Fightful Wrestling Weekly 12/11- WWE Releases, AEW, NWA, Combate

Britt Baker

Britt (to Jeremy Lambert) says she wasn’t given any direction for her highly acclaimed promo on AEW Dark. She flew to Atlanta herself because she wanted to film a promo to help give her match with Bea Priestley some more buzz and hype and to remind the audience why the two didn’t like each other. She’s hoping that the promo helped contribute to the viewership for the AEW Buy In.

She called the Pittsburgh appearance a full circle moment, and was proud of how everything ended up. AEW was actually going to put the gold “Terrible Towels” in Philadelphia, but Britt was adamant that they waited until Pittsburgh.

Britt’s hopes are that people watching AEW connect with at least one women’s wrestler, even if it has to be Bea Priestley, she just doesn’t want to be in the ring without the fans caring about what’s going on.

Dark Order

Dark Order spoke to Jeremy Lambert about the transition to working in AEW. Stu says it’s been unanimously positive for him and he’s enjoyed the experience, while Uno pointed out that there were some adjustments as to wrestling in front of a larger population, as well as getting used to working television matches with commercials. They said that some fans are impatient, and want to know everything they’re going to do, with Stu saying you don’t find out what happens in season 10 through six episodes of season 1. Uno said there will be answers eventually, even if reaction to their gimmick has been mixed so far. Thus far, they have been very in control of what they’re doing, with them providing a lot of ideas on how they’re presented. Uno says they were surprised at how much input that they’ve had so far, but noted there are television executives and people in the company that also have their say in things along the way.

To close, they were very impressed with the progression of Private Party, and Uno said that he couldn’t imagine being on national television after three years of wrestling like they are.

AEW Fights

We gained a little more information on some of the backstage fights that occurred in AEW. In regards to Jimmy Havoc and Excalibur, there’s a cell phone video that a lot of the AEW roster has seen of the fight. Both men were intoxicated, and Excalibur put Havoc in a choke hold. Havoc then punched Excalibur and even scraped him with a fork.

At AEW All Out, Bea Priestley and Sadie Gibbs went back and forth after returning from their battle royal spots. The skirmish was said to have been really quick, and related to something that happened in the ring. Matt Jackson quickly broke it up.

PNP

Santana and Ortiz told Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert that how All Elite Wrestling is treating their tag team division is a good example of why they chose AEW as opposed to going somewhere else. They see themselves on the level of top tag teams and want to prove to everyone they belong. Being the part of a foundation and something that is starting from the ground up is important to them, as opposed to something already concrete and established. They want to be the wrestlers that people look back on nostalgically like people romanticize the Attitude Era today. The Inner Circle stable was pitched to Santana and Ortiz upon them joining the company, which enticed them to come over as well.

The Proud N’ Powerful name has a lot to do with their heritage, and Latino culture. They want to bring a positive light to their culture and want to showcase how they were brought up and give hope to others who were brought up the same way.

I’ve also been told separately that WWE made multiple offers and concessions to the duo, but the deal was passed on by Santana and Ortiz.

Combate Americas

The Latin American-based MMA company has featured several pro wrestlers on its roster, including former WWE Champion and Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio taking on Tito Ortiz this weekend. Fightful Select has learned if they have their way, they’re not done.

The promotion has spoken with several pro wrestlers about possibly coming in and competing in the MMA world, specifically a few of Latin Descent. This isn’t new to Combate Americas. Sexy Star was booked for the Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto Del Rio card as well, and NWA’s Thunder Rosa (who performed for Lucha Underground as Kobra Moon), made her MMA debut in November against Nadine Mandiau.

Fightful was told multiple names from the pro wrestling world that have spoken to Combate, but are working to verify those.

Notes

– NWA and FITE are planning on hosting a media call with Nick Aldis to promote NWA Into The Fire

– Jordynne Grace and Tessa Blanchard are both planning on taking the remainder of the year off.

– ROH sent several members of their roster to the Boys and Girls Club of Baltimore this past week.

– Cuervo’s manager confirmed he hasn’t retired since the cinder block attack, as originally reported

Ricky Starks

Jeremy Lambert of Fightful spoke to Ricky Starks ahead of NWA Into The Fire. He’s quickly emerged as a top name on the indies, and has displayed his personality via promos that Travis Ward films. They were all from Starks’ brain, and caught the eye of Dave Lagana, which got him booked for NWA 70, proving the success. Starks says the videos are important to him because he knows himself better than anyone, and the visuals he provides convey things the best.

Starks said that he feels like all the “emotion” he heard about while working WWE spots as an extra is something he specializes in because he loves to talk, entertain and present, sell, and alter emotion. NWA being a “promo promoiton” ended up helping him a lot in that way. He put the presentation factor of his act over really well.

Aron Stevens and Trevor Murdoch were both said to be hands on in helping Starks out with some of his work there, as was Mr. Anderson. Stark’s first NWA Powerrr promo got high marks by some at the WWE Performance Center as well.

WWE Releases

In asking around backstage about Luke Harper, Viktor, Konnor and Sin Cara all getting released from the company, the feeling among the roster that Fightful spoke to was that of relief for them. One person on the roster said that they believe that all had asked for it, so they were happy for the quartet of wrestlers. Sin Cara and Harper both publicly requested their releases, but The Ascension hasn’t, though they also haven’t been used since WrestleMania week.

One person in the company joked with us, saying “It’s either a coincidence or next level f–king with The Revival that a bunch of people get granted their releases, but they can’t release them because they have a title match on next weekend’s show.”