Fightful Wrestling Weekly 12/18: AEW News, Cass, Shane Taylor, WWE Notes
Sammy Guevara
Guevara unsurprisingly called Chris Jericho the GOAT when speaking with Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert, and said that he got started in vlogging because not a lot of people were doing it in pro wrestling. He wasn’t sure if he was the first, but thinks that it helped him overall as a promotional tool to get booked, and get the word out to wrestlers and fans about their promotion. The Young Bucks don’t have a problem with Guevara vlogging, because they want everyone to get over and succeed. Guevara said he wants to surpass their channel.
Adam Hangman Page
Page said that he’s not replacing Hunter Horse Helmsley, because a horse is irreplaceable, you just get a new one. He mentioned that the’s been mispronouncing PAC’s name for a long time, and says that PAC has little balls.
He thought it was strange that AEW would name Full Gear after a saying that ended six months ago and he had no idea it would happen. He wants them to do a show called “Cowboy Shit” and they should have a stage of him in assless chaps and people enter from his crotch. He did tease that “February” was a next PPV date before it was announced. He joked that building to PPV with TV has sucked because he keeps getting kicked in the balls, but it’s good to get TV up and running after having his contract signed in January. He really enjoys the schedule, and says that a schedule was the only thing that made him reconsider being a wrestler, but he likes how things are unfolding in AEW.
Best Friends
Trent says he wasn’t going to bury anyone, but the finish of his match with Pac “went wrong.” Outside of the Rick and Morty deal, Chuck and Trent said that nobody really tells them who or what to be and that’s a benefit of being in AEW. They heard about the potential of a Rick and Morty crossover for months, but in the weeks that preceded it saw it become a reality.
They don’t know if there are plans for a Trios Title in AEW, and don’t want too many titles in the company. They think that the heavyweight, tag team and then a belt to be defended among undercard talent is the best way to go.
Joey Janela
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but Joey Janela is the person who contacted Virgil to come in to AEW. They asked around about who would have Virgil’s number, and someone mentioned Janela and within five minutes, Joey had a deal in place for Virgil to appear.
Janela says that it was a little weird coming in having never done TV before, but he says the team is awesome and Tony Khan is a great boss. He loves having the creative freedom he has in AEW, and hopes that Nick Mondo being in AEW to help with the video packages will help him out as well. Janela said that his video packages with WWE’s Giancarlo Dittamo motivated Mondo to get back into it.
Janela mentions G Raver is going to be out for a while, but is getting his name out there. Janela thinks he’s going to be a star. He also joked that there’s going to be an S&M Party at the GCW Collective.
SCOTT FREAKIN’ NORTON
Fightful landed a couple interviews with Scott Norton, former IWGP Champion and NWO member. Norton put over the strength of Braun Strowman, calling him a badass and a powerhouse. Norton noted that he respects everything that Strowman has done, and said it takes a special kind of skill set to be able to cut the type of promos Strowman does.
Of all the people that Norton put over to Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert, Norton spoke of his respect for Joey Janela, and would later actually tell me that he’s a name he thinks would have best translated to Japan regardless of era. Norton said that Janela was a “stud, a hell of a guy, and a great professional wrestler,” and was singing the praises about Janela and his toughness all the way through.
Fenix
Fenix spoke to Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert, and had a lot of positive things to say about Kenny Omega specifically, calling their AAA match a “great experience.” He doesn’t seem to favor singles or tag team wrestling in particular, just wrestling in general. He also said that working AEW TV isn’t that much of an adjustment for him, since he had been working in Lucha Underground, but did admit each company has their own styles.
WWE Notes
– There was a lot of discussion backstage –both in NXT and the main roster, about the drug test failures last week. There was speculation about NXT suspensions, but nothing materialized. One wrestler joked that they needed to make a trip to Colombia and get the Rey Mysterio stem cell treatment, before saying there’s actually plenty of talk of people looking into it, both for professional and personal reasons.
– Despite limping to the back on Smackdown, we’re told Dash Wilder is fine and was just selling.
Shane Taylor
Shane Taylor told me as of the week of ROH Final Battle, he’d not signed a new contract, though about half the interview was in character. It seems as if a lot of his previous complaints about ROH not promoting him effectively were in character, though he’s very good at covering that up. Taylor and I discussed the success parallel to one another he and Keith Lee are having. Taylor is always pretty transparent in that he’ll go wherever makes the most sense to him. People within ROH claimed to me months ago that he was set to be offered a three-year deal and that they wanted a huge push for him.
ROH
– Both Teddy Hart and Jordynne Grace were backstage last Friday at Ring of Honor’s Final Battle. Teddy Hart was asking wrestlers for autographs and interviews and the like. Hart was also there Sunday, but Grace was not.
– Despite rumors, Rush is still with ROH. His deal is not up soon.
There were several in the wrestling business unhappy with Big Cass’ antics this week, after Joey Janela and others declined to press charges on him at the WrestlePro event earlier this week. Regardless of what he says, it wasn’t a work for Janela.
Cass had been in rehab, and many are referencing a recent Talk of Jericho episode as evidence that he had been progressing well. However, we’ve learned that was actually filmed in August
Unrelated largely, but we’ve heard positive stories about Enzo Amore as it pertains to his behavior during his bookings.
NWA
Those that we spoke to from the NWA and backstage seemed happy with how Into the Fire event, and gaining positive momentum and buzz from the show. There was said to be good feedback, and the event sold well.
