Fightful Wrestling Weekly 4/6
Killer Kelly
It seems as if Killer Kelly made a good impression back in November at the IMPACT Wrestling tapings she participated in while in America. Fightful has been told there was immediate interest in signing Killer Kelly to a contract, but some things had to be worked out before that can happen. Kelly returned home overseas, and had previously spoken with Fightful about the extended quarantine periods she was required to go through when coming to the states in 2020. However, we’ve been told that IMPACT will likely bring her back over for tapings and look to make a regular arrangement whenever a visa situation can be resolved.
Rachael Ellering
IMPACT Wrestling’s women’s division seems like it’s getting stronger and stronger. We’d reported recently that Taylor Wilde was on her way back to the company after being stuck outside the States, but she’s far from it. We’re told that WWE NXT veteran Rachael Ellering was also at the most recent set of IMPACT Tapings. She’d worked a couple of dates for AEW back in July, but wasn’t signed. She wrestled for NXT heavily for a four month period in 2019 before an injury sidelined her. She also has experience with a huge portion of the roster, having worked with Tenille, Kimber Lee, Deonna Purrazzo, Kiera Hogan, Su Yung, Jessicka Havok, Neveah, and Jordynne Grace in the past.
Thunderdome noise
Bad Bunny
DANHAUSEN
Danhausen is appearing for Ring of Honor while still working independent dates, but according to our interview with him, he’s not locked down long term. Danhausen indicated to Fightful that his current ROH deal lasts through the end of the calendar year. Separately of the interview, we’d learned that ROH actually offered Danhausen a deal just ahead of the pandemic in 2020, and the contract was signed. This was shorty after Cody Rhodes had mentioned Danhausen’s name in an interview.
Chad Gable
Recently, Dax Harwood sent a tweet indicating that Gable’s WWE contract would be coming up soon. While many thought that the tweet was tongue in cheek, Fightful has learned that Gable’s WWE contract is, or was actually up soon. We’re unsure as to whether or not Gable has signed or plans to sign a new WWE contract, but that his WWE deal was slated to expire in “spring or summer.” Fightful will look to nail down more information as it pertains to the date of the deal expiration.
wwe creative
Fightful has learned about some frustration within the WWE creative team of late. Writers have sounded off about a disconnect between them and Vince McMahon, and mentioned that they get cut off from the creative process and no longer even get notes from direct meetings with McMahon. Many of the writers don’t pitch directly to Vince McMahon, and the writing staff often don’t even learn about the pitch meetings until a rough draft gets delivered to them.
Ronda Rousey
This has gone largely under the radar, but Ronda Rousey’s original WWE contract faces its expiration date on April 10, 2021. WWE issued a statement in January 2019 indicating that the contract signed was through that period while the two sides attempted to deny that she’d be leaving the company.
Paul Heyman speculated in an interview late last year that Rousey and WWE could have worked out a mutually beneficial deal that extends the agreement, or replaces the original deal. WWE still has over a dozen Ronda Rousey items on WWEShop, and feature her action figures and utilize her in video games even after she left two years ago.
Brian Myers
