• WWE Officials Confused By ESPN’s Negative Wrestlepalooza Review
WWE hyped up Wrestlepalooza as one of the biggest events of the year and booked some huge names on the show. However, the Premium Live Event failed to deliver on its hype as many fans felt it was not as good as the company hyped it up to be.
ESPN’s Andreas Hale gave the show a C grade in his review. The review made a lot of headlines, as it came from someone who directly worked for the new home of WWE PLEs in the United States.
NXT commentator Booker T already defended the show by saying the following:
“There were five matches on the show – only five – and not one was bad. Two of them were absolutely stellar. The Women’s World Title match was the crown jewel, Cody and Drew had a hell of a time, and the mixed tag might have been the best of its kind I’ve ever seen. So how do you give a show like that a C? That’s crazy! That’s a crazy take.”
JBL also chimed in:
“I saw some negative stuff out there. I think people love to be negative in reviews. Dracula is the second most sold book behind the Bible, and reviews when it came out were horrible. So I think reviewers have always been negative. You sound smart when you’re negative, you don’t sound smart when you’re positive. I think it’s a terrific start for WWE, I think it’s gonna be huge.”
According to WrestleVotes, many within WWE were both surprised and confused by ESPN handing their first-ever PLE a grade of “C.”
Several questioned why ESPN would associate that kind of “online stigma” with Wrestlepalooza, which was otherwise viewed internally as a fairly typical WWE event.
• Reason Behind AJ Styles Taking Aim At WWE Management On RAW
On the September 9th episode of RAW, AJ Styles delivered a promo claiming that someone in WWE doesn’t want him in the company and is actively trying to stop him from succeeding. He also mentioned that he’s completely on his own now, with The Good Brothers released and Michin currently on SmackDown.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, The Phenomenal One’s promo was done to plant seeds for his upcoming match with John Cena at WWE Crown Jewel in Australia.
He further reported that John Cena vs. AJ Styles was always the plan for Crown Jewel. This means that the exchange involving Cena, Styles and Triple H on X was planned because the Cenation Leader is not scheduled to appear on-screen until the Premium Live Event.
WWE deliberately created the impression that fans wouldn’t get to see the match in order to build anticipation and demand.
At Clash In Paris last month, Cena paid tribute to Styles by hitting the Styles Clash during his match with Logan Paul. After the PLE, the 17-time World Champion told fans that he only had a limited number of dates left on his Retirement Tour and wouldn’t be able to face all of his greatest rivals, so using their signature moves was his way of honoring them.
According to Meltzer, this tribute was also part of the storyline designed to make it seem as though the match wasn’t going to happen, encouraging fans to push for it and become more invested when it was eventually announced.
John Cena now has five dates left on his Retirement Tour.
• “Pen!$ reduction was a success” – Kevin Nash
WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash shared a health update on a recent episode of his Kliq This podcast. After a stress test, his cardiologist discovered a small amount of scar tissue on his heart, which may have resulted from a minor, undiagnosed heart attack roughly 20 years ago. Nash previously had a stent placed in his heart, and doctors believed that the scarring could have been genetic or related to that procedure.
The tests also revealed a mild irregular heartbeat that needed to be corrected. Doctors scheduled a procedure to restore his heart rhythm, which the 66-year-old confirmed he was preparing to undergo.
Nash has now undergone the procedure and he revealed on X that everything went as planned and that his heart rhythm has returned to normal.
Big Daddy Cool jokingly said that his “penis reduction was a success” and that the reduced strain on his body helped bring his heart rhythm back to normal. He also thanked fans for their concern and support during the process.
Here’s what he tweeted:
“Procedure went fantastic. Penis reduction was a success. Actually the strain of no longer pushing blood in the entire hog brought my heart rhythm back to normal. Thanks to everyone concerned about my well being.”
Also Read: Kevin Nash’s Movie Shut Down
• Jazmyn Nyx’s Replacement In Fatal Influence Revealed
On this week’s episode of NXT, Jazmyn Nyx was attacked backstage after which she was abandoned by other members of The Fatal Influence. The angle was done to write her off TV as her WWE contract is about to expire and she has parted ways with the company.
Nyx’s departure is financially motivated, as the contract offer WWE put on the table didn’t meet her expectations.
Here’s what she said:
“As you knows, there’s been things circulating and I wanna just set the record straight that I am not re-signing with WWE. This was a personal decision I had to make for myself and for my future personally.
The contract that they were offering me for the next three years just wasn’t going to cut it for me financially, and that’s okay.
I just wanted to give a backstory of everything. I was playing professional soccer in Iceland and then I got recruited obviously to WWE, which I left everything out there to come here for this opportunity, which I’m very grateful for.
I was held back a little in the beginning. I had four knee surgeries, so I had to recover and rebuild my knees in order to step in the ring. I broke my nose. That’s why I was wearing the mask. I had other injuries, concussions that kind of kept me out of TV for a little bit.
There’s been a lot of opportunities that I’ve had to turn down and pass up, but now that I am out of the job, I can explore these opportunities more and take them more seriously.
I love my Jazmyn Nyx fans. Thank you guys so much for supporting me and having my back for the past three years. It’s been amazing journey and I will miss you guys. And yeah, that is it for Jazmyn Nyx. So thank you guys for watching and I love you guys so much.”
Jazmyn’s replacement in The Fatal Influence has already been chosen. According to Cory Hays of Bodyslam, Lainey Reid is set to take Nyx’s spot in the faction.
While the exact timing of her joining hasn’t been revealed, she is expected to join the group soon.
Lainey Reid will challenge Sol Ruca for the WWE Women’s Speed Championship at NXT No Mercy this Saturday.
