Wow, they ain't waiting anymore. Vince straight up saying "Fuck NXT!" while dude is still NXT Champion. What a fucking disaster. No offence to Jeff Hardy, but when you've spent 95% of your latest WWE run jobbing to people, you don't need a win over the NXT Champion in about three minutes.

My one friend suggested they should send Jeff Hardy to NXT and let him have a run with the title. Kind of brilliant? He’s a jobber on Raw but would be a superstar again on Tuesdays.

This Eva vs Alexa feud is what my wet dreams are made o

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, reportedly, going with AEW. Punk appears to be almost certain, but we'll know with 100% certainty on Aug. 20th (or shortly before).

If Punk does join AEW (or already has based on reports), I wonder how WWE fans will react. They already love the "CM Punk" chants, so will those become a regular occurrence?

Bray Wyatt has been released.

I am equally heartbroken and elated for Bray Wyatt. I’ve been holding on to WWE partially for his return but I have quickly become a massive AEW fan and if they sign him, along with Punk and Bryan, it’s game over for me.

No matter the reason for it, even if he requested it for personal reasons… fuck WWE for screwing him up time and time again.

I know the beginning of his downfall was his hell in a cell with Seth but the nail in the coffin was Goldberg. Excuses were made to justify, including a killer program with Cena, but losing so quickly and so clean to a non-talent (how can you even call Goldberg a part timer when his only gimmick is to come back randomly twice a year and challenge for a title? At least Brock put in some work) killed The Fiend and Wyatt. Absolute fucking disgrace. People can complain that the gimmick was too much (Undertaker had plenty of that in his career) but when you boil it down, they pushed him until Goldberg came calling and that was it. Brock was WWE champion and they weren’t taking it off him at Fastlane so it had to be The Fiend. He was the sacrifice so they could keep Goldberg happy.

I’m really at the point where I can’t find a good reason to support WWE. I’m waiting for Becky’s return but everything else sucks.

Wyatt's handling, all throughout his career in WWE really, was indeed awful. But it was especially awful, and by far one of the company's biggest mistakes in years (heck, perhaps in over a decade), with how they handled his Fiend character. And when they managed (lucked out) to salvage the situation by pairing him up with Alexa Bliss, they totally messed that up too.

Nice to see the positive support he's receiving online. Several stars breaking kayfabe (not too unusual these days, but still notable) like Alexa did today. He's still pretty young. Have little doubt he could become a big star in just about any other company if he chooses to continue pro wrestling.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when RAW drops under 1 million viewers in the weeks/months to come after the initial live crowds being back and short-lived "boosts" Cena/Goldberg will provide for awhile. Hopefully when Goldberg squashes Lashley to win the title, it'll speed up the process.

Wyatt would be a great new leader for Dark Order and future feud with Hangman Page. My guess is Omega will beat Christian at All-Out, Page will beat Omega at the NY Grand Slam show in September, then Wyatt will debut and cost Page his title against whichever opponent (CM Punk?) at Full Gear.

If AEW does indeed get Bryan, Punk and Wyatt, I feel like it's game over for WWE. AEW won't overtake them right away, but if they don't at some point with the talent they have and how they're booked, then they'll never overtake them.

I am speechless. I cant believe the whole wyatt family is away from WWE.

What the fuck? They bassically stole his gimmick and passed it to Alexa then released him? Holy shit

WWE has released Ric Flair (at his request). Chances are likely high he ends up in AEW I'd say. He can't stay away from the business, and they'll certainly welcome him.

May never get that triple threat with him, Orton and Cena at WrestleMania 40 to determine who gets that 17th title now!

Several more people from NXT were fired when the site was down but I feel like this isn't even news anymore. WWE doesn't care that it is the clear heel in the new wrestling wars. Vince probably thinks he is being shrewd by flooding AEW and others with his leftovers, but obviously has failed to recognize why people are drifting over there in the first place. He probably doesn't even know who Darby Allin, Hangman Page and Jungle Boy are despite their being the most popular performers in his main competition.

Imagine Roman v Omega at Wrestlemania this year for all the belts. That could happen if he wasn't so damn stubborn.

I've thought about AEW and WWE working together, even in a short term, one-shot PPV. But it would never work because Vince and WWE would want to bury AEW.

CM Punk's pipe bomb promo gets more true every single year. WWE won't be any better until after... well, you know...

The NXT news sucks because it's clearly the best show of the three but sounds like they're taking it backwards soon.

Speaking of, I'm disgusted with Karrion Kross's booking. If I hadn't been watching NXT, I'd think this guy sucked. He was booked in NXT to be this badass monster of a guy. They stripped him of everything that made him cool for RAW.

I've honestly never been more disgusted and embarrassed to be a WWE fan. They are perfectly content with subpar booking, aging stars and a trash product. As much as I like seeing Cena again, Roman is right: the dude is doing the same shit every single night. If he were to stick around longer than Summerslam, people would be sick of him again.

WWE is so weird right not. Weird isn't the right word, but I don't know what is.

Just out of pure speculation, it seems to me that Vince is preparing to essentially turn NXT back into a developmental program and take it off the air down the road. He's made it very clear in recent years he doesn't really care what HHH has done with it. I'd even go as far to say he's been disappointed in it for years/forever. This is assuming he doesn't want it gone entirely.

Because I also wouldn't be shocked of Vince announced his plans to sell WWE in the next few years as well. I could be wrong, but all these cuts to downsize the roster/payroll (even multiple stars involved in storylines are being released in recent months) and efforts to rake in as much money as possible (such as the Peacock deal) in the meantime are really unusual for a company that's been making profits.

And big current and future hall of fame names have been leaving in suspiciously high numbers.

Big week for both companies. The hints and teases about a certain guy returning at this Fridays Rampage in Chicago are so widespread that it will be a disappointment if it doesn’t happen. I’m still in “believe it when I see it” mode but That Guy v Darby at All Out would instantly be the biggest match in company history. And Cena v Roman 2!

One of AEW's most important shows ever this weekend, indeed. I wonder how loud the pop is going to be for CM Punk, assuming all the reports are true.

Cena/Roman is a good SummerSlam main event, but gosh, why does Goldberg/Lashley have to be on the card... It's incredibly likely to go early in the night, and Goldberg not winning in a squash (or 5 minutes maximum) is nearly impossible. And with his son involved, losing would be more bizarre since it *appears* to be setting up a storyline for the year. I mean, WWE hasn't been afraid to end a storyline the same week it begins in recent weeks/months (even releasing people in storylines...), so Lashely could win I guess, but I have to imagine their feud will continue if he does which might be a worse result.

And I don't understand why there's a decent amount of hate against Nikki and her gimmick right now (a minority, but still too many). It's outdated and everything (more so gimmick's personality than the look), sure, but this is probably the only and last time she'd ever get the title, and she's been a trooper in the company for years now, and earned the spotlight for what is likely going to be a pretty short amount of time anyway. It was even, reportedly, her idea. So it's not like WWE slapped someone fans liked with a silly gimmick. So... why get all bothered by it?

Ric Flair not slowing down at 72. Won't share the image here, but if you check Twitter, you'll see him showing someone how a "roll-up" is properly performed on a train. I thought he was just trending again by attacking Kenny Omega but... NOPE! Not this time.

It certainly looks like him, but can't be 100% certain. But it probably is. He's Ric Flair.

WOOOOOO!

I'm so sick of Goldberg. I take back every bad thing I said about Brock Lesnar. At least he put in some effort. Goldberg challenged Bray/The Fiend last year, won the title, lost to Braun. Came back, challenged Drew for the title, lost. Now he's challenging Lashley. If he wins, they (yet again) kill any kind of momentum they had for Lashley since he won the title. But if Bray, Braun and pretty much anyone else can prove, champions are merely placeholders now in WWE. It's been that way for decades with the IC and US titles and the tag titles, but now it's the same for the WWE and Universal titles.

Hard to believe the only reason I'm currently watching WWE is Roman.

Speaking of Roman...



Smart interview. Definitely going to ruffle some feathers.

Still playing the part of the WWE's Corporate Creation.

I liked someone else's response to this. CM Punk was never a favourite of Vince so of course he didn't get an opportunity to be on that top level. Very few have. Like Daniel Bryan, it's the fans that made him something more. Punk has been gone almost eight years and never stepped foot in front of a wrestling audience during that time and still crowds chant his name.

By that soundbite (I haven't watched the interview), someone like Triple H wasn't as good or as over as The Rock or Cena. We have to remember very, very few names are in that league. Add Hogan, add Austin. I'm not sure there's anyone else that fits that description (old-schoolers like Bruno Sammartino maybe).

And Cena has an asterisk next to his history. He was simultaneously the most loved and most hated.

I don't really agree with Roman. But I think it's a "work" and just a jab at CM Punk, which will work out well in building Roman's character even more.

Speaking of Punk... he's officially back! All of reports lessened the impact just slightly, but his return was always a "I'll believe it when I see it" situation, so nice to have it confirmed. Still a big moment. And his pop was massive, as expected, from the sold out (~15,000 seat) arena. New attendance record for AEW.

First match against Darby Allin on September 5th at All Out (already sold out).

I'm very curious to see what the ratings for Smackdown and Rampage will be for tonight. CM Punk is trending above Smackdown right now. Smackdown did 2.08 million last week, while Ramage did 724,000 in its first episode last week. Not expecting Rampage to win the Friday night showdown, but I wonder if they'll be a notable shift in the ratings this week (say, a swing of ~500,000). If Smackdown drops down to the ~1.5 million range while Rampage breaks 1 million, we could be looking at something real here, especially since it's SummerSlam weekend.

CM Punk segment felt like an even bigger wrestling moment than the formation of NWO.

Biggest moment in wrestling in a LONG time, most definitely. I honestly can't think of a bigger one of the past 20 years, and most certainly not in the last 10.

Bryan Alvatrez is reporting that average ticket prices (secondary market) for All Out are up to $993.

In response to CM Punk, Logan Paul will be on Raw this Monday. Cena/Paul or Goldberg/Paul at Survivor Series?