Fightful Wrestling Weekly 10/27/24: Recapping the week's news

AEW Shockwave

AEW Shockwave is still being shopped around and isn’t confirmed for anywhere just yet.

Recently, details emerged that AEW was working on a possible additional show to Dynamite and Collision, which are continuing on WBD. With Rampage off their slate as of now for 2025, and WBD exclusivity is no longer a thing, AEW is exploring other possibilities with additional content.

Fightful Select first heard the possibility of Rampage being shopped around in the early summer. However, in recent months, Shockwave has been actively discussed and AEW has spoken with various networks. The heavily rumored landing point is Fox. While Fox has been interested in non-WWE wrestling products for quite some time, we’re told that no deal is done.

As of right now, the AEW slate for 2025 includes filming Dynamite, Collision and ROH, with Rampage and Battle of the Belts not being planned, and Shockwave still being discussed.

WWE Music

In recent years, the criticism of Def Rebel’s WWE music production has been under intense scrutiny from fans, with many complaints being made for various different reasons on the state of WWE theme music in 2024.

In asking about how WWE higher ups view the production company, sources told Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan that while WWE are aware of the fan backlash and are monitoring the reactions, as of earlier this year, there hadn't been a plan in action for them to be replaced.

However, on October 22, WWE posted a job listing looking to fill for "Director of Music Strategy and Operations." The listing consists of more on the administrative side and the growth of the music division and streamlining the department, as well as coordinating live events and performances. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful was told this wasn't specifically for a composer role as Jim Johnston once held, and that the job would also communicate with UFC, PBR, and other TKO properties.

In speaking to several WWE talents who are currently using Def Rebel’s themes, Brennan was met with frustration across the board with Def Rebel’s methods and the themes that they have produced, with several talents expressing negativity about their current theme music. When Sean Ross Sapp spoke with talent, many were never told outright why their theme music changed from the CFO$ era, even though they asked. The talent that we've heard back from say that they haven't had direct contact or met Def Rebel.

There have also been communications from those that work in production to both Brennan and Sapp that had noted that they would prefer a new method, with one source telling Sapp that they were hopeful for a more "motivated and personalized" approach to theme music.

One talent joked to Sapp that at one point all the members of Judgment Day, Damage CTRL, and Seth Rollins had the a very similar intro to their theme over a several year period. Although those were from Def Rebel in the latter two cases and Alter Bridge in the former. "For the period of a few years any one of a dozen people could have been coming out," the talent said, joking about the similarities.

Sources that spoke to Sapp had not heard of any imminent plan to utilize more licensed music as theme songs, as had been speculated. There were a few wrestlers who inquired about those rumors and were told that long-term clearances were issues in some cases. Licensed music is still expected to be featured as WWE works to integrate more artists into their shows and PLEs.

In another note about Def Rebel’s theme music, Brennan also learned that upon his return to WWE after Survivor Series last year, the theme music change that Fightful Select previously reported was indeed a Def Rebel remix of Orton’s iconic ‘Voices’ theme, with multiple different remixes being pitched to Orton since. Orton rejected them all. Contrary to popular belief, Sapp is told not every talent was approached or mandated for a theme adjustment from regime to regime. There are still some talent that use their Jim Johnston themes and haven't been approached for new ones across multiple regimes.

Def Rebel have been responsible for the production of WWE theme music for years. Sean Ross Sapp was told that there was a significant publishing issues between the members of CFO$, and WWE even tried to buy them out of their deal five years ago, but the publisher rejected. WWE was hoping to bring them in house, but talks got to a stand still and then eventually ran out, and the duo had a non compete with their publisher, and then disbanded. CFO$ publisher Arcade Songs owner Greg Wattenberg had helped establish connections from WWE with 12 Stones, Drowning Pool, Finger Eleven and Alter Bridge.

CFO$ would often take direct input from talent when working on their themes, but also had a library of themes produced to use.

This isn't confirmed, but the word in the industry was that WWE owned the publishing rights of Jim Johnston and Def Rebel's themes (per Arenataping) but only 50 percent of CFO$ themes. The group was no longer allowed to use the name, and we're told at least one of them left music altogether.

For those asking about a Jim Johnston run-in, we've been told repeatedly over the years that is unlikely as he's in his 70s. We've not heard of what his current relationship is with the company, but those that we've spoken to say that they wouldn't be surprised to see a bridge being built to acknowledgment under the new regime.

The TLDR is people internally understand the frustrations around Def Rebel, and the company is hiring someone to streamline a lot of music-related communications. CFO$ had a financial falling out with WWE and their publisher and are no longer together, with one leaving music. Jim Johnston isn't expected back.

Mikey Rukus

With discussion of the future of WWE’s music department rampant, we know one name who will not be involved, as an AEW original has a new deal and will be remaining with the company. 

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp has learned that AEW music producer Mikey Rukus recently agreed to a new deal with All Elite Wrestling, which will keep him with the company moving forward. Rukus has been a part of AEW since 2019, and produced a number of their most iconic themes. When details emerged regarding the future of WWE’s music division, a WWE source reached out to Fightful and confirmed that the company reached a new agreement with Rukus in recent months. 

In addition to the number of AEW themes Rukus produced, he’s worked on several for wrestlers outside the company. He’s also produced orchestral and 8-bit albums of AEW themes. 

TNA HOF

TNA’s Hall of Fame saw Bob Ryder and Rhino added this year, but there were some other considerations.

Fightful Select is told that both AJ Styles and Monty Brown were both considered, with the latter being mentioned publicly by Matt Hardy. We’re told that even though neither of those two ended up happening, the door isn’t closed.

Fightful was actually told that the possibility of AJ Styles was broached with WWE, who passed on the opportunity. We weren’t told specifically why, but people in TNA believe it’s due to AJ’s injury or active storyline. There were hopes that Styles would be open to wrestling in TNA as well, but we’re not sure if that was ever discussed.

TNA Changes

TNA has some familiar faces in advanced roles in the company.

Sami Callihan recently noted that he'd be in TNA for the foreseeable future and that the two sides had come to an agreement. In addition to serving as an on-screen talent, Sami Callihan is working in the live events department. One source in TNA said that Callihan's success promoting Pro Wrestling Revolver helped lead to that. The official role was said to be Live Events & Marketing Consultant.

In addition, we're told that TNA and WWE veteran Christy Hemme is back with the company as head of marketing. Hemme worked in creative with TNA in the past and has a number of strong connections to the company.

Alisha Edwards was also revealed as now working as a Marketing Coordinator after years with the company.

We're told that talent were informed of the moves on October 22. We're told that a number of these adjustments had been made in the months prior.

Carlito

Carlito had a controversial line, and those we spoke to claim that it wasn't planned.

During a backstage segment with Adam Pearce, Carlito quipped "I gotta learn Chinese" after IYO SKY and Kairi Sane walked out of frame. Both women are Japanese. In the case of IYO, she'd been subjected to "go back to China" comments from an audience members in the past.

The line was edited out of all digital clips, with the segment starting after his line. The claim internally from at least one staff member was that the line was not scripted, and that they had spoken to were in disbelief that it was said.

Internally, there were a number in the company that weren't happy it happened. We've not heard of any action or heat on anyone for the situation as of yet.

Samantha Irvin

Samantha Irvin is finishing up with WWE, leaving a big gap in the ring announcer team for WWE.

Everyone that we spoke to in WWE had high praise for Samantha Irvin both before she made the announcement, and following when she thanked virtually everyone involved in WWE en route to her exit.

Many of the staff at WWE say they were surprised by the news, as she couldn't have possibly informed everyone before leaving. One noted her as a "presence that made the work day better." There were others close to her that claimed that they've known this was coming for a month.

When we immediately asked sources within AEW about the potential of them bringing her in, we didn't get answers before press time. Numerous sources we spoke to in WWE and AEW said that they would be shocked if an attempt wasn't made. Irvin's fiance Ricochet joined AEW in recent months. Ricochet claimed she was not going to WWE.

Despite leaving some in the company surprised by today's announcement, there were many others we spoke to who expected her to make an exit after Ricochet did, noting the ease of schedule on their family. It's important to note that Samantha has not mentioned what her motivations for leaving were.

Ikuro Kwon

MLW has inked another talent to a contract.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp has confirmed that MLW World Tag Team Champion Ikuro Kwon has signed a contract with Major League Wresting. Kwon, as a member of Contra Unit, won the championships with Minoru Suzuki recently.

Fightful has learned that the deal is a multi-year contract. Kwon appeared in MLW as far back as 2019, but returned on March 29. He was under contract from 2019 to 2022. The deal was done recently and Kwon was working on a show-to-show deal.

MLW says that he and AKIRA won a “Best Bout Bonus” for their Taipei Death Match on the Pit Fighters Special.  We’re told that he also made a strong impression in CMLL.

NXT Ending

As this week’s edition of WWE NXT drew to a close, Zaria (formerly known as Delta) made her NXT debut. However, many did not see this moment as the show was cut from the air in some cases.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has learned that NXT was scheduled to run up until 10pm EST exactly and signed off the air after much pre-planning from those on the brand to hit their mark.

Producers became aware that the Orlando CW affiliate feed was operating on a 20 second delay, and was many CW affiliate feeds that cut off the end of the program, after officials had previously confirmed with satellite providers that the show would stay on the air until 10pm.

Officials in NXT were said to be “very upset” with the show being cut early, with one NXT source noting that “everyone who runs or has a say in the show was pissed.”

Sources that Sean Ross Sapp spoke to said that these problems had been anticipated in the weeks leading up the the CW debut as they have hard outs to get off of the air. Previously, NXT had a lot more flexibility on the USA Network.

NXT Backstage Notes From Corey Brennan

- Several sources within NXT that we spoke to were surprised by the announcement that the brand would be running the 2300 arena. Some had heard of it being a possibility, but dismissed it as being too out there.

- As we reported previously, this week’s NXT’s ending was extensively planned, and has left several in the brand frustrated with The CW.

- This week’s episode was internally titled "Who's Afraid Of A Little Old Spin".

- Zaria’s name change was one that didn’t surprise sources we spoke to within the brand, as difficulties with trademarking Delta would be expected by those we spoke to.

Baron Corbin

Fightful caught up with former WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp mentioned to Corbin that the last time they spoke, Corbin unblocked him on Twitter live on the air. They mentioned it was likely Football-related. Corbin is a Chiefs fan.

Corbin mentioned that the hotel where they conducted the interview was the same hotel where the Chicago Bears stayed before their NFL Hall of Fame game against the Houston Texans, who they would be playing in Canton, Ohio.

Corbin, who was once in the NFL, shared a story about running into the 2024 NFL number-one overall pick, Caleb Williams, in the hotel elevator. He also mentioned running into a not-so-familiar face, and they informed him that they were one-time roommates and teammates. Corbin said he looked at him and had no idea. Corbin said it was Jimmy [James] Dray. Corbin said they were teammates when they were with the Arizona Cardinals. Dray is entering his third year as the Tight Ends coach for the Bears.

Baron also told Sean that he messaged known die-hard Bears fan Seth Rollins to inform him that his team was at the hotel. Corbin said seeing them was fun but still had to say, “Go Chiefs.”

Corbin spoke about evolving in the ring and said there was definitely a concentrated effort for his return to the main roster. Corbin told Sean that he went back to NXT to fix many things. Corbin added that it was not just with his wrestling; it was because he had to revamp who he was and leave that in the past to get a fresh start.

Corbin said if you saw him do the same thing he did two years ago, you wouldn’t care.  He said it was a concentrated effort to create a new way of moving and doing things in the ring. 

Corbin also said it elevates and makes things exciting for him. Corbin said he had to evolve his game to run with people like Ilja Dragunov, Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breakker, and people we haven’t seen yet. Corbin said, “I had to step my game up. It made me better for everybody to see.

Would Corbin be interested in participating in Bloodsport? Corbin said to Fightful, “Absolutely. It would be awesome. It would be a lot of fun. I watch it.” He mentioned watching Shayna Baszler and said it looks like she’s having a heck of a time. Corbin also noted how The Creed Brothers destroyed their opponents. The Creed Brothers won both of their matches by TKO. Brutus Creed defeated Tom Lawlor, and Julius Creed defeated Matt Makowski.

Corbin mentioned that he trains jiu-jitsu three days a week and will try to fight in the IBJF in November.

He also added that he wants to choke some fools out and get another gold medal. Corbin said that Bloodsport would be a fun place to demonstrate his skills.

Sean asked Corbin about the recent pair-up with Apollo Crews. Corbin said he was standoffish when he discovered he would be paired with Apollo. However, he mentioned that more and more people told him they loved the pairing. 

Corbin said he just got working with former NXT tag team partner Bron Breakker. Corbin mentioned that he did not know if it would be better. He said working with Breakker was fun and organic, and he loved working with Breakker. 

Corbin told Sean that Crews is an unbelievable competitor and mentioned wrestling Crews at NXT TakeOver. London. Sean mentioned when Corbin told Crews to go back to ROH even though Crews never worked there. Corbin, chuckling, said he didn’t know. Corbin said working with Crews has been exciting.

[Writers Note: The Chicago Bears defeated the Houston Texans 21-17 in the Hall of Fame game. The NFL felt bad for the people who had to watch the Bears and ended the game late in the third quarter. Yes, this Minnesota Vikings fan took a shot because it will likely be a long year for me. In reality, the game ended early because Mother Nature felt bad for people having to watch the Bears.]

David Francisco Interview Notes

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with RevPro’s David Francisco for an interview on all things RevPro. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5HDRP-pVQU) You can check out the early notes from the interview below.

The two men kicked off by discussing David’s match with Suicide on October 19th, with David referencing the tendency for imports to face off with the young stars of the UK scene. David also talked about possibly getting to face his original opponent for that date, EC3.

When discussing the differences between the Portuguese wrestling scene and the UK one, the biggest difference that David thought of was how he would have to explain what he does to people in Portugal, while people understood what a pro wrestler was when he moved to the United Kingdom. David also compared the schedule of events, noting that what he would wrestle in a month, he would wrestle in a year at home.

David also spoke about his time as a contender in RevPro, noting that he felt like it was a positive to be introduced to the audience as a contender, which helped take some pressure off of him to perform. He emphasized how grateful he was to RevPro and Andy Quildan for the opportunity.

While speaking about his tag team with Goldenboy Santos, David noted how it was a reassuring thing to have each other in the RevPro locker room while also not being just ‘the Portuguese team’. David noted that he feels that the two play to each other’s strengths and can learn from each other, and hopes to challenge for the Undisputed British Tag Titles in the future.

In his recent Respect Match with Sha Samuels, David stated his belief that people were not expecting the brutality of the match, and showed off some of his battle scars from the bout. He also spoke about his mother’s reaction to the match, and how he feels his character managed to come across defiant in the face of the brutality.

As the interview drew to a close, Corey would ask David for some memories of Mad Kurt, with David reminiscing about talks the pair would have about wrestling and life in general.

Welcome to Select Answers, a short feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers. 

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Hi Sean! Any updates on Gigi Dolin? I would love to see her back with Jacy Jayne and reunite Toxic Attraction. I could see them getting some tag team shine similar to Lash and Jakara. Thanks!

Unfortunately, Gigi Dolin suffered a knee injury and has been out of action since mid-March. I'm not sure of the specific knee injury. If it's a torn ACL, which have been unfortunately common of late in wrestling, she'd be looking at 10-14 months out. She was getting a lot of looks on WWE Main Event in the months prior to her injury.

What happened to the post show scrum at WrestleDream? Tony didn't show up, it was like 15 minutes long and seemed like nobody knew what was going on.

It had been decided by earlier that week that Tony Khan wouldn't be doing the scrum, but I'm not sure why outside of being told that the original plan had changed. It was definitely a growing pains situation trying something new. I know a few internally had wanted to limit the length of the post-show scrums for some time.

With the announcement of his retirement, is it possible Tanahashi actually has a match with John Cena? Would WWE work with NJPW?

It's pro wrestling, so anything is possible. However, it's very unlikely. WWE and NJPW have no active plans to work with each other as of now. They've had contact in recent years, but the conversations didn't go anywhere.

In the past some wrestlers were known to ‘live their gimmick’ I’m thinking Nikita Koloff comes to mind. The characters today are a lot more grounded but do you know many that don’t break character

Plenty do when it comes to interviews and such, but the ones I see doing it all around shows and conventions are MJF and Boogeyman. Once I was interviewing MJF in Las Vegas, and he stopped because he noticed an AEW fan about 30 feet away. He stared at the fan until the fan realized it, looked at him, said "fuck you" and continued.

Sorry if this has been covered before, but has there been anymore talk of CM Punk signing/negotiating a longer term deal? I remember something coming up a couple months ago about him wanting a "forever" deal or something to that effect.

Well his current deal isn't even a year old. I'd heard that the two side were engaged in talks a while back for something more expansive as things had changed since they abruptly put a deal together. So far, WWE has been very happy with Punk back in the company, and everything has gone really well so far.

Does WWE still have 4 world titles between 3 shows? I thought I heard the title Cody has still has the universal title lineage attached to it.

The title Cody Rhodes holds signifies both the WWE and Universal Championships. Both titles, even though the Universal name isn't being used out loud, are still being counted on the website as active. We've heard of no plans recently to display three championships as they did before. The option is there, but that's not been discussed to our knowledge.

What have you heard about Kevin Owens' contract?

His deal was or is scheduled to be up at the end of the year or early 2025. AEW maintains major interest in him and has for a long time. The last we'd heard was about a month or so ago that WWE had approached him, but no deal had been finished. Since then, things have been kept very close to the vest. He's expected to get a major deal whether it be from WWE or AEW.

Do you have an update on the relationship between MLP and AEW?

As of now, AEW treats it as they would most indie promotions. Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling reaches out to talent, talent get approval from AEW to work the show. Maple Leaf was different in their willingness to promote upcoming shows from TNA and AEW. They made a positive impression with people in AEW we've spoken to. Maple Leaf also had to get approval to have AEW/ROH titles defended on their show.

Any reasoning behind Jamie Hayter’s lack of appearances since All In? She had a momentous return and it seems like we’ve barely seen her since.

Since returning at AEW All In, Hayter has worked a feud with Saraya that included matches with both Saraya and Harley Cameron. She wrestled Robyn Renegade on Dynamite, and competed in a top contender match on the show. She also wrestled Brooke Havok on Collision, and has been involved in a feud with Penelope Ford. She's been featured across all three of AEW's shows.