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Select Portions: WWE Cuts, Tony Khan, Flash Morgan Webster, Odds

Added 2023-05-24 18:45:01 +0000 UTC

- There is an AEW media call with Tony Khan set for 2 ET Thursday, and an NXT Battleground call with Shawn Michaels at 10 AM ET. Ella Jay will be representing Fightful on the call.

- Nick Khan had told some connected within the sports agenting world around WrestleMania that there weren't planned roster cuts at the time.

- Mercedes Mone was actually scheduled to win the NJPW Strong title match, but the audible was called after her injury. There were several minutes cut from the match.

- Fightful Select will have several preview and review shows for the events this weekend. We will be bringing back our predictions show on the main Fightful feed Thursday, which will now be hosted by Stephanie Chase.

- Fightful will have a presence at AEW Double or Nothing, IMPACT Under Siege, Smackdown in Lexington, AEW All Out, AEW All In, WWE Summerslam and WWE Money in the Bank this year.

Flash Morgan Webster

Fightful Select caught up with former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Flash Morgan Webster before his upcoming appearance for IMPACT Wrestling at their Under Siege PPV. Webster will be teaming with partner Mark Andrews as his team SUBCULTURE will be challenging IMPACT Tag Team Championship titles this coming Friday.

The interview started with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp mentioning that Flash has not wrestled in Canada since 2010 and has not been to North America since COVID began. [*His last match in the United States was at Full Sail University on January 15th, 2020. Flash and Mark Webster lost to The Broserweights in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.]

Flash said that the deal with IMPACT was set up through his tag partner Mark Andrews. Andrews has wrestled for IMPACT in the past. Flash said his reaction was “no way” when Andrews told him they might be in a tag team title match to start things off with IMPACT.

Flash said he is excited about his match against Ace Austin & Chris Bey. He said they recently wrestled Austin and Bey at the 1PW All Or Nothing PPV, which was held in England last month. However, Flash mentioned there were two other teams in the match.

Webster spoke about how COVID played a role in his career, just like everyone else’s. He said every year before COVID; he didn’t think anything could be topped.

He said they won the NXT UK Tag Team titles, a match against the Viking Raiders, who were the Raw Tag-Team Champions, and their match against The Broserweights that everyone was talking about.

Webster said they felt like they were on a roll. He said everything was clicking until everything shut down. After that, he said the tight lockdown was hard. He said losing the crowd's reaction hurt them.

Webster talked about the reactions that they would get from Shawn Michaels. He said he said Michaels was good at giving them feedback. He knew Michaels was busy because he would go from one thing to another, and the input was short and to the point when delivered in person.

He talked about some of his injuries; he said one of the injuries he had was against Zack Sabre Jr. in the WWE Cruiserweight. He mentioned fracturing his ankle multiple times. In addition, he had a torn labrum, and injuries just kept mounting up.

Webster said that he wanted to rehab his injuries during COVID. He said he knew he needed surgery after taking a clothesline on the first day of camp. He dealt with three years of injuries.

Webster said the COVID pandemic played a significant role. He liked how the WWE was handling him and Mark prior, but the pandemic taping took a toll on him, his energy and his passion. As a result, he thought he wanted to do something else in wrestling outside the WWE.

He said WWE offered a contract but thought it needed to match up more. He told the WWE that he was unsure about re-signing; he said they asked to pause their talks on negotiations and come back to it later. He said he had a number in mind, but WWE”s offer was far from it. Eventually, they matched, and he would re-sign with the WWE. However, he said it was over before it started because NXT UK shut down. Webster said that he requested his release, and it was granted.

Flash said he was relieved when he got released, but it was also challenging because WWE was having their biggest show in the United Kingdom in 30 years. However, he did say that Pete Dunne working the event did fill their hearts. He also mentioned that Dunne’s Bruiserweight character was created 20 minutes from Cardiff.

Sean would ask Flash about NXT Europe and whether he would be interested. He said he hadn’t heard much about it and was unsure which direction he would go. He said he has a lot that he wants to achieve in his career before he hangs up his boots if they go with the model of bringing in Commonwealth or Olympian athletes.

He said at the moment, he is not interested in doing that but wants to be an active wrestler; he did add, “You never, say never.’

He talked about how he and Mark Andrews had to turn down bookings because of different circumstances but was relieved to get the offer to work for IMPACT.

Flash told us how he found out he would work a match against The Viking Raiders on Raw. He said he was asked at around 10:00 PM local time if he could make it to Manchester by 11:00 AM. When he asked the person from the WWE who he was speaking to, “why?” they told him he would be making his Raw debut. He said he was calm, and a few seconds after the call ended, he got a call from Mark Andrews. Then would make their way to Raw.

He said they got to Raw and heard ramblings that they might work with the Viking Raiders but needed clarification. He said the good thing was that they had worked with them before.

Flash felt like the Vikings Raiders let him, and Mark look strong, maybe even too strong; he said Viking Raiders got some curious looks backstage. He was very complimentary when talking about Erik and Ivar.

When asked how he wants to see his 2023 play out, he just wants to enjoy wrestling and have fun.

They would talk about the Grizzled Young Veterans, who have requested their release from the WWE. Flash said he has a history working with Zack Gibson and James Drake, which dates back to even before Grizzled Young Veterans were a tag team.

Flash said it’s a travesty that they have not held the NXT Tag Team titles or have yet to get a call-up to the main roster. He said he believes Zack Gibson is one of the best heels in the world. Flash said he’s not surprised they asked for their release.

They would wrap up their conversation by talking about AEW’s All In. Webster said it would be one of the biggest wrestling shows in the history of Europe. Then, he talked about how WWE let the opportunity slip away with the people they had; he rattled off some of the biggest names who wrestled in NXT UK.

NXT Battleground betting lines

NXT Championship Match Winner

Carmelo Hayes (c) -1000 (1/10)

Bron Breaker +500 (5/1)

NXT Women’s Championship Match Winner

Tiffany Stratton -1000 (1/10)

Lyra Valkyria +500 (5/1)

NXT North American Championship Match Winner

Wes Lee (c) -400 (1/4)

Joe Gacy +300 (3/1)

Tyler Bate +700 (7/1)

Heritage Cup Championship Match Winner