fightful

Additional Details on frustrated women's talent in WWE

There has been some frustration within the women's ranks in WWE.

On Fightful Select's discord (access for subscribers here), we answered a question about that frustration, and were asked about it on this week's Hump, which you can check out at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8rdcsg4EY

We were asked to expand on some of the frustrations from the women's division. It's important to ...

FREE: The Rock, Smackdown, UK News, MORE

• We've made this post free for all subscribers. On the paid tier this weekend, we'll have more info on women's frustration in WWE, a follow up on The Rock at Smackdown, Smackdown scoops thread and producers, updates on injured AEW and NJPW talent, our Q&A podcast, and numerous other shows.

• NXT announcer Vic Joseph was backstage at TNA. He's married to ring announcer McKenzie Mitchell.

• A number of matches for Smackdown have been reworked with The Rock a...

  2025-02-21 17:41:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Select Answers: Josh Alexander, Danielson, Rock

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. 

***

Haven’t heard anything about Bryan Danielson in a while. Do you know if he ever ended up having neck surgery, or is he still trying to rehab it?

The last I'd heard, he was trying to rehab it. If he had s...

TNA officially signs new talent

TNA is now walking with Elijah.

The former Elias debuted for TNA on the live edition of IMPACT in Orlando on February 20. Fightful Select had debunked rumors recently that he had signed with AEW/ROH, and noted that TNA had interest in bringing him in.

Not only did TNA bring him in, Fightful Select has confirmed that Elijah has signed with TNA Wrestling.

We're still working to find out why Elijah filmed a vignette with The Righteous, who still appear to be under AEW/ROH contr...

How to join the Fightful Select discord

For those having trouble, our friend Mike Staw helped us out with this tutorial.

To join the Fightful Select Discord, members need to do the following:

-- Go to your settings
-- Click More and choose "Connected Apps"
-- There will be an option to link your discord account.
-- It can't be done via the app. Has to be via mobile browser or on their computer

Once the link happens, they will be able to open Discord and see the server is there. There role will automati...

Vince McMahon's Insane Idea For 2022 Women's Royal Rumble

There has been some frustration within the women's ranks in WWE.

On Fightful Select's discord (access for subscribers here), we answered a question about that frustration, and were asked about it on this week's Hump, which you can check out at this link: https:...

What happened with Tony Khan and Shane McMahon?

Shane McMahon and Tony Khan met, but no deal was reached.

Fightful and Wrestletalk reported in the Summer of 2024 that Shane McMahon and Tony Khan met in Texas. Since then, we've heard of no follow up or plan to work together.

On February 20, former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman on the Coach and Bro Show said he had details ...

FREE POST: AEW News, WWE Raw Notes, Producers

• We've made this post free for our free tier members. Subscribe to the $6 a month tier to get access to our Discord!

• There was a story from this week's episode of Fightful's The Hump that got a lot of attention regarding some frustration among women regarding booking in WWE. We had a lot of viewers asking about specific frustration mentioned at the 2022 Royal Rumble. We'll tell one of those stories today on the $6 tier.

• In addition to being happy with Gran...

  2025-02-20 17:12:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Select Answers: NXT branding, Evolve, Roxanne

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. 

***

Why did NXT PLEs lose the NXT branding?

From what I'd heard, it was WWE just feeling like it would work better for NXT if there was WWE branding associated with it. I've not heard how they feel about the p...

AEW, Tony Khan happy with AEW Grand Slam after lead in

AEW is happy with their Grand Slam performance.

AEW was the beneficiary of a big lead in on NBA All-Star weekend ahead of Grand Slam. In all, AEW averaged 500,000 viewers for the Grand Slam broadcast nearly three hours later than their usual time slot. Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita kicked off the show with over a million viewers from the lead in.

Those we spoke to at AEW Dynamite said that Tony Khan and others in the company were very hap...

NJPW talent has had talks with American companies

An interesting free agent has had conversations in America.

In early January, Fightful Select reported that New Japan Pro Wrestling's Kevin Knight was effectively a free agent as his contract with the company had expired. That week, he and KUSHIDA dropped the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.

We've since learned more about his deal, or lack thereof. Since that expiration, Knight has worked both MLW and ROH/AEW tapings, which are not out of the ordinary for him, having worke...

Select Answers: Britt Baker, 90 Day Non Compete, Speedball

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. 

***

Where is Britt Baker? Are the rumors true that she I done with AEW?

She's taking some time off, but no other context is needed. She is not done with AEW. I'd imagine if many people understood a number of t...

MLW signs wrestler long term.

MLW has signed one of their wrestlers long term.

Mr. Thomas of BOMAYE Fight Club has signed with MLW on a multi-year deal, Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp can confirm. We're told MLW has big plans for him during his deal. Those that we heard from within MLW called him a positive locker room presence and one of the most well-liked talent backstage.

Mr. Thomas is expected to appear at MLW's Battle Riot show in LA on April 5. He's appeared in MLW since late 2021.

NJPW still working on a number of contracts

There are a number of NJPW talent without contracts.

As is tradition, a number of NJPW contracts were set to expire in January. As of early February, there were still a number of wrestlers who did not have new contracts but continued working with the company.

We can’t speak to who has nailed down their deals as of yet, but Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Kevin Knight, Zack Sabre Jr among others were all expiring, and new deals were seemingly on the way. David Finlay has been announced...

Alex & Kate's Sour Graps: Raw 2/17 | A Real Who(Didn't)Dunnit

About the only thing we know for sure is that Liv & Raquel didn't attack Jade Cargill three months ago.
Oh, WWE creative might wind up RETROACTIVELY DECIDING TO PRETEND that they did, but they definitely didn't ACTUALLY do it.

Elsewhere, the inexorable slog toward WrestleMania continues unabated, with way less material available than is necessary to sustain 10 weeks of television storytelling, but what else is new.

Oh, and apparently BOTH women's midcard titles are only al...

WWE Raw SCOOPS THREAD

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select has learned the following plans for WWE Raw, subject to change.

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers. Screenshotting and reposting any Fightful Select post is against our terms of service

• Sami Zayn promo

• AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio

• IC Contender: Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile

• SPOILER PROMO

• Penta vs. Pete Dunne

• EC Qualifier: Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Ro...

  2025-02-18 00:20:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Fightful Weekender (2/17): GCW/JCW JERSEY J-CUP, NEW SOUTH, GLORY PRO, NWA, WWE LFG, ROH SPOILERS

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!

- GCW/JCW: "Jersey J-Cup 2025" results

- NEW SOUTH: "We Love Pro Wrestling" results

- GLORY PRO: "Anniversary VIII" results

- NWA: "Powerrr - Looks That Kill: Part 2" results

- WWE LFG premier

- ROH: Global Wars Australia SPOILERS (54 min-end)

Top UK Name has garnered interest in US companies

A top UK name has garnered interest from companies in the United States.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has learned that in addition to the previously reported interest in Rhio, sources in British wrestling claim to Fightful Select that Man Like DeReiss is on WWE’s radar as a potential signing. 

We are also told that several talents in WWE have been pushing for the signing of both Rhio and DeReiss. We have not heard if either talent will be present for extra work during...

Indie Roundup: UK News, Emily Jaye, Alexxis Falcon, Riot Cabaret

Riot Cabaret Slamma Mia! Notes 

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has learned the following details from Riot Cabaret, Slamma Mia! on February 11th.

- Jamie Hayter was visiting backstage at the event.

- OTT, EVE, PROGRESS, 1CHIBAN and Ceasefire all had representatives visiting at the show.

- The promotions were ‘really pleased’ with BBC Radio One’s Maia Beth’s debut as a backstage interviewer.

- Naturally, the promotion has plans for...

Update on WWE minimum pay

As of three years ago, Triple H had noted that the minimum amount earned in WWE for Raw or Smackdown was $250,000 per year.

We're told that number has increased significantly in recent years.

When Fightful was asked about the financial security of wrestlers in a recent Q&A, we echoed Triple H's claim, but have been contacted by numerous talent and those who help nail those deals down. The claim has been that the minimum these days is $350,000 per year.

It's worth noting...

Legends discussed for WWE HOF

Here comes the Ax, here comes the Smasher….to the Hall of Fame?

On February 12, PWInsider reported that Ax and Smash of Demolition have been signed to WWE Legends deals. This ends decades of contention with the company, stemming from their departure and a number of lawsuits over Demolition copyrights, among other things. 

WWE will be able to license and merchandise Ax and Smash, as well as Demolition. This isn’t the first time this has happened, as they were in the WWE 12...

Fightful Report Presidents Day Pod: AEW Releases, Q&A, Mania 2026

• AEW Releases

• Ricky Starks to NXT

• WrestleMania 2026

• Elias/Eijah

• Josh Alexander to AEW

• TNA Changes

• WWE Smackdown

• NXT Vengeance Day

• AEW Grand Slam - Toni Storm, Tony Khan, Cope, Kyle Fletcher

• Demolition

• 15:00 - Q&A Portion -- Britt Baker, Randy Orton, Buddy Mathews. Roxanne Perez, Seth Rollins-Captain America, Kamille, 2025 Free agents<...

  2025-02-16 20:23:15 +0000 UTC View Post

AEW Ring Discourse That Is A Thing For Some Reason

No, AEW did not forget to ship a ring over.

For some reason, the discourse on Twitter following AEW Grand Slam was that AEW didn't properly factor freight times properly for Brisbane and the company had to get loaned a ring. Well, as it turns out, bad faith grifter accounts usually lie, and this is another case of that.

AEW typically uses a 20x20 ring in the United States, and doesn't ship their rings overseas. There was no instance of forgetting the ring, not planning freight, ...

Select Answers: Cornette, 2K25, Jade Cargill

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.

Has there been any talk of WWE ever doing business with Jim Cornette? I know he has been critical of them in the past but with the new creative direction he has been a lot more positive about most things. I think there would be a huge reaction t...