WWE talents' Twitch accounts will be taken over by the company in the weeks ahead. Talents will receive a percentage of the revenue generated from those accounts, which will go toward their yearly downside guarantee.
- WWE will be pushing its on Twitch channel more heavily going forward, and doesn't want these accounts competing with their official account. Talent will now be mandated to appear on WWE's Twitch as part of their booking contract.
- Andrew Yang has been in contact with talent regarding this issue, as the feeling is this is out of line for an independent contractor relationship.
- Johnny Gargano is shutting down his Pro Wrestling Tees store, while Roderick Strong is shutting down his Cameo account. I really hope WWE has something they're working on that will rival Cameo and these other services.
NXT and 205 Live are moving to the WWE Performance Center, beginning with Takeover 31. The two shows are being taped together to keep their rosters separate from Raw and Smackdown as a COVID precaution.
- NXT will return to live episodes each week under this plan.
Joey Ryan has filed another lawsuit over someone using social media to defame him, as well as indicating this individual promoted violence against him. Ryan is seeking millions of dollars in punitive damages on top of suing for missed revenue.
NJPW's leadership shift notes:
- Harold Meij had heat from Western talent for how he handled the departures of The Elite. NJPW didn't expect AEW to become as successful as it has become, and treated them as a lesser company than NJPW.
- Meij made the call to not use Chris Jericho after the 2019 Tokyo Dome event due to Jericho's large contract. Jericho was a big driver of revenue in international markets.
- Meij was seen as a businessman who didn't fully grasp the wresting business, and one more focused on the company's bottom line. This led to cuts in places like flights for talent. Notably Meij himself had a large salary.
- Meij's departure was not a big surprise, as he was passed over for North American expansion plans.
- While Meij oversaw large increases in profits, he was nowhere near his lofty goals for revenue for the company. More major TV deals would have been needed to reach what he intended.
- Meij is leaving the Bushiroad Board of Directors and giving back all his stock as part of a severance package. He will no longer be part of that company at all.
- Meij had made notable changes to appeal more to a women's audience.
- Meij had really been visible at NJPW events in contrast to past executives, which had been taken both positively and negatively. Some saw that as him spotlighting himself rather than the wrestlers.
BBC covered the #SpeakingOut movement, specifically Travis Banks.
WWE had cameras at Jerry Lawler's 50th anniversary event, so footage could be used at some point.
- The show ended up featuring Dr. Tom Prichard, Tony Atlas, James Ellsworth, The Boogeyman, and Thunder Rosa in matches. Jerry Calhoun and Downtown Bruno were referees in the main event.
Abdullah the Butcher is being sued for not paying the money awarded to Devon Nicholson in a case that found the Butcher guilty of negligence and assault and battery for transmitting Hepatitis C to Nicholson. Very disappointing to see this occur.
AEW's second TV show is currently planned for 2021. Pandemic-related issues keep pushing it back.
Raw Underground was absent this week due to many extras being affected by the COVID outbreak.
WWE's Randy Orton tattoo trial is set for February 16.
Impact has set a new TV deal in the UK and Ireland with Premier Sports and FreeSports, featuring Impact and Impact Plus specials. That's a good move for the company.
WWE's Spain return has been moved to May 7.
CIMA was injured in a car accident, including a broken nose. I hope he recovers soon.
Impact's Jordynne Grace has married ROH's Jonathan's Gresham.
MLW will resume taping in Florida for its restart.
Kenny Omega discussed AEW's upcoming video game on the Highspots Virtual Gimmick Table.
Hell In A Cell has announced Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso for the Universal Championship inside Hell in a Cell.
Smackdown has announced:
- Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women's Championship
- The Fiend vs. Kevin Owens
- Sheamus vs. Big E in a Falls Count Anywhere match
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It is entirely possible they hold off until the last minute to make changes as they did with Clash of Champions, in the case talents are cleared.
2. I don't believe so. She could be appearing as part of Rey's deal.
3. No.
4. He's trademarking a different name than the one owned by AAA. I think in this case it's kind of inevitable he'd have to do so under his real name without jumping through legal hoops.
5. To gauge interest in how to go about coming back, i.e. iPPVs vs. YouTube and so on.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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