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These next few months/year will be AEW's first real test. They'll bounce back and get through it. It happens to even the best of companies, sports teams, movie studios, etc.

Shame so many in the community want the company to die though
 
Things have been different on WWE Raw and Smackdown, in case you haven't noticed.

PWInsider reported what Fightful had mentioned on our WWE Raw post-show this past Monday -- that things had appeared a little different on the surface. They expanded, saying there's been a bit of a morale boost associated with a line of thinking that Triple H is largely directing creative again, not Vince McMahon.

We can confirm this is a significant, prevailing belief within the company, and that there's been a significant boost in optimism in recent weeks over the 8 or so months that preceded it. Locker room morale had hit an all time low at the start of 2022, largely due to McMahon's lack of creative direction, before recovering significantly under Triple H in the latter part of the year. Talent has not been outright told that Vince McMahon is no longer involved, and most of them were never outright told that Vince had been making changes after returning, though all of them knew it.

In December, Vince McMahon had internally declared his intent to push his way back into the company to seek a sale. However, by February, Fightful was told by talent that McMahon's creative forces were being felt.
It's worth noting that nobody within creative that we've spoken with worked directly with Vince McMahon in 2023, and he didn't sit in on creative meetings. Instead he would usually make remote changes, and submit them, often shortly before the show. One exception was Raw after Mania, which saw significant, sweeping changes to the show. We're told that over the last few weeks, even many of those late changes have stopped, outside of ones that happened due to issues with medical clearances. Even then, word that we've received was that Vince McMahon changes existed before then but were fairly minimal, especially as compared to how things used to be.

Regarding Vince being out "for good," unanimously there was an "I'll believe it when I see it" approach from talent and staff. WWE in an official capacity were adamant after McMahon's initial retirement that he would not be returning.

Fightful had long heard that Endeavor looked upon Triple H fondly.

Morale has been boosted over the last couple of weeks, starting with the September 25 episode of WWE Raw. Numerous WWE talent reached out to us after stories emerged today expressing that same sentiment.
One WWE higher up told us "I think you can take a look at the show -- Johnny Gargano is back after his return was nixed. Tegan Nox is on the show. Dragon Lee is all over the program. Carlito is finally factored in after being under contract for months. Cameron Grimes got back on TV. Bronson Reed is winning matches. Tag team titles and IC titles are getting long matches to end Raw. I'm not going to say that all of those are direct results of the situation, but all of those parts moving at the same time is a little too much to be a coincidence for me."

One WWE talent said that their feeling was that most people on the roster felt a sense of relief when McMahon retired from both a moral and creative standpoint. They said that answering for Vince McMahon's behavior isn't what most of them signed up for, and beyond that, there wasn't a lot of creative confidence in him.

McMahon settled a lawsuit with ex-ref Rita Chatterton, who accused him of raping her in the 1980s, which McMahon's lawyer claimed he did to avoid the cost of litigation. Between settlements and other NDA payouts regarding to personal conduct, McMahon has paid out over $30 million. After brazenly putting himself on television for no reason after that, he was encouraged to retire, and did for about five months before pushing his way back into the company. This carousel of McMahon himself also led to a carousel with his own daughter, Stephanie McMahon, leaving the company in 2022 while he was being investigated, only to return to fill the void he left. She also left in 2023, just mere weeks after Vince declared his intent to return to the company.
 
Oh shit forgot about Bryan and Swerve. That shit is getting my full attention.

Lol @ Taker appearence...i dont even care to see that anymore on Raw and Smackdown. NXT cooking with Bron and Melo tho. Im curious as to what Cody announcement is...

HHH is suppose to announce something on RAW tonight and im thinking its gone be something about where RAW goes during the new tv deal. So IF that is the case then im thinking Codys will be the same just regarding NXT since he got the Dusty connection. I really cant think of any other announcement he or HHH could be making (Unless its crown jewel related)
 
HHH is suppose to announce something on RAW tonight and im thinking its gone be something about where RAW goes during the new tv deal. So IF that is the case then im thinking Codys will be the same just regarding NXT since he got the Dusty connection. I really cant think of any other announcement he or HHH could be making (Unless its crown jewel related)
I thought Triple H was gon appear on Smackdown. I didn’t hear about RAW but I’m assuming he gon announce WarGames
 
AEW Title Tuesday Dynamite on TBS:

*Bryan Danielson vs.Swerve Strickland to become Number One Contender to the TNT Champion.

*AEW Women's Champion Saraya vs. Hikaru Shida - Ruby Soho banned from ringside.

*Christian Cage will answer Adam Copeland.

*AEW International Champion Rey Fenix vs. Jon Moxley.

*Adam Copeland vs. Luchasaurus

*Hangman Page vs. Jay White.

*Chris Jericho vs. Powerhouse Hobbs.

WWE NXT on the USA Network:

*Carmelo Hayes (with John Cena) vs. Bron Breakker (with Paul Heyman)

*Roxanne Perez vs. Asuka

*Cody Rhodes to make a "big announcement."

*Pub Fight: Gallus vs. Battling Brutes.

*The Undertaker expected to appear.

Let's see - Bryan vs Swerve, Edge debut, Hangman vs Switchblade

Or

Bron vs Melo, Cena/Cody/Undertaker appearances.

AEW has some fun matches per usual, but a Taker appearance is a way bigger hook than a Edge & Christian confrontation. Advantage nXt.

What they did with this NXT card is petty as hell lmao they were probably winning this regardless given them recent AEW ratings and the pre-emption. Ima be honest with you too, they probably could of just announced Jade making her first appearance, along w/ appearances Judgement Day and a Cody rhodes announcement that probably would of done it.

Them adding a Asuka match was fine

But then adding Cena to it is where it officially became over kill. + Of course everything that follows that

Especially Undertaker lmao at that point its just like aight.. ya'll trying to be funny now cause you see the memes from AEW fans saying that NXT gonna bring out taker and now its happening.
 
I thought Triple H was gon appear on Smackdown. I didn’t hear about RAW but I’m assuming he gon announce WarGames

Oh shit, you right. It is for smackdown. Im still leaning towards it being an announcement about Smackdowns "new home" or some shit like that tho since it is gonna be moving from FOX.

A War Games announcement would be much better though, long as Regal is present
 
Fightful has learned a new wrinkle in the October 10 NXT vs. AEW battle
With both companies looking to load up both shows, and NXT going commercial free, we've also confirmed that AEW has secured a ten minute overrun for AEW Dynamite.
 
Grizzled Young Vets aren’t quite free….yet.

Though it was recently reported that the former Dyad were already free agents, they aren’t technically free and clear just quite yet. Though they did appear to finish up with WWE, sources in the company said that the team’s contracts actually still expire in mid-October. The duo are expected to officially leave the company at that point.

Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid, also known as Zack Gibson and James Drake asked for their releases earlier this year, but had them rejected by WWE. We’ll work to learn more details, but as we’ve heard things, the contracts are actually set to officially expire on October 14. They were not let go as a part of the recent WWE releases
maybe HHH makes a last second offer to keep them... they are a talented tag team.
 
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