The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
Cut days in WWE are a cold reality that has become all too familiar.
But what happened last Thursday felt different – even if it was expected that cuts were coming after WWE’s merger with Endeavor to form the new company TKO along with the UFC.
Though WWE has had plenty of awkward circumstances around layoffs before, these were part of a rollercoaster day that was a reminder that WWE is and will be moving forward a business more than ever before – a reality even Vince McMahon no longer seems exempt from.
The day began with positive news. WWE announced a new television rights deal with NBC Universal that will return SmackDown to USA Network beginning in October 2024 and the company will produce four Saturday night network specials in a return to NBC for the first time since 2008. The five-year deal is worth $1.4 billion, a 40 percent increase over their Fox pact, according to Variety.
That coincided with news that Elimination Chamber will be coming to Australia on Feb. 24, which according to the Wrestling Observer will begin at 6 a.m. Eastern Time. WWE has had great success running more shows outside the U.S., from Cardiff to Puerto Rico to Montreal to London. There has been greater interest in getting subsidies from local governments to bring WWE events to their towns.
Then the joy ended, beginning with Mustafa Ali’s tweet that he was no longer with WWE despite being booked to face Dominick Mysterio for the North American championship on NXT No Mercy on Saturday. While staff and talent cuts were expected after the merger, the timing after the television deal and Australia news certainly raised eyebrows. Poor Emma went from the excitement of a show in her home country to being unemployed.
Twenty-plus people lost their jobs from recognizable main roster names such Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Rick Boogs, Emma, Elias and Aliyiah to Dana Brooke and Ali, who seemed to be having some success reviving their careers in NXT to up-and-comers Yulisa Leon and Ikeman Jiro. The only silver lining is the wrestling business is a lot healthier now than in years past and many, if not all, of these talents will have a chance to thrive like so many have outside WWE.
Matt Riddle’s release on Saturday wasn’t a surprise and the former UFC standout hasn’t been on TV since reportedly being intoxicated and accusing a Port Authority cop of sexual assault. Riddle needs to prioritize getting his life straight outside of wrestling.
What came next Wednesday might have been the strangest twist.
Axios reported that TKO and Vince McMahon immediately registered his 28.84 million shares (approximately $3 billion) for sale. That would allow him and the company to avoid the lockup period that applies to other TKO stockholders, should he or the company want to cash those out.
In theory, that gives them an out should the federal investigation into McMahon’s hush money payments or the executive chairman himself become a business liability – a possibly Axios reported that TKO admitted in an SEC filing.
“McMahon’s membership on our Board could expose us to negative publicity and/or have other adverse financial and operational impacts on our business,” a part of the filing stated per Axios. “His membership also may result in additional scrutiny or otherwise exacerbate the other risks described herein. Any of these outcomes could directly or indirectly have adverse financial and operational impacts on our business.”
So, according to the filing, what McMahon and TKO did was immediately register his 28.84 million shares (approximately $3 billion) for sale. That would allow him and the company to avoid the lockup period that applies to other TKO stockholders should he or the company want to cash those out.
While there is never a good time for layoffs, having a mix of good and bad news is better than just a day of the cuts dominating the headlines. Unfortunately for TKO, its stock price slumping – down 22.11 percent after the past five days as investors seemed underwhelmed by the SmackDown deal – also made its way into the news cycle.
With the shine of The Rock’s return in the rearview, it was certainly a mixed bag of a day for the new venture with all eyes now on the TV deal it lands for “Monday Night Raw” and NXT.
Thursday was a reminder that the WWE is more of a business than ever before and watching how that unfolds might be more interesting than anything in the ring.
It’s all well and good that Sammy Guevara’s heel turn on Chris Jericho was a direct callback to the legend doing so on Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 19. Guevara joining the Don Callis Family can finally make him a true heel and he and Konosuke Takeshita are as good a young duo as there is. The question that needs to be answered now is was this the best thing for Guevara.
He will be joining yet another faction. He is still locked on a storyline with Jericho, who he still needs to beat. His heel promo on Rampage felt very generic — hot wife, big paycheck. Teaming with Takeshita and Will Ospreay against Jericho, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi at WrestleDream is a good platform but how much will get to shine? Does this lead to the reformation of the Jericho Appreciation Society as a babyface unit and bring Guevara back full circle all over again? Guevara needs to take the next step and this better get him there somehow.
WWE did a perfect pivot — if not the plan all along — from having Natayla and not Teagan Knox wrestle Becky Lynch for the NXT women’s championship last week. Knox has entered a perfect rivalry with a veteran like Nattie over it now and is in line for a match with Lynch. WWE also seems to be starting a program with Zoey Stark and Nia Jax, which is fresh and shows Stark’s time with Trish Stratus won’t be wasted. New faces, please.
Heel-turning Drew McIntyre feels destined to team up with The Judgement Day and his much-needed refresh is coming together nicely as he refuses to help beloved babyfaces. The Miz also got cut off before McIntyre could answer about Cody Rhodes.
NXT No Mercy has a chance to be one of the most main-roster-heavy PPVs in NXT history. Becky Lynch is already on the card, Butch has a chance to be if he wins the Heritage Cup tournament final, Dominik Mysterio is scheduled to defend his NXT North American championship and Baron Corbin faces Bron Breakker. Curious to see if this continues after WWE’s television rights deals get done.
Thankfully paying homage to the Mets with his gear didn’t backfire on MJF. All of it felt like a fever dream in MJF’s first title defense as a babyface – from the entrance video that was a tip of the cap to Bret Hart, his babyface comeback and being cheered for almost using his ring and then choking out Joe with athletic tape to win.
Toni Storm, outside Rhea Ripley, might have the best character in women’s wrestling right now. The shoes under the ring, the kiss of Saraya and where her madness goes from here after a very fun match we do not know. She could be putting AEW in a bit of a bind as she’s already been champ twice, but she’s more over than ever right now.
The best part about Iyo Sky and Asuka’s match was it lived up to the hype. The submission story at the end was great and the clean finish gave WWE a reason to do it again and also get them to a Bayley-Charlotte Flair program. What I don’t want is any kind of multi-women match until Askua and Sky are done.
Jimmy Uso stealing some control away from Paul Heyman with some success certainly adds intrigue about his motivations. Agree with the rumors that L.A. Knight should be Cena’s partner at FastLane if they don’t bring A.J. Styles back.
Eddie Kingston’s story remains truly incredible, from nearly retiring during the pandemic with his career going nowhere to winning the Ring of Honor world championship against his biggest rival in his hometown.
There are few people in the wrestling business doing better work and with a better story than Christian Cage beating Luchasaurus to become the actual TNT champion.
C.J. Perry managing other wrestlers and Miro not being happy about it is an instantly interesting story. Who do you want to see her manage? Hobbs??
Finished the “Wrestlers” docuseries on Netflix this week and I can’t recommend it enough to wrestling and non-wresting fans alike. It just puts the business in an honest, easy-to-understand and heartwarming light.
Julia Hart, AEW
While others in AEW won championships last week, few did more to raise their stock last week than Hart. She turned in excellent matches with Skye Blue on Rampage in a showcase of the company’s young stars and then beat Kiera Hogan on Collison before challenging Kris Statlander to a TBS championship match at WrestleDream. Hart, who is on a 26-match win streak, ran with her opportunity and nailed both in presentation and in-ring action all week.
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr., WrestleDream (Sunday, 8 p.m., Bleacher Report)
The clash is actually a rubber match to determine the “best technical wrestler” in the world as they split two matches overseas in 2008 and 2009. It’s a match that was reportedly high on Danielson’s post-WWE list of priorities, didn’t happen in 2022 at Forbidden Door because he was injured and likely one we won’t see again with him winding down his full-time career over the next year. If you enjoy technical masterpieces, this is for you.