WWE RAW Rating – That Shield reunion hype sure ended fast, huh? The WWE lost about 200,000 viewers from last week to this week, from 2.871, to 2.688 million viewers. Again, you can’t say this was affected by the Monday Night Football game, as they lost huge numbers again; down from 10.281 to 8.383 million viewers. We know that football is suffering in the wake of the protests and most specifically the CTE crisis, but there’s no explanation as to why the WWE is struggling. Other than the content sucks.
WWE Allowing Steroid Use? – Dave Palumbo, Triple H’s (former?) nutritionist revealed in an interview with The Matt Riviera Show that around seven percent of WWE talent is taking some form of steroid. He didn’t name names, but now it’s brought on a firestorm onto the WWE for this allowance. Palumbo did say that the wrestlers can’t use “large doses of steroids”, but as we all know a little can go a long way. Dave Meltzer has heard 14 or 15 people have the Therapeutic Exemption, I’m told it’s closer to 20. To be clear, most of the people who are on this, I’m told, do not technically need it. Although several do have a condition that would require it. I’m not told who or what those conditions are; but I didn’t ask. Outside of injuries that would prevent people from working, someone’s medical history is not our business.
Another Name Gone? *Rumor* – This is a rumor, and I’ve heard nothing to validate it but; the same person who reported Neville walked out and quit is also saying that Nia Jax was unhappy and left last night’s RAW. It should be noted that unlike Neville, where the report said he ‘quit’ at RAW, this was not the word used to describe this. It should also be noted that Neville didn’t quit at RAW like the reporter even said, he quit Thursday when he called to say he wasn’t working the weekend house show loop. I’m hearing that Jax hasn’t quit, as of now, but wasn’t happy with being left off of RAW. While I won’t report the names, I’ve heard around 12 people are extremely unhappy with how they’re being used, and subsequently paid. Nia is a name I’ve heard. However it seems unlikely she would be allowed to quit, as the WWE really champions her look to media outlets to show how far they’ve come.
Note: I never name names of talent I hear, because it’s not my place. Very rarely would a Neville contact anyone and say they’re unhappy. Usually it’s 2nd or 3rd person sources, and those aren’t sources you want to use to end someone’s career. Sometimes it could be just a simple moment of frustration that blows up; and should they decide to stay, then they get punished for making the company look bad. As a (hacky at best) ‘journalist’, you have to measure the size of the news, with the size of the impact. That’s why I always try and keep names, financial matters, etc, out of the news because the impact on these talents over nothing truly news worthy is too great. It’s not like a social issue, or a morality issue, like Seth Rollins sleeping with a Nazi sympathizer, or Ultimate Warrior saying things like “…queering don’t make the world work.” That’s right WWE, your Warrior Award is named after a homophobic bigot. But you knew that.
Anyway, naming names in this avenue is dangerous and morally repugnant due to the age of social media. There are fans tweeting the nastiest of things at Nia Jax right now due to the allegations that she “walk out”. They’re calling her a traitor, ungrateful, all that stuff. I won’t be part of that game. I know this is long winded, and self serving, but it should help clarify on why I rarely name names on those who are unhappy.
Austin Aries News – Cody Rhodes, Sami Callihan, Austin Aries. Three names that started this movement of leaving the WWE with time on their contracts (or quit in advanced of it expiring). Now Aries is coming to his hometown of Waukesha, Wisoncsion with House of Hardcore for Blizzard Brawl 2017 in December. Aries is booked to wrestle Joey Mercury for the first time ever. Mercury has been getting raved reviews on the indies for his matches.
Also on the card are:
Candice Michelle vs. Lisa Marie Varon (Candice wrestles her last match ever!)
Al Snow & Swoggle (with Dave Herro) vs. The Squad
Hardcore War: Tommy Dreamer vs. Abyss
Superstars confirmed: MVP, Carlito, Guido Maritato and more!
Quick Hits – Gail Kim admits to crying when she decided to leave IMPACT Wrestling (TNA at the time) to return to the WWE. IMPACT Wrestling is launching an IMPACT branded pizza with Canadian pizzeria Crust and Crate Fast Fired Pizza Pub. The Pizza will sell during the IMPACT tapings in Ontario, where the restaurant is located. Chris Jericho reveals that Jimmy Jacobs was heavily involved in everything Jericho did during his last stint in the company. NJPW is hinting to an announcement at Power Struggle that might affect the North American region.