Dean Ambrose’s departure from the WWE has sent shock-waves through the promotion. Now, the WWE is apparently in scramble mode trying to stifle the steady line of possible departures. Talents like Sasha Banks, members of Sanity and Tye Dillinger have spoken out about being unhappy to one degree or another on Twitter. With talents like The Good Brothers, The Revival, The Kanellis’, Dean Ambrose, Hideo Itami and more wanting out, the WWE has doubled down.
Any talent with less than two years on their deal were met with at SmackDown this week according to PWInsider. Talents like The Miz and Kevin Owens have already been offered these new five years deal, with many believing both men signed the deals. This is interesting, as Owen’s best friend Sami Zayn is also reportedly unhappy with his position in the WWE.
The WWE is in a state of turmoil, their ratings for SmackDown aren’t improving; a sign Fox won’t like seeing. The talent are unhappy. The product is directionless and their top star Becky Lynch is most famous for getting knocked out by talent-less hack. This is not something to gloss over and ignore, sheeple.
In Other News…
In the post Elite era of ROH, the immediate departure of the group is being felt. So far the shows in Concord, North Carolina were down some 400-500 fans from previous tours. Dallas only lost 100 fans from last year, but the rest of the Texas tour netted only one 1,000 seat show. Texas is a great pro wrestling state, and even IMPACT drew 10,000 fans at one point. ROH were routinely doing sellouts for most of last year, and setting all time records at gates. The problem ROH is now facing is that while they acquired some good talent, they didn’t acquire any big talent that were part of any affiliates. Rush is a huge star in Mexico but not in the U.S. When you realize that there were other free agents with far bigger reach in the states, and they not only didn’t get them that’s a problem. Then you realize that another large group of talent all departed the promotion AGAIN when their deals were up shows a fundamental issue in ROH
The Briscoes and Jay Lethal continue to be the only ones loyal to the promotion, but just about every other self-made group or talent has left due to issues with the promotion.
Quick Hits – Sports Illustrated claims (so you know it’s probably bogus) that the WWE has penciled in Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch for the main event of WrestleMania. The folks at AEW have announced that new signings and debuts will happen at their ticket party for Double or Nothing. Also, Cody Rhodes won’t be wrestling for 2-3 months due to a minor knee operation, but should be cleared in time to return for Double or Nothing.