Lucha Underground News – There’s more to the story than just meets the eye apparently. Earlier we reported that Lucha Underground wasn’t going to restrict talent from working elsewhere, but that might just be the tip of the iceberg. According to producer Eric Van Wagenen, Lucha Underground is going to be doing a talent swap of sorts with IMPACT Wrestling, ROH, NOAH and Stardom in Japan. This is obviously quite the reversal of fortunes, as previously Lucha Underground wanted nothing to do with any other promotion.
However, something needs to be pointed out. The “deal” Van Wagenen refers to with IMPACT isn’t a deal they made, but that AAA made. Everyone, save for Sami Callihan, worked with AAA and was brought in through their dealings, as there was some sort of workaround that they had. Perhaps there’s something to be said though about this deal, as Callihan is now working with IMPACT and he’s not working through AAA.
It should also be noted that Wangenen also said they’ll grant releases to any talent that wants them, as long as they’re willing to come in and be written off t.v.
Otunga News – By now you’ve heard that David Otunga’s soon to be ex, Jennifer Hudson has filed an Order of Protection (restraining order) against Otunga for “aggressive, threatening and harassing behavior toward me” and that she is “now living in fear of further action David might take.”
It should be noted that in most states, a restraining order isn’t that hard to get, and it’s even less hard to get in a divorce. This does not imply guilt, just assurances. Think of it as a judicial insurance policy.
Jennifer Hudson is making a laundry list of accusations, ranging from Otunga attempting to spy on her through their eight year old son, being pushed by Otunga, and intimidation via a prop firearm.
Otunga is claiming that the protective order against him was done to make him look bad in the public spotlight. Through his attorney he’s claiming that he’s been trying to negotiate terms to an “amicable” parenting agreement for several weeks. They alleged that due to Otunga being the one who would get residential care of the child, that Hudson is now enacting a smear campaign of sorts.
It should be noted that none of anything either person is saying has been backed up by any evidence; despite this though, the WWE is still taking Otunga off of t.v. for the mean time. TMZ is reporting though that Otunga not working at Survivor Series was his decision, in order to work on his son’s child custody case.
IMPACT Wrestling Ratings – IMPACT saw a nice bump, up about nine percent, from the 250,000 last week to 272,000 this week. The bad showing at Bound for Glory was problematic, but last weeks great show had to help some. Then you look at how good this weeks show was, and one could argue that the ratings next week will be up even more. Hopefully.
Quick Hits – John Cena tweets out he’ll be ready for WrestleMania 34, which I didn’t think was news, but here ya go. Ric Flair is suing his former talent agency, Legacy Talent, over unpaid rights from the 30 for 30 Documentary. They released a statement saying;
“Our client provided Flair an accounting of funds as they always did throughout their representation. Flair then demanded funds that belonged to buyers be released from trust that he had not yet earned and our client would not be bullied into doing anything unethical. In reality the $37,000 in dispute are in his management company’s trust account while we were working out a settlement on the sums of money owed our client from deals and money Flair hid from his management.”
So basically Flair demanded money he hadn’t earned yet contractually. #TypicalFlair.
Eric Bischoff denies buying the Cleveland Knights Championship Wrestling promotion, despite working with them early next year.