WWE ROSTER PURGE - 9/21/23

[The Natural]

If I'm AEW, I'd stay far the fuck away from Matt Riddle.

[dragonzombie]

Melanie Brzezinski was also released.

[Curt McGirt]

2 hours ago, Raziel said:

Given their continued poor handling of head injuries during matches, I'd say they've so far proven that they are, in fact, incapable of learning from history.

Well, when you end up getting so many head injuries...  

The GUNTHER thing was disproven, I believe it was Redditors making shit up. 

[HumanChessgame]

I kinda want Riddle to appear in the next Bloodsport, but other than that don't have much of an interest in seeing him. He's good in the ring, but it seems like his Jeff Spicoli gimmick isn't actually a character.

[AxB]

Not only did Matt Riddle appear at the first Bloodsport, it was his show. Matt Riddle's Bloodsport. It only became Josh Barnett's Bloodsport after Riddle signed with WWE.

[Eivion]

Ziggler will do well post WWE if he still wants to wrestle. The man is loved.

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, Eivion said:

https://twitter.com/alexhammerstone/status/1705423846453760230

Ziggler will do well post WWE if he still wants to wrestle. The man is loved.

Thanks for this. What a lovely thing to do by Dolph Ziggler.

[zendragon]

Spitballing here but if the Wingmen are no longer a thing in AEW maybe a Nemeth Brother tag team?

[blitzkrieg]

The NXT releases are really going hurt the Chase U attendance numbers.

[Cobra Commander]

Chase U is just gonna have to master the transfer portal 

[Norwegian Rudo]

4 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Well, when you end up getting so many head injuries...  

The GUNTHER thing was disproven, I believe it was Redditors making shit up. 

Reddit got it from the Observer board, whether they got it from somewhere else or made it up I don't know. That place is AEW's TNA-Asylum (the Billion dollar TV contract story started with one of their moderators), so it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it started there.

[zendragon]

last time i checked out NXT there seemed like a million people on the roster

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrOGyVu7gVU&t=272s&ab_channel=EricBugenhagen

Bugenhagen (Bugez) is a bit miffed, and thinks he was released due to 'a backstage political play'. In the comments.....

 

I can definitely see what he's saying, though I can't exactly say that I'm in desperate need of seeing Bugenhagen wrestle ever again and in WWE that actually matters. But it is interesting to see someone who should have been right up 279% up Vince's ally (decent amateur background, ridiculous muscular development, perfectly suited to 'written on weed, delivered on coke' promos) basically completely fail.

I think the truth is though, you look at his Cagematch record, think about how short many of those matches were....and this is a guy with very little actual ringtime, with the vast majority of his matches against other green guys. Whilst the current house show schedule is better for many, I'm not sure it was good for a guy like Bugenhagen - he really needed time with the veteran heavyweights and it didn't happen.

 

[Curt McGirt]

8 hours ago, StretchMediatedHypertrophy said:

Bugenhagen

Wait so there was a guy named after the dude in The Omen that told Gregory Peck how to kill his son the Antichrist? 

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

On 9/21/2023 at 5:18 PM, just drew said:

Same. For reasons I will not be getting into here.

So you bitch about people being fans of Britt Baker yet you fixate on the crappiest woman wrestler WWE has employed in years? Are you secretly Dave Bautista or something? Because that’s the only thing that would explain a fixation with Dana Brooke. 

[BrianS81177]

If any of these recent releases have dead fathers, then AEW should sign them so Christian Cage can put another notch or two in his belt.

[Just Dave]

1 hour ago, LF2 said:

So you bitch about people being fans of Britt Baker yet you fixate on the crappiest woman wrestler WWE has employed in years? Are you secretly Dave Bautista or something? Because that’s the only thing that would explain a fixation with Dana Brooke. 

Yes. Yes I am secretly A List actor and all around fantastic dude Dave Bautista. I have nothing better to do during the SAG AFTRA strike than engage with you. And making one comment in jest means I'm fixating. Also, because I know it's the question on everyone's mind; it's huge.

 

Rent. Free.

 

Anywho, I saw somewhere above someone said that Benjamin and Ziggler wouldn't "move the needle." And that person was absolutely right. What they would do is get the people who are- or will eventually- move the needle ready. Imagine what Sammy Guevara could learn from Shelton Benjamin. TAFKA Dolph Ziggler could make everyone from Jack Perry to Hobbs look like stars. Then there's the dream matchups you could have with Mustafa Ali on the roster. He and Buddy Matthews being granted the freedom AEW's in ring style provides would be absolutely bonkers. I'd love to see him play underdog for Hobbs and Miro. Jay White is at the top of that list, too. Shit, there's 50 guys on the AEW payroll I think he could have a 20 minute banger with. Komander, PAC, Ricky Starks and/or Big Bill, et al. And this is coming from someone who sees no value in good matches for the sake of good matches. Ali makes me give a shit through his selling and his distinct babyface fire and psychology. I think he's gonna go down as a top 5 on WWE's "how the fuck did we miss on THIS guy" list. Prodigious worker. More than adequate babyface promo. Great look. Fantastic human being. Not only would I hire him, I'd put gold on him the first chance I got.

 

Also, I'd hire Dana Brooke. For reasons that don't concern anyone but me. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

[BrianS81177]

8 minutes ago, just drew said:

"how the fuck did we miss on THIS guy"

Just a hunch, but this rotting corpse being the one in charge and not liking anything that wasn't popular in 1987 may have something to do with it.

Edited September 24, 2023 by BrianS81177

[Just Dave]

That's an outstanding answer.

[Just Adam Bay Bay]

1 hour ago, just drew said:

Yes. Yes I am secretly A List actor and all around fantastic dude Dave Bautista. I have nothing better to do during the SAG AFTRA strike than engage with you. And making one comment in jest means I'm fixating. Also, because I know it's the question on everyone's mind; it's huge.

 

Rent. Free.

 

Anywho, I saw somewhere above someone said that Benjamin and Ziggler wouldn't "move the needle." And that person was absolutely right. What they would do is get the people who are- or will eventually- move the needle ready. Imagine what Sammy Guevara could learn from Shelton Benjamin. TAFKA Dolph Ziggler could make everyone from Jack Perry to Hobbs look like stars. Then there's the dream matchups you could have with Mustafa Ali on the roster. He and Buddy Matthews being granted the freedom AEW's in ring style provides would be absolutely bonkers. I'd love to see him play underdog for Hobbs and Miro. Jay White is at the top of that list, too. Shit, there's 50 guys on the AEW payroll I think he could have a 20 minute banger with. Komander, PAC, Ricky Starks and/or Big Bill, et al. And this is coming from someone who sees no value in good matches for the sake of good matches. Ali makes me give a shit through his selling and his distinct babyface fire and psychology. I think he's gonna go down as a top 5 on WWE's "how the fuck did we miss on THIS guy" list. Prodigious worker. More than adequate babyface promo. Great look. Fantastic human being. Not only would I hire him, I'd put gold on him the first chance I got.

 

Also, I'd hire Dana Brooke. For reasons that don't concern anyone but me. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

A List? In what world is he A List? The only former WWE talent I’d say is A List is Dwayne and that’s only based off of his paychecks not the quality of his work. I will agree that Bautista is the best actor of the former WWE performers though, and I’d rank Cena ahead of Dwayne too. I enjoyed Knock At The Cabin and thought it was carried by Big Dave. 

Rent free when you’re the one that brings me up more often? Try again dipshit. And don’t try saying you don’t with your thinly veiled Little Friend comments.

How is Ali and Buddy a dream match? They’ve already performed together and at a high level in WWE. I’d enjoy watching them work each other again, but dream match should be reserved for first time ever matchups. Like Ali vs Kenny Omega maybe, or Ali vs Ricky Starks or MJF. I do think your boy could work well with Ali. Who else is in this hypothetical Top 5 performers WWE missed the boat on? I’m actually genuinely curious to see who you’d list. Personally I’d have the following as my top five (from 2000-now):

Ali

Matt Cardona

DDP (I don’t care about his age, there was more they could have done with him)

Rusev 

Christian (I loved him with Edge but I prefer his AEW and TNA runs overall)

Yes hire a shitty female worker for AEW they don’t already have enough of them (including one I referenced earlier when she’s having a terrible 2023 in ring wise). Why don’t you recommend Aliyah next since she’s “hot” on social media. 

[Curt McGirt]

2 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

not liking anything that wasn't popular in 1987

I saw a wrestling page's post "suggested" for me on Facebook that was Godfather saying how when they first hired him, Vince had gotten the Papa Shango concept because he watched Live and Let Die. That was '73. He probably hasn't watched a movie since then. 

But yeah, as far as general popularity of... things? '87 sounds about right. 

[John from Cincinnati]

On 9/23/2023 at 1:29 AM, Casey said:

But yeah if I had to pick a male wrestler that AEW picks up, it’d be Ali. Put him on Collision and let Danielson do some magic with him. I want to say he did some stuff for Ali in WWE, didn’t he?

Yeah, IIRC the story was Danielson wanted to work all the 205 Live guys and they were basically like “pick one.” 

[Curt McGirt]

God. Here is a guy who can get an entire division of wrestlers over, who is OFFERING TO DO IT, and you turn him down? 

[odessasteps]

3 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I saw a wrestling page's post "suggested" for me on Facebook that was Godfather saying how when they first hired him, Vince had gotten the Papa Shango concept because he watched Live and Let Die. That was '73. He probably hasn't watched a movie since then. 

But yeah, as far as general popularity of... things? '87 sounds about right. 

But, in a way, isn’t taking a character from an old movie, one younger fans wouldn’t know be better than ripping off a character from that years number one movie? Also, wasnt Charles Wrights name in the Carolina indues Baron Samedi, which I think was Geoffrey Holders name in Live and Let Die? 
 

example: would Waylon Mercy have been better being based on Deniro’s Max Cady or Robert Mitchum version? Or better yet, be based on Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter? 

[Eivion]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

God. Here is a guy who can get an entire division of wrestlers over, who is OFFERING TO DO IT, and you turn him down? 

The division was at the bottom of the food chain with Bryan being significantly well above it. Also looking at Ali's wiki it sounds more like Ali's 205 performances impressed Vince who moved him to Smackdown with Ali being chosen by management as someone to push when Bryan was looking for younger faces to fight.