Last Sunday’s NXT TakeOver XXX was one of
the best shows of the year, having a little
bit of everything - great wrestling, title
changes, even surprisingly good celebrity
matches.
But there was one glaring omission: someone
yelling ‘Mamma Mia’ on commentary.
Longtime lead NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo’s
absence was initially reported as because
of a family emergency.
But now it’s come out he’s done with the
company entirely - with Ranallo himself announcing
on his Facebook page that he’s left WWE:
“I appreciate the opportunity I had to realize
my childhood dream of working in sports entertainment,
and I wish WWE well in the future.
Now I want to direct my focus and devote my
time to my other projects and to my mental
health charitable activities and the well-being
of my mother and myself.”
WWE have also issued a statement on Ranallo’s
departure, confirming that the two parties
“mutually and amicably” parted ways.
This is the second time Ranallo has left WWE,
after taking an extended leave of absence
in 2017, before returning to head up NXT commentary
later that year.
Despite the jobs market hitting record unemployment
figures, which WWE contributed to with their
mass layoffs in April, a number of WWE staff
took the decision to leave into their own
hands last month.
Ranallo joins Renee Young and lead NXT writer
Joe Belcastro as having also recently quit
the company.
It’s odd for WWE to let so many talented
people leave without putting up much of a
fight.
This is the company, remember, that effectively
held PAC under contract hostage for a year
so he couldn’t go to AEW.
Well it could be because they’re directing
all their contract re-signing powers to Brock
Lesnar.
PWInsider is reporting Brock Lesnar’s WWE
contract has expired, which means that as
of right now, he’s a free agent.
Lesnar to AEW confirmed.
Mike Johnson’s report reveals that contract
negotiations between Lesnar and WWE have “paused”
because they’ve reached “an impasse”
and haven’t been able to come to terms on
a new deal.
Seemingly in response to this contract expiration
- perhaps as a negotiating ploy to stop Lesnar
receiving royalties - WWE have pulled all
Brock merchandise from their shop.
WrestleVotes has added, however, the backstage
“belief is that once Lesnar is ready to
work again, he’ll let McMahon know.
Or vice versa, if WWE needs Brock, they will
present a deal he can’t refuse.
Currently, it’s nothing more than that.”
No stranger to lengthy contract negotiations,
Rey Mysterio - who only officially re-signed
with WWE last month - was scheduled to face
Seth Rollins on Raw last night.
In what was thought to be a storyline injury,
he was replaced by his son Dominik.
Dave Meltzer is reporting, however, that Rey’s
injury is legitimate, as he suffered a torn
tricep during his Payback tag match.
It’s apparently not a full tear, so he won’t
require surgery - hopefully meaning he’ll
be recovered soon.
And here’s what else happened on last night’s
Raw... in about 5 minutes!
The episode opened with Randy Orton FROM OUTTA
two back-to-back pay-per-view losses in a
week, gloating about punting Drew McIntyre
in the head once… twice… three times a
skull fracture - showing a joke image of Drew
hanging out in a local medical facility with
all the other people Randy has injured.
Finally, Shawn Michaels is selling something.
This was interrupted by Keith Lee, whose delivery
style is so unique, so stylised - that even
he can make crappy WWE scripted promos sound
cool.
Dolph Ziggler jumped him to start the first
of three singles matches on the show, that
will see the winners compete in a triple threat
in the main event, with the winner of that
getting a title opportunity at Clash of Champions.
Whackbat.
This should’ve just been Lee squashing Ziggler,
but Dolph ended up getting almost as much
offence in as Randy did the previous night.
Keith still looked impressive in victory,
though, mostly thanks to Ziggler selling like
a madman.
Adam Pearce assembled WWE’s best and brightest
to defend Raw against any Meh-tribution attacks.
Look at this guy in the middle.
He strikes fear into the hearts of Meh-tribution
with his puffed out chest!
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler still don’t like
each other despite being tag team champions
- Caruso alert! - and Charly interviewed Asuka
in the ring to find out her next title challenger…
Mickie James, reprising their NXT TakeOver:
Toronto feud that the main roster will likely
never reference!
Lana and Natalya interrupted, starting a brawl
so wild, we had to wait three backstage segments
for the ensuing match.
Mickie quickly beat Lana.
Caruso alert!
Charly was trying to interview Aleister Black,
but Randy Orton came out of his locker room
FROM OUTTA presumably knocking first.
It was a really smart way to weave the Black
vs KO feud into the night-long narrative.
Orton was ready to face Kevin Owens, but Owens
was attacked by Solid Snake Aleister Black
(he looks so cool) before their qualifying
match.
The referee let the match go ahead despite
KO being clearly concussed, and Orton hit
one RKO to advance.
The Hurt Business hosted a VIP Lounge segment
to celebrate Bobby Lashley’s US title win.
It turned into a six man against Cedric Alexander
and the Viking Raiders - which Cedric won
with a surprise roll-up on MVP.
Those 24/7 title skills are finally coming
in handy.
Interestingly, though, MVP sold his loss with
a smile, getting the Hurt Business to applaud
Alexander.
What a genius, subtle way to further their
potential recruitment storyline and make a
loss not actually feel like a defeat… which
was immediately undone by having them beat
up Cedric backstage right after.
Meanwhile, in purgatory, the Riott Squad and
the IIconics are still wrestling against each
other.
This match, however, does appear to be the
end - with the losing team having to disband.
Seeing that Liv and Ruby had only just properly
reunited the previous night, the writing was
on the wall for the IIconics, with Billy Kay
taking the loss.
The IIconics are no more, which is incredibly
unfortunate.
They’re one of the most charismatic acts
in WWE, and Peyton Royce has significantly
improved as a wrestler this year.
But they were never going to get a proper
push.
WWE sadly just don’t see anything in them
- so perhaps, cynically, it’s for the best
with Royce likely getting a singles push.
It’s just a shame for Kay, as she’s one
of the most naturally funny people on the
roster.
Neither Dominic’s Dad or Seth’s Buddy
were out ringside for the final qualifying
match, with Rollins wanting Murphy to think
about what he’d done to cause their Payback
loss, while Rey stayed backstage because I
guess he likes watching his son get beaten
up?
Dominic had another great showing, surprise
clubbing Murphy in the back during his entrance,
and then attacking Seth.
He has the wild lucha brawling underdog character
down perfectly.
After yet another very decent showing, perhaps
his best so far, Dom missed a Frog Splash,
letting Seth hit the Stomp to win.
And then another Stomp because he’s a dick
- as Rey just watched on from backstage again?!
Now it’s time for Shane McMahon’s secret
scuffle club.
Titus O’Neil beat some guy.
Then Riddick Moss beat Titus O’Neil.
The IIconics watched Jessamyn Duke and Marina
Shafir beat people up, to then lay out Billie
Kay - leaving Peyton Royce for a super sweaty
hug with Shane.
And in the Raw Underground main event, Shelton
Benjamin beat Apollo Crews.
I think.
R-Truth won back the 24/7 title from Akira
Tozawa, who just drove into the building with
a car full of ninjas dressed exactly like
Meh-tribution.
Maybe that’s why you keep getting invaded
so much WWE?
Which unsurprisingly happened soon after,
as the Street Profits vs Angel Garza and Andrade
tornado tag match was interrupted by the lights
flickering, and a Meh-tribution beatdown with
the standard nauseating camera cuts.
Or it was Tozawa’s invading ninjas in an
incredibly serious gear change for the act.
Garza left his girlfriend Demi Burnett high
and dry backstage - no, I don’t know why
she isn’t with Ivar either - as Meh-tribution
seemingly continued to invade.
Which was so serious, nobody did anything
about it.
The main event, however, was perfect - not
just being excellently booked, but having
a level of star power that’s felt missing
in the lockdown era.
Again, this was just as much about making
Keith look awesome as anything else - with
both Randy and Seth teaming up against him,
yet Lee still firing back with his incredible
power spots, including an awesome pounce sell
from Orton where he slid across the floor
like the backwards people in Tenet.
Keith almost had it won, too - hitting a Spirit
Bomb on Seth, but turning into an RKO.
Brilliantly, and this is the match’s masterstroke
- Orton then hopped over Lee to pin Rollins.
Not just implying that Randy doesn’t think
he can beat Keith, but also that Keith’s
finisher is more effective than the RKO.
I think WWE actually might be great at booking
wrestling, they just choose not to be the
large majority of the time.
That was this week’s Raw in about 5 minutes.
Let me know what you thought of the show in
the comments down below, where I’ll be replying
to people from outta nowhere.
I loved the booking of Keith, and the No.
1 contenders storyline running throughout
the night.
Everything else though was made up of repetitive
feuds that naturally climaxed ages ago, an
increasingly stale Meh-tribution invasion,
whatever Raw Underground is supposed to achieve,
and the IIconics breaking up.
The bad outweighs the good, so this week’s
Raw is a 2 out of 5 poor.
Now, as your WrestleTalk OliThority figure
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Click the video beneath that to check it out.
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I’ve been Mr Davis, your future inaugural
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