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Young Bucks Mock NXT Rumors; Paul Wight Talks Bray Wyatt in AEW; Reports on HHH, HBK
August 9, 2021
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW.
Young Bucks Poke Fun at NXT Rumors; Triple H Held Out of Release Talks
NXT as we know it is in shambles, with mass releases taking place and a new supposed edict from upper management to reshape the program.
“Paul Levesque [Triple H] and Shawn Michaels didn’t have anything to do with the cuts. It was done by Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis, and the basic gist is that NXT is gonna change in some ways. They think the competitors are too small and too old," Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said.
The new edict from upper management is reportedly, "no [short people], no one starting in their 30’s, they want people who can be box-office attractions and main characters.”
The Young Bucks, known to regularly fire subtle shots in their Twitter bio, were once again at it over the weekend. While the bio has since been changed, it briefly said “Very tall. Not in our 30’s.”
Of course, Matt and Nick Jackson are both not very tall and very much in their 30s.
It's safe to say the brothers feel good about their decision to not join WWE after negotiating with the company at multiple points in their indie run.
On the other hand, it's fair to wonder what's going through Triple H's mind, as he has seen his brainchild gutted without having much say in the process. NXT has been WWE's best weekly program since it moved away from its old developmental format; the fact that it "lost" the Wednesday Night Wars is not a commentary on its quality.
It's fair to say the so-called powers that be should probably focus on fixing Raw's dreadful quality and SmackDown's repetitive matches before meddling in the one part of the company that works.
Paul Wight Could See Bray, Others in AEW
It's a false narrative that AEW has loaded its roster with discarded WWE guys; most of the WWE-to-AEW talents were performers who requested their releases or waited for their contract to expire.
That said, as WWE slashes talent across its roster, the natural inclination is to theorize how they would fit in AEW. The recent releases of Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman—and, to a certain extent, Ric Flair's departure—have people speculating on their fit.
Paul Wight, another WWE-to-AEWer, says he thinks all three could find a role.
“Absolutely [they could fit in],” Wight told the Ring Report. “There has been an influx of talent. For whatever reason, WWE has gone in a different direction with what they’re doing as a company. Their business line is beyond me, and they do their own thing, and it works for them. They’ve had great success with it. The biggest difference that I can relate to anyone outside is that AEW is a wrestling company, but also one dedicated to the talent. It’s about the fans but also about the talent versus about being just about the company.”
“We have talents who are available, and if they make their way to AEW, it will result in an incredible amount of freedom for them to continue entertaining the fans and to continue to grow. Anyone now who has been in this business long enough is smart enough to see where momentum is going, and you’ve got to agree that it’s with AEW. It’s got a great groundswell of support from fans who are really into the product. The storylines are unique. They have a different flavor and excitement about them. I made the transition myself because after four decades, I left, as I could see the writing on the wall of where professional wrestling was headed.”
Wyatt is by far the most intriguing of the names recently released. He's twice gotten himself over with intricate, well-regarded gimmicks—only to have his momentum derailed due to poor booking decisions.
While Malakai Black is filling a role similar to the one typically portrayed by Wyatt, it's not hard to envision his coming up with something unique that gets him over with the AEW audience.
Strowman is a different story, as he's far more the typical style of wrestler you see pushed on WWE programming.
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