Breaking Down WWE's Most Controversial, Shocking Stories for the Week of Sept. 8
Global Force Wrestling is back in the news, which can't be a good thing and really it's not. With so many cooks in the kitchen both on and off the camera, it seemed like only a matter of time before one of them burned their hand on an oven, overcooked the mashed potatoes or slipped on canola oil while holding a vat of mayonnaise.
Just to clarify, the cook in all of these questionable analogies is Jeff Jarrett.
TNA, Impact Wrestling, Global Force Wrestling or 'Grease Fire Wrestling'?
1 of 4Global Force Wrestling's rich history of being rumored to spontaneously combust added yet another chapter as Justin Barrasso of SI.com reported the promotion was "hemorrhaging money" and was on the verge of being sold by Anthem Sports and Entertainment.
These reports surfaced in light of the equally as shocking announcement that Jeff Jarrett would be taking a leave of absence from the promotion following a controversial appearance at the seemingly radioactive TripleMania XXV.
As is usually the case with pro wrestling journalism, which tends to be touch-and-go in such a carnival-influenced industry, this quickly turned into a public dispute as GFW executive Kevin Sullivan denied these reports on Twitter.
Whether it has been TNA, Impact Wrestling or Global Force Wrestling, GFW has spent much of its existence at the edge of extinction, only to somehow land on its knees to scratch and claw another day.
Cena Edges Roman Reigns in Round 2
2 of 4Roman Reigns and John Cena entered the third week of their dream feud just one week after shoving a pacifier in the loud mouths of WWE's hardcore contingent by saying words like "bury" and "heel turn" on camera. With both casual and obnoxious fans on board, Cena and Reigns avoided "you both suck" chants in favor of Cena skewing as the babyface.
And while Reigns held his own in a segment designed to make up ground from last week's mini-implosion, Cena still seems to have the edge on The Big Dog in their verbal tit for tat.
The outcome of Reigns vs. Cena will be an intriguing one that could either see WWE handing Reigns another torch liable to blow up in his face, or go the more compelling route by having Reigns lose and question whether Cena was right.
Did Braun Strowman Just Retire Big Show?
3 of 4Braun Strowman very well may have retired The Big Show, whom he power slammed through a Steel Cage after telling him it "was time to be put to pasture." If so, Big Show, whose contract is up in February, couldn't have picked a better person to do the honors.
Strowman is on absolute fire at the moment. In a time when WWE has gentrified its own product to accommodate a hardcore following that translates to a peaked audience of just 1.63 million subscribers on the WWE Network, Strowman represents the type of mainstream appeal that is twice the size of Adam Cole.
With Brock Lesnar also in the final year of his WWE contract, Strowman is making a real case to upset the WrestleMania 34 applecart by capturing the WWE Universal Championship at what is shaping up to be a loaded No Mercy pay-per-view on September 24.
Mae Young Classic a Hit Among WWE Network Subscribers
4 of 4The Mae Young Classic has dazzled in the ring and is now officially a hit on the WWE Network. Though it's fair to question just how mainstream this audience is, all eight episodes of the MYC landed in the 10 most popular programs on the Network per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc).
It's great to see WWE continue to expand its women's wrestling initiative, but after seeing the cruiserweights fall on their backsides on Raw and 205 Live, an exclusive women's show seems like it would be too ambitious for this promotion at the moment.
Still, as Shayna Baszler and Kari Sane prepare for a tone-setting, televised finals matchup on Tuesday night, Baszler superstar teammate Ronda Rousey may not be too far behind in the UFC hotbed of Las Vegas.
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