Slater Says WWE Stars Want Out; RVD Praises Vince McMahon; Bischoff on AJ Styles

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Heath Talks WWE Stars Wanting to Go to Impact

Former WWE Superstar Heath Slater, who goes by the name Heath in Impact Wrestling, said Monday that current WWE Superstars have expressed interest in joining him in Impact.

In an interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Heath mentioned discussions he has had with some people in WWE: "The WWE crew, some of them have been like, 'Man, that would be awesome to do this, but I still got a year-and-a-half or another year.' I'm like, 'Remember what you're saying because years go by pretty fast. So, if you really want to, I might know a guy.' The interest is there for sure."

Heath was one of many Superstars released by WWE in April as a cost-cutting measure amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was one of the longest-tenured performers let go by WWE, as he was on the main roster for a decade and first signed a developmental contract with the company back in 2006.

While Heath has landed on his feet in Impact, several of the other performers released by WWE in April have yet to sign elsewhere.

Heath noted that Curtis Axel is one former WWE star who he would like to see in Impact at some point, but he added that Axel is "doing his thing" for now.

Impact received an infusion of talent following the WWE releases, as Heath, Eric Young, Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins), Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Deonna Purrazzo are among the WWE releases who have since signed with the company.

There is still plenty of talent to be had on the free-agent market, and with Heath talking up Impact publicly, perhaps some performers who are still with WWE could make the move to Impact as well once their contracts expire.

RVD Compliments Vince McMahon

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has the reputation of being a tough person to work with and has made his fair share of enemies over the years, but Rob Van Dam isn't among them.

The 49-year-old RVD currently works for Impact Wrestling, but in an interview with WrestlingInc.com's Nick Hausman, he heaped praise on McMahon: "He's always just been super cool to me. I know that other people see different sides of him, just like with anybody, but I got nothing but respect for him and no stories of him ever being an assh--e to me or around me."

Van Dam first rose to stardom in ECW in the mid-to-late 1990s before signing with WWE in 2001. RVD went on to accomplish a great deal in WWE, winning the WWE Championship, ECW Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, Hardcore Championship, Tag Team Championship and Money in the Bank.

RVD even held the WWE and ECW titles simultaneously in 2006, but he was forced to relinquish them after he and Sabu were pulled over by police with marijuana in their car.

Van Dam dropped the titles and was suspended 30 days by WWE, but he said McMahon "couldn't have been cooler" for the way he handled things.

RVD departed WWE in 2007 but returned for a brief run in 2013. Van Dam is back in Impact, but he is seemingly in good standing with WWE, meaning another return could still be a possibility at some point.

Bischoff Discusses Styles

Eric Bischoff has essentially seen and done it all in the wrestling business, and he has worked with some of the biggest stars in the industry.

During the former WCW president's run with TNA from 2010-14, AJ Styles was arguably TNA's biggest "homegrown" star who didn't work for WWE previously.

On his 83 Weeks podcast (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Austin Lee), Bischoff expressed his belief that while Styles was talented, he wasn't actually a big star in TNA:

"Outside of the TNA and the core audience they had at that time, not a lot of people knew AJ Styles. I think he still fell into that much younger developing category even though he was heads and tails above so many others. He had been in the business for eight years. He wasn't really a big draw outside of the TNA core audience because he hadn't had the exposure, not because he wasn't good enough. Clearly we see that now in WWE; he's one of the top talents in WWE in my opinion, but back then, he didn't really exist in the mind of a lot of audiences outside of the bubble."

Styles was the proverbial big fish in a small pond in TNA, and it wasn't until he left the company in 2014 that he truly became a worldwide star.

AJ signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and became the IWGP Heavyweight champion twice, which led to him signing with WWE in 2016.

The Phenomenal One is already a two-time WWE champion, one-time Intercontinental champion and three-time United States champion, and he always finds himself in important angles and matches as part of the WWE roster.

AJ has truly come into his own over the past several years and realized the immense potential he always displayed on a smaller scale in TNA.

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