Hopefully all you beautiful babies know how money you are.
Moneyball
Dismiss it because of the source if you will. Even as someone who rarely stops reading wrestling reports because of the byline or URL, I’ll admit this Dave Meltzer quote from Wrestling Observer Radio early Tuesday is something that (a) almost any online wrestling fan could reasonably guess, (b) will rile up fans already riled up by the WWE title change on Raw that preceded the latest WOR, and (c) if speculation about CM Punk’s direction after
returning and immediately beating Sami Zayn for the belt is correct, could very well have been fed to Meltzer by his WWE sources to advance their big SummerSlam program.
Whether it’s a, b, c, or some of all three, Meltzer’s said Zayn run with the Undisputed WWE championship was always only going to last nine days, and that all involved knew that from the start. Dave added that the company doesn’t “pass around” its two biggest men’s belts for “you deserve it”-type reigns these days. Instead, the WWE title Punk holds and the World Heavyweight championship in Roman Reigns possession are for “money players”. Sami is not one in management’s eyes, at least according to the Observer founder:
“They really are in the hands of the people who the perception is are the money players, and Sami is not in their mind one of those people.
“He could have been. There was a time where he was, but even then in their minds he still wasn’t because it’s like one of those things of, they’re still all brainwashed by the cosmetics in a lot of ways, and that certain people are good hands but they can’t be the guy.
”And Sami is one of those guys in their minds that can’t be the guy.“
Zayn’s long been one of my guys, but if true I can see where WWE management is coming from. It does make me wonder how many “money players” Nick Khan, Triple H, etc. believe they have, especially since an array of popular, talented wrestlers like Drew McIntyre, LA Knight, and others don’t seem to be.
More rumors!
- From the former champ to the new one, Self Made Pro claims WWE built the SmackDown roster around CM Punk. They noted that Finn Bálor, Ricky Saints, and Gunther joined the blue brand because Punk is a fan and/or likes working with them.
- Before Jack Perry’s re-signing was announced on Dynamite last night, Self Made Pro discussed it and said their AEW sources tell that with WWE contracts seen as “volatile” right now and “a lot of ex-AEW guys” go “struggle” at WWE “struggle
- NXT seems to be teasing his arrival alongside Naraku (possibly as Nox Raijin), and Fightful Select reports most at WWE have been under the impression the company has been planning on decorated ex-New Japan star Hiromu Takahashi’s arrival for quite some time. False Finish tweeted that the decorated Jr. Heavyweight “is expected to report to the WWE Performance Center soon.”
- Early odds for next weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event have Fatal Influence a slight favorite to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team championship. JD McDonagh, on the other hand, is totally cursed and a huge underdog to Danhausen on the Knicks’ home court.
- On her vlog, Queen Aminata revealed her AEW contract should be up next February but the company’s added injury time to her deal. The frequent Ring of Honor wrestler doesn’t “know how long that’s going to be”, though.
Use the comments below to talk WWE money players, the future for those that don’t make that cut, or any of these rumors in the comments below. Plus, never forget you can use The Feed to start conversations and share your takes with other wrestling fans!
