Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[sek69]

Timothy Thatcher and Hatchiman both gone too

[sek69]

Also I guess Colby Corino is gonna have Aunt Cathy in his corner next time out. 

[Timbo Slice]

I imagine guys like Roddy and Stokely might be on the chopping block too. 

[C.S.]

5 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Timothy Thatcher 

No surprise here, especially after the advent of NXT 2.0, but he had no prayer on the main roster either way.

Out of the cuts we know of so far, Regal is the only one AEW should jump to sign IMO.

[sek69]

Part of me really wants AEW to continue with their "what if WCW wasn't run into the ground by idiots" vibe and give us Lord Steven Regal one more time.

[C.S.]

Regal managing Anthony Ogogo could be fun.

[Jmare007]

Hideki Suzuki got 'deavored too. I hope he can get back to Japan soon. If not, then sign me up for a random Rampage or Youtube match against Danielson.

[sek69]

I would be down for a weekly "Bryan Danielson wrestles someone released by NXT for no reason" challenge. Even the writers/creative people, since you know even those would be good. 

[strobogo]

Getting rid of Regal is crazy to me. Why on earth would you NOT want him with such a young and inexperienced group that they're running with now in NXT? 

[KawadaSmile]

Only Regal strikes me as odd. Guess no UK Brit Indie scene to raid made him useless

But Hideki Suzuki being hired to stand by the ring, arms crossed was dumb. Not even one match that I remember

[JRH]

2 hours ago, SirEdger said:

Wondering how much input Shawn Michaels has in those decisions. He's running NXT 2.0 right now and Vince is probably thrilled with how it's going. So at the end of the day, Vince probably wants Shawn with people he can entrust to deliver on that vision. Looks like those people no longer fit the mold.

I wouldnt be surprised if Shawn eventually gets cut.

[sek69]

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they are keeping Shawn around (who would be the most obvious guy to cut if you want to remove all traces of HHH) just because Vince is afraid he would show up in AEW.

That might sound crazy but remember Shawn spent the whole Attitude Era threatening to quit and go to WCW to make sure he got his way so that's probably where Vince's brain is at. 

[Loss]

I don't think Shawn is being kept for his role in NXT as much as he is that he was a big star in pro wrestling. Remember, they have Austin, Hogan and Undertaker locked up under big money deals, and people like Hall and Nash under smaller deals but they are still under contract, for the rest of their lives because they don't want them to ever leave. They had Flair under a similar deal until he became too much to deal with.

[sek69]

Not to mention if they fire Shawn Hickenbottom: NXT Producer from his deal, WWE Legend Shawn Michaels is gonna want a Taker sized legends deal to stay put. 

[Blehschmidt]

I can't believe they let Regal go.

I hope he does a nice run of indy show autograph appearances so he can see just how loved he is, like Arn has done since he left. He would also be a huge asset to AEW in any roll.

and sign me up for Timothy Thatcher vs Bryan Danielson!!!

[C.S.]

 

[Migs]

5 hours ago, strobogo said:

Getting rid of Regal is crazy to me. Why on earth would you NOT want him with such a young and inexperienced group that they're running with now in NXT? 

Don't need someone to scout the indies anymore, just watch college basketball games.

[Reel]

50 minutes ago, Migs said:

Don't need someone to scout the indies anymore, just watch college basketball games.

I'm sure somebody else can buy the PWG DVDs from highspots and write a memo for Nick Khan. 

[MoS]

Is Shawn really an HHH guy? Like, I know they are best friends, but I feel like Shawn was a Vince guy before he was an HHH guy. Vince has loved him since pretty much the first day of his (2nd) WWF tenure, we've all heard him on commentary during Shawn's matches. Feels to me that there's a far bigger possibility that Shawn is the Brutus to Hunter's Caesar.

[Blehschmidt]

The Allison Danger story is just disheartening. Not like we didn't already know, but seriously, fuck this company.

[gonzalez]

So what’s the plan here? Are they going to completely change the staff, or are they closing the performance center permanently?

[gonzalez]

13 hours ago, Reel said:

I'm sure somebody else can buy the PWG DVDs from highspots and write a memo for Nick Khan. 

Someone’s going to need to order the latest Shimmer from 2008, and write a memo to Nick Khan.

[SirEdger]

12 minutes ago, gonzalez said:

So what’s the plan here? Are they going to completely change the staff, or are they closing the performance center permanently?

Seems like Vince will want to surround Shawn with people that he (Vince) can trust to lead NXT 2.0 the way he wants it to. So anything linked to Triple H had to go I guess.

[sek69]

10 hours ago, MoS said:

Is Shawn really an HHH guy? Like, I know they are best friends, but I feel like Shawn was a Vince guy before he was an HHH guy. Vince has loved him since pretty much the first day of his (2nd) WWF tenure, we've all heard him on commentary during Shawn's matches. Feels to me that there's a far bigger possibility that Shawn is the Brutus to Hunter's Caesar.

He was originally a Vince Guy to be sure (maybe even the ultimate Vince Guy if rumors of the time are to be believed) but Hunter by all accounts went to bat for him after he found Jesus and brought him back in the fold, so I suppose it's a matter of where his loyalties are. 

[MoS]

Holy fuck FINALLY. Like I was legit stunned how he was surviving all these cuts for so long. Maybe TK can hire him so he can yell at Punk and Bryan and Kingston and Homicide one more time, for old times' sake