Every week or so, Sean Ross Sapp (SRS) from Fightful does a question-and-answer episode on his Fightful podcast. These answers are from May 31, 2024. We wait around 12-24 hours before posting the answers from behind his paywall. We aren’t interested in hurting any of his subscribers at all. Please subscribe to Fightful Select and listen to Fightful on all podcast platforms. Time Stamps will be from his podcast.
[00:15] Answer: There was a miscommunication between Saraya and AEW this past week. That appears to be fixed now. She voiced her concerns and they explained their side of things. It’s something that Fightful will be monitoring. SRS doesn’t think the match was supposed to happen this week despite it getting to the Control Center show. It was supposed to happen next week. There was a miscommunication. Then heads started to roll in that sense.
[00:45] Question: Guesses on the statuses of Chad Gable, Natalya, and Dijak’s contracts. Answer: None of them have signed a new contract as of now. SRS would assume that they all end up staying with WWE. That’s just his guess.
Mercedes Mone
[00:57] Question: Think there’s a chance that Mercedes Mone will win the NJPW Strong Championship from Stephanie Vaquer. Answer: Yes, SRS does think there’s a chance of that. As a matter of fact, if you go back and look at Fightful’s reporting from earlier this year at Mercedes’ integration into AEW. New Japan had plans for her and wanted her to use her. It won’t surprise SRS at all if Mercedes ends up there.
[01:19] Question: Anything about about AEW streaming…close or far? Answer: It’s a part of the ongoing AEW TV rights deal negotiations.
Will Ospreay
[01:28] Question: What is the current plan for Will Ospreay at AEW All-In? Answer: Not Swerve from what SRS understands. SRS doesn’t know what it is. He hasn’t heard that it is Swerve. Whether that means it’s against someone else defending the title or just something completely different that he doesn’t know. It just wasn’t Swerve.
[01:45] Question: Any other AEW contracts expiring soon? Answer: Dustin Rhodes in the fall. Bryan Danielson in the fall. SRS is working to find out more. There are going to be some that just come up for expiration. He’s working to find out the names of them.
[01:59] Question: Is the Brooks Jensen stuff a work or did he actually get released? Answer: Corey Brennan reached out to him and was told to reach out to higher-ups there. We haven’t gotten a response to that yet. SRS would be surprised if it was real.
WWE NXT and TNA Wrestling PLE?
[02:12] Question: How likely do you think it is that WWE NXT/TNA Wrestling have a PLE together somewhere down the road? Answer: SRS thinks it’s a possibility. He thinks if all this goes well. And there are a couple more integrations then we could see a big NXT vs TNA show. Now, the situation regarding cost cuts and profit splits will come into question. But if you are TNA then you want this as much as possible. You want your talent featured on NXT. That way people will be like, “Oh where did they come from? Ok.”
This is something that SRS has tried to explain to people in TNA because a lot of times during interviews they only want you to ask about TNA. I’m like, “Well if you ask about other stuff then you are likely to get fans who are interested in other things not just TNA watching those interviews. Then hopefully leading to them watching your show. So SRS thinks there’s a possibility that they could do an arena show and sell it out. They could do 16,000…legitimately.
Taking Weight More Evenly
[03:10] Question: It always looks like the person lying on the mat starts to lift their arm slightly when their opponent is coming down off the top rope on them. The arms don’t go into the air, but they are risen to chest level. Does this help the person on the mat take the weight more evenly? Answer: Yes. You sort of cradle your arms underhanded and it helps to distribute that weight.
[03:31] Question: Has WWE considered doing a show at Soldier Field or United Center instead of All-State? Answer: I haven’t heard anything about Soldier Field. SRS thinks the weather there is a little too volatile for that. However, SRS thinks the United Center is a possibility.
Motor City Machine Guns
[03:47] Question: A lot of people asking about the Motor City Machine Guns. Answer: SRS hasn’t heard anything about the word since they have been signed and that’s not something he verified with the company. He’ll ask about it. But he hasn’t heard any new plans on them at all.
[04:00] Question: Do you think that WWE are going to bring back Broken Skull Sessions? Answer: Eventually. SRS doesn’t know what the deal is with Stone Cold’s show or anything like that. It’s just been on reruns forever. So SRS doesn’t really know what his plans are or what he’s up to or anything like that.
[04:20] Question: Do you know the status of Meaghan Bayne or Kamille? Answer: Meaghan Bayne had some creative pitches, but SRS doesn’t know how extended the plans are there. There might be outside interest in her. Kamille is signed and awaiting her debut.
Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker
[04:36] SRS says No Jamie Hayter updates for those asking and Britt Baker is…again same as always, same as last week when you guys asked and the week before as when you guys asked…there has been no update on that. None.
[04:52] Question: What do you think of the report from Meltzer about WBD/AEW this morning about the deal being negotiated at 110 million a year? Dave stated that negotiations may be slightly above that or up to 50% higher. Answer: Well, that’s a pretty big gap. SRS is working on his own report on AEW and WBD, but he wants to make this clear…as of now…the relationship is really good and SRS has some good contacts at WBD. They have never said a negative thing about AEW. Now that might be them painting a pretty picture, but it’s good. They are going to get an extension from WBD in some capacity.
MJF Cleared By March?
[05:37] Question: Is it possible that they were hoping that MJF could be cleared by March originally? And when it didn’t work out, MJF hit it with a kayfabe “I got surgery.” Answer: SRS never heard anything about him coming back in March…ever.
[05:48] Question: How many big names you think will have their contracts expire this year? Answer: How many? Like 4 or 5. Four or five big, big talent.
WWE Contracts
[05:58] Question: How much does the last-minute WWE contract stuff with Becky, Drew, Finn, and Gable come down to Dan Ventrelle? It feels like the dude was totally out of his depth which led to his firing. Answer: SRS prefaced it by saying that anyone who worked with Ventrelle liked him as a person…he was a nice guy, but he was not a good fit for that job. There was a top talent that SRS spoke with today that said that Dan should have been on the ball with that.
Now, with that being said, last year Fightful had reported that a lot of these deals would wait until much closer to their expiration before renewing them or getting new deals. But, this puts a lot of leverage in the hands of the wrestlers because AEW is starting to let Mark Henry, Jake Hager, Arn Anderson, and people like that go.
All of a sudden you let go guys like that and you have enough for a salary of a pretty decent talent that’s out there on the free agent market. And considering AEW’s roster was kinda bloated anyway I’m sure a Tony Khan or AEW are willing to trade those talents that they felt like had more value a couple of years ago for a bigger name talent in order to consolidate those costs.
[07:15] Question: F, Marry, Kill: Swerve, Ospreay and Samoa Joe. Answer: Oh OMG, SRS doesn’t know where to begin there.
Lio Rush
[07:29] Question: Do you happen to know if Lio Rush has some sort of deal with AEW or was his appearance a one-off? Answer: SRS heard that the deal was a one-off. It was a part of New Japan’s integration as well. Even though he’s not a regular there anymore, but he seems to make a good impression. He worked the AEW Collision tapings as well. So SRS could see him being used more in the future.
[07:52] Question: When is SRS coming to the great city of Pittsburgh to enjoy a wrestling show? Answer: If SRS goes to Pittsburgh it will be to go to a football game. They don’t have direct flights there and it’s quite a drive. No interest, my friend.
Becky Lynch
[8:07] Question: Obviously, I don’t expect to see Becky Lynch on TV for a few months no matter what, but what percentage do you give that she signs with AEW? Answer: I don’t know…20%. Maybe
[08:17] Question: Do you think Hangman returns soon? Answer: Soonish, yeah
Bucket Pay System
[08:23] Question: Have you heard any feedback from talent on the bucket pay system that Mace and Mansoor talked about with Maven? Answer: Well they sort of had a bucket pay system back in the day as well. But this is the way they do things…a lot of wrestlers that SRS talked to prefer knowing what they are going to make and all their pay worked into the one amount. They know ahead of time what it is and whether or not house shows happen or stay or accelerate or go away they get the same pay. There are some that work in additional things also.
[8:56] Question: Someone is asking if AEW is letting Britt’s contract expire. Answer: That would be quite the wait.
[09:07] Question: Any real-life friction between RJ City and Jeff Jarrett could have been in character stuff I saw, but seemed to be tension there. Answer: SRS hopes so. LOL That would be great.
[09:10] Question: Who do you have in the NBA Finals? Answer: SRS has the Celtics. Probably because just by facing the Celtics, Luka will twist his ankle or something.
Open Challenge for TNA Knockouts Title
[09:33] Question: Jordynne Grace on Busted Open that she will be doing an open challenge for her Knockouts title…could you see an NXT or WWE star walking through the prohibitive portal? Maybe Natalya? Answer: Yes, SRS says he could see that.
[09:49] Question: Last year, SRS reported that Nigel McGuinness was making steps for an in-ring return. Any new information if that’s still being pursued this year? Answer: SRS will have a report on this sometime soon. It was supposed to happen last year. He got into shape for it and unfortunately, a lot needed shuffled and they couldn’t do that.
Vic Joseph
[10:10] Question: Is Vic Joseph someone they consider a lead voice for when Michael Cole decides to hang it up? Answer: They definitely like his work on NXT. He got to go to NXT and he’s been really good over there since then. Vic’s been with WWE for seven years. He’s worked on NXT UK, NXT, WWE Raw and he did 205 Live. SRS thinks he should get a crack at it in the future. They’ve tried out Corey Graves and Wade Barett as a team and it’s gone really, really well. Like they switched it up and tried some out-of-the-box stuff. SRS thinks the teams they have in place are pretty damn good right now. Michael Cole is doing the best work of his career. Vic Joseph is doing the best work of his career. Corey Graves is doing well with play-by-play
[11:26] Question: Who’s winning this weekend…Dustin Poirier or Makhachev? Answer: SRS thinks Makhachev. He looks at this and just thinks he’s so good. Nothing against Dustin Poirier. He’s the kind of guy that can always pull it out, right? The kind of guy that always has a chance. However, SRS looks at Makhachev as clearly the new guy…he’s the dude. Without a doubt. He’s a monstrous -645 favorite.
[12:35] Question: Have you heard anything about Nick Khan at Sukeban last night? Any reason you can think of that he would be there? Answer: Hmm…just to show his face. To create some buzz. To look at how some things are run. He was at Bloodsport as well.
Was Athena All Right?
[12:47] Question: Was Athena all right? She was visibly limping on ROH last night. Answer: Uh yeah, I think she’s going to be back sooner than later.
[12:55] Question: Anyone reporting or watching the impact Endeavor has on contract negotiations? Endeavor’s purchase of UFC changed how they negotiated with fighters. Something similar with WWE talent which is why we are seeing so many come close to expiration. Answer: Well that seems to be the method before the acquisition, but SRS is keeping an eye on. He doesn’t know how UFC translates to WWE, but he hopes they are serious about retaining their talent.
[14:07] Question: Do you have any idea what’s going on with TNA Wrestling? There are a lot of reports they are letting go of backstage people and no shows scheduled after August 3rd. Answer: There are some shows scheduled after August 3rd, but they just aren’t announced yet. You are going to have natural turnover like that. SRS is going to work to find out more about that.
[14:22] Question: Any info on why TNA+ on YouTube announced that they are ending the channel? Answer: They want you to subscribe to their other service. That’s pretty much why.
Big Bill and Ricky Starks
[14:30] Question: Wrestling Observer reported today that Big Bill is supposed to turn on Ricky Starks which would have made Ricky a babyface. But it was scrapped. Any insight as to why? And if we will see Ricky in AEW again? Answer: SRS is sure we will see Ricky in AEW again. He knows that both of the men were ready to move on from this team as soon as they lost the tag titles. SRS doesn’t want to say if they did or did not want to do the tag tournament as well. But both guys were ready to move on. Nothing against one another that he’s heard. Just that neither one wanted to do that. SRS hadn’t heard of Big Bill turning, but he’ll ask about it.
[15:09] Question: How do WWE producer contracts work? If TJ Wilson wanted to go somewhere with Natalya, would he be able to? Answer: Hmm…yeah, it’s an employer agreement, so you can leave whenever the best he knows.
[15:21] Question: Are there plans for more women’s specialty matches in AEW and teams and factions? Answer: Teams and factions…SRS doesn’t know. He knows there have been some discussions about more pairings and the like. But he thinks the specialty matches will happen as they occur.
Next Gunter Feud
[15:36] Question: Who do you see Guther feuding with until SummerSlam? Answer: Well Orton, would have made a lot of sense. You could have just gone back to that rematch. He doesn’t want to see him face Sheamus again. He doesn’t need to see against New Day. He would like eventually a returning Seth Rollins to face him. That would be very cool. They’ve already done the Jey Uso thing. There are a little bit few and far between here on potential opponents for Gunther or at least at a high level. Maybe a new babyface Otis would be a good one. Rey Mysterio could be a good one. But you really just need one between now and August because he’s winning. He’s not going to lose between here and SummerSlam.
[16:31] Question: You mentioned this week about doing a NXT/TNA crossover show. Do you think that will prevent TNA from doing a main roster collab show? Answer: SRS doesn’t think that WWE needs to do a main roster collab show right now. They need to create buzz for NXT ahead of the CW deal and TNA wants whatever buzz they can get as well.
AEW Deal Increase?
[16:51] Question: We know the base value of AEW’s 2020 deal was 44 million per year. Do you know the additional value of any subsequent deals? Answer: SRS doesn’t and that’s a good question. He’s going to find that out. But the numbers he has heard…significant increases based on that amount annually too. They were going effectively week to week in 2019 before they nailed down that deal.
[17:25] Question: With the DOJ investigating Vince…do we know how much they will be investigating WWE as a whole? Answer: SRS would be surprised if they didn’t investigate WWE as a whole, but he thinks the focus will be on Vince. But they gotta investigate WWE as a whole. I’m sure WWE will say we rid ourselves of that bad apple, but there are still a lot of people there who could have possibly known about it. Now, what he doesn’t want to do on this show or in Fightful’s chats is speculate on who that might be. That’s not fair, but when people are implicated then they need to get up out of there.
[18:01] Question: Why is WWE delaying the 2025 SummerSlam announcement? Answer: They’re not. It’s over a year away. They announced the 2026 date because they had to.
Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford
[18:16] Question: Any plans for Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford? Answer: Not that SRS has heard, but he really likes Kip Sabin. He’s very good. He has often talked about how at Double or Nothing…the first one…he held court with the scrum he did. It was great. SRS did a little interview with him. He’s a very charismatic guy that doesn’t get enough credit.
[18:40] Question: Do broadcasters in the US with WWE have a clause that they can’t use to show other wrestling programs? Answer: Sort of, it depends on the nature of the deal. It was what helped get MLW a gigantic settlement out of WWE for 20 million. A couple of years ago, MLW was set to air on Tubi and as legend goes an executive made Stephanie McMahon aware of it and in a very smarmy manner. Allegedly, Stephanie said we’ll see about that and they got it nixed. MLW was like we’re going to sue you for getting this nixed. Tubi was Fox’s partner or Fox’s streaming service. So there were definitely some hurdles there.
[19:33] Question: Have AEW started to make cuts in production to save money such as no pyro for weekly TV? Answer: SRS doesn’t know how you could see the pyro that they let off for Jimmy Jacobs and assume that. But he knows there hasn’t been a bunch lately. He thinks it will arrive as it needs to be. There was word that they may travel with less camera or cameramen, but he hasn’t heard if that ever came to fruition.
Raquel Rodriguez
[19:56] Question: Any updates on Raquel? Answer: Yeah, her condition flared back up the week of Elimination Chamber so they wrapped her up as far as bookings went. They had her go home.
[20:12] Question: Have you heard if MJF will have a faction or go it alone? Answer: SRS believes it will be alone.
[20:19] Question: Is WWE looking to position NXT as an AEW killer again? Answer: Again? It was never an AEW killer. It moved off of Wednesday nights to Tuesday nights. He thinks they want to position as a more effective and credible brand that way when it goes on network TV hopefully it gets more viewership. He doesn’t know exactly what the move will do, but SRS believes that the move to CW will be a good one in the long run.
Juice Robinson and Bullet Club Gold
[20:47] Question: Any idea about the plans of Juice and Bullet Club Gold? Answer: Well, Bullet Club Gold still has the Trios Titles. He’s heard that Juice has been cleared for a little bit and is now back in the fold. He hasn’t heard anything like significant as a singles for him or if they will Freebird those titles or anything like that.
[21:08] Question: How’s the morale backstage at TNA? Answer: Pretty good from what he understands. You know people got over the Scott D’Amore thing and it’s pretty chill from what he understands.
[21:17] Question: Have there been talks of doing a split roster in AEW? Answer: No, there was before CM Punk left. For Collision, but they didn’t end up doing that. There were actual memos that went out before a possible roster split and the Collision thing.
Swerve and Ospreay
[21:35] Question: Do you think that Swerve and Ospreay at Forbidden Door will be one-on-one? Answer: Yeah, he does. As of now, it will be a one-on-one match. He doesn’t think there are plans for them to do that match at All-In. He thinks that’s why they are doing it now.
[21:50] Question: Has anyone from WWE or AEW shown interest in Hyan? Answer: One, if they’re not they should be. But he knows AEW had their eye on her for about a year because they had her come in and work Abadon in Jacksonville. They had her work Ruby Soho in Minneapolis. And they had Mercedes Martinez defend the ROH title against her in Houston. When you bring in someone like that in Florida, Texas and Minnesota, clearly you have your eyes on them in some capacity. You’re keeping tabs on her and she’s just really good. Now WWE booked her for one of those Nia squashes in 2016, but he hasn’t heard much out of that since then. She’s really, really good. They should take a look at her.
[22:41] Question: Do you know why these companies take so long to do contract extensions? Is the talent’s choice or lack of effort from the companies? Answer: It’s a variety of things. Lack of complacency from people in Talent Relations. Sometimes Talent Relations forgets. If you remember, they forgot Adam Cole and Pete Dunne’s contracts coming up. That happened with Matt Hardy earlier this year. He was just forgotten about or they didn’t know it. They forgot that they gave Malakai Black a 30-day out instead of a 90-day out. They tried to get him to go back on it. So it’s just a variety of different things.
AEW/WWE Partnership?
[23:20] Question: Any chance of an AEW/WWE partnership in the future? Answer: SRS is never going to say never, but he highly doubts it.
[23:29] Question: Kyle O’Reilly Plans? Answer: He’s sure he wrestles every match like it is his last because he returned from a very serious injury. He puts everything in it. SRS thinks once Kenny Omega ever comes back then they will finally do the Elite versus the Undisputed Era. As of now, Kyle’s a guy that just has awesome matches. If that’s the case, SRS would put him with the Undisputed Kingdom. He would rather him do that.
[24:03] Question: When is Jon Moxley’s contract up? Answer: The end of 2027 is when his contract is up. So quite a while.
Contracts?
[24:11] Question: How are so many contracts expiring? I don’t remember so many people resigning in 2019 or 2021. Answer: SRS doesn’t know how else to put it…he doesn’t think you were paying attention, my friend. They signed a ton in 2019 and 2021. More in 2019 than 2021. When AEW started, WWE offered a lot of deals after or guaranteed deals in 2019 to retain people. There were a ton of them. You would have them announced on WWE Backstage like Randy Orton and New Day and Dana Brooke. There were all kinds of people that signed five year deals in 2019. There were some that had their deals reworked during the pandemic and work them where they would accept less money in the interim, but their deal would be shorter. Then they re-upped sooner than that.
[25:07] Question: Just want to ask how you are doing, Sean? Answer: He’s doing all right…back to work full-time. It’s keeping him busy.
[25:13] Question: How likely is it that Becky returns to wrestling outside of WWE? Answer: Possible, but he wouldn’t say likely.
View of Triple H
[25:25] Question: How’s Triple H viewed outside the WWE with other wrestlers in other companies? Answer: Listen, SRS will say this, after the Backlash situation he had a lot of people reach out to SRS regarding Triple H whether it be positive or negative or indifferent. Them saying what they thought about it or him. There were lots of reactions there. But it varies. It depends on personal experiences.
[25:50] Question: How does booking work at AEW? Does Tony have a committee or does he not take input? Answer: Tony has a pretty significant committee: Bryan Danielson, Will Washington, QT Marshall, Colt Cabana, Sonjay Dutt, Jimmy Jacobs, there’s a lot of people…Sarah Stock does a lot, Madison Rayne. There’s a lot of input.
[26:10] Question: Does WWE still have a wellness policy? Answer: They do. You have to be an idiot to break their thresholds though. You would have to be real dumb. That’s why you don’t see people with traps popping out of their ears anymore.
Hikaru Shida
[26:30] Question: What’s happening with Hikaru Shida? Is she healthy and under contract? Answer: Healthy yes, talked about for a comeback soon.
[26:37] Question: Someone asking why JR wasn’t at the last PPV. Answer: He’s got some ailments and health issues. SRS doesn’t want to get into because it’s not his business. They are hopeful that they see him back, but that’s his personal business.
[26:50] Question: Actual chances that we see Ricochet in AEW? Answer: SRS says pretty good.
AEW All-In Main Event
[26:58] Question: If Ospreay isn’t at All-In…is there talk of any of the following for the main event of All-In? Hangman, MJF, Jack Perry, Orange Cassidy, Jay White or PAC. Answer: SRS doesn’t know what their plans are at All-In. He has heard them talk a couple of months ago about a possible All-In match and if it happens then it would be a big one. But he doesn’t have enough to go on there.
[27:20] Question: With the merger happening, did the former talent relations Dan Ventrelle just stop working because he assumed he would just be let go? In companies this size they usually delegate responsibility. Answer: No, SRS had heard of deals that he was actively working on when he was let go.
