- 2 hours ago
In this episode, we discuss WWE Crown Jewel changing venues. A massive shakeup is coming to WWE creative. What's going on with WWE and Vince Russo?
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All of this and the rest of the day’s news and rumors are covered in this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast!
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hey, yo, Fro Wrestling Podcast listeners, welcome to the show where we don't sing it,
00:05we bring it.
00:06Help us out and click subscribe to show your support.
00:08Hey, this episode, we've got all sorts of updates on Crown Jewel, the whole corporate
00:14structure of WWE, and a whole lot more.
00:17But before we get to that, check out some tunes and I'll be right back with you.
00:42I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.
00:54And you are just a buck-toothed netho baby who ate dog food for a week.
01:00Weird old man.
01:01Yeah.
01:02Just when they think they got the answers, I change the questions.
01:08Did he do it?
01:09Cover.
01:10Oh, and a kick out.
01:12Unbelievable.
01:13I will never repair.
01:16Turned too hot to handle and too cold to hold.
01:20And I am a macho-thin baby savage.
01:24Shut your mouth, you thong-wearing fatty.
01:26It's me, Austin.
01:28Whoa.
01:28Oh, bang.
01:30Oh, I'm a macho-thin baby podcast.
01:33Jacob 5'2".
01:34It's all game.
01:36No breaks with it.
01:38Y'all are made for.
01:42Who?
01:43City Halls.
01:45City Halls.
01:47I said WWE stands for.
01:50Rock in the highest.
01:52Promotional consideration paid for by the following.
01:57Welcome back to the show.
01:59I am Dr. Fro.
02:00I want to thank you for joining us for this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast.
02:05Before we get into the news of the day, we've got to start with where we always start.
02:10If you are sick and tired of dropping way too much cash every single year for the latest
02:15and greatest wrestling video game, stop immediately, go to Wrestler Unstoppable, available totally free.
02:21All you got to do is go to their website, app.wrestlerunstoppable.com, and you could create a wrestler, sign
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02:32And when I say build your own corporation, you can do the divisions, the championships, the matchmaking, putting together your
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02:45Check it out while you're there.
02:46Look up Odin Maximus.
02:48That is my avatar.
02:49I'll be happy to shoot you a contract offer for my company, Universal Wrestling Evolution,
02:55if you send me a message and let me know that you're one of my podcast listeners.
02:59If you want to become a member of the Fro Wrestling Podcast family, maybe you want your name in the
03:02shout-outs like John and Sarah do every single episode,
03:05the best way to do that, head over to patreon.com slash frowrestlingpodcast, and you have multiple options there, right?
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03:28I appreciate any monetary donation because it all is trying to help us keep the lights on and bringing you
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03:40I really, really do.
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04:02do that is to head over to the Fro Wrestling Sound Offline.
04:06Give me a call at 267-642-1160.
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04:13future episode.
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04:20service you're using to get our show.
04:23Like, share, subscribe, but most importantly, for the purposes of getting a response from me, comment.
04:29Every comment I get alert, I can go right to your comment and respond to you in real time.
04:34That is going to be the fastest way to get a response from me.
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04:43of you.
04:44September and October have been the two biggest months in the Fro Wrestling Podcast's 14-year history.
04:49That is all because of you amazing listeners, and I really, really, really appreciate all you do in tuning into
04:55all these episodes.
04:56So let's get into the news for the day, right?
04:58Starting with the conversation about the fact that the location, the venue for Crown Jewel has moved.
05:04They were, instead of doing this, you know, custom-built outdoor arena that they were going to do, they're moving
05:09indoors.
05:10Same venue that the Canelo Alvarez fight was taking place in.
05:14A lot of people thought, and justifiably so, that when you hear that they're moving the show, a lot of
05:22people immediately thought,
05:23oh, they're moving to the United States, safety concerns, that kind of thing.
05:26They even held a talent meeting on Zoom, apparently, where it was kind of like a, you know, ho-hum,
05:33rally-the-troops kind of battle cry.
05:36But it was supposed to be all about, you know, quelling the concerns over safety and whatnot.
05:40But if you look at the card, right, a lot of the top talent's going to be there.
05:45They've already been building this set.
05:46Now I guess they're going to have to tear down a rebuild in the new location, which will be an
05:50indoor venue.
05:52But, interestingly, the actual signage for the show may have given away part of the show that we don't know
06:00about yet.
06:00So we know that they're going to have the, you know, Roman Reigns versus Sami Zayn match.
06:05We know that we're going to get to see Chelsea Green take on Liv Morgan.
06:10Makes a lot of sense.
06:11We know that we heard about Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
06:13We know that we're going to see the Vision defend the tag team championship against Penta and Javon Evans.
06:18But what we didn't have announced yet, but apparently it's going to be part of the show because the graphics
06:23from the, you know, people at the venue taking pictures of the stadium seating being set up and all the
06:28promotional materials, is there is a photo, just like all the other matches, of Gunther versus Finn Balor.
06:34So apparently that's going to take place there.
06:36But they're moving the location.
06:37They are still going to be in Riyadh.
06:39It's not like they're even moving to a different city.
06:40They're not going to Jeddah or anything like that.
06:42But they're staying in Riyadh, which is honestly very shocking to me, especially considering the geopolitical situations going on in
06:50the world right now.
06:51I've said it on other episodes.
06:52I think they should be moving to like Tokyo, go to the Tokyo Dome or something like that.
06:57They could always do Australia if they want to.
06:59I would keep it international because there's a certain appeal to that at this point.
07:03But all the people who are going to go to the original show had their money refunded.
07:07New tickets are being released today.
07:10And I don't know.
07:12It's kind of shocking that WWE is still going to make this happen.
07:16Let's stick with the WWE conversation.
07:19And there was a rumor floated last week.
07:22It started really with Conrad Thompson releasing a piece that Nick Khan had been having meetings or discussions with Vince
07:30Russo,
07:31former, you know, creative guy for WWE when he was working with Ed Ferreira,
07:35who reported to Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWE creative brain trust during the Attitude Era.
07:40They ended up leaving WWE, going to WCW, where the money was bigger.
07:43And they kind of sold themselves on being like the innovators, especially Russo,
07:47on being the innovator of like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, things like that.
07:51And I think everybody who watched WCW back in the day realized that that was a lot of smoke and
07:56mirrors.
07:57I remember watching the Rise of Fall, maybe.
08:00No, it wasn't Rise of Fall.
08:01It was the one that was the Monday Night Wars DVD when that came out.
08:05And basically on there, people were talking about how Vince Russo, he could have all these creative things going on.
08:10But in WWE, he always had like, for lack of better terms, like a governorship.
08:15He always had to filter everything through Vince McMahon.
08:17Whereas in WCW, he kind of had the keys to the castle and he could do whatever he wanted.
08:20And it just didn't work.
08:22I was listening to, gosh, who was it, WrestleTalk News.
08:27And they were going over when WCW folded, Vince Russo was brought in to write the creative for a new
08:34promotion was starting up.
08:35WWA, World Wrestling All-Stars, where they were going to have a tournament to crown their first champion and have
08:40their opening pay-per-view.
08:42And like every match was a gimmick match.
08:45And there were, you know, every gimmick match was like a quarterfinal in the tournament to crown a new champion.
08:50And then you got to the quarterfinal, like you got into the semifinals and there was people there that hadn't
08:54wrestled in the quarterfinals.
08:56And then, you know, you had a cage match for the championship.
08:58It was just really convoluted.
09:00It was all Russo's booking.
09:02He overbooks himself.
09:04He has all these thoughts and all these things.
09:06And he's got an obsession with like things on a pole.
09:09He's got an obsession with, you know, just all different match types.
09:13And you didn't need all that.
09:14So WCW didn't work out.
09:16WWA didn't work out.
09:17He went to TNA for a while and there was some controversy in TNA because the network they were on
09:22at the time, I believe, was Spike, had issues with Russo being in creative.
09:26They wanted him gone.
09:27And then it came out that they actually had kept him on secretly, still planning creative from, you know, a
09:34remote location, which did not go over well with the TV executives.
09:38And then he kind of went away for a while.
09:39He was doing his podcasting and, you know, building a private empire of other business ventures.
09:47And then at some point, he joined JCW, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, and he was, you know, a creative guy for
09:53them.
09:53And then that fell through earlier this year.
09:55And so apparently this summer there were conversations with he and Nick Khan about him possibly coming to WWE.
10:01Now, I've heard conflicting reports, depending on which outlet you look at, that he reached out to Nick Khan, that
10:06Nick Khan reached out to him, that Nick Khan is the reason that people like New Jack and Necro Butcher
10:11are signed to Legends deals in WWE because he likes that era of wrestling and that style of wrestling.
10:16And some of that goes hand in hand with Vince Russo and that perhaps he was pursuing Russo for that
10:20purpose to spice up the programming that they've got in WWE right now.
10:24It's kind of gotten stale and repetitive.
10:26Um, I've heard other people say that Russo was reaching out, looking to get back into WWE, and he was
10:31kind of turned down and never went anywhere.
10:33I don't know what to believe, and I don't think anybody does.
10:35Russo made a statement online where he kind of addressed everything.
10:39And, you know, oh, I don't, I always tell the truth and all this and that.
10:43And, uh, talked about how all the people breaking the news never reached out to him to get any kind
10:47of comment.
10:48They all have his phone number.
10:49And, um, what I found interesting about it, though, is he never denied anything.
10:53He said, I have nothing to, to talk about.
10:56There's nothing to report.
10:57If something changes, you know, I'll let the audience know.
11:00But that does, that is not a denial that the conversations took place, which to me is wildly interesting.
11:07Um, so not sure where that's going to go.
11:09I, I might be in the minority here, but I never think it's a problem to have another voice in
11:15the room.
11:15And, much like when Vince McMahon had him working for him, Triple H is the filter.
11:21Vince Russo can come in with whatever crazy thoughts and ideas he wants.
11:25He still has a creative team of individuals that have to filter things through.
11:29So I don't have a problem with the hiring.
11:30I really don't.
11:31Let him come up with some wacky, zany stuff, because sometimes you need that.
11:35Who was the person who booked the Sami Zayn versus, um, oh my gosh, uh, the dude from Jackass at
11:41WrestleMania.
11:42Like who booked that, you know, that was zany and crazy and stupid, but they, it still, it worked.
11:48So I don't see a problem with it.
11:50I really don't.
11:51If they want to bring them in more power to them, let's get into the more important power structural changes
11:56potentially coming.
11:57News broke recently that Bruce Pritchard, who has been with WWE for the better part of like 40 years or
12:03so.
12:04He's got a wrestling career that spans over 50 years.
12:06If you go back and look at old, like mid South wrestling cards, he was an announcer.
12:10He worked with global wrestling federation.
12:12He went to WWE.
12:13He was brother love.
12:14Um, he ended up in creative.
12:17I mean, this is a guy who's really had his hands on a lot of things.
12:19And there was at one point in time, he was considered to be one of like the, essentially like the,
12:23the fab four.
12:24It was him, Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, Michael Hayes.
12:28And they were the ones who kind of ran WWE creative for a very long time.
12:32Um, then conversation came out recently.
12:35You know, I think we reported on a previous episode that, you know, Michael Hayes had been approached by Triple
12:40H, that he needs to get Bobby Roode ready to be the next Michael Hayes.
12:43Cause Michael Hayes needs to become, um, the next Pat Patterson.
12:47Well, on, on that same vine, Bruce Pritchard is going to be stepping down from his current duties, the head
12:53of creative and whatnot.
12:55Um, and he needs a very serious neck surgery.
12:58So he's going to be going away to get his neck taken care of and while he's away, he will
13:03still stay on as a consultant.
13:05Now who fills Bruce Pritchard's role?
13:07Well, the word has come out that the person replacing Bruce, Bruce Pritchard is none other than WWE Hall of
13:12Famer, current NXT head, Shawn Michaels.
13:15I don't think anybody is shocked by that.
13:17What I found to be incredibly shocking is that once Michaels progresses into that role, that Bruce Pritchard currently occupies,
13:24somebody has to take over NXT.
13:27And that leading candidate right now, according to the reports is AJ Styles.
13:32I mean, you think about this, the fact that the generation X is going to essentially be the most powerful
13:37organization in the world running WWE through TKO.
13:41And that the most legendary TNA wrestler of all time, the face that runs the place is going to be
13:48running NXT.
13:49It to me is wild that that is the reality that we are looking at.
13:53And now they're not the only people that'll be there.
13:55Of course, Michael Hayes hasn't left yet when he does.
13:57Bobby Roode will take over for him.
13:59Um, but there's other people too.
14:01I mean, think about, uh, Paul Heyman, Paul Heyman, by the way, who has been off TV recently.
14:05Uh, there was a report that came out, uh, from, I gosh, I want to say wrestle votes maybe.
14:10Yeah, it was wrestle votes that Paul Heyman is getting ready for a TV return and that they're looking for
14:15him to do a storyline outside of the vision.
14:17He'll still be involved with the vision, but that this was something that's going to be outside the vision, his
14:22next project or whatnot.
14:24You know, Brock is gone.
14:25I don't think they want to pull the trigger on Paul Heyman and Oba because Oba kind of put the
14:28kibosh on that.
14:29So something with him.
14:31And I don't know what that something is and wrestle votes didn't either, but it's certainly something to keep an
14:35eye on.
14:36Um, so between the power hierarchy changeovers, Paul Heyman, I'm sure will stay involved in creative.
14:42He always has been a great advocate, very inventive, wildly creative guy.
14:46And to be perfectly honest with you, I would not be opposed to seeing somebody like a Jim Cornette, you
14:52know, remotely advising on creative things.
14:54Jim Cornette's such a wealth of knowledge when it comes to wrestling history.
14:57You can't go forever with all new ideas because there's only so many ideas.
15:02Things will repeat.
15:04Jim Cornette has such a depth of knowledge of their history of wrestling that you could have him repeat things
15:08that are so old that people won't remember them.
15:11And what's old is new again.
15:13And I think that might be a great idea or it's somebody else in that capacity.
15:17Um, I understand Michael Hayes is great at what he does.
15:20I really do.
15:21Um, same thing with Bruce Prichard, but I don't think anybody has the kind of thought process that people like
15:27Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette do.
15:29I actually think Heyman and Cornette would be one of the best creative teams you could possibly put together.
15:34Um, I would not be opposed to seeing Eric Bischoff contribute in some way to WWE, even though I know
15:39he's very much involved with Real American Freestyle, which, by the way, if you haven't checked out, you should, because
15:43the matches are fantastic.
15:45I'm really impressed with the presentation.
15:47It's really good stuff.
15:48But, um, so yeah, a lot of changes coming to WWE and let's be honest, you know, when Triple H
15:53took over creative, it wasn't like he got to pick his team.
15:55There were certain guys that were already entrenched there, the Bruce Prichards, the Michael Hayes of the world.
15:59When those two people ride off into the sunset, this is finally going to be Triple H's crew and the
16:05success or failure thereof of WWE going forward after that point is going to pretty much fall on his decision
16:10-making.
16:11That's when we're going to get to properly judge Triple H on his full process.
16:16Um, there was, uh, some conversation.
16:18I saw an episode again on WrestleTalk News where they were talking about whether or not TKO is souring on
16:22Triple H.
16:23I don't think they are.
16:24Uh, wrestling observer, uh, uh, Dave Meltzer put no credence to that.
16:30He thinks they're just fine.
16:31Um, some people thought that maybe the Netflix deal was in trouble.
16:34Meltzer put kibosh on that too.
16:35He's heard nothing like that.
16:36Netflix is perfectly happy.
16:38Um, there is an opt-out window that they're not even into yet.
16:41So, um, a lot of interesting stuff going on in WWE.
16:45We'll have to wait and see where it goes.
16:46But for now, I want to know what you think.
16:49What do you think of the shakeup at the hierarchy of WWE?
16:52What do you think the differences may be to the product when Sean and Triple H are in charge of
16:56everything?
16:57What do you think is going to happen with NXT when AJ Styles takes over?
17:01Uh, there was conversation when he came back to the company that CM Punk wanted to be in Shawn Michaels'
17:05replacement.
17:06Do you think he's going to have any, you know, concerns based on the fact that AJ Styles will be
17:10taken over?
17:11Or is he somebody who could collaborate with AJ Styles later on when he does finish up his in-ring
17:15career?
17:16Um, how does the Undertaker feel?
17:18I know he's running AAA.
17:19Is that what he wants to stick with?
17:20Is he going to want to get involved in some way, shape, or form in the primary main roster of
17:25WWE creative?
17:26I don't know.
17:27A lot of questions to be asked.
17:28But it's definitely an interesting time in WWE and a period we need to be keeping our eyes on.
17:34For now, though, that's all the time we have for this episode.
17:36Check back with us next episode.
17:37We run down the latest wrestling news and rumors.
17:39Special thanks, as always.
17:40Go out to Suno for creating the music and sound effects we use in our show.
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19:14Go to my website at frolifeplanning.com for all your higher education needs,
19:19as Fro Life Educational Planning is for today, for tomorrow, and for life with Fro Life.
19:24I'm Fred Froelich, better known as Dr. Fro.
19:26I want to thank you for taking some time with us today.
19:28Until next time, take care, everybody.
19:30Have a great one.
19:57We'll see you next time.
20:17We'll see you next time.
20:35We'll see you next time.