Welcome to the big, special 2000th issue of the Wrestling Scoops Roundup! This week we have a variety of interesting scoops in the world of professional wrestling.
First off some in-house notes. Starting with this issue, Wrestling Scoops Roundup will be running exclusively on partsunknownpress.com. They are kind enough to be hosting this on their site after my Angelfire site was wrongfully deleted.
Luckily, I have the archives of the prior 1999 issues stored in my office somewhere. When I find them, I’ll send them to the admins to try to convert and place them on the website. Then the lovely people who visit partsunknownpress.com can see all of the scoops they’ve missed.
I would also like to take a moment to thank all of the people who have made this dream of writing about professional wrestling possible over the last 38 years. Big thanks to my wife Jess and my husband Kota. Without the two of you by my side over the years, I couldn’t live my best life. I’d like to thank my parents for letting me start writing this newsletter on their typewriter in 1983. I would also like to thank every reader and every writer who I have ever had the privilege of being in contact with over the years… yes, even you Dave.
Anyway, enough with the sappiness. Let’s get into what I do best.
WWE
MAJOR Backstage Secret~!
According to inside sources, there is a big secret backstage right now in the WWE. Sources say that this secret is a very big secret that will rock the entire wrestling industry. I can confirm through my sources that the secret is big, however, I cannot currently report the secret due to its secret nature. Sources also state that other sources have leaked the existence of this secret to a secret selection of wrestling writers, who have reported that this secret is a very important secret that they know.
We in the wrestling journalism sphere believe that this secret, that will eventually be told in full when the time is right. Right now all you need to know is that this major secret exists and that we know what it is. You can also trust that as soon as this secret is revealed, we will tell you. For now, we can only post vague hints on social media that may or may not be relevant.
William Shatner Released
2020 WWE Hall of Famer, actor and noted transphobic moron William Shatner has been granted his WWE release this week. Nothing official has been posted on the WWE website since he is not a regularly active performer. His last major appearance was as the narrator on WWE Breaking Ground. My sources tell me that he asked for his release when Nick Khan was elected to the Board of Directors as Khan made him feel unsafe. It is also alleged that when asking for his release, he went into Vince’s office and yelled “KHAN!!!!” so loud that it could be heard from space.
Creative Team Shakeup For WWE/NJPW Deal
I can confirm that, presuming the WWE/NJPW deal goes through WWE and NJPW will be shaking up their creative team to come up with compelling, octane-filled storylines to get the deal over. The rumor at the moment is that graphic designer OverByDesign will be running the day-to-day booking for both companies. Sources say he will be planning to push Edge & Trish Stratus into the title picture, change the product of both companies to a TV-MA product and potentially running the Royal Rumble in the Tokyo Dome. All of these plans are rumors of course, but knowing OverByDesign, these all seem like very likely booking ideas.
AEW
Hook Considered for Sexiest Man Alive 2021
According to an internal leak from People Magazine, Team Tazz member and favorite of wrestling twitter Hook is being considered a potential Sexiest Man Alive contender in 2021. If he is voted in, he would be the youngest-ever winner of the honor at age 23. It will be very interesting to see if the #HookGang are able to use their collective power to make Hook Sexiest Man Alive in 2021.
IMPACT Wrestling
Potential New Developmental Deal With WWE
According to sources within IMPACT Wrestling, the company is planning to start a new developmental deal with the WWE. IMPACT has recently been bringing in a lot of former WWE Talent like the former Steve Cutler into their roster. With an official deal, IMPACT would send their newest signings to WWE to learn the ropes before they join the main roster of IMPACT Wrestling. They would also occasionally send main roster talent to Raw, SmackDown and NXT to wrestle some of the developmental talents.
If this deal does become reality, it will be interesting to see whether this affects IMPACT’s current relationship with OVW. It would also be interesting to see whether IMPACT makes changes to WWE booking in order to help build talent. It will also be interesting to see if IMPACT sign everyone in WWE to developmental deals or if WWE contains a mixture of developmental talent and people wrestling in WWE of their own accord.
Independents
GCW Being Sued For Crimes Against Animals
In a week where GCW is already being sued by IWTV for a breach of contract, GCW are also being sued by PETA. According to information available online, PETA is alleging that Kevin Gill’s commentary has been used to torture animals, particularly dogs. PETA have stated that Gill’s commentary is more abusive to animals than factory farming, animal testing and horse racing combined. PETA has suggested that Kevin Gill be removed from commentary and replaced by a cruelty-free alternative. A spokesperson from PETA stated he should be replaced by “someone with a love and care for animals… but not Austin Aries, since he’s a moron”. In addition to this request, PETA is also asking for 2 Million dollars in damages and 10,000 Fite.TV credits. Brett Lauderdale has yet to comment on this matter, although knowing him a bunch of tweets are incoming.
That’s all the scoops for this week. As always, thank you for reading the newsletter. I’ve been Trevor Ross Meltzenspan, see you next week~!
