Lacey Evans Plans
There were big plans for Lacey Evans before her pregnancy. WWE sources indicated to Fightful that the plan was for her to defeat Asuka at WWE Elimination Chamber for the WWE Raw Women's Title.Evans would have then continued her feud with Charlotte Flair, that was planned to continue through at least WrestleMania. I believe Ric Flair has also noted there were tentative plans for him to get physical in the angle, but he couldn't get cleared to do it. Those that we've spoken to in WWE said those were more ambitious plans from Flair himself than their own. The angle has been dropped altogether with no imminent plans to resume it as of this week.
Raw Match
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus caught the attention of wrestling fans on Monday Night Raw, as their 24-minute match tore the virtual house down. Higher ups in WWE that we spoke to said that they were pleased with the match, and noted specifically Sheamus' in-ring hot streak of late. We're told that a large portion of the match was called in the ring as well.
Parker Boudreaux
There is a ton of buzz around the Brock Lesnar-esque Parker Boudreaux, with a ton of questions about him being fast-tracked. Several WWE Performance Center sources have told us that people should probably pump their brakes on that. Boudreaux very clearly wanted to come into WWE and was excited to join, but we are told that he is "extremely early" in learning the wrestling business itself and came in with very little knowledge of the basics and what goes into them. This isn't out of the ordinary by any stretch, and happens with plenty of recruits and new signings, but as of now, we're told there is plenty of work to be done on that front
Sami Zayn
If you wanted more of Sami Zayn and his documentary story, you're in luck. He'd mentioned that he can't wait for everyone to see what he has in store, linking to a WWE Network tweet. We've been told this is an actual WWE Network-Peacock production being put forth, and that there have also been talks of using it as a video package on Smackdown.
Ashley Vox
Ashley Vox has made appearances for IMPACT, All Elite Wrestling and was supposed to for Ring of Honor in the past year. Ahead of a big match at Limitless Double Vision, Ashley Vox told Fightful that there are currently no talks for her to return to IMPACT Wrestling. She said that she and her sister Delmi Exo -- The Sea Stars -- go with the flow of things, and she's open to it. Vox also noted she'd love to work NWA again and really enjoyed the experience there.
Vox told us that she didn't know who she would be working at the AEW tapings in December until she got to the venue. When she found out she'd be working Thunder Rosa, she was relieved. We've also learned independently of the interview that Vox was supposed to wrestle Anna Jay at those tapings, but that's where Jay had originally sustained her shoulder injury.
When Vox was at the tapings, she said that she got tons of feedback from Dustin Rhodes, who helps out heavily with the women's division. Tony Khan also took time to talk to her and give her feedback. She said that she really liked the AEW locker room and hoped to come back. She and her sister Delmi had not been contacted for last year's women's tag team tournament.
Bad Luck Fall
Bad Luck Fale's Making A Finisher drops this week, and it was one I was glad to make work. He was motivated by the Razor's Edge, which is obviously the origin of the move. Fale admitted that he tries to heave everyone as far as he possibly can, but that Rocky Romero has the record. In recent years he's switched to the Grenade, but says he'll still break out the Bad Luck Fall if the occasion calls for it. The Grenade didn't have the impact that he wanted initially, which led him to developing a Razor's Edge where he just threw the opponent. He joked that most people don't want to take the move and he wondered if he would even be able to do it to Lance Archer, but figured out a way.
Riddle Update
On WWE Raw, Matt Riddle took a nasty spill at the end of the match when the finish with Mustafa Ali went awry. We're told that he's fine, and didn't seem injured coming through the curtain after his match on Monday. Riddle also got new "stallion" themed side plates for the WWE United States Championship.
AEW Leaker
There was a lot of heat on whoever the Reddit AEW tapings leaker is that posted results to several episodes of their show in 2020. Several wrestlers have spoken to Fightful directly to find out who the leaker was, and informed us that an internal meeting was held regarding the situation towards the end of the year. It is no longer believed that the person doing it is a wrestler for a variety of reasons, but was once speculated to be Tino Sabbattelli. However, the leaks continued after he returned to WWE from the same Reddit account, so that isn't the person in question. The heat towards the anonymous leaker was said to have been "nuclear," but one person we spoke with noted that because the person was not familiar with Brodie Lee's health status in December, that many don't think it's a wrestler.
Completely separate of that situation, is the surprise signing for AEW Revolution of Christian. Talent were being trusted with the information, and many of them know who it was, but hadn't even told close family, or friends. Ahead of the reveal, Fightful was told that the signing was "shocking, in a good way."
Christian
Christian made his AEW debut and signed with the company Sunday. Talent on the WWE side told us they weren't aware for sure of the signing, but had their suspicions considering he was absent from programming since the Royal Rumble. Higher ups in WWE told Fightful that Christian not being referenced on WWE TV wasn't a coincidence and that while they were let down that Christian made the move, it was on the company for not having a contract locked down.
One talent we heard back from spoke highly of Christian as a person, and said that if it makes him happy, they're happy for him.
Contrary to the segment where Paul Wight indicated that Tony Khan, he and Christian were the only ones who knew, we're told that several talent in AEW were aware but kept it a tight lipped secret.
Marty Scurll
It was revealed by Super J-Cast that Marty Scurll will not be used on New Japan Pro Wrestling Strong tapings as originally planned. NJPW responded to the online response to the news of his involvement, but there were several members of the roster who weren't thrilled with his involvement either. Fightful heard from numerous people who worked the tapings that said if they would have been made aware of Scrull's involvement ahead of time, they would have made it clear that they didn't want to work at the tapings. Everything at the actual tapings was said to have been fine, and without incident.
More on "thigh slapping" ban in WWE
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that wrestlers were getting fined or punished for "thigh slapping" their strikes, and that a memo was sent to NXT talent to advise against it. Fightful can't confirm the fines, but last week, we were told that a sign was up at WWE events with big, bold letters that said "NO THIGH SLAPPING." The memo was sent out to talent in February.
