Barnyashev solid hire by AEW
Miro Barnyashev made his AEW debut on Wednesday鈥檚 edition of Dynamite and the hire is a 鈥済ood get鈥� for the company.
Who, you ask, is Barnyashev?
He was known as Rusev in WWE since making his debut at the 2014 Royal Rumble in Pittsburgh.
Horribly underused and booked terribly during most of his run in WWE as Rusev, Miro was a two-time United States champion and appeared ready for a breakout role a few years back, but as is the case for whatever reason, Vince McMahon decided to not listen to fans as they clamored for 鈥淩usev Day.鈥�
It appeared Rusev was pegged for stardom by fans, but McMahon once again decided to not create a star that the fans clamored for.
Hopefully AEW does right by Miro, but it will have to take its time in establishing him.
WWE did a wonderful job, sarcastic tone injected, of giving the fans less than no reason to care about 鈥淭he Bulgarian Brute.鈥�
All Out thoughts
While on the subject of AEW, it delivered an above average All Out show last Saturday.
A handful of matches ran longer than needed (note: Young Bucks every time they wrestle), but the show advanced storylines as needed.
MJF put in a solid effort against Jon Moxley, and it is a safe bet that the 24-year old MJF is going to be a player for a long time to come.
AEW returns to PPV when it presents Full Gear on Nov. 7.
New WWE edict
WWE has informed its talents that moving forward, if they use their 鈥渘ames and likenesses in ways that are detrimental鈥� to WWE with third parties must cease doing so by Oct. 2 and if they do not, they will risk fines, suspension or termination.
Basically, WWE is taking away the rights of its talents to use free speech while portraying a character created by the company.
Word is that the last straw was when Lana did an energy drink commercial that is airing online. This contradicts WWE having other energy drink sponsors.
Mass WWE releases
In a move that was not a surprise, WWE released a handful of agents Thursday and over 60 total employees.
However, the agents released are a little surprising.
The first name released was Gerald Briscoe, a longtime WWE employee behind the scenes. Briscoe, known on TV during the Attitude Era as one of Mr. McMahon鈥檚 stooges, was an accomplished wrestler until retiring in the mid-1980s. He had been with WWE since 1984.
Also released was Mike Rotundo, father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. He had been with WWE as an agent and producer since 2006.
Rotundo is a former WWE tag champion as one-half of the U.S. Express with Barry Windham and was later known in WWE as IRS, where he was a multi-time tag champ with Ted DiBiase.
When not in WWE, Rotundo wrestled in the NWA and WCW, where he had solid singles and tag team runs as a mid-card champion.
Furloughed in April, the writing was on the wall for Rotundo, although the internal hope had been that he would be brought back.
But, with WWE not having any live event shows on the road, there isn鈥檛 a need for as many agents. The last agent released Thursday was Sarah Stock.
Tag team gone from WWE
WWE has released The Authors of Pain.
WWE wins court appeal
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City dismissed an attempt to resurrect the concussion-related lawsuit against WWE on Wednesday afternoon.
Who made the Forbes 400 list?
Shadid Khan, father of AEW鈥檚 Tony Khan, ranked 66th on the Forbes 400 billionaires list, while McMahon, with a net worth of $1.8 billion, fell off the list after making it last year.
On This Day 鈥�
In 1999, Vince McMahon defeated Triple H to win the WWE championship on Smackdown.
In 2001, WWE runs the first live entertainment event two days after the attacks on 9/11.
This week鈥檚 question
Did anyone really think Matt Hardy would lose at All Out and have to leave AEW? He just got there. Who cares, any? He is so overrated. And, why was his match restarted after he got hurt? Bobby, California.
I thought the stipulation was odd and it did not make sense for them to tease Hardy would leave. As far as him being overrated, I can see where fans think that.
After Hardy hit his head on concrete during the match, it was restarted because the ringside doctor allowed it to happen. But considering Hardy was in the hospital from after the match until Sunday afternoon, it was not a good look for AEW.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.