Austin Aries Makes NXT Debut

A little earlier than expected, Austin Aries made his NXT debut at last night’s TV tapings from the University of Central Florida. He was immediately put in to a storyline with Baron Corbin who jumped him as he made his way to the ring. WWE shared the following video of his entrance:

TNA Left Looking Bitter Over AJ Styles

Unprofessional is perhaps the only way to describe TNA’s recent public press release calling out AJ Styles for exercising his right to sign with another company. Styles had been in talks with Dixie prior to jumping to WWE, but he ultimately decided to go where the money and the fame is. Bitter at his decision, TNA issued a statement insinuating Styles had done something wrong. Of course if he’d actually signed a TNA deal and broke the agreement he would be in lawsuit right about now, so Dixie is just whining.

AJ’s manager Bill Behrens weighed in on the situation in a statement to PWInsider.com:

No contract was ever finalized nor signed by the parties.

That I would need to be involved in the contract process was known by TNA prior to my involvement and understood by them.

TNA and its 1st lawyer did not present in a timely fashion a contract that accurately reflected previous discussions at all. That created great concern tied to past experiences. In that time and prior there was other interest and there were other firm offers on the table and other discussions.

TNA was aware of other interest and various conflicts. TNA was aware a final contract was required. It was creating that contract and controlled that timetable. Too much time passed early on. Other things came into play. No contract was ever finalized with TNA.

To suggest I make any decision for my clients is to misunderstand my role and diminish the role each talent has in making their own decisions, and insults the talent in the process.

The latest word is that AJ will be in town for the Royal Rumble, which likely means he’ll debut as an entrant.

How Scripted Are The New Day?

In a recent interview with the Tech Times Xavier Woods was asked how scripted New Day’s segments are:

“A good bit of it is on the fly — about 80 percent of it. We have a general idea of what we want to say to somebody, but we have been riding together for over a year now, so we’re on the road a minimum five days a week. We’re riding together, we’re working out together, we have our shows together, so I see these guys more than I see anybody else in my life. So, down to the music we listen to, the podcasts we listen to, the radio stuff we listen to, the shows that we watch … we’re all very, very in tune with each other because we’re around each other so much.

“Yes, it sounds very cliché, but we could finish each other’s sentences, finish each other thoughts. You know what you want to say, your friends also know what you want to say, so it makes it very difficult for someone to attack us from any angles because we have not one, but three brains on the same wavelength. It makes for exciting, funny stuff to us because we’re all friends, we’re making each other laugh and then we’re able to denounce our opponent live on television [laughing].”