Getting a grip: WWE releases; Survivor Series teams form; Bound for Glory weekend

Brian Fritz

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Getting a grip: WWE releases; Survivor Series teams form; Bound for Glory weekend image

Each week, Sporting News runs down the biggest stories in the world of professional wrestling.

Emma, Darren Young, Summer Rae released

WWE announced this past Sunday that Emma, Summer Rae, and Darren Young were being released while wishing them “the best in all of their future endeavors”.

The timing of the announcement was a bit odd on several fronts. Only ten days earlier, Emma squared off against Asuka at WWE TLC and given a fair share of offense in what was the main roster debut for the Japanese superstar. The two had a rematch the following night on "RAW" that Asuka also won.

Meanwhile, Darren Young was part of “WWE Night” for the LA Clippers game at the Staples Center the night before he was let go.

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Young’s best work arguably came as one-half of The Prime Time Players along with Titus O’Neill but never got on track as a singles wrestler including a short, ill-fated period with Bob Backlund as his mentor. He underwent elbow surgery earlier this year and the creative team did not have anything for him once he was healthy.

Summer Rae hadn’t been in a featured role on TV since 2015 when she was part of a love triangle storyline with Rusev and Lana followed by her introducing her “new man” Tyler Breeze and briefly acting as his manager before they were split up. She had dealt with various injuries and had not performed in over a year.

Emma, in particular, feels like a lost opportunity given her in-ring skills that were best showcased during her time in NXT and legitimately helping start the women’s revolution along with Paige. Add to that her supermodel looks and it feels like a winning recipe for WWE and their marketing machine. But something didn’t click along the way and now she is on the outside.

Emma should have no problem finding work on the indies if she wants to continue in wrestling. My suggestion: a member of Bullet Club if the group is looking for a female presence.

Teams shaping up for Survivor Series

Both Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon are returning to the ring sooner than expected. The two will each captain their respective teams in the “RAW vs. SmackDown Live" 5-on-5 match at Survivor Series.

Angle made his big WWE in-ring return at the recent TLC event to fill in for Roman Reigns who remains out of action with a viral illness. Stephanie McMahon demanded that Angle head up the "RAW" team on Monday’s show after their roster was jumped the previous week by the blue brand. WWE must have felt good about Angle’s performance, and rightfully so, to put him back in the ring so quickly.

With Angle in the match, it was no surprise that Shane was added on the opposite side. Still, it is a bit perplexing that WWE never played up his latest missed plunge off the top of the Hell in a Cell and kept him sidelined for an extended period of time to heal up.

The "SmackDown" Commissioner also announced the rest of his team that will include Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bobby Roode. The only official members of the red team right now are Angle and Braun Strowman with Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor expected to round out the squad.

It adds up to what could be a fantastic match between the two brands, making it even more important that something more than bragging rights should be on the line.

Angle will once again be part of a team at Survivor Series and he can continue to work himself back into ring shape. WWE would be wise to wait until WrestleMania before he has a singles match and the timing feels right. Angle is just beginning a feud with Stephanie McMahon and that could build to a match with her husband, Triple H, at the big April event.

Impact Wrestling cuts, Bound for Glory weekend

It’s supposed to be the biggest weekend of the year for Impact Wrestling with its biggest annual pay-per-view event, Bound for Glory taking place on Sunday in Ottawa, Canada. Yet a cloud continues to hang over the brand with parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment struggling financially.

Referees Robert Moore and Brian Hebner recently announced they have parted ways with the company. Add to that the talented and entertaining Rockstar Spud who quietly received his release several weeks ago.

More cuts are likely coming with the company in cost-cutting mode. James Storm told Sporting News over the summer that he is on a two-year deal with Impact Wrestling that is set to expire in January and the “Cowboy” made be too pricey to keep.

This is all a precursor of Anthem likely moving the Impact offices from Nashville to its home base of Toronto where it can utilize the production offices of The Fight Network, which it also owns.

Speaking of The Fight Network, it has not been absent from cuts as Anthem tries to make something of the Impact brand. A huge portion of its staff was laid off earlier this year and this week, Anthem made the decision to end the popular Canadian-based Live Audio Wrestling radio show which was broadcasting in Toronto and Vancouver.

It marks the end of an era with The LAW debuting all the way back in 1997. The show, which originally included Jeff Marek and was currently hosted by Dan Lovranski, John Pollock, and Jason Agnew, earned a legion of faithful fans that stayed up late on Sunday nights to listen to their insightful discussion of wrestling and MMA.

Pollock and Wai Ting — who also host online Raw and SmackDown recaps — were both let go from their duties with The Fight Network earlier this week.

Impact is moving forward and set for Bound for Glory this Sunday at Aberdeen Pavillion followed by five straight days of television tapings.

The lineup for this show looks like this:

— Impact Global Championship: Eli Drake vs. Johnny Impact

— Knockouts Championship: Sienna vs. Allie vs. Gail Kim

— X-Division Champion six-way match: Trevor Lee vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Garza Jr.

— Street fight for Impact World Tag Team Titles: Ohio Versus Everything vs. The Latin American Xchange

— Six Sides of Steel: Moose and Stephan Bonnar vs. Bobby Lashley and King Mo

— Monster’s Ball: Abyss vs. Grado

— Red Wedding match: Rosemary vs. Taya Valkyrie

— Six-man tag team match: Team Impact (Eddie Edwards, EC3 and James Storm) vs. Team AAA (El Hijo del Fantasma, Texano, and Pagano)

Drake has done an admirable job as champion and deserved the opportunity to be in the top spot. The company desperately needs an infusion of new faces and talented in-ring workers to breath some life into the promotion. That will not be easy considering the financial constraints Anthem is dealing with while trying to right the ship.

News and notes

— Now that Rockstar Spud is gone from Impact, he could find himself in the WWE soon. Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reported this week that Spud — real name James Curtin — is being pursued by WWE to join "205 Live." He adds that Japanese star Hideo Itami may be called up from NXT to join the division.

Both would help energize "205 Live" but WWE needs to focus on better storylines and allowing the talent to showcase their incredible skills more.

— And just like that, it was over. Nikki Bella was bounced from “Dancing With the Stars” on Monday after judges weren’t impressed enough with her witchcraft-themed dance that only scored a 24. After a bumpy start, Nikki and her partner began to impress and made it to the final four.

— Expect some huge doings for the "RAW's" 25th anniversary show on Jan. 22. The company already announced the decision to broadcast the live show from two locations — Barclays Center and Manhattan Center — with legends including Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and The Undertaker appearing at the latter location. Others will be added (Ric Flair?) but the big question is will the “Dead Man” announce his return to the ring or was his loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 his swan song?

— The NWA has released the latest video in its “Ten Pounds of Gold” documentary series with new owner William Patrick Corgan (the name Billy Corgan prefers to use now) discussing what the NWA means to him as a longtime wrestling fan.

— Congrats to the Houston Astros on the first-ever World Series championship. To the victors go the spoils as they’ll be receiving a custom WWE Championship title.

As a Cubs fan, I prefer the one handed out last year but the entire city of Houston deserved it this season.

Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

Brian Fritz

Brian Fritz Photo

Brian Fritz is a contributor with The Sporting News covering the NBA and NFL who previously worked at BasketballNews. He is a 20-year veteran of sports talk radio in Orlando, Florida, after graduating from the University of Central Florida. He now resides in Durham, North Carolina.