Wrestling Rumor Reactions: Road Dogg steps down, AEW on my TV?

The world of wrestling rumors is a fast paced minefield, with WWE, Impact, NJPW, AEW and many more promotions constantly ushering in talent signing and releases, planning matches or other spectacles and shifting their backstage building blocks. Let’s see if we can make sense of what’s going on, shall we?

I’m Tom Colohue and these are your Wrestling Rumor Reactions.

Sasha Banks Is Walking Away

So everyone and their dog is telling me that Sasha Banks is leaving WWE to go to AEW and that Bayley is going to follow her. Let’s take a more in-depth look at the available facts that have come out so far, shall we?

The Wrestling Observer have reported that Sasha Banks wants, or wanted, to leave and that people became aware of this around WrestleMania time. Supposedly, both Banks and Bayley were under the impression that they would have a prolonged title run with the tag team titles that they lost to the IIconics at the showcase of immortals. Vince McMahon is, of course, well known for changing his mind at this time of year leading into the shakeup season.

Fightful expand on this with a report that Sasha Banks’ situation is similar to that of The Revival in January. The Revival asked for their release but were asked to give the company a little time because the changes they sought were already in the pipeline. It will be interesting to see what comes next in that regard.

Sources at Fightful stated that they would be surprised to see Banks released. I have to agree with this. Despite being out of the main event picture for a while, Sasha Banks is consistently one of the most promoted talents on the WWE roster, particularly when it comes to media appearances and company representation. In terms of talent recognition she is up near the top for WWE and I doubt anyone there wants to see her go.

The story started to get stranger as time went on. Ryan Satin of the Pro Wrestling Sheet tweeted the following on Friday night:

Now this is certainly possible and, if true, should not be blown out of proportions. I’m sure we’ve all vocalized unhappiness and been overheard before. I would be very surprised if any wrestler was happy losing a title and, if they were, I would think that they’re in the wrong line of work.

Finally, there’s been a fun little quirky story going around that Sasha Banks’ gear, designed by her husband Sarath Ton, has been created to represent the white and gold colors of AEW.

To those people I would just like to suggest that they look at the WWE women’s tag team titles. You might see a familiar color scheme.

AEW TV Offers

Another thing we’re hearing a lot about is All Elite Wrestling’s proposed TV offer from the Turner network. The Wrap offers details from their internal sources stating that the deal is not signed and “not imminent”.

The Wrestling Observer also weighed in on this subject, stating that: “At last report, there was a deal from within the Turner group and a second proposal from another group on the table”.

Finally, a little further clarity came from the Rajah.com Twitter account:

So this one’s still very up in the air but we should know very soon where AEW is going to be broadcast. Knowing The Elite, I’m sure they’ll formally announce something on YouTube the second they have something to tell.

Road Dogg Resigns

One of SmackDown Live’s creative leads, the co-lead writer known to WWE fans as Road Dogg Jesse James, has chosen to step down from that position. This is according to a report from PWInsider which goes into further detail.

Sources have indicated to them that Road Dogg’s reasons were mainly based around his personal frustration with Vince McMahon altering prepared scripts either late in the day – or quite literally at the last possible second. It is a recognized part of the WWE hierarchy that Vince McMahon maintains control over everything that happens in his company.

Whether Road Dogg has chosen to leave the company entirely or not remains to be seen. If so, we wish him well in his next pursuit. In my personal opinion, last season’s SmackDown Live presented some incredibly compelling television.

Bobby Back To Bellator

Bobby Lashley recently took part in an interview with Sky Sports in which he discussed Conor McGregor, his time with Bellator, and his potential future this summer.

I would recommend watching the 90-ish second video as Lashley actually shows himself to be a much more accomplished speaker in the interview than WWE would have you think, but here are the key quotes in question from Sky Sports.

“I think I am still probably going to do a couple more before it’s all said and done.”

“I am still under contract at Bellator also, and if I go back I will give them a call and possibly go after Bader. I don’t want to wait too long, time is ticking.”

Lashley made specific reference to this year’s SummerSlam when discussing a potential time frame.

What rumors in the wrestling world are catching your eye? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.