Sheamus likely leaves WWE amid creative struggles, CM Punk stays a focus

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When did Sheamus realize that WWE’s bad creative had nothing for him? Let’s see what today’s rumors have to say about it! Top rumor of the day: New details on Sheamus leaving WWE According to WrestleVotes Radio, someone who ranks high up in WWE “went to bat” for Sheamus to explain his value to TKO, which included outside-of-the-ring factors. That approach was apparently not successful, as the main reason why he’s gone from WWE now is over financial terms. For whatever it’s worth, Ibou of Self Made Sessions was told that Sheamus “gave up on WWE creative” during the build to WrestleMania 41 when they didn’t follow through on a plan for him to chase Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental championship. It was around that same time when Sheamus, New Day, and “a number of other veterans” realized things changed for the worse in WWE in the Netflix era in terms of their usage, as well as a lack of communication with Triple H and the office. Despite his belief that “creative was cooked,” Sheamus planned to ride it out as long as the money remained the same. That’s why he pushed to work with Rusev, with the goal of eventually tagging with him. Fast forward to today, and it sounds like the Celtic Warrior is open to working for AEW if the right situation presents itself, even if that is on a short-term basis. While there is a feeling among AEW talent that the roster is already too big and there isn’t enough TV time to go around for Sheamus, there is some speculation that Tony Khan could “help facilitate Sheamus working with their talent outside of AEW to garner attention for himself.” That could mean Claudio Castagnoli and Sheamus reuniting as The Bar in CMLL, for example. The rest of the rumors! WrestleVotes claims that NBCUniversal has wanted WWE Champion CM Punk to be a featured star on SmackDown for “well over a year,” and there is a belief that his presence can turn around the show’s momentum. A source in WWE creative indicates that Punk’s title reign won’t be a short one, unlike Sami Zayn. A conversation between Kliq This hosts Kevin Nash and Sean Oliver has fueled speculation that Zayn was one of the high paid WWE stars who agreed to take a pay cut. This came about after Oliver incorrectly said it was publicly reported that Zayn took a pay cut, to which Nash replied that he “heard” that as well. Oliver went on to suggest that maybe WWE rewarded Zayn for taking a pay cut by making him WWE champion. Votes heard WWE was considering an international location for Survivor Series 2026, but those plans fell apart. Negotiations to host the show in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, also didn’t work out due to financial reasons. It’s expected that WWE will announce a location and venue for Survivor Series before SummerSlam takes place on August 1. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Bryan Alvarez said Jack Perry was “days away from being done” before he re-signed with AEW. WWE sources indicated to Fightful Select that the company never really discussed signing him as a free agent, because he isn’t seen as a good fit for the promotion. F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer thinks Perry would be laying around backstage like Johnny Gargano if he ended up in WWE. Alvarez was told that it was “fucking hot” at AEW Dynamite Beach Break, and a lot of wrestlers on the show were “miserable.” Per Fightful and Ella Jay, WWE is expected to sign the Dropouts. They are an Australian tag team consisting of Scott Green and The Tuckman, who participated in WWE tryouts earlier this year. Discuss these rumors and others in the comments below, and share your takes on any topic in The Feed!

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There has been a lot of talk about Sami Zayn possibly being one of the WWE wrestlers who agreed to take a huge pay cut. Let’s see what today’s rumors have to say about it! Top rumor of the day: Sami Zayn pay cut Speculation about Sami Zayn accepting a 50% pay cut from WWE has run wild on the internet based on a conversation that Kevin Nash and Sean Oliver had on their Kliq This podcast. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has now chimed in on this juicy rumor with a couple of additional tidbits. As far as the WWE pay cuts are concerned, Dave Meltzer writes that Zayn’s “name was brought up internally to me but never as 100 percent” confirmed. Meltzer was told that the pay cuts applied to wrestlers “who were going to be cut because creative had nothing for them but they would give them a new deal at a decreased rate to see if something popped up.” Zayn doesn’t fit that description very well, because unlike Sheamus or New Day, he is regularly featured on WWE’s weekly programming, even if he isn’t always pushed as a top guy. In other words, WWE creative pretty much always has something for The Last Real Good Guy. Even so, Meltzer notes that “this would not be the first, or fifth [time] for that matter” that Sami Zayn’s name has been brought up on the topic of these WWE pay cuts. Make of that what you will in the comments below. The rest of the rumors! According to The Observer, this week’s world championship match (and high stakes stipulation) between MJF and Kenny Omega was originally planned for the main event of the AEW Redemption pay-per-view in Montreal on July 26. It’s believed that MJF is the one who pushed for the match to be moved up to Dynamite Beach Break. The fact that Tony Khan went along with the idea means he “must feel he’s got something PPV worthy” to replace it at Redemption. Per The Observer, the plan for the WWE championship match at SummerSlam “was always” CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes. WrestleVotes claims that the slow ticket sales for SummerSlam have been “a hot topic” and “a concern internally” for weeks within WWE. On The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, AJ Styles said he was supposed to retain the United States championship against Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground 2017. However, Styles botched the finish when he didn’t get his shoulder up before the referee counted to three. AJ didn’t believe he screwed it up until Vince McMahon made someone show him a replay of the ending. Fightful Select mentioned that AEW originals the Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds) have all re-signed with the promotion and are under new contracts. WWE filed to trademark the term “The Nomad,” which is almost certainly related to Baron Corbin’s surprise return to the promotion. When asked about why Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley wrestled in a filler tag team match on the loaded Dynamite Beach Break card that had a long overrun, Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer said it’s because they are two of AEW’s four biggest ratings draws. Discuss these rumors in the comments below, and share your takes on any topic in The Feed!