WWE Legend Joins AEW, Vince McMahon Investigation ‘Complete’, CM Punk In-Ring Return Update – News Bulletin – November 3, 2022

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A WWE legend has joined AEW, WWE’s investigation into Vince McMahon is complete, an update on a potential CM Punk in-ring return, and more.

It is Thursday morning, the night after AEW Dynamite, and this is all the latest wrestling news in our bite-sized bulletin to get you up to speed on November 3, 2022.

WWE Hall Of Famer Jeff Jarrett Joins AEW

AEW Dynamite saw the surprise arrival of WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett.

Jay Lethal and Darby Allin opened the November 2 edition with a grudge match. Lethal enlisted help from Cole Karter (FKA Troy ‘Two Dimes’ Donovan in NXT), a former member of The Factory, who was decked out in a Sting mask with a baseball bat, to secure Lethal the win.

After Karter’s big reveal, Sting’s music hit. This turned out to be the cue for Jeff Jarrett’s AEW arrival. The wrestling promotor cut a biting promo, laying into Darby Allin, AEW, and the AEW fanbase.

Jarrett’s arrival comes after being released by WWE in August 2022, shortly after rejoining WWE in May 2022 when he was appointed as Senior Vice President of Live Events. The role has since been taken up by ‘Road Dogg’ Brian James at WWE.

Following Jarrett’s AEW arrival, AEW CEO Tony Khan confirmed Jarrett’s All Elite status and announced that in addition to a performing role, Jarrett had been appointed as AEW Director of Business Development.

With Jeff Jarrett drawing his battle lines, fans are gripped to see what he has in store both in-ring and behind the scenes.

Elsewhere on AEW Dynamite:

• The show opener was the aforementioned Allin vs Lethal match followed by Jarrett’s debut
• Another video aired to hype up the Elite’s upcoming return to TV, similar to last week with Omega and the Bucks being ‘erased’ from the screen
• Jon Moxley beat Lee Moriarty, but Moriarty’s ally in The Firm, Ethan Page, attacked Moxley post-match
• Daddy Ass’ Birthday Bash of course ended up turning into a brawl, setting up an eight-man tag match for next week with the Acclaimed and FTR against Swerve In Our Glory and Austin & Colten Gunn
• Colt Cabana made his AEW TV return as Chris Jericho’s mystery opponent for the ROH World Championship, though Jericho came out the winner
• The Jericho Appreciation Society was about to attack Ian Riccaboni, but Blackpool Combat Club made the save
• Orange Cassidy retained the AEW All-Atlantic Championship in a three-way against Luchasaurus and Rey Fenix, but Cassidy was attacked by Pac post-match
• Katsuyori Shibata then made a shock appearance, setting up Cassidy vs Shibata for the championship on Rampage this Friday
• Jade Cargill retained the TBS Championship over Marina Shafir, although Cargill was mad at Kiera Hogan for letting Nyla Rose steal the belt again
• A haunting video aired with Julia Hart resurrecting the rest of the House Of Black marking their return to TV
• Samoa Joe retained the ROH TV Championship against Brian Cage in the main event – Wardlow then saved Joe from an attack by the Embassy post-match, but Wardlow himself was then jumped by Powerhouse Hobbs, who wants the TNT Championship

WWE Statement Confirms Vince McMahon Investigation ‘Complete’

The investigation into Vince McMahon allegedly issuing hush money payments to former female employees of WWE is now ‘complete’ according to a statement from WWE.

The internal investigation was carried out as a result of an article in the Wall Street Journal detailing allegations of misconduct against Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. This led to McMahon stepping down as WWE CEO in June 2022 and subsequently retiring the following month.

WWE’s statement came ahead a call on November 2 filing and discussing their earnings for the third quarter of 2022. The filing confirmed the ending of the investigation, and is quoted as saying:

“The Special Committee investigation is now complete and the Special Committee has been disbanded. Management is working with the Board to implement the recommendations of the Special Committee related to the investigation.”

Read the full report on this story right here. Now the investigation is complete, some are speculating what this means for Vince McMahon’s role and presence in WWE going forward. McMahon still has a controlling interest in WWE and is a stockholder, according to the full statement.

According to Fighftul Select (subscription required), a McMahon return is seemingly ruled out as a source reports that the former CEO is “done, done” with the company. Another source, who was described as a longtime WWE employee, went as far as to say that those in charge believe McMahon’s return would be a “major step back” for the company.

Following McMahon’s departure, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque took on Chief Creative Officer duties while Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan became joint CEOs, with Stephanie as Chairwoman.

CM Punk In-Ring Return Update

CM Punk is never too far away from headlines, and that continues to be the case in this latest bulletin update. Previously, Nick Hausman on Wrestling Observer Radio reported that he’d heard from people close to Punk who believed that he has no plans to wrestle again.

However, a recent update has emerged from Fightful Select (subscription required), who have heard from sources ‘close’ to Punk that he has “caught the wrestling bug, again.” Further, the source suggested that options were available to him, should Punk wish to return.

It seems that a CM Punk return cannot be ruled out. Either way, fans will not be expecting to see him in action any time soon as he is recovering from tricep surgery after sustaining the injury during his match with Jon Moxley at AEW All Out.

WrestleTalk will of course keep you posted on this ever-evolving situation.

Other Stuff

In an update on Shinsuke Nakamura’s match for NOAH against the Great Muta in January, according to Wrestling Inc, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque approached NOAH about the Great Muta’s availability, and in turn, NOAH consulted with Sonny Onoo over any issues regarding the set-up. Onoo is quoted as saying: “Noah wanted to protect the newly developing relationship with AEW. I made sure they were no objections from various promotions.” 

Former WWE writer Brian Gerwirtz speculated in an interview with SEScoops that The Rock’s filming hiatus in early 2023 may not necessarily be for a WWE return, but for the upcoming launch of his XFL football league which he and his partners acquired from Vince McMahon in 2020, so let’s not get too excited just yet.

Speaking on the NotSam podcast, Matt Cardona said that if he was to return to WWE, he would have to return under his current ring name, as his former gimmick Zack Ryder would need to be written out as ‘dead.’ He said: “But if I ever go back, I think it has to be as me, as Matt Cardona.”

WWE has announced Showmax as the new streaming home for sub-Saharan Africa in an extension to their partnership with MultiChoice.

In another WWE-related announcement, the promotion revealed during its third-earning conference call that it will be launching a talent search in Africa, kicking off in Nigeria next week.

 

WWE’s Bianca Belair and Montez Ford, who are a real-life couple, will feature in a new Hulu series made with WWE Studios. Production is said to be underway and the first series will reportedly run for eight episodes and will air sometime in 2023.

Dana Brooke has proposed an interesting change to the 24/7 championship. Speaking to Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston, the 15-time reigning 24/7 champ said she hopes to see the title become a women’s intercontinental title.

And finally, in another tidbit from the WWE third quarter earning conference call, Paul Levesque discussed his creative outlook long-term for WWE storylines and talent. The Chief Content Officer reported that he is looking at long-term plans for WrestleMania 40 and beyond, with a focus on character development, NXT main roster call-ups, and names making their returns to Raw and SmackDown. You can read more on Triple H’s creative plans right here.

Be sure to stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com throughout the day to keep up with all the news from the world of pro wrestling, and we’ll be back tomorrow morning for another round-up.

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