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Do you expect New Day at AEW's PPV this weekend?
As I have said on PWInsiderElite.com audio, I'd be shocked if they didn't appear in some fashion this weekend. I would even bet on it, that's how certain I am. The timing is beyond perfect and it's the sort of thing that would add excitement to the show and makes logicial sense Tony Khan would want them. My gut on this is as strong as it was when Edge returned to WWE in the Royal Rumble a few years ago. We will see soon enough!
Where has Leyla Hirsh been since leaving AEW?
Hirsch has been wrestling on occasion on the independent scene. I am pretty surprised no one else has picked her up.
I saw that Rockstar Spud is wrestling on a Progress show in September. Is he no longer working for WWE or is this a case of WWE approving his appearance beforehand?
He is still with WWE on their creative team.
Steph DeLander just posting that she wont work PRODUCE shows anymore. Joey Janela with numerous issues with Orange Crush. Any word on what is going on with all that?
Janela had a falling out with PRODUCE promoter Adam Abdalla in the wake of his flight to their last show getting canceled and he and Abdalla having a bad back and forth conversation via text. From seeing texts that Janela posted, no one came off well in the exchange (in my opinion) and Abdalla was accused of speaking wrongly towards people in the wake of that situation. Janela, obviously looking for blood, has dropped accusations against Abdalla on Twitter since they had that falling out. One was Abdalla's alleged behavior towards women, claiming he had six women who had come to him after he pulled off PRODUCE's show about Abdalla. DeLander announced she would not be working for PRODUCE going forward around this time.
Abdalla responded to Janela's accusations on ArtNet, which covers the world of art culture (the realm Abdalla works in full-time), stating, "No, it’s not true at all,” then accused Janela of “engaging in low-level corporate espionage on behalf of a rival wrestling promotion, spouting off countless lies, fabrications, and embellishments in an effort to run me out of wrestling.” Abdalla's comment would be a reference to Brett Lauderdale's GCW, which Abdalla had been working with before launching PRODUCE, with the creation of the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame, co-promoting and booking JCW events and likely other things I'm not aware of.
Janela also stated on Twitter that Abdalla and the promotion had been kicked out of Brooklyn, NY's Pioneerworks, which hosted their first event. The Artnet piece noted that Pioneer Works' Gabriel Florenz (listed as the venue/museum's founding artistic and executive director) told them that was not the case and that Abdalla "remains welcome." So, Janela was wrong in that regard, according to Florenz.
Abdalla has also since announced he had been diagnosed with being bipolar and was stepping away to put the promotion in "steady hands" while he was dealing with treatment. Who those steady hands will be has not been yet announced.
My feeling, on the outside looking in, is that Abdalla likely rubbed people the wrong way, probably with a mix of how he dealt with people (there's no denying on Twitter some of his behavior was abrasive) and by being so grandiose with his plans and execution, and that led to the issues with Janela, who had previously been friends with him. If there's anything to the allegations, which again Abdalla has denied, there's something deeper going on here, but there's been nothing beyond Janela's claims thus far that have come up - that I am currently aware of - from those in pro wrestling.
If you were on social media where this all played out, it overshadowed what had been some good first events produced by PRODUCE and if this sort of thing continues, I do wonder what the long-term potential of that company will be. Independent squabbles between companies, especially when there are falling-outs between former friends, is certainly nothing new to pro wrestling on any level. I just hope any talents working for the two groups don't get caught in the middle.
Where would Joey Marella wound up in WWF/WWE if he hadn't tragically passed? Was he destined to be more than a ref?
My feeling is he would have landed a role as a road agent and been with the company as long as he wanted.
Is the current Mistico the former Sin Cara in WWE and if so, why did he suck in WWE?
It's the same performer. I don't know know what happened, but my guess is it's a mix of eh creative, a hardship with switching to the WWE style and just bad luck. It wasn't all that different from KENTA not clicking as Hideo Itami. Sometimes, not everyone can shine everywhere they work. For Mistico, his return to that character in CMLL just hit right and I don't think anyone will really recall his failed Sin Cara run when they discuss his legacy and career.
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