News

WWE News: Becky Lynch on Raw, Arn Anderson Released, Video with New WWE Producers, Matt Hardy Contract

By John Canton • Published 22nd February 2019
TJR Wrestling

There are a few news items to share with you this Friday morning. To lead us off, Monday’s Raw in Atlanta is expected to see another appearance from “The Man” Becky Lynch, reports Mike Johnson of PWInsider. What we don’t know is if WWE will advertise it by saying she’s been invited, but since she is “suspended” in the storyline, they may not mention her at all.

Raw will also feature the 70th birthday celebration of Ric Flair, who Lynch has borrowed “The Man” nickname from. It was Flair who said, for decades, that “to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man” while referring to himself as The Man. That’s something Charlotte Flair has mentioned as well by saying that Lynch stole the nickname from Charlotte’s dad.

Speaking of Charlotte Flair, even though she’s a Smackdown superstar, I would expect her to be on Raw for her father’s birthday celebration as well. Plus, she’s scheduled to face Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania, so it makes sense for Flair to be there.

In the current WWE storyline, Lynch is suspended and it was mentioned on Raw (by Triple H) that if she shows up again, she’ll be arrested. Charlotte Flair also made the same point on Smackdown, which is WWE’s way of telling you that it might happen. The obvious scenario is for Lynch to crash the party, get into some altercation with Charlotte and maybe Ronda Rousey and the crowd will be fully behind the babyface Lynch during all of it.

TJR Thoughts: It may not happen this week, but I think there’s going to be a point where Lynch gets her hands on Vince McMahon (since he’s the one who suspended her for 60 days) and put the Dis-Arm-Her armbar on him as a negotiating tactic to put her into the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania. Vince will give in to her demands and she can still apply the armbar on the old man with Vince writhing in pain. Vince doesn’t bump that much anymore, but I’m sure he believes that nobody could get Vince cheered more than him. It has certainly worked in the past. Whether that scenario happens this Monday or at some point in March, I don’t know.

Arn Anderson Released by WWE

Arn Anderson has been released by WWE according to Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin, who claims that multiple sources confirmed the news with Anderson’s release becoming official on Thursday.

Anderson worked for WWE in a backstage Producer role since 2001 when WCW was bought by WWE. Anderson, who is 60 years old, is a WWE Hall of Famer as part of the Four Horsemen stable and won many titles in his career as a wrestler in the NWA, WCW and WWF.

What we don’t know right now is why Anderson is out of a job with WWE. It could be due to his age and WWE wanting some younger guys in there because as you can see below, they have brought in several new Producers over the last month. Perhaps Anderson wanted to move on to do something else. I don’t know at this point, but it’s certainly a possibility.

Some wrestlers have tweeted about Arn’s dismissal.

The timing of Arn’s dismissal is a bit odd since he is Ric Flair’s best friend and Flair’s birthday celebration is on Raw, so that likely means no Anderson. I don’t know that for sure, though.

WWE Posts Video Introducing New Producers

If you visit TJRWrestling regularly then you know we have posted some backstage news about WWE adding some names from wrestling’s past to the company as Producers. The role of a Producer (or Agent) is to help wrestlers put together their matches, set up the key spots and deliver a quality finish. They can also assist during promos, backstage segments or anything else that is needed. They have a key role at WWE television shows, live events and pay-per-views. It’s not an easy job and they probably don’t get the credit they deserve, but they are a necessary part of the WWE “machine” so to speak.

This week, WWE posted a video where they talked to some of the familiar names that are now working for WWE in Producer roles. Here’s a rundown of the guys in the video above.

Jeff Jarrett – The 2018 WWE Hall of Famer is back in the company after 19 years. He mentioned “Double J” returned at the Royal Rumble and he also returned to the company the next night at (as a Producer). Jarrett talked about how he enjoys helping others. As the former owner of TNA/Impact, he has a lot of experience behind the scenes along with 25+ years in the ring.

Chris Parks (Abyss) – The former TNA Champion that worked for TNA/Impact for the past 16 years said that it’s a lifelong dream come true to work for WWE during his 24-year in-ring wrestling career. He said he’s now with the best with WWE. When the news of Abyss joining WWE happened, fans speculated that he might wrestle. At 45 years of age, that doesn’t appear to be the case. He is still missing several bottom teeth. Ouch.

Shane “Hurricane” Helms – The former WWE and WCW star, who had a long run in WWE as a wrestler, is back in the mix as a Producer. Helms has a lot of experience, he’s a smart guy, he could probably help a lot with some WWE comedy bits because as “The Hurricane” he was hilarious and I think he brings a wealth of knowledge to the company.

Plus, Helms is a great Twitter follow. Funny guy.

Sonjay Dutt – Sonjay is another guy that spent most of the last 16 years working for TNA/Impact and was one of the key guys in their X-Division before moving to a backstage role. He said in the video that he’s been in WWE for just three weeks, but he sees people he’s known for years as they showed images of him wrestling Daniel Bryan in their ROH days.

Shawn Daivari – The youngest of WWE’s new producers, Daivari is only 34 years old, which makes him younger than a lot of the wrestlers on the main roster right now. He started in WWE when he was just 20 years old and had a really good run as a heel manager as well as a wrestler. He spoke about the evolution of his career. Shawn’s younger brother Ariya Daivari also spoke in the video about getting to work with his brother.

It’s a good group of names that should be able to provide fresh voices. It’s worth noting that WWE didn’t say any of them are Producers in WWE, but that’s what their job titles are.

Matt Hardy Updates His WWE Contract Status

Matt Hardy commented on his WWE status yesterday. As you can see there, he has 11 days left on his WWE contract. Hardy has been out of action for several months due to injuries. At 44 years old, he’s near the end of his career, but he has commented recently that he plans to keep wrestling. It was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently that Matt and Jeff Hardy had options for a third year on their deals that WWE can exercise and likely will, but there’s nothing official yet.

That’s all for this Friday morning news update.