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NXT RELEASES AND TRIPLE H, COULD SUMMERSLAM BE CANCELED, WHEN WILL PEACOCK IMPROVE THEIR WWE SECTION, WHERE'S THE VLADIMIR DOCUMENTARY AND MORE

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I saw you were writing about WWE and FOX, but I have to tell you, if FOX is pissy about Peacock, they are nowhere close to as mad at them as I am.  It’s been months and the search feature sucks, nothing is listed in chronological order, and we still don’t get any pause or rewind on the PPVs.  Has there been any word as to whether any of this is going to improve or get fixed?

I asked Peacock’s PR side about whether the pause/rewind feature was still on schedule for Summerslam weekend as originally planned, but thus far, we haven’t heard back.  I understand the frustration of looking for material.  I wanted to go back and watch some old Midnight Express matches and it wasn’t easy to track down what I wanted to find.  The search feature is a massive step down from the WWE Network infrastructure for sure.  As far as how everything is set up there, the Peacock infrastructure was designed for TV and films, so they are using that, hence the "11 seasons for the Great American Bash", etc.  We can only hope that with all the money Peacock is spending on WWE (and may spend on them to license the WWE Network internationally), we’ll see some upgrades soon.  

With all the NXT talents being released, do you expect this is the end?

No.  I suspect we’ll keep seeing every aspect of WWE whittled away until they get it to wherever they want it to be, whether they are preparing for sale (as some believe could be the future) or not.  WWE was stockpiling talent in advance of having WWE Performance Centers all over the world and different versions of NXT.  With the pandemic continuing on, there’s no way such ideas are going to be viable.  Between that and all the sweeping changes under Nick Khan’s regime as WWE President, where there will be no waste financially under his watch, I expect there will be similar instances in the months ahead.  We aren’t at the end of this.

Do you think Triple H has lost power?  I can’t imagine he is happy with seeing so many talents he personally invested in being shoved out the doors!

I don’t know whether anyone will publicly acknowledge it, but you’d have to think that’s the case.  NXT has always been pretty “hands off” under HHH’s regime, but like a lot of other things in WWE, things have changed.  There are many people who worked for the company who privately tell us it doesn’t even seem like the same place it was a year ago.  NXT had always been sort of insulated away from the rest of the company.  That certainly doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.

Do you think NXT UK could be next?

Next for releases?  It's possible but they have a smaller roster.  It's also possible they could always release some talents contractually and just book them when needed for TV.

There’s been talk that Summerslam will be canceled due to COVID variation Delta flourishing.  Is that the case?

I’ve asked a number of people in different areas of the company about that rumor and they are all adamant that no matter what, Summerslam weekend will take place in Las Vegas.  They have acknowledged that the company is tracking everything and the belief is that should a city or market end up shutting down public gatherings, WWE could, on a dime, have a TV taping at the Capitol Wrestling Center and produce live TV if necessary.  Obviously, everyone hopes it doesn’t come to that but they are watching and prepared for any contingency post-Summerslam.

Where’s the Vladimir documentary already?  I saw you wrote you saw it, but where?  Are you in it?

WWE has all the docs on hold.  I keep hoping personally they will release it Summerslam weekend but there’s no indication internally that’s the case.  I have seen it as it streamed as part of the LA Shorts International Film Festival - we wrote about it at the time, including how you’d be able to watch it.  The film streamed for one week on their paid YouTube channel and has now been pulled.  I may be biased because he's one of my best friends in the world, but I thought it was pretty awesome.  I was not interviewed for the film and I am not in it.

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