Kevin Owens

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Young Talks Possible Future in AEW

Shortly after departing WWE, Renee Young left the door open for doing more work in the professional wrestling business in the future.

Young appeared on the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch last week to discuss several subjects, including whether she would ever consider working for AEW.

During the interview (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Austin Lee), Young revealed that she has a one-year non-compete clause in wrestling after leaving WWE but wants to have some involvement in the wrestling business moving forward:

"I've accumulated a mass of wrestling knowledge over the last eight years that it would be kind of dumb to just throw that away. It seems like doing that would be kind of a waste of the last almost 10 years. I don't even know if I'm legally allowed to say how long my non-compete clause is, but it's in and around [one year]. I don't know—I'm just a girl that likes to talk about wrestling. I'm not into the legal jargon."

Young also discussed her desired role should she do some work with AEW one day:

"I think if that was something that ever were to come up [working with AEW], I don't think that putting me on commentary is the right move. Even when I started doing commentary, I was stoked to do that, but it was never a goal of mine. My dreams are not dashed by not being on commentary. I tried to pitch to the head writers of SmackDown to use me like UFC uses Megan Olivi, and she feels like an important part of the broadcast. I think that roaming reporter type of role would be awesome with any wrestling company."

Young worked for WWE from 2012 until her final appearance with the company on the Kickoff Show for SummerSlam last month.

She served in a variety of roles, including Kickoff Show host, backstage interviewer and announcer. In fact, she became the first full-time female announcer in WWE history when she was named part of the Raw announce team alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves in 2018.

While Young has pretty much done it all in the wrestling business at this point, observers naturally link her to AEW since her husband, Jon Moxley, is the reigning AEW World champion.

Young is multitalented and capable of excelling outside the wrestling world, but she is also a well-respected name within it, so it is difficult to imagine her leaving that realm for good even if her WWE career is over for now.

Owens Cuts Fiery Promo on Raw Talk

After battling Aleister Black on Raw Underground and getting laid out by Dabba-Kato, Kevin Owens aired his grievances on Raw Talk:

Owens said that he has been trying to do things "the right way" after taking shortcuts earlier in his WWE career but expressed frustration with "no-names trying to make a name for themselves" at his expense.

At the end of the promo, KO addressed Dabba-Kato directly and said he will "come after" the gargantuan Superstar.

Owens is currently embroiled in a feud with Black, who laid Owens out with Black Mass a couple of weeks ago during an appearance on the KO Show. That led to them doing battle in a multisegment fight on Raw Underground.

There was no decisive winner since both men got in plenty of offense, but their fight was put to a stop by Dabba-Kato, who laid out both Superstars with massive chokeslams.

Dabba-Kato was previously known as Babatunde in NXT and was rarely seen on NXT programming, but he has become a force on Raw Underground under the Dabba-Kato name.

If Owens truly does go after Dabba-Kato, it would mark Dabba-Kato's first true feud of any kind during his time in WWE.

Most would likely view that as a step down for Owens, but since he is still involved with Black as well, perhaps WWE's plan is to have KO fight battles on multiple fronts.

WWE Provides Injury Update on Ivar

After Ivar of The Viking Raiders suffered an apparent injury on Monday's episode of Raw, WWE gave an update on his status.

According to WWE.com, Ivar suffered a cervical injury, which resulted in him being transported to the hospital, but he is expected to make a full recovery.

At the conclusion of an eight-man tag team match pitting the Hurt Business against Ricochet, Apollo Crews and The Viking Raiders, the announce team noted that Ivar appeared to be injured after doing a dive outside the ring.

Ivar wasn't shown on camera so it was difficult to say how much distress he was in, but WWE confirmed that he did indeed suffer an injury.

If Ivar is forced to miss a significant amount of time, it would be a major blow to the Raw tag team division, which is already fairly thin.

The Street Profits are the Raw Tag Team champions and hugely popular, but beyond them there is a lack of established teams. The Viking Raiders are likely second in line; however, that may not be the case given Ivar's status.

An injury to Ivar could result in Erik being taken off television as well, although it could also create a singles opportunity for him, which has been the case for Big E and Jey Uso on SmackDown.

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WWE limps into Sunday's The Horror Show at Extreme Rules battered by subpar television ratings and general apathy for the product that will not improve any with the decided lack of star power on pay-per-view card.

While the lineup touts the likes of Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre, it is as notable for those who are not a part of the broadcast despite considerable television time devoted to them since the Backlash extravaganza in June.

The questionable decision to exclude certain stars only adds to a noticeable lack of excitement and anticipation for the event.

Match Card

• Wyatt Swamp Fight: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
• WWE Championship match: Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler
• Eye for an Eye match: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
• SmackDown Women's Championship match: Nikki Cross vs. Bayley
• Raw Women's Championship match: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks
• Tables match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura
• United States Championship match: Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Who's Missing?

Randy Orton has spent 2020 enjoying a career renaissance. From an unforgettable heel turn that ignited an intensely personal feud with Edge to weekly excellence on Raw as the master of the little things that make characters that much more compelling, he has earned consideration for Wrestler of the Year in WWE.

Despite a fairly high-profile feud with fellow future Hall of Famer The Big Show, Orton has been left off the Extreme Rules card. The blow-off to the program with the giant will instead take place on a throwaway episode of Raw that will likely struggle to find an audience in the same way every broadcast this summer has.

Why waste a marquee match that could have bolstered the event and gave fans familiar with those two a reason to invest in it beyond the hope of popping a one-time TV number?

AJ Styles is another star, one that has been at or near the top of the card since signing with WWE in 2016, whose value is being wasted in the hopes of generating a television audience.

The Phenomenal One defended his Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle on SmackDown on Friday in a match that, like Big Show vs. Orton, would have been better served on a pay-per-view card.

Considering how valuable both are to their shows as lead heels, it is almost unfathomable that they would be tossed aside in favor of title matches we have already seen play out on free television or CGI-heavy gimmick bouts that are likely to be cringeworthy for all the wrong reasons.

Then there is former universal champion Kevin Owens, who returned to action in recent weeks and even rekindled his rivalry with Seth Rollins. Yet with a little more than 24 hours until WWE presents its unironic Horror Show, he is not anywhere to be found on the card.

Can The Horror Show Succeed Anyway?

It could.

The talent level in WWE at this point is as high-quality as it has ever been, so it is never a surprise when the in-ring content of any company-produced show exceeds expectations. 

But the ring work of any show is only part of the equation.

The other? The emotion the audience gets watching the show, and that is where Extreme Rules is almost certain to disappoint.

Other than Wyatt vs. Strowman and maybe Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio, both cinematic matches with ample time for the company to edit them into whatever finished product it desires, it is hard to imagine any other match on the card generating the type of sentiment that elevates the show beyond any other B- or C-level PPV the company has produced this year.

Had WWE made the conscious effort to book Orton, Show or Styles for the event, it may have succeeded in creating more excitement and anticipation than it has been able to manifest this summer.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Kevin Owens Talks Potential Return to NXT

After three months off television because of an injury suffered at WrestleMania 36, Kevin Owens made his much-anticipated return to Raw on Monday and defeated Seth Rollins with some help from Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio and Dominick. 

Even though Owens is entrenched on the red brand right now, he is hoping for an opportunity to have another extended run in NXT. 

In an interview with CBS Sports' Brent Brookhouse, K.O. explained why he would like to go back to where his career in WWE began in 2014:

"I've been vocal about wanting to go back there because I'd love to help make it grow even more and help make it as big as it can get and make it so we have three brands people know about. I would love for people to be just as aware of NXT as they are about Raw and SmackDown. I would have loved to be a part of that, but some decisions were made that I had to stay put on Raw and SmackDown. That's fine, but I would love the chance to go back.

"I talk to Triple H pretty regularly and we bring it up once in a while. It's just about timing. There's a lot of opportunities. The landscape of WWE is changing quite a bit through this situation and I think it's going to keep evolving. The ideal scenario for me would be for NXT to be viewed as a third brand, and if it's not already, it's pretty close. I'd love to be a part of anything. I love to contribute to SmackDown, to Raw, to NXT. I just want to go where I'm needed and try to make a difference."

Owens also noted at one point he had a discussion with Vince McMahon about going to NXT, but it didn't work out. 

There was a time when NXT was only used as a stepping stone for superstars before they got to Raw or SmackDown. 

More recently, though, the brand has been put on equal footing with those others because of its increased exposure on the USA Network. Charlotte Flair had a two-month reign as NXT women's champion after defeating Rhea Ripley to win the title at WrestleMania 36. 

Finn Balor has been working exclusively on NXT since the show debuted on USA last October. 

Owens is so good in the ring and on the microphone that putting him in the same environment as stars who are fairly new to the WWE universe, like Keith Lee and Karrion Kross, would help raise their profile to the audience.

Having NXT as an equal brand also allows WWE to build new rivalries so that someone like Owens doesn't have to keep wrestling Rollins after the two went through a long feud leading up to WrestleMania. 

Bischoff, SmackDown Writers Watched AEW

During Eric Bischoff's brief run as executive director of SmackDown last year, one thing the former WCW president did with the show's writing staff was watch AEW. 

On AEW's Fight for the Fallen preview show with Tony Khan (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Bischoff said he and the SmackDown writing staff had a viewing session of AEW Dynamite and the WWE program: "[...] When I was with WWE last year, I sat down and watched both shows side-by-side, and I was working with WWE at the time and I was watching it in a writer's conference room with a bunch of other writers."

One key thing that Bischoff highlighted about the differences between the two companies having to run shows in a changed format right now because of the coronavirus pandemic is that AEW "feels more like live TV," whereas WWE's method of "tighter" shots seems designed to hide the venue. 

Since WWE and AEW are in a ratings battle every Wednesday with NXT and Dynamite going head-to-head, it makes sense that both sides would study each other to glean strengths and weaknesses from their television production. 

For instance, early on in the pandemic, WWE decided not to use employees in the stands to act as fans; AEW put employees in the stands to cheer, boo and make noise so that wrestlers would have something to react to like in a normal situation. 

WWE eventually decided to follow suit, and it's worked a lot better to create some semblance of normalcy for all of its weekly programming. 

Bischoff was hired by WWE in June 2019 to primarily work alongside Fox executives for the launch of SmackDown on the network. He was replaced by Bruce Prichard on Oct. 15, less than two weeks after the show's Oct. 4 Fox debut. 

FTR Discusses Move to AEW

Nearly two months after their debut in AEW, the tag-team duo of Dax Hardwood and Cash Wheeler discussed moving to their new home after spending six years in WWE. 

Appearing on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast (h/t Ross Kelly of Wrestling Inc.), Harwood said the team has "almost a handshake deal" with AEW president Tony Khan about any potential restrictions for where they can perform. 

"As he said, the only restriction is the pandemic, which is obviously a huge restriction. But we have our fate in our hands right now. We get to call the shots and control and say what we want to do when we want to do it," Wheeler added.

AEW has deals with some of its top stars, like Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho, that allows them to work shows for other promotions outside of the United States. Both stars have done matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling, including this year. 

FTR, formerly known as The Revival in WWE, hasn't had an opportunity to test itself in New Japan to this point. The promotion did return on June 15 and was able to run shows this past weekend with fans in the stands, though capacity at Osaka Jo Hall was limited to 33 percent.

Harwood noted that FTR has specific goals for itself in mind: "One of those goals is to wrestle for every company against every tag team that thinks they're better than us and prove them wrong."

FTR is still fighting its way into the AEW tag title picture, but the team had a superb match at Fyter Fest as part of an eight-man tag match with the Young Bucks against The Butcher and The Blade and Lucha Brothers. 

The finish of that bout seemed to be setting up a Young Bucks-FTR feud, as Matt Jackson nailed Harwood with a kick before Pentagon and Fenix hit Jackson with a fire driver for the pinfall. 

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