Impact Wrestling

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

Braun Strowman Drawing Interest From Impact Wrestling

Adam Scherr, who used the Strowman moniker during a nine-year run in WWE, hinted Sunday he's now free to sign with any promotion after being released by WWE in early June.

Fightful Select reported (via Kellie Haulotte of Wrestling Inc.) that Impact Wrestling is "heavily interested" in the 6'8'', 385-pound star and noted "company officials believe they are going to be able to sign" him in the near future.

Scherr was pushed into the main event scene on multiple occasions during his WWE run, but he only captured one of the company's top titles once, when he defeated Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 to win the Universal Championship.

He dropped the belt at that year's SummerSlam after a nondescript title reign. While he'd made some strides as an in-ring performer and utilized his size to successfully portray himself as a "monster among men," he lacked the promo skills to become one of WWE's biggest performers.

It wouldn't be a surprise if he ultimately takes a path similar to Drew McIntyre, who was released by WWE in June 2014. McIntyre made several stops with other promotions, including TNA, and refined his craft enough to earn another shot with WWE in 2017. He's since emerged as one of the company's top Superstars.

If Scherr can improve his work on the mic, he could be a major asset for WWE or AEW. A stop with Impact would be a solid landing spot in the short term.

Friends Urging Chad Gable to Make AEW Jump

Gable is one of the most technically strong wrestlers in the business, but he hasn't been featured prominently in WWE since making his debut in 2014 following a decorated amateur wrestling career.

The 35-year-old Minnesota native had a couple promising tag team title runs alongside Jason Jordan on both NXT and SmackDown, but it never led to something bigger. He's kind of been lost in the shuffle lately and could benefit from his recent move to Raw in the WWE draft.

People around him apparently have other ideas to help his career go to the next level, though.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reported (via Joshua Gagnon of Wrestling Inc.) Gable's friends "really want him to sign with AEW as it would likely be a good fit for him."

A lot of former WWE wrestlers have landed in AEW, including CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Christian Cage among countless others, and they've been given the creative freedom to get back to their roots away from the more structured WWE environment.

The one concern is that if the AEW roster becomes overcrowded with the infusion of high-profile signings, it could lead to similar issues of wrestlers being reduced to limited roles because there's a finite amount of television time to feature a growing number of marquee storylines.

It's unclear how much time Gable has left on his contract, but if his move to Raw alongside current tag partner Otis doesn't spark a move up the card, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him explore other opportunities in the future.

Rey Mysterio Unavailable Because of Medical Issue

Mysterio has continued to appear on WWE programming in recent months alongside his son, Dominik, but he hasn't had a televised singles match since Aug. 20 against Jey Uso. He's been mostly restricted to large-scale tag matches at non-televised live events, according to the Internet Wrestling Database.

Fightful Select reported (via Felix Upton of Ringside News) that Mysterio has been dealing with a health issue that kept him out of this weekend's house shows.

"As of Friday night, Rey Mysterio was sidelined for an undisclosed medical reason and would no longer be able to perform at the Saturday night live event where he was scheduled to face Roman Reigns," the report stated.

No timetable was given for how long the 46-year-old legend will be unavailable.

His "passing of the torch" storyline with Dominik has been a slow burn, but it'd be intriguing if they ultimately face off at one of WWE's biggest events—perhaps next year's WrestleMania.

As for the long-term outlook, Mysterio is a virtual lock to eventually earn his rightful spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Three months after his release from WWE, Bray Wyatt remains a free agent with no indication where he might end up signing.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Joshua Gagnon of Wrestling Inc.) reported Wyatt is not close to a deal with Impact Wrestling after a rumor made the rounds linking the two sides.

The report noted that Impact asked a member of its roster to reach out to Wyatt with the hopes of recruiting him to join the company.

Amid a series of roster cuts over the summer, Wyatt was a surprise release by WWE on July 31. It came as a shock because he had been one of the biggest stars in the company for a number of years, and "The Fiend" gimmick was very popular with the audience.

Since then, Wyatt has frequently been connected to AEW and Impact.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc.) noted last month that Wyatt could have debuted on the Sept. 29 episode of Dynamite if he had signed with AEW.

He recently stoked some of the rumors in response to a fan on Twitter:

Wyatt spent his entire professional wrestling career working under the WWE banner. He made his debut in 2009 for Florida Championship Wrestling, which has since been rebranded as NXT.

After a brief stint with The Nexus in 2010-11, Wyatt returned to FCW for a short period of time. He returned to the main roster in 2012 as the leader of the Wyatt Family. The 34-year-old had several high-profile feuds in WWE, including WrestleMania matches with John Cena and The Undertaker.

Wyatt also held the WWE championship once and the WWE universal title twice.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Braun Strowman, who may be known as Titan moving forward, appears headed for Impact Wrestling.

The Wrestling Observer reported Strowman and Impact have been in negotiations, though no deal has been formalized.

Strowman became a free agent Aug. 31 after his 90-day non-compete expired. The 38-year-old was shockingly released by WWE in June despite being in the championship picture after WrestleMania. 

While there was immediate speculation regarding Strowman going to All Elite Wrestling, that never appeared to have much of a chance of happening. Strowman doesn't fit the mold of a typical AEW wrestler, whereas Impact had made use of former WWE stars like W. Morrissey (Big Cass).

Strowman is set for his first post-WWE match Oct. 1 against EC3. 

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).