Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling In September 2021
Quiet month, no?
September 2021 was a huge month in professional wrestling, with several major shows, returns and debuts making the business feel as exciting as it has in some time.
It obviously helps that fans are properly back, but both WWE and AEW produced the goods this month. All Out was a triumph, as too were Dynamite and Rampage from a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
WWE also returned to their home base, putting on a very strong SmackDown from Madison Square Garden. Then there was Extreme Rules, a show that definitely happened (malfunctioning top rope and all), you have to say.
CM Punk wrestled his first matches in over seven years, while Adam Cole left NXT for AEW and Bryan Danielson came back to prove why he is one of the best to ever do it.
Oh, and a plane full of wrestlers from two decades ago all got cancelled.
It was a major, newsworthy month, but there were a bunch of podcast appearances, tweets and tidbits that may intrigue you.
Or they may not. Either way, here's some stuff. Do with it what you will.
Or don't. Either way.
10. The Perception Killer
Randy Orton has been a WWE television mainstay for close to twenty years now, winning countless championships and other accolades and firmly cementing himself in the upper echelon of superstars.
He's a first-ballot WWE Hall of Famer and, in many ways, the blueprint for what the company looks for in contemporary talent.
According to Jim Ross on the Grilling JR podcast, however, Vince McMahon had to be convinced to sign the third-generation star in the first place.
According to Good Ol' JR:
"I had a hard sell to get Randy Orton hired because of his negative exit from the Marines, and Vince, being a strong patriot, didn't like how that worked out with Randy in the military. I said, 'Didn't you get a second chance, [Vince]? Well, what's the difference with this kid? He's third generation. If he hits, look what we have. If he doesn't hit, I can get rid of him in 90 days notice. What do we have to lose?'.
He's going to end his career as one of the greatest talents. Hall of Famer, no doubt, but also going to be regarded by his peers as one of the greatest in-ring workers. It worked out well".
You know, having realised that Ross signed Orton, John Cena, Batista and Brock Lesnar at around the same time, I'm starting to think he might know what he's doing with this whole 'talent recruitment' thing...
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
