In the past two weeks, the WWE has been rocked by rumours and reports of a massive WWE walk out, that began with Neville walking out on the WWE before Monday Night Raw on Monday, October 9. The next day it was noticed that Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas both also missed Raw. The next Monday, it was reported that Nia Jax had also walked out that night, leading many to suddenly question if perhaps the Rotunda brothers had maybe walked out as well. Rumours ran rampant that they had all walked, some said it was over Bray and Bo’s recent WWE creative decisions, some reported that Nia Jax was upset with her pay and direction and was using her cousin The Rock as leverage. Now that the smoke has cleared and the situations have become more public, at least two of them have now been cleared to have been far more rumour than reality.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: The WWE Walk Out Situation
THE GOOD: NIA JAX
When the internet starting buzzing Monday night about rumours of Nia Jax walking out potentially as well, at first most of the news sites were silent. But on Tuesday, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that she didn’t walk out, but had been given a leave of absence. Leave of absence is a request granted to take time away from the company for an unusual circumstance or change of health. Then yesterday, Sports Illustrated‘s Justin Barrasso reported that his sources stated that she did leave and it was over her current pay scale and her positioning in the division. But it seemed like it was more of a hold out then than a leave of absence. A leave of absence has to be requested and granted and I’m not sure that Vince McMahon is one likely to grant an LOA so someone can take a seat to protest their pay and creative. He just wouldn’t book them and let them ride out their contract – Ryback was a bigger star than Nia Jax and he let him ride the pines.
Nia Jax’s best friend, WWE Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, spoke to the New York Post today to clear up both rumors, adding credence to Pro Wrestling Sheet’s original report, stating that Nia Jax was simply resting up. “She’s taking some time off because our schedule it very grueling. It’s very, very demanding,” Bliss told the NY Post. “There are times where you are run down and your body can’t do it anymore and you get sick or you get injured from it and you get tired.”
Nia Jax has been with the WWE since she started at the Performance Center in early 2014 and spent over a year training straight until she debuted on NXT television in August of 2015, defeating Evie (now Dakota Kai). She wrestled every single week for the next year in NXT, at Live Events and television tapings. She then took just over 3 weeks off in between moving from NXT to Monday Night Raw in last year’s draft in July of 2016, her longest break since starting with the company in 2014. Since her Raw debut, she’s wrestled every week again right up until her last match on October 8, 2017, at a WWE Live Event the night before the Monday that Neville’s news broke. Looking at her schedule (which can be found at her match guide on Cagematch.net), it’s easy to see why Nia Jax would need a break and downtime to recharge. Plus, she was finally in the main event – or at least dipping her toes in – so she was well on her way to being a top star in the Raw division. Chances are, Nia Jax will come back re-energized and continue her big push.
THE BAD: THE WYATT FAMILY
The night after Nia Jax’s last match with the WWE, Bray Wyatt appeared on video in the controversial Sister Abigail possession promo, but Bo Dallas was notably absent from the Miztourage – although The Miz did send his well wishes to get better saying “he was sick”. But the following day – once the buzz of Neville’s walk-out hit the internet running – people began to smell something fishy. It was reported that Bray Wyatt was actually not present at Monday Night Raw either that night and his promo had, in fact, been pre-recorded. Looking at card line-ups, Bray Wyatt’s last WWE match was October 2, the week prior, in the dark match post-Raw against Finn Balor. His real life brother, Bo Dallas, had his last match the night before, on October 1, in a tag team match at a WWE Live Event.
Suddenly the internet was ablaze that both brothers – the real life sons of WWE Legend Mike Rotunda (aka IRS) – had also walked out with Neville, due to both of them being unhappy with their current roles as well. It was reported almost exclusively from “dirt sheets” and no major wrestling news sites had any real substantial evidence either way.
Until the Pittsburgh Tribune‘s wrestling editorialist Justin Labar (formerly of WrestleZone) reported that both brothers were actually off due to illness. In particular, viral meningitis, a rather nasty inflammation of the membranes covering your brain and spinal chord, that can render people weak with strong flu-like symptoms like headaches, nausea, fever and muscle stiffness. Something that would make a professional wrestler useless. Of note, Labar also mention that WWE ring announcer JoJo (Bray’s current girlfriend) was also now affected (which is why she missed this past Monday’s Raw).
Seems Bray, Bo and JoJo haven't been at TV or events because of viral meningitis. Unfortunate. I have NO INFO on Sunday for Bray.
— Justin LaBar (@JustinLaBar) October 18, 2017
As if this wasn’t bad enough, Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin backed up this report but added that it could get worse for the WWE before it gets better.
https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/921108109434560513
If more members of the staff get sick – including producers, camera operators and the like – it could wreak havoc on this Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view. It will definitely make this Sunday’s PPV an interesting watch, as there may be some unannounced match-ups if announced talent wind-up sick by Sunday. Oh, hey. It looks like The Miz was right all along!
THE UGLY: NEVILLE
Unfortunately, with every new report from the major news sites, it seems painfully evident for WWE fans that Neville is finished with the WWE. Although some of the initial rumours were incorrect – Neville’s last WWE match was October 1 at a Live Event and he was not touring with the company at the time of the October 9 Raw – Neville definitely seems to have given his notice and left the building metaphorically. He definitely appears desperate to get out and apparently has been unhappy since January, over issues such as his lack of promotion after his tenure, his Cruiserweight title match from WrestleMania left off the DVD (translating into lost royalty), and the seeming glass ceiling of 205 Live. It appears his new T-shirt, released just days before his last match, may have been one of the final nails in the coffin.
This ATROCITY is not on the NEVILLE LEVEL.
THE KING deserves better. @WWEShop pic.twitter.com/fMcwUnldoW
— BASTARD (@BASTARDPAC) September 29, 2017
Unfortunately for those who are now salivating of seeing Neville return to the indies as PAC soon, it may be a while. Vince McMahon is a more forgiving and reasonable man when people request their release in a more cordial manner than simply walking out. There’s a very good chance that he’d rather let Neville sit out the remainder of his WWE contract (followed by a 90-day no compete clause) than just release him as he wants. So while the first two have seemingly cleared up as internet conspiracies, sadly the last one is not. And it will probably get ugly.
