Wrestling Roundup: November 17, 2020

The Wrestling Roundup is here to bring you all the news and rumors you need to know in one place.

WWE Raw Results

The march to Survivor Series continues as we focus on brand warfare. Team Raw looks strong, but are they going to be able to coexist on their way to a battle with Team SmackDown. On the show as well were two title matches – who will walk away as champions to defend the honor of the red brand at Survivor Series? All the results from this week’s show are below:

• Asuka, Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose def. Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, & Lana
• New Day (c) def. Hurt Business to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
• RETRIBUTION def. Team Raw (Braun Strowman, Keith Lee, Sheamus & Matt Riddle)
• Bray Wyatt def. The Miz
• Drew McIntyre def. Randy Orton (c) to win the WWE Championship

There’s a new WWE Champion, and it’s Drew McIntyre once again. Just three weeks after Randy Orton dethroned McIntyre he regained the WWE Championship. This brings up an important question – why did WWE give the title to Orton in the first place? And why did he win it at Hell in a Cell and not when the feud was at its apex in August? A strange decision, but now the title is back on the excellent Drew McIntyre.

It’s a DREW WORLD ORDER once again! ⚔️@DMcIntyreWWE is your NEW #WWEChampion! #AndNew #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/r4DQoTZtrg

— WWE (@WWE) November 17, 2020

WWE Confirms Zelina Vega Release Reasoning

The push for WWE to control wrestlers on third party platforms was indeed the reason for Zelina Vega’s release. On Friday evening last week, Vega (real name Thea Trinidad) was released from WWE. Immediately preceding her release, Trinidad tweeted her support of unionization.

I support unionization.

— 𝓩𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝓥𝖊𝖌𝖆 (@Zelina_VegaWWE) November 13, 2020

WWE has confirmed to Sports Illustrated that her creation of an OnlyFans account was the final straw. Trinidad had been an active Twitch streamer with many followers and now has an OnlyFans account for cosplay photos and videos. WWE saw this as a breach of contract and terminated the contract.

SAG-AFTRA President on Wrestler Unionization

Wrestlers in WWE have been displeased with the company’s new policy on working with third party platforms. WWE wants to control talent Twitch accounts, which goes counter to their classification as independent contractors. With that designation, they should be able to also work with these third party companies. It has raised the question once again: why aren’t wrestlers unionized?

WrestlingInc recently received this quote from Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television & Radio Artists President Gabrielle Carteris about wrestlers potentially being unionized:

“Wrestling is as much about media as it is sports, and we are going to directly engage with members of this profession to help find ways for them to protect themselves.

“As more people reinvest in unions, and as more working people are harassed by employers who don’t want to protect them, SAG-AFTRA is committed to doing what we can to help professional wrestlers secure the protections they deserve.”

Slowly but surely the support of wrestlers unionization is growing, both among wrestlers and fans. It seems to only be a matter of time before a union forms.

One for the Road:

Canvas 2 Canvas has been one of the best kept secrets on WWE’s YouTube and social media for a long time. Rob Schamberger absolutely crushed this new painting of Roman Reigns.