Jericho/Smackdown 1000, Impact News, WWE Signee at Performance Center

— Someone on Twitter asked Chris Jericho why he wasn’t at the Smackdown 1000 special last night and Jericho responded with a simple reason: he wasn’t invited. As we exclusively noted, while the two sides are still open to working together, the Jericho/WWE relationship has soured a bit lately.

Nobody asked me… https://t.co/77Hvr90TYr

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) October 17, 2018

— WWE’s new signee Punishment Martinez has reported to the Performance Center this week. He signed a contract earlier this month and should start with NXT soon though inevitably will end up on the main roster sooner than later due to his look.

— According to Mike Johnson of pwinsider, there were segments written for Austin Aries at the most recent Impact TV tapings but they had to be changed after the conclusion of the Bound for Glory PPV. For those wondering, the situation with Aries leaving Impact is not a work as per sources.

— The original plan for Eli Drake’s mystery opponent was supposed to be Joey Janela, reports Johnson. However, Janela has suffered a serious knee injury and pulled out so Impact went with James Ellsworth instead. He also confirms out report that there are no plans for Ellsworth to return at this point – we were told it was a one-time deal.