Update on Penta-WWE, rumors of heat (Patreon)

Penta's present is in WWE.

Penta made his long awaited debut in WWE on January 13th's episode of WWE Raw. Fightful Select is told that the deal had been finalized for weeks, after his AEW contract expired on December 1.

Originally Penta was slated to appear as Rey Mysterio's partner in a match with New Day, but we aren't sure why that happened. Sources internally claimed that the merchandise release for Penta early on January 13 was a "happy accident," but we have reason to doubt that.

Penta was backstage throughout the day and wasn't hidden. He had already participated in photo shoots and the like, and was mingling with talent throughout the day.

There were reports that Penta's segment went over time, which is true. The match internally was listed for one segment, which is way to break up commercials more than actual in-ring time. However, the promo went longer than WWE expected. We can't confirm if this led to anything else being cut.

In said reports, there was word that there was heat due to things getting cut. When Fightful spoke to a higher up, they said that they hadn't specifically heard of heat on Penta, and if there was heat, it should have been on whoever decided there needed to be a hard out on the show. They claimed that upon seeing the social media buzz, that there was not heat on Penta.

Although WWE has flexible times with Raw, they were trying to get off the air in about two and a half hours. Claims internally were that there were some talent they were trying to make sure were able to catch late flights out of town.

Among talent that we spoke to, they claimed they didn't hear of heat on Penta, and most everyone was aware of what the moment meant to him and his family, and the roster was happy for him.