It has been a tumultuous 24+ hours for Türkiye, as the nation stands perplexed and unknowing of what lies beyond the oblivious wall, after experiencing what could well be the most devastating disaster of the century thus far.
In a heartening display of relief, the Turkish Wrestling Federation reported that eight wrestlers have been rescued from the wreckages in the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes thus far.
Kahramanmaraş Municipality athletes tragically found themselves beneath the debris of the quake, the seismic force of which was centered in Kahramanmaraş and left its mark throughout many provinces, such as Hatay, Gaziantep, Adana, Osmaniye, Diyarbakır, Malatya and Şanlıurfa.
National wrestler Taha Akgül took to his social media account to report that the building housing dozens of athletes had been demolished, with an estimated 30-40 wrestlers inside.
The Turkish Wrestling Federation has declared that their rescue operations are still in force, with 8 athletes having been miraculously pulled from the wreckage thus far.
The Federation commented on the matter saying, “Rescue efforts continue for our wrestlers, who were among the athletes of Kahramanmaraş Municipality who were under the rubble after the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş. The number of wrestlers rescued so far has reached 8. The search and rescue works continue with the great dedication and faith of our wrestling family.”
Sadly, the future looks grim for a group of athletes from Malatya, with their fates far from certain.
The 11 volleyball players and four amputee footballers from Malatya Metropolitan Belediyespor, who were taking part in the playoff of TVF Men’s Volleyball 2nd League 6th Group, are now faced with an uncertain future, as the Kırçuval Hotel in Battalgazi, where they were staying, was reduced to rubble in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
Nothing definitive has been established, but the search-and-rescue operations remain underway to save those still entombed beneath the wreckage.
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Adding to the heartrending tragedy, Yeni Malatyaspor revealed that their goalkeeper Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan was still entombed beneath the rubble, and that there had been no communication from him as yet.
Clearly overcome with emotion, his wife, Kübra Türkaslan took to social media with a desperate cry for help, pleading, “Eyüp has been buried under the rubble for 30 hours, someone please come to his aid.”
She exclaimed in despair, “This place is an utter disaster. We must do something to help Eyüp, who has been trapped beneath the rubble for an agonizing 30 hours with no hope of rescue from the debris without a crane or other heavy equipment.”
Mongolian-born Japanese sumo wrestler Hakuho, often considered the sport’s greatest-ever champion, retired on Monday after battling persistent knee trouble, officials said.
The 36-year-old’s departure will leave a gaping hole at the top of the ancient sport. He has won a record 45 tournaments – 13 more than anyone else in history – but has been sidelined by injury for most of the year.
He made his only appearance of 2021 at July’s Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, going unbeaten to win the title after missing all or part of the previous six competitions.
He and 17 other wrestlers from his stable were forced to miss the following tournament, which ended Sunday, after a coronavirus outbreak.
His departure leaves just one other wrestler, Terunofuji, in the yokozuna class – sumo’s highest rank.
“I learned from the sumo association chairman that Hakuho’s letter of retirement was filed through his stable master today,” Hironori Yano, head of the yokozuna deliberation council, which is close to the association, told reporters.
Hakuho’s decision, reportedly the result of a right knee injury, brings the curtain down on his illustrious career after 1,187 wins.
The Japan Sumo Association declined to comment, but the news made headlines in the country and grateful fans tweeted their support for the star.
Near the Kokugikan venue where sumo’s Tokyo tournament is held, Takashi Sakai was full of praise for the retiring wrestler.
“I want to tell him: ‘Great work. Well done.’ He worked really hard, coming all the way to Japan, becoming a sumo wrestler and a yokozuna champion. It’s not very easy to achieve all that,” the 76-year-old told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“He has been the strongest wrestler for a long time and has been very influential,” said Miyako Arai.
“I think there are many wrestlers whose admiration of Hakuho led them to pursue the sport,” the 46-year-old Arai added.
‘A tremendous yokozuna’ Born Munkhbat Davaajargal and the son of an Olympic silver-medal freestyle wrestler, Hakuho came to Japan at age 15 to enter the sumo world.
He debuted in 2001 and won his first top-division title in May 2006, before reaching the sport’s highest rank of yokozuna at age 22 in July 2007.
His battles with fellow Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu – the pantomime villain to Hakuho’s popular good guy – helped breathe new life into the sport, with attendances booming.
Asashoryu retired in 2010, but Hakuho went from strength to strength, overtaking the legendary Taiho’s record of 33 tournament wins in January 2015.
The one-time rival called Hakuho “a tremendous yokozuna,” in a post on Twitter after news of the retirement emerged.
“I will save the rest of my words for when the two of us speak in person. But to sum up, thanks for all your hard work,” Asashoryu wrote.
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In an exclusive for WrestlingNews.co, Steve Fall’s Ten Count interviewed Jeff Cobb. He talked about debuting at Wrestle Kingdom, Mecedes Mone, WWE, and other topics. Scroll down for the entire interview.
Jeff Cobb talking about Mercedes Monet working for New Japan:
“It was really cool to see her show up. It’s great because from what I’ve heard, she loves professional wrestling. At the same token, she’s getting a chance and opportunity to wrestle different girls. From the IWGP, New Japan, Stardom standpoint, it’s good because she has a lot of fans that may not know Japanese wrestling per se, so it brings a lot of eyes for both sides and I think it’s a good partnership.”
“Originally, my first tryout I ever had was in 2014. Then at that moment, or at that time, six of us got pulled to the side. We did some interviews, took some pictures, and then it switched in a couple of days or so, like, ‘We don’t want anybody over 30.’ At that time, NXT wasn’t as huge as it eventually became. I believe they just signed Kevin Owens at the time. They had all this influx of indie guys coming in, or bigger name indie guys, so they were like, ‘Okay, well, we don’t want anybody over 30, but then we make exceptions to the rules about this.’ A month later, there’s rumors like, ‘Okay, we don’t want any more independent guys because we have too many’, or whatever. So it changes and that’s totally fine. I can’t be upset about that because it’s their business model and it’s what they want to do with their company. So I didn’t hear from them for a long time.”
“Just so happened right before the pandemic of 2020, William Regal would call me. Brian Kendrick would call me and say, ‘Is it cool to pass your number to Canyon Ceman?’ I’m always open to talk to people, entertain talks, or whatever. This was actually around the time when New Japan and I were figuring out a contract. At the same time AEW offered me a contract as well.”
“At the end of the day, I can make a great living being in Japan and doing a couple appearances here and there. It may not be WWE, The Rock money, but I’m a very low maintenance kind of guy, so I don’t need millions and millions of dollars, although, you know, people are like, you know, you’re stupid for not taking it.”
“A few months after a bunch of conversations with Canyon Ceman is when he got fired, and a whole, I don’t want to say, dumping of the roster happened. Looking back, I think I made a good choice because if I went there, six months later, I could have been released and then go crawling back to another company for a job.”
Dave Bautista, better known to WWE fans as Batista, is preparing to say goodbye to the Drax the Destroyer character.
He made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the 2014 “Guardians of the Galaxy” film before appearing in other MCU movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, Thor Love & Thunder.
After the 2014 film, his Hollywood career took off. He played the character in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and will bid farewell to the character in “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.”
The former WWE star previously confirmed that the upcoming film would be the last time he appears in an MCU movie because he wants to take his career in a different direction.
Bautista appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night to promote his upcoming film, M. Night Shyamalan’s “Knock at the Cabin,” which will be released on Friday.
During it, he compared the end of his Drax run to the end of his career, which happend at WrestleMania 35 when he lost to Triple H.
“Yeah, it’s weird. I don’t know why it’s like news. So this is my seventh film as Drax and my third Guardians. It was like our trilogy. That’s kind of what we all signed up for, to do a trilogy, and I think this is going to be the last version of our Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s hard (to walk away), but it’s time. It’s the perfect exit. We had those perfect kind of character arcs and such a storybook ending. I constantly relate it to the way I ended my wrestling career. I ended it on a storybook note, and I would never go back and tarnish that. And it’s the same with this with Drax. I just got to end the perfect way. I would never sign up for another job as Drax just to get a paycheck. I would tarnish that, and I won’t do it,” Bautista stated.
As was noted earlier, there’s a viral photo of Ricky Starks arriving backstage at the WWE Royal Rumble last night. WWE’s John Cone is also pictured in the photo.
The photo looks like it may have come from a surveillance camera screenshot and it began to go viral on various social media sites earlier today. That led to some conspiracies to pop up that Starks may be looking at a WWE job at some point.
We don’t know when Starks’ AEW deal runs out but he signed around June of 2020. The photo below does not mean anything one way or the other and he’s not the only wrestler from a competing company to appear backstage at a WWE show. In fact, there have been instances of current WWE talent visiting backstage at other wrestling shows.
Starks seemingly reacted to the photo on Twitter (scroll down for his tweet) by making a joke about “GTV,” the storyline that played out for weeks around 1998-99 on WWE TV. The storyline was that someone was setting up surveillance footage in different areas of the arena. Unfortunately, the story never reached a conclusion but for years, there’s been speculation that Goldust would have been the person revealed behind the GTV videos
During a “Big 4” pay-per-view weekend, there’s typically a lot of non-contracted talent in the area because they are usually booked for a signing/appearance elsewhere but it’s rare to hear of a star from a competing promotion hanging out backstage at a WWE event.
A photo circulating online appears to show Ricky Starks arriving with Cody Rhodes last night just prior to the live Royal Rumble broadcast. Starks and Rhodes are good friends and Starks is also friends with other wrestlers in WWE with Bayley being one example.
Starks is currently being pushed as one of the breakout stars of AEW after he beat Chris Jericho on Dynamite a few weeks ago. For those of you wondering, there has been no indication that he has any plans to leave AEW
After last night’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view, fans were left wondering a few things, including what the future holds for Jey Uso in The Bloodline.
Today in a post on his Instagram account, Jey confirmed that he is out of The Bloodline. Jey simply wrote, “I’m out” with a red tear drop and an image of him in the ring just before he left the ring after the rest of The Bloodline brutally beat on Sami Zayn. Jey has been backing Sami in recent weeks and last night he made it clear that he was not on board with everything that went on after the match with Sami.
As WrestlingNews.co first reported, the plan is for Sami Zayn to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship at the Elimination Chamber PLE in Montreal.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens rekindled their legendary rivalry with more intensity than ever, as The Master Strategist looked to prove he could handle The Prizefighter by himself.
The two battled each other for nearly 20 minutes, pulling every move out of their respective playbooks with Zayn hitting Blue Thunder Bombs and Owens landing swanton bombs aplenty.
A huge suplex from KO to The Honorary Uce from the top rope nearly splintered Zayn in two and left both combatants on the ground.
Just as Zayn was about to deliver a Helluva Kick to KO, The Bloodline erupted on the scene, causing a no-contest between the two fierce rivals and shocking Zayn into disbelief. The Bloodline put the boots to The Prizefighter with Solo Sikoa delivering a humongous splash onto KO through an announce table.
In an exclusive for WrestlingNews.co, Steve Fall’s Ten Count spoke with Mickie James. Mickie will be wrestling Jordynne Grace at Hard to Kill on January 13th for her Impact Women’s Championship in a Career vs Title Match. Click here for details on how you can watch the event and ticket information. James gave us her thoughts going into this match.
“There’s a lot on the line. The stakes are high. The reality is, I know what I’m going into for this match because Jordynne has been a remarkable champion. She has been an incredible, very impressive champion. I’ve been going back and watching pretty much all of her matches leading up to, because as I was on this last rodeo, kind of trying to prove my way that I still belong on the roster, and working my way up the roster, I’ve watched her hold on to that championship, and very strongly. I know it means a lot to her to keep that championship. I’m sure it would be a good notch in her belt if she was the one to retire me.”
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“But I can tell you, obviously, I don’t want to retire. You know I love this business so much and I’ve dedicated a long time to it. I still have so much passion and love for it. But if this is the way it had to end, I would not be sad. I mean, I would be sad in the sense that I would never be able to lace up a pair of boots again, but my career has been amazing. It has been more than I ever expected or anticipated. It was everything that I prayed for, but at the same time, you know, you don’t think that you can accomplish all these things, and I think what I’ve been able to do in the business, even in those times when I thought that the whole world had fell out from underneath my feet, and still to be able to persevere and kind of push through is, it’s been amazing. I really thought to myself like, what else do I have to prove in the business because we always feel like we have some more to prove. Like even in this, like I had to prove that I still belonged in this locker room, in this new era of women’s wrestling.”
On Charlotte Flair mentioning that she would like to wrestle Mickie James:
“Last year. I would have told you absolutely not. We can’t see that. But this year I go, well, anything is possible, right? It took a lot of magic to make that Royal Rumble happen. The fact that it was, I mean, it was so special. I still get chill bumps every time I watch that entrance and I’m fighting with my jacket because it got stuck, and I forgot to turn around to show the back because it was so awesome. It was a multi-layered reaction. It was like, oh my God, it’s hardcore country. Oh my God, it’s Mickie James. Oh my God, she’s got the belt. Then when I held it up, it was like multi-layered reactions and I just go like, God, it was so perfect. It was so amazing and it would be hard to recreate. It’d be hard to top in that sense. The only way to top it would be to win the Royal Rumble and then maybe go on and challenge Charlotte Flair, title versus title, whatever the case may be.”
On Wednesday, it was announced that John Laurinaitis’ first post-WWE appearance was booked by Big Time Collectibles.
Just 24 hours later, the appearance has been canceled. Bobby Fulton announced today that they received “only negative feedback” when they made the initial announcement and they have decided not to work with him.
Fulton’s statement:
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“Yesterday we announced John Laurinaitis would be doing an appearance with Big Time Collectibles. Upon announcement we received only negative feedback. After much consideration we have decided to not work with him. We apologize to those that were offended by us working with him.”
Laurinaitis was fired by WWE in August 2022 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the WWE Board of Directors was investigating a $3 million payment made by Vince McMahon to a former WWE employee who he had a sexual relationship with. Laurinaitis was also named in the report.
Laurinaitis had been with WWE since 2001. He was one of the high-ranking executives and was seen as one of McMahon’s trusted confidantes. Laurinaitis also appeared on TV as an authority figure and on E!’s Total Divas reality show
Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon is planning on returning to the company and selling it, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
McMahon stepped away from the company last July after The WSJ reported on sexual harassment and assault allegations but the Journal later reported that McMahon told people that he felt like he got bad advice and that he should have never stepped down.
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Per the WSJ: “Mr. McMahon, who has majority voting power through his ownership of WWE’s Class-B stock, has told the company that he is electing himself and two former co-presidents and directors, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board, the people said. The move to reinstate Mr. McMahon, which the board previously rebuffed, and the others will require three current directors to vacate their positions.”
McMahon is reportedly expecting to assume his role as executive chairman but he would need board approval. At this point, it is not clear what this means for his daughter Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan, who currently are the co-CEO’s. Stephanie is also the company Chairwoman.
The WSJ adds that McMahon sent a letter to the board in December about his desire to return to “to help spearhead a strategic-review process.” McMahon reportedly is of the belief that there is a narrow window to kick off the sale process because they are about to enter negotiations for their next media rights deal.
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The WSJ adds, “The board responded last month in a letter to Mr. McMahon that it was prepared to initiate a review process and would welcome working with him on it. However, it said it unanimously agreed that Mr. McMahon’s return to the business wouldn’t be in shareholders’ best interest, according to people familiar with the letters.”
The following press release was issued today on Vince McMahon’s plans to return to the company. As was reported in the Wall Street Journal, McMahon is looking at selling the company.
Here is the press release:
Vince McMahon Takes Actions in Support of Plan for WWE to Undertake a Review of Strategic Alternatives and Capture Unique Opportunity to Maximize Long-term Value for All Shareholders
Submits written consent to WWE Board electing himself and Company veterans George Barrios and Michelle Wilson as DirectorsActions are necessary to ensure McMahon’s full participation in upcoming media rights negotiations and review of strategic alternatives
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GREENWICH, Conn., Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Vince McMahon, the founder and controlling shareholder of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (“WWE” or the “Company”) (NYSE: WWE), announced today that he has taken necessary actions to position the Company to capitalize on a unique opportunity to maximize long-term value for all WWE shareholders. The actions, communicated to WWE’s Board of Directors today via written consent, include the election to the Board of Mr. McMahon, as well as Michelle Wilson and George Barrios – former WWE Co-Presidents and Board members, and currently the Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Isos Capital Management – and the requisite removal from the Board of three directors. Mr. McMahon expects to assume the role of Executive Chairman of the Board.
Mr. McMahon’s new role will enable unified decision making through the Company’s upcoming media rights negotiations and a parallel full review of the Company’s strategic alternatives, which Mr. McMahon believes is the right course of action and in the best interests of WWE and WWE shareholders amidst the current dynamics in the media and entertainment industry. As Mr. McMahon has communicated to the Board, he believes there is a narrow window of opportunity to create significant value for all shareholders and that to do so, the strategic alternatives review must occur in tandem with the media rights negotiations. He also expressed to the Board that he believes these two initiatives require Mr. McMahon’s direct participation, leadership, and support as controlling shareholder.”
WWE is entering a critical juncture in its history with the upcoming media rights negotiations coinciding with increased industry-wide demand for quality content and live events and with more companies seeking to own the intellectual property on their platforms,” said Mr. McMahon. “The only way for WWE to fully capitalize on this opportunity is for me to return as Executive Chairman and support the management team in the negotiations for our media rights and to combine that with a review of strategic alternatives. My return will allow WWE, as well as any transaction counterparties, to engage in these processes knowing they will have the support of the controlling shareholder.”
Prior to delivering written consent, Mr. McMahon sent two separate letters to the Board in late December in which he expressed the urgency of his return to the Company as Executive Chairman and his desire to work collaboratively with the Board and management team. Following conversations with representatives of the Company both before and after Mr. McMahon’s most recent letter on December 31, Mr. McMahon determined, consistent with his rights as controlling shareholder, that the steps announced today are necessary to maximize value for all WWE shareholders.
Mr. McMahon said, “Ms. Wilson and Mr. Barrios are highly qualified directors whose professional experience positions them well to help the Company achieve the best possible outcomes in both initiatives. As former WWE Co-Presidents and Board members, they are intimately familiar with industry dynamics and the organization’s operations and have helped guide the Company through past successful media rights negotiations. I look forward to working closely again with Michelle and George – as well as the Company’s remaining directors and management team, who have my full support and confidence. WWE has an exceptional management team in place, and I do not intend for my return to have any impact on their roles, duties, or responsibilities.”
In conjunction with the changes to WWE’s Board, Mr. McMahon’s written consent also includes certain amendments to the Company’s bylaws to ensure that WWE’s corporate governance continues to properly enable and support shareholder rights. These changes will be detailed in a Schedule 13D amendment to be filed by Mr. McMahon and a Form 8-K to be filed by the Company in the coming days.
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No assurances can be given regarding the outcome or timing of the review process. Mr. McMahon does not intend to comment further until the process has concluded or Mr. McMahon has otherwise determined that further disclosure is appropriate or required.
Michelle Wilson Biography
Ms. Wilson is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Isos Capital Management. She is a leading sports and entertainment c-suite executive and, prior to founding Isos with Mr. Barrios, most recently served as Co-President and Board Member of WWE until January 2020. In 2018, Forbes named Ms. Wilson one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports. She also was featured on the Adweek 50 list, which highlights the leading executives in Media, Marketing and Technology, and named one of Sports Illustrated’s 10 Most Influential Women in Sports. She joined WWE in 2009 and prior to her appointment as Co-President, served as Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer.Previously, Michelle served as the Chief Marketing Officer of the United States Tennis Association, oversaw all marketing efforts for the launch of the XFL, a partnership between WWE and NBC, and held consumer products and brand management positions at the NBA and Nabisco, respectively. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and currently serves on the Boards of Bowlero Corporation and Turtle Beach Corporation.
George Barrios Biography
Mr. Barrios serves as Isos Capital Management’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO. He is an award-winning c-suite executive and most recently served as Co-President and Board Member of WWE until January 2020. In 2017, Institutional Investor ranked George among the Top 3 CFOs in the Media Industry as part of its All-America Executive team rankings. He joined WWE in 2008 as its Chief Strategy and Financial Officer.Previously, he held leadership roles in finance, strategy and operations at the New York Times, Praxair, Time Warner and HBO. He received his MBA from the University of Connecticut School of Business and currently serves as the National Board Chair of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Kirkland & Ellis is serving as legal counsel to Mr. McMahon.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding Mr. McMahon’s return to the Board as Executive Chairman, the impact of Mr. McMahon, Ms. Wilson and Mr. Barrios as members of the Board, the timing and success of the Company’s media rights negotiations and the Company’s review of strategic alternatives. In addition, the words “may,” “will,” “could,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “continue,” “project,” “intend,” “estimate,” “believe,” “expect,” “outlook,” “target,” “goal,” “guidance” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words. These statements relate to future possible events, as well as plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and are not historical facts and accordingly involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties relating to, without limitation, the matters referred to in this release, the complexity of the Company’s rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas and the Company’s review of strategic alternatives. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements.
The following matches have been confirmed to WrestlingNews.co:
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Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship The Usos vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
Logan Paul vs. John Cena
We are working to confirm more matches planned for the event. (Watch Video Here)
As always, there is always the possibility that plans can change but sources tell us that, barring any injuries, the matches listed above are very likely to happen as planned.
𝕹𝖔𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖕𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝕸𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖆 is able to confirm another match that is planned for WWE WrestleMania 39.
Plans for a match between Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch have been scrapped. We have not been told yet what the plans are for Lynch but WWE sources say that Rousey is scheduled to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley. (Watch Video Here)
There is no word on how they will get to this match but the source said that just like the other matches that are planned, barring an injury, this is unlikely to change. I will be posting more news soon on my Twitter account @AngelAramboles.
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Here are the matches we know are planned for WrestleMania 39:
Recommended Articles Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes or Drew McIntyre
WWE Universal Championship Roman Reigns vs. The Rock or Cody Rhodes
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship The Usos vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. (Watch Video Here)
Logan Paul vs. John Cena
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Ronda Rousey vs. Rhea Ripley
Following last week’s Uncle Howdy reveal, Bray Wyatt kicked off tonight’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
Wyatt said that he wanted to apologize to the cameraman who he attacked last week in “cold blood” but he was quickly interrupted by LA Knight, who said that Wyatt must “pay the check” because he is still the responsible party for the attacks in recent weeks.
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Knight called Wyatt a “fraud” and a “broke down loser” but he suggested a match for the Royal Rumble. Wyatt accepted and then the imagery appeared on the big screen again and then Uncle Howdy showed up with his own theme music.
Howdy got in the ring and then stood next to Wyatt but it was a swerve as he hit Wyatt with the Sister Abigail finisher.
AJ Styles suffered an injury at tonight’s WWE live event in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
There aren’t many details available at the moment but fans at the (Watch Video Here) show say that the referee threw up the “X” sign to end the match and it appears to be some sort of leg/ankle injury after an over-the-top rope spot during a match between The OC and The Judgment Day.
You can see the video below of the referee and the trainers checking on Styles on the outside of the ring. Styles was helped up by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and was unable to walk under his own power. We will pass along more information as it becomes available. Hopefully, it’s nothing that will keep him out of action for too long. (Watch Video Here)
Dragon Lee recently announced he was signed with WWE after Lee and Dralistico’s match at AAA Noche De Campeones.
As previously reported, he is slated to start training at the Performance Center in January and work in NXT. This is after WWE wasn’t interested in him until they realized he was working on AEW television (Watch Video Here) without a contract, so they invited him to a tryout, and signed him to an NXT deal.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that AEW also made him an offer to sign a full-time deal with them.
Regarding his contract with WWE, it’s more than he was making in Mexico, but “the WWE offer was above the (Watch Video Here) standard NXT-level money, but not main roster money.”
WWE contracts have a confidentiality clause in that the talent and their representatives are not allowed to reveal the dollar amount. Should he get called up to (Watch Video Here) the main roster then the bottom number for the main roster is $250,000 per year.
“The belief is that he would be the highest-paid NXT wrestler now that Mandy Rose is no longer working with the brand. It’s a three-year deal and does call for pay increases with each year, but the hope and certainly the feeling he was given is he would have a main roster contract and be brought up in 2024.” (Watch Video Here)
Meltzer also reported why Lee signed a full-time deal with WWE instead of AEW. It’s a big signing for WWE as they hope he can be their next big Hispanic star, in addition to WWE hoping to hire other “standout” talent in early 2023.
Zelina Vega returned to WWE last year after being released following a run where she was the manager of Andrade El Idolo.
After her return, she won the Queen’s Crown tournament and had a run as a Women’s Tag Team Champion.(Watch Video Here)
She was then sidelined with an injury. Following her return a couple of months ago, Vega has yet to return to the ring on television. Vega came back on an episode of SmackDown alongside Legado Del Fantasma, a move that surprised a lot of people as Vega took Elektra Lopez’s spot in the group.
Vega responded to a Twitter fan asking when she would soon compete in the ring again: “Soon. I’m not strictly anything. I. Do. It. All… not many can say that.” (Watch Video Here)
Vega’s last TV match happened on the April 11 edition of Raw in a loss to Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. Vega has been wrestling as of late, just not on television. She’s been working mixed tag team matches, starting in a dark match at the December 2 SmackDown. She’s also worked the post-Christmas WWE tour this week in New York City, Miami, and Greensboro.
With Vega starting to work live events again, it seems like a matter of time before she’s wrestling on television again. (Watch Video Here)
WWE is in an interesting spot with Tyson Fury as the two sides want to work together, but there are some challenges in the way.
As previously reported by The US Sun, WWE wants Fury to make an appearance at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 28 ahead of a possible match at WrestleMania 39. It’s unclear who WWE wants him to wrestle at the show in April. (Watch Video Here)
The odds of these plans happening are considered slim as Fury is banned from entering the United States due to links with alleged Irish mob boss Daniel Kinahan. Fury is losing millions of dollars from not being able to make the appearances. WWE may book him at one of their international shows in 2023.
Fury made his in-ring debut (Watch Video Here) at WWE Crown Jewel in 2019 by defeating Braun Strowman via count out.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that according to one major source, the person couldn’t say the story wasn’t true but was not something talked about. (Watch Video Here)
“It was noted that Fury was not willing to put people over or even look vulnerable, and if he were to be in the Rumble as a surprise, what would he do and how does it even make sense for him to do a quick Rumble cameo given the amount of money it would cost to use him,” Meltzer wrote.
If WWE can get Fury to appear at WrestleMania, then that would be just another big get for them as they hope to have The Rock wrestle Roman Reigns at the show in addition to having Steve Austin and John Cena wrestle. (Watch Video Here)
It looks like another top WWE star has possibly suffered an injury as Bray Wyatt told fans that he broke his finger at a live event.
Wyatt has been working the post-Christmas WWE tour loop that started this past Monday, where he beat Jinder Mahal at the December 26 Madison Square (Watch Video Here) Garden house show.
It marked his first match since losing to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37 in April 2021. He followed that up with wins over Mahal at house shows in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Miami, Florida, respectively.
At Thursday’s Miami event, Wyatt didn’t come out unscathed, as Wyatt apparently believed that he suffered a broken finger during the bout. (Watch Video Here) As seen below, he was interacting with fans when Wyatt showed off his finger, claiming that he broke it during the bout.
It’s unclear whether it’s a legitimate injury or he was just working the fans. As previously reported, AJ Styles suffered an injury at Thursday’s house (Watch Video Here) show in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
WWE is heading into 2023 with some momentum regarding talent acquisition as they’ve signed Dragon Lee to a deal that will see him start training at the Performance Center in January and work in NXT.
As previously reported, WWE was not interested in Dragon Lee until AEW put him on television without a contract. He later had a tryout with WWE, and they signed him to an NXT deal. (Watch Video Here)
Lee got over with the fans in AEW when he was part of Los Ingobernables a few months ago. In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer provided insight into why Lee signed with WWE over AEW.
Meltzer explained that it “came down to the idea that right now AEW is so loaded with talent, and as talented as he is, there are so many people who would be ahead of him” that the promotion could push. (Watch Video Here)
AEW already has wrestlers such as Rey Fenix, Penta, Rush, and Bandido under contract. Meltzer added, “as talented as he is, he’d almost surely be lost in the mix in AEW or at least, that was what people who gave him advice believed.”
As previously reported, WWE is hoping to hire other “standout” talent in early 2023 following this signing. (Watch Video Here)
As he prepares to return to WWE, William Regal has broken his silence regarding his departure from All Elite Wrestling.
AEW/ROH President Tony Khan previously addressed Regal’s departure from the promotion, revealing that Regal asked for the company not to renew his deal so he could return to WWE to be in NXT with his son, who wrestles as Charles Dempsey. (Watch Video Here)
Regal has come to terms with WWE to make a return, where he will have a Vice President position starting in January. Before his WWE release, he had been Triple H’s right-hand man in NXT.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Regal confirmed that he finished up with AEW on Thursday and thanked AEW President Tony Khan as well as the rest of the hard-working crew in the company. (Watch Video Here)
“Yesterday was my last official day with @AEW. I’d like to thank @TonyKhan, Megha and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed,I had a lovely time.….working there and had a great time. Lots of talented Wrestlers, and lovely people to work for. To my fellow BCC members, it was a special, albeit brief few months but it cemented our already strong friendship. To everyone there, thank you for welcoming me. Best wishes.”
Yesterday was my last official day with @AEW. I’d like to thank @TonyKhan, Megha and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed,I had a lovely time..(1/2)
.(2/2) ….working there and had a great time. Lots of talented Wrestlers, and lovely people to work for. To my fellow BCC members, it was a special, albeit brief few months but it cemented our already strong friendship. To everyone there, thank you for welcoming me. Best wishes.
Since his return at the WWE Extreme Rules show, Bray Wyatt has been pushed as a top star as he garnered a ton of buzz leading up to his return. (Watch Video Here)
Now that he’s back, WWE has been careful with booking for him and not overexposing him on television. He has been unhinged since his return, which was displayed during Friday’s SmackDown.
WWE did a segment where he attacked a WWE cameraman. Wyatt did a promo where he had a mental breakdown before grabbing a cameraman recording him and laying him out with a mandible claw. (Watch Video Here)
The identity of the cameraman in question has been revealed as he reacted to the vicious assault. The cameraman’s real identity is JT Energy, who has been a pro wrestler for six years after being trained by Seth Rollins.
He took to Twitter to further play up the segment: “I may never been the same again after being attacked by Bray Wyatt on Smackdown.” (Watch Video Here)
Kenny Omega is returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as he appeared via video promo at Sunday’s NJPW X STARDOM Historic X-Over event to challenge Will Ospreay to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023.
Ospreay accepted the challenge to make the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship official.
Omega cut a promo about how once AEW started, nothing kept him in NJPW, and Ospreay replaced him but blamed him for drawing smaller crowds and not cheering at events. He said that people blame the COVID-19 pandemic for this, but he blames Ospreay. He said for the good of pro wrestling, he would face Ospreay at the Tokyo Dome.
Omega last wrestled for NJPW on January 4, 2019 in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13, where he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi before going to AEW.
Here is the updated card for NJPW’s biggest event of the year:
Backstage WWE news on what is being said about CM Punk vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 39 IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jay White (champion) vs. Kazuchika Okada
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (champion) vs. Kenny Omega
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IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori (champion) vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: FTR (champion) vs. TBA
NJPW World Television Championship tournament finals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita
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