The release of Toni Storm is the most shocking wrestling news of this week. It\’s especially surprising due to the fact that she appeared on WWE TV just last Friday and competed in a championship match on SmackDown.
The former NXT star also competed in last night\’s Live Event from Washington, DC. She was part of a triple threat match also featuring Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks.
While the reason for Storm\’s departure has not been revealed yet, PWinsider is reporting that it was not related to yesterday\’s match and the bout went as planned.
The story making rounds is that the former NXT UK women\’s champion flew herself home from Baltimore after the live event and then asked for a release.
The internal WWE announcement regarding her departure doesn\’t state the release as another budget cut. Fightful select has noted that many in WWE were \’blindsided\’ by Toni Storm\’s request.
The site also noted how it would have been difficult for officials to not grant the release after firing a lot of talents over the last several months due to budget cuts.
Toni Storm had recently opened up about the lack of opportunity on the main roster. She had only wrestled 7 televised matches since being called up in July.
There is no word yet on what the former champion is planning for her future. She should have the standard 90 days non-compete clause that is expected to expire on March 29 next year.
After 7 years of absence, Christian Cage made his in-ring return at the Royal Rumble PPV earlier this year in January. He subsequently joined AEW in March where he has been really able to showcase his talent once again.
The former world champion recently had an interview with ET Canada. He discussed a number of things such as whether or not he would like to see Jeff Hardy join AEW.
Speaking of his own time in AEW so far, Christian explained that being able to get his career back after losing it is like a gift for him:
\”It’s a gift. It really is. To get my career back, to be able to take it back after losing it for seven years is pretty special. And you know, for me at this stage, I just wanted the right platform where I could finish my career the way that I wanted to.\”
Christian Cage then recalled his first conversation with the AEW president Tony Khan. He claimed that it was enough to convince him to join the promotion:
\”Having one conversation with Tony about it,\” recalled Cage, \”I wasn’t even halfway through the conversation with him and I was like, ‘this is the place for me.’ It was based solely on him.\”
Apart from this, Christian Cage also talked about things such as getting the chance to work with younger talents and more. You can check out his full interview below:
Jon Moxley is one of the people who lives and breathes wrestling. His wrestling gimmick is just an extension of his real-life self. This point is only proved further by the story of his marriage. Mox\’s wife Renee Paquette welcomed the duo of Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux on the most recent episode of her Oral Sessions podcast.
Scarlett first told the story of her engagement to Killer Kross in September this year. She recalled how both of them were having a bad day and there were no friends around. But Kross explained that together they could turn even the bad days into something special.
Naturally, the topic of their marriage was brought up and Renee asked about their preparation for it. Bordeaux revealed that they haven\’t finalized anything but claimed that she would like to elope:
\”I was on the road most of this month. I got to try on a couple dresses. I haven\’t thought anything yet but I think I\’d really like to elope. I want to go somewhere where there\’s mountains. I was looking at Montana. I really just want close friends and family there because we\’re talking about it and I\’m like, \’I don\’t think a 100-person wedding or more people is for me. A lot of these people we might not even see in 10 years.\’
I feel like I want [it] to be for us. I want to be surrounded by people who care about us. I just want to do it somewhere beautiful and have really good food. When we plan [it] it\’s going to be maybe two or three weeks ahead. We\’re just gonna call up our people and be like, \’Alright, get on the flight. we\’re going.\’\”
How Renee Paquette And Jon Moxley Got Married
Jon Moxley aka Dean Ambrose with Renee Paquette
In response, Renee Paquette told the story of her own marriage to Jon Moxley. The couple got married in an impromptu ceremony. It took place in the early hours of April 9, 2017, at their home in Las Vegas. They had hired a 24-hour pastor from yelp. Paquette revealed that they spent a total of $500 on the marriage:
\”That\’s the way to do it I feel. You spent so much money trying to cater things and get people somewhere and booking a venue and blah blah blah. It\’s like you really just want it to be you guys. You want it to be nice and simple.
Jon and I got married for $500 which included the tip and that was it. We called it a day. I happen to have a white dress hanging in my closet. Same thing we were like, we had a weird bad day. I went up to bed and a bit of a mood. He comes storming up after me. [He was like] \’We\’re gonna get married right now.\’ [I was like] \’Okay, shit, here we go.\’\”
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The rebranding of NXT has mostly been met with criticism from the fans. The new version of the show has failed to attract the younger audience as officials had hoped. Many believe that WWE should either revert back to the old presentation of the show or shut it down. However, Scarlett Bordeaux who was one of the last stars to be trained under the development brand before its repackaging is rooting for NXT 2.0 to succeed.
Scarlett and her fiance Killer Kross recently appeared on the latest episode of Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette. When asked for their thoughts on NXT 2.0, Bordeaux claimed that she wants it to be successful. She explained the reasoning for it, saying that a failure for the brand would lead to more of their friends losing their jobs:
\”We have so many friends there. No matter what we want everyone to be successful and have jobs. We want it to do well, because if it doesn\’t do well, that\’s even more people we care about out of jobs. So we want [it] to be successful.
Scarlett Bordeaux continued: \”It\’s different. I\’ll say this. It maybe feels a bit more sterile compared to what it was for me. We understand why they\’re trying to appeal to the largest market and we want it to do well. I prefer the old grungy underground NXT personally. I just think there\’s a lot of really talented, awesome people in that company. We want to see our friends do well.\”
During the same interview, Killer Kross also gave his thoughts on his time with WWE. He explained that he doesn\’t regret his run with the company overall. Though the former NXT champion also revealed the one thing he would change about his tenure. You can check out his comments at this link.
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Killer Kross was one of the victims of the lack of coordination between NXT and main roster officials. Many believed that he had all the tools for a successful career on Raw and his unique gimmick would help him stand out. Fans were outraged when he was repackaged upon his call-up. It was evident from his debut loss against Jeff Hardy that the main roster officials did not understand his character at all. The point was proven further when both Kross and Scarlett were released from their WWE contracts after a lackluster run in November.
However, even after the poor treatment on the main roster, the former NXT champion is not bitter about his WWE run as a whole. He talked about it during his most recent appearance on Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette. Killer Kross mentioned that he got to learn a lot during his WWE tenure. He claimed that he would have gone through with it, if he had known how his run would pan out:
\”This may shock a lot of people but like I said, I like to look at the glass half full. If someone had presented a crystal ball and said, \’This is how your career is gonna go [in] WWE and by the end of it, this is what\’s gonna happen. There is nothing you can do about it. Would you like to go? Or would you just say skip this period?\’ I would honestly have gone. Because I learned so much. And I grew as a person and especially with what was going on in the world at that time like it served many purposes in a greater aspect of either mentally, physically, spiritually.\”
Killer Kross On One Thing He Would Change About His Main Roster Run
Killer Kross
Killer Kross was asked about the one thing he would change about his WWE run. Replying to it, the former champion mentioned how fans were already fantasy booking the NXT version of his character against main roster stars. He explained that he would have kept the gimmick when he moved to the main roster:
\”If I could have done something differently, I mean, very simply put, I would have attempted to maintain continuity at what we\’re doing in NXT. And taken that to the main roster because fans were already fantasy booking us to be walking down the aisle of WrestleMania.
The fans were telling the company what they wanted to see. And so the matches were there. The tickets could have been sold. If we just listened to what people were telling them that they wanted. This would have been super easy in my opinion. If we could have done things differently, that\’s what I would have done.\”
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WWE announced back in July that Toni Storm was going to be called up to the main roster. She was confirmed to be a part of the SmackDown brand via a vignette during the July 9 episode. However, it turned out to be one of those cases where the officials had no clear plans for the NXT star. She made her in-ring debut beating Zelina Vega during the July 23 episode of the show and disappeared from TV for a couple of weeks after that. This trend continued in the following months and Storm had wrestled only three matches on SmackDown before the Survivor Series PPV in November.
The former NXT UK women\’s champion opened up about the time during her recent appearance on Out Of Character podcast. She admitted that sitting in catering doing nothing was not a good feeling:
\”It\’s the worst cause you just don\’t know. Obviously, wrestling [can be] so unpredictable. Next week you could be main eventing and winning a title and everything could be happening or nothing. You don\’t know. This is show business at the end of the day. It\’s a topsy turvy industry.
When you\’re sat in catering, it\’s not a good feeling. Just sitting there waiting for your shot. Waiting for your big break. Waiting to show everyone what you\’ve worked your life to be good at. I just sat there [asking] \’When am I next? What\’s happening?\’ Now [when] stuff starts happening, I\’m still like, \’what\’s going on?\’ Oh, my God. What is my life?\”
Toni Storm On What She Learned During The Pandemic
Toni Storm
Toni Storm also talked about the pandemic and the lockdown everyone was forced to endure. She admitted that being alone was not a good experience. Though finding a silver lining in the situation, Storm claimed that the ordeal gave her time to know herself a little better. It was a good time to focus on herself. Storm claimed that she learned about what she wanted from life:
\”I got to know myself a little more. You know what I mean? I got to know real Toni a little bit because it\’s been just years of constant, just being Toni Storm. Just traveling all around, working all around. Just doing this constantly. Then I was kind of forced to be alone and locked away. I was in North of England when it happened and by myself. I was given so much time. I was alone so much.
At first, I hated it. And then I really started to enjoy it and [started to] know more about me and was more in touch with myself. It was a good opportunity to like, learn more about who I am and what I want out of life. And so, in that sense, that was the positivity there. I mean, it still sucked. There was no enjoyment. That was just like the worst but it was a good time to really focus on who I am as a person. I think everyone needs that from time to time.\”
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Toni Storm is living the dream of becoming a WWE superstar and competing around the world. After spending almost 4 years in development, the female star has finally become part of the SmackDown roster. Not only that but she has been engaged in a feud with one of the biggest female stars of the industry in Charlotte Flair.
The former NXT star recently appeared on Out Of Character with Ryan Satin and discussed her journey till now. Talking about her main roster call-up, Storm recalled how she first got called in for a few dark matches. Though according to her, she tried not to get too excited about it:
\”So I was just cruising along in NXT, minding my own business and I got called in for a few dark matches. I didn\’t think too much of it. [I] didn\’t want to get too excited. Because every time you are like \’oooo\’ and [it] never works out. So I just went along with it. [I] did a few dark matches. [and] did my best. Next thing I know I\’m on SmackDown. It\’s been a crazy ride ever since. My whole life has changed. I\’m a different person. I am a whole different being.\”
Toni Storm\’s main roster call-up finally became official when WWE aired a vignette for the same during the July 9 episode of SmackDown this year. Even then, the SmackDown star didn\’t want to get her hopes up. When asked how she reacted to the news, Storm said that she didn\’t know what to do:
\”I didn\’t really know what to do. I just kind of fluffed around like, \’oh, I don\’t want to talk about it in case it doesn\’t happen.\’ To be honest I didn\’t really say much. I was just [like], \’Yeah this might be happening. I don\’t know if it is. We\’ll see.\’ [I] just I didn\’t get my hopes up or anything. [Because] this is like the ultimate goal. My life goal. My life dream. So hearing about [It] I was like \’oh yeah, I\’ll believe that when I see it.\’ And then I turned up to work next week and was like. \’Oh, okay. Yeah, it\’s happening.\’\”
The former NXT UK women\’s champion has been a part of the main roster for close to six months now. Though she is still adjusting to her new life and the people she gets to work with. Toni Storm was asked if she has talked to Vince McMahon about what he wants from her character. She replied by saying that they have only had a few chats:
\”We\’ve only had a few chats so far. We haven\’t had a chance to really get to know each other yet, but I\’m sure if I can keep doing a good job and slap the taste out of that girl\’s (Charlotte Flair) mouth. Then maybe there\’ll be some longer chats.\”
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2021 was a strange year for Bianca Belair. From winning her first championship in WWE at WrestleMania 37 to losing the title in a disheartening manner at SummerSlam, the year brought a lot of surprises for the female star. The former champion recently had an interview with Milwaukee Record. She talked about things such as her time in NXT and more.
When asked about the upcoming year and what she is looking forward to the most, Bianca claimed that despite the downfalls, 2021 was an amazing year for her. She then said that she would like to win the SmackDown women\’s championship back:
\”2021 was an amazing year, you know. So amazing that even through my downfalls in 2021, it’s just that I’ve had so many successes that my momentum has been able to just keep going and it’s been amazing.
I just want to continue to carry that momentum into 2022. What I can say, I think that one thing that can make 2022 really just top 2021, not even top 2021, but just make it all just come full circle is to eventually get back my title from Becky Lynch. So that’s really what I’m looking forward to in 2022.\”
She was also asked if there is anyone in particular in NXT that helped her become who she is and the EST took the name of Sara Amato, better known by her ring name Sara Del Rey. Apart from this, Bianca Belair talked about her decision to open up about her mental health issues, celebrating Christmas in WWE, and more.
The Bella Twins have been with WWE for the most part since they signed with the company in 2007, except for a brief period. The sisters left WWE back in April 2012 for a while before returning to the organization almost a year later in March 2013.
During their recent appearance on Wrestling with Freddie, the former champions talked about the dark days of women\’s wrestling and more. They also explained the reasoning for their sudden departure from the promotion back in the day.
Nikki Bella explained that The Bella Twins had signed a 5-year contract with WWE when they first got into the company. Their contracts were coming up and they weren\’t happy with how women were being treated in the promotion:
\”Our five years were coming up. I remember at that point; Brie and I just did not like how women were treated in WWE. Two-minute matches but were allowed ten minutes on live events. While we were working hard on live events, we were never allowed a showcase on TV and our stories didn’t have depth and we just weren’t treated right.\”
The former Diva\’s champion continued by saying that they tried to remind the officials about their contracts but they couldn\’t get a response. The duo ultimately decided to stop reminding the company. The officials finally reached out to them when their contract had already expired and the female stars decided not to renew them:
\”They were like ‘we’ll give you these stories,’ and I was like, you couldn’t even have a conversation with me. I remember we’d just had this conversation and I said ‘we’re leaving.’ They still probably thought Brie and I were going to sign after the show or that week, they kept calling. Literally, when we left RAW in Chicago, after the championship match, we left and that was it.”
Nikki Bella defeated Beth Phoenix to win the Diva\’s championship during the April 23, 2012 episode of Raw. Her contract expired the day after the championship win. Nikki dropped the title to Layla the following Sunday at Extreme Rules after The Bella Twins informed the officials of their decision. They had a rematch for the title on the Raw after the PPV and the twins left the company after that show
The wrestling world has come together to remember the late Jon Huber, known to wrestling fans as Brodie Lee or Luke Harper on 1 year anniversary of his passing on December 26.
Lee, who was a former Intercontinental champion and TNT champion sadly passed away on the same date a year ago due to a lung issue.
The sudden passing of the 41-year-old had shocked the wrestling world. All the industry had paid tribute to the wrestling veteran and they have once again reminded everyone that Brodie\’s legacy has not been forgotten.
The WWE champion Big E penned down an amazing tribute to the former WWE star. He claimed that he still have dozens of things he wants to tell the late star every day.
E mentioned how he is grateful that so many people have made a commitment to keep the memory of Brodie Lee alive and he hoped to continue to honor him.
AEW\’s Alan Angels took on his Twitter to remember the former champion. He noted how Lee was one of the few people in wrestling he never heard anything bad about.
Other people who paid tribute to the late legend include WWE and AEW names such as Members of The Dark Order, Renee Paquette, Matt Cardona, and more. You can check out all the tributes below:
I think of him when I look at my suitcase. I think of him whenever I see hockey on TV, or when I see a dirty formerly white tank top. I think of him when I see the TNT Title. I think of him when I read to my two sons.
I think of him when I look at my suitcase. I think of him whenever I see hockey on TV, or when I see a dirty formerly white tank top. I think of him when I see the TNT Title. I think of him when I read to my two sons.
Jon was the best photo bomber! And he would light up a room by just walking in and you know there was something funny that he was about to say or do. I miss you my friend/brother. Always in our hearts & minds. ? Your family is our family. #BrodieLeeForeverhttps://t.co/WNiBSyIT5k
Kevin Owens feels a sense of accomplishment in helping other people achieve their goals, and that\’s why he sees himself becoming an agent once he has called it a career and retired from active competition.
The former Universal champion recently had an interview with Les anti-pods de la lutte. He talked about things such as possibly becoming a world champion again down the line and more.
Discussing his future goals, Owens said that he would like to help anyone who needs it, before claiming that he might consider doing it professionally once he has retired:
\”I have a huge sense of accomplishment when I see other people working hard and who deserve to be recognized for their passion or their talent, to see it happening. I think it’s really cool.
So, I could see myself working as an agent one day, because I already have those feelings of accomplishment even if I’m still active.\” said Kevin Owens, \”That said, I don’t see myself hanging my boots any time soon, but just to know that it could be a possibility one day, it’s good to know and comforting.”
Though it doesn\’t appear that KO will be calling it a career anytime soon. He has recently signed a new contract with WWE and reports suggest that he is being paid handsomely to stay with the promotion.
Kevin Owens is not only receiving a lot of money but he has also received praise from a number of people including Ric Flair. You can check out Flair\’s comments here.
Matt Hardy is very well aware that he has more wrestling years behind him than in front. Though the 29-year veteran would like to continue his involvement in the business once he has hung up his boots. The wrestling legend recently had an interview with Essentially Sports. He discussed things such as why the broken character didn\’t work in AEW and more.
When asked if he would like to become a producer after his retirement, Hardy replied positively. He acknowledged that he has limited time left in his in-ring career and claimed that he would like to continue his involvement in the business:
“Yeah. I mean, whenever I finish my in-ring career which obviously I have a lot less years left than I do behind me, but I would definitely see myself being a producer or someone involved in the creative process. Because at the end of the day pro-wrestling is my passion.
I want to wrestle in the ring as long as I can, as long as my body will physically let me.\” said Matt Hardy, \”But, once that’s said and done, I can still be involved and I can still contribute but being a producer and you’re still able to, kind of, still live out your passion to some degree.”
The former Impact world champion was also asked if he would like to become the AEW champion somewhere down the line. Replying to it, Matt Hardy claimed that he would definitely like to win a championship in the company. Though at this stage of his career and considering what the company is built around, he is not sure that the world title will necessarily be the best fit.
After fighting hard to win the rights of his Broken character, Matt Hardy finally got a chance to use the character with the creative freedom he desired when he signed with All Elite Wrestling in March 2020.
However, the gimmick still failed to get traction and the wrestling veteran had to switch personalities. During a recent interview with Essentially Sports, the AEW star discussed the reasoning behind it.
Hardy explained that the broken character didn\’t work because of the lack of fans in the arena. He also teased the potential return of it:
“The Broken Matt Hardy Character is a very fan-driven character and it was just very hard for it to work as well as it should without having fans in the venue. Obviously, the whole world was in the midst of this pandemic.
So, we just changed courses and then I went to a more reality-based character in Money Matt and you know, we took a step back from Broken Matt. Who knows, now the fans are back, maybe you’ll see Broken Matt again down the road.”
Apart from this, Matt Hardy also talked about the backstage culture of AEW. He explained that from all the way down to Tony Khan at the very top, people in AEW have the mentality of making the product as good as they can.
The former champion claimed that everyone is allowed to feel comfortable in AEW. If you have an issue, you can talk to anyone including Tony Khan.
Baron Corbin has adopted a number of different monikers since being called up to the main roster in 2016. From Constable to King Corbin and from Sad to Happy Corbin, the lone wolf has embraced whatever character he has been given.
The former US champion talked about his different names on the latest episode of Out Of Character podcast with Ryan Satin. When asked which one of them is his favorite, the WWE star picked the one that irritated people the most:
“Whichever one irritates the people the most, constable irritated people because most people were like ‘I don’t know what a Constable is,’ and I also didn’t as well. Happy irritates people a lot too so I like that one as well, it gives confusion too.”
Baron Corbin also discussed his current character of Happy Corbin. He mentioned how after staying around him for so many years Vince McMahon has started laying out characters for him based on their interactions. He revealed that one such interaction led to him getting his current gimmick:
“Could’ve been something with Vince where I’m making him laugh or just having fun being one of the guys with him and then he goes ‘I’ve got one of these ideas where you’re just over the top happy.’ He always tells me that people don’t like you, they’re really not going to like you when you’re happy all the time.\”
Corbin later revealed that he didn\’t know about the Happy Corbin name change beforehand and he learned about it on Twitter. The same thing was true with his new music and he didn\’t know that the officials were going to change his entrance music before he showed up at the arena.
The Rock has continued the tradition of surprising people with new vehicles, this time gifting his mother a new car for Christmas.
The great one took on his Instagram to post a video and some photos of his mom with the new car. In the caption he mentioned how she was shocked to receive the gift:
\”Surprised my mom with a new car for Christmas today. She was shocked. She got a few good ugly cries in. Then once her grandbabies joined her inside the car. She was overcome with pure joy.\”
This isn\’t the first time The Rock has gifted a new vehicle to someone in his life. The people\’s champion has a long-standing history of gifting cars to people who have been close to him or helped him during tough times in his life.
The Rock has been open about how much he loves his mother. He has also discussed the hardships she has had to face in her life when the former WWE star was young.
Last week\’s episode of 205 Live featured a match between Sarray and Lash Legend. The fight received a lot of criticism from the fans for being one of the worst worked matches of recent times.
As it turns out, fans weren\’t the only ones that felt that the bout was lackluster. The officials also considered it to be a match that was very weakly performed.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the 205 Live bout was one of the \’most edited\’ matches of WWE TV before it aired.
The match was so poorly produced that the officials cut it down to 3 minutes of \’highlights\’ and even then, it was considered the worst TV match for WWE this year.
Lash Legend is one of the most accomplished female athletes on the roster. She has played college basketball and also had a brief stint with WNBA.
This was only the second televised match for the young star who made her debut the week before. She defeated Amari Miller during her first match.
Sarray on the other hand has 10 years of experience in wrestling. She has wrestled for a number of Japanese promotions before joining WWE in March this year.
After working non-stop for many years, Triple H has had to take an extended break from WWE recently due to his health scare in September. According to his best friend Shawn Michaels, the game has finally started to embrace the time off and he has started realizing that it\’s not such a bad thing. Michaels recently had an interview with Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture.
During the talk, HBK was asked if he has been keeping in touch with the WWE vice president and how he has been doing. Replying to it, Shawn discussed how Triple H has worked so much over the last several years and explained that it takes a while to get used to the free time:
“Most of it is me bothering him to be perfectly honest, he has worked so much over the last several years and I don’t think he understood that it becomes your normal. For him to step away for a little bit, look, that takes getting used to. I went through it obviously; I am one of the rare people that was ready to do it and embrace it. But when it just happens out of the blue and you’re not expecting it\”
Shawn Michaels Says Triple H Is Adjusting To New Schedule
Shawn Michaels & Triple H at WWE Crown Jewel
Shawn Michaels continued to explain how going from a lot of work to nothing is an adjustment. Though according to him, the holidays have helped Triple H realize that the time off is not that bad:
\”For him to go a hundred miles per hour to nothing was an adjustment. But I think he is, especially around this time of year, he’s now starting to realize like ‘hey this isn’t too bad.’ I think he’s bordering enjoying himself now to be perfectly honest. It’s a well-deserved break for him, for sure.”
Apart from this, Shawn Michaels also talked about the talents that have left NXT in recent times such as Adam Cole, Kyle O\’Reilly and more. He revealed how he feels about their departure. You can check out his comments on the matter here.
Kevin Owens is one of the most beloved professional wrestlers among his peers. He has received praise from a number of wrestling personalities and now Ric Flair has joined the list. The Nature Boy talked about the former Universal champion re-signing with WWE on the latest episode of his Woo Nation Uncensored podcast.
During the discussion, Flair explained that Owens is one of the most respectful and nice guys he has ever met. He mentioned how Kevin asked Stone Cold for his permission before he started using the stunner:
“I think the world of Kevin Owens, not a more respectful nice guy I ever met, unlimited talent, he’s got a hell of an interview. The word respect, I told you this story before but before he ever used the Stunner, he called [Stone Cold] Steve [Austin] and asked him. That’s respect.\”
Ric Flair recalled how Kevin Owens was very respectful towards him during a segment they worked together on. He then praised the former NXT champion\’s work ethics:
“Kevin wants to be at work, there are some guys getting paid that don’t care if they’re at work or not. Kevin wants to be at work, he wants to be on top and he wants to be thought of in that light and he’s very close to it.
Give me another year of watching him but he can be anything he wants to be, But most of all, he’s a very respectful man.”
Apart from this, Ric Flair also talked about things such as the comparison between WWE and AEW and explained why he thinks WWE is still the best wrestling company in the world.
Tay Conti has come forward to comment on her social media hiatus and respond to the people who have accused her for Sammy Guevara\’s split with his fiancé.
The AEW star posted a statement on her Insta story earlier today where she mentioned how she had to take some time off of social media because she was reading unnecessary comments.
Conti noted how her personal life is nobody\’s business and nobody has the right to harass her by creating false rumors about something that wasn\’t her fault.
She ended the statement by thanking the people who have supported her through the ordeal. You can check out Tay Conti\’s statement in the photo below:
Some people started accusing Tay Conti, who is a close friend of Guevara and regularly appears on his YouTube vlog.
This campaign against the female star led to her deactivating her Twitter account for a while. Sammy Guevara has since commented on the matter. He has also clarified that Conti had nothing to do with his breakup.
When Wade Barrett left WWE in 2016, many expected him to return to the promotion sooner or later. Very few, however, thought that he would be returning as a full-time commentator for NXT. The former IC champion returned to the promotion in August 2020. He replaced Mauro Ranallo who was released by the officials. Barrett has been the lead commentator for the developmental brand ever since.
The former Nexus leader was the latest guest on Corey Graves\’ After The Bell. Explaining why he took the commentator job, Barrett revealed that he was first given the opportunity by the late Dusty Rhodes. According to him, it was something that was always in the back of his mind:
\”I left WWE in 2016. I\’ve been with the company close to 10 years through developmental and all that stuff. I was really kind of burned out by 2016 and looking not only to step away from WWE but from the industry in general. So I kind of took a couple of years, went away, did some other things like acting, some TV hosting and slowly but surely as tends to be the case the love for sports entertainment wrestling, came back. [So] I started doing some independent things here and there.
Wade Barrett continued: \”The one thing that I always knew I wanted to do when I got a little older, I didn\’t want to be a coach. I didn\’t want to be a trainer or set up my own training school, which a lot of guys do. I really wanted to be a commentator. When I was back in developmental in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009, I was actually a commentator there under Dusty Rhodes. He decided to give me a shot at that and he really liked what I was doing. I was working with Byron Sexton who was the play-by-play guy, so I always knew, Okay, that\’s in my back pocket. One day I [would] love doing that. I\’d love to get back to it one day.\”
Wade Barrett Explains How He Got Hired As A Commentator
Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett then explained how he got the position in NXT. Michael Cole first contacted him in the summer of 2020. The two sides talked for a while but a deal was not made. At first, Barrett was told that it was going to be a while before he can take up the position, but then things changed in a very WWE manner:
\”Thankfully I got a call from Tom Phillips and Michael Cole back in summer 2020 saying \’look, we\’ve got a position opening up. We think you be great for it. We\’ve seen what you\’ve done before. We think you\’re a good fit for the show. Are you interested?\’ Two or three weeks after chatting with them, they\’re like, \’yeah you know, probably come back in about six months or something like that. It\’s gonna be a little while.\’ Then I got an emergency phone call from Michael Cole: \’Hey, we need you in tomorrow. Can You get on a plane? We need you to start right now.\’ [I went] \’Okay, yeah, let\’s do it.\’ So, as is the case in WWE, things change very rapidly.\”
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CM Punk took a 7-year hiatus from wrestling after quitting WWE before he made his triumphant return earlier this year. Though during his time away, he never took his hand off the pulse of the industry. He kept an eye on the up-and-coming talents. While many have criticized some of the storylines he has been a part of since his return, it appears that giving young talents the spotlight was always part of his plan.
The straight edge star recently appeared on ESPN SportsNation. He was asked why it was important for him to make his return in this capacity where he is working with a lot of younger talent. Answering it Punk explained that it\’s about using his name to help the relatively unknown talents:
\”Because very selfishly, it\’s what I wanted to do. When you take seven years off of something that you\’re pretty decent at and you\’re priding yourself at having your finger on the pulse of everything. I think there\’s an undercurrent and there\’s a lot of young professional wrestlers out there that are probably better than a lot of people give them credit for. They just don\’t have the spotlight. They don\’t have anybody that\’s saying, \’Hey, look at this guy.\’ Or they do but just not on a national level.
Punk continued, \”I think I could use my name, whatever value that has, and kind of highlight some of the guys while knocking off some ring rust and moving myself up the ladder. So for storyline purposes, it makes sense to me. And I always remember guys helping me and they were few and far between. I think more people should help more people and I\’m just trying to do my best to do that.\”
Will We Get To See CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Adam Cole & Britt Baker?
CM Punk and AJ Lee
AEW is not very big on mixed tag matches but there is one match that many people want to see. The match of CM Punk & AJ Lee vs Adam Cole & Britt Baker is something that even Cole and Baker have shown interest in. Though when asked if we will get to see the bout, the former world champion said that he can\’t promise that:
\”That one I can\’t promise you. She is doing her own thing. To be completely honest, I know her and if I said, \’Hey, you want to do this wrestling match?\’, and if she was all gung-ho to do it, I know she would want to get into stupid shape to do it, and I like her thick. So I don\’t want to take that away from myself.\”
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Gresham won the world title at the ROH Final Battle PPV earlier this month. Final Battle was ROH\’s last show before their announced hiatus until April next year.
In the meantime, Jonathan has started defending the title in various promotions. His first successful defense was against AJ Gray at last Friday\’s GCW Blood on The Hills.
Impact Hard To Kill Updated Match Card
This is the 8th announced match for the first Impact PPV of 2022. After the latest announcement, here is the updated match card for the show:
Impact World Championship Triple Threat Match: Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey vs. Moose
ROH World Championship Match: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham
Knockouts Championship Texas Death Match: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mickie James
X Division Championship Match: Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel
Knockouts Tag Team Championship Match: Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood vs. The IInspiration
#1 Contender Ultimate X Match For Knockouts Championship: Chelsea Green vs. Lady Frost vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary vs. Rachael Ellering vs. Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace
Hardcore War: Heath, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Violence By Design & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers
Singles Match: Jonah vs. Josh Alexander
Impact Hard To Kill will take place from The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas on Saturday, January 8, 2022.
With stars such as CM Punk, Sting and Adam Cole in action and the big debut of Kyle O\’Reilly, this week\’s episode of AEW Dynamite managed to break through the barrier of 1 million viewers again.
The Holiday Bash edition of the show featuring the main event match of Punk, Sting, and Darby Allin taking on The Pinnacle drew 1.020 million viewers according to Showbuzz Daily.
President Tony Khan took on his Twitter to react to the ratings. He thanked the fans and noted how it was their highest number since October when Dynamite was temporarily moved to Saturday night for a few weeks:
Thank you everyone who watched #AEWDynamite Holiday Bash last night! It was our highest viewership since the October time-shift & a BIG win for our whole company + the @AEW fans! Dynamite (+21% 18-49, +8% overall) & #AEWRampage (+29% 18-49, +14% overall) both way up thanks to YOU
This is a 7.59% increase from last week\’s Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite. The show featuring the Bryan Danielson vs Hangman Page world title match had drawn 948,000 viewers.
Dynamite also saw a big increase in the key demo. This week\’s episode drew 0.37 ratings in the 18-49 demographic representing 480,000 viewers of the age group.
This is a significant 19.35% improvement over last week\’s episode of the show. It had done a 0.31 rating, representing 398,000 viewers of the demographic.
This was a 31.61% improvement in the year-over-year ratings for Dynamite. The 2020 Holiday Bash special of the show had not gone up against NXT either.
Ruby Soho has wrestled for many different companies in her career so far. The list includes promotions such as WWE, Stardom, Shimmer, and more. Though while she has been part of many different locker rooms, none can match the energy and vibe that is found in the AEW locker room, according to the female star herself.
Soho recently spoke to Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald. She compared the energy within the AEW locker room to other organizations and claimed that it has a very indie feeling to it:
\”I have said before that AEW kind of has a very independent wrestling like underground vibe to it. It\’s different than anything that I\’ve ever been a part of. The energy within it is definitely kind of an indie wrestling vibe just because we\’re all working together as a team to put together this amazing product. And we\’re all just a bunch of misfits putting together this incredible show that are brought together by the love of wrestling,\”
Ruby Soho and Tony Khan. Photo: Instinct Culture by Denise Salcedo
Ruby Soho made her AEW debut during the All Out PPV in September. In the short time since then, she has won a Casino Battle Royal and challenged for the AEW women\’s world title. She is now competing in the TBS title tournament and reached the finals of it. When asked what her experience at the promotion has been like, Soho said that there is something very special about the place:
\”There\’s something very special about the place, about the energy that\’s in the locker room. Like I said, we\’re all just trying to prove that there\’s something different out there in the world of professional wrestling and that\’s what we\’re delivering. So, it is an energy that is intoxicating and motivating. Then on top of that our boss, Tony Khan is probably the best hype man anybody could ask for. He\’s just so excited about wrestling and so excited about his product and passionate about it. That energy is infectious throughout the rest of the locker room.\”
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