Author: Andrew Ravens

WWE Superstars can sometimes make returns to the company in shocking fashion, and this week’s episode of RAW at Madison Square Garden provided a great opportunity for a former World Champion to surprise fans.

WWE considers Madison Square Garden its home, and the November 17 episode of RAW included one former Superstar coming home. Dolph Ziggler, who has been competing as Nic Nemeth since his WWE release, returned to his former moniker tonight.

Dolph Ziggler was revealed as the mystery opponent for Solo Sikoa in the \”Last Time Is Now\” tournament. Sikoa did not know who he was facing, and his reaction was shown in real-time. The return brought a great pop from the Madison Square Garden crowd. Ziggler ultimately lost the match, putting over Sikoa to advance in the tournament.

It is currently unclear if this return means Ziggler will be back with WWE for the long haul. WWE released the former World Champion in September 2023. Since then, he has taken to the indies and has been a top star in TNA Wrestling, where he is a former TNA World Champion. He has made appearances on NXT television as part of the working relationship between WWE and TNA, but this return to the main roster was a big deal for the MSG crowd.

This is the second former WWE Superstar to return for the tournament. On last week\’s SmackDown, Zack Ryder (Matt Cardona) returned to face LA Knight. Since that appearance, Ryder\’s merchandise on WWE Shop has become a top seller. Only time will tell if fans will now buy up classic Ziggler gear.

Despite a wave of rumors swirling ahead of Monday Night Raw at Madison Square Garden, Liv Morgan is not in the building and will not be appearing on the show.

Speculation leading up to tonight’s broadcast suggested Morgan might be one of several big names backstage, alongside Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and AJ Lee. The buzz centered on a possible surprise return, especially with the show airing from the iconic New York City venue. However, those hopes were shut down before the show went live.

According to a report from PWInsider, a source confirmed that Liv Morgan is not backstage at RAW and is not scheduled to appear during the show. This means her long-awaited return to WWE television will have to wait.

Morgan has been absent from WWE programming since June 16, when she suffered a shoulder injury during an episode of RAW. She underwent surgery shortly after the injury occurred. WWE never offered a public return timeline, so her comeback window has remained wide open.

While AJ Lee and Roman Reigns were also linked to potential appearances tonight, Morgan’s absence stands out, especially given how long she’s been off TV and the online chatter that suggested she might finally resurface. Fans hoping for her return will have to keep waiting.

The \”Last Time Is Now\” tournament is set to continue on tonight\’s episode of Monday Night Raw from Madison Square Garden, and the identity of Solo Sikoa\’s mystery opponent has reportedly been revealed. According to a new report from Fightful Select, the name planned for the surprise spot is former WWE star Dolph Ziggler (now wrestling as Nic Nemeth).

The report claims that WWE sources confirmed materials were produced internally for a match between Dolph Ziggler and Solo Sikoa for tonight\’s show. This potential surprise follows a similar one on last Friday\’s SmackDown, where Zack Ryder (Matt Cardona) made his return as the mystery opponent for LA Knight.

This would mark a significant return for Ziggler, who was released from his WWE contract in September 2023 after a 19-year run with the company. Since his departure, the multi-time World Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion has been a top star on the independent circuit and in TNA, where he captured the TNA World Championship.

The report does caution that while Nemeth was the internally planned opponent as of Monday afternoon, \”there\’s always a chance things could change\” before the show goes on the air. Check out the lineup for the show here.

The ocean is calling, again. Disney has released the first teaser trailer for its live-action adaptation of the Oscar-nominated animated film, Moana. The new film will arrive exclusively in U.S. theaters on July 10, 2026.

The upcoming film will star newcomer Catherine Laga?aia in the title role of Moana. She will be joined by Dwayne \”The Rock\” Johnson, who is reprising his iconic role as the infamous demigod Maui.

According to the official synopsis, the film follows Moana as she \”answers the Ocean’s call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with the infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people\”.

The film is directed by Emmy and Tony Award winner Thomas Kail (known for \”Hamilton\”). The production team is led by producers Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

In a key role behind the scenes, Auli?i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the beloved animated films Moana and Moana 2, will serve as an executive producer for the live-action adaptation, alongside Thomas Kail, Scott Sheldon, and Charles Newirth.

Maven recently discussed the reason why WWE released him back in 2005. Speaking on the Mic Check with Mr Anderson podcast, the former WWE Tough Enough winner revealed that his firing was a result of his own lack of effort. He admitted that while he performed his scheduled matches, he did not put in any extra work to improve his craft.

Maven detailed how former WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, had asked him to get more reps in the ring, but Maven did not follow through. This ultimately led to his firing. When host Ken Anderson asked what the call was like, Maven explained the conversation.

“The firing call? Yeah. [He mimics John] ‘Maven, we’re gonna have to let you go.’ It took me years to admit this. He wasn’t wrong. He was like, ‘For a year, maybe for years, we told you to get your ass to the ring and get better.’ I just never did.”

Maven continued, taking full responsibility for the decision and attributing his mindset to his youth at the time. He noted that he enjoyed the benefits of being a wrestler more than the work of wrestling itself. “I attribute it to being young, and, at the time, I liked the life and what wrestling gave me more than what I could give wrestling, and if I could go back and redo things, I would try to give wrestling more if that makes sense.”

Anderson asked what management wanted him to do. Maven replied, “Work with Fit, work with Dean, work with these legends before the show. … Yeah, just get better. I would go down and I would talk over my six-minute match with Stevie Richards or Chavo on, and then punch the clock and then go get a workout in or something.”

To further illustrate his point, Maven used an analogy comparing his job in WWE to working at a coffee shop, explaining he was only doing the bare minimum required of him. “I’m only showing up to make the coffee. I’m not taking the garbage out. I’m not stocking the shelves. I’m not making calls to distributors.”

Maven then admitted that if he were in management\’s position, he would have made the same decision: \”even he would’ve fired himself.\”

John Cena is set to compete in his final WWE match next month, and \”The Last Time Is Now\” Tournament to determine his final opponent continued on the November 14 episode of SmackDown. The night featured two first-round matches, one of which included a shocking return that electrified the crowd in Albany, NY.

In the first tournament match of the night, \”Main Event\” Jey Uso faced off against one of Cena\’s most storied rivals, The Miz. The Miz, who defeated Cena in the main event of WrestleMania XXVII, looked to gain the ultimate bragging rights by retiring him. However, Jey Uso\’s momentum was too much to overcome. Jey picked up the win after hitting a Spear followed by an Uso Splash, advancing to the next round of the tournament.

The second tournament match featured LA Knight taking on a mystery opponent hand-picked by General Manager Nick Aldis. When it was time for the reveal, Matt Cardona made his shocking return to WWE, appearing as his former character, Zack Ryder.

Ryder entered the arena to his classic \”Woo, Woo, Woo\” theme music, much to the delight of the fans, who chanted along. As the match kicked off, commentator Michael Cole pointed out that Ryder had not competed in a WWE ring (not including NXT) in five and a half years.

The match was a hard-fought contest. At one point, Zack Ryder managed to connect with the Rough Ryder, but The Megastar kicked out at the two-count. Near the end of the match, Ryder was seemingly trying to hit LA Knight with a Rough Ryder off the top rope, but Knight countered with a devastating powerbomb. LA Knight then followed up with the BFT to defeat Ryder and secure his spot in the next round of \”The Last Time Is Now\” Tournament.

Jey Uso and LA Knight now join Raw\’s Sheamus and Rusev as the first four competitors to advance in the tournament.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and WWE veteran Natalya have heaped praise on a top star from outside the company, calling her ‘one of the best in the world’. Earlier this year, Natalya debuted her new character outside of WWE, competing at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII over WrestleMania weekend. Her opponent in that critically praised match was Japanese joshi star Miyu Yamashita.

Speaking to Cody Rhodes on his podcast, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, Natalya opened up on her experience wrestling Yamashita.

Natalya said, “The girl I wrestled, Miyu Yamashita, she’s one of the best female wrestlers that’s not signed by WWE, but she’s one of the best in the world.” Cody noted, “She’s one of the best in the world, she’s amazing, so incredible shoutout to her, but don’t sell yourself short. There’s two names on the marquee.”

Natalya added, \”She was phenomenal but you’re right, the magic was in us working together.” The conversation, in which both praised Yamashita, led the current Undisputed WWE Champion to ask about her future.

Cody said, \”Is she gonna come work here?” Natalya responded, “She better. Miyu, Miyu Yamashita. She’s a badass.”

Miyu Yamashita is one of the top stars of Japan\’s TJPW promotion and has made numerous appearances in the United States for companies such as AEW and on the independent circuit. While she is not currently signed to WWE, the ongoing partnership between WWE\’s NXT brand and TNA Wrestling has shown that crossover appearances are more possible now than ever before.

AJ Styles believes in-ring selling is one area where pro wrestling has gotten worse over time. Admitting that he is \”just as responsible for this as anyone,\” Styles told the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast that he feels wrestlers have gotten away from the old-school art of selling. He would like to see the industry return to a “less is more” type of approach.

“I can tell you the one thing that’s missing, and I still, to this day, I will go over my buddy’s house, before we work out, and we will watch old-school wrestling, it’s what we do. That’s kind of our thing,\” Styles said. \”And the one thing that I think is missing the most is selling.”

Styles continued, “The way they used to sell back in the day, man, they really made you believe that this hurt, you know, that this guy’s in pain. And I just feel like we’ve gotten away from that, and I’m just as guilty as anybody. But if we could take it back and make [a] less is more kind of thing happen, I think that would be best for everybody.”

While the 48-year-old Styles misses old-school selling, he named chair shots as one thing he is glad is less common than they used to be. “You know what? After taking them for so many years, I’m glad chair shots are gone,” he said. “I mean, you tried to find ways of making them hurt less by like jumping into it when he’s throwing it, you’re kind of putting your head into it so he doesn’t get a full swing.\”

“But at the end of the day, it never feels good. And I’d love to tell you that chairs to the back feel good, but they don’t,\” Styles stated. \”Kurt Angle almost knocked my soul out of my body. I mean, there’s been some hits from a chair shot. They’re pretty strong — some guys swing ’em. And you got to. You got to.”

Styles, who currently holds the World Tag Team titles with Dragon Lee on WWE Raw, is set to retire from the ring at some point in 2S026. He has not set a definitive date for when his last match will be.

Former WWE Women\’s Champion Bianca Belair has provided a new update on her recovery, revealing that the hand injury she suffered at WrestleMania 41 has been \”more complicated than expected.\” Belair, who has been out of action for nearly six months, shared the details of her \”crazy journey\” back to the ring during a recent television appearance.

Speaking on a new episode of BET’s 106 & Sports this week, Belair explained the specific nature of the injury. “So, I broke my knuckle. Not my finger, I broke my knuckle. I broke the joint. It’s something that I thought was gonna be a very straightforward, eight to 12 weeks. It’s been almost six months at this point.\”

She then recalled the exact moment the injury occurred during the acclaimed Triple Threat match against Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“But it was WrestleMania, and I was in a triple threat [match] with Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY. And we were going to the top rope, ‘cause that’s what we do. And we came off the top rope, and Rhea landed straight on my hand, and it just crushed everything in my finger. So, it’s been a crazy journey.\”

The former champion, a top star in the women\’s division for years, expressed her frustration with the lengthy layoff but remained optimistic about her comeback.

\”Being an athlete and having an injury, you rely on your body, and now my body’s not doing what it’s supposed to do. But I’m hoping I can be back in the ring soon.”

Montez Ford might be cooking up something major, and it does not involve tag team gold this time. Fans have long called for Ford to break out as a solo act, and now it looks like he is ready to answer.

On November 12, Ford took to X and dropped a cryptic vignette that has fans speculating. In the video, Ford appears in a sleek suit with a drink, projecting a serious, \”almost regal gangster-like energy.\” This is completely different from the energetic, fun-loving persona fans are used to.

The vibe of the video is confident, polished, and dangerous. This marks the first major signal of a character shift since Ford and Angelo Dawkins last appeared on WWE television. Their most recent match was on the October 10 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, where The Street Profits fell short in their bid to reclaim the WWE Tag Team Championships from The Wyatt Sicks.

Ford has previously said that if The Street Profits were to split, he has his eyes on singles gold—specifically the WWE Championship. That ambition, paired with this new persona, could be the beginning of a major transformation on the road to solo success. With this sudden shift in tone and presentation, fans are more convinced than ever that Montez Ford is ready to break out on his own.

WWE is already making big plans for Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania 42, and it looks like she could be facing one of the company’s top names.

According to a report from BodySlam.net, internal discussions have reportedly centered on two major opponents for her: Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley. Vaquer has quickly established herself as a force in the women’s division, and WWE is clearly positioning her for a marquee matchup on the biggest stage of the year.

The match is not finalized yet, but the fact that both Lynch and Ripley are being considered shows how much faith WWE has in Vaquer’s ability to deliver. A match against Becky Lynch would pit Vaquer against a veteran with a legacy of delivering at WrestleMania, while a clash with Rhea Ripley would bring two of the most physical and dominant wrestlers in the company face-to-face.

WrestleMania 42 is scheduled to take place on April 18 and 19, 2026, live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.