Killswitch, who is one of AEW’s longer-tenured wrestlers, has suffered a medical scare.
The former Luchasaurus was rushed to the hospital over the weekend after suffering severe lung damage. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported the news on Monday evening.
The masked wrestler was taken to the hospital by his wife on Friday after he was found collapsed. Once arriving at the medical facility, tests were down, and his blood oxygen level was below 80 percent.
Per the report, doctors said that he had pneumonia in both lungs, and he was told that he was “days away” from suffering permanent lung damage. Now, he is on the road to recovery, with the expected timeline of about a month. However, as of this writing, it’s unknown how long he will be out of action and off AEW programming.
The AEW star has been part of the promotion since it launched in 2019, where he began his tenure in a tag team with Jack Perry, named Jurassic Express. Together, they won the Tag Team Titles.
In 2023, he turned heel and joined Christian Cage’s Patriarchy faction. He was last in action when he worked AEW All In London 2024, competing in a Casino Gauntlet match, where he helped Cage earn a shot at the AEW World Title.
Cody Rhodes is confident in Darby Allin\’s skill set, both inside the squared circle and on the microphone as a promo guy. With such a belief in the fan favorite, he does not doubt that Allin can be a top guy for AEW.
Rhodes has been able to see Allin progress in pro wrestling as the former AEW Executive Vice President wrestled the popular star various times in the promotion before he left in February 2022 and returned to WWE. Since then, Rhodes has become a top star for WWE and won the Undisputed WWE Championship. Allin recently headlined AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam against Jon Moxley, falling short and giving up his World Title shot at WrestleDream.
While speaking on Superstar Crossover, Rhodes responded to Allin, who asked in a separate interview whether Cody thought he could be the face of AEW.
\”So the answer is a guaranteed Yes, but don\’t let Darby fool you. He was never insecure, and he was never not confident. Darby is almost overconfident, and that\’s that\’s what we do. We talk smack. We wrestle each other. This is entertainment. I don\’t mind it, but sometimes your overconfidence is actually arrogance, when, in his case, instead of it being arrogance, the experience that he\’s had now with Sting, the experience he\’s had seeing the different changes in the company, all of that, that is the experience that you need to lead you to, where you see the clarity, and you see the moment go, \’Hey, I can be the guy.\’ Absolutely, 100% could potentially be the person.”
Rhodes said that the spot was available to more people than everyone thought, and, being that guy, has a more demanding schedule.
AEW may be looking elsewhere for the developers of its future video games following the mixed response to its inaugural game, Fight Forever, which was released on all major consoles and PC in June 2023.
While the gameplay was fun and easy to pick up, fans voiced their frustration with the lack of depth in the game, game modes, and bugs that the game had. In April 2024, it was reported that the developers were pressured to “deliver something faster than what it should’ve been,” leading to the issues.
Mike Straw of Insider Gamingreports that sources have told him the decision makers at AEW are “strongly considering” finding a new development partner moving forward as the future of the AEW games hangs in the balance.
“They [AEW] knows that things didn’t go the way they expected,” one source said. “The game was over-budget and it under delivered when it came out. It has AEW strongly considering moving to a new developer for their games.”
The promotion wants to see where else they can go with their games. Their original deal with Yuke’s called for one year of post-launch content, which included four season passes that added wrestlers, moves, game modes, and venues. Yuke\’s last released a DLC game pack in July, adding Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Mone.
Sources told the media outlet that the primary focus is on the gaming future as a whole, and everything is on the table regarding the future. The two sides reportedly butted heads before the game was released, including problems with AEW EVP Kenny Omega, who was at the point of “hating” working with Yuke’s.
Others felt that Yuke\’s was trying to “take advantage” of Omega due to his inexperience in helping with game development.
Fans can expect to see more of Roman Reigns on WWE television as the company looks to close out 2024 in a strong way.
Reigns had an unbelievable run as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion that ended at the hands of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. He went on a multi-month hiatus from WWE television as the company built up Solo Sikoa as the new Tribal Chief, signed the Tongas, and brought in Jacob Fatu to form a new Bloodline faction.
Reigns returned to WWE programming at SummerSlam by costing Sikoa his title shot against Rhodes in the main event. Since then, Reigns has gotten the upper hand on The Bloodline and vice versa.
In recent weeks, Reigns has aligned himself with Rhodes as a unit. They will team together to take on Fatu and Sikoa at WWE Bad Blood on October 5. On Wednesday, Reigns was announced for six WWE SmackDown episodes.
You can check out the schedule here:
October 11, 2024: Bon Secours Wellness Arena – Greenville, South Carolina
October 18, 2024: Colonial Life Arena – Columbia, South Carolina
October 25, 2024: Barclays Center – Brooklyn, New York
November 8, 2024: KeyBank Center – Buffalo, New York
November 15, 2024: The Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
November 22, 2024: Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
It should be noted that WWE is advertising Reigns for Survivor Series on November 30 and Saturday Night\’s Main Event on December 14.
AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam airs tonight at 8/7c on TBS, live from the historci Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY. This episode will feature championship matches, and Nigel McGuiness coming out of retirement to battle AEW World Championship Bryan Danielson.
AEW Grand Slam Dynamite Preview (airs live Wednesday, Sep. 25 at 8/7c on TBS)
Coming Out Of Retirement Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson (*if Danielson is medically cleared to compete)
AEW World Championship Opportunity: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin
AEW World Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher and Will Ospreay
AEW Women’s World Championship: Mariah May (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki
AEW Trios Championships Open Challenge: Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. TBA
Lumberjack Strap Match: Hangman Page vs. Jeff Jarrett
AEW Grand Slam 2024: Advertised lineups for Dynamite and Collision from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY
After Dynamite goes off the air, AEW will tape Saturday\’s Collision, which also has a jam-packed advertised lineup.
AEW Grand Slam Collision Preview (airs Saturday, Sep. 28 at 8/7c on TNT)
Tornado Trios Match: The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith) vs. The Conglomeration
AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Sammy Guevara
AEW TNT Championship Open Challenge: Jack Perry vs. TBD
Saraya’s Rules Match: Saraya vs. Jamie Hayter
Lumberjack Strap Match: Hangman Page vs. Jeff Jarrett (Note: This match is listed for both shows, likely taped for Collision after being live on Dynamite)
Three-Way Lucha Libre Match for Hispanic Heritage Month: The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram vs. Dralistico
MxM Collection Segment: Unveiling of Max Caster\’s jacket makeover
Despite being arrested for domestic violence, Nikki Garcia’s husband, Artem Chigvintsev, won’t be facing charges. He had been arrested on charges of felony corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant in late August.
Following the incident, the former WWE star filed for divorce after contacting attorneys and looking to get the proceedings. On Tuesday, it was revealed in a statement by the Napa County District Attorney’s Office that Chigvintsev will not face charges relating to his arrest. The statement reads as the following:
“Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced today that her office has declined to file criminal charges against Artem Chigvintsev, age 42, in connection with his arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence. The decision not to file charges against Mr. Chigvintsev was made after a thorough review of the criminal investigation and careful evaluation of the evidence presented to the DA’s Office.
While we take every arrest seriously and stand firmly against domestic violence, we have an ethical obligation to only file charges when supported by the evidence. We are required to prove any and every criminal charge ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ which is the highest standard in the American criminal justice system. If the available evidence doesn’t rise to this level of proof, then we cannot ethically file charges.
Domestic violence can either be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor and has a statute of limitations of three years or one year, respectively. At any time within the statute of limitations, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office may revisit the case if it learns of other incidents, or otherwise learns of facts or evidence not previously known.”
The couple got together in 2018 before welcoming their four-year-old son. They got married in 2022 after a multi-year delay in the ceremony happening. Artem has yet to publicly comment on the situation.
WWE is bringing back the shark cage stipulation for a key match featured on the upcoming Bad Blood premium live event, which is just under two weeks away. This stipulation will be applied to the Women’s World Championship match between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.
During this week’s episode of WWE Raw, a graphic announced that Dominik Mysterio will be locked inside a shark cage—an infamous gimmick used to prevent outside interference while two wrestlers settle their score.
The segment saw Ripley reveal the news to her heel allies, who quickly panicked. Ripley then dropped Morgan with a headbutt, leaving the champion laid out in the ring as the segment ended.
This feud has deep roots. After WrestleMania 40, Morgan accidentally injured Ripley in a backstage segment that was originally meant to spark a feud leading to their match. Ripley, who had just retained her title against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, suffered a significant shoulder injury during the segment. As a result, Ripley was sidelined for months and forced to vacate the championship.
To crown a new champion, WWE held a battle royal on Raw, which saw Lynch claim the title. However, at the King and Queen of the Ring premium live event, Morgan, with help from Mysterio, captured the championship, setting up her ongoing rivalry with Ripley.
At SummerSlam, Ripley put over Morgan after interference from Mysterio, with the championship on the line.
Dirty Dom will be hanging above the ring in a shark cage at WWE Bad Blood
John Cena has opened up on the sexual misconduct allegations made against Vince McMahon for the first time public while speaking with the AP.
The former WWE CEO retired from this position and Chairman amid the sexual misconduct scandal last July. However, after thinking he got bad advice, he returned to the company at the top of the Board of Directors this past January.
The Relationship
Regarding whether it was tough to reconcile his feelings for McMahon after the allegations were made, Cena stated that everyone makes mistakes, and he still loves his longtime boss.
“No. I mean, everyone has the right to have their perspective. I have the right to have mine. When you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are. We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon.”
WWE Sale
One of the reasons that McMahon returned to WWE was due to him wanting to explore a potential company sale. Cena was asked about it, but noted that he didn’t know what was going on.
“That’s way above my paygrade. I just don’t know what’s going on with that. I love Vince McMahon. He’s everything you could want in a great friend, business partner, father, mentor. I love the man. But his business dealings are his business and what he shares with me, that’s between us. But I don’t know what’s going on with the corporate structure in the WWE or the creative direction of the WWE. But when I’m there as a performer, it’s (WWE champion) Roman Reigns’ show. In my mind, he needs to be in the conversation, and in my mind, he’s the greatest of all time.”
Cena was spotted at McMahon\’s 77th birthday party last August. McMahon made his first appearance at a WWE event since returning last Monday at Raw when Cena made his return to WWE.
WWE confirmed the WrestleMania 39 match between Edge and Finn Balor during Monday Night Raw.
Edge came out for a promo segment where he talked about how he wanted to finish his feud with Balor tonight/ The Judgment Day came out to the stage but wouldn’t get any further. Edge knew why, and he knew if he chased after them, they would just jump him.
He said he would give Balor what he wanted, a WrestleMania match. Edge said he’s tired of wasting his time, which is running out, on them for the last year and a half. He said every week, he has left him laying and even made him say that he quit.
Memory Lane
He recalled Beth Phoenix being hit with a chair. Edge thinks there is one way for it to end, and that’s Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania. Balor said he’s been to hell, and it spit out a demon. This led to a brawl.
As previously reported, WWE had plans to do Edge vs. Balor at the Royal Rumble in the Hell in a Cell match where Balor would portray his demon character, but it was nixed due to Edge filming a Hollywood project.
When WWE finally was able to convince Steve Austin to come out of retirement last year for a match at WrestleMania 38 – Night 1 against Kevin Owens, he left the door open to do another match.
WWE has taken him at his word and tried to get him to agree to step into the ring again, this time at this year’s WrestleMania 39.
Fightful Select reports that multiple pitches have been made to Steve Austin since last year and those in WWE believe he’s open-minded to wrestling again should the right situation and money come his way. However, the offers so far haven\’t seemed like either of those.
No Response
As previously reported, WWE pitched him on the idea of doing a match with Brock Lesnar last summer or in the fall, but the money wasn’t right. Later, Austin was offered more money to possibly face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, and “we\’re just told he didn\’t get back to WWE on it.”
Austin, who has gotten into great shape, was pitched additional ideas to be on the WrestleMania 39 card, but not for marquee matches.
One name rumored online to have been pitched was LA Knight, and Fightful was able to confirm that match was pitched, but it\’s unclear whether Austin is interested in it. Austin is slated to do some WWE-related promotional work for WWE 2K soon.
Bray Wyatt missed Sunday’s WWE live event at Madison Square Garden where he was supposed to take on LA Knight in a match.
After the former WWE Champion missed the show, it led to fan concern regarding his status. He has also been absent from WWE television as of late, with his last appearance coming in the way of a muscle man video.
Fightful Select reports that after talking with those who have worked with Wyatt, he is currently sidelined with a \”physical issue,\” and they\’re not sure about when he could return.
Rumors
There had been rumors that Wyatt walked out because of issues with creative, but as of this writing, the media outlet was unable to confirm that with anyone in the company.
Wyatt was slated to appear at other house shows and SmackDown episodes, but was pulled from those due to the issue. Although he has been sidelined, WWE has continued with the feud between Wyatt and Bobby Lashley.
At one point this weekend, Lashley wasn\’t scheduled for Monday’s Raw. It should be noted that Wyatt and Uncle Howdy\’s materials have not been sent to the site of SmackDown in the last two weeks. Also, Wyatt hasn’t been planned for those shows and is not scheduled for Raw.
WWE has started to announce inductees into this year’s Hall of Fame class just weeks before the ceremony takes place. On Friday\’s SmackDown, WWE confirmed Rey Mysterio as the first person to be part of the class.
It’s been reported that Konnan will do the honors for Mysterio. The Great Muta is also expected to be announced soon for the class.
It looks like Stacy Keibler will be going into the WWE Hall of Fame as Pwinsider.com reports that the WWE is “very close” to finalizing a deal to announce Keibler. She would be the first female member of the class to be announced.
Stacy Keibler in the WWE Hall of Fame
The report added that Keibler and WWE have been in talks for a few weeks now, with an ope source stating the deal was “99% done.” Another source said they expect the induction to be likely, although it wasn’t a done deal as of last Friday.
Keibler broke into the wrestling business by working for WCW in 1999, and after the company was sold, she went to WWE in 2001, where she stayed with the company until mid-2006. She decided to depart from the company to focus on other opportunities.
The ceremony will take place on Friday, March 31, from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Ridge Holland is dealing with the toxicity of social media with negative fans on the one-year anniversary of Big E’s unfortunate injury.
On March 11, 2022, Big E suffered a broken neck when taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Holland during a tag team match on an episode of WWE SmackDown. Big E landed on his head, fracturing his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae.
Big E didn’t suffer spinal cord damage or need surgery. He wanted to wait a year before getting another check-up to see how his recovery was going. Holland did check on Big E in the hospital after the event and gave him gifts.
The Tweet
Holland noted on Twitter that he has been getting death threats and labeled as racist by fans online:
“Death threats. Threats to my family. Lobbying for me to lose my job. Being labeled as racist. Great stuff keep ‘em coming.”
Xavier Woods saw the tweet and responded with, “Pro Wrestling is extremely dangerous. All of us involved understand that. Ridge & his family do not deserve to be treated this way. Please do not send any hate towards them. Instead use your energy to do something positive like sending love to E. Be kind. Please be kind.”
Cody Rhodes knows firsthand what it\’s like to depart from WWE, reinvent himself outside of the company bubble, and make a return to the promotion. Now, he wants to see Matt Cardona do just that.
Cardona was with WWE for several years until 2020 when he departed in 2020 before going to AEW that same year for a brief run. He went to Impact Wrestling in January 2022 where he found success. He also found a lot of success in GCW and NWA. He has held the GCW World Championship, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the Impact Digital Media Championship, and several other titles.
While speaking on Good Karma Wrestling, Cardona came up in the interview. Rhodes called him the king of the indies and wants to see him return to WWE.
Praise
“I’m really proud of him,” Rhodes said. “He’s out there, he’s doing the Indy God thing with the Indiana Jones hats. Everything Matt’s doing, Matt has been the king of the indies now, this is going on year two. You only usually get one run in that role. He’s going on year two. What Matt does next is gonna be huge. If he goes to AEW, that’d be cool. But if he comes back to WWE, that’s what I want. It would be off the charts. I think he’s a huge get, a huge free agent, and he’s the best he’s ever been.
Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 where he has since been pushed as a top star. He will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39.
The decision to end The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WWE WrestleMania is still questioned among fans as Vince McMahon is the one to have made the call for it to end in 2014 at WrestleMania 30 at the hands of Brock Lesnar.
For years, the undefeated streak wasn’t mentioned at all and in the later stages of Taker’s career, WWE started to use it to further sell WrestleMania.
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker was asked who were the others that were considered to break his undefeated streak. He named Edge and Vladmir Kozlov.
The Names
“By the time we got to WrestleMania, we pretty much knew what was going to go down, but there were a few people I guess that he wanted to break the streak. (Vladimir) Kozlov, he wanted him. It was early on, and I think he wanted Edge to go over and Edge refused. He said, ‘No. I can’t do it.’ That’s how much he respected the streak and me and what that streak meant to the business. I didn’t know that at that time. I didn’t know that until years after. That says a lot about the human being he is.”
Regarding whether he felt Brock should have said no to ending the streak, Taker said he didn’t think Lesnar needed it as he was already a major attraction and a made guy so in his eyes, it didn’t enhance Lesnar anymore. He thinks it would’ve been a great thing for Roman Reigns while he was on the rise.
“I think it could have helped somebody else. When I got there that day, I was still going over. It’s in the early afternoon. I remember sitting in the dressing room and came in, and as soon as he came in, I knew what it was. He changed the finish. I gave him my spiel and what I thought. It wasn’t no for the sake of not wanting to do the job. It was ‘no’ in the sense that I didn’t feel like Brock needed it. Vince’s counter was, ‘If not Brock, then who beats you?’ Vince can sell ice to an Eskimo. I brought up as many points as I thought, like, looking long term down the road. Vince, his deal too is, who down the road? At that point, I’m year to year. I don’t know when I’m going to pull the trigger and say enough’s enough, so I think he wanted to make sure he got that. I don’t think he ever envisioned that character riding off into the sunset with a perfect record.”
Taker continued by noting that he didn’t know when he was going to retire, but selfishly he would’ve stayed undefeated. However, that’s not how the business goes. He knows there was a lot of talent that let him beat them and it was the right thing to do to pay it back.
Taker said that the business itself is bigger than the one character and Lesnar was worthy of it. He added that “He was a huge draw at this point, but I don’t think that it helped him the way it would have helped, say Roman at the time.”
Don’t expect to see The Undertaker portray his deadman gimmick again because he is done wearing the trench coat and hat.
This explains why he didn’t portray the gimmick in January when he appeared on WWE Raw XXX where he did a segment with LA Knight and Bray Wyatt. Fans were shocked to hear Kid Rock\’s American Bad Ass song play and see Taker drive out on a motorcycle reminiscent of his character that he portrayed in the early 2000s.
The Undertaker’s Take
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker noted that those involved with the segment expected him to come out with his iconic character, but those days are gone.
\”They had a different vision. They didn\’t even know that I wasn\’t going to have the hat and coat. They totally thought I was coming [out as] old Undertaker. I was like, no. That\’s part of me and the storytelling, right? When I lifted the curtain, and when I lifted it back and pulled it back, that\’s gone. It\’s gone now.\”
Helwani followed up with asking whether he was done with that and he said, \”I won\’t bring the hat and coat back out, no.\”
He added that because he is now in a public speaker role, he doesn\’t think the character can be portrayed in that way anymore.
Former WWE/ECW star Francine has made it clear that she is not happy with WWE using her nickname for Liv Morgan and also referring to Lita with the moniker.
Francine spoke about it on her podcast where she noted that WWE using the \”Queen of Extreme\” moniker for Morgan is unacceptable in her eyes. During a recent edition of Raw, Corey Graves also mentioned Lita as the \”Queen of Extreme,” a play on her connected to Team Extreme with The Hardy Boyz.
Francine owns the trademark rights to the nickname that she filed for months ago as she first used it when in ECW.
She explained that the process of getting a trademark takes time. She said that she’s not upset with Lita as she didn’t do anything wrong, but did note that she’s been building up the nickname for the last 30 years and doesn’t want to pass it up.
The Warning
Should WWE continue to use the nickname then she plans to file a cease and desist.
\”Whether I\’m in this business another day or another 30 years from now, if I do conventions, I\’m going to sign the Queen of Extreme Francine and I\’m going to get that trademark. And if they continue to use it, we\’re going to file a cease and desist. And that\’s it. because they would do it to me.\”
Francine stated that she’s not bitter towards the two stars nor the company, but she is simply trying to protect her brand that she worked hard to build.
The Undertaker is someone who took the business and his character seriously. He took further than most will do, especially these days.
Keeping kayfabe has been an art that has been lost in the world of the pro wrestling business for the last few decades. It wasn’t until he was retired from the wrestling business that Taker started to do more out of character interviews and branch out on his own.
The Undertaker’s Advice
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker urged today’s WWE talent to protect their characters better.
“I do think a lot of our talent, not just our talent, in general they don’t understand any concept of protecting a character or even developing a character enough to protect it. They go and do something on TV and then you go to their social media and it\’s completely different. I’m a dinosaur, I am, my mentality is still 20 years ago, but I guess there is a reason why I lasted as long as I did. I was like, ‘gosh live it a little bit. You don’t have to go to the extremes that I did, but man protect it.’ Kinda be like in real life just a little bit. If you\’re going to post something, have it match kinda what you\’re trying because that’s what you\’re trying to convince people. You’re this or you’re that.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit BT Sports with an h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
With WWE WrestleMania 39 taking place in just a matter of weeks, WWE has put the build for some of the top matches on the card into high gear including a match involving Charlotte Flair.
Flair is slated to defend the SmackDown Women’s Title against Rhea Ripley at the upcoming event in Los Angeles.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE booked a segment with Flair and Ripley where they went face-to-face after Flair had scored a non-title match victory over Shotzi.
The Segment
The segment on the show didn’t go down as originally planned, according to a report by Fightful Select.
It was said the promo segment ‘deviated a little bit off the original plan’. However, the report didn’t specify exactly how the segment was different from the original plan.
WWE is using Raw stars on SmackDown and Smackdown stars on Raw in certain cases due to the cross-promotional feuds being booked such as Ripley vs. Flair. Another instance of this is The Judgment Day, a Raw act, appearing on SmackDown in recent weeks to continue to have Dominik feud with his legendary father, Rey.
On Friday’s show, Finn Balor, Dominik, and Damian Priest defeated Legado Del Fantasma.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has been able to have an up close and personal look at the NXT brand as a color commentator when he replaced Wade Barrett in the color commentator role last year when Barrett was moved to SmackDown to replace Pat McAfee.
Since then, Booker T has called several episodes and Peacock specials. The wrestling legend recently gave praise to an NXT tag team. Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker praised Indus Sher (Veer and Sanga).
Old School
“I love those guys, Indus Sher. Those guys are so old school. They take me back to, Sanga and Veer, they take me back to what tag team wrestling once upon a time was and it was all about going out there and creating havoc.”
Booker T thinks they have a bright future on the main roster and could make a splash on the main roster should Triple H give them the opportunity.
“I think Sanga and Veer could really make a splash on the main roster. Together that’s, that’s two big gears. I don’t need to have more than that.”
After returning to NXT last year after a main roster stint, he reunited with Sanga before being joined by Jinder Mahal. The faction just beat Bron Breakker and the Creed Brothers on last week’s NXT Roadblock show.
Madusa, also known as Alundra Blayze during her WWE run, is still looking to have one more match.
Madusa found success in WCW and WWE during her pro wrestling career. She is a former WCW Cruiserweight Champion and three-time WWE Women\’s Champion.
While speaking with TV Insider to promote her forthcoming book, ‘The Woman Who Would Be King: The MADUSA Story,’ Madusa was asked about having one final match.
The Match
“I would love to have a retirement match. I’m not dissing any era, but there are other eras before the Attitude Era. There is still a woman under WWE legend’s contract that they can do something with. But they chose not to. A retirement match would be wonderful. We see Trish Stratus and Lita all the time. I think those girls are great. But that’s all we see. I’m not sick of them. I’m just sick of seeing just them. I have high respect for those two women. But damn it, if it was them at 60, they would be pounding the pavement just as hard as I am.”
Regarding a potential opponent, Madusa thinks a match against Charlotte Flair would be phenomenal.
“It would have to be somebody I can have a great match with. That if I bump my head and forgot something they can carry the match. Anything can happen. It could be a Nattie, Beth Phoenix, a Rhea Ripley. Everyone wants to see Charlotte Flair and Madusa. I still think that would be phenomenal.”
The new book was written by Greg Oliver and published by ECW Press. You can order it here.
Big E has been on the sidelines for exactly a year while away from in-ring action after suffering a career-threatening injury.
On March 11, 2022, Big E suffered a broken neck when taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland and landing on his head during a tag team match on an episode of WWE SmackDown.
Big E fractured his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae. The positive news was that he didn’t suffer spinal cord damage or need surgery. He decided to wait a year before getting another check-up to see how his recovery was going.
The Decision
Speaking to TMZ, Big E commented on how he feels as he prepares for the tests this month.
\”I just want to make the best decision. I have to see what the scans say, talk to doctors, go from there. Right now, before I know anything, I\’m not going to make any rush to judgments. Just see how everything looks. No anxiety. Everything is in permanent. If it comes to an end, cool, if it doesn\’t, cool. What will be, will be. I\’m good with whatever,\” he said.
Like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley has mostly been used as a singles star for most of his wrestling career. There are some things that the two WWE stars have in common such as their backgrounds in the world of MMA.
For years, Lashley pushed for a match with Lesnar and he had to wait for it. However, Lashley not only got a match with Lesnar but also three of them. They recently faced off once again at the Elimination Chamber premium live event.
Although they’ve made for good opponents for each other, Lashley is interested in potentially teaming up with Lesnar.
“This is completely far-fetched from a whole different angle. I thought me and Brock we fought a lot against each other. What if we were on the same team? We’ll be like the modern-day Road Warriors. It’ll probably be fun,” Lashley stated. “The crowd will probably get off on watching us go through dismantling people together. That would be pretty interesting.”
Lesnar will be wrestling Omos at WrestleMania 39, while Lashley is expected to wrestle Bray Wyatt.
April will be an important month for WWE, with the company holding WrestleMania 39 and meeting with potential buyers.
In February, WWE CEO Nick Khan stated that if a sale were to happen, it could be quick and threw out, \”maybe three months.\”
When Vince McMahon returned to the company in January as the Executive Chairman of WWE’s Board of Directors, exploring a possible sale and helping with the negotiations for the next round of TV rights were his reasons given as to why he forced his way back into the company.
The Meeting
CNBC reports WWE is set to meet with potential buyers for the company next month in preparation for first-round bids. However, there is no guarantee that a sale will happen.
Also, in February, it was reported that McMahon was seeking as much as $9 billion in a sale. As of this writing, WWE has a market value of about $6 billion.
WWE announced on January 12 that they had “engaged with outside advisors to review strategic alternatives in relation to upcoming media rights negotiations.”
One of their strategic alternatives is a potential sale of the company ahead of their TV rights talks for WWE Raw and WWE SmackDow. FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch said this week that they’re ready to talk with WWE about the media rights, but the talks have yet to take place.
Rey Mysterio has been officially announced as the first inductee into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame.
The SmackDown star was confirmed to be part of the class during Friday’s episode of SmackDown with a video package. Rey came out to the ring for a promo, but before he could make a statement, Dominik Mysterio came out with Judgment Day where he questioned WWE inducting a washed-up man into the Hall of Fame.
He reminded Rey of all the things he missed while Dom was growing up. Dominik said he was ashamed to be his son. Legado Del Fansasmo then came out for a six-man tag team match.
Rey began his professional wrestling career in 1989 at age 14. Throughout that successful career, he has worked for promotions such as CMLL, NJPW AAA, WCW, ECW, and WWE.
While in WCW, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship five times and the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times. In WWE, he’s won the Cruiserweight Championship three times, World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the United States Championship twice for each title, the WWE Championship once, and the Tag Team Championship four times.
The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will take place after SmackDown goes off the air from the Crypto.com Arena on March 31.
Many expected to see Batista, real name Dave Bautista, be confirmed as the first inductee. Pwinsider.com reported earlier in the day that Great Muta (Keiji Muto) would be among the names inducted this year.
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