Stephanie McMahon believes WWE needs to bring another stadium show to Australia.
The co-CEO of WWE, alongside Nick Khan, discussed WWE\’s broadcast deal with Foxtel in Australia while at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit. This is where she shared her belief about doing another premium live event in the country.
The last time that WWE held a PLE in the country was in October 2018 with the Super Show-Down event at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia.
McMahon’s Belief
(via WWE)
\”You look at our new deal in Australia with Foxtel, where we need to bring a stadium event to Australia as well and how are we looking at that in terms of our international premium live events? How does that work in terms of our domestic strategy?… How are we gonna be able to maximize our opportunities there?\”
McMahon also discussed WWE\’s plans to launch Performance Centers in different locations around the world, which was an idea first introduced by Triple H several years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic paused those plans.
McMahon said that international growth is their focus and wants to do something they call \’global localization\’ or \’glocal\’ where they create local Performance Centers with local talent.
WWE is continuing to look for ways to improve WrestleMania week for fans.
The company has already announced three events at Crypto.com Arena as part of WrestleMania Week in Los Angeles. SmackDown and the Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony take place on Friday, March 31, NXT Stand & Deliver on Saturday, April 1, and Monday Night Raw on Monday, April 3.
WrestleMania 39 takes place over two nights on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, live from SoFi Stadium.
More Events Coming?
Graphic Credit: Business Wire
According to a new report by WrestleVotes, WWE wants to have additional shows throughout the week that are like The Undertaker’s 1deadMan show.
“I’m told WWE is looking into having additional shows throughout WrestleMania weekend similar to that of The Undertaker’s 1deadMan show. Live, interactive shows w/ Steve Austin & Trish Stratus to name a few have been discussed.”
There have been several reports about what WWE hopes to book at its biggest event of the year in 2023, including bringing back three of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business to wrestle again in three separate matches.
Although he has denied speculation about him getting in better shape for another match, Steve Austin has reportedly been offered a match at this event against an unknown opponent after his successful return at WrestleMania 38 with a win over Kevin Owens.
WWE is looking to bring John Cena in for a match at Mania, which would be his first bout at a premium live event since SummerSlam 2021, where he lost to Roman Reigns.
It’s been well documented that WWE is hoping to have The Rock back for a match against Reigns, as it\’s one of the biggest matches they can book. It all depends on whether The Rock’s Hollywood schedule will let him be available.
Andrade El Idolo has announced that he has undergone the knife.
The AEW star had the first surgery of his career after suffering a torn pec a few months ago. Despite the injury, he continued to wrestle until he was sidelined due to backstage drama and he decided to get the procedure. He wrote the following:
“My first surgery, I can\’t believe it happened. A few months ago, I tore my pectoral. Thanks god!I could and wanted to finish my match. I kept working because I love the business, but we know that many people do not value your effort. These days off, I took the opportunity to go to Dr.”
My first surgery I can't believe it happened.A few months ago,I tore my pectoral. Thanks god!I could and wanted to finish my match.I kept working because I love the business but we know that many people do not value your effort, these days off I took the opportunity to go to Dr. pic.twitter.com/7ah5ax2bEe
On November 30, Andrade provided an update on his injury. As seen below, he was injured in a 6-man tag match during the recent tournament to crown the inaugural AEW World Trios Championships.
THIS IS THE MATCH WHERE MY INJURY HAPPENED I LEAVE YOU PART OF THE MATCH.
You can't imagine in what movement we can get injured, it happened to me in the 6-man Suplex almost starting the match but I wanted to finish as a professional. pic.twitter.com/xDwrZhEUJF
In early October, Andrade El Idolo was sent home by AEW after he was involved in a backstage fight with Sammy Guevara. This was after they exchanged words on Twitter, including when Guevara accused Andrade of wanting to return to WWE.
El Idolo hasn’t been seen on AEW TV since then. Leading up to the incident, Andrade stated that he wasn’t scared to get fired. There was speculation among fans that was trying to get out of his AEW deal to return to WWE by being involved in this fight, although Andrade has denied those rumors.
There’s still no word yet on his status regarding whether Andrade will be brought back by AEW or let go.
From all of us here at SEScoops, we wish Andrade a speedy recovery.
AR Fox is All Elite. On Wednesday afternoon, AEW President Tony Khan announced that Fox had signed with All Elite Wrestling after he was offered a contract following the November 16 episode of Dynamite.
On this episode, Fox teamed with Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) to unsuccessfully challenge Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo, & Rey Fenix) for the Trios Championships.
Fox’s Background
Through the fall, Fox has been used on AEW Dark, where he has worked matches against Eddie Kingston, Fenix, and Serpentico.
Fox is a wrestling veteran who debuted in 2009 and has worked for companies such as EVOLVE, PWG, Dragon Gate, Lucha Underground, and more. He\’s helped train wrestlers such as Austin Theory and AC Mack.
Khan also confirmed that Fox would challenge Samoa Joe for the TNT Championship on the November 30 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Congratulations @ARealFoxx, you are officially ALL ELITE!
The Undertaker has spoken highly of Sami Zayn and his work with The Bloodline.
Zayn has been aligned with Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Paul Heyman in recent months, but it started with him being a stooge as he did the faction\’s dirty work and often took beatings from other WWE stars in their place.
However, after repeatedly proving his loyalty, Reigns acknowledged him as \”The Honorary Uce.\” This shift caused tension with Jey Uso, which ended at WWE Survivor Series, where Zayn helped The Bloodline beat Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch in the Men\’s WarGames Match.
Taker’s Praise
Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, The Undertaker praised Zayn and his role in The Bloodline.
“Sami’s character is so intriguing in that whole mix. It is very clear who The Bloodline is and what they stand for, and they go out and do their deal. But adding Sami gives so many more layers. Plus, you have that tension between Sami, The Usos, and Roman. It works so well,\” The Undertaker said.
The WWE Hall of Famer noted that Zayn has never been a bigger star and is a vital part of the faction.
“Sami is a vital part of the whole thing, and he’s never been a bigger star. But this is also important for The Bloodline. It gives them something new. Roman has been champion for over two years. That means he has to go out and beat everyone he faces, right? That’s tough. But it’s a new dynamic with Sami in there. How can you not enjoy this? It’s great storytelling.”
Many fans felt that this year’s Money in the Bank cash-in was a misstep as Austin Theory decided to go for the United States Title instead of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Also, Theory came up short in his attempt. This was after he had been losing matches on television, a change from how he had been booked by Vince McMahon when he was still in control of creative before he resigned and Triple H took over.
In an interview with City News Ottawa, Theory talked about the crutch that became the Money in the Bank contract and his new main-roster character.
The Change
“The cocky, arrogant, douchy persona just really gets under people’s skin, and it did its purpose. And having the Money in the Bank contract and the way that character was, there’s a little bit of a ceiling there just because when you look at Roman Reigns being so unstoppable and everything.”
Theory thinks he can become the guy to dethrone Roman Reigns and could only do that with his current character.
“Whoever is going to beat Roman Reigns, it’s gotta be someone that is really going to beat Roman Reigns and not just by some luck, and I think the chapter that Austin Theory is headed now is setting him up to build to being that qualifier to stand toe to toe with Roman Reigns.”
The November 29, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Roxanne Perez def. Indi Hartwell.
Dijak def. Dante Chen.
Grayson Waller def. Duke Hudson
Kiana James def. Fallon Henley.
Axiom def. Javier Bernal
Von Wanger def. Malik Blade
Toxic Attraction def. Katana Chance, Kayden Carter and Nikita Lyons
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell
Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell in a singles match took place. It opened the show and they had a solid bout. Perez went over with a sunset flip powerbomb.
This match happened after weeks of backstage arguments and bad blood.
Katana Chance, Kayden Carter and Nikita Lyons vs. Toxic Attraction in a six-woman tag team match was booked.
Backstage last week, Lyons stepped up to the challenge and offered to team with Carter & Chance to take on Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne, and NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.
The match served as the main event. It ended when Lyons sold a knee injury before Dolin and Jayne hit their tag team finisher for the win.
Shawn Michaels called on X-Pac, Road Dogg, Molly Holly, and Alundra Blayze to help announce the competitors for the first-ever Iron Survivor Challenge Matches that will take place on Saturday, Dec. 10 at NXT Deadline.
There was a backstage segment with all of the Hall Of Famers discussing and coming up with the names. They mentioned Carmelo Hayes, Tony D’Angelo, JD McDonagh, Joe Gacy, Von Wagner, and Grayson Waller.
So who are the competitors? Carmelo Hayes, JD McDonagh, Joe Gacy, Grayson Waller, and a wild card to be determined make up the men’s match. The Women’s match will see Zoey Stark, Cora Jade, Roxanne Perez, Kiana James and a wild card to be determined.
Axiom vs. Von Wagner vs Andrade in the wild card match while Wendy Choo vs Indi Hartwell vs Fallon Henley in the wild card match for the women will take place next week.
The rules of the match reads like, “Five Superstars will compete in this unique 25-minute match as they battle each other and the clock. Two Superstars will start the match, and every five minutes a new Superstar will enter the match until all five are in the ring.The Superstar who has scored the most falls when the clock hits 25 minutes will be named the Iron Survivor and become the No. 1 Contender to the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Championship, respectively.”
It's about more than wins and losses for these WWE Hall of Famers…
Dijak made his in-ring return on this show one week after making his return to television. He beat Dante Chen in a quick squash match with a version of the GTS. Post-match, Dijak said that was an example of justice. He said that NXT is a place of refuge, but he’s here to take care of any soft men.
WWE aired teaser videos for weeks leading up to his return last week. He returned and attacked Wes Lee after he had retained his NXT North American Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the main event. The show ended with Dijak laying out Lee with Feast Your Eyes.
Dijak worked under the T-Bar name on the main roster before returning to NXT with a character change. He had been called up from NXT in 2020 as part of the Retribution group.
Former WWE/AEW star Bobby Fish has drawn a comparison between The Bloodline’s recent appearance at Survivor Series, and his former faction, The Undisputed Era.
At the event this past Saturday, The Bloodline were all dressed in red, except for Roman Reigns for their WarGames match against the Brawling Brutes, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens.
In a post on Instagram, Fish noticed the similarities between the Bloodline’s red and black WarGames look and the attire worn by his former faction also in WarGames while they were still in NXT. He shared a side-by-side comparison to his Instagram.
The Comparison
(via AEW)
Fish wrote: “Imitation.. the sincerest form of flattery!” Fish tagged in each member of the top WWE faction and his former stablemates – Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong.
The Undisputed Era formed in 2017 and dominated NXT between 2019-2021, where they held all the titles available to them. Although Cole, O’Reilly, and Fish reunited briefly in AEW in 2021,
Fish left AEW on August 31, 2022, when his contract expired. Fish has since gone to Impact Wrestling and made his pro boxing debut on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs Deji event on November 13. Fish defeated Boateng Prempeh.
The Bloodline won their WarGames match against the babyfaces.
Charlotte Flair may soon return to the ring if what her recent social media posts seem to indicate is true.
The former WWE Women’s Champion has not been seen on WWE programming since WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, when she lost her WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship to Ronda Rousey in an I Quit match.
Before the event, she had retained her championship against Rousey on night one of WrestleMania 38. WWE wrote her off television with an injury angle as they claimed she suffered a broken arm suffered in her I Quit match against Rousey. In reality, Flair had taken time off from wrestling to marry her fiancé and AEW star Andrade El Idolo.
Teaser
(Photo credit: WWE)
Flair teased making a return to the company on her Instagram stories by showing a close-up of herself wearing a pair of wrestling boots. She also included video clips of her on WWE television.
As of this writing, there is no official word on whether or not Flair has plans to return to the ring any time soon. Based on speculation, the picture implies that there is a good chance she is at least thinking about wrestling again or in the process of getting ready to return.
FTR has considered leaving AEW once the time comes for their contracts to expire as they went to keep their options open.
The AEW tag team has been vocal in recent months about not being completely happy with their booking in AEW and denied a shot at the company’s top Tag Team Championship despite being the number one ranked tag team in the company.
According to an interview with Fightful Select‘s Sean Ross Sapp, Dax Harwood said that he is under the belief that his current AEW contract ends at the end of April. He added that he and Cash Wheeler had had a lot of conversations about their future for when their AEW deal is up.
Options
While the two may be discussing leaving AEW, that does not necessarily mean they will return to WWE, although they may receive offers from the promotion purely based on their skill and success.
The tag team has discussed taking a year off from wrestling for major wrestling promotions, opting instead to work for smaller companies and do things that they personally find fun. He also said that having the opportunity to work more indies and various companies has led them to find out how much they love that landscape.
Harwood is set for a match with Bryan Danielson on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
FTR is the current ROH World Tag Team Champions and the former AEW World Tag Team Champions. They will defend the ROH gold at the Final Battle pay-per-view event on December 10th against Austin & Colten Gunn.
Booker T is set to return to the ring as the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion announced on his Hall of Fame podcast that he would wrestle again on December 18 for Reality of Wrestling.
Booker T is slated to team with Mysterious Q to challenge Fly Def (Zack Mason & Warren Johnson) for the ROW Tag Team Championships at the show.
Booker last wrestled at ROW Summer OF Champions VIII in July by teaming with (Blake Cortez, Bryan Keith, Gasper Hernandez & Mysterious Q) where they lost to Team Sharmell (Edge Stone, Gino Medina, Ryan Davidson, Stephen Wolf & Will Allday).
A few months ago, Pat McAfee went on hiatus from his duties as the WWE SmackDown color commentator, so they moved NXT’s Wade Barrett to the role and brought in Booker to do commentary for NXT.
Booker achieved a lot of success with 35 championships across WWE, WCW, and Impact Wrestling. He is the most decorated wrestler in WCW history, holding a total of 21 titles, including a record six WCW World Television Championships and a record eleven WCW World Tag Team Championships, 10 of which he won with his brother Stevie Ray in WCW (the most reigns in that company), and one in the WWE with Test. Booker served as the final WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
In April 2013, Stevie Rae presented him with his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. He and Ray were both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
It looks like IYO SKY may have to take some time off from in-ring action.
Team Belair (Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim & Becky Lynch) beat Team Bayley (Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley) in the first-ever Women’s WarGames match on the main roster at this past Saturday’s Survivor Series event.
During this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, it was stated that SKY was not cleared to compete although she did appear on the show for a brawl segment by the concession stands. As seen below in the video, WWE was very careful with her, and she did not take any bumps or shots to the neck.
The Shot
SKY did wear a neck brace during the segment. The company didn’t say whether SKY will be off TV or what the severity is of her neck issues. If it was something very serious, she likely would not have been out there for the backstage brawl segment.
IYO formed the group with Kai and Bayley at this year’s SummerSlam event after Belair retained the Raw Women’s Title over Lynch.
We wish SKY a speedy recovery and look forward to her in-ring return.
Japanese star Konosuke Takeshita looks to be in line for a notable push in AEW.
Takeshita built up his reputation at DDT-Pro and began regularly competing for AEW earlier this year, where he won over the hearts of the AEW fans with his in-ring performances. He shared the ring with the likes of Adam Page, Jon Moxley, and Eddie Kingston and nearly won the ROH championship from Claudio Castagnoli in their match at Battle of the Belts III.
He picked up a series of wins on AEW’s weekly Youtube shows (Dark: Elevation, Dark), as well as a victory over Ryan Nemeth on an episode of Rampage. Takeshita’s run with the company ended over the summer as he had to return to Japan, but now he’s back.
Takeshita held onto Daivari’s tights and picked him up for a Blue Thunder Bomb that made Callis smile. Takeshita went for a springboard, but Takeshita saw Callis and got distracted, which led to Daivari rolling out of the way. In the end, Takeshita got the win with a rolling German Suplex into a bridge and got the pinfall.
Don Callis scouting Konosuke Takeshita on Elevation. ?
AEW star Danhausen announced on social media that he was recently the victim of a hit-and-run car accident.
On November 2, 2019, Danhausen made his debut for Ring of Honor at ROH Wrestling, where he lost his match against Shane Taylor for the ROH World Television Championship. He continued to work for the company.
Danhausen participated in a four-way match at ROH 19th Anniversary Show on March 26, 2021, but lost. That December, the company went on a break until AEW President Tony Khan bought the promotion.
The Incident
In a post on Twitter, AEW shared that he was a victim of a hit-and-run incident:
“Today Danhausen’s car was hit and runned apparently, airport had no parking, second flight was delayed by 3 hours so had to buy and entirely new flight and get checked bag transferred over to new airline that will hopefully make it.”
On January 26, 2022, on a special Beach Break episode of Dynamite, Danhausen made his AEW debut by appearing in the Lights Out match between Orange Cassidy and Adam Cole. Danhausen joined the company according to an announcement made by AEW President Tony Khan hours later after the appearance.
Danhausen’s most recent AEW match was on the Full Gear: Zero Hour pre-show, where he came up short in a ten-man tag team match.
With Survivor Series in the rearview mirror, WWE will look ahead through the holidays and start building towards the Royal Rumble premium live event in January.
WrestlingNews.co reports that WWE has already mapped out the entire card for the show. Last week, there was a pitch within the creative team for a \”Pitch Black\” match and it was being seriously considered for the show.
Bray Wyatt’s Speciality?
However, the source didn’t provide any further details on the structure/rules of the match but another source in the company believes that the match is for Bray Wyatt.
Since returning to WWE, he has been involved in a feud with LA Knight. Last week on SmackDown, Wyatt claimed to not have been involved in the attack on Knight. This has left the door open for more characters to be introduced or perhaps the first member of the rumored Wyatt 6 faction.
The source said that they are being careful to not overexpose Wyatt in the ring because they want everything he does to feel extra special. WWE previously did this with him when he was portraying The Fiend character as he wrestled on a limited schedule.
In addition to this possible match, WWE will of course have its two Royal Rumble matches – one for the men and one for the women – as well as a defense of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by Roman Reigns.
‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton Jr. has commented on his son’s recovery as Randy Orton has been out of action and off WWE TV since May.
Last week, it was reported that Orton had fusion surgery on his lower back. When exactly Orton had the surgery done is unknown, although there’s no word on how long it will be for Orton to recover from the procedure.
Randy’s father talked about his son’s recovery while doing a virtual signing for K & S WrestleFest and stated that Randy is ‘coming along,’ and he’ll be back in the ring.
The Update
“He’s [Randy Orton] coming along. I see him maybe once a week or so. But he’s coming along. He’ll be back in there before you know it.”
Regarding who he’d like to see Randy face when he comes back, the former WWE star named Cody Rhodes as a potential opponent and added that he used to wrestle Dusty Rhodes a lot.
“I think Cody [Rhodes versus Randy] would be a hell of a match. I wrestled Dusty a lot of times so, might as well keep it ongoing [Bob smiled].”
Bob did state that he would be open to the idea of becoming an on-screen character again if Randy asked him to, as he would enjoy doing something and working with his child.
WWE star Dominik Dijakovic made his return to NXT at the end of last week’s episode of NXT under the name DIJAK.
He attacked North American Champion Wes Lee following his title defense against Carmelo Hayes on the show. This name change comes after he spent two years of his career portraying the T-Bar character on the main roster, where he was part of the infamous ‘RETRIBUTION’ stable in 2020.
DIJAK isn’t able to change his Twitter name to match his current WWE name following the change in Twitter ownership and terms and services.
The Request
The NXT star took to the platform to ask new owner Elon Musk if he could change his name if he paid for the new ‘Twitter Blue’ service. He wrote the following:
“Hello @elonmusk, if I pay your stupid $8 fee would that mean I can finally change my God forsaken name officially to DIJAK because the last thing on this planet that I want to be is T-BAR. Thank you.”
DIJAK was not the only main roster star to debut a new gimmick on last week’s NXT show, as the mysterious Scrypts was revealed as former 24/7 Champion Reggie under a mask. WWE had been airing hype videos for him for several weeks.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) were victorious over Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens in the Men’s WarGames match at Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series.
Despite winning the match, Reigns wasn\’t too pleased upon returning backstage after it. According to a report by Fightful Select, Reigns was visibly upset after the Survivor Series main event because of a spot in the match.
While not confirmed, it’s believed the spot in question can be seen in the video below:
https://youtu.be/uCoG5IxRPYQ
Possible Injury
(WWE)
Reigns took exception to what he perceived as an unplanned spot between him and Owens.
As Reigns walked backstage, he expressed concern that his eardrum was ruptured due to the spot not going as originally planned. The moment was said to have been \”expletive-filled,\” and it was clear to everyone around that Reigns wasn\’t happy about it.
Sources in WWE didn’t think there would be any extended heat regarding the situation, but rather it came across as a \”heat of the moment\” reaction by the top WWE star, but that\’s only their perception of things.
There’s been nothing said about a physical altercation between them over the incident, and talent that spoke with the media outlet said that they expected the two to be able to coexist for work purposes.
One person put over both Reigns and Owens as passionate about what they do and figured if there were issues, they\’d talk about it directly. Reigns did not appear at the post-show press conference as planned.
WWE has recently brought in several NXT stars to work main roster shows in recent months, and this week’s episode of Raw is no different.
WWE has brought in another NXT star for the company\’s flagship show; this time, it’s Zoey Stark. Pwinsider.com reports she is backstage at the show. Although not confirmed, she will likely be there to work the Main Event taping before Raw goes live.
WWE is at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA, for tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw. As of this writing, The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis is the only match announced.
Zoey Stark\’s Journey
It was revealed that she signed a contract with WWE on January 20, 2021. She made her debut as Marina Shafir\’s tag team partner in the Women\’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament on the January 29 episode of 205 Live, losing to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the opening round. She made her NXT debut on the February 17 episode of NXT by defeating Valentina Feroz.
The NXT Women\’s Tag Team Championship was won at The Great American Bash by Stark and Io Shirai over The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell). In a triple-threat tag team Scareway To Hell Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc that also featured Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta, they were defeated and lost the belts to Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne). Because of a torn MCL/Meniscus, Stark was written off television last November.
Stark returned from her injury in the 20-woman Battle Royal for the Number One Contendership for the NXT Women\’s Championship on the July 19th episode of NXT. She turned heel earlier this month by attacking Nikkita Lyons.
Jai Vidal has signed an exclusive multi-year contract with Impact Wrestling.
This signing makes him the first openly gay male wrestler to sign with the company in its 20-year history. The news was made during a special episode of the Outsports podcast LGBT In The Ring where he noted that he was on “cloud nine” after signing his first contract with a big promotion in the United States.
Vidal was introduced to audiences as Shaw’s executive stylist and content creator ahead of her Knockouts World title match against Jordynne Grace. In late 2021, Vidal worked matches on Impact TV against Eric Young and Jonah.
His signing comes just over three weeks after he made his re-debut on Impact TV alongside fellow LGBTQ pro wrestler Gisele Shaw in one of the first LGBTQ tandems seen on television in the United States.
After strong performances at several independent shows in Las Vegas, Florida and California, Impact became interested in signing him. According to Vidal, the contract offer came “out of nowhere.\”
\”When I got the call to sign with Impact, I had actually just come back to Florida from the [Impact] show in Vegas,” he told Outsports. “I was running on zero sleep. I got back and saw the voicemail and called them right back.”
Vida joins Anthony Bowens, Fred Rosser, Parrow, Quincy Elliott and Jake Atlas as the only out gay men to sign with one of the promotions in the United States. Impact began working with LGBTQ groups in 2022 including a partnership with the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance.
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods did something special at Sunday’s WWE live event as they honored Jason David Frank, the actor who made a name for himself by portraying the Green and White Rangers on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Jason David Frank passed away last week at the age of 49. The cause of death was declared as suicide. Since that time, fans and peers alike continue to mourn his demise, including these two WWE stars.
Woods and Kingston are big fans of pop culture and use that in the world of pro wrestling through their colorful attire. They were deeply saddened by Jason David Frank’s passing as they shared a special connection with the late actor.
The Tribute
(WWE)
As seen below, Woods and Kingston wore their Power Rangers-inspired ring gear for their match at the show in Portland, Maine, to pay tribute to Frank.
The former WWE Champion wore the Green Ranger outfit, while Woods was dressed as the White Ranger. Tommy did play the role of both the White and Green Ranger at one point in time.
It’s been several months since Vince McMahon departed from WWE as Chairman and CEO, with Triple H taking over main roster creative. At the same time, Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon are co-CEOs of the company.
The backstage atmosphere in WWE is said to be much better in recent months after McMahon departed from the company.
Fightful Select reports that backstage morale has \”improved significantly\” after McMahon stepped down, and those in the locker room have said that backstage culture has changed for the better.
During the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, wrestling was the wild west backstage in the company, and if you upset the wrong person, you would either lose your push or be let go. Although the culture has improved over the last decade, there have been countless reports of McMahon’s erratic decisions affecting the shows, and the morale would take a hit at different times.
Happy Times
Per the report, \”almost everyone\” they spoke with said that going to work these days with Triple H running the ship is more fun and easy going and there is less of a feeling that you could get fired for things you can\’t control.
While there is still a feeling that some wrestlers are not being used the right way, things are much improved compared to where they were this past summer.
Numerous talent looked at Royal Rumble 2022 this past January as an all-time low for them from a creative standpoint and some lost faith in McMahon as a leader in some sense based on the situation with Shane McMahon that led to his exit from the company.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) were victorious over Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens in the Men’s WarGames match at Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series.
At the end of the match, Reigns and Owens mixed things up, only for Owens to nearly beat Reigns with the Stunner, but Zayn, a good friend of Owens, stopped the referee from counting to three. To further prove his loyalty to the faction, he hit a low blow to Owens than the big boot to set up Jey, hitting a splash off the top rope for the win.
5 Funniest Moments of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline in WWE
Paul Heyman’s Praise
At the post-event press conference, Paul Heyman and Zayn spoke about the big win with media members. Heyman praised Zayn’s work since joining The Bloodline.
\”Sami brings a dynamic that none of us were prepared for and we are prepared for everything. And what Sami also brings is a connection with the audience that none of us can have because we’ve been too busy being the top act in the entire industry for over two years.”
Heyman said Zayn is the guy that does a guest spot on a TV series and ends up being part of the regular cast because of his passion and talent.
“Sami Zayn was on the opposite side of Kevin Owens tonight. Kevin Owens was on a different team, he chose to be on that team. If anybody was disloyal to anybody, Kevin Owens was disloyal to Sami Zayn. He put Sami Zayn in a terrible position of having to pick his best friend or The Bloodline, the greatest faction in the history of the industry, the top star in the industry Roman Reigns, and the acceptance of Roman Reigns which makes all of us relevant. And Sami was not disloyal to Kevin Owens. He took on his opponent. He showed his loyalty to The Bloodline.”
WWE is reportedly in talks to hold a “major show” in India. The company is planning to hold an event “on a grand scale” in Hyderabad, India, according to a report by Riju Dasputa of Sportskeeda. The roster that will be featured on the show will have both Indian and international talent.
Drew McIntyre was reportedly vocal about bringing WWE to India, and sources considered him a “lock” for the event. The top WWE star recently worked on a Bollywood project in India.
Per the report, sources noted that the likely date for the event is January 18, which was first reported by WrestleVotes as the company has been considering doing the event, but now has advanced to talks about doing it in the country.
WWE previously held an Indian show, Superstar Spectacle, on January 22, 2021, and the show aired on January 26 to coincide with India’s Republic Day
It was produced as part of WWE’s deal with Sony Pictures Networks India, and was billed as “a unique showcase of Indian-inspired action,” which also featured elements of Indian culture.
It’s unclear whether the reportedly planned event is a follow-up to Superstar Spectacle. That event was headlined by Drew McIntyre and The Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav) defeating The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh) and Jinder Mahal.
WWE held its final main roster premium live event of 2022 on Saturday night with WarGames, which was headlined by the Men’s WarGames match.
That match saw The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) defeat Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens. Now, Reigns is focused on his next title defense, and WWE will be gearing up for its next event, Royal Rumble.
(WWE)
Roman Reigns\’ Royal Rumble Opponent
WWE\’s current plan for Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble is for him to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens. The news comes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co. Per the report, Sheamus was penciled in for that spot at one point, but it was decided to do Owens vs. Reigns instead.
There has been speculation, which was confirmed to be the plan by this report, that WWE is building toward having Owens and Zayn challenge The Usos for the Unified Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 39.
There were also talks a few weeks ago about Zayn facing Reigns in a singles match at the Rumble. That match won\’t be happening until Elimination Chamber in February, which takes place in Zayn\’s hometown of Montreal, Quebec.
As previously reported, there are no plans for Reigns to lose the Undisputed WWE Universal Title right now or anytime before WrestleMania 39, as WWE hopes to do Reigns vs. The Rock at this event if Rock’s schedule allows him to do so.
5 Funniest Moments of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline in WWE
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