Cody Rhodes has opened up about how his physical therapy after an injury he suffered earlier this year is going.
The top WWE star has been sidelined since this year’s Hell in a Cell premium live event, which took place on June 5 when he wrestled Seth Rollins in the main event of the show with a torn pectoral muscle. He suffered the injury while training for the match, which saw him go over in.
The following night on WWE Raw, Rhodes was written off TV the following night after he was ambushed by Rollins, who had faked showing respect to him moments earlier.
Cody Rhodes’ Recovery
In a post on Twitter, Rhodes gave some details of how his recovery from the injury is going on his Twitter account, where he said the following:
“How’s pt going?” It’s fn’ awful. Everyday we dig into the muscle, then I scream, half the time I spot a tear flowing. It’s a near impossible task getting a bodypart that had been shredded to 100%…or Hell even 90%. But on the worst of days I have the best reason to not tap out.”
He also shared pictures and a video of Rhodes’ daughter Liberty Runnels, dressed in a Halloween costume.
ODB had a long and successful career in TNA/Impact Wrestling as she is a four-time Women\’s Knockouts Champion and former Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
She has also worked in NWA and AEW in recent years before returning to Impact in 2021. These days, she is focused on her food truck business.
While speaking on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast, ODB was asked whether there\’s anywhere she wants to work that she hasn\’t already, including WWE. This is where she revealed that she got a call for the WWE Royal Rumble, though it didn\’t pan out.
ODB Was Nearly in the Royal Rumble?
ODB
“I always wanted to go there. Maybe because you got the Rumble, you know. I did get a call for the Rumble, but it didn’t work out. But that would be cool. I always wanted to drive the food truck into the arena,\” ODB said.
She was asked to elaborate. She also didn’t mention what year this would’ve been, but did note that someone high up in WWE blocked it from happening. She replied, “They wanted me, but of course, a person [in] upper… someone turned it down. But I did get a couple calls.\”
ODB previously talked about how Triple H encouraged her to sign with TNA Wrestling. She named Awesome Kong, Gail Kim, and the Beautiful People as some of her favorite opponents in the promotion.
Logan Paul is set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship this Saturday afternoon at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
This will mark his third time stepping into the squared circle for a match, with it being his only second singles match thus far in his wrestling career.
He teamed with The Miz at WWE WrestleMania 38 to defeat The Mysterios (Rey & Dominik Mysterio), which marked his in-ring debut, and then defeated The Miz at WWE SummerSlam in July.
Paul on the Match
While appearing on TimboSugarShow with Tim Welch & Sean O\’Malley, Paul was asked if there are people in the WWE who he doesn\’t get along with. He noted that he stays to himself before admitting that it is ridiculous that he is getting this title opportunity so early on in his career.
\”Truthfully, I keep to myself. I imagine there are a few wrestlers who have a problem with me going for a title in my third match. That\’s ridiculous and I acknowledge that, but I don\’t acknowledge the Tribal Chief and I\’m going to f**k him up in Saudi Arabia.”
Logan said he\’ll be flying to Saudi on Tuesday for his Saturday match against Reigns. Reigns is set to be part of Monday\’s WWE Raw before going to Saudi as WWE taped this Friday’s episode of SmackDown last week.
Due to the crew flying overseas for Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, next week\’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO, was filmed after the October 28th show.
WWE SmackDown Spoilers
Here are the spoilers for next week (November 4), courtesy of F4Wonline.com:
Liv Morgan defeated Sonya Deville in a no disqualification match. Morgan kicked out of a powerbomb onto a pile of chairs, then won with a springboard facebuster on top of the chairs.
LA Knight defeated Ricochet. Knight hit on ring announcer Samantha Irvin before the match, causing Ricochet to attack him as she and Ricochet are in a relationship. Knight won after reversing Ricochet’s roll-up and grabbing the ropes for leverage.
The Usos cut a promo saying they will be the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions after Crown Jewel. The New Day said that if The Usos retain, they will be waiting for them. The Brawling Brutes attacked the Usos, with Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa coming in to even the odds. The Bloodline end up standing tall.
Shayna Baszler (with Ronda Rousey) defeated Natalya via submission.
Braun Strowman defeated five men picked by MVP. Strowman ended up repeatedly powerslamming MVP.
Gunther defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Paul Levesque (Triple H) is planning more ‘mystery’ storylines for WWE programming after the company\’s success with the build-up to Bray Wyatt’s return with the White Rabbit teases.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Triple H had considered incorporating more ominous teases and angles before Wyatt’s return.
“Paul Levesque had told people even before Wyatt debuted that the type of teases that were being done would be used more often as a facet of storylines and mystery. With the success of the Wyatt angle, expect there to be more of it.”
Mystery Storylines Continuing
(BT Sport)
Wyatt’s return at Extreme Rules on October 8 was teased with a series of QR codes onscreen during TV events while the White Rabbit song played for the live crowd in attendance.
The teases had clues that led fans down a rabbit hole, following red herrings to creepy videos of butchered pigs interspersed with cartoons.
The company is reportedly thrilled with how the campaign was received, and fans seemed to enjoy the teases, as well as Wyatt being the bestseller of merchandise in the company. Plans were recently reported that WWE intends to create a line of plushes of the FunHouse characters.
On this week’s episode of NXT TV, WWE began teasing a new character called Scrypts and the company recently filed a trademark for the term. As of this writing, it’s unclear who is behind this character as no clear hints were given past the vignettes, as the first one had someone leaving a distorted voice message for the Performance Center.
Triple H has already made changes to the 2023 WWE premium live event schedule as he nixed the Day 1 and Hell in a Cell shows. He is also looking to go away from gimmick-themed shows.
Some fans think WWE should make a change to the Money in the Bank event with it being moved back to WrestleMania instead of its stand-alone event.
WrestleMania to Host MITB Again?
While speaking with GiveMeSport, WrestleVotes noted that WWE has talked about bringing Money in the Bank back to WrestleMania.
“Putting Money in the Bank on WrestleMania, one night women\’s and one night men\’s is something I\’ve heard. I know since Hunter has taken over, the idea of one night women and one night men is alive.”
The person behind the Twitter account did explain that while WWE is considering the idea, this person doesn’t think it will happen.
“I don\’t think they\’re going to do that. Let\’s say Money in the Bank was scheduled for Allegiant Stadium, and they\’re hoping to get 50,000 people. If you can do that on the back of Money in the Bank, I don\’t think you put that show in the garbage and put the matches WrestleMania.”
In July, Money in the Bank was originally scheduled to be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, but the show was moved to MGM Grand Garden Arena due to poor ticket sales.
WWE has plans to use Bray Wyatt on tonight’s episode of SmackDown and next week’s show, which will also be taped from St. Louis, MO.
Fightful Select reports WWE plans to include several pieces of Wyatt\’s past as of Thursday. One thing stated was that WWE wanted to bring in the rocking chair that Wyatt used during his early years in the company. Also, there has been talk of The Fiend mask being ripped up by Bray or another talent.
Wyatt Rumors
The report added that rumors about Wyatt vs. Reigns imminently starting a feud are false because \”Where would we go from there?\” Another person in the company said they learned from the Fiend run.
Seth Rollins, who feuded with Wyatt in 2019, has said publicly that the previous Fiend run was difficult on the wrestlers he worked with because The Fiend had to be booked to be indestructible.
Dave Meltzer noted in this week’s Wrestling Observer about those two names potentially feuding, but Meltzer never said when the feud could happen. Meltzer wrote, \”While it would be best to keep them apart for a while, the idea is Reigns vs. Wyatt could be the biggest program in a long time since Wyatt is so hot right now.\”
UPDATE: Emma is back as she did answer Ronda Rousey’s challenge, but fell short as Rousey won after hitting the Piper\’s Pit and the armbar submission.
ORIGINAL: Former WWE star Tennille Dashwood aka Emma, is returning to the company as she is backstage at tonight’s SmackDown TV event in St. Louis, Missouri.
Pwinsider.com reported the news this afternoon. Per the report, she is expected to return tonight as the person responding to SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey\’s open challenge.
Emma’s Homecoming
Tenille Dashwood aka Emma
Dashwood, the first Australian woman signed to a WWE deal, had two runs on the WWE main roster, with the first being tied to Santino Marella and then a heel run leading to her rebranding as Emmalina eventually. This character was dropped before she came back to television. She also found success in NXT.
Dashwood was released in October 2017. After her WWE release, Dashwood spent a year working for Ring of Honor before several years in Impact Wrestling but finished up with the promotion this past August when her contract with the company expired.
Dashwood got over with fans as a loveable babyface on the NXT women\’s roster during Triple H’s time in charge of the promotion. Dashwood is currently dating SmackDown\’s Madcap Moss.
She is one of the world\’s best wrestlers and helped create the women\’s revolution alongside several names, including Paige.
AEW has another Schiavone working behind the scenes as Tony Schiavone\’s son, Matt, is now in the promotion.
Tony is one of the most accomplished wrestling announcers of all time, and after years away from the wrestling business, he joined AEW to return to calling the action. Schiavone has various responsibilities behind the scenes in AEW
Matt Schiavone’s AEW Role
Tony Schiavone (Photo: AEW)
On the latest episode of AEW Unrestricted, Tony announced that his son Matt is also working behind the scenes in AEW. It started at last week’s AEW Rampage in Jacksonville, Florida.
\”I\’ve really kind of wrestled with even mentioning this, but I\’m going to, we have just hired a brand new producer to help us backstage. It\’s a producer who\’s had 15 years of network TV experience, and really knows what he\’s doing. I really wrestled with even wanting him to come to work for us, and it\’s my son, Matt. He will start as a producer in Jacksonville, and as this thing airs, it\’s already happened. He had such a good job, but he just like us, just absolutely loves pro wrestling and wanted to do it. I went, \’Matt, are you sure? Because it\’s freaking crazy back there!\’\”
Tony noted that AEW President Tony Khan told him that his son will be working under Sonjay Dutt.
Matt previously worked for Fox News as his LinkedIn notes that he was a producer for America\’s Newsroom w/ Bill Hemmer & Dana Perino.
Impact Wrestling finds itself at a time where there is turnover in the promotion with stars leaving and staying as The Kingdom departed to join AEW while another Impact star is also leaving the company as Chelsea Green is reportedly on her way out.
According to a report by PWInsider, Green filmed an exit vignette at the most recent set of Impact tapings, with many people believing she could be on her way to WWE.
Is Chelsea Green Returning?
Chelsea Green
Also at the tapings, Impact taped a singles match between Green and Mickie James now believed to be a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match. The feeling is that Green reportedly wouldn’t ‘give up regular Impact bookings unless she was WWE bound’.
Green wrote, “Left you all #VXT from the beginning” on Twitter, with many seeing this as confirmation of Chelsea’s exit.
Green was released by WWE in 2021 after a tumultuous three-year run with the company.
WrestleVotes recently reported that WWE is interested in bringing back Green, who was among the names to be released by the company last year because of “budget cuts.”
If Green returns to WWE, it will be interesting to see whether WWE would also be interested in her husband, Matt Cardona, also known as Zack Ryder, in WWE.
After returning to AEW programming at the end of the All Out pay-per-view event, MJF has been greeted with cheers from the crowd at AEW events.
He has done some heel antics in his promos and other times as a babyface. He told Renee Paquette to shut up in a promo for his Full Gear bout with the AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley on Wednesday\’s AEW Dynamite. This was an example of the back-and-forth that his character is doing.
He was attacked by The Firm on the show, indicating he is a full-fledged babyface, though that might be a swerve.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that MJF wants to stay as a heel and does not want to be a babyface. Bryan Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live that people in AEW want MJF to become a full-blown babyface.
Alvarez pointed out how the fans have wanted to cheer him since he came back and was supposed to be a heel when he returned. AEW went to the point where he would come out before the show and bury the crowd to try to make sure they would boo him, but that still didn’t help him from getting cheered.
MJF to Give in?
(AEW)
\”Well, now they are no longer doing that. Now they are just going with it at this moment. The question is do you go all the way with it or do you do whatever and he ends up being a heel again. What I can tell you is there are people within AEW that strongly believe that they should go with him as a babyface right now. They feel that he could be a massive babyface star for AEW. They think that is what he should do now.\”
\”There are people who believe he could be a generational babyface. That was not the intention when he came back but things happen.\”
MJF is the heavy-betting favorite to defeat Jon Moxley to win the AEW World Heavyweight Title at Full Gear.
WWE has discussed doing something new with Austin Theory’s Money In The Bank cash-in attempt.
Over the summer, Theory won the briefcase at this year’s Money In The Bank after being added to the ladder match as a last-minute entry over Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Omos, Sami Zayn, Riddle, and Madcap Moss.
The Pitch
(WWE)
WrestleVotes revealed that there had been an internal pitch for Theory where he would keep the Money in the Bank briefcase for almost an entire year.
“There is an idea that he is the first guy to wait a full year, like the day of or let’s say, night of Money in the Bank next year,” the person behind the Twitter account stated in an interview with GiveMeSport. “That’s the storyline, like ‘you have to cash this in two and a half hours. You have to cash this in 90 minutes.’ That type of thing. I know that idea is on the table.”
As of this writing, it is unclear whether or not the current plan is for Theory’s cash-in to be successful.
Theory last wrestled on this week’s edition of Raw, defeating Mustafa Ali in singles action. He doesn’t have a match announced for Crown Jewel on November 5th in Saudi Arabia.
John Cena has another Hollywood role lined up as the former WWE Champion has signed onto a new project.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Cena will star in Ilya Naishuller’s next film, “Heads of State” along with Idris Elba. In October 2020, Amazon Studios picked up the rights for “Heads of State” during a competitive Zoom presentation.
The film will be produced by Peter Safran, co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios, and John Rickard via The Safran Company, while the initial script was created by Harrison Query, who recently set up My Wife and I Bought a Ranch
Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec, who worked on the recently wrapped Beverly Hills Cop reboot, wrote the final draft.
Cena’s Other Films
The film is described as “Air Force One meets Midnight Run,” centered on a mismatched pair who are in over their heads in a high-stakes situation.
Cena recently finished filming movies such as The Independent, Snafu, Coyote v. Acme, Argylle, and Freelance while he is currently filming Honeymoon Friends.
As previously noted, The Independent, which comes out next month, will be exclusively on Peacock.
Zelina Vega made her return to WWE on the October 7 episode of WWE SmackDown by being the new manager of Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro) to attack Hit Row (Top Dolla, B-Fab, & Ashante \”Thee\” Adonis).
Throughout her career with WWE, Vega has filled multiple roles, including managing Andrade in NXT and the main roster, winning the first-ever Queen of the Ring tournament and the WWE Women\’s Tag Team Titles.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Zelina discussed her opportunities in WWE and wanting the ball.
Wanting The Chance
(via WWE)
\”I had those questions like, \’Can I do this by myself? Can I carry all about me?\’ Damn right I can. Then, I became Queen,\” she said when discussing moving away from being utilized more as a manager. \”Now, it\’s taking both parts and combining them together and doing this for me but also doing this for my team and getting people to see that side of me. For the longest time, I was like, \’Damn, they have no idea what they have.\’ I always told them, \’Give me the ball. If I drop it, screw me, but you\’ll never know until you try.\’”
Vega noted that you have to trust people and give them a chance as WWE did with Liv Morgan once fans got behind her.
She continued, \”I heard from so many different people, \’it\’s just a matter of time. When is Zelina going to get this chance?\’ I\’m waiting. I\’m here. For the longest, I felt like they were afraid to do it. The only thing they\’re going to regret is that they didn\’t do it sooner, that they didn\’t take a chance on me sooner. They have no idea. This is one side of me, and you\’re getting a different side now, but imagine what could happen if you actually give me the ball to just be me and have that opportunity. I feel like, for the longest, they were afraid to do it. What\’s stopping you? Clearly, I can do for me alone, I can do it for other people, why not give me the actual chance? Are they afraid? What could you really lose when it comes to me? I\’ve handled literally everything that has been handed to me. I think it\’s just a matter of time.\”
Before her return, Vega had been off television for several months due to an injury as she last wrestled on the April 11 episode of WWE Raw, losing to Bianca Belair.
On Friday’s WWE SmackDown, Legado Del Fantasma will be in six-man tag team action when they take on Hit Row and their mystery partner.
Peacock is slated to premiere a new movie featuring John Cena next month.
Peacock announced today that the political thriller “The Independent” will premiere exclusively on the streaming platform on Wednesday, November 2.
The movie comes from Emmy-nominated director Amy Rice. Evan Parter wrote the script. Relativity Media and Park Pictures are releasing the film, along with Anonymous Content and NEXT Productions, in association with Orogen Entertainment and The Exchange.
Also starring in the movie include Cena, Ann Dowd, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Brian Cox. The official synopsis reads like this:
The Plot
“It’s the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history. America is poised to elect either its first female president (Ann Dowd) or its first viable independent candidate (John Cena). Reporting history as it’s made, an idealistic young journalist (Jodie Turner-Smith) teams up with her idol, legendary journalist Nick Booker (Brian Cox), to uncover a conspiracy that places the fate of the election, and the country, in their hands.”
The film is produced by Sam Bisbee, Theodora Dunlap, Caddy Vanasirikul, Ryan Cunningham, and Evan Parter. Executive Producers include Laura Grange, Julia Stuart, Brian Cox, Jodie Turner-Smith, John Cena, Blair Ward, Anders Erdén, Eric Harbert, Bill Kiely, Whitney Moehle, Michael Arrieta, Marc Danon, David Robbins, Lex Miron, Amy Jarvela, Charles Stiefel, Brian O’Shea, Giovanna Trischitta, Nat McCormick, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Lance Acord, and Cody Ryder.
Although no trailer has been released, you can check out a new first-look clip for the movie with Cox and Turner-Smith:
Following the news of AEW releasing Ace Steel and there being talks of the promotion buying out CM Punk’s contract, there has been speculation that the investigation is wrapping up, which could mean that The Elite will be back soon.
The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega have been added back to television commercials for Dynamite and Rampage, indicating that they are returning soon. Also, last week, Tony Schiavone mentioned The Elite during Dynamite in reference to them being the first-ever AEW World Trios Champions.
The Elite’s Return
(via AEW)
According to Fightful Select, there\’s been talk backstage about The Bucks and Omega returning to work soon, at least in a backstage capacity. One source said their return could happen \”imminently,\” although there is no definite answer on when exactly they will be back.
The report added that there was also a meeting scheduled for last week, but no details were available on what was said.
AEW had suspended Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Pat Buck, Chris Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, and Brandon Cutler following the backstage fight with Punk at AEW All Out last month. Everyone listed above except for The Elite have returned to work.
Tommaso Ciampa has undergone the knife to repair a torn hip labrum.
The WWE star hasn’t wrestled since a WWE live event on Sept. 17 and has been absent from Monday Night Raw for the past few weeks. On Monday Night Raw this week, Johnny Gargnao mentioned Ciampa was dealing with an injury during a backstage promo with The Miz, but it was unclear at the time if this was merely a storyline or real-life. Obviously, the injury is real.
\”The road to recovery begins. It\’s a familiar road. Almost too familiar,\” Ciampa wrote in an Instagram post. \”Special thanks to Dr Emblom and his team for taking such incredible care of me. Thanks to the WWE medical team for once again putting me back together. And thanks to my \’nurses\’ at home for always giving me perspective. It took awhile but we finally found the cause to all of that glute/SI/back pain. A hip labrum that \’looked like shredded cheese\’ according to my wife, who watched the surgery.\”
He also included an inspirational quote by beloved fictional character, Rocky Balboa:
\”But it ain\’t about how hard ya hit. It\’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.\”
– Rocky Balboa
Ciampa had been pushed by Triple H since taking over creative from Vince McMahon this past July. Ciampa had gone from being Miz\’s henchman to challenging Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship.
The October 25, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter defeated Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Shotzi defeated Lash Legend
Pretty Deadly defeated Blade and Enofe to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Indi Hartwell defeated Solo Ruca
JD McDonagh defeated Ilja Dragunov
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Ava Raine Arrives
WWE
Ava Raine made her NXT television debut as the newest member of Schism, a group led by Joe Gacy. She said that love and acceptance that the Schism has given her defies any preconceived notions of who she’s supposed to be. She said this family completes her. The segment ended with her posing with the group.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defeated Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh in a triple threat match in the main event of Halloween Havoc this past Saturday. So what’s next?
Throughout the show, there were video packages recapping the match. There were also videos of Dragunov and JD talking about their history to further build up their match in the main event of this show. WWE announced Bron would return to NXT next week.
The bout saw an injury angle where Dragunov was checked out for his shoulder by the doctors. The finish saw JD have him in a choke and Dragunov started to bleed and passed out. Dragnuov was stretchered out of the arena.
NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly defended the titles against Edris Enofe and Malik Blade
On last week’s show, WWE did contract signing for the match to make it official. During it, Enofe and Blade suggested that they would shock the world when they become champions after they became the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team titles by winning a three-way match for the number one contendership.
The match was a good one that had plenty of time to tell a story with the champions going over with their finisher to retain the titles.
NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter defended the titles against Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons.
WWE did contract signing for the match on last week’s show t set up the bout. During the signing, Stark said that they will prove that they are a team when they win the tag team titles while Chance said that they will see what happens when they lose.
The match opened the show and had to be restarted. Stark reversed a kick into a rollup for the victory. However, Chance complained that she wasn’t the legal person to the referee. A 2nd referee ran out and reset the match. Chance and Carter hit Lyons with their 450-Backbreaker finisher to give Chance the win.
We've got new #WWENXT Women's Tag Team Champions!!!
Lash Legend vs. Shotzi in a singles match was booked.
The match was set up at Saturday’s Halloween Havoc as Shotzi hosted the event along with Quincy Elliot. Legend confronted them towards the end of the show where she stated she would be a better host than either of them. Legend was eventually laid out with a DDT.
The match was the second on the card and ended with Shotzi hit Lash Never Wake Up (Leg Trap DDT) for the victory.
The Rock’s daughter, Simone Johnson, has made her WWE NXT television debut as the newest member of Schism.
Johnson, known as Ava Raine in NXT, took off her mask in a segment to reveal she is part of the faction led by Joe Gacy. In her promo, she talked about how love and acceptance that the Schism has given her defies any preconceived notions of who she’s supposed to be.
She said this family completes her. The segment ended with her posing with the group, including Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid.
Raine made her WWE NXT live event debut in July by scouting talent and then cut her first promo the following night and called herself \”The Final Girl.\”
“She’s made history. Very, very proud of her. She is fiercely independent. It’s very important for her to make her own way, blaze her own trail, blaze her own path. She doesn’t come to me looking for a lot, which I respect that. And I’m here watching and supporting.”
Raine has been with WWE for several years, although she has not wrestled in a sanctioned match as of this writing.
WWE is coming off its latest NXT premium live event – Halloween Havoc – this past Saturday night was headlined by Bron Breakker defending the NXT Championship in a Triple Threat match against Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh.
\”Halloween Havoc was NXT\’s most-viewed standalone PLE since the start of the Peacock relationship. By standalone, I mean running a weekend where there is no main roster PLE.\”
TakeOver: In Your House 2021, TakeOver 36, and WarGames 2021 were the only three standalone premium live events the brand put on since the Peacock partnership began in early 2021.
Internal Feeling
(WWE)
Halloween Havoc 2022 can now be added to that list, topping them all. Zarian also added how NBCUniversal, the parent company of the USA Network, the home of weekly NXT TV and Peacock, feels about the brand.
\”More on Halloween Havoc — Execs were \”encouraged\” that additional promotion helped translate into additional viewership for this PLE. The overall attitude towards NXT from NBCU side of things has been very positive over the past few weeks.\”
A few weeks ago, WWE dropped the \”2.0\” from the NXT name as the brand had taken on a new identity starting in September in 2021. WWE will present the next NXT premium live event, NXT Deadline, on December 10 — the same day as Ring of Honor\’s Final Battle pay-per-view. No matches for NXT Deadline have been announced just yet.
Shawn Michaels and The Rock never worked a singles match together in their wrestling careers. The only time that they shared the ring was when Michaels served as a special guest referee for two of The Rock\’s matches.
Over the years, there have been rumors that Michaels\’ attitude in the 90s towards The Rock caused Rock to never want to work with him. In 2017, Rocky Johnson, the father of the Rock, shared that Rock was upset that Michaels caught him too hard with the Sweet Chin Music, leading to a confrontation between the two.
Before Rock became a top star, Michaels retired in 1998 but made sporadic appearances in the following years. He returned full-time in 2002 at WWE SummerSlam against Triple H.
While speaking to Logan Paul on ImPAULsive, Michaels was asked where things stood with The Rock and noted that it wasn’t as bad as people thought.
Shawn Michaels on The Rock
(WWE)
\”I\’ve never worked with him. His daughter [Simon Johnson] is here [in NXT]. The times I\’ve seen him, we\’ve always gotten along okay. I don\’t think it was as bad as everyone made it out to be. I know I gave everybody a hard time back when I was younger. When I came back, I made sure I went up to everybody and was at least like, \’Sorry.\’ That\’s the best that I could do. When I came back in 2002, I knew there was going to be, \’We\’ll see.\’ It was important to me to go around and make amends and at least tell everyone, \’Sorry about the way I was. I have no excuse. I\’m willing to earn back whatever. If you never talk to me again, I\’m cool with that too.”
Michaels is currently the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative at WWE, while The Rock is arguably the biggest movie star in the world,
Former AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker has opened up on some advice she received from former WWE NXT/Raw/SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
Baker has been pushed as a top star for AEW since the start of the promotion in 2019 and had a reign as the Women’s Champion for over a year after winning the title from Hikaru Shida back at Double or Nothing in 2021. She dropped it to Thunder Rosa back at St Patrick’s Day Slam.
While speaking to Swerve Strickland and Monteasy on Swerve City, Baker had the following to say about comparisons made between herself and the Queen.
“I do get compared to Charlotte all the time on Twitter. For me, okay cool, one of the best women’s wrestlers of all time. You’re so mean for calling me that. People don’t understand the constant pressure that comes with all the hate that you get. We are people.”
Britt Baker on Charlotte
(via AEW)
She said being the face of a division means you’re under a microscope no matter what you do. She said that you can’t let the negative comments get to you or it will drive you insane. Baker continued by revealing some words of advice Flair gave her.
“Back to Charlotte, her and I have chatted, and she has given me so much great advice just to get through this. She’s given me solid advice to just stay true to what you know is true. Don’t worry about the narratives that fans are creating or what they want to be true because you know what’s going on and what you’re working with. She’s been fantastic to me.”
Baker most recently teamed with Jamie Hayter in a losing effort against Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm on the October 12 edition of AEW Dynamite.
With WWE gearing up for its return to Saudi Arabia in just over a week and the announcement on Monday of what the company has planned for the Elimination Chamber event, there has been speculation as to when WWE will hold its first Saudi Arabia in 2023.
On November 5th, WWE will present its Crown Jewel premium live event headlined by Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Logan Paul from Saudi Arabia.
On February 18, 2023, the Elimination Chamber event will be held from the Bell Centre in Montreal, marking a change from this year, where they held the Chamber event from Saudi and had a main event that saw Brock Lesnar regain the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match.
For November, WWE will have two premium live events with Crown Jewel and then hold the Survivor Series event later in the month. WWE won’t be doing this in February, a typical month that WWE holds Saudi shows.
WWE’s Return
WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia
According to Pwinsider.com, there will not be a Saudi Arabia event in February as is planning to hold the next Saudi Arabia show in the Spring, although an official date has yet been locked down.
WWE and the Saudi General Entertainment Authority have a long-term partnership through 2027. That contract states that WWE is obligated to hold two events annually in the country.
Triple H had been away from WWE events for a week after testing positive for COVID-19 but was said to be doing well. The good news is that The Game is back in the saddle.
Triple H was backstage at this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC, according to Sean Ross Sapp via Fightful Select. He was there to run things and appeared to be feeling okay.
Triple H is Back
(BT Sport)
The report adds:
“We\’re told he was feeling okay and just frustrated he had to miss the event. Road Dogg filled in during his absence, and most of the show was written by the day before, as was SmackDown.”
Triple H’s return comes at a good time as it will give the crew a morale boost ahead of the building to its next premium live event.
WWE will have a double SmackDown taping this Friday before having a live Monday Night Raw next week ahead of them flying over to Saudi Arabia for the November 5th Crown Jewel event, which will be headlined by Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Logan Paul.
Renee Paquette wasn’t the only on-air talent to have talks with AEW, who had a past in WWE, as Cathy Kelley did.
The battle to sign talent between WWE and AEW doesn’t just mean in-ring performers but outside of the talent. It was reported that WWE had reached out to Paquette before signing with the rival promotion to see if she would be interested in returning to the company where she did commentary, hosting, and interviewing work.
Another broadcaster went the opposite direction, according to Fightful Select.
Earlier this month, WWE announced big commentary changes and on-air shakeups. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are the main commentators for SmackDown. Samantha Irvin serves as the ring announcer, with Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant as backstage interviewers. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves are on the commentary team for Raw. Mike Rome is the ring announcer, while Cathy Kelley and Byron Saxton conduct onscreen interviews.
Cathy Kelley Was Nearly All Elite
Cathy Kelley
Sources told Fightful earlier this year that Cathy had conversations with AEW, including speaking to Tony Khan directly at some point about the possibility of working there, and that things looked promising. It didn’t happen, and there\’s no word yet on what happened to make the deal not be reached.
Kelley and AEW were on solid terms before she headed back to WWE. Kelley returned to WWE after leaving the company in 2020.
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