Month: November 2023

Details Behind Lawsuits WWE Facing Over UFC Merger, Endeavor Deal

It was reported yesterday that WWE investors filed a lawsuit challenging the promotion’s merger with UFC. The merger was completed in September under the name TKO Group Holdings after being announced following WrestleMania 39. In an update published by Bloomberg, the lawsuit claims that former WWE Chairman and current TKO Executive Chairman, Vince McMahon, used his “domineering personality” and majority stake at WWE to arrange an “unfair transaction.”

It’s also noted in the lawsuit that McMahon, who reinstated himself onto WWE’s board in January after retiring last summer amid sexual misconduct allegations, rebuffed higher offers to secure a deal with his longtime friend Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor and TKO, to keep himself involved with the Stamford, Connecticut-based promotion despite “stockholder discontent” and “government investigations.”

The suit also claims that Emanuel put forward a tentative offer to McMahon after the 78-year-old reached out to him following his return to the organization earlier this year. It’s said that Emanuel’s offer was entertained before other competing bids. It was described in the suit as a “sham sales process” to benefit Endeavor and shut out bidders who were looking to take McMahon out of the picture. Meanwhile, longtime wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer mentioned on the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio” that there is another lawsuit being filed by a WWE stockholder. Meltzer claimed that further details about that complaint would be revealed soon.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 11/27/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

  • Fallout from Survivor Series: War Games
  • CM Punk who made his surprise return to WWE at Survivor Series is set to appear tonight.
  • Randy Orton who returned as a part of Team Cody for War Games also made his return after being out of action since May 2022 due to back surgery is likely to appear.
  • “Big” Bronson Reed vs. Ivar
  • Tag Team Turmoil Match to becomes No. 1 Contenders to The Judgment Day: The New Day, Alpha Academy, The Creed Brothers, #DIY, Imperium and Indus Sher

Backstage News On CM Punk’s Return To WWE At Survivor Series: War Games

CM Punk made a somewhat unexpected return to WWE at Survivor Series: War Games after a tumultuous near-decade long absence. PWInsider has more details on his Punk’s return as it played over the few weeks:

  • The agreement between WWE and Punk is believed to be “several years in length” according to company sources but despite previous reports, the two sides only began talking to each other over the last week.
  • Once the two sides began having conversations, the deal reportedly came together “rather quickly” and from WWE’s side, they are looking at it as a “new beginning” of a relationship between Punk and the company. The actual deal wasn’t hammered out until sometime yesterday, hours before Survivor Series.
  • WWE reportedly gave serious consideration to holding back Punk’s return until January’s Royal Rumble in Florida but the consensus feeling ended up being that the longer they waited to re-introduce him after signing him to a contract, the more likely it would become that word would spread backstage about their plans, leading to a higher chance that the news would be leaked, ruining the surprise.
  • The other consideration was of course that Survivor Series was in Chicago – Punk’s hometown – where he was guaranteed to get a huge ovation. After agreeing to terms on a new deal and because Punk lives only 20 minutes from the AllState Arena, the company was able to have him drive to the venue and sneak in at the very last minute for his end-of-show appearance.
  • The belief is that while be wrestling for WWE, he probably won’t be working a full-time schedule though this has not been confirmed by anyone.
  • Speculation has already started that WWE has its eyes on potential matches down the road which would see Punk wrestle the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes and possibly even in the long-sought-after dream match against Stone Cold Steve Austin, likely at WrestleMania.
  • The locker room dynamic with Punk back in the fold is something that remains to be seen on how it will fold out and is also a situation that AEW will no doubt be looking at with some level of curiosity. If Punk returns to WWE and remains incident free, it would go some distance in silencing his critics who believe he is the source of a lot of backstage tension. However, if his WWE tenure is also riddled with controversies, it would be validation for AEW. Most wrestlers within WWE have already gone on record to state that if and when Punk returned to the promotion, they were ready and willing to “make money” by putting their differences aside in order to work with him.

Tony Khan Says He Can’t Legally Talk About CM Punk’s Return To WWE

After his departure from AEW due to a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In 2023, CM Punk made a shocking return to WWE following the main event of Saturday’s Survivor Series 2023 pay-per-view event.

Tony Khan recently did an interview with BBC West Midlands, where he was asked about Punk’s WWE return. The AEW President said,

“Can’t talk about that, nor do I think it’s the time or the place. But I appreciate you asking, and I’m very excited about AEW All In Wembley Stadium. Not to dodge or duck your question, it’s just not something I can legally talk about.“

Source: eWn

Report – CM Punk Received ‘Major Money Offer’ From TNA/Impact Wrestling Ahead Of WWE Return

As many of you know by now, CM Punk made his return to WWE at Saturday night’s Survivor Series: War Games 2023 pay-per-view event at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL.

Pwinsider is reporting that Punk was considering a “major money offer” made by TNA/Impact Wrestling before finalizing his multi-year deal with WWE on Saturday.

According to the report, Punk was “amazing” during his discussions with TNA/Impact Wrestling, which included dealing with top executives such as Scott D’Amore and Lou D’Angeli.

Sources in Impact believed at one point that the promotion was very close to signing Punk and hoped he would appear at Bound for Glory 2023 as part of the announcement that Impact was rebranding back to TNA.

The conversations continued after Bound for Glory 2023 and people in Impact remained hopeful about bringing Punk in full-time.

However, Impact executives soon realized that Punk could earn a bigger paycheck in WWE, and they were happy for him.

Several Impact wrestlers appreciated the time Punk spent with them when he visited the TV tapings in Chicago, IL.

Source: eWn

BREAKING NEWS – CM Punk Returns To WWE At Survivor Series 2023

CM Punk has made his return to WWE at Survivor Series: War Games.

In the Men’s WarGames match that headlined the show, Randy Orton hit JD McDonaugh with an RKO while Cody Rhodes hit Damian Priest with the Cross Rhodes to pick up the win for his team.

As the babyfaces all stood tall, the Cult of Personality theme music hit and CM Punk made his way to the ring in a white t-shirt and jeans. CM Punk hyped up the fans on the entrance stage and soaked in the reaction as the show came to a close.

WWE Survivor Series: War Games 11/25/2023 (Results),

WOMEN’S WAR GAMES MATCH:
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch def. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Kairi Sane)

A previously injured R-Truth made an appearance alongside Pretty Deadly, Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, and Alpha Academy in a plug for Ruffles potato chips. In the segment, all involved were eating the chips when Pretty Deadly’s Elton Prince and Kit Wilson began arguing with Otis, saying they were called “crisps” rather than “chips.”

A brawl broke out over the argument about how to refer to the Ruffles and bowls of the chips were thrown. R-Truth appeared out of nowhere, eating his own bowl of the snacks, and said he had “been there the whole time.” The last time the real-life Ron Killings, a multiple-time WWE 24/7 champion, was seen on WWE TV was during an episode of “WWE NXT” in November 2022 when he took on Grayson Waller.

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Gunther (c) def. The Miz

Santos Escobar def. Dragon Lee

WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Rhea Ripley (c) def. Zoey Stark

MEN’S WAR GAMES MATCH:
Cody Rhodes, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn and Randy Orton def. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh) and Drew McIntyre

As Rhodes, Rollins, Uso, Zayn and Orton was celebrating, Cult of Personality hit. CM Punk has returned to WWE.

AEW Rampage & Collision Preview 11/25/2023

As a result of the NHL game being broadcasted on Friday night, AEW will be airing a live episode of Rampage on TNT tonight at 6:00 PM EST. Following that, there will be a live episode of Collision an hour later.

Tonight’s Rampage and Collision live from the Petersen Event Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

AEW Rampage:

  •  ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta

AEW Collision:

  • Continental Classic tournament match: Eddie Kingston vs. Brody King 
  • Continental Classic tournament match: Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli

WWE Survivor Series: War Games 11/25/2023 (Card)

WWE Survivor Series: War Games live PLE – Saturday, November 25, 2023, from Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

Event Card

MEN’S WAR GAMES MATCH:
Cody Rhodes, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn and Randy Orton vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh) and Drew McIntyre

WOMEN’S WAR GAMES MATCH:
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Kairi Sane)

WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zoey Stark

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Gunther (c) vs. The Miz

Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar

WWE SmackDown Preview 11/24/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FS1 (due to college football on FOX) from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL just outside of Chicago.

Tonight’s SmackDown is the go-home show for Saturday’s Survivor Series.

  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and Damian Priest will defend the belts against The Street Profits.
  • The Grayson Waller Effect with special guest Kevin Owens
  • Results from fan vote for the advantage in the Women’s WarGames Match – Instead of having a match to determine who gets the advantage, WWE held the first-ever fans vote to determine who gets the advantage on Saturday. The Women’s WarGames Match will be Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY.