Word going around the WWE Performance Center is that top indie star Ricochet (Lucha Underground’s Prince Puma) will be starting with the company in January. No word yet on when he would make his WWE NXT roster debut but there have been rumors of WWE signing him for a while now. PWInsider notes that Impact Wrestling tried to sign Ricochet but they couldn’t make a deal happen.
Source: WrestlingINC
Former ROH Tag Team Champions and NJPW’s IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions “War Machine” Hanson and Raymond Rowe are currently going through medical testing to be signed by WWE, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio.
No word yet on when Hanson and Rowe may debut for WWE but word is that they will be working the WWE NXT brand, setting up another potential showdown with Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish.
Meltzer noted that War Machine finished up with Ring of Honor this past weekend but they are still scheduled to work New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event from the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2018. If all goes well with the WWE medical tests, we could see the former IWGP Tag Team Champions in NXT before WrestleMania 34 Season gets going.
Source: WrestlingINC
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI as the road to Royal Rumble starts heating up.
Former Impact Wrestling Star Rockstar Spud is rumored to be making his WWE debut tonight as part of the cruiserweight division and 205 Live.
* Who will battle The Beast at Royal Rumble?
* Can Cedric Alexander make the most of his second chance?
* Absolution put on notice
* Who will be next to challenge Roman Reigns?
* “Woken Warriors” assemble
Dwayne Johnson insists he’s “seriously considering”running for president of the United States.
Speaking to USA TODAY, Johnson, 45, fleshed out some of the still-murky details, acknowledging there’s still a lot to be worked out. But Johnson says he would eye the 2020 presidential election. “That would probably be the case, yes,” he says.
But “this actually never came from me,” the actor points out. “It started (with) a piece in The Washington Post, and there was this kind of groundswell.”
It didn’t hurt that the report made clear in the headline that Johnson “could actually win.”People got excited about the prospect. And that has pushed Johnson.
“So I can tell you with all honesty that the consideration comes at the desire from a large amount of people who would like to see this happen,” Johnson says. “But I mean, honestly, there are so many different variables that have to come into play when you think about this. Politics is not my business. So the consideration is there. And we’ll just have to see. I’ll continue to watch and learn as much as I can.”
His reasoning is simple: “To serve the people, and create a better environment for them.”
So there’s much to be figured out even after Jumanji hits screens Dec. 20 — not to mention major projects in motion that include another baby, Skyscraper (in theaters July 13) and the Fast & Furious Hobbs spinoff with Jason Statham (2019). Just to name a few things on Johnson’s famously packed schedule.
But Johnson has already shown he can be feisty with the media when it comes to specifics, declining to say whether he’d go on the Republican or Democratic ticket.
“You’re pushing it — right now, I’m an independent,” he says.
One thing that is sure: Tom Hanks can have whatever role he wants in a Rock administration. The two have already joked about this on Saturday Night Live.
“You name it, he can have it. He’s beloved, smart,” Johnson says. “That would be a good ticket. Think about it, Hanks-Johnson, Johnson-Hanks. The only issue I have with Tom is he wants his name first.”
So Hanks seriously has a spot? “If he’s interested, of course.”
But Johnson can’t think of anyone else in Hollywood he’d bring along on this political ride. Well, except for his Jumanji and Central Intelligence co-star Kevin Hart.
“Kevin Hart is going to be my court jester,” he says. “I’m bringing that back.”
Source: MSN.com
Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt has been announced for the WWE 205 Live non-televised live events in January. Matt tweeted the following on the announcement:
Source: WrestlingINC
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As we previously reported, Vince McMahon is apparently once again interested in getting into the football business. The news, which was originally broken by right-wing writer Brad Shepard, was reported by Deadspin after they reached out to WWE regarding the possible relaunch of the XFL. The response from WWE is that Vince McMahon has started a company separate from WWE, called Alpha Entertainment, and is geared to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” In conjunction with the filing in June, the WWE spokesperson did not confirm or deny the possible resurrection.
However, the spokesperson did say that “Mr. McMahon has nothing further to announce at this time.”
Despite this, the original reporter of the story stated that an announcement about the XFL could be made on January 25, 2018. This is the Thursday following the 25th Anniversary of Raw.
FOX Sports noted that because the news was broken by a political source, the league could be linked to Donald Trump, who has been extremely critical of the NFL during his presidency. Trump owned the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985, but that organization folded as well, after only three seasons. Trump was often blamed for the failure of the league, as he pushed it to move to a fall schedule against the NFL which cost it lucrative offers to air games in the spring.
The report also states that McMahon recently filed additional football trademarks, which included “URFL”, “United Football League”, “UFL”, and “For the love of football.”
Unfortunately, there were not many ex-XFL players who would go on and have successful NFL careers after the league folded. Rod Smart, who was arguably the most notable XFL player, who went by the nickname “He Hate Me,” would only go on to play in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers from 2002-2005, of which only two of those seasons he played more than 12 games. He was, however, a member of the 2003 Panthers team, which finished the season as NFC Champions and Super Bowl XXXVIII runner-ups.
When the company folded in 2001, former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol stated, “We knew it wasn’t going to work (in prime time) from early March on. The launch worked, the people were there, and we didn’t answer their expectations, I guess.” However, at the conclusion of the “This Was The XFL” 30 for 30 special, both he and Vince teased possible interest in bringing back the company.
Source: WrestlingINC
Apparently there’s been increased talk about Vince McMahon selling WWE in the future since Stephanie, Shane and Linda are all pursuing things outside of the WWE and now Vince is starting his own company focusing on non wrestling things. For the longest time the talk has been Disney would be up to buy it.
Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer discusses the possibility of it and that now would be a good time to do so.
Meltzer talks about Triple H being the only one in the McMahon family who would have interest in continuing to run the company. Meltzer says he doesn’t know if Vince would actually sell to have funds to support other business’s such as reviving the XFL. He says Vince would like to be known as somebody besides a wrestling promoter, but he doesn’t know if Vince ever wants to be not running wrestling.
(Kickoff) Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley – Winner: Mojo Rawley
United States Championship – Triple Threat: (C) Baron Corbin vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler – Winner and new United States Champion: Dolph Ziggler
SmackDown Tag Team Championship – Fatal 4-Way: (C) The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. Rusev & Aiden English – Winners: The Usos
SmackDown Women’s Championship – Lumberjack Match: (C) Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya – Winner: Charlotte Flair
Kayla Braxton interviews Natalya in the ring after the match, asking what went wrong. Natalya says she did nothing wrong. Tonight Flair did what she did best – use her family’s name to cut corners. Natalya starts crying as some fans boo. Natalya says she has given the WWE Universe some of the best matches that women in WWE have ever seen and she’s carried the entire division for 10 years but all of you – you, you, you and you – have treated her with nothing but disrespect. Natalya says if WWE wants to turn her back on her, the WWE Universe wants to turn its back on her, the women want to turn their backs on her… well now she is turning her back on all of us. Natalya drops the mic and leaves the ring, still crying.
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Breezango – Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers
Special Referees: SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon & SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan: Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn – If Owens & Zayn lose the match they will be fired from WWE. – Winners: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens with a fast count from Daniel Bryan – earlier Bryan got knocked into Shane as he was making a pin count for Orton over Sami and bit later Shane purposely didn’t make a 3 count for Sami over Orton.
WWE Championship: (C) AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal – Winner: AJ Styles
Tom Zenk — who worked for both WCW and WWF — has reportedly passed away.
Zenk’s obituary was first published in the Star Tribune and says he passed away on December 9 in Minnesota at the North Memorial Medical Center.
No further information on his cause of death has been reported.
Tom joined WWF in in 1986 to form the Can-Am connection with Rick Martel, but their push ended when Zenk unexpectedly quit the company. He eventually re-appeared in WCW as The Z-Man in 1989 and stayed with the company until 1994.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Justin Credible says he’s agreed to get help from Diamond Dallas Page after relapsing this weekend at a wrestling show and causing a scene.
Credible posted a video update saying he “f*cked up” and embarrassed himself this weekend by getting drunk at a Blitzkrieg Pro event and attempting to hijack the show.
“I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me, or to forgive me, all I’m saying is I’m about to take a journey.” He continued, “I talked to Dallas today, just a couple of minutes ago, and he told me to make a video and we’re gonna track every little thing.”
Justin is also adamant that he’s been going to therapy through the WWE Wellness Program and just had a bad night on Friday.
“All I want from this is to redeem myself for me and for my family and hopefully the few fans I have out there and the few people that do care about me.” Adding, “I’ve fallen. And I’ve fallen hard. And I’m picking myself back up.”
Watch his full video update below, in which he also thanks Sean Waltman aka X-Pac, WWE and a few others for helping him out during this difficult time.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
