WWE RAW airs live tonight on the USA Network from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The Miami Hurricanes announced the news on Twitter, which The Rock retweeted.
The Great One wrote,
“Thank you Fam.
Life’s road is long, wild and unpredictable.
Core values & relentless work ethic principles I learned at @CanesFootball. Honored and grateful to be inducted in the @PolynesianFBHOF.”
The Rock was inducted alongside Domata Peko and Reno Mahe as the Class of 2024.
Source: eWn
KiLynn King recently provided an update to her fans via an Instagram video regarding her absence from TNA Wrestling’s Hard to Kill weekend in Las Vegas.
King revealed she sustained a knee injury during an independent show about a month ago. She has a torn ACL, damage to her MCL, and an LCL sprain.
The estimated timeframe for her recovery is approximately 9-12 months once she gets surgery next month.
“I love TNA, I love wrestling. As much as it sucks that I can’t be there right now, I can’t wait to tune in every single week and get motivated by them. And come back stronger than ever. Because you know what, it doesn’t matter whether it’s this year or next year — the King of Knockouts is always going to be the one to watch.”
Source: eWn
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins reportedly did not suffer an ACL tear when he was injured during his title defense against Jinder Mahal on Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw,” but he did sustain a torn MCL and partially torn meniscus, according to Fightful Select, which cited sources near Rollins. It’s not currently known if the injuries will require surgery or how WWE will alter creative plans going forward.
The champion was reportedly pulled from the lineup for this weekend’s WWE live events in Alabama and Mississippi and replaced by Randy Orton.
WrestleVotes posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday that Rollins will address his health and future as champion on the January 22 episode of “Raw,” the last Monday before the Royal Rumble.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s AEW Collision Live on TNT from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO.
Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT.
WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
The last two months have been busy for luchador Black Taurus. The former AAA Latin American Champion wrapped up his commitments to TNA/Impact Wrestling, then made two notable appearances in Ring of Honor and AEW, challenging El Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Mega Championship on both occasions. Earlier this month, Taurus announced he would be departing AAA, his home of the last several years in Mexico, furthering speculation on whether a move to AEW/ROH could be more permanent.
As it turns out, it will be, as Luchablog reports that Taurus has secured a deal with AEW and ROH. However, he will compete in both promotions under a new name, as Taurus will be dropping both the “Black Taurus” and “Taurus” names going forward, due to “Taurus” being the intellectual property of AAA.
The situation is made murkier by Taurus owning the “Black Taurus” name, which he came up in 2016 after leaving AAA, and continued to use in the US and in the Mexican independent scene upon rejoining the promotion in 2018. Despite that, Taurus nor AEW/ROH are expected to challenge AAA on the matter, and it is believed Taurus has been preparing for the possibility of working under a new persona for some time.
It’s unclear what this means for the relationship between AAA and AEW, which began back in 2019. There have been rocky periods for the partnership since, including Dragon Lee announcing he had signed a WWE contract on a late 2022 AAA show after he and his brother Dralistico defeated AEW team FTR to win the AAA World Tag Team Championships. AAA also recently reaffirmed their relationship with TNA at the latter’s Hard to Kill PPV event last weekend, another potential sign of souring between the AEW and AAA.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
With the confirmation of Kazuchika Okada, the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, parting ways with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, backstage reports have emerged concerning his free agency.
As per a report by “Fightful Select,” it was plain to see that at the end of Okada and NJPW’s conversation, the current NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion was to leave the promotion. Several sources who spoke with “Fightful” were surprised by Thursday night’s news since they expected the news of his departure to be released sometime next week. However, there are reportedly no hard feelings between the promotion and the longtime NJPW star.
Sources also reportedly told “Fightful” that they are confident that they will be able to create new talent in both Japan and the United States, and aren’t too worried about losing one of the biggest stars of the company.
Regarding the Japanese star’s next move, the report stated that it’s too early to determine but AEW is interested in him. WWE sources, meanwhile, revealed that they haven’t heard of any talks between the two parties and that they didn’t think Okada would be interested in the move. If ‘The Rainmaker’ does end up in WWE, he would be joining the likes of former five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, as well as former Bullet Club leaders Finn Balor and AJ Styles in making the switch from NJPW to the American promotion.
Okada most recently took part in TNA Wrestling’s Snake Eyes show on January 14, where he teamed with The Motor City Machine Guns. His last NJPW match was the day before the TNA event on January 13, where he defeated former NJPW and current AEW star Will Ospreay at Battle in the Valley.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The free agency market will soon welcome in a new addition.
Last month, reports indicated that the NJPW contract of former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada was set to expire at the end of January. With this expiration fastly approaching, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has now confirmed that Okada will be departing from the promotion upon the conclusion of his deal on January 31.
In the wake of this announcement, NJPW has also provided Okada’s official statement about his upcoming exit from NJPW. “I have nothing but gratitude for having been a part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2007, and for NJPW bringing me from a 19 year old kid off the plane in Mexico to the Rainmaker I am today,” Okada said. “Thank you to the best of companies in NJPW, to the best of opponents that I’ve been able to face here, and to the best of fans that have cheered and booed over the years. I promise to make it rain in every match I have left, so keep watching.”
Despite his impending entry into the free agency market, Okada is still scheduled to be present at a trio of NJPW shows next month. After he completes his appearance at The New Beginning event in Osaka on February 11, “The Rainmaker” will head to Sapporo as The New Beginning series continues on February 23 and 24.
Okada’s most recent NJPW match took place at Battle in the Valley on January 13, where he defeated another IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay. The next day, Okada made his way to Las Vegas for TNA Snake Eyes.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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