According to the report, the deal is almost complete and should be complete soon, barring unforeseen circumstances. Furthermore, AEW officials have reportedly been confident about landing him since January. It’s unknown when he’s scheduled to debut as of this writing, but it will likely be after he finishes his commitments to NJPW, and there’s been speculation that he could show up on AEW television in the first half of March. Additionally, AEW’s creative team is believed to be bouncing creative ideas for Okada, but details about their plans are unknown for the time being.
The report also states that Okada held talks with WWE, noting that he considered the pros and cons of joining the sports entertainment promotion. The Japanese star reportedly wants to participate in a match at a WWE WrestleMania event, but that outcome now looks unlikely as he seems to be joining the competition.
Earlier this year, Tony Khan revealed that he’s focused on the free agent market in 2024, and some big signings are expected to join his company soon. In March, Mercedes Mone will reportedly debut on the “AEW Dynamite: Big Business” special. Furthermore, Will Ospreay has confirmed that he’s coming to AEW when he’s completed his obligations to NJPW, which just so happens to be this month.
Maryse, the wife of WWE Superstar The Miz, took to Instagram to reveal that she was diagnosed with a rare pre-cancer of the ovaries.
She noted that her doctor found found and removed 11 implants around her uterus, ovaries, and all connective tissues around the organs in my abdominal cavity.
Maryse further said that if the tumors were cancerous, the survival rate is less than a year.
You can read Maryse’s full Instagram post below:
“Not all super heroes wear capes
Here’s a superhero I want to take the time to highlight. Her name is Thais Aliabadi, Oby-Gyn, in LA. She saved my life.
I couldn’t be more blessed to have crossed paths in life with this brilliant, uber talented, patient, attentive and genuinely caring woman!
A little background on what happened; I had been suffering from severe abdominal distention and swelling to the point where I would look 6 months pregnant. Lots of GI issues, including sibo, multiple rounds of antibiotics, extreme fatigue and just wasn’t feeling like myself! For the past year, my symptoms would come in flare ups and it progressively got worse – it became chronic.
I saw countless doctors in different fields, but no diagnosis. No one could tell me what’s happening. I went down an incredibly long list of testing, from colonoscopy/endoscopy/pill cam endoscopy, mri’s, ultrasounds, ct scans, blood tests just to name a few and often would be told that its probably hormonal and or just something by body is allergic too. I even had my entire house tested for mold. I was told to let it go – that it would figure itself out with time. That I’m just too impatient and making myself crazy over this! I would just not quit on trying to figure it out!
From the start when I met Thais at her office in LA, she listened to my story, truly listened. She heard me (a doctor’s quality that makes a tremendous difference) and agreed that we have to push to get to the bottom of this. She always said “No one knows your body better than you.” She proposed we go in there and find out. I was ready.
A week ago I went into surgery with Dr. Thais. She performed a Laparoscopy surgery for what we thought at the time was potentially Endometriosis disease!
She found and removed 11 implants around my uterus, ovaries, and all connective tissues around the organs in my abdominal cavity. These were sent to pathology for testing.
So what happens next? I am scheduled for total hysterectomy surgery in 4 weeks. My uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix, omentum will be removed and will get abdominal lymph nodes removed for staging.
I’m remaining positive and determined to beat this thing. There is only one option and it’s winning this battle! As a mom of two young daughters, I have too.
Let’s bring light to a huge woman healthcare issue here. Women get so conditioned to believe that is it normal to suffer, most often in silence. Told to stop being a cry baby. That it must be hormonal imbalances, just anxiety or just all in
Told to stop being a cry baby. That it must be hormonal imbalances, just anxiety or just all in your head. This is not normal. This cycle has to be broken! If you get dismissed by a doctor, go see a new one until you get the help you need! Advocacy is the key. Advocate for yourself and keep pushing! Follow your instincts. Never ever underestimate your gut feelings!
Thank you to @drthaisaliabadi and her amazing team of nurses. You guys truly make a difference for so many women!!
I have an angel on my shoulder protecting me, THANK YOU DAD—”
Fresh off a riveting debut in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble, former AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill is now the face of one of WWE’s sponsorships.
Cargill was in the latest Mountain Dew ad, featuring “Emily The Criminal” star Aubrey Plaza. Plaza is shown taking in a multitude of jobs while drinking the beverage, one of which is pro wrestler, which sees Cargill leap off the top rope, attempting a Frog Splash on Plaza, though viewers don’t see her land.
As it stands, Cargill has only wrestled one match for WWE, the Royal Rumble, since signing with the company in September after her AEW contract expired earlier that year. Cargill was paraded around WWE television, especially “WWE NXT,” following her signing but didn’t debut in the ring until the Rumble, and also made appearances on “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown.”
WWE and Mountain Dew have been promotional partners for some time now, with the two companies famously holding a Mountain Dew Pitch Black match between LA Knight and the late Bray Wyatt at last year’s Royal Rumble.
Knight went on to be the face of WWE’s sponsorship deal with Slim Jim. The Slim Jim sponsorship was nearly in jeopardy after allegations of sex trafficking were leveled at WWE and Vince McMahon by former employee Janel Grant. Slim Jim seemingly returned after Vince McMahon resigned from all of his duties at WWE and TKO Group Holdings, sponsoring the fatal 4-way match between AJ Styles, LA Knight, Randy Orton and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble.
According to PWInsider, WWE are looking to place Cargill on the “Smackdown” brand in the lead-up to WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. Whether this means she will remain on the brand post-WrestleMania remains to be seen, as the company usually holds its annual draft a few weeks after. However, the recent publicity Cargill has gotten from appearing in the commercial has led WWE to believe she would attract more eyes to the product if she were on “Smackdown.” PWInsider also reported that WWE were very happy with Cargill’s performance in the commercial, claiming it has added prestige to both Cargill and WWE itself.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced earlier this week that Scott D’Amore had been fired as TNA President. While the reason for his dismissal has yet to be disclosed, Dave Meltzer wrote in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that a source close to D’Amore revealed the Canadian had been pressing Anthem for a larger budget for several years. D’Amore, who had been working with TNA since 2003 in various leadership roles, reportedly clashed with management several times over the years regarding the promotion’s funds. Furthermore, Meltzer mentioned that “there had been threats to quit,” but Anthem saw D’Amore as a key individual they didn’t want to lose.
One scenario D’Amore reportedly became frustrated with was ahead of Bound for Glory 2021, where an agreement was supposedly in place to bring in former WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman. The promotion was set to dub the event “Braun for Glory.” However, Anthem ultimately pulled the plug because of Strowman’s “too high” asking price and their belief that “The Monster Among Men” would not improve TNA’s business. Strowman returned to WWE the following year.
D’Amore has since been replaced by Anthony Cicione, who is also President of Anthem. According to the statement released by TNA on Wednesday, the move to terminate D’Amore’s deal and assign Cicione the role of President was made to “further integrate TNA Wrestling into Anthem’s Entertainment Group.” Cicione, who was involved in bringing WWE to Canadian channel The Score several years ago, will now be managing the day-to-day operations of TNA.
Thanks to the usage today of social media and the internet, wrestling promotions of all shapes and sizes can form their own identities and develop their own followings around the world. Two promotions that have made a name for themselves in the United States and United Kingdom are DEFY and Progress, respectively. DEFY, based out of Seattle, Washington, has become one of the most popular independent promotions in the US, helping to launch AEW stars like Swerve Strickland, Darby Allin, and Nick Wayne.
In the United Kingdom, Progress has become one of the premiere promotions to benefit from the British wrestling boom in the mid-2010s, with some of its biggest alums ranging from Pete Dunne and GUNTHER in WWE, to Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr. in NJPW.
Now the two companies have joined forces in a major merger first reported by Fightful Select, and have since gone public with their new venture as both DEFY and Progress aim to create a global presence that benefits both companies and aids further expansion plans.
DEFY’s recent anniversary event DEFY To Survive: Lucky Number 7 was the first event to take place since the merger was announced, and DEFY events will be available to stream on Progress’ streaming service Demand Progress Plus. The next Progress event, Chapter 163: Twisted Metal, will be the first event for the English promotion since the announcement, and will take place on February 25. The companies have held joint events together in the past, the most recent example being DEFY X PROGRESS in June 2023. Progress did help DEFY come to England over All In weekend in August 2023, with both companies running shows in London’s ‘Electric Ballroom’ on August 26, 2023. The next collaborative effort from the two companies will come over WrestleMania weekend in April, as both DEFY and Progress will host events as part of The Collective on April 4.
Former WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro was one of more than 50 wrestlers to join a 2016 neurological injury lawsuit against WWE, in which Massaro claimed that she had sustained several concussions during her tenure in the company. Massaro also cited allegations of sexual assault stemming from a WWE tour of Kuwait, as well as abuse from former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. WWE has since denied any knowledge of Massaro’s accusations.
Prior to her untimely death in 2019, Massaro provided a series of statements to lawyers that were later translated into a sworn affidavit. On Friday, VICE News released one of Massaro’s previously unpublished statements, with Massaro accusing McMahon of preying on female WWE wrestlers. Massaro also said that she was punished for rejecting McMahon’s advances.
Following the release of her Playboy cover, Massaro claimed that McMahon attempted to “get [her] alone with him in his hotel room,” repeatedly calling her hotel room phone and her cell phone. In response, Massaro contacted former WWE production chief Kevin Dunn, who instructed her to tell McMahon that she was not feeling well. In the days following, Massaro said that McMahon began personally writing promos scripts for her “with the clear intention of ruining [her] career.”
“I brought the first script Vince wrote for me to the WWE employee in charge of Creative at the time, Michael Hayes, and he said, ‘you’re not saying this, who the [expletive] wrote this?’ and I told him that Vince did,” Massaro stated. “He said, ‘Well kid, these are the breaks,’ meaning that Vince wanted to end my career and destroy my reputation on my way out. He is known for this type of behavior and also did this to [REDACTED] upon her departure from WWE. In addition, after that night, each time I walk by him he would make vulgar sexual comments that were clearly designed to make me uncomfortable.”
Massaro isn’t the only former WWE employee to levy sexual allegations against McMahon in recent years. Last month, Janel Grant filed a 67-page lawsuit against Vince McMahon, WWE, and former WWE executive John Laurinitis outlining sex trafficking, sexual assault, and a myriad of other abuses. McMahon has denied these respective allegations.
As details of former WWE CEO Vince McMahon’s alleged misconduct continue to emerge, more and more performers within the industry are sharing their opinions on the matter, such as WWE’s own Seth Rollins. Speaking to Slate, former WWE Champion Bret Hart also spoke out, sharing his disgust at the claims.
“I’m going to speak my truth,” Hart said. “I’m not worried about Vince’s feelings. He’s never cared about mine.”
Hart said that he’s aware McMahon is getting “his head [kicked] around the parking lot,” as he put it, but the former WWE star doesn’t feel bad. According to Hart, he was made aware a few months ago that some disturbing allegations regarding McMahon were likely to come out soon. Upon reading the text messages from the lawsuit, Hart confirmed that they sounded like McMahon’s way of speaking, and stated that McMahon is only part of the problem.
“I don’t think this is the only incident of this kind of predatory behavior,” Hart continued. “I think you’ll find that it’s everywhere in [WWE].”
In the past, McMahon has used his money and power to largely stay out of trouble, with Hart stating that the former CEO was “the Teflon guy.” Hart acknowledged that McMahon had a massive impact on his career and that he once respected him because of that.
“Now it’s tainted,” Hart said. “I’m embarrassed that I thought so highly of him.”
Hart also addressed the fact that he had once publicly discredited Rita Chatterton, a former WWE referee who accused McMahon of raping her in the 1980s. The WWE Hall of Famer says that he previously believed McMahon had too much at stake to do something as reprehensible as what Chatterton accused him of, but Hart has now come around.
“I apologized from the bottom of my heart,” Hart said. “I said, ‘I believe that what happened to you happened to you. And I apologize. I was wrong.'”
With WWE’s involvement in the death of his brother, Owen, as well as McMahon’s own treatment of Hart in 1997, Hart acknowledged that he’s always had some issues with McMahon. However, he had grown to respect him.
“Now, knowing what kind of a weirdo he became, I have absolutely zero respect for him,” Hart continued. “I do not think I could ever shake his hand if he extended it. Too creepy.”
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