Author: John Bass

WWE World Heavyweight Champ Seth Rollins Says He Should Probably Have Surgery

Professional wrestlers are often working through injuries on a daily basis and fans have no idea. Such is the case with current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins who revealed on “Impaulsive” that he should probably have surgery on his back.

“I try to change my training up based on how I feel. There are constant injuries,” Rollins said. “My knee has been bugging me since before WrestleMania, I was having an issue with that. My neck acting up. My lower back has been at me since 2019, probably should get some surgery on that, but trying to just do whatever I can to make sure I don’t need it because I have a couple of stress fractures back there.”

Rollins added, “I tried some stem cells, I’ve done a couple of stem cell treatments. I found that they were temporarily helpful. I wasn’t taking time off. I wasn’t just idling while I was on the stem cells, I was still working pretty much a full-time schedule with WWE. I found it temporarily helpful, but long-term it kind of faded off a little bit. I got maybe four or five months of ‘Ooh, okay.'”

The 37-year-old hasn’t missed considerable time due to surgery since 2015 when a torn ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus cut his first WWE Championship reign short. He missed nearly seven months of action before returning in May 2016. His current world title reign marks his first since 2019 when he claims his lower back began troubling him. As of this writing, Rollins is set to be in a marquee match at WWE SummerSlam on August 5 when he defends against Finn Balor.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite “Blood And Guts” Preview 7/19/21

AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts will air live tonight on TBS from the TD Garden Arena in Boston, MA.

  • Blood & Guts Match: Blackpool Combat Club Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita and PAC vs. The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Hangman Adam Page, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson)
  • FTW Championship Match: Hook (c) defends against “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
  • Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Finals: MJF and Adam Cole vs. Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia

Vickie Guerrero’s AEW Contract Expires, She’s Now A Free Agent

Vickie Guerrero’s contract with All Elite Wrestling has expired and she’s now a free agent.

Back in February, it was reported that Guerrero’s contract would be expiring this month after the two sides agreed not to renew the deal. As of this week, Vickie is now free to sign wherever she’d like.

Guerrero hasn’t been backstage at any AEW TV tapings since February. She made headlines back in April after her daughter Sherilyn accused Kris Benson (Vickie’s husband) of sexually assaulting her on a cruise.

Source: eWn

Tony Khan – ‘Mark Briscoe’s Injury Changed Everything For ROH Death Before Dishonor 2023’

Speaking during a media call for Death Before Dishonor 2023, AEW President Tony Khan revealed that certain plans had to be altered due to Mark Briscoe’s recent injury.

Khan noted that he had hoped to get Eddie Kingston back from NJPW in time for Death Before Dishonor but the current situation didn’t permit the same.

You can check out some highlights from the media call below:

On the obstacles to Khan’s preferred plans for Death Before Dishonor: “I was hoping maybe even some possibility that Eddie could fly back to participate in Death Before Dishonor and then go back to Japan, and I certainly would have accommodated the travel if that was possible. It wasn’t possible. Mark Briscoe, I had slotted for something different on the card. It turned out that also was not viable for another reason. There have been so many things that came up and it can be like a domino effect. It’s very challenging. With Mark Briscoe’s injury, it was very challenging because Mark had been dealing with injuries for a while and I think some of us almost took it for granted because Mark is such a fighter and amazing person with an amazing spirit. People sympathize with Mark for many reasons, and he’s such a compelling wrestling character and always has been. I felt Mark could be an emotional hook for this pay-per-view in a lot of ways and it was a pivot. With Eddie going to Japan, I thought it would be cool with Eddie having a big moment winning the STRONG Championship and he passed on some wisdom to Mark Briscoe. I knew he was dealing with some injuries, but honestly, he had been dealing with them for a long time, and I think the pain had become too much to manage and it had become very challenging for him. To be honest, he hadn’t told many people about that, including our doctors. The people who knew really well knew he was hurting. I think Mark was no selling it. I know he was no selling the doctors on how much pain he was in. That’s why they were surprised that this had become a lifestyle challenge for him. When he came to me and said, ‘It’s worse than I was letting on. I’m not sure I can do this.’ That meant changing everything.”

On working around Briscoe’s injury: “If Mark comes to me and says he needs something, I’m going to do it, no matter what it is. If he needs time to heal up and needs me to pivot the pay-per-view, I’m going to do that for him, without questions. I’ll do it for pretty much anybody, but I’ll do it with a smile for Mark Briscoe. It meant changing pretty much everything again.”

Dominik Mysterio Wins North American Title On WWE NXT

Dominik Mysterio is your new NXT North American Champion, which marks his first singles championship in WWE.

On this week’s episode of WWE NXT, Dominik Mysterio faced off against Wes Lee in the main event to capture the title. The finish came when Finn Balor and Damian Priest, who came out through the crowd, distracted Lee. This allowed Rhea Ripley to hit Lee with her WWE Women’s World Championship while the referees back was turned. Mysterio then pinned Lee to get the 1, 2, 3.

For what it’s worth, Wes Lee was set to defend the North American Championship against Mustafa Ali at the upcoming WWE NXT: Great American Bash pay-per-view event. Now, it appears we’ll see see Dominik Mysterio vs. Ali taking place at the show.

Tony Khan Talks Why Doing A Women’s Blood & Guts Was ‘Not A Feasible Idea’ This Year

The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita and PAC in a Blood & Guts match will take place tonight on AEW Dynamite. 

During the ROH Death Before Dishonor media call, AEW President Tony Khan was asked about a possible women’s Blood and Guts match. 

“It would have been an interesting idea, it could have been a great match,” Tony Khan said about the idea of a women’s Blood & Guts during the Blood & Guts and ROH Death Before Dishonor media call. “I definitely think Jamie Hayter’s injury, is probably a five-on-five there given some of the depth issues, and especially given Willow Nightingale just got back and putting her in that kind of match after she had a major head injury in Japan, probably wouldn’t be very smart. We’ve had some other major injuries there, and when there was some fan momentum for that idea, I think the Outcasts vs. Jamie, Britt, and some others, was really running red hot and Jamie Hayter was a part of that. Some of the momentum for that, when Jamie Hayter was running hot as champion, was there, and I’m not sure at this moment, given some of the injuries we had, that was feasible. Also, with so many of the women competing this week in the Owen Hart Cup tournament, it is a very hard-hitting match and there is a lot of attrition for it. Santana still hasn’t been back from last year. The women’s division is pretty beat up, they’ve been beating the hell out of each other. Probably was not a feasible idea for them this year.”

Source: eWn H/T to Fightful

WWE NXT Preview 7/18/2023

Tonight’s WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network: 

  • Tony D’Angelo’s homecoming
  • NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Thea Hail vs. Elektra Lopez
  • Dragon Lee & Nathan Frazer vs. Los Lotharios
  • Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James
  • Scrypts & Axiom vs. Lucien Price & Bronco Nima

WWE RAW Preview 7/17/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

  • Women’s Tag Team Championship: Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs. Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green
  • Viking Rules Match: The Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy
  • Matt Riddle vs. Gunther (Imperium members Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser are banned from ringside)
  • Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest)
  • Brock Lesnar returns after Cody Rhodes made a SummerSlam challenge last week

Back on July 9, Arrow and Heels star Stephen Amell revealed on his Facebook page, that he would be heading to the July 17 episode of WWE Raw in Atlanta. However, as of this writing, WWE has not officially advertised his appearance, which means they are obviously saving it as a surprise, should he show up during the show.

Saraya: WWE Medical Staff Said ‘Book Was Closed’ On Neck Injury, Refused To Examine

It was only a year ago when Saraya, then retired following a neck injury, found herself at a crossroads as a free agent after her WWE contract expired. Now, Saraya not only finds herself wrestling again, but a prominent member of AEW’s women’s division – part of The Outcasts with Ruby Soho and AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm.

But in an interview with “Inside The Ropes,” Saraya revealed that she could’ve gone down a different path if WWE would had taken a look at her neck to see if she had healed enough. But that was never something the promotion seriously considered.

“At WWE, I asked to see my neck a few times, and the medical said that the book was closed on that, and they weren’t gonna keep checking on it, which was really disappointing,” Saraya said. “So if I wanted to check on my neck, it would have to come out of my own pocket. Her name was Stacy — that was her who said that, by the way. So it wasn’t anything to do with like Hunter or anything, it was just that medical department, which I thought was a little unfair, but it’s okay.”

Ultimately, things worked out well for Saraya following a phone call from AEW owner Tony Khan, who offered her a job and the freedom to do whatever she wanted, including pursuing an in-ring comeback. Still, Saraya admitted she’s taken this comeback slow, in order to preserve herself as a competitor long-term.

“I was like ‘I’m smarter this time,'” Saraya said. “I have to be smarter. I’m starting my thirties here and I just want to work smarter, not harder, you know what I mean?”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to “Inside the Ropes”

WrestleCon Welcomes Back Rick Steiner Following Transphobic Remarks At Previous Event

WrestleCon has announced that Rick Steiner will be among the guests at an upcoming convention in Detroit, Michigan, which is set to take place in August. The news arrives in the wake of Steiner’s last WrestleCon appearance back in April, which saw him lobby transphobic insults at Impact Wrestling star Gisele Shaw.

Following the incident, WrestleCon apologized to Shaw for Steiner’s transphobic behavior, suggesting that they were backing the Impact star and cutting ties with Steiner. As such, the decision to bring him back for next month’s event has been receiving blowback on social media. However, the fan convention’s owner, Michael Bochicchio, has defended his decision to let Steiner attend the event. The statement, which can be found on the event’s Twitter page, claims that Steiner reached out to make amends after the incident.

“One of the positive things Rick did, and it was not publicized, is immediately apologize. He apologized to members of the Wrestlecon staff, he apologized to many of his fellow wrestlers, and offered apologies to the members of Impact Wrestling staff that chose to hear from him at a private mediated event. Giselle chose not to attend Rick’s apology, which we 100% understood, supported, and still support to this day. She had no obligation to hear anything from Rick nor should she ever feel obligated to accept any apology from him then or now.”

Bochicchio went on to say that Steiner has learned from the experience and that he believes in giving people second chances. However, the statement also claims that Steiner will be given a permanent ban if he demonstrates the same type of behavior at future events. As of this writing, Shaw has yet to comment on the matter.

Source: Wrestling Inc.