AEW personality Jeff Jarrett has said that Vince Russo is dealing with “serious mental health issues.”
In 1999, both Jarrett and Russo left the WWF for WCW, where Double-J became a multi-time World Champion.
Russo, who was responsible for some of the WWF’s biggest moments during the Attitude Era, has been lambasted for decades due to his booking during his WCW tenure.
Speaking on the latest episode of his “My World” podcast, Jarrett spoke about Russo and his alleged issues. He said,
“Candidly, he’s got serious, serious, and I’m speaking from experience, he’s got serious mental health issues. There’s no doubt in my mind, and I’ve said it for years.”
Mandy Rose may longer be collecting a paycheck from WWE, following her recent release, but given the income she’s generating from her FanTime account — which was at the heart of her WWE exit – the former “NXT” Women’s Champion has no reason to worry about covering her bills.
According to TMZ Sports, Rose has taken in $500,000 in just the seven days since being given her walking papers solely from the content she posts on FanTime, a subscription-based platform similar to OnlyFans. Rose’s agent, Malki Kawa, predicted the 32-year-old wrestler could become a millionaire by Christmas. WWE officials seemed to find her FanTime material became progressively more suggestive over time. However, reports suggest that Rose was not presented with an option to tone down or remove some of what was seen as problematic with WWE choosing to just cut ties entirely instead.
Rose has not budged in her support for her FanTime content, using the platform to thank her fans for their backing after being fired by WWE. “I am overwhelmed with all the love and support from you guys,” she wrote. “And don’t worry the page is still up!”
Rose participated in bodybuilding and fitness competitions before joining WWE in 2015 following the 6th season of “Tough Enough,” where she placed second. In shifting back to “NXT” after several years on the main roster, she captured the “NXT” Women’s Championship within months of her return and held the title for 413 days. She would drop the belt on December 13 to Roxanne Perez –- her termination from the company followed the next day.
NJPW will hold its Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 4. It is New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year.
While appearing on The Sessions podcast, Rocky Romero promised that there would be surprises at the show.
As previously reported, Mercedes Varnado, better known to WWE fans as Sasha Banks, will make an appearance during Wrestle Kingdom 17.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors, but I can’t confirm nor deny at this moment. Fingers crossed, you never know what could happen. There will definitely be surprises at the Tokyo Dome.”
Bronson Reed made his much-awaited return to WWE this week on Monday Night RAW, as he attacked Dexter Lumis during the latter’s “Winner Take All” ladder match against The Miz, thereby allowing The Hollywood A-Lister to clinch the victory. Reed celebrated with The Miz after the match.
Reed was released from his WWE contract this past August. Following his departure, he began working for NJPW and Impact Wrestling under the ring name JONAH.
The latest episode of AEW’s latest weekly show, Dark: Elevation, is slated to air tonight at 7pm ET via the official AEW YouTube channel. Here’s the card:
Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
Emi Sakura & The Bunny vs. Lady Bird Monroe & Gigi Rey
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Hagane Shinno & Steven Andrews
Marina Shafir vs. Jazmin Allure
ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena (c) vs. VertVixen
The WWE Network and Peacock have added new independent wrestling content.
The new programming includes shows from ICW, and wXw. The shows are available to be seen at any time on-demand. Here is what was added:
ICW Fear & Loathing XIV – 11/20/22.
Kez Evans, Stevie James, Leyton Buzzard and Craig Anthony collide in an ICW World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Match. Kasey challenges ICW Women’s World Champion Molly Spartan. BT Gunn battles Jack Jester in a King of Insanity Match. Glasgow Grindhouse clash with K.O.E. for the ICW Tag Team Championship.
wXw World Tag Team Festival – Night 3 – 10/03/22.
The top teams from Group A and Group B battle for the wXw Tag Team Titles. Four women square off to determine the No. 1 Contender for the wXw Women’s Championship. Killer Kelly takes on Masha Slamovich in a wXw 16 Carat Gold Qualifying Match.
During the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that the December 26th episode of RAW will likely be a ‘best of’ episode, although that hasn’t been confirmed. There is no taping scheduled for December 26, as all of the events on that day are live events. Meanwhile, tonight’s taping in Des Moines will just be the live episode.
It’s possible that WWE will announce their plans for next weeks show during tonight’s episode.
WWE is set to cap off 2022 with a match of epic proportions, as John Cena & Kevin Owens square off against The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn on the 12/30 episode of “WWE SmackDown” in Tampa, Florida.
The match was set up during the closing stages of last night’s “WWE SmackDown,” where Reigns announced that he & Zayn will face Owens & a mystery partner at WWE’s last show of 2022. Just then, Cena appeared on the TitanTron to read out a text message he received from Owens.
“Surprise!” Cena addressed The Bloodline via satellite. “I bet you’re a little surprised to see me. Well, it’s the holiday season, and everybody loves a good holiday surprise, and boy was I surprised when I got a text message, out of the blue, from my longtime friend Kevin Owens.
“He said, ‘sup, Peacemaker. Did you know you’ve had a WWE match every year for the past 20 years except this one. Your streak is about to be broken. Mind-blown emoji. Do you want to be my tag team partner December 30 in Tampa, Florida?'”
Cena continued, “So, let me get this straight – I haven’t had a match in 2022, and we’re running out of chances. And you’re asking me if I want to partner with Kevin Owens against the Uciest Sami Zayn and The Tribal Chief in a main event match that can’t be missed? Hell yes, I’ll be there! Hell yes, we’ll bring the fight to The Bloodline in the final SmackDown of 2022. Make your list, check it twice – The Bloodline has been naughty, and won’t it be nice when Cena-clause is coming to town? Ho Ho Ho Holy S**t!”
The show went off the air with Reigns & The Bloodline fuming in the ring, while reacting to Cena’s announcement.
Cena last wrestled in an untelevised WWE dark match at Madison Square Garden on September 10, 2021, teaming up with Rey & Dominik Mysterio against Reigns & The Usos in a six-man match. Prior to that bout, he lost to Reigns at SummerSlam on August 21, 2021.
