Gable Steveson is training at the WWE Performance Center full-time, after a recent heart surgery.
Steveson signed with WWE in 2021, after winning Gold at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling.
ESPN reports that Steveson underwent an ablation last month to treat Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.
WPW is a disorder due to a specific type of problem with the electrical system of the heart that causes the heart to beat abnormally for periods of time.
In 2007, MVP was discovered to have WPW syndrome during a routine medical, in what was called a life-saving discovery.
ESPN’s report adds that Steveson is now training at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida full-time after previously working at a private center set up on campus at the University of Minnesota.
Andrade El Idolo was sent home by AEW on Wednesday night after he got into a fight backstage with Sammy Guevara, who was working the main event of Dynamite.
This occurred after they had a verbal altercation on Twitter, during which Guevara accused El Idolo of wanting to make a comeback in WWE.
Many fans were under the impression that this was all an act and part of a storyline in which Andrade would compete in a mask vs. career match against 10 from the Dark Order on Friday’s Rampage. That match will not take place any more.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer brought up the fact that Andrade had stated on Twitter during the exchange with Guevara that he wasn’t scared to get fired, as well as the belief that Andrade is trying to get out of his AEW deal.
“Andrade’s trying to get fired, we all know that….when guys want to leave, some will go to great extremes to do that. It’s happened with WWE. I’ve talked to people in WWE who’ve tried to get fired with some of the craziest things in the world, and I’ve told them it’s not gonna work. There were some crazy stories of people trying to do things to get fired. Getting in a fight was never one of them, but there are things much crazier than that from people who wanted to leave and get out and were not going to be allowed to do that because the company wasn’t going to release them. So now the situation is on the other front, where there are a few people, and it’s not that many, it’s like three that wanna leave [AEW]. There’s different stories and whatever, and Andrade’s one of them.”
Meltzer then added, “So, Tuesday night, they were talked to. Both of them were told no fighting. Andrade was told, ‘If this is your idea, you’re not gonna get fired if you fight, but you will be sent home’. Andrade said, ‘Don’t worry, nothing’s gonna happen. There’s gonna be no fight.’ This was Tuesday night. Sammy was the same thing, ‘Nothing’s gonna happen’. They had security there. Everybody was warned ahead of time.”
Bryan Alvarez and Meltzer both mentioned that they were aware of the fact that they had heard several distinct accounts of how the altercation initially began.
Alvarez stated, “Sammy in fact didn’t throw any punches. One person did say that Andrade spun Sammy around, and Sammy shoved him, and then Andrade punched him. The other stories were that Andrade just punched him and that Sammy didn’t fight back.”
Meltzer mentioned that a reliable source had told him the following, “Andrade was waiting in the hallway, got two punches in before it was broken up, and Sammy didn’t fight back.”
Meltzer pointed out that Sammy didn’t appear to have any bruises on his face due to the punches he took during the backstage altercation at Dynamite.
“He did throw two punches, and it was broken up right away and Andrade was sent home.”
You can listen to the Wrestling Observer Radio below:
Contrary to recent reports, it seems Jeff Hardy may not be back in the ring as soon as previously thought. According to PWInsider, Hardy is preparing for a pre-trial hearing set to take place later this month regarding his DUI arrest back in June. The report also claims that Hardy is not expected back with AEW until his legal issues are handled and the company feels confident that Hardy has a handle on his sobriety.
Last month, Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy teased on his podcast that we would soon be getting a look at a brand new Jeff. Matt shared his confidence in his brother’s new outlook on life and his ability to stay sober. Prior to his DUI arrest, Jeff was reportedly set for a major run with his brother in AEW, with the pair even being “strongly considered” for an AEW Tag Team Championship victory. However, Hardy’s arrest and subsequent suspension derailed those plans.
Hardy was released by WWE last December after a strange incident that saw him leave a match during a live event and enter the crowd. Many speculated that Hardy was somehow inebriated at the time, but nothing was ever conclusively proven, and it was later denied by both Hardy brothers. Following his release, WWE reportedly attempted to convince Hardy to return to the company, even offering him a spot in the company’s Hall of Fame. However, Hardy turned down the offer and instead decided to join his brother in AEW. Though their initial run in the company would wind up being short-lived, it seems likely that Hardy will be given another chance once he has straightened things out in his personal life.
Jimmy Smith announced on Twitter that he is leaving WWE. The news comes on the heels of a major shakeup for the commentary teams across all of their shows.
Smith tweeted, “Just wanted to say, now that the story is officially out, that my time with the WWE is officially done. Had a lot of fun and met some great people. Really and truly blown away by the acceptance from the WWE fans! You folks make it work every week and your enthusiasm was amazing!”
Just wanted to say, now that the story is officially out, that my time with the WWE is officially done. Had a lot of fun and met some great people. Really and truly blown away by the acceptance from the WWE fans! You folks make it work every week and your enthusiasm was amazing!
As was noted earlier, the Friday Night SmackDown commentary team will consist of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett with Samanta Irvin continuing her ring announcing duties. Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant will conduct backstage interviews.
Over on Raw, Corey Graves and Kevin Partick will provide play-by-play and Mike Rome will continue as the ring announcer while Byron Saxton will do backstage interviews. Also, Cathy Kelley is returning to do backstage interviews.
On NXT, Vic Joseph and Booker T will provide the play-by-play and Alicia Taylor will continue as the ring announcer. McKenzie Mitchell will continue in her role as a backstage interviewer.
For Premium Live Events (pay-per-views), Michael Cole and Corey Graves will handle the play-by-play and Pat McAfee is expected to return after he wraps up his ESPN College GameDay commitments.
Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV is the last one before Friday night’s Bound For Glory PPV. Here are the matches that have been announced for the show:
-Moose vs. Steve Maclin with Sami Callihan as special referee
WWE has officially announced changes to the commentary teams for all three brands – RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves will be the commentators for Raw while Cathy Kelley is back and will work as an interviewer and Byron Saxton. For SmackDown, the team is Michael Cole & Wade Barrett, while NXT’s team will be Vic Joseph & Booker T.
Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.
WWE issued the following:
WWE announces updates to commentary teams
Today WWE announced that Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events will all have updated announce booths starting with this week’s season premieres. The news was first reported by Variety on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday Night SmackDown, the commentary table will be headed by Michael Cole with Wade Barrett doing color commentary. Samantha Irvin will be the ring announcer, and interviews will be conducted by Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant.
On Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves will still be providing his colorful insights and will be joined by Kevin Patrick on play-by-play. Mike Rome will continue to announce from the ring, and Byron Saxton will transition from the commentary booth to backstage interviews. Also joining Saxton in backstage interviews is none other than Cathy Kelley in her return to WWE.
Over on NXT, Vic Joseph will be assisted by six-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Alicia Taylor will still provide her exceptional voice to ring announcing, and McKenzie Mitchell will once again be conducting interviews.
On the Premium Live Event side, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will come together again to announce from the booth.
Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.
The creators of Vice TV’s popular “Dark Side of the Ring” series have another show on the way with “Tales from the Territories.” While speaking to Chris Jericho on the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisener spoke about the process of selecting topics for the series, including what separates a “Tales from the Territories” entry from “Dark Side of the Ring.” One episode that could have found a place on either show was the installment detailing the famous feud between legendary Memphis wrestler Jerry Lawler and comedian Andy Kaufman.
“[Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler] could have been a ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ episode,” Husney said. He explained that the process for putting the show together consists of researching books, interviews, and podcasts of wrestlers from the era to find the best potential topics for episodes. “Obviously, when we’re getting into Memphis, it’s hard to ignore … the Kaufman-Lawler thing. … The Kaufman versus Lawler angle we actually built out into an entire episode.”
Hunsey would go on to explain that the people involved in the Lawler-Kaufman story made it an easy decision to base an episode around. “When we got there, we were filming with the guys, the chemistry was so good. It was like. ‘All right, let’s tell the Kaufman story,’ and they just went, and they went for hours,” Husney said. “It was cool because I had never really heard Lawler’s … top-to-bottom perspective on the whole angle.”
“Tales from the Territories” is produced by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and debuts tonight on Vice TV. Tonight’s episode is on Memphis wrestling. The episode on the Lawler-Kaufman feud premieres on Tuesday, October 11.
“Tales from the Territories” is produced by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and debuts tonight on Vice TV at 10 PM EST. Tonight’s episode is on Memphis wrestling.
The premiere episode is titled Memphis: Where Wrestling Was Real.
The episode will feature a round table discussion with Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, Jimmy Hart and more.
Promotional material for tonight’s premiere notes, “In Memphis, the Mid-South Coliseum’s unique blend of slow-burn, story-driven matches and pre-MTV music video vignettes captivated audiences every week.”
Vice TV will air a Dark Side of the Ring marathon in advance of the premiere. The marathon schedule:
Wrestling News Blog 