Author: John Bass

John Cena Reportedly Confirmed For WWE WrestleMania 37

Veteran WWE Superstar John Cena is reportedly returning to the ring at WrestleMania 37.

There is no word yet on if Cena will be working Night One or Night Two of WrestleMania 37, or who his opponent will be, but Ringside News reports that Cena is now a 100% lock for The Grandest Stage of Them All this year.

Regarding Cena’s match for WrestleMania 37, one WWE creative source noted, “I don’t think even Cena knows.

There’s also no word on how many episodes of RAW or SmackDown that Cena will be able to appear on to build to his WrestleMania 37 bout.

It was rumored that Cena was locked in for the next three WrestleMania events, and while he could end up working those shows, he is not booked that far in advance at all, according to the report. WWE recently announced WrestleMania 37 for Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, WrestleMania 38 for April 3, 2022 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and WrestleMania 39 on April 2, 2023 at SoFi Stadium in Hollywood, CA.

Cena has not been seen since losing the Firefly Fun House Match to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 last year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Edge Announces WWE Royal Rumble Ring Return

WWE Hall of Famer Edge will be making his ring return at the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Last night’s Rumble go-home edition of RAW saw Edge deliver a pre-recorded promo where he announced that he will be returning to action in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match next Sunday.

There are now 14 open spots for the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match. Edge joins Daniel Bryan, WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, The Miz, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Jeff Hardy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, SmackDown Tag Team Champion Dolph Ziggler, WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E, Sheamus, and John Morrison as confirmed entrants.

The Rated R Superstar has been out of action since suffering a torn triceps during the loss to Randy Orton at the 2020 WWE Backlash pay-per-view last June. Edge came out of retirement at the 2020 Royal Rumble, and then made his in-ring return to singles action at WrestleMania 36, where he defeated Orton in a Last Man Standing match.

The 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view will take place on January 31 from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

Impact Wrestling Preview 1/26/21

IMPACT! tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and Twitch!

* Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Tommy Dreamer, Willie Mack, and a mystery partner vs. Moose, Chris Bey, Sami Callihan, and Ken Shamrock

* Private Party & Matt Hardy Return

* Ace Austin and Madman Fulton vs. Josh Alexander and Matt Cardona

* Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake

* Tenille Dashwood w/ Kaleb with a K vs. Rosemary w/ Crazzy Steve

* Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers

* Fire n Flava Fest

WWE RAW Preview 1/25/2021

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will feature the final build for Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

* WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will return to RAW from his COVID-19 diagnosis on tonight’s show. He will face off with WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg for the final hype to their Royal Rumble title match.

* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Asuka defends the RAW Women’s Title against Alexa Bliss

* Riddle faces The Hurt Business in a Gauntlet Match for a shot at Bobby Lashley’s WWE United States Title

* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair will face Shayna Baszler

Stephanie McMahon Talks WWE Network Moving To Peacock

WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon says the company is thrilled to have NBCUniversal’s Peacock as the new exclusive home of the WWE Network in the United States.

As noted, WWE and NBCU have signed a new multi-year agreement that will make Peacock the exclusive home of the WWE Network in the United States. Peacock will launch the WWE Network on Thursday, March 18 at $4.99 per month, or $9.99 per month for the ad-free version. Peacock is also free to millions of Cox and Comcast customers in the United States. You can click here for full details on the announcement, including Peacock-exclusive content planned for the Network.

McMahon issued a letter today and said the WWE Network will be a perfect complement to the incredible catalog that Peacock has amassed since launching in 2020. Stephanie also said WWE and NBCU consider the Peacock – WWE Network partnership to be a natural extension of their near-30-year relationship.

You can read Stephanie’s full comments below:

I’m excited to share that this morning WWE and NBCUniversal announced a multi-year agreement that will make Peacock the exclusive home to WWE Network in the United States.

WWE was one of the first to launch a SVOD service, WWE Network, in 2014 to super-serve our most passionate fans with WWE’s most premium content as well as an incredible library of in-ring and original programming that has grown over the last seven years. Since launching last year, Peacock has amassed an incredible catalog of iconic movies and TV shows, along with the best of live news and sports, to which WWE Network will be a perfect complement.

WWE and NBCU have been partners for nearly 30 years, and we consider this to be a natural extension of our long-standing relationship. Peacock will enable WWE to showcase our most significant events, including WrestleMania, which was previously available on WWE Network for $9.99 per month, to Peacock’s 26 million subscribers for $4.99 per month and for free to the millions of Comcast and Cox homes across the country, helping to better serve and grow our global fanbase.

We are thrilled to bring WWE Network to Peacock beginning March 18, and to continue to create best-in-class sports entertainment content that will not only put smiles on people’s faces, but provide our fans with an experience worthy of their passion.

WWE Network Moving To Peacock Network

NBCUniversal’s Peacock network is the new home of the WWE Network in the United States.

WWE announced today that they have signed a multi-year agreement with Peacock, which will give the new platform exclusive streaming rights to the WWE Network in the United States.

Peacock will launch the WWE Network on Thursday, March 18. This will kick off the roll-out of more than 17,000 hours of new, original and library programming on-demand, and the live channel. The WWE Fastlane event will be the first pay-per-view to stream on Peacock, on March 21.

The new deal will also include one annual signature WWE Network documentary for Peacock, beginning in 2022.

The new WWE Network premium price point will be $4.99 on Peacock, which is a savings of $5 per month. The ad-free version, Peacock Premium Plus, will cost $9.99 per month.

“We are thrilled to further the long-standing and trusted partnership WWE has with NBCUniversal,” said WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan in a press release. “Peacock is an innovative platform that will enable us to showcase our most significant events, including WrestleMania, and provide the extraordinary entertainment our fans have come to expect with the combination of premium WWE content, live sports, news, films, and television programs.”

Peacock is currently available on all Apple and Google platforms, Roku, Chromecast devices, Microsoft’s Xbox One family of decices, Sony’s PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro and PlayStation 5, VIZIO SmartCast devices and LG Smart TVs. The service is also available at no additional cost to Comcast’s eligible Xfinity XI and Flex customers, and customers of Cox Contour.

Stay tuned for more on Peacock and the WWE Network. Below is the full announcement issued to us today by WWE:

PEACOCK TO BECOME THE EXCLUSIVE HOME OF WWE NETWORK IN THE U.S.

Peacock to Exclusively Stream WrestleMania and All of WWE Network’s Pay-Per-View Events, Signature Documentaries, and More

New York, NY, and Stamford, Conn., January 25, 2021—Peacock and WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced a multi-year agreement that gives Peacock exclusive streaming rights to WWE Network in the U.S.

“NBCUniversal has a long-standing relationship with WWE that began nearly 30 years ago with Monday Night Raw on USA. WWE has always tapped into the cultural zeitgeist with spectacular live events and larger-than-life characters, and we are thrilled to be the exclusive home for WWE Network and its millions of fans across the country,” said Rick Cordella, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Peacock. “WWE Network is a transformative addition to the platform and complements Peacock’s massive catalog of iconic movies and shows, as well as the best live news and sports, from NBCUniversal and beyond.”

“We are thrilled to further the long-standing and trusted partnership WWE has with NBCUniversal,” said Nick Khan, WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer. “Peacock is an innovative platform that will enable us to showcase our most significant events, including WrestleMania, and provide the extraordinary entertainment our fans have come to expect with the combination of premium WWE content, live sports, news, films, and television programs.”

Peacock will launch WWE Network on March 18, beginning the roll-out of more than 17,000 hours of new, original, and library WWE Network programming on demand and on a 24/7 channel, including:

* All live pay-per-view events including WrestleMania and SummerSlam; Fastlane will be the first WWE pay-per-view to stream on Peacock on Sunday, March 21.

* Original series like Steve Austin Broken Skull Sessions, Undertaker: The Last Ride and the all-new WWE Icons;

* In-ring shows like NXT, NXT UK and WWE 205 Live, as well as replays of Raw and SmackDown;

* WWE Network archives, including every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view event in history;

* Groundbreaking documentaries, including WWE 24, WWE Untold, and WWE 365;

* And, starting in 2022, one signature documentary annually.

The companies will share details on managing customer accounts closer to the Peacock launch in March. WWE Network, including all PPVs, will be available on Peacock Premium for $4.99-a $5.00/month savings-where members will enjoy access to the entire WWE and Peacock catalog, more than 47,000 hours of premium programming. For an ad-free experience, Peacock Premium Plus will be available for $9.99.

Viewers can sign up for Peacock at peacocktv.com. Peacock is currently available on the Roku platform; Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD; Google platforms and devices, including Android™, Android TV™ devices, Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices; Microsoft’s Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One S and Xbox One X; Sony PlayStation4, PlayStation 4 Pro, and PlayStation5; and VIZIO SmartCast™ TVs and LG Smart TVs. Comcast’s eligible Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour customers enjoy Peacock Premium included with their service at no additional cost.

the Wall Street Journal reports that a person familiar with the deal says it runs for 5 years, and is valued at more than $1 billion. WWE and NBCU did not officially disclose terms of the multi-year agreement.

It’s also been noted that WWE and NBCU will share details on how existing WWE Network subscribers in the United States will be switched to the Peacock platform in the next few weeks. It remains to be seen if current subscribers will be automatically subscribed to Peacock, or how they will do it.

WWE Network will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity outside of the United States and nothing will change for international users.

WSJ also reported that Alan Gold, a partner at Creative Artists Agency’s advisory and investment Evolution Media, served as an adviser on the new WWE – Peacock deal.

WWE SmackDown Preview 1/22/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature more build for the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Superstar Spectacle To Air On The WWE Network Next Week

WWE Superstar Spectacle will air next Tuesday on the WWE Network.

WWE confirmed today that the two-hour special TV event for India will also air on the WWE Network next Tuesday morning at 9:30am ET.

Superstar Spectacle will air in India at 8pm IST on Tuesday, on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3, and Sony MAX. The show is being taped tomorrow from the WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, with commentary done in English and Hindi.

WWE still has not announced matches for Superstar Spectacle, but the following Superstars have been announced to appear:

* WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
* WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair
* SmackDown Tag Team Champion Dolph Ziggler
* Rey Mysterio
* AJ Styles
* Bayley
* Cesaro
* Shinsuke Nakamura
* King Baron Corbin
* Natalya
* Ricochet
* The New Day (WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)

The following Indian Superstars have been announced to appear:

* Jinder Mahal
* The Bollywood Boyz
* Indus Sher
* Jeet Rama
* Kavita Devi
* Giant Zanjeer
* Dilsher Shanky
* Guru Raaj

WWE’s official announcement noted that other stars will also be appearing.

https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/status/1352379196375498761

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Backstage Returning For One Night Only With Renee Young, Paige And Booker T

WWE and FOX Sports have announced a special edition of WWE Backstage on FS1.

The special episode will air during Royal Rumble Weekend on Saturday, January 30 at 8pm ET on FS1. A replay will air later that night at midnight, and another replay will air at 5pm ET on Royal Rumble Sunday, as a lead-in to the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show.

The special edition of WWE Backstage will be hosted by Renee Paquette (Renee Young), Paige, and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T.

WWE Backstage aired from November 2019 through mid-March of this year after production was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. FOX Sports then announced in June that the show was no longer airing. A special post-SmackDown edition of the show was scheduled to air back on October 23, but it was nixed at the last minute and replaced with an airing of Talking Smack.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tama Tonga Calls Out Kenny Omega And The Good Brothers For “Bullet Club” Reunion

Many wrestling fans were stoked to see a Bullet Club reunion with Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and The Good Brothers throwing up the “Too Sweet” symbol on AEW Dynamite. The trio of Omega and The Good Brothers then took part in a six-man tag match at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill as part of the AEW-Impact partnership.

But one person who wasn’t thrilled to see this reunion is founding Bullet Club member Tama Tonga. He called out Omega and The Good Brothers for being part of the “Bootleg Club” on his Tama’s Island podcast.

“If I was Dave Meltzer, I would have given the shirt 5 stars and given Kenny Omega 2 stars because his tan was more orange than a damn pumpkin! Who taught you how to tan, bro? Damn! You need to stop using that maple syrup as tanning because that’s not it, bro. That’s not it,” said Tonga.

“And let me tell you something, Karl Anderson, nice sweatshirt. I like it. I’ll give you props cause you’re an OG. But I’m gonna correct everybody that’s been saying, ‘Oh he’s an OG.’ Are y’all f***ing crazy? Are y’all f***ing out of your mind? You haven’t been in the group for five f***ing years, bro! You’ve gone onto greener pastures and you don’t have no say no more in Bullet Club. You know no longer claim Bullet Club. You were the OC. You were Bullet Proof. You were Bullet Brigade. You were the Bullet nobody cares. You were this. You were that. How many godd**n times are you gonna try, dog? It ain’t gonna work. When you ain’t got the heart and soul in it, it’s just bulls***.”

Anderson and Gallows departed the Bullet Club – and New Japan – in 2016 to join WWE and then Omega departed two years later to form AEW. Thus, the three didn’t leave the stable on the best of terms as they were essentially kicked out by the remaining members.

Tonga says that the reunion would have been great if it had taken place back in Japan but since it didn’t, the reunion made no sense for three people who were originally kicked out of the group.

“It would have been all gravy if they came back to Japan. There would have been a big ass reunion. I would have thrown a party. I would have gotten like 900 sponsors all over the place. We would have thrown out everything for these guys,” stated Tonga.

“And you sold out to the one team that we kicked out? How are you gonna have a reunion with guys that got kicked out? What kind of sh** it that, bro? What kind of sh** is that? That’s the dumbest, stupidest sh** I ever heard, bro. Y’all can’t get any dumber than that but I expect that. I expected you guys to play that stupid card. C’mon, you can do better than that, Karl Smanderson and Luke Smallows. Come on man!”

After being released by WWE, The Good Brothers could have returned to New Japan where they were three-time IWGP Tag Team Champions. But they elected to join Impact Wrestling and that doesn’t sit well with Tonga.

“Once a sellout, always a sellout. Never forget that,” Tonga said of Gallows and Anderson. “They’re always about that quick buck and whoring off, knowing the right time to pull the trigger. You guys are a bunch of, ‘Click. Click. Click. Click… No BANG!’ Nothing.

“The ‘Too Sweet’ heard around the world? F**k all that nonsense. That stupid-ass f***ery. That sh** is whack anyway. We done moved on. We done moved on.”

After the Bullet Club Reunion on Dynamite, AEW has filed a trademark to the ‘Too Sweet’ phrase. Omega, Gallows and Anderson then teamed as “The Elite” on an episode of Dynamite and some fans have argued that the Elite is further promoting the Bullet Club brand.

Tonga argues against that notion and says the members of the Elite are only out for themselves and don’t care about the Bullet Club.

“The only people they’re advertising are themselves, not Bullet Club. And you all should have known that when they did the whole Elite thing,” said Tonga. “‘Oh, the Elite made Bullet Club more famous.’ B***h, the Elite made the Elite more famous, not the Bullet Club. But that’s how they were able to go on. They used Bullet Club to go on and do their other sh**. They used us as a platform and let’s not forget that bulls***. Come on now! They used us, they used ROH. Who else did they use?

“I’m gonna tell you this – remember this – how you treat people on the way up is how they’re gonna treat you on the way down. Don’t forget that! Look at them struggling right now, man. Struggling so bad and so desperate, ‘Oh, let’s bring Bullet Club and all the ex-members.’ What kind of dumb sh** is that? I’ve never seen anything so dumb before. Karl Anderson, I expected more man. But I guess I was wrong. I guess five years out there in New York really cluttered your brain.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.