Author: John Bass

Ronda Rousey & Sonya Deville Added To ‘Total Divas’ Cast For Season 9, Bella Twins Reportedly Stepping Away From The Show

Image result for The Bella Twins Will Not Be Part Of ‘Total Divas’ Next Season, Ronda Rousey & Sonya Deville Added To Show

The Bella Twins will not be participating in the next season of WWE’s Total Divas, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

Word is that Nikki Bella and Brie Bella will be removed from the Total Divas cast so they can focus on their own show, Total Bellas. The Bellas reportedly made the decision to step away from Total Bellas, for the time being, at the end of last season.

Total Divas producers were able to land RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey for season 9, to help fill the void, according to Squared Circle Sirens. Sonya Deville has also confirmed her role on the ninth season, as noted before.

The cast for season 9 of Total Divas will be Rousey, Deville, Carmella, Natalya, Naomi and Nia Jax. Stars who will not be returning to Total Divas are The Bella Twins, Paige, Rusev and Lana.

Season 9 of Total Divas is currently filming.

Source: WrestlingINC

Photo: The Undertaker Meeting With “Somebody Important Today”

Image result for The Undertaker "Landed late last night...must be meeting with somebody important today! #OnTheRoadAgain."

Earlier today on his Instagram and Twitter, Undertaker posted a photo with him and his wife, Michelle McCool, standing in front of a private jet. In the caption Undertaker wrote, “Landed late last night…must be meeting with somebody important today! #OnTheRoadAgain.”

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Taker is still not scheduled to work a top match at WrestleMania 35.

It was also mentioned as of last week, Taker is not planning on working the next Saudi Arabia WWE event, which is expected for May. The Observer noted if Taker was going to wrestle, the Saudi show would be the most likely date for him because it’s the biggest payday of the year. WrestleMania would be the next most likely date.

Taker is now taking more appearances outside of WWE, where he is charging a reported $25,000 per hour for appearances within the United States.

https://twitter.com/undertaker/status/1096050628147716097

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE NXT Preview 2/13/19

NXT, streaming today at 8 ET on WWE Network.

* Ricochet vs. Adam Cole II

* What does Kassius Ohno have to say?

* Taynara Conti takes on Aliyah

* Street Profits prepare to bounce back

* Dominik Dijakovic meets Shane Thorne

WWE NXT UK Preview 2/13/19

NXT UK, streaming today at 3 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network.

* NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm is scheduled the kick off the show

* WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne vs. Gallus’ Wolfgang

* Noam Dar vs. Jordan Devlin

* Jinny locks vs. Mia Yim

AEW Double Or Nothing Quickly Sells Out

Image result for AEW Double or Nothing

All Elite Wrestling’s Double Or Nothing event sold out in just 4 minutes today, according to the official AEW Twitter account.

The pre-sale sold out in less than 30 minutes on Monday. The general on-sale kicked off today and those seats sold out in just 4 minutes. There have been seats available on the secondary market, at as much as three times the face value.

AEW Double Or Nothing takes place on Saturday, May 25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be the first event for the new promotion.

Below is AEW’s tweet on the sell out along with a look at what the current card looks like:

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1095731800666763264

enny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

PAC vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix

Cody Rhodes vs. Mystery Opponent

Dr. Britt Baker vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose

Team All Elite Wrestling vs. Team Oriental Entertainment Wrestling
SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Scorpio Sky) vs. Cima and two partners to be announced

Aja Kong vs. Yuka Sakazaki (teased, not confirmed)

* Appearances by Brandi Rhodes, MJF, AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Sammy Guevara, Sonny Kiss, The Best Friends (Beretta and Chuck Taylor), and others

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On Plans For The WWE Women’s Divisions

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WWE is planning on doing more crossing over between the RAW and SmackDown women’s divisions, according to @Wrestlevotes.

It was noted today that the female Superstars are “slowly going to be crossing over more between both shows” here soon.

@Wrestlevotes also noted that the plan is to have the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions appear on both RAW and SmackDown at first, but not on a weekly basis.

The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions will be crowned at Sunday’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, inside the Chamber. It will be Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. The IIconics vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan vs. Tamina Snuka & Nia Jax vs. Carmella & Naomi. The match will start with Deville & Rose vs. Bayley & Banks.

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage Update On Sasha Banks’ Injury

Image result for Sasha Banks Is Reportedly Not Cleared For In-Ring Competition

Sasha Banks has not wrestled a legitimate match since she faced Ronda Rousey for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble PPV last month. Banks first missed out on competition a couple of weeks ago during a qualifying match to be part of the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at this Sunday’s Elimination ChamberPPV. With Banks remaining sidelined, Bayley would ultimately pick up the slack and get the victory for her team in the qualifying match.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer notes that, as of Tuesday, Sasha Banks has been officially cleared to return to in-ring competition. Banks was only partially cleared on Monday’s RAW, which explains why she was briefly in the three-team match before taking a bump into the barricade and being escorted to the backstage area by refs & trainers.

Banks and Bayley, also known as the “Boss N’ Hug Connection,” are scheduled to start Sunday’s Chamber match against the team of Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose. The other teams in the match are The IIconics, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, Carmella and Naomi, Tamina Snuka and Nia Jax.

WWE provided their own storyline update last night on SmackDown with the announcement that Banks “re-aggravated her shoulder injury” during the three-team match on Monday’s RAW. Despite that, Banks took to Twitter yesterday to emphasize that she will be ready to go on Sunday at the Chamber pay-per-view in Houston, TX. She tweeted the following:

Source: WrestlingINC

Wrestling Legend Pedro Morales Dies At 76-Years-Old

wwe, hall of fame, deaths, death, pedro morales, wrestling

Wrestling legend Pedro Morales has passed at away at the age of 76.

WWE.com confirmed Morales’ passing on Tuesday. The former wrestler had reportedly been battling Parkinsons Disease in recent years.

WWE.com posted the following:

WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Pedro Morales has passed away.

A native of Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, Morales moved to New York in his youth and debuted in the ring in 1959 at age 17. After establishing his reputation as a fiery competitor in WWE on the east coast, Morales traveled west to territories in Texas and California, where he competed for much of the 1960s. In California, he battled The Destroyer in a famous rivalry, and formed a popular tag team with Pepper Gomez.

Morales returned to WWE in 1970, and in less than a year, he captured the WWE Championship from Ivan Koloff inside Madison Square Garden. During his nearly three years on top, Morales developed a passionate following in the northeast, particularly among New York City’s growing Hispanic population.

More than 22,000 fans turned out to Shea Stadium in 1972 to watch him battle close friend and former champion Bruno Sammartino in the main event of the inaugural Showdown at Shea supercard. After 75 minutes of action, the bout was ruled a draw in accordance with the state athletic commission’s strict 11 p.m. curfew.

He held the WWE Title for a staggering 1027 days before losing it to Stan Stasiak in December 1973. Morales puts his name in the record books again in 1980 when he won the World Tag Team Titles with Bob Backlund and then the Intercontinental Title to become the first Triple Crown Champion in WWE history.

Morales hung up his boots in 1987 but continued on as an ambassador for sports-entertainment. He later became a commentator for both WCW and WWE’s Spanish announce teams, and in 1995, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

WWE extends its condolences to Morales’ family, friends and fans.

Mustafa Ali Replaced In Elimination Chamber Match Due To Injury

mustafa ali injured elimination chamber replacement smackdown announced

It was announced last night on SmackDown live that Mustafa Ali has been replaced in the WWE Championship – Elimination Chamber Match with Kofi Kingston.

As noted, Mustafi Ali suffered a concussion at Sunday’s WWE live event in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Ali was scheduled to be re-evaluated at SmackDown in Toledoby WWE doctors to determine if he was able to compete at Elimination Chamber this Sunday.

Ali addressed not being able to compete this Sunday at Elimination Chamber in a video on SmackDown last night.

WWE SmackDown Live Preview 2/12/19

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio with the final hype for Sunday’s WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

* High-stakes Gauntlet Match to take place to decide who enters last in WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match

* The Usos to join Shane McMahon & The Miz on “McMiz TV”

* Will Andrade start to end the legend of Rey Mysterio?

* What does Charlotte Flair’s WrestleMania shocker mean for Team Blue?