Ronda Rousey has been subject to a lot of speculation as she’s currently the betting favorite to win the Women’s Royal Rumble match. However, Rousey herself spoke with TMZ and said that she will not be in Philadelphia this Sunday, as she has plans.
She said: “I’m actually leaving to Colombia right now to finish shooting ‘Mile 22’ and won’t be back until mid February.”
She added that even though she recently had a dinner with Triple H, there is still no deal in place between herself and WWE.
We will know for sure this Sunday. She says she won’t be there but remember Jeff Hardy said he and Matt wouldn’t be at WrestleMania last year and we all know what happened then.
Many readers sent WrestlingINC the video below from Sam Cook, a friend of Philomena Sheahan, where he shared a group text exchange from the night of the alleged rape incident. We had held off from posting the video because we could not verify if the texts were legitimate, however Sheahan confirmed that the exchange happened.
Sheahan accused Enzo Amore of rape publicly on Twitter earlier this week, and alleged that Layla Shapiro (@toopoor_) and designer Tyler Grosso were involved.
In the video, the text exchange confirms that Amore had sex with Sheahan, but suggests that it was consensual. Below is the text exchange:
Sheahan: “I’m going to f–king rehab today. Or to get a ketamine infusion. RACHEL”
Recipient: “WHAT WHY”
Sheahan: “I MET TOO POOR and did coke with her Tyler and f–k their friend.”
Recipient: “pics or it didn’t happen.”
Sheahan: “F–ked.”
Recipient: “Don’t lie you dumbass b—h u would be posting it on ur story”
Sheahan: “My roommates would see b—h. No I wouldn’t.”
Recipient: “shere’s the selfie with her?”
Sheahan: “Didn’t get one.”
Recipient: “Omg”
Sheahan: “Believe it or not b—h it happened & I’m laying in bed next to a famous wrestler.”
Recipient: “Pic”
Sheahan: “It’s dark in here.”
In a now-deleted tweet, Sheahan responded to the video and said that her texts were taken “completely out of context.” She also referenced the video below and wrote:
“About the texts that @imsamcook is using to ‘expose’ me. The morning of the incident I woke up not knowing where I was. That was 3-5 hours after I did the drugs/was drugged. I vaguely remember sending those messages and they were taken completely out of context. When I fully woke up, I called Sam bawling my eyes out telling him the whole story. It’s so hard for me to comprehend that someone that I’ve known & called my best friend for 3 years, who stood by me and supported me through my PTSD from the trauma and is now betraying me. I have no hatred towards him as he is going through a mental breakdown and is off his medication as I will show in the video posted above. I hope he gets the help he needs & I am truly disheartened.”
Regarding the police report that was filed days after the incident, Cook said to take his comments with “a grain of salt” for legal purposes in case anything he’s saying is not completely correct. He said that Sheahan contacted him and told him that “she had sex with Enzo and it was amazing and Toopoor was so nice.” He noted that Sheahan was living with a sobriety group and was hiding from them that night so that she could do drugs, and if the group found out, they’d tell her dad who was paying for her car.
Cook said that after Sheahan had sex, she was worried that her dad was going to go to the hotel, but her sobriety group had her location on the whole time. Cook said that her father told her that she was going to get kicked out of the house if she didn’t go to rehab. Cook said that she then told her dad that she got raped, which is why she did the drugs. Her dad then took her to rehab, but they were told she couldn’t enter until she was medically tested so she had to go to the police station and file the report to get medically tested.
Sheahan also updated her original tweet, where she claimed to have spent 45 days in a mental hospital following the incident. After several people pointed out that her Twitter account was never inactive for that period of time, she wrote:
BTW the treatment stay was supposed to be 45 days long but I started using my roommates phone around day 20 to get on social media & I left the center against medical advice around 26 days
Has WWE confirmed that Vince McMahon is getting back into the football business? WWE announced the following today:
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon to make live sports announcement today at 3 p.m.
WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon will make a major sports announcement today at 3 p.m. ET, streaming live from the digital platforms of his new enterprise, Alpha Entertainment.
The live stream will be available via Alpha Entertainment’s Twitter (@AlphaEntLLC), Facebook (facebook.com/AlphaEntLLC) and YouTube (youtube.com/alphaentertainment) pages, as well as AlphaEntLLC.com.
According to PWInsider, WWE’s production team has begun working on video footage for the eventual return of the XFL. The report stated that the XFL will officially make its comeback in 2020 to make sure they have a proper foundation put together for the league. This would include building out rosters and coaches.
Vince McMahon had started a company separate from WWE, called Alpha Entertainment – which in a statement given from WWE last month – is geared to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” Since that times multiple trademarks had been filed by McMahon’s company, including: “UFL” and “United Football League.”
Last month, McMahon sold 3.34 million shares of WWE to fund his Alpha Entertainment, LLC. The sale netted McMahon just under $100 million.
While the initial hype of the XFL generated a strong audience, die-hard fans of the NFL heavily criticized the league, and numbers started to reflect the dissatisfaction. As a result, the XFL lasted only one season in 2001, with it resurfacing earlier this year on the ESPN 30 for 30 This Was the XFL documentary.
The first-ever WWE Women’s Royal Rumble match will feature a special addition to the announce team — Stephanie McMahon.
Stephanie tweeted on Wednesday saying, “Announcing the first-ever women’s #RoyalRumble match was one of my all-time favorite moments in @WWE… And now I’m proud to share that I’ll be joining the Announce team for this historic match this Sunday! #RumbleForAll.”
Only eighteen of thirty participants have been confirmed at this point, so it’ll be interesting to see if more announcements are made before this weekend’s event.
* Johnny Gargano is putting his NXT Title opportunity at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia against NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas on the line in a match with Velveteen Dream.
* No Way Jose vs. Cezar Bononi
* Will there be fireworks before TakeOver: Philadelphia?
It was revealed today that the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble will be held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on January 27th, 2019. This is the first time the Rumble will be held inside a Major League Baseball stadium. The company is expecting more than 40,000 fans for the Rumble. There will also be a NXT Takeover event that Saturday, plus RAW and SmackDown events in Phoenix at the nearby Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Below is WWE’s official announcement on the 2019 Rumble Weekend:
Phoenix to Host 2019 WWE® Royal Rumble® Weekend01/24/2018 STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that Chase Field in Phoenix will host the Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 27, 2019. This marks WWE’s debut at Chase Field, and the first time the Royal Rumble has ever been held at a baseball stadium. In addition, as part of Royal Rumble Weekend, Phoenix will host NXT®TakeOver®, Monday Night Raw® and SmackDown® Live at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
2019 Key Dates:
* Saturday, January 26 – NXT TakeOver at Talking Stick Resort Arena
* Sunday, January 27 – Royal Rumble at Chase Field
* Monday, January 28 – Monday Night Raw at Talking Stick Resort Arena
* Tuesday, January 29 – SmackDown Live at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Additional details, including ticket availability and travel packages, will be announced in the near future.
Royal Rumble 2018 takes place this Sunday, January 28 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The event, which streams live around the world on WWE Network, will feature a 30-Man Royal Rumblematch, and for the first-time in WWE history, a 30-Woman Royal Rumble match, with the winners of both matches receiving Championship opportunities at WrestleMania 34 on Sunday, April 8, 2018 in New Orleans. Other matches include Brock Lesnar™ defending his WWE Universal Championship in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman® and Kane®; WWE Champion AJ Styles™ in a 2-on-1 handicap match vs. Kevin Owens® and Sami Zayn®; Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins® and Jason Jordan™ vs. Sheamus® and Cesaro®; SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos™ vs. Chad Gable® and Shelton Benjamin®.
Last week on SmackDown Live it appeared that Samir Singh suffered an injury during the ringside angle with WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode in the tournament match with Jinder Mahal.
Samir missed weekend WWE live events and was not at tonight’s SmackDown but took to Instagram during the show and revealed that he tore his ACL and underwent surgery.
No word yet on a timetable for Singh’s return but the usual recovery time for a torn ACL is 6 to 9 months. This is the same injury that Big Cass is currently recovering from after suffering the injury in August 2017.
Below is Samir’s full post on the injury:
Last week I tore my ACL and it goes without saying that this past week has been very emotional. The more I think about it, the less it makes sense. All I know is that God is the sovereign of my life and that everything that comes to pass is his blessing. I thank you all for the continued love and support. I can’t wait to be back.
SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan opened tonight’s WWE 205 Live episode and announced that Enzo Amore has dropped the WWE Cruiserweight Title and will no longer be a part of the brand. Bryan then announced that a new 205 Live General Manager will be named next week and their first task will be to address the status of the vacant Cruiserweight Title.
Enzo was fired by WWE today after a woman claims he raped her at a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona last October. The Phoenix Police have been looking into the allegations since last October. The woman went public with detailed of the alleged assault today and Enzo responded with a statement from his lawyer, denying everything. You can see video of the accuser talking about the alleged incident at this link and you can read the statement from Enzo’s lawyer at this link.
Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore has released a statement saying he “fully and unequivocally denies” rape allegations that have been brought against him.
Amore tweeted a statement from his law firm that says: “Over the last two days, Philomena Sheahanhas made multiple public accusations against Eric Arndt (also known as Enzo Amore with the WWE), including allegations of sexual misconduct concerning an October 2017 incident in Phoenix. Mr. Arndt fully and unequivocally denies those accusations.”
The statement continues: “He is cooperating with the authorities in this matter and looks forward to having it resolved in a timely manner. Neither Mr. Arndt nor his counsel will be making any further public comments on this matter.”
The woman who filed a police report claiming Enzo Amore raped her last year took part in an on-camera interview with TMZ today and went into further detail about her allegations.
Philomena Sheahan — who told TMZ Sports she’s now comfortable with her name and face being made public — claims she said no “countless times” as Enzo sexually assaulted her inside of a hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona back in October.
Sheahan also claims she hit her head at one point and was unconscious during some of the alleged incident. When she woke up, Philomena says that he was still having sex with her.
