On Saturday, May 27, a brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned. Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque teased a major announcement ahead of the April 24 edition of “WWE Raw,” and after praising the current reign of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, he delivered on it by reviving and revealing a new incarnation of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. With the Draft set to return, starting this Friday on “SmackDown,” Levesque announced that Roman Reigns will take his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to whichever show drafts him. As for the holder of the new title for the other show, that will be decided at the Night of Champions event in Saudi Arabia.
“This will be a champion you can be proud of,” Triple H declared. “This will be a champion you can respect, that you can admire. This will be a champion that will defend this championship anywhere, any place, any time, all over the world.”
Then, in a not-so-subtle dig at Reigns, he finished his announcement by saying, “This champion will not have to demand your acknowledgment. This champion will earn your acknowledgment, and will earn the title of World Heavyweight Champion.”
Originally, the latest editions of The King and Queen of the Ring tournaments were planned for late May in Saudi Arabia. It would’ve marked the first time since October 2021, when Xavier Woods defeated Finn Balor to become King while Zelina Vega won the first-ever Queen’s Crown tournament by toppling Doudrop (Piper Niven) in the final. Now with the WWE Draft right around the corner and the fact that almost every star from the main roster on down through “NXT” is eligible, it remains to be seen just how WWE will crown its new World Heavyweight Champion come May 27.
TNT will be debuting a new season of their sports docuseries Rich & Shameless in May.
One of the episodes planned for season two will look at the infamous Hulk Hogan sex tape video that was leaked to Gawker. A new trailer for the show, which teases the Hogan/Gawker episode, can be seen below.
The new season of Rich & Shameless will debut on May 7 on TNT.
Ted DiBiase Jr. has been charged with the theft of millions of dollars that was reserved for needy families in Mississippi.
According to a federal indictment that was unsealed on Thursday, former WWE star Ted DiBiase Jr. (Theodore Marvin DiBiase Jr) is being accused of using fraudulent means to obtain federal money for his own personal use. DiBiase, John Davis, Christi Webb, Nancy New, and others were named as co-conspirators in the case.
DiBiase is charged with “one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering.”
If he is convicted, DiBiase faces the following penalties:
Five years maximum (in prison) for the conspiracy count
20 years maximum for each wire fraud count
10 years maximum for each count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and for each count of money laundering
Ted DiBiase Sr. and two of his sons, Ted Jr. and Brett, were named in an October 2021 letter from Mississippi State Auditor Shad White’s office that asked them to pay back the money they received through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund. The three were required to do a certain amount of work to receive the money but failed to do so. (Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre and former Oklahoma Sooners star Marcus Dupree were also named in that letter.)
White’s office demanded that Ted DiBiase Jr. must return $3.9 million. Ted DiBiase Sr. was not personally indicted in the allegations but White’s office demanded that he pay $722,299 of the monies that his ministry received. It was alleged Brett funneled money through Ted Sr’s Heart Of David Ministries while he served as a senior official at the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Brett was initially asked to pay $225,950 and he later plead guilty for his role in the welfare scheme.
A federal indictment was unsealed today in Mississippi charging a former professional wrestler with misappropriating millions of dollars in federal safety-net funds intended for needy families and low-income individuals in Mississippi.
According to court documents, Theodore Marvin DiBiase Jr., 40, of Madison, along with co-conspirators John Davis, Christi Webb, Nancy New, and others, are alleged to have fraudulently obtained federal funds – including from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program – that they misappropriated for their own personal use and benefit.
Davis was the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS). As part of the alleged scheme, after federal funds were issued to MDHS, Davis directed MDHS to subgrant the funds to two nonprofit organizations, Family Resource Center of North Mississippi Inc. (FRC) and Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC), which were operated by Webb and New, respectively. Davis then allegedly directed Webb and New to award sham contracts to various individuals and entities purportedly for the delivery of social services, including at least five sham contracts that were awarded to DiBiase’s companies, Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem LLC.
As further alleged in the indictment, under these sham contracts, FRC and MCEC provided millions of dollars in federal funds from MDHS to DiBiase and his companies for social services that DiBiase did not provide and did not intend to provide. DiBiase allegedly used these federal funds to buy a vehicle and a boat, and for the down payment on the purchase of a house, among other expenditures.
DiBiase is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy count, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and for each count of money laundering.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca for the Southern District of Mississippi, Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI Jackson Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Tamala Miles of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson of the Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey of the IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Atlanta Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI, HHS-OIG, USDA-OIG, and IRS-CI are investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Adrienne E. Rosen of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dave Fulcher and John Meynardie for the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
For WWE’s next travels to Saudi Arabia, the King and Queen of the Ring were set to return. That is, until those tournaments weren’t anymore, with the premium live event for late-May rebranded to revive Night of Champions — a show that, in the past, featured every single title in the WWE arsenal being defended. But why? According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, while chalked up to a booking decision, the reasoning behind the change will become less foggy following Backlash and in the weeks leading up to the Saudi show.
Backlash takes place in Puerto Rico three weeks prior and is set to be headlined by Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar. However, with Roman Reigns not slated to appear then, he may have no choice but to put his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line at Night of Champions. Cody Rhodes has certainly demanded a rematch to their WrestleMania bout. However, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be given that opportunity here. Adding to the intrigue of the situation, Night of Champions happens on May 27, which also happens to be the exact day that Roman Reigns will hit the 1,000-day milestone for his long-running title reign.
As for what that means for the idea of the King and Queen of the Ring returning, it legitimately remains to be seen. Obviously, WWE had ideas about the concepts returning, but with each put on the backburner with this change of plans, there is no telling if anything more will be done with either in the immediate future.
A new report suggests “several backstage segments involving female talents” were cut from this week’s episode of “WWE Raw,” leaving some talent who recently returned to the company nervous about seeing more potential changes now that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has been increasingly present backstage.
The new report, from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, said that there has been “a slightly bubbling paranoia” in recent weeks, especially among the WWE talent who returned once Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over creative control last year. Those nerves come after numerous reports since WrestleMania 38 that have suggested some segments have been changed or entirely scrapped at the last minute, with many linking those instances to McMahon’s return.
In recent weeks, Bayley was reportedly “pulled” from a segment on “Raw,” while fans in attendance at the “Raw” After WrestleMania show reported that Seth Rollins was flustered and “walked out” of the show after his segment was interrupted by an apparently unexpected commercial break.
Many fans and pro wrestling personalities have shared concerns in recent months after McMahon dramatically returned to the company earlier this year, half a year after he “retired” and stepped down from his role as chairman. In the wake of investigations into McMahon’s alleged sexual misconduct and numerous hush money payments made to women, Levesque, his son-in-law, took over the promotion’s creative direction as its Chief Content Officer.
Shortly after Levesque stepped into the role, he rehired several former WWE stars who were previously released under McMahon’s tenure, including Bray Wyatt, Karrion Kross, and more.
Johnson reported Wednesday that several of the recently returned stars have been particularly worried about their WWE status since McMahon’s return. “We are told there’s been no edicts of that sort, but it hasn’t stopped talents from being concerned,” Johnson reported. “This sort of ‘walking on eggshells’ feeling has slowly picked up steam since McMahon returned.”
WrestleVotes reported today that WWE is working with the USA Network for a new program targeted toward kids.
The report noted the two sides are working on a new kids’ trivia show that has a working title of “WWE Tall vs. Small.” It’s unclear when the show will air.
The report read:
“I’m hearing there is a new joint show in the works between WWE & USA Network where kids will compete with Superstars in a trivia challenge, currently titled “WWE Tall vs Small.”
WWE disappointed both talent and fans in the fall of 2020 when Vince McMahon issued an edict that talent had to seize operations on third party platforms such as Cameo and Twitch. There was reportedly widespread frustration among the roster, and select talent even met with McMahon in an attempt to change his mind. Additionally, Zelina Vega was released as a result of continuing to stream on Twitch following the ban.
Over two years later, it appears the Twitch ban has been lifted. Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that “WWE and Twitch have reached an agreement to allow WWE wrestlers back on Twitch with almost no restrictions.” The small caveat is that they must get clearance first before streaming with people from other companies.
Those that spoke to Fightful were “very happy” about the deal and also revealed that the revenue will be split three ways, with Twitch and talent earning “the vast majority.” This has been in the works since April 2022 when WWE informed those in a talent meeting that the ban on third party platforms was changing, although things on the Twitch end took longer than expected.
There have been plenty of conversations in the last few years regarding WWE and third party platforms seeing as though WWE talent are classified as independent contractors. In addition to Vega’s controversial firing, Mandy Rose was reportedly terminated this past December for the content she was posting on her FanTime page. The attention that the news received ultimately led to Rose earning $1 million on the platform within a month following her departure.
Big E is about to have a check-up to see how his recovery is going after he suffered a neck injury when he landed on his head following a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland on an episode of WWE SmackDown in 2022. The New Day member fractured his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae.
“It’s just a complicated fracture. I broke my C1 and C2 in two places, a Jefferson fracture is what it’s called. It just takes a little more time to heal. We just did the one-year scans after WrestleMania, it was a little later because of WrestleMania.
“We need to sit down with the doctors at some point and figure out what the next step is. From my perspective, I feel great, I have no function issues, no pain issues, I’ve been in the gym since two weeks after I broke my neck. I’m feeling great. Obviously, your neck has to be in a certain condition to deal with the rigors of being in the ring on a nightly basis.”
