Category: WWE

Becky Lynch Reportedly Legitimately Injured

RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch is reportedly suffering from a legitimate injury.

Lynch took to Instagram yesterday and announced that she would miss RAW due to Bianca Belair damaging her voice box during the main event of Sunday’s WWE live event in Allentown, which saw Lynch retain her title over Belair and Rhea Ripley. She posted a photo from what appeared to be a hospital room, but did not elaborate.

PWInsider reports that Lynch is legitimately hurt, and is expected to be out of action for around two weeks.

As long as Lynch is back in the expected timeframe, she will be able to make her WrestleMania 38 match with Belair, which takes place during Night One of the big event on Saturday, April 2.

While Lynch stated that she would not be at RAW, she was backstage at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. There is no word yet on if the “fracture” of the voice box is legitimate, or just a storyline excuse for another issue.

There is no word on what led to Lynch’s injury or what the real issue is, but a correspondent at Sunday’s WWE live event in Allentown noted that Lynch seemed fine, but Ripley and Belair did work most of the match.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Looking To End Its Deal With 2K And Has Already Met With EA [Report]

Three days before WWE 2K22’s full launch, the studio behind the game might not be getting another chance at redemption.

Although WWE 2K22‘s full launch isn’t until later this week, the first impressions of the new game will be coming at you thick and fast over the next few days. Not only are reviews for the game gradually going up (you can check out ours below) but those who opted for the Deluxe Edition of the game can fire it up through early access right now.

WWE 2K22 is truly a make-or-break game for the series in every sense of the word. According to Mike Straw, via Fightful Select, WWE signed a six-year deal with 2K in 2016. Providing that contract wasn’t tweaked due to the cancellation of WWE 2K21, that deal will come to an end with the launch of 2K22. Straw also reports that WWE hasn’t been waiting around to find out what fans think of the game before putting feelers out.

Apparently WWE has already had talks with EA as it looks to possibly move on from 2K. EA is arguably the leading studio in the world when it comes to annual sports titles. Responsible for games like FIFA, Madden and UFC, while 2K is firmly in second place with WWE and NBA 2K under its umbrella. That may change at some point very soon though, presumably based on how well WWE 2K22 is received.

Then again, sources who have spoken to Straw suggest the success of 2K22 will need to be massive to keep WWE interested in penning a new deal. “The gaming market is a major selling point for them, and they believe they’ve fallen behind the competition,” one source said when relaying how WWE feels about 2K’s work in recent year. Also, there’s frustration over not being given the same effort and resources as NBA 2K.

As for whether WWE 2K22 really hits different or not, it certainly does, but probably not as much as a lot of fans hoping it will. The new modes are a good foundation for the future, as are a lot of the other elements ushered in by the game such as the control setup. However, if WWE does neglect to re-sign with 2K and shacks up with EA instead, those may be foundations that are never built on.

Source: TheSportster

NXT Champion Bron Breakker Debuts On RAW

NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his RAW debut last night, teaming up with Tommaso Ciampa to take on Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode.

It all went down at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, March 7. Breakker made his debut on the red brand alongside his NXT colleague and mentor Tommaso Ciampa during a backstage interview with Kevin Patrick. The importance of the moment was not lost on the second generation Superstar, who acknowledged that it was a dream come true.

Later on, Ciampa and Breakker joined forces to take on Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, with whom they have been feuding since Dolph Ziggler gatecrashed NXT 2.0 several weeks back. The NXT Superstars defeated the main roster tag team in a little under 10 minutes, with Breakker picking up the win for his team by pinning Ziggler clean.

On the next edition of NXT 2.0, Breakker will defend his gold against Ziggler and Ciampa in a Triple Threat Match.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1501025882718281735

Breakker (real name Bronson Rechsteiner) signed with WWE in February 2021. The 6ft, 230 lb athlete is a former NFL player who was waived by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 has now made a name for himself in sports entertainment. The 24-year-old comes from wrestling royalty, so his success in WWE was almost an inevitability. As The Steiner Brothers, his father (Rick Steiner) and uncle (Scott Steiner) were one of the most formidable tag teams of the 80s and 90s and won titles with NWA, IWGP, WCW, and WWE.

WWE RAW Preview 3/7/22

Tonight’s WWE RAW will air live from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Vader Announced For The WWE Hall Of Fame

Big Van Vader (Leon Allen White) is finally going into the WWE Hall of Fame.

WWE announced today that Vader will be posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 during WrestleMania 38 Weekend.

 The former World Heavyweight Champion passed away on June 18, 2018 at the age of 63.

WWE previously announced The Undertaker as the headliner for the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Class. He will be inducted by WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.

The 2022 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday, April 1 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX. The event will air live on Peacock and the WWE Network, after the WrestleMania 38 go-home edition of SmackDown goes off the air that night.

WWE NXT Level Up Preview 3/4/22

WWE NXT Level Up will air tonight at 10pm ET on Peacock and the WWE Network. The episode was taped earlier this week at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

WWE SmackDown Preview 3/4/22, Pat McAfee – WrestleMania 38

The Road to WrestleMania 38 continues tonight as WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live from the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida.

It’s believed that there may be some sort of follow-up to Pat McAfee’s interview with WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon on tonight’s show, but nothing is official. McAfee vs. McMahon in some form is still rumored for WrestleMania 38, and while McAfee agreed to wrestle on The Grandest Stage of Them All during the interview, Vince said they would find him a worthy opponent.

Talks Between Cody Rhodes & WWE Have Reportedly “Fizzled Out”

Cody and Brandi Rhodes parted ways with AEW two weeks ago. There was speculation that Cody would return to WWE, but it may not happen after all.

Wrestling fans wanting to see Cody Rhodes return to WWE better not get their hopes up too high.

Two weeks ago, Cody and Brandi Rhodes parted ways with AEW. Aside from wrestling, Cody served as an Executive Vice President in AEW, and Brandi was the company’s Chief Brand Officer. Multiple reports later suggested that Cody would eventually return to WWE, but that may not be the case after all.

According to a report from Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net, there were indeed contract discussions between The American Nightmare and WWE. However, Haynes was told that the “conversations have since fizzled out.”

Sources also informed Haynes that the departures of Cody and Brandi was “real life” and “not a work.” One source told Haynes that there is some “hope” about Cody potentially returning to AEW.

On this week’s episode of Dynamite, AEW President and CEO Tony Khan announced that he purchased Ring of Honor. Naturally, this has led to speculation that Cody could end up returning to AEW in some capacity. The 36-year-old wrestler worked in Ring of Honor following his departure from WWE in 2016, winning the ROH World Championship on one occasion.

AEW has signed a plethora of former WWE superstars since their inception in 2019. Having Vince McMahon bring Cody back following the latter’s AEW departure would have made for an interesting story, but that’s now up in the air.

It should be noted that Cody’s AEW departure did not include a non-compete clause of any kind, so he’s free to sign with another promotion at any time.

Even if talks between Cody and WWE haven’t led to a contract agreement, it doesn’t mean he won’t eventually return to the company. Cody may feel inclined to explore all of his options before committing to another promotion. He was often underused by WWE in his final years with the company, so it’s understandable if he’s hesitant about returning. For now, he remains one of the top free agents on the wrestling market, and Cody will be a valuable addition to the company that lands him.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Has Terminated Its Russian TV Deal, WWE Network Also No Longer Available

WWE programming is no longer available in Russia in any form.

Last week, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine that has been raging on since as Vladimir Putin attempts to take control of the neighboring country’s major cities, causing unfathomable damage and killing and injuring countless civilians in the process. As the attacks continue, the rest of the world attempts to show support and solidarity with Ukraine in whatever way they can, and that now extends to WWE.

WWE issued a statement today revealing WWE programming is no longer available in Russia. WWE had a TV deal with Russian network Match which aired its weekly shows, including Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. That partnership has been dissolved effective immediately. People living in Russia can also no longer access the WWE Network, again, a change that has taken effect as of right now.

The statement issued by WWE is a short one that doesn’t actually make any mention of the conflict in Ukraine, nor does it outline the reason for canceling all of its televisual connections with Russia. “The move eliminates access in Russia to any WWE programming,” the statement reads, highlighting some of the content no longer available in the country as well as pointing out that Russian Network subscribers will no longer be able to watch WrestleMania 38.

Although the statement doesn’t clarify why WWE has made the move, doing so is an incredibly big deal. As Vince McMahon has proved countless times in the past, nothing motivates him more than money. Canceling a TV deal will undoubtedly take money directly out of McMahon’s pocket, as will revoking access to the WWE Network for an entire country’s worth of subscribers.

The move is actually a little surprising, even if other companies have been making similar moves to show their support for Ukraine. WWE has an ongoing relationship with Saudi Arabia and while the Middle Eastern nation isn’t currently engaged in an invasion that may well trigger World War 3, the partnership is a controversial one. That WWE is willing to show its support for Ukraine and take a financial blow in order to do that is a refreshing change.

Source: TheSportster

Backstage Notes On Randy Orton And What Happened With The Injury Scare On RAW

Randy Orton and Riddle were originally scheduled to defeat The Street Profits on last night’s WWE RAW.

As noted, RAW saw Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins defeat Randy Orton and Riddle after Ford performed a Frogsplash on Orton, leading to an awkward finish and a post-match conversation between the two teams and the referee. Orton was seen clutching his right shoulder on the way to the backstage area.

In an update, Orton and Riddle were originally scheduled to win the bout after a series of RKOs to The Profits, according to Fightful Select. Orton took the rough splash from Ford and because of his condition, the planned finish did not happen.

 Ford made a post-RAW tweet and indicated that Orton was OK, despite the injury concern. WWE officials planned on monitoring the situation as a lot could change with Orton’s condition overnight, but word now is that this was a case of Orton getting the wind knocked out of him, his ribs crushed, and not being able to move at first.

There is no backstage heat on Ford for the spot as it was considered to be a “s–t happens” situation.

Next week’s RAW is scheduled to feature RK-Bro vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens vs. RAW Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy, with the titles on the line.

Source: Wrestling Inc.