Category: WWE

Jeff Hardy Is Officially A Free Agent

Jeff Hardy officially became a free agent today as his non-compete clause with WWE has expired.

There have been rumors and speculation regarding Jeff joining his brother Matt Hardy in AEW, with his first TV appearance for AEW possibly coming as early as tonight’s episode of Dynamite. Jeff is reportedly scheduled to be at the Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, FL tonight, the site of Dynamite, but it was still being determined if he would actually appear on the show.

“Nothing’s official yet,” Jeff Hardy told the La Crosse Tribune last week. “I’m still legally under a contract with WWE until next Wednesday.”

“Strange thing about that is you know what happens on Wednesday,” He added.

Jeff and his brother Matt Hardy are set to reunite for another run as a tag team that begins Saturday at a Big Time Wrestling event in Webster, MA. The Hardy Boys will face the winners of a tag team match between The SAT and The Briscoes earlier in the night.

WWE released Jeff Hardy in December after he turned down an offer from the company to go to rehab. This came after an incident at the December 4 WWE live event in Edinburg, TX, where Hardy tagged out of a six-man tag team main event and disappeared through the crowd with security following him. He was pulled from the road after that incident and then released. Test results later confirmed that Hardy was not intoxicated or under the influence of drugs during the incident at the live event.

Matt Hardy was on the losing end of a six-man Tornado Tag Team Match at AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday, taking the pin from Darby Allin.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage Update On Cody Rhodes’ Contract Talks With WWE

WWE has reportedly been pushing to sign former AEW wrestler and EVP Cody Rhodes. Here is the latest.

The wrestling world continues to await the announcement of Cody Rhodes’ next professional wrestling chapter, but nothing appears to be imminent.

Last month, Cody and Brandi Rhodes parted ways with AEW after failing to reach agreements on new deals. Cody was an Executive Vice President in AEW, and Brandi worked as the company’s Chief Brand Officer. Both were instrumental in building up AEW as a major promotion, so their departures were massively unexpected

Many assumed that Cody would quickly strike a deal with WWE and return to the place where his pro wrestling career started. But fast forward three weeks after his AEW departure, and The American Nightmare remains a free agent.

In an update on the F4WOnline.com message board (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Dave Meltzer wrote that contract talks between Cody and AEW “hit a snag.” Meltzer reported that the 36-year-old wrestler “has multiple offers”, and that WWE would like him to make his decision “soon.”

Meltzer added that the “ball is in” Cody’s court. It should be noted that Cody isn’t under a non-compete clause of any kind, so he’s free to sign with another promotion whenever. WWE has done their part in trying to bring Rhodes aboard, and now the second-generation wrestler has to decide if he wants to sign on for a second tenure with the company.

It was previously reported that Cody was on WWE’s WrestleMania 38 internal documents, but that apparently is no longer the case. If WWE wants Cody to return before or at WrestleMania weekend on Apr. 2-3, the clock is ticking on that front.

WWE has had three weeks now to reach a deal with Cody Rhodes. Vince McMahon certainly isn’t one to go back-and-forth over a lengthy period with a specific wrestler when it comes to contract talks. WWE has made it clear how much they’d like Cody to come aboard. It’s now a simple waiting game as they await his decision.

Source: TheSportster

WWE NXT Roadblock Preview 3/8/22

The special WWE NXT Roadblock episode will air live tonight on the USA Network as the road to Stand & Deliver continues.

It’s also believed that the 2022 Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will continue on tonight’s show.

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals (Unconfirmed)
Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray vs. Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals (Unconfirmed)
Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai vs. Cora Jade and Raquel Gonzalez

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.