WWE is rounding out this year’s slate of WWE Hall of Fame inductions and a new report from The Wrestling Observer shines a light on two more names who could possibly be inducted in this year’s ceremony in Philadelphia, PA.
According to The Observer, Lia Maivia, former wrestling promoter and grandmother to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has been confirmed as an inductee in this year’s class. A WWE source confirmed Maivia would join Thunderbolt Patterson, Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, Muhammad Ali and The US Express’s Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham. A list recently circulated with all of the mentioned names, as well as Bray Wyatt, but The Observer was unable to confirm Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) as an inductee. Wyatt, the son of inductee Mike Rotunda and nephew of Barry Windham, died suddenly last year at the age of 36.
This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony is the first one put together without the input of longtime WWE figurehead Vince McMahon, who retired in disgrace earlier this year following allegations of sex trafficking. Maivia’s grandson, The Rock, is also said to have a certain amount of say in this year’s ceremony as a result of his new place on the TKO Group Holdings Board of Directors. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is set to take place on April 5 after “WWE SmackDown.”
Mercedes Mone is officially All Elite, and “The CEO” has arrived in AEW.
Mone made her debut to open “AEW Dynamite: Big Business” in Boston, to raucous “CEO” chants from her hometown crowd. Mone thanked the crowd for having her back for the past two years and giving her the courage and strength to be there. She said she will be creating “so many moments” with the fans because every single fan is the reason she is now in AEW.
“If you only knew how much tonight means to me… how much wrestling means to me,” Mone said. She also shouted out her childhood hero, Eddie Guerrero. She said he always gave her hope that she too could wrestle one day. She looked to the heavens in the middle of the ring and thanked him. Mone also mentioned leading a women’s evolution, and that her dreams made her become the first-ever woman to main event a pay-per-view, in the same building “Dynamite” was being held in, TD Garden.
Mone said she has been watching “Dynamite” week after week, and she can’t wait to tear it up with every woman in the locker room. Mone specifically called out Willow Nightingale, as the crowd booed, and said they have unfinished business. Mone suffered a serious ankle injury while facing Nightingale during the finals of the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship tournament. The match’s finish reportedly had to be changed on the fly, with Nightingale becoming the first ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion. It had been rumored for weeks that Mone would make her debut, and the rumors were fueled by AEW President Tony Khan branding the show “Big Business.” Mone reportedly has been signed to the company since the beginning of 2024.
Capping the “Big Business” episode of “AEW Dynamite,” Willow Nightingale fought off a game Riho in the main event before the lights went out and she was confronted by House of Black’s Julia Hart and attacked from behind by Skye Blue. With the crowd chanting “CEO,” the newest addition to AEW’s roster, Mercedes Mone, emerged from the back to make the save, dropping Blue on the ramp and delivering a boot to the face to Hart before taking her down with the Mone Maker.
Mone’s involvement after the main event means she bookended the show, after kicking things off in spectacular fashion, featuring a new song and an updated look, while sending the crowd into a frenzy. Her debut was long-rumored, and heavily implied since the announcement of “Big Business,” but that took away nothing from the crowd’s enjoyment, and they bought right in, imploring her to make the save for Nightingale, and rejoicing once again when she came back out, wardrobe change and all, ready to take care of business, fittingly.
Nightingale, who finished Riho after a Doctor Bomb, was Mone’s last opponent, besting her at New Japan Pro-Wrestling STRONG Resurgence back in May of 2023 to capture the vacant NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. In that match, Mone suffered an ankle injury that she later revealed was feared to be career-threatening for a time. The former Sasha Banks was reportedly set to win the title that night, with her injury forcing the outcome to be changed on the fly.
PWInsider reports that Jerry Lawler announced that he will miss The Big Event convention in New York as he is set to be at WWE SmackDown this Friday in his hometown of Memphis. He will appear at the taping but it’s unknown if he will be on camera.
Lawler said he was unable to get a flight after SmackDown to get him to NYC before the convention, so he had to back out.
The episode is expected to feature the debut of Mercedes Mone. He said,
“I promise I will not disappoint the fans tonight. There has been an influx of huge names, and tonight is the biggest show yet. When we launched AEW, it was the first time in many years that so many resources and such a strong roster of wrestlers have come together to form a new challenger promotion. After five years, AEW is now stronger than ever before. Our roster continues to get deeper and better. This has become a popular destination that top stars seek out. This is the perfect time to continue expanding and growing. That is what tonight is all about. AEW Big Business. With such a strong group of wrestlers in AEW today, we’ve come so far from the beginning of 2019. Now we have what I believe is the best roster in pro wrestling today. There are still so many great stars out there we are always looking to add and strengthen the group. I think we will continue to try to strengthen whenever we can add someone’s skills to make AEW better. I think that constant innovation and the perpetual strides toward always wanting to get better are a big part of the spirit of AEW. I think tonight’s Big Business show on TBS will showcase that innovation and fighting spirit.”
The latest addition to the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class has been announced, with Thunderbolt Patterson now set to join this year’s inductees.
Patterson was an active wrestler from 1964 to 1994, once holding the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship as well as the NWA National Tag Team Championship alongside Ole Anderson. On top of that, Patterson reportedly made attempts to unionize wrestlers in the 1970s, which he has said caused him to be blackballed from the industry for years.
Throughout his career, Patterson experienced institutional racism in the industry. The performer sued multiple promotions for racial discrimination, which also is alleged to have contributed to his blackballing in the 70s.
In the late 1980s, Patterson became a labor organizer for the Service Employees International Union. Following his wrestling career, he also became a minister and was involved in running a Christian youth camp in Georgia.
The news of Patterson’s induction was first revealed by Andscape with WWE confirming. WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque also offered his comment on the announcement via social media.
“He was a champion in the ring, and championed the health and well-being of his peers outside of it,” wrote Levesque. “Thunderbolt Patterson’s influence is still felt today, and will receive the recognition it deserves when he joins the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024.”
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on April 5, 2024, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to Patterson, the inductees announced for the 2024 Hall of Fame class include boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, and the U.S. Express, with several more likely to come.
AEW’s Miro and CJ Perry are reportedly splitting up after over seven years of marriage.
According to TMZ, the two “broke up once and for all” last winter, despite Miro’s social media posts about visiting Perry in the hospital as she suffered a severe infection that required multiple surgeries and almost cost Perry her arm. TMZ said their relationship was “on-again, off-again” for years, and they simply drifted apart.
TMZ reached out to representatives for Perry, who confirmed the split to the outlet. The former WWE star also provided a brief statement on the matter.
“Miro and I have made the difficult decision to separate after many wonderful years together, and have decided to move on as friends, and hopefully onscreen characters somewhere down the road,” Perry told TMZ.
The couple has yet to officially file for divorce. In the aftermath of their breakup, however, Miro has reportedly moved back to Bulgaria. The AEW star has been absent from the promotion since AEW Worlds End, when Miro defeated Andrade El Idolo and Perry aligned with her husband onscreen. With his extended absence, Miro’s future in AEW is unclear.
There is some hope for closure, as Perry expressed her desire to work together again as friends. However, it’s safe to say that future is very uncertain.
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark
WWE Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender Gauntlet Match: Ricochet vs. JD McDonagh vs. Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed
CM Punk has been announced for the March 25th episode of WWE RAW. WWE issued the following:
CM PUNK RETURNS TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW IN HIS HOMETOWN OF CHICAGO ON MARCH 25
New Seating Sections Released To Meet Demand
STAMFORD, Conn., March 11, 2024 – WWE®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced that CM Punk will make a sensational return to Monday Night Raw at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, March 25.
The sold-out show will now have brand new seating sections opened to meet demand. Fans are invited to visit www.ticketmaster.com from 10.00am CT / 11.00 a.m. ET to purchase the final remaining tickets.
This will mark CM Punk’s first return to Chicago’s Allstate Arena since he shocked the world back in November with a stunning return to WWE at Survivor Series, garnering more than 71 million record-breaking views across social media platforms.
His last appearance on Monday Night Raw on February 5, 2024, saw him reveal an injury sustained at Royal Rumble that would force him to miss WrestleManiaXL. Questions remain around what the self-proclaimed “Best In the World” will have to say when he addresses the WWE Universe in-person on Monday, March 25.
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