Johnny Gargano Out Of Action With Shoulder Injury

Johnny Gargano is out with an injury.

The self-proclaimed “Johnny Wrestling” took to Twitter to announce that he suffered a shoulder sprain during a recent WWE live event in Toronto, Canada.

On Monday night’s episode of RAW, the commentary team announced that Gargano is out with a Grade 2 AC sprain. Gargano wrote,

“I injured my shoulder at a live event in Toronto (ironic?), and the medical team is going to protect me from myself for a bit.. but you better believe I’m going to do EVERYTHING I can to get back in that ring so I can be that guy you all know I can be. Just let me in that Rumble!”

https://twitter.com/JohnnyGargano/status/1612632529772724227

Source: ewrestlingnews

WWE Plans To Sell The Company Before Starting New Television Deal Negotiations

On Friday morning, WWE confirmed that Vince McMahon, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios were back on WWE’s Board of Directors.

McMahon made it clear that he would not approve any media rights deals or a sale of the company without him on the Board of Directors. WWE has hired JPMorgan to lead potential sale talks. 

During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the company plans to sell before they get into new television deal talks. 

WWE’s TV deals with NBC Universal and FOX expire in September 2024, with talks about a new deal starting later this year. 

Source: ewrestlingnews

WWE RAW Preview 1/9/2023

Tonight’s WWE RAW at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, AL on the USA Network at 8/7C.

AEW Dark: Elevation Preview 1/9/2023

The latest episode of AEW’s latest weekly show, Dark: Elevation, is slated to air tonight at 7pm ET via the official AEW YouTube channel. 

* ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Josh Woods
* Bandido vs. Christopher Daniels
* Athena vs. Viva Van
* Spanish Announce Project vs. Best Friends & Danhausen
* The Bollywood Boyz vs. The Kingdom
* Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose vs. Amira & Danika Della Rouge
* Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl
* Ari Daivari, Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth vs. The House of Black
* Brian Cage vs. Schaff
* Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Vinny Pacifico
* Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy in action

WrestleMania 39 Breaks All-Time WrestleMania Gate Record

WWE issued the following: 

WWE today announced that WrestleMania Goes Hollywood (WrestleMania 39), which will originate from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles across two nights, broke the company’s all-time gate record for any WrestleMania, despite having yet to announce a single match. The previous record announced was $17.3 million in 2016 at WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The record gate comes on the heels of unprecedented ticket sales demand for WWE in 2022, in which it produced the highest-grossing gates of all time for Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and WWE Extreme Rules. WWE Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales, which marked WWE’s first major stadium show in the U.K. in 30 years, was the highest-grossing U.K. event in company history.

Additionally, WWE set in-market gate records for SmackDown and Raw events in more than 20 markets for the year, including the Dec. 30 SmackDown, which took place in Tampa, Fla., and heralded the return of  John Cena.

WrestleMania 39 streams live on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else.

Full Card Announced For The Great Muta’s Final Bye-Bye Event

The full card for The Great Muta’s Final Bye-Bye event presented by the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH has been announced.

Muta will wrestle in a six-man tag match and team up with AEW stars Sting & Darby Allin.

The event will take at the Yokohama Arena on Sunday, January 22, and air live on Abema TV. This will be Keiji Mutoh’s final match as The Great Muta. However, this is not going to be his final match as a pro wrestler. Mutoh’s actual final match will emanate from the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday, February 21.

-The Great Muta, Sting, and Darby Allin vs. Hakushi, AKIRA, and Naomichi Marufuji

-Kaito Kiyomiya, Hijo de Doctor Wagner Jr., Takashi Sugiura, and Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakamjima, Masakatsu Funaki, and Manabu Soya

-AMAKUSA, Ultimo Dragon, and Ninja Mack vs. YO-HEY, Kzy, and Dante Leon

-GHC Martial Arts Rules match: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Hideki Suzuki

-Jake Lee, Jack Morris, and Anthony Greene vs. Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, and Yoshiki Inamura

-Yoshinari Ogawa, Eita, and NOSAWA Rongai vs. Junta Miyawaki, Alejandro, and Yasutaka Yano

-Timothy Thatcher vs. Masaaki Mochizuki

-Jungle Kyona and Saori Anno vs. Sumire Natsume and Maya Yukihi

-Atsushi Kotogi and Seiki Yoshioka vs. Hajime Ohara and Hi69

Some People In WWE ‘Want Out’ If Vince McMahon Is Back

The news about Vince McMahon’s return is a huge story for the wrestling business and it’s anyone’s guess what this means for WWE’s future. What is known for sure is that there’s a lot of people in the company who are shocked at the recent events.

PWInsider reported today that his return “pretty much shocked everyone we have spoken with.” The feeling is that other than people in his inner circle, this took most people in the company by surprise and there are a lot of people wondering what is next.

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The morale in the company is said to have been much better since McMahon stepped down last July. PWInsider added that they heard from some who said that “they want out” if McMahon returns. Well, he is back so we’ll see what happens but one has to wonder if some people will be let go as Triple H has brought back a lot of names that were let go when Vince was in charge.

Mike Johnson at PWInsider wrote, “Vince is exercising ultimate control. Everyone in WWE is still processing that he did.”

An “all hands on deck” company meeting is scheduled for 3 pm eastern today so we may know more about Vince’s plans by then.

Source: WrestlingNews.co

AEW Rampage and Battle of the Belts Preview 1/6/2023

Tonight’s first AEW Rampage of 2023 will air live on TNT ay 10/9C, and emanate from the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. Immediately following Rampage will be a special live Battle of the Belts V, from the same venue, airing on TNT.

Rampage:

  • Top Flight vs. Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson
  • AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter & Britt Baker vs. The Renegade Twins
  • Perro Peligroso vs. TBA
  • TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Mike Bennett
  • The House of Black will speak

Battle Of The Belts:

  • AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Kip Sabian
  • AEW TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) Skye Blue
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship (No Holds Barred Match): The Acclaimed (c) Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal

WWE SmackDown Preview 1/6/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX, and emanate from the FedEX Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

WWE Holding Important Employee Meeting Later This Afternoon

As previously reported, Vince McMahon has officially returned to the WWE board of directors, adding George Barrios and Michelle Wilson as well. He announced that he was coming back to oversee media rights negotiations and any potential sale of the company.

PWInsider reports that there will be an employee meeting this afternoon which is being described as ‘all hands on deck’. The meeting happens at 3:30 PM ET.

Source: 411Mania