Update On Brandi Rhodes’ Wrestling Career

Brandi Rhodes recently wrestled a match at the WWE Performance Center during a live event, but it doesn’t appear the former AEW Chief Brand Officer is a WWE Superstar quite yet.

Fightful Select is reporting that Brandi Rhodes is still a free agent. While Brandi has wrestled at the Performance Center and her husband is under contract, Rhodes has yet to reach a deal with WWE. Rhodes has reportedly been in contact with Warner Bros Discovery earlier this month. No context has been provided for the conversation, but it is noted that Brandi and WBD aren’t in regular contact, though both parties have maintained a cordial relationship. News broke earlier this month that WBD had reached out to Brandi’s husband Cody Rhodes to try and retain him before Cody’s exit from All Elite Wrestling.

Besides her wrestling life, Brandi Rhodes is also a board member of Kulture City and had been hopeful of integrating the non-profit into her work with WWE. AEW and Kulture City have maintained a good relationship despite Brandi & Cody’s departure from the wrestling promotion.

Rhodes hasn’t only been wrestling in the Performance Center, as reports suggest she’s also been active in the ring at the Nightmare Factory training facility, telling Muscle & Fitness Magazine that she wasn’t training in the ring “for the hell of it,” and is staying in shape for whenever her in-ring return might be. Brandi’s last official match was a win over KiLynn King on a January episode of “AEW Dark: Elevation.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 10/3/2022

Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place live from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota at 8/7c on USA Network.

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat Returning To The Ring

WWE Hall of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will team NJPW, AAA and ROH tag team champions FTR at Big Time’s Wrestling’s “Return of the Dragon” event, which will take place at the Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, Carolina on Sunday, November 27.

Steamboat and FTR will square off against Jay Lethal (as Black Machismo), Brock Anderson and a mystery partner with Arn Anderson as the team’s manager. The 69-year-old last wrestled alongside his son, Richie at a June 2010 FCW show against Trent Beretta & Caylen Croft.

https://twitter.com/BTWwrestling/status/1576544060264751104

Steamboat has made recent appearances for MLW and the NWA. He also served as the special guest timekeeper for the House of Dragon themed August 17 episode of AEW Dynamite.

The Briscoes vs. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express has also been announced for the event.

Source: WrestleView

Dark Side of the Ring Co-Creator Confirms Show Will Continue

The arrival of VICE TV’s Tales From The Territories hasn’t killed Dark Side of the Ring, as Evan Husney says the latter show will continue. Husney, who is the co-creator of Dark Side of the Ring, recently appeared on Talk is Jericho to promite Tales From the Territories and confirmed that talks are underway for a fourth season of Dark Side

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Husney said (per Wrestling Inc). “It’s really interesting because when we decided to do Tales From The Territories, like I said, it was in the making since 2019. We finally got the opportunity to do it, and obviously when Vice picked it up it was like, okay, this is gonna occupy that space after season three to really focus on this, to produce it, to get it off the ground, kind of establish what it is, so it can kind of live on its own eventually. We had no intention of stopping doing Dark Side.”

He added of the fourth season, “It’s in talks right now. Everyone’s gonna hear something real soon. We’re just kind of getting that machine going real soon. So, stay tuned, but yeah, definitely not going anywhere for sure. It’s definitely here to stay.”

The third season premiered in May of 2021 and ran through October. Husney co-created the show with Jason Eisener.

Source: 411Mania

Japanese Wrestling Legend Antonio Inoki Has Passed Away At The Age Of 79

One of the most influential and important figures in the history of Japanese professional wrestling has died.

Yahoo! Japan reported Antonio Inoki passed away at his home on Saturday, October 1. A specific cause of death was not reported, but Inoki’s health problems over recent years were well known. In an interview earlier this year, he admitted he had been near death on a number of occasions.

News of Inoki’s passing came nearly 62 years to the day after his pro wrestling debut at the age of 17 on September 30, 1960. Another literal and figurative giant in Japanese wrestling history, Inoki’s future tag team partner Shohei Baba, made his in-ring debut on the same card for the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (later, simply known as the Japan Wrestling Alliance).

Inoki and Baba’s departures from the JWA changed the course of wrestling in Japan forever. In 1972, Inoki founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling, while Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling. Without two of its top stars, the JWA collapsed.

Inoki’s influence spread around the world. In 1976, he squared off against Muhammed Ali in an infamous “wrestler vs. boxer” match. The bout is viewed by many as a prelude to the future popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts.

Inoki’s leadership of NJPW was not without its missteps. His interest in MMA during the early 2000s gave birth to an in-ring philosophy that became known as Inoki-ism. However, the shift to the shoot fighting style nearly doomed NJPW. Inoki sold his stake in NJPW in 2005 and stepped away from the company.

Inoki explored other promotions and ventures following his exit from NJPW. Those included him founding the Inoki Genome Federation

Inoki also found success in the political arena. He served two terms in the House of Councillors. He was first elected in 1989. During that term, he notably traveled to Iraq, where he met with Saddam Hussein and successfully negotiated the release of a group of Japanese hostages.

A failed re-election bid saw Inoki leave office, but he returned after being elected to a new term in 2013. This one was marked by a number of controversial trips to North Korea. Inoki retired from politics in 2019.

Word of Inoki’s death began circulating in North America on Friday night.

News of his passing was announced during Friday night’s live broadcast of “SmackDown,” with Michael Cole conveying the company’s condolences to Inoki’s family, friends, and fans. On Twitter, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared his own tribute.

“One of the most important figures in the history of our business, and a man who embodied the term ‘fighting spirit,'” Levesque wrote. “The legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki will live on forever.”

Inoki defeated Bob Backlund to win the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1979, but the company never officially recognized his reign. Inoki was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

AEW Owner and CEO Tony Khan joined the many on social media paying tribute to Inoki’s memory.

“RIP Antonio Inoki, a pioneer in the pro wrestling industry,” Khan wrote on Twitter Friday night. “Inoki’s influence and his achievements will live on forever in the wrestling world; he’s an inspiration to all of the dreamers. Thank you sir.”

Many of NJPW’s current top stars are in London, England where the company is holding its two-night Royal Quest II event this weekend.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

A New White Rabbit QR Code Airs On SmackDown

The QR codes for the “White Rabbit” continue.

During Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown, a new QR code aired at the end of a Karrion Kross vignette, which teased a rebirth of sorts.

When the QR code was scanned, it led to a WWE.com link that featured a video of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. At one point, the pigs were butchered. Additionally, the Big Bad Wolf was wearing Granny’s clothes. The video ended with a Morse code that translated to “Azazel Reborn.”

For what it’s worth, Azazel is part of Jewish folklore who was associated with the scapegoat rite. He is referenced in Christian and Islamic folklore and is sometimes considered to be a “fallen angel.” Fans of Marvel likely know Azazel as the name of a mutant teleporter from Chuck Austin’s run in the early 2000s.

The WWE.com video also features the White Rabbit in the corner and has the filename of “TS_10E6.” With that being said, episode six of The Simpsons in season 10 has a segment where the town of Springfield gets drugged thanks to Homer. At that point, Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” plays as they all hallucinate. The filename also includes a phone number (8554895099) that if you call, it plays a distorted audio clip. When it’s played in reverse, it says, “Bravo. Echo. Lima. Alpha. India. Romeo. I am the way into the City of Woe. I am the way into the eternal sorrow.” The first six letters are military alphabet for “Belair.”

Interestingly, WWE’s QR code URL was titled wwe.com/1911, which fans immediately connected to an image of Firefly Funhouse Bray in a Mad Hatter hat with the numbers 19/11. You can view the old image here. 

The source code of the WWE.com URL also features the message, “Drink More Ovaltine,” which is in reference to “A Christmas Story” where Ralphie gets a Little Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin and uses it to decode a message that is an advertisement for Ovaltine.

The Wyatt teases didn’t end there. Later on “SmackDown,” a fan standing directly behind announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves held up a sign that read, “Revel in what you are.” Wyatt had tweeted this exact message in 2019 while appreciating Rob Schamberg’s artwork for The Fiend. 

As noted earlier, the big White Rabbit reveal is expected to take place at next Saturday’s Extreme Rules premium live event. 

Sources: Wrestling Inc. and EWrestlingNews with credit to Ryan Satin

WWE Star Robert Roode Apparently Undergoes Medical Procedure

It appears that “WWE Raw” star Robert Roode underwent a medical procedure during a recent visit to Birmingham, Alabama. While Roode’s tag team partner, Dolph Ziggler, has had a presence on “Raw” since returning to the brand following a brief run on “NXT,” Roode hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since June.

It looks like the reason for Roode’s absence could be medical. Roode took to his Instagram account to reveal that he is hopeful after meeting with doctors at Southlake Orthopaedics and Andrews Sports Medicine.

“Heading home after what is hoped to be a successful trip to Birmingham, AL,” Roode wrote. “Big thank you to Southlake Orthopaedics and Andrews Sports Medicine for taking great care of me this week. Especially to the first class medical staff of Dr. Micheal Ellerbusch, Dr. Andrew Cordover, and Dr. Charles Carnel.”

Roode did not specify the reason for his visit. He did share a picture of himself in a hospital gown and also a pair of small bandages on the side of his neck.

Roode has been a part of the WWE roster since 2016. He was pushed as a main eventer on the “NXT” brand and even captured the “NXT” Championship. His status as a headliner didn’t translate to the main roster, but he’s still found success. Roode is a former two-time “Raw” Tag Team Champion, a former “SmackDown” Tag Team Champion, and also a former United States Champion.

Prior to his WWE run, Roode was with Impact Wrestling for over a decade and became a two-time Impact World Champion. Before he became a top singles star in the company, Roode was in a memorable tag team with James Storm. Together, they were known as Beer Money and held the Impact World Tag Team Championship five times.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 9/30/2022

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9c.

  • The Acclaimed (c) vs. Private Party vs. The Butcher & The Blade – AEW World Tag Team Championships
  • Rush vs. John Silver
  • Lee Moriarty vs. Fuego Del Sol
  • Jamie Hayter vs. Willow Nightingale
  • HOOK appearance

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/30/2022

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown comes from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, MB, Canada on FOX at 8/7c.

Major Concern In WWE Over Randy Orton’s Current Injury

WWE is said to be very concerned over Randy Orton’s condition due to the injury that has kept him out of action for months.

Randy Orton has been out with a back injury since May, with his most recent match being RK-Bro’s loss to The Usos in the WWE Tag Title unification match.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it is reported that there is concern over the severity of the injury, despite the months of time off.

WWE has previously announced that Orton is consulting with neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons to determine the extent of the damage to his back.

Despite hope that the former WWE World Champion would be back by now, there is no word on when Randy Orton is scheduled to return to the ring.

This year marks the 20th anniversary or Orton’s debut on WWE’s main roster.

Source: EWrestlingNews