WWE has announced that the road to Day 1 for Brock Lesnar and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will heat up tonight as they both appear on the show.
ROH WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Rok-C (c) vs. Willow Nightingale
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (c) vs. The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP Josh Woods (c) vs. Brian Johnson
ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Dalton Castle (c) vs. TBD
ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS Shane Taylor Promotions (Jasper Kaun, Moses Maddox, and O’Shay Edwards) (with Ron Hunt) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch) (with Vita VonStarr)
GRUDGE MATCH ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH Eli Isom, Taylor Rust, and Tracy Williams vs. VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, and Tony Deppen)
ROH World Champion Bandido has tested positive for COVID-19, and will not be able to compete at the “Final Battle: End of an Era” pay-per-view this weekend.
ROH just announced that Bandido tested positive for COVID-19, and has been pulled from Saturday’s main event title defense against Jonathan Gresham. There is no word on who Gresham will face now, or what they will do with the title.
“Unfortunately, ROH World Champion Bandido returned a positive result on his most recent Covid Testing and will not be present at Final Battle this Saturday, December 11th in Baltimore. Thank you for continuously supporting Ring of Honor through it all and we appreciate your understanding that safety and health of our talents, staff and fans are our top priorities. Stay tuned for match updates regarding Final Battle 2021 as we commemorate the history-making era that is coming to an end,” ROH wrote.
Final Battle is scheduled to be the final ROH pay-per-view as the company prepares to go on a major hiatus until April 2022. The plan is to “re-imagine” the company in hopes of returning with a “fan-focused product” moving forward. Bandido has held the ROH World Title since defeating Rush at Best In The World 2021 this past July.
Bandido competed in Mexico at AAA TripleMania Regia II this past Saturday, in the Fatal 5 Way for the vacant AAA Mega Title. That match was won by new champion El Hijo Del Vikingo, but also also featured Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish and Samuray Del Sol.
Jeff Hardy is reportedly locked into a WWE non-compete clause until March 2022.
As noted, it was revealed on Thursday that Hardy was released from his WWE contract. The company reportedly offered him help and rehab, but he turned them down, and was then released. Hardy’s departure came after the incident at last Saturday’s WWE live event in Edinburg, TX. Hardy was sent home after the Edinburg show, and replaced by Rey Mysterio the next night in Corpus Christi.
In an update, WWE officials reportedly offered rehab to Hardy following the incident in Edinburg, but he refused. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds that Hardy was fully aware that if he refused the help, then WWE would have to take action.
The decision was then to let Hardy go instead of suspend him. He was given a 90-day non-compete period where he will be paid through Wednesday, March 9. At that point Hardy will become a free agent, and able to work with whoever he wants.
It remains to be seen if AEW or Impact Wrestling will be interested in signing Hardy due to the nature of his WWE release and the fact that he refused to accept treatment.
Hardy still has not commented on his WWE release, but his wife Beth Hardy issued a statement on Thursday morning, which you can read at this link. You can click here for messages of support from WWE Champion Big E, WWE United States Champion Damian Priest, Bayley, and others.
Johnny Gargano will reportedly become a free agent at midnight on Thursday, December 9 after rejecting WWE’s attempts to re-sign him.
Johnny Gargano has reportedly rejected several contract offers from WWE and is set to officially part ways with the company. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reports that Gargano’s current WWE contract is set to expire at midnight on Thursday, December 9, at which point the former NXT Champion’s WWE tenure will officially come to an end after five years.
Gargano’s deal was initially due to expire on December 3, but he signed a brief extension that allowed him to tie up some loose ends on-screen.
Gargano’s last WWE match was the men’s WarGames match at NXT WarGames on December 5. Johnny Wrestling teamed up with LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and his former DIY partner Tommaso Ciampa to represent the NXT old guard as part of Team Black & Gold in a WarGames match against Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Tony D’Angelo).
Gargano came out to his old “Rebel Heart” theme and was wearing gear that paid homage to some of his previous outfits. He had the adulation of the crowd, and the NXT commentary team appeared to imply that this was his last match in NXT … although they also used the word “if” a lot so it’s possible that Gargano hadn’t actually made a decision by that point.
The following Tuesday on NXT 2.0, Gargano cut an impassioned, emotional promo that felt very much like a farewell speech. Tragically, the NXT stalwart was unable to finish the speech because he was ambushed and brutally beaten down by Aussie upstart Grayson Waller. Waller’s attack on Gargano seemed to cause some confusion regarding whether Gargano was actually bidding NXT farewell, or whether the whole thing was just an angle.
AEW star Chris Jericho is reportedly recovering from a non-Covid related health issue in a UK hospital while on tour with his band Fozzy.
Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy has been forced to pull out of a concert in the UK after the AEW star was admitted to hospital.
A statement from the Fozzy that was shared on social media by the venue at which the band was due to perform claims that Jericho is currently recovering from a treatable health issue. As a result, the Fozzy concert at Sin City in the Welsh city of Swansea, UK was canceled.
“Chris was checked into Hospital by doctors, with a non Covid related, treatable health issue. Regrettably the show on Friday in Swansea is cancelled and all tickets will be refunded. Will have updates on Saturdays show in Nottingham and Sunday’s show in London as soon as possible”.
In the same post, the venue’s representatives wished Jericho and speedy recovery.
The sold-out UK leg of Fozzy’s “Save The World” world tour kicked off n Liverpool on November 29. Since then the band has played seven shows in the UK and one in Ireland. With the cancellation of the Swansea gig, Fozzy has two remaining UK dates; one in Nottingham on December 11, and one in London on December 12. Whether Jericho recovers in time to make those shows remains to be seen, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Jericho has been absent from AEW programming since he was attacked backstage by Daniel Garcia and 2point0 on the December 1 edition of AEW Dynamite. The former AEW Champion’s last match went down at Full Gear on November 13 The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Santana) defeated the American Top Team (Andrei Arlovski, Dan Lambert & Junior Dos Santos) & Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) in a Ten Man Tag Team Minneapolis Street Fight.
Chris Jericho says he is feeling good despite being hospitalized in the UK earlier this week.
Jericho spoke with the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and said the issue that caused his hospitalization was not serious.
“I’m feeling good. They just wanted to observe me overnight and I’m in the right place. Not COVID related,” Jericho said.
It was announced two days ago that Fozzy’s 12-date “Save The World” tour of the UK was 100% sold out at every stop. Jericho noted to The Observer how the tour has been.
“Tour has been amazing. 100 percent sold out and crowds have been absolutely nuts,” he said.
As of this writing, there is still no word on the last two dates of the Fozzy tour. The band had just performed in Bournemouth, England on Wednesday night, and after tonight’s nixed show in Swansea, were scheduled to wrap the tour on Saturday with a sold out show in Nottingham, and on Sunday with a sold out show in London. The original message from Thursday noted that they would have updates on the last two shows as soon as possible.
Jericho did not appear on AEW Dynamite this week due to the Fozzy tour. He last appeared during the December 1 Dynamite episode, and was attacked backstage by 2point0 and Daniel Garcia as a way to write him off TV for the tour. Jericho has not wrestled since The Inner Circle defeated Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky and American Top Team in the 10-man Street Fight at AEW Full Gear on November 13.
AEW seemingly hinted at Bray Wyatt’s upcoming arrival during the 12-man Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal.
Something strange happened during the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal on last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite that has led to speculation about the potential arrival of another former WWE star.
The lights flickered during the 12-man Battle Royal match. A blue light covered the ring, and that was followed by a red light. Naturally, some are wondering if AEW was hinting at the upcoming debut of (Windham) Bray Wyatt.
Red lights were a signature feature of Wyatt’s entrance for his “Fiend” gimmick. He even wrestled a handful of matches with the red lights filling up the arena.
MJF and Dante Martin emerged as the co-winners of the Dynamite Diamond Battle. Those two stars will now face off at next Wednesday’s Winter Is Coming special to determine the winner of the Dynamite Diamond Ring. And Winter Is Coming just might feature the arrival of Wyatt, who was released from his WWE contract back on July 31.
Wyatt’s 90-day non-compete clause expired back on Oct. 29, so he’s been free to sign with another promotion for a while now. AEW President and CEO Tony Khan has expressed interest in talking to Wyatt, who’s working on a movie with close friend Jason Baker.
His release comes after the wrestler was sent home from a live event at the weekend.
WWE has been having something of a spring clean when it comes to its contracts in 2021. The thing is, the company’s spring clean season has lasted pretty much the entire year. More than 70 wrestlers have been shown the door already this year, and it seems one more name can now be added to that list.
As first reported by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, WWE has apparently come to terms on the release of Jeff Hardy. Sapp followed up on the tweet breaking the news with another saying Hardy was offered help and rehab by WWE, but the former World Champion turned down the offer. That resulted in the two parties seemingly agreeing to end his current deal with the company.
Hardy’s release comes less than a week after the veteran was sent home from a WWE live event over the weekend. Footage of Hardy leaving the ring mid-match during Saturday’s main event in Edinburg, Texas has surfaced online. The released star exits through the crowd and was replaced by Rey Mysterio in the main event the following night in Corpus Christi.
I've heard WWE offered Jeff Hardy help and rehab, and it was not accepted. Here's to hoping things get better for him.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) December 9, 2021
No further information on why Hardy was sent home or how he’s doing was shared by WWE or the wrestler after he was sent home. However, Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy, who is currently contracted to AEW, let fans know earlier this week that Jeff is doing well. Matt added that he didn’t want to share anything more, saying that it was up to Jeff if he wanted fans to know anything else about how he was doing or the details surrounding why he was sent home by WWE.
The hope among fans was that Jeff had suffered an injury or a knock of some sort and WWE had sent him home so that he could rest up and recover. The note that Jeff was offered help and rehab by WWE but turned it down suggests the actual reason was the wrestler’s demons when it comes to his addiction continue to haunt him. Even though he turned down help from WWE, hopefully he will seek it out away from the company and has left so he can recover for good this time. Our best wishes go out to Jeff and his family.
WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan has revealed he is now cancer-free following prostate surgery.
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan has announced that he is cancer-free after undergoing surgery as a result of prostate cancer. The WWE legend, who talked up early detection, said the cancer had not spread throughout other parts of his body in a video tweeted out on Wednesday.
“The cancer was encapsulated inside my prostate,” he said. “They checked my bones, that came out clear. The surrounding tissue came out clear, the lymph nodes came out clear – so thank God I’m cancer-free.”
Duggan announced back in October that he was set for surgery following his diagnosis. His wife would subsequently reveal that the operation went as planned.
In his short video on Wednesday, Duggan also disclosed having battled kidney cancer 20 years ago. He was also hospitalized three years ago after experiencing chest pains that prompted a diagnosis noting his heart had gone into atrial fibrillation. The former WWE and WCW superstar was rushed to hospital for emergency heart surgery this October as well.
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