WWE Announces Groundbreaking NIL Program

WWE has announced a new NIL program that will provide a pathway for athletes to go from college to WWE.

RAW Superstar and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson was signed to WWE’s first NCAA NIL (name, image, likeness) deal back in September, shortly after the NCAA began allowing athletes to make money from their own name, images and likeness.

Now WWE has announced their own NIL (Next In Line – name, image, likeness) program to enhance the talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes.

WWE’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Paul “Triple H” Levesque noted in today’s press release that the WWE NIL program has the potential to change the business.

“The WWE NIL program has the potential to be transformational to our business,” he said. “By creating partnerships with elite athletes at all levels across a wide variety of college sports, we will dramatically expand our pool of talent and create a system that readies NCAA competitors for WWE once their collegiate careers come to a close.”

The first class of NIL partnerships will be revealed in the coming weeks.

All athlete partnerships will have access to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, along with other resources such as brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing, and community relations. Some athletes will be offered a WWE contract after completing the program.

Stay tuned for more on the WWE NIL program. Below is the full press release issued to us today:

WWE® LAUNCHES NIL PROGRAM: NEXT IN LINE™

New Program to Provide Clear Pathway from Collegiate Athletics to WWE

STAMFORD, Conn., December 2, 2021 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced the launch of a groundbreaking NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) program that will provide a clear pathway from collegiate athletics to WWE.

Following a historic new policy by the NCAA effective July 1, 2021, which ushered in the NIL era allowing college athletes the ability to monetize their name, image and likeness, WWE has constructed a comprehensive program to recruit and develop potential future Superstars. Dubbed “Next In Line™,” the NIL program aims to enhance the talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds.

“The WWE NIL program has the potential to be transformational to our business,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy and Development. “By creating partnerships with elite athletes at all levels across a wide variety of college sports, we will dramatically expand our pool of talent and create a system that readies NCAA competitors for WWE once their collegiate careers come to a close.”

All athlete partnerships will feature access to the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., in addition to resources across the organization including brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the NIL program, select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to be offered a WWE contract.

In September, WWE announced its first NIL deal with heavyweight freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson who captured a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The agreement allowed Steveson to return to the University of Minnesota for his senior season where he is defending his NCAA National Championship while beginning his Superstar training with WWE.

WWE will unveil the first class of NIL partnerships in the coming weeks.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Shares Photos Of Cody Rhodes’ Back After Flaming Table Spot

The American Nightmare took more of the terrifying bump than he intended.

Cody Rhodes and Andrade El Idolo attempted to settle their differences once and for all on Dynamite this week. The two competed in what wound up being a pretty brutal Atlanta Street Fight in Wednesday night’s main event. The match included Rhodes being whacked over the head with a laptop, and even an appearance from rapper T-Pain.

The match also included the on-screen return of Brandi Rhodes. Brandi popped up wearing a hoodie and a mask, pulling the latter down to reveal her face before dousing a table in kerosene and setting it alight. Cody was already preparing to put El Idolo through the table as the two of them were precariously perched atop the turnbuckle.

Cody proceeded to go ahead with his plan, hoping to further hurt El Idolo now the table was engulfed in flames. While the daredevil manoeuver won Cody the match, he was the one who appeared to take the must damage from the fire and the table. The American Nightmare opted for a reverse DDT through the table which meant it was his own back that took the brunt of the burning bump.

Rhodes took a few seconds to move past the shock of getting burned before gathering himself and going for the cover. Even then, flames were still visible on Cody’s arm and leg as the announcers correctedly yelled that he was still on fire. Photos of Cody’s back have been shared via the AEW Twitter account since the show went off the air, and as you can see for yourself above, it does not look good.

Cody’s back is incredibly red, and while some of that damage will have been done before the flaming table spot, getting burned definitely wouldn’t have helped. There are red marks all over his back and neck and some black material that seems to be stuck to Cody’s back. Possibly burned or even melted parts of the tabletop that will have since been removed from his skin. Painful stuff.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 12/1/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TNT will air live from the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.

* CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty

* Bryan Danielson vs. Alan “5” Angels

* Darby Allin and Sting vs. Billy Gunn and Colten Gunn

* Ruby Soho vs. Kris Statlander in a quarterfinals match for the AEW TBS Title Tournament

* Cody Rhodes vs. Andrade El Idolo in an Atlanta Street Fight

Jeff Jarrett Has Joined The Ownership Group Of A Baseball Franchise

WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett has joined the ownership group for Capital City Baseball’s Springfield Slidders franchise in Springfield, IL. Jarrett was approached with the idea of coming on board as a co-owner and, as we were told, he “jumped at it.” The man who approached Jarrett was Jamie Toole, a long-tenured minor league baseball executive who recently served simultaneously as the General Manager for two other teams.

Jeff Jarrett’s role with the team will see him bring more entertainment to the games. The Slidders play around 30 – 32 games a season which leaves the park empty for more than 300 days a year. Jarrett will be infusing the Slidders’ games with music and other entertainment beforehand, between innings and afterward. It is not expected that Jarrett will have a hand in the day-to-day decisions of the actual team.

On the other 300 some-odd-days a year Jarrett is expected to present circuses, live music, and, of course, pro wrestling at the park. This position was described to us as “right in Jeff’s wheelhouse.”

In a recent The Wrestling Inc. Daily interview, Jarrett discussed the opportunity so many released WWE and ROH talent creates at the moment.

“I think there’s much more of an opportunity, an exponential more of an opportunity,” Jarrett said. “The reason I say that is, 2002, there was a bad taste.

“That is something that me and Conrad have gone in-depth on My World about it. Unless you really lived it and breathed it, like me and my team did at the time, you didn’t understand the backlash that the Attitude Era caused with the decision-makers.”

It should also be noted that the entire presentation of the team is expected to see an overhaul. That includes renaming of the team from the Springfield Slidders to something else.

A live stream of the launch press conference is expected for this afternoon and will be available via the My World Facebook page.

The Sliders play in the Prospect League, a wooden-bat, summer league of college baseball players who play for different schools and regions of the country but are united as a team by their love of baseball. For those just learning about the Sliders, a wooden-bat league allows players to use the bats similar to those used in the major leagues. Normally metal bats are used by college, high school and youth baseball because they rarely break. But they also strike baseballs far differently than wooden models. Major-league scouts welcome the opportunity to see how players handle wooden bats.

Click here for more information on the Sliders and the Prospect League.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 11/29/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will air live from the UBS Arena at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

Nia Jax Gives Major Update On Her Pro Wrestling Future

Nia Jax has taken to social media to claim that it is “highly unlikely” she will ever wrestle again. The former WWE Superstar was released from the company on November 4 alongside 17 other talents.

The revelation came up after Nia had shared a link that some fans thought hinted at a new name. The link was previously to a fan-made website, NiaJax.com. However, that had been changed to LinaDanene.com, which some felt would be her new name.

Nia Jax took to Twitter to clarify this situation. In her post, she made it clear that a return to the ring isn’t on her mind right now.

Nia wrote:

“Lol! Newsflash…Lina is my real name. It’s not another “ring” name. It’s just MY NAME, the name given to me at birth. Calm TF down trolls. In all fairness, “Opponent Crippler” would be a SOLID front runner if I ever decide to wrestle again. but it’s highly unlikely”

If Nia Jax doesn’t step back into the ring, then her final ever match was against Shayna Baszler on the 9/20/21 episode of Raw. During her career, she was able to hold the Raw Women’s Championship and the Women’s Tag Team Titles with Baszler.

https://twitter.com/LinaFanene/status/1465333443726880776

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 11/26/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage: Black Friday episode will air on TNT from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

* Black Friday Deal Match: AEW Women’s World Champion Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Riho (If Riho wins, she’ll receive a future title shot.)

* Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta vs. Adam Cole & Bobby Fish

* Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia

WWE SmackDown Preview 11/26/21

The post-Survivor Series edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live tonight from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.

WWE previously teased SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Toni Storm for tonight’s show, but that match is not currently listed in the official preview.

AEW’s Jim Ross Set To Miss Several Dynamite Broadcasts Due To Skin Cancer Treatment

Legendary AEW broadcaster Jim Ross has confirmed that he will miss around a month of work while he undergoes radiation therapy for skin cancer.

Jim Ross has confirmed that he will be absent from AEW programming until December 29 while he undergoes radiation therapy.

JR was recently diagnosed with skin cancer after discovering a strange growth on his leg. On a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, the legendary pro-wrestling announcer opened up about the treatment plan of action and revealed that he would be undergoing 22 rounds of radiation therapy.

Ross took to Twitter on Thursday, November 25 to announce his (hopefully) brief leave of absence.

“Due to my skin cancer care totaling 22 radiation treatments starting Monday, I will hopefully return to the announce desk on December 29 in Jacksonville,” Tweeted Ross.

Later, AEW president Tony Khan shared a message of support to his lead announcer.

“JR, everyone here at [AEW] wishes you the best. I think it’s a great gameplan you’ve got, we look forward to your return to commentary, hopefully in your new hometown Jacksonville FL [Daily’s Place] at New Year’s Smash at the end of December!” Khan tweeted. “We want you to kick the cancer’s ass, JR!”

Source: TheSportster