Tag: WWE

Latest WWE Raw QR Code Leads To More Clues, Teases For Presumed Uncle Howdy Stable

The latest in a series of mysterious QR codes on WWE programming led followers down their most complex path to date, with a landing page and 20 images to sift through. The code itself led to wwe.com/121212, which mimicked the look of a basic index page with the slug “/DOOR/” up top and a list of .jpg files, numbered 01-20, each tagged with a unique, six-digit number as well as precise time stamps for each, all purportedly captured yesterday, 5/12/2024, between 12:37:54 and 2:22:42 PM (with no specific time zone indicated).

The series of images contained various visuals and messages, including:

“DO YOU WANT TO MEET THEM?”

“I SET THEM FREE.”

“I REMINDED HIM OF WHO HE WAS. I SHOWED HIM HIS LIES. NOW HE SHOWS ME HIS VISION. IT IS BEAUTIFUL.”

“I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.”

“THEY WERE TRAPPED. I SHOWED THEM HOW TO OPEN THE DOOR.”

“THEY WERE LEFT ALL ALONE. I OPENED THE DOOR. NOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE ANYMORE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?”

“IF YOU ASK WHAT YOU AREN’T SEEING THEN YOU AREN’T LOOKING”

“YOU DON’T SEE IT, DO YOU?”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?”

“I AM ALL OF US.”

“DO YOU SEE? I AM ALREADY FREE.”

“How are you doing? I CRAWLED OUT OF THE CAVE. SO I COULD SET THEM FREE. What challenges are you facing? I’M AFRAID THEY WON’T UNDERSTAND. How do you feel? I FINALLY KNOW MY PURPOSE & SOON EVERYONE WILL SEE.”

A newspaper clipping featuring the story of a woman gone missing, written by WENDY LUCHO (an anagram for Uncle Howdy)

An undecipherable, shadowy image in the dark

Several thumb drives and floppy discs, one of which labeled as “5.16.24 4 PM WITCH”

Notably, the “WWE Raw” announce team acknowledged this week’s glitch, perhaps indicating that a reveal is coming sooner than later. With Howdy’s name hidden this time in plain sight, one would think that could certainly be the case.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 5/13/2024

Tonight’s WWE RAW live on USA Network from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC.

  • King of the Ring quarterfinal: Ilja Draguno vs. Jey Uso
  • King of the Ring quarterfinal: Gunther vs. Kofi Kingston
  • Queen of the Ring quarterfinal: Lyra Valkyria vs. Zoey Stark
  • Queen of the Ring quarterfinal: IYO SKY vs. Shayna Baszler
  • Becky Lynch in action

Report: Becky Lynch’s WWE Contract Weeks Away From Expiration With No New Deal Signed

If WWE is planning to re-sign reigning Women’s World Champion Becky Lynch, they might want to do it soon. A new report from Fightful Select on Saturday claims Lynch has approximately three weeks left on her current deal, and as of this writing, she has not signed a new one.

The news comes less than a month after Lynch won the vacant Women’s World title in a 14-woman battle royal on “WWE Raw” and eight days after it was reported that Lynch’s husband, former World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, signed a lucrative new contract with WWE. Lynch had previously confirmed that her deal was up this summer and that she hadn’t been approached about a new one, but WWE’s new leadership under the auspices of TKO Group Holdings has been getting a lot of last-minute contracts drawn up lately, re-signing Rollins, Finn Balor, and Drew McIntyre over the last few weeks. Fightful reports that talks between Lynch and WWE have been ongoing, but nobody has put pen to paper yet.

Given Lynch’s stature in the company — she’s arguably the most popular female star in WWE history and the winner of the first women’s WrestleMania main event — one would assume WWE will make keeping her under contract a priority in the coming days. It’s also worth noting that Lynch is scheduled to defend her championship against Liv Morgan at King & Queen of the Ring on March 25, days before her deal expires.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Another QR Code Airs On SmackDown

Another QR code aired on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.

During Naomi’s match with Nia Jax, a QR code flashed on the screen that led you to a video that states the following,

“They put us in the cave. Told us behold the glory. We watched in awe. Consumed their lies. We were never the chosen ones. Left in a cave to rot. To be forgotten. But he set us free. Now we understand. We follow the prophecy. The words of the red. Soon you will understand. The tears we shed watered our antipathy and blossomed a garden of revulsion. There is no safe space. Only my family.”

Source: eWn

WWE SmackDown Preview 5/10/2024

Tonight’s WWE Smackdown live on FOX from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

TKO Earnings Report Reveals Who Will Broadcast WWE Raw During Final Quarter Of 2024

For the first time in the show’s history, “WWE Raw” will air exclusively online from the beginning of 2025. WWE struck a deal with streaming giant Netflix at the beginning of 2024 worth $5 billion that will see “WWE Raw” air live each week on the platform from January 2025, with the rest of WWE’s programming following over time. However, there was one lingering question: WWE’s current deal with USA Network expires in October 2024, meaning that there was a possibility “Raw” might not have a home for three months.

Fortunately for WWE, that won’t be the case. In the TKO Earnings Report for the first quarter of 2024, it was revealed that WWE has agreed to a deal worth $25 million with NBCUniversal to continue airing “Raw” on USA Network until the end of 2024. This means that for the fourth quarter of the year, USA Network will have both “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown” on their network, as “SmackDown” is set to join the network when the show’s current deal with Fox expires in October. Analysis by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics suggests the deal represents something of a bargain for USA, as their current “Raw” contract amounts to about $66 million per quarter.

While the United States will only experience “WWE Raw” on Netflix, various other locations across the world will be able to experience virtually everything that WWE produces as places like the United Kingdom, Canada, and Latin America are set to get all of WWE’s weekly programming on Netflix, as well as the company’s Premium Live Events, and potentially the company’s extensive tape library which includes other promotions WWE has bought out like WCW and ECW, though that last has yet to be confirmed by WWE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 5/7/2024

Tonight’s WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network: 

  • WWE NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Chelsea Green
  • Wes Lee vs. Josh Briggs
  • Supernova Sessions with NXT Champion Trick Williams
  • NXT Women’s Combine
  • Karmen Petrovic vs. Shayna Baszler
  • Michin vs. Arianna Grace

Another QR Code Airs On WWE RAW

We saw another QR code air on this week’s episode of WWE RAW.

On this week’s show, a QR code led fans to a new video and puzzle. The video had a crow at the bottom of it that led to a puzzle, which reads:

“YOU KNOW NOTHING
HELL IS ONLY A WORD
REALITY IS MUCH
MUCH WORSE”

Source: eWn

Dave Meltzer Explains Why WWE Finally Cut Gable Steveson

Olympic Gold Medallist Gable Steveson was one of many performers to be released by WWE in April 2024. Steveson signed a contract with WWE in 2021 following his successful run to Olympic Gold at the Tokyo games, and was immediately positioned as a potential successor to someone like Kurt Angle. He appeared at WrestleMania 38, was officially drafted to “WWE Raw,” and even had a brief run in “WWE NXT” in 2023. However, his career in WWE never reached the heights of his freestyle career.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Steveson was released by the company for a very simple reason; he wasn’t that good. “His contract was a very big money contract, and he wasn’t cutting it.” Steveson arrived in WWE already having allegations of sexual abuse to his name, something that WWE fans were not high on, but according to Meltzer, it was Steveson’s ability in the ring that cost him his spot, as the company had full knowledge of the allegations against him.

“He did have the sexual assault claim from his freshman year in college, WWE signed him with full knowledge of that and it was not an issue in amateur wrestling, wasn’t an issue in college wrestling, like once he was cleared, he was good to go … it was an issue with wrestling fans. However, it probably had to do in a great degree with him getting booed with Baron Corbin, in the one match that people saw that he had at that one ‘NXT’ show.” Meltzer went on to say that he watched a number of his dark matches, some of which were against recently released star Cameron Grimes, and said he wasn’t impressive, had no charisma, and got little to no reaction from the fans.

Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to Wrestling Observer Radio

WWE RAW Preview 5/6/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

Fallout from Backlash

2024 Draft roster changes take effect

  • First-Round King of the Ring Tournament Matches:
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor
  • Kofi Kingston vs. Rey Mysterio
  • Ricochet vs. Ilja Dragunov
  • Gunther vs. Sheamus
  • First-Round Queen of the Ring Tournament Matches:
  • Zoey Stark vs. Ivy Nile
  • Shayna Baszler vs. Zelina Vega
  • Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka
  • IYO SKY vs. Natalya