Tag: WWE

Rey Mysterio Returns To WWE On SmackDown

Rey Mysterio has returned to WWE following knee surgery.

During this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Mysterio made his return during Santos Escobar’s Street Fight match against Carlito.

As Escobar got the upper hand in the match, Mysterio came out to the ring on crutches. Mysterio wound up throwing down the crutches and took out Angel and Humberto Carrillo. This allowed Carlito to get the win over a distracted Escobar following a Backstabber, a 619 from Mysterio and then a slam through a table.

Prior to Friday night, Mysterio hadn’t been seen since the November 10th, 2023 episode of WWE SmackDown.

Source: eWn

Fox Blacks Out WWE SmackDown Bloodline Segment In Reported Effort To Avoid Crowd Sign

The Bloodline were once again the focal point of “WWE SmackDown” this week, as The Rock declined Cody Rhodes’ recent challenge for a match at WrestleMania. Instead, Rock thought it would be a better idea to have himself and Roman Reigns face Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match as one of WrestleMania 40’s main events. “The Great One” has been playing up his heelish antics as of late, so much so that Fox had to work around the crowd who weren’t happy to see Rock on “SmackDown.”

PWInsider reports that the random blackouts fans in the United States kept experiencing on the March 1 “Smackdown” wasn’t a technical problem, but was Fox themselves trying to censor a sign in the crowd that read “Die Rocky Die.” The fans also chanted “Die Rocky Die” at the former WWE Champion, causing the crowd to be dubbed over, and in some cases, completely muted due to the hostility of the chant.

The “Die Rocky Die” chant became infamous not too long after Rock’s 1996 WWE debut, as the fans didn’t respond well to the bland Rocky Maivia character being forced upon them. The chant would eventually lead to Dwayne Johnson shedding his babyface persona of Rocky Maivia and evolving into The Rock. He would join The Nation of Domination in 1997 to revolt against the WWE fans who booed him, deciding to forge his own path of not caring about anyone but himself. However, his natural charisma and attitude proved too much for the fans to remain against, and his entertaining villainy launched him into WWE’s main event scene and eventually becoming one of the most popular stars of all time.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Rock Acknowledges Roman Reigns, Lays Out WrestleMania Challenge On WWE SmackDown

Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns may be pulling double duty WrestleMania 40 weekend, following Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson issuing a challenge with set stipulations during the opening of Friday’s “WWE SmackDown.” The Rock also acknowledged his cousin, Reigns, as his Tribal Chief during the segment after Reigns interrupted Rock’s iconic “if you smell” catchphrase.

Rhodes had previously challenged the Rock to a one-on-one match during “The Grayson Waller Effect” at Elimination Chamber. Rollins did him one better and said he would team with Rhodes to take on the Rock and Reigns. On “SmackDown,” Rock said he wouldn’t be facing Rhodes one-on-one because everyone wants to challenge “The Great One.” He did challenge both Rhodes and Rollins to the tag team match the World Heavyweight Champion previously suggested at the premium live event, but with added stipulations.

Rock said that if Rhodes and Rollins win on WrestleMania Night One, the Bloodline would be barred from ringside during Rhodes’ match for Reigns’ title on Night Two. However, if the babyface team loses, Rock said the title match would be a “Bloodline Rules” match where anything goes. Rock said he was giving Rhodes the option to accept the challenge, but if he doesn’t, he said he is going to make sure Rhodes does not win the title.

There’s currently no word on if Rollins and Rhodes will acknowledge the challenge on “WWE Raw” on Monday, but Rhodes is scheduled to appear on the next three episodes of “SmackDown” alongside the Rock on the “Road to WrestleMania.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 3/1/2024

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the sold out Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

  • Fallout from Elimination Chamber
  • The Bloodline to appear with The Rock and Roman Reigns
  • Cody Rhodes to appear
  • Non-Title Match: Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors ((Kairi Sane and Asuka) vs. Bayley and Dakota Kai
  • Street Fight: Santos Escobar vs. Carlito
  • I would expect LA Knight retaliate against AJ Styles for his assault on Knight at Elimination Chamber

Former WWE Star Billy Jack Haynes Arrested, Charged With Second Degree Murder

Earlier this month, news broke that former pro wrestler Billy Jack Haynes was arrested in Oregon in connection to the murder of his wife, but authorities were waiting to charge the former WWE star until he was released from the hospital for an unrelated matter.

According to CBS affiliate “KOIN,” Haynes has been released from the hospital and officially charged with second-degree murder. Haynes’s wife was murdered in a shooting on February 8 which led to a standoff between Haynes and authorities. Haynes was soon taken into custody and then hospitalized for an unrelated matter. Upon Haynes’s release, he was booked into Multnomah County Detention Center for charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Haynes’s contemporary WWE Hall of Fame Jake “The Snake” Roberts recently said that he wasn’t surprised by the arrest, as he always felt that Haynes was an unbalanced individual. Haynes retired from professional wrestling in 1996 and was one of the many wrestlers named in the massive class action lawsuit that was leveled against WWE in the 2000s regarding issues of the company’s negligence regarding the brain health of the wrestlers. The case was dismissed in 2016.

In 2018, Haynes admitted to witnessing the murders of three boys in rural Arkansas, an infamous case that has not been solved, which occurred in 1987, not long after Haynes had wrestled for WWE at WrestleMania III. Haynes said that he had been involved in drug trafficking at the time, which is why he was hesitant to come forward.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Shawn Spears Returns To WWE On NXT, Backstage Update On His Return

A familiar face returned to “WWE NXT” on Tuesday night, albeit, with a new name from the last time he was in the promotion. 

Shawn Spears, formerly known in the company as “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger, made his return on the show after he left AEW at the end of 2023. Spears appeared after the phrase “Truth will ultimately prevail but there is pain bringing it to light” appeared on the video screens while Ridge Holland was in the ring addressing the fans. He appeared behind Holland and bashed him with a chair before pulling back his hood to reveal his identity.

Spears announced in December that his time with AEW had come to an end, due to an amicable split between him and the company. Prior to the announcement, he hadn’t been seen on TV since the Over Budget Charity Battle Royale during the pre-show for All Out. He had, however, according to Dave Meltzer, been portraying one of The Devil’s masked henchmen before his departure. Spears put out a statement thanking AEW for his five years of growth and development and said it was a personal choice for him. He took time to focus on life away from the ring, as he and his wife, Cassie Lee (the former Peyton Royce in WWE) announced they were expecting their second child.

Backstage Update On Shawn Spears’ WWE NXT Return

Fightful Select has some additional details on how the deal came together, including confirmation that he’s keeping the Spears moniker.

Most talent was unaware of Spears’ return and, during rehearsals for last night’s show, Shawn Michaels served the role that Spears would later fulfill. Additionally, Spears’ name was kept off rundowns of the show and he remained hidden backstage until the big moment.

The report cited AEW sources that said Spears asked for his release last year. Spears announced in December that he was leaving AEW following more than four years with the company after the veteran hadn’t been used since August. There were reports that he was one of the masked attackers in the “Devil” storyline from last year, but he never wound up being involved in the storyline. Spears was said to have signed with WWE before the “Three Faces” vignettes began airing in recent weeks.

Spears initially signed with WWE in 2006, spending a few years in the promotion’s developmental system. He later began making appearances on “ECW” but was released in 2009. Spears then returned to WWE in 2013, gaining some traction as the Dillinger character on “NXT” before getting lost in the shuffle on the main roster. After asking for his release, the company let Spears go in 2019, and he would later join AEW starting with the company’s inaugural pay-per-view.

In addition to his name, another aspect of the Spears character seems to have been carried over from his time in AEW: an affinity for steel chairs. Spears was known as “The Chairman” for some time in AEW, and he appropriately attacked Ridge Holland with one of the “foreign objects” upon his return.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 2/27/2024

Here is the lineup for tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network: 

  • NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov & Carmelo Hayes face-to-face
  • Heritage Cup Championship: Noam Dar (C) vs. member of No Quarter Catch Crew (Drew Gulak, Damon Kemp, Charlie Dempsey, or Myles Borne)
  • Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Andre Chase & Duke Hudson
  • Von Wagner vs. Lexis King
  • Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan
  • Dijak vs. Luca Crusifino
  • Ridge Holland speaks

WWE RAW Preview 2/26/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. 

  • Fallout From Elimination Chamber
  • Sami Zayn vs. Nakamura
  • Street Fight: New Day vs Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci

Reported Date For The Rock & Roman Reigns Vs. Seth Rollins & Cody Rhodes In WWE

To say that the road to WWE WrestleMania 40 has been eventful would be an understatement, as the proposed main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes has been confirmed, dropped, and re-assigned within a few weeks. Not only that, but The Rock has gotten involved and joined The Bloodline, while Seth Rollins has put his differences with the “American Nightmare” aside to fight the good fight for WWE. This story took another turn at Elimination Chamber in Perth when Rhodes challenged The Rock to a match, prompting Rollins to offer his support in the battle against the Bloodline. 

The idea of the Bloodline against Rhodes and Rollins is enough to get even the most casual WWE fired up, and it might be on the cards. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” he’s heard that the match could headline night one of WrestleMania 40. While this is all speculation at this time, it would mean that both Rollins and Reigns would pull double duty over WrestleMania weekend, as they would both have to defend their respective championships on night two.

While Reigns vs. Rhodes has been officially confirmed for some time, Rollins is scheduled to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 40. This follows McIntyre’s victory in the men’s Elimination Chamber match this past Saturday in Perth. The Rock and Reigns have yet to answer the callout made by the “American Nightmare” at Elimination Chamber, a topic of discussion that might crop up this Friday when the Bloodline makes an appearance on the March 1 edition of “SmackDown.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.