Raquel Rodriguez has returned to WWE and will be heading to the women’s Elimination Chamber match.
On this week’s episode of WWE RAW, Rodriguez made her return by entering the Last Chance Battle Royale for the final spot in the women’s Elimination Chamber match. The finish came when Rodriguez eliminated Chelsea Green.
Rodriguez hasn’t been seen on WWE television since late December after she was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
Sting’s legendary career will officially come to a close at this year’s AEW Revolution, which will place in less than two weeks. While many expect “The Icon’s” old rivals and allies to appear at the event, Kevin Nash has confirmed he will unfortunately not be able to attend during a recent episode of “Kliq This.”
According to Nash, Sting had approached him and asked him to make some kind of appearance, but due to his obligations to WWE, it’s not possible. “He asked me to be a part of it, I just said that … you know, with my positioning with WWE I couldn’t -– I couldn’t even be … If I went in the crowd, it would be … you know?”
Nash noted that both he and Sting were disappointed by the outcome and expressed that he believes their close friendship is why “The Icon” wanted him there. “I think he wanted me to be there because I was just one of the guys who has been there with him the whole run. Yeah, I think he was disappointed. I mean, I was disappointed,” said Nash.
While he was ultimately forbidden from attending, he claimed that he first approached WWE before giving Sting his answer. “I asked [WWE] –- you know when you ask and there’s that three-second pause? It’s like when you be on the road and you’re like, ‘Hey babe? We’re at Fort Wayne, I’m gonna go to Stewie’s Strip Joint, you got a problem with that?’ Nothing.”
Sting, who is the current AEW World Tag Team Champion alongside Darby Allin, will defend the titles against The Young Bucks at Revolution on March 3 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE Raw will air live on the USA Network from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
Fightful Select has provided a new update on the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE. Fightful Select notes the lawsuit continues to be looked into.
Fightful Select has said they are working with additional mainstream media outlets on their efforts to cover the lawsuits, and will continue to look into the allegations and the lawsuit.
As it pertains to the heavy speculation of who unnamed executives are in the lawsuit, it all still remains a mystery. One source high up in WWE told Fightful that they are of the belief that one of the executive had “long been gone from WWE.”
Former WWE Executive John Laurinaitis has been very outspoken through his attorney, which one source said to Fightful they saw coming. The same source, who is a longtime WWE employee, said they effectively had looked at Laurinaitis as being Vince McMahon’s “fall guy” since the summer of 2022, but also figured that he had a golden parachute that has taken care of him financially. The same source said the looming possibility of actual charges being filed is what many in WWE saw as the main reason for Laurinaitis turning on McMahon.
Another source told Fightful Select, they think Laurinaitis is doing himself favors by saying that management knew and that proper WWE protocols were followed, but too many things happened there under his watch.”
Fightful Select said they had been in contact with Ashley Massaro in March 2019 to set up an interview in Las Vegas that May at Starrcast II. This part of the report notes Massaro was hoping to talk about her plans to resume in-ring training, and said she was weighing whether or not to open up further about her claims that was raped while on a WWE Tribute to the Troops tour in Kuwait back in 2006. Sadly, at just age 39, Massaro committed suicide two weeks prior to Starrcast II.
Futhermore, Fightful Select said based on the talent spoken to, they have not been briefed or told that they cannot speak about the nature of the lawsuit in interviews or appearances and several have been asked about it. Fightful Select added that while they heard thus far that no other companies are actively participating in the investigations, they have heard that talent from several other United States based companies have been given the okay to speak about issues or participate in the investigations if they feel comfortable doing so.
Fightful Select concluded by saying that they spoke to one former talent who has indicated they are weighing the options of whether to tell their story through the media, or whether or not they want to take legal action. Fightful Select did not disclosure the name of this talent, due to the talent not giving their approval for their name to be made public.
Source: WrestleView
Last week’s WrestleMania 40 Kickoff press event saw Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson join forces with Roman Reigns, while 2024 men’s Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes revealed he would challenge “The Tribal Chief” for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the two-night show in April. That presser followed several days of confusion, after “The American Nightmare” seemingly stepped aside to allow Johnson to face Reigns at WrestleMania. According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there was once a different idea on the table heading into last Thursday’s event in Las Vegas.
Per the report, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque had a plan to shoot an injury angle on the February 2 episode of “WWE SmackDown” — the same night Rhodes said he wouldn’t be challenging Reigns at WrestleMania 40 and Johnson confronted Reigns — where The Bloodline would “take out” Rhodes. That would have then led to Reigns vs. Johnson being officially announced for Philadelphia at the Kickoff. However, Rhodes would eventually return and challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Although things played out a lot differently, it’s said that Levesque “scrambled” to keep Rhodes in the mix at all times.
Additionally, the newsletter mentioned “Rhodes was never going to get screwed” and he was always set to face Reigns, although it was unclear whether that title clash would be at WrestleMania or another premium live event down the line. Furthermore, the Rhodes injury angle idea for the February 2 “SmackDown” was ultimately nixed after CM Punk, who was reportedly set to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40, got injured in the 2024 men’s Royal Rumble match. Levesque initially touted Rhodes to fill Punk’s spot, with a title match against Reigns coming at a later date. However, it was determined that Rollins vs. Rhodes would have made “no sense” if the trigger was pulled on The Bloodline attacking Rhodes.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Since the start of 2024, a slew of unexpected factors have seemingly resulted in some major shifts in the plan for WWE WrestleMania XL. Many fans have been captivated, for good or for ill, by the saga of Cody Rhodes in the lead-up to this year’s big event. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer offered some additional details on the journey to Rhodes’ main event rematch against Roman Reigns.
According to Meltzer, following the injury to CM Punk, the decision was made internally to have Rhodes shift to facing Seth Rollins. With that in mind, WWE head of creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque came up with the idea for the segment on the February 2 edition of “WWE SmackDown,” with Rhodes stepping aside and offering his support for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to face Reigns instead.
Levesque reportedly believed that Rhodes’ endorsement of The Rock would tie up the storyline’s loose ends, but the fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative. At that point, an audible was called, with Johnson and his longtime writing and producing partner Bryan Gewirtz (a former WWE head writer) feeling that The Rock should turn heel based on the crowd response. That led to the WWE WrestleMania XL Kickoff press conference, pitting Rhodes and Rollins against Johnson and Reigns.
When the plan was for Rhodes to face Rollins, the idea within the company was that there would be no Men’s Elimination Chamber match at the next premium live event. However, as plans continued to shift around, it was decided to go back to that match to set up Rollins’ WrestleMania opponent. As many may have expected, the original plan was for Punk to win the Men’s Elimination Chamber until he suffered an injury at the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
At last night’s taping for next week’s episode of “WWE NXT,” which is set to run in its usual timeslot (8pm EST/ 7pm CST) on the USA Network on February 20. On next week’s episode of “NXT” will see Lyra Valkyria defend her “NXT” Championship against “WWE SmackDown” star Shotzi, who returned during last night’s broadcast. Unfortunately, that title match was stopped as Shotzi reportedly suffered a significant injury.
According to Fightful Select, Shotzi hit her knee against the side of the ring during a spot that was meant to take the match into the commercial break. Unfortunately, Shotzi was unable to continue, and was immediately helped to the back, where Corey Brennan of Fightful was able to confirm she was unable to put any weight on her leg and was in an immense amount of pain when she arrived backstage. WWE officials were reportedly very concerned as she was taken for medical evaluation, which led to one source claiming Shotzi’s injury was a serious one and not a work, unlike the string of worked injuries that have taken place in “NXT” recently. However, there is reportedly no heat on Shotzi or Valkyria as the incident was described as a “freak accident.”
Following the injury, “NXT” General Manager Ava announced an open challenge for Valkyria’s title as Shotzi was unable to finish the match, with resulted in Lash Legend answering the call. Fightful says people within “NXT” commended Ava, Legend, and Valkyria for their ability to act quickly and professionally in such a difficult situation.
Following her participation in the double “NXT” taping, Shotzi was set to face Tiffany Stratton in a Women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match on “SmackDown” this Friday. Depending on the severity of her reported injury, WWE may now have to find a replacement for Shotzi.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network.
In late 2023, WWE star Grayson Waller called Swift a “6″ and challenged Kelce to a fight, Kelce has yet to respond
Waller sparked a considerable amount of online outrage with this quote: “I’m not the kind of guy that would settle for a six, but to each their own. Me personally, I like a nine or a ten,” said Waller. That statement caused considerable backlash. But Waller, in classic pro wrestling fashion laid into the controversy and went on X to insult Swift’s fans and challenge Kelce to a fight. The Going Ringside podcast covered this in depth last year.
“I’ve heard Travis Kelce is a wrestling fan, right? So hey, we’re in Philly. Maybe next year, lad, Why don’t you come and get in the ring and defend her honor? He seems like a good guy. Why don’t you come and say something to me about it, lad?” was Waller’s challenge, implying WWE’s marquis event WrestleMania which is in Philadelphia this year.
Now that the Super Bowl and the NFL season is over, wrestling fans will watch whether Kelce, who’s reportedly a fan of wrestling will take Waller up on the challenge.
But Kelce has said as recently as this week he’s a huge pro wrestling fan. “I go powerbombed through my living room floor as a kid and we broke the living room floor then we just slid the couch over it so that our parents wouldn’t know,” Kelce said at the Super Bowl media availability. Kelce was also recently spotted sporting a replica WWE belt.
In fact, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson who will also be on the card at WrestleMania also spoke about Kelce in an interview this past week.
Swift has a link to the pro wrestling world. Before her ascent to music superstardom, she used to babysit for wrestling legend Jeff Jarrett in Tennessee.
Scott Johnson posted the following on Tiktok:
Also, WWE star Seth Rollins has invited Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift to WrestleMania 40.
Rollins spoke to Sports Illustrated, where he said that he wanted to invite both George Kittle and Travis Kelce to WrestleMania. While Kelce outperformed Kittle on the night, both men can enjoy at The Show of Shows.
Rollins also told Kelce to bring Taylor Swift along with all the Swifties.
“I would extend an invitation to both George and Travis. Look, we’re in Philly; his brother [Jason Kelce] is there. We can have both of the Kelces there, why not? Let’s have a party. Bring your girl. Bring all the Swifties, man. Let’s go. I love everybody. Let’s party. George, he’s coming to WrestleMania anyway. He was at WrestleMania last year. He comes to all the WrestleManias, he’s coming anyway. We know that. Win, lose, or draw, George gonna be at WrestleMania. So, I’d love to have the Kelces there. All of them. Bring the whole crew,” said Rollins. (4:14 – 4:45)
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Sources: Scott Johnson of News4Jax and Going Ringside Podcast
Source: Sportskeeda
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