Tag: WWE

Andrade El Idolo Pulled From Indie Event As Rumors Of WWE Return Continue

Rumors continue to swirl regarding Andrade El Idolo potentially returning to WWE, and they will intensify with the news he has now been pulled from this Friday’s GCW event. GCW released a statement on X to confirm it, stating, “Due to circumstances out of control, ANDRADE and MAKI ITOH will be unable to compete on Friday’s event in Chicago.” GCW revealed they have replacements for both wrestlers, with Masha Slamovich and Lio Rush set to step in, however, the news will certainly get people talking about the future of the former AEW star. El Idolo’s final match for AEW took place at Worlds End 2023, which saw him lose to Miro, and both he and Tony Khan confirmed that they would be parting ways after that point.

Ever since, there has been speculation that the former “WWE NXT” Champion is going to be returning to his former company, WWE — where his wife, Charlotte Flair also works. Of course, nothing is official regarding El Idolo and WWE, but people within the company are expecting him back at some stage. Wrestlers being pulled from independent dates has been a sign in the past that a wrestler is heading to WWE because, unlike AEW, the company doesn’t tend to allow its roster members to work for other promotions.

El Idolo is not under a non-compete clause, which means he is technically free to appear on WWE television at any point, should he sign with the company. He last worked for WWE in 2021 after spending seven years with them, and he does have a positive history working under the creative leadership of Triple H, who of course is now in charge of that department for WWE’s main roster.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 1/8/2024

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

  • We will hear from CM Punk
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Katana Chance and Kayden Carter (c) vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven
  • Sit-down interview with R-Truth
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
  • JD McDonagh vs. The Miz

Kofi Kingston vs. Ludwig Kaiser

WWE’s Becky Lynch Explains Why Her Book Might Be Detrimental

Becky Lynch’s autobiography, ‘The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl,” will be released on March 24, and the former “WWE Raw” Women’s Champion has admitted that she has written a truthful account of her story. However, while that’s a positive for the reader, Lynch admitted it might be a negative for her. 

“I’ve written very truthfully, maybe sometimes at my own detriment… I think people will appreciate the candidness of it, and I think it’s pretty funny,” she told “The Casual Podcast.” “I think it’s a pretty funny, hilarious read –- this is just me thinking I am hilarious, but I hope people enjoy it.”

Lynch has been open and honest within the book, to the point where she’s admitted to realizing she was the a**hole at times when recounting past stories. However, even though it has been an eye-opening experience at points, Lynch has also found the writing process to be one of the most rewarding periods of her entire life. She has become the latest professional wrestler to jump into the autobiographical world, taking after one of her idols, Mick Foley. Like him, she didn’t use a ghostwriter to tell her story, opting to do it herself, but she let Foley see an early manuscript.

“Actually, I had him to bounce things off; he was one of the first people to read it and give me feedback,” she revealed about Foley. “Then I implemented that and kind of almost changed it completely since he probably read it. Not completely, but really improved it to the point where now I am so proud of what I have.”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to “The Casual Podcast”

Cody Rhodes Accepts Fan Request To Be His Best Man

Cody Rhodes was victorious in a singles match against Shinsuke Nakamura during Saturday’s WWE house show at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington.

Rhodes noticed after the match that a fan held up a sign, asking him to be the best man at his upcoming wedding. Rhodes accepted the fan’s request.

Source: eWn

AEW Boss Tony Khan Addresses WWE/WBD Rumors

Rumors have circulated about the possibility of WWE moving “WWE Raw” from The USA Network to a Warner Bros Discovery channel, possibly TBS or TNT, which would put them in conflict with WBD’s current wrestling product, All Elite Wrestling. As a major year for media rights negotiations, in wrestling and beyond, AEW President Tony Khan is seemingly unfazed by the rumors.

“It’s part of sports. Everybody discusses contracts and free agency and things of that nature,” Khan told “Going Ringside” on News4JAX. “I think everybody’s aware that everybody’s gonna be talking to everybody in the media this coming year. So they’ll certainly be a lot of opportunities. We have a great history with Warner Bros. Discovery and continue to produce great ratings so we should be in a very good position next year.”

WBD’s negotiations with both WWE and AEW are likely hamstrung by the media conglomerate’s current negotiations with the National Basketball Association, as NBA programming has been the central pillar of the Turner Networks programming and the amount of money offered to either promotion would likely be affected by whether or not WBD retains the Basketball league. AEW has been with WBD since the beginning of the wrestling promotion, which premiered “AEW Dynamite” on WBD networks in 2019, soon adding “AEW Collision,” “AEW Rampage,” and quarterly “Battle of the Belts” specials.

WWE has already signed a deal with The CW to bring “WWE NXT” there in 2025 when its current deal with USA is up, and USA has already landed the rights to “WWE SmackDown,” which is set to move from Fox.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Authors Of Pain (& Paul Ellering) Return On WWE SmackDown Alongside Karrion Kross & Scarlett

WWE’s tag team division can expect a bit more pain in the locker room.

Akam and Rezar, collectively known as the Authors of Pain (AOP), returned to WWE on Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown.” They, along with Karrion Kross and Scarlett, crashed Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits’ “All Mighty New Year” segment. After Lashley declared himself for the Royal Rumble, Kross and Scarlett appeared on the ramp, and stared devilishly on as AOP attacked Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins from behind. Their beatdown ended with a Super Collider from AOP, which cleared the path for Kross to deliver a gruesome slam to Lashley. The Authors of Pain, along with their manager WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering, accompanied Kross and Scarlet to the ramp following their destruction.

AOP’s WWE return had been speculated multiple times in 2023, with the most recent reports stating that Akam and Rezar were expected to return sooner rather than later. Their association with Kross was also teased on the December 22 episode of “SmackDown”, where three figures were referred to Kross as “authors”. The pair quietly resigned with WWE in August 2022, and there is no confirmed explanation for the year and a half-long gap between their signing and their reappearance.

The two are one-time “NXT” Tag Team Champions, one-time winners of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions. Before Friday’s installment of “SmackDown”, AOP was last seen on the March 9, 2020 episode of “WWE Raw,” where they aided Buddy Matthews and Seth Rollins in a winning effort against The Viking Raiders and, interestingly enough, the Street Profits.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown New Year’s Revolution Preview 1/5/2024

The first WWE SmackDown of 2024 will air live tonight on FOX from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC.

  • Winner will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title a the Royal Rumble: Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
  • WWE Women’s Championship Match: IYO SKY (c) defends against Michin
  • WWE United States Championship No. 1 Contender Tournament Finals: Kevin Owens vs. Santos Escobar
  • Butch and TBA vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson)
  • United States Champion Logan Paul to appear
  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns to appear

WWE May Consider Other Options For The Rock vs. Roman Reigns

After WWE Monday Night Raw, the hot topic of discussion was the potential showdown between Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Roman Reigns, fueling speculation that it could happen at WrestleMania 40. 

Many believe that this marked the beginning of the highly anticipated match between the two.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE may hold the match at Elimination Chamber next month instead of WrestleMania or in Saudi Arabia. 

“But nothing is official. Everyone is tight-lipped completely past Johnson would not have said what he did at the time he did without the plan being to build to such a match. While one would think WrestleMania would be the place, it also could be in Perth, Australia, given the story that the government there specifically requested Johnson on the 2/24 Elimination Chamber show, and it also could be at the next show in Saudi Arabia, which does not have a date. The government there is paying ridiculous money for shows already and bringing Johnson in could possibly negotiate a bonus that would make it the biggest money event in company history,” Meltzer wrote.

Source: eWn

Backstage News On WWE’s Groundwork For The Rock vs. Roman Reigns Dream Match

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a surprise return to WWE on Monday night’s ‘Day 1’ themed episode of RAW, confronting Jinder Mahal and teasing a potential match with his cousin, Roman Reigns.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio is reporting that a potential dream matchup between The Rock and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 is not yet confirmed.

However, it was noted that Reigns began using the “Head of the Table” and “Tribal Chief” as nicknames years ago to set up an eventual blockbuster clash with The Rock.

Meltzer said, “That whole thing, ‘The Head of the Table’ and all that, and ‘Tribal Chief,’ was all done originally to build up the Roman Reigns-Rock match.”

It was further stated that a matchup between The Rock and Reigns has been on WWE’s radar before, with The Great One previously turning down an offer to lay the smackdown on The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, TX. Meltzer said,

“I remember they were gonna do the Dallas show [WrestleMania 38] and then it was gonna be Los Angeles [WrestleMania 39]. He turned down the first one to do the second one, which would have been Los Angeles. Then Los Angeles ended up being canceled, kind of in December, I think.”

During an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay this past September, The Rock confirmed that his dream match with Reigns was in the works for WrestleMania 39, but plans later fell through.

Only time will tell if The Rock vs. Roman Reigns finally happens at WrestleMania XL this year.

Source: eWn

Backstage Report On Future Of Trinity Fatu (Naomi In WWE)

Ever since joining Impact Wrestling/TNA Wrestling in April 2022, it’s been all sunshine and roses for Trinity, who is currently entering her sixth month as Knockouts Champion. It may also be her last month as champion, however, as Trinity appears to be contemplating a career move back to her old stomping grounds.

Fightful Select reports that Trinity’s contract with Impact/TNA is set to expire in the not-so-distant future and that the Knockouts Champion will be finishing up with the promotion. It’s unclear if Trinity’s last date will be the upcoming Hard to Kill PPV, where the promotion will officially rebrand back to TNA, or if she will continue to work through the end of the month.

As for what Trinity’s next move will be, those within WWE expect that she will return to the company, where she worked for over a decade under the name Naomi. One person within WWE believes a deal is so close that something drastic would have to occur to prevent Trinity from re-signing, though they pointed out that anything could happen in the current free agency market. WWE had previously sought to bring Trinity back last year but was prevented due to an unofficial hiring freeze. The move isn’t a surprise to those in TNA, who have long thought Trinity would return to WWE when her contract expired.

Trinity’s departure from WWE came under controversial circumstances, after she and then WWE Women’s Tag Team Title partner Mercedes Mone, then Sasha Banks, walked out of the promotion in May 2022 after disagreements with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. While Trinity’s return to WWE is expected, the same cannot be said for Mone, who has broken off talks with WWE and is expected to sign with AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.