WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
- Fallout out from last Saturday’s Crown Jewel
- LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller
- Carlito vs. Bobby Lashley
Tag: WWE
John Cena Underwent Medical Procedure
John Cena put over Solo Sikoa last weekend at the WWE Crown Jewel PLE in Saudi Arabia.
Cena’s WWE run came to a close when the match finished with him taking a series of Samoan spikes.
He took to Twitter to express gratitude towards Orthopaedic Surgeon Jeff Dugas for a medical procedure he underwent at Andrew’s Sport Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
Backstage Report On Major Shift WWE Could Make With NXT Following CW Deal
Earlier this week, it was announced that “WWE NXT” would be moving from the USA Network to broadcast on The CW starting next year, with a major rights fee boost for WWE. The latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter offers up a few more details on the deal, including a report that discussions are being had within the company about making “NXT” a touring show, traveling to arenas across the country to film episodes live. However, nothing is set in stone as of yet.
With a few exceptions, “NXT” has long been taped at either the WWE Performance Center or, before that, Full Sail University. NXT PLEs used to be tied to a main roster PLE, taking place in the same town a night or two before. This has started changing, however, with recent PLEs held on their own weekends.
The Newsletter runs through some of the positive and negative points of making the change from filming at the PC to touring. The increased rights fees would help offset the added costs from touring while also offering a potential ratings boost, as well as events having larger live attendance. On the other hand, moving away from the Performance Center would mean less training time and a lot more travel for the company’s developmental roster.
While it’s still unclear what WWE plans to do with NXT moving forward, the company has notably been featuring more main roster talent on the brand. Becky Lynch recently held the “WWE NXT” Women’s Championship, and the company notoriously loaded up its Tuesday night show with talent when it was revealed that “AEW Dynamite” was going head-to-head with “NXT” for one night only. On top of that, recent weeks have seen “NXT” featuring “Raw” and “SmackDown” stars such as Lynch, Xia Li, Alpha Academy, Shotzi, Tegan Nox, and more.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE’s Carmella & Corey Graves Announce Birth Of Their Son, Share First Pic
Former “WWE SmackDown” Women’s Champion Carmella has been out of action since March, later revealing that she and husband Corey Graves were expecting a child together. In some heartwarming news, the two performers have now jointly revealed on Instagram that their son, Dimitri Paul Polinsky, was born on November 8, 2023. Carmella noted that she was in labor for 60 hours, promising to reveal more about that at another time.
Carmella and Graves have been together since 2019, as documented in the ninth and final season of “Total Divas,” and were later married in 2022. Last year, Carmella opened up about experiencing an ectopic pregnancy as well as an early miscarriage in the span of just a few months. Although Graves has children from a previous marriage, this is the first child that the two WWE stars have had together.
Though “Total Divas” is no longer on the air, the pair’s relationship has been indirectly acknowledged onscreen in WWE over the last few years, primarily in the form of Graves commenting on Carmella whenever she would appear. Before getting pregnant earlier this year, Carmella had just made her return to WWE after some time away. The brief run most notably saw her compete in this year’s Women’s Elimination Chamber match. With her priorities certainly set on parenting her newborn baby, it will likely be a while before Carmella returns to wrestling, if she decides to come back at all. Graves is still on TV as a regular commentator for “WWE SmackDown,” appearing every Friday night.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Front Runner Revealed For WWE RAW’s Media Rights?
WWE’s programming rights for RAW, NXT, and SmackDown are set to expire next year. RAW currently has an agreement with the USA Network.
Networks, including USA Network, Warner Bros [TBS or TNT], Discovery, and FX, are rumored to be interested in getting the broadcasting rights for RAW.
Most of the talk is that RAW is going to go to FX, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Source: eWn
Former WWE Star Harvey Wippleman (Downtown Bruno) Says Young Rock Isn’t Over Despite NBC Cancellation
Earlier this year, many fans were left disappointed when NBC canceled “Young Rock,” the sitcom that saw Dwayne Johnson serving as on-screen narrator looking back on his early years in the wrestling business. In a positive update, Harvey Wippleman, who worked as an executive consultant on the show, has floated the possibility of the show returning for a fourth season on another network.
In an interview with “Developmentally Speaking,” Wippleman noted that the show’s production staff is expected to work on an upcoming season after the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “It was a great experience [to work on the show], and it’s not over yet,” Wippleman said. “It’s not on NBC anymore, but once the actors’ strike resolves, stay tuned. ‘Young Rock’ will be back. The story ain’t over yet.”
Speaking on his role as a consultant, Wippleman revealed he advised the writers on storylines surrounding the Memphis Wrestling aspect of the show and also had several Zoom meetings with Ryan Pinkston — the actor portraying Wippleman on ‘Young Rock’ — to teach him his accent, behaviors, and tendencies. He also praised Chavo Guerrero, the other executive consultant on the show, for expertly training the actors on taking bumps. “The young wrestlers that were portraying other people, he [Chavo] would explain to them what to do,” Wippleman revealed.
As for his well-documented friendship with The Rock, Wippleman praised “The Great One” for inviting him to be a part of ‘Young Rock’ and always looking out for his best interests. “Wonderful person,” Wippleman said of The Rock. “I’ve known him since he was a child. We’re very close — I would literally die for him. I mean, he’s made my life.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE Announces New Broadcast Home For NXT Brand
With the announcement last month that “WWE SmackDown” would be leaving Fox and heading back to USA in 2024, questions emerged regarding the futures for “WWE Raw” and “WWE NXT” on USA respectively. At least with “NXT,” its future will lie elsewhere, in a move that will also affect another wrestling promotion.
In a press release late Tuesday afternoon, WWE announced they had reached a deal with The CW to broadcast “NXT” starting in September 2024. PWInsider reported earlier in the afternoon that the two sides were in deep negotiations, so much so that an announcement could happen at any time. No financial details were disclosed, though the earlier report suggested that the deal would be “the biggest increase for “WWE NXT” media rights ever.”
The deal will mark NXT’s move from cable to broadcast TV, and will be a reunion between WWE and The CW, which aired “SmackDown” from 2006 to 2008; “SmackDown” also aired on The CW’s predecessor, UPN, from 1999 to 2006. The news comes on the heels of speculation that The CW was entering a relationship with rival promotion NWA, with both a wrestling and reality show set to air. It’s unclear what effect the WWE/CW deal will have on any potential NWA projects, or if a recent NWA angle said to give The CW pause helped contribute to this move.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE NXT Preview 11/7/2023
WWE NXT airs live tonight at 8:00 pm EST on USA Network.
- Fallout from last month’s two-week Halloween Havoc special
- Lyra Valkyria to appear in NXT for the first time as NXT Women’s Champion
- Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner
- NXT Heritage Cup Match: Noam Dar (c) vs. Akira Tozawa
- Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifying Match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Fallon Henley
- Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifying Match: Dijak vs. Tyler Bate
Rumored TV Networks Interested In WWE RAW’s Rights
The WWE’s programming rights for Raw, NXT, and SmackDown are set to expire next year. Raw and NXT currently have agreements with the USA Network, while SmackDown is aired on FOX.
However, WWE has recently signed a five-year deal to bring SmackDown back to the USA Network starting in October 2024. This move may affect the renewal of Raw and NXT’s rights with the network, but negotiations are still possible.
Other networks, including USA Network, Warner Bros [TBS or TNT], Discovery, and FX, are rumored in obtaining the broadcasting rights for Raw, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Source: eWn
Ricochet Injury Update After WWE Raw Intercontinental Title #1 Contender’s Match
GUNTHER has now held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for well over 500 days, having first won the title from Ricochet back in June 2022. Last night’s “WWE Raw” included a four-way to determine the next contender for GUNTHER, and the lineup featured the former champion Ricochet, as well as The Miz, Bronson Reed, and Ivar of the Viking Raiders. Like much of last night’s show, there was plenty of action and excitement. However, not all was well coming out of the match, with Ricochet reportedly hurt.
Today’s “Wrestling Observer Radio” had hosts Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussing the situation. Alvarez stated that Ricochet was in WWE’s concussion protocol, meaning he must get cleared by a doctor before being able to return to the ring. Depending on the severity of his injury, that could take days, weeks, or possibly even months.
One spot relatively early on saw Ricochet slam his head onto the mat and, according to Alvarez, it was immediately clear that Ricochet should have been pulled from the match and checked out for a concussion. However, the high-flying WWE star finished out the match.
“I’ve seen a million Ricochet matches, and he does not miss stuff, and he is not slow,” Alvarez said. “From that point forward, for a good three [or] four minutes, he’s slow and everything is not Ricochet-level. And it was clear this guy was messed up but they let him work the entire match.”
Both hosts agreed that Ricochet’s condition had seemed to improve after the commercial break, with the wrestler likely having a minute or two to recover. There was some confusion at the end of the bout, with Ricochet kicking out while the ref still counted to three, but it’s not yet clear if that was a planned angle or a mistake on someone’s part.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to
GUNTHER has now held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for well over 500 days, having first won the title from Ricochet back in June 2022. Last night’s “WWE Raw” included a four-way to determine the next contender for GUNTHER, and the lineup featured the former champion Ricochet, as well as The Miz, Bronson Reed, and Ivar of the Viking Raiders. Like much of last night’s show, there was plenty of action and excitement. However, not all was well coming out of the match, with Ricochet reportedly hurt.
Today’s “Wrestling Observer Radio” had hosts Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussing the situation. Alvarez stated that Ricochet was in WWE’s concussion protocol, meaning he must get cleared by a doctor before being able to return to the ring. Depending on the severity of his injury, that could take days, weeks, or possibly even months.
One spot relatively early on saw Ricochet slam his head onto the mat and, according to Alvarez, it was immediately clear that Ricochet should have been pulled from the match and checked out for a concussion. However, the high-flying WWE star finished out the match.
“I’ve seen a million Ricochet matches, and he does not miss stuff, and he is not slow,” Alvarez said. “From that point forward, for a good three [or] four minutes, he’s slow and everything is not Ricochet-level. And it was clear this guy was messed up but they let him work the entire match.”
Both hosts agreed that Ricochet’s condition had seemed to improve after the commercial break, with the wrestler likely having a minute or two to recover. There was some confusion at the end of the bout, with Ricochet kicking out while the ref still counted to three, but it’s not yet clear if that was a planned angle or a mistake on someone’s part.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Wrestling Observer Radio
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