Tonight’s WWE SmackDown, which airs live on FOX from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN.
Jerry The King” Lawler is expected to be at SmackDown tonight in Memphis, but it has not been confirmed if he will appear on TV.
WWE is rounding out this year’s slate of WWE Hall of Fame inductions and a new report from The Wrestling Observer shines a light on two more names who could possibly be inducted in this year’s ceremony in Philadelphia, PA.
According to The Observer, Lia Maivia, former wrestling promoter and grandmother to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has been confirmed as an inductee in this year’s class. A WWE source confirmed Maivia would join Thunderbolt Patterson, Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, Muhammad Ali and The US Express’s Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham. A list recently circulated with all of the mentioned names, as well as Bray Wyatt, but The Observer was unable to confirm Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) as an inductee. Wyatt, the son of inductee Mike Rotunda and nephew of Barry Windham, died suddenly last year at the age of 36.
This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony is the first one put together without the input of longtime WWE figurehead Vince McMahon, who retired in disgrace earlier this year following allegations of sex trafficking. Maivia’s grandson, The Rock, is also said to have a certain amount of say in this year’s ceremony as a result of his new place on the TKO Group Holdings Board of Directors. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is set to take place on April 5 after “WWE SmackDown.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
PWInsider reports that Jerry Lawler announced that he will miss The Big Event convention in New York as he is set to be at WWE SmackDown this Friday in his hometown of Memphis. He will appear at the taping but it’s unknown if he will be on camera.
Lawler said he was unable to get a flight after SmackDown to get him to NYC before the convention, so he had to back out.
The latest addition to the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class has been announced, with Thunderbolt Patterson now set to join this year’s inductees.
Patterson was an active wrestler from 1964 to 1994, once holding the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship as well as the NWA National Tag Team Championship alongside Ole Anderson. On top of that, Patterson reportedly made attempts to unionize wrestlers in the 1970s, which he has said caused him to be blackballed from the industry for years.
Throughout his career, Patterson experienced institutional racism in the industry. The performer sued multiple promotions for racial discrimination, which also is alleged to have contributed to his blackballing in the 70s.
In the late 1980s, Patterson became a labor organizer for the Service Employees International Union. Following his wrestling career, he also became a minister and was involved in running a Christian youth camp in Georgia.
The news of Patterson’s induction was first revealed by Andscape with WWE confirming. WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque also offered his comment on the announcement via social media.
“He was a champion in the ring, and championed the health and well-being of his peers outside of it,” wrote Levesque. “Thunderbolt Patterson’s influence is still felt today, and will receive the recognition it deserves when he joins the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024.”
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on April 5, 2024, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition to Patterson, the inductees announced for the 2024 Hall of Fame class include boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, and the U.S. Express, with several more likely to come.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Scheduled for tonight’s WWE NXT on the USA Network:
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
CM Punk has been announced for the March 25th episode of WWE RAW. WWE issued the following:
CM PUNK RETURNS TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW IN HIS HOMETOWN OF CHICAGO ON MARCH 25
New Seating Sections Released To Meet Demand
STAMFORD, Conn., March 11, 2024 – WWE®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced that CM Punk will make a sensational return to Monday Night Raw at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, March 25.
The sold-out show will now have brand new seating sections opened to meet demand. Fans are invited to visit www.ticketmaster.com from 10.00am CT / 11.00 a.m. ET to purchase the final remaining tickets.
This will mark CM Punk’s first return to Chicago’s Allstate Arena since he shocked the world back in November with a stunning return to WWE at Survivor Series, garnering more than 71 million record-breaking views across social media platforms.
His last appearance on Monday Night Raw on February 5, 2024, saw him reveal an injury sustained at Royal Rumble that would force him to miss WrestleMania XL. Questions remain around what the self-proclaimed “Best In the World” will have to say when he addresses the WWE Universe in-person on Monday, March 25.
With only a few weeks remaining before WrestleMania 40 weekend in Philadelphia, the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class is beginning to take shape, with Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, and The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) being announced last week. Now, the trio will be joined by one of the biggest sports icons in history and a man who was involved with the first WrestleMania back in 1985.
Variety reports that the fourth member of the 2024 WWE HOF class is none other than Muhammad Ali. WWE themselves confirmed the news on social media and their official website.
A pioneer in both boxing and the civil rights movement, Ali was inspired by wrestling from an early age, modeling his trash-talking persona after early wrestling legend Gorgeous George. He would later get involved in the business several times, including facing Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in an exhibition fight in June 1976. The fight was preceded by Ali attending a WWE show earlier that month, where he took part in an angle with Gorilla Monsoon.
Nine years later, Ali would return to the wrestling world at the inaugural WrestleMania, where he served as one of two special guest referees for the main event tag match between Hulk Hogan & Mr. T and Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff. Ali would later become involved in the infamous Collision in Korea wrestling events held in North Korea in 1995, attending the events as its “guest of honor.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The U.S. Express, the tag team of Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham, are entering the WWE Hall of Fame. The news was first reported by the website The Ringer, with a video posted by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque on social media of him sharing the news with Rotunda and Windham.
In the video, Levesque discussed Windham and Rotunda’s roles at the inaugural WrestleMania, where they defended the then-World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championships against The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Levesque acknowledged their significant contributions to WWE’s success before informing them of their induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“It’s been a great journey, you know,” said a teary-eyed Rotunda. “I mean, watching WWE grow, so it’s pretty damn cool to be part of it in any aspect.”
In the early 1980s, Rotunda and Windham, the respective father and uncle of deceased WWE superstar Bray Wyatt, were one of wrestling’s hottest acts. The duo was especially popular in Florida, where they first debuted before steamrolling their way into WWE as the U.S. Express in 1984.
Under the tutelage of legendary manager Capt. Lou Albano, Rotunda and Windham won the company’s historic tag team titles on two occasions. They first dethroned the team of Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis. Windham and Rotunda claimed the titles a second-time months after they dropped them to the Sheik and Volkoff at Madison Square Garden during the inaugural WrestleMania.
The brother-in-law combo will join Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano as part of the 2024 Hall of Fame class. For Windham, this marks his second induction, having been previously honored in 2012 as part of the Four Horsemen stable.
The induction ceremony will take place after the April 5 SmackDown at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, just before night one of WrestleMania at Lincoln Financial Field.
Source: SB Nation
WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.
