Tag: WWE

Undertaker Returns As American Bad-Ass, Chokeslams Bron Breakker On WWE NXT

The teases of the “Dead Man” appearing on “WWE NXT” on Tuesday as it went head-to-head against “AEW Dynamite” ended up being true, but it wasn’t the Undertaker’s undead persona that made it to the ring on Tuesday. The WWE Hall of Famer rolled down the ramp, instead, confronting Bron Breakker on a motorcycle as “The American Bad-Ass.”

Undertaker made his appearance after Breakker took out Carmelo Hayes following their match, which Breakker lost. The young star was the first to get on the mic against the Hall of Famer and asked if he understood there was only one badass around “NXT.” While Breakker received “you f***ed up” chants from the crowd in the WWE Performance Center, Undertaker told Breakker that he had been watching him for a long time, and that one day he is going to be a special talent. But not today.

The legend then decked Breakker and got him up for a chokeslam as Hayes sat grinning in the corner. Undertaker got back on the mic to give Breakker a little advice, telling him there’s always an older, bigger, badder badass waiting around the corner, and that he “just met the baddest of them all.” Undertaker and Hayes then posed for the crowd as “NXT” went off the air.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Brian Pillman Jr’s Emotional Vignette Debuting On WWE NXT — As Lexis King?

In the midst of a very eventful Tuesday night, a vignette played on “WWE NXT” providing the first look at WWE’s presentation of Brian Pillman Jr. Though he didn’t go as far as to confirm his full ring name, leaving out the rumored “Lexis” first name for now, the video does include Pillman revealing his new surname and the logic behind the change. After the show, the WWE star took to X to further explain himself.

The video shows former AEW star Pillman watching highlights of his father’s WWE career. Over the footage, short audio clips described the late Pillman Sr. as “crazy,” “unpredictable,” and more.

“My father was one of the most infamous superstars in this business,” Pillman says in the video. “Everywhere I go, people stop to tell me, ‘Man, I loved your dad. Such a trailblazer, he was.’ It seems like everybody has such fond memories of my father. Well, you know who doesn’t? Me — his own damn son.”

Pillman pointed out that he was only 4 years old when his father died. Additionally, the 30-year-old stated that wrestling was one of the last things he thought he’d ever want to do. However, despite earning a college degree and trying his hand at other sports, Pillman said that he keeps finding himself drawn to pro wrestling.

“I’ve got no choice but to inflict pain on the very business that has brought me so much grief,” Pillman continued. “But when they see this face, I don’t want them to think about my dead father. I want them to think about me. I’m nobody’s junior, and from this day forward, I’m going to take on the last name of the real man who raised me — the real father figure in my life — and his name was King. And now, so is mine.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 10/10/2023

Tonight’s WWE NXT live in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center on the USA Network, with the first 30 minutes commercial free.

WWE is certainly not selling tonight’s episode of NXT short as the company has deemed tonight’s show the greatest episode of all time.

  • Carmelo Hayes (w/ John Cena) vs. Bron Breakker (w/ Paul Heyman)
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Asuka
  • Cody Rhodes to make a major announcement
  • Pub Rules Match: Brawling Brutes (Butch and Ridge Holland) and Tyler Bate vs. Gallus (Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey and Wolfgang)
  • A possible appearance from The Undertaker

Backstage Rumors On Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque’s Role In WWE, TKO

Vince McMahon’s future in the WWE is unclear, with recent SEC filings leading to speculation that the longtime executive might be fashioning an exit plan from the newly-minted TKO Group Holdings, which formed in the wake of WWE’s merger with UFC, under UFC parent company Endeavor. This speculation has led to further speculation about who is running WWE’s creative branch; McMahon, or Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who assumed the reigns of Chief Content Officer following McMahon’s initial retirement. It’s unclear what the power structure is within WWE’s creative brain trust, though some believe the wind is blowing in a certain direction. 

PWInsider Elite’s Mike Johnson recently passed along that rumors within WWE have Levesque driving what he described as “99%” of WWE’s creative direction, with the word being that Levesque has been “knighted” by TKO to lead the promotion, instead of McMahon, a decision which is said to have had a positive effect on backstage morale.

However, this does not mean that McMahon is out of the picture, as the long-time WWE figurehead is currently Executive Chairman of TKO, and has remained active within WWE since his return in January. It is believed that McMahon, as long as he’s around, will always have some input in WWE and that an occasional “tug-of-war” between himself and Levesque may still pop up now and then, with the Chief Content Officer sometimes acquiescing to McMahon’s suggestions.

How much truth there is to these rumblings backstage remains unclear. The most recent word on WWE’s creative process had Levesque running the day-to-day creative, with McMahon overseeing and having final say over certain elements of “Raw,” “SmackDown,” and WWE PLE’s, though McMahon himself had indicated he would no longer be in the day-to-day weeds, as he had been in the past.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 10/9/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, NE.

  • Fallout from Fastlane
  • NXT Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Tegan Nox
  • Viking Rules Match: Ivar vs. Kofi Kingston
  • Nia Jax vs. Raquel Rodriguez

John Cena Clarifies Whether He Will Immediately Leave WWE When SAG-AFTRA Strike Ends

As the SAG-AFTRA negotiations continue, John Cena provides some clarity about his future in WWE when the actors strike eventually comes to an end. During the WWE Fastlane press conference, Cena revealed that he plans on returning to Hollywood to resume his acting duties once the strike is over.

“I’ve made it clear that you can’t do both [WWE and Hollywood] because of the liability insurance,” Cena said. “If I were to try and juggle both, that’s very selfish because that would put a whole lot of people in the movie business out of work if something were to happen to me. So yes, I stopped a project in the middle of it – I can’t even talk about the project because of the strike we’re in, but we’re in the middle of it. As soon as we get back to work, we go back to work. I don’t control any of that. I’m crossing my fingers and hope we can find a resolve everyone is happy with. For right now, I think this is the best way I can help, is come back home to my family.”

While it’s uncertain when the SAG-AFTRA strikes may conclude, WWE fans can still look forward to a few more appearances from the “GOAT” in the upcoming weeks. Following his tag team victory alongside LA Knight at WWE Fastlane, Cena is advertised for the next three episodes of “WWE SmackDown,” with his latest run scheduled to end on October 27 as WWE heads to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to WWE Fastlane Press Conference

WWE Fastlane 10/7/2023 (Results)

Jade Cargill arrived during the Kick-Off show. She was greeted in the backstage parking area by Triple H.

THE UNDISPUTED WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso def. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (c) to become new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions

Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar) & ? vs. Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford)

The match started as a 2 on 3 match. Late in the match, Carlito arrived.

Latino World Order & Carlito def. Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits

WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Iyo Sky (c) def. Charlotte Flair and Asuka

Pat McAfee came to the ring. Pat said Indy deserves to host a WrestleMania. He introduced John Cena then took his place on commentary.

John Cena and LA Knight def. The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) (with Paul Heyman)

LAST MAN STANDING MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Seth Rollins (c) def. Shinsuke Nakamura

WWE Seemingly Confirms The Undertaker Is Coming To WWE NXT Next Week

On Friday, we reported here on eWn that The Undertaker was expected to be in Orlando, FL next Tuesday for the WWE NXT TV tapings. While it wasn’t confirmed whether he’d be appearing on the show or not, it now appears that he will be.

On this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, a promo to promote next Tuesday’s show saw a Pub Rules Challenge match between Tyler Bate and Butch vs. Gallus being announced, as well as the previously announced matches being hyped up. At the end of the promo, The Undertaker’s gong hit.

Next week’s episode of WWE NXT will be going head-to-head with AEW Dynamite due to an MLB Playoff game airing on TBS.

Source: eWn

WWE SmackDown Preview 10/6/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO.

Tonight’s SmackDown is the go-home show for Saturday’s Fastlane on Peacock and the WWE Network.

  • Dragon Lee vs. Austin Theory
  • Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso to follow Damian Priest and Finn Bàlor to SmackDown ahead of WWE Fastlane
  • John Cena and LA Knight to appear
  • Charlotte Flair & Asuka vs. IYO SKY & Bayley
  • United States Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Bobby Lashley – Non-Title

WWE Fastlane 10/7/2023 (Card)

WWE Fastlane PLE Saturday October 7 from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

CARD

John Cena and LA Knight vs. The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) (with Paul Heyman)

LAST MAN STANDING MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

THE UNDISPUTED WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (c) vs. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso

 WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Iyo Sky (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair

Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar) & ? vs. Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford)

More matches may be added.

Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar were set to team up with Cruz Del Toro or Joaquin Wilde in a six-man tag team match against Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits at tonight’s WWE Fastlane 2023.

Cruz and Joaquin got injured in storyline during Lashley and Mysterio’s match on SmackDown. As a result, they were left without a partner for Fastlane. During a backstage segment later in the show, Mysterio stated that he would find a replacement for them, but kept the identity of the replacement a secret.

Since then, there have been rumors that former WWE star Carlito could be returning at tonight’s show to be the mystery partner. 

Carlito reacted to a video of the LWO’s segment on SmackDown by writing the following on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/Litocolon297/status/1710587103816335489