Tag: WWE

WWE To Start Announcing Hall Of Fame Inductees Today?

WWE will be holding this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, March 31, after SmackDown that night in Los Angeles.

WWE is just a few weeks away from WrestleMania weekend and has yet to announce any inductees for this year’s class. That will be changing, according to WrestleVotes. 

Per the report, WWE will start announcing the inductees today. 

“The plan as of Monday was to begin announcing this years Hall of Fame induction class today. The annual HOF ceremony is 3 weeks from tonight in Los Angeles following SmackDown.”

WWE is operating with the idea of keeping things shorter than in previous years. 

Earlier this week, Mick Foley revealed that he had been asked to induct someone as a part of this year’s class, although he wouldn’t offer any specifics on who had made the request or if it’d even been greenlit yet. One name that keeps being bandied about is Dave Bautista. He was initially tapped to enter the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020. However, that event was put off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was then going to be inducted the following year, but he was pulled from the slate with the wrestler-turned-actor stating that prior obligations would prevent him from attending. A later date was expected for his eventual participation, so could this be the year?

Sources: WrestleVotes and Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes Teases That Brandi Could Make Her Return To WWE

Could Brandi Rhodes be making an appearance on WWE programming in due time? Never say never.

In February 2022, both Cody and Brandi parted ways with AEW but at this time, the American Nightmare is the only one to have made a return to WWE.

Speaking on the “Out of Character with Ryan Satin” podcast, Cody spoke about his wife, saying that it isn’t unusual for the pair to do things independently. He said,

“We always wanted to do everything separately. I think even in one of the last interviews she had done before I left, guy was making fun of me in the ring, and she went out there and didn’t even need me anywhere near her. She very much can defend herself and fight her own battles.”

Cody went on to say that given her support for his career both on and off-screen, Brandi is already playing a role in his WWE return.

The 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble winner remained cagey when discussing the possibility of Brandi returning to WWE, saying,

“I wouldn’t rule it out, but she absolutely loves watching what I’m doing. She’s got some stuff that she’s working on secretly, unrelated.”

Rhodes said he won’t spoil what his wife is working on, but he reminded fans to “never say never” when it comes to the wrestling business.

Brandi worked as a ring announcer for WWE in 2011 and then for a second run from 2013 to 2016 under the name Eden Stiles.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Shawn Michaels Names Johnny Gargano As Grayson Waller’s Opponent At WWE NXT Stand & Deliver

The ongoing feud between Grayson Waller and WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels has escalated to the “NXT” Stand & Deliver premium live event. During Tuesday night’s special Roadblock episode, Michaels was a guest on “The Grayson Waller Effect.”

During the segment, Waller challenged Michaels to a match, which is when Michaels revealed that former “NXT” Champion and current “Raw” Superstar Johnny Gargano was going to be Waller’s opponent instead. Gargano and Waller have a history that goes all the way back to Gargano’s farewell to “NXT” in December 2021. As he was ending his farewell speech, Waller came out from behind and attacked him. Gargano’s last “NXT” match before he went to the main roster was at the “NXT” WarGames 2021 event.

Waller started his feud with Michaels when he crashed the Vengeance Day post-show media call and was “suspended” for his behavior. Waller returned on the February 14 episode of “NXT,” when he was kicked out of the arena after confronting Michaels backstage. While Waller was being escorted out of the building, he called the WWE Hall of Famer “a hypocrite and a suit” and that “HBK doesn’t exist anymore.”

“NXT” Stand & Deliver is set for April 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It will be on the same day as night one of WrestleMania 39 and will be starting at 1 PM ET. The only other match announced for Stand & Deliver is Bron Breakker defending the “NXT” Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the main event.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Roadblock Preview 3/7/2023

Tonight’s WWE NXT Roadblock in Orlando, Florida, at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network: 

  • NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Meiko Satomura
  • Jailhouse Street Fight: Tony D’Angelo vs. Dijak
  • Indus Sher & Jinder Mahal vs. The Creed Brothers & Bron Breakker
  • Andre Chase vs. Joe Gacy
  • Gigi Dolan vs. Jacy Jayne
  • Pretty Deadly & Gallus meet face-to-face
  • The Grayson Waller Effect with special guest Shawn Michaels

WWE Officially Announces King And Queen Of The Ring Event In Saudi Arabia

Last month, it was reported that the WWE King and Queen of the Ring tournaments would be coming back on May 27. Later that week, it was all but confirmed that these tournaments would take place in Saudi Arabia. After all, that’s where the money is. This past week on “WWE Raw,” it was made official — the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments are set for May 27 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“This May, live from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it’s all happening in Jeddah. All hail!” the official announcement read.

The last time a King and Queen of the Ring were crowned was back in October 2021, also in Saudi Arabia, at Crown Jewel. Xavier Woods defeated Finn Balor in the men’s final to turn a lifelong dream into a reality, while Zelina Vega made WWE history by becoming the first to win the Queen’s Crown after defeating Doudrop in the women’s final.

The location of these events may come as no surprise, as this announcement also comes during a time in which WWE is exploring a potential sale. Ever since Vince McMahon returned from retirement, talks have ramped up. While previous reports of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund purchasing the promotion were ultimately proven false, it was reported as recently as last month that Saudi Arabia is still interested in buying WWE.

That said, however, they don’t appear on the latest betting odds, with Comcast currently tipped as favorites, while the likes of Disney, Amazon, Endeavor, and even Netflix trail behind them. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Trish Stratus Coming Out Of Retirement For Match At WWE WrestleMania 39

Trish Stratus will officially come out of retirement at WrestleMania 39, joining forces with WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Becky Lynch and Lita in a six-woman match against Damage CTRL. The match was made official on this week’s “WWE Raw” where Lita and Lynch thanked Stratus for helping them even the odds in their rivalry against Bayley & Co. 

Stratus stepped out and told Lita “I’ll always have your back” and that it was a pleasure to watch her win gold with “The Man.” At this point, Damage CTRL confronted the three women in the ring.

“You two [Lita and Stratus] are legitimately the reasons why we are in this ring right now,” Bayley said, thanking the Hall of Famers for their contributions to the business. “That said, the three of us [Damage CTRL] are going to be the reasons you never come back!”

At this point, Stratus referenced her promo from “Raw” last August, where she teased stepping out of retirement. 

“I warned I could go real quick from ‘I am retired’ to ‘I was retired,'” Stratus reiterated. “I couldn’t think of a better place to shut your mouth up than at the Grandest Stage of Them All!”

Stratus then looked at the WrestleMania sign and issued the challenge to Damage CTRL.

Bayley immediately accepted the challenge, something that seemed to upset IYO SKY and Dakota Kai. Thereafter, Stratus and Lita delivered tandem offense to throw SKY and Kai out of the ring, leaving Lynch and Bayley to come face-to-face in the ring. The segment ended with an upset Damage CTRL retreating from the ring.

It remains to be seen if Damage CTRL implodes at WrestleMania 39, seeing as WWE teased some tension between the trio on Monday’s show.

Stratus had previously retired following her loss to Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2019 in her hometown of Toronto. Subsequently, Stratus teased the possibility of unretiring for a match against Lynch, especially when Lynch was portraying her “Big Time Becks” heel persona. Stratus would also get physical at a pair of WWE live events last August, coming to the aid of Alexa Bliss and Asuka during their rivalry with Damage CTRL. As such, the news of Stratus coming out of retirement has been widely expected and is not surprising in the least.

Besides the aforementioned six-woman match, the confirmed lineup for WrestleMania 39 includes Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes, John Cena vs. Austin Theory, Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair, Asuka vs. Bianca Belair, Brock Lesnar vs. Omos, and Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins. Other rumored matches include Bobby Lashley vs. Bray Wyatt, Edge vs. Finn Balor, Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio, and Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

John Cena Accepts Austin Theory’s Title Challenge For WrestleMania 39

John Cena made his much anticipated WWE return last night on RAW and accepted a major challenge from reigning United States Champion Austin Theory for a title match at WrestleMania 39.

Cena hit the ring and as he was about to speak, Theory popped up, interrupted The Champ, and issued a challenge to face him for the WWE United States Title at WrestleMania 39.

Cena initially rejected the challenge and roasted Theory on the mic, noting that the latter didn’t believe in himself and lacked any heart or soul. This led to Theory asking Cena where his “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” have been.

Theory added that Cena would disappoint the WWE Universe if he refused to compete at WrestleMania, to which the 16-time World Champion declared that he was trying to protect Theory.

According to Cena, Theory wasn’t ready to face him at WrestleMania and would lose everything in such a high-stakes bout. Cena then asked the WWE Universe about their opinion, and the live audience cheered for him to wrestle Theory.

Ultimately, Cena accepted Theory’s challenge, and the match was made official.

Source: eWrestlingNews

WWE RAW Preview 3/6/2023

WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network and emanate from TD Garden in Boston, MA.

WWE SmackDown Preview 3/3/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX, and emanate from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

Jay White Officially A Free Agent, No Confirmation Of Upcoming Jump To WWE, AEW Possibility

Jay White is officially on the move, but where to seems to still be up in the air.

In the latest edition of the weekly Wrestling Observer Newsletter, veteran pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer confirmed that the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is officially a free agent after his NJPW contract expired at the end of last month. 

Meltzer reported that all indications point toward White heading to WWE but “there has still been no confirmation of that.” He added, “If he is going to WWE, it’s not something well known within the company by many because multiple people who normally know haven’t heard his name mentioned.”

White’s tenure with NJPW has been seemingly wrapping up over the past two months. In January, the former Bullet Club leader dropped the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to Kazuchika Okada in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom 17. 

Then last month, he lost two apparent farewell matches, first losing to his former stablemate Hikuleo in a “loser leaves Japan” match at The New Beginning in Osaka and then losing to Eddie Kingston in a “loser leaves NJPW” match at Battle in the Valley. After White’s loss to Hikuleo, the wrestler posted photos of his time in Japan on social media with the caption, “Peace. #SwitchbladeEra.” And after his loss to Kingston, his opponent bowed to him after leaving the ring and joined the crowd in applauding him.

Several reports have since indicated WWE has heavy interest in bringing White into the fold and that officials there are “confident” he’s coming, though a jump to AEW or the broader independent scene also remains possible.

Source: Wrestling Inc.