Tag: WWE

Jimmy Smith Announces He Is Leaving WWE

Jimmy Smith announced on Twitter that he is leaving WWE. The news comes on the heels of a major shakeup for the commentary teams across all of their shows.

Smith tweeted, “Just wanted to say, now that the story is officially out, that my time with the WWE is officially done. Had a lot of fun and met some great people. Really and truly blown away by the acceptance from the WWE fans! You folks make it work every week and your enthusiasm was amazing!”

As was noted earlier, the Friday Night SmackDown commentary team will consist of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett with Samanta Irvin continuing her ring announcing duties. Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant will conduct backstage interviews.

Over on Raw, Corey Graves and Kevin Partick will provide play-by-play and Mike Rome will continue as the ring announcer while Byron Saxton will do backstage interviews. Also, Cathy Kelley is returning to do backstage interviews.

On NXT, Vic Joseph and Booker T will provide the play-by-play and Alicia Taylor will continue as the ring announcer. McKenzie Mitchell will continue in her role as a backstage interviewer.

For Premium Live Events (pay-per-views), Michael Cole and Corey Graves will handle the play-by-play and Pat McAfee is expected to return after he wraps up his ESPN College GameDay commitments.

Source: WrestlingNews.co

WWE Announces Changes To Commentary Teams For NXT, RAW & SmackDown

WWE has officially announced changes to the commentary teams for all three brands – RAW, NXT, and SmackDown. 

Kevin Patrick & Corey Graves will be the commentators for Raw while Cathy Kelley is back and will work as an interviewer and Byron Saxton. For SmackDown, the team is Michael Cole & Wade Barrett, while NXT’s team will be Vic Joseph & Booker T.

Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.

WWE issued the following:

WWE announces updates to commentary teams

Today WWE announced that Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events will all have updated announce booths starting with this week’s season premieres. The news was first reported by Variety on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday Night SmackDown, the commentary table will be headed by Michael Cole with Wade Barrett doing color commentary. Samantha Irvin will be the ring announcer, and interviews will be conducted by Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant.

On Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves will still be providing his colorful insights and will be joined by Kevin Patrick on play-by-play. Mike Rome will continue to announce from the ring, and Byron Saxton will transition from the commentary booth to backstage interviews. Also joining Saxton in backstage interviews is none other than Cathy Kelley in her return to WWE.

Over on NXT, Vic Joseph will be assisted by six-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Alicia Taylor will still provide her exceptional voice to ring announcing, and McKenzie Mitchell will once again be conducting interviews.

On the Premium Live Event side, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will come together again to announce from the booth.

Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay.

Montez Ford Sidelined With An Injury

WWE Superstar Montez Ford is presently sidelined with an injury.

During last night’s (10/3) episode of “WWE Raw,” The Bloodline was confronted by Street Profits in a backstage segment, as “The Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn warned Angelo Dawkins & Ford to be prepared to acknowledge Roman Reigns next week at the “Raw” Season Premiere special episode. This led to Ford saying The Bloodline “don’t own the arena” and that they need to acknowledge two things – deez [nuts]. Just then, Jey Uso warned Ford not to disrespect the Bloodline, or he’ll “get another boot.” The cameras then zoomed in on Ford wearing a walking boot on his right foot. The segment ended with Solo Sikoa challenging Dawkins to a singles bout.

Later, during the Sikoa vs. Dawkins match, the announcers confirmed that Ford is dealing with an injury. However, there was no mention of the nature of the injury or the timeframe of his recovery. 

Street Profits were last seen in action against Alpha Academy at a WWE live event on September 24. It’s likely that Ford suffered the injury during that match.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 10/4/2022

Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT will be a live broadcast at 8:00 pm EST on USA Network. NXT returns to the live broadcast format tonight after several weeks of taped shows.

Latest White Rabbit QR Code References Joe Gacy, Extreme Rules Venue

The “White Rabbit” QR Code teases continued on Raw, referencing Joe Gacy and the site of Extreme Rules. The latest QR Code let to a URL that features an image of Samson & Delilah, specifically the painting of that name by Jose Salome Pina which was completed in 1851. Samson was the Biblical strongman who was betrayed by Delilah, his lover who cut his hair and thus robbed him of his strength.

The URL for the QR Code is 01000111 01000001 01000011 01011001, which spells out “Gacy” in binary. In addition, the coordinates 751720W appear on the right side of the page if moused over, which is the location of the Wells Fargo Center where Extreme Rules takes place on Saturday.

In further addition, below the image is a mouseover message written in the written language of the Yautja — aka the titular aliens from the Predator franchise. The message translates to “Before me things created were none, save things. Eternal, and eternal I endure.” The quote is from Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, which precedes the more famous line “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”

As noted by Fightful, Bray Wyatt posted a similar photo of Samson & Delilah the day before he was betrayed by Alexa Bliss at WrestleMania 37 last year.

Source: 411Mania

WWE RAW Preview 10/3/2022

Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place live from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota at 8/7c on USA Network.

Japanese Wrestling Legend Antonio Inoki Has Passed Away At The Age Of 79

One of the most influential and important figures in the history of Japanese professional wrestling has died.

Yahoo! Japan reported Antonio Inoki passed away at his home on Saturday, October 1. A specific cause of death was not reported, but Inoki’s health problems over recent years were well known. In an interview earlier this year, he admitted he had been near death on a number of occasions.

News of Inoki’s passing came nearly 62 years to the day after his pro wrestling debut at the age of 17 on September 30, 1960. Another literal and figurative giant in Japanese wrestling history, Inoki’s future tag team partner Shohei Baba, made his in-ring debut on the same card for the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (later, simply known as the Japan Wrestling Alliance).

Inoki and Baba’s departures from the JWA changed the course of wrestling in Japan forever. In 1972, Inoki founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling, while Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling. Without two of its top stars, the JWA collapsed.

Inoki’s influence spread around the world. In 1976, he squared off against Muhammed Ali in an infamous “wrestler vs. boxer” match. The bout is viewed by many as a prelude to the future popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts.

Inoki’s leadership of NJPW was not without its missteps. His interest in MMA during the early 2000s gave birth to an in-ring philosophy that became known as Inoki-ism. However, the shift to the shoot fighting style nearly doomed NJPW. Inoki sold his stake in NJPW in 2005 and stepped away from the company.

Inoki explored other promotions and ventures following his exit from NJPW. Those included him founding the Inoki Genome Federation

Inoki also found success in the political arena. He served two terms in the House of Councillors. He was first elected in 1989. During that term, he notably traveled to Iraq, where he met with Saddam Hussein and successfully negotiated the release of a group of Japanese hostages.

A failed re-election bid saw Inoki leave office, but he returned after being elected to a new term in 2013. This one was marked by a number of controversial trips to North Korea. Inoki retired from politics in 2019.

Word of Inoki’s death began circulating in North America on Friday night.

News of his passing was announced during Friday night’s live broadcast of “SmackDown,” with Michael Cole conveying the company’s condolences to Inoki’s family, friends, and fans. On Twitter, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared his own tribute.

“One of the most important figures in the history of our business, and a man who embodied the term ‘fighting spirit,'” Levesque wrote. “The legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki will live on forever.”

Inoki defeated Bob Backlund to win the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1979, but the company never officially recognized his reign. Inoki was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.

AEW Owner and CEO Tony Khan joined the many on social media paying tribute to Inoki’s memory.

“RIP Antonio Inoki, a pioneer in the pro wrestling industry,” Khan wrote on Twitter Friday night. “Inoki’s influence and his achievements will live on forever in the wrestling world; he’s an inspiration to all of the dreamers. Thank you sir.”

Many of NJPW’s current top stars are in London, England where the company is holding its two-night Royal Quest II event this weekend.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

A New White Rabbit QR Code Airs On SmackDown

The QR codes for the “White Rabbit” continue.

During Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown, a new QR code aired at the end of a Karrion Kross vignette, which teased a rebirth of sorts.

When the QR code was scanned, it led to a WWE.com link that featured a video of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. At one point, the pigs were butchered. Additionally, the Big Bad Wolf was wearing Granny’s clothes. The video ended with a Morse code that translated to “Azazel Reborn.”

For what it’s worth, Azazel is part of Jewish folklore who was associated with the scapegoat rite. He is referenced in Christian and Islamic folklore and is sometimes considered to be a “fallen angel.” Fans of Marvel likely know Azazel as the name of a mutant teleporter from Chuck Austin’s run in the early 2000s.

The WWE.com video also features the White Rabbit in the corner and has the filename of “TS_10E6.” With that being said, episode six of The Simpsons in season 10 has a segment where the town of Springfield gets drugged thanks to Homer. At that point, Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” plays as they all hallucinate. The filename also includes a phone number (8554895099) that if you call, it plays a distorted audio clip. When it’s played in reverse, it says, “Bravo. Echo. Lima. Alpha. India. Romeo. I am the way into the City of Woe. I am the way into the eternal sorrow.” The first six letters are military alphabet for “Belair.”

Interestingly, WWE’s QR code URL was titled wwe.com/1911, which fans immediately connected to an image of Firefly Funhouse Bray in a Mad Hatter hat with the numbers 19/11. You can view the old image here. 

The source code of the WWE.com URL also features the message, “Drink More Ovaltine,” which is in reference to “A Christmas Story” where Ralphie gets a Little Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin and uses it to decode a message that is an advertisement for Ovaltine.

The Wyatt teases didn’t end there. Later on “SmackDown,” a fan standing directly behind announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves held up a sign that read, “Revel in what you are.” Wyatt had tweeted this exact message in 2019 while appreciating Rob Schamberg’s artwork for The Fiend. 

As noted earlier, the big White Rabbit reveal is expected to take place at next Saturday’s Extreme Rules premium live event. 

Sources: Wrestling Inc. and EWrestlingNews with credit to Ryan Satin

WWE Star Robert Roode Apparently Undergoes Medical Procedure

It appears that “WWE Raw” star Robert Roode underwent a medical procedure during a recent visit to Birmingham, Alabama. While Roode’s tag team partner, Dolph Ziggler, has had a presence on “Raw” since returning to the brand following a brief run on “NXT,” Roode hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since June.

It looks like the reason for Roode’s absence could be medical. Roode took to his Instagram account to reveal that he is hopeful after meeting with doctors at Southlake Orthopaedics and Andrews Sports Medicine.

“Heading home after what is hoped to be a successful trip to Birmingham, AL,” Roode wrote. “Big thank you to Southlake Orthopaedics and Andrews Sports Medicine for taking great care of me this week. Especially to the first class medical staff of Dr. Micheal Ellerbusch, Dr. Andrew Cordover, and Dr. Charles Carnel.”

Roode did not specify the reason for his visit. He did share a picture of himself in a hospital gown and also a pair of small bandages on the side of his neck.

Roode has been a part of the WWE roster since 2016. He was pushed as a main eventer on the “NXT” brand and even captured the “NXT” Championship. His status as a headliner didn’t translate to the main roster, but he’s still found success. Roode is a former two-time “Raw” Tag Team Champion, a former “SmackDown” Tag Team Champion, and also a former United States Champion.

Prior to his WWE run, Roode was with Impact Wrestling for over a decade and became a two-time Impact World Champion. Before he became a top singles star in the company, Roode was in a memorable tag team with James Storm. Together, they were known as Beer Money and held the Impact World Tag Team Championship five times.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 9/30/2022

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown comes from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, MB, Canada on FOX at 8/7c.