WWE NXT Level Up will air tonight at 10pm ET on Peacock and the WWE Network, taped earlier this week at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL.
Jacket Time to take on Gacy and Harland on NXT Level Up
* James Drake vs. Xyon Quinn
* Elektra Lopez vs. Sarray
The post-Elimination Chamber edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live tonight from the GIANT Center in Hershey, PA.
Ronda Rousey is also scheduled to appear tonight. WWE has not announced Rousey for a match or segment, but the arena and the WWE Events website has her listed for the show, along with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sasha Banks, Kofi Kingston and Big E, and more.
Swiss Superstar Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) is officially a free agent.
For the fist time in 11 years, Cesaro is a free agent.
According to Mike Johnson at PW Insider, Cesaro (real name Claudio Castagnoli) has officially parted ways with WWE after the two parties failed ot come to terms on a new deal. Cesaro’s existing WWE contract has now expired, meaning he is free to work elsewhere for the first time since 2011. Per Johnson, as Cesaro’s deal expired, the 90-day non-compete clause doesn’t apply.
The 41-year-old Swiss wrestler made his pro-wrestling debut in December of the year 2000 for German promotion wXw. Castagnoli became a permanent resident of the United States after obtaining a green card in a green card lottery which enabled him to begin performing in the US for popular indie promotions including CHIKARA, Ring Of Honor, CZW, and PWG. On the indies, Castagnoli regular tagged with fellow-former WWE Superstar Chris Hero as The Kings Of Wrestling … could a reunion be on the cards?
Castagnoli signed for WWE in September 2011 and reported for duty at Florida Championship Wrestling, the company’s feeder promotion and NXT precursor. He made his main roster WWE debut in April 2012. Initially, Castagnoli was billed as a rugby player, but that gimmick was soon dropped.
As Cesaro. Castagnoli was constantly and consistently underutilized by WWE. He’s an imposing physical specimen and one of the most gifted in-ring performers to ever set foot in a WWE ring. But sadly, the powers that be were unable to see his potential and his main event opportunities were few and far between.
What The Swiss Superman does next remains to be seen, but he is now one of the hottest free agents in the industry, and it surely won’t be long until he shows up somewhere else. There are still two open spots in AEW’s Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match …
Source: TheSportster
AJ Styles reportedly signed a multi-million dollar contract with WWE.
It was recently reported that Styles signed a new multi-year contract with WWE. In an update, Fightful Select reports that Styles landed more than $3 million per year when all was said and done.
Styles also had some additional bus travel accommodations paid for by WWE with this new contract.
A WWE source noted that Styles “deserved every penny” and that he would “easily make that back for the company.”
Styles’ original WWE contract was set to expire in the spring/summer and would have had him hit free agency for the first time since leaving NJPW before he signed with WWE in January 2016. WWE officials expected Styles to have plenty of suitors, and word is that as was the case with some other big names in the company, WWE wanted to get AJ’s deal extended before he could even hit free agency and talk to any other promotions.
Styles is said to be very happy in WWE, and has mentioned in multiple interviews how he’d like to work for WWE when his in-ring career is over. He recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman last month about signing a new deal with WWE.
“It was easy. I want to be here, this is the place for me,” AJ said. “If they let me I will retire here, I hope to work in WWE in some capacity when I retire. I enjoy what I do.”
Styles also talked to Hausman about what he would like to do after his in-ring career, admitting that a role similar to that of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels would be great.
“I would love to have that opportunity. I love to see people be successful, and having a hand in that to me, it would probably be the best thing I could do in my career. But, I don’t that I’ll get that opportunity, I am just saying,” he said.
Styles has been a key part of the WWE main roster since his debut with the company six years ago at the Royal Rumble 2016 pay-per-view. Styles has done it all for WWE, shining as a main event star/WWE Champion, mid-card star and tag team performer.
The future WWE Hall of Famer had the fortunes of facing The Undertaker in the latter’s final wrestling match. They faced off in a cinematic “Boneyard” bout for Day 1 of WrestleMania 36, which The Phenom won. Styles is just one of 15 Grand Slam Champions in WWE history, and he’s also part of the promotion’s Triple Crown club (WWE, Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion).
Source: Wrestling Inc. and TheSportster
Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode will air live on the USA Network after two weeks on Syfy, featuring fallout from last week’s Vengeance Day special.
Former WWE Superstar Drake Maverick (James Michael Curtin) is reportedly working on the WWE creative team.
Maverick was released from his talent contract back on November 18, but WWE has re-hired him to work on the RAW creative team, according to PWInsider.
Maverick reportedly started working behind-the-scenes for the red brand 3-4 weeks ago. His 90-day non-compete clause with WWE would’ve expired on February 16.
Maverick originally signed with WWE in October 2017, and had non-wrestling and in-ring roles on WWE 205 Live, WWE NXT, and the main roster. He was then released on April 15, 2020 along with other budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but his departure was turned into a storyline and Triple H kept him in NXT, re-hiring him under a NXT contract. He would later come back to the main roster in the 2021 WWE Draft, and hold the WWE 24/7 Title twice. He was then released on November 18 of last year.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Edge returned to WWE on Monday night for the first time since beating Miz and Maryse alongside Beth Phoenix at Royal Rumble. Unsurprising that he skipped Elimination Chamber as Edge has been fairly outspoken on how uncomfortable he feels about the Saudi shows. On Raw, Edge issued an open challenge for WrestleMania, and while the challenge wasn’t answered, there were plenty of hints as to who might step up.
Edge spoke to the camera and dropped words like phenomenal and demon, hints that the person to step up to his challenge might be AJ Styles, or Finn Balor. However, the hint that stood out above the others was the mention of undeniable, and smoke and mirrors, very deliberate references to Rhodes. If the former AEW star really is coming back to WWE, a WrestleMania match against The Rated R Superstar certainly sounds like the sort of thing that would have tempted him to sign.
Will The American Nightmare be the one to answer the call?
The Rhodes saga has been fascinating thus far, and whether he really is re-signing with WWE or not, the company is certainly having fun with it. To the point that it seems he will almost definitely show up some time otherwise there wouldn’t be so many overt references to him. Like Rhodes or not, if and when he does show up, it will be a huge moment.
Source: TheSportster
Kenny Omega is excited to see what WWE 2K22 has to offer.
This time of year is always pretty busy for the wrestling business. Elimination Chamber has been and gone, AEW Revolution is still to come, and then the month after that we’ve got WrestleMania. This year will actually be a little busier than usual as wrestling fans’ more than two year wait for a new WWE game will come to an end.
WWE 2K22 launches on March 11, with those of you who pay extra for the Deluxe Edition getting the opportunity to play three days earlier. As 2K reveals more and more about its upcoming game, wrestling video game fans are wondering when exactly AEW’s first console game will be here. There was a time when it almost seemed as if the two games might launch at roughly the same time.
Kenny Omega spoke about the project during an appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio. Suffice to say, AEW’s first game will not be launching at the same time as WWE 2K22. The Cleaner didn’t want to commit to anything but did say the team behind the game is hoping to reveal new information and perhaps even some new footage during the week of Revolution.
“We were hoping to possibly show a little more of where we’re at and progression and reveal possibly a new character,” Omega said. The Cleaner was also very candid about 2K22, admitting that AEW’s first offering simply won’t be able to compete with WWE’s next game. “We’ll never be able to compete with the production values of WWE’s game. 2K22 is absolutely gorgeous, I’m excited to see all their bells and whistles.”
Omega also revealed that the AEW console game will support cross-platform play. “We have a lot of match types, game modes, there is going to be cross-platform and an online component where you can create your own lobby,” Omega explained.
Even if you own it on one console, you’ll still be able to play with and against those who own it on something else.
Cross-platform is a long-awaited but relatively new feature in the video game world. The ability to play games online even if you own a title on PlayStation and your friend has it on Xbox. Such a new concept that some studios still aren’t interested. There has been no confirmation whether WWE 2K22 will do the same, although it seems likely as Community Creations will be able to be shared across multiple platforms.
As for which platforms AEW’s unnamed game will be available on, Omega did not divulge that information. Probably PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as PC and maybe even Nintendo Switch. That’s all speculation at this point, and it’s also worth noting that there has currently been no mention of WWE 2K22 launching on Switch. It might happen eventually but won’t arrive on March 11 as is the plan for other platforms.
It’s certainly an exciting time for the wrestling video game landscape right now. The first impressions of 2K22 are already in and while there have been good things relayed to those who are interested, those impressions appear to be mixed overall. Even though there’s still a long way to go for AEW, and Omega is being somewhat coy about it, there will still be a lot of excitement for the promotion’s first game. As Eric Bischoff always says, it doesn’t need to be better, it just needs to be different.
Source: TheSportster
WWE released a storyline update on Bobby Lashley after today’s WWE Elimination Chamber event from the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Lashley had entered concussion protocol.
According to former WWE writer Kazeem Famuyide from The Ringer Wrestling Show, Bobby Lashley is actually dealing with a legitimate shoulder injury and could be out of action for a while. The injury reportedly happened at the Royal Rumble against Brock Lesnar.
“I have it under good authority that Bobby Lashley is shoot hurt and has been hurt since the Rumble match,” Kazeem Famuyide revealed. “If you noticed he hasn’t worked any RAWs. He hasn’t really defended his title. He was shoot hurt at the [Brock] Lesnar Rumble match. Again, I was wondering how they were going to work him in there while being hurt. I’m assuming this concussion protocol thing is the way to get him out there.
“From what I’m told, it’s for at least four months. Shoulder surgery. I’m hearing that he might not even make it to Mania. From what I’m told he is shoot hurt and should be out for some time.”
The latest episode from The Ringer Wrestling Show is available below.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to The Ringer Wrestling Show
The post-Elimination Chamber edition of WWE RAW will air live tonight from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
No matches or segments have been announced for tonight’s RAW but new WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is scheduled to appear for a follow-up on his title win at Elimination Chamber. Bobby Lashley is also advertised to appear, but WWE may keep him off to sell the concussion storyline from Elimination Chamber. According to a report Lashley may need shoulder surgery and could be out awhile and miss WrestleMania 38.
Logan Paul is rumored to team with The Miz to face The Mysterios at WrestleMania 38. The Miz is teasing a potential surprise for tonight’s RAW but there’s no word on if Paul will be there live.
It’s rumored that Randy Orton and Riddle will get their title shot from RAW Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy tonight, but that has not been confirmed.
WWE is expected to pick up the WrestleMania 38 build now that Elimination Chamber has passed.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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