Tag: WWE

WWE WrestleMania Backlash 5/8/2022

DATE: May 8, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
AVAILABLE ON: Peacock (U.S.), WWE Network (International)

CARD

“I QUIT” MATCH FOR THE WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (c)

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns & SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) vs. Drew McIntyre & RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle)

Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

AJ Styles vs. Edge
Damian Priest is banned from ringside.

Madcap Moss vs. Happy Corbin

Omos vs. Bobby Lashley

WWE SmackDown Preview 5/6/22

The WrestleMania Backlash go-home edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live tonight from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.

It’s interesting to note that WWE has apparently pulled the Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs. The New Day Tables Match from tonight’s show. The match disappeared from the WWE website listing some time between Tuesday night and Thursday morning, and the old URL for the match preview now just says “Access Denied” when you try to access it.

The only match listed for tonight’s show is WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sasha Banks vs. Shayna Baszler. This is to build to next Friday’s show with Banks and Naomi defending against Baszler and Natalya.

RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro are scheduled to appear tonight for the final WrestleMania Backlash build as they team with Drew McIntyre to face The Bloodline in six-man action on Sunday.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Big E Provides Update On Neck Injury, C1 Not Healing Optimally

Four to six more weeks in a neck brace for the former WWE Champion.

Pro wrestling might be staged, but every time wrestlers compete, they put their bodies and potentially even their lives on the line. We were reminded of that earlier this year when a belly-to-belly suplex gone wrong at ringside resulted in Big E suffering a broken neck. The former WWE Champion has naturally been absent from WWE TV ever since, providing updates on social media.

The latest of those updates came this morning, and while it wasn’t the worst news possible, it also wasn’t good news. E revealed that his C1 isn’t healing optimally, and that means he will be wearing the neck brace he has been sporting ever since suffering the injury for at least four more weeks. “I’ll spend another 4-6 weeks in a brace in hopes that I can avoid a fusion. But don’t you fret! I’ve got a tremendous support system & what shall be shall be,” E tweeted.

https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/1522541955271602176

Shortly after E suffered the injury, and once the necessary tests had taken place, E revealed what exactly the extent of the damage was. His C1 and C6 had been fractured, but not displaced, which is apparently a good thing. He also hasn’t suffered any damage to his spinal cord or ligaments, so more good news off the bat.

The length of time E will be away from the ring remains unclear. In fact, whether the New Day member will be able to wrestle again at all is still very much up in the air. Wrestlers have come back from neck, back, and spinal injuries, of course. Now so more than ever as Edge is back wrestling, pretty much full-time, and Paige has even been hinting that she will wrestle again after having to retire at 25.

The main thing right now is making sure E heals and that he leads a happy and healthy life. He’s clearly getting the best care possible, and if four more weeks in a neck brace is what’s needed, then that’s what has to happen. He’s an incredibly positive guy who is incredibly well-liked in the locker room. We wish him all the best and hope we see him in a WWE ring again one day.

Source: TheSportster

What Happened After NXT Spring Breakin’ Abruptly Went Off The Air

The show ended with two hooded figures staring down an unsuspecting Bron Breakker.

NXT TV special Spring Breakin’ took place on Tuesday night. Cameron Grimes kicked things off by successfully defending the North American Title, and Nikkita Lyons and Cora Jade successfully saw off Natalya and Lash Legend. The show ended with Bron Breakker defending the NXT Title against Joe Gacy, a match that ended with the title still around the second-generation star’s waist.

After the match, Gacy was on his knees in the corner as two hooded figures in red masks stepped up onto the apron. However, it was at that point this week’s NXT 2.0 came to an abrupt end. If you went to bed wondering if that was intentional, no, it wasn’t. There was a whole segment planned after that, but the show clearly overran and it wasn’t shown on USA.

Instead, WWE had to settle for posting the footage on Twitter, which you can check out below. The clip begins with the hooded figures who were watching from around the arena descending on the ring and attacking Breakker with a steel chair. The two anonymous people in red masks then proceed to put the boots to the NXT Champion.

Gacy then directs the two of them as they remove a barbed wire-clad stretcher from under the ring and proceed to place Breakker onto it. The pair then slowly carries the champ out of the arena as the clip fades to black. That’s presumably where WWE actually planned on ending this week’s broadcast, more than 90 seconds after the USA feed was cut which resulted in a rather jarring end to the show.

That ending implies the issues between Breakker and Gacy aren’t over.

Source: TheSportster

WWE NXT Spring Breakin’ Preview 5/3/22

The special Spring Breakin’ edition of WWE NXT 2.0 will air tonight on the USA Network, live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Roderick Strong Reportedly Requests WWE Release

Roderick Strong has reportedly requested his WWE NXT release, but the company has him factored into upcoming creative plans.

Strong has requested his release “multiple times” in the past several months, according to Fightful Select. However, word is that WWE has denied the request.

The veteran pro wrestler is said to be frustrated with many things within WWE over the past year, which led to him asking for his release.

WWE reportedly pitched a name change to Strong, but he was opposed to the idea. There were many people within WWE who were surprised that Strong was not included in the NXT releases made last Friday as he’s made it clear he wants out of the company.

Strong went to England in March for a quick run in NXT UK, defeating Wolfgang on the March 17 taped episode, then coming up short against NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov on the taped episode that aired on April 7. Strong lost to LA Knight and Tommaso Ciampa in SmackDown dark matches this past January, and took a WWE Main Event loss to T-BAR that same month, but there’s no word on if he’s being considered for a main roster run. His last NXT 2.0 TV singles match was the loss to Solo Sikoa on March 22, and then he competed in the Second Chance Triple Threat the following week for a spot in the NXT North American Title Ladder Match at Stand & Deliver, which also included A-Kid and the winner, current NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes.

Strong reportedly re-signed with WWE shortly before The Diamond Mine stable debuted last year. Original plans called for Strong to be in the group with wife Marina Shafir, manager Malcolm Bivens, trainer Hideki Suzuki, Tyler Rust, and Arturo Ruas, but less than one year later Strong is the only member of the originally pitched stable to remain with the company.

WWE recently began a storyline where Strong said he wanted to make changes to The Diamond Mine so they don’t fail like The Undisputed Era did. WWE released Bivens last week, along with 9 other budget cuts, and now the group consists of Strong, The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile.

Strong has reportedly remained professional in his handling of creative week-to-week. It was also noted that WWE officials currently have no plans to release Strong as he is factored into upcoming creative plans.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 5/2/2022

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina with the WrestleMania Backlash go-home build.

The Bloodline looks to take over Monday Night Raw tonight

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns are set to appear to hype their WrestleMania Backlash six-man with Drew McIntyre and RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro.

You can also expect the following programs to continue tonight, among others: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, Ezekiel vs. Kevin Owens, Asuka vs. Becky Lynch, AJ Styles vs. the Judgment Day stable.

Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis And Malcolm Bivens Among 10 Released from NXT Contracts

WWE released 10 performers from their NXT contracts Friday, including Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis and Malcolm Bivens, according to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.

Persia Pirotta, Harland, Draco Anthony, Paige Prinzivalli, Sanjana George, Mila Malani and Raelyn Divine were the other performers who also reportedly received their releases.

Kai, who had been under contract with WWE since 2016, spent her entire tenure in NXT and was a two-time NXT women’s tag team champion.

The 33-year-old Kai is a native of New Zealand who went by the name Evie on the independent scene before signing with WWE, winning championships in popular women’s promotions Shimmer and Stardom.

Kai was popular as both a face and a heel during her NXT run, but she is perhaps best known for teaming with and later feuding with Raquel Rodriguez.

Raquel and Kai held the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships together twice, including as recently as earlier this month when they dropped them to Toxic Attraction.

Rodriguez seemingly reacted to the release of her friend on Twitter:

Bivens signed with WWE in 2019 and managed multiple acts. Most recently, he was the mouthpiece for Diamond Mine, which features Roderick Strong, The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile.

Sapp added that WWE had asked Bivens to re-sign with the company in February, but he “made it clear” he didn’t want to.

Bivens went by the name Stokely Hathaway before joining WWE and spent time in Ring of Honor, Evolve, MLW and other independent wrestling companies.

AEW star MJF and Impact Wrestling star Moose were among the wrestlers Bivens managed before he went to WWE.

Bivens managed the tag team Indus Sher and singles wrestler Tyler Rust in NXT before finding his greatest success as part of Diamond Mine.

After news of his release broke, Bivens tweeted the following video, utilizing his signature sense of humor:

Lumis, 38, signed with WWE in 2019 after previously competing in Impact Wrestling under the name Samuel Shaw.

He became a cult favorite in NXT thanks to his on-screen romance with Indi Hartwell, leading to a storyline wedding. Collectively, Lumis and Hartwell were known as InDex.

Given NXT’s renewed focus on younger and less experienced Superstars, Lumis may have been a victim of circumstance due to his age.

Pirotta, a 25-year-old native of Australia, signed with WWE last year and spent much of her time in WWE teaming with Hartwell, who is a fellow Aussie.

Persia and Indi had recently started a storyline where they were in relationships with Duke Hudson and Lumis, respectively, and forced them to compete together as a tag team.

Harland, whose real name is Parker Boudreaux, played college football as an offensive lineman at the University of Central Florida.

He signed with WWE last year amid comparisons to a young Brock Lesnar and served as Joe Gacy’s on-air disciple. Harland recently disappeared from WWE programming during Gacy’s feud with NXT champion Bron Breakker.

Anthony’s most high-profile angle in NXT saw Gacy and Harland trying to recruit him, only for Xyon Quinn to step in.

That led to a match between Anthony and Quinn on the April 12 episode of NXT, which Quinn won. That marked Anthony’s final NXT appearance.

Source: Bleacher Report

The full list of released NXT Superstars is as follows:

  • Malcoml Bivens
  • Dakota Kai
  • Dexter Lumis
  • Harland
  • Persia Pirotta
  • Draco Anthony
  • Sanjana George
  • Mila Malani
  • Raelyn Divine
  • Blair Baldwin (referee)

Dakota Kai signed with WW in December of 2016 following a successful stint on the indies as well as a well-received run in Japanese promotion Stardom. Kai competed in the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match. With Raquel Gonzalez, Kai won the first-ever Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and was an inaugural NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion.

Dakota Kai posted the following on Twitter:

Above everything, thank you all. I am so overwhelmed at all the love and support. The DMs, txts, tweets.. you all have my heart. I love you. I am thankful for being able to meet, work, and intertwine with so many beautiful people, people I looked up to, people I learned from.. I met some of my best friends over these last few years that will remain in my life forever. I don’t know what’s next for me. I chose ‘Evie’ at 17 years old. That chapter is shut.. just know this; I’m far from being done.

WWE SmackDown Preview 4/29/22

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will be a taped last Friday at the MVP Arena in Albany, NY, due to the roster being in the UK for the European tour.

The following matches and segments were taped for tonight’s episode:

* Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn in a Steel Cage match as the opener

* WWE Intercontinental Champion Ricochet will defend against Shanky

* Raquel Rodriguez will make her official SmackDown in-ring debut vs. enhancement talent

* Madcap Moss appears on Happy Talk with Happy Baron Corbin

* WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler

* Xavier Woods vs. Ridge Holland

* Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus

* Contract signing for RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in the Winners Take All Title Unification match at WrestleMania Backlash

* “I Quit” Beat The Clock Challenge: Ronda Rousey (vs. Shotzi) and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair (vs. Aliyah)

* Appearances by Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Jinder Mahal, and others

Backstage News On The WWE NXT Meetings Where Female Talents Were Reportedly Asked To Dress Sexier

New details have been revealed on the WWE NXT women’s division meetings that Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion Athena (fka Ember Moon) called “stupid” in a recent interview.

Athena spoke with Chris Van Vliet to discuss various topics in a new interview this week. At one point she talked about how hurtful her NXT situation was, and how she saw the downfall once WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Paul “Triple H” Levesque was gone following his cardiac event. This is where Athena described meetings where she says female talents were told how to dress like NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.

She said, “When you care about something, not just for yourself but for everyone involved, it hurts so much more because, for so many years, I’ve been not about myself. I’ve been for the match and other people. To be told that I’ve done nothing wrong and I was taken off TV for doing nothing wrong, it hurt so bad because I was so happy walking into work. I remember when Shotzi left, I remember going to my makeup artist and saying, ‘I am so unhappy.’ We would have to sit through stupid meetings about how we’d have to dress sexy. I remember looking at someone else (and laughing). I cater to children. I’m not about to wear fishnet booty butt-cheek shorts because we had a two-hour meeting about how to dress like Mandy Rose. That’s not fair. Mandy is absolutely phenomenal and an amazing person, but not everyone is Mandy Rose. I started seeing this downslope as soon as Hunter was gone. For the first bit, we didn’t know why, we just knew he wasn’t there. I got so angry. I was sitting there thinking, ‘I did nothing wrong. I didn’t piss off Vince.’ They take Shotzi away, Hunter is gone. ‘You guys promised me this wouldn’t happen. You promised I wouldn’t be lost in the shuffle. I went on this losing streak to help you guys out and build other talent so I could get a reward.”

Fightful Select has revealed new details on the “stupid meetings about how we’d have to dress sexy” that Moon mentioned. These talent meetings were held back in October of last year.

WWE brought in fashion expert Melanie Pace to conduct the meetings back in October 2021. Pace bills herself as an Orlando-based on-air style expert, a fashion stylist, and a virtual stylist. She also works out of other cities, and serves as a wardrobe stylist, and personal shopper.

Pace took to Instagram and posted a few photos from the WWE Performance Center on October 18 of last year, and captioned it with, “Quick trip back to Orlando! Fashion talks with the best at @wwenxt [heart emoji]”

The meetings were reportedly held under the guise of “fashion consulting” and “fashion aid” as a way to play up the fact that the women on the NXT brand were larger-than-life Superstars. It was noted by one NXT wrestler how this was a stark contrast from before as people on the NXT roster were originally encouraged to wear either just their ring gear, or an available merchandise shirt.

Another talent noted how they were encouraged to dress similarly backstage, and didn’t outright say that “dressing sexier” was spoken aloud, but it was implied.

Several members of the roster expressed displeasure with the meetings, and blamed them on WWE Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis as they started taking place when he regained power. The meetings were seen as one of the big changes following Triple H’s departure when he took time off for his health last fall. While talent put the blame on Laurinaitis, it has not been confirmed that he came up with the meetings.

It looks like the meetings were not mandatory as numerous women reportedly refused to attend. The photo below from Pace shows at least 15 chairs set out for the wrestlers.

Athena was with WWE from September 2015 until her release on November 4 of last year. She had stints on the main roster and in NXT, and left the company as a one-time NXT Women’s Champion, and a one-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion.

Athena returned to the ring at Warrior Wrestling #19 on February 12, wrestling a Time Limit Draw to then-Warrior Wrestling Women’s Champion and current AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa. She also worked Warrior Wrestling #20 on March 12, in a Triple Threat with Rosa and Skye Blue. She took a loss to Mia Yim at the WrestleCon SuperShow, took another loss to Swerve Strickland at TWR Swerve’s House on April 16, and then returned to Warrior Wrestling for their WW 21 event on April 23, defeating Blue and Shazza McKenzie to capture the vacant Warrior Wrestling Women’s Title.

Source: Wrestling Inc.