Tag: WWE

Samoa Joe Released By WWE

On Thursday, WWE released former NXT Champion Samoa Joe from his contract.

Following the news of his release, Samoa Joe issued a statement on social media that you can read below:

This is the second time WWE has released Samoa Joe over the past nine months. He was also let go from the company on Apr. 15 of last year, but WWE wound up bringing him back on a new deal. Samoa Joe returned to television as William Regal’s “Special Enforcer”.

He would go on to claim the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver 36. Joe defeated Karrion Kross that night. Kross was among the company’s round of cuts in early November. In WWE, Joe won the NXT Championship three times and the United States Championship on two occasions. In 2015, he and Finn Balor teamed up to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

WWE has released several NXT wrestlers and employees since Wednesday. This included the stunning release of NXT mainstay William Regal, Scott Armstrong and WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg. Wrestlers Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thatcher, Danny Burch and Allison Danger were also released.

NXT talent contracts usually consist of 30-day non-compete clauses, and the clauses for main roster talents are traditionally for 90 days. It’s unclear how long Samoa Joe’s non-compete clause is for, but the well-respected wrestling legend shouldn’t have any problems finding a new home. Impact Wrestling could very well look to bring him back, and it obviously wouldn’t be a surprise if AEW made a play for the 42-year-old.

Various injuries unfortunately sidelined Samoa Joe for long periods of time in WWE after he joined the main roster in 2017. Still, Joe had high popularity among the fans and is an elite in-ring worker. Simply put, he should have had at least one world championship reign on the main roster, but WWE often failed to fully maximize his star power and potential. There’s little doubt that Samoa Joe will enjoy great success in his next stop.

Source: TheSportster

William Regal, Road Dogg And Others Released By WWE

WWE has made some more releases at the NXT brand. Those released include, Road Dogg, William Regal, Scott Armstrong, Timothy Thatcher, Danny Burch, Diamond Mine’s Hideki Suzuki, Cathy Carino aka Allison Danger, Gabe Sapolsky and a few other people working behind the scenes in NXT.

WWE has issued a statement to Fightful in the wake of the releases as more and more names are added to the list. “With the continued evolution of NXT 2.0, we’ve decided to part ways with some of the staff based in our Performance Center,” the statement reads. This comes after New Year’s Evil, the first NXT show of 2022 and one that marked more change for the brand as Bron Breakker won the NXT Title.

According to people close to the situation in NXT and at the Performance Center, the cuts are a continued attempt to remove everyone at the PC hired by Triple H. The biggest giveaway in that regard is the release of Road Dogg who has been close with The Game ever since the pair were in D-Generation X together.

Despite technically being under the employ of WWE since 2000, Regal was also brought into NXT and the PC in 2014 by Triple H. The former commissioner has worked closely with The Cerebral Assassin ever since, helping him to recruit talent for the NXT UK Title tournament which would eventually become the NXT UK brand. Wrestlers who worked under Regal have been sharing messages about the now-former NXT GM ever since the news broke.

The plot really does keep thickening in NXT and WWE as a whole when it comes to the company’s future. The role of Triple H, in particular, remains shrouded in mystery. The Game has been off TV and pretty much off work since he underwent surgery for a cardiac event a few months ago. While there is no reason to believe Triple H will be leaving the company, speculation will be more rife than ever before following the news above.

Sources: Fightful and TheSportster

Freddie Prinze Jr. Says WWE Offered To Sell “The Whole Product” To FOX

On this week’s Wrestling with Freddie podcast, Freddie Prinze Jr. was joined by Macaulay Culkin, as they delved into the world of WWE.

Culkin stated that he believes that WWE has lost focus of their product, as they are preparing to sell the company with current restructurings going on within. Freddie Prinze Jr. was quick to respond to reveal that WWE had previously offered to sell to FOX.

“I haven’t said this before, but I’ll say it now because it has been long enough,” Prinze Jr. began. “I was talking to a dude who was interviewing to be their COO, or they wanted to interview. They ended up going with Nick Khan, he had passed but he wanted to talk to me about the company. So we were just talking about the brand and all this, and he goes ‘yeah, they wanted us to buy the whole product.’ He’s an exec at FOX. He goes ‘they wanted us to buy the whole brand but the number they wanted wasn’t a number we were going to pay, so we licensed SmackDown instead.’”

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Macaulay Culkin highlighted particular flaws they felt WWE currently had. This included the revamping of the NXT brand. Prinze Jr. believes the brand went from “the most watchable brand in the whole company, to the most unwatchable in the space of a week.”

The pair were also critical about the way WWE handled Karrion Kross’ call up to the main roster by altering his character with a new look. Prinze Jr. said he felt bad for the former NXT Champion.

“When he came out [On RAW], in like the porno dungeon mask, and the red suspenders, I literally felt bad for the guy. I didn’t even know him. I reached out to a wrestler that I do know, who I happened to know was on the road with him, and I was ‘Yo man, give that dude a hug for me!’” Prinze Jr. said.

Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to Wrestling with Freddie podcast

Rick Steiner Appears With Bron Breakker After WWE NXT New Year’s Evil

The legendary Rick Steiner watched from ringside as his son Bron Breakker defeated Tommaso Ciampa for the WWE NXT Title in the main event of last night’s NXT New Year’s Evil event.

As seen in the photos and videos below, Steiner cheered his son on throughout the match, and then joined him in the ring for the post-match celebration after NXT went off the air.

Steiner was also greeted by Ciampa after the match. While Steiner was still in the crowd, Ciampa went over and shared a moment of respect with the former World Tag Team Champion, former WCW World Television Champion and former WCW United States Champion.

Breakker had noted in previous interviews that his father was supposed to be in the crowd for his first title match against Ciampa, back at Halloween Havoc in October, but he wasn’t there. There was no sign of Breakker’s legendary uncle, Scott Steiner, at tonight’s show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

For full results from last night’s WWE NXT New Year’s Evil click HERE – Wrestling INC

WWE NXT ‘New Year’s Evil’ Preview 1/4/22

NXT Title Match
Bron Breakker vs. Tommaso Ciampa (c)

Triple Threat for the NXT Women’s Title
Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Mandy Rose (c)

Title vs. Title Unification Match: NXT North American Cruiserweight Championship
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong vs. NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes

AJ Styles appears live to confront Grayson Waller

Imperium (WALTER, NXT Tag Team Champions Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) vs. RAW Tag Team Champion Riddle and MSK (Wes Lee, Nash Carter)

Alexa Bliss Returning To WWE RAW Soon

Alexa Bliss is set to return to WWE RAW soon.

WWE announced this week that we will begin to see Bliss’ journey back to RAW next Monday night. It sounds like a series of vignettes will be released, leading up to Bliss making her return to the storylines.

Bliss has been away from WWE since losing to then-RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on September 26. It was reported after the pay-per-view that Bliss would be taking “a few months” off due to sinus surgery. She noted on Twitter in late November that she needed “time to heal” when a fan asked about her return.

There’s been speculation on Bliss possibly returning with a new gimmick, or her old character. She was wrapping up the Lilly storyline the last time we saw her. There’s also speculation on Bliss possibly making her return in the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match later this month.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Paul Heyman Back With Brock Lesnar As His Advocate

Paul Heyman appeared with Brock Lesnar on Monday’s RAW and the two announced they are back working together as client and advocate.

Monday Night’s RAW confirmed that Paul Heyman is back working as Brock Lesnar’s advocate. No longer under Roman Reigns’ employ, Heyman has jumped back into the arms of the new WWE Champion and the two worked together Monday night, setting the stage for the Royal Rumble.

After WWE showed a highlight package from Saturday’s “Premium Live Event”, the lights went out and Heyman appeared in the middle of the ring to introduce his “client” Brock Lesnar. The new WWE Champion came to the ring and did confirm Heyman was, once again, his advocate. After sarcastically hoping Roman Reigns gets well soon, Lesnar turned the mic back over to Heyman who went on a long rant about every competitor in the Fatal 4-Way. He gave each props but said none would measure up.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1478173790530162690

Heyman really sold his client’s win on Saturday while Lesnar stood atop a self-made podium that was once being used as the ring steps. Lesnar didn’t talk much after going for a cheap pop with the South Carolina crowd and he let his advocate do the rest of the work.

This was as good a promo as one would expect from Heyman, but questions about where this leaves Lesnar as a heel or babyface are sure to follow. Is Heyman coming back to Lesnar a sign these two will go back to being heels? Or, is Heyman now a good guy too? Later on the show, WWE teased Friday’s SmackDown would offer more of Lesnar and Heyman, so potentially the WWE Universe will find out.

That Heyman is simply back with Lesnar could speak volumes when it comes to any future storyline that includes finishing off the Reigns/Lesnar/Heyman storyline. If a new No. 1 contender is crowned in the main event, perhaps the Lesnar vs. Reigns program will be pushed aside for quite a while and what Heyman was really doing all this time will take a back seat.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 1/3/22

The first WWE RAW of 2022 will take place tonight from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina with fallout from WWE Day 1.

No matches or segments have been announced for tonight’s show but WWE is teasing that The Miz and Maryse will respond to what happened at Day 1 with WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix. A mixed tag team match has been rumored.

Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory and AJ Styles vs. Omos are possible for this week after being nixed last week due to COVID-19 precautionary measures.

The next WWE pay-per-view is the Royal Rumble on January 29, so the build for that event should begin some time soon, if not tonight.

New WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will reportedly not appear on tonight’s post-Day 1 edition of WWE RAW. PWInsider reports that Lesnar returned home on Sunday, indicating that he will not be on tonight’s RAW from Greenville, SC.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Confirms Johnny Knoxville For The Royal Rumble

Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is headed to the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Knoxville took to Instagram to announce that he wants to win the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match later this month. Knoxville said he’s not impressed with the current WWE roster, taking shots at Big E and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Knoxville captioned his Instagram video with, “Happy New Year’s Day and love to everyone. I have a big announcement that I have been dying to get off of my chest. I spent a lot of times over the holiday thinking about how i wanted to start off my 2022, and I decided I want to do it kicking ass and taking names. And the best way to do that i feel is making a run for the Rumble, that’s right @WWE’s Royal Rumble. Training starts today, not that I will need a lot of it because I have seen the WWE’s current roster and it’s laughable to think anyone can throw me over the top rope. LAUGHABLE! I will be channeling my wrestling heroes like @therock, Abdullah the Butcher and the great Gorilla Monsoon. The way I’m looking at it I am giving myself a %100 chance of winning. What chance do you think I have? Sincerely, Johnny Knoxville, World Champ #roadtowrestlemania #royalrumble #wwe #jackassforever”

WWE responded to Knoxville’s Instagram video and wrote, “Good luck @johnnyknoxville!!”

Knoxville noted on the Jackass World Twitter account that winning the Rumble Match is one of his New Year’s Resolutions for 2022.

WWE ran Knoxville’s video during the inaugural WWE Day 1 pay-per-view, and seemingly confirmed him for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view later this month.

Knoxville’s Rumble appearance appears to be another promotional crossover for the Jackass Forever movie, which will be released on Friday, February 4. WWE ran a similar promotion last month as Knoxville, Chris Pontius and other members of the Jackass crew made a special appearance on the December 10 edition of SmackDown on FOX.

Knoxville’s last WWE TV appearance came on the October 4, 2010 RAW show when he was the guest star to promote Jackass 3D.

Knoxville will not be the first celebrity to compete in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match as WWE Celebrity Wing Hall of Famer Drew Carey made an appearance in the 2001 bout.

The 2022 WWE Royal Rumble will take place on January 29 from The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1477483868651352064
https://twitter.com/jackassworld/status/1477369464970567681

Drew McIntyre Reportedly Written Off WWE TV Due To Neck Issues

Drew McIntyre is reportedly suffering from a legitimate injury.

As noted, Saturday’s WWE Day 1 pay-per-view saw McIntyre defeat Madcap Moss in singles action. WWE later ran a backstage segment where Moss and Corbin attacked McIntyre during an interview. The attack ended with Moss and Corbin wrapping a chair around McIntyre’s neck, and then smashing it with a piece of lighting rig. WWE announced after the pay-per-view that McIntyre suffered a cervical neck strain with severe contusions during the backstage attack. It was also noted that upon further evaluation by WWE medical staff, McIntyre will have a follow-up with an orthopedic cervical specialist. There was some speculation on this being a storyline injury announcement, but now we know that there is more to it.

In an update, PWInsider reports that the Day 1 beatdown angle was done because McIntyre has been dealing with some legitimate neck issues for several weeks.

McIntyre now needs to undergo medical testing on his neck, which is why WWE wrote him out of the storylines as a way to be proactive about the situation.

There is no timeframe for McIntyre’s return to the ring, but there’s hope within WWE that his absence from the ring will be short-term. His status was described as “up in the air” until he gets checked out by doctors.

There’s been a feeling within WWE about how “insanely hard” McIntyre has been working in recent weeks, despite the issues with his neck. It was also noted how he’s pulled double duty at recent WWE live events on the annual Holiday Tour. One WWE source said McIntyre “went down swinging” to injury for the company.

McIntyre was seen leaving the State Farm Arena with a neck brace on after Saturday’s Day 1 pay-per-view.

Source: Wrestling Inc.