Tag: WWE

WWE Announces Celebration For 25-Year Anniversary Of The Rock’s Debut

Nov. 17 will mark the 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s WWE debut. The company announced plans to celebrate it “all month long.”

The 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s professional wrestling match debut is coming up, and WWE has plans to honor the sports entertainment legend.

Nov. 17 will mark 25 years since the wrestler-turned-actor debuted for WWE at the Survivor Series 1996 pay-per-view. He debuted under the ring name “Rocky Maivia”, winning a 4-on-4 tag team elimination match by last eliminating Crush and Goldust.

On Monday, WWE announced that they will be celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s debut throughout the month of November:

WWE uploaded two videos featuring The Rock on their YouTube channel on Monday. One of them is a montage of all The Rock’s WWE Championship wins, and the other is his singles match against Hall of Famer Kurt Angle on the July 18, 2002 episode of SmackDown. That bout resulted in a disqualification when The Undertaker interruptred and attacked The Rock.

The Rock emerged as one of the two new main event babyfaces of WWE during the Atittude Era, along with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Both wrestlers were instrumental in helping the company defeat the rival WCW promotion in the “Monday Night Wars”. Their respective arrivals came at much-needed times, as WCW was on the verge of putting Vince McMahon and company out of business.

It was previously reported that WWE was hoping to bring in The Rock for Survivor Series 2021, which will run on Nov. 21 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. However, he will reportedly be occupied filming in Australia during the marquee event.

It’s been more than five and a half years since The Rock last wrestled a WWE match. That took place at WrestleMania 32, where he defeated Erick Rowan via pinfall in just six seconds. The Rock was subsequently surrounded by The Wyatt Family, but John Cena — who was sidelined while recovering from shoulder surgery at the time — showed up to aid his former rival.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 11/1/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

For what it’s worth, the WWE website has Karrion Kross advertised for tonight’s show. He has been away for a few weeks amid rumors of another change to his character. Bobby Lashley is also advertised, which would be his first appearance since losing to WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg at Crown Jewel.

WWE SmackDown Preview 10/29/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will air on FS1 due to MLB World Series coverage on FOX. The show will air live from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show, but they are advertising that the new era will continue from last week.

Superstars advertised to appear by WWE tonight include WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, The New Day, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Drew McIntyre. The arena also has WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura listed, plus a dark main event with Reigns and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. McIntyre and The Street Profits.

Last week’s SmackDown featured teaser promos from blue brand newcomers Ridge Holland, Aliyah, Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, and Sheamus, so it will be interesting to see if they are used on tonight’s show.

Tonight’s show should also see the arrival of a new blue brand ring announcer as Greg Hamilton was released this past week. There is no word on who will replace him.

FS1 will air two encore presentations of SmackDown tonight. The first replay will go head-to-head with AEW Rampage. SmackDown will air on FS1 from 8pm until 2am tonight.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Releases SmackDown Ring Announcer Greg Hamilton

WWE has reportedly released SmackDown’s ring announcer, Greg Hamilton.

WWE has parted ways with ring announcer Greg Hamilton. The reason for his departure remains unclear at this time.

2021 has been an incredibly busy year for WWE when it comes to releasing its employees. More than 50 have been shown the door already during this calendar year, and it seems you can now add another name to that list. According to PWInsider, Greg Hamilton, the ring announcer for SmackDown on Friday nights, has been let go.

The news comes after Hamilton removed any mention of WWE from his Twitter bio earlier this week and made his account private. Fans who noticed that wondered whether Hamilton had been released by WWE and apparently, that is indeed the case. Hamilton’s Instagram page still reads he is a WWE employee and links to his company page at this time.

The reason why Hamilton has been released from his contract currently remains unclear. However, the timing of it seems incredibly coincidental. The announcer was involved in quite a public clash with rapper Westside Gunn. Gunn is a big wrestling fan and used a sample of Hamiltion’s voice on one of his latest tracks.

Gunn didn’t clue Hamilton in on this beforehand, angering the announcer. Hamilton publicly threatened legal action on Instagram via a number of posts and replies to comments that have since been deleted. At one point, Hamilton threatened Gunn by saying if he didn’t contact him and his lawyer to settle and resolve the issue, he would employ the help of WWE’s lawyers instead and take the rapper to court.

Again, it is currently unclear why WWE has released Hamilton. His recent comments towards Gunn might be completely unrelated. It’s also possible Hamilton requested his release from the company, although it’s unclear why he would do that. Unless the two things are linked and the announcer didn’t have the backing of his employers after threatening to use their legal team for all to see on social media.

Source: TheSportster

Earlier today, Hamilton posted a statement, calling his release “a mutual respect departure.” Hamilton noted family is his priority and being on the road all year was too much.

“After six years and 52 weeks a year, it’s time to say ‘goodbye,’” Hamilton wrote. “First and foremost, don’t let the internet or social media gas you up; this was a mutual respect departure from a great company. Nothing but respect from both sides. It’s business. Also understand that what you see on social media is exactly that. It’s not real life. Especially for your favorite Superstars. They are human beings with real lives, and INCREDIBLE human beings. The hate, the bullying…that is read and internalized by real human beings…not characters. That needs to be said for my friends.

“And as I get older, my mother is in her 70’s; my sister Jessi, who has cerebral palsy…those are my priorities. Not chasing fame, not being on television. 52 weeks a year became too much. Without our mental health, we have nothing. But man…what a ride. There are truly no fans like the #WWEUniverse. Wow. Six continents over six years; embracing your love and passion has truly changed me as a person. I am forever grateful.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CViKbAyrF4X/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=5d29b9cb-b46b-4735-9493-6f624125b572

Hamilton worked for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and the Miss America organization before coming to WWE, and did other TV work for FOX, NBC and CBS in various key markets.

No word yet on who will replace Hamilton on SmackDown going forward.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Chucky Bothering Bron Breakker At Halloween Havoc Was A Tribute To Rick Steiner

Chucky had a bone to pick with Bron Breakker at Halloween Havoc, much like he did with his dad Rick Steiner 23 years ago.

Chucky wasn’t bothering Bron Breakker and making random references to Rick Steiner for no reason. It was an obscure homage to WCW that many fans might not be aware of.

Halloween Havoc called NXT home on Tuesday night and played host to no fewer than three title changes. The Women’s Title and both sets of Tag Team Championships changed hands on the show. The only Superstar who was unable to win his title match was Bron Breakker who tried but failed to dethrone Tomasso Ciampa.

Those who watched Halloween Havoc will have had to put up with multiple Chucky references. The creepy doll was NXT’s special guest for the evening. However, not all of Chucky’s appearances were entirely random. The ones that revolved around Breakker were actually pretty cool tributes to his father, Rick Steiner.

In case you didn’t know, which is entirely likely as it happened on an episode of Nitro 23 years ago, Chucky was once a guest on WCW Nitro. The doll bothered Steiner that night, hence the multiple references involving Breakker at Halloween Havoc. The first one featured Breakker, who was preparing for his match at the time, being startled to find Chucky sitting in his locker.

The doll then played the role of hype man for Breakker and Ciampa’s main event match. Chucky even wondered out loud whether being a loser runs in Breakker’s family. No, that wasn’t a cheap shot at the Steiners by WWE as some fans may have interpreted it. It was indeed a call back to the obscure interaction between Steiner and Chucky on Nitro.

Despite what many fans thought might happen in the main event, Breakker did not come away from it the new NXT Champion. While he has been getting a monster push since NXT became NXT 2.0, and fans seem to be gravitating to him, that’s probably for the best. The title match at Halloween Havoc was only his fourth since signing with NXT.

Source: TheSportster

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Preview 10/26/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will be the 2021 Halloween Havoc special, airing live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

It’s been reported that the first 30 minutes of tonight’s show will air commercial-free on the USA Network.

Several NXT Superstars will be dressed in Halloween costumes on tonight’s show, and fans attending the show have been invited to wear their favorite Halloween costumes. The best fan costume will get to meet a NXT Superstar, and some fan costumes will be shown on the broadcast.

Below is the current line-up for tonight:

Halloween Havoc Host: LA Knight

Halloween Havoc Special Guest: Chucky

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

Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT Women’s Title Match
Mandy Rose vs. Raquel Gonzalez (c)
Wheel stipulation to be revealed tonight.

Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: NXT Tag Team Titles Match
Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner vs. MSK’s Wes Lee and Nash Carter (c)
Wheel stipulation to be revealed tonight.

Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal: Scareway To Hell Ladder Match for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles
Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark (c)

The debut or return of a new mysterious Superstar

The debut of Solo Sikoa

Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis have invited NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams to a Haunted House to get Hayes’ missing title belt back

WWE Reveals Which Brands Most Undrafted Superstars Are Now On

An internal list distributed within WWE has revealed where a few of its undrafted Superstars now call home.

A new report has revealed where which brands a handful of WWE Superstars who went undrafted now find themselves on.

WWE held its two-night 2021 draft earlier this month, and now that Crown Jewel has passed, the picks made during that draft have now taken hold. That left a lot of fans with a few unanswered questions since some Superstars were left without a brand following the draft. A new report courtesy of PWInsider has cleared that up, to an extent.

There were nine Superstars left without a brand to call home following night two of the draft. Even the supplemental picks made during Raw Talk didn’t address the omissions. PWInsider’s report reveals that an internal list in WWE includes all nine of those stars. However, three of them are yet to be assigned to any brand.

The three stars left unassigned are Bayley, Lacey Evans, and Eva Marie. Evans recently gave birth, and Bayley is sidelined with a long-term injury, so not giving them a brand makes sense. Marie not having a show is interesting, though. The last time All Red Everything was on WWE TV, Shayna Baszler was seemingly breaking her arm as part of an angle. Perhaps the real reason for that was so Marie could have time off to recover from a real injury or for some other reason.

As for the other six Superstars, Brock Lesnar is currently assigned to SmackDown despite boasting he will be a free agent. He won’t be showing up anywhere for a while since he was suspended as a part of his ongoing rivalry with Roman Reigns last week. Dakota Kai also makes the list, and despite wrestling trial matches during dark matches on the main roster, it seems she will remain in NXT.

The remaining four names on the list are Asuka, Elias, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado. All four of them are currently assigned to Raw and appear to have been absent for a variety of different reasons. Metalik reportedly requested his release, and it seems likely that if he leaves, Dorado will follow him. WWE teased a return for Elias via a number of packages only to seemingly scrap it unannounced. As for The Empress, well, why she hasn’t wrestled for more than three months remains a mystery.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 10/25/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW season premiere will take place from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with fallout from WWE Crown Jewel.

WWE is hyping up a new era to begin with tonight’s RAW as red brand changes from the WWE Draft will officially go into effect. They are teasing a possible new challenger for WWE Champion Big E, plus new roster arrivals such as The Street Profits, Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez, Austin Theory, Bianca Belair, RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Otis and Chad Gable, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio, WWE Hall of Famer Edge, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Liv Morgan, Mia Yim, Seth Rollins, Tegan Nox, Queen Zelina Vega, and Gable Steveson, among others.

Report Suggests Charlotte Ruining Friendships In WWE Locker Room Due To Recent Behavior

Reports keep surfacing about Charlotte’s situation in WWE. The latest is that she’s made a number of enemies backstage due to her behavior.

The Charlotte Flair reports that have her in speculated hot water with management and her fellow WWE wrestlers are only growing over the weekend. According to a new report by Wade Keller of PW Torch, Charlotte has been acting so strangely and become so paranoid about her place in the WWE pecking order that she’s lost a number of friends and Becky Lynch is being seen as a bit of a hero backstage for not letting Charlotte get away with her immature behavior.

Keller offered an update on PWTorch VIP regarding the recent situation between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch that stemmed from their segment on WWE SmackDown this past Friday. The reports suggest things have been heated backstage for a lot longer than this past Friday when Flair dropped the title belt on the mat and allegedly refused to do the angle as scripted because she thought it would make her look bad.

Keller contends that trusted sources, who don’t have anything against Charlotte, noted, “From what I’m told from people behind the scenes [is that] none of the women want to work with her.” He adds, that it’s not limited to wrestling. They don’t want to be in the same segment, in the ring, on the mic with her because they can’t trust she won’t just go into business for herself in an attempt to save face. He noted, “I don’t hear anyone defending Charlotte in this” and said that “Charlotte’s acting is gonna cause issues both with colleagues and with management.”

Keller said, “Charlotte has a reputation flat out for being difficult and constantly concerned that she’s not getting the respect that someone of her stature and accomplishment or at least her character stature and her character’s accomplishment.” As such, she’s been doing what she wants in the ring which could explain her run-in with Nia Jax a number of weeks ago and why the Lynch segment on Friday seemed so off. Charlotte has been telling people backstage the belt drop was an accident, but it doesn’t sound like people are buying it because she’s developing a pattern for acting in her own best interests.

The biggest takeaway from Keller’s comments is that Charlotte has really isolated herself from the rest of the locker room and she’s quickly losing friends backstage. She seems to think that she’s untouchable because the women’s roster isn’t as deep and WWE needs her. At the same time, she’s “in her own head and overreacting to things and over scrutinizing things.”

All the while, her former friends and the rest of the division look at her and thinks she’s no better than anyone else there. Keller said, “… this situation needs to be addressed and I know there’s people who used to like Charlotte that don’t even recognize her anymore.”

Source: TheSportster – h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription

WWE SmackDown Preview 10/22/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas with fallout from Thursday’s WWE Crown Jewel event.

WWE is hyping that a new era of SmackDown will begin tonight as changes from the 2021 WWE Draft officially go into effect today. Several new blue brand Superstars will be featured on tonight’s show, including Drew McIntyre, The New Day, Jeff Hardy, Hit Row, Ridge Holland, Shayna Baszler, Sheamus, Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Ricochet, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, MACE, Jinder Mahal, Shanky, The Viking Raiders, Humberto Carrillo, Angel Garza, Aliyah, Drew Gulak, and RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. It will be interesting to see if WWE swaps the women’s titles between Flair and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, who is now on RAW.

WWE is also teasing Brock Lesnar for tonight’s SmackDown. WWE noted after Crown Jewel how Lesnar was heard saying he planned to beat WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns senseless as soon as he got to the show tonight.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s SmackDown as of this writing.