Tag: WWE

Cody Rhodes & Brandi Rhodes Announce The Birth Of Second Child

Cody Rhodes & Brandi Rhodes Announce The Birth Of Second Child

The Rhodes family just got a little bigger. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi have announced the arrival of their second child, sharing the happy news with fans on social media.

The couple, who became first-time parents in 2021 with the birth of their daughter Liberty, are now celebrating the arrival of another baby girl. Born on August 29, 2025, the newest addition to the family has been named Leilani Ella Runnels.

Brandi shared the announcement on Twitter, posting a photo of herself holding her newborn’s tiny hand alongside a heartfelt message:

“Welcome to the world Leilani Ella Runnels. We are in love. Thank you God for answered prayers. Cody + Brandi + Libby + Lani = ❤️”

For Cody, this marks an especially meaningful time in his life, balancing the top spot in WWE with the joys of fatherhood. Fans and fellow wrestlers have already begun flooding the couple’s timelines with congratulatory messages, celebrating not only his championship reign but also the family milestone.

WWE SmackDown Preview 8/29/2025

WWE SmackDown airs tonight on USA Network from the LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.

Final stop en route to Clash In Paris on Sunday.

  • United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (c) vs. Sami Zayn
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Secret Hervis
  • WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Street Profits vs. Melo Don’t Miz
  • John Cena to appear

WWE NXT Preview 8/26/2025

WWE NXT tonight on The CW Network.

  • Fallout from Heatwave
  • Blake Monroe vs. Kelani Jordan
  • Blindfold Match: Lexis King vs. Myles Borne
  • The Culling (Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley) vs. Wren Sinclair & TBA
  • Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Sol Ruca, Lola Vice & ZARIA

WWE Raw Preview 8/25/2025

WWE airs live globally today live on Netflix from the bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England, beginning at 3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT.

  • Roman Reigns to kick off the show
  • Rhea Ripley vs. Judgment Day’s Roxanne Perez
  • Penta vs. The New Day’s Kofi Kingston

WWE (NXT) Heatwave 8/24/2025 (Results), Speed Titles Coming to NXT

New Champions Crowned, Title Matches Set, and Oba Femi Survives a War

NXT Heatwave 2025 delivered a night of surprises, hard-hitting action, and championship shakeups. From the women’s division to the tag team ranks, the card kept fans in Lowell, Massachusetts on their feet all evening. Here’s how it all went down:

Lola Vice Earns NXT Women’s Title Shot

The show opened with a fast-paced triple threat as Jaida Parker, Kelani Jordan, and Lola Vice battled for the No. 1 contender spot.

Parker started hot, overwhelming both opponents until Jordan and Vice briefly joined forces to cut her down. Alliances quickly broke apart as all three women traded momentum in and out of the ring, including Jordan hitting a wild corkscrew splash to the floor and Parker nearly sealing the win with a spinebuster.

The finish came after a chaotic closing stretch that included a “tower of doom” and multiple near falls. Parker connected with her Hipnotic on Jordan, but Vice was waiting with a quick roll-up to steal the pin and the victory.

👉 Winner: Lola Vice (becomes No. 1 contender to the NXT Women’s Championship)

DarkState Captures the NXT Tag Team Titles

The dominant reign of Hank & Tank came to a shocking end thanks to the chaos of DarkState. Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin did the heavy lifting, but interference from Cutler James and Saquon Shugars proved to be the difference.

Despite the champions’ spirited comeback — including Tank hitting a Swanton Bomb on both challengers — the numbers game was too much. DarkState capitalized on a distracted referee and put Hank away with a devastating Doomsday Device.

👉 Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions: DarkState

Ash by Elegance Becomes TNA Knockouts World Champion

With TNA President Carlos Silva watching from ringside, the Knockouts World Championship returned in a high-stakes triple threat between Jacy Jayne, Masha Slamovich, and Ash by Elegance.

The match was filled with interference and close calls, as Jayne had Fatal Influence in her corner and Ash leaned on her Elegance Brand entourage. Despite heavy strikes from Masha and big dives from both challengers, the end came when Jayne’s allies were ejected from ringside. That left the door open for Ash, who capitalized by pinning Slamovich after hitting her Swanton Bomb.

👉 Winner and NEW TNA Knockouts World Champion: Ash by Elegance

Blake Monroe Stuns Jordynne Grace

Former friends turned bitter rivals clashed as Jordynne Grace battled Blake Monroe in a physical showdown. Grace controlled much of the match with her signature power moves, but Monroe zeroed in on her arm and used every dirty trick possible, including exposing a turnbuckle.

After surviving a top-rope powerbomb, Monroe turned the tide by sending Grace face-first into the exposed steel before drilling her with a Double Arm DDT for the upset win.

👉 Winner: Blake Monroe

Chelsea Green & Ethan Page Score Mixed Tag Win

Lowell fans were firmly behind Chelsea Green, loudly chanting her name throughout her mixed tag with Ethan Page against Tavion Heights and Tyra Mae Steele.

The match broke down into chaos with Alba Fyre and the Elegance Brand getting involved, but Green had the final word. After a flurry of suplexes and a near victory for Steele, Green hit the Un-Pretty-Her to secure the win for her team.

👉 Winners: Chelsea Green & Ethan Page

Big Announcement: Speed Titles Coming to NXT

General Manager Ava revealed that both Men’s and Women’s Speed Championships are officially coming to NXT. Sol Ruca will defend her Women’s Speed Title at No Mercy against the winner of a new tournament.

Oba Femi Survives Je’Von Evans in Championship Epic

The main event saw Oba Femi defend the NXT Championship against Je’Von Evans in a match that had the crowd split and chanting “This is Awesome” before it was over.

Evans used his speed and high-flying arsenal to keep the champion off balance, but Oba’s size and strength proved overwhelming. A referee bump added controversy when Evans appeared to have the match won after hitting multiple cutters, but the original official waved it off after spotting Oba’s foot under the rope.

The end came in brutal fashion: Oba launched Evans through the announce table before finishing him with the Fall From Grace inside the ring.

👉 Winner and STILL NXT Champion: Oba Femi

After the bell, Ricky Saints confronted the champion, setting the stage for a new rivalry as Heatwave went off the air.

🔥 Takeaway: NXT Heatwave shook up the landscape with Lola Vice earning her first shot at the women’s crown, DarkState rising as tag team champs, and Ash by Elegance bringing the TNA Knockouts World Championship back to TNA. Meanwhile, Oba Femi proved once again why he is the most dominant force in NXT, though Ricky Saints is waiting in the wings.

  • Lola Vice def. Jaida Parker & Kelani Jordan
  • Chelsea Green & Ethan Page def. Tavion Heights & Tyra Mae Steele
  • Blake Monroe def. Jordynne Grace
  • Tag Team Championship: DarkState def. Hank & Tank (c)
  • TNA Knockouts Championship: Ash by Elegance def. Jacy Jayne (c) & Masha Slamovich
  • NXT Championship: Oba Femi (c) def. Je’Von Evans

WWE (NXT) Heatwave 8/24/2025 (Card)

WWE NXT Heatwave – Sunday August 24, 2025 – Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts

CARD

  • NXT Championship: Oba Femi (c) vs. Je’Von Evans
  • TNA Knockouts World Championship: Jacy Jayne (c) vs. Masha Slamovich vs. Ash by Elegance
  • NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Match: Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice
  • NXT Tag Team Championships: Hank Walker & Tank Ledger (c) vs. two members of DarkState
  • Jordynne Grace vs. Blake Monroe
  • Ethan Page & Chelsea Green vs. Tavion Heights & Tyra Mae Steele

Report: Medical Malpractice Possibly Linked to Hulk Hogan’s Death

The wrestling world is still reeling from the sudden loss of Hulk Hogan, and now new reports suggest his passing may be connected to medical malpractice.

According to a report from TMZ Sports, Clearwater police documents reveal that an occupational therapist was present at Hogan’s Florida home when he stopped breathing. The therapist allegedly told responding officers that Hogan’s death could be traced back to complications from a recent surgery.

While the exact procedure remains unclear — believed to have been either a heart-related operation or neck surgery — the therapist claimed that Hogan’s phrenic nerve was severed during the process. This nerve is essential because it activates the diaphragm, the muscle that makes normal breathing possible.

Sources close to the investigation noted that Hogan didn’t suffer a dramatic episode like chest pain or collapse. Instead, he simply stopped breathing. His wife, Sky, noticed the silence, realized something was wrong, and immediately called 911.

Police bodycam footage is said to have captured officers discussing the therapist’s claims at the scene, and the therapist’s direct statements may also be preserved on video.

Adding to the speculation, Hogan’s daughter Brooke has publicly called for a full autopsy. Sky Hogan later confirmed to TMZ Sports that her husband’s phrenic nerve was indeed “compromised” during surgery. She also revealed that an autopsy has already been conducted, though the family has chosen not to disclose the results at this time. Importantly, Hogan’s body has not yet been cremated.

This development raises major questions about whether one of wrestling’s most iconic figures may have lost his life due to surgical error. Fans and the industry alike will no doubt be following this investigation closely as more details emerge.

WWE SmackDown Preview 8/21/2025

WWE SmackDown Friday at 8/7C on USA Network and Netflix internationally from 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland

  • John Cena returns to SmackDown en route to battling Logan Paul at WWE Clash in Paris. 
  • Motor City Machine Guns vs. Melo Don’t Miz
  • R-Truth (Ron Killings) vs. Aleister Black

WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event Leaving NBC for Peacock as PLEs Head to ESPN

WWE’s big media shakeup continued Wednesday, as fresh details emerged about what’s staying on Peacock now that Premium Live Events are moving to ESPN’s new streaming service.

After announcing WrestlePalooza for September 20 as the first-ever PLE on ESPN’s platform, questions swirled about what this meant for WWE’s existing Peacock deal. By the end of the day, both sides cleared things up with a new press release confirming that Peacock will still be an important home for WWE programming—just with a different lineup.

The biggest change? Saturday Night’s Main Event is shifting away from its traditional NBC broadcast slot and will now stream exclusively on Peacock four times a year. That includes the highly anticipated December 13 edition, which doubles as John Cena’s farewell match.

Peacock will also keep WWE’s vast content library through the end of 2025, giving fans access to decades of classic pay-per-views and original specials. What happens after that remains a mystery, though reports have hinted that the library could eventually make the jump to YouTube.

Additionally, NXT Premium Live Events are staying put on Peacock through March 2026, since they were not part of the ESPN deal. Fans can also continue watching SmackDown the day after it airs on USA Network, ensuring Peacock subscribers still get a steady dose of current WWE action.

Interestingly, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Peacock itself signed off on WWE exiting the mainline PLE agreement earlier than expected. By running two-night versions of WrestleMania and SummerSlam, WWE was able to fulfill its content quota faster than planned, clearing the way for ESPN to jump in ahead of schedule.

With main roster PLEs heading to ESPN, SNME moving to Peacock, and Cena’s last match set for December, WWE is juggling multiple platforms—but fans won’t be short on ways to watch.

WWE Confirms Premium Live Events Jumping to ESPN’s New Streaming Service Sooner Than Expected – WrestlePalooza In Indianapolis Set as First Show 9/20/2025

WWE’s deal with ESPN is kicking in way earlier than fans thought. Instead of waiting until 2026, WWE announced this week that its Premium Live Events (PLEs) will move to ESPN’s brand-new direct-to-consumer streaming service immediately following Clash in Paris. That event, set for August 31, will mark the final WWE PLE airing on Peacock in the United States.

The shift comes after WWE reportedly hit its PLE quota with Peacock. According to Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline, the extra day of SummerSlam plus shows like Evolution helped WWE fulfill its contractual obligations ahead of schedule. What isn’t clear yet is where the massive WWE library—including decades of pay-per-views, documentaries, and specials—will end up once the Peacock deal fully wraps.

Starting August 21, fans can subscribe to ESPN’s DTC platform, with WWE events included under the “Unlimited Plan.” Select shows will also simulcast on ESPN’s linear TV channels, giving PLEs more visibility outside of just streaming.

And WWE isn’t wasting any time launching the new era. The company confirmed WrestlePalooza for September 20 at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Not only is this the long-rumored counter to AEW’s All Out weekend, but it also marks the very first WWE PLE to air exclusively on ESPN’s streaming service.

For fans, this raises plenty of questions about accessibility, costs, and how the ESPN subscription tiers will affect viewing. But one thing is certain: WWE is making another big play to expand its reach, and ESPN is putting wrestling front-and-center as it launches its next big digital project.

ESPN provided further information on its DTC service page outlining the subscription packages.