Tag: WWE

WWE Superstars Offer Support To Boy Who Was Bullied For Dwarfism, Possible Trip To WrestleMania 36

It looks like 9 year old Quaden Bayles could be going to WrestleMania 36.

The story of the 9 year old from Australia surfaced this week after his mother posted an emotional video about how he is bullied because he has Dwarfism. In response, several celebrities and brands have sent tweets and other messages in support of the boy and his mother.

Comedian Brad Williams, who also has Dwarfism, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help send Quaden and his mother from Australia to Disney in the United States. The campaign is currently trending and has raised $288,839 of a $10,000 goal, with more than 13,000 donors. The numbers are climbing as the story continues to go viral this morning.

Several WWE Superstars and other wrestlers, as seen in the tweets below, are also supporting Quaden. The MMA community has also reached out and the Bayles family has accepted an offer from ONE MMA CEO Chatri Sityodtong for free MMA lessons.

Williams, who kicked off the campaign of support for the boy, noted in one tweet that “multiple WWE Superstars” want to bring Quaden to WrestleMania 36 in Tampa this April.

“We are now over 35k. Multiple @WWE superstars want to bring him to WrestleMania. I’m one man trying to organize this. Can someone who works for a charity help me organize this? @WWE people? @Disneyland people? @TheEllenShow people?,” he wrote yesterday in one of many tweets trying to organize more gifts for Quaden.

Paige tweeted support for the boy and WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry responded with an offer to help. Paige has offered to pay for flights to Tampa and other WWE Superstars such as Natalya have offered to spoil the boy while he’s in town for a vacation. Below are related tweets from Henry, Paige, Natalya, The Bella Twins, Nia Jax, Kayla Braxton, Naomi, Matt Hardy, Big Show, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Dana Brooke.

Below are some of the tweets:

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1230616750246359040

https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1230592325015003136

https://twitter.com/KaylaBraxtonWWE/status/1230595150147182610

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE To Launch A Performance Center In Japan Soon

WWE is expected to launch their Japan Performance Center soon.

The announcement of the new WWE Performance Center in Japan is expected to come in the next few months, possibly around the summer time if everything goes as expected, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. WWE returns to Osaka and Yokohama in July for three live events, so it’s possible the announcement coincides with that tour.

WWE has reportedly reached out to WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki and Hiroshi Hase about the political situation surrounding the new PC in Japan. Hase, a semi-retired pro wrestler who once held the WCW International World Heavyweight Title, was named the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015.

It was believed that WWE would be working with Pro Wrestling NOAH for the new expansion in Japan, but NOAH was sold to the CyberAgent media company earlier this year.

The new report did not mention if there will be a WWE NXT Japan brand to go with the new Japan Performance Center, but that has been rumored for some time now.

The WWE Japan Performance Center will be the third PC for the company. The main Performance Center in Orlando, Florida was launched in July 2013 and the UK Performance Center in London, England was launched in January 2019.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW PPV Events To Replace WWE PPVs In Germany

AEW pay-per-view events will soon replace WWE pay-per-view events on Sky Germany.

Sky Deutschland announced this week that they are parting ways with WWE, and that this was a WWE decision. The current contract between the two sides expires at the end of March. Sky told customers that while WWE will no longer be offered, they will begin offering another wrestling league to fans beginning in April – AEW.

AEW Dynamite runs weekly on Sky each Friday at 9:50pm on TNT. Sky will begin offering AEW pay-per-view events “shortly” via the Sky Select service.

ProSieben Maxx continues to air RAW and SmackDown on free TV in Germany.

WWE and Sky Germany originally announced their multi-year deal to air WWE pay-per-views back beginning with Survivor Series 2016 back on November 16, 2016, and to start airing RAW and SmackDown on Sky Sports the following April.

You can see the announcement below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vickie Guerrero Claims She Can No Longer Interview WWE Stars Due To AEW Appearance

Vickie Guerrero claims her recent appearance on AEW Dark has made it so WWE stars can no longer be interviewed on her podcast.

Guerrero explained during last week’s episode of her show that she had asked to interview a few WWE Superstars, but when the company found out about her AEW appearances they stopped answering.

“They didn’t call me for two years,” she added. “What did they expect me to do? Just to sit here and wait for them to call so I could do some work? I love wrestling. I love to work in the ring. And if someone is giving me an opportunity to go and show up and have some fun, then I should be able to because I’m not obligated to anybody.”

In case you missed it, Vickie did guest commentary on the December 11 edition of Dark in Texas.

“To be part of a promotion, or anyone, you should encourage the people that are in the other promotions because it’s about everyone showing their talent and their craft,” the former WWE star continued. “I think there’s enough jobs out there, and promotions, to let everybody work and to let everyone contribute to what they want to do in the industry. So when someone told me I couldn’t interview the Superstars because I went to AEW, I was just like, ‘Wow. They’re gonna be like that.” So you just quietly move on and you see how they are and you just have to take care of your own business.”

CLICK HERE for the full podcast episode or listen to her comments about WWE below.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Samoa Joe Suffers Injury During Commercial Shoot

Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that Samoa Joe is not cleared to wrestle after suffering an injury while filming a commercial.

According to sources, the injury took place at a WWE commercial shoot last week when Joe hit his head during a bad table break as they were filming a stunt. While it’s unconfirmed at this point, sources say Joe could be out of action for a considerable amount of time.

As you’ll recall, Joe returned from a broken thumb at the end of last year. Upon his return, he joined Kevin Owens and the Viking Raiders in their feud against Seth Rollins and his disciples, but suffered a concussion last month which briefly took him out of action. He then wrestled last week on Raw, but was once again absent on Monday.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE NXT Preview 2/19/20

Tonight’s WWE NXT on the USA Network will feature the fallout from Sunday’s “Takeover: Portland” event.

  • The Velveteen Dream returns to action against Roderick Strong
  • NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin defends against Lio Rush
  • Chelsea Green looks to relaunch The Robert Stone Brand against Kayden Carter
  • What will be the fallout of Johnny Gargano’s shocking actions at TakeOver?

WWE Confirms Tito Ortiz Recently Trained At The Performance Center

WWE has confirmed MMA legend Tito Ortiz trained at the Performance Center last week.

WWE confirmed the news to ESPN on Thursday after Tito’s training session was first reported by the Wrestling Observer.

No additional details have been made public at this time, but this would not be Tito’s first time getting involved in professional wrestling. He was most famously part of the #August1Warning angle at Impact Wrestling which ultimately led to him joining Aces and Eights.

Tito’s 2013 TNA stint did not last long, however, as he was pulled by Bellator due to a scheduled fight.

Ortiz’s last MMA fight in December was a win over former WWE star Alberto El Patron with his old WWE title belt on the line.

Tito’s team had no comment when asked about the training session by ESPN.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

JBL Reportedly Set To Be Inducted Into WWE Hall Of Fame

JBL is reportedly scheduled to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 36 week, Wrestling Inc. has exclusively learned. It’s not known when the induction will be announced.

JBL is a former WWE Champion, a title he held for 280 days. He has also held the WWE Intercontinental Championship, as well as the WWF Tag Team Championship on three occasions with Ron Simmons.

After retiring from in-ring competition following WrestleMania XXV in 2009, JBL made occasional appearances for the company before becoming a commentator. He worked on-and-off as a commentator until he announced in September of 2017 that he was stepping away from WWE to dedicate more time on humanitarian work for at-risk youth and communities in Bermuda.

JBL last appeared for WWE at the 2018 WWE Tribute to the Troops event, where he worked on commentary.

WWE has so far confirmed Batista and the nWo (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman) for the 2020 Hall of Fame. As previously reported, The British Bulldog, The Bella Twins and Jushin Thunder Liger are also expected to be inducted into the 2020 Class.

The 2020 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place on Thursday, April 2nd from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Matt Hardy Comments Following Randy

Matt Hardy took to Twitter today with cryptic comments following last night’s attack from Randy Orton on WWE RAW. It’s believed that this could be the angle to write Matt off WWE TV as his contract expires on March 1st, but the same thing was rumored after the attack by Orton last week.

WWE noted during RAW commentary that Matt had been taken to a local medical facility after the chair attack from Orton, while he was wearing a neck brace.

Matt wrote, “When tragedy FRACTURES you, SHATTERS you.. Pick up the pieces & recreate yourself into something GREATER. The #BROKEN pieces won’t be lost in limbo forever. NEVAH LOSE FAITH.”

With that tweet, Matt linked to a new “In Limbo” video, which you can see embedded below. That episode features Matt, in the brace, commenting on how he’s in a horrible slump and a terrible losing streak. He chokes and says maybe he was meant to be “Choken” Matt Hardy.

Matt made another tweet today that translates to the cycle of death and rebirth. “SAMSARA,” he wrote.

The other post-RAW tweet from Hardy links to the original “Free The Delete” episode.

He wrote, “Sitting in my #ChairOfWheels at the hospital & just realized I’ve seen this exact moment before in a PREMONITION. One ESSENCE must PERISH for a new ESSENCE to be RESURRECTED.”

Stay tuned for updates on Matt’s WWE future. You can see the latest “In Limbo” video and cryptic tweets below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The British Bulldog Reportedly Set For The WWE Hall Of Fame, Bella Twins And Jushin Thunder Liger WWE HOF?

“The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 36 Weekend in Tampa.

There’s no word yet on when WWE will announce the induction or who will posthumously induct The Bulldog, but Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Bulldog’s induction has been confirmed.

Bulldog passed away at the age of 39 on May 18, 2002. He is a former WWE Intercontinental, European, Hardcore, and Tag Team Champion.

Bulldog’s family has pushed for his Hall of Fame induction for several years now, calling on other wrestlers to record video messages and make social media posts in support of the induction. It’s interesting to note that Bulldog’s son, David Hart Smith, recently returned to WWE programming for an appearance on The Bump, as Wrestling Inc. noted before at this link.

Regarding other 2020 inductions, it was noted that the reports of The Bella Twins and Jushin Thunder Liger going into the Hall this year are correct.

Image result for Bella Twins And Jushin Thunder Liger WWE HOF?

WWE has previously confirmed the headliners for this year – Batista and the nWo (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman).

The 2020 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on April 2 from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, during WrestleMania 36 Week.

Stay tuned for updates on the 2020 Class.

Source: Wrestling Inc.