Tag: WWE

Randy Orton Teasing Leaving WWE For AEW, Booker T Responds

Randy Orton recently got the wrestling world talking when he posted a cryptic picture on his Instagram account. The photo shows Orton looking at a sign at says “ELITE LEVEL.” The caption read “tick tock tick tock” and he tagged Riddick Moss, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, Luke Harper, AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and AEW World Champion Chris Jericho.

The post was spotted by Jericho who commented Orton’s post, stating, “Send in a tape and some pix and I’ll see what I Can do….??”

During the latest podcast of “The Hall of Fame” with Booker T, the WWE Hall of Famer spoke on the Instagram post from Orton. Noting that Orton is a man who “walks to the beat of his own drum”.

“Look at the talent they [AEW] has,” Booker said. “Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Randy Orton is an elite level player. I always said Randy Orton is an elite wrestler, an elite superstar.

“He’s my guy, I always said that and one thing about Randy is he’s always been a rebel, he’s always been a guy that walks to the beat of his own drum. If anybody was to do something crazy it would be Randy.”

Booker went on to suggest that Orton, who throughout his career has been involved in some controversial moments, is a man who likes to be “on the edge”.

“A lot of those guys over there [in AEW] are on the edge,” Booker added. “Look at Jon Moxley, he was on the edge. I’ll say it right now if it happens I would not be surprised, but I don’t think something like that is going to happen I think Randy Orton is safe and he’s taken care of very well in the WWE.

“But anything is possible. Like Randy “Macho Man” Savage would say ‘always expect the unexpected’.”

Back in 2010, it was reported that Orton signed a ten-year deal with WWE. With his contract coming up soon and Orton looking for an easier schedule, a tease to AEW could help in potential contract talks with both AEW and WWE. During a recent Twitch stream of Call of Duty, Orton praised AEW’s debut on TNT, and also talking about doing a potential match with Sammy Guevara down the line.

“Cody and Sammy Guevara, that kid can do some s–t,” Orton admitted. “I’d love to work with that kid. They had a great match. I thought opening the show with that match was a good idea and well received.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 10/28/19

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri with the final hype for WWE Crown Jewel.

  • Seth Rollins and Erick Rowan set to battle in Falls Count Anywhere Match
  • Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair to appear days before WWE Crown Jewel
  • Becky Lynch to face Kairi Sane on Raw in matchup of champions
  • Rusev and Lana will take their quarrel to “The King’s Court”
  • Ricochet looks to tip the scales for Team Hogan in rematch with Team Flair’s Drew McIntyre

Matt Hardy Releases First Episode Of “Free The Delete”

WWE star Matt Hardy is not broken at the moment, but in episode 1 of “Free the Delete” he teases the return of his popular persona.

The video begins with Señor Benjamin digging a grave and burying Matt in his Hardy Boyz gear. The wrestler then crawls out of the grave moments later as Broken Matt.

While getting out of the grave, Matt says via voiceover that he’s unburiable.

The whole thing ends up being a dream, however, and Matt is woken up by his two children. “Sorry guys, I was having a problem getting woken, I mean having a hard time waking up,” he says to Maxel and Wolfgang.

The video ends with Neric of the Seven Deities saying to him: “You have been led astray from your destined path, my child. Find it and seize it. Free the delete.”

Watch the video below.

WWE Statement On Jordan Myles T-Shirt Controversy, Jordan Myles Responds To WWE Statement “WWE Doesn’t Care About Black People”

WWE has released a statement on Jordan Myles saying he’s unhappy about the shirt they designed for him, claiming the wrestler collaborated with them on the design and gave them approval to sell it.

Myles tweeted a photo of the shirt on Sunday saying, “I will keep posting this till my voice is heard. I’m not sorry for anything I say or do. Representation is important. If this is [Vince McMahon] & [Triple H]’s “vision” of me then this is a slap in the face to EVERY African American performer, fan, and supporter.”

The NXT wrestler’s frustration is due to the combination of a black shirt, red lips and white teeth looking similar to racist blackface and “Sambo” imagery used to put down African Americans.

WWE released the following statement on the matter:

“Albert Hardie Jr. (aka Jordan Myles) approved this t-shirt for sale. As always, we work collaboratively with all of our performers to develop logos and merchandise designs and get their input and approval before proceeding. This was the same process with Albert, and we responded swiftly once he later requested that the logo/t-shirt be redesigned. No t-shirts were sold.”

The new shirt currently for sale on WWE’s custom site now resembles the Space Jam logo.

Jordan Myles has responded to WWE’s statement about his controversial t-shirt, claiming he was uncomfortable with it from the beginning but was told Triple H wanted the design.

“When I originally saw the design I was uncomfortable,” Myles tweeted. “Rather than addressing the issue I decided to counter offer with another. Baker Landon lied to my face! He said HHH wanted this design so my hands were tied. I spoke with [Triple H] in person and his impression was I approved.”

The 31-year-old wrestler tweeted a screen shot of an email correspondence on the matter with Landon, who is Creative Services Talent Coordinator at NXT, seen below.

Hey Albert,

Triple H attended a meeting and had a revision for your logo, but loved it for your character. He wanted to the letter to be more “teethy” and what I have attached is what he liked.

Also have basic t-shirts on there that he approved as well. Road Dogg preferred the gray, but let us know what you think!

Thanks, Baker

Myles also shared a video of himself saying, “WWE doesn’t care about black people” while throwing up a middle finger at the camera.

In addition, he wrote the following: “THE WHOLE WWE SYSTEM IS FRAUD! THEY CREATED THIS SYSTEM WHERE YOU CANT TRUST ANYONE, YOU GROW COLD, AND YOU GROW APART FROM WHAT YOU LOVE THE MOST! The fact that [Hulk Hogan] is still employed after giving the locker room an apology for being caught says enough. #ForTheCulture.”

UPDATE: Myles deleted the video, seen below, not long after posting it on Twitter. He also says the initial design showed to him was on a white background, not black.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Xavier Woods Reportedly Out Of Action For 6 months to 1 year After Undergoing Surgery

WWE SmackDown Superstar Xavier Woods reportedly underwent surgery to repair an Achilles tear earlier today, according to PWInsider.

There’s no official word yet on the timetable for Woods’ return, but PWInsider reports that it’s believed he will be out of action for 6 months to 1 year.

As noted, Woods suffered the Achilles injury at last Sunday’s WWE live event in Sydney, Australia. WWE confirmed the injury and pulled him from the rest of the tour, and word from within WWE was that the injury was really bad.

Woods suffered the injury, while teaming with Big E against SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival, after being Irish-whipped into the ropes. Fans in attendance noted that Woods came back off the ropes and just collapsed, clutching his ankle. Big E finished the match by himself as Woods was taken to the back.

Stay tuned for updates on Woods’ recovery and WWE status. For those who missed it, below is his tweet from earlier this week:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown Preview 10/25/19

Tonight’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown  -and WWE 205 Live will air live from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri with the final blue brand hype for WWE Crown Jewel.

  • WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez come face-to-face this week on Friday Night SmackDown
  • “Miz TV” heads to FS1 as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair preview the WWE Crown Jewel showdown
  • The New Day take on Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode ahead of largest Tag Team Turmoil Match in history at WWE Crown Jewel
  • Nikki Cross looks to continue SmackDown Women’s division ascent against Mandy Rose on FS1
  • Friday Night SmackDown heads to FS1 for one night only

WWE 205 Live will feature appearances by WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush, Raul Mendoza and Angel Garza, but no matches have been announced.

Backstage Updates On WWE NXT TV Possibly Airing From Arenas Outside Of Florida

There has been talk of taking the weekly WWE NXT TV show out of Full Sail Live in early 2020. Now it looks like NXT will continue to run Full Sail Live at times, just not every week.

The current talk going around is that NXT will continue to run Full Sail Live in 2020, just not weekly, with the idea of doing the other shows in arenas outside of Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Full Sail is a lot more cost-effective for the show, but the location and the look is believed to be part of the reason for the drop in viewership, especially with head-to-head competition with AEW Dynamite, according to the Observer.

WWE officials have reportedly had discussions with arenas for NXT TV starting in January 2020. The Observer adds that the main reason for doing the weekly USA Network NXT TV show from Full Sail Live was because they rushed to get the show on the air so they could get the jump on AEW, and didn’t have time to book arenas.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Special WWE Backstage Episode Announced For Friday Night

FOX has announced a special edition of WWE Backstage for this week.

The special episode will air tonight, on FS1, right after the weekly WWE SmackDown episode goes off the air on FOX.

Hosts Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be joined by WWE NXT Superstar Finn Balor, who turned heel on this week’s show.

The WWE on FOX tweeted this video yesterday of Renee announcing the special edition of Backstage. She also reveals that Paige and Christian will join them. This looks to be a regular role for Paige and Christian as they were also on the original WWE Backstage preview show that aired earlier this month.

This is the second WWE Backstage preview show to air. The official premiere of the show will air at 11pm ET on Tuesday, November 5. The studio show will then air each week in that same time slot.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1187498287365910528

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Start Time Changed For Next Week’s WWE NXT UK Episode, Debut And Match Announced

Next Thursday’s WWE NXT UK episode on the WWE Network will have a special start time of 11am ET.

The usual start time for the show is 3pm ET on Thursdays.

The time change for next week is due to the WWE Crown Jewel event. NXT UK will serve as the Crown Jewel lead-in as the Kickoff pre-show is scheduled to begin at 12pm ET, live from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Jewel main card is scheduled to begin at 1pm ET.

The following matches have been announced for next Thursday’s NXT UK episode on Halloween:

* A-Kid makes his NXT UK debut

* Jordan Devlin vs. Dave Mastiff

A-Kid is a 22 year old indie star from Spain. He recently signed with WWE and won a dark match over Joseph Conners for his debut, at the October 4 TV tapings in Brentwood, Essex, England. He then faced Kassius Ohno the next night, which could be the match that will air as his official debut next week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

 

WWE NXT Preview 10/23/19

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will air live from Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida.

  • Roderick Strong to defend NXT North American Title against Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic
  • Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley clash as NXT Women’s division heats up
  • How is Finn Bálor’s past his future?
  • Can Pete Dunne deal with both Damian Priest and Killian Dain?