Joe Hendry hopes that his TNA title win inspires people to chase their dreams.
The TNA world title is the first major championship Hendry has won in his career. Despite being active in the business for 12 years, Hendry’s breakout year came in 2024 and he has finally started getting the recognition he deserves after more than a decade in the business.
The new TNA Champion reflected on his years of hard work in a new interview with WrestleZone. While discussing his previous losses to Nic Nemeth before he finally defeated the wrestling veteran for the championship, Joe Hendry said that the whole story is very representative of his real life:
“Taking three times is very representative of my real life. If you look at all the things that I’ve done in my life, it’s taken me a long time to do them. When I started amateur wrestling, I think I had probably about six or seven attempts at national titles before I finally won one. I had been to TNA before in the past, and it only lasted a few months. I’ve been other places, something or other didn’t quite work out.”
Hendry got his first shot at the World Championship at the Slammiversary event last July. Coming off the success of his viral theme song, many thought Joe would win the bout but it didn’t end up being the case. After being diverted to a feud with Josh Alexander, Hendry got his second opportunity at the world title at Bound For Glory in October but he lost the match again due to interference from JBL.
After finally succeeding in his quest at the Genesis event on January 19, Joe Hendry explained that he’s never gotten anything in life in his first try. Having to work his way back up to the card and the title match after every defeat, the new champion hopes that his story will help teach the importance of not giving up to people:
“In my life through all the things I’ve done, I never get things the first try. So doing it this way is actually a bit of a snapshot into my life, and I hope it inspires people to realize that when not to be cliche, but when you do get knocked down, you just have to keep going and being relentless and believe in yourself.
If you keep doing the right things you’re supposed to be doing, it’s going to happen, and you’re going to get there. That is who I am. That it happened in this way, that is Joe Hendry.”
Joe Hendry had his first title defence after winning the championship at the first live episode of Impact in eight years this week. You can check out who was his surprise opponent for this bout here.
Posted January 25th, 2025 in TNA. Tagged: Joe Hendry.
Former WWE star Commander Azeez aka Dabba-Kato has detailed his experience of traveling to Saudi Arabia with the company for their first PPV event.
WWE’s 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority started with the Greatest Royal Rumble event in 2018. Azeez who had been signed by the company to a developmental contract in 2016, made his TV debut at this event.
The wrestling giant reflected on his experience working the show in a new interview with MuscleManMalcolm. He revealed that he was told to sign a waiver before he could get on the plane to reach the country:
“To travel there, you need to sign a waiver. There is a waiver. The waiver says that you are aware to what country you’re going to.
There are some legal consequences for stuff that is different in the States. I don’t remember all of the points, but I remember one point was ‘Beheading,'”
Commander Azeez who was the 37th entrant in the match lasted about 5 minutes before being eliminated by the eventual winner Braun Strowman. He would continue his work in developmental after this appearance, later making his Raw Underground debut under the ring name Dabba-Kato.
Staying on the topic of his Saudi trip, the 36-year-old was asked if beheading was something that could happen if he did something wrong. The wrestling star replied positively saying it made the whole trip extreme even before he got there:
“Yes. I had to sign it in the office, that I’m aware of this. I signed it. Even before we got there, it was already extreme.”
After the end of Raw Underground, Dabba-Kato was repackaged as Commander Azeez in 2021, and paired with Apollo Crews. He continued making sporadic appearances for the company after the end of this run before being released in September, 2023.
Nia Jax says Tiffany Stratton cashing in the Money In The Bank contract on her was a beautiful moment and she was a little proud of the young star.
Tiffany won the Women’s Money In The Bank match at the namesake event in July last year. The former NXT star then formed an alliance with Jax, helping her win the WWE Women’s Championship from Bayley at SummerSlam 2024.
Stratton’s MITB win made this dynamic very interesting with WWE teasing a potential cash-in on multiple occasions. They finally pulled the trigger on it at the January 3 episode of SmackDown earlier this month.
The former Women’s Champion talked about the 25-year-old ‘stabbing her in the back’ during a recent interview with Stay Busy with Armon Sadler. Nia Jax proclaimed that it was something she had never experienced before and told Tiffany to keep an eye out for her:
“There is part of me that is a little proud of her because I taught her well, I can’t lie. The betrayal still eats at me. She definitely shouldn’t be sitting comfortably,”
The wait for Tiffany’s cash-in was unusually long with WWE teasing it on multiple occasions only to back out. Nia Jax discussed how the large number of teases had made fans kind of numb to yet another tease and it was fun to shock the people who always think that they know everything:
“I thought it was beautiful. I’m torn. It was a beautiful moment to watch my Tiffy become champion. Being at the other end of it, did it hurt a little bit? Yes, but watching the reaction of the crowd when she hit me on the back, when I was watching back and reactions, I couldn’t even hear myself in that moment.
It was beautiful. It was beautiful that everybody was like, ‘Oh, it’s not going to happen.’ She played it perfectly. I have to give her, her flowers on that one.”
Nia Jax who is a SmackDown star has been making appearances on Raw in recent times as part of the Transfer Window. While her move has not been confirmed officially, it seems likely that Jax will become part of the Raw roster after the end of her title reign.
WWE’s longtime headquarters Titan Towers has been sold with the new owners intending to convert it into an apartment complex.
According to CT Insider, the six-story building located at 1241 E. Main St. on Stamford’s east side has been acquired by real estate firm MB Financial Group for $3.75 million.
The firm which has previous experience in redeveloping big buildings into residential properties, intends to do the same with the old WWE HQ:
“Our intention is definitely to do this within the existing building,” said Michael Massimino, CEO and Managing Partner of MB Finance “Right now, we’re in our conceptual phase, as far as laying out density and common-area amenities.”
Once the plan for the redevelopment has been approved by local zoning officials, the new owners of the Titan Towers are expecting the whole process to be complete by the first half of 2027, with more than 80 residential units available for people.
The decision to sell Titan Towers came after WWE announced intentions to move its headquarters to downtown Stamford back in 2019. The move that was delayed due to the pandemic finally began in 2023 and the building at 1241 E. Main was then put up for sale in mid-2024.
The wrestling giant also recently completed the sale for its old production studio located at 120 Hamilton Avenue, Stamford. The studio was acquired by V20 Group for approximately $7.5 million
Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey was one of the celebrities in attendance for the January 24th episode of WWE SmackDown from Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The acting star was shown sitting in the front row right behind the announcer’s desk during the broadcast. Former Universal Champion Kevin Owens also acknowledged The Golden Globe award winner during the episode.
Owens targeted McConaughey while cutting a promo standing at the announcer’s table. KO told the Texas native that he’s going to beat Cody Rhodes the same way Ohio State Buckeyes beat Texas Longhorns in a recent Football match.
McConaughey also got to meet The Undertaker backstage during the night and the Dead Man gifted him a Texas-WWE Legacy Championship
From one Texas Longhorns fan to another! @undertaker just gifted @McConaughey the perfect WWE Legacy Title ?
Along with Matthew McConaughey, names such as Shane Gillis, Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias, and Tony Hinchcliffe were in attendance for the event as well.
Kevin Owens is set to challenge Cody Rhodes in a ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV on February 1.
WWE has announced that Shawn Michaels will be holding a contract signing segment between the two for the title match at this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 25.
Apart from this segment, the show also featured a couple of big announcements including confirmation of the return date for former Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. You can check out more about it here.
A couple of former world champions in The Miz and Damian Priest have been moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the transfer window.
Both these trades were confirmed during the January 24 episode of the Blue Branded show. The A-Lister was first informed of his move while meeting General Manager Nick Aldis in a backstage segment.
The Miz orchestrated to get the Wyatt Family moved to SmackDown before to try and get away from the group so he was not happy with this latest change.
The Miz tried to form an alliance with Greyson Waller and Austin Theory after this move to save himself from the Wyatts. Nick Aldis however, revealed another trade and informed the A Town Down Under that they were being moved to the Raw brand instead.
Apart from this, WWE also confirmed the return date for former Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair during the show. You can check out more about it here.
Dominik Mysterio has revealed his memories of his dad Rey Mysterio’s incredible Royal Rumble win.
The young veteran recently had an interview with the Babyfaces podcast to promote the upcoming PPV. He talked about things such as the global impact of Raw being on Netflix, his love for country music and more.
When asked for his favorite Rumble memories, Dominik Mysterio revealed that one of the Rumbles he vividly remembers is when his father Rey Mysterio won the whole thing in 2006:
“Yeah dude, I love the Rumble. It’s one of those things where you really never know who’s going to come next. So it really is a surprise. But for me one of my favorite Rumbles is when my Deadbeat unfortunately won. Because I thought, I was a big Randy Orton guy, so like I thought Randy was gonna take it.
And then Deadbeat just comes in and ruins it. But shout out to Triple H too, pulling him out, being a sore loser, throwing him against the steps. I thought that was pretty cool. I was like, all right this is a done deal. Randy’s got it in the bag, but no. But anyways I’m excited for the Rumble man. The Rumble’s always, it’s been one of my favorite pay-per-views of all time for sure.”
Rey Mysterio had entered at #2 in the ’06 Rumble right behind Triple H. He spent 62 minutes and 12 seconds in the match and eliminated 6 people to win the battle royal. He then went on to defeat Randy Orton and Kurt Angle in a triple threat to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22.
Royal Rumble this year will be taking place from Indianapolis, Indiana on February 1. You can check out a list of confirmed participants for this year’s battle royal here.
Baron Corbin believes there was one particular person behind his WWE release.
2024 saw some really surprising departures from the company including names such as Indi Hartwell, Jinder Mahal and Bobby Lashley. Though probably none of these was as shocking as the departure of the Lone Wolf.
Being an extraordinary in-ring worker who can help build any star, as well as somebody who could even get characters like sad Corbin over, the former US Champion was considered the ultimate utility player. So the news of WWE not renewing his contract was met with astonishment among fans.
The former WWE star opened up about the top brass’ decision to not renew his contract during his new interview with Chris Van Vliet. Baron Corbin interestingly suggested that there was someone in particular who was not his fan:
“It was two and a half million views on my tweet alone. People were shocked. I was shocked. I could weirdly, kind of, you know when your gut instinct tells you something, and like I said, I think there was one person in particular that I think was behind all of it, and it sucks, but it is what [it is].”
Baron Corbin also revealed that Randy Orton had called him after learning the news and offered to talk to Triple H on his behalf:
“I’m not gonna cry over it because I’m grateful for everything I had there and every opportunity that I had there, I can’t let one person put me in a bad place. I’m not gonna let one person control my emotions.
I mean the fact that Randy Orton’s calling me, going there’s someone that doesn’t like you. Again, I know who it is. I told him and he’s like yeah, probably right. But when you have someone of that magnitude being like I want to talk to Hunter, it makes you feel good.”
Despite the abrupt end of his 12-year tenure with the company, Baron Corbin seems to be in good spirits. During the interview, he explained that he has been smart with his money and proclaimed that he can now do whatever he wants.
Shelton Benjamin has explained why his partnership with Chad Gable did not go anywhere.
The Gold Standard was paired with the former American Alpha member in SmackDown upon his WWE return in 2017. This came after Gable’s former partner Jason Jordan was moved to the Raw brand to start his infamous storyline with Kurt Angle, quietly disbanding their team.
Benjamin opened up about working with the former Olympic Athlete during his appearance on Talk Is Jericho. He first offered big praise to the 38-year-old and proclaimed that Gable still hasn’t gotten his due:
“When I first arrived, they put me with Chad Gable and well, like, phenomenal worker. No, he has not [gotten his due]. He hasn’t. And to me, it sucks, because everyone has an excuse.
I said for every excuse, I can point out an example why that excuse makes no sense. That guy is special, whether fans realize it or not, he is. He’s got a blue-collar mentality. He’s Uber-talented. He’s dedicated. He’ll do whatever you need him to.”
Though despite being compatible on paper, the team of Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable did not find a lot of success. Their run lasted 8 months before they were split up during the 2018 Superstar Shakeup without ever holding any titles together.
Speaking about why the pairing did not work despite having similar backgrounds, Shelton Benjamin said that he never really clicked with Gable. He remembered his chemistry with Team Angle partner Charlie Haas and said that he never felt the same teaming with the current WWE star:
“When they put us together. Obviously, he’s actually from Minneapolis too. So it seemed right, especially, with Jason not being able to work anymore. But I don’t really think that tag team worked. We had some good matches. They threw us in some really zany matches. We had a great matchup with the Usos, but it, for me, it really wasn’t working. Through no fault of anyone.
The chemistry, it wasn’t like me and Charlie. Me and Charlie were like, Charlie’s the best partner I’ve ever had. So for whatever reason, me and [Gable] while we got along great, we just didn’t click the same way. It wasn’t the same but again, that being said, all due respect, that kid is phenomenal. Everything he’s done, he’s made work.”
Sting has announced that he’ll be retiring his iconic Stinger look and face paint soon after the end of his active wrestling career last year.
The Icon competed in his retirement match at the 2024 Revolution PPV. While having the option of a singles match, the wrestling veteran chose to team up with his protege Darby Allin one last time to defeat The Young Bucks in a tornado tag team match.
Despite hanging his wrestling boots at the March PPV, Sting has continued donning the iconic face paint for various meet & greet events. Though the WCW veteran confirmed that 2025 will be his last year of doing so in a new social media post:
“I have enjoyed meeting fans at events around the world. As much as I have loved interacting with you all in the traditional Stinger war paint, I’ve decided that 2025 will be my last year appearing in full gear. I guess it’s 2025 or never. Wow. Tough to speak that out.”
I have enjoyed meeting fans at events around the world.
As much as I have loved interacting with you all in the traditional Stinger war paint, I’ve decided that 2025 will be my last year appearing in full gear.
Sting made his in-ring debut for Tony Khan’s promotion at the Revolution 2021 event, so his 2024 retirement match brought his run with the company to a full circle. In his 3-year run with the company, the 65-year-old wrestled a total of 29 matches and remained undefeated in the end.
The former world champion has since signed a legends deal with AEW and he also made an appearance at the 2024 All In: London PPV.
Current WWE Speed Champion Dragon Lee has announced the birth of his third daughter.
The high-flying star had addressed his absence from WWE programming in recent times in an Instagram post earlier in the week. He revealed that his wife was in the final stages of pregnancy and he had been home helping her during this time.
Lee had noted that the little one could arrive as soon as this week and he confirmed the birth of his daughter in a social media post late on Thursday:
Dragon has a previous daughter from his first marriage and he also has another daughter from his second relationship as revealed in his previous post.
The 29-year-old Mexican luchador left AAA to join WWE at the start of 2023. Lee held the NXT North American Championship during his time in the WWE developmental, notably having a feud with ‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio over the title.
He joined the Latino World Order under the leadership of Rey Mysterio upon his main roster debut in April last year and Dragon Lee has been a part of the group ever since.
The masked star has not wrestled for WWE since the December 16, 2024 episode of Main Event and a timetable for his return is not known.
SEScoops would like to congratulate Lee and his partner on the occasion.
There had been speculations about the status of the wrestling veteran despite being praised for his work at the last show in December, especially after the recent return of Hulk Hogan. Ventura however, powerbombed all rumors with a post on on X, confirming that he will in fact return to the airwaves as scheduled.
“So very excited for Saturday Night’s Main Event this weekend in San Antonio. The Body returns to Texas this Saturday Night!”
Jesse Ventura signed a new legends contract with WWE and returned to the promotion last year, putting his long-standing grudge against the company aside. At the time it was announced that the veteran wrestler and broadcast personality will be calling 4 shows for the company every year.
His status for the January 2025 event became questionable again however, when WWE announced a new partnership with Hulk Hogan’s beer company and brought him in for an appearance at Raw’s Netflix premiere on January 6.
The former governor of Minnesota has long been at odds with Hogan since learning that the latter exposed his efforts of forming a wrestling union to Vince McMahon in the late 80s.
Many believed that Hogan will be making an appearance at the NBC exclusive event after his return but after Ventura’s announcement, it’s safe to say the Hulkster will not be at the show.
The company presented a special live episode of its weekly flagship show Impact Wrestling from San Antonio, TX for the first time in eight years this Thursday. The show featured a number of surprise appearances with both NXT stars and free agents making their presence felt.
New TNA World Heavyweight Champion Joe Hendry opened the show. Hendry first cut a promo about his title win before proclaiming that he’ll be a fighting champion and then announced an open challenge for his title on the same night.
TNA’s Director of Authority Santino Marella then came out to announce Hendry’s opponent for the night – Matt Cardona. Cardon a came out with a big smile to end the segment.
The title match main evented the show. Frankie Kazarian who won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match previously was on the commentary for this bout. Cardona played the typical heel role from the beginning doing things like poking Hendry in the eye and mocking the crowd.
The Indy God accidentally knocked the referee out towards the end of the bout and used the opportunity to low blow the champion. He then went outside to grab the TNA title belt but JBL came out. The WWE Hall of Famer delivered a Closethline from Hell to Cardona, leaving Hendry confused.
Matt Cardona still managed to hit Joe Hendry with the title later on but it didn’t prove to be enough. In the end, the champion delivered the Standing Ovation to retain the title.
It appears that Cardona’s return was a one-night-only affair. Though there was another former champion who returned to the company tonight and announced a new contract with the promotion. You can check out more about it here.
Shelton Benjamin has explained how the end of Hurt Business in WWE was mentally challenging for him.
The former WWE star was the most recent guest on Talk is Jericho. He discussed things such as his first WWE run, his experience working for NJPW in Japan, his tag team with Chad Gable, and more.
Benjamin also detailed his feelings about The Hurt Business’ time in the company. The Gold Standard first discussed how he had only been used in odd spots since his return to the promotion in 2017 and never given a proper chance to showcase his talents. The formation of the Hurt Business in 2020 was finally a storyline that could have elevated him so it was a big blow when the group was disbanded:
“In my opinion, Hurt Business and Roman Reigns carried the WWE during the pandemic era. And I felt a bit betrayed because I come here every week. I’ve never complained. I risked my life, just like everybody else. When other people wanted to stay home, you never had to question whether or not I will come to work.
So for us to, bear that burden….and mind you, obviously, we’re not the only ones. We’re not the only people, but the fact that we were always willing and we were actually producing for you, to just immediately turn around and just kill it….like what the fuck man.”
Shelton Benjamin also revealed that he approached Vince McMahon directly when he first got the news of The Hurt Business’ end, and to this date he has gotten no clear answer on why their run was cut short:
“His comment to me was, ‘We’ve gone as far as we can with Hurt Business.’ The Hurt business was around for eight months before he pulled the plug. When he said that, it was almost like you want to cry inside.
Because it’s like, nothing I can do for this person seems to help, nothing’s good enough. I was really just insulted, I knew then, like, I don’t really have a future here. At this point this is just a job where I’m just collecting a check.”
The current AEW star noted that he’s always wanted to be the guy that helps build the momentum for the place he’s working in instead of taking advantage of other people’s work. The abrupt ending of the Hurt Business however, made it clear to him that he’ll never be afforded that chance in WWE.
GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale is unsure of what to make of the PCO incident.
The 57-year-old wrestling veteran made headlines over the weekend with his appearance at the People vs. GCW event. PCO who was the reigning TNA Digital Media champion brought the belt with him at the show and destroyed it in front of the public using a sledgehammer. At first, people thought that it was part of a storyline but multiple reports since then have claimed that TNA officials had no knowledge of it beforehand.
Lauderdale talked about the incident on the Game Changer Weekly podcast and mentioned that PCO is a longtime friend of his who he has a lot of respect for. Discussing his knowledge of the incident in question, he claimed that he was under the impression of the whole thing being a work:
“What happened and what I thought was gonna happen were slightly two different things, and I thought we were kind of doing him a favor by letting him advance a storyline and returning to GCW at the same time, so I only kind of realized that it was more than that after the fact when I started reading reports that he may or may not have done that on his own.”
I Think There Is A Storyline Going On: Brett Lauderdale
PCO was one of the many names who had his TNA deal expire at the end of last year and per reports, he was supposed to finish up with the company at their next taping. After the incident, however, TNA has removed both PCO and the Digital media title from their website, and the former WCW star is not expected to be brought back for any more shows.
Though despite these claims, Brett Lauderdale is not entirely sure of the legitimacy of the whole thing and he still believes that it could be a work:
“No. I know a lot of the people at TNA, so I feel like I would have been contacted if there was any major issue that would have been on us or if they had questions about it.
That’s why I think maybe there is still a storyline going on with it because I feel like maybe if there wasn’t, after the fact, they would have said, ‘Hey, what happened?’
TNA is set to follow up the January 19 Genesis PPV with a live Impact taping from San Antonio, TX this Thursday, January 23. Whether or not the whole thing is really a work should become clearer after this show.
Baron Corbin is excited about the freedom of a post-WWE career.
The former WWE star recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about things such as his most recent GCW appearance, wanting to compete in NJPW and more.
Corbin departed WWE in November last year ending his 12 year run with the company when the officials did not renew his contract. When asked what he wants to do now that he’s no longer in the Endeavor-owned promotion, Corbin explained that he’s been smart with his money so now he can do whatever he wants:
“Now I’m gonna have an opportunity where I don’t have to ask permission to do something. I’ve also been smart with all of my money that I’ve made over the years with WWE because I’ve watched how quickly it can end.
When I left the NFL it’s like no more paychecks, and you go oh man, it ends that quick. I was playing ping pong, and now I don’t have a job, it’s crazy. So I put myself in a position now that I can literally just do the things I want to do.”
The former US Champion real name Thomas Pestock, recently displayed one of his skills outside the wrestling world by winning a gold medal in an international jiu-jitsu competition. Discussing other post-WWE ambitions, Baron Corbin noted that he had his iron in a lot of fires even when he was under a WWE contract.
The wrestling veteran explained that with the newfound freedom he can do whatever he wants and revealed his interest in pursuing an acting career in particular:
“I want to do movies, I want to do TV shows, and I want to do horror movies or thriller movies or darker action kind of films, anything in that world. Whether it’s television, it’s Netflix, it’s Hulu, or it’s the B rate horror movies that are amazing, just like guilty pleasures, I love them, that’s the world I want to dive into.”
Corbin appears to be interested in balancing his acting career with his continued presence in the world of wrestling. The former WWE star recently filed a trademark which potentially revealed his post-WWE ring name. You can check out more about it here.
Frankie Kazarian has posted an emotional tribute to Christopher Daniels after the latter announced his retirement from in-ring action.
The Fallen Angle entered the ring one last time at last week’s Collision when he squared off against Hangman Page in a Texas Death match. Daniels then addressed Page on this week’s episode of Dynamite, confirming that his match on Saturday was his retirement bout.
Kazarian who has long history with the former SCU teammate shared a photo collage showing the two through the years. He claimed that CD’s contributions to the world of pro wrestling will never be realized:
“There’s no way to articulate what @facdaniels means to me. As an opponent, a tag team partner, or most importantly as a best friend and brother. His contributions to our sport will never be realized. I love you CD. Bad Influence, The Addiction or SCU. I loved every single minute.”
There's no way to articulate what @facdaniels means to me. As an opponent, a tag team partner, or most importantly as a best friend and brother. His contributions to our sport will never be realized. I love you CD. Bad Influence, The Addiction or SCU. I loved every single minute. pic.twitter.com/Obk0VzmpVW
The first overlap of Kazarian and Daniels’ careers happened in TNA back in 2009 when Christopher took over the role of the masked wrestler Suicide upon Kazarian’s injury. The duo started working as a tag team under the name of Bad Influence in 2012 and remained assosiated with each other for the next decade.
With Scorpio Sky joining them in 2018, the group known as SCU became one of the hottest acts of the indie wrestling scene. Together with The Elite, the trio revolutionized the pro wrestling business by helping start All Elite Wrestling.
Kazarian has since left AEW while Sky and Daniels remain part of the company. Daniels also serves as the head of talent relations behind the scene and it’s a role he’s expected to continue after his retirement from active competition.
Indi Hartwell has started preparing for an in-ring return ahead of her free agency.
The young star was released from her WWE contract in November last year, ending her 5-year-run with the company. Hartwell, who still had time left on her deal has to serve a 90-days non-compete period before becoming a free agent.
Based on the announcement of her release, Hartwell is expected to become a free agent in February. Before the impending free agency, the former champion seems to be getting her ring rust off at Ace Steel’s Foundation wrestling academy as revealed by Steel in an Instagram post:
Indi Hartwell had a successful run in NXT from 2019 to 2023 before she was moved to the main roster. The female star was one of the members of Johnny Gargano & Candice LeRae’s The Way faction and she had runs with both the NXT Women’s Title and NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles during her time in the developmental.
Her release while not linked directly, was part of a wave of surprising departures from WWE in 2024. Other names in the list include former champions such as Bobby Lashley, Jinder Mahal and Baron Corbin.
Hartwell has not been announced for any matches outside of WWE so far, but the former champion is scheduled to be in the Indianapolis area during the Royal Rumble weekend for a Wrestlecon signing.
House of Black has declared that they have no more leaders.
AEW has recently been teasing the reformation of the group featuring Julia Hart, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews as the faction’s leader Malakai Black prepares to exit the company.
Over the last few weeks, the trio have been told that they do not need a leader by people like Cope and Will Ospreay. This new direction of the group was confirmed in a vignette on this week’s Dynamite, where the three declared that they don’t have a guiding voice anymore:
“For years we’ve had a voice to guide us, that voice was all but deafening. Now that voice has gone silent and we’re done living in the shadows. It’s time to honor ourselves. No rules. No leaders. No gods. No masters. Just violence.”
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 23, 2025
Malakai Black joined the Elite promotion in 2021. Despite his singles success in WWE, the former NXT champion was put into this group and he’s never won a singles title in his four years with the company. Black’s contract is expected to expire sometime before March and it’s believed that he’s on his way back to WWE.
While AEW has teased the other members of his faction having singles run, it appears that they’ll continue operating as a group as well. A new trademark filing has also revealed the potential new name for them moving forward. You can check out more about it here.
Christopher Daniels has seemingly confirmed his retirement after his brutal match on this past week’s episode of AEW Collision.
The Fallen Angle wrestled longtime friend Hangman Page in a Texas Death match at the January 18th episode of the Saturday Night show. Page picked up the victory in this bout which was reported to be the last match of Daniels’ career.
The former SCU member seemingly confirmed reports of his retirement on this week’s Dynamite. Christopher Daniels came out to confront Hangman after his victory over a local performer. In an emotional promo, the former ROH Champion confirmed that he’s wrestled his last match ever:
“After that Texas Death match, that last Buckshot lariat, adding to all the damage I’ve done to my neck over the years, my doctors have advised me to never wrestle again. So I’m here face to face to tell you, you win. You’ve won the last match that I’ll ever wrestle. I’m sorry, and I hope you can be happy now.”
Christopher Daniels has been advised to never wrestle again?!
This marks the end of Christopher Daniels’ 31-year in-ring career in wrestling. You can check out a list of matches Daniels said that he’d like to be remembered for here.
Diamond Dallas Page has put over former NXT Champion Trick Williams after his surprise appearance at last night’s episode of the Black & Silver show.
The wrestling veteran made a brief on-screen appearance during the show, being shown as part of the crowd during the main event NXT Championship match between Oba Femi and Eddy Thorpe.
Page took to X on Wednesday morning to comment on his visit. He posted some backstage photos with Williams, claiming that the 30-year-old has a bright future ahead:
“A little over a year ago I was doing an interview and I was asked who I thought would be the next #NXT Superstar to cross over to the main #WWE roster and make a serious impact. I said it would be Trick! Nothing has changed. I think you can expect big things when my man crosses over”
Trick Williams dropped the NXT title to Oba Femi in a triple-threat match at New Year’s Evil earlier this month. This ended his second run with the championship at 98 days. The former champion confronted Femi after he retained his title at last night’s show, indicating that he was not out of the title picture just yet.
It’s not known if DDP’s surprise visit to the performance center had any behind-the-scenes significance. He signed a new legends deal with the company in October last year and it’s possible that his on-screen appearance is tied to some future storyline development.
A little over a year ago I was doing an interview and I was asked who I thought would be the next #NXT Superstar to cross over to the main #WWE roster and make a serious impact. I said it would… pic.twitter.com/6VNw1Eznzp
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan remains hopeful about bringing WrestleMania to the city despite recent discouraging news.
WWE has expanded its international presence under the new management in the last couple of years, taking many of its regular premium live events outside of the US. With Royal Rumble 2026 becoming the first of the ‘big four’ PPVs to be announced outside of the continent in recent years, it seems only a matter of time before WrestleMania goes international as well.
One of the most talked about international destinations for the Shows of Shows is London. WWE seemingly also explored the possibility last year in July when Triple H and Nick Khan travelled to the city to meet Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Things have mostly been quiet since then with no word coming from either side. This changed on Wednesday as the mayor’s office released a new statement to Daily Star, announcing that they’re determined to bring the Superbowl of wrestling to UK:
“The Mayor remains determined to bring even more sports from around the world to London, including the first international WrestleMania hosted by the UK, and continues to discuss future opportunities.”
This statement comes in light of the reports of WWE closing in on New Orleans and Indiana, Indianapolis as the respective destinations for the next two iterations of their biggest event of the year.
Many WWE stars have also spoken positively about WrestleMania emanating from London in the past. Former Women’s Champion Liv Morgan most recently claimed that she was here and ready for it when asked about the possibility.
The SkyDome in Toronto, Canada has previously hosted the event on two occasions so UK would actually become the third country and second international destination for the show if and when it happens. Though as it stands, the people of UK will have to wait until at least 2028 before the Show of Shows can be held on their local turf.
Posted January 22nd, 2025 in WWE. Tagged: Sadiq Khan.
Kurt Angle believes John Cena is WWE’s greatest star.
Cena has announced that 2025 will be his last year as an active performer in wrestling. With his retirement tour officially kicking off earlier this month, many believe that he’ll be headlining the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame. There are many names which are thrown around when it comes to the people who can induct John Cena, but very few of them have had the impact on Cena’s career like Kurt Angle.
The Olympic Gold Medallist was asked about the potential during his recent interview with Chris Van Vliet. He mentioned how there are many contenders for the spot, while throwing the name of Stephanie McMahon on the list as well:
“There are a lot of people that deserve to induct John. Randy Orton, who was his biggest competition, or his nemesis. But Stephanie McMahon, don’t forget that she’s the one that discovered his rapping ability, and she was a big fan of his, she really supported him quite often. But no I’d be honored to induct John Cena.”
The Greatest WWE Superstar of All Time: Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle faced Cena in the latter’s famous main roster debut match which kickstarted the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE. Angle would go on to face the Cenation Leader in dozens of other encounters in the next few years before his 2006 WWE departure, providing him invaluable in-ring experience and exposure on his way to becoming the face of the company.
This solid foundation allowed Cena to launch what became one of the most successful runs for any pro wrestler in the history of the business. The former TNA Champion believes that John deserves to be called the greatest of all time for it:
“The one thing I want to say about him is he has shown that he is possibly the greatest WWE superstar of all time. Winning 16 World Heavyweight Titles in one company,
Ric Flair won 16, but he won them in NWA and WCW and WWE and you can’t take that away from him, they were all major promotions. But to do it all in one company, that makes you that company’s greatest star. And I really believe that he deserves another title before he retires.”
Opponents have continued to line up for John Cena in his final year of wrestling and names from around the wrestling world have expressed interest in a potential showdown with the wrestling veteran. This list includes a current world champion outside of the company. You can check out more about it here.
Former WWE star Elias says he’d love to return to WWE.
The wrestling veteran was signed by the company in 2014. While he didn’t have much success in his developmental run, the Drifter’s mic skills made him an instant hit on the main roster.
His run with the promotion came to an end in September 2023 but many believe that the officials could have done a lot more with the 37-year-old.
The indie wrestling star who now goes by the name Elijah talked about a potential return to the company during a recent K & S WrestleFest virtual signing.
Elias first claimed that his run in WWE was awesome and he got to do a lot of great stuff. While he had many memorable moments in the company, he would love to be part of the promotion again:
“Elias can and could and should do so much more in WWE. They only scratched the surface with my capabilities. I had a lot of great moments, some incredible guys to go up against,”
Right before his release, the former WWE star was involved in a storyline with Kevin Owens. He played the part of his own brother Ezekiel while Owens refused to believe that the two were different people.
After KO won this feud, the storyline was dropped from TV. Elias renewing his rivalry with Owens who recently turned heel again would be the perfect way to reintroduce him on WWE programming.
Watching WWE Raw on Netflix is about to get costlier.
The Streaming Giant announced on Tuesday that they’ll be raising their standard subscription praises for US customers from $15.49 to $17.99.
The ad-supported tier will go up to $7.99 from the standard of $6.99 while the premium tier allowing four simultaneous streams will be getting a $2 raise to $24.99. Adding an extra member to a primary account is also going to get a dollar costlier, now being charged at $8.99.
Countries like Canada, Portugal, and Argentina are expected to be affected by the price hike as well. Netflix last raised prices in October 2023 with various plans going up by as much as $3.
WWE Raw On Netflix
This announcement comes after the streaming platform acquired broadcast rights of Monday Night Raw in the US last year in an unprecedented $5 billion deal. The Red Branded show left cable TV for the first time in its history as part of this deal and moved to Netflix earlier this month.
The January 6 premiere episode broke viewership records for the show. It debuted with 2.6 million household views in US, double of the show’s average on its previous home USA Network in 2024.
The show has continued to deliver strong numbers following the much-hyped premiere. The January 13th episode, featuring the viral debut of former AEW star Penta among other big moments ranked at #4 on Netflix’s Top 10 shows of the week globally with 3.7 million views.
