When Wade Barrett left WWE in 2016, many expected him to return to the promotion sooner or later. Very few, however, thought that he would be returning as a full-time commentator for NXT. The former IC champion returned to the promotion in August 2020. He replaced Mauro Ranallo who was released by the officials. Barrett has been the lead commentator for the developmental brand ever since.

The former Nexus leader was the latest guest on Corey Graves’ After The Bell. Explaining why he took the commentator job, Barrett revealed that he was first given the opportunity by the late Dusty Rhodes. According to him, it was something that was always in the back of his mind:

“I left WWE in 2016. I’ve been with the company close to 10 years through developmental and all that stuff. I was really kind of burned out by 2016 and looking not only to step away from WWE but from the industry in general. So I kind of took a couple of years, went away, did some other things like acting, some TV hosting and slowly but surely as tends to be the case the love for sports entertainment wrestling, came back. [So] I started doing some independent things here and there.

Wade Barrett continued: “The one thing that I always knew I wanted to do when I got a little older, I didn’t want to be a coach. I didn’t want to be a trainer or set up my own training school, which a lot of guys do. I really wanted to be a commentator. When I was back in developmental in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009, I was actually a commentator there under Dusty Rhodes. He decided to give me a shot at that and he really liked what I was doing. I was working with Byron Sexton who was the play-by-play guy, so I always knew, Okay, that’s in my back pocket. One day I [would] love doing that. I’d love to get back to it one day.”

• Wade Barrett On How Long It Will Take Him To Get Back In The Ring Shape

Wade Barrett Explains How He Got Hired As A Commentator

Wade Barrett then explained how he got the position in NXT. Michael Cole first contacted him in the summer of 2020. The two sides talked for a while but a deal was not made. At first, Barrett was told that it was going to be a while before he can take up the position, but then things changed in a very WWE manner:

“Thankfully I got a call from Tom Phillips and Michael Cole back in summer 2020 saying ‘look, we’ve got a position opening up. We think you be great for it. We’ve seen what you’ve done before. We think you’re a good fit for the show. Are you interested?’ Two or three weeks after chatting with them, they’re like, ‘yeah you know, probably come back in about six months or something like that. It’s gonna be a little while.’ Then I got an emergency phone call from Michael Cole: ‘Hey, we need you in tomorrow. Can You get on a plane? We need you to start right now.’ [I went] ‘Okay, yeah, let’s do it.’ So, as is the case in WWE, things change very rapidly.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

CM Punk took a 7-year hiatus from wrestling after quitting WWE before he made his triumphant return earlier this year. Though during his time away, he never took his hand off the pulse of the industry. He kept an eye on the up-and-coming talents. While many have criticized some of the storylines he has been a part of since his return, it appears that giving young talents the spotlight was always part of his plan.

The straight edge star recently appeared on ESPN SportsNation. He was asked why it was important for him to make his return in this capacity where he is working with a lot of younger talent. Answering it Punk explained that it’s about using his name to help the relatively unknown talents:

“Because very selfishly, it’s what I wanted to do. When you take seven years off of something that you’re pretty decent at and you’re priding yourself at having your finger on the pulse of everything. I think there’s an undercurrent and there’s a lot of young professional wrestlers out there that are probably better than a lot of people give them credit for. They just don’t have the spotlight. They don’t have anybody that’s saying, ‘Hey, look at this guy.’ Or they do but just not on a national level.

Punk continued, “I think I could use my name, whatever value that has, and kind of highlight some of the guys while knocking off some ring rust and moving myself up the ladder. So for storyline purposes, it makes sense to me. And I always remember guys helping me and they were few and far between. I think more people should help more people and I’m just trying to do my best to do that.”

• CM Punk Teases Big Blow-Off To MJF Feud: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”

Will We Get To See CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Adam Cole & Britt Baker?

AEW is not very big on mixed tag matches but there is one match that many people want to see. The match of CM Punk & AJ Lee vs Adam Cole & Britt Baker is something that even Cole and Baker have shown interest in. Though when asked if we will get to see the bout, the former world champion said that he can’t promise that:

“That one I can’t promise you. She is doing her own thing. To be completely honest, I know her and if I said, ‘Hey, you want to do this wrestling match?’, and if she was all gung-ho to do it, I know she would want to get into stupid shape to do it, and I like her thick. So I don’t want to take that away from myself.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Impact Wrestling has confirmed that the ROH world championship will be defended on an Impact show for the first time at the upcoming Hard To Kill PPV.

The company sent out a press release in which they confirmed that Jonathan Gresham will defend his title against Chris Sabin in a one-on-one match.

Gresham won the world title at the ROH Final Battle PPV earlier this month. Final Battle was ROH’s last show before their announced hiatus until April next year.

In the meantime, Jonathan has started defending the title in various promotions. His first successful defense was against AJ Gray at last Friday’s GCW Blood on The Hills.

Impact Hard To Kill Updated Match Card

This is the 8th announced match for the first Impact PPV of 2022. After the latest announcement, here is the updated match card for the show:

• Impact World Championship Triple Threat Match: Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey vs. Moose
• ROH World Championship Match: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham
• Knockouts Championship Texas Death Match: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mickie James
• X Division Championship Match: Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel
• Knockouts Tag Team Championship Match: Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood vs. The IInspiration
• #1 Contender Ultimate X Match For Knockouts Championship: Chelsea Green vs. Lady Frost vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary vs. Rachael Ellering vs. Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace
• Hardcore War: Heath, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs. Violence By Design & Impact Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers
• Singles Match: Jonah vs. Josh Alexander

Impact Hard To Kill will take place from The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas on Saturday, January 8, 2022.

With stars such as CM Punk, Sting and Adam Cole in action and the big debut of Kyle O’Reilly, this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite managed to break through the barrier of 1 million viewers again.

The Holiday Bash edition of the show featuring the main event match of Punk, Sting, and Darby Allin taking on The Pinnacle drew 1.020 million viewers according to Showbuzz Daily.

President Tony Khan took on his Twitter to react to the ratings. He thanked the fans and noted how it was their highest number since October when Dynamite was temporarily moved to Saturday night for a few weeks:

This is a 7.59% increase from last week’s Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite. The show featuring the Bryan Danielson vs Hangman Page world title match had drawn 948,000 viewers.

Dynamite also saw a big increase in the key demo. This week’s episode drew 0.37 ratings in the 18-49 demographic representing 480,000 viewers of the age group.

This is a significant 19.35% improvement over last week’s episode of the show. It had done a 0.31 rating, representing 398,000 viewers of the demographic.

This was a 31.61% improvement in the year-over-year ratings for Dynamite. The 2020 Holiday Bash special of the show had not gone up against NXT either.

• Sting Praises “Electrifying” CM Punk, Grateful to Retire on His Terms

Ruby Soho has wrestled for many different companies in her career so far. The list includes promotions such as WWE, Stardom, Shimmer, and more. Though while she has been part of many different locker rooms, none can match the energy and vibe that is found in the AEW locker room, according to the female star herself.

Soho recently spoke to Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald. She compared the energy within the AEW locker room to other organizations and claimed that it has a very indie feeling to it:

“I have said before that AEW kind of has a very independent wrestling like underground vibe to it. It’s different than anything that I’ve ever been a part of. The energy within it is definitely kind of an indie wrestling vibe just because we’re all working together as a team to put together this amazing product. And we’re all just a bunch of misfits putting together this incredible show that are brought together by the love of wrestling,”

• Ruby Soho Reveals What Tony Khan Said Before Her AEW Debut

Ruby Soho Says Tony Khan Is The Best Hype Man

Ruby Soho made her AEW debut during the All Out PPV in September. In the short time since then, she has won a Casino Battle Royal and challenged for the AEW women’s world title. She is now competing in the TBS title tournament and reached the finals of it. When asked what her experience at the promotion has been like, Soho said that there is something very special about the place:

“There’s something very special about the place, about the energy that’s in the locker room. Like I said, we’re all just trying to prove that there’s something different out there in the world of professional wrestling and that’s what we’re delivering. So, it is an energy that is intoxicating and motivating. Then on top of that our boss, Tony Khan is probably the best hype man anybody could ask for. He’s just so excited about wrestling and so excited about his product and passionate about it. That energy is infectious throughout the rest of the locker room.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Matt Cardona has made independent wrestling his new home after being released by WWE. He’s having the time of his life traveling around and working for multiple promotions at the same time.

After being a WWE star for 15 years, it doesn’t look like he is interested in signing another exclusive contract anytime soon. During a recent interview with Barstool Wrestling, the Long Island Broski was asked if he’d ever signing an exclusive contract in wrestling again.

“I mean never say never but I’m having the time of my life right now, the time of my career,” he began. “Before this, 2011, when I did the YouTube show back in the day, that was my favorite year of my career. But fuck this year is number one. By far I’m having the time of my life. Making some money and being my own boss. I love it.”

Cardona continued, “Not only the creative freedom, but the freedom to just make my own schedule, do whatever I want to do. and it’s working. This wasn’t some master plan.”

• Matt Cardona Explains Attacking Trevor Murdoch At NWA Hard Times 2

“It’s The Way I Live My Life”

Matt Cardona claimed that always ready is not just a catchphrase for him. It’s the way he lives his life. He is not one of those people who gets a lot of opportunities, but he is ready to seize the ones that come his way. Later in the interview, he explained how this mindset led to him making his Impact Wrestling debut at last year’s Hard To Kill PPV:

“The always ready. It’s not just a hashtag or gimmick. It’s the way I live my life and career. Some people not just in wrestling but in life, get handed opportunity after opportunity. I’m not one of them. I’m not complaining about that. They come few and far between. But when I get one, I better capitalize. I better make the most of it and that’s what the always ready is all about.

“It was last year at Hard To kill. I made my debut. [I] wasn’t scheduled to be on the show. The day before, someone from their talent relations texted me and said ‘hey, can you be at the Pay Per View tomorrow?’ I said ‘always ready.’ I literally had just shaved my entire body the night before and got a little confidence tan. But I was like, fuck, I say I’m always ready, [and] I better be. I better be fucking ready to go and I was. And I’ve been with impact, doing their shows ever since. I love impact. I love the opportunities that they give me. Now a year later on the anniversary of my debut going for the world title, it’s very special to me.”

It doesn’t appear Matt Cardona will slow down in 2022 either. He already has a few big shows coming his way in the first month of the year. Cardona is scheduled to challenge Moose for the Impact world title at Hard To Kill on January 8. The match will be a triple threat also involving W. Morrissey. He is booked for the GCW event in Hammerstein Ballroom on January 23 as well.

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

This article has been edited for clarity

Charlotte Flair is one of the leading athletes of not only the women’s division but all of WWE. She is always put into top storylines and marquee matches by the officials. This position in the roster often also attracts criticism from people rooting for more opportunities for fresh talent. Though Natalya who is a 14 year veteran of the women’s division herself, has a different outlook of the situation.

The Canadian star recently had an interview with Jonathan Hood on Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday. She talked about a number of things including how young talents such as Liv Morgan on Raw and Toni Storm on SmackDown are being given new opportunities. Natalya said that she is rooting for Storm to take the SmackDown women’s championship from Flair because it’s time for a change. However, she also acknowledged the perspective of The Queen:

“Charlotte Flair, I think it’s a tough spot because there’s only so much that she can do, there’s only so many places you can go. Once you’ve done it all, once you’ve main evented WrestleMania, you’ve won X amount of championships. When you have had everything and you have experienced everything, it is really really cool to watch other women rise to the occasion and get a chance.”

• Natalya Achieves Big WWE Career Milestone

Natalya On Things She Is Yet To Accomplish

Elsewhere in the interview, Natalya was asked if there is something in the business which she still wants to accomplish. Replying to it the former SmackDown women’s champion noted how she has never won the Raw women’s championship. She also named a few opponents she would like to face:

“For me, I am currently a triple crown champion in WWE. I would like to be a grand slam champion. I would like to win the Raw women’s championship at some point in my career. There’s a ton of women that I want to work with that I’ve never had the chance to work with, like Io Shirai I’d love to work with. Indi Hartwell is somebody that I’ve kind of got my eye on. I think she’s really really talented,

Of course, my dream match right now would be against Toni Storm. Those to me are all things that I want to accomplish. I also feel like how cool would it be for Beth Phoenix and I to win the women’s tag team championships together.” said Natalya, “I think that would be so freaking cool because Beth is my best friend, also a WWE Hall Of Famer. To do that together with her would be so much fun.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

While the audience generally praised this week’s episode of SmackDown, it was still one of those shows which was being written and re-written till the last minute.

According to reports from Fightful select, the segment between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns was not going to close the show in the original draft.

The match between The Usos and The New Day which took place just before the Lesnar segment was originally going to be the main event of SmackDown.

The promo with Reigns was scheduled to open the show until Friday afternoon. A sit-down interview with Brock Lesnar was supposed to follow it later but it got nixed.

The tag team match which saw Shotzi Blackheart teaming with Charlotte Flair to face Toni Storm and Sasha Banks was planned to be the main event of next week’s Christmas Eve special of SmackDown.

• WWE Day 1 Updated Card: Drew McIntyre Match Announced

The match ended up serving as an opener for this week’s episode of the blue branded show. It saw Storm picking up a big win by pinning Flair.

Next week’s taped episode of SmackDown will now see Charlotte Flair defending her SmackDown women’s championship against Storm. You can check out the spoilers for the show here.

The current ROH women’s champion Carla Gonzalez better known by her ring name Rok-C took part in the latest WWE tryouts from the Performance Center.

The company held its latest tryout from the PC in Orlando, Florida from December 15 to 17. They later shared some photographs from the tryouts on their official website.

One of the more interesting names to have been spotted in the photos was Rok-C, who has become a free agent after the mass layoff from ROH.

ROH released all of its contracted talents in October and made the announcement of going dark for the first quarter of 2022 to reimagine the company.

• AEW vs. ROH? Rok-C Open To Facing Dr. Britt Baker

Rok-C Has Been Trained By Booker T

Rok-C, who was trained by WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T made her ROH debut in April this year. Prior to it, she had been working for T’s Reality Of Wrestling promotion.

The female star quickly rose to the top of the ladder within the company. She competed in a tournament and defeated Miranda Alize in the finals at September’s Death Before Dishonor PPV to win the ROH women’s championship.

There is no word yet on how WWE officials feel about the current ROH champion. It will be interesting to see if she is offered a contract by the promotion.

The WWE career of Fandango featured many ups and downs. His career highlights include winning the fourth season of NXT and making his main roster debut in a WrestleMania match against none other than Chris Jericho. Though the most emotional moment of his career for the former WWE star was the one he shared with his former tag team partner Tyler Breeze.

This team known as Breezango was formed in 2016. The duo were sent back to NXT towards the end of 2018. They won the NXT tag team titles from Imperium in August 2020 which was Fandango’s only championship win in his almost 16 years long career with WWE. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet during a recent interview, the wrestling veteran recalled this experience. He called it the most emotional thing of his career:

“The most emotional thing for my whole career was winning those tag straps with [Tyler] Breeze. I said this in an interview here. I think all we really want is respect from our peers and Vince [McMahon], I feel like a lot of guys just want Vince to tell them ‘Good job.’ I feel like we just wanna be respected by people that we respected.”

“It Showed A Different Side Of Us” Says Fandango

Fandango explained that prior to their return to NXT, Breezango were doing skits on the main roster. For a lot of wrestlers, this stigma of being a comic relief is hard to shake. The tag title win allowed the duo to show people a different side of their tag team. It helped them prove that they weren’t just a comedy act:

“To go back to NXT and for them to put the tag straps on us it meant a lot to me, you know. I know it meant a lot to Breeze because it kind of showed a different side of us where we weren’t just comedy act. We could actually go out and work. The last couple years on SmackDown all we did was skits and stuff, which is cool to show in your body of work that you can have a personality and talk a little bit. But, it’s hard to shake that stigma.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for the transcription

AEW star Sammy Guevara and fiancé Pam Nizio have revealed that they are no longer in a relationship. The news was announced in a social media post by Guevara.

The post that was made this Saturday afternoon was credited to both. Though as seen below, it doesn’t reveal the reason behind the decision:

“Since you’ve all given us so much love and support, we figured we owed it to y’all to let you know that we are no longer in a relationship. We still love each other and wish nothing but the best for one another.”

The couple had been together for 8 years and Guevara had proposed to Pam before the August 18 episode of Dynamite earlier this year.

The proposal that took place in Sammy Guevara’s hometown of Houston, Texas had been highlighted on Dynamite and the AEW star’s vlog as well.

However, Pam hadn’t been appearing on the YouTube blog for some time now which had made many wonder about the couple’s relationship.

Sammy Guevara is set to defend his TNT championship against Cody Rhodes at next week’s Holiday Bash special of AEW Rampage. This is a rematch of the first-ever match in the history of Dynamite.

• Sammy Guevara Pays Tribute To Brodie Lee After Dynamite Goes Off Air

AEW star Darby Allin and NXT star Cora Jade are trending worldwide on Twitter after getting involved in a heated exchange earlier yesterday.

It all started when the former TNT champion made a post showing him skateboarding at a local park. This prompted a number of responses.

A fan suggested that Allin should have a skateboarding match with Jade, whose NXT character is also based around skateboarding.

Responding to the fan, Darby Allin fired some shots at the NXT star. He wrote: “Skating is a huge part of my life not a fake character for tv lol”

This led to Cora Jade firing back at the AEW signee, she wrote back: “Being a good person with no abuse allegations against me is a huge part of my life and not just a character I play on TV.”

Both the stars have since deleted their tweets, but social media has been eating up this inter-promotional spat.

Jade is referring to Allin being accused of sexual abuse by indie wrestler Hawlee Cromwell during the speaking out movement last year.

Jade is a friend of Cromwell and the two have previously teamed in the indies. Allin’s ex-wife Gigi Dolin, who is one-half of the current NXT tag team champions, has also feuded with Jade.

• Darby Allin Pays Tribute To Recently Deceased Punk Singer On Dynamite

Drew McIntyre has gotten his match for the upcoming Day 1 PPV. He will be facing Madcap Moss in a singles match with Baron Corbin on the ringside.

The two sides have been feuding for a while. Last week’s episode of SmackDown saw Moss and Corbin stealing the sword of the Scottish Warrior which was stuck in the desk of Adam Pearce.

This week’s episode of the show featured an episode of Happy Talk with the sword. McIntyre crashed this segment and retrieved the artifact.

Later in the episode the lone wolf booked a match between his partner and the former WWE champion for the Day 1 PPV. Though Moss didn’t look very happy about it.

• Why Vince McMahon Has Never Been a Fan of Tag Team Wrestling

WWE Day 1 Updated Card

The latest announcement makes the number of announced matches for the upcoming show 6. Here is the updated match card for Day 1:

• Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
• Fatal 4 Way WWE Championship Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Big E
• Raw Women’s Championship Match: Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch
• SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. The Usos
• Singles Match: Edge vs. The Miz
• Singles Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss

The inaugural Day 1 PPV will take place on Saturday, January 1, 2022, from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

It appears that Windham Rotunda better known to wrestling fans as Bray Wyatt might be taking an extended break from wrestling instead of returning right away.

Many expected the wrestling star to make his AEW debut during the Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite. He was even trending on Twitter for a while during the event.

However, the expected debut never took place. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter talked about Rotunda and provided some updates.

Per Meltzer, there has been continued talk about the former Wyatt Family Leader within WWE. Word is that he is focusing on his Hollywood gig and does not want to return to wrestling anytime soon.

Bray Wyatt had one of the ‘top five or six’ contracts in WWE. So, unless he was living ‘incredibly large’, there shouldn’t be any financial issue forcing the former WWE star to return before he wants.

Rotunda apparently had talks with Impact wrestling but the two sides were ‘apart on money.’ Tony Khan has said multiple times that he hasn’t talked to Wyatt regarding a possible AEW signing.

Bray Wyatt was released from his WWE contract on July 31 earlier this year. He became a free agent on October 29. A WrestleCon convention in Dallas during WrestleMania 38 weekend is so far the only wrestling appearance he has been announced for.

• Barry Windham Says His Nephew Bray Wyatt Hasn’t Been Used Properly In WWE

Jim Ross and Michael Cole shared the commentary booth for many years. While the two are now in different promotions, they still share text messages occasionally.

On the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast, the wrestling veteran discussed his relationship with various wrestling personalities including people such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, CM Punk, and more.

Speaking of his relationship with his former broadcast partner, Ross said that he exchanges text messages with Michael Cole during holidays, but the two haven’t talked in the last several years:

“I don’t know that we’ve talked in the last several years, we do engage in text messages here or there during the holidays. He’s got a great family, sometime this month, I’m sure we’ll exchange text messages but that’s the extent of it. He’s on the road a lot, he’s got a lot of responsibilities.

There’s that competitive nature that some people have with WWE and AEW, I don’t think Cole is in that league.” said Jim Ross, “I don’t think he cares. I say we text each other once or twice a year and I wish it were more, but it’s just hard.”

• Jim Ross Comments On Who He Believes Is The Future of AEW

The AEW star also discussed how The Rock sent out a tweet telling him to stay strong during his ongoing battle with skin cancer.

He discussed how The Rock didn’t owe it to him to make the wish, but Jim Ross said that this generosity is what he loves about the wrestling business.

Darius Martin has spent the majority of this year on the shelf recovering from an injury, but he is grateful to get the best support he can from AEW. The AEW star recently had an interview with Jon Alba on One-On-One. During the talk he provided an update on his recovery, claiming that he is feeling pretty good:

“I’m feeling pretty good, just moving around, taking it day by day, trying to get the clearance again, working my way up and building the strength again, you never want injuries, but I’m thankful it came at a time where I am fortunate enough to have this deal with AEW.”

• Get To Know Top Flight: AEW’s Newest Tag Team

Darius Martin On How AEW Has Helped Him

Martin continued by saying that AEW has been great to him during his recovery. Darius said that he really feels the love and support from the company. He then praised Tony Khan as a boss who values his employees:

“I’m still on the road, they’ve still been paying me. I’m still lucky enough to have that job and financial security because of AEW. It’s a great place and Tony Khan is an amazing boss who really values his employees and treats us like human beings. Tony is the best.”

Darius Martin last wrestled on AEW TV during a Dark episode back in February 18. He underwent ACL surgery on April 22. In his absence, his brother and Top Flight partner Dante Martin has made a name for himself in the singles division. He wrestled MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring during the Winter is Coming special.

H/t to Fightful for the transcribed quotes

NXT star Zoey Stark has provided an update on her health and confirmed that she is now able to walk around on her own without crutches.

The female star provided the update on Instagram on Wednesday. She posted a video and thanked her physical therapist for her progress in the caption:

“Officially off the crutches and walking on my own! Next step = RUNNING Thank you to my awesome Physical Therapist Lauren! @wwenxt #WWENXT,”

Zoey Stark has not wrestled on WWE TV since the NXT Halloween Havoc special on October 26. Stark and her partner Io Shirai defended their NXT tag team titles in a triple threat match.

The ladder match dubbed as Scareway to Hell saw Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne win the tag team championships from the duo.

The company then did an injury angle with Zoey during the November 2 episode of NXT. She was taken to the hospital after being attacked by Dolin and Jayne.

The angle was done so the female star can take time off to repair a torn ACL. She underwent the required surgery in early November.

There is no news on when we can expect her back in the ring at this point. Though this latest update is a positive sign for her fans.

Tegan Nox, now going by the name Nixon Newell has released a list of stars she wants to face and it includes some pretty interesting names.

The former WWE star took on her Twitter earlier today to post the list of talents she wants to go up against now that she has been released from the company.

The list as seen below incorporates a number of AEW stars including the women’s champion Britt Baker, Ruby Soho, Thunder Rosa, and Cash Wheeler:

Tegan Nox In WWE

Tegan Nox signed with WWE back in 2017. She was supposed to compete in the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament but a torn ACL kept her out of it.

She competed in the 2018 version of the tournament before joining NXT full-time in 2019. She tore her ACL again in 2020. It kept her out of action for almost 10 months.

Nox made her SmackDown debut in July this year. She was then drafted to Raw but was released from her WWE contract on November 18, without making any appearances for the red brand.

Since the female star had been promoted to main roster it’s likely that she has a 90 days non-compete clause. This means Tegan Nox will have to wait until February to return to the ring.

Kevin Owens has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE. The news was first reported by Fightful and confirmed by Pat Laprade.

Owens spoke with Laprade earlier this week. That interview, with comments on his decision to stick with WWE, drop Thursday.

WWE officials had been very interested in retaining his services. His contract was expiring soon and they made the former Universal champion an “excellent” offer to stay.

Retaining Owens is a big success for WWE after recently having lost people such as Bryan Danielson to AEW. The WWE sources that Fightful spoke to were said to be ‘over the moon’ about successfully re-signing Kevin Owens.

Many perceived AEW as the natural destination for the former Universal champion after his departure. AEW talents also believe that the management would have been interested in signing the former champion.

Though the belief is that AEW officials realistically wouldn’t have matched the financial offer made by WWE.

• Update: Kevin Owens Getting Millions To Stay With WWE

Kevin Owens In WWE

Kevin Owens has been with WWE since 2014. He has won over half a dozen championships in this time including a run with the Universal title.

His WWE contract originally expired later but he had restructured it to end in January 2022. This made the officials start the negotiation in the fall of 2021, something which is a ‘far cry’ from how things were done before.

The new deal is a multi-year agreement, though the exact length of it is unknown. So it’s hard to say for how long Kevin Owens is now locked in for.

KO is set to challenge for the WWE Championship in a Fatal Four Way match at Day 1. Now we will have to see how this turn of events affects his on-screen character.

The feud between Hangman Page and the graphics team has been one of the most unique yet entertaining parts of his journey to the AEW world championship. The lower third graphics of Page’s entrance have never failed to get a laugh out of people and they have frequently been a topic of discussion among fans online. Though according to the AEW champion himself, he is not very happy with it.

The cowboy recently appeared on Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette. When asked if the lines are something he comes up with himself, Hangman Page claimed that it’s not the case. According to him, he has been trying to catch the culprit behind it as well:

“I guess someone at the graphics truck who does all those? They clown on me all the time. I’m so pissed off about it. I’ve tried to get snitches from the truck. I’ve planted spies in the truck. I’m not sure that’s in the truck and not like back in the studio in Nashville or something like that. I can’t figure out who it is. And I’m fed up about it.”

• Hangman Page Says He Got Off On The Wrong Foot To Start AEW Career

“I Am The Champion And I Can’t Get It Fixed”: Hangman Page

Hangman Page continued by expressing his displeasure at not being able to get it fixed despite being the top champion of the company. Though he vowed to catch whoever is behind it and said that if the graphics start being nice, then fans should know that he has found the culprit:

“Yeah, I don’t know. At this point, I don’t know what to do about it. I’m the champion and I can’t get it fixed. So I guess they’re just probably gonna keep clowning on me for the foreseeable future. But if I stop having lower thirds altogether, or they start being nice to me or normal, then you’ll know that I got ’em.”

Hangman Page also discussed his storyline with the Dark Order and revealed if there were any plans for him to feud with Brodie Lee before his passing. You can check out the story below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

The Hardy Family office has suffered another blow as after The Butcher, another one of their stars have been sidelined with an injury.

According to reports from Fightful Select, one-half of the Private Party, Marq Quen is currently out of action due to an undisclosed injury.

The AEW star hasn’t wrestled since October 12. He worked NEW’s Better Than You event back then, where he teamed up with his Hardy Family Office teammates Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy for a six men tag team match.

Quen’s last AEW match was an eight men tag team match during the October 11 episode of Dark: Elevation. The Private Party had teamed with The Butcher and The Blade for that match.

Another member of the Hardy Family Office, The Butcher suffered a torn bicep. He has been out of action since the post Full Gear edition of Dynamite on November 17.

The injury, which he suffered during a tag team match with Blade against Orange Cassidy & Tomohiro Ishii is expected to keep him out of action for at least 3-4 months.

The report doesn’t provide a lot of details regarding the health of Marq Quen. So it’s hard to say how long he will stay out of action. We will keep you posted on his status.

The new ROH champion Jonathan Gresham recently said that he would like to defend his title against people like Bryan Danielson and CM Punk and Danielson is all for it.

The AEW star recently had an interview with Dallas News. He discussed things such as his dream scenario in AEW, why he doesn’t want to name his Mt Rushmore of wrestling, and more.

When asked about the comments from the new ROH champion, Bryan admitted that he likes Gresham’s style and he would love to get in the ring with him:

“I’d love to wrestle Jonathan Gresham. I love his style. He’s got a great mat-wrestling style. I think he’s one of the guys who have really carried on the tradition of real ‘technical wrestling’ wrestling, and I think that match would be a lot of fun.”

Apart from this, Bryan Danielson also talked about ROH’s announcement of going dark for the first quarter of 2022 to reimagine the company.

The former world champion discussed how wrestling is a hard industry to be profitable in with AEW and WWE taking up the majority of the mental space of fans. You can check out his full comments on the matter here.

Ring Of Honor helped build many of the top stars of the current generation. This list includes the current AEW star Bryan Danielson who was part of the very first ROH show in 2002.

The former WWE champion recently had an interview with Dallas News. He discussed things such as his upcoming match against Adam Page and more.

When asked about ROH’s recent announcement of going dark to reimagine the company, Danielson said that he hopes the best for them.

“As far as the future, who knows? I don’t even know what they’re thinking or how they’re going to restructure or anything like that. The wrestling industry is a hard industry to be profitable in, and especially with WWE and AEW already taking up so much of the wrestling fans’ mental space.”

He continued, “You know, it’s interesting to see where a company like Ring of Honor fits in. … I hope the best for them. especially because of how much they meant for my career.”

The American Dragon mentioned how ROH gave him a ton of exposure and opportunity. It was a platform to work against some of the best wrestlers of the time.

He feels the ROH fanbase that preferred a more wrestling-based product as opposed to the soap opera style of entertainment is now served by AEW.

• ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham Wants To Defend Against CM Punk & Bryan Danielson

The Briscoe Brothers have called out Tony Khan and FTR ahead of this Wednesday’s Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX.

The current ROH tag team champions posted a video message earlier today on Twitter. They told FTR that they made a mistake by confronting them at Final Battle.

The duo then called out AEW president Tony Khan as well to send them plane tickets, and told the AEW stars that they don’t know the danger they have put themselves in:

The Briscoe Brothers defeated Matt Taven and Mike Bennett at the Final Battle PPV this past Saturday to become the new ROH tag team champions.

After the match, they picked up the mics and laid out a challenge for any tag team in the world. In response, FTR made their ROH debuts and confronted the newly crowned champions.

The AEW stars picked up the ROH tag team titles. They then got out of the ring to brawl with The Briscoes to end the segment.

Tony Khan has teased new AEW debuts in the coming weeks. After this latest promo, the only question that remains is when exactly we will see The Briscoe Brothers making their AEW debut.

Adam Page had several interactions with Brodie Lee and the Dark Order in 2020. Many fans wondered if AEW was building to a feud between the Hangman and the Exalted One prior to Lee’s untimely passing in December 2020.

Page recently appeared on Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette. They discussed parenthood, his time as a high school teacher, starting off on the wrong foot in AEW and much more.

When asked if there were any plans for him to feud with Brodie Lee, Page said that it’s something that he wanted. He tries to plant storyline “seeds” on Being The Elite, because Tony Khan watches the show closely and has picked up several angles from the web series.

“I wanted to,” Paige said about feuding with Brodie Lee. “A lot of times in AEW it feels like what I’m thinking I would like to work towards might not be what that person’s thinking. It might not be what Tony’s thinking. But [I go] ‘Oh, I’ll do a BTE scene and plant a seed for it to see what kind of reaction it gets.’ And almost, 99 out of 100 cases, I’m pretty confident and the seeds that I would plant, what reaction they’re going to get.” said Adam Page, “And then I know that’s going to drive where the story goes on TV as well. When there’s a built-in reaction to something you go with it.

He continued, “And that’s what this company does. Let’s be honest. AEW exists because of something like Being The Elite where we could have just these stupid ass storylines that in Ring of Honor and New Japan started influencing the actual wrestling shows. Or in a lot of cases, were more popular than the wrestling shows. I remember I’d be wrestling in Ring of Honor and people were chanting stuff from our little stupid BTE storyline. That’s why they were there. That’s why AEW exists because of those kinds of things.”

Adam Page Was Planting Seeds For A Brodie Lee Feud

Adam Page continued by explaining that he was planting seeds for a future rivalry with the former TNT champion. When Lee was away, there were times that made Page consider stopping the storyline. Though according to him, he felt like it would have been a disservice to Brodie and the members of the Dark Order, so he kept going:

“So, I was planting seeds to do something with Brodie because I really wanted to and when he was ill and was gone, we didn’t know what was going on. I guess there were points where I thought ‘I don’t know, should I keep going [in] this direction? I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.’ But I felt it would have been a disservice to him and to all of the Dark Order who are incredible people to not keep going the only way that made sense, regardless of where we would end up with it. I’m very glad we did that.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription