On last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Ricochet mocked Top Dolla for his botched dive during SmackDown a few weeks ago, which upset Top Dolla. The big man got fired up and shoved Ricochet.
This confrontation led to a match between the two, which was announced for the following week.
The Turn
Fast forward to Friday’s show, Ricochet defeated Top Dolla to qualify for the men’s Royal Rumble match. Post-match, Dolla offered Ricochet a handshake and raised his arm, but it was all a ruse as Ashante “Thee” Adonis blindsided the former WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Adonis hit Ricochet with a super kick before Top Dolla, and B-Fab also took part in beating Ricochet down until Braun Strowman ran down to the ring to make the save and send Hit Row retreating.
Ricochet now joins Kofi Kingston in the men’s Royal Rumble match. Kofi Kingston previously qualified for the match. 28 other stars will make up the match, with the winner earning a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Title that is currently held by Roman Reigns, who will also be in action on this show as he defends against Kevin Owens.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is emerging as a potential bidder for WWE.
WWE has close ties to the Middle Eastern kingdom through its 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority, which sees WWE present two events per year in the country.
Their first show was held in April 2018 with the Greatest Royal Rumble. It was originally supposed to feature one event before the partnership was expanded to two large-scale events per year in late 2019.
PIV’s Backing
This is according to sources of Front Office Sports. The fund controls $620 billion in assets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as Chairman.
LightShed Partners analyst Brandon Ross told Front Office Sports: “In the same way they did LIV, there’s an unlimited faucet of dollars there. The Saudis are already a decent part of the profitability of the company just on those two [Saudi-based WWE] events alone. They’re trying to be relevant in the entertainment world.”
The fund has looked into getting more involved in sports as they’re the majority shareholder in English Premier League football club Newcastle United, having acquired the club in October 2021.
Front Office Sports reported that PIF isn’t the only possible bidder, as other potential buyers would be Amazon, Comcast, Endeavor, Liberty Media, and CAA.
Talk of WWE being sold comes after Vince McMahon returned to the company where he elected himself, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios to the Board of Directors. He has angled his return as wanting to oversee the sale of the company should there be bidders ahead of its television rights deals which expire next year.
It was emphasized that WWE might not be sold while taking the company private and was also touted as another “possible avenue” if it was “the best outcome for shareholders.”
Kevin Owens looks to right a wrong from 2021 at this year’s WWE Royal Rumble event when he steps into the ring once again and challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title.
In recent months, Owens has been a thorn in the side of Reigns and The Bloodline. Owens has that he hasn’t gotten over the fact that he would have been WWE Universal Champion if not for Paul Heyman and Jey Uso getting involved in his match two years ago.
At that event, Owens and Reigns battled in a Last Man Standing bout, but dealt with interference from The Bloodline, a pair of handcuffs, and a referee’s decision not to count all the way to 10 eventually led to his loss against “The Tribal Chief.”
How We Got Here
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Owens challenged Reigns to a match at the Royal Rumble. This was as Reigns was in the middle of talking down to Sami Zayn.
Owens made it clear that Roman’s problem wasn’t with Zayn, but rather it was with him. Owens said he would see Roman at the Royal Rumble and see Zayn if he ever made the decision to get his balls out of the pocket of Roman Reigns.
This will be Reigns’ first defense on pay-per-view since facing Logan Paul at WWE Crown Jewel.
After a major upset last week, @WWERomanReigns wants to know one thing:
It’s been a wild 24 hours for WWE as Vince McMahon maneuvered his way back into WWE and got himself a seat on the Board of Directors. He brought Michelle Wilson and George Barrios with him.
WWE held an all-hands-on-deck meeting with employees, as talent was not invited. The meeting lasted for 10 minutes.
Pwinsider.com put together highlights from the meeting that noted employees were told there would be no changes to management or their responsibilities at this time.
What Was Said?
Paul Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Frank Riddick III will remain in place in their current positions and jobs.
They stated the move was a big positive and made to give the company everything they needed to make the most of their future rights revenue sales (TV rights deals for their weekly television shows) in addition to gauging the market for a potential sale of the company with the idea that with Vince McMahon back, the entire company would all be on the same page in maximizing WWE’s potential leading into the future.
The idea is they would be looking at potential sale offers ahead of any rights negotiations and would benefit more than another round of just selling TV rights. It was also greatly emphasized that a sale may not happen, and it should not be assumed it would. Vince McMahon has the final say as the controlling shareholder.
A “possible avenue” for the company could be for it to be taken private again if it was “the best outcome for shareholders.” This was among the potential strategic options. They did not take any employee questions.
It’s unclear whether Triple H will hold a talent meeting with wrestlers at Friday Night SmackDown.
WWE is keeping talent and those backstage at events in the dark regarding who is playing the role of Uncle Howdy.
There has been a lot of speculation among fans regarding who is behind the character. Apparently, WWE talent backstage is wondering the same thing, but the person portraying the gimmick isn’t talking.
Keeping Kayfabe
Fightful Select reports that WWE is playing everything close to the vest in regard to the identity of Uncle Howdy, and the person in the outfit is kayfabing people backstage by going as far as to keep his outfit on backstage so nobody knows who it is.
There have been various guesses among fans regarding who the person is, with Bo Dallas’ name being heavily rumored. It’s likely there won’t be a confirmation until whenever they decide to do a big reveal.
Wyatt is slated to compete against LA Knight in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view later this month. WWE confirmed the match on last Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
The segment to announce the upcoming match saw Knight and Wyatt exchange words. Before they could brawl, Uncle Howdy appeared, standing alongside Wyatt before hitting him with Sister Abigail. Knight quickly exited the ring.
WWE may be bringing back another wrestler that they had released a few years ago, and that’s EJ Nduka.
The former NXT star was let go in May 2021 after having been with the company since 2019. He made his MLW debut the following month when his non-compete clause expired.
In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE has expressed interest in bringing Nduka back to the company.
The Interest
Meltzer wrote: “EJ Nduka, who has gotten rave reviews from management [in MLW], has his contract coming due imminently, and there is interest in him from multiple promotions, including WWE having expressed some interest in bringing him back.”
Meltzer continued by noting that his name has come up in AEW as well as Japan.
Heis currently one-half of the promotion’s Tag Team Champions along with Calvin Tankman. The tag team will defend their titles against The Samoan Swat Team (Lance Anoa’i & Juicy Finau) on Saturday’s Blood & Thunder event from Philadelphia.
Nduka is also booked for a show with the KAOZ promotion on February 26, 2023, in Monterrey, Mexico.
Before breaking into the wrestling business, he played for both the Indoor Football League and Canadian Football League.
WWE is looking to load up the Raw 30th Anniversary show later this month.
Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey are being advertised for the show on WWE’s website, which will emanate from Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2023. The company will celebrate three decades since Raw first appeared on television on January 11, 1993.
The Other Names
According to the company’s website, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Bobby Lashley are also advertised. WWE is expected to bring in Legends, but it’s unknown who will be used. WWE will likely load up the card with big matches as well.
Ric Flair recently said on his To Be A Man podcast that he has also been invited to the show, while Kurt Angle stated in a recent interview that he expects to be there.
WWE started working on plans in October for this special edition of the show, as the first episode took place on January 11, 1993.
WWE celebrated Raw’s 25th anniversary in 2018 with a special episode that took place across two locations – in New York City at both the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center – as the Manhattan Center was the original home of Raw in 1993.
A day after John Laurinaitis’ first public appearance since being fired from WWE was announced, it was nixed.
On Wednesday, Bobby Fulton announced that Laurinaitis would take part in a Big Time Collectibles event in Los Angeles over WrestleMania Weekend.
Fulton announced Laurinaitis for the event by writing, “John ‘Johnny Ace’ Laurinaitis will be making his first-ever appearance WrestleMania Weekend in LA, courtesy of Big Time Collectibles! More info coming soon!”
However, on Thursday, Fulton revealed that Big Time Collectibles will no longer be working with Laurinaitis because of the negative feedback they have received since the announcement.
Nixed
Fulton wrote: “Yesterday we announced John Laurinaitis would be doing an appearance with Big Time Collectibles. Upon announcement we received only negative feedback. After much consideration we have decided to not work with him. We apologize to those that were offended by us working with him.”
Last August, Laurinaitis was released from WWE following allegations of misconduct in a Wall Street Journal article. His departure ended a 21-year run with the company as he had been with the company since 2001.
Dominik Mysterio has announced his engagement. In a recent post on Instagram, the 25-year-old posted a picture of his longtime girlfriend, Marie Juliette wearing an engagement ring on January 2, 2023.
This past November, Dominik posted about his and Juliette’s 11-year anniversary.
SEScoops extends our congratulations to the happy couple.
Dominik’s Progression on WWE TV
Dominik is involved in an undefined relationship with Rhea Ripley in the storyline, as the two stars are part of The Judgment Day faction with Damian Priest and Finn Balor. On television and social media, Dominik refers to Ripley as “Mami.”
He has attempted to bring her to his father’s home on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the latter leading to the police being called and Dominik being sent to prison for a short time.
In a segment on Monday Night Raw this week, he revealed on Raw that the experience really impacted him.
Ripley commented on Dominik’s engagement post but didn’t keep kayfabe as she wrote”Congratulations” to the young couple.
In September, Dominik turned on his father and Edge at Clash at the Castle. He would officially join the Judgement Day group two nights later on Monday Night Raw. Before this, The faction had been recruiting him in the weeks leading up to the event.
Although it was originally believed that AEW reached out to The Young Bucks about negotiating a new contract, the two sides have yet to officially begin the process of doing so.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the situation on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
According to Meltzer, the deals for both Nick & Matt Jackson are up at the end of 2023. AEW President Tony Khan is looking to “lock them in” to a new deal for multiple years.
Where Things Stand
“AEW contacted them and wants to start the negotiations, but there have been no negotiations as of today, and they are certainly not close to a deal,” Meltzer said on the show.
Alvarez noted that it’d been acknowledged by both sides that they should be negotiating, but that acknowledgment is all that has been done right now.
Meltzer stated it’s similar to when AEW re-signed Chris Jericho to a new deal despite him still having time on his existing deal.
On next week’s episode of Dynamite, The Young Bucks will team with Kenny Omega in the seventh and final match in their series with Death Triangle for the AEW Trios Titles.
William Regal has returned to WWE in an official capacity.
His previous title with the company had been WWE Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting. He was released from WWE on January 5, 2022, due to budget cuts, along with several others who were part of Triple H’s team in NXT.
According to a report from PWInsider, Regal is back with WWE as of this morning and is set to be a vice president, although his actual job title has not yet been revealed.
How We Got Here
Regal joined AEW at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 6, 2022, before he officially announced his departure on December 30, 2022.
AEW President Tony Khan previously revealed the details behind Regal’s AEW release during an ROH Final Battle press conference on December 12, 2022. According to Khan, Regal wanted to return to WWE to be with his friends and work with his son, who wrestles in NXT as Charlie Dempsey.
Regal had the following to say about his time in AEW.
“Yesterday was my last official day with @AEW. I’d like to thank @TonyKhan, Megha and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed, I had a lovely time working there and had a great time. Lots of talented Wrestlers, and lovely people to work for. To my fellow BCC members, it was a special, albeit brief few months but it cemented our already strong friendship. To everyone there, thank you for welcoming me. Best wishes.”
Regal and Triple H have been friends for years. In his previous stint, Regal was Triple H’s, right-hand man.
The January 3, 2023 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Carmelo Hayes (with Trick Williams) def. Apollo Crews
Axiom def. Trick Williams (with Carmelo Hayes)
Dijak def. Channing Lorenzo (with Tony D’Angelo)
Alba Fyre def. Isla Dawn in an Extreme Resolutions Match
Oro Mensah def. Javier Bernal
Drew Gulak (with Hank Walker) def. Andre Chase (with Thea Hail and Duke Hudson)
Kofi Kingston def. Joe Gacy
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Extreme Resolution Match
Alba Fyre vs. Isla Dawn in an Extreme Resolution Match took place.
Following Deadline, where Dawn defeated Fyre, they have continued their conflict. Prior to a match against Sol Rouca two weeks ago, Dawn attacked Fyre twice, once backstage and once as she entered the ring. They traded words last week.
They brawled backstage. Fyre tried to drop several ladders onto her. Fyre put her into a chair and hit her with a trash can lid. Fyre dumped a bunch of chairs onto her.
They made it back into the ring. They used various weapons. Dawn smashed her hand with the steel steps. Fyre hit a front senton off the top rope to the outside, but the table didn’t break. Fyre sent her through the table for the win.
Grayson Waller and NXT Champion Bron Breakker had a contract signing for their title match New Year’s Evil next week.
Bron Breakker saw a video of Grayson Waller explaining on last week’s show that he wasn’t at NXT since he was back in Australia. After the video ended, Breakker smashed the TV because he was still upset about being knocked out two weeks earlier while attempting to spear Waller.
Ths was the main event segment. Waller talked some trash. Bron was trying no sell Waller’s shots at him and be extra nice. This was getting underneath the skin of Waller. Bron said Waller can talk all he wants because come next week, he will get his. Waller said that Bron is overrated and stole his dad’s gimmick. Bron punched Waller then laid him out with his finisher then hit an outside dive.
After losing to Bron Breakker at Deadline last month, Apollo Crews made a comeback two weeks ago on an episode of NXT. Hayes cut off his promo, and the two exchanged words. Williams competed against Axiom after Axiom disqualified him for losing to Hayes.
The match opened the show with Hayes going over with his finisher. It was a really good match. Post-match, Axiom took out Williams.
Andre Chase vs. Drew Gulak in a singles match was booked.
During last week’s episode, Dempsey interrupted a training session led by Drew Gulak in pursuit of a match for this week. Walker accepted the match by stating that it would be an exhibition match. Walker had joined Gulak for the training session.
Drew with a dragon sleeper and body scissors for the win.
Mercedes Varnado, formerly known as Sasha Banks, has given her thanks hours before she is reportedly expected to appear at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17
The former WWE star sent out multiple thank you messages on social media to WWE, Vince McMahon, Triple H, William Regal, the WWE Universe, The Krew (her fans), and her former persona.
Banks hasn’t appeared on WWE television since last May when she and Naomi, who were the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time, walked out on the company due to a creative dispute with Vince McMahon.
Banks negotiated her WWE release months ago before becoming a free agent on January 1.
AEW talent told Fightful Select they’ve been “no sold” when asking about Sasha Banks being Saraya’s partner on January 11, but they’re still of the belief it’s her.
“The fact that it wasn’t shot down either on screen or internally, promoting it a month out, it being a week after her Wrestle Kingdom appearance, and the cast of characters involved in the tag match were all points brought up to us by talent in the company when assuming it was her.”
One talent said they didn’t believe a deal was done or “could have been completed” as of last week because she had to wait out her WWE non-compete clause.
Bianca Belair had to get stitches following her match on Monday’s WWE Raw.
On the January 2 edition of the weekly show, Belair defeated Alexa Bliss via disqualification to retain the Raw Women’s Championship after Bliss snapped and attacked Belair after more mind games by Bray Wyatt.
After the match, Bliss continued to attack Belair by throwing her into the steel steps and then hitting a pair of DDTs on the steps. Belair came out bleeding from the match after the attack.
Stitches
Belair took to Twitter to post photos showing several stitches to her face after the attack with Bliss. The E.S.T. of WWE wrote the following caption:
“I am not okay…But @AlexaBliss_WWE won’t be either…Payback is a…3 Stitch Belair.”
WWE had Bliss explain later in the broadcast why she attacked Belair, which was her taking control back and wanting the Raw Women’s Title back as she felt it was hers, not Bianca’s.
This is leading to a rematch between Bliss and Belair, but the question remains when it will occur. While it’s possible they run it back on an upcoming episode of Raw, perhaps even the 30 Anniversary show, WWE may save it for the Royal Rumble.
Hours before her former WWE tag team partner prepares to make an expected return to the wrestling stage on Wednesday in Japan, Naomi’s wrestling future has some clarity after several months of uncertainty as she is slated to make a return to WWE.
Bryan Alvarez reported on Tuesday’s Wrestling Observer Live that his impression is that Naomi would be returning to the company, meaning she will not be joining NJPW along with Sasha Banks.
Naomi is Staying
“My belief is she will be returning to WWE because she will almost certainly be returning to WWE,” he said on the broadcast, although he did not give any return date or timeline.
Banks is expected to appear at tonight’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, marking her promotional debut. As previously reported, Naomi is reportedly in the country, as is Bayley, in a show of support for their good friends.
Banks and Naomi, then WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, walked out before an episode of WWE Raw in May 2022 due to issues with their creative direction. They were later stripped of the titles and suspended.
Throughout 2022, fans speculated about them potentially returning to WWE, especially after Vince McMahon resigned and Triple H took over as head of creative as part of the new regime this summer.
Last month it was first reported that Banks was headed to NJPW with her expected to make an appearance at this event. She is currently a free agent after she negotiated her WWE release several months ago.
Posted January 3rd, 2023 in WWE, News. Tagged: Naomi.
After the Triple H regime took over in the middle of 2022, the broadcast teams for Raw, NXT, and SmackDown were switched up.
Wade Barrett was moved from NXT to SmackDown as Pat McAfee focused on his duties with ESPN’s College Gameday. WWE brought in Booker T for the NXT role and has been calling the action alongside Vic Joseph. The belief was that after McAfee would return after the college football season wrapped up, Barrett would return to NXT.
While speaking on the newest episode of Booker’s ‘Hall of Fame’ podcast, the WWE Hall Of Famer shared that his NXT commentary stint was supposed to wrap up in December, but he’s now full-time on the brand and joked about taking Wade Barrett’s spot.
Booker T is Staying
“I gotta get back to work. NXT duties start tomorrow. My thing is, that job was only supposed to be until the end of December. But like I say, what’s that kid’s name that used to work there?… Yeah, Wade Barrett. He’s gone and forgotten as you can see. That’s my job now. That’s my job, full-time… I’m full-time now. I’m full-time on NXT, all right? I’m gonna be up in your ear, all up in your ear, every Tuesday (Booker laughed)… Wade Barrett, I don’t know if they’re gonna keep him on, find a spot for him over on Raw or SmackDown or something but his ass ain’t coming back to NXT.
This week’s episode of NXT is the first live show for the brand in several weeks and will be the go-home episode before the New Year’s Evil special on January 10th.
Alexa Bliss is just one of many WWE stars who have to deal with negativity on social media. While there is negativity on social media platforms, there is also positivity, and they receive praise from fans.
Bliss is looking to stay off social media to improve herself heading into the new year.
Despite her success and fame, some fans don’t like her. In a post on Twitter, Bliss stated that she is focusing on improving her physical and mental health by going off Twitter. This appears to be a new year’s resolution. She wrote the following:
The Change
“This year I’m focusing on my mental & physical health & I think majority of that is gonna boil down to staying off twitter lol.”
The WWE star has found a lot of success in WWE across all three brands Raw, NXT, and SmackDown. Throughout her time in WWE, she has won a total of 8 championships.
Bliss was in action on Monday’s episode of Raw when she challenged Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. The match saw Bliss snap at a WWE official and give Belair a beatdown. It appears that WWE will build to a rematch at the upcoming Royal Rumble event, but that has yet to be confirmed.
There has been speculation about Jeff Hardy’s future in AEW following his DUI arrest last year, and now his brother, Matt, has cast doubt on whether he will return to wrestling.
Matt also revealed that Hardys were set to become AEW Tag Team Champions if Jeff had not been suspended by AEW and entered rehab after his legal issues.
Jeff Gone for Good?
“It’s just very unfortunate, the things that happened with Jeff. Hopefully it’s something that he is going to make into a positive and he’s going to turn everything around in his life, and he can come back and be better. We’ll see, I don’t know, I don’t know.
Maybe he comes back, maybe he doesn’t, but we were scheduled to do all kinds of things during the summer and it really sent me down a big path of detour following that, but it is what it is. It’s pro wrestling where you have to adapt and change on the fly, and I’ve made the most of it and tried to do what I can.”
The former WWE Champion was arrested on June 13. Hardy has been charged with Driving While License Canceled/Suspended/Revoked, Violation of Restrictions Placed on Drivers License, and DUI Alcohol/Drugs Third Offense within 10 Years. Hardy has entered a “not guilty” plea to the charge.
WWE is considering various ideas for the WrestleMania 39 card as the company is just a few months away from the event and needs to lock in its main event plans by mid-January.
It was reported last week that WWE planned to do John Cena vs. Logan Paul at this event. This is after a report suggested Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre have been discussed as possible competitors in a singles match for the WWE Title.
If WWE went forward with that idea, then Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns would need to drop the WWE Title.
Fightful Select reports that before Vince McMahon retired this past summer, it was presumed that Rhodes would end up competing for the WWE Title at WrestleMania. Creative sources told the media outlet that this hadn’t been told outright, but simply assumed. It was noted that Mania plans that Vince came up with were scrapped.
Original Idea
Regarding Cena vs. Paul, this report stated that WWE wants to have Paul and The Rock work WrestleMania with the hope of The Rock wrestling Reigns. Fightful noted that it’s still unclear whether they will work the show.
While internal talk has had Cena vs. Paul or Cena vs. current WWE United States Champion Austin Theory at WrestleMania, other top stars have been pushing to face Cena from as far back as July.
“There were pitches within WWE to do Cena vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania, but there’s no word yet on if this is still being discussed under the new regime led by WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H.”
Before Ronda Rousey dropped the SmackDown Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair on SmackDown last week, it was reported that Rousey vs. Rhea Ripley was planned for WrestleMania 39.
Fightful notes that although additional sources have not confirmed Rousey vs. Ripley, they can confirm that Rousey vs. Becky Lynch is not the plan for WrestleMania 39.
Karen Jarrett has made several interesting tweets after Max Caster’s recent rap on AEW Dynamite leading up to The Acclaimed’s AEW Tag Team Title defense against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
Karen is unhappy about the narrative that Jeff Jarrett stole her away from Kurt Angle a decade ago. She took to Twitter to note that wasn’t the case, as her marriage to Kurt was already over.
Jaren brought up how she sent out her tweets after receiving some “offline” threats, but it’s unclear what the threats were. Kurt did delete a tweet about Caster’s rap.
Karen’s Tweets
Karen wrote the following via several tweets:
“We can start here… my marriage to Kurt was over LONG before Jeff and I started seeing each other. We were legally separated at the time Kurt signed with TNA living in different homes. We got back together and I tried to get over the affairs among other things that went on in our marriage. But obviously wasn’t able. Funny and sad how all of that has been swept under the rug over all these years. Jeff didn’t steal me from anyone. #dawnmarie #kellikelli #deannesiden to name a few. Maybe Kurt will think twice before making threats, insulting/disrespecting my husband. I am done living in fear. I have 24 years of dirt I am ready to start unloading. I am done! #movingon.”
Former WWE star Kelly Kelly later shared a statement in response to what Karen said about her ex-husband.
Karen’s tweet included a hashtag that implied that Kurt and Kelly had an affair while he was married. Kelly tweeted the following:
I keep linked in this tweet I have dmed @karenjarrett to privately ask her and I’m waiting for her response, but I want to go ahead and publicly make a statement that only way I can be linked to Kurt is we were co workers sorry but thanks for the Monday morning entertainment lol https://t.co/bsCSZcpkkX
It should be noted that Kelly made her WWE debut on the June 13, 2006 episode of ECW when she was 19 years old. Kelly and Kurt were in WWE at the same time for just a couple of months before Kurt departed.
WWE is getting ready to finally move into its new corporate headquarters located at 707 Washington Blvd in Stamford, CT.
A company spokesperson tells CTinsider the move is planned to commence towards the end of the first quarter of 2023. The remainder of the office and production space in the new location will cover about 400,000 square feet and is scheduled to open in mid-2023.
The spokesperson noted that it wants to move all of its employees in Stamford into the new headquarters in 2023, with more than 800 people working there once the company’s space has opened.
WWE HQ
WWE doesn’t plan to keep employees at its current headquarters or production center. The current headquarters is not for sale, although WWE would “entertain discussions with interested parties.”
The new headquarters stood entirely empty for a couple of years after banking giant UBS in 2016 moved its local offices across the street.
This move comes at a time when WWE continues to grow, as the third quarter of 2022 saw WWE’s revenues jump 19 percent year over year to about $305 million. However, they had a decline in quarterly profits due to nearly $18 million in costs related to its investigation of alleged misconduct by Vince McMahon, who announced his retirement in July.
The competitors for the first-ever Pitch Black match scheduled for the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble have been revealed.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Bray Wyatt opened the show to apologize to the cameraman he attacked last week before he was quickly interrupted by LA Knight, who called Wyatt a fraud. Knight challenged him to a match at the upcoming premium live event.
The Set Up
Wyatt accepted the bout before saying it was time to remind the world how cruel he could be. Before they could brawl, Uncle Howdy appeared, standing alongside Wyatt before hitting him with Sister Abigail. Knight quickly exited the ring.
WWE confirmed later in the broadcast that Wyatt vs. Knight would be a “Pitch Black Match,” though no details were given on what the match is, although they plugged the bout being sponsored by Mountain Dew with a graphic.
This match will mark Wyatt’s first television match in WWE since his bout against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37.
WWE presents the Royal Rumble premium live event on Saturday, January 28, 2023 from San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome that will air on Peacock. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.
John Cena made his in-ring return to WWE television on the December 30 edition of SmackDown by teaming with Kevin Owens to take on Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn in a tag team match.
WWE set up the match on the December 16 edition of SmackDown as Owens needed to find a tag team partner for the bout, and Cena appeared on the big screen in a pre-taped promo where he confirmed he would team with “KO.” This match extended his streak of wrestling every year since his main roster debut in 2002.
The match served as the main event, although there was a commercial during it that kept the match short. There was a near fall, with Owens hitting a frog splash to Reigns. Cena mostly stayed on the apron before getting the hot tag. Owens pinned Zayn with the stunner.
After SmackDown went off the air, Cena was attacked by The Bloodline. This led to The Brawling Brutes and Drew McIntyre making the save. Cena cut a promo to thank the fans for their support over the past 20 years. When he found out that the last show of the year would be in Tampa and it is his only match of 2022 to extend the streak, he had to do it.
Charlotte Flair is back on WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
After Ronda Rousey defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship, Flair walked out with new music and a new look.
Charlotte challenged Rousey for the title and despite the objections from Shayna Baszler, Rousey accepted. Rousey took a boot to the face before kicking out of the pin attempt. Flair hit the spear and she pinned Rousey to win the title.
Charlotte took time off from WWE after WrestleMania Backlash, where she dropped the SmackDown Women’s Title to Rousey in an I Quit Match. WWE noted that Flair had a fractured radius as a way to write her off television.
She took the time off to get married to Andrade El Idolo this past May when several wrestlers were in attendance, including Apollo Crews, Finn Balor, Rey Mysterio, and Lina Fanene (Nia Jax).
While off WWE television, Flair did appear in August on “Steve Austin: The Broken Skull Sessions” where she looked back on her WWE career.
The card for WWE WrestleMania 39 continues to come together as Ronda Rousey’s opponent at the upcoming event has been revealed, and it’s not Becky Lynch.
WrestlingNews.co reports plans for the match between Lynch and Rousey have been scrapped. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio today that he was told the match is “not likely,” while another source told him that plans for it are “dead.”
Rousey’s Opponent
WrestlingNews.co’s report noted that Rousey is scheduled to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 39. It’s unclear who Lynch will be facing at the show.
According to WrestlingNews.co, the other planned matches for WrestleMania 39 include Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes or Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defending against The Rock or Cody Rhodes, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, and Logan Paul vs. John Cena.
Rousey and Lynch headlined WrestleMania 35 in 2019 alongside Charlotte Flair, marking the first-ever female WrestleMania main event, before Rousey went on hiatus until she returned to the company earlier this year.
WWE had reportedly been planning to do the match at WrestleMania 39 since shortly after WrestleMania 38.
