MJF is featured in a new spotlight trailer for the upcoming AEW Fight Forever video game.

AEW has released a new trailer for Fight Forever that features clips of “The Salt of The Earth” in action. He also tweeted the video and wrote in the caption, “Even in video game form I’ll be better than your favorites in #AEWFightForever and you know it.”

The release date has yet to be revealed for the game, but it is scheduled to arrive sometime in 2023. The game will be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

There had been rumors about an M for Mature rating, but the word is that the game will be rated T for Teen. 

The Trailer

Fight Forever is All Elite Wrestling’s first console video game. A website with information has been launched, and a teaser trailer is out.  Wrestlers, move-sets, entrances, and arenas in the game will be customizable. There will also be a deep career mode. 

MJF became the AEW World Heavyweight Champion when he beat Jon Moxley with the help of William Regal at Full Gear. He retained his championship last week against Ricky Starsk on Dynamite: Winter Is Coming.

Tony Khan has provided new details about the “new look” coming to AEW programming in the very near future.

AEW Dynamite and Rampage have maintained a similar production aesthetic since the shows premiered. Following the recent hire of Michael Mansury as Senior Vice President and Co-Executive Producer, it’s been reported that big changes are in store for the look and feel of the company’s flagship shows.

Khan spoke with Scott Fishman for TV Insider this week and laid out what fans can expect on the first Dynamite and Rampage of 2023.

Changes Coming January 4

Wrestling fans won’t have to wait long to see the ‘new’ incarnations of Dynamite and Rampage. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Dynamite moving to TBS, the show is getting a facelift.

“I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag necessarily, especially so close to the big day. But at the start of 2023, we’re going to open the year on Wednesday, January 4 with the first Dynamite in Seattle, marking a full year of Dynamite on TBS,” said Khan.

He doesn’t want to hype up the set re-design too much, because that can create expectations that are impossible to live up to. However, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I will say the set will be beautiful though,” he aded. “The look of Rampage will also be different. This will affect the way people view AEW on Wednesdays and Fridays in terms of presentation with the set and the show with the same great action.”

Khan was also asked about signing Mansury and what he brings to the team. He called it a huge acquisition for AEW and put him over for his knowledge of TV production. 

He feels Mansury is a great signing for the company and important to have someone with his experience and can’t wait to see what he brings to AEW. 

The December 20, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

WWE NXT Results 

•  
• Carmelo Hayes defeated Axiom 
• Zoey Stark defeated Nikkita Lyons 
• Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles 
• Elektra Lopez defeated Indi Hartwell
• The New Day defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles

Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles when Nile went to choke out Carter but fell on her back and was pinned.

All the teams worked hard and the fans were invested down the stretch. 

Let’s Talk

Carmelo Hayes defeated Axiom after Trick Williams interfered in the opening match. The finish saw  Hayes hit a jumping Codebreaker and then he went up top and hit Nothin But Net. 

Post-match, Axiom hit an Asai moonsault on Williams. It was an actual packed match. 

Later in the show, Apollo Crews came out. He said he plans to meet the winner of NXT Champion Bron Breaker vs. Grayson Waller that takes place at New Years Evil and he wants that match at NXT Vengeance Day. Carmelo Hayes came out, and the two had a back-and-forth promo. 

Crews said that there is always somebody else better out there. Hayes knocked him for not being able to become NXT Champion. Crews said that he’s better than Hayes and he will prove it anytime anywhere.

Tag Team Title Match

The New Day defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles when Woods won with a top rope elbow.

This served as the main event of the show. New Day went over when Kofi hit a head kick and Woods hit a spring board elbow drop. 

The Call Out

Grayson Waller called out Bron Breakker after demanding his title shot tonight in a backstage segment earlier in the show. Waller cut a promo at the end of the show about how he is the greatest NXT star and about to be the greatest NXT Champion of all time. He said he carried NXT for the whole year. 

Breakker exited his car in the parking lot and went straight to the ring to spear Waller, but Waller had a metal plate under his jacket, similar to the Bret Hart/Bill Goldberg angle in WCW. Waller vowed to outsmart Bron again and become NXT Champion. 

Roxanne Perez Speaks

Roxanne Perez did a sit down interview with Booker T about winning the NXT Women’s Title last week from Mandy Rose, who wasn’t mentioned. 

Perez said that she didn’t expect for it to happen. She recalled training at Booker T’s school and putting in the work where she became Women’s Champion. She said when she was a kid she wanted to be NXT Women’s Champion. She brought up her accomplishments in NXT in just nine months. She said she didn’t want to wait for New Year’s Evil and wanted to bet on herself. 

Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that Black Adam will not be featured going forward, at least in “the first chapter” of a new direction for DC’s storytelling under new Studio Heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, now in control of all of DC Studios.

They control the comic book company’s film, TV, animated, and gaming storylines and direction going forward. This character was a passion project for him for years as the original plan in September 2014 was for him to introduce him as the villain in the Shazam! film series.  

The former WWE Champion lobbied for Black Adam to be introduced in his own film, allowing for two separate franchises to be launched instead.  

The Rock got his wish for a standalone “Black Adam” movie a few months ago when the film was released in theaters and now streaming on HBO Max, but there have been a lot of changes at DC Studios. 

The Rock’s Statement

“My passionate friends, I wanted to give you a long-awaited Black Adam update regarding the character’s future in the new DC Universe. 

James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters. 

James and I have known each other for years and have always rooted for each other to succeed. It’s no different now, and I will always root for DC (and Marvel) to win and WIN BIG. 

You guys know me, and I have very thick skin – and you can always count on me to be direct with my words. There had been rumors that The Rock’s movie wasn’t as profitable as it appeared on the surface, something he later dismissed. These decisions made by James and DC leadership represent their vision of DCU through their creative lens. 

After 15 years of relentless hard work to finally make Black Adam, I’m very proud of the film we delivered for fans worldwide. I will always look back on the fan reaction to Black Adam with tremendous gratitude, humility and love. 

We did great. To my very passionate and vocal Black Adam/Super Hero genre fans – I love you, THANK YOU, and I will ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOU and do my best to deliver and entertain you. What a helluva month – now we all need some Teremana! Have a productive week and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you and your families! “

There had been rumors that The Rock’s movie wasn’t as profitable as it appeared on the surface, something he later dismissed. 

Chris Jericho may be a member of The Elite alongside Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks for one night only as the top AEW star suggested a dream tag team with Omega for an upcoming huge event.

AEW will make its debut in Winnipeg with a live episode of Dynamite and a taping of Rampage on March 14. This is the hometown of Jericho and Omega. 

The Possibilities 

While speaking with Winnipeg Sports Talk, the former ROH and AEW World Heavyweight Champion was asked about potential plans for AEW in Winnipeg. He suggested the possible dream tag team.

“That’s three months from now, so we’ll have to see where the storylines take us. We just finished up with the Blackpool Combat Club. The biggest upset in pro wrestling history when Action Andretti beat me on Dynamite last week.”

The former AEW World Champion hinted at a potential rivalry with Ricky Starks, who recently fell short to current World Champion MJF on last week’s Winter Is Coming special. 

“We’ll have to address that. Ricky Starks is another one that we’re looking at getting involved with. There are a lot of great programs. That’s the thing with me and the Jericho Appreciation Society. We always want to work with somebody new and really sink our teeth into the storyline.”

Jericho hinted at a possible plan discussed for the team. 

“In mid-March, we’ll probably have a lot of cool things going. We’ve already discussed a few ideas of what we could do that night. Maybe something with Kenny and I, Kenny and I tagging, it all depends on what the storylines are. It doesn’t matter what the exact storylines are, I know it’s going to be a great show.”

Transcription via Fightful

The latest star brought back by Triple H was Bronson Reed, formerly known as JONAH, who made his return to the company on Monday’s episode of Raw. 

This is over a year after Reed was let go by the company when Vince McMahon was still in charge. There had been rumblings that Triple H wanted to bring him back. 

His return happened when the former NXT North American Champion got involved in The Miz and Dexter Lumis’ ladder match. Reed helped Miz go over and got the money that was part of the stipulation for the match. 

Triple H Got His Man

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that “Bronson Reed was a priority hire for Triple H when he gained power within WWE.” It was said that NJPW wanted to retain Reed and was hopeful he would stay. 

The report noted that Reed is done with NJPW and has signed a contract with WWE. 

After Jonah first joined WWE in January 2019, he made his televised in-ring debut as a competitor in the NXT Breakout Tournament. In May 2021, he won the NXT North American Championship. 

Jonah worked his last match on WWE television in July 2021 when he lost to Adam Cole on an episode of NXT. 

The Hurt Business was a fan-favorite group that mostly got over when there were no fans in attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic era. 

First, MVP was the manager of Bobby Lashley before recruiting Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. Vince McMahon dissolved Hurt Business without a logical explanation, which upset those in the group and fans alike. 

On Monday’s episode of Raw, Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick brought up the Bobby Lashley incident, where he was fired at one point in storyline. The announcers noted that WWE official Adam Pearce was waiting on Lashley to respond to him. WWE cut to the backstage era, where Pearce was seen delivering a voicemail to Lashley to set up a meeting with him.

The Moment

MVP appeared and asked Pearce about Lashley, teasing a Hurt Business reunion in the process., but Pearce was unable to answer the question as he was approached by a referee who told him about an attack by The Bloodline. 

Lashley has made it publicly known that he wants the group to get back together. While speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast in August, Lashley shared his vision about how they could reunite: 

WWE NXT talent Edris Enofe is dedicated to WWE and wanted to show off his desire to be in WWE for the long haul as he got some new ink. 

There have been many people who plan on staying with the company for many years and while sometimes that happens, there are some who don’t fit in the company and need to go somewhere else when their run is up. 

Enofe is seemingly one person who has no plans to ever leave WWE because he is showing his dedication with this new tattoo. He got the ink done on his chest and it’s a large WWE logo. 

The Ink

Enofe shared the tattoo, which is on the right side of his chest, in a new video that he posted on Twitter. It will be hard to miss when he wrestles. You can watch the clip below to check out the tattoo.

After training at the WWE Performance Center in 2021, he started being used on NXT television in November 2021 where he beat Malik Blade on an episode of 205 before he was paired with Malik Blade.

Matt Riddle has had his personal business aired on not only WWE television, but also social media. 

WWE used Riddle’s personal struggles and family life in his storyline with Seth Rollins while recreating a split interview segment from years ago in the UFC between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones. 

Riddle was written off WWE television on the December 5 episode of Raw after the Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa viciously attacked him.

The attack angle was reportedly done because Riddle failed a second drug test this year with the expectation that he would be going to rehab. Riddle previously violated the company’s wellness policy over the summer, although a source close to him denied this report and stated he wanted time off. 

This time it was not part of a storyline as adult actress Jordan Maxx tweeted about Riddle’s situation in response to a user’s joke about Riddle being with another adult actress known as Misha Montana. 

The Tweets

“Does it make you feel better about yourself to kick people when they’re down? Try to imagine for one second, the man you’ve spent the last 6 months with, who said ‘I love you’ for the first time 2 months ago, is all of a sudden making out with someone else WHO IS IN YOUR INDUSTRY, and then, rather than keeping plans for Christmas and NYE, he’s going to rehab? Do you have any idea how confusing and hurtful that is?”

Twitter user @IAmRockReigns replied with, “Wait.. you would rather have him be with you at Christmas than to let him get the help he needs? He dodged a bullet with you, that’s for sure.”

Maxx responded to the user by writing: “Can you even read? That’s not what I’m saying at all. He told me that he quit drugs, and then to find out he’s a) with another girl b) doing those drugs with her and c) failing drug tests so he has to go to rehab for it is disappointing.”

Real1 (Enzo Amore in WWE) doesn’t want to hear comparisons to MJF because he thinks he is on another level with promos than the AEW World Heavyweight Champion. 

Real1 got over in WWE as a babyface alongside Big Cass (Big Bill in AEW) for his microphone skills.  Many fans consider MJF one of, if not the best, on the microphone and one of the best talkers in the business. 

While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Real1 was asked about MJF’s mic skills.

“Don’t ever compare apples to oranges. You can’t compare a career heel to a career babyface.”

The Showdown?

Rearl1 was asked whether he’d be willing to go toe-to-toe with MJF in a promo battle, and Real1 replied.

“It’s not even a question. We don’t have to ask those questions because if that’s the truth of the matter, my phone is on. People know where to call me. People know where to find me. If you want to give the people that shit tomorrow, you’d be wasting a lot of time, money, and investment because that’s a build that deserves to be built. I’m not taking anything away from other people who do great work on the microphone, I want to see other people eat. Generational talent? I had ten years in this business. My first generation, my decade is done. What I did is undeniable. You can’t ever discredit it. I’m called a babyface because I got over. I don’t have to shit on the people and bury the people. I can make people love me. I can make people listen, cheer, chant. You can’t do that. Until you make people chant your catchphrases, love you, and book you as babyface, it’s easy to be a heel. It’s easy to shit on these people. It’s real easy. “

Real1 brought up how he created the word, Sawft, and mentioned that he didn’t curse for seven years in WWE to get a cheap pop.  Rearl1 thinks he would destroy MJF on the mic in a five-minute promo battle.

“Don’t ever compare apples to oranges. Don’t ever disrespect me. Five minutes? Brutalize him. You give me five minutes on a live microphone, I’m trending number one in the world. When is the time you drew a two? When CM Punk got there is when they drew a two? If I show up on that screen, you’re getting the number one trend in the world, guaranteed, with or without MJF on the screen. I didn’t have to be there when Cass showed up, and he trended, and I trended number five on my fucking couch. It wasn’t Wardlow trending, it wasn’t Cass, it was Enzo trending.”

Real1 said that no three letters could hold him, including WWE, AEW, and MJF, before reiterating that he didn’t need to take cheap shots on the microphone to get over. 

WWE released Real1 in January 2018 due to sexual assault allegations before the Phoenix Police Department ceased their investigation due to insufficient evidence a few months later. 

H/T to Fightful for the transcription

WWE pulled D-Von Dudley from making a scheduled appearance at an ECW tribute event over the weekend.

The WWE Hall Of Famer was slated to appear at the Battleground Championship Wrestling’s “A Tribute to the Extreme” show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday night. 

The promotion stated they had received a legal letter from WWE, according to Pwinsider.com. 

The Report

The report noted that “D-Von was then pulled from the show, despite, according to the promotion, personally reaching out to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque to get the edict reversed, which was not successful.”

Dudley, who works for WWE as an NXT coach and producer, was also removed from the Icons of Wrestling convention that was being held in conjunction with the show.

Dudley was supposed to appear during a match between Bully Ray and Matt Cardona at the show. Last Friday, Icons of Wrestling wrote about the situation:

“Here we go: Due to circumstances beyond my control D-Von will no longer be at Icons & Battleground. D-von is beyond devastated by this and I want everyone to know that this turn of events had absolutely NOTHING to due with D-von. Currently I’m hesitant to put the reasoning in writing but I will have zero hesitation telling the entire wrestling world why this happened inside the ring. To those who made this decision you will not deter us. You will not stop us. You may think you have control but rest assured you do not. All Dudley boy presales will be refunded first thing Monday Morning. The Dudleys platinum VIP will be replaced by 3 guests of your choosing. One final message to those responsible, I’ll see you in the ring and we shall let the people be the judge & jury.”

The Dudley Boyz were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.

Sasha Banks, real name Mercedes Varnado, will go to Japan earlier than expected. 

It was originally reported that the former WWE Women’s Champion is expected to appear at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. It has since been revealed that Varnado has verbally agreed to a deal with NJPW after negotiating her release from WWE months ago with the stipulation that she couldn’t do anything wrestling related until 2023.  

Hiroaki Sawa confirmed that Varnado would be back in Japan in the middle of this week. Sawa tweeted (Translated from Japanese):

The Announcement

“Sasha Banks, a female top wrestler who has surpassed 5.6 million Instagram followers and is active in the American professional wrestling organization WWE, will be staying in Japan from the middle of this week. Hope to collaborate with Japanese brands. If you are interested in brands or agencies, how about MTG including her on the night of 12/21 (Wednesday) or 12/23 (Friday)? I’ll be waiting.”

Although not confirmed, the belief is Banks will appear at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4 to confront KAIRI, who will be defending her IWGP Women’s Championship on the show.

Contract talks between Banks and WWE fell through due to money, as Banks wanted to be paid on the level of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. They also thought she had peaked as a top star. 

Goldberg hasn’t been seen on WWE television for months and while he has publicly expressed interest in wrestling again, he has been waiting on the sidelines for that to happen. 

There was word that Goldberg had a new WWE contract, but that’s not the case. Last week, rumors went around that the Hall Of Famer had inked a new deal that would keep him under contract for two years with five matches guaranteed over that time and three matches to be against new talent that he hasn’t faced. 

The rumored deal would’ve also seen those five matches take place in Saudi Arabia and WrestleMania.

The Truth

Fightful Select reports those close to him say not so fast and specifically, they said, “that would be news to his reps that negotiate those kinds of deals.”

Goldberg’s current WWE agreement runs through 2022, but there are no matches remaining on it. There’s always a chance he signs a new deal with WWE, but according to his reps, that’s not the case yet.

Goldberg has only wrestled once in 2022, which was the Roman Reigns match at Elimination Chamber. In 2021, he worked three matches – a loss to Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble and Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam before beating Bobby Lashley at Crown Jewel.

Planning is well underway for next month’s Royal Rumble premium live event, with things kicking into high gear after the holidays.

WWE presents the Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 28, 2023 from San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome. The event will stream live on Peacock in the US and on the WWE Network internationally.

Matches the Rumble will be announced in the coming weeks, but WWE has already locked in the top of the card. Some aspects of the Rumble can’t be announced until after the December 30th edition of SmackDown, which will be headlined by John Cena teaming with Kevin Owens against Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns. 

Royal Rumble 2023 Matches

Here’s what’s currently in the works for the Royal Rumble, according to our friends at WrestlingNews.co:

• Barring an injury, the card will feature Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens.

• Ronda Rousey defending the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Raquel Rodriguez

• Edge will battle Finn Balor, who will revive his Demon alter-ego. There’s been talk of this being a Hell in a Cell match.

It’s also been rumored that WWE will be introducing a new stipulation match at the Rumble, a Pitch Black match. Bray Wyatt, who has been feuding with LA Knight, was linked to this Pitch Black concept. However, it seems unlikely WWE would hold four big stipulation events on the same card (two Royal Rumbles, Hell in a Cell and Pitch Black), so it’s likely we’ll see either Hell in a Cell or Pitch Black.

Mick Foley was a key name in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s career, which helped make him a big WWE star. They had a memorable rivalry in early 1999 before teaming together as the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection.

The latest episode of Young Rock featured the story of both The Rock and Foley, with Foley teaching a lot of things to the young Johnson.

Foley took to Facebook to share a heartfelt message to The Rock for his appreciation after watching the show. He wrote the following: 

Heartwarming Message

“ROCK & SOCK: a true connection

I’m not sure words can do justice to how grateful I’m feeling after watching last night’s episode of #YoungRock While I’ve had some special wrestling moments in front of thousands, last night’s moment was just me, alone in my hotel, tears in my eyes, as I watched an actor portraying me (doing a fine job, too) teaching Dwayne Johnson’s character a lesson about the gift of Christmas giving.

It’s funny, because there was a time – many, many years ago – when I wondered if @TheRock appreciated me. Well, brother, he has answered that question in the affirmative so many times, in so many ways that I feel foolish for having ever wondered. In turn, my respect and admiration for Dwayne Johnson has only grown over the years – as has my appreciation for the incredible moments we shared together – on the road, in the ring, and on the microphone.

Thank you Rock, for being so good to me. Your kind words – in person, on social media, in texts and VM’s, have meant so much to me. If I did in fact, teach you a lesson about giving, it is one you have paid forward a thousand times over. Merry Christmas, my friend.”

The Rock has been rumored for a match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, and WWE has discussed the idea of him making an appearance at the Royal Rumble match next month.

Since Triple H took over main roster creative, Kevin Owens has once again been a big part of WWE television and that importance will likely only grow as the road to WrestleMania picks up. 

He was supposed to be on television for SmackDown this week, but that didn’t go as planned. WWE aired a live episode this week before taping next week’s Friday right after the show went off the air from Chicago. 

What Happened 

Fightful Select reported that Owens was supposed to be on both week’s episodes, but he couldn’t make it due to what was called a “nightmare travel situation.”

The report added, “Owens had to be written out of the shows and major production and writing changes were made. Originally Owens was supposed to be face-to-face with the Bloodline to introduce the John Cena video.”

Cena will team up with Kevin Owens to take on Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn on the December 30th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown. 

This comes after The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) vs. The Brawling Brutes (Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens) in the Men’s WarGames Match at this year’s Survivor Series premium live event.

Kenny Omega has been a household name for years thanks to his in-ring skills as he is considered one the best pro wrestlers on the planet. Omega has always competed at a high level whether that be in New Japan Pro Wrestling or AEW. In that time, he has faced numerous top opponents all over the world.

The former AEW World Heavyweight Champion also doesn’t shy away from competing on less popular shows. Omega decided to compete during the latest taping event for AEW Dark, held on Saturday from Universal Studios. 

In Action

Omega worked the set of tapings when he wrestled Hagane Shinno in singles competition. It’s unclear when the episode of AEW Dark with Omega will air. 

Omega is set to team up with The Young Bucks and square off against Death Triangle in their next match in the best-of-seven series with Death Triangle, for the AEW Trios Titles. The two teams will clash in a No Disqualification Match on the December 21 Dynamite episode. If necessary, the sixth bout will be a Falls Count Anywhere contest. 

We will have spoilers on the homepage later tonight. You can check out some tweets of Omega’s appearance below: 

Due to the crew being given time off to spend Christmas with their families, next week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown from Chicago was filmed after the December 16 show. 

WWE SmackDown Spoilers

Here are the spoilers for next week (December 23), courtesy of F4Wonline.com:

Raquel Rodriguez won a gauntlet match to become the number one contender for the SmackDown Women’s title. Xia Li beat Emma and Tegan Nox. Raquel defeated Li, Liv Morgan, and Sonya Deville to win the match. Shayna Baszler came out as a surprise entrant, only to be defeated by Rodriguez.

Bray Wyatt came out and said that LA Knight owes him an apology. Wyatt ends up attacking the cameraman.

Rey Mysterio defeated Angel of Los Lotharios as Karrion Kross and Scarlett were watching in the crowd.

The Bloodline came out for a promo. Solo Sikoa vs. Sheamus was booked for the December 30 show in Tampa. During the promo, Sami Zayn said that Kevin Owens was like a black cloud that is still following him.

The Usos defeated Hit Row to retain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team titles.

Braun Strowman and Ricochet defeated Imperium in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. Presents were everywhere and were used as weapons. The New Day was dressed as nutcrackers. Ricochet, at one point, was hurt as he was bleeding. He recovered and won the match for his team.

John Cena is slated to return to WWE television on the December 30 edition of SmackDown. 

According to Fightful Select, there’s been talk of seeing him before then. Per the report,  “there have been discussions within WWE and even plans to integrate Cena into upcoming episodes of SmackDown even before he arrives.” 

Some of the talks included having a “video presence” of some sort, but the extent of that wasn’t known. That was one of the several things that were teased to hype up Smackdown this week.

The report added that the Cena appearance will be promoted heavily over the next two weeks and that they wanted to make the December 30 show a “must-watch.”

His Last Appearance

During Cena’s return on Raw for his 20th Anniversary celebration over the summer, he did not set up his match with Theory at SummerSlam, which had been speculated about because they had been publicly teasing a match.

Instead, nothing was announced regarding his WWE future, as Cena stated he wasn’t sure when he would wrestle again. 

Shortly before WWE confirmed Cena would be appearing on this episode of SmackDown, it was reported that Cena was expected to work WrestleMania 39 although an opponent wasn’t mentioned. 

Griff Garrison is on the mend after undergoing the knife. 

The AEW star announced on Friday evening that he had surgery by tweeting that he “had to go under the knife,” but added that he’d be back in no time. The post also featured a picture of himself in a hospital bed. As of this writing, it’s unclear what the surgery was for and how long he’ll be out of action.

Garrison’s Last Match

Garrison has not wrestled since the AEW Dark taping in October, where he and Brian Pillman lost to QT Marshall and Cole Karter. 

Garrison entered the pro wrestling business in 2016 after graduating from the Fire Star Pro Wrestling Academy in Greensboro, NC.

In 2020, Garrison started making appearances for AEW as he made his promotional debut on the June 10th edition of Dark, where he lost to Jimmy Havoc in a singles match.

Garrison was paired up with Brian Pillman Jr. in AEW, where they have found success as a tag team known as The Varsity Blonds. Both Pillman and Garrison were on tiered deals before

The tag team lost the rights to the “Varsity” name to Josh Woods and Tony Nese in October. As a result, they’re now simply The Blonds.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Triple H is gearing up for his first WWE WrestleMania in charge of creative after Vince McMahon decided to retire due to the hush money scandal. 

Since taking over creative, fans believe WWE has changed for the better. WrestleMania 39 will be a two-night show, set to take place on April 1st and 2nd at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the company has already started discussing multiple ideas for top talent.

Where Things Stand

Meltzer wrote, “regarding stories that the WrestleMania card is finalized, we are told that there are multiple ideas for Mania cards in discussion and every top act has multiple different things under discussion right now.”

As previously reported, WWE has locked in plans for Brock Lesnar. WWE is hoping to have The Rock, Steve Austin, and John Cena wrestle at the show. 

The speculation is that if WWE can’t get The Rock to come back to do a match with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns then Cody Rhodes may fill that rople. There’s also been talk of having Reigns wrestle on both nights of the show against both stars on different nights. 

Chris Jericho has his next movie project lined up as he is set to lead cast in a wrestling-themed horror movie, “Dark Match.”

Deadline reported today that Jericho will star with Ayisha Issa (Transplant), Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead), Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), Michael Eklund (Wynonna Earp) and Jonathan Cherry (Goon) in the movie. 

The Dept. 9 Studios film, which recently wrapped in Edmonton, Canada, is written and directed by Lowell Dean (Wolfcop) and is produced by John MacDonald who also serves as one of the executive producers along with Jericho. Don Depoe and Michael Feehan, who are also Dept.9 producers, are joined by Rhonda Baker (The Grudge) and Michael Peterson.

The Synopsis

The movie sees a small-time wrestling company accept a high-paying gig in a backwoods town, only to discover when they arrive that the community is run by a mysterious cult leader with devious plans for their match.

Jericho previously starred in Terrifier 2 which was released in October that saw him portray a nurse. It became a hit at the box office, grossing $11.5 million.

The ROH Final Battle event was headlined by Jericho defending the ROH World Title against Claudio Castagnoli which saw Jericho drop the championship back to Claudio. 

Chris Jericho is arguably AEW’s top act and the biggest name on the roster since the start of the promotion in 2019. 

TBS is also well aware of that value as Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Tony Khan had always planned Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli would close out the ROH Final Battle event on December 10. However, Khan did receive a little pushback.

Jericho dropped the ROH World Title to Claudio at Final Battle. Per the report, “[TBS SVP] Sam Linsky and TBS actually were at first against Jericho, as one of the top guys in AEW, appearing on this PPV show.”

Agreement

There was a point where Jericho was scheduled to lose the ROH World Title in the fatal 4-way bout at Full Gear in November to Claudio. However, they ultimately changed it when everyone got on the same page. 

The stakes were high for Castagnoli at Final Battle as his future in the Blackpool Combat Club was on the line. The stipulation stated that if Castagnoli would have lost his Final Battle fight, he would have had to join The Jericho Appreciation Society. 

Jericho started off his reign by defeating Castagnoli before he defended it against several names, including Dalton Castle, Bandido, and Colt Cabana. 

Ring of Honor presented its third and final pay-per-view event of 2022 with Final Battle last weekend. It closed up the first year under Tony Khan’s ownership and creative vision for the brand. 

The early estimates are in for ROH Final Battle. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the show drew over 25,000 pay-per-view buys (19,000 streaming and 6,400 cable) based on first-week estimates, which are “always low in the end by five to 10 percent.”

The other pay-per-view events for ROH this year were ROH Supercard of Honor in April, with 23,000 buys, and ROH Death Before Dishonor in July, with 37,000 buys.

Other Metrics

This edition was the biggest PPV number, and the highest attended ROH Final Battle in company history.

The show reportedly drew 2,700 fans, with 2,500 paid at the College Park Center.

The show featured a loaded lineup, including the highly praised double dog collar match for the ROH World Tag Team Titles between The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) against FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) that saw FTR drop the titles. 

It was headlined by Chris Jericho defending the ROH World Title against Claudio Castagnoli. Jericho dropped the championship back to Claudio. 

Over the last month, Shotzi has been in a feud with Ronda Rousey on WWE television.

Shotzi challenged for Rousey’s SmackDown Women’s Championship at Survivor Series WarGames, but came up short.

WWE shot an angle recently before an episode of SmackDown where Shotzi was shown lying in the parking lot while holding her hand and screaming in pain as Rousey and Shayna Bazsler walked away., implying that Rousey and Shayna slammed Shotzi’s arm in a car door, injuring it in the process. Rousey and Baszler injured Raquel Rodriguez’s arm a couple of weeks prior.

Reality

Shotzi was pulled from television and later shared an X-ray of her hand to show the broken bones. While at first, it looked like the injury was just part of the storyline, that’s not the case. 

According to a report by Pwinsider.com, the injury is legit and led to the angle in the first place. The extent of her injury and how she got injured is not known at this time.

The injury came at a bad time as she was being pushed on the main roster with her tank along for the ride. 

We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her back in the ring soon.