The way that WWE does its call-up system from the NXT developmental brand to the main roster has been an unknown process, as it seems like every wrestler called up is in a different situation.
A few times throughout 2022, fans thought NXT stars may be called up. Typically, WWE does NXT call-ups the night after WrestleMania and on the nights of the annual WWE Draft. Up until this year, it was always up to the whims of Vince McMahon. With Triple H overseeing the main roster creative, some fans have wondered if the call-up system will also change.
The Process
Brian “Road Dogg” James, who works as the Senior Vice President of Live events, discussed that on his latest, Oh…You Didn’t Know podcast.
“Yeah. So all of the above to be quite honest with you because there’s not a strict streamlined process, especially now that Hunter is in charge of the creative. He understands much more about giving fair warning so you can write the person out or write the person off or however you’re going to do it. It gives you time to prepare creatively for that. I like a heads-up.
So sometimes we got those and sometimes we didn’t. I think going forward, you’ll always, I’m speaking now from NXT creative experience, that we had time to prepare to send people off, but sometimes we got, ‘Hey, we’re taking this person because we got an idea for this and this’, and you could be in the middle of something with them or not, and there they went.”
Road Dogg doesn’t think it’ll be that way anymore because everybody understands the star needs to get beat on the way out or finish up a feud. He thinks giving NXT time to finish a program will happen much more now because Triple H knows what that is like to not have much notice.
WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels is now overseeing NXT creative. It was recently reported that just because an NXT talent works a Main Event taping doesn’t mean they’re being called up. Instead, they view it as a reward and WWE officials simply want to take a look at them on a bigger stage.
Miro is looking forward to making a return to AEW television in the near future, but for now, he’s just waiting and doing everything he can to do so.
Miro’s last match in AEW happened when he teamed with Sting and Darby Allin to defeat The House of Black at AEW All Out 2022. Fans have wondered when they would see him again since that time.
Miro commented on his AEW status while speaking to MUSE TV at the premiere of “Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History.”
The Latest
(Scott Lesh Photography)
“It’s not up to me, I’m doing everything I can and from then on, I’m just sitting and waiting for the opportunity.”
It was previously reported that Rusev was eager to compete and awaiting conversations around his creative direction, as he has only wrestled four times this year.
Samoa Joe did reference Miro following his win at last Saturday’s ROH Final Battle 2022 event as he noted that if Miro wants to step up to him, he will gladly take the challenge.
He was released by WWE in April 2020, debuting in AEW as Miro in September of that year. He first aligned with Kip Sabian before going on to become a one-time TNT Champion.
Posted December 15th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: Miro.
On Wednesday night, WWE taped the next two weeks of NXT television from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
With Christmas and the New Year on the horizon, NXT taped its final two episodes of the year as the company gave talent time off. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of F4Wonline.com:
(December 20 Results)
Carmelo Hayes defeated Axiom after Trick Williams interfered. Axiom hit an Asai moonsault on Williams after the match.
Zoey Stark defeated Nikkita Lyons once Stark grabbed the ropes.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance defeated Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley and Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dolin to retain the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles.
Apollo Crews called out Carmelo Hayes. The two had a back-and-forth promo.
Elektra Lopez defeated Indi Hartwell
Sol Ruca and Alba Fyre ended when Isla Dawn attacked Fyre, smashing her hand on the ring steps with a baseball bat.
The New Day defeated Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles.
Grayson Waller called out Bron Breakker, who exited his car in the parking lot and went straight to the ring, spearing Waller, who had a metal plate under his jacket.
(December 27 Results)
Julius Creed defeated JD McDonagh after a sliding lariat. Indus Sher confronted The Creed Brothers after the match.
Wendy Choo defeated Cora Jade after a top rope splash.
Scrypts defeated Ikemen Jiro
Lyra Valkyria defeated Lash Legend
Scisim defeated Odyssey Jones, Edris Enofe, and Malik Blade
Fallon Henley defeated Kiana James
Drew Gulak came out for a training segment and was accompanied by Hank Walker. He showed other NXT wrestlers the proper way to apply holds. Charlie Dempsey came to the ring and set up a match for a future episode.
Wes Lee defeated Tony D’Angelo. Stacks attempted to interfere, but Dijak took him to the back, allowing Lee to score the win.
MLW is moving forward with its lawsuit against WWE after initially filing it in January.
Judge Edward J. Davila scheduled a conference yesterday to discuss a trial date for the case between the two sides, according to Pwinsider.com. The conference is scheduled for September 7, 2023, in San Jose, California.
Davila also ruled that all amended pleadings in the lawsuit are due on February 13, 2023. MLW laid out the materials they were seeking in discovery on December 7th.
The Latest
Court Bauer on WWE
The court documents note that the Plaintiff anticipates taking discovery concerning its claims, including:
“(1) the relevant antitrust market; (2) documents related to VICE, Tubi and FITE; (3) WWE’s employment agreements, event venue agreements and distribution agreements; (4) WWE’s poaching of talent from MLW, AEW and other competitors; (5) WWE’s interference with booking arenas; (6) the impact of WWE’s conduct on entry into the market for broadcasting of professional wrestling programming and related consumer harm; (7) documents related to Jerry S. McDevitt’s appearance in the Dark Side of the Ring program; and (8) damages.”
Defendant anticipates taking discovery with respect to its defenses in the case, including “Plaintiff’s attempts to obtain broadcasting rights from the hundreds if not thousands of other potential buyers, Plaintiff’s efforts to start its own streaming service (which it acknowledges that WWE and Impact have started), and Plaintiff’s recent successes in obtaining broadcast agreement(s), such as its agreement with Pro Wrestling TV, which demonstrate the frivolous nature of its antitrust claims. The Parties are not proposing to conduct discovery in phases or to limit discovery to particular issues.”
Sources tell SEScoops WWE’s motion will be formally dismissed shortly. The judge found there is merit and a case for the court to examine.
In January, MLW filed a lawsuit against WWE, alleging that WWE attempted to undermine their competition by preventing Major League Wrestling from finalizing multiple media distribution deals. It also accused WWE of attempting to sign MLW talent while they were still under contract with the wrestling company.
AEW President Tony Khan has secured the rights to “Roundball Rock,” the iconic theme song NBC used for many years for their NBA broadcasts.
Khan announced the news on Twitter and also noted that it’s his favorite song. Khan tweeted: “We got the rights to my favorite song! See you tomorrow for Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite on @TBSNetwork at 8pm ET/7pm CT for Winter Is Coming!”
AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming Card
(AEW)
AEW has loaded up the card for this show with two title bouts featured, including the fourth match between Death Triangle and The Elite in their AEW World Trios Championship best-of-seven series. Also, MJF will defend the AEW World Heavyweight Title against Ricky Starks in the likely main event.
Here’s the full card:
AEW World Championship and Dynamite Diamond ring winner takes all: MJF (c) vs. Ricky Starks
House of Black in action
AEW World Trios Championship best-of-seven series: Death Triangle vs. The Elite (Death Triangle leads 2-1)
Ruby Soho vs. Tay Melo
Chris Jericho in action
You can hear the song below in the preview video for the special edition of Dynamite:
We got the rights to my favorite song! See you tomorrow for Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite on @TBSNetwork at 8pm ET/7pm CT for Winter Is Coming!
In a surprising move for fans (and likely Rose), Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that she’s been released effective immediately. She had been with the company since 2015.
WWE felt they were put in a position where she was not fit to be part of the organization due to the explicit nature of the content Rose shared on her FanTime page. The content was believed to be outside the parameters of what is permitted in wrestlers’ contracts.
FanTime, a service similar to OnlyFans, allows celebrities and content creators to communicate with their fans on a subscription basis. The content is often ‘adult’ in nature.
Some of the content from Rose’s FanTime page circulated on social media over the weekend, which may have been a factor in her being disciplined.
Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline tweeted that Rose was “very much caught off guard” by the firing. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer added, “the title change last night was a last minute decision based on the fact she was getting fired and not the original plan.”
Farewell to Mandy Rose
Mandy Rose’s final match for WWE took place at Tuesday’s NXT broadcast, when she lost the NXT Women’s Championship to Roxanne Perez. The bout was originally slated to happen on January 10 at New Year’s Evil, but after an angle shot in the opening segment, the match was moved to this show in a headlining spot.
Rose won the NXT women’s title from Raquel Gonzalez last October at Halloween Havoc. Her reign lasted 413 days and successfully defended the title 10 times.
Rose signed with WWE back in 2015 after appearing on Tough Enough. While on the main roster, she was paired with Sonya Deville before going back to NXT in 2021.
We’ll be following this story and will provide further details as they become available.
Triple H has brought back a lot of WWE stars who the company had previously released under the Vince McMahon regime.
Some of the signings were praised by fans as they thought the wrestlers shouldn’t have been released from the beginning, while others have been criticized as they hadn’t been big stars or seen with a high upside during their first runs with the company.
WrestleVotes reported today that there are several stars who were brought back that have underwhelmed Triple H since coming back.
The Report
(WWE)
“I’m told a handful of talent brought back in the ‘rehiring wave’ over the summer have underperformed and severely underwhelmed Triple H & others since returning to the company.”
Triple H has brought back names such as Johnny Gargano, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, and perhaps most notably, Bray Wyatt.
Triple H attempted to bring back Naomi and Sasha Banks after they walked out of the company earlier this year due to creative differences. Naomi is still under contract with WWE while Banks is headed to NJPW in January as her contract expires this month.
As previously reported, former Impact Wrestling stars Chelsea Green and Eric Young are on their way back to the company. Matt Cardona is rumored to be another possible star to make a return.
The December 13, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Wes Lee def. Channing Lorenzo
Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne def. Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile via DQ
Odyssey Jones def. Von Wagner
JD McDonagh def. Brutus Creed
Lyra Valkyria def. Amari Miller
Duke Hudson def. Damon Kemp
Roxanne Perez def. Mandy Rose to win the NXT Women’s Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
WWE NXT Deadline Fallout
NXT Champion Bron Breakker retained his title over Apollo Crews in the main event of NXT Deadline. Following the bout, Grayson Waller laid out Breakker ahead of their New Year’s Evil match next month after Waller won the men’s Iron Survivor Match.
Roxanne Perez won the women’s Iron Survivor Match to earn a shot at NXT Women’s Champion Mandy rose.
Roxane Perez and Grayson Waller opened the show. Waller was bragging about himself when Perez told him to shut up. Waller said Perez peaked at 21 because there’s no way she’s ever beating Rose. Breakker said that Waller is wrong and Perez is the ironwoman of NXT and put her over. Breakker said Perez is the future NXT Women’s Champion. Waller vowed to become the new NXT Champion by outsmarting Breakker.
Breakker chased off Waller while Rose laid out Perez with a title shot. Perez demanded that Rose put her title on the line tonight.
Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne of Toxic Attraction vs. Tatum Paxley and Ivy Nile took place. The match didn’t last long as Nile and Paxley were tossed into NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, who were on commentary. A brawl broke out and the DQ was called.
The New Day came out to celebrate their NXT Tag Team Title win after beating Pretty Deadly at NXT Deadline. Woods bragged about Kingston’s 15 Tag Team Champion. Woods pointed out how he had the first-ever NXT match and it was against Big E. Pretty Deadly came out and they wanted a rematch.
The New Day agree to give Pretty Deadly a rematch if they recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen come to the ring with an American flag. Pretty Deadly declined and gave Briggs and Jensen a title match next week.
Lyra Valkyria made her in-ring debut in a match against Amari Miller.
The match was short and all Valkyrie. She went over with a frog splash.
In a promo last week, Valkyria said that according to legend, the Morrigan would take form of a crow, and the crow would foretell who would be victorious in a battle. She has earned a feather for every match she has won.
Valkyria is the former Aofie Valkyrie, who wrestled for WWE’s NXT UK brand in 2020 and 2021. Her most recent appearance happened on the August 26, 2021 edition of NXT UK, winning a no disqualification match against Jinny.
Roxanne Perez was the person to dethrone Mandy Rose as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
Perez defeated Zoey Stark, Cora Jade, Kiana James and Indi Hartwell in the first-ever Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match at Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline. As a result of winning the match, Perez earned the right to challenge Rose for the championship at a later date, which was supposed to be on January 10th at New Year’s Evil.
The Match
At the start of Tuesday’s NXT episode, Rose attacked Perez from behind. This led to Perez challenging her to a title match on this show instead in the main event with Rose accepting.
The back-and-forth match ended after Perez kicked out of Rose’s finisher and rolled up Rose for the win.
Rose defeated Gonzalez to win the NXT Women’s Championship at Halloween Havoc last year with the help of Dakota Kai. Rose became the unified champion at NXT Worlds Collide when she beat NXT UK Champion Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport in a triple threat match.
Rose held the title for 413 days, making her the third-longest-reigning NXT Women’s Champion.
Since making a name for himself in the NWA and finding more success in AEW, fans have compared Ricky Starks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Although there are some similarities as Starks carries himself and looks like the former WWE Champion, he is his own man.
Starks will challenge MJF for the AEW World Title this Wednesday at Dynamite: Winter is Coming. Last week during their promo exchange on Dynamite, MJF stated that Starks was a “dollar store, Dwayne.”
For Stars, he knows who he is and opened up on the comparisons while doing an interview with ComicBook.com’s Liam Crowley.
The Comparisons
(AEW)
“I tell this all the time, The Rock wasn’t my favorite wrestler. He was like my number three favorite wrestler,” Starks said “That’s not to discredit The Rock from any type of talent he has, but I say that to say he wasn’t a big inspiration.”
“I always tell this: I don’t hate the comparisons,” Starks continued. “What I do hate though, is being discredited for my natural creativity in lieu of someone saying, ‘Well, you’re just literally copying The Rock,’ which isn’t true at all.”
Starks pointed to his hometown of New Orleans for how he talks and doesn’t look to Rock as a mentor but respects him for having a great business mind and everything he has done in wrestling.
Starks added, “If some by chance, somebody thinks that I’m Rock-lite, then that’s cool.”
The Wall Street Journal published an article on Tuesday titled, WWE’s Vince McMahon Faces Fresh Demands From Women Alleging Sexual Abuse.
In addition to McMahon facing new legal challenges stemming from alleged sexual misconduct, WSJ also reports that the former WWE boss is planning a comeback to the organization he stepped away from in July 2022 after running it for 40 years.
The internal reaction to the news of McMahon wanting back in WWE has been quite negative, according to Fightful Select. One source in WWE told Fightful that the news was “exhausting.” This person is hopeful that McMahon’s run with the company is in the rearview despite having a positive relationship with their former boss before he left in the summer.
Another star said they were concerned for the wrestlers that have been re-hired if McMahon did return as it was WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H who brought back numerous wrestlers that were cut by the McMahon regime.
A high-ranking WWE official isn’t concerned about a McMahon comeback, despite Vince still having final control over the company due to his stock holdings. The company has been in great shape since Vince left, with the stock price, television viewership and overall morale improving in the second half of this year.
“It would be a really selfish move for Vince to come back under any circumstances. The reason he left, how business has done since then — it’d be really selfish. But selfish activities are what led to him leaving in the first place.”
– Anonymous WWE source on Vince McMahon wanting to return
One staff member stated that morale had increased tenfold since McMahon resigned and didn’t believe he would be back, whether he wanted to be or not.
A longtime employee said they also believe McMahon’s family will actively encourage him to remain retired, and they think McMahon’s return would do irreparable damage to the WWE brand. The same source said that the few doubters that thought WWE would collapse internally have been proven wrong, with one notable name even admitting as much.
The unanimous reaction among numerous WWE staffers, talent, and employees was that McMahon was not wanted back in his previous roles.
The New Day is known to incorporate pop culture phenomena into their ring gear as they have sported things such as Power Rangers and Dragon Ball.
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) went down to NXT last week to start a program with Pretty Deadly, which led to them working a match over the weekend where Kingston and Woods beat Pretty Deadly to win the NXT Tag Team Championships at the NXT Deadline premium live event.
The Influence
WWE
The tag team had ring gear to honor Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the 2009 smash hit “Avatar.” Shawn Michaels, who oversees NXT creative, stated after Deadline that he is hoping to have The New Day around through the Vengence Day special in February.
Here is the synopsis for the movie that was written and directed by James Cameron:
“Jake Sully and Ney’tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans.”
The movie, set to come out December 16, stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet.
Posted December 12th, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: New Day.
Sting is still going strong after decades of being in the pro wrestling business, but from time to time, he needs to repair his body.
Two years ago this month, Sting made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at ‘Winter Is Coming’ and to promote the third annual Winter Is Coming event on Wednesday, Sting appeared on The K&C Masterpiece.
Sting revealed that he underwent surgery six or seven weeks ago to have his knees cleaned out.
“I just had surgery. It’s been six, seven weeks ago now. Basically just a clean out on my very old knees.”
Needed a Clean
Sting
Sting was most recently in action for AEW at Full Gear, where he and Darby Allin scored a win over Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
Sting recalled a story about how he blew his shoulders out in a match against Kurt Angle in TNA Wrestling and the surgeon telling him that it looked like a bomb went off inside of his shoulder.
His recovery from surgery may explain why he didn’t accompany Darby to the ring for his TNT Title match on December 7th.
William Regal is set to leave AEW and return to WWE starting in the new year.
On last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Regal cut his final AEW promo in a pre-taped video where he explained why he turned on Jon Moxley at Full Gear to side with MJF by costing Moxley the AEW World Heavyweight Title.
Regal said that he was teaching the last lesson to the Blackpool Combat Club – to keep eyes in the back of their head.
The Latest
(via AEW)
According to a report by Pwinsider.com, Regal has officially come to terms on his new deal with WWE, and is set to start in the new year. Per the report, Regal will have a Vice President position in the company upon his return, although there has been no word on his official title or role.
Last week during the ROH Final Battle media call, AEW/ROH President Tony Khan explained his reason why he let William Regal leave AEW and return to WWE, which was due to Regal asking the company not to renew his existing deal so he could go back to NXT to be with his son who currently wrestles as Charles Dempsey.
Regal’s AEW departure has a clause that he would not be able to appear in an on-screen role for WWE upon his return.
Taz has called out the UFC for taking one of his ideas, and that idea is the FTW Title, which he first introduced in ECW.
His son, HOOKis the current FTW Champion in AEW. Taz recently accused UFC of ripping off the FTW title. In a post on Twitter, Taz noted the FTW Title belt had had a buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive.
He thinks the most important thing is that the belt is still around while all the others that wrestlers created are long gone. Taz claimed that the UFC BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title.
Taz’s Claims
(via AEW)
“Correct. Some fans don’t like it or feel it should be around, but that’s ok to me! It has had buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive..don’t matter. FTW belt is STILL here, all the others that wrestlers created been long gone.”
Taz followed up with another tweet that read: “Yes, that BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title… I really don’t give a shit because fans who know the history know that’s the vibe I started with the FTW title in late 90’s….”
The UFC BMF (Baddest Motherf*cker in the Game) belt was commissioned for a UFC 244 fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz in November 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Rock awarded Masvidal the championship when he beat Diaz.
Correct. Some fans don’t like it or feel it should be around but that’s ok to me! It has had buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive..don’t matter. FTW belt is STILL here, all the others that wrestlers created been long gone. https://t.co/tCkex1FS4e
Yes, that BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title… I really don’t give a shit because fans who know the history know that’s the vibe I started with the FTW title in late 90’s…. https://t.co/vhbKpivt46
There have been several reports about WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 39 and the company looking to bring back past stars. Now, the question of who Brock Lesnar will be wrestling at the company’s biggest event of the year has been answered.
WrestlingNews.co reports that Lesnar is Gunther is planned for the show. One person familiar with creative plans stated Lesnar vs. Gunther is one of the matches listed internally for the event.
Gunther has talked about wanting the match with Lesnar because he feels a match with him would be his biggest possible challenge. He called it his dream match and spoke highly of Lesnar’s mind for the business.
Lesnar’s Other Dates
(via WWE)
The report added that Lesnar is scheduled to work the Royal Rumble in January and Elimination Chamber in February.
WWE is still months away from WrestleMania 39, and while plans can change, the report stated Triple H has all of the top matches laid out. Also, unlike under creative by Vince McMahon, “people in the company are not seeing the scripts being ripped up like before and chances are that, barring an injury, the current WrestleMania plans will not change.”
William Regal has opened up on the kind act that Vince McMahon did for him after working for WWE for over 20 years.
Regal served as the on-screen GM for NXT and was active behind the scenes as a scout and coach before he was let go this past January. He made his AEW debut at AEW Revolution on March 6 by breaking up a fight between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson.
While speaking at ITR Live, which was taped in October but recently released on YouTube, Regal revealed that McMahon ended his non-compete clause early so he could join AEW.
The Story
“Mr. McMahon was very good to me, to the point of, I will say this because whatever he’s going through, he was excellent to me. I had a talent contract, as well as an employee contract and it didn’t run out until the end of April because I played William Regal. I started for AEW on the seventh of March. I didn’t call anybody else, I sent a message straight to the boss, ‘Hey Boss, I’ve got this thing with Bryan,’ and he loves Bryan as well. ‘Absolutely, you go’ and still paid me until the end of my talent contract. I was the only person who ever got paid by both companies at the same time.”
As previously reported, Regal requested AEW not pick up his option at the end of the year, and AEW President Tony Khan honored his request as Regal wanted to join his son Charlie Dempsey in NXT. Regal will be working behind the scenes in WWE.
The WWE NXT Deadline event aired live on Peacock from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Deadline Results
Roxanne Perez won the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge Match.
Isla Dawn def. Alba Fyre.
The New Day def. Pretty Deadly to win the NXT Tag Team Titles.
Grayson Waller won the Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge Match.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker def. Apollo Crews.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Tag Title Bout
Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) put the WWE NXT Tag Team Titles against The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston).
Prince and Kingston had a twerk off. Woods did some springboard spots with Kingston. Pretty Deadly gained the momentum and beat down Kingston. Woods with a headkick then a spring board DDT for a near fall. Both teams did the Eddie Guerrero spot with the title and all four stars were down on the ground. Behind the referee’s match, Wilson hit Woods with the title for 2. In the end, Kofi with a double foot stomp off the top rope to Prince for the win.
Isla Dawn vs. Alba Fyre in a singles match took place.
The match saw Dawn control the majority of it. Down the stretch, Fyre did some near falls, including a glory bomb. The referee fell down and was puking up black liquid. Dawn tossed Fyre head-first into an exposed turnbuckle before connecting with her finisher for the win.
The Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge match saw Carmelo Hayes vs. JD McDonagh vs. Grayson Waller vs. Joe Gacy vs. Axiom take place.
The match’s regulations stated that after the first two competitors, a new competitor would enter the match every five minutes until all five were there. In 25 minutes, the individual who has the most falls will win. A pinfall awards one point to the winner, and the loser is forced to spend 90 seconds in the penalty box. The winner will receive a future NXT Title shot.
Axiom and JD started things off followed by Hayes, Gacy, and Waller.
Hayes picked up the first fall on Axiom. Waller was out next and hit his finisher to Axiom and JD for double pinfalls. Waller with a back suplex to Hayes on the announce table. Axiom rolled up Waller for a pinfall. Axiom with a canadian destroyer then hit his finisher for another fall on JD. Gacy put him in a submission hold for the submission fall. JD beat up Axiom in the penalty box as Gacy picked up a pinfall on Hayes.
Axiom hit a back flip off the penalty box. Hayes with the crossface to Waller for the submission fall before Hayes went for a spring board move, but JD headbutted him. The finish saw Hayes connect with his leg drop finisher to Axiom for a near fall as Waller pulled him out of the ring.
Zoey Stark vs. Cora Jade vs. Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell in the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match was booked.
The match rules were the same as the men’s bout. The winner will receive a future NXT Women’s Title shot.
The match opened the show. Stark and Perez started things off followed by James, Jade, and Hartwell.
Stark hit a superkick on Perez for the first fall. Hartwell hit a big boot to Perez for a pinfall. Perez rolled up Stark for a pinfall. Indi with a suplex to Stark on the floor. They did some outside dives. James with a spanish fly to Stark off the top rope. Perez won the match with two falls.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his latest title defense against Apollo Crews.
After defeating JD McDonagh on a recent edition of NXT, Crews revealed during a vignette on the November 22nd episode of NXT that he earned the next title match. During the vignette, he said that he had been looking forward to this moment for six months and couldn’t wait to meet Breakker.
The match had a slow start as Crews hit a back flip off the apron
After a slow start, Crews caught him with a drop kick. Crews with a back flip off the apron. Bron connected with a brain buster before a standing moonsault for 2. Breakker with a leaping dive over the top rope to the floor. Crews with a powerbomb then two more for a near fall. Crews with a frog splash for 2. Bron hit a bulldog off the top rope for 2. Crews with a powerslam for a near fall. Bron with a spear for the win. Post-match, Grayson Waller laid out Breakker and ended the show standing tall with the title.
WWE NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his latest title defense against Apollo Crews at Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline event.
The match had a slow build, with Crews controlling most of it. Crews with a back flip off the apron before Bron with a brain buster then a standing moonsault for 2. Breakker with a dive over the top rope to the floor. Crews with a powerslam for a near fall. Bron with a spear for the win.
Post-match, Grayson Waller, who earned a future title shot earlier in the show after winning the Iron Survivor Match, laid out Breakker and ended the show standing tall with the title.
On the November 22nd edition of WWE NXT, the match was confirmed in a vignette with Crews announcing he would be getting the next title match after defeating JD McDonagh on a recent episode of NXT. He said during the vignette that he had been waiting six months for this moment and couldn’t wait to step into the ring with Breakker.
Breakker won the NXT Title for a second time on the April 4th edition of Raw when he beat Dolph Ziggler. Breakker previously won the NXT Title from Ciampa at New Year’s Evil in January from Tommaso Ciampa.
Breakker’s recent title defenses have come against Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh at Halloween Havoc, Tyler Bate at Worlds Collide, JD McDonagh in August, and Cameron Grimes on July 5th.
In the first-ever Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge match, WWE loaded up the match by booking Carmelo Hayes vs. JD McDonagh vs. Grayson Waller vs. Joe Gacy vs. Axiom.
The match’s regulations stated that after the first two competitors, a new competitor would enter the match every five minutes until all five were there. In 25 minutes, the individual who has the most falls will win. A pinfall awards one point to the winner, and the loser is forced to spend 90 seconds in the penalty box.
The entrant list be Axiom, JD, Hayes, Gacy, and Waller.
Hayes picked up the first fall on Axiom. Waller hit his finisher to Axiom and JD for double pinfalls. Waller with a back suplex to Hayes on the announce table. Axiom rolled up Waller for a pinfall. Axiom with a canadian destroyer then hit his finisher for another fall on JD.
Gacy with a clothesline to Axiom for a near fall then put him in a submission hold for the submission fall. Gacy picked up a pinfall on Hayes. Hayes with the crossface to Waller for the submission fall. Waller pinned Axiom after Axiom received a leg drop from Hayes and that was the final fall.
Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) put the WWE NXT Tag Team Titles against The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) at Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline.
Prince and Kingston had a twerk off. Woods got a tag and did some springboard spots with Kingston. Woods with a headkick then a spring board DDT for 2. Both teams did the Eddie Guerrero spot with the title and all four stars were down on the ground. Kingston connected with a double foot stomp off the top rope to Prince for the win to become the NEW champions.
WWE set up this bout during this past Tuesday’s episode of NXT when Pretty Deadly were in the ring reading their version of A Christmas Story. Once they were done reading their poem, The New Day came out as they wanted to challenge them to a match.
The two teams eventually got into a braw. The New Day gained the upper hand after putting Christmas presents on top of Pretty Deadly’s heads and superkicking them off the apron and to the floor.
At Worlds Collide in September, Pretty Deadly defeated the Creed Brothers, Gallus and Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Elimination Match to unify the NXT and NXT UK Tag Team Championships.
Posted December 10th, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: New Day.
Zoey Stark vs. Cora Jade vs. Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Indi Hartwell competed in the first-ever Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge match at Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline.
The way the match was five stars competed in the match that would last 25 minutes where they would battle each other and the clock. Two stars started the match and every five minutes a new star entered the bout until all five were in the ring.
The goal was to have the most falls (pinfalls, submission, DQ) by the time the clock hits 25 minutes. Each fall a star earned they get one penalty while if a star lost a fall then they had to enter a penalty box for 90 seconds.
The match opened the show and Stark and Perez started things off. James was the third star in the bout. Stark hit a superkick on Perez for the first fall. The fourth star was Jade.
Jade rolled up James for a pinfall before Hartwell hit a big boot to Perez for a pinfall.Perez rolled up Stark for a pinfall. There were a lot of dives to the floor. Perez with a sunset flip powerbomb to Jade for a pinfall. Perez won the match with two falls.
WWE is looking to line up its next reality show after finding success with past series such as Tough Enough, Total Divas, Miz & Mrs, and Total Bellas.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE is in talks with E! about a new reality show.
Meltzer said, “they are looking for legitimate wrestling couples, so some upcoming signings could relate to that if the project is finalized.”
Meltzer noted that Matt Cardona’s name was mentioned as a possibility because of Chelsea Green’s expected return to WWE. Green’s husband, Cardona, previously wrestled under the Zack Ryder name in WWE before he was released in April 2020.
Past Success
Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green
Cardona completely reinvented himself when he started working on the indies. He also found success in Impact Wrestling, NWA, GCW and other promotions over the past two years. Cardona is set to challenge for the NWA World title at the company’s unannounced next pay-per-view.
WWE and E! have worked together on several different projects over the years. Total Divas ran for more than six years, from July 2013 to December 2019, before doing the Total Bellas spinoff, which ran from October 2016 through January 2021.
WWE announced they are working on a Bianca Belair/Montez Ford show for Hulu last month.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion MJF will be in attendance at UFC 282, which takes place on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The top AEW star previously traded shots with UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett on social media, where MJF called Paddy a “dollar store Connor McGregor.” He also claimed he wouldn’t last two seconds in a wrestling ring.
Pimblett told MJF to meet him when AEW travels to England in 2023, which led to MJF stating that he’s more than game to knock Pimblett out. Marc Raimondi of ESPN first reported on Friday that MJF would be at the UFC 282 pay-per-view event following the exchange.
The Confirmation
(AEW)
MJF seemingly confirmed the news in a tweet of his own as he told Pimblett that he’d see him in Vegas, as seen below:
At the event, Pimblett will fight Jared Gordon. With a win, he would continue his undefeated streak in the UFC.
For MJF, he is scheduled to defend the AEW World Championship against Ricky Starks on the December 14 episode of AEW Dynamite. After winning the title with help from Wiliam Regal when he beat Jon Moxley for it at Full Gear, MJF turned on Regal by attacking the respected wrestler.
Posted December 9th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TBS and TNT that airs AEW programming, has cut more prominent leaders.
Variety has an article looking at the company releasing HGTV and Food Network chief Jane Latman and “D-Nets”/”T-Nets” exec Nancy Daniels, both of whom were well-liked at the company and served as longtime legacy Discovery execs.
Travel Channel’s Matthew Butler and D-Nets/T-Nets’ head of franchise series expansions and tentpole programming Scott Lewers are also gone.
The Moves
Latman served as the home and food content president at HGTV and Food Network. Her content programming responsibilities will move under execs Betsy Sanner Ayala (for Food Network) and Loren Ruch (for HGTV).
Daniels had overseen content across “D-Nets” Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel on the legacy Discovery side and recently took over content for Warner Bros. “T-Nets,” TNT, TBS and truTV,
Daniels is handing the reins over to TLC and Travel Channel exec Howard Lee for the D-Nets, while Jason Sarlanis of ID and HLN crime content will oversee the T-Net side.
These are notable cuts as AEW President Tony Khan has praised Nancy Daniels and Scott Lewers as advocates for the promotion. AEW’s TV deal with Warner Bros. Discovery expires at the end of 2024.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. networks chief Kathleen Finch announced the changes in a memo to staff Friday. This is the latest post-merger cost-cutting move made at Warner Bros. Discovery.
