WWE star Dominik Dijakovic made his return to NXT at the end of last week’s episode of NXT under the name DIJAK.
He attacked North American Champion Wes Lee following his title defense against Carmelo Hayes on the show. This name change comes after he spent two years of his career portraying the T-Bar character on the main roster, where he was part of the infamous ‘RETRIBUTION’ stable in 2020.
DIJAK isn’t able to change his Twitter name to match his current WWE name following the change in Twitter ownership and terms and services.
The Request
The NXT star took to the platform to ask new owner Elon Musk if he could change his name if he paid for the new ‘Twitter Blue’ service. He wrote the following:
“Hello @elonmusk, if I pay your stupid $8 fee would that mean I can finally change my God forsaken name officially to DIJAK because the last thing on this planet that I want to be is T-BAR. Thank you.”
DIJAK was not the only main roster star to debut a new gimmick on last week’s NXT show, as the mysterious Scrypts was revealed as former 24/7 Champion Reggie under a mask. WWE had been airing hype videos for him for several weeks.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) were victorious over Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens in the Men’s WarGames match at Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series.
Despite winning the match, Reigns wasn’t too pleased upon returning backstage after it. According to a report by Fightful Select, Reigns was visibly upset after the Survivor Series main event because of a spot in the match.
While not confirmed, it’s believed the spot in question can be seen in the video below:
https://youtu.be/uCoG5IxRPYQ
Possible Injury
(WWE)
Reigns took exception to what he perceived as an unplanned spot between him and Owens.
As Reigns walked backstage, he expressed concern that his eardrum was ruptured due to the spot not going as originally planned. The moment was said to have been “expletive-filled,” and it was clear to everyone around that Reigns wasn’t happy about it.
Sources in WWE didn’t think there would be any extended heat regarding the situation, but rather it came across as a “heat of the moment” reaction by the top WWE star, but that’s only their perception of things.
There’s been nothing said about a physical altercation between them over the incident, and talent that spoke with the media outlet said that they expected the two to be able to coexist for work purposes.
One person put over both Reigns and Owens as passionate about what they do and figured if there were issues, they’d talk about it directly. Reigns did not appear at the post-show press conference as planned.
WWE has recently brought in several NXT stars to work main roster shows in recent months, and this week’s episode of Raw is no different.
WWE has brought in another NXT star for the company’s flagship show; this time, it’s Zoey Stark. Pwinsider.com reports she is backstage at the show. Although not confirmed, she will likely be there to work the Main Event taping before Raw goes live.
WWE is at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, VA, for tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw. As of this writing, The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis is the only match announced.
Zoey Stark’s Journey
It was revealed that she signed a contract with WWE on January 20, 2021. She made her debut as Marina Shafir’s tag team partner in the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament on the January 29 episode of 205 Live, losing to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the opening round. She made her NXT debut on the February 17 episode of NXT by defeating Valentina Feroz.
The NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship was won at The Great American Bash by Stark and Io Shirai over The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell). In a triple-threat tag team Scareway To Hell Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc that also featured Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta, they were defeated and lost the belts to Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne). Because of a torn MCL/Meniscus, Stark was written off television last November.
Stark returned from her injury in the 20-woman Battle Royal for the Number One Contendership for the NXT Women’s Championship on the July 19th episode of NXT. She turned heel earlier this month by attacking Nikkita Lyons.
Jai Vidal has signed an exclusive multi-year contract with Impact Wrestling.
This signing makes him the first openly gay male wrestler to sign with the company in its 20-year history. The news was made during a special episode of the Outsports podcast LGBT In The Ring where he noted that he was on “cloud nine” after signing his first contract with a big promotion in the United States.
Vidal was introduced to audiences as Shaw’s executive stylist and content creator ahead of her Knockouts World title match against Jordynne Grace. In late 2021, Vidal worked matches on Impact TV against Eric Young and Jonah.
His signing comes just over three weeks after he made his re-debut on Impact TV alongside fellow LGBTQ pro wrestler Gisele Shaw in one of the first LGBTQ tandems seen on television in the United States.
After strong performances at several independent shows in Las Vegas, Florida and California, Impact became interested in signing him. According to Vidal, the contract offer came “out of nowhere.”
“When I got the call to sign with Impact, I had actually just come back to Florida from the [Impact] show in Vegas,” he told Outsports. “I was running on zero sleep. I got back and saw the voicemail and called them right back.”
Vida joins Anthony Bowens, Fred Rosser, Parrow, Quincy Elliott and Jake Atlas as the only out gay men to sign with one of the promotions in the United States. Impact began working with LGBTQ groups in 2022 including a partnership with the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance.
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods did something special at Sunday’s WWE live event as they honored Jason David Frank, the actor who made a name for himself by portraying the Green and White Rangers on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Jason David Frank passed away last week at the age of 49. The cause of death was declared as suicide. Since that time, fans and peers alike continue to mourn his demise, including these two WWE stars.
Woods and Kingston are big fans of pop culture and use that in the world of pro wrestling through their colorful attire. They were deeply saddened by Jason David Frank’s passing as they shared a special connection with the late actor.
The Tribute
(WWE)
As seen below, Woods and Kingston wore their Power Rangers-inspired ring gear for their match at the show in Portland, Maine, to pay tribute to Frank.
The former WWE Champion wore the Green Ranger outfit, while Woods was dressed as the White Ranger. Tommy did play the role of both the White and Green Ranger at one point in time.
It’s been several months since Vince McMahon departed from WWE as Chairman and CEO, with Triple H taking over main roster creative. At the same time, Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon are co-CEOs of the company.
The backstage atmosphere in WWE is said to be much better in recent months after McMahon departed from the company.
Fightful Select reports that backstage morale has “improved significantly” after McMahon stepped down, and those in the locker room have said that backstage culture has changed for the better.
During the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, wrestling was the wild west backstage in the company, and if you upset the wrong person, you would either lose your push or be let go. Although the culture has improved over the last decade, there have been countless reports of McMahon’s erratic decisions affecting the shows, and the morale would take a hit at different times.
Happy Times
Per the report, “almost everyone” they spoke with said that going to work these days with Triple H running the ship is more fun and easy going and there is less of a feeling that you could get fired for things you can’t control.
While there is still a feeling that some wrestlers are not being used the right way, things are much improved compared to where they were this past summer.
Numerous talent looked at Royal Rumble 2022 this past January as an all-time low for them from a creative standpoint and some lost faith in McMahon as a leader in some sense based on the situation with Shane McMahon that led to his exit from the company.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) were victorious over Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens in the Men’s WarGames match at Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series.
At the end of the match, Reigns and Owens mixed things up, only for Owens to nearly beat Reigns with the Stunner, but Zayn, a good friend of Owens, stopped the referee from counting to three. To further prove his loyalty to the faction, he hit a low blow to Owens than the big boot to set up Jey, hitting a splash off the top rope for the win.
5 Funniest Moments of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline in WWE
Paul Heyman’s Praise
At the post-event press conference, Paul Heyman and Zayn spoke about the big win with media members. Heyman praised Zayn’s work since joining The Bloodline.
“Sami brings a dynamic that none of us were prepared for and we are prepared for everything. And what Sami also brings is a connection with the audience that none of us can have because we’ve been too busy being the top act in the entire industry for over two years.”
Heyman said Zayn is the guy that does a guest spot on a TV series and ends up being part of the regular cast because of his passion and talent.
“Sami Zayn was on the opposite side of Kevin Owens tonight. Kevin Owens was on a different team, he chose to be on that team. If anybody was disloyal to anybody, Kevin Owens was disloyal to Sami Zayn. He put Sami Zayn in a terrible position of having to pick his best friend or The Bloodline, the greatest faction in the history of the industry, the top star in the industry Roman Reigns, and the acceptance of Roman Reigns which makes all of us relevant. And Sami was not disloyal to Kevin Owens. He took on his opponent. He showed his loyalty to The Bloodline.”
WWE is reportedly in talks to hold a “major show” in India. The company is planning to hold an event “on a grand scale” in Hyderabad, India, according to a report by Riju Dasputa of Sportskeeda. The roster that will be featured on the show will have both Indian and international talent.
Drew McIntyre was reportedly vocal about bringing WWE to India, and sources considered him a “lock” for the event. The top WWE star recently worked on a Bollywood project in India.
Per the report, sources noted that the likely date for the event is January 18, which was first reported by WrestleVotes as the company has been considering doing the event, but now has advanced to talks about doing it in the country.
WWE previously held an Indian show, Superstar Spectacle, on January 22, 2021, and the show aired on January 26 to coincide with India’s Republic Day
It was produced as part of WWE’s deal with Sony Pictures Networks India, and was billed as “a unique showcase of Indian-inspired action,” which also featured elements of Indian culture.
It’s unclear whether the reportedly planned event is a follow-up to Superstar Spectacle. That event was headlined by Drew McIntyre and The Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav) defeating The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh) and Jinder Mahal.
WWE held its final main roster premium live event of 2022 on Saturday night with WarGames, which was headlined by the Men’s WarGames match.
That match saw The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) defeat Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens. Now, Reigns is focused on his next title defense, and WWE will be gearing up for its next event, Royal Rumble.
(WWE)
Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble Opponent
WWE’s current plan for Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble is for him to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens. The news comes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co. Per the report, Sheamus was penciled in for that spot at one point, but it was decided to do Owens vs. Reigns instead.
There has been speculation, which was confirmed to be the plan by this report, that WWE is building toward having Owens and Zayn challenge The Usos for the Unified Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 39.
There were also talks a few weeks ago about Zayn facing Reigns in a singles match at the Rumble. That match won’t be happening until Elimination Chamber in February, which takes place in Zayn’s hometown of Montreal, Quebec.
As previously reported, there are no plans for Reigns to lose the Undisputed WWE Universal Title right now or anytime before WrestleMania 39, as WWE hopes to do Reigns vs. The Rock at this event if Rock’s schedule allows him to do so.
5 Funniest Moments of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline in WWE
The first-ever WarGames match for the male WWE stars on the main roster is in the history books as the men’s version of the match was memorable and saw The Bloodline come out victorious.
WWE held the match at the Survivor Series event with the expected main event seeing The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) vs. The Brawling Brutes (Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens).
The match opened with Jey and Butch before Holland got into the ring. Zayn was the next one in as it was a way for Reigns to test the trust he has for Zayn. Butch with a spring board moonsault to take out Jey and Zayn. McIntyre and Jimmy were next in. Owens got into the ring with a chair. Owens powerslamed Jimmy through a table. The final three competitors to enter the bout were Solo, Sheamus, and Reigns.
Reigns speared Ridge through a table. Solo sent McIntyre through a table. Owens with a stunner to Solo for 2. Owens with a stunner to Reigns for 2 as Zayn stopped the referee from counting to three. Zayn hit a low blow to Owens and acted like he regretted it before he hit a big boot to Owens before Jey hit a splash to Owens for the win. Jey and Zayn hugged it out after the match.
The last Men’s WarGames match to be held before this night was last December at the NXT WarGames event featuring Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D’Angelo) going over Team Black & Gold (Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and LA Knight).
WWE United States Champion Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory in a triple threat match was booked at Saturday’s WWE Survivor Series premium live event.
The match featured Lashley catching Rollins, who attempted a spring board move, and hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Theory went for a dive, but Lashley caught him with a powerbomb for 2.
Theory hit a rolling blockbuster to Lashley, who would eventually put him in the hurt lock. Seth with a frog splash to Lashley, who had been pushed backwards, for a near fall. The finish saw Lashley spear Rollins and Theory pinned Rollins for the win.
Two weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, Theory cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, attempting to capture the United States Championship after Lashley had destroyed Rollins, but Rollins retained the title thanks to Lashley attacking Theory as well and costing him the title bout.
This past week on the show, Theory said losing the championship match was the best thing that has happened to him because he was no longer the kid that he had been and vowed to win the title at this premium live event. Theory scored a win over Mustafa Ali and called out Lashley, which led to a brawl.
Theory shovied Ali into Lashley backstage in the gorilla position. Ali became mad and shoved Lashley, leading Lashley to lay out Ali on the entranceway stage.
The first-ever WarGames match for the female WWE stars on the main roster was memorable and saw Team Belair come out victorious.
WWE held the match at the Survivor Series event with the expected match seeing Team Belair (Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Mia Yim & Becky Lynch) vs. Team Bayley (Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai, Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley)
The match opened the show and featured Kai and Belair starting things off. SKY and Asuka were the next stars in. They were followed by Cross, Bliss and Bayley. Cross did a crossbody off the top of the cage to take out everyone. Bayley was next out and brought in a ladder and table. Yim, Ripley and Lynch finished out the entrant list. Belair hit a powerbomb to Bayley, who landed rough on her neck. SKY with a moonsault off the top of the cage to take out Belair and Yim. Ripley sent Yim crashing through a ladder. Lynch went to the top of the cage and did a leg drop to Kai and SKY through a ladder for the finish.
Lynch suffered a separated shoulder during her match against Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair at SummerSlam. On the August 1st episode of Raw, she was written off television by being attacked by Bayley, IYO Sky (Io Shirai), and Dakota Kai.
Before being written off on Raw, Lynch did turn back from being a heel to a babyface, one of Triple H’s first big moves while in charge of creative. Lynch stated in her promo that she realized who she is, and that’s The Man. Vince McMahon came up with the idea to turn Lynch into a heel at the 2021 SummerSlam event when she returned.
WWE’s women’s division received a major boost on Friday Night SmackDown this week when Becky Lynch made her return.
In the opening segment of the show, Lynch was introduced as the fifth and final member of Bianca Belair’s WarGames team for this year’s Survivor Series WarGames premium live event.
The show on FOX had been delayed due to a Football overrun. This came months after fans last saw Lynch on their screens as she was written off television during the Monday Night Raw after SummerSlam due to an attack from Damage CTRL after she suffered a separated shoulder in her match with Bianca Belair at SummerSlam.
The Man Comes Around
Lynch shared a behind the scenes footage of her return on SmackDown, just moments before she walked out of the curtain for the first time in months in this video on Twitter.
Lynch will team with Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and ‘Michin’ Mia Yim against Bayley, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, Nikki Cross and Rhea Ripley in the Women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series.
It appears WWE is building to an eventual clash between Lynch and Ripley based on the segment done during SmackDown.
The first match that will serve as the main event has been announced for the upcoming ROH Final Battle pay-per-view.
During Friday’s episode of AEW Rampage, it was confirmed that Chris Jericho would defend the Ring Of Honor World Championship against Claudio Castagnoli on December 10th.
The two originally faced off at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam back in September, where Claudio lost the title to Jericho, who has held it ever since. This long-standing feud between the Jericho Appreciation Society and the Blackpool Combat Club has been going on for months and will now roll on to Final Battle.
At AEW Full Gear, Jericho retained the ROH World Heavyweight Title over Bryan Danielson, Sammy Guevara, and Claudio Castagnoli.
The Segment
(AEW)
During Rampage, Jericho kicked off the show and did a promo where he bragged about being the greatest Ring Of Honor Champion ever. Castagnoli interrupted him and challenged Jericho to an ROH Title rematch.
While Jericho initially denied Castagnoli the opportunity, Matt Menard suggested that Castagnoli should get another crack at Jericho and the ROH Title. However, he added a stipulation: if Claudio loses again, he should be forced to join the Jericho Appreciation Society.
Fans shouldn’t expect to see Randy Orton return and perform inside of a WWE ring anytime soon due to a back injury.
The former WWE Champion has been out of action since late May when he and RKBro teammate Matt Riddle dropped the Raw Tag Team Championships to The Usos, who were the SmackDown Tag Team Champions and now Unified Champions. WWE later wrote him off television in an attack angle.
At the time, Orton reportedly had a “significant” injury, and was expected out for a few months and then later the rest of the year.
Injury Update
Randy Orton has undergone a fusion in his lower back that would keep him out of action for an extended period of time. Orton’s wife recently posted a photo of him in a hospital bed, which got fans concerned about the timeframe for his return.
Back fusion surgery is very serious business and could keep him out of action for an extended period of time. At 42 years old, he’s already in the later stages of his in-ring career.
Orton remains under contract with WWE through 2024, although the company could ‘freeze’ the contract due to his prolonged hiatus.
Mandy Rose sees herself on the main roster again while in the middle of a long and successful reign as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion for over a year.
There are no signs of her slowing down alongside her Toxic Attraction running mates, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne.
Rose has retained her title over the likes of Alba Fyre, Meiko Satomura, Zoey Stark, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, and more.
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Rose was asked what’s next for her in her career. She noted that she’s beaten everyone in NXT and while she doesn’t mind being champion for a longer time, she’s ready to have another shot on the main roster.
One More Shot
“I’m at a point now where, who else can I beat in NXT? I totally don’t mind remaining the champ for a long time, but I think it’s time. I want Gigi and Jacy to be able to experience the main roster. Being up on Raw or SmackDown, I want to get back up there because I’m a whole different person I feel. Whether it’s from the outside looking in it looks like that, I just feel so much more respected now, and that has a lot to do with it. Not that I was scared to like say anything, but I feel I’ve earned the respect over the last 386 days; whatever it’s been, even before I won the title, I earned that respect. I know I belong. I think I have another good run on Raw or SmackDown and I want to prove to people, and I’ve already proven, but I want to showcase myself with my girls, Toxic Attraction. That’s going to be really cool. We’ve shown so much over the last year, we run NXT, and it’s time.”
Rose made her most recent title defense by beating Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing match on the November 15 episode of NXT.
The legendary Ric Flair is gearing up to attend two big WWE events in January 2023.
On the latest episode of his To Be The Man podcast, the 16-time world champion revealed that he’d been invited to be part of the 30th Anniversary of Monday Night Raw (“Raw is XXX”) on January 23 from Philadelphia, PA.
“I’m gonna be there. They didn’t say don’t tell anybody. I’ve been invited and it’s a f**king big deal. Why, because it’s Raw and it’s a big f**king deal. I’m on it, hell yea are you kidding me? 30 years.”
– Ric Flair
Five days later, Flair will be stylin’ and profilin’ in San Antonio, TX at the 2023 Royal Rumble. The event takes place from the AlamoDome and is already setting box office records.
Flair and WWE parted ways in August 2021 after he requested his release. The two sides parted ways after Flair was featured in the controversial Plane Ride from Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Back in June, WWE announced a new documentary is in the works focusing on Flair’s life and wrestling career. The following month, Flair partnered up with his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo in his “last match” against Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett. The event took place during SummerSlam weekend at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Flair has a storied history with the Royal Rumble and Monday Night Raw. Flair won the vacant WWF Championship at the 1992 Royal Rumble, an event that is considered by many to be one of the greatest Rumble events in history.
The Nature Boy competed on Monday Night Raw during its early run back in 1993. After WCW folded in 2001, he’d go on to be the General Manager of Monday Night Raw from November 2001 through June 2002.
Just a few weeks ago, Flair said he’d welcome the opportunity to appear on WWE programming again. He won’t have to wait long to get his wish.
Brock Lesnar has worked with some of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business although he has been known to be hard to work with.
Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose, has spoken openly about Lesnar not wanting to do anything wild in their WrestleMania 32 match in 2016.
On the latest edition of the Oh You Didn’t Know podcast WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg spoke about Lesnar and this is where he claimed that The Beast didn’t want to work with Kevin Owens.
The Story
(via WWE)
This was brought up when discussing Lesnar facing AJ Styles at Survivor Series instead of Jinder Mahal after Lesnar said he didn’t want to work with Kevin Owens:
“I want to clarify, it is not that he did not want to work with Jinder. It’s that he really thought he could have a better match with AJ. So I just wanted that to be clear. Like because look, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Brock saying I don’t want [to], I’m not working with that guy. Well, I did, I did hear that with Kevin Owens, but only him.”
Road pointed out how Lesnar had a good amount of pull due to the relationship he has with Vince McMahon.
“Look, Brock is that kind of talent, like I just talked about, has a special relationship with Vince. And so apparently they had a conversation and, and a decision, a creative decision was made. We’re gonna go with AJ Styles as a champion into this tournament at Night of Champions.”
Kenny Omega asked fans to “let go” of the issue involving CM Punk in his first interview since returning to AEW television as The Elite had been suspended following the events of All Out in September.
Punk ripped The Elite, Colt Cabana, and Hangman Page at the All Out media scrum before a brawl broke out that also involved Ace Steel, who has since been fired by AEW.
Omega spoke with Justin Barrasso of SI.com days after Full Gear, where The Elite returned and acknowledged that they are not able to disclose additional information about the incident.
Moving On
Nearly 3 months after All Out, Omega says there will be aspects of the backstage altercation that the involved parties will never be able to address publicly. He wants fans to move on and focus on the pro wrestling stories they’ll be telling in the ring.
“There are things no one can talk about, so I’d encourage people to let it go.”
– Kenny Omega
He added, “I encourage people to move away from it because there is no information to be released. Though I cannot talk about it, I do want the fans to know I still want the best for pro wrestling.”
After CM Punk’s press conference, Omega and The Young Bucks went to Punk’s locker room, where an altercation went down. Punk’s future with the company is up in the air although he is reportedly in talks with the promotion about buying out his deal.
“This isn’t Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks against CM Punk. It is people trying to show off their craft. You can boo Kenny Omega, or the Young Bucks, or CM Punk, but I hope people don’t forget we’re human beings struggling to show our art.”
Omega and the Young Bucks (The Elite) are currently involved in a Best of 7 series with AEW World Trios Champions, Death Triangle. PAC and the Lucha Bros. won the first match at Full Gear last weekend. They lead the series 1-0, with the second match scheduled for tonight’s Dynamite from Chicago, IL.
Best of 7 Series for the AEW World Trios Titles?! Sign us up!!
Darby Allin is heading to Japan to take part in The Great Muta’s retirement match.
On Wednesday, Pro Wrestling NOAH confirmed that Muta will team with Sting & Allin in his retirement match on Sunday, January 22, 2023, although their opponents have yet to be announced.
“Great Muta Final Bye Bye” is the name of Muta’s retirement show that is being held at the Yokohama Arena and will air live via Wrestle Universe and Fite TV.
The match will be Keiji Muto’s final bout as the Great Muta character as Muto will have his last match at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
The Dream Team
(via AEW)
Sting previously told Sports Illustrated that he was trying to get Allin to come with him for Muta’s final match after Muta appeared on an episode of AEW Rampage this past September by helping to save Sting & Allin during a tag team match against The House of Black’s Brody King & Buddy Matthews.
Muta will wrestle WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura at NOAH’s The New Year 2023 on Sunday, January 1, 2023.
This past Saturday night at AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event, Allin and Sting beat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a tag team match.
The November 22, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Cora Jade def. Wendy Choo
Ivy Nile (w/ Tatum Paxley) def. Kiana James.
SCRYPTS def. Guru Raaj.
Zoey Stark def. Sol Ruca.
NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson ) (c) def. Chase University (Duke Hudson & Andre Chase) (w/ Thea Hail).
Wes Lee def. Carmelo Hayes to retain the North American Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Toxic Attraction Opens
Toxic Attraction (Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne) kicked off the show with an in-ring promo.
Rose retained her NXT Women’s Championship against Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing match this past Tuesday. Rose defeated Fyre after Isla Dawn made her surprise NXT debut by interfering in the match.
So what did they say? Dolin and Jayne talked about how Rose is awaiting her next victim while they refocus on becoming three time NXT Tag Team Champions.
This led to Carter and Chance coming out to tell them that they’re not better than everyone else. Chance said that Rose didn’t reach all of her accomplishments by herself. They said Toxic Attraction is a train wreck waiting to happen. They said when Rose loses her title then they will lose all equity in NXT. Dolin and Jayne said that they made them relevant and seeing them with the titles make them sick. A brawl broke out with Toxic Attraction laying them out.
NXT North American Champion Wes Lee defended the title against Carmelo Hayes.
On the NXT episode on September 13, Solo Sikoa defeated Hayes for the championship. Sikoa wasn’t Hayes’ initial opponent and Shawn Michaels ruled that the victory was void. Instead, the title was challenged in a ladder match at the Halloween Havoc event on October 22, with Lee winning.
The match served as the main event of the show that was back and forth, which had outside interference from Trick Williams. Lee went over with his finisher. Post-match, Dijak laid out Lee.
Wendy Choo vs. Cora Jade in a singles match took place.
Two weeks ago, Choo stopped Jade from using a kendo stick to attack Valentina Feroz, marking the start of their rivalry. The following week, Jade made Choo the target of her bullying. Last week’s NXT featured Choo claiming that Jade’s statements were nothing new to her.
The match ended when Jade tossed coffee on Choo’s face. Jade then hit a DDT on Choo for the pinfall win.
It was a guy in a mask who teleported from the ringside into the ring. The fans in attendance were chanting Reggie, who used to be on the main roster. He went over by hitting a dive off the top rope for the win to beat Guru Raaj.
In recent weeks, Scrypts has begun sending ominous messages to the WWE Performance Center. Scrypts claimed on last Tuesday’s NXT that they “passed past the guards with ease,” meaning that they have reached NXT. Scrypts concluded the tale by saying, “Next week, you’ll realize that you and I aren’t the same. So tell me, “Who wants to play a quick game first?”
There was a video promo with just Apollo Crews where he talked about how six months ago, he looked into WWE NXT Champion Breakker’s eyes and told him he was coming after the title.
He confirmed in this video that he will challenge Breakker for the NXT Title at Deadline on December 10th.
The betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this Saturday is still being finalized. So far, five matches have been announced for the show.
There are no titles favored to change hands. The Bloodline is expected to win the men’s WarGames match, and Team Bayley is expected to win the women’s WarGames match. the fifth and final member of Team Belair will be revealed on Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
WWE Survivor Series Betting Odds
WWE Survivor Series
The favorites to win are listed as –, while the underdogs are listed with +. The odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the betting odds, courtesy of Bet Online:
Men’s WarGames Match: The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, & Solo Sikoa) -160 vs. Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland & Kevin Owens +120
Kurt Angle has provided a health update on Randy Orton, who has not been on WWE television since May, when The Usos defeated RK-Bro in a unification title match on an episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Orton was attacked by The Bloodline to be written off television following the match. WWE anticipated the back injury would require surgery and force him to miss the rest of the year.
Orton’s back injury is so serious that he would have had to retire if he didn’t undergo surgery. The latest word was in September when it was reported that there was a lot of concern about the severity of Orton’s back injury.
In Angle’s Own Words
This is according to Angle, who said the following on the latest episode of the Kurt Angle Show.
“Your back controls everything. You can’t do anything when your back is hurting. I’ll give you an example. Randy Orton just had surgery on his back. He literally couldn’t do anything, and this surgery is hopefully saving his career. But that’s how much back problems can affect you as a pro wrestler,” Angle said.
Last week, Orton was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama, where WWE often sends talents for surgery or rehab.
A24’s “The Iron Claw” made a new casting announcement on Tuesday about who will portray “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair in the movie.
Deadline reported today that Aaron Dean Eisenberg (The Deuce) would play the legendary pro wrestler. The role is expected to be a cameo as the film depicts Kerry Von Erich defeating Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1984.
This was the same event as the first-ever Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, which took place in Dallas for the World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. It was booked to honor the passing of David Von Erich, who passed away at the age of 25 in February of that year.
The Film
Zac Efron (Kevin Von Erich), Jeremy Allen White (Kerry), Harris Dickinson (David), Holt McCallany (Fritz Von Erich), Maura Tierney (Doris Von Erich), AEW’s MJF (Lance Von Erich) and Lily James in an unknown role make up the rest of the cast.
The film’s synopsis reads, “Based on the true story of the Von Erichs, the film follows the rise and fall of the family dynasty of wrestlers who made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day.”
EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Deuce’s Aaron Dean Eisenberg is set to play the iconic wrestler Ric Flair in A24’s ‘The Iron Claw’ https://t.co/6V6afKjCuA
Toni Storm suffered an injury when she dropped the AEW Interim Women’s World Championship to Jamie Hayter at this past Saturday’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event.
During the bout, Storm was hit in the face with an elbow that busted open her nose and she was bleeding. AEW kept Storm strong in the finish as there was outside interference by former AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker.
The Injury
Fitness Gurls
In the end, the finish saw Hayter send Storm into an exposed turnbuckle and hit her finisher for the win. As seen below, Storm shared a photo on her Instagram Stories of her broken nose:
Storm won the Interim Women’s Title at All Out by beating Hayter, Britt Baker, and Hikaru Shida in a fatal 4-way bout. All Out was originally slated to feature Storm challenging Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. However, Rosa is currently on the sidelines with a back injury.
Throughout her reign as the Interim Champion, she had publicly talked about Rosa being on the sidelines and AEW President Tony Khan not stripping her of the championship. Tony Khan did the same with CM Punk, who was injured in his first reign as the World Heavyweight Champion as the AEW President doesn’t like the idea of stripping a champion.
