SEScoops

Author: Rayan Sayyed

  • Sean Waltman Doesn’t Want WWE Hall Of Fame Induction As Singles Wrestler

    Sean Waltman Doesn’t Want WWE Hall Of Fame Induction As Singles Wrestler

    Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, who was inducted this year into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the stable D-Generation X, is set to go again in 2020 as member of New World Order. While Sean thinks that it’s ridiculous that he was inducted back to back twice as part of the stables that he was in, he doesn’t want to be inducted as a solo act.

    Speaking to Afterbuzz TV (via WrestlingInc), Sean Waltman revealed that he heard the news about his induction when he got a phone call from Mark Carrano. Waltman almost didn’t want to answer the call, as a call from Carrano usually means one’s in trouble. But the multi-time champion is glad he picked up the phone.

    When asked if he would like to get inducted as a solo performer, Sean Waltman said that he has no aspirations whatsoever to stand up on the stage and be inducted for his singles career. He feels happy with how things are going for him right now.

    “To be a part of something bigger and greater than yourself is just an amazing feeling to me, and I don’t need that. I don’t need ‘me, me, me’, what about me? I got plenty of me,” said X-Pac. “I’m just happy to be a part of something greater than me.”

    The 2020 WWE Hall of Fame would be headlined with the induction of nWO, comprised of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and of course, X-Pac. They would join Batista in getting the honor with their inclusion next year. The 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Thursday, April 2nd at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida as a part of WrestleMania 36 week.

    Read more: X-Pac Comments On Eric Bischoff Not Being Included In NWO Hall of Fame Induction

  • Saudi Arabian Journalist Discusses WWE’s Travel Issues In The Country

    Saudi Arabian Journalist Discusses WWE’s Travel Issues In The Country

    The most recent WWE event that took place in Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel, and it garnered a lot of unwanted headlines as part of a travel delays controversy.

    After the event ended on 31 October, it was reported that the flight which was expected to carry almost 200 WWE personnel, experienced a major delay which WWE attributed to mechanical issues.

    WrestlingInc did an interview with a Saudi Arabian journalist Mr. King, who talked about the topic on the WINCLY podcast.

    A lot of rumors and speculation filled the internet around the issue. According to initial reports from Dave Meltzer and former WWE commentator Hugo Savinovich, the Prince of Saudi Arabia was allegedly furious that Vince McMahon cancelled the live feed of Crown Jewel as the company was owed up to millions of dollars for previous shows. This lead to the Saudi Crown Prince stopping WWE’s chartered plane from leaving the country in retaliation. The company, however, has denied this in a statement.

    Mr. King was asked about the delay in broadcast, and he revealed that the delay did happen and the broadcast was around thirty to forty minutes late.

    “I heard about it because when I came home my family told me I was taking photos of something that they weren’t watching on TV. I was taking pictures of something earlier,” said King. There was a delay of maybe 30-40 minutes.”

    Mr. King was then asked about the travel issue and he said that while there is no official statement on it, he believes it to be a paperwork problem. “When you take a piece of work for a couple of days and your flight didn’t take you out of the country, it’s a little bit of a problem. There’s a hotel inside the airport and they slept there and took another flight,” he said.

    King also said that he thinks that there really was a problem with the plane.
    “I think the problem was the plane itself. The team stopped it and said this plane is not safe for you to leave. Thank God they noticed this before they left because it would have been a huge problem if something happened.”

  • Robert Roode Suspension Caused Change To WWE TLC Plans

    Robert Roode Suspension Caused Change To WWE TLC Plans

    Earlier this week, WWE suspended Robert Roode and Primo Colon for violating the company’s Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. This was their first violation of the policy, so they will be serving thirty day suspensions.

    WWE did not reveal substances they got caught using. However, new information has been revealed in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

    Roode has been off WWE TV for the past two weeks. The Observer states that Roode’s violation might be the reason he was written out of storylines.

    He was last seen on the November 29 episode of SmackDown in a match against Roman Reigns. He was stretchered out of the arena, as seen below:

    Original Plans for Robert Roode

    WWE actually had plans for Robert Roode at the TLC PPV. He was slated to team with Dolph Ziggler against New Day in a match for the SmackDown Tag titles.

    The plan was changed and The Revival was put in place of Ziggler and Roode for the match at TLC. Meltzer added that the change might have been made because of Roode’s violation.

    WWE TLC will be taking place this Sunday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tune into SEScoops.com for full coverage of the event.

  • Dakota Kai Injury Update, Fandango And Travis Banks Announced Injured

    Dakota Kai Injury Update, Fandango And Travis Banks Announced Injured

    WWE has posted the latest NXT injury report on their official YouTube, and it gives an update on Dakota Kai’s status, as well as announces two names who have suffered injuries.

    Dakota Kai was sent through a pair of tables with an elevated suplex by Mia Yim following their match on NXT. Kai had to receive eight staples to close the laceration she received, and the doctors recommended her to rest. Dakota declined the doctor’s advice to rest and posted an update on Twitter to reveal that she would be working all the upcoming NXT live events:

    Breezango took on The Singh Brothers in tag team competition, and during the match Fandango performed an assisted elbow drop outside of the ring. The report noted that he suffered what may be a dislocated elbow, and he was sent to the emergency room for imaging. There is no update on Fandango’s condition as of this writing.

    NXT UK star Travis Banks went against Jaxson Ryker in a singles match. Even though Banks came out of the match victorious, he suffered an eyebrow laceration. He is listed as “day-to-day”, depending on his symptoms.

    You can read the results of this weeks NXT episode by clicking this link.

  • Melina On Gaining Closure With WWE At Raw Reunion, Her Wrestling Journey

    Melina On Gaining Closure With WWE At Raw Reunion, Her Wrestling Journey

    Melina departed from WWE in 2011 after joining the company back in 2004. She didn’t make an appearance until the Raw Reunion episode that took place on 22 July this year.

    This was her first appearance in nearly eight years, and she was in a backstage segment with Candice Michelle, Naomi, and Kelly Kelly. During the segment as Michelle attacked Kelly for the 24/7 Championship, she was revealed as a special guest referee.

    The former WWE Women’s Champion spoke about her appearance on the episode and said that she gained closure from her return and described it as “therapeutic”, in an interview with Post Wrestling.

    Melina said that she needed to say her goodbyes and open up to people she worked with. She felt they were previously too scared to say what they felt.

    “Oh my, it was therapeutic. I needed that, because I needed closure, I needed closure, I needed to say goodbye to the people I needed to say goodbye to. I needed to talk to the people who we never said goodbye but we never said our feelings. So it’s like some of the girls I worked with, I told them how I felt and the funny thing is they started telling me how they felt. You know, I always thought I was an oddball but we all thought we were oddballs and we kind of were never too scared to open up to each other so it was very therapeutic and now I have my sisters, and now I’m there for them that much more after being out of there, so it was beautiful.”

    You can watch Melina’s appearance on the Raw Reunion episode in the video below:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQLHKjbn7tc

    Reflecting Back On Her Wrestling Career

    Melina also reflected back on her journey through wrestling in a post on Instagram. Melina revealed that she started wrestling at Empire Wrestling Federation around 20 years ago and she didn’t plan to wrestle on TV. Her love of wrestling is the only reason she got into the business.

    Here is the caption from her post:

    “Let me start with: WATCH @nwa’s PPV #IntoTheFire this Saturday @ 6:05pm!!! The order link is in my bio!!! I have so much to say but I have to run errands and get ready for this weekend. But 1st, feel free to swipe left and if you continue to read this… just in case you’re one of the few that assumed I came out of a magazine and into the ring back in the day (which there’s nothing wrong with! We have legends that found their wrestling calling like that so don’t try to take away anyone’s accomplishments because of it), on a Wednesday, around 1999-2000, I started wrestling at @ewfempire. I loved wrestling and I didn’t know they had classes! It never occurred to me that it could be a career! For me it was like taking a cardio class at the gym and I was doing it because I had love for it. It wasn’t to be on tv. I mean, who am I? I’m just an average girl from SoCal. There’s prettier people than me, taller, stronger, faster… there’s no way a dream like that could come true for someone like me. That’s what I thought. So you have to understand, I wasn’t out to make history, to gain approval, to be rich or famous. I loved it and wanted to see how far I could go so I could make my parents proud. Even they thought it was crazy. ? When I got a contract, I wanted to entertain people the way I was entertained when I watched. My intentions were that simple. But the journey in fulfilling those intentions weren’t. LOL. Oh well. It was worth it because we made history. We inspired creativity & strength. It was worth it for the hearts I did touch. Even if it was only a few. I may not be everyone’s cup of tea and I may not be a favorite but I know I did my part in telling the stories that needed to be told and when it came to entertaining. I can end my career today knowing that and being secure with it.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B5-rXqhBxop/?utm_source=ig_embed
  • AJ Lee Not Interested In Appearing On WWE Backstage

    AJ Lee Not Interested In Appearing On WWE Backstage

    WWE Backstage’s new analyst and special contributor CM Punk posted a message on Twitter, where he listed down 5 WWE stars that he wants to see on the show.

    The list consisted of only female stars which included Bayley, Sasha Banks, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Rhea Ripley:

    https://twitter.com/CMPunk/status/1205261135349465089

    While the list certainly looks interesting and we would like those female stars to make an appearance on the FS1 show, a fan wanted to know if Punk’s own wife AJ Lee would be able make an appearance as well. He added that Lee is friends with all the other females that were listed.

    Also read: WWE Backstage Viewership Declines Despite CM Punk Appearance

    AJ Lee responded to the fan’s query and made it clear that she has no intentions of appearing on the show whatsoever. She noted that she is “very retired” but added that she is game for coffee and snacks next time she’s in town.

    Since Punk made his shocking return to WWE, AJ Lee’s fans might have had hopes that she would return or make an appearance for the company in some capacity. However, it looks like AJ has no plans at all to work with the company, according to her statement. WWE announced her retirement in March of 2015, a few days after WrestleMania 31. Lee stated permanent damage to her cervical spine as the reason behind her in-ring retirement, as well as her husband’s controversial retirement from wrestling a year before.

  • Cody Says AEW’s Entire Infrastructure Is Public

    Cody Says AEW’s Entire Infrastructure Is Public

    All Elite Wrestling announced on Monday that Hikaru Shida will wrestle with Kris Statlander in a one on one match. When Cody was hyping this matchup on Twitter, a fan replied to him and said that no one, not even Jim Ross knows who both of these women are.

    Cody replied and pointed out that both Shida and Statlander are talented women and that they have been on AEW’s shows before. Shida is in fact at the first position on AEW Power Rankings as of this writing.

    A fan then resorted to calling Meltzer Cody’s “boy”, implying that AEW follows the Wrestling Observer and makes their decisions influenced by it. Cody denied that and then the fan replied saying that maybe Cody is not a Meltzer guy, but the owner Tony Khan is, and he is “listening him into the ground.”

    Cody explained that the accusation is nonsense and that their entire infrastructure is public. He added that AEW will rise and fall on their own merit. “That’s nonsense,” wrote Cody. “Our entire infrastructure is public. Who’s doing what and so forth. I know that’s a “brand” narrative, but it’s 100% not accurate. We will rise or fall based on our own merit. The right way.”

    As reported earlier, WWE’s NXT beat out AEW in the “total viewership” department. AEW had the edge in the Adults 18-49 demographic and actually bested NXT in every demographic group except Adults 50+.

    Related: AEW Dynamite & NXT TV Viewership (11/27)

  • Tessa Blanchard Fires Back At Sandman For Saying Women Shouldn’t Main Event (Video)

    Tessa Blanchard Fires Back At Sandman For Saying Women Shouldn’t Main Event (Video)

    Recently, Impact Wrestling star Jordynne Grace recently took to Twitter, sharing her negative experience with former ECW and WWE Superstar The Sandman. She revealed how as to how four women (including her) were preparing for the main event match at the WrestleCade SuperShow on 30 November, Sandman came over and shared his opinion that women main eventing in wrestling is “wrong” and “any male wrestler with any sort of experience would agree.”

    https://twitter.com/JordynneGrace/status/1200950923054534657

    This negative comment got Sandman a lot of flak from the industry and man wrestlers, both male and female, provided their takes on Sandman’s opinion.

    Tess Blanchard, who was one of the women scheduled for the main event match on that night, addressed Sandman’s comments before the match started. She cut a promo in the ring in front of the crowd and called out Sandman for his negative remarks:

    “I was in the back earlier tonight and I had to listen to an old ECW guy that used to have a beer in his hand, talk about how ‘women shouldn’t be main eventing this event or any event.’ Not because he didn’t have faith in these women, but because he didn’t have faith in you fans. It’s 2020 and I think that’s a crock of horseshit. The women in this ring right now, are some of the best women’s wrestlers — no, they are some of the best wrestlers in this business. You’re looking at women who have traveled the world and held notable titles in notable companies all over the entire world. I can’t think of anybody better to main event.”

    Wrestlers and fans alike agreed with what Blanchard had to say:

    https://twitter.com/JordynneGrace/status/1200970663986712576
    https://twitter.com/SwoleWorld/status/1200995146474635265

    Here is the video of Tessa Blanchard’s promo:

  • Eric Bischoff On How AEW Can Improve Their Ratings

    Eric Bischoff On How AEW Can Improve Their Ratings

    Former executive director of SmackDown, Eric Bischoff, recently gave his thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite and WWE NXT’s ratings and viewership numbers and discussed what the AEW show should do to make their show successful in the ratings department.

    On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said that while the numbers that AEW does, which is under a million viewers a week, look good, they are not that great. At least not for a major cable outlet. They are also not that great from a competitive position with WWE, according to Eric.

    “Let’s be realistic. They are still coming in under a million viewers a week, and they’re coming in under a million viewers a week on a major cable outlet that typically does a bigger number than that. More importantly, they’re delivering under a million viewers a week within a genre, sports entertainment, professional wrestling, whatever you want to call it, that is typically not really an advertising-friendly platform. So while those numbers look good, look great, look fantastic, from a competitive position with WWE, from an ad sales position, particularly in primetime, it’s not a pretty number yet.”

    Related: AEW Dynamite & NXT TV Viewership (11/27)

    Bischoff compared Dynamite to Nitro and said that Nitro had a lower viewership and it grew with time. If Dynamite can grow like that in the coming months then they’ll get attention from other networks and more advertisers.

    “It’s a good number, it’s a solid number, and if they can build upon that number and grow it, like Nitro did, and I think here’s a really, here’s a better comparison. I think if you go back and look at the debut of Nitro unopposed, I think we came in around a 2.5 or 2.6, which even back then, represented almost two million viewers, two million plus viewers. But once RAW came back and we were going head-to-head, we were living in that 2.4, 2.5, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, 3.3, we were growing, our audience was building as opposed to staying flat, and what I’ve seen so far from AEW is, they’re numbers are essentially flat.”

    “If AEW can go from where they are now which is, I think the last week I looked at was around 950,000 viewers or so, if they can start building upon that where six months from now or a year from now they’re at 1.5 million, now you have a viable business because other networks are going to look at that and go, ‘Wow, that audience is growing.’ If they’ve gone from 950,000 viewers on average, fluctuations week to week, but over the course of six to eight months they’ve built upon that 950,000 and now they’re doing 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, kind of like Nitro did, now they actually have something that’s real. But until that happens, it’s still kind of a wait and see for me,” Bischoff added.

    He also talked about WWE NXT ratings and said that he doesn’t imagine USA Network being too happy with the show’s numbers, which is around 700,000 to 800,000 viewers. He also added that NXT has a major advantage over Dynamite which is that it is promoted on Raw and SmackDown which are the main shows of the company, but the fact that the numbers are still under a million is disappointing, according to Bischoff.

    You can check out the podcast by clicking this link.

  • Jon Moxley Plans To Wrestle For NJPW For The Rest Of His Career

    Jon Moxley Plans To Wrestle For NJPW For The Rest Of His Career

    All Elite Wrestling’s Jon Moxley recently discussed if he would wrestle in Japan again in the future while appearing for an interview with Chris Van Vliet.

    The former IWGP US Champion said that as long as he will be wrestling, we can expect to see him perform in the East Asian nation. “As long as I’m wrestling, I’ll still wrestle in Japan,” Moxley said.

    He added that since AEW allows wrestlers to appear for other promotions, fans will be able to see more of him in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

    Jon Moxley in New Japan Pro Wrestling

    Jon Moxley made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in May 2019, challenging Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship at the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors 26 event on June 5. He went on to defeat Robinson to become the US Champion.

    He also participated in the G1 Climax 29 Tournament and won his first five matches against Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishiii, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito. He would then go on a sort of a losing streak, and fail to advance to the finals with a final standing of 10 points.

    Moxley was stripped of his US title as he was unable to defend it in on King of Pro Wrestling due to travel issues from Typhoon Hagibis.

  • Kofi Kingston Says Vince McMahon Started Dancing When He Heard New Day’s Theme Song

    Kofi Kingston Says Vince McMahon Started Dancing When He Heard New Day’s Theme Song

    Speaking on the debut episode of their new podcast The New Day: Feel the Power, the members of The New Day shared an amusing Vince McMahon story when the group was formed a little over five years ago.

    The New Day members reflected back on the time when they saw Vince McMahon behave in a way they had never seen before.

    When The New Day revealed what their theme music was going to be to Vince McMahon, Xavier Woods said that Vince started tapping his foot when he heard the faction’s entrance theme.

    “I remember it was us four and Road Dogg in there, and he [Vince] was just tapping his foot,” Woods recalled.

    Kofi Kingston added that Mr. McMahon was tapping his foot loudly and that Big E thought that it was a joke.

    “I had to bite my bottom lip. I thought it was a joke,” Big E said.

    According to Kingston, it was an incredible sight to behold. He iterated that no one has seen the Chairman dance like that before. “I had never seen Vince McMahon dance like this. You’ve never seen this man dance like this. You’ve never seen him… It was incredible.”

    On the podcast, The New Day also discussed how their group was formed and how it was compared to the ’90s stable the Nation of Domination in its infancy. You can read more about that here.

    Quotes used in the article transcribed by SportsKeeda

  • Matt Hardy On Being Open To Help Young Wrestlers

    Matt Hardy On Being Open To Help Young Wrestlers

    Matt Hardy, who has been wrestling for around three decades now, has always adapted himself to the changes in the wrestling world and kept himself relevant by incorporating different gimmicks and character changes.

    A 14-time world tag team champion, Matt has seen it all and has a lot of knowledge and insight about the world of professional wrestling. He was recently asked in an interview with Fightful if he is open to help out younger wrestlers figure themselves out and find their way. Hardy said that he is open to it, even though it is not his job right now.

    “Yeah, a little. That’s not really my job or capacity now, but there’s times I’m definitely open to giving my insight or my opinion if someone is interested in having it. And I have a good grasp on that. I understand what professional wrestling is at its core. It’s a competition and you really need to get this bad guy that you want to have some sort of one up on the good guy, and see the good guy overcome the odds. And that’s wrestling at its core. And when you have great athletes you make amazing matches.”

    Apart from the characters in wrestling, Matt added that variety in programming keeps viewers invested in the product too. He named the Cruiserweight division and the 24/7 title picture as examples.

    “But then there’s also stuff that is attractions and there’s stuff that’s variety. And there can be a cruiserweight division. The 24/7 thing is super entertaining. I think that’s great variety for the show as well. It’s all entertainment when it’s all said and done. And I think if you have variety, that’s what it takes to keep viewers invested now for a long amount of time,” said Hardy.”

    Matt has also started a YouTube series called Free The Delete which is focused on his Broken character. The series is produced by Matt on his own and WWE is not involved in its production. It has recently been reported that Matt’s time with WWE is up and Matt is discussing a new deal with the company officials. You can read more about the story here.

  • Tommaso Ciampa Told WWE He’d Retire If They Moved Him To The Main Roster

    Tommaso Ciampa Told WWE He’d Retire If They Moved Him To The Main Roster

    Former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa has zero interest in joining WWE’s main roster. So much so, that he has said that he told WWE that if they ever move him to Raw or SmackDown, he’ll retire from active competition and become a backstage producer or a coach at the Performance Center.

    The former NXT Champion revealed this while appearing on Lillian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast for an interview. He shared that he fought the call-up as much as he could. Their coach at the Performance Center, Shawn Michaels found this amusing as he never experienced someone rejecting a higher pay and a promotion.

    Ciampa reiterated how serious he is about the matter. He said that he had communicated with the company how much he believes in NXT and wanted to see how far they can go.

    Tommaso also added that a main roster run is not going to be of much worth to his portfolio and would also make him stay away from his family because of the tight main roster schedule, as he would be on the road for the majority of the year.

    With only recently returning from his neck injury, Ciampa believes his clock is ticking and he doesn’t want to put the years that he has left on the main roster. The Blackheart has vocalized to them that if he were to be moved to either Raw or SmackDown, he would have a six-month run and just retire to work as a producer or coach for the company.

  • Santino Marella Reveals Santina Was Supposed To Be A One-Off

    Santino Marella Reveals Santina Was Supposed To Be A One-Off

    Santino Marella participated in a 25-woman battle royale at WrestleMania XXV, dressed in drag as “Santina Marella” which was allegedly Santino’s twin sister. Santina went on to win the battle royal and was crowned “Miss WrestleMania”. Santina would then defend the Miss WrestleMania title for a few weeks until she was “fired” by Donald Trump on Raw.

    Santino spoke to Chris Van Vliet for an interview and discussed the Santina character and revealed many interesting tidbits about it. Santino says that he was proud of playing the character. His friends and family were skeptical at first and said that there was no coming back from dressing up as a woman, but Santino thinks Santina was his best work in terms of acting.

    Marella revealed that he was initially told that Santina was going to be a one-off thing, and he agreed to do it thinking it would be a funny and memorable WrestleMania moment. But after Santina’s WrestleMania appearance, Vince McMahon wanted to see more of her and Santino took the ball and ran with it.

    “Well, when I was first told, I was kind of told that it would be a one-off thing. So I was like, ‘Okay, it’s gonna be funny, it’s gonna be a memorable moment. It’s a WrestleMania moment. [laughs] Probably my most significant WrestleMania moment ever, actually. And then the following week, ‘Vince wants the Santina thing again,’ and [the week after] ‘Vince wants the Santina thing again.’ Like, ‘Oh, man.’ But you know what? My philosophy has been, you give me lemons, and I’m gonna make lemonade.”

    Quotes used in article transcribed by 411mania.com

  • Kris Statlander Reportedly Offered Deal By AEW

    Kris Statlander Reportedly Offered Deal By AEW

    Kris Statlander recently made her debut on All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite where she teamed up with Hikaru Shida against Bea Priestly and Emi Sakura.

    But before she would appear for AEW, Statlander was negotiating with WWE. She was close to a deal with them but hadn’t sent her a contract, and then AEW booked her.

    This comes from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which says that WWE was under the impression that Kris would start with them in January, but ended up working with AEW.

    The report says that both WWE and AEW want to work with her, and now that Statlander has made two appearances for AEW, it’s likely she would sign up with them.

    “Regarding Kris Statlander, it looks like she’ll be signing here. She and WWE were close to a deal but they had not sent a contract and then AEW booked her. WWE was under the impression she was coming in January and both sides want her. Her working here the last few weeks, and we know AEW is looking to sign her as well, would indicate AEW is the likely final destination.”

    Statlander has worked in the wrestling industry for only over two years now and has worked in many independent promotions like SHIMMER, Shine, WrestlePro, Beyond Wrestling to name a few. Apart from the one appearance for AEW mentioned above, she has also worked a match on AEW Dark episode 7 where she teamed up with Big Swole in a losing effort against Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Riho.

  • nZo Says WWE Wanted To Bring Him Back Before His Survivor Series Stunt

    nZo Says WWE Wanted To Bring Him Back Before His Survivor Series Stunt

    nZo (formerly known as Enzo Amore) was fired from WWE when he was accused of sexual assault back in January 2018. He was under investigation by the police and he hadn’t informed WWE of the matter, and thus was fired.

    After getting fired from the company, Enzo made an unwelcome appearance over a year ago on Survivor Series 2018 where he attended the event and stood on his seat and caused a disruption. He was removed from the venue by security and Staples Center banned him from future events at the venue.

    Amore talked about this matter while appearing on Talk Is Jericho and also revealed that he had actually been offered a return to the company. He denied the offer and said that he was in a different “headspace” at the time.

    “So, they had called me a week before, bro … somebody called me from WWE, and it might have been Vince. It was the office’s number plus one. So that’s the first number outside the generic office’s number, I don’t know who it is. Maybe they’re calling me to tell me, ‘Hey, we’ve got some copyright issues’ or something. Or maybe they’re calling me to bring me back or something. But I had a few people in the office contact me about a month prior about coming back. Would I interested, or where my head [was] at. [I was] like, ‘Hell no, I’m in a different headspace, I’m not trying to come back.’ I had bought Survivor Series tickets, that second-row seat about a month and a half prior, so I knew I was doing it. So by the time they called me, it was, ‘Do I answer this call, or do I show up at their PPV?’ And I knew, like I said, I wanted to book myself back into pro wrestling, and I wanted to be the nWo. But how do you do that in 2019 and make it real, and make it interesting, and make the world buzz? Well, let’s throw a wig on. [laughs]”

    Also read: Enzo Amore Shares Advice For Young Talent, Recalls John Cena Helping Him In NXT

    Enzo also added that the next day after the Survivor Series incident, WWE sent a company-wide memo to everybody in the office to tell them to not talk to him or do any business with him.

    While Enzo initially alluded that he was done with wrestling altogether and started pursuing a career as a rapper with the stage name Real1, he has returned to independent wrestling and wrestled his first match since January 2018 on 16 August this year at Northeast Wrestling’s Prison Break event. He defeated Brian Pillman Jr. under the nZo ring name.

    Thanks to 411Mania for the above quotes

  • Ryback Discusses Why CM Punk Signed With WWE Instead Of AEW

    Ryback Discusses Why CM Punk Signed With WWE Instead Of AEW

    While CM Punk is back with WWE as an analyst on WWE Backstage, there are no plans of him getting back in the ring. Many fans believed that if Punk were to go to a wrestling company, it would be AEW. Punk’s return to WWE was a shock to many and Ryback discussed this matter and gave his opinion on why Punk signed with WWE instead of AEW.

    Speaking to Wrestling Inc.’s Raj Giri, Ryback revealed that he believes Punk signed with WWE because the company and FOX have allowed him to give his opinion “shoot on stuff” if he wants to. Ryback also added that this opportunity might get Punk his dream WrestleMania match that he always wanted.

    “CM Punk, this weird dynamic, who at one time didn’t want anything to do with pro wrestling is all of a sudden going in and talking about WWE. And like I said, I think it is a weird chess game going on where he is going to go there and shoot on stuff in a more negative way and call bulls**t when he sees it on things that he doesn’t like, and he is allowed to give his opinion on different things. And FOX is going to allow it, where it is going to create a situation where he is going to probably be able to go back and get the WrestleMania main event match that he always wanted. That is what I feel like is going on, and that is why I feel like he didn’t go to AEW,” said Ryback.

    It’s known that one of the reasons Punk left WWE was that he never got to headline WrestleMania in a final main event match. Ryback thinks Punk was fed up with not getting a WM main event and was done for good with the company. Ryback says that once you get out of the wrestling bubble you wouldn’t go back and work the exhausting full-time WWE schedule ever again. He compares it to Shawshank Redemption. “It’s like Shawshank Redemption, once you are out, it is a beautiful thing when you are truly free from there.”

    Ryback added that there is a weird dynamic going on with Punk being able to come on WWE programming and shoot on what he wants. He believes Punk might have even figured out how to get himself into the main event of WrestleMania.

    h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the quotes

  • Stephen Amell Set To Appear On WWE Backstage

    Stephen Amell Set To Appear On WWE Backstage

    The eighth and final season of Arrow is going on with Crisis of Infinite Earths just around the corner but the superhero star Stephen Amell has found time to make a return to WWE by appearing on WWE Backstage.

    Amell will be appearing on Promo School on Fox Sports 1 this upcoming Tuesday, possibly to promote the upcoming sixth annual Arrowverse crossover event. The WWE on FOX Twitter account posted the following:

    “BREAKING: The star of @CW_Arrow, and former SummerSlam competitor, @StephenAmell will go to ‘Promo School’ on @WWE Backstage this Tuesday at 11p ET on @Fs1. #WWEStarrcade”

    Stephen is an avid wrestling fan and has wrestled for WWE before. He had a match on SummerSlam 2015 where he teamed up with Neville to defeat Stardust and King Barrett in a tag team match. Amell then became friends with Cody Rhodes and he teamed up with Bullet Club for a match at Ring of Honor’s Survival of the Fittest in 2017.

    Amell’s most recent wrestling appearance was when he competed at All Elite Wrestling’s All In on 6 August 2018 in his first-ever singles match, in a losing attempt against Christopher Daniels.

    The Arrow star has said before that he isn’t looking to become a wrestler or get back into the ring again. “I can’t get back in the wrestling ring. I risk divorce.” He had also fractured his hip while wrestling and production of Arrow had to be delayed because of the injury.

    Amell is also selling wine with AEW World Champion Chris Jericho. The news was announced on last Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, and the wine is called “A Little Bit of the Bubbly”. You can read more about it here.

  • Adam Cole Shoots Down CM Punk Rumor, Says He Won’t Be Joining The Undisputed Era

    Adam Cole Shoots Down CM Punk Rumor, Says He Won’t Be Joining The Undisputed Era

    Rumors of CM Punk joining the Undisputed Era as its fifth member were quickly shot down by Adam Cole before the baseless rumor could get any more traction.

    Appearing for an interview for the Sports Illustrated, Cole was asked about WWE Backstage where Punk made his surprise return. Punk has had a major influence on Cole, so he was more than happy to see someone he looks up to return on Backstage.

    For those who don’t know, Cole was a guest on WWE Backstage a few weeks ago when Punk made his surprise return to the WWE.

    Related: CM Punk WWE Backstage Interview Recap

    He, however, shot down the rumors of Punk joining Undisputed Era by saying that their team is perfect and he wouldn’t add anyone, not even CM Punk into the mix. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish and NXT Champion Adam Cole himself couldn’t get any better.

    “The Undisputed Era, the four that we are, couldn’t get any better,” Cole said when asked. He added, “We’re the flag-bearers of the NXT brand, and we are perfect the way we are. I wouldn’t add a male, I wouldn’t add a female, and we won’t add CM Punk.”

  • Corey Graves Reflects On 2019: “This Year Was No Doubt The Toughest”

    Corey Graves Reflects On 2019: “This Year Was No Doubt The Toughest”

    Corey Graves has had quite a year. The WWE broadcaster has made headlines for some controversial situations, including his relationship with WWE Superstar Carmela and his recent comments on social media about NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo.

    During NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Corey Graves made some comments about NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo that made him deactivate his Twitter account.

    The issue attracted negative press and backlash for Graves. He took to Twitter to reflect on this year and revealed how it has been the toughest for him.

    He wrote, “In 35 years, this year was no doubt the toughest. But, it taught me to THINK. I’m going to *uck up. I’m going to be wrong. I’m going to disappoint. I’m not perfect. I’m thankful for learning to embrace my flaws, and learn from them. I’m thankful for those who know me.”

    Corey Graves & Mauro Ranallo

    Graves was critical of Mauro Ranallo’s commentary and subtweeted about him saying that Ranallo isn’t giving a chance to Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness, who were at the commentary booth with him, a chance to provide their thoughts on the action.

    He wrote, “Just for the record guys, I know you wouldn’t know it, but there’s actually a WWE Hall of Famer AND a former Ring of Honor Champion on commentary. I’d imagine they have a lot to offer.”

    This led to Ranallo deactivating his account and garnered Graves headlines for his criticizing comments.

    Ranallo then was also missing from the Survivor Series PPV, and Michael Cole explained that during the previous night’s TakeOver event Ranallo blew his voice out and was therefore unable to provide the kind of commentary NXT has become known for.

    Graves addressed the issue on his After the Bell podcast and apologized. You can read the apology here.

    For what it’s worth, Pro Wrestling Sheet (run by Ryan Satin, who appears on WWE Backstage) says that Graves’ tweets were planned as part of the brand warfare storyline taking place over Survivor Series weekend.

    Mauro Ranallo is a mental health advocate who lives with bipolar disorder. Ranallo left the SmackDown for NXT after a much-publicized conflict with WWE which likely had to do with criticisms from JBL directed at him. Ranallo denies this, however.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VT_5XcJiPo
  • Seth Rollins Announces He’ll Issue Apology To Team Red and WWE Universe On Raw

    Seth Rollins Announces He’ll Issue Apology To Team Red and WWE Universe On Raw

    Seth Rollins has decided that he will issue an apology to all the members of Team Raw and the WWE Universe on Monday’s WWE Raw.

    Rollins lashed out at Team Raw members after the team’s poor performance at the Survivor Series show. The WWE Universe did not take kindly to Rollins’ attitude and The Architect even lashed out at them. After all of that happening Rollins has decided to issue an apology. He took to Twitter and wrote the following:

    “After a long few days of soul searching, I’ve decided that this coming Monday on #RAW I would like to issue an apology to #TEAMRED and the @WWE Universe. I hope you’ll hear me out.”

    After blaming every member of the roster for their unsatisfactory performance, Rollins found himself face to face with Kevin Owens in the ring as the rest of the locker room decided to walk out.

    Owens used the Stunner on Rollins and both would face each other in a match in the main event. Rollins teased a heel turn when he stomped Owens after the Authors of Pain showed up to attack Kevin. It will be interesting to see if Rollins really is going to apologize on Raw.

  • Lance Storm To Start Working As Producer For WWE From Next Week

    Lance Storm To Start Working As Producer For WWE From Next Week

    Lance Storm had announced back in August that he will be closing the doors to his Storm Wrestling Academy after his September class ends.

    Well, the class has now ended and Storm has said that he will be closing the academy to return to WWE to work as a producer. Lance Storm’s students Tenille Dashwood and Peyton Royce also commented on the school’s closure.

    Storm wrote in a tweet, “All good things must come to an end, but the #SWA family will live on in this industry. #Wrestling #TinyFeet”

    https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/1200222012121042945
    https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/1200222012121042945
    https://twitter.com/PeytonRoyceWWE/status/1200245574131441664
    https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/1200262342690213888
    https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/1200534034230607872

    Notable names that have trained at the Storm Wrestling Academy include Tyler Breeze, Taya Valkyrie, Tenille Dashwood, Chelsea Green, Peyton Royce, Rachael Ellering and many others.

    Return to WWE as producer

    Storm has announced on 2 November that he will be returning to WWE to work as a producer after the closure of SWA. The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Lance will be starting work for WWE as early as the coming week.

    Storm’s announcement read, “For those wondering: After SWA closes I will be returning to the WWE to work as a Producer. I’m really looking forward to working with such a high level of talent again”

    In a statement given to The Wrestling Observer, Storm had said the following: “My body is getting tired and my kids are adults now, so a moderate road schedule is acceptable. I reached out to see what my options were and got an offer I liked.”

  • Charlotte Flair To Compete In Handicap Match On Monday’s WWE Raw

    Charlotte Flair To Compete In Handicap Match On Monday’s WWE Raw

    WWE has announced on their website that Charlotte Flair will be competing in a 2-on1 handicap match on Monday’s WWE Raw against The Kabuki Warriors, Asuka and Kairi Sane.

    Charlotte has felt Asuka’s green mist twice now, and The Queen will try to get revenge on Monday night.

    At the Survivor Series event, Flair got into an altercation with fellow Team Raw member Asuka which ended up with The Empress of Tomorrow spitting mist on Charlotte’s face.

    On the past week’s Raw, Charlotte faced Asuka and once again the poison mist did its work and Asuka was able to win. Now Flair will go against both Asuka and Kairi Sane to get her revenge.

    This is part of building up the story leading to the Starrcade event set for 1 December. The Kabuki Warriors will be defending their titles against Becky Lynch and Charlotte in a Fatal 4-way tag team match. The other two teams are Bayley & Sasha Banks, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.

    You can catch live coverage of Raw on Monday night here on SEScoops.

  • SmackDown: Alexa Bliss And Elias Return

    SmackDown: Alexa Bliss And Elias Return

    As noted earlier, last night’s episode of SmackDown saw the return of Sheamus in a backstage vignette. Apart from The Celtic Warrior, two more stars made their return: Alexa Bliss and Elias.

    On SmackDown, Nikki Cross faced Sonya Deville in a singles match, with Deville having Mandy Rose at ringside which of course meant that Cross was prone to many a distraction from Rose.

    Cross however ended up winning the match after rolling up Deville for a pin. After the match was over, Deville and Rose both ganged up on Cross and attacked her until Alexa Bliss came out to save the day.

    Bliss has been out of action since the Hell in a Cell event where she and Cross lost the tag titles to Asuka & Kairi Sane, The Kabuki Warriors back in October. Bliss will be making her in-ring return at the WWE Starrcade event on 1 December where she will participate in a Fatal 4-way tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Bliss will team with Cross to go against the teams of Asuka & Kairi Sane, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair and Bayley & Sasha Banks.

    WWE Friday Night SmackDown Results (11/29)

    Elias returns in backstage segment

    Elias also made a small appearance in a backstage segment involving Dana Brooke and Drake Maverick. When asked where he was gone, he said he was on an “outwards” and “inwards” journey and that he has changed. He then played a tune on his guitar and jammed out with Dana.

    Elias has been out with an ankle injury since September, and he was removed from the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament. But now it looks like we can expect to see more of him soon on our TVs again.

    6 Takeaways From WWE SmackDown (11/29)
  • Jerry Lawler Signs New Contract With WWE

    Jerry Lawler Signs New Contract With WWE

    WWE Hall of Famer and current commentator for Raw, Jerry “The King” Lawler has announced that he has signed a new contract with WWE earlier this month. He revealed the news while appearing at the GalaxyCon convention event in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lawler stated that he didn’t know how long he would be a part of the announcing team. He was brought in to help fellow members of the booth Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin who don’t have experience announcing major shows. Lawler stated at the convention that his role wasn’t meant to be a long-term one. WON reports that WWE are pleased with how Lawler has helped the duo settle into their jobs.

    Lawler returned to the Raw commentary team this year as the company on 26 September announced that a new commentary team will be assigned to Raw as part of the “WWE Premiere Week”.

    Lawler has revealed earlier that he got a call from WWE’s executive vice president of television production Kevin Dunn who offered him the role. “We want you back on Raw. He told me it’s for however long I want to do it, so that sealed the deal,” Lawler said in an interview.

    The King had also revealed that the initial plan was to have a two-man booth on the red brand but Vince McMahon suggested they add Lawler in.

    Lawler began his WWF career in December 1992 as an announcer for the the company. He was also involved in a number of storylines with Bret Hart, Vince McMahon and Doink the Clown. By 1998, he rarely wrestled and was primarily focused on commentary. He quit the WWF in protest when his then-wife Stacy “The Kat” Carter was released by the company in February 2001.

    He however returned to the company in November of the same year after a brief stint in the indies, and would continue to work as a commentator until 2016. Afterwards, he was kept for special events such as the Hall of Fame ceremony and would only do periodic appearances.