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Mark Henry: Roman Reigns’ Transformation Is One For The Ages

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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Mark Henry is just as impressed as anybody with the transformation of Roman Reigns.

It wasn’t long ago when wrestling fans grew tired of the babyface Reigns character. For years, fans believed that WWE was trying to force-feed Reigns instead of letting him develop his character organically.

Back in August 2020, Reigns returned to WWE TV after being away for a bit due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. He aligned himself with Paul Heyman and became “The Tribal Chief.”

Mark Henry Praises Roman Reigns’ Development

During an episode of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, Mark Henry was quite complimentary of Roman Reigns and his ability to transform his character the way that he has.

“Roman Reigns, you talked about this [speaking to co-host Jonathan Hood], his metamorphosis has been one for the ages. From the guy that we first saw that left NXT to the guy that was in The Shield, the guy after The Shield that they force-fed him to us as a babyface.

“They were forcing it and you could tell that he didn’t embrace it. He didn’t embrace it, that’s why it didn’t work.

“He really wanted to be who he is now and he was right but he had to go through all those other phases to be able to make people give a damn and now we have the finished product.”

Reigns has been in a high-profile feud with Brock Lesnar. Heyman had been serving as the “special counsel” to Reigns but he had also been Lesnar’s advocate for years.

On the Dec. 17 episode of SmackDown, things reached a boiling point. Reigns fired Heyman after being told he was trying to protect him from Brock. “The Head of the Table” even delivered a Superman Punch to Heyman.

Roman attempted to nail Heyman with a Con-Chair-To but Lesnar made the save. Reigns ended up eating an F5.

Reigns will put the WWE Universal Championship on the line against Lesnar at the Day 1 PPV on Jan. 1, 2022.

Please H/T SEScoops with a link if you use any quotes from this article

Ric Flair Praises Darby Allin

Chris Stephens
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Ric Flair recently spent some time on his podcast talking about AEW’s Darby Allin. Flair had nothing but praise for the 28-year-old.

“There’s nothing you can say but good,” Flair said. “He’s a kamikaze pilot! When I watched him do that thing and dive off the rope backwards with his hands at his side, the first time I saw him do it I came out of my chair.”

Flair and Mark Madden continued to talk about the angle Darby Allin and Sting did with the Gunn Club.

“The thing I thought last week with Sting and Darby Allin and Billy Gunn and his boys, I thought it was fantastic. How proud do you think Billy Gunn is of those two boys, huh? And Billy looks like he’s 35 years old.”

“And he’s a very, very nice guy. Very humble,” Flair continued to say about Darby Allin.

Flair continued to mention that he hopes Darby Allin doesn’t suffer any injuries or mobility problems as a result of his in-ring style, however. He also noted that he once felt the same way about Mick Foley.

“I just hope that when he’s 35-years-old he can walk. That’s what I used to tell [Mick] Foley.”

Flair’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Jim Ross Comments On The Best Backstage Agents In Wrestling

Chris Stephens
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Jim Ross recently spent some time on his Grilling Jr. podcast talking about who the best agents in wrestling have been and currently area. While he didn’t want to take away from anyone else, he noted that Pat Patterson might be the greatest to ever do it.

“The best agent probably was [Pat] Patterson. The way that he could lay out a match and developed talent and how he got talent to trust him on his judgement,” JR said.

“The Rock was going to be a big star no matter what but his road to that promised land was expedited by him taking the teachings of Pat Patterson and putting them to work.”

“Jack Lanza was always a good agent, Blackjack Lanza. Gerald Briscoe did a great job in so many ways there. We had several good agents but I think if you went back and looked at all those shows, most of the stars wanted Patterson involved in some way.”

“If you ask the roster, Patterson would win that vote overwhelmingly.”

Ross then spoke about agents currently with AEW.

“Oh we have a good crew. Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Billy Gunn, Dustin Rhodes. Dustin does a terrific job working with he females in AEW and he’s been a real strong presence with them. Slowly but surely we are building that roster up, in numbers and talent.”

“QT Marshall puts some matches together and does a nice job,” JR continued.

JR’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Bret Hart Praises Canadian Wrestlers Including Kenny Omega & Kevin Owens

Chris Stephens
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Bret Hart was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame last Friday. Over the weekend, Hart took to Instagram to release a statement and thank both the Canadian wrestlers who came before him and those active today.

Bret Hart praised the many Canadian wrestlers who paved the way for him.

“Thank you to the many Canadian wrestlers that paved the way for me: my father Stu, Gene Kiniski, Abdullah the Butcher, “Killer” Kowalski, “The Stomper”, Ed Carpentier, “Whipper” Watson, Sky Low Low, Rocky Johnson, Pat Patterson, Roddy Piper,” Hart wrote.

He then praised the many Canadian wrestlers who have come after him.

“To the many other Canadian wrestlers, some that filled my shoes after my career ended, that someday will deserve this same honour: Chris Jericho, Edge, Trish Stratus, Kevin Owens, Kenny Omega, my niece Natalya, my brother Owen, and so many more,” Hart continued.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXHGKGVPcVR/

Kevin Owens saw the post and responded as well.

A video featuring the Rock aired during Hart’s induction. After Hart thanked the Rock for this, he took to social media to talk about what Bret Hart meant to his career.

“Bret Hart was a mentor to me when he didn’t have to be and in our wild and intense world of pro wrestling, there weren’t many “mentorship programs” back then. He gave me guidance and I’ll always be grateful. Congrats my friend on your incredible accomplishment.”

Liv Morgan Attacks Becky Lynch At Seth Rollins’ Wrestling Academy

Chris Stephens
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WWE filmed and released footage of an angle shot at Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Wrestling Academy. In the video, Liv Morgan attacks someone she assumes to be Becky Lynch from behind, only for the real Lynch to appear behind her.

The two then fought with a kendo stick for a period before Morgan eventually gained the advantage and Lynch escaped the ring area.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXr9ZFYlahi/?utm_medium=twitter

Morgan and Lynch will again clash for the title at the Day 1 PPV on January 1st, 2022. The first title match between the two ended when Lynch scored the victory while grabbing a hold of Morgan’s tights. It was just the second time the two have faced each other in singles competition on WWE programming. The first occurred in 2019 when Lynch needed just 1 minute and 18 seconds to defeat Morgan in a Beat the Clock Challenge.

Morgan recently commented on when she found out she’d be main eventing an episode of RAW against Lynch during an Instagram live session.

“Not until that day [did Becky Lynch and I know we were main eventing Raw] and all week I was hoping, I was hoping so much that we’d get to main event because I really want to pay homage but also, you know, do our own thing and I just was hoping it would be the main event and then I found out a couple hours into the day that we were gonna be the main event because originally, we weren’t. We weren’t gonna be the main event. It got switched and so it was just so special.”

Film Co-Written By AJ Lee (AJ Mendez) Finishes Production

Chris Stephens
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AJ Lee (AJ Mendez) recently took to Twitter to note that a movie she co-wrote has wrapped production. She worked with her long-time writing partner Aimee Garcia as well as comic book writer John Swetnam on the project. The film is titled “Blade of the 47 Ronin”. It is a sequel to 2013’s “47 Ronin” but set 300 years after the original.

The film is scheduled to be released next year on Netflix.

“Ancient Japanese Ronin warriors set 300 years after 47 Ronin, in a modern-day world where Samurai clans exist in complete secrecy,” reads an IMDB description of the film.

The original film was criticized for elements of white-washing but director Ron Yuan spoke to Variety about what will be different about this film.

“We need people who know the genres, people that know the history, people that can understand how to bring these stories, make it fresh and pop off the screen. Not like those old TV shows where every time there’s an Asian theme, or an Asian character, you hear the gong going ‘ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding dang’,” he told Variety. “None of that shit anymore.”

AJ and Aimee Garcia have partnered together on multiple projects. They co-wrote the comic book series GLOW vs. The Babyface. They also wrote a 4-part Dungeons and Dragons series as well. Their production company is named  Scrappy Heart Productions.

CZW: The Fight Within Results (12/19/21)

MALCOLM
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Combat Zone Wrestling returned Sunday night with their latest show “The Fight Within” showcasing the next crop of breakout stars in the wrestling business.

Here are the quick results from Studio Z in Blackwood, NJ:

  • Vinny Talotta def. Big Game Leroy Green
  • The Rep def. Culture Inc.
  • Paul Jordane def. Grim, Tyree Taylor, & Chris Senton in a Monster 4-Way
  • Griffin McCoy def. JD Drake
  • Prolific def. Amazing Graysons
  • Fred Yehi def. Robert Martyr

Notably in an in-ring interview with Rosaria Elsa, Peruvian star Rayo who’s appeared on AEW, WWE, & ROH is set on becoming the next CZW Wired & World Champion

Combat Zone Wrestling returns to Maryland on January 2, 2022 for “Limelight” at the State Theater, Havre de Grace, MD Doors at 4, Bell at 7:30.

‘WWE Championship’ Deluxe Hardcover Book Now Available

Michael Reichlin
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WWE Championship: The Greatest Title in Sports Entertainment is packed with photos, telling the story of the WWE Championship from Buddy Rogers in 1963 to present day. The book is now on sale at Amazon:

Here is the official synopsis:

Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Rick Flair, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley are just a few of the 50-plus Superstars who’ve body slammed their opponents, thrilled countless millions of wresting fans, and lofted the WWE Championship belt in triumph over the WWE’s legendary 60-year history.

And now, mixing everything from the Spinebuster and Lionsault to the Stomach Claw and Rock Bottom, WWE Championship: The Greatest Title in Sports Entertainment goes to the mat for WWE fans, exploring the changing face of the WWE Championship through its beloved wrestlers and their epic battles in the ring. 

Hundreds of action photos and posed portraits capture the most memorable moments and personalities in WWE history. Among the greatest matches revisited are: 

  • WrestleMania VI‘s Ultimate Challenge between Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior
  • Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart’s Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII
  • Hulk Hogan’s famous Slam Heard ‘round the World against André the Giant at WrestleMania 3.
  • Triple H and Cactus Jack’s Street Fight at Royal Rumble 2000. 

Author Jeremy Brown takes a “raw” look at the WWE Championship by breaking down each WWE era in chronological order:

  • Early Years – 1967-1980s
  • The Golden Era – 1980s to early 1990s
  • New Generation — Early 1980s to mid-1990s
  • Attitude Era – Mid-1990s to early 2000s
  • Reality Era – 2014 to 2016
  • The New Era – 2016 to the present 

WWE Championship: The Greatest Title in Sports Entertainment is the perfect gift for WWE uber-fans and wrestling newcomers alike.

Freddie Prinze Jr. praises William Regal for helping him in WWE

Michael Reichlin
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Freddie Prinze Jr. had a great experience working with William Regal during his time at WWE.

Prinze has a new wrestling-themed podcast, Wrestling With Freddie. Most people know Freddie Prinze Jr. for his movie roles. However, SEScoops readers know he was also a member of WWE’s creative team a decade ago (2008-2009 and 2010-2012).

On the latest Wrestling With Freddie, Prinze credits Regal for being a huge help to him behind the scenes.

“William Regal, also known as Steven Regal, is and was one of the single most helpful human beings while I worked at that company,” said Prinze. “He would warn me about people. He would help show me what wrestlers’ strengths were, and to write my promos, to fit the type of wrestler that they were, because I was not doing that.”

William Regal
William Regal

It’s one thing to write for a television sitcom. However, professional wrestling is a unique medium with its own rules and nuances.

He continued, “You don’t want to write a Luchador like a big man, you don’t want to write a big man like a high flyer. There’s a different attitude when you’re seven-feet tall. You don’t have to say as much, you’re seven feet tall.”

Also on this episode, Prinze shares a heartwarming story involving New Japan Pro Wrestling star Fred Rosser, formerly known as Darren Young in WWE/NXT.

Listen to Wrestling with Freddie – powered by iHeartRadio:

Update on Tay Conti’s Social Media Hiatus

Michael Reichlin
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AEW star Tay Conti deactivated her Twitter account over the past several days. The move comes after the Brazilian bombshell received harassment from fans onine.

Conti was targeted after Sammy Guevara announced the end of his relationship with Pam Nizio. Some fans accused Conti of breaking up their engagement, which prompted Guevara to issue a follow-up statement over the weekend.

Guevara clarified that his relationship with Pam Nizio ended back in October and had “nothing to do with ANYONE else.”

That wasn’t enough to satisfy some people, who continued to target Conti with negative messages on Twitter.

Tay Conti Statement

XPAND Marketing Agency, Tay Conti’s management team, issued a statement on Sunday addressing the situation:

”This is Tay’s management team writing to let you know Tay is doing good but will be stepping away from social media for a couple days.

In the meantime, we will be posting on Tays behalf throughout the week. This includes normal posts as well as some sponsored posts that we have already recorded earlier in the month that must be posted this week.

Thank you for reading, Happy Holidays from Tay & her management team!”

“Hangman” Adam Page Once Suffered From Crippling Social Anxiety

Ryan Droste
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While it may be hard to believe today when one sees “Hangman” Adam Page on national television as the AEW World Champion, the popular superstar once suffered from severe social anxiety.

Page spoke about becoming AEW champion, his brief reign atop the promotion so far, and his early life struggles with anxiety during a recent appearance on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette.

“I’m not a conversationalist, I don’t know,” Page began. “Anxious maybe, and maybe like… This is a story I’ve never told. In — I don’t even know if middle school, maybe high school age — I had super, super bad social anxiety, like diagnosed, medication social anxiety.

“But like, I can remember one time sitting at my desk, right, this was like, in the middle of taking a test or something and I could remember my whole body would like, turn flush red. I would start sweating, then I would become aware for, God knows what reason, like no one’s looking at me, this is happening to my body. So then, you know it gets like 10 times worse, what’s going on? Like, my eyes start watering, like I’m just sitting at my desk.”

The man who has been nicknamed the “Anxious Millenial Cowboy” went on to discuss how pro wrestling has helped him with his anxiety.

“I think wrestling helped me get out of that to an extent because, not that like, not that I had like low self-worth or anything like that,” Page explained. “But, like, wrestling was always my passion and where I felt comfortable, and what I like doing. Once I was able to do that and see some success in it, being surrounded by like 20 people to 200 people to 2,000 people, 20,000, like, as that grew, I think you get more comfortable with that and yourself.”

“I think wrestling helped me get out of that.”

Adam Page on overcoming anxiety
Hangman Page AEW Champion
Hangman Page (Photo: Scott Lesh)

Page also discussed his rise in AEW since the company launched in 2019.

“I wouldn’t even talk about, at least, my journey to the AEW World Championship as some kind of ‘grand scheme’ that was hatched on day one or something like that, because it never was,” Page said. “At least to me, it was never that way. When AEW started, and I, you know, realized I was going to be suddenly, like, I was just the guy, like, losing all the Bullet Club multi-man matches. I was, you know, not to say a nobody, but I certainly wasn’t like ‘the main event guy’ who was suddenly going to be main-eventing the first-ever title match in AEW.

“I knew people wouldn’t buy it and it didn’t matter what I said, it didn’t matter what I did in the time between. It was too fast. It was too soon. I knew people might, they would be forgiving, they would go ‘oh yeah, okay okay,’ but I knew deep down they wouldn’t buy it. It felt like I got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to rectify that, and I felt like the only way you (Hangman) can is to be vulnerable and to, you know what I mean, let that loss and disappointment come out.”

Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.

Ric Flair Heaps Praise on Bryan Danielson and Adam Page for AEW Dynamite Match

Natalya Says Charlotte is in a “Tough Spot” in Her Career

Anutosh Bajpai
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Charlotte Flair is one of the leading athletes of not only the women’s division but all of WWE. She is always put into top storylines and marquee matches by the officials. This position in the roster often also attracts criticism from people rooting for more opportunities for fresh talent. Though Natalya who is a 14 year veteran of the women’s division herself, has a different outlook of the situation.

The Canadian star recently had an interview with Jonathan Hood on Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday. She talked about a number of things including how young talents such as Liv Morgan on Raw and Toni Storm on SmackDown are being given new opportunities. Natalya said that she is rooting for Storm to take the SmackDown women’s championship from Flair because it’s time for a change. However, she also acknowledged the perspective of The Queen:

“Charlotte Flair, I think it’s a tough spot because there’s only so much that she can do, there’s only so many places you can go. Once you’ve done it all, once you’ve main evented WrestleMania, you’ve won X amount of championships. When you have had everything and you have experienced everything, it is really really cool to watch other women rise to the occasion and get a chance.”

Natalya On Things She Is Yet To Accomplish

Natalya and Beth Phoenix
Natalya and Beth Phoenix

Elsewhere in the interview, Natalya was asked if there is something in the business which she still wants to accomplish. Replying to it the former SmackDown women’s champion noted how she has never won the Raw women’s championship. She also named a few opponents she would like to face:

“For me, I am currently a triple crown champion in WWE. I would like to be a grand slam champion. I would like to win the Raw women’s championship at some point in my career. There’s a ton of women that I want to work with that I’ve never had the chance to work with, like Io Shirai I’d love to work with. Indi Hartwell is somebody that I’ve kind of got my eye on. I think she’s really really talented,

Of course, my dream match right now would be against Toni Storm. Those to me are all things that I want to accomplish. I also feel like how cool would it be for Beth Phoenix and I to win the women’s tag team championships together.” said Natalya, “I think that would be so freaking cool because Beth is my best friend, also a WWE Hall Of Famer. To do that together with her would be so much fun.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

5 Matches Announced for WWE Raw This Week

Ryan Droste
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A holiday week of wrestling television begins tomorrow night with WWE Monday Night Raw emanating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Next Friday night’s SmackDown, occuring on Christmas Eve, has already been taped (you can view spoilers at this link).

WWE has announced five matches for Monday’s Raw. They are:

  • Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory
  • Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop
  • WWE U.S. Champion Damian Priest vs. Dolph Ziggler
  • AJ Styles and Omos vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio
  • Queen Vega vs. Rhea Ripley

WWE has also announced Bobby Lashley, Maryse, and MVP for the show. Maryse will be appearing on Edge’s “Cutting Edge” segment, while Lashley and MVP will appear to demand respect after the former WWE Champion was victorious over Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Big E last week.

Via WWE.com:

“The Miz is not the only one with the ‘most must-see talk show in WWE’ as Edge returns to host ‘The Cutting Edge’ with special guest Maryse!

“The Rated-R Superstar will hear from Maryse just weeks before squaring off with her husband, The Miz, at Day 1. Edge will look to find out what is going on between Maryse and The Miz after she slapped The A-Lister for using her as a shield to hide from Edge’s attack last week.

“Hear all the drama and find out if it will have any effect on Day 1’s match between Edge and The Miz this Monday night on Raw at 8/7 C on USA.”

Balor vs. Theory was setup last week when Theory attacked Balor and posted for a selfie with him while he was laid out. Belair and Doudrop wrestled last week; Belair was victorious but was attacked by Doudrop after the bout.

Ziggler’s match with U.S. Champion Priest is for a future shot at the title. If he’s able to defeat the champion Monday night during Raw, Ziggler will become the number one contender for the U.S. title. A title match between the two would likely take place at the WWE Day 1 PPV event in Atlanta on January 1st.

Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.

Original Plans For SmackDown Main Event

Original Plans For SmackDown Main Event

Anutosh Bajpai
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While the audience generally praised this week’s episode of SmackDown, it was still one of those shows which was being written and re-written till the last minute.

According to reports from Fightful select, the segment between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns was not going to close the show in the original draft.

The match between The Usos and The New Day which took place just before the Lesnar segment was originally going to be the main event of SmackDown.

The promo with Reigns was scheduled to open the show until Friday afternoon. A sit-down interview with Brock Lesnar was supposed to follow it later but it got nixed.

The tag team match which saw Shotzi Blackheart teaming with Charlotte Flair to face Toni Storm and Sasha Banks was planned to be the main event of next week’s Christmas Eve special of SmackDown.

The match ended up serving as an opener for this week’s episode of the blue branded show. It saw Storm picking up a big win by pinning Flair.

Next week’s taped episode of SmackDown will now see Charlotte Flair defending her SmackDown women’s championship against Storm. You can check out the spoilers for the show here.

ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C Takes Part In WWE Tryouts

Anutosh Bajpai
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The current ROH women’s champion Carla Gonzalez better known by her ring name Rok-C took part in the latest WWE tryouts from the Performance Center.

The company held its latest tryout from the PC in Orlando, Florida from December 15 to 17. They later shared some photographs from the tryouts on their official website.

One of the more interesting names to have been spotted in the photos was Rok-C, who has become a free agent after the mass layoff from ROH.

ROH released all of its contracted talents in October and made the announcement of going dark for the first quarter of 2022 to reimagine the company.

Rok-C Has Been Trained By Booker T

Rok-C, who was trained by WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T made her ROH debut in April this year. Prior to it, she had been working for T’s Reality Of Wrestling promotion.

The female star quickly rose to the top of the ladder within the company. She competed in a tournament and defeated Miranda Alize in the finals at September’s Death Before Dishonor PPV to win the ROH women’s championship.

There is no word yet on how WWE officials feel about the current ROH champion. It will be interesting to see if she is offered a contract by the promotion.

ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C To Debut For MLW

Fandango Reveals The Most Emotional Moment Of His WWE Career

Anutosh Bajpai
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The WWE career of Fandango featured many ups and downs. His career highlights include winning the fourth season of NXT and making his main roster debut in a WrestleMania match against none other than Chris Jericho. Though the most emotional moment of his career for the former WWE star was the one he shared with his former tag team partner Tyler Breeze.

This team known as Breezango was formed in 2016. The duo were sent back to NXT towards the end of 2018. They won the NXT tag team titles from Imperium in August 2020 which was Fandango’s only championship win in his almost 16 years long career with WWE. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet during a recent interview, the wrestling veteran recalled this experience. He called it the most emotional thing of his career:

“The most emotional thing for my whole career was winning those tag straps with [Tyler] Breeze. I said this in an interview here. I think all we really want is respect from our peers and Vince [McMahon], I feel like a lot of guys just want Vince to tell them ‘Good job.’ I feel like we just wanna be respected by people that we respected.”

“It Showed A Different Side Of Us” Says Fandango

Fandango explained that prior to their return to NXT, Breezango were doing skits on the main roster. For a lot of wrestlers, this stigma of being a comic relief is hard to shake. The tag title win allowed the duo to show people a different side of their tag team. It helped them prove that they weren’t just a comedy act:

“To go back to NXT and for them to put the tag straps on us it meant a lot to me, you know. I know it meant a lot to Breeze because it kind of showed a different side of us where we weren’t just comedy act. We could actually go out and work. The last couple years on SmackDown all we did was skits and stuff, which is cool to show in your body of work that you can have a personality and talk a little bit. But, it’s hard to shake that stigma.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for the transcription

Fandango On The Origins Of His Ballroom Dancer Gimmick

Sammy Guevara And Pam Nizio Announce Split After 8 Years

Anutosh Bajpai
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AEW star Sammy Guevara and fiancé Pam Nizio have revealed that they are no longer in a relationship. The news was announced in a social media post by Guevara.

The post that was made this Saturday afternoon was credited to both. Though as seen below, it doesn’t reveal the reason behind the decision:

“Since you’ve all given us so much love and support, we figured we owed it to y’all to let you know that we are no longer in a relationship. We still love each other and wish nothing but the best for one another.”

The couple had been together for 8 years and Guevara had proposed to Pam before the August 18 episode of Dynamite earlier this year.

The proposal that took place in Sammy Guevara’s hometown of Houston, Texas had been highlighted on Dynamite and the AEW star’s vlog as well.

However, Pam hadn’t been appearing on the YouTube blog for some time now which had made many wonder about the couple’s relationship.

Sammy Guevara is set to defend his TNT championship against Cody Rhodes at next week’s Holiday Bash special of AEW Rampage. This is a rematch of the first-ever match in the history of Dynamite.

Sammy Guevara Discusses Why Chris Jericho Is a ‘Genius’

Sonya Deville Comments On How WWE Can Incorporate LGBTQ Characters

Chris Stephens
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Sonya Deville has been outspoken about the importance of LGBTQ inclusion since arriving in WWE. She publicly ‘came out’ as gay during a segment on Tough Enough before she was ever hired.

Deville recently spoke with TalkSport and discussed how WWE could incorporate LGBTQ characters into its programming.

“LGBTQ inclusion is something I’ve talked about for years,” she said. “To incorporate that into WWE TV organically should happen because it’s just part of life. It’s like every TV show usually has a gay character because, statistically, there would be a gay character!”

Sonya Deville On How To Include LGBTQ Characters In WWE

Deville also commented on how it could be included as part of her character if done in an organic and subtle way.

“I think it’s a natural thing. I’d like it to be really organic. I’d like it to be done right, of course, but I would like it to be organic so that if it was ever a part of my character or a layer of me, I would like it to be subtle and make sense.”

Finally, Deville said the best way to include LGBTQ characters on WWE programming is to be subtle about it, not build an entire angle around it, and have it occur organically.

“You don’t necessarily need a whole angle around it. We’ve had ideas in the past and things like that, but it just needs to be organic,” Deville said. “If there’s a scene where one of the male superstars called his wife backstage and then one day, I could call my girlfriend backstage, you know what I mean? Just organic things like that which are a part of life, I don’t think anything needs to be forced.”

The 28-year-old Deville appeared on Tough Enough in 2015 and was signed to WWE shortly after. She made her main roster debut in 2017 along with Mandy Rose. Deville is currently an on-screen authority figure in WWE along with Adam Pearce after losing a “loser leaves WWE” match to Mandy Rose.

WWE SmackDown Spoilers For Christmas Eve (12/24/21)

Chris Stephens
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WWE has pre-taped the December 24th edition of Smackdown on Friday night frmo the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

3 matches were taped for the show including a 12-person gauntlet match to determine a new #1 contender for the Intercontinental title.

Here are the results, courtesy of Twitter user @TheQumarZaman:

  • Sami Zayn won the 12-person gauntlet match and is now the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. The other participants included Angel, Cesaro, Drew Gulak, Erik, Humberto, Ivar, Jinder Mahal, Mansoor, Ricochet, Shanky and Sheamus. Ricochet was the last to be eliminated.

    Zayn, a 2x Intercontinental Champion himself, will now face current champion Shinsuke Nakamura at the Day 1 pay-per-view on January 1st.
  • Charlotte Flair successfully retained the Smackdown Women’s Championship against Toni Storm. Flair reversed a pinning combination from the challenger into her own and got the three count. On this week’s Smackdown, Storm pinned Flair in tag-team action. Storm had also defeated Flair via disqualification in their previous title match.

Then there was a “Miracle on 34th Street Fight” that saw Drew McIntyre & The New Day’s (Woods & Kingston) defeat Madcap Moss & The Usos.

After the match, the babyfaces gave gifts to the fans at ringside.

The full show will air December 24th, 2021 on Fox Sports starting at 8 PM est.

Dax Harwood Invites the Briscoes to Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite

Chris Stephens
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Dax Harwood of FTR has invited ROH and GCW Tag Team Champions the Briscoes to Wednesday’s Dynamite. After FTR attacked Jay and Mark Briscoe at ROH’s Final Battle recently, Harwood took to Twitter to say that the Briscoes should come to next week’s AEW Dynamite in the Greensboro Coliseum.

“Hell no. We came in their house, beat the shit out of them, and made them more relevant in 4 minutes than they’ve been in the last 4 years. They should come the Greensboro and give us their payday from Final Battle. I’m sure I could almost pay my light bill with that money,” Harwood Tweeted.

FTR have a scheduled match for the show. They are set to team with their Pinnacle stablemate, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. They’ll face Sting, Darby Allin, and CM Punk in trios action.

FTR recently appeared on Barstool Rasslin‘ with Brandon F. Walker. During the discussion, they spoke in regards to some of their plans for 2022 and mentioned the Briscoes specifically.

“I think we are going to be the first-ever two-time AEW Tag Team Champions. In 2022, we are going to get the titles back. We are going to have the title run that we should’ve had the first time,” said Wheeler. He continued, “…We are never going to lose those again. Rematch with the Young Bucks. Beat the sh*t out of The Briscoes. Hold titles everywhere.” 

FTR Shares Plans for 2022: “We Don’t Have Much Longer on These Current Contracts”

ROH’s Joe Koff: We Never Used the Words “Shutting Down”

Chris Stephens
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In late October, Ring of Honor announced that the promotion would be going on hiatus following Final Battle. They also noted they planned to return in April of 2022. It was further revealed that the company would no longer be using contracted talent moving forward. Some fans took this to mean ROH was shutting down. ROH COO Joe Koff recently appeared on the ROH Strong podcast to refute this.

 “What seeped into the narrative … is that we were shutting down, when all we announced is that we were not doing any live events in the first quarter,” Koff said.  “We never used the words ‘shutting down.’”

According to a report from PW Insider, a venue for a Ring of Honor show in April during WrestleMania week in Dallas has been booked and paid for. It’s not clear what date the show will run or what venue has been booked, however.

https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1470876441067798535

With ROH returning in April but running with no contracted talent, they are likely looking at booking wrestlers much like independent promotions do, using whoever happens to be available on the date with no exclusive contracts. The ROH Championship titles are currently held by Jonathan Gresham (ROH World), The Briscoes (Tag-team), Rok-C (World women’s title) and Josh Woods (Pure).

H/T To PW Insider for the transcriptions.

NXT’s Cora Jade Calls Out Darby Allin Over Past Allegations

Anutosh Bajpai
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AEW star Darby Allin and NXT star Cora Jade are trending worldwide on Twitter after getting involved in a heated exchange earlier yesterday.

It all started when the former TNT champion made a post showing him skateboarding at a local park. This prompted a number of responses.

A fan suggested that Allin should have a skateboarding match with Jade, whose NXT character is also based around skateboarding.

Responding to the fan, Darby Allin fired some shots at the NXT star. He wrote: “Skating is a huge part of my life not a fake character for tv lol”

darb1

This led to Cora Jade firing back at the AEW signee, she wrote back: “Being a good person with no abuse allegations against me is a huge part of my life and not just a character I play on TV.”

jade1

Both the stars have since deleted their tweets, but social media has been eating up this inter-promotional spat.

Jade is referring to Allin being accused of sexual abuse by indie wrestler Hawlee Cromwell during the speaking out movement last year.

Jade is a friend of Cromwell and the two have previously teamed in the indies. Allin’s ex-wife Gigi Dolin, who is one-half of the current NXT tag team champions, has also feuded with Jade.

Darby Allin Doesn’t ‘Give A Sh*t’ About AEW World Title

WWE Day 1 Updated Card: Drew McIntyre Match Announced

Anutosh Bajpai
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Drew McIntyre has gotten his match for the upcoming Day 1 PPV. He will be facing Madcap Moss in a singles match with Baron Corbin on the ringside.

The two sides have been feuding for a while. Last week’s episode of SmackDown saw Moss and Corbin stealing the sword of the Scottish Warrior which was stuck in the desk of Adam Pearce.

This week’s episode of the show featured an episode of Happy Talk with the sword. McIntyre crashed this segment and retrieved the artifact.

Later in the episode the lone wolf booked a match between his partner and the former WWE champion for the Day 1 PPV. Though Moss didn’t look very happy about it.

WWE Day 1 Updated Card

WWE championship match for Day 1
WWE championship match for Day 1

The latest announcement makes the number of announced matches for the upcoming show 6. Here is the updated match card for Day 1:

  • Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
  • Fatal 4 Way WWE Championship Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Big E
  • Raw Women’s Championship Match: Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch
  • SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. The Usos
  • Singles Match: Edge vs. The Miz
  • Singles Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss

The inaugural Day 1 PPV will take place on Saturday, January 1, 2022, from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

WWE SmackDown Results (12/17): Roman Reigns Fires Paul Heyman, Lesnar Attacks

First AEW Battle of the Belts Match Revealed

Ryan Droste
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AEW has officially announced the very first match for their Battle of the Belts special event which will air on TNT at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on January 8th.

It was confirmed during AEW Rampage on Friday night that Britt Baker will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Riho at Battle of the Belts in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Bojangles Coliseum.

You can see the official announcement graphic from AEW’s Twitter account below.

Riho had earned the title shot by defeating Baker back on the November 26th edition of AEW Rampage in a Black Friday Deal Match. At that point, we knew Riho would get a title shot but didn’t know when. That question has now been answered.

While no other matches have officially been announced for Battle of the Belts, many assume that Bryan Danielson will face AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page on the show. This past Wednesday night, Page and Danielson had an all-time classic on Dynamite — a match which ended in a draw after 60 minutes. The two are understandably due for a rematch, and Battle of the Belts seems like the perfect opportunity.

A Throwback to Yesterday

clash of champions

The Battle of the Belts TNT special has the flavor of the old WCW Clash of the Champions events which aired on TBS between 1988 and 1997. Most are expecting the AEW show to have PPV level excitement behind it by the time we get there.

The event will be held at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte (formerly known as the Charlotte Coliseum and Independence Arena). The venue was home to several WCW events in year’s past.

According to the WrestleTix Twitter account, AEW Battle of the Belts has sold around 73% of the alotted tickets as of press time. That’s good for 4,583 tickets sold out of a setup that will be able to hold 6,240 fans. We’d expect a good majority of those remaining tickets to move over the next couple of weeks, especially if Page vs. Danielson is announced.

Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.

Latest On Bray Wyatt’s Future In Pro Wrestling

Anutosh Bajpai
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It appears that Windham Rotunda better known to wrestling fans as Bray Wyatt might be taking an extended break from wrestling instead of returning right away.

Many expected the wrestling star to make his AEW debut during the Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite. He was even trending on Twitter for a while during the event.

However, the expected debut never took place. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter talked about Rotunda and provided some updates.

Per Meltzer, there has been continued talk about the former Wyatt Family Leader within WWE. Word is that he is focusing on his Hollywood gig and does not want to return to wrestling anytime soon.

Bray Wyatt had one of the ‘top five or six’ contracts in WWE. So, unless he was living ‘incredibly large’, there shouldn’t be any financial issue forcing the former WWE star to return before he wants.

Rotunda apparently had talks with Impact wrestling but the two sides were ‘apart on money.’ Tony Khan has said multiple times that he hasn’t talked to Wyatt regarding a possible AEW signing.

Bray Wyatt was released from his WWE contract on July 31 earlier this year. He became a free agent on October 29. A WrestleCon convention in Dallas during WrestleMania 38 weekend is so far the only wrestling appearance he has been announced for.

Ric Flair Says AEW Should Sign Bray Wyatt
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