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Christopher Daniels Comments On His In-Ring Future In AEW

Anutosh Bajpai
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Christopher Daniels hasn’t wrestled on AEW TV since SCU lost their tag team titles match against The Young Bucks in May. The loss forced SCU to split up. Many have wondered if this was the last of Daniels’ we will get to see in AEW. The fallen angel was part of the AEW panel at C2E2. During the talk, he was asked about his in-ring future with the company.

Replying to it, the AEW executive mentioned how he decided to continue wrestling outside of AEW after that. Though he would be lying if he said he was happy not seeing his name on the AEW board:

“The last match I have for AEW television was the night that we wrestled against the Bucks and unfortunately, we lost and SCU had to split up. Since that time, I had sort of been weighing my future in the ring and I decided that I still wanted to give wrestling in the ring a go. Honestly, I would be lying if I said that I was happy going to AEW and not seeing my name on the board. I want to get back in the ring and do something with this roster.”

Christopher Daniels Is Still Ready To Go

Christopher Daniels continued by mentioning how the AEW roster is very stacked right now. He claimed that maybe it’s not the best time for him to wrestle for the company. However, the former ROH champion said that he is still ready to go if the people in charge make that decision:

“But I also realize that AEW is not a vanity project, and maybe Christopher Daniels in the ring isn’t the best thing for AEW at this time with such a stacked card and so many young talents there. It’s not my call. I hope to get in the ring at some point soon, but if not, I also realize that I’m still contributing to AEW. And if the fates decide that my best contribution is behind the scenes, then so be it. But I’m still ready to go and the minute I see my name on the board, I’ll lace them up and bring it.”

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Christopher Daniels: “AEW Is The Future Of This Business”

Photos: Diamond Dallas Page Gets Married In Surprise Ceremony

Anutosh Bajpai
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Wrestling veteran Diamond Dallas Page or DDP has married retired adventure athlete and his girlfriend of two years Payge McMahon.

The two got married in an apparently surprise ceremony. It was planned by the former WCW star and his daughter Brittany Page who is a luxury event planner.

The family rented a hotel in Chattanooga, TN. They created false invitations to a friend’s red and white Christmas-themed party and invited 115 of the couple’s closest friends.

The news was revealed by DDP himself. He took on his Twitter to send out a press release and post photos of the surprise wedding ceremony:

A number of wrestling personalities were in attendance for the ceremony. The people who were there included RVD, Katie Forbs, nZo, Big Cass, Ace Austin and more.

This is Diamond Dallas Page’s third wedding. He previously married Kimberly Page in 1991. The couple remained together until they announced an amicable separation and divorce in 2004.

DDP has two daughters from his first marriage. Brittany Page was born in 1987 and his second daughter Kimberly Page was born in 1994.

He married again in 2015 to Brenda Nair. Though this marriage only lasted 5 years and the couple finalized their divorce in 2020.

DDP On His Love For Darby Allin: “He’s a Bigger Risk-Taker Than Jeff Hardy”

Quote: Hook Can Become A ‘Legit Bonafide Star’ For AEW

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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Hook has garnered a ton of buzz despite having just one match and one seasoned veteran believes that hype is here to stay.

AEW fans have been fascinated with Hook, the son of Taz, ever since he appeared on television. He had his first match on the Dec. 10 episode of Rampage, defeating Fuego Del Sol. Most are in agreement that Hook looked impressive in his debut.

Some are left wondering if the hoopla over Hook is a fad. Others are convinced that the young prospect is here to stay.

Mark Henry Thinks Hook Has Staying Power

Count Mark Henry as a believer in Hook. Here’s what he told Ryan McKinnell on an episode of Busted Open Radio.

“There’s some people guys, I hate to be a pessimist because normally you know I’m an optimist. You know I like the positive side but everybody’s not gonna make it.

“Everybody that you see that comes on, they’re not gonna stick. It’s just the nature of the business.

“From that first opening impression, I think Hook’s gonna stick, man. I think that he’s a guy that can evolve and that’s the thing in pro wrestling if you don’t evolve if you don’t change with the times you’re not gonna be around very long.

“I can see him in the next three years, as AEW grows, being one of AEW’s future stars. Like, I mean a legit bonafide star.”

Hook garnered a ton of praise following his in-ring debut. He received support from the likes of MJF, Thunder Rosa, Dustin Rhodes, and AEW boss Tony Khan.

Hook is currently a member of Team Taz. His fellow stablemates are Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, and of course Taz.

Do you think Hook will be a long-term star or a flash in the pan?

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Tony Khan Heaps Major Praise On Two AEW Tag Teams

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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Tony Khan is in awe of two top-tier AEW tag teams and their names likely won’t come as a surprise.

AEW has plenty of highly-regarded tag teams. There’s of course The Young Bucks, there is also Proud N’ Powerful, Men of the Year, Private Party, and many more.

For Khan, however, there are two AEW tag teams that he simply can’t take his eyes off of. They are the current AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros and FTR.

Lucha Bros & FTR Hailed As Two Tag Team Greats

Tony Khan appeared on Busted Open Radio and he gushed over Lucha Bros and FTR, who had a tag team title match on the Dec. 10 episode of Rampage.

“The world tag team championship match is one of the biggest things we’ve ever put on Rampage.”

Khan went on to praise both teams for being able to click despite having different in-ring styles and personalities.

“They’ve built a great rivalry and I really honestly believe those are two of the great tag teams in recent history. They obviously have very different styles. They represent different things in a different company but in this case, they’ve both come to AEW and worked their way to the top.”

Lucha Bros ended up defeating FTR to retain the AEW Tag Team Championships. FTR still holds the AAA World Tag Team Titles.

FTR wasted little time picking a fight following the loss. They were joined by Tully Blanchard in attacking Sting and Darby Allin backstage at Rampage.

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WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle Explains Why Hollywood Stopped Calling Him

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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Kurt Angle had a few gigs in Hollywood but soon he found himself not being called upon for more roles.

Angle is one of the most entertaining figures to ever enter the world of professional wrestling. Some thought Angle would be a natural for Hollywood. Angle was a part of the 2011 Warrior film and while it wasn’t a commercial success, it was critically acclaimed.

The Olympic gold medalist was able to snag more gigs in Hollywood but the opportunities eventually dried up. Angle thinks he knows why that’s the case.

Kurt Angle Blames Poor Choices On Hollywood Drought

During an episode of The Kurt Angle Show, Angle expressed his belief that his history of alcohol addiction led to him missing out on more Hollywood roles.

“I actually thought I’d have a great opportunity. I think what happened with me was I was doing movies.

“I did Warrior, I did Dylan Dog, I was a small part in Pain & Gain with The Rock, started doing movies but my behavior with the alcohol and the DUIs got me into a little bit of a bind with Hollywood [laughs].

“So, they stopped calling and I’ve been spending the last eight or nine years trying to gain my reputation back so that Hollywood would start to call me back again. It’s just one of those things that I dug myself into a hole and I have to get myself out of it.”

Angle’s last known Hollywood role was for the 2015 film, The Last Witch Hunter starring Vin Diesel. Angle played the role of a bodyguard.

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Mark Henry Is A Big Fan Of Babyface Brock Lesnar

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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AEW’s Mark Henry likes what he sees from the babyface version of Brock Lesnar.

It’s no secret that Brock has had an added pep in his step since returning to WWE. Lesnar made a surprise appearance at the end of the Summerslam PPV back in August, confronting Roman Reigns.

Since that time, Brock has shown the lighter side of him. More recently, fans have praised Brock’s segments with Sami Zayn. On the Dec. 10 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar even spoke French to lighten the mood with Sami.

Of course, Brock ultimately destroyed two nurses and Sami Zayn.

Mark Henry Praises Lighter Side Of Brock Lesnar

On an episode of Busted Open Radio, Mark Henry admitted that he’s all in on the babyface version of Brock Lesnar.

“Just him looking at the hard camera and smiling, it does something to my soul. I think that this is gonna be the best thing that could’ve ever happened to Brock because Brock has got a good personality, y’all.

“He’s very entertaining. His timing is very good and now we get to see that because he’s not stone-faced. He’s not angry Brock all the time.

“Now, you noticed when Paul Heyman started saying, ‘Reigning, defending,’ Brock’s face turned red. His expression changed.

“Brock can turn it on and turn it off and that’s the specialness of who he is but I just wanted to point that out that this is a Brock that we’ve only seen one time and that was quite a while ago and now we get that Brock every week. It’s awesome.”

That one time Henry is referring to is when Brock walked down the aisle dancing with his Money In The Bank briefcase. Back in 2019, Lesnar turned his briefcase into a boombox.

Lesnar will be challenging Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at the Day 1 event on Jan. 1, 2022. This will be a rematch from their showdown at Crown Jewel back in October.

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Entertainment Executives Attend Smackdown From Los Angeles

Chris Stephens
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This week’s edition of WWE Smackdown in Los Angeles had some heavy hitters from the entertainment industry in attendance. According to a report from Deadline, the following people all were present inside Staples Center Friday night:

  • Kelly Kahl (President of CBS Entertainment)
  • Matt Cherniss (Head of Development and Programming at Apple)
  • Noah Harpster (Actor and Producer)
  • Barry Poznick, (President of MGM Studios) 
  • Larry Jones (Executive Vice President of Fox Sports)
  • Vanessa Hudgens (Actor)
  • Jemele Hill (Sports Journalist)
  • Reggie Bush (Analyst for Fox Sports, Retired NFL Running Back)

WWE Smackdown this week emanated from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The estimated attendance for the event was just over 10,000. While Roman Reigns was not on the show, Brock Lesnar was there. RAW tag-team champions, Matt Riddle and Randy Orton also wrestled in the main event.

In the opening contest Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Los Lotharios (Angel & Humberto). Drew McIntyre then defeated Sheamus. In a match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, Toni Storm defeated Charlotte Flair via disqualification (title does not change hands). The main event saw New Day win a triple threat match against the Usos and RK-Bro. In the dark match main event, Sasha Banks won a fatal 4-way match against Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Charlotte Flair.

Watch: ‘The Titan’ Adam Scherr Appears at ROH Final Battle

Anutosh Bajpai
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‘The Titan’ Adam Scherr made a surprise appearance at the ROH Final Battle event and he apparently joined a new faction led by EC3.

One of the matches on the show saw Brody King, Homicide, Rocky Romero and Tony Deppen defeating Eli Isom, Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & EC3.

After the bout was over, EC3 picked up the mic and cut a promo on ROH management. He claimed that there is no honor in this.

EC3 discussed how he has previously suffered the humiliation of being fired. At one point, Brian Johnson came out and got in the former WWE star’s face.

3 claimed that he wants the people in the ring to join him for freedom. He then told Johnson to ‘free the titan.’

https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/1469867452569952259

The former Braun Strowman made his way to the ring to the shock of the fans. The star real name Adam Scherr cleared the ring of the other competitors of the match.

EC3 announced that this wasn’t an invasion and it’s an awakening. Strowman then chokeslamed Eli Isom to the mat as ROH fans chanted.

The segment ended with Adam Scherr, EC3 and two other stars standing tall in the ring. EC3 told the people that they had been warned.

Update On ROH Selling Its Tape Library

The Rock Reveals Childhood Friendship With WWE President Nick Khan

Anutosh Bajpai
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The Rock has revealed his childhood friendship with the current WWE president Nick Khan and his sister Nahnatchka.

The great one made an Instagram post earlier today. He recalled the time when his grandmother used to promote local wrestling shows every month in Honolulu, Hawaii.

It was the time when The Rock, Nick Khan, and Nahnatchka were all kids. They used to run around the arena and play with each other.

The former world champion went on to become one of the biggest wrestling stars before joining Hollywood and becoming a globally recognizable movie star.

Nick Khan became the WWE president and Nahnatchka has gone on to become a Hollywood producer, currently working on the Young Rock TV series:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXW79RvLUKG/

The Rock was rumored to make a Survivor Series appearance to set up a WrestleMania match against the current Universal champion Roman Reigns.

However, the rumors turned out to be false. WWE now seems to be building towards a Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns match for the upcoming edition of the Show Of Shows.

A holiday special of Young Rock is set to air this Wednesday, December 15. Season two of the series will officially kick off on Tuesday, March 15 next year.

The Rock Reveals His Mt. Rushmore Of Wrestling

Update on Chelsea Green’s Future with Ring of Honor

Jake Skudder
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Chelsea Green is set to appear on the end of an era ROH Final Battle 2021 PPV card tonight, in what could end up being Ring of Honor’s final ever pay-per-view event.

Green will be teaming with The Hex to take on Miranda Alize and The Allure on the actual card itself.

According to a report from Fightful Select, Chelsea Green is currently on a per-appearance deal with the company, meaning that she will likely not be getting any live event pay from ROH until at least 2022.

Fightful noted: “Chelsea Green confirmed to us that she’s on a per date deal with the company.”

Green does also work independent dates as well as being part of the IMPACT Knockouts division.

It is not confirmed if Green will be returning to ROH if and when they come back from their hiatus, but it is clear that she will not be getting paid by the company unlike other contracted stars who have deals that run until the end of March 2022.

Chelsea Green ROH Contract Update

Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:

  • Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
  • ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
  • Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
  • ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
  • Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
  • ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
  • Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
  • Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
  • Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
  • Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure

ROH Final Battle 2021: Full Card, How To Watch and Worldwide Start Times

Jake Skudder
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ROH Final Battle 2021 is the end of an era for Ring of Honor in more ways than one, with the company set to go on a hiatus until 2022 following this PPV event.

Several issues have already plagued the card, with the ROH Championship match between Bandido and Jonathan Gresham having already been pulled due to Bandido testing positive for COVID-19.

Having said that, there are still a number of big matches on the card and some “surprises” coming that could be exciting for fans watching the show live or on-demand.

Final Battle Full Card

Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:

  • Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
  • ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
  • Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
  • ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
  • Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
  • ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
  • Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
  • Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
  • Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
  • Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure

How To Watch

ROH Final Battle 2021 is available to watch on Honor Club, which is available to subscribe to via FITE TV.

HonorClub VIP is a special annual membership that includes everything from Ring of Honor including FREE unlimited streaming access to all ROH Pay Per Views!

HonorClub membership provides access to ROH On Tour, TV episodes, ROH TV archive, ROH historical footage, HDNet exclusive interviews, compilations, and 50% OFF all ROH Pay Per Views.

Final Battle Worldwide Start Times

ROH Final Battle 2021 is set to start at the following times globally:

  • United States – December 11, 2021 8 PM EST/7 PM Central/5 PM PST
  • Canada December 11, 2021 7 PM CST
  • United Kingdom – December 11, 2021 1 AM GMT/1 AM BST
  • Europe – December 11, 2021 2 PM CEST
  • India – December 12, 2021 6:30 AM IST
  • Australia – December 12, 2021 12 PM AEST
  • Japan – December 12, 2021 10 AM JST
  • Saudi Arabia – December 12, 2021 4:30 AM SAST

Shane Taylor Wants Big Time Title Matches Outside of ROH

Jake Skudder
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ROH star Shane Taylor spoke to the Battleground podcast ahead of his Final Battle match against Kenny King.

The Ring of Honor star discussed several topics during the interview, including how he plans on facing major Champions outside of the company going forward.

“I make no bones about it that I see myself as a world champion of any company” Taylor began. “As it stands currently, Hangman Page, Moose, Hammerstone, Shingo Takagi, somebody, somewhere is going to lose their spot. 

“I’m telling you right now. The next few weeks, enjoy the time that you have with your championship, enjoy your time at the top of the ladder, enjoy your time on the throne because in a few weeks, I’m coming to take it all from you” Taylor continued. 

“I forgot one. Will Ospreay. I can’t disrespect my guy like that because like he’s been saying, he’s the real IWGP World Champion, so I would be disrespecting him if I didn’t mention his name as well” the ROH star concluded.

Shane Taylor on World Champions

Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:

  • Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
  • ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
  • Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
  • ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
  • Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
  • ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
  • Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
  • Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
  • Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
  • Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure

Jonathan Gresham Talks Jay Lethal Leaving Ring of Honor

Jake Skudder
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Jonathan Gresham discussed his ROH Final Battle opponent Jay Lethal ahead of their match on the PPV card Saturday night.

Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Gresham talked about Lethal leaving ROH and joining AEW, with Lethal being officially revealed at the AEW Full Gear 2021 PPV event.

Gresham was originally slated to face Bandido in a match for the Ring of Honor Championship, until Bandido was unable to take the event due to contracting COVID-19.

“Jay Lethal owed it to himself to depart from Ring of Honor, regardless of the company’s situation” Gresham began. “He accomplished everything.

Jonathan Gresham on Jay Lethal

“I’m very happy to see him go elsewhere to show the rest of the world what he is capable of” the former ROH Pure Champion continued. “Hopefully, he can become a champion in AEW.

“[But] Ring of Honor continues to be where the best wrestlers of the world have grown and been impacted by being there. Stylistically, Ring of Honor has influenced wrestling for the last 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if more people show up when they return from hiatus” Gresham concluded.

Here’s the full card for the PPV event tonight:

  • Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal
  • ROH Tag Team Championships Match: The OGK vs The Briscoes
  • Ring of Honor Pure Championship Match: Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson
  • ROH TV Championship Match: Dalton Castle vs Rhett Titus vs Silas Young vs Joe Hendry
  • Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championships Match: Shane Taylor Promotions vs The Righteous
  • ROH Women’s Championship Match: Rok-C vs Willow
  • Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs Kenny King
  • Homicide, Brody King & Tony Deppen vs Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
  • Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus
  • Chelsea Green and The Hex vs Miranda Alize and The Allure

Josh Woods Says Matt Bloom Warned Him To Not Hurt Daniel Bryan

Rayan Sayyed
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Current ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods signed a contract with WWE at the end of 2014 and trained at the WWE Performance Center. He appeared on a few episodes participating in battle royals and on house shows. He was released in 2016 from the company. During his time in the black-and-yellow brand, he found out that he was going to train with Daniel Bryan, who was making his return at the time.

Woods was told by Coach Matt Bloom that he’d be fired if he hurt Daniel Bryan by injuring him. Speaking to Inside the Ropes, Woods recalled the intense moment:

“When I was in NXT, Bryan was coming back from a neck injury and they do a lot of rehab for the WWE guys there and he was coming in and rolling around,” Woods stated. “I don’t remember how this conversation got started, but Matt Bloom was the coach or my coach at the time, and I was like, Yeah, I’ll get in and I’ll go with them as I have like a jujitsu background because Bryan’s a really big jujitsu guy and he’s pretty good.

“So I’m like, all right, cool. Yeah, I’m taking my shoes off because you don’t wear shoes and like, this fricking awesome and Matt goes, hey, man, he’s coming off a neck injury. If you hurt him, you’re fired. I’m just like, I don’t want to get in there anymore because I’m scared because like, I’m a little bit bigger than Brian. I’m like, Oh s***, this is Bryan Danielson. Like, Well, oh god, I’m like, s***. It’s like, I get in there and it was pretty cool and It was so fun.”

Woods also stated that he it is not impossible for him to defend his ROH Pure title against Bryan Danielson in AEW.

Kurt Angle Says He Was Going To Be WWE’s First Undisputed Champion

Rayan Sayyed
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After WWE purchased WCW, they took their former rival company’s unbranded “World Championship” and unified it with the then WWF Championship at Vengeance in 2001. Chris Jericho became the first Undisputed WWE Champion (also the first undisputed champion in over 50 years of wrestling, in general). One of the competitors he beat to achieve this feat was Kurt Angle, who was unable to win the match. It turns out that if plans hadn’t been changed then Angle would have made history instead by becoming the first Undisputed WWE Champion.

On a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show, the Hall of Famer discussed the tournament that took place featuring himself, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Chris Jericho to unify the championships. According to Angle, Jericho was never planned to win the title. Instead, it was Angle who was supposed to win the championship.

Conrad asked Angle if he knew about the plans on the day of the show or if he had a good idea that he’s not going to win on the way to San Diego (where Vengeance 2001 took place).

“Well, the first thing was, you know, the week before the pay per view, I was still supposed to be Undisputed Champion. Vince McMahon had me pinned as the Undisputed Champion and wanted me to win the two titles. Vince came to me at the week prior to the pay-per-view and said ‘Listen, is it okay if I give it to Jericho ’cause I want to start pushing Jericho and I think this would be great for him.’ I said ‘No Vince, you should do that. I think Jericho needs it and it’s a great opportunity for him.’ So I was supposed to win the Undisputed Championship but Vince McMahon changed it at the last second and gave it to Jericho.”

During the four-man tournament, Jericho would go on to win against The Rock and then Steve Austin in the final to win both the titles and becoming the first wrestler in history to unify the championships.

Read more: Kurt Angle On Not Signing With AEW: “I’m A WWE Guy”

Tony Khan Explains Why He Held Off On Hook’s In-Ring AEW Debut

Fernando Quiles Jr.
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0

AEW boss Tony Khan has revealed why it has taken him this long to showcase Hook inside the squared circle.

Hook has the internet wrestling community buzzing. Fans online can’t get enough of Hook and neither can live audiences.

The young prospect, who is the son of Taz, finally made his in-ring debut against Fuego Del Sol on the Dec. 10 episode of Rampage. The general consensus is that he did not disappoint, demonstrating solid mat skills and transitions.

In fact, he looked very much like his father at certain points. He even ended the match with a Tazmission, which he’s calling the “REDRUM.”

Why Was Hook’s In-Ring Debut Delayed?

It’s clear that Hook has some skills in the ring but Tony Khan says that patience is key. He told Dave LaGreca and Mark Henry on Busted Open Radio that the timing was finally right.

“It’s really important we haven’t rushed him. There’s been plenty of times where I thought Hook in training and in practice looked fantastic.

“He’s got every bit of the skill it would take to wrestle on Dynamite or Rampage but the reason I held off till tonight for Rampage on Long Island, I really felt like to give Hook this chance to debut tonight in front of the big audience, give him a chance to debut in his hometown [was ideal].

“I think people are gonna see the way the crowd reacts to Hook tonight and all the fans watching at home when Rampage and Dynamite come to their city, they’re gonna see how fans have reacted to Hook and that’s how they’re conditioned to see him as a star.

“I really wanted to give him a great debut. I think Hook is a great, great prospect and I’m really excited about his debut tonight.”

As you can tell, that interview was conducted hours before Rampage aired. Khan was quite pleased with Hook’s performance and has given him a full-time deal.

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Eddie Kingston On What He Told Jon Moxley Before Rehab

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Eddie Kingston spoke to Jon Moxley before Mox went into rehab and he gave his friend a message about the things that matter the most.

The wild card recently had an interview with NY News 12 Long Island. He was there to promote the recent AEW Dynamite episode from the area.

Speaking of the former AEW world champion, Kingston revealed what he told Mox before the former WWE star checked into rehab:

“I told Moxley before he went and did what he had to do, I told him, ‘man, none of this matters. The only thing that matters is your wife and your kid. I don’t even matter.

You have to do this for them, and I’ve got your back regardless.” said Eddie Kingston, “Whether you go or not, I’m here,’ And he was like, ‘okay man.’ He’s very one-word answered with everybody.”

The AEW star continued by saying that Jon is showing people that everyone is flawed and we are allowed to be flawed. What we are not allowed is to not change.

Eddie Kingston later claimed that he is proud of Moxley for taking the right and healthy steps so he can be around for his daughter.

Eddie Kingston Talks Mental Health, Toxic Masculinity & Jon Moxley

H/t to wrestlinginc for the transcribed quotes

Bella Twins Reveal Custom Divas Championship Belt

Rayan Sayyed
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The Bella Twins have both captured the WWE Divas Championship during their career in the company. Brie Bella captured the championship once in her career and Nikki Bella has two reigns to her name. While WWE didn’t do make any custom changes to the title for the champion holding it, the Bella Twins have decided to look back on their days as champions and have made a custom title for themselves.

In a video uploaded on their YouTube channel The Bella Twins, the twins unbox their custom Divas Championship belts which are red in color instead of the signature pink. Brie’s title had “Brie Mode” printed on it while Nikki had “Fearless 02” printed on the left side of the belt.

“Honestly, if we embark for one more run, I think I would have to replace the Raw Women’s Championship, the SmackDown Women’s Championship or the Women’s Tag Team Championships with this,” Nikki said. “Ooh, how much would people hate us?” questioned Brie. The twins added that the belts are available to purchase from WWE’s online store.

Brie Bella won the Divas title from Eve Torres in April 2011. Two months later in June, she would drop the title to Kelly Kelly on an episode of Raw. She would only hold the title for one reign of 70 days.

Nikki Bella would then win the title in April 2012 by defeating Beth Phoenix in a lumberjill match on Raw. This would be the first time Nikki would win the title. The title reign didn’t amount to much, however, as she would lose the belt at Extreme Rules six days later to Layla, who had just made a return at the time.

Nikki would hold the title again at Survivor Series 2014 from AJ Lee and this time she would hold the title for 301 days, becoming the longest-reigning Divas Champion of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7YxYB1n5Q

Hook Officially Changes the Name of The Tazmission

Jake Skudder
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0

AEW star Hook made his debut on this week’s episode of AEW Rampage, beating Fuego Del Sol in impressive fashion.

Fans were extremely excited to see how the son of ECW legend Taz would fare in the ring, with the young performer already having amassed a huge following of “hookers.”

Taz reacted on social media to the outpouring of support for Hook since his in-ring debut for All Elite, and the former ECW Champion also confirmed that the Tazmission finisher has now officially been changed.

“Folks, I really need to say THANK YOU to all of you for the tons of tweets toward me about the kind words about @730hook – it’s just too many to reply to lol!!” Taz tweeted.

“And yes, it was SO special for me to call his first worldwide TV match. Tazmission is now – ‘REDRUM'” the AEW commentator and head of Team Taz confirmed.

For those eagle-eyed fans out there, yes, REDRUM is MURDER spelt backwards. Also, did you know that Rellik is Killer spelt backwards?

Hook Changes the Tazmission Name

It’ll be interesting to see how Hook is used going forward, with the company reportedly ecstatic with his first-ever match in front of a crowd.

Fightful Select recently noted that Hook has been working on his in-ring game for some time: “We’re told it didn’t appear originally if Hook would get into wrestling, despite knowing plenty about it and respecting the business.

“Based on those we spoke with, it became evident during his first training session, he was going to get it. Hook has been training ‘non-stop’ with Create-A-Pro Wrestling, as well as QT Marshall, and had a lot of early help from MJF.”

WWE SmackDown Ratings: Show Jumps Back Over 2 Million This Week

Jake Skudder
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WWE SmackDown has jumped back over the 2 million viewers level with this week’s episode.

According to Spoiler TV, SmackDown drew 2.172 million viewers on Friday, December 10th.

The number is up from last week’s episode which only drew 1.966 million viewers, meaning a decent jump back up for the company on FOX.

WWE SmackDown Ratings

There’s a number of factors as to why the show was a draw this week, with Brock Lesnar’s continued appearances being highlights of WWE programming over the past month or so.

There may as well have also been fans tuning in to see if WWE addressed the situation regarding Jeff Hardy, although there was no mention whatsoever about the former WWE Champion on Friday night, not that we expected them to bring him up.

The show drew 2.219 million viewers in the first hour and 2.124 in the second, which is a drop-off but not massive. The show also garnered a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

The December 6 episode of WWE RAW on USA Network drew 1,599,000 viewers, so the Monday night show is still a long way off of SmackDown but the gap isn’t as big as it has been previously.

This is mainly due to SmackDown losing viewership overall, rather than RAW being able to claw back numbers over the past few months.

Chris Jericho Released From Hospital (Photo)

Anutosh Bajpai
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Chris Jericho has been released from the hospital and the former AEW world champion is back on street after dealing with his recent health issue.

The wrestling veteran took on his Twitter earlier today to post a selfie from Paddington, London, and wrote: “Back on the streets”:

Chris Jericho’s Health

Fozzy is currently on a tour of UK. They were supposed to perform in Swansea on Friday before Jericho was admitted to the hospital back on Thursday.

The news of his hospitalization was revealed by the arena where the band was expected to perform. The official statement on the matter claimed that the former champion had been admitted for a treatable health issue that was not covid related.

Chris Jericho later released a statement on his health. He stated that he was feeling good and the medical personnel just wanted to observe him overnight

The former WWE star was last seen on AEW TV during the December 1 Dynamite. He was written off TV for his tour with an attack from 2point0 and Daniel Garcia.

Chris was expected to return to AEW TV after completing his tour on December 12. Though now we will have to see if the AEW star is brought back on TV this week or if the officials hold off his return in wake of his health issue.

Chris Jericho Comments On When He Plans To Retire

JBL Reveals Vince McMahon Asked Him About John Cena’s Potential As Top Star

Rayan Sayyed
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John Cena is a name synonymous with WWE. He was the franchise player for the wrestling company. There are only a few names in the industry who can evoke such strong emotions and reactions from the crowd as Cena did. He has tied Ric Flair’s record for most world championships reigns at 16. He served as the company’s top stars for more than a decade. However, before taking on the superman gimmick in the company, Cena still had to gain the trust of the company to fully believe in him.

Before using his popular The Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick, John Cena was about to be let go by the company. WWE Hall of Famer JBL said in a recent interview that Vince McMahon personally asked about his first impressions of Cena and whether he thinks Cena has potential to be in the main event scene.

“There weren’t a ton of believers in Cena,” Layfield said while appearing on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast (via Sportskeeda). “I don’t think there were un-believers. But Vince asked me one day, he said, ‘How is he?’ I said, ‘He’s your guy, man.’ Vince said, ‘He’s that good?’ I said, ‘Yeah.'”

“It’s a different dynamic going from, say, eight minutes to going to 30 minutes,” JBL added. “Now, I think he had done it with Kurt Angle too, obviously one of the greatest of all time. But when I first got out there with him, some guys never make that transition. It’s hard.”

John Cena has transitioned to Hollywood as a successful actor and wrestles sporadically. Most recently, he made a brief return to the WWE, where he challenged Roman Reigns for his WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. He was unsuccessful in capturing the title. Cena was asked at the Florida Supercon back in September if we would ever see him wrestle in another company. Cena reiterated pro wrestling’s famous “never say never” philosophy. Though he added that he is certain it would never happen.

“There’s a whole like ‘never say never’ philosophy and I’m also that way in life because you never know what life will bring you. But, I can with certainty say no.”

Mark Henry Recalls Hanging Up On Vince McMahon During Their First Conversation

Anutosh Bajpai
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Many of the attitude-era veterans have unique and entertaining stories about how they got into the world of professional wrestling. Mark Henry is one of them. The world’s strongest man was the most recent guest on Shot of Brandi. He discussed things such as his childhood, his weight lifting career, and more.

When Brandi asked who was his discovery committee in wrestling, Henry explained that Jim Ross had a lot to do with it. He then told a funny story of his first interaction with Vince McMahon:

“Jim Ross had a lot to do with it. He brought me up to Vince McMahon and Vince wanted to know how does that [his weight lifting background] gonna translate to pro wrestling.” recalled Mark Henry, “Jim said you need to see him and meet him because the guy is kind of colorful which is short for being a clown.

The first conversation [with Vince], I get this call, I think it’s one of my friends joking with me. ‘It is Vince.’ And I said ‘Yeah right Vince’, and I hang up on him. And I get a call back from my coach and my manager and he is like ‘hey did you hang up on Vince McMahon?’ And I was like ‘that was him for real?’ [he goes] ‘Yeah, how about you take his call.’ I was like ‘all right, my bad'”

Thankfully the mistake didn’t ruin things for Mark. After a successful negotiation with Mr. McMahon, Henry made his WWE debut at the age of 24 in 1994. He went on to have a two-decade-long career with the company where he is a former world heavyweight champion. Mark Henry was inducted into WWE Hall Of Fame in 2018.

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

This article has been edited for clarity

Becky Lynch Gets Pinned In Dark Match On SmackDown

Rayan Sayyed
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This week’s WWE SmackDown saw some special appearances including Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. While she didn’t compete on broadcast, she did get in the ring after the cameras were off.

Becky Lynch participated in a fatal four-way match that featured SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Bianca Belair, who is also from Raw.

Fans captured the dark match and from the footage it can be seen that Sasha Banks pinned Becky Lynch, much to the fans’ delight. It’s also interesting to note that Lynch was last pinned on television by Banks too, on the October 15 edition of SmackDown.

Meanwhile on the main show, Banks offered advice to Toni Storm in a backstage segment after she picked up a victory against Charlotte Flair in a contender match. Storm was awarded the win by disqualification as Flair wouldn’t stop attacking her. This effectively made her the number one contender for the title.

Lynch, on the other hand, may be facing Liv Morgan to defend her Raw Women’s Championship in a rematch. We saw Lynch using ropes for advantage while rolling up Morgan for the win on this week’s Raw. Of course, the referee didn’t notice this illegal move, so it is likely that we’d see a rematch to settle things fairly.

Morgan recently got in hot water for a promo on the 29 November edition of Raw. During the promo, Morgan said, “You’re the reason why your friend is gone, just like the reason why your big, fat greedy contract is the reason why my friends are gone.” 

She explained her stance in an interview and said she’s not apologetic. “…Becky brought up my friends. She’s brought up my friends not being here,” said Morgan. She continued, “… After my segment aired, I got texted from my friends saying how proud they were and how amazing they thought it was. I don’t think there were hard feelings, kind of anywhere around. I know I’m kind of addressing something that may feel like an elephant in the room or maybe taboo, but these are things that are happening. You know, and I don’t think I said anything wrong.”

Xia Li Makes Debut Against Sonya Deville On SmackDown

Rayan Sayyed
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Xia Li has finally made her main roster debut. During last night’s episode of SmackDown, we saw WWE SmackDown co-general manager Sonya Deville and Naomi come face to face in the ring for a match. Deville, however, revealed that Natalya was the special guest announcer for the match, along with Shayna Baszler who would serve as the special timekeeper. Naomi went to work on Baszler and Natalya to get them out of the way before focusing on Deville one on one.

While Deville got away and helped Natalya and Baszler up on their feet to attack Naomi, a new entrance music blared through the arena, with the newest SmackDown superstar Xia Li coming out to the ramp.

Related: Xia Li Praises Sasha Banks For Welcoming Her To WWE Family

Xia Li’s new music suited her persona and the entrance seemed pretty cool. She removed her headgear on the entranceway, and performed several moves while carrying two blades. The entrance looked unique as lightning and other special effects were added while she was doing the moves.

Xia Li got in the ring after wrapping up her entrance and faced off with Naomi as everybody in the ring was unsure of what was coming. Li then helped Naomi throw out Natalya as a brawl broke out in the ring. Pretty soon, they cleared the ring together.

Naomi faced off with Deville, who turned around and faced Li. She then turned back to Naomi and ducked a punch, only to get hit with a roundhouse kick by Li that put her down. Deville then ate a split-legged moonsault off the top rope but Baszler and Natalya pulled Deville out of harm’s way. Naomi and Li stayed in the ring and bowed to show respect to each other and ended the segment.

Xia Li has been part of WWE and its NXT roster since 2017, and she made her in-ring debut during the inaugural Mae Young Classic Tournament. Li is also the first Chinese woman to compete in a WWE ring.

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