WWE NXT stars Cora Jade and Cameron Grimes made their first appearance on Monday Night Raw this week.
Jade was seen in a backstage segment with The Judgment Day (Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio). Balor asked Ripley if she had everything under control and Ripley said she had it then the men left the arena.
Jade said she couldn’t come up with anyone as ruthless and dominating to face Roxanne Perez. Ripley recalled Jade and Perez being former tag team partners, before stating that she and Raquel Rodriguez were once partners. Ripley agreed to face Perez on Tuesday’s NXT.
Perez and Jade are slated to meet in a weapons wild match at this Saturday’s Halloween Havoc special. Before then, Perez and Jade are choosing each other’s opponents in a ‘Pick Your Poison’ stipulation to further build up the match.
Later in the show, Cameron Grimes showed up for a backstage segment with AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and AJ Styles where he asked for them to be his tag team partners against The Schism (Joe Gacy, Rip Fowler, and Jagger Reid) on Tuesday’s NXT. They agreed.
The Voros Twins, also known as the “DaVinki Twins” made their AEW debut while the promotion was in Toronto last week.
Chris and Patrick Voros went viral in 2020 when answering the question “Who painted the Mona Lisa?” by reading the answer as Da Vinki. The duo have cashed in on their viral fame with their own store on Pro Wrestling Tees.
On the latest episode of the AEW Dark: Elevation YouTube series, they faced off against (and lost to) Butcher and Blade. Despite coming up short, the brothers from New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada are looking forward to getting back in an AEW ring.
While it was their AEW debut, the brothers have been wrestling for seven years across Canada, the U.S., and Europe. DEFY Wrestling in Seattle is one of the promotions they’ve wrestled for. They’re listed on the LDN Wrestling roster. It’s unclear when they last wrestled for the promotion.
In an interview from 2015, the twins say they went to Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling in Vancouver after meeting for ECCW Champion, Ravenous Randy. He told them that the promotion was starting a wrestling school.
During an interview with Chris Van Vilet in 2021, the twins gave a little background into their wrestling journey. According to Chris, they got their start in backyard wrestling. “Our company was called NXW, which is one letter off of NXT. We were revolutionary.”
Patrick said they joined a school nearby, but didn’t specify which school. Chris explained that they have been in matches together, but one of them is usually the manager for the other. The reason they do singles matches is because they don’t want to hit the other.
They had a WWE tryout during SummerSlam weekend in 2019. Patrick gave more details saying, “It was the first and only Canadian try-out in WWE, we were super fortunate to be a part of the 42 people involved. I think it went really well.”
AEW has a stacked tag team division full of big names such as the Lucha Brothers, FTR, Young Bucks, Best Friends, and Swerve in Our Glory. The Kingdom showed up on Rampagebecause they never got their rematch for the ROH tag team titles.
WWE NXT specials could soon be hosted outside the WWE Performance Center.
WWE presents its Halloween Havoc special this Saturday night. To promote the event, WWE’s senior vice president of talent development creative, Shawn Michaels, recently spoke to TV Insider.
During the interview, he was asked about the possibility of holding NXT events in traditional arenas and away from the training facility.
“Absolutely. As you mentioned, we started with the Florida loop, or the coconut loop, as we call them. We’ve briefly discussed getting out for our premium live events,” Michaels responded. “Do we want to do that at the end of the year or start at the beginning of the new year? We had Stand & Deliver for WrestleMania weekend, which is the first time many of our talents were out of the Performance Center.”
Back to Touring
(WWE)
At its peak, NXT would tour nationally for house shows and specials. The NXT brand resumed touring in Florida back in June for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
“It’s certainly something we want to get back to. We have every intention of doing that. We’re actually having talks on how we want to go about executing that. This will go beyond shows in the state of Florida for certainly premium live events but regular live events. As you know, that is part of the developmental process. They have to get out there and perform on the main roster all around the world. They might as well get their feet wet in NXT.”
NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh will headline Saturday’s Halloween Havoc.
The second bout has been announced for WWE Crown Jewel, and it’s a big one as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will work their first premium live event since returning to the company.
On Monday’s Raw, Gallows and Anderson make their in-ring returns with a win over Alpha Academy. After the match, The Judgment Day interrupted to set up AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio later in the night. Finn Balor reminded everyone how he started “this club” and promised to end them as well, so he challenged The O.C. to a six-man tag team match at Crown Jewel, and Styles accepted.
Anderson’s Other Match on November 5th
The OC: AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Anderson is still the NEVER Openweight Champion in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was previously reported that WWE would allow Anderson and Gallows to continue fulfilling their agreed bookings with NJPW, all the way up through Wrestle Kingdom in January.
Anderson is already booked to defend his title against Hikuleo in Osaka, Japan, at New Japan’s Battle Autumn event on the same day sas Crown Jewel – November 5th.
A direct flight between the two cities clocks in at under 14 hours. By the time Crown Jewel starts locally in Riyadh, it will already be 1 a.m. in Japan.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson feel like right back where they belong after returning to WWE last week on RAW.
Finn Balor and The Judgment Day have tried to recruit AJ Styles to The Judgment Day for several weeks but The Phenomenal One declined. After Styles refused again on RAW, The Judgment Day attacked.
The Good Brothers made their shocking return to the company and stood by AJ’s side as The Judgment Day retreated. The O.C. then stood tall and posed in the ring to end the segment.
Gallows and Anderson Deliver A Warning To Alpha Academy
The Good Brothers will return to action in a WWE ring tonight against Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis). Byron Saxton caught up to Gallows and Anderson as they arrived to the arena for tonight’s episode of RAW in a WWE Digital Exclusive.
Luke Gallows said that they’ve been around the world in the past two and a half years but WWE is their home.
Two and a half years, Byron,” said Gallows. “We went around the world through the pandemic, main-evented everywhere we went, we added more hardware to those big a** mantles we have.
But more than that, we knew deep down that this is home. The best competition in the entire world, in all of sports entertainment and professional wrestling, is in WWE, and we have unfinished business.
Karl Anderson noted that the team has unfinished business in WWE and warned Alpha Academy ahead of the tag team match tonight.
Alpha Academy, listen Byron, they’re good,” said Anderson. “They are superstars, but lets be honest and make something very crystal clear, they ain’t The Good Brothers. The Good Brothers have been gone from WWE for two and a half years.
We’ve been to Japan, we’ve been to Las Vegas, we’ve been to England, and that is just in the last month. It is time for the WWE to see why we are probably the best tag team in the entire world.
WWE NXT Halloween Havoc is just around the corner on October 22nd. The card is stacked with three title matches, a Weapons Wild match, an Ambulance match, and a Spin the Wheel, Make a Deal match.
Bron Breakker is scheduled to defend the NXT Championship at the special show. Breakker will put the title on the line in a Triple Threat match against JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov.
Ilja is one of the only WWE stars that holds a victory over Intercontinental Champion Gunther, formerly known as Walter in NXT UK.
Dragunov defeated Walter at NXT TakeOver 36 to capture the NXT UK Championship. NXT UK has since folded as a brand but WWE will be launching NXT Europe in 2023.
The growth of #WWENXT to include all of Europe will not only bring diversity and opportunity to in-ring competition, but also recruitment and development of athletes from around the world. @WWE wants the best from around the globe!!! https://t.co/QInphcIVe8
Shawn Michaels recently spoke with Connor Casey of Comicbook about a number of topics. The 57-year-old discussed the NXT Championship match at Halloween Havoc this Saturday.
The Heartbreak Kid said Dragunov is an “incredibly special young man” and is looking forward to the Triple Threat this Saturday night.
I don’t think anybody would be surprised to know that we’re thrilled to have Ilja here as we are with so many of our UK stars. But he is obviously an incredibly special young man, a very unique talent, to say the least.
And look, I’m excited because first of all, I’ve watched Ilja and JD go at it before. It’s nothing short of spectacular every time. Then you add Bron in there. I’m anxious to see the intensity between Ilja and Bron. I think that’s going to be a fantastic match.
Bron Breakker captured the NXT Championship from Dolph Ziggler on the episode of WWE RAW following WrestleMania 38. The 24-year-old has held the title for 194 days and it will be interesting to see if Bron leaves Halloween Havoc still the NXT Champion.
WWE legend Shawn Michaels currently works as the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative.
NXT is WWE’s developmental brand and has undergone massive changes as of late. The company moved away from the Black & Gold vision of the program and went for a more modern aesthetic with NXT 2.0.
Following Vince McMahon’s departure and Triple H’s rise in power, the company recently revealed a new logo for NXT that is similar to the old days on the September 13th episode of the show.
Speaking with Connor Casey of Comicbook, Shawn said that fans shouldn’t expect to see the 2010s version of NXT return and that today’s product is a “hybrid” of the two eras.
I certainly don’t want to undersell anything, but I don’t know that it’s a new era where there’s a big change.
Certainly, there was the Black and Gold, there was 2.0 and now we have, I think what I guess is a hybrid.
I mean, we don’t want this NXT to really have to be defined as anything other than your NXT, to be perfectly honest.
I don’t want this to be Hunter’s or Vince’s or even mine for that matter. This is the NXT that belongs to the men and women of NXT that come through our system and to those passionate and loyal fans that watch us some support us, to be perfectly honest.
Shawn added that the company is committed to bringing back fun to the wrestling business and is excited about developing the stars of tomorrow.
This line of work, the WWE and the wrestling business as a whole was always about fun and enjoyment and entertainment, and that’s what it’s going to get back to.
I don’t know if that’s been missing for the last several years, but the one thing that we’re all excited about is that we are looking to kick a— and have a great deal of fun and enjoyment for the years to come.
All Elite Wrestling may have had its share of problems backstage, but their relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery is stronger than ever. The media giant operates both TBS, the home of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights, and TNT the home of AEW Rampage on Fridays.
A new documentary show is in the works that focus on the behind-the-scenes lives of AEW stars, according to a report by Fightful. AEW talent and staff were informed this past week about the project. Talent have been informed that participation in the docuseries is voluntary and that they have the option not to be involved.
Filming is set to start in November at the Baltimore AEW Dynamite and run six weeks through the AEW tapings in Garland, Texas on December 14.
Producers
Fightful’s report added that Tony Khan will serve as Executive Producer of the documentary show, with Sam Berns, Executive Producer of Shed Media helping out.
The show will be in association with both Warner Media and Shed Media, who according to their website, provide “unscripted and alternative television.”
Sources who spoke to Fightful said the plan is for the documentary series to begin airing next year.
AEW Behind the Scenes
While a documentary series like this is a first for AEW, it will hardly be the first time fans see the inner workings of the company.
Thanks to ‘Being the Elite’ audiences have seen several behind-the-scenes skits featuring their favorite AEW wrestlers.
The show is on hiatus for the time being, due to the Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) being suspended from AEW due to the ongoing investigation into the All Out backstage fight.
Prior to their exit, Cody and Brandi Rhodes also gave a behind-the-scenes look at AEW with their show ‘Rhodes to the Top.’
Candice LeRae shocked the WWE Universe when she returned to the company last month. Prior to her return, LeRae’s announced her pregnancy, prompting an extended absence from the company. In May, her contract with WWE expired, and she was then reassigned to the alumni section of WWE.com.
In August, her real-life husband Johnny Gargano returned to WWE in an appearance on Monday Night RAW. A month later, Candice LeRae herself made a surprise appearance, facing Nikki A.S.H. in a match on RAW, simultaneously making her official main roster debut. In a recent chat with MuscleManMalcolm, “The Poison Pixie” opened up about when plans formulated for their returns to the company.
“So Johnny and I both knew for sure about, I want to say a week before he debuted,” she revealed. “So I knew for a while. Keeping a secret was very very difficult. In this day and age there’s so much social media and so many things leaking and trying to keep a secret was really difficult. I think him being a secret was a little harder, me being a secret was easy but hard because I was going with him to train, I was his training buddy but we were just like ‘oh yeah I’m just training with him.’”
“I think people just weren’t expecting me to be ready to come back so soon, not even Triple H was ready. We said ‘hey, what do you think?’. He (Triple H) goes ‘oh okay’. Everybody’s been surprised, so I’m glad that in this day and age, we were able to be both genuine surprises. That’s awesome.”
Upon her return, LeRae does have some goals in mind, including two potential mixed tag team matches at WrestleMania.
“I can tell you that my ultimate goal I would love, love, love to have a mixed tag match at WrestleMania,” she revealed, “with me and Johnny against, verses–I mean it could be anybody–but I’m just going to say there’s Edge and Beth, [that] would be pretty awesome. I keep putting this out there because I’m hoping. Then Seth [Rollins] and Becky [Lynch] would be really awesome too.”
Candice LeRae Wants The Way To Come Back
The former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion also wants to see the return of her former stable, The Way. The group formed in 2020 with LeRae, Gargano, Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell as core members. Dexter Lumis would serve as an extension of the faction, as Hartwell’s on-screen love interest, before the two later tied the knot on NXT television.
“I would like The Way to come back!” LeRae admitted. “We have Dexter now so we can [maybe re-form]. Theory can figure his life out and then we’ll get there, maybe. I hope.… what is he doing? He went away to college, has a job now and he’s better than all of us now.”
As previously mentioned, LeRae returned to in-ring competition for the first time since announcing her pregnancy and giving birth earlier this year. She continued on to explain what life is like now being on the road as a mother.
“It’s different leaving [home now],” she said. “I’m a homebody, I really like being home but obviously my job entails travel. We (herself and Gargano) wanted to make sure that we cherished every moment that we could with him (their son) once he was born, and that’s why we both just like ‘we’re taking time off’ and left it at that.”
“We’re hoping eventually to be able to bring him with us but we want to be able to kind of get ourselves used to it before we bring him. It is definitely different. There’s a lot more to think about like packing before I leave and trying to make sure he’s all situated. It’s a longer process to get ready but it’s worth it.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit MuscleManMalcolm and give a H/T to SEScoops for the transcription.
Dynamite has been moved from its traditional Wednesday timeslot due to the MLB’s American League Championship.
Triple H’s status for this Friday’s SmackDown on FOX is unknown at this time.
WWE and Covid
Like all businesses, WWE had to face the Covid-19 pandemic when cases began to surge in the United States in early 2020.
While WWE was allowed to continue operating, shows went ahead without fans for the first time in the promotion’s history.
In August 2020, WWE introduced their ‘Thunderdome’ a virtual fan environment which allowed virtual audiences.
Unlike AEW, WWE did not want talent to announce positive Covid tests, though many tests would be made public.
Triple H joins Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, who have all tested positive for Covid-19 in the past.
Triple H’s Rise to the Throne
While considered for a long-time the heir to WWE, Triple H’s rise through the company’s hierarchy took a detour last year.
In September 2021, the Game lost control over NXT to his father-in-law, who rebranded the show as WWE NXT 2.0.
Following McMahon’s retirement in July, Triple H would be appointed Head of Creative, replacing McMahon as well as Head of Talent, replacing John Laurinaitis.
Triple H has made several changes since then, including bringing back released talent, which has gone down well with fans.
Former WWE Superstar Chris Masters has gone on to have a lengthy career in wrestling but is ready for a rematch with Bobby Lashley.
Masters, who signed with WWE in 2003, was just 20 when he inked his developmental contract, making him one of WWE’s youngest-ever signings.
After being released in 2007, the Masterpiece would return in 2009 before his second release in 2011.
Lock Vs. Lock
During his tenure, Masters would have a regular ‘Master Lock’ challenge, in which contestants would try and break his version of the iconic Full Nelson submission.
After over two years, Bobby Lashley would break the lock on the March 19, 2007 episode of Raw, shocking Masters.
Speaking with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall, Masters spoke about a possible WWE return and said he tried to get one in time for the 2022 Royal Rumble.
“I’ve seen MVP come back. I’ve seen Shelton [Benjamin] come back. I’ve seen Carlito come back and I kind of felt like ‘sure.’ It’s been ten years, and it feels like a good time. It’s been so long that it’s like who else can they bring back that’ll be a big surprise at this point?”
Masters hoped for a return to have a face-off with Lashley in the Men’s Rumble match before it was announced that the All Mighty would be challenging then-WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
Despite not getting the Rumble face-off he hoped for, Masters remains optimistic about facing Lashley.
“I still hope, cross my fingers, that we can make that moment happen.”
Chris Masters on a possible face-off with Bobby Lashley.
“Bobby and I obviously know each other really well. I just felt like it would be a cool moment and I still hope, cross my fingers, that we can make that moment happen. I mean, it would obviously be cool for me but I think it would be cool for all of you, all the fans.”
Lashley would defeat Lesnar at the Premium Live Events, thanks to interference from Roman Reigns.
Addiction
Masters’ nickname ‘The Masterpiece’ came not only as a play-on-words on his name but also because of his impressive physique.
With his jacked muscles, Masters would often face accusations of using steroids or other performance-enhancing substances.
In the interview, Masters admitted to failing a drugs test in 2006 but clarified that he was fighting an addiction to prescription pills at the time.
“I failed a drug test but the bigger issue was… I was at a point where I developed an addiction to these prescription pills. I was very young and it was just it was one of those things where you never thought it would be your type of thing and I didn’t even know I was in it. So I had to go away and deal with that issue.”
“You never thought it would be your type of thing.”
Chris Masters on developing an addiction to pills.
“They told me either you’re going to go in for treatment or basically you’re not gonna have a job.”
Masters would return to WWE in August 2006, with commentators describing him as “leaner and meaner” making reference to his changed physique.
The Worse Debut
After weeks of promotional vignettes, Masters made his in-ring debut on the February 21, 2005, Raw, defeating Stevie Richards.
This match wasn’t an easy start for the Masterpiece, who broke Richards’ nose with the Polish Hammer, which he adopted as his finisher.
Speaking about his debut, Masters admitted that he had heat backstage after his very first televised match.
“Stevie was very upset and rightfully so. He’s yelling and stuff and there was some heat on me. When you break somebody’s face like that, their nose and their orbitable bone, it’s hard to just come back and be like ‘oh you know accidents happen.’
“When you watch it back there’s no good explanation for it. I can at least say this to my credit, it’s the only time in my whole career that now spans 20 years that I’ve ever injured somebody.”
After being “relegated” to Sunday Night Heat for a month, Masters was brought back to Raw, having been told that the Polish Hammer could only be used on the chest.
Being ‘Over’ with the Boss
Though Masters’ debut earned him heat backstage, that didn’t seem to deter then-WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon.
In early 2006, Masters would appear regularly on-screen with McMahon, including using the Master Lock on Marty Jannetty during McMahon’s feud with Shawn Michaels.
Speaking about the now-former Chairman, Masters said he enjoyed working with McMahon, but that the boss’ opinion could quickly change.
“You can be over with Vince like I was. I was over with Vince but also Vince can go ‘hold on you.’ It’s happened to many guys and the challenge then is how do you turn Vince hot on you again.”
After the Michaels-McMahon storyline, Masters wouldn’t be used again as part of a McMahon storyline and would quickly slip down the card.
For use of these quotes please give a h/t to SEScoops.
Toni Storm knows she won’t be the true queenpin of All Elite Wrestling until her Interim title is unified with Thunder Rosa’s AEW Women’s World Championship.
Storm won the ‘placeholder’ belt at September’s All Out pay-per-view when she defeated Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and Hikaru Shida in a Fatal 4-way match. She’s been a fighting champion ever since, but she believes it’s “nonsense” that Thunder Rosa is still recognized as the real champion.
Storm has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy the injury that’s put Rosa out of action indefinitely. Rosa has defended herself, claiming she could barely walk and denying she has backstage heat with other women on the roster.
During a new interview with Chris Mueller for Bleacher Report, she’s now bemoaning the fact that she’s only an interim champion. Storm didn’t mince words when asked what’s next for her.
“I guess my first thing would be to beat Thunder Rosa and stop this interim nonsense,” said Storm. “That’s kind of what’s been bothering me. I think that’s been bothering a lot of people because she’s still calling herself the AEW women’s world champion and I’m the one here every week doing the work.”
– Toni Storm
Just Focus on Being the Best
We don’t have any indication that Rosa is gearing up for an in-ring return, so Storm will have to focus on what she can control, for now. Right now, she’s focused on being a strong champion, working hard and giving her all.
“I guess it’s about being a good champion, being a strong champion,” she said. “That’s what I’m up against every day. I’m working harder than I ever had in my entire career. The time is now. I look at every week as just an opportunity to prove myself. I love giving it my all and who knows where we go from here? But all I know is I’m gonna continue to work hard.”
Head over to Bleacher Report for more from this interview, including Toni Storm’s opinion on Saraya joining AEW.
Interim Titles in Wrestling
Storm is not the only AEW star to be saddled with a ‘less-than’ Interim championship. Jon Moxley was an Interim champion prior to steamrolling CM Punk to unify that championship earlier this summer.
Interim titles are commonplace in the UFC, when champions are injured for prolonged periods of time. There’s an argument to be made that a champion should have to forfeit their belt if they cannot defend it. Either way, it’s less-than-ideal when a new champion did not defeat the prior champion.
Bobby Lashley has been in great shape for the majority of his life and throughout his pro wrestling career, he has been considered one of the best physique guys in the business.
However, Lashley was willing to go the extra mile for a storyline pitch he had for Vince McMahon when he was still in charge of creative before he resigned.
During his appearance on the NotSam Wrestling podcast, Lashley wanted to gain a bunch of weight after being unbeaten as WWE Champion and have MVP bring him back from depression to be a top star again.
“I told Vince a year ago, I think a year or two ago, I told him, ‘I want to do this character.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘If I get beat one time, I want to go into the severe depression and put on like 40, 50, 60, or 70 pounds and just be fat, and then be a completely different character and then have like somebody like an MVP, or somebody that’s on my side, kind of like, pull me back and then have the crowd watch his transition back to me.’ He said, ‘There’s no way you can do that.’ I said, ‘Man, I think I can.’”
Last week on Monday Night Raw, Lashley lost the United States Title to Seth Rollins after being attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar. This week on Raw, Lashley has called for a confrontation with Lesnar.
Listen to Lashley’s appearance on Sam Roberts’ Notsam Wrestling Podcast:
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw takes place from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. WWE has been on a roll as of late, with fans and pundits largely in agreement that Raw has been consistently enjoyable shows. The company looks to keep the momentum going with another eventful episode.
Approximately 5,900 tickets have been distributed for Raw, according to Wrestletix. The venue is configured to accommodate over 6,200 fans, so attendance could top 6,000 by the time Raw goes on the air.
WWE is advertising several matches and segments for tonight:
Brock Lesnar will appear. The Beast Incarnate made a surprise return last week and destroyed Bobby Lashley. Will Lesnar address The Almighty, or does he have other plans in mind?
Seth Freakin’ Rollins will defend the United States championship against his rival, Matt Riddle.
Dexter Lumis battles The Miz, If Lumis wins, he’ll earn a contract to become a full-time member of the Raw roster.
The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) vs. The Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable and Otis.
Elias returns. What will the multi-talented wrestler/musician have to say about his brother Ezekiel appearing for WWE during his time away?
WWE Crown Jewel takes place two weeks from this Saturday, so expect to see more build towards WWE’s next premium live event.
A new episode of Table for 3 premiered last week featuring an eclectic group of WWE Hall Of Famers. The series features legends reminiscing about their careers and memorable moments in wrestling history.
Airing on Peacock and the WWE Network (outside of the United States), the newest installment is titled “New Generation Gathering.” There, WWE Hall of Famers Jerry “The King” Lawler, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and Kane gathered to discuss the respective era of the company.
The New Generation’ era would roughly begin amidst WWE’s debut and introduction of Monday Night RAW in January 1993. The time period would extend to about 1997, a lead-in of sorts for the beloved Attitude Era in WWE.
WWE posted a preview clip of the Table For 3 episode, taking a sneak peak at another previous persona of Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs). The video description reads:
“Kane looks back at his first foray into the business, portraying the “Christmas Creature”, in this sneak peek at the newest edition of Table for 3: New Generation Gathering.”
Before he was Kane, Jacobs would also embody the personas of Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel. Yankem would find himself aligned with Jerry Lawler during his tenure, in a storyline that rivaled Bret Hart. Lawler and Hart famously met in June of 1995 to compete in a “Kiss My Foot” match, which saw “The Hitman” take home the victory.
Former CEO Vince McMahon actually came up with the stipulation concept, as Lawler revealed in the episode. Coinciding with Lawler’s royalty gimmick, he often demanded the WWE Universe to “kneel down and kiss my royal feet”. Accordingly, McMahon sparked the “Kiss My Foot” match idea. Leading up to the bout, Lawler was instructed to disgust the audience with mention of his “hammer-toe”, “bunions”, and “calluses”. Bret Hart regarded Lawler as a “master heel” during the time, which made their work and the build to the match even more effective.
The newest Table for 3 episode is now available for streaming on Peacock and WWE Network.
After extended teases, Bray Wyatt at last made his return to WWE television at Extreme Rules. The comeback has sparked quite a bit of speculation. In particular, a great deal of reporting suggested that Vince McMahon was constantly at odds with Wyatt’s creative vision during his original run with WWE. The conventional wisdom is that Triple H will be a better creative partner. One way or another, there are quite a few fresh matchups and storylines available for The Eater of Worlds. There’s also some merit in looking backward, revisiting some concepts that could work better on a second run-through.
What Went Wrong For The Original Wyatt Family
The Wyatt Family originally launched on NXT, and got over enough that the faction was fast-tracked to the main roster. The core group consisted of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan and got some immediate buzz with upper card feuds, culminating in Wyatt working his first WrestleMania match opposite no lesser opponent than John Cena.
The biggest challenge to the success of the Wyatt Family came down to inconsistency. The group more than once got together, went their separate ways, and reunited without much clear rhyme or reason. Moreover, there inconsistency in how Wyatt was pushed, getting built up only to job to Cena at WrestleMania 30, then encounter the same dynamic opposite The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31. Wyatt rose up so far as to win the WWE Championship heading into WrestleMania 33, only to drop it to Randy Orton there (despite the use of newfound magical powers to get in The Viper’s head).
Harper and Rowan faced a similar rollercoaster journey, pushed as monsters only to fail in their bids to take the tag titles off The Usos. They peaked as The Bludgeon Brothers—away from the faction—but when that run got cut short due to injury, WWE dropped it altogether. Braun Strowman experienced a similar story—brought into the group to dually play an impressive heater on screen and to sit under Wyatt’s learning tree backstage, but he enjoyed the greatest successes of his tumultuous run away from the group.
WWE Can Incorporate Firefly Funhouse Personalities
Whether WWE calls a new Bray Wyatt faction the Wyatt Family, The Wyatt 6, or something else altogether, there remains the possibility of leaning into Firefly Funhouse lore more so than the original swamp cult sensibility Wyatt put forth. Costumed figures, mirroring the Funhouse cast, appeared around the arena at Extreme Rules before Wyatt showed his face. Indeed, fans also picked up on hints—the fact that they were human beings rather than puppets, not to mention the women’s championship belts beside the Abbie the Witch figure—that these characters would become physical presences in the ring moving forward.
It’s unclear how well received a wrestling rabbit or pig character would be. The fact that fans are discussing this very real possibility now, though, speaks to the unique aesthetic Wyatt brings to professional wrestling. These unconventional, presumably masked personas would also open the door to radically rebrand some talents whom fans have been conditioned not to take seriously, or who don’t have very well-defined characters out on their own.
A New Wyatt Family Could Offer A Home To Other Talents
One of the more promising elements of a new Wyatt faction is the idea of revisiting old connections and doing them justice, in contrast to the up-and-down booking The Eater of Worlds and his associates have faced in the past. Alexa Bliss has been directionless most of the year, and teaming up with Bray Wyatt again could reignite her career. Braun Strowman still has some buzz from his own return to WWE, but enough time has passed that fans may welcome seeing him team up with Wyatt again, too, before long. As far as the public knows, Erick Rowan is a free agent whom might be recruited back to WWE as well.
The rumor mill suggests Bo Dallas is set to return to WWE. The company shied away from acknowledging he’s Bray Wyatt’s real-life brother in the past, but it may be time to play that card. A number of fans have speculated that between the tease of women’s title belts and her seemingly casting off her Almost a Super Hero persona recently, Nikki Cross would be an aesthetic fit to team up with Wyatt, too.
One of the refreshing aspects of Triple H taking the reins of WWE creative has been how open he seems to factions, with The Brawling Brutes sharpening their focus, Hit Row re-signing, Imperium and The Club reuniting, Legado Del Fantasma getting their call up to the main roster, and Damage CTRL taking shape. (That’s not to mention The Bloodline continuing their dominant run and Judgment Day getting some momentum.) The Wyatt Family, or some variation on the concept, could offer another group with built in creativity and genuinely different identity than anything else WWE has going today, besides giving a wide swathe of talent something interesting to do in the months ahead.
Bray Wyatt is back with WWE, 15 months after his controversial release from the company, but what’s next for him?
Wyatt returned to WWE during the closing moments of Extreme Rules 2022, earning a thunderous response from the fans in Philadelphia.
During last Friday’s SmackDown, Wyatt cut a passionate promo about his departure and return, which has racked up more than 5 million YouTube views in the first 12 hours.
Unfinished Plans
There has been a ton of buzz about Wyatt and what the future holds for him, and fans are unsure what will come next.
According to Dave Meltzer, those within WWE aren’t too sure either, with many being kept in the dark.
“I’ve certainly heard names for a faction but then I heard other people say those aren’t the names. And someone even told me it’s not even all worked out exactly how it’s all gonna go down.”
Dave Meltzer.
The Wyatt-6
Rumors of a faction for Wyatt began at Extreme Rules, as his return featured several other performers.
For his return, individuals dressed as members of the Firefly Fun House, including Huskus the Pig Boy, Rambling Rabbit, Abby the Witch, Mercy the Buzzard, and the Fiend.
Names rumored for the group include Grayson Waller, who is believed to have played Mercy the Buzzard at Extreme Rules.
During a recent video on Twitter, Waller teased involvement, as a Bray Wyatt Head-Lantern was in the background of the video.
Liv Morgan and Alexa Bliss have both been rumored to play Abby the Witch.
John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield’s return to WWE may be a matter of hours away as the company has plans to use the former WWE Champion.
Bradshaw was a staple of WWE programming from the mid-90s to 2009, when he retired from in-ring competition at WrestleMania 25.
In 2021, JBL was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class, which had been delayed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
JBL Returns
It’s been over a decade since JBL last competed for WWE, but his return to programming is said to be imminent.
PW Insider reports that during last week’s SmackDown tapings, there were talk backstage about the former World Champion.
It’s reported that people were discussing that JBL will be at the next several episodes of Monday Night Raw in some capacity.
It is unclear what exactly WWE has planned for the Texan legend.
Manager?
WWE has not publicly confirmed JBL’s appearance, but the former wrestler may be back as a manager.
After losing to Shinsuke Nakamura on the August 27, 2022, SmackDown, Happy Corbin was approached by someone in a white limousine.
While the passenger’s face was not seen, the voice was distinctly that of JBL and many believe that the Hall of Famer will be Corbin’s manager going forward.
Speaking in February this year, JBL said he would love to manage Corbin if given the chance.
“I Love Baron Corbin. I think Baron Corbin is a really smart guy, and I think Baron Corbin is a guy I would like to manage.”
It looks like it’s going to be ‘one and done’ for WWE Day 1. Earlier this year, WWE held the inaugural ‘Day 1’ premium live event on January 1st from Atlanta, GA. The show was headlined by Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship in a Fatal 5-Way match to end Big E’s reign.
Day 1 was scheduled to return to Atlanta on January 1st, but a report by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics states that the show has been scrapped entirely. The company has no plans to reschedule or even rebrand the show, which means WWE will not have any PLE’s between the Survivor Series on November 26th, 2022, until The Royal Rumble on January 28th, 2023.
Wrestlenomics were unable to confirm the reasoning behind this cancellation. There is speculation that the cancellation may be due to the company stepping aside as their business partner NBCUniversal would’ve run head-to-head with each other on January 1st had the show gone ahead.
It was also reported in the October 3rd Wrestling Observer Newsletter that changes would be made to the Day 1 PLE at some point down the road. Some of the recent moves made within the structure of the WWE umbrella have been intriguing.
From bringing back former WWE talent’s, to putting more of an emphasis on the in-ring product on television. This could mean more concise builds with TV storylines and a stronger focus on the PLE’s that the WWE runs moving forward.
The cancelation of WWE Day 1 is part of a broader format change coming to premium live events coming next year. You can read more about that story here:
Seth Rollins captured the United States Championship from Bobby Lashley last week on RAW and is already scheduled to put the title on the line this week.
The Visionary won the US Title in controversial fashion last week on the red brand. Seth was attacked Bobby Lashley two weeks ago following his successful title defense against Mustafa Ali.
The All Mighty responded to the attack and issued a challenge for a title match against Seth last Monday. Seth was coming into the bout at a bit of a disadvantage as he had just lost to Riddle two days prior in a Fight Pit match at WWE Extreme Rules.
However, Brock Lesnar made his way to the ring and attacked Bobby Lashley before the match. The Beast planted Bobby with a couple of F5s and left him laying in the ring. Seth capitalized on the attack and easily defeated a weakened Lashley to become the new champion.
Seth Rollins To Defend The Title Against Matt Riddle On WWE RAW
The bitter rivalry between Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins has not come to an end. WWE announced that Seth will put the United States Championship on the line against Matt this Monday night on RAW. The rivalry between Matt and Seth had gotten extremely personal as of late, with Rollins making references to Riddle’s struggles with his family life.
UFC legend Daniel Cormier was named the special guest referee for the Fight Pit match between the two at Extreme Rules. Matt won the match via submission and posed with Cormier at the conclusion of the PLE.
Bobby Lashley was scheduled to defend the United States Championship against Seth Rollins last Monday on WWE RAW.
Rollins was just coming off a loss to Matt Riddle at WWE Extreme Rules and was coming into the match at a disadvantage. However, Brock Lesnar’s theme hit and he made his way to the ring to confront the champion.
Brock planted Lashley with a couple of F5s and left him laying in the ring. Rollins attacked Bobby’s pride and got him to accept the title match anyway following the attack. Seth took advantage of a wounded Lashley and easily defeated him to become the new United States Champion.
The All Mighty took to Twitter today to deliver a warning to The Beast ahead of tomorrow night’s edition of the red brand. Bobby challenged Brock to show up tomorrow night on WWE RAW.
Bring your ass to #WWERaw tomorrow Brock. No more games. No more surprises.
Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley battled earlier this year at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event. Lashley emerged victorious in the match and captured the WWE Championship. Roman Reigns interfered towards the end of the bout and helped Lashley defeat The Beast.
Lashley was set to defend the title in the Elimination Chamber but was ruled out of the match following a Buckle Bomb from Seth Rollins. The Visionary Powerbombed Theory onto Bobby’s pod and the impact resulted in Lashley being removed from the match due to “concussion protocol”.
Brock went on to win the match and battled Roman Reigns during Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 to determine the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Roman defeated The Beast at the biggest show of the year and went on to successfully defend the title against Brock in a rematch at this year’s SummerSlam PLE.
Xavier Woods ran a wildly successful campaign amongst wrestling and video games in order to be named a host for the G4 network.
The video game network had recently been revived and was looking for some new personalities to carry the brand forward. Woods got the job and was named the host of “Arena” on the network. Xavier was also recently named the host for “Attack of the Show” on G4 as well.
Comcast Cancels G4TV, Xavier Woods Comments
Unfortunately for fans of G4, the network’s revival was short-lived and has come to an abrupt end.
As reported by Deadline earlier today, Comcast CEO Dave Scott sent out a memo and announced that G4 is immediately being discontinued. Dave explained that the network was being canceled because is it was not financially sustainable.
You can check out the full memo from Comcast CEO Dave Scott below:
Team:
As you know, G4 was re-introduced last year to tap into the popularity of gaming.
We invested to create the new G4 as an online and TV destination for fans to be entertained, be inspired, and connect with gaming content.
Over the past several months, we worked hard to generate that interest in G4, but viewership is low and the network has not achieved sustainable financial results.
This is certainly not what we hoped for, and, as a result, we have made the very difficult decision to discontinue G4’s operations, effective immediately. I know this is disappointing news, and I’m disappointed, too.
I want to thank you and everyone on the G4 team for the hard work and commitment to the network.
Our human resources team is reaching out to you to provide you with support, discuss other opportunities that may be available, and answer any questions you may have.
Thank you again for all of your hard work for G4.
Sincerely,
Dave Scott Chairman and CEO Comcast Spectacor
Xavier Woods sent out the following tweet less than a half hour ago and apparently found out the news on social media.
On a flight currently. Decided to get the wifi so I could shoot a text. Out of habit opened twitter….
On a flight currently. Decided to get the wifi so I could shoot a text. Out of habit opened twitter…. pic.twitter.com/sH8b8txgPi
WWE is reportedly expected to make changes to Premium Live Events starting in 2023 and has already canceled Day 1.
WrestleNomics exclusively reported earlier today that the Day 1 PLE has been canceled. Brock Lesnar captured the WWE Championship at the event on January 1st earlier this year. The event was held at the State Farms Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. WWE said that the PLE was the beginning of a new tradition for the company on New Year’s Day.
There are currently no Premium Live Events scheduled after Survivor Series on November 26th until Royal Rumble next year on January 28th.
Bryan Alvarez of The Wrestling Observer and shared that WWE is changing it’s strategy in regards to Premium Live Events with his “Super Followers” on Twitter. Alvarez reported that WWE is moving away from “gimmick events” next year to focus on international events like Clash at the Castle. Many fans have been critical of WWE having entire events based around gimmick matches (Hell in a Cell, TLC, Extreme Rules, etc).
Triple H recently spoke with LADBible and outlined his vision for the NXT product. The Game said that he wanted to take NXT around the world and build it into an “almost a World Cup scenario”. WWE held Clash at the Castle at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
It was WWE’s first stadium show in the United Kingdom in over 30 years and it was a massive success, with over 60,000 fans attending the Premium Live Event. It appears that WWE will focus on reaching more markets with their PLEs in 2023.
WWE legend Kurt Angle appeared today at the Pittsburgh Steelers game and got the crowd excited before kickoff.
Kurt recently appeared on WWE RAW when the red brand was in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He sat ringside for a tag team match between the Street Profits and Alpha Academy.
Following the victory for The Street Profits, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins tried to share a drink with the Hall of Famer. Angle spit it out and they chugged milk instead. Kurt Angle wrestled his final match in WWE at in 2019. The Olympic Gold Medalist was defeated by Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.
Kurt Angle Rallies Fans At Steelers Game
Kurt Angle took to Twitter to post a video of his appearance today before the Pittsburgh Steelers game. The 53-year-old waved the “terrible towels” with his son and rallied the crowd. Angle and his son were at the game to promote cancer awareness.
My son Joseph and I led the incredible Pittsburgh Steelers Fans with the terrible towel twirl today, to promote cancer awareness. Go Steelers!! We’re gonna beat the@Buccaneers today!!!! #cancerawareness@steelers
Kurt Angle noted that the Steelers were going to win today in his post and they did just that. The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off the shocking upset of Tom Brady and The Buccaneers today. Steelers new QB Kenny Pickett was knocked out of the game with a concussion but Pittsburgh still was able to escape with a 20-18 victory.
“I just can’t see anything in the wrestling business that he has a hand in that’s not going to be successful. And I’m obviously biased and partial to the man, but I would go to war for him seven days a week.”
Since being appointed Head of Talent, Triple H has brought several prominent stars back, including Johnny Gargano, Karrion Kross, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt.
