The Tribune-Review news website has a story about WWE commentator Corey Graves starting a new job as a professor at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Graves, real name Matthew Polinsky, was originally invited to deliver a speech to the university’s broadcasting students and he was asked to come again by the dean of the school of communication.
After knocking it out of the park, twice, university officials asked him if he would be interested in teaching a class, something that he thought was “the most absurd thing” he’d ever heard of.
The dean, Dr. Bernie Ankey, was impressed with Graves in how he interacted and mentored students, bringing energy to his speech and presentation.
“I thought it would be worth looking into Corey teaching a class. Somebody like that, if you put him in the classroom, students are familiar with his work,” he said.
Graves and Dr. Ankey worked together for several months the details of the class and curriculum, now called Live Sports Production.
Graves teaches the three-hour course every Wednesday to 12 students and has the full blessing of WWE as well.
“TKO has seemingly been a lot more open to collaboration and allowing talent to step outside WWE, more so than the old WWE regime,” Graves told Tribune-Review. “Anybody who works for WWE has had an opportunity of some sort that they’ve had to turn down because they couldn’t get permission, or it was a conflict of interest. This really isn’t a wrestling class; it was a broadcasting class. I took it to my manager, and they’ve been supportive to help me with making this happen.”
A new number one contender for the NXT Women’s title will be decided next week.
A tag team match between Zaria and Sol Ruca vs Kendal Gray and Wren Sinclair has been set up for the next broadcast, with the woman who scores the pinfall or submission victory for their team becoming the number one contender.
The match against Jacy Jayne for the title takes place on the NXT show at Center Stage in Atlanta on Tuesday, February 24.
Ruca and Zaria had some miscommunication on yesterday’s show, with the duo losing their TNA Knockouts Tag Team title match after Ruca inadvertently hitting Zaria with the Sol Snatcher finisher.
Smackdown on Friday night from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia drew 1,260,000 viewers, up 317,000 viewers from the prior week and their best number since September 2025. In 18-49, the show had a 0.29 rating, up 0.07 from the previous week and was #1 on the top 50 cable chart for the night and #2 in overall television.
Important to note that Nielsen has once again altered the way it calculates TV ratings, with tweaks done to their Big Data + Panel methodology which is resulting in higher ratings than the past several months. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
With Ava’s departure as NXT General Manager, there was an open spot on yesterday’s broadcast and Shawn Michaels appointed Robert Stone as the interim General Manager.
The 42-year-old has been part of NXT since 2019 and has served both as a manager and also as an assistant to Ava. He also does color commentary for EVOLVE along with Peter Rosenberg.
Ava, real name Simone Johnson, left the company last week and was not mentioned on yesterday’s broadcast.
The eldest daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson raised some eyebrows a few days ago when she posted an anti-US government post on X. She later deactivated her social media account.
Appearing on the Notsam Wrestling Live show hosted by Sam Roberts on Sirius XM, Brie Bella credited WWE President Nick Khan for bringing her back to WWE.
Bella told Roberts that while she made it clear she wanted to return to WWE in the past, she was always told no and kind of gave up on the idea of going back around Thanksgiving.
Brie mentioned that some “other opportunities” were offered to her by other parties when all of a sudden, Khan gave her a call and offered her a job back.
“I was very shocked, and I was like, ‘Alright!’ And I’m grateful to Nick for bringing me back because I definitely thought the door was closed, and I’m happy that it reopened,” Brie said.
Many believed that Brie kept getting a no because of her husband Bryan Danielson, who has been working with AEW ever since he left WWE.
Speaking of Danielson, both Brie and her sister Nikki said that it was him who got them in shape for the Royal Rumble, getting them through some hard practices to be ready for the big day.
Last week’s episode of TNA Impact on AMC drew 201,000 viewers, up 30,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.04 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 from the previous episode. This was the best number since moving to AMC.
Important to note that Nielsen has once again altered the way it calculates TV ratings, with tweaks done to their Big Data + Panel methodology which is resulting in higher ratings than the past several months. (Ratings credit: PWTorch)
The former TNA World champion is now the new NXT champion after he won a seven-man ladder match on NXT on The CW last night.
The match ended with both Hendry and Ricky Saints pulling the title in their way but Hendry hit Saints with the title, sending him back first through a ladder. That left Hendry alone at the top of the ladder and unhooked the strap to clinch it.
Shiloh Hill, Sean Legacy, Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, and Keanu Carver were also part of the match.
This is Hendry’s first title in WWE.
The NXT title was vacated after the NXT New Year’s Evil episode following Oba Femi’s successful title defense over Leon Slater.
A new NXT champion will be crowned tonight live on NXT on The CW. It’s one of the three title matches scheduled for the show, starting at 8PM ET and airing on Netflix for international viewers.
The NXT champ will be decided in a seven-man ladder match featuring Ricky Saints, Shiloh Hill, Sean Legacy, Jackson Drake, Dion Lennox, Keanu Carver, and Joe Hendry. The title was vacated by Oba Femi last month on NXT’s New Year’s Evil episode.
Also, NXT Women’s North American champion Izzi Dame will defend her title against Lola Vice and former champ Thea Hail in a triple threat match while Sol Ruca and Zaria take on The Elegance Brand for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles.
Nia Jax sat down with Chris Van Vliet in London, England to discuss her WWE return and why it has been much more successful this time around, punching Becky Lynch and the backlash that followed, responding to online critics, taking an RKO from Randy Orton in the Royal Rumble, yelling “My Hole” during a match on Raw, taking a stinkface from Rea Ripley at a WWE live event, crushing Lyra Valkyria, getting hit by a drunk driver before her wrestling career started, being cousins with The Rock and more!
How did you find out that you were going to be in the Men’s Royal Rumble?
“So we had rehearsals that day, the Women’s Rumble, because it was me, Becky and Charlotte at the end of that one. So the doors were opening, and we were in Arizona, I believe. I was walking back, and Johnny Ace was like, ‘Hey kid, you got to rehearse more.’ I said, ‘Oh, what are we doing?’ He was like, ‘You’re in the Men’s Rumble.’ I said, ‘What?! Doors are open Johnny. When am I going to rehearse?’ [He said] ‘Oh, we’re just gonna rehearse this part with Truth, and then you go do the Women’s Rumble, and then we’ll talk about the guys after.’ I thought he was kidding. But then when we rehearsed it with Truth, me beating up Truth and everything, entering at number 30, I was like, this is happening. So then I had to focus on the Women’s Rumble, because I had stuff to do with Lana in that match, and then Becky and Charlotte, and then run back. I had to go into a room with a bunch of the guys, and they’re going over stuff, and they’re like, ‘Hey guys, Nia’s in the Rumble. So run through with what you’re gonna do with her.’ I was like, I don’t get to go into a ring?”
Did you know who you had spots with?
“Yeah, it was Andrade, it was Ali, Randy, Rey and Dolph. So they were in at the time, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, now you’re gonna come in, you’re gonna drop Truth, and then when you slide in, you’re gonna start cleaning house and then you’re going to eliminate Ali, and then there’s going to be a spot with Andrade and Dolph and Rey, and then you’re RKO’d.’ And I was like, ‘I’m going to get what?’ They’re like, yeah, you’re going to take an RKO. Before that, it was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to go to tackle Randy, and then this happens.’ I was like, Okay. So I was just sitting there going but what if I f*ck up the RKO? That’s one of the most iconic moves in WWE history. Everybody already hated me. So then I look at Randy, and Randy’s super cool. But you know, Randy has a reputation of being like, you know. I was like, Oh, f*ck. I’m like, Randy. He’s like, Yeah? I’m like, ‘I’m nervous. I don’t want to f*ck up your RKO.’ And he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it kid. Just when you turn left, I’ll take you. You just turn to the left, and the rest I’ll handle.’ I was like, okay. So out of that whole match, that was the most nervous. I was like, f*ck. I just can’t f*ck up the RKO. We get into it. I beat up Truth, poor Truth, and beat the sh*t out of Truth. Go in there and run the spots. Go to tackle Randy. He takes a bump for me, and I was like, f*ck, did I just hit him too hard? In my mind, I’m thinking sh*t, did I just hit Randy too hard? Meanwhile, I hear Kim [Randy Orton’s wife] cussing me out. She’s yelling at me. I’m like, oh sh*t. And then whatever we run through, do the RKO, I take the 619, the RKO. I’m like, Holy sh*t, this is not happening. Then they dump me, then they drop kick me off the apron. When you’re in the moment, you don’t realize that. When I was done, I was like, that was a massive moment for me that those guys didn’t have to. They could have said no, that they just did for me.”
When you got released from WWE in 2021 you didn’t work anywhere else. You have never worked a match outside of a WWE ring. When you got released, was there the thought of, I’m gonna do the Indies or I’m gonna go elsewhere?
“Not really. I didn’t think that I wanted to wrestle anywhere else, but I did know that I wanted to still wrestle. I didn’t even know if I was gonna come back to the WWE honestly, it was just kind of, like I said, it was my whole life at the time. So when I was released, it was kind of a shock. Or it was like, What is my life? It’s kind of like I had to reset. I’m like, What is my life right now? Because my whole life has been WWE and I really didn’t think about an after, which, you know, a lot of wrestlers get caught up in that. Because it happens to be like that. When we’re on the road five days a week, you don’t really think about the after. So I didn’t think about wrestling anywhere else. Everybody kept saying, try here and go there.”
Do you think about how much longer you want to wrestle?
“No, because as many times as I’m like, Well, maybe after this, or I’ve won this title and I’ve done this, I’m like, Oh, I can still do this. Then I see all this new talent, I’m like, Hey, I would love to work with this new talent and do stuff with them and help them out. So I haven’t really said, ‘Oh, this is when I’m going to be done.’ I hope it just happens naturally, where it’s like, Okay, I think it’s my time, where I’ve kind of given enough back to the business that’s given a lot to me. So we’ll see.”
The moment with Becky Lynch, when she became The Man. Did you realize in that moment how big this affected both of your careers?
“No. I do realize in the moment when I hit her, I felt on my knuckle a little [contact], and I was like, f*ck. Because when it happened, this will be funny. Go back to the beginning, where we came in and they were like, ‘Hey, we got to sell this match, go in there, give it your all. Say sorry later.’ A producer said that to us. I was like, All right. We’re in there, and naturally, I feel like I’m an easy target because I’m the biggest girl. So I kept getting punched, hit from all angles, and I’m like, mother trucker. I’m in the corner with Naomi, and we’re fighting, and somebody comes and just clinks me in the back of my head, and I just turn around. I’m like, ‘Get the f off me.’ Didn’t realize it was Becky. I thought it was Lana. I turned and connected, and I felt it, and I was just like, oh sh*t! I didn’t realize how bad it was until I looked down and I just saw her bleeding all over the mat. Then she rolled out, and Dana was looking at her, taking care of her. Then we get done, and we go to the back, and I’m sitting there going, like, Oh my gosh, I’m in so much trouble. This is it. I think they’re done with me. I was getting my papers. Then Becky was in the trainer’s room, and I couldn’t go in there, they were checking her out, and I was just trying to make sure she was okay. Then I had to go talk to Vince and the producers, and they were all quiet, but talking to each other and not saying anything to me. Then in Gorilla they had it on the screen, he was talking to Kevin, ‘Let me see the footage.’ They were replaying it from every angle. I was like, oh man, it was a tough time. Then Vince was like, ‘It’s not ballet, sh*t’s gonna happen.’ I was like, okay, because I’ve been cussed out by Vince before for other things, so I thought oh for sure I’m gonna get cussed out for this. He was like, ‘It’s not ballet. Sh*t happens, is she okay?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ He said ‘Go check on her.’ Then from there, it just exploded all over the internet. Then I think when I tweeted out, it was a joke, and I asked Becky about it if I could, it was like I had a cut on my hand from the punch. And it was from the movie The Campaign, ‘Is anybody asking me how my fist is doing?’ I thought it was funny, just like every heel is justified. But it was definitely that people were way too sensitive to it. That’s when I went nuclear heat. I’ll never forget the next week was Survivor Series, and I wasn’t supposed to win that match, whatever it was supposed to be. I think it was Sasha was supposed to win that match. I was still trending about the punch, and everybody was telling Vince the internet is still going nuts about Nia punching Becky in the face. Then right before the doors open, he was like, ‘Finish change, Nia over.’ He said, ‘Yeah, when you go out there, you show your fist and you smile.’ I was like, All right.”
Was it a similar moment when you threw Jade into the steps?
“That was weird, because I know I’m strong. But yeah, I didn’t realize that even happened. I didn’t realize she hit her head that hard on the steps. So when I saw it, because I didn’t actually get to see the full extent of it until later, I was very shocked that she split open that badly. But it was definitely different. It was a different moment, for sure. But yeah, that was pretty scary.”
WWE will be taping NXT Roadblock on Tuesday, March 31 at The Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The same event was also taped in the same location last year, slightly earlier on March 11. It was headlined by Stephanie Vaquer vs Giulia in a winner-takes-all match for both the NXT Women’s and NXT Women’s North American titles.
A pre-sale will kick off tomorrow at 10AM ET on Ticketmaster.com using the code SOCIAL. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, February 5.
Monday Night Raw the night before is held at Madison Square Garden. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
In a post on social media, Piper Niven said that she has been quiet because she does not have any answers to any questions at the moment.
“It’s 5 months on and some days when it’s bad I can’t stand up for more than a few minutes if even a minute,” the Scottish star wrote.
She said that she wants to eventually come back because this is all she has done since she was 16 years old and can’t imagine doing anything else other than wrestle.
“I feel like I was really just starting to get confident again and open up and hit my groove,” she continued. “So all this to say, I hope so. Keep your fingers crossed for me.”
Niven, who was last seen as being part of Chelsea Green’s Secret Hervice with Alba Fyre, suffered a career-threatening injury and last wrestled in August 2025.
WWE posted a four-minute behind-the-scenes video of Royce Keys’ debut at the Royal Rumble on social media.
The video shows Keys, the man formerly known as Powerhouse Hobbs, talking about his dream of eventually becoming a WWE Superstar as he is met by several people, including an old friend in Cody Rhodes.
Rhodes jokingly tells the cameraman not to believe anything he is saying but Keys quickly pointed out that Rhodes was there for him during his roughest times when his mother passed away so he would never forget it.
Keys is also shown meeting Triple H backstage as well as CM Punk, Carmelo Hayes, Randy Orton, and others.
WWE today announced the first Superstars who will be appearing at WWE World for photo and autograph sessions at WWE World at WrestleMania 42.
Chelsea Green, Dominik Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, Kit Wilson, Liv Morgan, Matt Cardona, Stephanie Vaquer, and Tiffany Stratton are so far announced for Thursday.
Je’Von Evans, Jey Uso, Lyra Valkyria, Maxxine Dupri, Nikki Bella, Penta, Rusev, and Trick Williams are set for Friday.
No Superstars have been announced for Saturday or Sunday yet but Giulia and R-Truth are set for Monday morning.
Pre-sale access for individual photo and autograph ops will start in March.
A separate ticket to WWE World is required to enter the premises for a photo or autograph
WWE World will be held between April 16 and April 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall.
Qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber matches will kick off on next week’s episode of Raw.
A men and a women’s Elimination Chamber match will take place on the premium live event later this month, with the men’s winner taking on Drew McIntyre for the WWE title while the women’s winner going after the title which Liv Morgan doesn’t pick.
Morgan will be going to Smackdown this Friday to check out the options she has before eventually making a choice. She did end up leveling Stephanie Vaquer after Vaquer successfully defended the WWE Women’s World title against Raquel Rodriguez.
Six participants form part of the Elimination Chamber match. Bianca Belair and John Cena won last year’s matches. Belair failed to defeat Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match at WrestleMania but Cena did successfully beat Cody Rhodes to win #17.
The WWE Intercontinental champion returned to Raw last night after a two-month absence.
Dominik Mysterio came out in front of the live crowd to introduce his girlfriend and Royal Rumble winner, Liv Morgan, to the Philly crowd, but other than that, had no physical action on the broadcast.
Mysterio was injured during the AAA Guerra de Titanes show in December of last year and has been out of action ever since. He will return to AAA, where he’s the Mega champion, on this weekend’s show on FOX.
The Tribal Chief is going after a title he has never won before – the WWE World Heavyweight championship – at WrestleMania 42.
In a show-closing segment on Raw last night, Roman Reigns told Punk he’s choosing him to face at WrestleMania because he hates him, and at WrestleMania, Punk will acknowledge him.
“There’s two mountains to climb in front of you, and yeah, one is the easy way out because, one is a guy who you think you can beat, and the other is a guy that you know on your best day you can’t touch because he’s the best in the world,” Punk told Reigns.
Punk taunted Reigns and told him he could “climb Mount Everest without a Sherpa” and go after the man that has made that title in his absence, obviously referring to himself.
“Let’s get one thing straight, you make it all these towns because you took a 10-year vacation,” Reigns said. “And the second thing, I learned from you? The only thing I learned from you is what not to do.”
Reigns said that two years ago, when they wanted to bring Punk back, they went to him to see if it’s all good and Punk was there because of him.
The OTC berated Punk for going on his “best friend’s podcast” 10 years ago and made his life harder than it should have been, he let him back, he took his Wiseman, he brainwashed his cousins, and almost managed to brainwash him as well at WarGames.
“I’m picking you because I hate you. I always hated you. And WrestleMania is going to be the best day of my life because in the main event, you will acknowledge me,” Reigns concluded.
Both Royal Rumble winners Roman Reigns and Liv Morgan will be appearing on Raw live tonight on Netflix.
Asked during the post-Royal Rumble show when Reigns would be showing up next, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque did not have an answer, but The OTC is in Philly and is ready to regain the spotlight on the way to WrestleMania 42.
The only match announced for tonight’s broadcast is Stephanie Vaquer vs Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s World title. Raquel was eliminated from the Rumble by her Judgment Day partner and eventual winner, but has time to still head to WrestleMania if she beats Vaquer for the title tonight.
Over 12,000 fans are expected at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia tonight for Raw.
PWInsider.com is reporting that Brie Bella has been added to the Raw roster internally. She is believed to have signed some type of WWE contract and her Royal Rumble appearance was not a one-time deal.
Bella was #29 in the women’s Royal Rumble match and received a massive pop from the Saudi crowd, along with the customary “Yes!” chants made popular by her husband Bryan Danielson.
Brie had been angling for a WWE return for quite a while, with many believing her status as Danielson’s wife was a stumbling block since he was in AEW. Brie appeared only a couple of times on AEW television, most notably at All In 2024 when she celebrated with Danielson after he won the AEW World title at Wembley Stadium.
The return of Brie could also mean that she and Nikki could go for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, something that the twins have previously said they would love to do.
Prior to last Saturday’s appearance, Brie last appeared on WWE TV at the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Tickets for Backlash 2026 in Tampa, Florida will go on sale Friday, February 20 at 10AM ET on Ticketmaster.com.
A pre-sale will be held on Thursday, February 19 starting at 10AM ET using the code WWETIX.
Additionally, WWE Backlash Priority Passes will soon be available from On Location, the Official Fan Hospitality Partner of WWE. These exclusive passes give fans the opportunity to be ringside for every exhilarating moment, including premium seating, pre-show hospitality with WWE Superstar appearances, ringside photo opportunities and much more.
This is the second time that the Tampa region will be hosting Backlash following the 2021 event. The last WWE PLE in the city was the 2024 Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field.
It was a good weekend for WWE in terms of Google search as several terms related to the company and its Royal Rumble premium live event all trended on the site.
The terms Royal Rumble, AJ Styles, Brie Bella, Cody Rhodes, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Brock Lesnar all made it on the Google Trends chart.
It was an ever better weekend for TKO as the UFC also did big search results on Google for their Saturday show on Paramount+.
Royal Rumble related videos on YouTube did around 12 million views so far as well, with the men’s Royal Rumble match highlights leading the pack with 2 million views.
