Total Divas returns on E! tonight with episode 10 of season seven titled Shall We Dance?
The synopsis for the show reads, “Nicole is offered an amazing opportunity with Dancing with the Stars, but feels pressured to decline because of her growing businesses with Brie. In Bulgaria, Lana challenges Rusev to a bet in order to win her dream mansion. Meanwhile, Carmella is overwhelmed with moving to a new home with her boyfriend, Cass, who just suffered a career jolting injury, and Nattie stresses out about how long she will remain the new Women’s Champion.”
Impact Wrestling star Sienna was hospitalized during the Impact television tapings and was diagnosed with a blood clot in each lung.
“I went to the hospital during tapings suspecting a displaced rib or collapsed lung,” Sienna wrote. “Turns out I have a blood clot in each lung.” Sienna took a trip to the hospital after she was suffering from shortness of breath and back pain.
The former Knockouts champion will not be wrestling in the immediate future but will still be making appearances. The 30-year-old was not the only one who took a trip to an Orlando hospital during these tapings as Eddie Edwards also had to go to the ER after he was accidentally hit with a baseball bat that landed on his face, suffering some broken bones and a nasty black eye. The tourism and hospitality management sector have been hit greatly due to the COVID-19 ostomy care tips. Many scheduled tours and tourism activities have been canceled due to travel bans and lockdowns. It is estimated that the tourism sector globally will lose high revenue up to the value of close to two billion dollars. This is the time researchers in tourism and hospitality management might consider virtual means of marketing these tourism sites through intensified research into smart tourism and e-tourism. This growing field in tourism has not been given much attention, especially in developing countries. This pandemic period should be the time that researchers in this field would find ways of increasing public awareness of smart tourism and e-tourism. Scholars in the Social Sciences and Humanities such as sociologists, anthropologists and culturists have the task in investigating the sociological impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak such as ways of dealing with social anxiety as a result of the pandemic. Also, an assessment of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 on business activities, the need to embark on e-business, e-marketing, e-banking and other electronic forms of carrying out business activities are important topics that must be explored. Social and Cultural anthropologists should look into the cultural and social perceptions of the different people across the regions of the world about the coronavirus and recommend the application of culturally relevant interventions to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, psychologists and psychiatrists must suggest ways of dealing with post-traumatic disorders from quarantining, as well as stigmatization and discrimination against COVID-19 patients and their relatives.Moreover, this is the time for educational technologists to come out with proactive ways of undertaking online instruction via various forms of learning management systems, intelligent tutoring systems, and social media platforms. Artists must creatively produce animated cartoons and other forms of signs in e-formats to be promoted online in fighting against the myths and misinformation surrounding the treatment of the COVID-19 and the need to expunge all forms of stigmatization and discrimination against persons who are tested for COVID-19. Of course, this is the time that researchers in all fields of study must collaborate to investigate pluralistic means of fighting the COVID-19 global pandemic. Researchers in the field of Engineering, particularly Computer and Mechanical Engineering are devising technologies to help in mitigating the spread of the COVID-19. Digital technologies such as drones and robocops have been designed and used in some countries, to sum up, manual enforcement of lockdowns. Likewise, mobile technologies such as the development of new apps for contact tracing of patients of the COVID-19 as well as those who have had contact with them are being designed. For instance, MIT researchers are developing a system based on artificial intelligence to complement the manual contact tracing carried out by public health personnel that relies on short-range Bluetooth signals from smartphones. In South Africa, ambulances endowed with automated test kits and laboratory services designed as a result of diligent efforts in research are being used in testing and tracking persons with the COVID-19 even in remote, hard-to-reach areas. In Ghana, the Ministry of Health recently launched the COVID-19 app for tracing people infected or who have had contact with carriers of the COVID-19 virus. These technologies developed as a result of rigorous studies by some mechanical engineers as well as computer hardware and software engineers are being deployed to aid in the fight against the COVID-19. More technological tools to fight the coronavirus are still required and dedicated researchers in the field of engineering are constantly on the table investigating these potentials.
With so many WWE Legends returning to Raw’s 25th anniversary episode, one of the big questions is if Hulk Hogan will be showing up on this historic night.
The answer, for now, seems like it is a no. When asked on Twitter if he will be on the show, Hogan wrote, “I will be home watching and cheering on my friends next Monday on Raw.”
WWE will surely have a few surprises up the sleeve so maybe Hogan is working everyone here especially since it’s been rumored that 2018 will be the year that the Hulkster will make his WWE return.
Hogan was fired from WWE in July 2015, mid-way through his judging duties on Tough Enough. His dismissal came after tapes were leaked of Hogan saying several racist remarks, remarks that he has since apologized for.
Former WWE Superstar Eva Marie revealed in a piece published by InStyle.com that she was an alcoholic and has now been sober for five years.
“I’m an alcoholic. I have relapsed, destroyed relationships, hurt my family, and disappointed myself numerous times. I will be an alcoholic for the rest of my life,” Eva Marie wrote. “The fact that I have been sober for almost five years doesn’t mean that I am ‘cured,’ it doesn’t mean that I had a drinking phase in my 20s, and it doesn’t mean that I can have a few drinks now and again or just drink in moderation.”
The former Total Divas star said that admitting that she was an alcoholic eventually saved her life. In a post on Instagram, she wrote that she avoided getting help originally because she would feel weak and embarrassed, not to mention that people would judge her negatively.
“I am so happy I no longer feel this way, and I want to encourage anyone who is struggling with addiction to take that first step of asking for help, it will literally save your life,” she wrote.
The pre-sale for the WWE Hall of Fame 2018 ceremony kicked off this morning on Ticketmaster.com. Fans who wish to purchase tickets for the event can use the code TWEETS to unlock tickets.
Tickets are priced $25, $50, $75, $100, and $150 for floor seats. Additional fees apply. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, January 19 at 10AM CST.
The 2018 WWE Hall of Fame will be headlined by Goldberg, who was announced as the first inductee of the class of 2018 this past Monday.
The ceremony takes place on Friday, April 6 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Raw 25th anniversary episode will have some stratusfaction after WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was announced to be appearing on the show.
Stratus was an integral part of Raw during the Attitude Era and even main evented Monday Night Raw with Lita once in a title match which she lost.
The last time Stratus appeared on WWE television was in 2016 when she inducted Lita into the WWE Hall of Fame. She also had a cameo appearance during the WWE 24 special Women’s Evolution to discuss her feud with her best friend Lita. You have to go back to June 2011 to find a Trish appearance on Monday Night Raw so it’s been a long-time coming.
“I’m excited to be coming back home,” said Trish on her official website. “When the WWE Universe says they want some stratusfaction, one must deliver.”
Although the final match of the United States title tournament was supposed to take place during the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE pulled the trigger early and crowned a new champion during last night’s Smackdown.
Three tournament matches took place on Smackdown, including Jinder Mahal winning against Xavier Woods to advance to the final and Bobby Roode defeating Mojo Rawley to also move to the final match.
Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan decided to make the match for the night after Roode called out Mahal to wrestle later in the evening instead of waiting. Earlier, Mahal’s sidekicks The Singh Brothers attacked Roode after he won the semi-final match and they were both banned from ringside for the final.
Roode vs Mahal closed the show and after a Glorious DDT, Roode was crowned the new United States champion.
There are still no signs of Dolph Ziggler, who surrendered the title two nights after winning it at Clash of Champions in December.
Joshua Fatu, better known to fans as one half of The Usos, Jey Uso, was arrested on Sunday night following the non-televised live event in Hidalgo, Texas.
The Smackdown Tag Team title holder was charged with driving while intoxicated and was released on a $500 bond after he got booked by the cops. His arrest was recorded on the Hidalgo County Records Inquiry website along with two photos of his mug shot.
I guess welcome to the Uso penitentiary will have a whole new meaning now! You can see his mug shot below.
One year ago in Miami, a team from the Drug Enforcement Agency raided the Iron Addicts Gym, arresting multiple individuals, including one of the co-owners, on charges of running a $10 million steroid production and distribution ring.
The co-owner who was busted, Richard Rodriguez, disclosed the names of some of the celebrities that were involved in the whole Wellness Fitness Nutrition steroid business and one of them is none other than the current WWE Intercontinental champion Roman Reigns. Rodriguez said that he revealed Reigns’ name because during discovery with investigators, he gave him up.
Speaking to documentary filmmaker Jon Bravo who is investigating the case, Rodriguez said that Reigns was introduced to him by one of the informants, and called him a very down-to-earth person. Rodriguez also named Hollywood movie stars Mark Wahlberg and Josh Duhamel who were in on the whole thing as well. The interview was taped on January 11, 2018.
Rodriguez – who was released from jail in June on a $300,000 bond – was in the business with nine others who imported products from China, manufactured steroids in an Arizona lab and distributed them worldwide through a Miami P.O. box.
You can listen to Rodriguez talking about Roman Reigns below.
Impact Wrestling and Twitch today announced the Impact Wrestling channel which will feature a 24-hour live stream and exclusive weekly programming at Twitch.tv/impactwrestling. The channel will launch tomorrow, January 17.
The channel on Twitch will feature exclusive content, including monthly live events and house shows as well as lifestyle programming showcasing Impact Wrestling stars outside of the ring, from diets and workouts to relationships and travel. The user can also subscribe to twitch premium to experience exclusive features like emotes created by professional emote artist, video on demand and much more. Twitch will also air Impact Wrestling’s live event at WrestleCon in New Orleans on Friday, April 6 at 9:00PM CT.
Other exclusive shows on the channel include the return of the popular podcast The LAW, produced and hosted by Jeremy Borash, Nuff Said, a show hosted by Tyrus who will offer his unique take on professional wrestling, politics, sports and popular culture, and Matthews’ Megacast, a second screen perspective with Josh Mathews during Impact.
Programming for the channel will also include past and present episodes of the flagship Impact show, the original weekly show Xplosion, pay-per-view events on a second window, plus over 1,000 hours of original programming showcasing classic content.
“Our expansion on Twitch marks another important milestone in our digital expansion,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “The interactive content and larger-than-life personalities of IMPACT Wrestling are a perfect fit for the platform, whose passionate communities have demonstrated an increased appetite for professional wrestling and live events. As we adapt to new content consumption methods, our partnership with Twitch gives us an opportunity to interact directly with our audience, while engaging and growing our fan base across the world.”
As expected, Paige has now been removed from the Royal Rumble match as her in-ring career at WWE is officially over.
“As much as it pains me I do have to sit out from this Royal Rumble per the doctor’s orders,” Paige said in a video interview with WWE.COM after it was announced on Raw that she’s out of the first-ever women’s Rumble match.
She said while she really wanted to partake in this history-making match, she would still be at the pay-per-view to support her Absolution team mates, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.
Paige was injured late last month during a six-woman tag team match involving Absolution, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. The injury occurred when Banks – who was in the corner – kicked her in the back with some good force as she had the leverage of the ropes as well. Paige fell flat on her face and then tried to stand up but fell again. After trying multiple times to get up, the referee realized that something was wrong and threw the X hand sign to alert those backstage that it’s a real injury. You can see the video of the kick and the injury below.
Meanwhile, Michelle McCool, the wife of The Undertaker, is rumored to be also participating in the women’s Royal Rumble. WWE now needs to fill 11 spots in that Rumble match assuming everyone in the women’s division – minus the champions – are participating.
WWE today announced the signing of Trevor Mann, better known to wrestling fans as Ricochet.
The 29-year-old popular indie high-flyer started his training at the WWE Performance Center today along with other new signees.
In his 14-year career, he has wrestled all over the world and for promotions such as Chikara, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and also Lucha Underground. In Lucha Underground, he wrestled under the name of Prince Puma and you can bet that whenever there is a Ricochet match, fans will be entertained by his high-risk, high-flying ability.
Joining him at the WWE Performance Center from today will be Candice LaRae, the tag team of War Machine, Rinku Singh, Nasser Alruwayeh, Nicolai Salchow, Saurav Gurjar, Kavita Devi, Shadia Bseiso, and Kacy Catanzaro who appeared on American Ninja Warrior.
WWE will start its newest show today, titled Mixed Match Challenge, which will air on Facebook Watch starting at 10PM EST immediately following Smackdown Live.
The 12-episode, 20-minute series was announced by both companies on December 13 and will be a tournament featuring mixed teams from Raw and Smackdown competing against each other until there’s only one winner. The winning team will receive $100,000 for a charity they are associated with and WWE will also donate $10,000 for each team’s charity, with a total overall donation of $220,000.
The first match tonight will feature Finn Balor and Sasha Banks taking on Shinsuke Nakamura and Natalya. Facebook Watch is only available for those in the United States but the show will air on the WWE Network internationally as well later in the week.
WWE Mixed Match Challenge is the first original series produced by WWE for Facebook.
Nine more WWE Legends, including Chris Jericho, will be appearing on the Raw 25th anniversary episode next week, live from the Barclays Center and the Manhattan Center.
Jericho, who three weeks ago wrestled in the co-main event of Wrestle Kingdom 12 against Kenny Omega, has not appeared on WWE television since July of last year. Appearing in NJPW and WWE in the same month is no easy feat and it takes someone on the level of Jericho to pull this kind of magic!
Although previously announced but never acknowledged yet by WWE, former WCW President and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff will also make his presence felt. Former long-time WWE employee The Brooklyn Brawler is booked as well along with Jacqueline Moore, Terri Runnels, Torrie Wilson, Maria Kanellis, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool.
There are 33 WWE Legends booked for this special occasion and two important names missing from the list so far are Hulk Hogan and The Rock.
In his first comments since he was revealed as the headliner and newest inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame, former champion Goldberg thanked the fans and said that he’s honored and humbled to be part of the Hall of Fame.
“Well, after being knocked on my ass all weekend w/ this damn flu, not a bad way to kick off the new week,” Goldberg wrote, adding a photo of the notification from his cell phone of the announcement.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who has ever been a fan. This accomplishment could not of been made without you all. I’m very honored and humbled to be inducted,” he said, adding that it looks like “he’s next!”
Meanwhile, Triple H in the press release announcing Goldberg as the headliner, said that Goldberg’s unique athleticism, persona and intensity captured the imagination of sports entertainment fans around the world throughout his illustrious career. “We are honored to have Goldberg take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame,” HHH commented.
WWE.COM today confirmed that Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler will be the announce team in charge next week for Raw at the Manhattan Center.
Both JR and Lawler were previously announced for the show and the general feeling was that both of them would handle the commentary from the Manhattan Center but the news was only made official today.
While the format of the full three hour show has not been revealed yet, it has been rumored that the simulcast will flip and flop between the Manhattan Center and the Barclays Center. The regular Raw announce team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Booker T will handle the action from the Barclays Center.
The Manhattan Center portion of the show will see a lot of WWE Legends appearing. The Manhattan Center was the original home of Monday Night Raw when it started back in January 1993.
The WWE Network will air a Raw 25 special tonight immediately following the end of Monday Night Raw.
Titled Celebrating 25 Years of Raw and hosted by Corey Graves and Peter Rosenberg, the show will count down the top 25 moments in Raw history. The hype the show, Rosenberg and Graves filmed a seven-minute segment for WWE.COM where Rosenberg loses the list and then goes to the WWE warehouse to find it.
In the warehouse, Rosenberg goes through several WWE memorabilia that appeared on Raw over the years and is joined on this tour by the one and only Sean Mooney!
The show will also air on USA Network tomorrow night at 10PM EST following the conclusion of Smackdown Live.
Bill Goldberg has been officially announced as the first inductee – and headliner – of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018.
The 51-year-old recently returned to the WWE after an absence of 12 years, feuded with Brock Lesnar, won the Universal title, and then lost it to Lesnar in one of the main events of WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
The Oklahoma native began training for wrestling in 1996 after he was persuaded by Sting and Lex Luger to try out for wrestling after his professional football career did not take off. After undergoing training at the WCW Power Plant, he started appearing on WCW Nitro, quickly eliminating his opponents and staying undefeated for a very long time.
One of his greatest moments in WCW came in July 1998 when he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WCW World title at the Georgia Dome during Nitro in front of 40,000 fans. Goldberg’s undefeated streak came to an end at Starrcade that same year when he lost the title to Kevin Nash. WCW considered his streak of being 173-0 at that time.
After WWE bought WCW, Goldberg held back and got paid for the remainder of his contract until it ran out. In March 2003, Goldberg arrived in WWE and interrupted a Rock concert the day after WrestleMania XIX. No words were spoken but Goldberg delivered his trademark spear to The Rock to announce his arrival in the company.
At WrestleMania XX, Goldberg fought Brock Lesnar, a match which was the last one for both considering they were quitting the business. The match, officiated by Steve Austin, turned into a big mess as the fans turned on both Superstars. In the end, it was Goldberg who had his hand raised after defeating Lesnar at WrestleMania.
In May 2017, Goldberg was announced as the WWE 2K17 cover Superstar. This was his first affiliation with WWE ever since that disastrous night in Madison Square Garden in 2004. In mid-October, Goldberg appeared on Raw for the very first time in 12 years to accept Paul Heyman’s challenge to meet Lesnar at the Survivor Series. That match headlined the Survivor Series and lasted only one minute and twenty six seconds when Goldberg hit the spear and the Jackhammer for the quick win.
Goldberg was part of the Royal Rumble, entering at number 28. He quickly eliminated Brock Lesnar, Rusev, and Luke Harper, but The Undertaker eliminated him. At Fastlane, Goldberg challenged Kevin Owens for the Universal title, winning it quickly as well, before dropping the title to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.
The night after WrestleMania 33 on Raw, Goldberg appeared after the show to thank the fans for the amazing journey and said that you never know who’s going to be next!
Throughout his career, Goldberg won the WCW title once, the WCW United States title twice, the WCW Tag Team title once, the World Heavyweight title once, and the WWE Universal title once.
Bobby Lashley is the latest big Impact name to have departed the company, wrestling his last match at the Impact television tapings held yesterday at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Just like Ethan Carter III, Lashley walked slowly up the ramp, saluted the fans and took a bow before disappearing backstage. His last match was against Brian Cage.
Lashley began his TNA career in 2009 but only lasted a year as he wanted to concentrate on his mixed martial arts career. In 2014 he returned to the company and he was allowed to do both wrestling and MMA, fighting for Bellator.
Prior to joining TNA/Impact, he wrestled for WWE from 2004 to 2008 and was in one of the high profile matches when he had Donald Trump in his corner at WrestleMania 23 taking on the late Umaga with Vince McMahon in his corner.
His time at Impact was more successful than WWE in terms of championships go as he won the TNA/Impact World title four times, the King of the Mountain title once, and the X Division title once as well.
John Cena and Nikki Bella held their engagement party on Saturday night, nine months after Cena proposed to Nikki in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33.
Cena, who was always against getting married again, tweeted, “Such a wonderful, meaningful, emotional day yesterday with the woman of my dreams and both of our families. I love you Nicole, you’ve made me realize the importance of togetherness.”
Nikki wrote that it was “magical” and most likely cameras were there to film for an upcoming season of Total Bellas.
Both John and Nikki will be part of the Raw 25th anniversary episode next week. Nikki’s sister Brie will also be returning for the night with her sister.
