Jinder Mahal made a surprise appearance on NXT last night during the New Year’s Evil themed episode and attacked The Creed Brothers.
Mahal, who aligned with Sanga, took out the Creeds during an in-ring segment after their match against Indus Sher did not take place as Veer was not there. Sanga offered to wrestle them in a handicap match but before they got an answer, the former WWE champion attacked from behind.
“Veer and Sanga fight with respect…but I don’t,” said Mahal. Later in the broadcast, Mahal wrestled Julius Creed in a one-on-one match and came out victorious.
The 36-year-old was part of Florida Championship Wrestling before it was changed to NXT. He has not appeared on WWE television since mid-November of last year.
WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio will be part of the new Netflix series Against The Ropes, a Mexican production revolving around the main character Ángela who is released from prison and tries to regain the respect of her daughter, who loves lucha libre wrestling, by entering the ring as a mysterious persona.
The series, debuting on January 25, features Caraly Sánchez, Scarlet Gruber, and Carmen Ramos in the leading roles.
WWE has promoted the show on their social media channels and you can see the trailer below.
An ex-convict tries to regain her daughter's affection after leaving prison, but it seems impossible — until she steps into the ring. Against the Ropes, featuring @reymysterio premieres on January 25, only on @netflix! pic.twitter.com/a8Vyx4U3hc
Johnny Gargano is out with a shoulder injury but the former NXT champion hopes to be back in time for the Royal Rumble.
Gargano said that he injured his shoulder at a live event in Toronto on December 30 and the WWE medical team is now going to protect him from himself. On that non-televised live event, Gargano teamed up with Dexter Lumis to take on Baron Corbin and The Miz in a tag team match.
“But you better believe I’m going to do EVERYTHING I can to get back in that ring so I can be that guy you all know I can be. Just let me in that Rumble,” Gargano wrote on Twitter.
Gargano returned to WWE on the August 22, 2022 episode of Monday Night Raw, also held in Toronto. It was his first time on WWE TV since the December 7, 2021 episode of NXT where he had his farewell speech.
A rumor started last night by DAZN Wrestling’s social media coordinator Steven Muehlhausen that WWE was sold to the Saudi Arabia Private Investment Fund was shot down completely by several industry sources today although his tweet, now deleted, already went viral.
Scott Soshnick, the editor-in-chief of Sportico wrote that the “sales process hasn’t even begun in earnest” while Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed, ripped Muehlhausen for spreading false information.
“Contrary to reports stating otherwise last night, there is no deal in place at this precise moment for WWE to be sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or any entity, sources say,” added reputable reporter Ariel Helwani. “The organization is still exploring all options, I’m told. Developing.”
TMZ.COM also spoke to several WWE sources which confirmed that there was no deal in place between the two parties.
The Saudi Private Investment Fund remains one of the options WWE is evaluating for a potential sale along with others such as Comcast, Disney, and Endeavor Group Holdings.
A sale to the Saudi PIF would be highly controversial for all the obvious reasons and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful adds that several WWE Superstars are ready to quit if the sale to the Saudis goes ahead.
WWE today announced that its Board of Directors unanimously elected Vince McMahon Executive Chairman of the Board.
Stephanie McMahon has resigned from her roles as Chairwoman and Co-CEO.
Nick Khan will serve as WWE CEO.
Vince McMahon: “First, I’d like to express my full support for Stephanie’s personal decision. I’ll forever be grateful that she offered to step in during my absence and I’m truly proud of the job she did co-leading WWE. Stephanie has always been the ultimate ambassador for our company, and her decades of contributions have left an immeasurable impact on our brand.
“I’m proud to announce that Nick Khan will serve as WWE CEO. Nick’s business acumen and mastery of the media industry have helped catapult our business to record revenue and profitability. Together, we look forward to working with the Board at this critical moment in time to review our strategic alternatives and maximize value for all WWE shareholders.”
Stephanie McMahon: “I cannot put into words how proud I am to have helped lead what I consider to be the greatest company in the world and I am confident WWE is in the perfect position to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders.”
Nick Khan: “Stephanie McMahon is a terrific executive and an even better person. It has been an honor to serve as Co-CEO with her. She will only continue to succeed.
“I’m grateful to Vince McMahon and our Board of Directors for their ongoing support. I look forward to continuing to work closely with them and my WWE colleagues to ensure our company may thrive as the premiere powerhouse in sports entertainment for years to come.”
WWE Chairwoman and co-CEO Stephanie McMahon announced her full resignation from WWE last night, ending a seven-month spell in charge of the company her father founded. McMahon’s departure is directly related to Vince McMahon returning to power.
In a statement posted to Twitter, McMahon wrote that eight months ago she took a leave of absence but returned a few weeks later with an opportunity of a lifetime.
“I had the privilege to return as the Co-CEO and Chairwoman of the Board of WWE. I cannot put into words how proud I am to have led what I consider to be the greatest company in the world, working alongside a remarkable leadership team and one of the strongest executives I have known in my Co-CEO, Nick Khan.”
Her statement continued, “Our Founder, Vince McMahon, has returned as Executive Chair and is leading an exciting process regarding strategic alternatives. And with Nick’s leadership and Paul “Triple H” Levesque as Chief Content Officer, I am confident WWE is in the perfect place to continue to provide unparalleled creative content and drive maximum value for shareholders. WWE is in such a strong position, that I have decided to return to my leave and take it one step further with my official resignation.”
Stephanie said that she looks forward to cheering on WWE from the other side of the business, where she started when she was a little kid, as a pure fan.
“I will always remain dedicated to WWE. I truly love our company, our employees, our Superstars, and our fans. And I am grateful to all of our partners. Thank you for everything. Then. Now. Forever. Together.”
NXT is back on USA Network tonight with the yearly New Year’s Evil themed special episode, starting at 8PM ET.
There will be six matches on the show, one of which is for a title. The main event will feature Bron Breakker defend the NXT title against Grayson Waller.
The number one contender for the NXT North American title will be decided as Dijak takes on Tony D’Angelo, and the number one contender for the NXT Women’s title will be settled in a 20-woman battle royal.
Plus, Pretty Deadly compete in a gauntlet match with opponents still to be announced, Charlie Dempsey takes on Hank Walker, and The Creed Brothers battle Indus Sher.
The Battle at the Valley NJPW show set for next month has sold out, with the rest of the tickets quickly scooped up after Mercedes Mone’s arrival.
“Thank you! Over one month away, all tickets are SOLD OUT for Battle in the Valley February 18,” tweeted the NJPW Global account.
Mone will be taking on Kairi for the IWGP Women’s title in one of the main events of the show. The former WWE Raw and Smackdown Women’s champion challenged Kairi after she took her out at the Wrestle Kingdom 17 pay-per-view last week.
Battle at the Valley will take place from San Jose Civic in San Jose, California and will stream live on FITE.TV for $19.99.
Battle of the Belts V on TNT this past Friday, airing after Rampage, did 409,000 viewers, up 92,000 viewers from BotB IV. The show did a 0.11 in the 18-49 demo and placed #58 on the chart. That was 0.01 up from the last special. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Speaking on his Kurt Angle Show podcast, Kurt Angle recounted how his 11-year-old daughter saved him from drowning recently while he was on a family vaction in Miami.
Angle said he took his daughter Giuliana for a spin on a jet ski and she was sitting behind him when he flipped the jet ski when he went to make a turn.
Kurt explained how he cannot swim and his life vest wasn’t doing its work and was sinking, but thankfully, his daughter is an Olympic-caliber swimmer.
“I couldn’t get above water, I was going under. My daughter kept her composure,” Angle said. “The jet ski got away from us. It was like 50 feet away from us. She didn’t know whether to go to the jet ski or to me but she came over to me and saved my life.”
Kurt said Giuliana swam all the way to the jet ski while holding him and then even had the power to push him up to get back on the jet ski as his arms are so weak because of his neck and couldn’t push himself up.
“Then she jumped up behind me and I said, ‘You know what, honey? You just saved my life,'” he said.
The former Yugoslavia had some incredible football teams and players. Cricket is also a great sport, and https://in.1xbet.com/live/cricket is the best website to wager on various competitions of this discipline.
Darko Pančev was a fantastic player from that part of the world. Born in Macedonia, he had a professional career that lasted between 1982 and 1997. His feats took him everywhere across Europe, including countries like Switzerland, Germany and Italy. The 1xBet bookmaker can be used by all fans to wager on the football leagues of these nations.
A legend of Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade was one of the most important teams in Yugoslavia. Pančev was part of their ranks between the years 1988 and 1992. During this spell he won many domestic tournaments with the squad. However, by far his biggest achievement with the team was winning the 1990-91 edition of the European Cup. Europe also has great cricket competitions, and in.1xbet.com/line/cricket can be used to wager on many of them.
In fact, thanks to this feat, the player obtained the European Golden Boot. In addition to Red Star, other teams where Darko Pančev played throughout his career were:
Vardar;
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Fortuna Düsseldorf;
and FC Sion.
In 1992, and thanks to his incredible achievements, many top European teams showed interest in signing the Macedonian player. Some of them were Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan, and of course, punters can wager on all these teams by going to the 1xBet website. Eventually, the Italians were the ones that beat their competitors, and signed Pančev’s services in 1992.
Playing on two national teams
Darko Pančev had spells on two different national football teams. This was due to political circumstances rather than by his own choices. Between 1984 and 1991 he was part of the Yugoslav national side. In that team he scored a total of 17 goals in 27 matches where he performed. You can visit in.1xbet.com/live/football if you want to wager on the best national teams from all over the world.
In fact, with Yugoslavia Pančev participated in the 1990 edition of the FIFA World Cup. He scored two goals in the tournament.
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the forward had a brief career with the Macedonian national side. He scored one goal in a total of six matches played for this squad. If you want to wager on all matches played by Macedonia, 1xBet is definitely the best choice you have.
The live Rampage on Friday night did 551,000 viewers, up 81,000 viewers from the prior week. The show did a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.03 from the December 30 show and placed #30 on the cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Amanda Saccomanno, the artist formerly known as Mandy Rose, opened up about her WWE firing last month during an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show earlier today.
Saccomanno told Hall that WWE never told her that she was fired because of her FanTime page and was shocked when her match against Roxanne Perez was moved by a week and dropped her title on the December 13 episode of NXT.
She did admit though that she had a feeling about what’s going to happen after she was suddenly made to drop the title. Saccomanno said that she was very hurt and disappointed over how WWE handled her release but was grateful for everything that she accomplished in the promotion.
Saccomanno said that WWE did give her a warning about the content she was posting on her FanTime and complied with the instructions.
Asked if she would be willing to return, she gave the usual “never say never” line and said that she doesn’t know what the future holds for her.
When Hall asked her if she would take her page down in return to getting her job back, she replied, “It would have to be a conversation.”
Saccomanno became a millionaire in the month of December selling $30-a-month subscriptions on her FanTime page. She noted how having complete control of her name, image, and likeness was very valuable and now she can move on with monetizing her likeness.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew a total of 2,257,000 viewers, down 372,000 viewers from the episode with John Cena main eventing of the prior week. In the 18-49 demo, Smackdown did a 0.53 and was second on all of TV television behind CBS’ Fire Country. That was down 0.11 from the prior week. In the overnight numbers, hour one did 2,198,000 and hour two did 2,137,000 viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Appearing on the Two Man Power Trip podcast, Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard said that he is no longer under contract with AEW and has departed the promotion.
Blanchard said that “it was a little more complex” than just his contract expiring, although he did not elaborate what the problems were.
The former member of the Four Horsemen was moved to Ring of Honor earlier last year following a stint with FTR but he last appeared at the Supercard of Honor show in April. He was never used again on any show.
He expressed doubt that either WWE or AEW would have him back in some capacity and was resigned to the fact that his career is over apart from an autograph show here and there.
Five more entrants, three in the men and two in the women’s Royal Rumble matches were announced on Raw. This now brings a total number of eight out of 60 announced.
In the men’s match, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and Austin Theory all confirmed their participation in the match, joining the previously announced Ricochet and Kofi Kingston.
Rhea Ripley and Candice LeRae added themselves to the women’s match who before last night only had one entrant, Liv Morgan.
WWE usually always keeps one or two spots unannounced for possible surprises so don’t expect all 60 participants to be made public before January 28.
Kevin Owens comes out first and as he starts talking he is immediately interrupted by JBL who comes out and starts putting down the people of Alabama. He says he doubts Owens could beat Roman Reigns and introduces the only person that has a pinfall victory over Roman Reigns in the past years, Baron Corbin. Corbin comes out and calls Owens a loser. Owens just puts his head down on a turnbuckle pad.
When JBL asked if he was in a food coma, Owens says no I am in a Baron Corbin, JBL boredom coma because you been talking for 3 minutes and haven’t said anything important. Then Owens challenges Baron Corbin to a match.
Kevin Owens VS. Baron Corbin
Owens was able to hit the stunner on Corbin for the win.
Winner: Kevin Owens
After the match Owens is attacked by the Usos and Solo Sikoa. Owens was able to get his hands on a chair and chased them off.
Adam Pearce throws the Usos out of the building and sets a match with Solo Sikoa to face Dolph Ziggler.
Alexa Bliss comes out and says Bianca Belair might be the Raw Women’s champion, but she is there, and she is the face of evil. Bianca doesn’t need to be afraid of Bray or Uncle Howdy but she is afraid of Alexa. As she talks, a video begins to play with Uncle Howdy’s face and a laughing voice and asking if you think you are in charge? Uncle Howdy then appears in the entrance way laughing and Alexa just stands on the commentary table staring at him.
Bayley VS, Mia Yim
Bayley was able to roll up Mia and pin her with her feet on the ropes.
Winner: Bayley
The United States champion Austin Theory comes to the ring. Seth “Freakin” Rollins follows. Seth says his knee is not 100% but it will be in time for him to win the Royal Rumble and goes to leave and Bobby Lashley comes out and Theory starts yelling at him not to come in the ring. Lashley comes in the ring and spears Theory. He then throws Theory over the top rope. Lashley says it doesn’t matter who is in the Rumble because he is back and ready to get his hands on everyone.
Candice LaRae VS. Rhea Ripley
Rhea hits Candice with a Riptide for the win.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Byron Saxton tried to interview Bobby Lashley, but MVP interrupted him and Byron walked away. MVP asks for a thank you for getting his suspension lifted. Lashley told MVP they are good, but he wants to handle things his way right now and MVP told him to handle his business, but if he ever wants to expand that business his number is still the same.
A video of Cody Rhodes and an update on his injury was played.
In the back, Dolph Ziggler is getting ready for his match with Solo Sikoa when Mustafa Ali comes in and asks why he turned down the offer to team with him in the tag team turmoil match later tonight. Dolph says there is nothing personal with Ali, he just wants Solo one on one tonight.
Byron was going to interview Bronson Reed and The Miz said he would handle this and said they are on the same team. Bronson said if you want something just pay me. The Miz just laughed it off.
Solo Sikoa VS. Dolph Ziggler
Solo hits Dolph with a Samoan spike for the win.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
After the match, The Usos come out to celebrate with Solo.
Bayley was being interviewed backstage and Mia Yim comes up and calls her a cheater for the way she won their match tonight and Damage Control attack Mia and leaves her lying in the back.
The Miz is next with MizTV with guest Dominik Mysterio. Dominik comes out dressed like Konnan with flannel long sleeve shirt and bandana tied over his face. The rest of Judgment Day is with him as well. Miz starts questioning Dominik’s story about being in prison saying you were just held in a county jail for a few hours and Priest told Miz to watch what he says and then tells the Miz that he and Finn are going to win the Tag Team Turmoil match and go after The Usos for the tag team titles. That brings out Gallows and Anderson and the end of MizTV.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson VS. Damian Priest & Finn Balor
Finn was able to roll up Anderson and get the pin.
Winners: Damian Priest & Finn Balor
Finn Balor & Damian Priest VS. Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander
Finn with the Coup de Grace after a Priest chokeslam on Alexander and Priest holds Benjamin down from stopping the count.
Winners: Damian Priest & Finn Balor
Damian Priest & Finn Balor VS. Alpha Academy
Otis falls on Gable and Finn and while he was looking at Gable, Priest was able to clothesline Otis and pin him.
Winners: Damian Priest & Finn Balor
After the match, Finn was injured and the medics told Pearce he could not continue. Pearce said they either forfeit or Dominik takes Finn’s place.
Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio VS. The Street Profits
Priest throws Dawkins over the barricade and Ford jumps over Mysterio who was hanging on the ropes and then Priest went to spear Ford, but Ford moves and Priest hits the ring steps headfirst. In the ring, Ford throws Mysterio off the rope and hits a 450 splash but Priest was up and able to pull Ford off the pin. As Ford was getting back in the ring, Mysterio rolls him up and puts his feet on the ropes and Rhea holds Mysterio’s feet till the referee makes the 3 count.
Winners and will face the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions: Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio
The Usos come out to confront the Judgment Day at the close of the show.
Former NXT Women’s champion Mandy Rose, real name Amanda Saccomanno, will break her silence in an exclusive interview with Tamron Hall, which will air tomorrow on her show.
The social media account of the Tamron Hall Show tweeted the guest list for this week, and Saccomanno replied, “So excited for this! Everyone tune in to hear my story!” Actress Margaret Cho will be the other guest on the show.
The Tamron Hall Show is a syndicated broadcast which airs on different channels. You can check your local listings for start time or else go to https://tamronhallshow.com/all-channels/ to find your channel.
Saccomanno was fired from WWE last month a day after she dropped her title to Roxanne Perez after a leak of her FanTime account exposed tons of adult-related photos and videos. She ended December a millionaire though after subscriptions skyrocketed following her dismissal.
She held the NXT Women’s title for 413 days, a few days shy of surpassing Shayna Baszler’s record.
AEW’s return to the Kia Forum in Inglewood this Wednesday got a nice bump in ticket sales, with ticket tracking service @WrestleTix reporting that the show is now at over 8,000 tickets sold.
The huge arena is currently configured for just over 10,000 seats and it’s still below the company’s debut there last year where they sold nearly 14,000 tickets for an announced attendance of 15,500.
Packing in 8,000 fans for a televised show is a great outcome regardless, especially considering that attendance has been declining a little bit for AEW over the past several months.
AEW is presenting a big card for the show and there’s also the rumored surprise arrival of Mercedes Mone, even though Saraya’s mystery partner was announced to be Toni Storm.
Vince McMahon has been added back to the corporate.wwe.com website under the Board and Committee members, taking the top spot on the list.
But Stephanie McMahon is still listed as Chairwoman while her father simply has the title Co-Founder and Former Chairman & CEO under his name. He is still not marked as being an executive member on the board, with only Stephanie, Nick Khan, and Paul Levesque having that power.
George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, the two former WWE Presidents who went on to create Isos Capital Management, have also been added to the website. They were originally fired by Vince McMahon and the stock tanked big time following their removal. McMahon brought them back with him last Friday.
There are two more spots to be added after Ignace Lahoud and Man Jit Singh resigned from their position after Vince reinstated himself.
Singh, the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Worldwide President, led the investigation into McMahon’s hush money allegations.
