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Lio Rush departing All Elite Wrestling

By
Colin Vassallo
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Lio Rush has suddenly announced that his contract with AEW will be expiring on February 14 and will become a free agent.

Rush was in the news earlier this month after AEW President Tony Khan took a swipe at Big Swole following her departure from the company. Rush told Khan to apologize in a tweet and even wrote, “If nobody says something, then I will. Because this is f*cked up and now I’m pissed.”

He later issued a statement and said he had a talk with Khan and all was good. Well, it looks like it was anything but good.

The former WWE Cruiserweight champion signed with AEW in late September of last year after Khan actively tried to recruit him.

Impact rating for 01/20/2022

By
Colin Vassallo
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This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV drew 126,000 viewers, up 15,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the most-watched episode since September 2, 2021. The show did 0.03 in the 18-49 demo, same as last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Over 30,000 tickets now sold for the 2022 Royal Rumble

By
Colin Vassallo
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According to ticket tracking service WrestleTix, the Royal Rumble attendance has surpassed 30,000 so far with a few more thousand tickets available on sale.

The Dome at America’s Center has been configured to hold just over 34,000 seats for this event and WWE has sold a total of 31,598 tickets as of this week. When tickets went on sale, WWE moved over 20,000 tickets in October of last year and there was a buy one get one free offer for Christmas as well. Some ringside seats are available for $1,000 in the fourth row and further back. Tickets are being sold by Ticketmaster.com.

Less than half of The Dome will be used, with the ring moved towards one side rather than being in the center. The entrance is also weirdly set up on the longer side of the stadium with WWE opting for no stage and just an entrance way as it has done in the past couple of years for the Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble takes place in a week, on Saturday, January 29.

Jarrett, Bischoff, Summer Rae all appear on Smackdown

By
Colin Vassallo
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There were three surprise appearances on Friday Night Smackdown last night in the form of WWE Hall of Famers Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, and former Diva Summer Rae.

All three were in different segments, with Jarrett involved in a backstage skit with Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura, Bischoff returned from the Miz and Maryse wedding for a segment with Adam Pearce, and Summer Rae was shown at ringside during the Aliyah vs Natalya match.

Apart from that, Jackass star Johnny Knoxville also appeared to spoil Sami Zayn’s party, Kevin Owens from Raw was Seth Rollins’ tag team partner in the main event of the show, and former WWE champion Big E, also from Raw, was in Kofi’s corner in his match against Madcap Moss.

Both Summer Rae and Johnny Knoxville are part of the Royal Rumble matches next Saturday.

WOW – Women of Wrestling never-before-seen episodes premiere tomorrow on Pluto TV

By
Colin Vassallo
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Never-before-seen episodes of WOW – WOMEN OF WRESTLING will be available tomorrow, Saturday, January 22, on Pluto TV and The CW App.  Viewers can unlock a world where the strong, motivated and daring WOW Superheroes compete, inspire and fight for championships, justice and revenge.

Join Owner & Executive Producer Jeanie Buss, WOW Creator and Host David McLane and some of the WOW Superheroes including The Beast, Beverly Hills Babe (BHB), The Disciplinarian, Razor, Fury, Mezmeriah, Jessie Jones, Jungle Grrrl, Lana Star, The Lioness, Princess Aussie, Santana Garrett, Siren, The Voodoo Doll and Tessa Blanchard as the female wrestlers enter the ring and the battle between good and evil begins.

All episodes of WOW – WOMEN OF WRESTLING season 1 will be available for free on Pluto TV at 7pm ET and On Demand and at CW Seed on The CW App.

ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group distributes the action-entertainment series in the U.S. and internationally.

UFC taps Dwayne Johnson’s Project Rock as official global footwear partner

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Rock’s association with Under Armor, titled Project Rock, has signed up to be the official global footwear partner of the UFC.

“Starting this electrifying weekend at #UFC270 NGANNOU vs GANE, all UFC athletes & their teams will rep my innovative Project Rock training shoe,” Dwayne Johnson wrote in a post on social media.

Johnson noted that every walk to the iconic Octagon by a UFC fighter is fueled with passion, mana and the deep desire to establish their dominance and legacy.

“Being ‘the hardest worker in the room’ isn’t just a catchy slogan. It’s my life. But it’s not just my life. It’s the life and soul of every man and woman that competes in the UFC. THEY are the hardest workers in the room. THEY are the ones who walk the walk. THEY are champions,” he continued.

Johnson added that he’s honored to serve the incredible athletes along their journey as they build their legacy.

https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/1484567487203012610

Positive coronavirus test forces change in tonight’s Rampage card

By
Colin Vassallo
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The reunion of Roppongi Vice – the team of Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero – which was set for tonight’s live Rampage from Washington, DC, has to be postponed after Romero announced that he tested positive for coronavirus.

“Sorry everyone… Gonna have push back the RPG Vice reunion. COVID got me,” Romero wrote in a tweet. “Currently I’m feeling very mild symptoms. I’m vaxed and boosted so should kick right out of this!!”

The former four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team champions were set to take on The Young Bucks but now the match has been swapped to Nick Jackson vs Trent instead in a one-on-one match.

Also set for tonight are Hook vs Serpentico, Jade Cargill vs Anna Jay for the TBS title, and Jon Moxley vs Ethan Page.

Carmella reveals she tested positive for coronavirus this month

By
Colin Vassallo
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One half of the current WWE Women’s Tag Team champions, Carmella, revealed on her podcast with Corey Graves that she recently tested positive for COVID-19.

“I got it. It got me. I got COVID…I got got,” Carmella said on the Bare With Us podcast. She said around two weeks ago she woke up really tired and run down and took a test and tested positive.

She admitted that it got a little worse than a regular cold and was unable to do much for four days but is now feeling much better.

Carmella was back on television this past Monday on Raw after she missed the previous episode. Her fiancé Corey Graves did not test positive despite the two living together.

“The Quintessential Diva” coming to Impact Wrestling

By
W-O Staff
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During last night’s Impact Wrestling, a vignette aired hyping the arrival of “The Quintessential Diva.”

There were no other hints on who this mystery person is as the vignette only showed flashing lights and “is coming” along with the tagline they’re using for her.

It seems that the vignette is for Gisele Shaw, who uses The Quintessential Diva as her name on the independent scene. She is currently the PROGRESS Women’s champion and trained at the Storm Wrestling Academy.

Several years ago, Shaw – who is Filipino with Chinese and Spanish descent – did a tryout with WWE but she was not picked up. She also wrestled for Women of Wrestling under the name Reyna Reyes.

She wrestled twice for Impact Wrestling in 2018 during their One Night Only events.

WWE turns down Mustafa Ali’s request for release

By
W-O Staff
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According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling, WWE has not granted Mustafa Ali’s request to be released and informed him that they do not plan to cut him despite his wish.

Earlier this week, Ali posted on social media that he has a message that is “much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling” and despite his best efforts, he will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE and therefore he was requesting to be let go from his contract.

Sapp adds that Ali’s contract has a few years left on it so this might be worst case scenario for the Illinois native. Ali, who has not appeared on television since November, is said to have been involved in an argument with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon a few months ago over a gimmick change that Ali refused to proceed with.

Dynamite rating for 01/19/2022

By
Colin Vassallo
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This week’s episode of Dynamite with the return of Jon Moxley and Cody Rhodes drew a total of 1,032,000 viewers, up 63,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the most-watched show since October 6, 2021. The show also did a very good 0.44 rating in 18-49, up 0.05 from the prior week and placed #1 in the cable chart for the day. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Brie Bella joins The Real Dirty Dancing reality show on FOX

By
Colin Vassallo
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Brie Bella will be lacing up her dancing boots as she has been cast in the upcoming new series The Real Dirty Dancing, airing on FOX.

The Bella twin dropped the announcement herself in a tweet, writing, “I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be competing in #TheRealDirtyDancing on @foxtv! This was an amazing group of people who became family. Follow us all along as we celebrate one of the most iconic movies of all time!”

Set to start airing on February 1 at 9PM and every Tuesday for four episodes only, the reality show is hosted by Stephen Boss at Virginia’s Mountain Lake Lodge, the real location for the film’s fictional lodge.

Joining Brie in the cast will be Antonio Gates, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Cat Cora, Corbin Bleu, Howie Dorough, Loni Love, and Tyler Cameron. These celebrities will team up and learn the dance routines from the iconic Dirty Dancing movie to recreate classic scenes.

Brie will also be part of the women’s Royal Rumble match next weekend.

NXT rating for 01/18/2022

By
Colin Vassallo
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It was another bad night for NXT in terms of television viewers as this week’s show drew just 587,000 viewers, down 60,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show also drew a very low 0.11 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from last week, and tied for the lowest-rated number ever, placing #50 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

WWE abandons the trademark for Gunther Stark a week after filing

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE’s trademark application for Gunther Stark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was abandoned yesterday, January 19, according to public records.

The original filing was on January 13 and now the USPTO website lists that “The owner of the trademark application withdrew the application and the application is no longer active.” The request for express abandonment was signed by WWE attorney Lauren A. Dienes-Middlen.

WWE gave the name to Walter, although now he goes only by the first name of Gunther. The change was met with a barrage of online complaints because the name Gunther Stark is that of a commander of a Nazi German U-Boat during World War II.

One of Germany’s largest newspaper, Bild, even covered the news in one of its editions this week.

Unfortunately for Walter, he’s still listed under Gunther on the WWE website and even his social media has been changed to reflect the new name.

Sami Zayn re-signs with WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that Sami Zayn has re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Zayn, just like Kevin Owens, had his contract expiring this month and the two friends opted to stay in WWE after there were rumors that both would be leaving the company.

The 37-year-old started working for WWE in 2013 and spent almost two years in NXT, becoming champion and then moving on to the main roster. Despite his popularity, he only managed to win the Intercontinental title twice so far while on Raw and Smackdown.

The Quebec native is well-liked among his peers and it’s believed he got a bump in his pay as well.

2K officially announces WWE 2K22 video game

By
Colin Vassallo
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2K today announced the full set of features for WWE 2K22, the next installment of the flagship WWE video game franchise from Visual Concepts, featuring Rey Mysterio on the cover in celebration of his 20th anniversary as a WWE Superstar.

WWE 2K22 is scheduled for a worldwide release on March 11, 2022, and is available for pre-order today.

“Representing the culture of lucha libre as the cover Superstar for WWE 2K22 is a moment of great pride for me,” said Rey Mysterio. “I’m looking forward to sharing the stories behind the big moments of my career with a dedicated community of players and connecting with WWE fans in a whole new way as they play through my 2K Showcase.”

From the redesigned gameplay engine to new controls and upgraded visuals, WWE 2K22 is set to look, feel, play, and “Hit Different.” The engine, coupled with WWE 2K’s most stunning graphics to date, ensures an unprecedented level of realism for the franchise. Alongside an updated and intuitive control scheme, as well as an immersive presentation and varied camera angles, players will feel the pressure and reward of every punch, kick, and slam.

The full press release with the details of the game can be found at corporate.wwe.com.

Austin goes face-to-face with Becky Lynch next on Broken Skull Sessions

By
Colin Vassallo
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Stone Cold Steve Austin’s next guest on his Broken Skull Sessions series on the WWE Network will be none other than Raw Women’s champion Becky Lynch.

The episode with Big Time Becks will drop on WWE Network and Peacock in the United States on Friday, January 28 on the eve of the Royal Rumble. This is Lynch’s first appearance with Stone Cold on the show and she’s the third woman to be featured so far following the interviews of Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Her husband Seth Rollins was also a guest of Stone Cold not too long ago and Diamond Dallas Page was the last guest to be featured in the month of December.

Jon Moxley is back… and starts promo by dropping F-bomb on fan

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Jon Moxley returned on AEW Dynamite last night on TBS and started his promo by telling a fan to go f*ck himself!

With complete silence in the arena as fans waited to hear what Mox had to say, one fan wasn’t impressed. “Go have a drink and get this trash out of the ring,” the fan said, followed by a boo. Some fans laughed but Mox did not.

“Hey go f*ck yourself, get that guy outta here. Piece of shit” Moxley responded to a big ovation from the 4,000-strong Washington DC crowd.

Mox had just returned after checking himself in an alcohol rehab facility a few months ago so the fan’s comment wasn’t particularly very sensitive.

The former AEW World champion acknowledged the scars he has inside and said no one should be ashamed of them. He thanked the fans for their support during these rough times and now that he’s free, he will take pro wrestling by storm again and no one in AEW can make him go through worse things that what he went through the past few months.

Moxley will be wrestling this Friday on Rampage against Ethan Page.

Ladder match to unify TNT titles next week on Beach Break Dynamite

By
Colin Vassallo
-

The TNT title unification match will be taking place on the Beach Break episode of Dynamite on TBS in Cleveland next week.

Rhodes returned to AEW last night and challenged the interim champ Sammy Guevara to a ladder match. Rhodes and Guevara were set to compete at the Battle of the Belts TNT special earlier this month but Rhodes had to be quarantined due to another family member having COVID-19.

Instead of replacing the match with another title match, AEW went ahead and put Guevara vs Dustin Rhodes for the interim TNT title, which Guevara won. Guevara lost the TNT title to Cody Rhodes on the Christmas Day episode of Rampage last month.

Adam Cole vs Orange Cassidy in a lights out match was also announced for Beach Brake last night on the show.

Raw rating for 01/17/2022

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Monday Night Raw managed to stay away from an all-time low record this week after facing the NFL Playoff game for the first time in history, with the show getting an average of 1,613,000 viewers.

Hour one started with 1,734,000 viewers before it dropped to 1,650,000 viewers in the second hour and then tanked to 1,456,000 viewers in the third hour. Raw lost 278,000 viewers along the way from start to finish thanks to the NFL game which aired on three stations – ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. The game did a massive 23 million viewers.

Raw was #6, #8, and #9 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demo with 0.47, 0.43, and 0.40 ratings respectively for an average of 0.43. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

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