The war is over. The Wednesday night war that is. In the battle of who will flinch first, it was WWE.
The announcement of WWE and USA Network with the NXT move to Tuesdays, effectively ends a rivalry that started on October 2, 2019 with both NXT and AEW airing on the same night.
While NXT had a two-week lead, debuting on USA Network on September 18, AEW pretty much dominated every week during this one and a half year run, winning the absolute majority of the viewers every week and only losing only once in the 18-49 demographic.
NXT’s arrival on USA Network was seen by many as a way to prevent AEW from growing its television audience, something that seems to have worked as AEW continues to hover between 700,000 to 800,000 viewers every week.
In total, AEW won 67 head-to-head encounters while NXT won just 12. The two shows only drew the same audience once. AEW’s largest audience remains the inaugural show which did 1,409,000 viewers and the same can be said for NXT which pulled in 1,179,000 viewers unopposed on the first night.
It’s safe to say that both shows will grow unopposed as seen in the past when one of the shows was pre-empted temporarily due to other programming.
NXT and AEW will go in a final head-to-head on Wednesday, April 7 and NXT will begin on its new night the week after. The final NXT show on Wednesday will be night one of the two-night NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver.
William Shatner, the charismatic actor who portrayed Captain Kirk in Star Trek, is being inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.
The 90-year-old has had a long relationship with WWE, starting in 1995 as a guest on Jerry Lawler’s King’s Court. In 2007, Shatner inducted Jerry “The King” Lawler into the WWE Hall of Fame and he returned in 2010 as a guest host of Monday Night Raw, singing the theme songs of several Superstars using his hilarious interpretation and used his skills as The Priceline Negotiator to settle on-screen disputes.
WWE used his voice for the Breaking Ground WWE Network documentary, a series which received praised all around for the behind-the-scenes look at up-and-coming WWE Superstars.
Currently, Shatner is the host of The UnXplained on The History Channel. He also stars in the romantic comedy Senior Moment, which is in theaters and on demand now. The Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner participated in several television series throughout the years, including Star Trek, T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal, and others.
WWE and USA Network today announced a multi-year extension for NXT, which will move to Tuesday nights live on USA Network beginning April 13. The new agreement for the live, weekly two-hour show furthers WWE and USA’s nearly three decade-long relationship.
“We are incredibly proud of our three-decade partnership with WWE and in extending USA’s NXT deal, we are further establishing our portfolio as an unrivaled home for quality WWE content,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal. “By transitioning NXT to a Tuesday timeslot where WWE has performed well in the past, we are giving our passionate fanbase more of what they love with back-to-back nights of exhilarating, live programming.”
Triple H, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development, added, “We are thrilled to continue WWE and NBCUniversal’s longstanding partnership with the extension of NXT on USA Network. The move to Tuesdays provides a new opportunity for us to grow the NXT brand and enables our partner, USA Network, to continue to build its strong portfolio of sports and entertainment programming.”
Since launching on the network in September 2019, NXT has lifted USA to rank among the top cable entertainment networks in its regular Wednesday timeslot. In 2020, the weekly block averaged 847,000 total viewers and its special Tuesday episodes were even stronger, delivering gains of nearly +30% among the key 18-49 and 25-54 demos.
All new episodes will be available on demand in the United States exclusively on Peacock, the day after its airing on USA Network.
With WrestleMania Week broadcasts airing solely on Peacock, fans who use Amazon’s Fire Stick devices will be unable to watch the WWE Network as Peacock is not yet available on the device. While discussions are ongoing, there’s no word if Peacock will make their app available on Fire TV in time for WrestleMania.
Fans have been complaining to Peacock on different social media outlets, with Peacock replies suggested “sideloading” the app on their Amazon devices as a workaround for now.
“While Peacock is not currently supported on Amazon devices, there are sideloading options that some customers have found helpful,” one particular reply read.
Sideloading means that you install an app through a different way other than the official app store. The process of installing Peacock on Firestick TV is not complicated at all. If you have an Amazon Fire TV device and want to see WrestleMania on it, you can follow the following procedure until the app is officially available on the Amazon store.
Find the app titled “Downloader” from the Amazon store through your Fire TV.
After it installs, do not start it, but navigate Settings, My Fire TV, Developer Options, Install Unknown Apps, and switch it to the ON position.
Launch the Downloader app you just installed and where it says “Enter a URL or Search Term” input 81035 and click Go. You will be then asked to Install the Peacock app.
After the app installs, you will see a new grey icon on your Amazon Fire TV. Unfortunately, this release does not have an app icon but the app works regardless. This is the Android version of the app, which works fine on Amazon Fire TV.
WWE will be taping next week’s Raw and Smackdown along with the Hall of Fame this week, starting today inside the WWE ThunderDome.
The reason for filming next week’s episodes is because WWE has to vacate the Tropicana Field and this Friday’s Smackdown is their last taping there, leaving no time to take everything down from one location and build it in a different arena in just two days in time for a live Raw on Monday.
The April 4 Raw is being taped today along with the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is being split in two nights, presumably with the 2020 class being filmed today.
The April 9 Smackdown will be taped on April 1 along with the second night of the Hall of Fame taping. This means that WWE will be taping next week’s Smackdown before this week’s episode even takes place.
WWE will be packing out of the Tropicana Field and heading to The Yuengling Center with the first live broadcast from that location being the post-Mania Raw.
During an interview with Lucha Libre Online, former NXT champion Andrade said that his girlfriend Charlotte Flair was removed from WrestleMania plans after one of the WWE doctors mistakenly told her that she was pregnant.
Andrade claimed that following multiple home pregnancy tests and an ultrasound, it was confirmed that Charlotte was, in fact, not pregnant at all. The WWE doctor later came to the same conclusion but it was too late as WWE went ahead with plans for WrestleMania without her.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair’s representatives reached out to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT to clear the confusion over Andrade’s interview.
While noting that he was partially right, Flair was medically suspended after HCG levels in her blood work came back high, indicating a possible pregnancy.
“That day, she took several home tests that all came back negative. A few days later, blood work and ultrasound confirmed there was no pregnancy,” the statement read. “This put a lot in context for her, mainly how small a woman’s career window is. The men are able to work well into their 50s while the women are seen as ‘older’ in their early 30s even. For an athlete in her prime, these years mean everything,” the statement continued.
Her reps also added that Flair’s issue was how the process and information was relayed to her rather than the information itself.
Flair later tested positive for COVID-19 and so did Andrade.
The former champion is currently not featured for WrestleMania at all, something that could change with less than two weeks to go for the show.
The WrestleMania 37 card continued to evolve yesterday on Monday Night Raw, with another expected match added and a stipulation to an already-announced match as well.
The new match is for the United States title as Riddle defends against Sheamus. The Irish Superstar defeated Riddle in a non-title match yesterday, earning himself a title match.
Meanwhile, the Braun Strowman vs Shane McMahon match has now been changed to a steel cage match. Strowman announced the stipulation on Raw and his choice of match was to keep Elias and Ryker away from helping Shane.
Shane was in a cage match – Hell In A Cell – at WrestleMania 32 against The Undertaker and jumped from the top…so it would not be surprising if there’s another eye-catching stunt in the plans involving the cage again.
Charly Arnolt, who appeared on WWE television as Charly Caruso, has a accepted a full-time position with ESPN and as expected, is out of WWE completely.
Charly was taken off TV a few weeks ago after rumors started floating around that she was being late for on-screen interviews, pissing off the wrong people in the process. WWE then hired Kevin Patrick as the new host of Raw Talk and the backstage correspondent during Raw, two duties that Charly held.
“As I take this monumental next step in my career, I can’t do so without thanking so many of the people at WWE who I’ve spent the last nearly 5 years with,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “Thank you to those on and off camera who I had the chance to connect with not only professionally, but personally. Some true gems! And of course, thank you to the WWE Universe, a network of some of the most loyal fans in the world.”
Arnolt will begin with ESPN in early April as part of a new, multi-year contract extension with the network. She recently launched the weekly ESPN Podcast First Take, Her Take alongside Kimberley A. Martin and Chiney Ogwumike, and will continue to have a significant role across many of the network’s other signature brands as well.
She will continue to contribute to select editions of ESPN’s morning debate show First Take and the network’s signature news and information show, SportsCenter. Arnolt will regularly appear on ESPN+’s weekday morning show, SportsNation along with other digital shows across the industry-leading sports streaming service as well.
“It is so incredibly exciting to become a full-time member of the ESPN family,” said Arnolt. “I look forward to continuing to grow with such a talented group of professionals and I can’t wait for all the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Former Impact Wrestling champion Eric Young revealed that he will be out of action for up to nine months after suffering a torn ACL during the recent Impact Wrestling tapings.
Young announced his injury while appearing on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast.
He noted that this was the first time that he’s ever been injured and while he’s been hurt, he’s never spent time on the sidelines due to an injury he suffered in the ring. The former WWE star said he will be undergoing surgery soon and he has a long road ahead of him but plans to coming back in six months if possible.
Discussing the injury, Young said that he was wrestling James Storm and did not know that his ACL was completely torn. He said the injury took place on Monday and then wrestled in an eight-man tag match on Tuesday and had another singles match on the same day.
Impact tapes several weeks worth of shows in the span of a couple of days behind closed doors.
According to the Yuengling Center, WWE’s ThunderDome residency will last until August 3 and there will be no fans permitted.
The date was revealed on the arena’s website so this gives WWE four months inside the same location. The Yuengling Center is the third ThunderDome location following the Amway Center and Tropicana Field.
WWE has noted in the past that they don’t plan to resume having fans for television shows until the second half of 2021 and that’s when touring is also supposed to resume. Everything is of course dependent on the situation at the time and how the coronavirus pandemic is handled four to five months from now.
The Yuengling Center in Tampa is on the campus of the University of South Florida and WWE last held a show there in 1995 when they presented the Royal Rumble. The arena is around 33 miles north east from Tropicana Field and 90 miles south west from the WWE Performance Center.
With all the violence and medical crisis going on, it’s understandable why you might neglect to keep up to date with recent WWE news. Don’t worry, though, because we’ve got you covered. Here are some tidbits from the WWE that you might have missed.
Kurt Angle Opens up About Addiction
Let’s start with something that happened in the first month of 2021. Kurt Angle talked about how he was once addicted to painkillers. He stated that it all began when Brock Lesnar broke Kurt’s neck during a match and had to be put on painkillers to ease his discomfort. As soon as he felt the effects of the pills, he immediately got hooked. It came to the point where he was taking 65 pills of painkillers in a day. Fortunately, his addiction didn’t progress any further than that. Kurt realized his addiction and strived to get rid of it.
Kurt admitted that it wasn’t an easy journey and that there were a lot of obstacles that got in the way. Fortunately, the wrestling legend managed to get his life back on track and has remained clean ever since. Kurt Angle’s story hits home for a lot of people. Getting treatment for addiction is a long road but one that is necessary to be able to live life the way it should be.
Charlotte Flair Test Positive for Covid
There have been many rumors and speculations floating about regarding Charlotte Flair. The WWE diva has been noticeably absent for a while now, and fans took to the Internet for answers. There have been many claims and speculations made to try to guess the reason behind this disappearance. At one point, it even seemed that WWE was hiding the truth from everyone. However, all of the baseless rumors were put to rest by Charlotte Flair herself. This Tuesday, she tweeted the unfortunate news of her getting Covid. This extremely sad news means that a Wrestlemania match involving Charlotte is unlikely to happen. Fans, including myself, are all wishing her a speedy recovery.
Kane in the Hall of Fame
A legendary name will be inducted into the WWE hall of fame this year. The big red machined turned mayor, Kane, is poised to appear in the ceremony this year.
Kane, Glenn Jacobs outside of kayfabe, got the news about the hall of fame induction from the Undertaker himself. Kane has been through a hell of a lot during his WWE career. His persona and appearance made numerous shifts. He has also held numerous championship titles and made some rocky relationships with other wrestlers. Who could forget the amazing time Kane had as the tag team champion with Daniel Bryan? Well, Kane can add “Hall of Famer” to his long list of held titles.
Batista a No-show for the Hall of Fame
Kane getting inducted into the hall of fame is an auspicious moment. Sadly, Dave Bautista won’t be around to join in on the celebration. Dave has recently announced that he will not be attending the ceremony due to conflicts with this schedule. WWE confirmed this and has stated that they will move Dave’s induction to a later year. Hopefully, live shows will be allowed by then to give Dave Bautista the moment he deserves.
Randy Orton on the Broken Skulls Podcast
For avid listeners of Steve Austin’s insanely entertaining podcast, Randy Orton appearing as a guest is a treat. For the uninitiated, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin holds a podcast where he talks with other WWE stars and asks them a few questions. The talk session with Randy Orton covered a lot of topics and can really change peoples’ perspectives on Randy. Steve Austin also asked some interesting questions with surprising answers by Randy Orton.
Triple H Back After Quarantine
“The Game” Triple H was spotted backstage during last week’s episode of WWE NXT. This is a good sign and a big sigh of relief as it would appear that Triple H did not get Covid, and his quarantine was more of a precaution. Now, it appears he is good to go and ready to get back on duty.
Earthquake Disrupted Match
During a tag team match in NJPW or New Japan Pro-Wrestling, an unexpected foe put a temporary stop to the match. An earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, gave everyone quite a scare. Fortunately, no damage was reported, and no one was hurt. The show had to be stopped to make way for safety checks after the earthquake. After the inspection, the show resumed, and the interrupted tag team match lasted for an entertaining ten-minute bout.
DraftKings and WWE today announced that DraftKings will become an Official Gaming Partner of WWE, subject to regulatory approval in all applicable jurisdictions. The collaboration centers on DraftKings’ popular free-to-play pools product and will launch with an inaugural free-to-play pool at WWE’s two-night pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania, on April 10 and 11.
“As a cultural icon and incredible sports and entertainment company, we are thrilled to join forces with WWE and introduce its devoted fanbase to the DraftKings brand,” said Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer at DraftKings. “This relationship helps fuel the engagement and drama of WWE’s signature matchups and storylines as audiences enjoy the second-screen experiences our products provide.”
Pursuant to the agreement with WWE, DraftKings will receive an exclusive license to media assets and in-game branding for WWE pay-per-view events. Additionally, both WWE fans and DraftKings customers will be able to participate in a number of integrated, free-to-play pools contests and products and experience digital promotion and program integration.
“We’re excited to enter this new agreement that makes DraftKings WWE’s first-ever free to play gaming partner,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “This collaboration marks a significant step in deepening engagement with our passionate fans and will provide DraftKings the opportunity to leverage the massive appeal and reach of the WWE brand.”
Rob Van Dam is the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2021. The news was announced today on FOXSports.com.
Van Dam made his debut in 1990, starting in different independent promotions before he got his break with WCW in 1992 using the name of Robbie V. His run in WCW was pretty short and a few years later, Van Dam landed in ECW where he enjoyed most of his success.
In ECW, RVD was involved in some epic feuds, most notably with Sabu. His work in the promotion received rave reviews and he was used as one of the top guys in the 1997 ECW invasion on WWE television. After ECW closed up show, RVD was signed by WWE and joined the Alliance during the ECW/WCW invasion storyline. He had a pretty good run in WWE, winning several titles along the way including the big one, cashing in his Money In The Bank contract against John Cena at the 2006 ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view.
Unfortunately for him, WWE suspended Van Dam for 30 days due to a drug possession arrest and he dropped both the WWE and ECW titles to Edge and Big Show respectively, cutting short his runs with the titles.
Following his departure from WWE in 2007, RVD toured the indie scene and then in 2010 joined TNA Wrestling where he also had a pretty decent run. He returned to WWE for a year in 2013 and made sporadic appearances for the brand since then. He also made a second return to Impact Wrestling in 2019 but left a year later.
Van Dam won several titles throughout his ECW, WWE, and Impact runs including the ECW World Television title, the ECW World Tag Team titles, the ECW World title, the WWE title, WWE Intercontinental title, WWE Tag Team titles, and the TNA World title.
Popular YouTuber Logan Paul will not only be on next week’s Smackdown live on FOX but will also be appearing at WrestleMania.
Former Intercontinental champion Sami Zayn brought Paul in the picture last week in a series of Twitter messages and then on Friday, Zayn said that Paul will come to the show as his special guest for his documentary premiere.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer revealed that Paul will be involved somehow in the Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens match at Mania although his exact role has not been revealed yet. Yesterday, Paul retweeted a WWE tweet and said “I’ll be there,” referring to his Smackdown appearance.
Paul has 5.9 million followers on Twitter and 22.9 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. The 25-year-old American also got himself involved in boxing, facing fellow YouTuber KSI in November 2019, a fight which he lost. He also was supposed to fight Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition match in February of this year but the fight was postponed to a later date.
Wrestling is a contact sport that requires players to knock over or hold their opponent down on the ground. The players typically have a set of rules to follow, and it’s either played competitively or for entertainment. This article will mainly focus on wrestling’s entertainment side, or most known as professional wrestling.
In professional wrestling, the wrestler’s attitude is everything. The way they talk, move, and especially how they dress is critical to the whole performance. With these components, the wrestlers have the power to become a character and make the audience believe they are that.
However, some of the wrestlers put on flamboyant personalities for everyone to see, whilst some get hit by scandals, and others wager their hard-earned dollars on other sports. The word is defined as “marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior.” Read on to know the most vivid personalities in wrestling history.
Gorgeous George
Gorgeous George was one of the first wrestlers that brought professional wrestling to its fame today. He’s also one of the prominent wrestlers ever to grace the ring. Born as George Wagner, he entered professional wrestling to earn a living during the Great Depression. However, his audience impact was low due to his small build and lack of expertise and skills.
For this reason, he thought of an ingenious way to ramp up his popularity by becoming Gorgeous George. This persona was an arrogant villain with a platinum blonde-haired villain and wore lace and fur. As an addition, he always went in the ring to “Pomp and Circumstance.” On top of that, he was always escorted by a manservant who spritzed the ring with Chanel perfume.
As a villain, George loved to enrage and taunt the audience walking into an arena. If he has time and villainous energy, he will prance around and primp to provoke his watchers more. This gimmick is widely popular now, and some of the wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Johnny B. Badd use it. He also cringes and shouts, “Get your filthy hands off me!” when someone checked him for foreign objects.
Randy Savage
Randy Savage, or most known as the “Macho Man,” has become a household name. He typically wears striking attires, from a green sequined ensemble to a purple orange fringed one. At one point, he even wore a huge golden cape to show off his extravagance.
Like Gorgeous George, he always entered the ring while they’re playing “Pomp and Circumstance.” He also has a signature catchphrase which is “Oooh yeah!”
Savage’s career had made its way to other media forms like movies, music, and video games with his distinct personality. He is one of many wrestlers who made their way to mainstream pop culture. Even those who don’t watch professional wrestling know his name.
Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels helmed many personas in his career and always crushed every single one they gave him. Some are bad, but some are genuinely memorable. One of his unforgettable characters is the “Boy Toy.” This persona was one of his early villain roles or, as they call it in professional wrestling, heel. He swiftly rose to popularity as one of the best heels in professional wrestling.
The most famous of all his personas is the “Heartbreak Kid.” Everyone adored him as the “Heartbreak Kid,” a narcissistic and smug villain with a bodyguard named Sensational Sherri. The two mostly wore black, but their shticks were spotted as heels.
Rick Martel
Rick Martel is known for the teams he formed, but most especially with his heel persona, “The Model.” With this persona, like any other heel character, he was arrogant and vain. He carries an atomizer with fragrance in it he calls “Arrogance.” He sprays it to his opponents as a weapon or to the audience to taunt them.
His storyline added that he was in demand by Parisian and New Yorker designers. To boast it, he wears a gigantic pin saying, “Yes, I am a model.” This gimmick made the audience hate him more. Nevertheless, he always put on a great show. The Model was one of the best performers in the 80s and was “dubbed” as the most handsome professional wrestler.
Goldust
“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes helmed the Goldust persona. He wore a gold full-body suit with a long platinum blonde wig. This character was bizarre and weird, especially in the era he was introduced. He was arrogant, has a lot of showmanship, and very flashy. Some people would call him “The Bizarre One” due to his freakish appearance.
He was initially thought to be androgynous because of homosexual connotations in mind games he used with his opponents. Later, he changed his style to a more unusual way. Goldust wore bondage gear and lingerie, especially of women.
Johnny B. Badd
Marc Mero played the character Johnny B. Badd because he resembles the rock n’ roll star Little Richard. The name was a tip of a hat to a Chuck Berry song “Johnny B. Goode.” The character was wearing pink feather boas and was heavily caked in make-up. He also carried a Badd carried a novelty gun that fired confetti into the crowd.
As the name suggests, Johnny B. Badd (“be bad”) was initially a heel role. However, it was later reprised as a good guy or a babyface, as they call it.
Ric Flair
“The Nature Boy” was his moniker which he used in his entire four-decade professional wrestling career. Flair was very flamboyant, wearing lavish robes either adorned with gold sequins or feathers. He also showed off the women around him like trophies.
Ric Flair is famous for his catchphrases. For example, “I’m Ric Flair! The Stylin’, profilin’, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin’ n’ dealin’ son of a gun!” Another notable one is, “All the women want to be with me, all the men want to be like me.” He also liked to shout “Woooooooo!” to the crowd.
Flamboyance is the key to success with most professional wrestlers. They need the wow factor to attract an audience and keep them glued to them. Even if it’s not a contact sport, you can try to be as vivid and extra as these wrestling personalities. Wrestling can be done for fun or for competition. Wrestlers need big egos and flamboyant personalities to compete. Therefore, getting to know these personalities would certainly amaze you.
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, former WCW champion Sting said that filming the cinematic match for AEW Revolution was fun, but he “came out of it in shambles.”
Sting admitted that the two nights of filming took a toll on him and it was pretty tough to go through. “It can be taxing on the body especially at my age.”
The WWE Hall of Famer explained that it took 12 hours of filming to complete the match, his first involvement since the 2015 match against Seth Rollins at WWE’s Night of Champions.
“I love filming. I have done movies and TV, and I always have fun with that stuff. The tough part was all of the hours and the recovery time,” Sting said.
Sting said that there was some rust on him after not being in a ring for over five years and AEW President Tony Khan sent a ring to his house to start getting used to running the ropes again.
“It was an eye-opener for me. It was a challenge. I didn’t recover as quick as I used to,” the 62-year-old continued. “It was grueling. I had a lot of work to get my cardio ready to go and get into good physical condition. It was tougher than it’s ever been but I got there.”
Sting and his tag team partner Darby Allin were victorious in their street fight against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks.
Those who have unused WWE Network gift cards can start the process of getting their money back through a process on WWE.COM by going to redeemcardusa.wwe.com.
With WWE Network’s move to Peacock, all Network gift cards are now deemed unusable and cannot even be resold and used by other international subscribers.
WWE has partnered with InComm Incentives to issue you a credit which can be redeemed for gift cards from hundreds of top-name brands or a general-use card from American Express or Visa.
Basically, you can get credit for your unused gift cards on a pre-paid credit card and pay your new subscription to the WWE Network on Peacock with that pre-paid credit card.
WWE sold three-month gift cards at various retailers for $29.97.
As of Sunday morning with two weeks to go, WrestleMania tickets remain available, with night two proving more popular than night one.
There are currently 1,025 seats available for night one including 168 ringside seats. Night two has 693 seats available, 147 of which are ringside.
Ringside seats are going from $1,000 to $2,500 on Ticketmaster.com and at one point were also priced $5,000.
All seats are being sold in pods of one to six and each pod must be purchased in their entirety and may not be divided.
WWE has put around 25,000 tickets for sale for each night of WrestleMania, down from the rumored 45,000 it was being reported. Typically, WrestleMania has a majority of international fans, something that will be absent this year due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
Tracy James, the wife of WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg Brian James, wrote on her Facebook that her husband was admitted to a hospital on the suspicion of a heart attack.
“Brian most likely suffered a heart attack late Thursday night after returning from Orlando. He has had test run and we’re currently waiting for the results. He has also seen a kidney specialist and will have a stress test done,” she wrote.
James was at NXT on Wednesday and ran the show with fellow Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
Tracy then noted that Brian has always been on medication due to high blood pressure and kidney tests came back clear. He is scheduled for more tests on Monday to determine what can be done.
“I am a total wreck, but I’m trying so hard to be positive! Please pray for Brian, he feels horrible, and for God to please heal my husband so he can come home! Thank y’all all so much,” she added.
Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Producer & Chief, Global Television Distribution, was given an additional 15,548 WWE stocks last week according to documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
At current stock value, those stocks are worth $831,818 and Dunn, a very unpopular figure with the Internet wrestling community for a variety of reasons, now sits on a total of 96,959 shares which are worth $5,187,306 as of Friday’s closing.
Last month, WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan was given 10,464 WWE stocks. He is the mastermind of the WWE Network move to Peacock in the United States and is considered one of the most powerful individuals in the company.
