Plans for the Rumble announcements on WWE Backstage tonight have been changed. Originally, the show was going to reveal the two women who will be entering the Royal Rumble at #1 and #2 as well as the man who will enter at #30.
But now that has been changed and Backstage will reveal the #1 and #2 entrants of the men’s Rumble match and then there will be a match between Natalya and Tamina with the winner entering the women’s Rumble match at #30.
WWE Backstage will air tonight at FS1 starting at 8PM ET and will be anchored by Renee Paquette and joined by Booker T and Paige. It wasn’t announced if they will be in a studio or in a virtual setting due to the pandemic.
WWE is said to be trying to pull out all tricks in hand for this year’s WrestleMania at the Raymond James Stadium to make up for last year’s disappointment when the show had to be held behind closed doors in front of zero fans inside the small WWE Performance Center.
One of the big rumors is that John Cena will actually be part of the show, although in what capacity remains to be seen. Cena was part of the WrestleMania announcement video where WWE revealed that 37 is going to Tampa, 38 to Arlington, and 39 to Inglewood. Cena made the announcement for WrestleMania Hollywood, first appearing in a tux before ripping it off to show he was in his ring gear.
When asked if Cena will be part of this year’s event, Triple H was coy on how he answered.
“I won’t put words in John’s mouth, but I can speak to his passion, and it’s WWE and WrestleMania,” Triple H told Sports Illustrated. “Once you do this at a high level, and John does it at the highest, it’s very hard to put down. If there is a way for him to be there, he will be there.”
Cena is currently in Vancouver filming the Peacemaker series for HBO Max. The former 16-time champ has been on the rise in Hollywood lately and his participation at WrestleMania will certainly be dictated by what he has going in his acting career.
He “wrestled” at last year’s WrestleMania in a wicked cinematic match against The Fiend which drew both praise and criticism among fans.
WWE today officially unveiled four new talent who have joined the NXT UK brand, adding to the recent signees Rampage Brown, Aleah James, Sha Samuels and Ben Carter.
The most notable of the four is Meiko Satomura, who joins from Japan and the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling promotion. Satomura is no stranger to the UK scene, holding the PROGRESS Women’s title during her many trips there. Satomura will also serve as a coach at the WWE UK Performance Center.
The other three are Tony Gill, an Anglo-Indian who moved to Australia as a child before heading to Canada and was trained by Lance Storm; Metehan Kocabasoglu, from Berlin who will be representing his Turkish heritage. The former wXw champion is 6′ tall and already had battles with Ilja Dragunov and WALTER; and Bailey Matthews has wrestling running through his blood and is ready to step out of his father’s shadow…that of NXT General Manager William Regal!
Cricket Wireless and WWE today announced a new multi-year sponsorship that makes Cricket the co-presenting sponsor of Royal Rumble this Sunday.
The multi-year agreement will provide Cricket Wireless significant visibility and consumer engagement as the proud sponsor and exclusive wireless provider for WWE’s premier pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. Cricket also becomes the new presenting partner of the live Kickoff Shows, which take place prior to all four flagship events.
As part of the sponsorship, WWE Superstars The Miz, Sasha Banks, Kofi Kingston and Charlotte Flair will serve as brand ambassadors for Cricket Wireless through original custom content, community activations and marketing materials.
“This relationship has allowed us to grow awareness of Cricket’s brand with WWE’s dedicated fanbase over the past several years,” said Tiffany Baehman, vice president and chief marketing officer, Cricket Wireless. “Our meet-and-greets with WWE Superstars have been central to our mission of making customers smile, and we’ll expand on that work with even more content creation and community activations. Coupling that with the sponsorship of Royal Rumble, one of the WWE’s biggest events, allows us to foster even more meaningful connections together.”
“WWE’s family friendly entertainment aligns perfectly with Cricket’s values and mission to create meaningful connections for their customers,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “We are thrilled to take our partnership to the next level and provide significant exposure across our global platforms.”
Since the partnership began in 2015, Cricket Wireless and WWE have given back to local communities by hosting anti-bullying events, talent meet-and-greets and retail promotions enabling fans to further engage with their favorite WWE Superstars.
The movie Rumble, produced by Paramount Pictures and WWE Studios, has been delayed to 2022 according to a story on The Hollywood Reporter.
The film was set to open in theaters in the United States on May 14 of this year but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the studios decided to push back its release to February 18, 2022 for Presidents’ Day weekend. It was already pushed back following a Summer 2020 planned release.
The movie is set in a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes. Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a loveable underdog monster into a wrestling champion. The film is directed by Hamish Grieve and produced by Mark Bakshi and Brad Booker.
The main cast voicing the film include Will Arnett, Terry Crews and Geraldine Viswanathan. In addition, WWE Superstars Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns will be voicing characters in the film. Also featured will be Tony Danza, Stephen A. Smith, Jimmy Tatro, Ben Schwartz and Michael Buffer. Susan Levison and Richard Lowell will serve as executive producers for WWE Studios. Reel FX and Walden Media are also producers on the film.
Alex Shelley, who was supposed to be part of the Hard To Kill pay-per-view main event two weeks ago but pulled out a few days before, has spoken publicly for the first time why he had to abandon the plans to travel to Nashville for the show.
Shelley noted that he read a lot of theories why he wasn’t at the Hard To Kill show, ranging from being injured, to being sick, to getting arrested, and even to harming his family members and trying to cover it up. But the former Tag Team champion said that he’s a physical therapy clinician and that is his livelihood and career.
“Wrestling is my livelihood and passion project. At my company, due to the volume of sick and injured patients we are in care of, we modify our COVID-19 mandates as needed. As numbers went up, so did restrictiveness,” Shelley wrote.
He said he was unable to attend Hard To Kill because of his career and respects the decisions made by his company doctors and surgeons. “I look to them for advice and guidance. I am unable to travel and wrestle until I am vaccinated. I took every caution I could before,” he said.
Shelley has shot down the idea of wrestling and maintaining his full time job until he gets vaccinated and it’s completely safe for him to travel although he said he doesn’t want to get the vaccine so soon for now.
“But I want to wrestle very badly while I help people in therapy. So there’s no option. Impact Wrestling was supportive and understanding and as someone who doesn’t have nor want a contract at this point, my hands were tied. Thanks for your support everyone,” Shelley continued.
His tag team partner, Chris Sabin, has teamed up with James Storm for the time being.
Disney Channel has ordered “Ultra Violet & Blue Demon,” a live-action superhero comedy series starring legendary luchador and professional wrestler Blue Demon Jr. playing a version of himself and popular Disney Channel star Scarlett Estevez (“BUNK’D”) as Ultra Violet. The series, which introduces a relatable Mexican American family with a very special legacy, will showcase a predominately Latinx main cast and producing team.
The series unfolds as a magical luchador mask selects 13-year-old Violet to become Ultra, the superhero successor to her uncle, who is the famous Mexican wrestler Blue Demon Jr. and a superhero-in-disguise. Ultra begins her own secret superhero training with her uncle, all while having to navigate the ups and downs of middle school.
“Blue Demon Jr. is a Mexican cultural icon and we are looking forward to introducing him—and the luchador mythology—to our viewers,” said Rafael Garcia, vice president,
Development, Disney Branded Television. “With Violet and her family, we also have the opportunity to present an authentic Mexican American family in a series that combines humor and adventure in a unique Latinx shake-up of the superhero genre.”
Also starring is Marianna Burelli as Violet’s mother, Nina; Juan Alfonso as Violet’s father, Sebastian; Brandon Rossel as Violet’s brother, Miguelito; Zelia Ankrum as Violet’s best friend, Trudy; and Bryan Blanco as Violet’s goody-two-shoes classmate Enrique Diaz- Diaz.
Blue Demon Jr. is set to co-executive produce the series alongside fellow co-executive producers Moxie 88’s Dan Carrillo Levy and Eugenio Villamar who brought the IP to Disney. Jorge Garcia Castro will also serve as a co-executive producer. The pilot episode was written and executive produced by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (“Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” “One Day at a Time”) and directed by Alejandro Damiani (“M.A.M.O.N.”).
NXT came close to Dynamite in viewers this week, but as the saying goes…close but no cigar! The show pulled in 720,000 viewers, up 61,000 viewers from last week’s show. NXT had a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demo and was #24 in the top 50 cable chart. The difference between the two shows was of just 14,000 viewers, down from last week’s massive 195,000 viewer-difference. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Dynamite dropped in the ratings this week and just barely beat NXT in terms of viewership, with the show getting a total of 734,000 viewers. That is down 120,000 viewers down from last week’s broadcast. With a 0.29 rating in the 18-49, Dynamite was #6 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Amanda Huber, the wife of the late Jon “Brodie Lee” Huber, appeared on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast this week to give a very detailed timeline of what and how things went wrong with her husband which eventually led to his death on December 26, 2020.
Amanda said that Jon required a hospital transfer on Halloween and doctors describe it as a matter of life or death situation, explaining that he needed to be hooked up to an ECMO machine and put on the lung transplant transfer list.
Amanda revealed that Jon was turned down a couple of times for a lung transplant by doctors and if one wasn’t coming, doctors advised her to seek end of life care for him. To make matters worse, he got a lung infection in mid-December which complicated things even more. While there were a few weeks of some good news, bad news reigned at the end of November all the way through December.
It was noted that Chris Jericho flew Brodie Jr on his private jet for the Dynamite tapings in mid-December, and that was the night that he “won” the AEW title by beating Kenny Omega after the show went off the air.
Amanda said that on Christmas Day, she asked Cody Rhodes and Big E to see if they were willing to come to the hospital to say goodbye to Jon and be with her when she has to break the news to Brodie Jr. She explained how Cody, Big E, Shawn Spears, Peyton Royce, and Tyler Breeze all came to the hospital to be with them and Cody and Big E accompanied Amanda back to the hotel to tell their son that his father passed away.
A very detailed recap of the whole episode was compiled by r/SquaredCircle user miber3 which you can read in full on r/SC.
It is being reported in the Japanese media that Meiko Satomura has signed a deal with WWE both as a coach and as an active wrestler.
Satomura, 41, formed the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling with Jinsei Shinzaki in 2006 and has been wrestling since 1995. She is expected to arrive in the United Kingdom in the beginning of February to start her work with NXT UK. Fellow Japanese star Sareee is also heading across the world but she will be arriving in Florida where she will be part of the NXT brand.
Nikkan Sports says that Satomura will still continue in her role as President of Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling.
In 2018, she participated in the Mae Young Classic tournament, her first association with WWE during her illustrious career. She also served as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center during the year.
This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV drew 186,000 viewers, up 39,000 viewers from last week’s episode. The show did a 0.05 in the 18-49 demographic, landing the show in #118 on the cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
It looks like Shaq will be getting in an AEW ring for a match at the upcoming Revolution pay-per-view, getting his wish after he originally requested one when he was dealing for a new contract with TNT.
O’Neal challenged Rhodes during the AEW Dynamite Awards and then later during the Dynamite broadcast, Rhodes and his new tag team partner Red Velvet challenged Shaq and Jade Cargill to a match at Revolution on March 7.
Cody was supposed to team up with his wife Brandi for this match but Brandi is pregnant and obviously cannot compete. Velvet, who has since aligned herself with the Nightmare Family, was the one who actually announced the challenge to Shaq and Cargill. A fired-up Velvet said that while Cody would never lay his hands on Cargill, she has no problem doing so and she’s fed up of being attacked and getting disrespected.
Cody originally looked like he was going to pass on Shaq’s challenge due to the arrival of the baby but Arn Anderson said that on June 29, 1985, he watched Dusty Rhodes wrestle Tully Blanchard, then go straight to the airport and arrive in time to see the birth of his boy Cody.
O’Neal last stepped inside a wrestling ring at WrestleMania 32 where he was part of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. A proposed one-on-one match against The Big Show at WrestleMania 33 never materialized due scheduling issues from O’Neal’s part.
How to bet on Dota 2? What are the main aspects to consider? How big profit can you expect? Although there is no “universal recipe,” you still can do a few things to enhance your chances of success. At https://dota2betz.com/, you can develop the right approach to the betting process. In order to find out more about Dota 2, check out the information below.
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AEW held the first-ever Dynamite Awards yesterday in a broadcast aired for free on B/R Live. The half-hour show was hosted by Dynamite commentator Tony Schiavone and Dr. Britt Baker with several celebrities presenting the awards virtually.
The Inner Circle’s attack on Orange Cassidy won the Biggest Beatdown; Santana and Ortiz vs Best Friends in the parking lot brawl won the Hardest Moment to Clean Up After; Nyla Rose won Best Twitter Follow; The debut of Sting on Dynamite won the Biggest Surprise; The Young Bucks’ super kick on MJF into the pool during the Jericho Cruise won the LOL Award; Kenny Omega winning the AEW title and the collaboration with Don Callis won the Biggest WTF Moment; Rey Fenix won the Best High Flyer; Cody Rhodes accepting Brodie Lee’s dog collar match won the Best Moment on the Mic; Darby Allin won the Male Breakout Star; Hikaru Shida won the Female Breakout Star; and Stadium Stampede match won the Bleacher Report PPV Moment of the Year.
Curtis Granderson, Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan, Taylor Williamson, Chael Sonnen, Ron Funches, Camille Kostek, Bert Kreischer, Danielle Fishell Karp and Jensen Karp, and Shaquille O’Neal were the presenters of the awards.
Riho, the first AEW Women’s champion, is returning to the promotion for the first time since last March and will be part of the AEW Women’s Title Eliminator Tournament.
Her run in the company came to a screeching halt after international travel was severely slowed down during the start of COVID-19, preventing Riho from doing trips from Japan to appear on Dynamite in the United States.
But with her time in Stardom coming to a close, the Japanese star looks like she’s going to be making AEW her home, at least for now.
Riho will be taking on Serena Deeb in the first round of the tournament, a tournament which still has no start date.
The 23-year-old became the inaugural AEW Women’s champion after she beat Nyla Rose in the final match of the tournament in October 2019 on Dynamite. The winner of this tournament will be the new number one contender for the AEW Women’s title.
Enemies will become tag team partners tonight on NXT on USA Network as WWE tries to gain some ground after being handed heavy defeats by AEW over the past couple of weeks.
NXT champion Finn Balor will be in action, teaming up with The Undisputed Era’s Kyle O’Reilly to take on the current NXT Tag Team champions Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan.
Also, more Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament matches will take place including Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs Aliyah and Jessi Kamea, Kushida and Leon Ruff vs Grizzled Young Veterans, and Killian Dain and Drake Maverick vs MSK.
The other match advertised is for the NXT Cruiserweight title featuring Santos Escobar taking on number one contender Curt Stallion.
It’s Wednesday! You know what that means…and tonight AEW is presenting another loaded card on Dynamite just a week before the big Beach Break themed episode.
A total of six matches will be taking place on the broadcast and announced are Dr. Britt Baker vs Shanna, Hangman Page vs Ryan Nemeth, Jungle Boy vs Dax Harwood, Eddie Kingston vs Lance Archer, The Young Bucks and The Good Brothers vs The Dark Order in an eight-man tag team match, and Chris Jericho and MJF vs Varsity Blonds.
In addition, Jon Moxley will be on the show to discuss his Beach Break main event match, Sting and Darby Allin address their street fight at Revolution, and after several weeks, Cody Rhodes responds to Shaq!
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H talked with Sports Illustrated about fans being welcomed back to WrestleMania this year, but stopped short of announcing any specific details regarding the event, saying that safety for fans and Superstars is the number one priority.
“That’s why we haven’t been able to make ticket announcements or even share the capacity yet,” Triple H said. “The world is not the same as it was one year ago, and we’re trying to bring an event that is safe but also very special.”
The WWE Hall of Famer noted that the heartbeat of WWE sits in the stands and while in some sports you try to tune out that noise from fans, for WWE it’s all about the fans’ excitement. “We’re the only sport where we’re engaging them to make more noise. It’s all about their participation.”
He said that for him it’s very hard to think about last year’s WrestleMania inside an empty Performance Center as it wasn’t the spectacle that they’re used to.
“Before last year, could you imagine doing a WrestleMania without fans? We do what we do because of our fan base. I’ll revel in the opportunity just to have some fans there. This year, we’ll make something as special as we can, as safely as possible,” Triple H continued.
But getting thousands of people in the stands at the Raymond James Stadium will involve a lot of planning, as something that was “easy” before became complicated with the arrival of the coronavirus. For Stephanie McMahon, taking the necessary steps to make sure it’s a safe environment will be a priority and said that if they do it right, it will be a “celebration in the best way possible.”
While WWE has not officially announced how many people they will take for each WrestleMania night, the Super Bowl will allow 22,000 fans in the 75,000-seater stadium. But you can bet WWE will put in a few more, you know, just because they can!
“We’re very fortunate to follow this year’s Super Bowl,” McMahon says. “We will be studying very closely what went well and what can be improved. The health and safety of everyone involved—our fans, our performers, our employees, our staff, the building staff — is the top priority for us, while also ensuring the most entertaining event possible for two nights.”
Smackdown Women’s champion Sasha Banks told The Complex Sports Podcast that she would like a tag team match with her cousin Snoop Dogg at WrestleMania, weeks after Dogg appeared on AEW’s Dynamite.
Banks said that she saw Snoop Dogg two weeks before his Dynamite appearance and he told her that he wanted to do a splash on the show.
“I wasn’t thinking that splash was going to look like that,” Banks laughed, saying that he called her after the show laughing asking her if she was proud. “I was like ‘Dude, if you had fun, that’s all that matters!'”
But then Sasha said that she wants to do a match with him at WrestleMania and wants him as her tag team partner.
“So we got time, I got time to train him. That splash is going to be five stars, OK?” Sasha continued.
After AEW tweeted the Snoop splash on Dynamite, which by the way looked awful, Banks replied with a crying emoji writing, “We’re gonna have to work on this!”
