Monday, November 2, 2026
NEWS

WATCH: John Cena’s 2002 Debut vs. Kurt Angle

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Look at him now. WWE has posted a new video to their YouTube channel in which they show John Cena’s full debut match against Kurt Angle from the June 27, 2002 episode of Smackdown. You can see the match in its entirety below: [This post contains video, click to play] From our own Thomas Hall: Cena takes him outside and keeps hammering away before a running splash gets two. Kurt picks the ankle and snaps off the first German suplex to put both guys down. A rollup gets two for Cena but Angle blasts him down with a clothesline. They’re certainly going hard out there and it’s working so far. Cena throws him off to break a front facelock and gets two off a good looking spinebuster. The Angle Slam is countered into a DDT for some near falls (Taz: “RUTHLESS AGGRESSION! THERE IT IS!” Is that what it is? Multiple pinfall attempts?) and a powerslam gets the same. Kurt finally has enough and grabs a double chickenwing rollup for the pin. Editor’s Opinion: I always love seeing this match a..

NEWS

Canceled Plans For Released WWE Stars Revealed

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It was a possibility. There have been all kinds of WWE releases over the course of the year so far, as dozens of wrestlers have been let go from the company. This has been quite the shakeup as wrestlers who have been with the promotion for quite a long time are now gone. Some of them never got much of a chance, and now we know what kinds of plans some of them were factored into. According to Fightful Select, Arturo Ruas and Marina Shafir, both of whom were released from WWE earlier this week, were considered to be part of the new Diamond Mine stable in NXT. Ruas was told he would be part of the group until the middle of June before plans were changed. Shafir was going to be the group’s female enforcer, though it was not known when she would debut. The Diamond Mine, consisting of Roderick Strong, Hideki Suzuki and Tyler Rust with Malcolm Bivens as their manager, debuted on June 23. Ruas, also known as Adrian Jaoude, signed with WWE in 2015 and spent time in Evolve. He appeared on Mond..

NEWS

More NXT Talents Scouted During SmackDown Dark Matches

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The new generation. WWE is a huge wrestling company and that means they are going to need to do something to keep the interest up. One of the best ways to do this is to keep the talent pool moving, which they are certainly trying to do these days. That is where NXT comes in, as they have more than enough wrestlers to help boost things up. Now we might know who some of the next call ups could be. According to PWInsider.com, two more dark matches featuring NXT wrestlers took place before this week’s SmackDown taping. First up, Karrion Kross defeated Slapjack. Second, Shotzi Blackheart faced Scarlett. There is no word on who won either match or how either of them were received. This continues a recent run of NXT wrestlers working dark matches before television tapings. Kross is the reigning NXT Champion and has wrestled matches at the last three television tapings between Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. Scarlett is Kross’ valet in NXT and has yet to wrestle a match for the promotion. Bl..

NEWS

NXT Holds A Talent Show (Singing Took Place)

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Keep up those spirits! Things have been all over the place in wrestling over the last year and it can make things all the weirder for the wrestlers. At some point you are going to go a little nuts just sitting around at the same buildings every week instead of spending time out on the road as you have done for years. There are ways to make it better, and now WWE has tried one of the more interesting ones. According to Fightful Select, there was an NXT talent show put on by the company’s officials earlier this week. The idea was to boost morale on the roster, though attendance at the event was mandatory. The event was said to have gone over well, with things such as singing and stand up comedy included. There is no word on which wrestlers were involved in the event. There are some talented people in WWE. Check out a look at some things that might surprise you: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to p..

NEWS

AEW Star Undergoes Neck Fusion Surgery Due To Spinal Stenosis

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That’s never good. Injuries can happen to any wrestler at any point in time. There are a variety of them to pick from, as it could be caused by anything from a fluke accident that changes everything at once to a career’s worth of wear and tear that builds up over time. It seems to be the latter in this case though and now someone is probably going to be on the shelf for a long time to come. AEW’s Trent has announced via Instagram that he has undergone neck fusion surgery. There is currently no word on how long he will be out of action or if he will be able to wrestle again. During this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, Tony Schiavone mentioned that the surgery was to help with spinal stenosis. Trent’s most recent match took place on April 21, and was only his fourth match back after missing nearly four months due to a torn pectoral muscle. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TRENT? (@trentylocks) Trent has been a fixture of AEW. Check out some of his better moments with the c..

NEWS

What To Expect From WWE’s Upcoming Live Events

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Something to look forward to. The wrestling world is starting to get back to normal after a very long time of things being a huge mess. Wrestling fans will be back at full attendance for the two major American promotions next month and it is going to make for a huge change of pace. WWE is going to be back on the road for house shows as well and now we know something about them. The websites for the Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Florida and the Stephen O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida are advertising a main event of Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston teaming up against MVP and Bobby Lashley for the main events on August 7 and 8 respectively. These are the only matches announced for the shows so far. Other names advertised for both cards include: Roman Reigns Rhea Ripley Bianca Belair Charlotte Rey & Dominik Mysterio Usos Live events can be a lot of fun. Check out what is coming back: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post..

NEWS

Main Event Set For WWE Money In The Bank

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They aren’t wasting time. We are less than a month away from Money In The Bank and that means WWE is going to need to start setting the card up in a hurry. With so many people wrestling in the show’s ladder matches, the remaining matches are going to need something special to boost them up. That seems to be the case with one of the show’s main event, which has now been confirmed. WWE has announced that Edge will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Title at Money In The Bank. Edge returned this week on SmackDown and attacked Reigns in a brawl to end the show, with the match being made the following morning on Talking Smack. Reigns defeated Edge and Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 37 but this will be their first ever singles match against each other. This should be awesome. Check out how we got here and some of their history: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This is about as l..

NEWS

AEW Dynamite Live Coverage And Results – June 26, 2021

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Dynamite Date: June 26, 2021 Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur We’re finally out of the Friday night cycle with a Saturday show. It’s also a huge show with Jungle Boy challenging Kenny Omega for the World Title in the main event. That alone should be enough, but you know that AEW is going to have a lot of other stuff to fill in the gaps. It’s rather nice to have that reassurance so let’s get to it. Earlier today, Shawn Spears jumped Sammy Guevara with a chair, compliments of MJF. Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs Hobbs drives him into the corner to start but Page is right back with some right hands to the floor. Page follows him out for the slugout but Hobbs sends the arm into the barricade. Back in and a suplex drops Page and Hobbs stays on the arm. Page gets a boot up in the corner to stagger Hobbs but the bad arm goes into the post. That’s enough to cut Page’s head open as well, which fires him up enough for some boot..

NEWS

Wrestling World Reacts To Latest WWE Releases

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People are going to have opinions. The biggest wrestling story of the year has been WWE’s rapid fire releases. Dozens of wrestlers and WWE names have been released from the company over the course of the year and even more were let go this week. Some of the names were surprising choices and now the reactions to those releases have started to come in. WWE released fourteen names from the company on Friday, including Tyler Breeze, Fandango, August Grey, Marina Shafir, Killian Dain, Tino Sabbatelli, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, Chase Parker, Matt Martel, Samir Singh, Sunil Singh, Curt Stallion and Arturo Ruas. These names were mainly from NXT and 205 Live with some of them having several years of experience. Following their releases, several in the wrestling industry have given their opinions on the situation. *BREAKING NEWS* Tonight’s @WWE205Live Main Event has just been turned into a LOSER LEAVES TOWN MATCH! Don’t miss it!!! pic.twitter.com/SmApTs3ugu — Anthony Greene (@AugustGreyWWE)..

NEWS

WWE Writer Let Go Over Controversial Statements

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That wasn’t going to work. WWE has a lot of people working together to put on the best show possible. That may not always work as well as planned, but there are a bunch of people putting in the work. If one of them makes the rest of the group look bad, it is not going to sit well with the rest. You could see that this week, and now someone involved is off the team. Earlier this month, new Monday Night Raw writer Kenice Mobley gave an interview in which she mentioned that she knew almost nothing about WWE when she was hired by the company. This included not even being certain about Bobby Lashley’s real name. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Mobley has been let go from the company due to an “internal concern”. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Mobley was in trouble for speaking on topics WWE did not want known. WWE writer Kenice Mobley has been let go. She was in the news this week after a podcast appearance where she said she wasn't familiar with the product..

NEWS

News On Becky Lynch, Including Why She Was Not At WrestleMania 37

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What could have been. There are very few stars in WWE who make it to the top of the company. You know one of the really big names when you see them and they are among the top names in all of the wrestling world. It can mean a lot when one of them has to go away but it can mean even more when one of them gets to come back. We now know a bit more about when that might be happening. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch should be returning to WWE television “relatively soon”. Lynch was backstage at Hell In A Cell and has been training at the Performance Center, including working in the ring. She was not used at WrestleMania 37 as WWE was waiting on her to sign a new deal with the company, which has now been completed. WWE also did not want her to debut before she was ready to wrestle again. There is no word on when Lynch will be returning to either television or the ring. I think WWE will be happy to have her back. Check ou..

NEWS

VIDEO: Surprise Return Sets Up Likely WWE Main Event Program

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Welcome back. One of the most entertaining things you can see in wrestling is a surprise return. If these are timed right, it can be about as cool as you can get in wrestling, as a major name returning at just the right time can do all kinds of good for a show. That was the case again this week, as a legend returned to fill in a spot that no one else was taking at the moment. Edge made a surprise return at the end of this week’s SmackDown. Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman were in the ring to give the State Of The Universal Championship Address, where Heyman spoke about how there was no one left for Reigns to face. Edge then returned and brawled with Reigns, but had to stop to beat up Jimmy Uso instead. This was Edge’s first appearance since losing to Reigns in a triple threat match, also involving Daniel Bryan, at WrestleMania 37. Edge was previously advertised for the July 16 edition of SmackDown, which will be the first WWE event with a full capacity of fans since March 2020. There is ..

NEWS

REVIEW: Hog Wild 1996: Call It Atmospheric Wrestling

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Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be? Hog Wild Date: August 10, 1996 Location: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sturgis, South Dakota Attendance: 5,000 Commentators: Dusty Rhodes, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan This is one of the more unique shows that you’ll see as we are outside in front of a bunch of bikers. I’m sure they will be a completely acceptable crowd with no problems or distractions whatsoever. We’re also just into the NWO era and Hollywood Hogan is getting the World Title shot against the Giant. Let’s get to it. Of note: there were EIGHT Saturday Ni..

NEWS

More Names Qualify For Money In The Bank Ladder Matches

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Two less spots. We are less than a month away from Money In The Bank and that means it is time to start getting things ready for the for the show’s namesake matches. The Money In The Bank ladder matches are some of the biggest matches of the year and that will be the case again this time around, with eight entrants each in the men’s and women’s version. Now we know a few more names involved. Two more entrants were confirmed for the Money In The Bank ladder matches were confirmed during this week’s SmackDown. First up, Big E. defeated Apollo Crews with the Big Ending. Big E. was in trouble thanks to Commander Azeez, who was then ejected, allowing Big E. to pin Crews. Later, Carmella was announced for the match by Sonya Deville without having to win a match. Big E. joins Ricochet, Riddle and John Morrison in the men’s match while Carmella joins Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in the women’s match after they qualified on Monday Night Raw. More names will be announced in the co..

NEWS

SmackDown Results – June 25, 2021

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Smackdown Date: June 25, 2021 Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole We’re done with Hell In A Cell and that means it is time to get ready for Money in the Bank. A bunch of the ladder match spots have already been filled so it is time to start hammering out the rest of the field. Throw in Roman Reigns needing a new challenger and we could be in for a packed show. Let’s get to it. We open with a recap of Roman Reigns beating Rey Mysterio in the Cell last week. Paul Heyman tells Roman Reigns that the Mysterios are acknowledging him from their hospital beds. Jimmy Uso comes in so Reigns asks where Jey is. Jimmy called him a hundred times and finally got through to him, but Jey isn’t coming back. Reigns isn’t happy, but Jimmy says he’s got Reigns’ back. He says he can do everything Jey can, but Reigns doesn’t look convinced. Jimmy needs to prove himself. Here is Bianca Belair to say we are three weeks away from leaving the Thunderdome and comi..

NEWS

SmackDown Star Undergoes Surgery, Missing Some Time

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That never sounds good. With so many wrestlers on the WWE roster, it can be hard to keep track of what everyone is doing. Sometimes this means that one of them might slip underneath the radar, allowing them to do something else if they need to. That is not always the best news to hear, and in this case it seems that someone has been gone for a less than great reason. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, SmackDown’s Montez Ford has undergone surgery but will not be out of action for very long. There is no word on what kind of procedure Ford had done, but it is not related to any kind of an injury. Ford has posted a photo of himself in the hospital, with the caption of “GOD IS GOOD”. While Ford has been appearing on WWE TV, he has been out of action since June 11 due to a storyline rib injury at the hands of Otis. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ???? ??? (@montezfordwwe) Ford is an amazing talent. Check out what he can do when he is back: [This post contains v..

NEWS

Another Sign WWE Is Getting Back To Normal

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Back to normal? The Coronavirus pandemic has shaken up the wrestling world in a variety of ways, with the biggest change of them all being the lack of fans in attendance at events. It makes things feel all the less important and also changes the way the company’s finances work. Things have started to get back to normal though and now WWE has taken another big step back towards normal. WWE has announced a four city United Kingdom tour, taking place from September 19-22. The tour will be SmackDown exclusive and includes names such as Roman Reigns, the Usos, Big E., Bianca Belair, Bayley and Sasha Banks. Assuming she does not appear before then, this would be Belair’s first appearance since the April 16 edition of SmackDown. The tour will include the following events: Newcastle – Utilita Arena (Sunday, September 19, 2021) London – The O2 (Monday, September 20, 2021) Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena (Tuesday, September 21, 2021) Glasgow – The SSE Hydro (Wednesday, September 22, 2021) WWE has b..

NEWS

WWE Releases Six More Wrestlers

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Even more down. One of the biggest stories of the year has been WWE’s huge round of cuts. WWE has let dozens of wrestlers go from the company, with some of them being fairly high profile names. Almost no one on the roster has been immune to what has been happening though and that has made for some big shakeups. There were even more of them today and the list keeps growing. In addition to the seven names released from the company earlier today, WWE has also released six more names later in the day. According to PWInsider.com, Marina Shafir, the Bollywood Boyz (Sunil and Samir Singh), Curt Stallion and Arturo Ruas have all been released from the company. Finally, NXT’s Killain Dain has confirmed his own release via Twitter. Shafir is a former mixed martial artist and a member of the Four Horsewomen of MMA. The Bollywood Boyz have been longstanding members of the 205 Live roster and appeared with Jinder Mahal as the Singh Brothers. Stallion had been on 205 Live as well, but has been out..

NEWS

WWE Reportedly Releases Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Others

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The cuts continue. According to a report by Bleacher Report, by way of Fightful, WWE has come to terms on the releases of several wrestlers. This list includes Tyler Breeze, Fandango, NXT tag team Ever-Rise and 205 Live wrestlers Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari and August Grey. Fandango, who also wrestled for WWE as Johnny Curtis, seemed to acknowledge his release in the following tweet: Thank you @VinceMcMahon @TripleH @StephMcMahon Thank you for the last 14 years . I truly appreciate it!? — Fandango (@WWEFandango) June 25, 2021 This most recent wave of cuts, continues a trend that has been happening for a few months. Several releases have taken place during this time, including Tucker, Samoa Joe, Chelsea Green, Kalisto, Bo Dallas, Wesley Blake, Mickie, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Ruby Riott, Lana, Santana Garrett and Buddy Murphy. Adnan Virk and Tom Philips have also been released by the company. Breezango was pretty entertaining as a team: [This post ..

NEWS

New WWE Writer Says She Was Not Required To Know Wrestling

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It’s a blank slate. WWE is a bit different than the rest of the wrestling promotions in the world. The company has more resources and options available than any other, including the amount of television time that they have on hand. That means they are going to need something to fill in that time and now we are seeing some interesting details on how some of their television content is created. Newly signed WWE creative writer Kenice Mobley appeared on the June 6 edition of the Asian Not Asian podcast to talk about her signing with the company. Mobley was signed to WWE on June 3 and was not required to know anything about WWE. Instead, Mobley was hired due to her experience in film production and comedy writing. Mobley was only familiar with a handful of names and did not know if Bobby Lashley’s last name was Lashley or Ashley. Mobley is part of the Monday Night Raw team and it is not clear if she has officially started actively working or not. This is what Mobley is coming into. Check..