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Friends Forever. WWE recently ran a live event in Rochester, New York, which featured a match between Seth Rollins and Austin Theory for the United States Championship. Rochester also happens to be the hometown of Brodie Lee, who tragically passed away in December 2020.
Following the match, Rollins paid tribute to Brodie and said the following:
“Mr. Brodie Lee…he’s from here. He passed away a couple of years ago around this time, and this is the first time I’ve been here with a microphone in my hand in this city to tell him how much I miss him and how much I love him. I just wanted to say tonight was for him. Every time we are in Rochester, in my heart that means we’re here for him. It’s Saturday, and you know what that means, so do your damn thing and sing my song.”
Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) gives a tribute to the late Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) in Lee’s hometown of Rochester, NY. ??#WWERochester pic.twitter.com/5BEwryZXZI
— Ella Jay (@itsellajay) December 4, 2022
Prior to his tim..

The origin of a story. Sami Zayn was recently a guest on the Cheap Heat podcast hosted by Peter Rosenberg, where he discussed a number of topics. Among them was the origin of his story line with the bloodline, who he would like to work with outside of WWE, and more.
Below are some highlights from the interview:
Zayn On being a part of the Bloodline storyline:
“What is interesting and really rewarding for me is that I kind of treat everything I do like it’s the most important thing on the show, but this is the first time where it’s actually the most important thing on the show, so it’s the first time that like my level of investment is returned equally by the fans level of investment and that’s because I’ve been plugged on the top of the card with the guy that they’re used to investing all their energy into which is Roman and The Bloodline. It’s awesome to get that level of engagement and that level of investment from an audience.”
Zayn On how his involvement in The Bloodline began:..

The prizefighter didn’t like the prize. Kevin Owens was recently a guest on the After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves, revealing that he was not a fan of his 2016 Universal Championship Run.
Below is a highlight from the interview:
“I used always to want more and more and more. What’s next? What’s next? What’s next? There are so many moments over the past eight years that I didn’t properly enjoy because I was always worried about what was the next thing. When I was Universal Champion, I had this incredible run with Chris Jericho and so many great moments, so many fun moments that people still talk about today. I’m ashamed to say that I really did not enjoy that as much as I should have.”
Owens won the title after Finn Balor was forced to vacate the championship due to injury shortly after becoming the first-ever champion.
[H/T to SEScoops for the transcription]
Editor’s Opinion:
This is somewhat surprising, and some thing I haven’t thought about in a number of years. I figured..

Not so fast? There is a lot that comes together to make a wrestling show work, but the most important is of course the wrestlers themselves. This means a promotion has to keep the roster fresh and moving in order to prevent things from getting stale. For some reason though, a WWE star was not allowed to return to the ring this week despite being ready to do so.
According to Fightful Select, there were plans for Scarlett to return to the ring during a SmackDown dark match after this week’s show. The original match would have seen Scarlett, Karrion Kross and Damian Priest face Matt Riddle, Braun Strowman and Liv Morgan. However, the match was changed, with Legado del Fantasma taking Kross and Scarlett’s place. According to 411mania.com, Scarlett was never told about the match and it was likely the result of either a match being merely pitched or some sort of internal error. Scarlett has only wrestled twice for WWE, most recently in a June 2021 dark match.
Scarlett is a star in her own ..

Everyone has to hang it up sometime. Wrestlers can have a hard time walking away from the industry as you never know how long it might be before they can get out of the ring. So often a wrestler might try to have one more run or one more match, making retirements fairly rare. Now though, one former WWE star has announced his retirement and had his last match.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: No More: 53 Year Old Wrestling Legend Announces 2023 Is His Last Year In The Ring
Over the weekend, Nova, formerly known as Simon Dean in WWE, wrestled his last match at a Stand Alone Wrestling event in his hometown of Tom’s River, New Jersey. Nova teamed with Aron Stevens and Frankie Kazarian to defeat Matt Cardona, Brian Myers and Pat Buck. Nova began wrestling in 1992 and has worked for ECW, WWE, and on the independent circuit.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by MATT CARDONA (@themattcardona)
Nova is a heck of a star. Check out some of his time in the ring:
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Welcome home. According to reports from PWInsider and Wrestling News, William Regal is finalizing a deal to officially return to WWE in the new year. This is after previous reports surfaced that he was officially done with AEW and that he will not renew his contract when it expires this month.
Regal has being in AEW since March of this year, when he debuted at their Revolution pay-per-view. He has primarily been associated with the Blackpool Combat Club since this time with the company; however, he allied himself with MJF at the recent Full Gear pay-per-view. Regal provided MJF with some brass knuckles, which he used to defeat Jon Moxley, and become the new AEW world heavyweight champion.
However, on this past week’s episode of dynamite, MJF would turn on Regal, knocking him out with those same brass knuckles and effectively writing him off of television.
It is expected that Regal will return to WWE in a backstage role.
Editor’s Opinion:
Once I heard that Triple H was taking over ..

End of the line? Wrestlers are a unique breed when it comes to athletics. While they are all athletes in one way or another, many of them top caliber, many of them do not walk away from competition like others are able to do. This is partially due to being able to get back in the ring for one more match, making it hard to finish up. Now one legend is ready to finish things up for good though.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Perfect Timing: AEW’s Saraya Undergoes Ironic Surgery
Dustin Rhodes began wrestling back in 1988 and has wrestled for a variety of promotions all over the world, from WCW to WWE to Impact Wrestling to AEW and various other stops in between. According to Premiere Streaming Network, Rhodes announced at this weekend’s Blizzard Brawl tapings that 2023 will be his final year wrestling. Rhodes, 53, did not say when in the year he planned on retiring or any specific plans for the year.
.@dustinrhodes has announced at the @BlizzardBrawl tapings that 2023 will be his last year wre..

He’s working on it. Earlier this year, Cody Rhodes made a surprise return to WWE after a years long absence, defeating Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38. Unfortunately, Rhodes tore his pectoral muscle during training about two months later, resulting in him needing surgery and putting him on the shelf. Rhodes is still recovering, but now we know a bit more about his recovery process.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Numbers Don’t Lie: Detailed Look At The Business Side Of WWE Survivor Series 2022
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rhodes is “doing well” in recovery and is working with “top level trainers” as he tries to get healthy again. Rhodes is also said to be the largest he has ever been in his career, now weighing about 240lbs as he attempts to build size and strength. There is still no expected return date, though a torn pectoral normally takes about 4-6 months of recovery, with Rhodes being injured in early June.
Rhodes made an impact in his short time back. Check out w..

The numbers don’t lie. Last weekend, WWE presented its annual Survivor Series event, though this year’s edition was more than a little different. Instead of the usual elimination matches, WWE centered the show around a pair of WarGames matches, with the men and women both getting a chance. That is quite the twist, but things seem to have gone well, at least based on the numbers.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: He Wants Next: 25 Year Old NXT Phenom Wants To Face Roman Reigns, Many More
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has revealed some of the business numbers for this year’s Survivor Series. The majority of these are positive and look at the amount of interest fans had in the show. Here are some highlights:
• There were 13,068 tickets out with 12,600 paid, for a gate of over $1 million.
• There were about 200,000 Google searches, or about the same as most WWE “B” premium live events.
• There were about 8,700 traditional pay per view buys, up about 24% from WWE Crown Jewel earlier in the mont..

He has some options. There are all kinds of stars in WWE’s developmental system and some of them are among the best wrestlers around today. It means a lot for one of them to move up the ladder, You can tell that some of the NXT stars are all but destined to become main roster stars as well and now one of them has set his signs on some rather top level opponents.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: ….What? Former WWE Writer Reveals Bizarre Ideas That Didn’t Make It Very Far
During a new interview with WWE Die Woche from the official German WWE Instagram page, NXT Champion Bron Breakker spoke about who he wanted to face on the main roster. Breakker mentioned Roman Reigns at the top of his list, while also naming other former World Champions, such as AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and more. Breakker has been the NXT Champion since April 4.
Breakker is a force on his own. Check out what might be coming for some top names one day:
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It would be an idea. There are all kinds of ways to present a wrestling story and some of them can be issues fans can relate to. At the same time though, there are some stories that are a little bit more outside of reality, as you would not be likely to see them take place in most people’s lives. Now we are hearing about some pitched ideas in WWE that would fit either list.
Former WWE writer Brian Gerwitz took to Twitter in response to recent “discussed” Royal Rumble plans. Gerwitz revealed some ideas that were “discussed” during his time with the company. Gerwitz mentioned two stories, neither of which ever made it to television. First up, there was an idea pitched of Vince McMahon having a midlife crisis, resulting in him growing a beard, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and singing Black Eyed Peas songs. The other idea would have involved Kaval, better known as Low Ki, revealed as Undertaker’s long lost son. There is no word on how close WWE came to using either idea.
Things “discussed” i..

That’s a big one. Wrestlers have a weird relationship with acting, as they are seen as actors in the ring, but are rarely able to land traditional acting roles as anything beyond a wrestler or some kind of a fighter. You do see someone break through occasionally though and that can make for some interesting moments. Now another WWE star seems to have landed a big acting role, but it isn’t something we can see.
According to Fightful Select, WWE’s Becky Lynch filmed a post credits scene for the Marvel movie “The Eternals”, but her scene did not make it into the finished film. There is no word on what the scene would have been, but it was described as being “too depressing”. There is still a chance that Lynch could wind up in another film down the line, though there is no word on what it could be.
Lynch is very talented in the ring too. Check out what she can do in her more natural job:
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