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Ready for some unexpected TV crossover? WWE is syncing things up in September by moving Monday Night Raw to a 7 p.m. ET start one hour earlier than usual and th...
Here comes the next generation. Earlier today, WWE issued a press release, detailing the names of 15 new college athletes who will join the company’s NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) program, “Next In Line.” This program was created to give an opportunity to collegiate athletes that want to be a part of WWE. The names are as follows: Name College Sport Height/Weight Hometown Abby Jacobs South Alabama Soccer 5’7 Gulf Breeze, Fla. Alexandra Jaksec Mary Washington Tennis 5’4 Pittsburgh, Pa. Alia Armstrong LSU Track & Field 5’4 Baton Rouge, La. Cameron Jones Cincinnati Football 6’8, 320 lbs. Hindman, Ky. Dee Beckwith Kentucky Football 6’5, 235 lbs. Florence, Ala. Greg Kerkvliet Penn State Wrestling 6’3, 250 lbs. Inver Grove Heights, Minn. Isaiah Iton Rutgers Football 6’2, 290 lbs. Houston, Texas Jaiden Fields Georgia Softball 5’9 Kennesaw, Ga. Landon Jackson Arkansas Football 6’7, 275 lbs. Texarkana, Texas Mady Aulbach Youngstown State Basketball 5’3 Slippery Rock, Pa. Nick Dawkins Penn Stat..
Monday Night Raw Date: January 16, 2023 Location: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio Commentators: Corey Graves, Kevin Patrick We’re less than two weeks away from the Royal Rumble and also quite possibly on the second straight week of doing very little because the show is up against a huge football game. The Royal Rumble is in less than two weeks and odds are that we’ll be seeing some more names announced for the namesake matches. Let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Here are the Usos and Solo Sikoa for a chat. They’re here in our city but need to address what happened on Smackdown. Kevin Owens needs to learn that you can’t be a problem for Roman Reigns. Speaking of Reigns, there is something big planned for next week’s Raw XXX. Every generation of the Bloodline will be joining together for an acknowledgment ceremony, plus they’ll beat Judgment Day. Cue Judgment Day, with Rhea Ripley saying they run Raw and Finn Balor saying they ran through the tag division and are now the #1 co..
He’s not next. There are very few wrestlers in history who have made the kind of impact that Goldberg made at the start of his career. After a rather successful football career, Goldberg would go on to become a huge star in wrestling. Goldberg was best known for his undefeated streak where he beat all comers for over a year, but it turns out there was one name he refused to face during his career. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Comeback: Triple H Posts Photo With Celebrity WWE Star During Goldberg’s popularity in WCW, the WWF created a parody character called Gillberg, portrayed by Duane Gill, a much smaller wrestler. Gill recently appeared on the Cafe de Rene podcast and talked about his time as Gillberg. Gill claims that he approached Goldberg about a match between the two of them, but Goldberg turned him down every time. According to a joking Gill, Goldberg was afraid to face him in the ring. It was a funny statement. Check out the clip plus both of them in the ring: [This post contains..
That’s a good sign. Wrestling is in a weird place when compared to mainstream sports. While wrestling is certainly an athletic endeavor, it is closer to a performance than a competition. At the same time, wrestling has quite the audience and that is something that can bring in quite a bit of money. Now the two biggest wrestling companies in the United States might be ready to use their audience to bring in a lot more money. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WATCH: WWE Star Teases Taking Going In A New Direction According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Thursday Night Football on Amazon is drawing in the same numbers in the 18-49 demographic as Monday Night Football on ESPN. This suggests that a core audience will watch a show on streaming, which could lead to online platforms such as Amazon Prime or Netflix could be interested in acquiring WWE or AEW programming when the new broadcasting deals are available. WWE’s current TV deals expire in September 2024, with the negotiations for a new ..
That’s pretty awesome. There are all kinds of people in the wrestling world and all of them have lives going on outside of the ring that we rarely see. They have the same kind of lives that we do, including some things that can be rather positive to hear. Now another WWE personality has some more great news and is sharing his family’s announcement with the world. WWE broadcaster Pat McAfee and his wife Samantha have announced that they are expecting their first child in may. Samantha revealed that she has lost two pregnancies in the past and this one was conceived via IVF. Pat thanked everyone who has helped them through the rough times to get to this point, including friends and family. Pat is currently on hiatus from his job as SmackDown commentator and is expected back after college football season ends. After about 150 shots, a surgery, a transfer, countless blood tests, waiting on embryos, genetic testing, hoping for a big fat positive on a pee stick. So much support from family..
That ‘s a valid excuse. WWE has a lot going on at any given point and it can be difficult to keep track of everything that is taking place. There are times where things can fall through the cracks and need to be changed, which can lead to even more confusing situations. That seems to have taken place again, as WWE has canceled an upcoming premium live event and now we know why. Earlier this month, news broke that WWE was canceling its Day 1 event on January 1, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to 411mania.com, there is a chance that the event was canceled due to Peacock, which airs major WWE events, will be airing the final Sunday Night Football game of the season. According to PWInsider.com, WWE has changed the premium live event to a regular live event. Opinion: This is one of those situations that much be annoying for people who were looking forward to the event but at least they are getting a little something instead of nothing. The event had some interest going into it but now..
Clear it off the calendar. WWE runs a lot of events throughout the year, with the majority being weekly television shows. In addition, the company runs about one premium live event a month, many of which have some sort of theme. Some of these have a long history but others are one off ideas that do not have a chance to go anywhere. It seems that there will be another on that list. According to Brandon Thurston’s Patreon account, WWE has canceled the January 1, 2023 Day One event at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and it will not be rescheduled. As of now, there are no premium live events scheduled between Survivor Series in November and Royal Rumble in January. There is no word on why the show was canceled, though scheduling against football could be an issue. An event is currently still listed on the State Farm Arena’s website, though the event is listed as TBA. Opinion: This is a move that makes sense, as WWE would have trouble continuing these events on every January 1. I..
They have a type. There are all kinds of wrestlers under the WWE banner and most of them come from a few select backgrounds. You can probably figure out some of the most common, with amateur wrestling, football and mixed martial arts being very prominent. That leaves off some of the most obvious, but WWE does still have their eyes pointed elsewhere. Shawn Michaels was recently interviewed by My San Antonio and revealed that NXT was still looking for both independent and Japanese wrestlers. Michaels said that nothing is off the table when it comes to finding new talent, which will continue to be the case in the future. This comes after reports that NXT was no longer looking for independent wrestlers but rather focusing on athletes that could be turned into wrestlers. Opinion: This is far from a surprise and something that is still nice to hear. What matters is that WWE is trying to look through the more traditional areas for future talent. I understand the idea of bringing in athletes..
The EST is expanding her sports knowledge. Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” yesterday, where she appeared as the celebrity guest picker for the slate of college football games for the day. You can watch a couple of clips of her appearance below: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] The show emulated from the University of Tennessee, where Belair ended her collegiate career. Originally from Knoxville, she attended Austin-East Magnet High School and was both All-SEC and All-American in track. Belair was also named to the SEC’s academic honor roll in 2011 and 2012. Belair is scheduled to face Bayley for the Raw Women’s Championship at the upcoming Extreme Rules premium live event. Editor’s Opinion: I love stuff like this! I’m a huge college football fan, so to see two of my favorite sports come together is always a lot of fun for me. Plus I love when wrestling superstars get to show their love a..
Even more evidence. One of the biggest wrestling stories of the year has been Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out on WWE and leaving the company back in May. The two were the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time and the titles were vacated in the process. There have been rumblings that the two may be returning to WWE, and now we have a bit more evidence. According to Wrestlingnews.co, Banks, under her real name of Mercedes Varnado, is no longer being advertised for the Los Angeles Rams celebrity flag football game, scheduled for this Friday. Banks had been advertised as of Wednesday evening but an updated roster from Reddit does not include her. While there is no guarantee of what the change means, there is a chance that WWE pulled her from the event if she is returning to the company. Here are Wednesday and Thursday’s advertisements: Who ya got?! Celebrity Flag Football rosters are set for Team Ramsey + Team Donald! » https://t.co/YqQkpKw4Qa pic.twitter.com/boDqCLysLl..
The big stage. Wrestling has a long history of athletes from more mainstream sports stepping between the ropes. This can create quite the level of interest as fans of both sports can get interested in seeing what happens when worlds collide. Sometimes you get a big success in the form of a hidden gem, and that might be the case again as a former football star is stepping into the ring one more time. WWE has announced that SmackDown broadcaster Pac McAfee will be returning to the ring at Summerslam to face Happy Corbin. The match was made after Corbin attacked McAfee after Money In The Bank went off the air. McAfee has been calling out Corbin for the last several weeks, including insulting him to the live audiences. This will be McAfee’s second singles match on the main roster after he defeated Theory at WrestleMania 38. Opinion: This match being confirmed seemed to be more a matter of time rather than any kind of a surprise. The match has been teased for a few weeks now and WWE is no..
The acquisitions continue. Today, WWE announced its next “Next in Line” class of collegiate athletes who are allowed to profit off of their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). This program allows students to begin training in WWE while still attending colleges and universities worldwide. The class is as follows: Ali Mattox of Ole Miss, a 5-foot-7 cheer & dance athlete from Little Rock, Ark. Case Hatch of Arizona State, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound football player from Gilbert, Ariz. Chandler Hayden of Tennessee, a 5-foot-11 track & field athlete from Pittsfield, Ill. Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound wrestler from Parker, Colo. Derrian Gobourne of Auburn, a 5-foot-4 gymnast from Sarasota, Fla. Ericka Link of Elon, a 5-foot-6 volleyball player from Hedgesville, W.Va. Keshaun Moore of Hampton, a 6-foot-3, 270-pound football player from Suffolk, Va. Luke Ford of Illinois, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound football player from Carterville, Ill. Maliq Carr of Michigan State, a 6-foot-5, 2..
Call it a crossover. Professional wrestlers are certainly athletes, but there is a certain stigma about them. While what they do is some of the hardest work in all of sports, critics will waste no time in reminding you that what you are seeing is fake, or at least scripted and predetermined. That can make it a bit difficult for wrestling to be seen as athletics, but now some wrestlers will be appearing at a major athletic event. WWE has announced that The Miz and Titus O’Neil will be representing the company at the upcoming NFL Draft in Las Vegas. The two will get to announce selections for their respective hometown teams, the Cleveland Browns (Miz) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (O’Neil), the latter of which will be celebrating his birthday. O’Neil had a career in professional football, playing in the Arena Football League from 2003-2007. Opinion: This is one of those cool things that WWE gets to do every now and then. While WWE stars might not be the biggest celebrities in the world, the..
They seem to be impressed. WWE has been around for a very long time and it means a lot to be one of the company’s featured stars. If you are one of the focal points of WWE, it suggests that you are going to be a major player in the wrestling industry and that means your face is going to be seen in a lot of places. That was the case again this week and the face might have been a surprise. This weekend, the United States Football League returned after a nearly forty year absence. The broadcast of at least one game included an advertisement for WWE Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. While the SmackDown side of the graphic featured Roman Reigns, the Monday Night Raw side featured Cody Rhodes. This comes after Rhodes returned to the company less than a month ago at WrestleMania 38 and suggests that Rhodes will be a featured star both on Monday Night Raw and on WWE programming in general. WWE TV ads have Cody Rhodes featured as the top star on #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/9TDuIdNKpt — Wrestling N..
That’s worth a look. WrestleMania has been around for the better part of forty years now and has grown so far beyond what it was when the show was introduced. Now instead of being run in an arena, the show takes place over two nights inside of an NFL sized football stadium. That is quite the change, and now there is even more proof that the show has gotten even bigger. According to PWInsider.com, the first night of the WrestleMania 38 Kickoff Show will air live on the USA Network from 6pm-8pm. The show will also air on Peacock and the WWE Network. There is no word on what will be airing on the show, though the show usually includes several matches. The Sunday Kickoff Show has not been announced to air on USA, but there is a chance that it will be as well. Opinion: That is the kind of thing that makes WrestleMania feel special, as the show is being treated as something bigger than anything else all year. Airing the first two hours on the USA Network is something that you do not get to..
We all smell what he’s cooking. Tonight, Dwayne Johnson provided the introduction for Super Bowl LVI (56) between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rock introduced the teams with hints of his WWE persona. You can see the introduction below: [This post contains video, click to play] .@THEROCK. INCREDIBLE OPENING TO #SBLVI ?: #SBLVI on NBC ?: https://t.co/K02y40b5Nu pic.twitter.com/Jib7mVPztC — NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2022 The Rock is no stranger to Super Bowl introductions; in 2020, he gave the introductions for the teams in Super Bowl LIV (54). He has a history with football; from 1990 to 1994, he played for the University of Miami Hurricanes. Although he would be a part of the national championship team in 1991, Johnson would appear in a backup role, starting only one game in four years. After Johnson graduated in 1995, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League as a linebacker. He was assigned to the practice roster but was cut tw..
He has enough to do already. For some reason, wrestlers and wrestling personalities have a bit of a history when it comes to politics. WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura went on to become the Governor of Minnesota while his fellow Hall of Famer Kane became the Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. It is something that has had some surprising results, but rumors of another wrestling personality trying his hand in the field do not seem to be true. On Thursday afternoon, a story from ProFootballTalk began circulating that AEW President Tony Khan was running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Florida. However, Khan himself has responded to and denied the reports, saying that the story is untrue and saying that ProFootballTalk’s sources are as trustworthy as Maxwell Jacob Friedman. The fact checking standard for @ProFootballTalk reporting is far lower than that of @AEW’s roving reporter @tonyschiavone24. I’m definitely not running for Congress; this filing is faker than E..
The Boss and football make a perfect mix. WWE superstar Sasha Banks was recently the featured figure on the introduction video for the 2022 College Football National Championship game on ESPN. The game featured the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide. You can see the video in its entirety below: [This post contains video, click to play] The video features Banks as an outer-wordly character, similar to the one that she played on The Mandalorian. She then uses futuristic technology to show past National Champions, and then promote the game between Georgia and Alabama. WWE has released a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot for this promotional video, which you can see below: [This post contains video, click to play] Banks has been out of action since the beginning of this month when she was injured at a live event. In a recent report, WWE announced that Banks has suffered a bruised calcaneus bone and will be out of action for 6-8 weeks. The No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs defea..
They’re next. This morning on College GameDay, Goldberg appeared as the special guest picker for today’s slate of college football games. The featured pick was between Michigan and Georgia one of the games of the 2021 College Football Playoff. You can see the appearance in its entirety below: [This post contains video, click to play] Goldberg played as a defensive end for the Georgia Bulldogs, where he was a two-time All-SEC defensive lineman. He was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round, with the 301st overall selection, in the 1990 NFL draft. It looks like @Goldberg could still play for @GeorgiaFootball ? pic.twitter.com/m1Skjqfrx5 — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 31, 2021 It’s safe to say that he had a more successful career in professional wrestling: [This post contains video, click to play] Editor’s Opinion: I love stuff like this. Although Goldberg’s career in football was cut short, he is still one of the most recognizable figures in all of sport..