On September 8th, WWE revealed that Triple H had undergone a heart procedure after suffering what was described as a cardiac event. This is typically another way to say heart attack, and WWE’s official statement stated a genetic issue caused it. While any heart-related issue is always serious, it was portrayed as not severe; nonetheless, during a recent episode of Sunday Night’s Main Event, pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer explained he had been told it was “very, very, very serious.” Seemingly this implies that it was potentially life-threatening.
Triple H is only 52 years of age and appeared to be in good health, so the news did come as a surprise. However, it should be noted he had similar bodybuilding passions as The Ultimate Warrior, who was just two years older when he died from a heart attack in 2014. Thankfully though, it appears Triple H is making a full recovery, and he was recently seen participating in a tour of WWE’s new company headquarters, which is currently under construction. Whether he is back to carrying out his day-to-day WWE duties isn’t yet known, although if he isn’t, he likely will be resuming them shortly based on this recent appearance.
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Pro wrestling can be a shady business, and over the years, there have been countless examples of promoters false advertising hoping to sell tickets and run with the money. However, in the latest example of this, a promoter trying to use Mick Foley to sell $100 meet and greet tickets has been called out by the man himself. Foley would share the event poster himself on Twitter and expose the false event as a scam, as he will be at another event on that date.
Tickets were being sold via Eventbrite, and due to Foley calling attention to the situation, tickets are no longer available. Hopefully, this means anyone deceived into buying tickets has been fully reimbursed. And for those fans who enjoy meeting wrestlers and attending shows, it is a reminder to always double-check an event’s authenticity before parting with money.
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Despite making his name in WWE, Matt Hardy decided to turn down a new WWE contract to join AEW. Since then, things have been very positive; however, his feud with Sammy Guevera did feature one of his career-low points when he was hospitalized following a scary bump at All Out. Now while being interviewed on AEW’s Unrestricted podcast, he would acknowledge that the feud didn’t go as planned and explained the difference between WWE fans and those of AEW.
I realized after we did the thing with Sammy, I had stubbed my toe a couple of times in the program. The audience is being very hard on me, I see a thing here too, the demographic here in AEW is very different from a WWE. The demographic and the feedback I get from performing on AEW compared to WWE is very different.
It’s much younger; it’s much more trendy, cool pro wrestling fans. As opposed to WWE, you can tell the audience is older, and they are almost more welcoming of legends and veterans who have been around in the past. With AEW, it’s very tough. You have to go out and bust your ass like you’re 25 to 30 every night.
Matt HardyAEW is held to a much higher standard than WWE when it comes to in-ring product, and it was a brave decision for Hardy to switch promotions. However, the 47-year-old has this year alone shared the ring with the likes of Adam Page, Orange Cassidy, Jungle Boy, and Darby Allin, and at no point looked his age. While not the same performer as he was when he was having TLC matches or feuding with MVP or Edge, he can still deliver in the ring and doesn’t simply rely on his name like some others in his position would do.
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Maven Huffman was co-winner of the inaugural 2001 season of Tough Enough, and it seemed he had a big future in the wrestling business. He’d memorably eliminate The Undertaker during the Royal Rumble match in 2002 and even challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Champion. However, he fell down the card and was eventually released in 2005. He would work a few shows for TNA and make independent appearances but ultimately disappeared from the business.
Now though, the former WWE Harcore Champion has revealed in an interview with That 90s Wrestling Podcast that in 2020 he traveled to meet with Triple H and Matt Bloom about possibly returning to the promotion to work as an announcer.
I actually traveled to Orlando and met with Hunter and with Albert, who is running the developmental down there now. And I was talking to them about maybe doing some announcing stuff, and I did that, and I went there on March 11 of 2020. And if you remember, in America, that’s the day America shut down. So, I never want to turn my back or say, “No, or it’ll never happen,” because I don’t know.
I still and will always have wrestling in my blood. I still have wrestling dreams every week. I still have a dream where I’m either putting my boots on or I’m in the ring, or I’m getting ready to wrestle somebody, and my love for the business is never gonna leave. I would definitely entertain any opportunity to be back in wrestling in any capacity.
While it does seem strange for WWE to consider bringing back a former talent after so many years in an unfamiliar role, it should be noted that Maven did gain television experience with BET and the Home Shopping Network post-WWE. Obviously, nothing more came from the meeting, but it is good to hear that Maven still remains enthusiastic about the wrestling industry.
Maven’s overall wrestling legacy seems set to be a case of what could have been, and while being on Tough Enough got him into the WWE, it did work against him in the eyes of fans. Although sadly, his life went downhill post-WWE due to prescription drug issues, WWE-sponsored rehab assisted him in turning things around. Nowadays, he works on Wall Street in the financial industry, and given how frequently WWE releases talents, it is likely a much more stable career.
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On November 4th, WWE surprisingly released Nia Jax along with 17 other talents. Initially, it was reported to be down to her vaccine status; however, Jax would go on to say the company never this with her and actually revealed she’d just requested an extension to her mental health break. While WWE’s thought process for her release may never be fully known, it seems that their decision may have needed her career. This is based on her latest tweet, where she addressed her new Twitter handle and stated that it is highly unlikely she will compete again.
While a star in WWE, 37-year old Jax had no wrestling experience outside of the promotion, having trained at the Performance Center following her signing in 2014. Simply based on that, perhaps the idea of wrestling elsewhere doesn’t appear to her. Additionally, during her time on Raw, she developed a reputation for being careless with her opponents, which likely limits her options.
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Ric Flair last wrested in 2011 when he was part of TNA. Since then, he has suffered various medical issues and, at one point in 2017, was on the verge of dying. Still, he would recover and even managed to get medically cleared to take bumps while in WWE two years ago. His aim was to get involved in the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match in Saudi Arabia. Despite this, Vince McMahon would go on to reject any suggestions put forward, feeling it was still too risky.
Now though, with Flair no longer with WWE, he is free to participate in any activities he wants and revealed during the latest episode of WOOOOO Nation Uncensored that a promoter in Israel has reached out to him about wrestling AEW’s Sammy Guevara. Flair would confirm he was interested but requires $100,000 and even possibly wants to go over Guevara based on his comment.
There’s a promoter in Israel that wants me to wrestle your buddy, Sammy Guevara, in Israel. I said, “$100,000 and two first-class tickets, and I’m there. 50% and 50% after I beat Sammy.”
Ric FlairIt wasn’t revealed who the promoter was, although as Guevera has previously worked for Gery Roif’s Israeli Pro Wrestling Association, there is a strong possibility it was he who wanted to book the match. Nevertheless, $100,000 is a large sum of money for any wrestling promoter to pay, so whether the match actually occurs is questionable. Previously, the most prominent names booked for IPWA were Matt Sydal, Billy Gunn, Darby Allin, Jay Lethal, and Guevera.
It is pretty surprising that a promoter would seriously consider having 72-year-old Flair compete; however, he recently got physical when he appeared for AAA. Alongside his future son-in-law Andrade, Flair would chop Kenny Omega and Konnan before putting his former WCW colleague in the Figure 4. While fans considered this exciting at the time, that likely is the most active any of his fans want to see the 16-time world champion get nowadays.
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Kairi Sane was written off WWE television on the 20th July 2020 episode of Raw following an attack from Bayley. Her departure was because she’d decided to return to Japan to be with her husband, who she’d married the prior year. Despite opting to leave, she remained on good terms with WWE, and in October 2020, became a WWE ambassador and appeared as part of their Japanese-language commentary team.
However, it is possible her relationship with the company soured somewhat when she requested permission to resume her in-ring career in Japan, with World Wonder Ring Stardom wanting her to compete for them on a big show. Sadly for her, WWE would end up denying the request, and she hasn’t yet returned to the ring. Now though, fans are speculating about her future following a tweet that simply displayed an hourglass with sand flowing through it.
While it isn’t known precisely what Sane is referring to, the popular theory is that her WWE contract could be about to expire, and she will become a free agent. If this is the case, then Stardom would seem to be her most likely destination, as she worked for them for six years between 2011 and 2017. This could also potentially open the door for Sane to work for AEW in the future as Stardom is the sister company of New Japan that frequently works with Tony Khan’s promotion.
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Matt and Nick Jackson, collectively known as The Young Bucks, have been with AEW since the company was first announced and officially signed contracts on January 2, 2019. The belief was their three-year deals would be up in the next few months, and it has now been confirmed they have agreed on extensions through to January 2024. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who broke the news, initially stated the deal was until 2026; however, the brothers themselves have corrected this via their Twitter bio stating “till 2024. Let’s party for 2 more years!“
At present, the brothers, who are also executive vice presidents for the company, are currently taking a break from the ring due to being banged up. This has been explained in the storyline simply as they are not currently medically cleared following their match at Full Gear, where along with Adam Cole, they wrestled Christian Cage and Jurassic Express. At present, it isn’t known when they will be returning to the ring, although with Dynamite set to move from TNT to TBS on January 5, 2022, it would be surprising not to see them involved in such a significant show.
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Jim Ross is the voice of pro wrestling to many fans, and his signing with AEW helped to establish the company as a legitimate rival to WWE. Now though, the legendary commentator is set to miss several weeks of AEW television due to needing radiation therapy following a recent skin cancer diagnosis. Optimistically for Ross, most skin cancers rarely spread to other parts of the body, and he is receiving the treatment promptly.
Ross hasnāt had the best of fortune in recent years. In addition to dealing with the after-effects of Bells Palsey, he tragically lost his wife of 24 years after she was involved in a vehicle accident in 2017. Then in 2018, he had to undergo surgery on his right eye. Since then, he has credited Tony Khan with saving his life for hiring him after WWE discarded him and giving him a reason to live. Hopefully, now Rossā treatment is successful, and things begin to look more favorable for the legendary commentator.
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Ric Flair departed WWE in August, and since then, there have been differing reports on exactly how amicable the split was, with some saying he quit and others saying he was fired. Regardless of precisely what went down, Flair is now seeking out opportunities outside of the company, and one of them is his new WOOOOO Nation Uncensored podcast. The first episode would top various podcast charts, and the second could do the same as he would spend time talking about his former employers.
The 16-time world champion would go as far as to specifically blame Nick Khan for having him removed from WWE’s intro. Plus, he would reveal that WWE was so concerned with taking ownership of his intellectual property that they tried to have him give them ownership while he lay on life support.
You’re not going to bring me back, not that they want me by any means, but I couldn’t ever work for Nick Khan in my entire life. Vince McMahon, I can work for, but Nick Khan, who is a guy who orchestrated taking me off the show. I’ve got my facts together. He orchestrated taking my Woooo off. Never in a million years.
Ric FlairWhen I saw that they took me off the opening and all that for whatever reason, who knows, some people said to me, “Ric, how do you feel about that?” I said, “Well after they asked me to assign my intellectual property to them while I was on life support, nothing that company does surprises me.”
Ric FlairIt had been anticipated Flair was headed to AEW to work with Andrade after leaving WWE. Still, any speculation of that stopped following the now infamous Dark Side of the Ring episode focusing on The Plane Ride From Hell. Right now, his career is in limbo, and while it’s doubtful he’ll appear for a major promotion any time soon, it would be surprising if fans have seen last the Nature Boy. As despite being canceled on social media, he remains incredibly popular despite what WWE wants fans to think.
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It has previously been reported that Johnny Gargano’s WWE contract expires on December 3rd. Therefore when he was announced as wrestling on NXT WarGames scheduled two days after that date, it appeared he had re-signed. However, while he has been offered a new multi-year contract, Fightful has confirmed that he has only signed a one-week extension. This now means he will be a free agent on December 10th, and his long-term future with WWE remains uncertain.
Gargano has been an instrumental part of NXT since signing with WWE in 2016. Although after being on what is considered WWE’s developmental brand for so long, it would have been expected he’d have been called up to Raw or SmackDown by now. The fact he hasn’t signed the WWE contract offered already would seemingly indicate he is strongly considering departing the company, and removing “WWE NXT Wrestler” from his Twitter bio previously would add credence to this.
Gargano is considered one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, and while many consider him underutilized by WWE, he is a former NXT Champion, three-time NXT North American Champion, and a former NXT Tag Team Champion. Now, with nothing left to prove in NXT and the brand being revamped into a different entity than he rose to prominence in, perhaps now is the time to seek out other opportunities. While AEW would likely be very interested in signing him, there haven’t been any rumors of that happening, although, as Adam Cole showed, things can progress quickly once someone becomes a free agent.
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At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday night, a fan would jump Seth Rollins as he walked down the aisle. Security would hastily drag him off, and he was arrested as expected. Thankfully Rollins was OK, and upon arriving in Los Angeles, a TMZ representative waiting at the airport would capture his first public comments on the incident. This would see the former WWE and Universal Champion confirm it was a terrifying experience, and when it happened, he was hoping security would do their job.
It’s terrifying, brother.
It happened very quickly. I was mostly just reacting and hoping that our security would come and do their job, which they did very quickly. And then was just trying to detach and move on. Hope that everybody is OK.
Seth RollinsAfter the attack had occurred and it was verified that 24-year old Elisah Spencer was the offender, fans would begin seeking answers. This led to his social media being scrutinized and discovering that Spencer had been catfished by someone pretending to be Rollins in 2019 and was scammed out of money. Seemingly still believing the real Rollins was responsible, he was out for vengeance. This would plainly call into question whether the so-called fan should face a prison sentence or receive psychological help.
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