Charlotte Flair is believed to have significant backstage heat following an awkward segment between herself and Becky Lynch on this past week’s SmackDown. The pair were exchanging the physical Raw and Smackdown Women’s Championship belts with Sonya Deville overseeing proceedings as Lynch has been drafted to Raw and Charlotte drafted to SmackDown. Yet, it didn’t go as scripted as Flair was firmly against the segment and would end up just Flair just dropping her belt on the mat, followed by Lynch throwing her belt at Flair.
Backstage both women would get into a verbal argument, which apparently resulted in Flair being escorted from the venue by security, with some speculating about her WWE future considering how upset management and her colleagues were. In fact, it has now been reported by PWInsider that Lynch wasn’t the only person to argue with Flair, and Deville would also get involved and was said to be mad enough that she wanted to fight her.
The Lynch confrontation took place in the gorilla position in full view of Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard, among others and received the lion’s share of attention initially, but Lynch was not the only person upset with Flair. Two different sources described Sonya Deville as “mad enough to want to fight Flair” and at one point, also having an argument with Flair backstage at Smackdown.
PWInsider.comHow this plays out remains to be seen, although Flair and Lynch won’t likely cross paths again until Survivor Series, which allows plenty of time for things to blow over. However, with Deville appearing on both the Raw and SmackDown as an on-screen authority figure, Flair may be wise to remember that Deville has fought in MMA (2-1 record), so perhaps should give her a wide berth.
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Jimmy Rave shared the news 11 months ago that his wrestling career had ended after 21 years due to his left arm amputation. Now just days after revealing he owes more than $100,000 in medical bills, he has announced on Twitter that he has also had to have both legs amputated following an MRSA infection this past June. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the internet, some fans are skeptical, so he has included a photograph confirming this.
Apparently it’s time for me to come clean. This past June I began having trouble walking & went to my surgeon. He determined I had MRSA in both legs & they needed to be amputated immediately. Promoters can tell you along with my peers, I’ve had a history w/this and would cancel shows often due to this condition. I don’t know where rumors started this was due to something else, but I hadnt been to shows for so long. So where did someone see me do something? *I* have ALWAYS been honest with my past. *I* went on podcast n interviews being super candid. Pro Wrestling is all I ever loved. It sucks to think that the tribe I would have died for, would say untrue things about me. I’ve gone this whole time not disclosing my legs because of this embarrassment. Sorry I fell short of your expectations. I tried … I really did.
Jimmy RaveFor those wanting to assist Rave, he has confirmed his PayPal-associated email address is jamesmguffey@gmail.com. Additionally, the original GoFundMe from 2020 set up for him to purchase a prosthetic arm remains open at gofundme.com/f/Jimmyrave.
Rave started out in the wrestling business in 1999, and he is best known for his multiple runs in Ring of Honor, where he shared a ring with Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness, AJ Styles, and CM Punk. He was also part of The Rock ‘n Rave Infection in TNA along with Lance Archer and Christy Hemme. Unfortunately, his career was severely hampered by drug addiction, which resulted in him attending rehab. He would, though, rebuild his life and get a job at the Bartow County Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center in Georgia before sadly having to deal with these amputations.
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Original Photo Credit: https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON
During Saturday night’s edition of Dynamite, former WWE talent Tony Nese was shown in the crowd on multiple occasions. He was put over on commentary as a hot free agent, so it seemed inevitable he was set to work for the promotion. Now during the AEW Dark tapings, which took place on Sunday at Universal Studios, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion would debut for the promotion by wrestling Fuego Del Sol.
Due to WWE making budgetary cuts, Nese was released on June 25, 2021, having worked for Vince McMahon’s company since 2016. Overall, his time in WWE was uneventful, as he mainly appeared on 205 Live. However, he did win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from Buddy Murphy on the WrestleMania 35 pre-show.
Prior to his WWE run, he worked for ROH, TNA, and EVOLVE, where he developed a reputation as a technically gifted power-based wrestler. While overlooked by WWE for most of his time there, AEW now offers him the opportunity to fulfill the potential that fans recognized when he started out wrestling on the New York indie scene.
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During Saturday night’s Dynamite, Lance Archer would wrestle Eddie Kingston in the first round of the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament. The duo would put be putting on an exciting hard-hitting match. However, things went wrong when Archer would end up under rotating on a moonsault and landed on his head. Clearly hurt and dazed, he would roll out of the ring and was checked out by AEW’d doctor. Presumably, after getting confirmation that he could finish the contest, he slowly re-entered the ring to be rolled up and pinned by Kingston, reminiscent of Owen Hart pinning Steve Austin at SummerSlam SummerSlam 1997.
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This was a scary moment, but thankfully it was soon reported by fans in attendance who were on social media that Archer was able to walk to the back. Then later in the evening, Archer would take to social media himself and thanked AEW for looking after him and that he’d be back.
Seemingly by stating he’ll be back indicated he is set to miss some time. Still, thankfully it appears the injury isn’t as serious as it could have been. As Archer said, he has performed the moves hundreds of times without incident, so it just goes to show how mishaps can happen at any time and even to the most experienced professionals.
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SmackDown this week featured a strangely awkward segment between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The duo were switching the physical Raw and Smackdown Women’s championship belts as Lynch has been drafted to Raw and Charlotte drafted to SmackDown. However, how it went down in the ring was not as planned, with Flair keeping her belt away from Lynch and then dropping it on the mat, followed by Lynch throwing her belt at Flair.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”znDYZCGk” upload-date=”2021-10-23T15:07:11.000Z” name=”Lynch/Charlotte SmackDown Segment Excerpt” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]According to multiple reports, the two women would get into a verbal confrontation backstage following the segment as neither was happy with what happened. Lynch was said to be particularly unhappy as she felt Flair purposely tried to make her look bad. While at no time did anything get physical, Bryan Alvarez has since reported that Flair was actually escorted from the building by security.
How this plays out remains to be seen, with PWInsider reporting that Flair has significant backstage heat. Evidently, the locker room is standing behind Lynch, with the view being she was just standing her ground. This situation has now led to speculation that Flair could be headed to AEW to be with her fiancé Andrade, especially since he tweeted out “Fu… WWE !!!!!” not long after the incident. That, though, wouldn’t be straightforward as Charlotte has several years remaining on her WWE contract, and it’s very doubtful they would release.
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Earlier in the week, Jim Ross shared a graphic image of his ankle featuring a nasty-looking ulcer and said he was getting it checked out. Sadly while traveling to commentate on Dynamite, he has now confirmed that the diagnosis was cancer. He now awaits confirmation in the best treatment. Optimistically though, for Ross, most skin cancers can be cured and rarely spread to other parts of the body.
Ross hasn’t had the best fortune in recent years, as in addition to dealing with the aftereffects of Bells Palsey, he tragically lost his wife of 24 years after she was involved in a vehicle accident in 2017. Then in 2017, he had to undergo surgery on his right eye. He has since credited Tony Khan with saving his life for hiring him after WWE discarded him and giving him a reason to live. Hopefully, now Ross’ treatment is successful, and things begin to look more favorable for the legendary commentator.
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Friday night’s episode of SmackDown featured an awkward segment that saw Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair exchange championship belts due to being on new brands going forward. As you can see in the video below, Flair would keep her belt away from Lynch before going on to drop it on the mat, and Lynch would later throw her belt at Flair, which came across as being disrespectful to the championships.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”znDYZCGk” upload-date=”2021-10-23T15:07:11.000Z” name=”Lynch/Charlotte SmackDown Segment Excerpt” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]According to multiple reports, the duo would get into a verbal confrontation backstage following the segment as neither was happy at how it went down. Lynch would go as far as accusing Flair of trying to make her look back and prevented her from having a moment with both titles. Apparently, Flair was against the whole segment and felt swapping belts wasn’t the right thing to do. It has also been claimed that Vince McMahon was left angry with Flair leaving the venue before he had a chance to speak with her.
Swapping titles belts isn’t viewed as ideal by many fans simply because it confuses titles lineages. However, with Lynch drafted to Raw and Charlotte drafted to SmackDown earlier this month, the situation needed to be resolved as the belts are named after their respective bands. WWE previously set the present of just swapping the physical belts in 2020 when The New Day and The Street Profits also exchanged the Raw and SmackDown tag team titles.
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Impact Wrestling’s Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore was spotted meeting with Bruan Strowman last weekend at a hotel bar during the Motor City Comic-Con. With Impact’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Bound For Glory taking place in Vegas on Saturday, and D’Amore having previously joked about the event being called “Braun For Glory,” it appeared likely he would be on the show. Now, seemingly confirming that the former Universal Champion will be in attendance, PWInsider has reported he was seen flying from Chicago to Vegas on Friday morning.
When Strowman debuts for Impact, he won’t be acknowledged under his former ring name due to WWE owning the trademark on “Braun Strowman.” Instead, he will be called “The Titan” in addition to his real name Adam Scherr according to PWInsider. As he has used the hashtag #Titan on social media, it seems he has had that name planned for some time.
It isn’t known whether Strowman will actually wrestle at Bound For Glory or just make an appearance. Although, with Impact set to tape weeks of television on Sunday and Monday, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to compete if he doesn’t on the PPV. If he does perform, it will be interesting to see if he has any ring rust, as his only match over the past five months was a cinematic one against EC3 at Free The Narrative II: The Monster In Us All.
Working for Impact will certainly be a new experience for Strowman as he came through WWE’s developmental system, and their style and ways of working is all he knows. Before his release, he publicly proclaimed he’d never put his boots on for anyone but WWE, and as he was earning big money from Vince McMahon and had a long-term contract, he probably genuinely believed that. Now though, he gets to experience a different side of the wrestling business.
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WWE’s relationship with the Saudi General Sports Authority in Saudi Arabia generates colossal revenue for the company. However, the deal has been questioned due to the countries limited rights towards women and the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was critical of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Many have called for WWE not to accept the “blood money” offered, and multiple wrestlers have refused to work shows in the country, with some that did choosing to donate their payoffs to charity.
Now with WWE having returned to the county for Crown Jewel, AEW’s Max Caster has taken the opportunity to take a shot at the company. He did this by sharing a photoshopped image of a fan at the show holding a sign aloft for his tag team with Anthony Bowens, The Acclaimed. While that solely wouldn’t be controversial, the fact he captioned it “I’ll take “Things I Didn’t Expect to See on a Blood Money Show,” for $500, Alex!” will likely guarantee a WWE career isn’t in his future.
Caster is no stranger to controversy himself, with fans on social media calling for him to be canceled after he rapped about sexual assault and mental health issues on AEW Dark. Fortunately for him, AEW didn’t fire him, although he would end up missing almost a month’s worth of shows. Additionally, he created extra work for Tony Khan, who now oversees AEW Dark’s editing process each week to ensure nothing like this airs again.
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The New Day is one of the most successful groups in WWE history, both in and outside the ring. Nevertheless, while Kofi Kingston and Big E have achieved significant singles success, that had continuously eluded Xavier Woods. However, that is no longer the case, as at Thursday’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, he would defeat Finn Bálor to win the King of the Ring tournament. While Woods was clearly delighted, it seems nobody was happier than fellow New Day member Kofi Kingston who would celebrate his friend’s success via a reaction video he later uploaded to social media.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”V45TQnDW” upload-date=”2021-10-21T23:56:26.000Z” name=”Kofi Kingston Celebrates King Xavier Woods” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]The idea of New Day came from Woods, who pitched initially pitched the idea just for himself and Big E after the pair careers were in a rut. Initially, the plan was for them to be heels., although once Kingston was added, that no longer made sense, and they decided to be babyfaces. Despite a somewhat dubious start, they would soon become huge fan favorites taking all three men to levels popularity few wrestlers ever see. Now, thanks to the power of positivity, all three are firmly established as singles stars in WWE.
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The wrestling world lost Jerome Young, best known to fans New Jack on May 14th at the age of 58. While never regarded as a great in-ring performer, his charisma made him a star to a certain section of fans, and his shoot interviews became legendary. Now on Thursday night’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring, which covers Rob Black’s Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion, Jack’s final major interview, which took place on January 31st, will air. As you can see in the clip below, Jack didn’t hold back.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”JLjPoBtC” upload-date=”2021-10-20T14:12:12.000Z” name=”New Jack On XPW” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]Jack went from wrestling for ECW in December 2000 to debuting for XPW in February 2001, and during Jack’s run with Black’s company, he would work with XPW regulars like Homeless Jimmy and The Messiah. However, his most famous match came with fellow ECW alumni Vic Grimes in a scaffold match in 2002. At the conclusion of the match, Jack would toss Grimes off the top of the scaffolding, and Grimes would miss most of the tables and almost end up seriously injured. Jack claimed he did this on purpose as he was upset Grimes failed to check up on him after a previous fall that hurt him. However, many people doubt Jack did it intentionally and said he did to have a good story to tell and boost his reputation.
For those unaware of XPW, it was an indie promotion out of California, which adult content producer Rob Black launched after failing to partner with Paul Heyman’s ECW. There was a lot of hostility between ECW and XPW after Heyman ran a pay-per-view in Los Angeles, and XPW wrestlers would try and disrupt the show. Consequently, a brawl would take place in the parking lot.
The promotion would effectively fold when Black could no longer fund it after he and his then-wife were jailed on obscenity charges. Although, Black is currently relaunching the controversial promotion in an attempt to capitalize on the DSOTR episode. A trailer announcing this can be watched below and shows names such as Willie Mack and Brian Cage are booked to appear.
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The Undertaker would appear at the conclusion of the Survivor Series, which just happened to mark 30 years since his WWE debut, to signify the end of his WWE career. The legendary wrestler would go out doing his trademark kneeling pose as a hologram of Paul Bearer was projected, and while not explicitly stated, it was assumed by fans they had seen the end of the character.
However, footage has been shared on social media showing the retired stat is currently in Saudi Arabia, with him introducing rapper Pitbull to a sold-out crowd. The 2021 Riyadh season has just commenced in the county, and Pitbull is there to get things kicked off ahead of multiple events, including Crown Jewel on Thursday. So obviously, with The Undertaker in the country, it now seems probable he will appear in some capacity on the show.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”dHcdOaBe” upload-date=”2021-10-20T22:34:54.000Z” name=”The Undertaker In Saudi Arabia” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]The Undertaker’s appearance confirms how important WWE regards their relationship with Saudi Arabia, with so much money involved. Some of this wealth filters its way down to talent and ends up being their biggest payoff of the year. For example, Brock Lesnar is reportedly earning $1.5 million per match, and Shawn Michaels received an incredible $3 million to come out of retirement in 2018. While it’s doubtful The Undertaker is making anywhere close to this (unless he wrestles), even a brief appearance should ensure a six-figure payday.
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