Paige was forced to retire in 2018 after suffering a neck injury at a house show in 2017. Before the age of 27, she’d been forced to undergo two neck surgeries, and a doctor had compared her neck to that of a 60-year old. However, she has now shared on Twitter that her neck is feeling wonderful and hints she could return to the ring if WWE would let her. The tweet caused a lot of speculation, and AEW’s Britt Baker replied, asking Paige to wrestle her.
It was thought Paige would never be able to wrestler again. Still, the same was also believed of Edge and Daniel Bryan, and both were eventually cleared to return to the ring. Perhaps if WWE’s doctors won’t medically pass her to compete, AEW’s will.
It was thought Paige would never be able to wrestler again. Still, the same was also believed of Edge and Daniel Bryan, and both were eventually cleared to return to the ring. Perhaps if WWE’s doctors won’t medically pass her to compete, AEW’s will. XYZ
Matt Riddle isn’t the most popular wrestler in the locker room, and nine months after Brock Lesnar told him he won’t work with him, Seth Rollins has revealed he doesn’t want to either. Rollins was part of the Friday Night SmackDown Watch Along, and when asked about who he would be interested in facing now that he is a SmackDown wrestler, he made a point of naming Riddle as someone he didn’t want to wrestle.
I’ve got no interest in facing Matt Riddle at any point in my career, so he can go to Raw as far as I’m concerned.Seth Rollins
It isn’t known where the heat comes from, however in November last year, Riddle’s wife Lisa posted an insulting Instagram post along with a photo of Seth Rollins fiancée Becky Lynch where she body-shamed her as being “skinny jiggly fat.” You can view a screenshot of her post below.
The two-time All American gymnast would later delete the derogatory post. However, it was widely shared on social media, and it’s unlikely that neither Lynch nor Rollins saw it.
XYZ
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods returned to SmackDown this week and won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships from Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. After their victory, Stephanie McMahon would announce that the new champions would be moving to Raw, but Big E would be staying on SmackDown, effectively ending The New Day. Following the big announcement, all three members would appear on Talking Smack, and Big E spoke about how he was feeling.
It’s hard to put into words how much the last six years has meant to all of us. To think that could be gone, or paused, or on hiatus or whatever it is hurts. It hurts on a real level because as cliche as it might be to say, these are my brothers, but when I saw them today, man, I was moved.
Big E will get to wrestle one final match with Kingston and Woods as they will all team on next week’s SmackDown, taking on Cesaro, Nakamura, and Sheamus.
XYZ
Lars Sullivan returned to SmackDown last night after 16 months out of action. He made an immediate impact laying out Jeff Hardy, Matt Riddle, and The Miz. Based on that, it appears Sullivan is being lined up for a big push, which some doubted would happen after it was revealed in December 2019 that Sullivan had appeared in adult movies under the name of Mitch Bennett.
After the dominant return, it appears Triple H was searching Twitter, possibly to gauge reactions to Sullivan’s comeback, and one tweet amused him enough to hit the like button. It was a fan tweeting there favorite Lars Sullivan match and featured a screenshot from one of Sullivan’s past films.
Triple H either hit like by accident or realized afterward it probably wasn’t a good look to like such a tweet and unliked it, but not before a fan took a screenshot.
XYZ
Earlier this week, we posted that there were signs that Mercedes Martinez was no longer part of Retribution based on her not being on Monday’s Raw and Twitter activity. Pro Wrestling Insider has now reported that she is officially out of the stable and is returning to NXT. No information was given as to why WWE decided to remove her from her role.
Depending on how WWE plans to use her in NXT, this looks like a major career setback for Martinez, who worked for 20 years to earn a WWE contract and seemingly was only given a main roster opportunity for a few weeks.
XYZ
NXT’s TakeOver 31 event ended with Ridge Holland coming out with Adam Cole over his shoulder and dumping over the barricade. It signaled the beginning of a big push for the English former Rugby League player who signed with WWE in 2018.
On this past Wednesday’s NXT, Adam Cole would cut a promo on Holland, saying he had broken his ribs and was out for revenge. Then later in the show, Holland would quickly defeat Danny Burch. However, following the match, Burch’s tag partner Oney Lorcan did a cross-body on Holland over the top rope, seemingly with the intent that Holland would demonstrate his strength by catching Lorcan.
Unfortunately, Holland was injured during the move and went down screaming. It’s now confirmed that he suffered a broken and dislocated left ankle and dislocated and ruptured his right patella tendon. WWE would waste no time by having him undergo surgery Thursday.
His left ankle should heal within three months, but with the ruptured patella tendon, it is doubtful he will even be able to bend his knee fully in that time frame. His overall recovery will likely be between six months and a year, so his NXT storyline with Adam Cole appears to be over.
XYZ
In May, José Alberto Rodríguez Chucuan, known better to wrestling fans as Alberto Del Rio, was arrested for alleged second-degree sexual assault. The victim told police that he hit her, forced her to wear a dress, and dance in front of him. It is also claimed that he told her that if she cried, he would take her son and leave him stranded on the road.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson has now reported that on Thursday, 8th October, the former WWE Champion was indicted by a grand jury in San Antonio, Texas, for aggravated kidnapping and four counts of sexual assault. This means the grand jury concludes there is enough evidence to believe that a crime was committed, and Del Rio he will now face trial.
If convicted, Del Rio faces a prison sentence between 5 to 99 years or even life imprisonment and/or a fine up to $10,000. However, if an accused person can prove they released the victim voluntarily, then the prison sentence would be between two to 20 years and/or a fine up to $10,000.
XYZ
During an interview with Grown Ass Women, Mickie James shared the unfortunate news that she recently broke her nose during a match. This resulted in the outer wall of her nasal cavity collapsing. While she didn’t say which match it was, her last match was against Zelina Vega on the September 21st episode of Raw.
It wasn’t like my nose was blasted across my face. It was more like a curve, and I can’t breathe out the one side. And I’ll be honest, I thought it was gonna be a lot more painful. It was more like pressure.Mickie James
Thankfully, unlike when she tore her ACL in June 2019 and missed over a year from the ring, James isn’t expected to miss much time and should be able to return in a few more weeks.
XYZ
Game Changer Wrestling are presenting TWELVE events this upcoming weekend to watch on FITE. One of the biggest shows will be Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4 which takes place on Saturday, and thanks to the good people at FITE, we have TWO codes to give away.
You can check out the full card below:
So, for your chance to win, just answer the following question:
Who is Joey Janela’s tag partner in AEW?
A) Kip Sabian
B) Sonny Kiss
[contact-form to=”james@webisjericho.com” subject=”Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4″][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Answer” type=”text” required=”1″ options=”Kip Sabian,Sonny Kiss”][/contact-form]
If you’re not lucky enough to win, you can order the PPV through FITE for just $19.99 at this link. Note only one entry per person. Entries close on Saturday, 10th October, at 10:00 AM ET, and the winners will be sent the FITE code via email by 11:00 AM ET. By submitting your entry, you will also be subscribing to the WIJ Newsletter, which you can unsubscribe from with one-click.
XYZ
In a Facebook post, Marty Jannetty has claimed that he was attacked following a case of mistaken identity and taken to hospital. The incident happened last Sunday as he was in front of JFK airport in New York. You can try and decipher the post for yourself below.
Jannetty made worldwide news earlier this year after confessing to having killed a man when he was 13 years old. He later claimed it was a pro wrestling angle but has since done another interview saying the event really happened, and only went back on his initial story because the police were now investigating.
XYZ
Sunday night’s NXT TakeOver main event saw NXT Champion Finn Bálor and Kyle O’Reilly battle in a match of the year contender for the title. Bálor retained, but the match was cut short as both men were injured with Bálor having an injured jaw, and O’Reilly damaged teeth.
WWE’s medical team sent Bálor to the hospital to receive CAT scans to determine the extent of his injury, and WWE has kept tight-lipped on the results. However, a few hours before NXT, Bálor took to Twitter to post a photo of his X-ray and revealed his jaw was broken in two places and to watch NXT to find out more.
So then during NXT, a doctor gave a short update informing us that Bálor would be out for a while but should be able to talk himself once the swelling in his face goes down. This update seemingly indicated the title wouldn’t be vacated, and no surgery was required.
A broken jaw will typically heal in a month or two, so it is possible Bálor will be ready to compete at Survivor Series, which takes place Sunday, 22nd November, and is expected to feature the NXT brand.
XYZ
Initially, WWE wanted their talent to end all third party deals but later changed it so certain third parties such as Twitch could continue to work with a talent as long as the channels were handed over to them and revenue shared. It’s a very controversial decision, and following Paige commenting on Twitter, AJ Styles has now addressed the situation himself during a Twitch stream.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what they expect from us when it comes to our channel. I don’t know if it’s something that they’re like, “We just want you guys under an umbrella like a WWE Twitch and have a set lineup, and here is who is on when.” If that’s the case, great. Then fans would know where and when to find us. I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I literally don’t know, and unfortunately, I found out the same way a lot of you did, through the internet, which is a shame.
Nobody is on here making millions on Twitch, we are not pro gamers. That’s not what is happening. I feel like, for us, it’s an opportunity to do what we love, play video games and interact with our fans. It’s a chance to appreciate you guys appreciating us, that’s basically what’s going on, especially with what’s going on in the world. We don’t get to see you guys anymore unless you’re on the video screen in the ThunderDome.
We don’t get to see you, we don’t get to talk to you, we don’t get to do much. This is the next best thing. I don’t know what they’re hoping to get out of this. The communication has not been as great as we’d like. There’s a lot of us who are all on the same page, we’ve talked to each other. We’re facing the same thing.
WWE is a great place to work, despite what you may think, and despite what’s going on with the Twitch and stuff like that. There just needs to be better communication and direction, lines in the sand, I guess you could say. AJ Styles
Based on those comments, Styles is still happy working for WWE and isn’t worried about losing out on some Twitch revenue. When you consider he signed a new WWE contract when they were offering huge money to stop wrestlers from going to AEW, the Twitch revenue is a drop in the ocean.
It also appears to be good news for those who watch him on Twitch, as it sounds like he intends to continue streaming in his free time so he can interact with his fanbase regardless of who owns the channel. It’s the lack of communication from WWE that he isn’t happy about.
XYZ