media

Welcome to the show. It would be an understatement to say that WWE’s roster has been shaken up in recent months, as well over a hundred wrestlers have been released from the company. That has resulted in quite the set of changes, some of which have been quite noticeable. Some of those spots are going to need to be filled, and one might have been covered this week.
Xia Li made her SmackDown debut this week, saving Naomi from a three on one attack. Naomi had been scheduled to face Sonya Deville, who had Natalya and Shayna Baszler there to help. The match never started as Naomi tried to fight all three, drawing out Li for the save. Li wrestled in NXT for years and has had vignettes airing about her impending debut for the last few weeks.
It was a nice debut. Check out Li’s first night on SmackDown plus some of her time in NXT:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This has me interest..

Rampage
Date: December 10, 2021
Location: UBS Arena, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz
We’re still in New York and this time there is a pretty big match on the card, as the Lucha Bros are defending the Tag Team Titles against FTR. Other than that, we have the in-ring debut as Hook, which should be a heck of a moment in its own right. This show tends to do well with the faster pace so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. FTR FTR, with Tully Blanchard, is defending. Fenix grabs Harwood by the wrist to start and takes Wheeler down at the same time. Penta comes in to help take FTR down and it’s time for a breather on the floor. Back in and Penta takes off his glove but manages to roll Wheeler up for two. Now the glove is tossed to Wheeler, allowing Penta to catch him with a superkick. Fenix springboards in with a high crossbody but the momentum sends him outside.
That means Harwood can drop Fenix back first onto the apron and the champs ..

Add another one to the list. According to a report from PWInsider, Kyle O’Reilly has not-resigned with WWE and has officially become a free agent. Both he and Johnny Gargano have been removed from the company’s internal roster.
This news comes after Gargano became a free agent the day before. He is currently free to work anywhere he wants to since there was no non-compete attached to his contract.
O’Reilly has had quite a career in NXT. He was a three-time WWE NXT tag team champion, and also won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2018 with Adam Cole. The pair, along with Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong, was known as the Undisputed Era and was one of the most successful factions in NXT history.
However, Cole and O’Reilly had an intense rivalry throughout most of 2021, which led to a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match at NXT Takeover: 36. You can see the final war of words below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Editor’s Opinion:
This isn’t surprising to me at all. With Bobby Fish a..

Smackdown
Date: December 10, 2021
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
We’re on the way to Day One and that means some more of the show needs to be put together. The main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Title is now set, but we are now missing a Jeff Hardy, who was released earlier this week. That could shake things up a bit so let’s get to it.
Here is Sami Zayn, in a wheelchair/leg cast/neck brace, with two male nurses pushing him to the ring. After a video on last week’s big beatdown at the hands of Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, Sami says he is the toughest man in WWE. Sami talks about how this isn’t necessarily a conspiracy, but he was betrayed last week….and now he has to sue. He promises to sue everyone involved with last week but here is Paul Heyman to interrupt.
Heyman: “You’re doing my people’s shtick. My people own entertainment in Hollywood.” Sami tells him to get out of his camera shot but Heyma..

They’re a priority. WWE has a lot of wrestlers on its roster at the moment and some of them are rather high profile stars. You can see a lot of them on television every single week and it is rather fun to see what happens to them as they continue their paths through the company. Now though, two stars might be on their way out, which has changed the way they are presented.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn’s WWE contracts are expiring soon and WWE is doing what they can to try and keep them happy. This includes giving both of them more TV time, as Owens has bee featured in a feud with WWE Champion Big E. and Zayn has been working with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Should they decide to leave, WWE can use them to put over other wrestlers.
There is a lot of talent there. Check out what the two of them can do:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinio..

That would be a big one. When a wrestler becomes a legend, it takes them up to another level. If nothing else, it allows them to get away with more than a few things that would torpedo other careers. Some of these things are a lot more serious than others, and one active legend might have enough issues to keep him from being signed to one of the biggest companies around.
Earlier this week, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE, following an incident at a live event last weekend. Hardy had reportedly refused to go to rehab for his issues and was released as a result. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this could create a problem with Hardy potentially signing with AEW. While AEW would be interested in Hardy having one final reunion with his brother Matt, it would likely be on a zero tolerance policy for Jeff.
It would be a reunion worth seeing. Check out what AEW might be able to put together again:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click ..

I hope it’s erasable ink. WWE has all kinds of television shows and you could quite easily say that there are too many of them. With so much television, it can be easy to see the lack of focus, but sometimes WWE will run a show that has a specific purpose. Now though, one of WWE’s most focused shows is ready for a replacement and it seems to be one that is long overdue.
According to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE will be likely to change the name of 205 Live. The show is no longer live and now WWE officials do not want their champions to be under 205lbs. The show has featured non-cruiserweight matches for several weeks now, as it has focused on lower level NXT stars. There is no word on when the change would take place or what the new name would be. This change was referenced this week on NXT by Joe Gacy, though the show was not specifically named.
205 Live has had its moments. Check out some of the better moments:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video,..

They have a focus. WWE has a lot of different divisions to their company and a lot of them are involved in producing content. That means they can do all kinds of things at once and showcase all of their rather impressive footage. You don’t get to see that from many promotions, and now we might be getting to see something different even by their standards.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE is hoping to ramp up their documentary division in 2022 with new leadership. This comes after WWE stopped production and work on several of their documentaries this year, including not releasing some that were completed. There is no word on what caused WWE to stop producing them in 2021or what new projects they may be developing.
WWE has done some great things with its history. Check out some of its better efforts:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is nice to hear, as the whole dropping the..

That’s quite the honor. To say that a wrestling show is an ensemble piece is an understatement. There is so much going on during any given show that it is almost impossible to keep track of everyone at once. Sometimes it would be nice to have some wrestlers get more focus, and now that is going to be the case in a big way. It just won’t be in a wrestling ring.
According to Wrestlinginc.com, Rey Mysterio has announced that he will be starring in a new animated series for Cartoon Network Latin America, beginning in 2022. The series will be called Rey Mysterio vs. La Obscuridad and will star Mysterio and a wrestling fan named Oscar as they fight a villain named Uroboros. There is no word on any other wrestlers potentially appearing on the show.
Mysterio is already pretty close to a superhero. Check out some of his better moments:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is the kind ..

You could go one way or the other. This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw was bookended by a pair of huge matches. The show opened with a steel cage match between WWE Champion Big E. and Kevin Owens, while the main event featured Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending her title against Liv Morgan. That is quite the lineup, but it almost went a bit differently.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE originally planned for the cage match to main event this week’s Monday Night Raw. The change was made due in part to the show taking place on the anniversary of the first women’s main event between Lita and Trish Stratus on December 6, 2004. Originally, the cage match was to have been a segment between Owens and Big E. talking about their upcoming match.
It was a busy night. Check out the two matches, plus the main event’s inspiration:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: That’s not exact..

It never ends easily. One of the wrestling stories that has flown a bit under the radar this year has been the huge changes to Ring of Honor. The company has gone from one of the bigger promotions in the country to mostly non-existent after this weekend’s Final Battle pay per view. Now though, it seems that we might not be getting to see the final show as planned.
Ring of Honor has announced that World Champion Bandido has been diagnosed with the Coronavirus, meaning that he will not be able to defend the title against Jonathan Gresham at Final Battle. There is no word on any potential replacement for the match, as Final Battle is scheduled to be the final Ring of Honor event until the second quarter of 2022. Bandido has held the title since Best In The World in July.
#FinalBattle update. Get well soon @bandidowrestler! Match updates will be released as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/3qlSUTn0vY
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 9, 2021
Bandido has been a strong champion. C..

Johnny Wrestling won’t be doing so in WWE anymore. According to a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, Johnny Gargano will become a free agent tonight at midnight, as he and WWE could not come to terms on a new contract.
Johnny Gargano will leave WWE and is set to become a free agent at midnight, as he and WWE did not extend his contract, Fightful Select has learned
Fightful Select has the full story, and a lot more details.https://t.co/jM7CQKzSuH pic.twitter.com/71ySbaZedc
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) December 10, 2021
According to the report, Gargano will be free to work anywhere he wants to since there is no non-compete attached to it. Furthermore, WWE attempted to sign him multiple times, including over the past few weeks. Gargano didn’t sign a new deal when other top NXT names did in 2019, and several people within the company said there was not sufficient incentive for those stars to make a deal.
Sources say that the split between Gargano and WW..