NEWS

He’s worth it. There are all kinds of wrestlers over the years but only a handful reach truly legendary status. Those are the wrestlers who are going to get more attention than others, even if they have stepped away from the ring. On occasion those stars will come back to television for a special appearance, which was the case this week for a special moment in front of a special audience.
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This week’s SmackDown featured a special birthday celebration for Kurt Angle, who appeared on the show in front of his hometown crowd. The show ended with Angle and Gable Steveson spraying down the Alpha Academy with milk. WWE has posted another clip from after the show, featuring several wrestlers coming to the ring to celebrate. Angle thanked the fans for coming out and Rey Mysterio led the wrestlers in singing Happy Birthday.
It was a cool moment. Check out what happened to Angle during and after ..

It isn’t often that NXT tries something entirely new but that seems to be what we are getting here. The show has five matches and two of them are the first ever Iron Survivor Challenges (one each for the men and the women). That means the show is going to be built around those two matches and if they work, NXT should be doing just fine. Otherwise, it could be a long night. Let’s get to it.
Alba Fyre vs. Isla Dawn So this is fire vs. magic? I’m sure there’s some gaming joke in there that I’m not smart enough to make but at least we’re getting some fresh blood featured here. Fyre is someone who feels like she should have been a bigger star a long time ago while Dawn is brand new and has already made something of an impact. This should be a good fight, though I’m not sure how it is going to go.
I’ll take Dawn here, as she is brand new without a big win yet and Fyre seems to have the unfortunate label of being bulletproof. Fyre has all of the star power you could need but she needs to wi..

That might be a bit. There are all kinds of ways for a wrestler to get hurt and none of them are positive. A wrestler can be put on the shelf for any length of time, but there are also injuries that they can work through. You never know how bad one of them is going to be, but now another wrestler has been hurt and the question is how long she is going to be missing from action.
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Before this week’s WWE SmackDown went on the air, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler attacked Shotzi in the parking lot, slamming her hand in a car door. Later in the show, commentary announced that Shotzi had suffered a broken hand in the attack. There is no word on how long Shotzi could be out of action as a result of the incident. So far, there is nothing to indicate that this is anything more than a storyline injury.
This was nasty. Check out Rousey and Baszler’s attack, plus their match later in the show:
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He’s new here. The rise of AEW has changed the mainstream wrestling landscape in the United States. After decades of WWE dominating the industry, there is now a new place for wrestlers to go on a national stage. It can mean a lot when a wrestler who made a name for themselves appears in the other promotion and now it has happened again for a surprise match.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WATCH: Gable Steveson Makes Surprise Appearance On SmackDown, Teases Match
The main event of this week’s edition of AEW Rampage saw Orange Cassidy successfully defend his All-Atlantic Title against Trent Seven, a surprise challenger. Earlier this week, Cassidy had offered Kip Sabian the title shot but Sabian claimed that he was injured. Instead, Sabian was allowed to pick Cassidy’s challenger, choosing Seven. This was Seven’s first televised match after being released from NXT UK on August 18. There is no word on if Seven will be making additional appearance for AEW.
Seven is a talented star. Check out what..

Welcome back? There are so many talented wrestlers on the WWE roster that it can be difficult to find something for everyone to do. You can see long stretches of time without certain wrestlers appearing, which can make those appearances that much more special. We saw such an appearance this week, as a WWE star made his first appearance on television in several months.
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Gable Steveson made a surprise appearance this week on SmackDown as part of Kurt Angle’s birthday celebration. Steveson accompanied Angle to the ring to throw milk at Alpha Academy to end the show. Earlier in the night, Stevenson also teased a future match with Braun Strowman, though he did not get physical. Steveson signed with WWE in 2021 but has yet to wrestle a match, only making occasional appearances, including at WrestleMania 38.
Steveson did some things tonight. Check out what he did on the show and in a past app..

Smackdown
Date: December 9, 2022
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett
We’re coming up on the end of the year and that means the Royal Rumble is still pretty far away. This time around we have a Tag Team Title match as the Brawling Brutes challenge the Usos, which should be a good fight. Other than that, it’s time to get ready for next week’s Intercontinental Title match so let’s get to it.
Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Brawling Brutes The Brutes (Sheamus/Butch with Ridge Holland) are challenging while Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa are here with the champs. Sheamus headlock takeovers Jimmy down to start and then blasts him with a clothesline. Butch comes in and gets taken into the corner for a throat first drop across the top as we take a break.
Back with Butch still in trouble but managing a German suplex off the ropes. That’s enough for the tag off to Sheamus for the house cleaning. We get the stereo multiple forearms to the chest, wi..

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 8, 2022
Location: Old Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
The slow build towards Hard To Kill continues as we still have over a month to go before the show. That means a lot more Bully Ray, who dominated the first fourth of last week’s show and will probably be around again this week. Other than that, it might be nice to hear some more from the World Champion Josh Alexander, so let’s get to it.
We look at Deaner killing Eric Young off last week.
Deaner talks about how Violent By Design is a movement, not a group of people. Now it is time to take out Sami Callihan.
Opening sequence.
Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. Heath/Rhino Heath/Rhino are defending. Rhino powers Sabin around to start but Sabin is up with a middle rope spinning crossbody for two. Heath comes in and gets his arm worked over but manages to send Shelley into the corner. Shelley charges into a raised boot in the corner, only to..

It’s a plan. We are closing out the year and that means it is time to start getting things ready for 2023. In WWE, that means the Road To WrestleMania 39 is about to begin, which will feature some of the biggest matches of the year, with one of them likely featuring Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. This time though, it might be a little more complicated.
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As has been the case for the last three editions, WrestleMania 39 is scheduled to be held over two nights. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there have been discussions about having Reigns wrestle on both nights. The idea would be to have Reigns face Cody Rhodes on one night and The Rock on the other, though “the best bet” is that it will not happen. In addition, there have also been discussions of splitting up the two World Titles, but nothing is expected to be finalized until mid-January.
Reigns has done well at WrestleMani..

The champ is back! According to a report from Variety, John Cena will be making his return to WWE on the final Smackdown of 2022. He will be appearing on the December 30 show, which will take place at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
From the report:
This will mark Cena’s second appearance in WWE in 2022, as he previously returned to the sports entertainment giant in June during an episode of “Monday Night Raw” to celebrate his 20 year anniversary with the company. He did not wrestle a match during that appearance, but rather spoke in the ring about his time with WWE while also appearing in backstage segments.
In terms of working in the ring, Cena most recently embarked on the “Summer of Cena” tour in 2021, which culminated in a celebrated match against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at the annual “SummerSlam” pay-per-view in August 2021.
Cena has had a busy few years in his acting career, most notably starring in the title role of the DC series “Peacemaker” at HBO Max in 2..

He has a future? There have been a lot of major stars in wrestling over the years but very few have reached the status of Goldberg. With a mixture of charisma and raw natural strength, Goldberg became one of the biggest stars of the 1990s and has appeared on and off over the last several years. Despite being in his 50s, Goldberg still makes an impact and now we know something about his future plans.
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Goldberg’s most recent match took place on February 19 at WWE Crown Jewel, where he was choked out by Roman Reigns. During an appearance on ESPN Radio with Max Kellerman, Goldberg said that he wanted to wrestle again, saying that he did not want to go out losing to Reigns. There was no mention of when or where a potential match could take place, or who Goldberg might be facing.
Goldberg just told Max Kellerman that he will wrestle again at some point. Says he doesn’t want to go out l..

She would be a big deal. The rise of AEW has led to a variety of stars getting a fresh chance on a new show. It can make a lot of difference to those stars as they might not have had the chance to shine before. That is not always the case though, as some big stars have moved from one promotion to another. Now some people are excited about another possible jump.
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Earlier this week, news broke that Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado, better known as Sasha Banks, would be appearing at New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4. According to Fightful Select, some AEW stars believe that this could lead to her signing with AEW. One AEW source said they believed Kaestner-Varnado could be an “anchor” for the women’s division and a likely viewership draw. There is currently nothing to suggest that Kaestner-Varnado will be signing with AEW, leaving this as speculation at the moment.
The star power is there. Check out ..

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.
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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:
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