NEWS

It’s the Christmas season and that means a lot of people are going to be focusing on gifts (which does at least tie into the more important part of Jesus’ (look him up, as I hear there’s a good book about him) birth). Since I’m kind of a Christmas freak, that sounds like a good place to bring wrestling, which is where we’re going today. This week we’re looking at wrestlers focusing on their in-ring gifts, which unfortunately has become a bit more complicated than it needs to be.
Back at Wrestlemania XIII, Shawn Michaels was doing guest commentary for the main event between Sid and Undertaker. As tended to be the case with almost any of his matches, Sid was wrestling a power style, which was not the most in-depth in the world. However, as Michaels pointed out, the power had gotten him all the way to the WWF Title, so why would he switch things up now? The power was his gift, and that is where we are starting today.
One of the common criticisms that you will hear from some fans is that..

Ring of Honor
Date: December 1, 2021
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
We are on the way to Final Battle and this time around we have a big time showdown between Jay Lethal and EC3. That’s the kind of a match that could go in a few different ways and it could be an interesting showdown. Now just build up something else for Final Battle and we should have a good week. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.
Briscoes vs. PCO/Danhausen Danhausen has some teeth questions to start and gets punched in the face for his efforts. PCO comes in to chop/scream it out with Mark, who seems to enjoy this. A big shot puts Mark down and it’s Danhausen tagging himself back in. Jay comes in as well but Danhausen shouts that he isn’t ready, even as Jay knocks him down.
We take a break and come back with Jay unloading on Danhausen in the corner but Danhausen is back up with a surprise Ger..

That’s what a tough guy would do. Wrestlers are superheroes in a lot of ways, in that they are out there in front people doing ridiculous and often amazing things every single week. It can be easy to get behind one of the wrestlers and cheer them to no end, but there are always going to be things that happen to them behind the scenes. That was the case with one wrestling legend, but now there is a great update.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan has released a new update on Twitter, announcing that he is officially cancer free. Earlier this year, Duggan revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had undergone surgery. The cancer was contained in the prostate and completely removed, and everything else was clear. This was Duggan’s second round of cancer, after he previously beat kidney cancer in the late 1990s.
This is great to hear. Check out the announcement, plus some of Duggan’s career:
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Add it to the calendar. WWE presents quite a few pay per views every single year and some of them have been around for a long time now. There are some that you know are coming because of the month on the calendar, which has become more and more standard year after year. That seems to be the case again, as WWE wants one of its newest pay per views to have a regular slot.
On Saturday January 1, WWE will present the inaugural Day One pay per view event. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Day One will be a regular pay per view on the WWE schedule regardless of the night of the week. WWE previously presented the New Year’s Revolution pay per view from 2005-2007, though it did not air on January 1. Day One is an idea of WWE President Nick Khan.
WWE has tried some new year’s stuff before. Check out some of its history around the time of the year:
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Opinion: ..

The next big one. There are a lot of powerful people in the wrestling world but none of them compare to Vince McMahon. After decades of being in charge of the biggest and most powerful wrestling company in the world, McMahon has no equal and probably will not until he is gone from the industry. However, someone is going to have to replace him at some point and now we might know what that will be.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan would be the most likely replacement for McMahon when McMahon is gone from WWE. The Board of Directors would have the final say, but outside of bringing in someone new, Khan would be the most likely choice. Khan has been working for WWE after being hired in August 2020.
McMahon is one of a kind. Check out some of the things he has done on camera over the years in WWE:
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Opini..

So much for that? A lot of people have left WWE over the last few years and not all of them have been voluntary. Several of them been forced out of WWE through a long series of releases, though that has not been the case every single time. There are a few people who have wanted to leave WWE on their own accord and that might be the case again, albeit in a slightly strange way.
According to Wrestlinginc.com, former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion and NXT Women’s Champion Kairi Sane has removed references to WWE from her Instagram account. Instead, she is now listed as a former WWE and NXT star. Sane has left WWE as an active wrestler but has served as a non-wrestling ambassador in Japan. There is no word on whether Sane might be considering a return to the ring. There is also nothing to suggest any heat between Sane and WWE.
Sane was a heck of a star in WWE and NXT. Check out her time in the company:
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That might be it. NXT is one of the most unique wrestling promotions in the world, if you can even call it a promotion. Rather than standing on its own, it serves as the official training program for WWE. That makes it a good bit more complicated, as the purpose of the place is to move the wrestlers up to the next level. While that might not be the case at the moment, some of them did seem to be saying goodbye.
The NXT contracts of both Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly are both expiring before the end of the year. This week’s NXT featured O’Reilly being laid out by Von Wagner and Gargano being attacked after talking about how his future was unclear. A video and several photos have been released online, showing Gargano, O’Reilly and NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa in the ring and around the arena after the show. The captions on the tweets of the photos suggest that this was a sendoff for O’Reilly and Gargano, though it is not clear if it officially was one for either or both.
Thank you @K..

They have plans for him. There are very few generational talents in wrestling, as it is hard to find someone who truly makes that kind of an impact. Often times it is someone who makes so much of an impact that you cannot ignore them, which is what WWE thinks they have on their hands now. This time, they have have an idea for him, though it might be a bit of a lofty goal.
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw featured what appeared to be a split between AJ Styles and Omos, who have been teaming together since WrestleMania 37 earlier this year. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE may feel that Omos is a babyface in the mold of Andre the Giant, with the turn being a way to get him there. It is not clear what Omos will be doing if and when the split with Styles officially occurs.
Omos has done some big things on his own. Check out what he might be doing without Styles:
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Tugging at the heartstrings. There are a lot of ways to present wrestlers in WWE and some of them are a bit more interesting than others. What matters the most is finding something that gets the fans’ attention and makes them care though, which is one of those things that might not be the easiest thing in the world to do. Now WWE has an idea for one of its stars, but it might not be that easy.
Over the last few weeks, Nikki Ash has suffered a losing streak, including being defeated by Queen Zelina in less than three minutes this week on Monday Night Raw. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the idea of the losing streak is to build up sympathy for Ash by having her go through a depression over her losing. There is no word on what the end goal for the losing streak will be, or when Ash will begin winning again.
Ash has been having some a rough time as of late. Check out some of her recent issues:
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Everybody needs somebody. A manager can do a lot of good things for a wrestler but it has to be the right one. The wrong manager can drag a wrestler down, but if a company can find the right combination, it could move on a long way in a hurry. That is the kind of thing that makes for some special situations, and we might have seen something similar this week.
Over the last several weeks, MSK has traveled around in an attempt to find someone called the Shaman. It was not clear who the person was, but they were described as someone who knew how to make tag teams great. This week on NXT, the Shaman was revealed as Riddle, who talked about how he had various similarities to the team and suggested that he would be in MSK’s corner going forward.
It was a heck of a reveal. Check out the three together and apart:
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Opinion: This is both a surprise and the logical..

It’s a change that makes sense. We are on the way to WWE Day One on January 1 and the show is already starting to come together. There are some major matches set for the card and the event is already looking rather strong. As is often the case in WWE though, the card is subject to change. We might already know one upcoming change and why WWE is doing it.
According to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE is hoping to make the triple threat WWE Title match at Day One a four way, with Bobby Lashley joining Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and WWE Champion Big E. The four wrestlers have been working together on live events in recent weeks, which are often used as practice for bigger matches. The idea would be to have more options for a finish, as anyone could pin Owens and keep the feud going for another match.
This could be a big one. Check out how we got here:
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Opinion: ..

NXT
Date: December 7, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett
We’re done with WarGames and all signs would seem to point to Bron Breakker getting the rematch for the NXT Title at New Year’s Evil. That should be the big title change, but there is still some time to fill on the way there. We’ll start with this week’s show, which will include the reveal of MSK’s Shaman. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of WarGames.
Von Wagner vs. Kyle O’Reilly In a cage after Wagner attacked him after their loss at WarGames. O’Reilly jumps him in the aisle to start and Wagner is in trouble in the corner early on. A running boot in the corner rocks Wagner again and O’Reilly starts working on the arm. Some forearms to the back of the head keep Wagner down and some running knees put him down again. Back up and Wagner knocks him silly with a single shot to take over.
Wagner stomps away against the cage but O’Reilly grabs the leg for a knee..