Search Results: "staff"

NEWS

Former NXT Superstar Retires from In-Ring Competition

February 13, 2023

Changing roles can be good sometimes. NXT Trainer and Coach Matt Bloom recently appeared on the ‘Real Monster Radio’ show, where he discussed a number of topics. One of them was the status of a former NXT superstar, now turned coach. Bloom had the following to say about Oney Lorcan: “My position now as a head coach, I oversee my coaches,” Bloom said. “I have an amazing staff. So, I gotta give props to those guys. Terry Taylor, Fit Finlay, Robbie Brookside, Norman Smiley, Steve Corino, Alexander Winkler, ‘Oney Lorcan’ Chris Girard, who just recently retired from being in the ring, Johnny Moss, and we have a few UK coaches that are on the cusp of being full-time coaches as well.” You can see the full interview below: [This post contains video, click to play] Lorcan was released from WWE in November 2021 but returned in October 2022 as a coach at the Performance Center. Editor’s Opinion: I always felt bad for Lorcan and his longtime partner, Danny Burch, because I feel like they n..

NEWS

WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE Star Injured At Live Event, Title Match Stopped

February 6, 2023

Please don’t be bad. You never know when you are going to see a wrestler injured and it is never a good thing. Wrestlers being hurt can happen at any time and can cause all kinds of problems for everyone involved, but the wrestler’s health is what matters the most. There was another injury scare this weekend and a match was stopped as a result of the sudden injury. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: You Can See Him: Former WWE Superstar Wrestling First Televised Match In Six Years According to Wrestlingbodyslam.com and a fan on Twitter, a SmackDown Women’s Title match at a live event in Pensecola, Florida. Charlotte was defending against Liv Morgan and Sonya Deville when Deville suffered some sort of injury. A member of the medical staff came to ringside to check on Deville and the match was stopped, with Deville being helped to the back. There is no word on the nature of Deville’s injury or if she will be missing any ring time. Sonya actually hurt? Head security guy ran to the back and return..

NEWS

The Less The Merrier: Why WWE Changed Raw XXX Segment

January 23, 2023

It was a staffing issue. WWE has reached a special milestone for its flagship show. This week, Monday Night Raw will celebrate thirty years on the air, with several former stars appearing on the show. There have been all kinds of names announced, including some of the biggest stars in WWE history. However, three names who cannot appear caused a major change to the schedule. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: He Almost Got There: How Ricochet Wanted To Pay A Gory Tribute To Steve Austin Last week, WWE cancelled the scheduled Bloodline Acknowledgment Ceremony will not take place on Raw XXX. The ceremony was expected to include multiple members of the Anoa’i wrestling family. According to F4WOnline.com, the ceremony was canceled because multiple people scheduled were unable to attend. Afa and Sika (80 and 77 years old respectively) were unable to be ready for the trip and Rikishi was sick. The ceremony has since been replaced by The Trial Of Sami Zayn. That is a talented family. Check out what the..

NEWS

Again: WWE Reportedly Makes More Office Cuts This Week

January 22, 2023

The changes continue. There have been all kinds of changes taking place in WWE in recent months and there is nothing to suggest that those changes are ending. The majority of the changes have involved wrestlers returning to the company after being released or fired, but those are not the only movements. In addition, there have been some behind the scenes changes, and now we are seeing more of them. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: It’s Something: First Details Set For Royal Rumble Pitch Black Match According to Fightful Select, WWE made cuts to its office staff on Friday, though it is not clear how many cuts were made or which departments they came from. WWE has not made any announcement about the cuts and there is nothing to suggest that there have been cuts to the roster. This comes as Vince McMahon has taken control of WWE again and has been bringing in some of his former staff. There have been a lot of WWE firings on screen over the years. Check out some of the better ones: [This post co..

NEWS

Stephanie McMahon Undergoes Ankle Surgery

January 13, 2023

Even the boss needs help now and then. Stephanie McMahon recently posted a message to Twitter, saying that she recently underwent successful ankle surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. Stephanie said the following: Busy week! Thank you Dr. Waldrop, @AndrewsSportMed and the Orthopaedic Center Staff for fixing my ankle! And to Kevin Wilk @ChampionSportsM for already getting me started on rehab! (And of course to my amazing caregiver @TripleH) #RoadtoRecovery Busy week! Thank you Dr. Waldrop, @AndrewsSportMed and the Orthopaedic Center Staff for fixing my ankle! And to Kevin Wilk @ChampionSportsM for already getting me started on rehab! (And of course to my amazing caregiver @TripleH ??) #RoadtoRecovery pic.twitter.com/s8v3rtqqRs — Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) January 13, 2023 According to WrestlingNews.co, the former Chairwoman and CEO of WWE noted on Twitter that she had surgery done to fix her ankle by Dr. Waldrop of Andrews Sports Medicine. WWE sends talent to Birmingham to have t..

NEWS

Christmas Gift: Backstage Reason For WWE Running Best Of Monday Night Raw Next Week

December 23, 2022

How nice of them. We are coming up on the end of the year and that means WWE is doing some things a little differently than usual. In this case, that means running a pair of live events on the Monday after Christmas, with Monday Night Raw being different as well. That changes more than a few things, but it seems that it is for the benefit of a certain group of people. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE Postpones Major Upcoming International Event This Monday, WWE announced that the December 26 edition of Monday Night Raw would be a special Best Of show rather than a regular episode. According to Fightful Select, the change was made in part to give some of the production staff time off. While there will be two teams working at live events, there would be more workers needed for a television taping. Next week’s NXT and SmackDown have already been taped in advance. WWE has some success at live events. Check out some of their better ones: [This post contains video, click to p..

NEWS

Bro? Conflicting Reports On Matt Riddle’s Absence And Possible Suspensions From WWE TV

December 18, 2022

Hold on a second. WWE is a huge wrestling company and does what it can to take care of its wrestlers. This includes a full medical staff to take care of various issues, but there are other instances where additional help is needed. Occasionally WWE will send wrestlers to get help outside of the company and that seemed to be the case with one of its stars. That just might not be what happened though. IN CASE YOU MIsSED IT: Clean Bill: NXT Star Announces He Is Medically Cleared After Two Month Absence Earlier this month, a report surfaced saying that Matt Riddle had been sent to rehab following a second failed drug test. The Wrestling Observer reports that this is not the case though, as Riddle’s situation violates the WWE Wellness Policy. Riddle’s first positive test resulted would have likely resulted in a thirty day suspension (as per WWE’s policy), but he did not wrestle from July 25 until August 20, which is less than thirty days. A second failed drug test usually results in a si..

NEWS

Nice And Quiet: Interesting Backstage Update On MJF’s AEW Status

August 4, 2022

Of all people to not talk. While the focus in wrestling tends to be what happens between the bells, a wrestler having the ability to speak well might be even more important. Without a wrestler speaking to the fans and making them care, a story is only going to have so much impact. As it turns out, one of the best talkers in wrestling today has not had much to say lately. Back on the June 1 edition of AEW Dynamite, Maxwell Jacob Friedman cut an in-ring promo insulting the company and owner Tony Khan. Friedman has not been seen and barely referenced on AEW TV since and it is not clear when he will be returning. According to Fightful Select, Friedman has been silent since the promo, making no contact with any known AEW wrestler or staff member. Khan has not been heard discussing Friedman either. Opinion: This is one of those stories that could go in a few different ways, but it would be nice to see it go in some way. I’m not sure when Friedman is going to be back, but if he isn’t back j..

NEWS

AEW Announces Extended Backstage Roles, Bringing In Madison Rayne

August 3, 2022

Sharing knowledge is always good. AEW issued a press release earlier today, announcing expanded backstage roles for several of its current talent. The company also announced they are bringing in Madison Rayne to assist and coach their women’s division. From the press release: AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan announced an expansion to AEW’s talent relations team with the promotions of key staff members including Sonjay Dutt, QT Marshall, Pat Buck and Tony Schiavone. In addition, Madison Rayne will join AEW as a coach in the women’s division. As AEW continues its meteoric rise, the expanded talent relations team will strengthen the infrastructure required to facilitate the development, health and safety of AEW’s outstanding roster. The following promotions and additions are effective immediately: Sonjay Dutt (Retesh Bhalla) has been promoted to Vice President of Production and Creative Coordination. In this role, he will coordinate communication of AEW storylines, liaise ..

NEWS

Homecoming: WWE Hall Of Famer Returns To Company After Long Recovery From Surgery

July 1, 2022

Welcome back. There are a lot of people who work together to many any wrestling show work and WWE is certainly no exception. The company has a backstage staff that helps make their events as good as they can be. That is a lot easier said than done and having the right group of people together helps. Now one of the veteran backstage workers is back on the job. WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley has announced that he returned to work as a producer at this week’s NXT taping. This is Dudley’s first time back at work since he underwent back surgery in October. Dudley said he is happy to be in his new role in NXT and is enjoying working with the new talent. He also thanked God for the opportunity. Dudley has been working as a WWE producer since retiring in 2016. This pass Tuesday night was the first time back at work since my back surgery that took me out last October. Feeling great and Glad to be back, but even more glad to be back in my new role in NXT. Love working with the new talent now. ..

NEWS

WATCH: WWE Star Possibly Injured During Match On This Week’s SmackDown

June 11, 2022

It can happen to anyone. There are a lot of ways for a wrestler to have their careers derailed and one of the easiest is through an injury. These things can pop up at any given time and some of them can be absolutely devastating. Unfortunately you never know when they are going to happen and it seems that we might have seen another one right before our eyes this week. This week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured a match between Lacey Evans and Xia Li for a spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Evans won the match to qualify, defeating Li with the Woman’s Right. A video from after the match has made its way to YouTube, showing Li being checked on by the referee and medical staff. Li had to be helped to the back and it is not clear how badly she may be hurt. There is no word on her potentially missing any ring time. That doesn’t look good. Check out Li after her match on SmackDown: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: Hopefully Li is ok and just shaken u..

NEWS

AEW President Tony Khan Claims Twitter Bots Are Targeting AEW

April 8, 2022

That’s a theory. The rise of AEW has done a lot of great things for the wrestling industry, but it has also brought back some nostalgia. For the first time in a very good while, there is another major wrestling promotion to compete with WWE. This has caused many fans to take sides between the two, but now some of them are being accused of being a bit less than genuine in their fandom. AEW President Tony Khan has sent out a series of tweets, stating that an independent study has found that “much” of the anti-AEW online community is made up of bots rather than actual people. Khan said that someone is running a fleet of accounts which do nothing but retweet negative statements about AEW. Khan did not cite any data or say who conducted the study. An independent study has confirmed that much of the staunch anti-AEW online community aren’t real individuals, it’s a staff running thousands of accounts + an army of bots to signal boost them. Look closely, these aren’t real people. Who’d pay f..

NEWS

Another Backstage Name Leaves WWE After WrestleMania

April 4, 2022

They’ll need a replacement. There are a lot of people who work together to make a WWE show work. While the wrestlers are the most obvious, they are also going to need some help getting things set up in the first place. That can be easier said than done but WWE has an experienced staff of people backstage helping. However, that staff is now going to be one person short. According to PWInsider.com, WWE producer Pat Buck has finished up with the company after WrestleMania 38. Buck helped produce Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, which was enough for him to feel that he has accomplished his goals. He is also leaving to spend more time with his family and working at his Create-A-Pro wrestling school and WrestlePro promotion. Opinion: This is something that happens a lot as you see the lineup of producers changing at a somewhat regular rate. At the end of the day, being a WWE producer is not the easiest job in the world as there are a lot of peop..

NEWS

WWE Signing A New Full Time Producer

January 7, 2022

Welcome to the team. There has been a lot of upheaval in WWE as of late, with the roster being shifted in a variety of ways. This has included the wrestlers on both the main roster and down in NXT, but that has not been the entirety of the changes. The coaching and production staff has also been turned upside down, but now we know another name who will be joining the ranks. According to Fightful Select, former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Petey Williams has joined WWE as a full time producer. Williams has been working for the company on a trial basis for several months. It is not clear when he will begin to work full time or which show he will be working on. Williams has wrestled for Impact Wrestling on and off since 2004, winning the X-Division Title twice. Williams was a pretty big deal in Impact Wrestling. Check out his time there: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: W..

NEWS

Rey Fenix Suffers Broken Arm

January 6, 2022

You hate to see it. According to a report from Bryan Alvarez and F4WOnline, Rey Fenix suffered a broken arm in the main event of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Fenix broken arm heading to hospital — Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) January 6, 2022 From the report [h/t to f4wonline.com]: Near the end of The Lucha Brothers’ AEW Tag Team title match against Jurassic Express, Fenix suffered a broken arm when Luchasaurus chokeslammed him off the apron and through a table on the outside. Fenix was headed to the hospital after the show and will likely need surgery. It was immediately apparent that Fenix was injured after taking the chokeslam. He grabbed his arm and motioned for the medical staff. In the ring, Jungle Boy countered out of a package piledriver by Penta El Zero Miedo — but Penta countered out of the Killswitch. Jungle Boy then countered Penta’s Made in Japan into a pin to win the AEW Tag Team titles for Jurassic Express. We will continue to monitor this story and provide..

NEWS

Bite Me? How Michael Cole Almost Infected Jim Ross

December 9, 2021

That’s a different story. Injuries are one of the few things that can happen to anyone in wrestling at any time. That is not a good thing either, as you could have something happen to someone at the drop of a hat and take them out of action. Some of these are more serious than others, but you have probably heard of most of the more common ones. This time though, there might be a new one for you. During a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross talked about his feud with Michael Cole in 2011, including a time when he punched Cole in the mouth. The punch hit Cole’s teeth and caused Ross’ knuckles to bleed. As a result, Ross had to receive a tetanus shot and doses of antibiotics to fight off a potential infection. The injury was the same as Cole biting Ross’ hand and the medical staff wanted to take extra precautions. It was a rough time. Check out some of the feud between Cole and Ross: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] ..

NEWS

WATCH: WWE Stars Appear On The Late Show

November 19, 2021

The star power shines through. Wrestlers have a rather unique celebrity status. It’s true that they are on television every week and get to make all kinds of appearances, but ultimately they are still seen as just wrestlers. Sometimes you get to see them do something in the mainstream though, and that was the case in a big way earlier this week on national TV. A group of WWE Superstars were guests on the Late Show earlier this week, as part of the promotion for this weekend’s Survivor Series event. The wrestlers, including Big E., Becky Lynch, Randy Orton, the Miz, Street Profits, Seth Rollins and Bianca Belair, took part in the Just One Question segment, where various members of the show’s production staff would ask questions, earning some less than expected responses. They’re stars. Check out the segment, plus more times WWE was on late night: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion..

NEWS

More On Several Recent WWE Releases And Backstage Restructuring

November 13, 2021

They’re done too. WWE has been going through a lot of changes in recent months, with a lot of them being in front of the camera. There have been all kinds of releases from the roster, but several of them have been from the corporate side of things. WWE has undergone quite the restructuring, and now a lot more people are leaving over another change. As previously reported, WWE released several more backstage employees earlier this month. This included many members of Stephanie McMahon’s staff, including Laura Petrocelli, who has been praised by McMahon in the past. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, these cuts were made because McMahon’s Branding department is being merged with the Marketing department. There is no word on if WWE will be making any more releases as a result of the merger. McMahon has quite her own set of memorable moments. Check out what she has done in WWE: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This pos..

NEWS

Backstage Unhappiness In WWE Over Women’s Division Direction

October 11, 2021

Can you blame them? Back in 2015, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks made their Monday Night Raw debuts and officially launched the WWE Women’s Revolution. This marked a new path for the women’s division, with a women’s match eventually headlining WrestleMania 35. Things have changed a bit since then though, and it has not been great as of late. It has not gone unnoticed either. According to Fightful Select, the ending to the Carmella vs. Liv Morgan Queen’s Crown Tournament match from last week’s SmackDown originally had a different ending. Morgan was scheduled to win the match but ultimately lost to Carmella. There is no word on why the change was made. This has caused additional frustration backstage over the women’s division, with wrestlers and staff being unhappy with how things have been going. What could have been and what was. Check out the match, plus some better moments from the women’s division: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, cli..

NEWS

WWE Makes Surprising Hire As New Performance Center Coach

October 9, 2021

Welcome to the team. WWE is a huge wrestling promotion and has all kinds of wrestlers on its roster. As a result, the company has to find a way to get them better every week and the best way they have found to do that is through the Performance Center. The world class facility offers all kinds of resources, including a great training staff. That staff has grown again this week. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has hired Allison Danger as a new coach at the Performance Center. Danger is a retired wrestler who spent the majority of her career on the independent circuit, including spending several years in Shimmer. She retired from the ring in 2013, due to complications from a stroke, which causes lesions in her brain. Danger’s brother Steve Corino is also a coach at the Performance Center. You might not be familiar with a rather talented wrestler. Check out what Danger can do in the ring: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click t..