During the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed WWE advertising Daniel Bryan as a special guest referee for the SmackDown Live event on December 26th from the Allstate Arena in Chicago IL.

According the Meltzer, WWE is advertising Bryan because it’s been difficult as of late to push ticket sales in markets the feature double events. With RAW being taped at the same arena the night before, ticket sales may not be as strong the next night for SmackDown.

Meltzer believes that WWE could also be trying to capitalize on that market by placing Bryan as the special the guest referee with the idea that fans will “speculate” that Bryan will somehow be involved in some sort of shenanigans in the match. This will likely not happen because Bryan hasn’t been cleared and he’s considered “hands off” until he is (which may never happen under WWE’s watch).

The post Reason WWE Is Advertising Daniel Bryan As Special Guest Referee for Upcoming SmackDown appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

A.J. Styles recently appeared as a guest on 97.9 The Box in Houston, Texas. Here are some highlights from the interview:

It being harder to maintain his ability as he ages: “The older you get, the less energy you have to maintain it! It is what it is, but if you still have that drive and you can still do it, why not? Get in the gym and get it done, and look good in the meantime.”

If his family gets angry with him being gone so much and a hint at retirement: “Work hard now, you enjoy it later. In a couple of years, I’ll be able to catch every football game, every baseball game, every basketball game, cheerleading, gymnastics, whatever they’re in.”

The radio hosts not wanting him to retire: “Man, I’m 40 years old!”

The post AJ Styles Hints at Retiring in a Few Years appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Shawn Michaels served as the guest referee for the main event of Friday’s NXT Live Event in San Antonio, Texas.

During the match, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly tried to interfere and help Adam Cole but Shawn hit one of them with Sweet Chin Music. After the match, Michaels got on the microphone and commented on fans asking for “one more match”. Michaels said, “I can assure you that I’m too old for this s***.”

You can check out footage of his remarks below:

The post Shawn Michaels Addresses “One More Match” Chants at NXT Event appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

During the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed AJ Styles Championship win over Jinder Mahal on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live and the affects it will have at Survivor Series & WrestleMania moving forward.

Meltzer explained that there is no reason now to have John Cena special guest referee Lesnar vs. Styles at next week’s Survivor Series event. Cena inclusion into the match was only to set up a future match against Mahal but those plans now could have been scraped. Meltzer says he doesn’t believe they will set up Lesnar vs. Cena for next year’s WrestleMania, so unless they switch the title back on next week’s show, Styles will face Lesnar without Cena as the special guest referee.

In regards to why the company decided to change course, Meltzer speculates it could have had to do with people “crapping all over it” and the bad rating from the Halloween edition last week.

The post Backstage News on AJ Styles Championship Title Win & Changes to Survivor Series appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As reported earlier today, there is a promotional poster floating around on social media that indicated that John Cena would serve as the special guest referee in Brock Lesnar’s match against Jinder Mahal at the upcoming Survivor Series event.

According to PWInsider, the poster for Survivor Series is correct and Cena will serve as the special referee for the match.

As many are aware, Cena has been absent from WWE television to film for his role in the upcoming Bumblebee movie. No official announcement has been made regarding his return to WWE television. It’s also unknown if he will appear on SmackDown before Survivor Series or if the company will just make the announcement of Cena’s involvement on television and/or online. Time is running short as Survivor Series is just a few weeks away. Hopefully there is some sort of storyline to go with his involvement.

The post Backstage Update on John Cena’s WWE Return appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As noted earlier today, WPIX 11 News teased that there will be some sort of “breaking news” announcement to be made by Paul Heyman regarding SummerSlam tonight.

EXCLUSIVE tonight: @HeymanHustle joins @scottstanford1 in studio at 10:45 with breaking news on @WWE @SummerSlam Weekend pic.twitter.com/FzIE9xpbnx

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) August 2, 2017

In an update, Scott Stanford confront Heyman on WPIX 11 News and it was revealed that Heyman will be Jim Ross’ surprise guest for his “One Man Show” during SummerSlam weekend. Here are the event details:

The RINGSIDE with Jim Ross Show in NYC Summer Slam will take place on Friday night August 18 at the Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd St between 7th and 8th avenues, with a VIP meet/greet/photos from 5;30-6:45 with the show starting at 7:30 pm.

The post Paul Heyman’s “SummerSlam Breaking News” Revealed appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Johnny Saint finished up his gig as a WWE Performance Center Coach this week.

PWInsider reports that the company held a big farewell party for Saint this week at the Center to bid him a proper farewell after he completed a scheduled six month run as a Coach to WWE NXT talents.

Saint began coaching for WWE earlier this year after making an appearance as a guest coach in March 2016.

The post Performance Center Coach Finishes Gig with WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.