Justin Barasso of Sports Illustrated indicated that Enzo Amore’s rape accusations were not the only reason WWE had to re-write parts of the RAW 25th Anniversary show this past week.

Barasso reports that RAW wasn’t finalized until 5PM ET because Jimmy Fallon was unable to show up early enough for the pre-tages and segments with the WWE Legends. Plans for backstage segments with Fallon, including the general manager segment, ultimately became introductions and waves to the crowd.

The post WWE Makes Additional Last Minute Re-Writes to RAW 25th Anniversary Show appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

According to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Finn Balor was never factored into any plans to face Brock Lesnar at next year’s Royal Rumble event.

Barrasso also reported that Balor is slowly being transitioned into a role similar to Dolph Zigglers, where he is a performer who can put on great matches but doesn’t get to the main event because of the lack of faith from higher-ups. One WWE source relayed to Barrasso that Vince McMahon sees Balor as “bland” whenever he’s not portraying the “Demon King” character.

The post Finn Balor Never Considered for Royal Rumble Match Against Brock Lesnar appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking with Sports Illustrated, The Miz mentioned that he woud like to have a match against Daniel Bryan inside a WWE ring because he would like to beat him up.

“I would love to beat him up. I would love to beat him up in a WWE ring; all day; every day. I know he’s working tremendously hard to get back in the WWE ring…I would love to have a match with Daniel Bryan; he’s one of the best in-ring technicians that WWE has ever seen, and I would like to showcase how much better I am than him.”

It’s very unlikely that The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan would ever take place inside of a WWE ring, as many are under the impression that WWE doctors will not clear him. The on-going the concussions lawsuit isn’t doing Bryan any favors either. The belief is once Bryan’s contract with WWE runs out, he will return to the indies.

The post The Miz Says He Wants a Match Against Daniel Bryan appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

The Rock took to his Twitter account and shot down reports that he turned down an opportunity to appear on Ric Flair’s “30 for 30” ESPN special.

Turned down? Not true. Ric and his fam are very good friends of mine and my family.

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) November 6, 2017

These reports surfaced after several websites took an interview with Rory Karpf out of context that was printed on Sports Illustrated. Karpf mentioned in the interview that only people from the wrestling world that he wanted but failed to get were Steve Austin, Paul Heyman and The Rock. These websites took these remarks and turned it into something else.

The article published on Sports Illustrated never said that The Rock turned down the offer and doesn’t explain why, leaving open the possibility that scheduling issues or other things prevented the interview.

Editors note: This has been a real problem within the Internet Wrestling Community this year. Questionable websites that often cover the same news stories as we do, also post false news or stories that are similar but with their own “spin” added. Readers often have a hard time telling the difference and get confused. Ultimately, these sort of sites make us all look bad.

The post The Rock Denies Reports of Turning Down “30 for 30” Special on Ric Flair appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously reported, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were both kicked off the on-going UK Tour and sent back to the United States. While Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the decision had to do with the Owens & Sami refusing to “feed” for the New Day, it appears there is more to the story than that.

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reports that the decision to send the two home was approved by Vince McMahon. The belief is that the two “went into business for themselves” during their on-camera work during Tuesday’s show.

Barrasso wrote, “In a decision approved by Vince McMahon, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were kicked off the remainder of WWE’s overseas tour and sent home after yesterday’s SmackDown in Manchester, England for conduct deemed detrimental to the WWE.

Multiple sources both internally and externally confirmed to Sports Illustrated that Owens and Zayn’s offense was “going into business for themselves” regarding their on-camera work during yesterday’s SmackDown.

Several attempts to reach out to WWE for comment regarding the story have gone unanswered.

The post Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Reportedly Went “Into Business for Themselves” at SmackDown appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reports that the reason Nia Jax is unhappy with her role in WWE has to do with the creative direction of her character as well as WWE’s pay scale.

The belief is that Jax will return to WWE but she has other options to fall back on if she decides to leave the company completely. Some of those options include modeling and/or getting work through her cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Bryan Alvarez questioned on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live if there would be much work for her on the indie circuit. If she’s complaining about the pay she’s receiving from WWE now, the chances are she probably wouldn’t be able to make much more outside of WWE on the indie circuit.

The post Reason Nia Jax Is Unhappy With Her Position In WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Joey Ryan recently spoke with Sports Illustrated. Here are some highlights from the interview:

How he’s doing financially compared to if he worked for WWE: “Right now, I know I’m making above average WWE money, and I’m making my own rules and setting my own schedule. That’s if they were to approach me; if they don’t approach, then that’s OK, too.”

Whether his character would work in a PG-rated WWE: “If Vince is still taking headbutts, then he could definitely take this, too. But in the PG-era of WWE, I don’t think the Joey Ryan character would be doing anything with the penis in WWE. The super, powerful penis would not be part of his repertoire in WWE. I don’t think that’s the place for it.”

His status with Lucha Underground: “I wouldn’t mind starting my own 21-0 WrestleMania streak. But fingers crossed, I’d love to see Lucha Underground have a season four. Lucha Underground has the right to pick up my contract, and I would love to be a part of it. Opportunities come my way, and I try to make the best of them.”

The post Joey Ryan: I’m Making “Above Average WWE Money” on The Indies appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Jim Ross was asked if there was any discussion from WWE about him returning to SmackDown Live as JBL’s replacement. Ross said that if WWE needed to for him to fill in, he would be open for it but he’s not interested in a full-time gig.

“I really do appreciate when people think of me for an opening. If WWE ever needed me to fill in, I would certainly do it with no reservation. Now, is it something I want to do full-time? Absolutely not. It’s a young man’s game, so let’s continue to develop these new guys.”

He continued, “I’m thrilled to have my WWE jersey back. I’m going to do between 30 and 40 dates a year. I am happy to fulfill my obligations. If I’m needed for more, I’m ready, but I do not want to do 52 weeks a year. WWE is going to use me if the weekly U.K. show comes to fruition, and my hope is that I’m involved in that show with Nigel McGuinness.”

The post Jim Ross Not Interested In Returning to SmackDown Live Full-Time appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Sports Illustrated at a charity event that was organized by Booker T to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, RVD commented on a potential comeback to WWE.

“I don’t have any plans to share, but there is always a possibility of a return. I’ve talked to WWE recently, but it’s about the new video games that are coming out. That was more of a business talk about that, but when the business is right and it’s the right time to go back, that, of course, is then always a possibility.”

Since RVD’s time away from WWE, he has participated matches on the independent circuit.

The post Rob Van Dam Says He Recently Spoke to WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barraso appeared on Wrestling Inc’s podcast this past Wednesday and claimed that John Cena was the person behind Baron Corbin’s push coming to an end.

“I heard the kiss of death was Cena. [Cena said] that Corbin wasn’t ready. I can’t say anymore right now, that’s kind of what I’m trying to work on as we speak.”

While it was being speculated via Dave Meltzer that his push came to an end because of his recent activity on Twitter, Barraso mentioned that he didn’t hear anything of that nature.

“I haven’t heard about the social media. I mean, he’s a heel right? So he should play one on social media. I don’t think that was the issue, but then again they kind of pick and choose who they defend in those cases. I don’t know, but right now, I don’t think that’s [social media] the reason.”

The post John Cena to Blame for Killing Baron Corbin’s Push appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.