fightful

Vince McMahon insisted on Goldberg using Jackhammer in 2020

With Goldberg appearing on WWE programming, we've started to learn some older stories from his previous runs. Goldberg told Fox Sports that his Jackhammer against Undertaker is one he'd take back, and other sources told us that Goldberg actually wasn't gung-ho on the idea of doing the Jackhammer to Bray Wyatt during their 2020 match as his shoulder was banged up. Another source told us that Bray Wyatt was on board with simply using a spear, and everything seemed agreed upon with both Wyatt an...

WWE Wrestler In The Process Of Getting Cleared For Return

Good news emerging out of WWE, as Fightful has learned that as of Friday, Chelsea Green is going through the process of being cleared. Green has been sidelined for the last two months after sustaining a broken wrist, but has been working to prepare for a return. She's been seen at the WWE Performance Center over the course of January, and has been working out at Robert Stone's gym alongside Britt Baker, Santana Garrett, Deonna Purrazzo and Reba/Rebel, according to social media posts.

We...

Royal Rumble Rehearsal News!

Fightful has learned that WWE have a Royal Rumble rehearsal planned from Noon to 6 PM on Saturday in Orlando. This will cause some that are already in town in Tampa to make the trip back to Orlando, but the thought process we were given is that it would be much more convenient for those in Orlando already.

Last year, WWE had the women's Rumble broken down into two sections to set up the match to streamline the process. However, there were said to have been issues getting the rehearsal s...

SRS Q&A

Ask up to three questions

- NO Top 5, are you a fan of, or fantasy booking questions!

Rickey Shane Page admires WWE star's heel work

Page told us that he looks up to the heel work of Randy Orton, and loves to implement rest holds to get heel heat. However, the old approach that being a heel diminishes your merchandise sales doesn't apply to him, as he says 44.OH's merch sales have exploded since they've turned things up on their heel run. He doesn't have a preference on getting booed or cheered to confirm his heel work, so to speak, and hasn't had many people challenge him physically as a result. The Run Rickey Run show wa...

LIVE: List Goes On January 27 at 4 pm est

- Undertaker on Joe Rogan

- Wrestlers and bad creative

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq3jr6U1WHc&feature=emb_logo

Big IMPACT Star's Contract Expires This Summer

On the IMPACT Hard To Kill broadcast, Don Callis repeatedly mentioned to Moose that he was signed to a two-year contract in an effort to kayfabe get him to take it easy on Kenny Omega. Moose was announced as signing a multi-year deal in 2019, leading many to believe that this was a reference to Moose re-signing for another two years. As it turns out, it was simply storyline. Sources have indicated to Fightful that Moose's IMPACT Wrestling contract is actually up in June, making him a free age...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 1/25--Billion Dollar Botch Job

Vince McMahon hates all of you.  

He gives you the worst product possible, and he is laughing all the way to the bank, to the tune of a billion dollars.  

Vince has no idea who's going to win the Royal Rumble, and therefore, he has no idea who's going to main event freaking WrestleMania.  

And still he got paid a billion dollars. 3 separate times, actually.  

Raw sucked, of course, and we'll talk about that, too.  

Everything sucks. Let's...

JTG Insisted On Using Light Tubes In Indie Match, More

We got an interesting story out of Rickey Shane Page about his recent match with JTG, which got very violent. Not only was JTG easy to work with and willing to go above and beyond, Rickey Shane Page says JTG actually came to him and suggested they use light tubes and other weapons that you wouldn't expect out of him.

Among other stories that he told included him serving as Ethan Page's toy mule to get figures across the border, and mentioning that he thinks Canadian indie standout Jody ...

Why WWE Announced Edge For WWE Royal Rumble, Picks On Backstage

Many have asked about WWE's thought process in a couple of Royal Rumble decisions. Edge returned on WWE Raw and announced he'd be appearing in the Royal Rumble match. Fightful inquired within WWE about why this happened instead of a Rumble surprise, and were told that if there were an actual crowd, there's a good chance that he would have been held off. However, it was decided that Edge's return was best served as being announced to create buzz for the Royal Rumble and help attract lapsed fan...

Dana Brooke Update

As you could tell during tonight's WWE Raw, plenty of things went awry during the opening women's match series. Among those was a scary spot where Dana Brooke was slammed to the mat by Nia Jax. Fightful was informed that at least initially, Dana Brooke appeared to be fine coming through the curtain at the Thunderdome. We'll keep you updated if we hear more

Backstage Reactions To WWE/Peacock Deal

WWE Network moving to Peacock is a gigantic win for WWE, and was reflected by the people we spoke with immediately following the news.

One wrestler we spoke with actually hadn't heard of the news before it broke and said the company profit would be massive, and the first impressions were the additional eyes on the product. Another top name in the company took a more pessimistic approach and said they didn't care where they were distributed unless it affects their pay. Still, no negativi...

SRS Backstage Report (1/25): TONS of Updates!

- NJPW/Elgin/Tama Tonga

- WWE Vaccine

- James Storm update

- Aleister Black-WWE

- Taya

- Jake Crist

- Jessamyn Duke

- Effy

- Prospect at NXT

- Injuries/Contracts

Fightful Weekender (1/24): IMPACT, MLW, 205 LIVE, NXT UK, ROH, BTE, PARADIGM

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with another edition of the WEEKENDER!

Topics:

- Show to watch on IWTV - PARADIGM PRO: "UWFI Rules Contenders Series Episode 5" 

- IMPACT (1/19) results

- MLW: "Fusion" (1/20) results

- 205 LIVE (1/22) results

- NXT UK (1/21) results

- ROH (1/18) results

- BTE: "Duped" recap

Effy On GCW, Vince McMahon

I spoke with Effy for one of our better interviews we've ever done, and is well worth a listen. He spoke about GCW Fight Forever and said that Brett Lauderdale is willing to delegate a lot of responsibility in things like Big Gay Block and Big Gay Brunch, but wants to learn more about that process as well. Effy said the Speaking Out movement definitely changed the way a lot of things would be booked, but that these GCW themed events have been the easiest thing he's ever booked.

We went ...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS--SmackDown 1/22--Puss In Boots

Last night's SmackDown was overall pretty good.

But that doesn't mean we can't dig up something to be mad about.

FOR INSTANCE: They hit pause real quick on that Shinsuke Nakamura push, didn't they? Only to start one for Cesaro? And also, non-title matches, yes-title matches that end via obvious interference, and the continued disuse of some very talented individuals.

Everything sucks (except Roman and KO). Let's talk about it.

VIDEO: 2021-01-24 03:31:20 +0000 UTC View Post

FIGURE HAUL, LIVE AT 4 PM EST

WWE Pulled Star From Indie Match

Not that it's much of a scoop, but in case there was any doubt, we're told that WWE did in fact pull Elayna Black from her scheduled GCW match with AEW's Joey Janela. The match was scheduled for GCW's 24 hour Fight Forever show next weekend. Even though it's a 24 hour show, nothing was in the can for this match or event as of yet besides some non-wrestling content

WWE Not Getting Talent Vaccine Through Company

WWE talent were informed via their talent relations app recently that they would not be receiving a COVID-19 vaccine through WWE, and that it was their own responsibility to schedule and get said vaccine. This surprised several WWE talent, that were expecting this to be set up through WWE, while others that we spoke to figured because of the nature of their status as independent contractors that it would end up this way. There was a ton of frustration among talent that we've spoken to, who no...

Update On Aleister Black's WWE Status

You haven't seen Aleister Black on WWE TV since being drafted to Smackdown, which was around the time his wife Zelina was fired from the company. Sources on Smackdown have indicated to us that they've not seen him at all backstage since after the Zelina release. We haven't heard as to whether or not there are any specific issues between Black and WWE, but one person we talked to in the company seems to think that they're letting any ill will between the two subside.

Ethan Page- IMPACT Update

To say Ethan Page wasn't happy with the IMPACT Wrestling portrayal of Karate Man was an understatement. Page was adamant that Karate Man not even be introduced into IMPACT Wrestling, but has noted that he was also adamant about not wanting a violent split or breakup of the North, to leave options for he and Josh Alexander open elsewhere. However, Page was allegedly given a decision of getting his way with one of those, and decided that not splitting The North was more important than him. He w...

IMPACT Wrestler Open To Returning To The Company

Jake Crist has no ill will towards IMPACT Wrestling after leaving the company, according to my conversations with him. He told Fightful that he's open to actually working there again, and is exploring his options as a free agent, while admitting it sucked how everything ended, without going into too much detail. He spoke very highly of IMPACT upon his exit.

SRS Q&A 1/21: Free Agents, AEW/IMPACT, Signings, More!

- Royal Rumble news

- IMPACT/AEW

- Tony Khan buying IMPACT?

- Taya, Ethan Page, Aleister Black

- Third party ban

- NJPW Plans

- Jessamyn Duke

- New WWE signings

- Over 100 questions answered!

Interesting name at NXT tonight

Parker Boudreaux was backstage at NXT tonight. For those of you who don't know, Parker is a 6-4, 300 pound offensive lineman from UCF who previously redshirted at Notre Dame. He bears a striking resemblance to a young Brock Lesnar, and WWE has had their eye on him. The Lesnar influence is real, as he refers to himself as "the next big thing." Paul Heyman tweeted praise towards him a few weeks ago, as well. 

LIVE: List Goes On for LAYB 200!

- NXT testing

- What if Triple H didn't marry Stephanie?

- Ethan Page

- Asuka/Alexa Bliss

- Riddle

- GILLBERG

- Matt Cardona

video: https://youtu.be/vlG7G86T1nA

Update on James Storm's IMPACT Wrestling Status

James Storm made a surprise appearance on IMPACT Wrestling this week to team with Chris Sabin, but much like some other names that have popped up lately, we've confirmed that he doesn't have a contract with IMPACT Wrestling. Storm was also at the October set of tapings, but not at the November tapings that led up to Hard to Kill. He worked two matches at those October filmings, but we've learned that he's not done on IMPACT TV as of yet, as he participated in filming three matches for the sho...

Update On NXT Star Left Out Of Dusty Classic

Many have been asking about the status of Jessamyn Duke after not being teamed with Marina Shafir in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. 

Duke hasn't wrestled since her Raw Underground appearance, but we're told she's not injured. Instead, she's been focusing on creating content for the UpUpDownDown brand. Duke was a full-time game streamer when she was hired by WWE, and effectively creates digital content full time for WWE now, and was said to have preferred that role ov...

News On Three Big WWE Women's Signings

WWE announced the signings of Elayna Black, Priscilla Kelly and Lacey Ryan, but the wheels have been in motion since at least the last crop of signings happened. Fightful learned in early November that WWE already had interest in the three women, and had been aggressively pursuing free agents and finding out contract status. WWE sources said Elayna Black was almost a guarantee to get signed after her tryout, as was Lacey Ryan, and that they'd already had their eyes on Priscilla Kelly for quit...

SRS Q&A

You know the rules! 3 questions, noteworthy stuff. LEGGO

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 1/18--Demonic Possession & Celebrity Butt Cracks

Last night's episode of Raw was part terrible, part off-the-rails crazy town, and part lazy predictable nothing-special-ness.

So basically, just a regular episode of Raw, but somehow with less distraction roll-ups and more demonic possession and silly masks and WAY more celebrity butt cracks.

However, there exists the possibility, however remote, that they might be setting up something very special for Mustafa Ali & Kofi Kingston.

Ah, who am I kidding? Of course they a...