bixenspandavid Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
"Broken Face" And All, Becky Lynch Is Suddenly The Biggest Star In WWE
When last we discussed Becky Lynch in this space, she was already a star but still a few weeks removed from turning on Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam. This was a problem for WWE, even if they only sort of seemed to know it then. Becky was and still notionally is a heel, but fans stuck with Becky as t...
Ronda Rousey Basically Called Becky Lynch A Beta Snowflake Cuck On <i>Raw</i> This Week
Aside from its concessions to Saudi Arabia as part of a larger business deal with the murderous gulf autocracy, WWE’s recent programming has been as apolitical as it has been in ages. It’s the sort of thing that’s more notable in its absence, but the promotion’s classic xenophobic and jingoistic sto...
WWE Released A Failed 1989 Wrestling Pilot And It's Awesomely Terrible<em></em>
The WWE Hidden Gems section of WWE Network’s on-demand library is one of the more reliably enjoyable things that the promotion offers, a weekly release of unseen or rarely seen footage from their vast archives that offers a compelling look at weird days gone by in the sport. Not every week is a home...
Crown Jewel, WWE's Return To Saudi Arabia, Had Less Propaganda But More Irony<em></em>
Once the call was made to go on with WWE Crown Jewel, the second event of WWE’s 10-year contract with Saudi Arabia, one question loomed larger than any other going: What would this thing look like? The promotion’s first Saudi show, April’s Greatest Royal Rumble, was unvarnished pro-Saudi propaganda,...
Yes, WWE Wrote John Cena And Daniel Bryan Off Friday's Saudi Arabia Card
After a week of unconfirmed reports that both John Cena and Daniel Bryan were refusing to work this Friday’s WWE Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, we have our answer. It wasn’t a straight one from the promotion itself, unsurprisingly—WWE had repeatedly refused to address whether Cena and Br...
After Roman Reigns's "Raw" Moment, Where Is The Line In WWE?
This has been a weird week....
WWE Is Officially Going Ahead With Its Creepy Saudi Propaganda Spectacular
After days of rumors and weeks of faintly nauseated speculation, World Wrestling Entertainment announced on Thursday that the next show in their partnership with Saudi Arabia, next Friday’s Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, will take place as scheduled. The announcement came as part of guidance for their...
More And More Wrestling Fans Are Wondering Why Wrestlers Don't Have A Union
On Monday, one of the biggest non-WWE stars in pro wrestling—if not the biggest—tweeted something that could, if you squinted and tilted and hoped a little bit, be read as a call to arms....
WWE Is Not Handling The Backlash To Its Saudi Deal Very Well
Six days ago, WWE was in an uncomfortable position regarding its upcoming Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the second card in a 10-year contract with the kingdom believed to be worth $20–$50 million per show. Saudi Arabia’s brutal war of attrition in Yemen and, more recently, Turkey’s insi...
WWE Taking Tens Of Millions In Saudi Money Sure Looks Awful
This week’s edition of WWE’s Monday Night Raw flagship made official a major development that had been expected for weeks: After eight and a half years of retirement, Shawn Michaels really is returning to the ring in a few weeks, at WWE’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. Michaels had been steadfas...
Wrestling Magazines Were Bloody, Dumb, And Sleazy, And I Loved Them
A couple weeks ago at an independent wrestling show in New York City, the promoter, Jac Sabboth, arrived with a treasure trove of old magazines. Sabboth also owns a pro wrestling memorabilia store, but even bearing that in mind the selection was startlingly eclectic, from the most popular magazines ...
Accidents Happen, But Brie Bella's Just Keep Piling Up
The biggest wrestling story of the week happened by accident, during a six-woman tag team match on this week’s edition of WWE’s Monday Night Raw. The Bella Twins, who returned to in-ring action a few weeks back, were the main attraction in that match; Brie Bella, in what has become one of her signat...
If Matt Hardy's Career Is Over, It's Been A Hell Of A Ride
Last weekend, longtime WWE star Matt Hardy might have taken off his boots for the last time. He also might not have, but he at the very least appeared to announce his retirement in a YouTube video. Explaining that he had worked out a way to fulfill his previously advertised commitments to WWE, Hardy...
How WWE Cheapened Hell In A Cell
On Sunday, WWE hyped up its now annual Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event as the 20th anniversary of Mick Foley’s famous match with The Undertaker, where the former was thrown off of the top of the titular cage in one of the wildest stunts in wrestling history. This is not exactly true—the actual ann...
Regardless Of Who You Cheer Or Boo, WWE Usually Isn't Listening
One of the most striking things about last Saturday’s All In pay-per-view, the independent wrestling event that sold out over 11,000 seats in suburban Chicago, was where the show differed from WWE. When it came to the in-ring wrestling style and the creative influence of Cody Rhodes and The Young Bu...
Let's See If The Indie Wrestling Supershow Can Deliver On The Hype
Several months after it first made history, the indie wrestling supershow “All In” is here. On Saturday night, the much-hyped, self-funded brainchild of Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks will, after months upon months of speculation and buzz and promotion and noise, finally become real in front of ove...
WWE's Newest Signing Is The "King Of Bros," A Former UFC Fighter Who Became The Indie Scene's Top Star
On Saturday night, former UFC fighter Matt Riddle, just three and a half years into his pro wrestling career, officially made his first appearance with WWE, appearing in the front row during the NXT TakeOver live special from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. While WWE has long had an unofficial policy o...
There Are No Clean Hands In The Latest WWE Twitter Blow-Up<em></em>
Pro wrestling Twitter completely imploded on Wednesday. Well, more than usual....
The Scenic City Invitational Is Everything Good And Weird About Indie Wrestling
It’s Sunday, and I’m at a semi-dive bar in a strange city. Dylan, my friend of more than 15 years, is lying unconscious in the middle of the room, having just been stomped by a proud redneck who everyone else in the spot had been mocking for having a small penis. Two of our mutual friends jump in to...
Brian Christopher Deserved So Much Better
In the 1980s, when cable television changed the pro wrestling landscape and push truly came to shove in the industry, only one regional promotion survived in anything close to its original form. That was the Tennessee-based USWA, owned by Jerry Jarrett and his longtime top star, Jerry Lawler. With a...