pro-wrestling Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
One year in, don’t be fooled by AEW’s WWE alumni
AEW and TNT have both always said they’re in it for the long haul. But if you had told them before they started their weekly cable show a year ago that they’d have to hit pause on the promotion just six months in, they might have hedged their bets a bit. But, with some secret locations, a pretty ful...
AEW Has Run Out Of Excuses for Its Women’s Division
When AEW came onto the scene about a year ago, it promised a lot of things. It promised a lot of things that would be different than the other wrestling/TV company, WWE. It would feature a bigger variety of styles and performers, it would have an actual tag-team division, it wouldn’t be afraid to be...
![#MeToo Comes to Pro Wrestling [UPDATED]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/fwaw21ulolfyxayfs729.jpg)
#MeToo Comes to Pro Wrestling [UPDATED]
Considering where professional wrestling has come from, what it used to be, and what it still is much of the time, it’s no surprise that there is a wave of accusations of sexual assault and domestic abuse levied at wrestlers at all levels. And yet the sheer scope of what took place this past weekend...
WWE Is Banking On Crossover Athletes To Carry Its Next Creepy Saudi Show
When WWE signed a deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last year, only the basics of the pact with the Gulf dictatorship were clear—biannual shows, in the kingdom, in exchange for a massive payday. Everything beyond that was difficult to imagine at the time, and became more and more difficult to ju...
Let’s Remember Some Guys: When Paul Heyman Was Paul E. Dangerously
Paul Heyman is known today as the advocate for WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar, but about 30 years ago he was Paul E. Dangerously—named, as Heyman says in a WWE DVD, because he looked like Michael Keaton’s character in the 1984 film Johnny Dangerously....
WWE Unearthed Some Legendary '80s Wrestling Gold In The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup
Everybody knows that WWE is in a crowded and deeply boring creative trough at the moment, but not enough people know that the “Hidden Gems” section of WWE Network, updated every Thursday morning, serves as a weekly reminder of just how good and how fun WWE wrestling can be. The section works as an e...
The Real Legacy Of The Legendary Kurt Angle Vs. Shane McMahon Match Is WWE Doing Whatever It Wants
On Sunday, fans found that WWE Network’s streaming service had chosen to devote the sixth entry in the WWE Untold series to a match that’s legendary for none of the right reasons. It’s hard to know why the promotion chose to make a documentary about the infamously and gratuitously brutal and violent...
The Ultimate Warrior Is Not A Gay Pride Mascot
On Thursday afternoon, WWE ambassador and creative team member Dana Warrior, tweeted a pro-LGBTQ+ pride message, stressing that she “believe[s] in equality, education, awareness, and this simple fact: love wins... Always!!” In and of themselves, the words would be fine, but because Warrior is best k...
WWE Is Getting Back At The Revival for Wanting Out, And It Isn't Working
On this week’s edition of WWE’s flagship television program, Monday Night Raw, viewers were treated to a segment in which the tag team The Usos, theoretically the good guys, revealed that they had invented “Ucy Hot,” their own sweat-activated version of Icy Hot, and secretly deployed it to the trunk...
Dean Ambrose Is Going To Be Bleeding As Jon Moxley Again
When we last discussed Dean Ambrose in this space a few months ago, news had just broken that he had given WWE his 90-day notice and would not be renewing his contract. That Ambrose was parting with WWE was, at bottom, a sound business decision; with All Elite Wrestling and other promotions bidding ...
Jushin Thunder Liger, Japan's Greatest Wrestling Export, Is Set For One Last Ride
On Thursday, Jushin Thunder Liger, inarguably one of the most influential figures in the history of the global wrestling business, announced his retirement at a press conference in Japan. The 54-year-old masked wrestler, whose real name is Keichi Yamada, will travel the world on a farewell tour slat...
“Mean” Gene Okerlund Dead At 76
Longtime pro wrestling interviewer “Mean” Gene Okerlund died today, WWE announced. He was 76....
How Did $5 Million Of Vince McMahon's Money Wind Up In The Trump Foundation?
On Tuesday, the New York State Attorney General’s Office announced that they had reached a settlement in their suit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation over its (prolific) self-dealing and other assorted misdeeds. Beyond the usual Trump-scented malfeasance in which the foundation engaged, one de...
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...
"Evolution" Was The Night WWE's Women Deserved. It Also Kicked Ass.
WWE Evolution started with a bang and ended in a torrent of cheers on the same Sunday night, but the promotion’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view event began in earnest some time before that. At a match in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Tennis Stadium last December, Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks, bo...
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...
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...