Here's your wrestling news for December 3rd 2021
And your headlines for today include
Beth Phoenix Announces She Is Leaving WWE NXT!
Graphic Photos Of Cody Rhodes’ Back After AEW Dynamite Flaming Table Spot; Mick Foley REACTS!
Major Details Of Triple Leaving WWE!
Reason Behind The Major BACKSTAGE Altercation Between THE MIZ & Other WWE Officials!
Why Chris Jericho Was Attacked During AEW Dynamite This Week?
Fan Video Of Arn Anderson’s Scary Fall Off AEW Dynamite Stage!
Major Spoiler For Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan Match
Becky Lynch Boasts Unbelievable WWE Achievement!
WWE Employees Say It’s No Fun To Be There Anymore!
Former WWE Wrestler Buys Popular Indie Wrestling Promotion!
Booker Takes A MAJOR DIG At CM Punk!
Ric Flair Thinks WWE Should Give Charlotte Flair A Roman Reigns Push! And More!
We’re kicking off today with NXT 2.0, as the show has undergone some major changes in recent months, and now another
huge shake-up is coming. On Twitter, NXT 2.0 commentator Beth Phoenix announced that she’d be stepping
away from the announcer’s desk, with this Sunday’s WarGames event being her final show she’ll be commentating on.
In her statement, the WWE Hall of Famer said that she will remain a part of WWE, and is grateful to everyone who helped her,
but is stepping away to spend more time with her family. That may be true, but this announcement
comes just one day after it was reported that WWE had plans for Phoenix to get back in the ring, as part of her husband Edge’s new
feud with The Miz. The plan is for a mixed-tag match pitting Miz and Maryse against Edge and the
Glamazon, and while we’re yet to see Beth get involved in this story, we know that this Sunday will be her last night in NXT
On the latest AEW Dynamite, Cody Rhodes faced Andrade El Idolo in at Atlanta Street Fight that ore than live up to its name.
The finish of the match saw AEW’s Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes make her return to TV, dousing a table in lighter fluid and setting it on fire.
Her husband then put Andrade through the table with a super reverse DDT to get the win, but Cody suffered some serious burns
in the final spot. In backstage photos posted by AEW, Cody can be seen greeting his brother Dustin
Rhodes, and you can see his back be covered in welts cuts, scars and burned flesh. Another photo shows a trainer tending to Rhodes’
back, but there’s currently no word on how Andrade is doing. Mick Foley knows a thing or two about going
through flaming tables, and on Twitter, the Hardcore Legend said he hopes Cody is okay, adding that it’s going to hurt for a while.
The last time fans saw a flaming table in WWE was back at Extreme Rules 2014, where then WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan defended
against Kane, and perhaps this huge spot will finally get fans to cheer for Cody Rhodes.
We mentioned earlier that WWE is planning on a mixed-tag match, pitting The Miz and Maryse against Edge and the returning Beth Phoenix.
Plans for this eventual match started on this week’s RAW, when the A-Lister and Maryse returned to TV interrupting Edge, marking
Miz’s first appearance since he left for Dancing with the Stars.
This promo got personal quickly, as Edge accused the A-Lister of letting his friend John Morrison get fired, a line that Edge
came up with, and wasn’t pre-planned by WWE. Their feud may have started off strong, but there’s already problems, as Wade Keller of
PW Torch reports that the Miz is unhappy with his future booking plans for this feud against the Rated-R Superstar.
Keller notes that Miz is unhappy for multiple reasons, but one of the reasons is that he doesn’t like the way his promos are written.
In the past, The Miz has explained dissatisfaction to writers and producers, but when nothing happened, he took the matter to WWE’s Executive Director
Bruce Prichard. It’s said that things quickly escalated between the two, as Prichard and Miz disagreed on
what the best course of action is, and it was reportedly so loud that staff and a few other Superstars were able to hear them from the outside.
We don’t know exactly what was said, but The Miz is clearly unhappy, but it’s worth mentioning that the situation reportedly ended well despite
this loud argument. The Miz may be a WWE veteran and the only two-time Grand Slam Champion, but many of
his biggest feuds, from John Cena to Damian Priest have seen him be fodder for another star, and it now looks like the A-Lister is
tired being treated this way by a company he’s always been loyal to.
Back to NXT 2.0, as the gold brand had once been a passion project of Triple H, earning him another accolade to his incredible career, but the show’s
biggest decisions are now overseen by his father -in-law Vince McMahon. Ever since the Game lost control over NXT, there’s
been reports of tensions between him and McMahon, and there was even a rumour that, given his ongoing hiatus following emergency
surgery, that Triple H was planning on leaving WWE to forge his own company. That rumour has since been debunked, as the
costs of setting up a new company and keeping it running would be a fortune, and on PW Torch, Wade Keller explained why the WWE COO is
unlikely to ever leave his father-in-law’s employment:
“I was told by somebody in WWE not too long ago that Hunter is not going anywhere
Their familiarity with Stephanie-Hunter-Vince dynamic that Hunter cannot cash out and just leave without it affecting the family dynamic
n a way that was just more negative than something Triple H would do. That could change and that person could be wrong but
their hunch was Hunter is either gonna work in WWE or not but not work against them in the pro wrestling business.”
Triple H’s cardiac event was said to have been quote “very, very, very serious,” and it may be a good while before we see him on TV again
but that day will come eventually as the Game is staying with WWE for life.
More from AEW, as Chris Jericho’s feud with 2Point0 and Daniel Garcia continued this week, as the former World Champion was attacked
by the faction backstage during an interview. According to Bryan Alverez, this attack wasn’t just to carry on their feud, but to write Jericho
off TV, as he won’t be present on tonight’s edition of Rampage.
Instead, Jericho will be touring the United Kingdom with Fozzy, and fans will have to wait until next week to see his feud with 2Point0 continue.
Jericho suffered a kayfabe attack on Dynamite, but Arn Anderson had a much worse time, as he fell off the stage during Cody Rhodes’ entrance.
This wasn’t a planned spot, but occurred when Cody was making his entrance for the Atlanta Street Fight, an while the live broadcast only
caught part of the accident, a fan video on social media shows the whole thing. Andrade’s manager Jose was about to attack Arn
when he took the fall, but rather than landing on the arena floor, it looks like he landed on a platform above the floor, so this incident could’ve been much
worse. After Jose helped Double-A back to the main ramp, he proceeded to continue his attack
on the legendary horseman, and this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. In September, Arn had a scary fall at an AEW show
where he fell off the ring apron to the floor, and in the recent video, a fan call he heard saying “Jesus Christ!” an appropriate reaction because this could
have been much worse for the Enforcer. Other fans had a much different reaction, as some in the crowd could be heard laughing At Arn after
the fall. Bryan Danielson was also just a step from the same fate, and had he fell, he would’ve fell on
the arena floor, but he caught himself at the last second as he was exiting the ring. Dynamite’s main event was a huge match, which
saw flaming tables and Cody’s go-Big-Show co- host T-Pain hand him a steel chair, but things went very wrong for Arn before the match even began.
This coming Monday, RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will defend against Liv Morgan, but we may already know the result of this match.
According to sources, the current card for next month’s WWE Day 1 Pay Per View will see Lynch be defending the RAW Women’s Title, spoiling that
Morgan won’t be winning the gold next week. WWE has also been promoting a series of upcoming live events, at which Lynch will be defending the
title against Bianca Belair, and with Lynch set to defend at Day 1, it’s spoiled that the title won’t be changing hands at any of these untelevised events.
Morgan won a fatal five-way match to become the number one contender, and is looking to capitalise on the opportunity she now has.
A Lynch successful title defence next week does not mean WWE can’t protect Morgan in defeat, as Lynch could win by cheating, and while House show
cards are always subject to change, fans can expect the Man to stand tall on RAW.
Lynch shows no signs of giving up the RAW Women’s Championship anytime soon, and this week, the Man has marked an incredible milestone in her career.
On Twitter, Lynch revealed that she’s now been a champion for every day she’s been active over the past 500 days, using the hashtag Becky500.
This accolade started at WrestleMania 35, and continued when Lynch returned at Summerslam 2021, capturing the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Lynch is expected to hold her title into 2022, and we’ll have to see how long this incredible record continues for WWE’s top Female Superstar.
Now, earlier this week, Big Swole announced that she’s not working with AEW anymore, after being one of the company’s earliest signings.
Her run in AEW never quite got off the ground as she suffered from Chron’s Disease, and now we know more about her departure.
When Fightful Select spoke to sources close to AEW, they were told that she wasn’t fired nor did her contract end prematurely, and instead her deal simply
ran out at the end of November. Swole hadn’t been in the ring since September, and it’s said that there was no heat on her,
or AEW over her leaving. The now former AEW Wrestler hadn’t been at many recent tapings, perhaps due to her health
condition, and there’s been reports that Swole could be the first of many wrestlers with expiring contracts that don’t return to the company.
It’s Big Swole’s decision what happens next in her career, but it’s clear that neither she nor AEW had any problems leading to her departure this week.
More from NXT 2.0, as losing Beth Phoenix will be a huge knock to the paint splattered brand, but it could be down to more than just wanting to spend time
family, and a planned feud with The Miz and Maryse. That’s at least according to Bryan Alverez, who spoke about the Glamazon and NXT 2.0 on the latest
Wrestling Observer Live and said how morale is pretty low for the show right now:
It’s not like she couldn’t do the main roster feud with Miz & Maryse and also do NXT commentary. She has just decided she is done with NXT. Whatever that
means, she says it’s due to family, but this also, again might not be the last person. Because no matter what you guys think about me
or anyone else saying that it sucks — it does. There are people there who have told me that it’s just not fun anymore.”
Since rebranding what was considered one of the best wrestling shows on TV into something completely different, NXT 2.0 has struggled to gain the interest
of viewers, even amongst those who didn’t immediately reject the change. NXT 2.0 is just part of WWE’s larger company-wide i
initiative, which will see younger athletes with less wrestling background, and train them in the WWE style, but this hasn’t worked out well yet for those
already on the show.
From 1988 to 1996, the Bushwhackers raised hell in the WWF, and now Bushwhacker Luke is now trying his hand as the owner of a promotion.
It’s confirmed that Luke Williams has bought a 50% stake in Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling, an East-coast promotion ran and operated
Tommy Fierro. In a statement, Luke said that ISPW plans on show casing live events in 2022, and we’re wishing the
Zealander the best in his newest venture.
If you’ve ever listened to CM Punk on interviews, you’ll know that he has problems with WWE, and has a sore spot with Triple H.
On last week’s Dynamite, Punk mentioned the Game in a major diss on MJF, but Booker T didn’t take too kindly to that.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker addressed Punk’s comments, saying:
“It kind of ticks me off, I have worked with Hunter since the WCW days. Hunter was a bigger star than CM Punk was before he even married Stephanie
McMahon and that is just an undeniable fact. As far as becoming a bigger star after that, of course he was going to become a bigger star after marrying
Stephanie because he was in the family now. Look here, if CM Punk would have married Stephanie McMahon, he might have become a bigger star as well.
But, CM Punk was a big star in WWE and they were treating him like he was a big star in WWE. I don’t see how or why anyone could think that CM Punk wasn’t
treated like a mega star.” There’s no denying that Triple H will forever remain a legend in wrestling, especially because of his
contributions both in and out of the ring, and those contributions eclipse anything Punk has done, according to the two-time Hall of Famer.
And we’re ending with Charlotte Flair, who constantly faces criticism for receiving opportunities fans believe should go to other women, but there’s one person who
thinks it’s not enough for the SmackDown Women’s Champion. On his podcast, Charlotte’s Father Ric Flair argued
that the Queen should receive a mega push similar to Roman Reigns, and said that she could become one of the biggest crossover stars if they did push
her more. As the reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion, a Women’s Rumble match winner and the most
decorated champion in WWE’s women’s wrestling history, it’s hard to think how WWE could push Charlotte more, but what do you think to this?
Let us know in the comments.