Here is your news for February 21, 2020.
We’re kicking off today’s video with some unfortunate news from Samoa Joe, as
the former NXT and United States Champion is dealing with a concussion.
According to a Pro Wrestling Sheet report that was later confirmed by Dave
Meltzer, Joe hit his head on a table break spot whilst filming a commercial and
isn’t unknown when he’ll be able to return.
This is the second concussion the Samoan Superstar has suffered this year, as a
dive during a tag team match on the January 27th edition of RAW led to a
concussion, and Joe only recently returned to the ring after a broken thumb
suffered in September kept him on the shelf for a few months.
Since returning, Joe has been a fixture of Kevin Owens’ feud with Seth Rollins and
his disciples, but it looks like the Prize fighter will need a new tag team partner
now that Joe is once again out of commission.
One man who knows a thing or two about injuries in WWE is CM Punk, but despite
recently returning to WWE TV as part of Backstage, the Best in the World isn’t
afraid to poke fun at McMahon’s company.
When the XFL on FOX account asked which cities should receive a team next, one
fan couldn’t help but say Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Punk suggested the team
name of ‘the Bone Saws’.
The voice of the voiceless is obviously referring to WWE’s controversial
relationship with the Middle Eastern nation, and is specifically referencing the
disappearance and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018,
allegedly at the hands of the Saudi Royal Family.
Though WWE’s deal with the Saudis has led to a plethora of bad press, due to the
country’s harsh laws against women, LGBTQ people and others, the deal has been
profitable for WWE, who have shown no signs of backing out of the arrangement.
At last year’s Super Showdown event, Cain Velasquez made his WWE in-ring
debut, and whilst he was supposed to be at the 2020 Royal Rumble, that obviously
didn’t happen.
According to Wrestling Inc, a knee injury has prevented the former UFC Champion
from competing, but after having his knee scoped, Cain is feeling much better.
There were rumors that Velasquez would be entering a program with WWE
Champion Brock Lesnar, who hasn’t defended his title since Survivor Series 2019,
where he defeated Rey Mysterio.
At the time, it seemed likely that Brock’s next title match would take place at the
Royal Rumble, as Lesnar has regularly competed at the January Pay Per View,
though the Beast was instead put into the Men’s Rumble match, where he
eliminated a record 13 people.
It has also been confirmed that Velasquez was at the WWE’s Performance Center
recently, though time will tell whether this translates to a WrestleMania match on
April 5th, in Tampa, Florida.
We already covered that Samoa Joe will be out with an injury, but the Samoan
Submission Machine isn’t the only star to be hurt.
On this week’s WWE NXT, Lio Rush came up short in an NXT Cruiserweight title
match against Jordan Devlin, and suffered a possible nose fracture and orbital
bone fracture, according to the NXT Now injury report.
Austin Theory also suffered a beatdown curtosy of an irate Tommaso Ciampa this
week on NXT, though it’s unlikely that the back contusions he suffered will keep
him out of the ring for long.
Instead, the pair are set for a match next week though it’ll be interesting to see
what condition buth Rush and Theory will be in next week on NXT.
On NXT UK, Tyler Bate is also dealing with an injury, and this has had an effect of
his bookings outside of the company.
Recently, OTTWrestling released a statement saying that the inaugural United
Kingdom Champion has been pulled from their upcoming Dead On event, though
it wasn’t noted just how long the Big Strong Boi will be out of action.
We’ve got even more injury news now, as Rob Van Dam has had a lengthy career
in wrestling, but the price of his success is a history of injuries and medical issues.
Speaking on the Steve Austin Show podcast, RVD admitted to suffering hundreds
of concussions throughout his career, which ultimately had an impact on his long-
term health. He said:
“I’ve had hundreds, seriously, hundreds, of concussions.”
“Balls Mahoney would hit me with a chair. Then ‘crack’ it would be like
everything’s in slow motion. Sometimes the sound ‘goes out,’ sometimes
you know everything’s spinning.”
“I had double vision, but I just couldn’t shake it off and I kept thinking
well. You know, it’ll be gone tomorrow, so I’m not gonna let anybody
know. The show must go on.”
Following the Chris Benoit tragedy in 2007 and Daniel Bryan’s retirement in 2016,
the WWE are taking concussions much more seriously now, though the
damage has already been done to stars like RVD.
To his credit, Van Dam remains an active part of wrestling, and has said he can still
pull off 90% of moves he used to do in his career, and whilst the Impact Wrestling
star seems to be doing well, there’s plenty of stars who also suffered concussions
who aren’t so lucky.
We’re looking ahead to tonight’s SmackDown, as this week’s show will feature the
return of the Bella Twins, though there has been a slight change to their
announced segment.
When the WWE announced that the Bellas would be appearing, they also
announced that they’dbe appearing on A Moment of Bliss with Alexa Bliss and
Nikki Cross, but in an updated graphic for the segment, Cross has been removed.
It’s unclear why exactly the Scottish Superstar has been taken out of the segment,
but fans can expect both Nikki and Brie to have plenty to say, as the rumors of an
imminent Hall of Fame induction continue to circulate.
We’re taking a break from the ring now, as we’re looking at the sad passing of
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who died with his daughter Giana in a helicopter
accident last month.
Seven other people died in the accident, and this week, NXT Superstar Dominick
Dojakovic wanted to provide support for Kobe’s charity.
On Twitter, Dijakovic revealed that he planned to put his NXT TakeOver Portland
gear up fo auction, with the money raised going to the MambaOnThree Fund,
which helps the families of the seven other crash victims, but eBay strangely took
the auction down, claiming it violated their terms of service. He said:
“Hello, unfortunately eBay felt this charity auction violated their TOS, so
they removed the listing. I have opened my DMs and will currently accept
bids until 12 noon EST on Monday Feb 24. I will attach a tweet and update
it with the current high bid. Thanks!
We’ll have to see how much the NXT Superstar raises but in a follow up tweet,
Dijakovic revealed that the bidding has already reached $625, and is expected to
go much higher.
One Superstar who certainly had an impressive showing at TakeOver Porland is
Rhea Ripley, as the Australian Superstar retained her NXT Women’s Championship
against Bianca Belair, and now has a date with Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemnaia 36.
With her unique look and personality, Ripley stands out in the NXT Women’s
division, but the WWE recently had to pump the brakes on that personality a little bit.
Whilst speaking to Talk Sport, the NXT Women’s Champion revealed that she loves
tattoos, and once planned to become the most tattooed human ever, but the
WWE has put a ban on her getting any more ink. She said:
" I just love tattoos, I don’t know why! I’ve always loved them. But,
unfortunately for me, WWE isn’t clearing my upper body [for tattoos] –
that’s why I wear pants! I got pants so I wouldn’t have to clear my tattoos
because you can’t see them. I’m trying to finish my leg sleeves
This story is very similar to Paige, who was considering a chest tattoo on Total
Divas, but was strongly advised against it by others on the show.
To be fair to WWE, they do have a lot to consider when a Superstars wants to get
ink, as promotional material, intellectual property, video games and action figures
are just scratching the surface.
Whilst Ripley won’t be getting any more visible tattoos for the time being, the NXT
Women’s Champion can get plenty on her legs, as she continues to forge her own
impressive career in WWE.
Speaking of the NXT Women’s Division, one woman who asked to join the gold
brand is Naomi, who recently returned as part of the Women’s Royal Rumble.
Speaking to Women of Wrestling Weekly, the two-time former SmackDown
Women’s Champion said that she requested the move a year ago, as she wasn’t
being used much on the main roster at the time. She said:
“ I was like, ‘Dang, can I go down there and just see what I can get into,
what could happen, and the talent down there is just so good.’ Just so good.”
Obviously, Naomi wasn’t sent to NXT, but given the recent reports that have
suggested she may be competing for the Smack Down Women’s title at
WrestleMania 36 against Bayley, remaining on the blue brand may have been the
right decision for the Glow after all.
From Naomi to her fellow Funkadactyl now, as former WWE Superstar Cameron
has been distant from wrestling since her release many years ago.
Now though, the former Total Divas star is making her return to the ring, four
years after her last match, as she will be part of Effy’s Big Gay Brunch on April 4th,
as part of the GCW presentation during WrestleMania weekend.
Cameron’s last match came on June 3rd 2016, when she, Naomi and Tamina lost to
Alicia Fox, Paige and Sasha Banks at a WWE house show.
There have also been reports that both Cameron and Brodus Clay are booked to
be at WrestleMania in Tampa on April 5th, and given the reports of a high-profile
match for Naomi, there has been plenty of speculation of a reunion between the
Funkasaurus and his Funkadactyls.
We’re looking at All Elite Wrestling News now, as whilst this week’s edition of
Dynamite didn’t crack 900,000 viewers, they still won in the ratings war.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Dynamite brought in 893,000 viewers on average
during their two-hour broadcast, whilst NXT had 794,000 viewers.
In the coveted 18-49 demographic, Dynamite earned a .31 rating whilst NXT
earned a 0.25, which were both down from the week prior, as the February 12th
edition of both shows saw Dynamite get a .41 rating and NXT a .28 rating.
To be fair, both of this week’s shows saw higher viewing figures
as the February 12th shows saw Dynamite and NXT get 817,000 and 757,000
respectively, and it’ll be interesting to see what the gold brand has planned,
as they are yet to beat Dynamite this year.
More AEW news now as both the new promotion and WWE are trying to stake
their claim to viewers overseas, and this led to quite an issue recently in Germany.
Recently, Sky Germany revealed that their four-year deal with WWE was coming
to an end, and since WWE isn’t updating their contract, viewers can now tune in
to see AEW Dynamite, as well as purchase Pay Per Views from now on.
This is certainly a huge win for Dynamite, as Sky is one of the most popular
satellite providers in Europe, and now countless fans in Germany will be able to
watch Dynamite and AEW Pay Per Views, instead of WWE.
It’s more bad news for WWE now, as WWE Backstage suffered a drop in viewers
this week, as the show fell to 127,000
According to Showbuzz Daily, this was a significant drop from last week, which
saw 169,000 fans tune in, though last week’s show also saw Charlotte Flair and the
return of CM Punk, giving Backstage it’s best number since November 2019.
This week’s episode saw Mark Henry and NXT North American Champion Keith
Lee appear as guests on the show, and although this week’s number wasn’t great,
it’s still far better than the 49,000 who tuned in for the show’s debut in it’s regular timeslot.
Now, the WWE’s war with AEW has been going on for a while, and ever since the
brand launched in January last year, there have been plenty of people who have
been caught in the crosshairs.
The latest soldier of the war is Vickie Guerrero, who has appeared in AEW and
done commentary for AEW dark a couple of times, and also appeared on Chris
Jericho’s cruise.
Due to her appearances with AEW, Vickie will have a much smaller guest list for
her podcast, as she revealed on a recent episode that the WWE has banned
Superstars from appearing on her show.
This is certainly a petty decision by WWE, as Guerrero spent years working with
WWE before her depature, but it also goes to show that AEW’s existence matters
much more to WWE than the company wants to let on.
And finally we’re ending with news from WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, as Big
Daddy Cool is preparing to receive his second induction during WrestleMania
weekend, this time for his work as part of the New World Order.
Unfortunatley for Nash, a career in wrestling has left his body pretty banged up,
though CBD Oil seems to have worked well for him.
Now, the former WWE and WCW World Champion has revealed that he is an
official Global Brand Ambassador for No Borders Naturals, and spoke about the
company in a video, he said:
““After 32 surgeries, I know a lot about pain and rehab. I literally vomit
15 minutes after putting an opioid in my body; it makes me sick and I had
tried half a dozen CBD brands with no real result before I was introduced
to No Borders Naturals.”
“What really mattered was that I feel better when I take the liquid CBD
sublingual under my tongue, apply the muscle and joint balm to myself
before my workouts… I can feel a huge difference after my workouts in all
my joints applying the Muscle Recovery Roll On. These products work!”
In recent years, the use of Cannabis-related oils have been a hot-button topic of
debate within the medical community, but one thing we know for certain is that
Kevin Nash is definitely a fan, and it has certainly helped ease his pain.