Let’s take a look at the top WWE News & Professional Wrestling stories of the day:
• Video Of Matt Hardy Getting WOKEN At WWE Live Event
WWE posted a video of Matt Hardy getting “WOKEN” at last night’s WWE Live Event in Salt Lake City, Utah. Below is what WWE posted in the video description (also confirming that Matt will be WOKEN, not BROKEN):
“#WWESaltLakeCity were witness to a Matt Hardy who appears to be more #WOKEN than ever…”
Below is the video:
• Former Champion’s First WWE Match Since Return Announced
Below is what WWE posted regarding former WWE Divas Champion Paige’s first WWE match since her return:
“After Absolution used a divide-and-conquer strategy this past Monday night to lay out Bayley and Mickie James in the locker room area, Paige, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville targeted Sasha Banks in a brutal three-on-one assault in the ring after the four-time Raw Women’s Champion refused to join their ranks.
Monday night on Raw, The Boss has an opportunity for retribution when she faces Paige, the nefarious mastermind behind Absolution, in singles action. The news broke earlier today via WWE’s official Twitter account.
BREAKING: #TheBoss @SashaBanksWWE will go one-on-one with #Absolution’s @RealPaigeWWE THIS MONDAY on @WWE #RAW! pic.twitter.com/S5dhahrHGh
— WWE (@WWE) December 2, 2017
With the rest of Absolution undoubtedly lurking at ringside, can Sasha humble the raven-haired renegade? Find out Monday on Raw, beginning at 8/7 C on USA Network!”
• NXT To Air On The USA Network Next Week
NXT is set to air on the USA Network next week on Wednesday at 7 PM EST. This is not a permanent move and is just a part of WWE taking over the USA Network next week with the following schedule:
Monday – Raw
Tuesday – SmackDown Live
Wednesday – NXT
Thursday – Tribute To The Troops
• Hulk Hogan Wants A Huge WrestleMania Rematch
Old School WWF Legend The Rock revealed a cool story between him and “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan on Twitter:
This is an amazing story!
When I interviewed @TheRock for JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, I brought him my original JUMANJI ticket from when I saw it in January of 1996.
I asked Johnson if ever collected anything special as a kid and he told me this amazing @HulkHogan story. pic.twitter.com/o3sDERNfGn
— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) November 30, 2017
Amazing vid below on two fronts.
#1. My good bud Kev here brings me his ORIGINAL movie ticket stub from #JUMANJI.
#2. Thank you to the “brother” @HulkHogan for being so cool to me when I was a 12yr old nerdy, awkward huge Hulkster fan backstage at Madison Square Garden. ?? https://t.co/xkQ4mDXfAu
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) November 30, 2017
.@therock, was this the moment you caught @hulkhogan's headband?
(From WWF at MSG Madison Square Garden (2-20-84)) pic.twitter.com/l9fCwg3s75
— Muscle & Fitness (@muscle_fitness) December 1, 2017
Wow this was the match back in ‘84 when I caught this @HulkHogan headband he throws. I was 12yrs old at Madison Square Garden. I went back to the locker room after the match to give it back to him. Two weeks later he gave me a brand new one. Crazy story. ???? https://t.co/0UX0I68Wm4
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) December 1, 2017
The Hulkster had the following to say in response:
Yo @TheRock, if you need another head band this time you need to give me my rematch then see if you can take it brother!! Lol. Only love but I’m serious about the rematch brother HH https://t.co/IDpN7h6uIb
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) December 1, 2017
• Former Women’s Champion Comments On Getting Called Out By Lita, Her Retirement Match
During a recent interview with On Milwaukee, former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle talked about getting called out by Lita, getting injured, her retirement match & more.
Below are the highlights:
On getting called out by Lita:
“It was brutal. I remember I was in the locker room with Lita, who is very intimidating. I went to put my makeup on; I thought I took the worst spot in the locker room. I thought I was being respectful. I sat on the floor by a mirror. And she got up in my face, and she was like, ‘What?
Do you think you can walk in here and take the best spot in the locker room?’ And I was like, ‘I’m sitting on the floor!’ I was considered the Hollywood girl. These wrestling girls, they paved the way of going to these indie shows and training camps and putting their bodies through this for so long.
And I just come from Hollywood and show up. So I get their side of it. I had to earn the wrestling respect side of it.”
On injuries ending her WWE career:
“We were coming back from a two-week European tour, and it was our last match in Nebraska before we got a break. It was a big match with me and Beth Phoenix, and I went up to the top rope for a spot where she was gonna hit the rope and I was gonna eat it.
But my boot caught, and I nose dived. So I was knocked out, on live TV. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance, and they said, ‘Your husband’s being flown in.’ When you’re in a neck brace, and you’re in an ambulance, and they’re flying your husband in, it’s pretty scary.
Thankfully, I just had a broken collar bone and a concussion. But the hardest part is it shelved me. I worked so hard to get that spot, and that recognition from my coworkers, and from the fans. And now I’m shelved for six months.
I think most wrestlers have a very relentless mentality. Somehow, I had to convince Producer Johnny Laurinaitis and the doctors there that my collarbone was not broken anymore, even though the X-rays show it was still.
Somehow, I weaseled my way into a match, and the first drop kick, I shattered it. But, I finished the match. I was shelved another six months. Then I was coming back, and WrestleMania was coming up, just being in overdrive.
I did a Superman punch, landed on my ankle and tore two ligaments. That was the final injury where I got the call to say, ‘All right, kid. You’re done.'”
On her retirement match:
“I did training at Knox Pro Wrestling Academy, back in L.A. That first bump, woo! That sh*t hurts. You forget. And my body forgot. I trained for a month and a half there a couple times a week. I cried every time I was there. Whether it was because I was in pain or because I missed it, or because of facing those spirits.”
• John Cena Posts After Getting Sued
According to TMZ Sports, Ford is suing 16 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena for selling his $500,000 2017 Ford GT.
This violated his contract with the company, where he was selected from thousands of applicants to get one of the only 500 cars of this model and wasn’t allowed to sell the car before 2 years of use.
Below is a statement regarding this from Ford:
“Mr. Cena has unfairly made a large profit from the unauthorized resale flip of the vehicle, and Ford has suffered additional damages and losses, including, but not limited to, loss of brand value, ambassador activity, and customer goodwill due to the improper sale.”
Ford now wants to Cena to return the profit made from the sale and other damages that they claimed.
Cena then took to Instagram to post a photo after this situation (he only posts photos without explanation on Instagram):
• Randy Orton Takes A Shot At SD Live Star
13 Time WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton took a shot at Zack Ryder getting attacked by his tag team partner Mojo Rawley on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Below is the exchange on Twitter:
@ZackRyder what do you think of the mattel retro figures and do u see much difference from hasbros
— Edmundo Alvarado (@iamedmundo) December 2, 2017
I love them…just wish Mattel made more Retro characters. https://t.co/wRzFZHQb0I
— Zack Ryder (@ZackRyder) December 2, 2017
Pls stop https://t.co/XFjSpjlxnS
— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) December 2, 2017
Are you ok?
— Zack Ryder (@ZackRyder) December 2, 2017
Are you ok after that ass whooping Tuesday? https://t.co/BuSk06yV8G
— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) December 2, 2017
You can watch Rawley turning on Ryder below:
• Big Show Shoots On WWE Creative, On Fans Being Misinformed
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho podcast, former WWF Champion The Big Show talked about the WWE Creative Team, fans being misinformed & more. Below is what he said:
“A year ago, they were worried about 4 months from now, now they’re worried about TV every day and trying to be like this needs to be done today and two weeks later they forget about what they did which makes it tough now…it’s hard.
Because you get stuck with these responsibilities like helping these young guys out and you’re like – I forget that the excuse was, but it wasn’t formatted to what they wanted to do that show and I was like, ‘Jesus we’re shooting ourselves in the foot here man’.
There’s a right way to do things and sometimes it’s inconvenient, but sometimes you’ve gotta be like you’ve got 20 odd writers who work very hard, they’re trying to put a show together that works.
They’ve gotta feature this, this, and this guy or whoever’s on the agenda and sometime’s there are no bridges. Arn Anderson is a person who always talks about bridges in the ring you know and I notice alot of these matches now.
I noticed something online the other day that really saddened my heart a little bit about how far the business has changed in the perspective that you have fans now that do have the passion and do love the business, but they’re misinformed.
They were criticizing someone…not me, but they were criticizing another Superstar saying – “he needs to do more athletic moves to get over with the male audience” and I’m like – “more athletic moves? Learn how to tell a story.”
You know it’s not about athletic moves, but in this new television app Network ADHD whatever it is…mentality of car crash derby…it’s all about athletic moves…it’s the one thing that’s still gonna get companies over and do ratings and bringing fans is telling stories.
You gotta make people emotionally invested…you know… I get the “retire, move aside, give the young guys a break”… hey jacka$$es, in the past two years I’ve won two matches… I’m pretty sure I’m stepping aside. I’m doing everything I can to make every guy I work with.
I’ve never been one to sit and b*tch about I’m not winning… that’s not it. I’ll lose every match for the rest of my life if I can tell a good story. You know what I mean?
And there’s a little bit of pride that goes into me now being at the ability to take someone in there and help them grow in all the little ways that a lot of fans don’t see, but that I’ve made an impact on their career and I know when they move onto other opponents I can see that they’re better, they’ve been able to take little things that I’ve helped them with storyline wise.”
• History Made On Last Week’s Raw, But The Rock’s Record Still Intact
On last week’s episode of Raw, former NXT Women’s Champion Asuka quickly defeated Dana Brooke by submission. The bell to bell time for this match was 5 seconds and this became the quickest match to end via submission in WWE history.
The record for the shortest match in WWF/E still belongs to The Rock vs. Big Boss Man from Survivor Series 1998. You can watch it below:
The Rock vs. Big Boss Man – 3 Second Match From Survivor Series 1998 (November 15,1998).
This is the shortest match in WWF/E history. pic.twitter.com/CHrsCVmdXS
— World Wrestling News (@WWENewsMafia) November 15, 2017
• The Undertaker’s Next Appearance Revealed
Former WWF Champion The Undertaker will be making an appearance at the Ace Comic Con at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on December 8.
• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (December 3, 1991) – The Undertaker’s First WWF Title Reign Ends
On this day in Pro Wrestling history on December 3, 1991, the World Wrestling Federation aired ‘This Tuesday In Texas’ LIVE on PPV from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas.
This took place only 6 days after the Survivor Series 1991 PPV and was booked by Jack Tunney as a ‘one time only’ event that was main evented by the ‘Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan’ rematch after their Survivor Series bout ended in a controversial way.
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who interfered in their first match, didn’t hesitate to do so again …
Here are the results:
– WWF Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart (c) def. Skinner
– Randy Savage def. Jake Roberts
– The British Bulldog def. The Warlord
– Repo Man & Ted DiBiase def. El Matador & Virgil
– WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Hulk Hogan def. The Undertaker (c) to win the Title.
• Former Divas Champion Talks About Her Addiction Issues & Divorce
Former WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn (a.k.a Celeste Bonin) released the following video where she talks about her addiction issues, divorce, running a successful business & more:
• On This Day In Pro Wrestling History (December 3, 2000) – ECW Massacre On 34th Street
On this day in Pro Wrestling history on December 3, 2000, ‘ECW aired ECW Massacre On 34th Street’ LIVE on PPV from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York.
With Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling closing its doors for good around 1 month later, this event hardly featured any legendary ECW names, with the exception of Tommy Dreamer & Rhino.
Here are the results:
– Christian York & Joey Matthews def. Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger
– EZ Money def. Balls Mahoney
– Nova def. Julio Dinero
– ECW World Tag Team Championship
Danny Doring & Amish Roadkill def. The F.B.I. (c)
– C.W. Anderson def. Tommy Dreamer
– ECW World TV Championship
Rhino (c) def. Spike Dudley
– The Unholy Alliance def. Super Crazy & Kid Kash
– Three-Way Dance – ECW World Heavyweight Championship
Steve Corino (c) def. Jerry Lynn & Justin Credible