RAW’s 25th Anniversary show is two weeks away and it is turning out to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest RAW WWE has had ever. WWE has announced several more big names for the show that takes place on January 22nd from two locations in New York City – the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom.
According to PWInsider, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman & WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. are also booked to appear on the show. It was also announced that The Godfather, Brother Love, Teddy Long, The Boogeyman, Sgt. Slaughter and John Laurinaitis are all appearing on the show.
Below is the updated list of WWE Legends, Hall of Famers & Superstars scheduled to appear on the show:
– WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather
– Brother Love
– WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long
– The Boogeyman
– WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter
– John Laurinaitis
– Sean “X-Pac” Waltman
– WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr.
– Free Agent John Cena
– WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar
– WWE Legend The Undertaker
– WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler
– WWE Hall of Famers Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair
– The Bella Twins
– WWE Legend JBL & WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons
– The Dudley Boyz
– WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin
– DX: WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, Triple H and The New Age Outlaws
If you mention the name Vince McMahon to sports fans they will probably start telling you about the WWE or the WWF as it was once known. The now 72-year-old has been in charge of the WWE since the 1980s when he took over control from his father. He’s now the majority owner, the chairman, and the CEO; as well as being recognized as the man responsible for making the WWE what it is today. There are so many more strings to McMahon’s bow though and he really the perfect example of a modern-day success story.
From humble beginnings and only meeting his father when he was 12 years old, McMahon had graduated with a business degree from East Carolina University; and this set him on his road to success really. He became a promoter and at the same time a prominent figure in his father’s company, World Wide Wrestling Federation. McMahon was also responsible for the 1976 bout between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki.
Since the 70s, McMahon and wrestling started to really boom after he founded Titan Sports. He had a vision for the WWF and quickly got to work in expanding the company as he knew just how big the industry could become. He set about cherry-picking the best talent such as Hulk Hogan from other wrestling organizations as he looked to strengthen the WWF’s position as the best in the industry.
1985 brought about the first-ever WrestleMania event which still to this day remains the biggest and most popular professional wrestling event on the planet, drawing in millions of viewers year after year. Following this came concepts such as the Attitude Era where the storylines involved in the WWF scene became extremely entertaining, and this fast became the main draw; all mainly down to McMahon. This popularity has been reflected in the fact that many established sports betting brands now include several betting markets on all wrestling events. So any fans interested in having a flutter on their favorite wrestler can find the perfect betting service at the home of online betting: Betting.com
McMahon has constantly strengthened his brand, now known as WWE, as the number 1 brand in sports entertainment due to the wrestlers competing, the gripping storylines and the huge events that get put on too. It’s not just wrestling where McMahon has had a huge impact either though as he’s fast become known as one of the key players in business in America.
McMahon has done voice-overs in various film crossovers such as Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery, he’s been interviewed by numerous publications over the years and has done immense work for charity too. This has led to him receiving an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Sacred Heart University and also a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame too.
Vince McMahon was also the founder of the XFL, which debuted in 2001 but only lasted a season. He’s just announced that the XFL is to return in 2020 without any gimmicks as he looks to bring American football back for the fans and is looking to consider the opinions of players, coaches, medics and anyone who knows about the sport, as well as the fans, in order to deliver the ultimate in American Football. It could be another huge success for McMahon who has a great track record of delivering and he’s set to pump in an initial $100 million to get the ball rolling.
In a statement issued on Monday night, WWE announced that a developmental talent has tested positive for COVID-19.
The statement was from WWE associate medical director Dr. Jeffrey Dugas. It noted that the person who tested positive was last at the Performance Center on June 9. No other individuals that attended the Performance Center have reported symptoms, but “all talent, production crew and employees on site at the training and production facilities will be tested for COVID-19 immediately.”
WWE plans to continue with its normal television production schedule following those test results.
The full statement is available below:
A developmental talent, who was last on site at WWE’s training facility on Tuesday, June 9, has tested positive for COVID-19. Since that time, no other individuals that attended the facility have reported symptoms. However, out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the health and safety of the company’s performers and staff, all talent, production crew and employees on site at the training and production facilities will be tested for COVID-19 immediately. Following the test results, WWE plans to proceed with its normal television production schedule.
NXT/Performance Center wrestlers have been in the crowd as fans for WWE television shows since the May 25 episode of Raw. Tonight’s Raw was the first show to include a small amount of fans in the crowd in addition to the NXT/Performance Center wrestlers.
Vladimir Putin said Russia has tested high-tech nuclear weapons invulnerable to US missile defence in a defiant speech before he stands for re-election this month.
In a state-of-the-nation address to top officials, Mr Putin made his most forceful declaration yet of Russia’s military might. He said the country was developing a new generation of deadly weapons able to penetrate missile defences, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile with “unlimited range,” an underwater nuclear drone and a “practically invulnerable” hypersonic warhead that travels “like a ball of fire”.
Moscow has also tested its long-awaited Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, which will fly farther and carry more warheads than its predecessors, he said.
“Russia remained a nuclear power, but no one wanted to speak with us. No one wanted to listen to us. Listen to us now,” Mr Putin said to enthusiastic applause from the audience.
But a US official told CNN that Russia’s nuclear-powered cruise missile tests had ended in crashes
‘Like a ball of fire’ | New strategic weapons announced by Vladimir Putin
Although he touched on economic problems, the president’s nuclear sabre-rattling soon shifted attention to the assertive foreign policy that has been popular with Russians despite Western sanctions.
Mr Putin complained bitterly about the US withdrawal from the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 and its development of missile defence installations in Romania and Poland, which Moscow has long said will upend the strategic balance.
Since its warnings about missile defence had not been heeded, Russia had created new arms to ramp up its nuclear deterrent and “annul the strategic advantage” of the West, he said.
Mr Putin repeatedly paused to display videos of missile launches, explosions and flight trajectories. The clunky computer graphics would have been almost comical if not for the many unsettling images of targeted attacks and missiles heading toward North America. One showed warheads raining down on Florida.
The sheer bombast of this military muscle-flexing was unprecedented for the Russian president, as was the peek he offered through the veil of secrecy around the country’s latest arms. He even announced an online contest to choose a name for an underwater drone able to carry a nuclear warhead, which was shown blowing up a destroyer in a video.
Previously the underwater drone had only been known from a piece of paper caught by a wandering television camera during a defence officials’ meeting.
At Putin's speech they're literally showing videos of new ballistic missiles heading toward the United States as he promises to "overcome misile defense" pic.twitter.com/iMojufntMT
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) March 1, 2018
“The sanctions to constrain Russia’s development, including in the military sphere… they didn’t work out,” Mr Putin said. “They haven’t been been able to contain Russia. They need to realise this… Stop rocking the boat in which we all sit.”
He also vowed that incidents like the death of pilot Roman Filipov, who blew himself up with a grenade after being forced to bail out over enemy territory in Syria last month, “will never happen again,” drawing a standing ovation.
The aggressive military declarations were a departure from the first half of his speech, which focused on social problems and improving people’s quality of life.
The remarks are being seen as his vision for a next term, which he is almost certain to win. Mr Putin has not put forth a campaign platform and been largely absent from the race so far.
Among a raft of ambitious goals, the president promised to cut poverty in half in the next six years, saying that the 20 million Russians below the poverty line was too many. He also called for a 50 per cent increase in GDP per capita by 2025.
He said the top priority should be the well-being of Russians and their families, calling for a “leap forward in the quality of people’s lives, the modernisation of technologies, government management”.
At a glance | Russian presidential election 2018
“Russia has realised its foreign policy and defence potential, but in terms of people’s personal growth we haven’t reached our full abilities. We should do this and we will do this,” Mr Putin said to applause from a packed hall in the Manezh centre next to the Kremlin.
“Technological development” and “digital economy” were the latest watchwords from the Russian leader, who has tentatively embraced innovations like blockchain while also cracking down on dissent on the web. He said Russia should be a country “open to the world, to new ideas and initiatives”.
“We should increase the space for freedom in all spheres and strengthen democracy,” said Mr Putin, whose expected victory in the March 18 election is to keep him in power for more than a quarter-century, longer than Joseph Stalin.
Longest serving Russian leaders
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been barred from the race due to an embezzlement conviction that the European Court of Human Rights has said was politicised.
The state-of-the-nation address had been repeatedly postponed since December.
As he spoke, the president paused frequently, not just for clapping but also to cough and gulp from a cup on the podium.
When Mr Putin disappeared from public for nearly two weeks last month, his spokesman said he had come down with a “cold,” a rare admission from an administration that has constantly stressed the leader’s unfailing robust health.
Perro Aguayo Jr. died last night during a match with Rey Mysterio Jr. in Tijuana. In Mysterio Jr.’s return to Tijuana, during a tag team match with Mysterio Jr. and Xtreme Tiger against Aguayo Jr. and Manik, Mysterio Jr. appears to set up Aguayo Jr. for a 619 but something happened. What that something was is unknown right now. Initial reports said that whiplash from Manik hitting the ropes first caused the injury but that no longer looks to be the case.
Arguayo Jr. may have simply hit the rope awkwardly but regardless it’s clear that he immediately goes limp. The match continued for a brief moment or two but it then became apparent something was very, very wrong.
He was pronounced dead in the hospital shortly thereafter.
At this point, anything else on my part would be speculation. No doubt, Dave Meltzer will have tons more on this throughout the day. Needless to say, this will go down as one of Mexican wrestling’s most tragic and infamous moments and for American fans is probably best analogized to the death of Owen Hart.
There is video of the incident, which I’m not going to link to as it feels morbid, but which is easily found if you’re so inclined. Please be warned: it is a video of a man’s last moments on earth.
Having wrestled for CMLL and AAA, Aguayo Jr. was wrestling royalty, being the son of the legendary Aguayo Sr. and was one of Mexican wrestling’s bigger stars. Others far more qualified than I will have more to say shortly.
Read more details here.
Listen to WrestlingObserver.com’s breaking news audio on the death of Perro Aguayo Jr with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has condemned an unlikely spate of political vandalism after a number of statues, including two of Lenin, were defaced in an escalating row between rival party supporters across the country.
In a throwback to 20th century protest, two busts of the Soviet Communist leader were torn down in the north-eastern state of Tripura after an election victory for Modi’s Right-wing Hindu BJP ended 30 years of regional rule by the Marxist Communist Party of India.
Several arrests were made amid a wave of anti-Leftist sentiment and retaliatory vandalism, with police now on alert for further attacks on public statues and landmarks.
Video footage and social media posts showed the statues of Lenin – held as a father figure by many Indian communists – being razed in Tripura. Then, on Wednesday, a bust of the founder of the Jana Sangh Party – forerunner of the BJP – Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, was defaced in Kolkata.
As the action spread, a statue of Erode Venkata Ramasamy Periyar, an anti-religious scholar and social reformer was then vandalised in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, allegedly by BJP members.
Mr Modi condemned the vandalism as the Ministry of Home Affairs instructed all regional states to take steps to prevent further toppling of statues and arrest those “indulging in such acts under relevant provisions of law”.
Tripura’s new BJP governor Tathagata Roy Subramanian Swamy told the ANI news agency: "Lenin is a foreigner and in a way, a terrorist, there shouldn’t be a statue of this sort of person in our country. They are welcome to put that statue inside the Communist Party headquarters and worship it if they so wish."
Communist parties have held power in several north-eastern states, including West Bengal – where buildings across its capital Kolkata to this day bear hammer and sickle symbols – and Kerala in the south.
The Marxist wing of the party is distinct from the Maoist wing, which has been actively rebelling against the central government in several states for decades.
In a statement railing against the RSS – the Right-wing, Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer group regarded as the ideological heart of the BJP – the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: “The destruction of the statue of Lenin, is symbolic of the rabid anti-communist, anti-democratic fascistic character of the RSS.
“These attacks clearly demonstrate, once again, that the RSS/BJP rely mainly on unleashing political violence as means to advance their inherent anti-democratic agenda."
More than 50,000 people have fled twin offensives in Syria in recent days, as escalating violence is displacing large numbers of civilians across the country.
Around 30,000 left the northern majority Kurdish city of Afrin as Turkish and allied forces stepped up a siege.
In the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, some 20,000 have left rebel areas targeted by Syrian government forces.
On Friday alone, Turkish artillery fire killed 18 civilians in the city centre, where remaining residents were stocking up on food in preparation for a fully fledged siege.
Speaking from a makeshift clinic in southern Afrin, Dan Smith, a British volunteer medic with the YPG, told the Telegraph he had seen many casualties in the last few days.
“The situation just keeps getting worse, it’s a slaughter. They just bombed the civilian hospital,” Mr Smith, from London, said in a text message.
“We’ve treated men, women and children, mostly with air strike and artillery injuries."
Turkey’s military dropped flyers in Arabic and Kurdish on the northern Syrian town of Afrin yesterday morning, asking residents to stay away from "terrorist positions" and urging YPG militiamen to surrender.
The leaflets say Afrin civilians wanting to leave would be "under the guarantee" of the Turkish military. They urged Kurdish fighters to "trust the hand we extend to you," saying: "Come surrender! A calm and peaceful future awaits you in Afrin."
The seven-year war has displaced more than half of Syria’s 21 million population – six million inside Syria and another six million are seeking refuge outside the country.
The two offensives, one backed by Russia and the other led by Turkey, have shown how Syrian factions and their foreign allies are aggressively reshaping the map of control of the country as the UN looks on helplessly.
Turkey began its operation, codenamed Olive Branch, in January with the aim of clearing the YPG, which it sees as terrorists, from the border.
However, Turkish forces have continued deep into Afrin and threatened to continue on to Manbij, the next large town held by the Kurds. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has previously claimed that Afrin was part of the Ottoman Empire and that the land should be returned to Arabs.
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia convened a meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana yesterday to discuss the situation in Syria. The three states last year agreed to contain the conflict on several fronts with "de-escalation zones", while simultaneously pursuing own military objectives in Syria.
It looks like another top Raw talent may have suffered an injury. Jason Jordan did not work any of the live events over the past weekend due to an alleged injury. He was scheduled to team up with Seth Rollins on the live events, but he was replaced by Roman Reigns instead. PWInsider has reported that Jordan is definitely injured, but few details about the injury were provided. Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins are currently the Raw Tag Team Champions. Jordan was selected as Rollins’ partner after Dean Ambrose, his original partner, received an injury of his own. As of now, Rollins and Jordan are still being advertised to defend the titles against The Bar at the Royal Rumble.
During the TV tapings for Impact Wrestling this week, top stars Ethan Carter III and Bobby Lashley both seemed to exit the company. Both men have been rumored to leave the promotion very soon due to the company’s recent decision to cut names commanding huge contracts. Pro Wrestling Sheet has reported that that both men were written off of TV during the tapings just in case a deal is not made for either of them to return. The report mentioned that Lashley’s current deal with the company expires in April. There is reportedly interest from WWE in acquiring both of the now former Impact Wrestling stars. Stay tuned for the latest updates on EC3 and Bobby Lashley.
Neville has not been seen or heard from ever since he decided to leave WWE behind in favor of going back out on the independent circuit. The former Cruiserweight Champion still has yet to be released from the company, and talks between the two sides were reportedly ongoing at one point. More recent reports have claimed that those talks have broken down and Neville will not be returning to the company after all. In response to a fan asking about the matter on Twitter, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer updated the story by claiming that Neville will likely be waiting until his current WWE contract expires before he starts wrestling again.
He’s not talking, he’s either sitting out his contract or they’ll make a deal with him to return. https://t.co/O61XquTs81
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) January 14, 2018
Last Thursday night, NXT Superstars had a live event which emanated from St. Petersburg, Florida. Below are the results from the event:
– Kona Reeves def. Kishan Raftaar.
– No Way Jose def. Gabriel Ealy.
– Shayna Baszler def. Reina Gonzalez.
– Jason & Rocky def. Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi by DQ.
– NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon successfully defender her NXT Women’s Title against Vanessa Borne.
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) successfully defender their NXT Tag Team Titles against Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic).
– Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner def. Big Boa & Roderick Strong.
– Johnny Gargano & The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) def. The Velveteen Dream & The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar).