R.I.P.
The Dynamite Kid (Tommy Billington) passed away this week on his 60th birthday. He spent time in WWE in the 80s as one half of the British Bulldogs alongside the late Davey Boy Smith. However, Billington spent most of his career working in Japan and Canada. His exceptional ring work has been hugely influential on the generations that have come after him. Unfortunately, he also sacrificed his long-term health during his career and had been pretty much bound to a wheel chair for the final years of his life. During a house show appearance this week, Natalya paid tribute to Dynamite Kid when she flew off the top rope and put Sarah Logan through a table.
Sadly, the wrestling community also lost the patriarch of one of its famous families this week. Larry “the Axe” Hennig, father of “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, grandfather of current WWE Superstar Curtis Axel, and wrestling legend in his own right from his days in the AWA passed away at age 82. Axel posted a beautiful tweet tribute to his “Papa Axe” in which he vowed to carry on the legacy of the Hennig name.
Injury Report
Interestingly, there’s new word that Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch may not be fully recovered from the injuries she recently suffered at the hand of Nia Jax. It’s being said that while she has passed concussion protocol, she has not yet been cleared for the nasal fracture. The company is continuing the build to TLC with the hope that she’ll be ready to go by then, even if it has to be in a somewhat limited capacity. This may be another reason that they decided to add Asuka to the match even though most fans assumed she was only there to eat the pin for Lynch or Flair.
Fandango is said to be working out at the PC lately in preparation for his eventual return from injury.
According to Mark Henry, Alexa Bliss is also clear now to return to action. He states that she came back too soon previously which led to her being injured again. She was apparently in pretty bad shape for a while, unable to remember where she was or why she was there. I suspect they’ll still go ahead and let her current position as head of Raw’s women’s division play out before putting her back in action.
We noted previously that Hacksaw Jim Duggan spent Thanksgiving in the hospital. Duggan posted a video to social media this week saying that it was due to a heart issue, and that he was grateful to all the doctors and nurses who cared for him in the ICU. Hacksaw seemed to be in great spirits and said he would be able to fulfill upcoming appearance commitments.
New Prospects
Though they already have a pretty stacked roster, WWE is always looking to sign more talent, especially as the global expansion continues. The latest rumors suggest they are interested in signing Mae Young Classic competitors Karen Q and Rachel Ellering. Ellering, of course, is the daughter of Hall of Famer Paul Ellering. She usually competes under the name Rachel Evers when she appears on NXT related programming.
PPV Event Plans
WWE hasn’t held a King of the Ring tournament since 2015 (when Bad News Barrett was crowned), but there’s a rumor now that they may revive the concept next year as Queen of the Ring. Personally, I’d love to see the concept return more regularly for both the men and women. Hopefully WWE has learned at this point how fun tournaments can be when executed properly.
Wrestlemania
Reports are coming out that the Mania Weekend schedule is getting a bit of a tweak. NXT’s Takeover event will move to Friday night while the Hall of Fame ceremony returns to its former Saturday night spot. I suspect this may have something to do with the schedules of the various talent involved. NXT wrestlers are going to be in town all weekend regardless of when their big show happens. Meanwhile, the alumni and legends involved with the HoF and Mania broadcasts would possibly only need to be on hand for a 24 hour period. Some reports are suggesting that it’s the Rock who may be up for induction this year and was unable to clear 3 days in schedule to be in attendance Friday through Sunday.
NXT News
Former NXT Champion Aleister Black and current Smackdown talent Zelina Vega were reportedly married recently. WWE’s developmental system apparently produces as many romances as it does wrestlers (see also: Alexa Bliss & Buddy Murphy, Peyton Royce & Tye Dillinger, Bianca Belair and Montez Ford, etc, etc, etc…)
Assorted News and Notes
It won’t get a ton of coverage in this column due to my focus on wrestling, however I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the news coming from Vince McMahon’s new version of the XFL. The team cities and host venues were announced this week with Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium among them. No word on a team name or mascot yet, but one would hope that since the games will be played at Raymond James they would lean in to the pirate theming that is pretty much unavoidable in the stadium.
Dec 16: TLC
We’re only about a week away from the next PPV from WWE, and here’s how the card is shaping up thus far:
Raw Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey© vs Nia Jax
Intercontinental Title Match: Seth Rollins© vs Dean Ambrose
WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan© vs AJ Styles
TLC Match: Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin (if Strowman is healthy)*
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch© vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka
Smackdown Tag Title Triple Threat: The Bar© vs The Usos vs The New Day
Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre
Elias vs Bobby Lashley
Final of the Mixed match Challenge
Tables Match: Natalya vs Ruby Riott
*If Strowman is not yet healthy enough to compete, expect some sort of 6 man match featuring Corbin, McIntyre and Lashley vs Finn Balor, Elias and another top face (do they have any others at the moment?)
