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Friday, January 24, 2025 Issue #7470
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
TGIF! Have a great weekend folks!
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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at
MUSTAFA ALI RETURNS TO TNA, SIGNS NEW DEAL
- Mustafa Ali returned to TNA Wrestling last night and announced that he has signed a new contract with the company. Ali worked several matches for TNA last year, also winning the X-Division title and holding it for five months. The former WWE Superstar showed up on the live episode of Impact and interrupted Mike Santana's in-ring promo, telling everyone that TNA needs proper leadership and he is the guy to do it. Still using his political-inspired gimmick, Ali then said he's going on campaign to become the next TNA champion. Ali has kept himself busy on the independent scene since he left TNA in July of last year.
SURPRISES AND RETURNS DURING LIVE IMPACT
- Last night's live episode of Impact, the first one in eight years, saw a lot of surprises and returns. Apart from the return of Mustafa Ali, Matt Cardona also made a surprise return and was in the main event spot of the show, taking on TNA World champion Joe Hendry. His return, and maybe the championship win, was however spoiled by another return, that of John "Bradshaw" Layfield. Layfield delivered the Clothesline From Hell on Cardona as he was at ringside, helping Hendry retain the title even though Cardona did whack Hendry with the title, to no avail. Tully Blanchard, the father of controversial star Tessa Blanchard, was also at ringside during Tessa's in-ring promo. NXT's Wes Lee, Tyson Dupont, and Tyriek Igwe showed up during the NXT Tag Team title match between Fraxiom and The Rascalz. The trio got involved by attacking Wentz and Miguel, allowing Frazer and Axiom to retain the titles. Cora Jade also made her presence felt during the show, distracting TNA Knockouts champion Masha Slamovich in her six-woman tag match along with Spitfire against Ash and Heather by Elegance and Rosemary. The distraction allowed Ash to pin the champion. You can see videos of these surprises at .
MACE WARNER DEBUTS ON IMPACT
- The mysterious #23 that has been flashing on Impact was unveiled last night as TNA's newest arrival, Mance Warner. Warner made his TNA debut, taking out Sami Callihan, who came out to the ring to demand an end to the 23 mystery. Warner's arrival was introduced by the returning Steph De Lander, calling herself as the new TNA Digital Media champion, a title she won "in divorce" from PCO. She said that now that her husband is gone, she wanted to introduce everyone to her boyfriend, Mance Warner. Prior to joining TNA, Warner wrestled mostly on the independent circuit and spent a few years with Major League Wrestling. He made a couple of appearances for AEW in 2022 but those did not result in anything. Warner and De Lander are a couple in real life.
STING TO GET RID OF PAINT AND GEAR AFTER 2025 FOR APPEARANCES
- In a post on social media, WWE and TNA Hall of Famer Sting announced that 2025 will be the last year that he will be appearing in full paint and gear at wrestling conventions. The former AEW Tag Team champion appears in his crow Sting costume at many conventions during the year to meet wrestling fans. "I have enjoyed meeting fans at events around the world. As much as I have loved interacting with you all in the traditional Stinger war paint, I’ve decided that 2025 will be my last year appearing in full gear," Sting wrote. "I guess it’s 2025 or never. Wow. Tough to speak that out." Sting, who retired from in-ring competition in March of last year with a final tag match at AEW Revolution, remains with AEW through a licensing deal. He first donned the crow costume and paint on an episode of WCW Nitro in October 1996.
DYNAMITE RATING
- This week's episode of Dynamite drew 655,000 viewers, down 24,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.19 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 from the previous episode and was #6 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. The number of viewers does not include those on Max. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
BUY ONE GET TWO OFFER FOR GRAND SLAM: AUSTRALIA
- There is a buy one get two offer for tickets for the upcoming AEW Grand Slam: Australia show which is taking place on February 15. The event has gone from one of the most anticipated to one of the most badly-managed, if not the worst ever, in AEW's short history. Originally set to take place from the Suncorp Stadium, the show was moved indoors to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre after dismal ticket sales. AEW took too long to move the show despite knowing the very slow ticket sales, with AEW President Tony Khan also being somewhat in denial saying that they had sold "thousands and thousands" of tickets when the show was still scheduled for the stadium. But eventually, AEW pulled the plug and moved it to the much smaller location late last year, going from a potential 50,000 audience to a maximum of 13,000, and it still has not sold out. While the show is largely full, there are still empty seats, enough to offer a two-for-one promotion. The show is set to air on TNT after the NBA All Star weekend, with AEW now advertising the show without any fixed start time after originally listing an 8PM kick off. It will replace that weekend's Collision and will also stream on Max, some 17 hours or more after the show originally takes place.
ALEXA'S BLISS RETURN HALTED
- PWInsider.com is reporting that Alexa Bliss's return to WWE came to a halt after requesting a new contract instead of keep working under the current extended deal that she has in place. Apparently, WWE refused that request and her planned returned this month on Monday Night Raw was scrapped, and so were future creative plans. The two sides are now trying to come to an agreement but remained apart on terms. The 33-year-old was supposed to return and be part of the Wyatt Sicks world due to her past involvement with Bray Wyatt's storylines. PWInsider adds that her return was penned for the January 13 episode of Raw live from San Jose. Bliss has not been seen on WWE television in two years, last appearing at the 2023 Royal Rumble in a losing effort against Bianca Belair. She gave birth to a baby girl in November of that same year.
DRAGON LEE AND WIFE WELCOME BABY DAUGHTER
- WWE Superstar Dragon Lee and his wife Lupita Orozco welcomed their second baby this week, another daughter. Lee posted a photo from hospital, holding his newborn while sitting on a sofa chair, adding, "Welcome to this wonderful world." The couple have been married since 2019 and had their first baby in 2021. The former NXT North American champion has been absent from WWE television for the past few weeks, with him saying that he opted to stay home and help his wife as she prepared to deliver the baby.
NIKKI BELLA CLOSE TO RETURN TO WWE RING
- @WrestleVotes is reporting that WWE has been in discussions with Nikki Bella to return to WWE, with multiple sources suggesting that it's happening "sooner rather than later." The X account, which usually posts reliable information, added there were "significant discussions" in place to get Nikki back in the ring and both sides seem eager for it to happen. The last time Nikki wrestled was at the 2022 women's Royal Rumble match and with the same match just a week away, it would be a great opportunity to have the leader of the Bella Army step back in the ring in front of over 50,000 fans. Nikki appeared on WWE television during the Raw Netflix premiere earlier this month, her first appearance for WWE since her departure in 2023. The former champ has recently finalized her divorce from her husband Artem Chigvintsev following a few rocky years which culminated in a domestic violence case.
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