WWE: Newest Class of Performance Center Singees, Ted DiBiase Dealing with Severe Brain Trauma, More News

Jun 2, 2023

WWE Announces Spring 2023 Class of Performance Center Singees

WWE recently announced their newest class of signees for their Performance Center.

This newest class comprises of nine people and were officially introduced in a video on WWE’s YouTube channel that was taped at a recent NXT television taping.

Full list of WWE’s Spring 2023 class of signees:

Ezekiel Balogun – Multi-sport athlete from University of North Florida
Vlad Pavelnko – Track & Field athlete from Iowa State University
Hunter Smallback – Defense End football player from Stetson University
Coy Wanner – Tight End football player from Wisconsin University
Andrezej Hughes-Murray – Los Angeles Rams Linebacker
Kevin Robertson – Defensive Lineman football player from Temple University
Melanie Brzezinski – Singer, actress, and multi-sport athlete from University of Tampa
Tylynn Register – Professional rodeo athlete and track & field athlete from Jacksonville State
Alexis Gray – Bahamas National Team Sprinter from Texas Southern University

Ted DiBiase Currently Dealing with Severe Brain Trauma Health Issues

A recent episode of the Everybody’s Got A Pod podcast featured co-host WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase revealing that he is currently dealing with severe brain trauma health issues.

“I’m dealing with this, and this is legit. I don’t have Alzheimer’s, and I don’t have dementia, but they said, ‘Ted, you have something, we simply call it severe brain trauma.’ I said, ‘Really?’ I only wrestled for maybe 20 years. I’m not surprised I might have a little brain trauma. What it affects is my memory. They say it’s easier to remember something I did 40-50 years ago, but the short-term memory, it’s bits and pieces. Having had almost a 20-year active career, I physically wrestled almost 20 years, there were no days off, it was seven days a week until I went to the WWF. Even then, when I first started, it was three straight weeks on, 21 days, 21 cities, and then you’d go home for a week. Then, they eventually changed it to 10 on, three off, four on, three off, so you were home a little more. I thank God I’m still here.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

WWE News & Notes

ABC recently announced that NXT talent Kale Dixon, real name Caleb Balgaard, is one of the official contestants for the upcoming new season of The Bachelorette on their network.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently announced on Twitter that he wull be making his return to the Fast & Furious film franchise starting with the upcoming Fast X: Part II film. Johnson also announced that he will be reprising his Hobbs character for this upcoming film.

As noted before, Braun Strowman has been out of action for WWE since this past May due to an unknown injury. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Strowman was seen in Birmingham, Alabama this past Wednesday. This is the usual location that WWE talent visit when they need to undergo surgery or medical checkups.

As noted before, Alexa Bliss has been out of action for WWE since this past January due to skin cancer treatment-related issues. Bliss had announced earlier this week that she is currently expecting the birth of her first child. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the recent rumors and reports of WWE officials had creative plans for some time for Bliss prior to her pregnancy announcement are not true.

WWE recently released a new WWE Together Pride t-shirt collection set on their official WWEShop online store in honor of this year’s Pride Month. It was stated that a portion of all proceeds generated will be going towards the Ad Council’s “Love Has No Labels” campaign.

WWE recently announced the full schedule of live events that Cody Rhodes will be making appearances during this month of June. In regards to Rhodes’ scheduled appearance for tonight’s SmackDown show in Wiles Barre, Pennsylvania, the host venue Mohegan Sun Arena is currently advertising that Rhodes will be competing in a dark match against The Miz.

As noted before, Carmella announced this past May that she and her husband Corey Graves are currently expecting the birth of their first child this November. In a recent episode of the Tamron Hall Show this past Wednesday, Carmella and Graves revealed that they will be having a baby boy.

In a recent interview with ComicBook Nation, Dark Side of the Ring co-creator Evan Husney gave his thoughts on the idea of a future episode for the series based on Vince McMahon’s sexual misconduct allegations. Husney stated “It’s funny to see on social media, I do get a kick out of it. When something controversial happens in the modern age of wrestling, you instantly get the Dark Side memes. That’s fun. The way that I look at these modern stories, with most of the stories we cover on the show, there is the benefit of hindsight or so much time has gone by, the story is done. The story is finished, so we can really get into it and try to unpack it. These stories that pop up in the last year or two, those are stories that are not really done being told. I think we might have to wait a few years, maybe more, before we can really dive in and unpack and truly understand every aspect of that story.” (Transcript h/t:Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with The Independent, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker gave his thoughts about how he has been dealing with his retirement from wrestling. The Undertaker stated “I’ve got to the point now where if I’m home, I’m fine. It’s when I do show up at a WWE event I get that ‘I should be getting ready’ feeling. At WrestleMania 39, I was there and I had my family and friends up in a suite watching the show and I kind of found myself rocking in my chair like, ‘oh, my gosh, I should be down there’. So in those instances, it’s there. It’s still in my heart and it’s in my brain.“