Charlotte Flair Knee Injury & WWE Return Plans Update – Flair Reportedly Planned to Lean More Into “Queen” Persona for Return
As noted before, Charlotte Flair has been out of action for WWE since December of 2023 due to a torn ACL, torn meniscus, and torn MCL injuries and underwent surgery this past January. Flair’s return from injury is currently expected to be “imminent.”
WrestleVotes Radio reported that their sources stated that WWE officials’ current plans for Flair’s return is for her to lean more into her “Queen” persona for her character.
Netflix Adding Additional WWE Programming Starting on January 1st & Update on RAW Shows Airing Status
Netflix recently added additional WWE programming that will officially debut on January 1, 2025 ahead of WWE’s upcoming RAW premiere show on the service.
Full list of additonal WWE programming on Netflix:
WWE Top 10
“Monday Night Raw hosts some of the biggest and best matches in WWE history, featuring Superstars John Cena, Triple H, Becky Lynch and more.”
WWE RAW Classics
“Big E hosts this collection of most-see Raw matches and moments, featuring WWE Superstars and Legends including CM Punk, Becky Lynch and Triple H.”
WWE Road to WrestleMania
“The Road to WrestleMania goes through Raw, where WWE’s top Superstars raise the stakes in must-see matches and thrilling moments.”
WWE Superstar Profiles
“WWE Superstars step inside the squared circle in pursuit of championships and glory in front of the WWE Universe.”
WWE Legends Profiles
“Legendary Superstars of WWE make history with unforgettable matches and moments inside the squared circle.”
In regards to WWE’s RAW series, Netflix also recently released a new page on their Help Center section revealing that live RAW shows will air with ads and VOD versions of shows will have the ads removed for ad-free subscribers.
WWE News & Notes
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials are currently considering plans to potentially hold an NXT show in Nashville, Tennessee and also at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York at some point in 2025.
This past Wednesday’s NFL pre-game show on Netflix for the Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens game featured current WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan making a special guest appearance.
Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that WWE officials currently have no interest in potentially bringing back Alberto Del Rio, also known as Alberto El Patrion in Lucha Libre AAA and elsewhere, to the company.
WWE recently added five new videos to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was a “Story of Tazz vs. Sabu at Barely Legal 1997.” The second new video was a Mexican Death match of Tajiri vs. Super Crazy from the January 2, 2000 episode of ECW on TNN. The third new video was a “The 50 greatest moments in ECW history.” The fourth new video was a Six-Man Tag Team match of 2 Cold Scorpio, Cactus Jack, & Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero & The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner). The fifth new video was a “Celebrate Iron Sheik’s historic WWE Title win over Bob Backlund at Madison Square Garden.”
WWE also recently announced that they will be live streaming a WWE ECW house show event from June 24, 2006 on their WWE Vault channel on December 28th starting at 8PM EST. “WWE Vault unearths footage from June 24, 2006, the night WWE brought ECW back to its home in Philadelphia. Featuring Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle in the main event, plus CM Punk, Sabu, Sandman, Stevie Richards, Big Show and more stars of WWE’s ECW revival in action.”
WWE also recently released a new video featuring a “Best WWE Matches of 2024” marathon.
As noted before, WWE recently cancelled their annual Tribute to the Troops event that normally is held during the month of December. In a recent interview with the Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast, WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield gave his thoughts about the legacy of WWE’s Tribute to the Troops event series. JBL stated “It’s just been such a cool legacy, such a cool thing to do. I know there’s been some detractors out there, and that’s fine. Overall, Tribute to the Troops, it’s been one of the greatest things I’ve ever been blessed to be a part of, and most people would agree that it has been. I’m glad they’re still doing it. They still call me and say, ‘Hey, would you come back and do commentary for Tribute to the Troops.’ I’m always happy to do it. There’s not a big war going on now, so it’s not the need for encouraging guys at Christmas, which was our whole goal then, but I think it’s important to carry on, just let people know that we support these guys.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent episode of the Kliq This podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and co-host Kevin Nash gave his thoughts about WWE’s current era being unofficially called the “Triple H Era.” Nash stated “The Triple H era. I’m so glad, because last week we had the conversation, and sometimes I feel like such a homer, so I just kind of gave Endeavor the credit. I just don’t want to sound like I’m just blowing my buddy every chance I get. So it was so nice for Michael Cole to come out and say that we’re now in the Triple H era. I’m like, you’re fucking damn right we are. I can say it. Fucking suck my cock. It’s the Paul Levesque era. You can call him Triple H if you want to. It’s Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, I think that’s the way they covered it. But it is. It’s the Triple H era, but it’s the Triple H era because people will work for him, people will through fucking walls him. He gets it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent episode of the 1 Of A Kind with RVD podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and co-host Rob Van Dam gave his thoughts about if an offseason would work in WWE. RVD stated “An offseason for wrestling, you wouldn’t get the same energy out of it. I don’t think that wrestlers can take time off. Here’s one of the rules of thumb or expressions in the business. They say that a wrestler’s worst enemy is time off. I’ve always heard that, and I take that to mean, especially from the wrestlers telling me that, that when they stop moving, that’s when all the pain sets in. They’re active, they’re bumping, they’re bumping every night they’re commissioned to go, and then when their job ends or they’re not getting booked or whatever and they stay home, then all of a sudden they’re feeling all the aches and pains, and then it’s not easy to go back and do it again. I think if they continued their lifestyle on the time off, then it could work.” RVD also gave his thoughts about how he would stay active between his matches and prevent ring rust from occurring. RVD stated “Even for me, I continue to be active for months in between matches. Most people couldn’t do that, I don’t think, the way that I can. I hear people say, ‘Oh, I’m feeling a little rusty tonight. What about you?’ ‘No.’ But I do feel better and more conditioned after day one, especially if it’s been a lot of time off and then a tour of Japan, let’s say, day one’s the hardest, day two, a little bit better, and then boom, pretty soon, you’re like, okay, I got the hang of it. You feel all the bumps and bruises from that first night. So it would be counter-conducive to give wrestlers time off in some ways, but it could work. But I think they would have to report to a ring…depending on their experience, at least a couple times a month, if not more, on the time off.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
WWE: Kevin Owens on His Attack on Cody Rhodes on 12/14 SNME Show, Jim Smallman Announces Departure from WWE NXT Creative Team, More on NXT Dec. 17, 2024 Viewership
TNA Reportedly Signed New TV Deal with Sportsnet for Canada
Various: Great-O-Khan Retires KoPW Title at 12/22 NJPW Event, Scott Steiner on Current Plans for His Son to Pursue Pro Wrestling Career, Indies
