WWE: Potential Format Change for This Year’s WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, Two New Matches Initially Announced & Later Pulled Down for 2/21 WWE SmackDown Show, More News

Feb 21, 2025

WWE Reportedly Considering Format Change for This Year’s WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony

WWE officials reportedly are currently considering making a change to the format for this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony, according to WrestleVotes.

It was reported that their sources stated that several people within WWE strongly dislike the current format of the Hall of Fame ceremony taking place right after WWE’s SmackDown show on the same night. This reportedly has led to WWE officials currently considering making a potential change for this year’s ceremony.

It was also reported that no mention of the time or place for this year’s ceremony has appeared in any of the WrestleMania 41 promotional material so far.

Two New Matches Initially Announced & Later Pulled for Friday’s WWE SmackDown Show

WWE recently announced two new matches for the card of Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The first new match announced was a Six-Man Tag Team match of Braun Strowman, Damian Priest, & Cody Rhodes vs. The Bloodline (Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu, & Solo Sikoa).

The second new match announced was a singles match of Naomi vs. Liv Morgan.

In an interesting note, WWE later deleted the video tweet of SmackDown GM Nick Aldis announcing these new matches following the announcement of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making an appearance on the show.

It is currently not known if these matches will still be taking place or if they were actually pulled and replaced with The Rock’s segment for the show.

WWE News & Notes

As noted before, Asuka’s Twitter account was hacked earlier this week. Asuka provided an update on Thursday stating that she managed to regain control of her Twitter account.

2K Games recently announced the full soundtrack listing for their upcoming WWE 2K25 video game.

The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported that his sources stated that WWE will be holding several small tryouts for indie talents over the next few weeks. Alvarez reported that these tryouts will likely featured less than five people per tryout.

This past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Charlotte, North Carolina featured Seth Rollins defeating Finn Balor in a Qualifying match for the final spot in the Men’s Elimination Chamber match at next month’s Elimination Chamber 2025 event. This match was notable for a botched pinfall moment involving the referee not counting to three despite Balor blatantly not kicking out. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources confirmed that Balor was meant to kick out of the near fall but was late with his timing. Sapp reported that there no issues over the botched spot after the match and those backstage spoken to stated that they were happy with how the finish to the match had evolved.

WWE filed new trademarks for “Ricky Saints,” “WWE Rings, Rivals, & Rumbles,” and “WWE Superstar Central” for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Deadline reported that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently joined the cast for a new and currently untitled film being directed by Martin Scorsese. This upcoming film was stated to “focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands. It was a bloody battle, the kind of terrain Scorsese covered in both Goodfellas and The Departed. In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land. It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.

WWE recently released two new videos to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was a “An inside look at Big E’s life and career: WWE 24” full documentary. The second new video was a WWE World Tag Team Championship match of Raked RKO (Edge & Randy Orton) vs. John Cena & Shawn Michaels (c) from the February 26, 2007 episode of WWE RAW.

WWE also recently released two new videos to their NXT Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was the full August 28, 2013 episode of WWE NXT. The second new video was the full March 16, 2010 episode of WWE NXT.

In a recent interview with YouTuber Conman167, Chelsea Green gave her thoughts about how John Cena gave her a nice message at WWE’s RAW Netflic premiere show this past January about how she deserved the level of success she has attained. Green stated “When I first started wrestling, I really only cared about the women, and to be honest, I’m still kind of in that mentality. I’m here for the women. I’m a girl’s girl. I want to push the women. I want the women to push me. I want them to succeed. I want them to break all the ceilings. But at the end of the day, there’s a few men who have been pivotal in moments of my career, and John Cena is definitely one of them. He gave me a really kind message at the Netflix premiere, just about this moment, being the United States Champion, and deserving it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio After Dark podcast, Ricky Saints gave his thoughts about him being open to the idea of being quickly called up to WWE’s main roster if the opportunity presented itself and his goal to wrestle at next year’s WrestleMania 42 event at the Superdome if it were to be held in New Orleans. Saints stated “Absolutely, I would. We have New Orleans, supposedly, rumored, right? WrestleMania, next year, New Orleans. I heard about the rumor. If the rumor is true, that is my goal. To wrestle in the Superdome. That’s all I want, and I’m going to make it happen. If that opportunity presents itself a month from now and that’s the lead up to it, I’m taking it. If it’s a month or 12 months, the impact of me in NXT will be felt. There is no doubt about that. It’s already happened. I’m already on it. When I watched Taker vs. John Cena, I said, ‘This will be the only time that I watch from a suite. The next time I’m here will be me wrestling at the Superdome.’ That’s already a thing that has happened, I’m just telling you in advance.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)