Triple H Reportedly Tests Positive For COVID-19

It appears WWE will be without their head of creative tonight for the first time since he stepped into the role earlier this year. Based on a report from PWInsider, Paul "Triple H" Levesque has tested positive for COVID-19. He will be absent from both tonight's "WWE Raw" and tomorrow's episode of "WWE NXT."

Levesque is said to be feeling good despite the diagnosis, and the company is hopeful that he will return in time for this Friday's "WWE SmackDown," or next week's "Raw" at the latest. The Chief Content Officer has reportedly been in touch with the company's writers and producers remotely, and feels confident in the direction of tonight's show in his absence.

While the company received internal criticism for the way it handled COVID-19 infections in the early days of the pandemic, they would eventually begin more rigid testing protocols before relaxing those rules towards the end of last year. WWE has seen its fair share of COVID-19 infections throughout the course of the pandemic, with the most recent outbreak of more than an isolated case or two taking place this past April.

Until he begins testing negative for the virus and is cleared to return, Levesque will be forced to take something of a step back from his duties as head of creative. However, it's likely that major creative decisions will still make their way to him to approve, while the actual running of the shows will be left to the producers with the most experience.

Shawn Michaels Talks Struggling To Run WWE NXT After Triple H's Cardiac Event

Shawn Michaels admits it was tough for him to take the reins of "NXT" during Paul "Triple H" Levesque's absence. Last year, Levesque underwent heart surgery following a serious cardiac event. "The Game" was in heart failure and had to have a defibrillator put in his chest.

Michaels, who is now WWE's Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, was dealt a rough hand as he had to take what Levesque helped build while also dealing with what his higher-ups wanted for "NXT" during the Vince McMahon regime. He explained that time period during an appearance on "The MMA Hour."

"Well, look, nothing sucks more than to have to follow in those footsteps, and then have all these abrupt changes that you have to then take over," Michaels said. "I will say this, my knowledge at the time, for instance, the logo, that came at the last minute and even from Hunter's standpoint, from the best of my understanding it was, 'This is what it is.' I think that's maybe something a lot of people — and I saw the interview you did with Hunter where he said – look, I know there are a lot of things people thought he wouldn't have done or decisions he didn't make, but they actually were."

With that said, Michaels admitted that there were also some significant changes that were out of Levesque's hands.

"So, there were some things that he did know about, but then there was others, especially as it started going and he wasn't there, that were very different and very difficult to sort of deal with."

credit: The MMA Hour Wrestling Inc

WWE Announces “WWE CAMPUS RUSH” Recruitment Tour

WWE today announced “WWE Campus Rush,” a multi-campus college athlete recruitment tour which will visit top NCAA Division I universities in search of the next generation of WWE Superstars.

WWE Superstars such as Big E, Bianca Belair, Omos, Madcap Moss and Raquel Rodriguez, all of whom have transitioned from college athletics to a career in WWE, will address student athletes at each tour stop and educate them about the global leader in sports entertainment. In conjunction with each university, student athletes will learn about WWE’s “Next In Line” (NIL) program and the resources that they can utilize including brand building, social media, fan engagement, media training and more. Each stop of the tour will include a lively competition that features student athletes facing off on the microphone to cut the best WWE-style promo.

“WWE Campus Rush” will begin tomorrow, October 12 at the University of Mississippi and will visit a total of eight universities from five conferences during the fall semester, including:

University of Mississippi – Tomorrow, October 12

Georgia Tech – Thursday, October 13

Clemson University – Tuesday, October 25

Boise State University – Tuesday, November 8

University of Arkansas – Wednesday, November 9

Ohio State University – Tuesday, November 15

University of Kansas – Tuesday, December 6

Penn State University – Wednesday, December 7

*Schedule subject to change

Looking ahead to 2023, ‘WWE Campus Rush” will visit the University of Florida, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of North Carolina, Texas A&M University, University of Oklahoma, Auburn University, University of Illinois, and Northwestern University.

“WWE Campus Rush will serve as a core pillar in our commitment to finding the next generation of WWE Superstars among today’s elite college athletes,” said James Kimball, WWE’s Head of Talent Operations and Strategy. “The talent pipeline from college sports to WWE has proven to be effective, as evidenced by current champions Roman Reigns and Bianca Belair, and we are looking forward to visiting major college campuses around the country to introduce ourselves in a new way.”

WWE launched its “Next In Line” program in December 2021 and currently has 25 active athletes with NIL partnerships. Three athletes from the inaugural class have joined the company following their graduation from school and have started training full-time at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla.

Additionally, WWE has exclusively hosted more than 100 college athletes from more than a dozen different sports at multi-day talent tryouts in 2022. WWE signed nearly 50 athletes from those events in a growing effort to find the most talented athletes in the world.

Learn more about the path to WWE at wwerecruit.com.

WWE Announces Updates To Commentary Teams

Today WWE announced that Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Premium Live Events will all have updated announce booths starting with this week's season premieres. The news was first reported by Variety on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday Night SmackDown, the commentary table will be headed by Michael Cole with Wade Barrett doing color commentary. Samantha Irvin will be the ring announcer, and interviews will be conducted by Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant.

On Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves will still be providing his colorful insights and will be joined by Kevin Patrick on play-by-play. Mike Rome will continue to announce from the ring, and Byron Saxton will transition from the commentary booth to backstage interviews. Also joining Saxton in backstage interviews is none other than Cathy Kelley in her return to WWE.

Over on NXT, Vic Joseph will be assisted by six-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Alicia Taylor will still provide her exceptional voice to ring announcing, and McKenzie Mitchell will once again be conducting interviews.

On the Premium Live Event side, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will come together again to announce from the booth.

Pat McAfee will return to the WWE announce booth following his commitments to ESPN's College GameDay.

Anonio Inoki Passes Away, Age 79

Yahoo! Japan has broke the news that wrestling legend Antonio Inoki has passed away.

A translated version of the article can be read below.

Former professional wrestler Antonio Inoki (real name Kanji Inoki), who served two terms as a member of the House of Councilors, died at his home on the 1st. he was 79 years old. Born in Yokohama City. Born in 1943 (Showa 18). He lost his father at the age of five, and at the age of thirteen he and his family moved to Brazil to work on coffee farms. When he won the shot put at a local track and field competition, he was scouted by the late Rikidoyama, who was on an expedition to Brazil, and began professional wrestling. He entered Japan Pro Wrestling.

On September 30, 1960, he made his debut on the same day as the late Giant Baba, who turned from professional baseball to professional wrestling, and since 1962, he has used the ring name "Antonio Inoki". After training in the United States, leaving Japan, returning, and being expelled, he married actress Mitsuko Baisho in 1971 (later divorced).

In 1972, he launched New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and after that he built the heyday of professional wrestling. Boxing in June 1976, a "mixed martial arts match" with Muhammad Ali, the world heavyweight champion, attracted attention and was televised around the world.

As a politician, he launched the "Sports and Peace Party" in 1989, and ran for the 15th House of Councilors election in the same year as a proportional representation member with the catchphrases "Fix the swastika in the Diet" and "Slash the consumption tax" and was elected for the first time. He became the first wrestler-turned-member of parliament in history.

Chris Nowinski Blasts NFL's 'Tua Disaster' While Praising Pro Wrestling Promoters

Fans watching last night's NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals witnessed a scary moment when Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had to be carted off the field on a stretcher following a rough sack. Tagovailoa was taken to a local trauma facility, and while he was ultimately released and traveled back to Miami with the team, he clearly suffered a concussion during the play, just one week after likely receiving another head injury in a previous game.

Neuroscientist and former WWE star Chris Nowinski, a prominent advocate for concussion safety, took to Twitter to share his perspective on the matter.

"In light of the Tua disaster last night, I appreciate more than ever AEW's Tony Khan, WWE's Triple H, and NWA's Billy Corgan all inviting me to come teach their talent [about] concussions & the risks of getting in the ring before you've recovered," Nowinski tweeted. "Protecting athletes begins with educating them."

Nowinski had tweeted about the NFL's concussion protocol ahead of last night's game, saying that it was blatantly dangerous to allow Tagovailoa to take the field after allegedly suffering a concussion the previous week. "If Tua takes the field tonight, it's a massive step back for concussion care in the NFL," Nowinski stated. "If he has a 2nd concussion that destroys his season or career, everyone involved will be sued & should lose their jobs, coaches included. We all saw it, even they must know this isn't right."

After being forced to retire in 2003 due to his own concussion issues, Nowinski went on to earn a PhD in behavioral neuroscience and is the co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation non-profit organization. Nowinski and his former partner, Dr. Bennet Omalu, were able to get a hold of Chris Benoit's brain post-mortem and diagnosed the notorious wrestler with CTE in 2007 — the first time a wrestler was publicly diagnosed with the dangerous illness.

Happy Birthday Stephanie

Stephanie McMahon Levesque
September 24, 1976

Triple H Brings Back Another Name He Worked Closely With In WWE NXT

Triple H, since taking over WWE creative, has been in the process of bringing back those who were part of his team when he was in charge of NXT.

According to PWInsider, the latest name to be brought back to the company is Gabe Sapolsky and he will be part of the creative team, although it current remains unclear if he will be working for the main roster or returning to NXT.

Sapolsky was released from WWE this past January along with Ryan Katz and Road Dogg, who have also been recently brought back.

DX 25th Anniversary Episode of WWE RAW Announced

D-Generation X are set to reunite on the October 10 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to celebrate their 25th anniversary since forming. The episode will also be the USA Network season premiere.

The video released by the arena promoting the event features Triple H and Shawn Michaels, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman, and "Road Dogg" Brian James. During the video Triple H asked if there were more of them. AEW star Billy Gunn was not shown and is not expected to be involved.

It will be interesting if they honor Chyna who was also part of the group and passed away in 2016.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels are involved in running creative for the company while Road Dogg recently returned to the company as the Senior Vice President of Live Events.

Triple H Describes His Vision For WWE NXT

WWE Head of Talent Relations and Chief Content Officer Triple H discussed his vision of the "NXT" brand moving forward.

"NXT, for us, is that academy model or sort of that collegiate athletics for us," Triple H said. "If "Raw" and "SmackDown" are the NFL ... "NXT" is collegiate athletics and we had a small brand here called "NXT UK." We were headed down this road prior to the pandemic, pandemic kind of like, put a hold on it. But, we shut that brand down because we're going to relaunch it in 2023 as "NXT Europe" and try to blow it out bigger."

Triple H revealed what major sporting event he likened the future of "NXT" to be similar to. "The intent will be to take "NXT Europe" and take that around the world, so, "NXT Europe," I'll just throw names out; "NXT Australia," "NXT South Africa," South America, Mexico," Triple H continued. "Eventually build that into a global system that will lead to almost a World Cup.

credit "SPORTbible Stories" Wrestling Inc

Kurt Angle Suffering Memory Loss Issues

During the latest episode of his podcast, Kurt Angle revealed that he's been suffering memory loss issues following his wrestling career.

"I would say I probably had four concussions that I know of. Major. One was a slight concussion that wasn't too bad. The other three were pretty bad. But, you know, even to this day, I'm starting to not remember things, you know, and I'm only in my early 50s. But, I've gotten a little damage to my brain, there's no doubt about it. You know, my memory is not that great anymore. I really have to think hard about remembering the past."

During the latest episode of his podcast, Kurt Angle revealed that he's been suffering memory loss issues following his wrestling career.

"I would say I probably had four concussions that I know of. Major. One was a slight concussion that wasn't too bad. The other three were pretty bad. But, you know, even to this day, I'm starting to not remember things, you know, and I'm only in my early 50s. But, I've gotten a little damage to my brain, there's no doubt about it. You know, my memory is not that great anymore. I really have to think hard about remembering the past."

Mick Foley once described something similar, telling a story in a radio interview about driving around his neighborhood trying to remember which house he lived in.

WWE NXT Hints At Big Change To Brand

"NXT" had humble beginnings as a game show in 2010. It then became a developmental brand two years later and for most of its life since then, the brand has grown immensely, with Paul "Triple H" Levesque at the helm.

Vince McMahon became more involved with the brand in 2021, focusing on big-picture matters. WWE announced a rebrand. On September 14, "NXT 2.0" debuted with a new look and a new logo. However, now that McMahon has retired it appears Levesque has made the decision to go back to the brand's roots.

Tuesday's edition of "NXT" celebrated one year of the "2.0" brand and closed with a shocking ending, as Solo Sikoa made his return and managed to capture the North American Championship from Carmelo Hayes. 

However, the show did not end there. A short video narrated by Shawn Michaels then played as a montage of highlights from the brand over the past 12 months was shown.

"'NXT' has been and always will be about developing the superstars of tomorrow, but we will always reflect and acknowledge the past," Michaels said in the video. "'NXT' is constantly evolving and focused on the future. Superstars develop and move on, but our message to our passionate fans will never change. We are 'NXT.'"

The final shot of the video featured the current multi-colored logo. The "2.0" part of the log disappeared and the letters faded into silver letters outlined in gold over a black background. Many fans interpreted this as a sign that the brand will be reverting back to its "black and gold" roots before it switched over to the "2.0" era. Shortly after the show ended, "NXT's" Twitter account posted the shot with the caption "loading."