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Sunday, December 22, 2024 Issue #7438
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Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Flying to Prague tomorrow for Christmas week so there might be some interruptions for the newsletter on some days. Website remains updated along with our social media accounts. Please follow us there for up-to-date stuff.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/

MORE SEATS OPENED FOR 2025 ROYAL RUMBLE

- WWE has added more tickets for the 2025 Royal Rumble at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with more sections on the side where the stadium was supposed to be tarped off opening up. Unless it's a WrestleMania, WWE uses half a stadium for their premium live events and then more sections are opened up depending on demand. According to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix, WWE has nearly 47,000 tickets out for the Rumble, with the stadium now configured for 53,500 seats. The cheapest tickets added are $150 plus taxes and fees and are in Section 400. The cheapest tickets are in Section 600, which is at the very top of the stands, with tickets at $125 plus taxes and fees. The most expensive tickets are second row for $5,100 and the majority of the floor area remains unsold. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com.

NXT SENIOR WRITER AND PRODUCER JIM SMALLMAN DEPARTS

- Jim Smallman, a senior writer and producer on the NXT creative team, has resigned from his position to return to the United Kingdom to "be a better dad" to his two children. Smallman, the co-founder of British indie promotion PROGRESS Wrestling, announced the decision himself via a post on social media. "This was an incredibly difficult decision as I was lucky enough to work with some of the most talented and excellent human beings on the planet, and yesterday was a very emotional day as I said goodbye - for now - to so many great friends," Smallman wrote. He cited that it's impossible to be a good dad from 4000 miles away and that combined with some health issues made it time to go home and "make up for lost time." Smallman said he wrote 216 episodes of NXT UK, 150 episodes of Level Up, worked on 190 episodes of NXT, and produced hundreds of in-ring and backstage promos. "I am forever grateful to Shawn and Hunter for giving me my chance, Johnny and the writing team for being amazing, Mr Regal for putting me forward for everything, Joe for showing me the ropes… and to every gifted talent that I’ve worked with in both Europe and the USA," he continued. "I wish I could have thanked every single person yesterday but we had a TV show to film! Thank you for tolerating a strange British idiot." He added that while this might be a goodbye to the NXT creative team, it's not a goodbye to WWE and he hopes to see everyone again down the line. "I’m a very lucky man to have lived this life, but even luckier to be heading home now to an 8 year old who wants to play Fortnite and Hot Wheels and a 21 year old who wants to come to Japan with me," he concluded.

PHOTO OPS FOR RUMBLE WEEKEND

- WWE is now selling photo ops and autographs with many WWE Superstars for Royal Rumble weekend. Price for each Superstar varies and does not include a printed photo unless you pay an extra $16.28 fee on top. Appearing on Thursday, January 30 will be Bayley, Bianca Belair, Jimmy Uso, and Tiffany Stratton. Appearing on Friday, January 31 will be Bron Breakker, Chad Gable, Dakota Kai, Damian Priest, Rey Mysterio, Iyo Sky, Jey Uso, Kairi Sane, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, Kofi Kingston, Lyra Valkyria, Maxine Dupri, Natalya, Omos, Otis, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, The Miz, Tiffany Stratton, Wyatt Sicks, and Zelina Vega. Doing photo ops on Saturday, February 1 will be American Made, Dominik Mysterio, Ludwig Kyser, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro, Pete Dunne, Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, and Xavier Woods. Closing the weekend on Sunday, February 2 are Apollo Crews, Authors of Pain, Big E, Liv Morgan, Shayna Baszler, Sonya Deville, and Zoey Stark, and Sami Zayn. The event will take place at the Indianapolis Convention Center inside Hall E located at 100 South Capitol Avenue. For more information go to https://store.epic.leapevent.tech/wwe-royal-rumble-2025/2024.

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC UPDATE

- Four Continental Classic matches took place on last night's Christmas Collision from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. In the blue league, Daniel Garcia defeated Shelton Benjamin to move to seven points while Benjamin stays at six and second-to-last place. The other blue league match saw Mark Briscoe defeating The Beast Mortos. Briscoe is now at nine points and second in the table while Mortos is dead last with zero points. Over in the gold league, Ricochet defeated Will Ospreay to get to nine points and top of the table, leaving Ospreay with six following yesterday's loss. Claudio Castagnoli also sits at the top of the gold league with Ricochet with another nine points after he yesterday overcame Darby Allin thanks to his brass knuckles which he used to knock out Allin. Allin remains at six points. The remaining five Continental Classic matches will be held on Dynamite this Wednesday with three gold league matches including Ospreay vs Brody King, Allin vs Ricochet, and Castagnoli vs Komander. And the blue league matches will have Kazuchika Okada vs Benjamin and Garcia vs Fletcher.

TBS TITLE MATCH ADDED TO WORLDS END

- The TBS title will be on the line at the Worlds End pay-per-view next weekend after the match was made official last night on Collision. Prior to her match against Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander challenged the champion Mercedes Mone for the title. After the match was over, Mone came out with her answer, initially saying that she was going to take that weekend off, but since it's the holiday season, she would give Statlander a present and defend her title on the show. Statlander is a former TBS champion herself, winning the belt from Jade Cargill at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in 2023, ending Cargill's 508-day reign as champion. Statlander lasted 174 days as champion before losing it to Julia Hart at Full Gear later that year. Statlander was never pinned in that match as it was a three-way involving Skye Blue as well and Blue was the one who got pinned.

MOMO WATANBE JOINS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S CUP MATCH

- The last entrant in the International Women's Cup at Wrestle Dream is Momo Watanbe, representing the Japanese Stardom promotion. Watanbe beat Saki Kashima, Yuna Mizumori, and Hanan in a four-way match to punch her ticket to Wrestle Dream. She now joins Athena from Ring of Honor, Persephone from CMLL, and Willow Nightingale from AEW in this four-way match. The winner of this match earns a title shot for any title in any of the participating promotions.

ROH FINAL BATTLE RESULTS

- Here are the results from Friday night's ROH Final Battle 2024 event which took place live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York. ZERO HOUR: The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated The Dark Order; Hanako defeated Harley Cameron; The Undisputed Kingdom defeated The Infantry; Gates of Agony defeated LEEJ. PPV: Atlantis Jr defeated Mansoor; Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tommy Billington; Jay Lethal defeated QT Marshall; Red Velvet defeated Leyla Hirsch to retain the ROH Women's TV title; Lee Moriarty defeated Nigel McGuinness to retain the ROH Pure title; The Sons of Texas defeated The Righteous in a Texas Bull Rope match to retain the ROH Tag Team titles; Komander defeated Brian Cage, AR Fox, Blake Christian, Willie Mack, and Mark Davis in a Survival of the Fittest match to become the new ROH TV champion; Chris Jericho defeated Matt Cardona to retain the ROH World title; Athena defeated Billie Starkz to retain the ROH Women's title.

NIGEL MCGUINNESS RETURNS TO THE RING

- AEW commentator Nigel McGuinness made a surprise in-ring return at the ROH Final Battle event in New York, coming out to answer the open challenge for the ROH Pure title. McGuinness is a former ROH Pure champion himself, having held the title for a whopping 350 days between 2004 and 2005. The British star wanted the match to be contested under the old ROH Pure rules, which means no judges. Unfortunately for him, Moriarty came out on top and retained the title. This was his third match of 2024 after coming out from retirement at All In in August where he participated in the Casino Gauntlet match as a surprise entrant and then wrestled Bryan Danielson in September on Dynamite.

DANHAUSEN RETURNS AT ROH

- After being off AEW television for a year and absent from Ring of Honor for 10 months, Danhausen made a return at the Final Battle event. The popular star interfered in the opening match of the show where Mansoor was battling Atlantis Jr. Danhausen came out from under the ring and confronted Mason Madden, giving him a low blow and then doing his usual curse thing, offering enough distraction for Atlantis Jr to pick up the victory. The relationship between Danhausen and AEW took a nose dive in 2024 and the star admitted that the two sides had not talked for months apart from getting the go-ahead to work other indie dates. Danhausen was a big supporter of CM Punk, which might have played some part in him being somewhat exiled.

ASH BY ELEGANCE JOINS ONLYFANS

- Ash By Elegance, the TNA star formerly known as Dana Brooke in WWE, has joined the OnlyFans platform. She made the announcement via a video on her social media. "It's the time you've all been waiting for. I'm officially moving over to OnlyFans which is the gift that keeps on giving," she said while sporting a Santa hat. The recently-married star is selling subscriptions for $5.99 a month and already has 20 posts up. You can subscribe at https://onlyfans.com/ashamae4u.



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