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Fightful Select Update

Fightful Select Pricing Update

Since launching Fightful Select in 2018, our goal has always been simple:

Deliver the best, most reliable, and fastest wrestling news and exclusive content — at the most affordable price in the industry.

For eight years, we kept our monthly subscription cost far below the market, even as our competitors increased their prices, staff received well-deserved raises, hosting, video, and website infrastructure costs rose and we expanded the amount of content and features we offer

When we started at $5/month, our competitors were all priced significantly higher. Even after raising to $5.99 last year — our first increase since launching — we were still the most affordable option by a wide margin.

Today, our competitors charge as much as $14.99 per month. We remain committed to staying below everyone else while continuing to grow and improve the service, while being the only wrestling website to bring you daily exclusive news and original reporting.

What’s Changing

Beginning on January 15, 2026, our monthly subscription price will become $7.99.

This isn't something that we take lightly, and we understand that paying for wrestling content is a luxury and not a necessity, especially these days.

The increase helps ensure we can continue:

• Providing the most consistent breaking news and inside reporting

• Paying our team fairly for the work they put in every day. Not just on Fightful Select, but on podcasts, verifying and breaking news, and transcribing the quotes that you see across dozens of wrestling pages, even outside of Fightful.

• Maintaining and expanding our website, video, and podcast infrastructure – including the launch of WrestleVotes LIVE and Wrestlevotes Radio, exclusively on Fightful Select.

• Delivering more content than ever without sacrificing quality.

• We're also adding content. Sean Ross Sapp will be hosting new monthly shows. You will get an exclusive "SRS 10" show, where you watch along 10/10 rated matches along with him and he gives you exclusive details he's learned about these historic matches. In addition, he'll be hosting an exclusive predictions and preview show ahead of every PLE. Jeremy Lambert will also be hosting a monthly show, name TBD. In all, between December and January, we're adding over a dozen new monthly shows.

Even with this adjustment, Fightful Select will still be the lowest-priced service in our space, while offering what we firmly believe is the best overall value. We are hopeful that this will be the price for years to come, even permanently if SRS has his way.

We’ll also offer a discounted annual rate of $71.88 per year which equals $5.99 per month – the monthly price we currently charge.

Plus, if you subscribe to our annual plan between now and January 15th, you can lock in our current discounted annual rate and be covered for a year! The second tier (primarily for early access to our interviews and specials) will remain the same price.

Thank You

Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or just joined recently, we truly appreciate your support. Fightful Select exists because of you, and this community is at the core of everything we do. This change allows us to keep pushing forward, growing, and giving you the coverage and content you deserve.

If you have any questions, we’re always here to help. We also encourage your feedback. We've made this the most interactive platform of its kind, so we specifically seek out the news you wish to cover.

Thank you for being part of Fightful Select.

UPDATE: There was an error from patreon that reflected an incorrect annual price. The correct, reduced amount has been reflected. We're working with Patreon to make sure this is rectified for our subscribers. Thank you for understanding!

Wrestlevotes LIVE! Q&A

Hey guys, get your questions in to the Wrestlevotes crew for a BIG show covering Cena's final match, among other things.

Leave your questions below or on the Youtube live chat!

Update on TNA deals that are expiring soon

TNA is starting their AMC deal in about a month, but have a lot of front office work to do in the mean time.

Fightful Select reported over the last number of months that TNA had at least a dozen contracts that were set to expire at the end of 2025. In addition, there were a number that had expired between Bound For Glory and the start of December. However, they've made some progress on deals.

Fightful Select has been told that TNA has effectively finalized a number of short term deals with several talent, with many of them being about three months in length. We haven't confirmed exactly who has signed those deals, but are working to verify each one as best we can.

TNA and many talent have preferred the short term deals to give them both flexibility. A number of talent tell us they prefer those as it keeps their options open, and TNA sources had indicated the financial flexibility it provides them, and allows them to bring in talent that aren't keen on long-term deals.

Loaded News Update: Reaction To Cena's Final Match, Triple H's Reaction, Lashley, Debunkathon, More

Welcome to our news update following WWE SNME!

• Robert F. Kennedy was in attendance at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event.

• Vince McMahon and Donald Trump were not at the show, were not planned to be at the show, and as Fightful Select reported numerous times, nobody was told they would be there at the event.

• Randy Orton, among others, were in Saudi Arabia to promote the Royal Rumble. There was some discussion backstage that were disappointed he couldn't make it.

• John Cena was around for a while after the show, saying goodbyes and taking pictures with coworkers.

• Bayley, CM Punk and numerous others were seen watching John Cena's match in the audience.

• As reiterated in our scoops thread, WWE is adamant that John Cena is not wrestling again, and they don't plan on asking him to.

• There were plenty of people on both sides of the fence regarding the finish of Cena's last match, with most on the creative/booking side in favor of it. We've heard from plenty of talent who wished Cena would have been booked to win, but understood the reality of Gunther winning and the booking moving forward. We didn't experience any talent livid about the finish.

• Triple H was said to have had a smile on his face in Gorilla position over the finish, and reacted backstage to the boos much like he did on camera.

• The heat was so heavy on Gunther he legitimately required to be escorted out of the venue. He was followed by a number of fans.

• There were a lot of off-the-cuff moments that were said to have not been planned for the show, including the emotional ringside interview with Cody Rhodes, and some of the in-ring during Cena's post match

• CM Punk is set to work with Bronson Reed, and Cody Rhodes is set to work with Drew McIntyre in world title matches for the upcoming WWE Holiday and European tours. They're planning Stephanie Vaquer vs. IYO SKY vs. Raquel Rodriguez for those tours as well.

• John Cena is expected to make future appearances for WWE, on screen and off. We are't sure to what extent the on-camera appearances will be.

• One source tied to NBC Universal said that this was the most buzz they've seen for a WWE event on Peacock outside of WrestleMania events.

ELSEWHERE

• Former NWA talent Miss Kate retired after her match on Friday. We're told that hardly anyone knew that she was hanging it up. We wish her the best in retirement.

• The Joe Alonzo/BDE angle will be continuing in Wrestling Revolver.

• Bobby Lashley is legitimately injured. We weren't told of the specifics, but it was said he's going to miss quite a bit of time.

• Leila Grey tore her ACL against Mercedes Mone. Grey has noted that Mercedes was with her in medical and helped her extensively after the injury

Coming soon to Fightful!

• Well, actually coming NOW to Fightful. Wrestlevotes is LIVE every Monday at 3 PM ET for a live Q&A show, WrestleVotes LIVE. In addition, they have Wrestlevotes Radio, their news breaking show, every Thursday.

• We've added the ability to contribute to SRS' live show notes for post-shows.

• Sean Ross Sapp will be doing an (at least) monthly watchalong show, SRS 10, where you watch along matches he's rated 10/10. He'll provide behind the scenes stories he's learned about the matches.

• Sean Ross Sapp will also be bringing back his predictions, previews and betting tips show exclusively for Fightful Select subscribers.

• Jeremy Lambert will also be adding a monthly show to Select. This brings us to at least a dozen new shows per month, in addition to SRS weekly Q&As, Ask Grapsody and Sour Graps. In total, you'll get at least two dozen original podcasts per month.

• All of our original content is available on the lowest tier. If you'd like early access to our interviews and specials, you can also subscribe at the $10 tier.

DEBUNKATHON

• A "parody" account claimed Gunther was injured yesterday, and said PWInsider reported it, that never happened, and PWInsider never reported it.

• Somehow, many fans worked themselves into believing The Rock or Adam Copeland would be involved in Cena's final match. This was never planned, or ever considered a real possibility.

• This page just completely makes up quotes. It's probably worth reporting it as misinformation.

• WRKD Wrestling didn't report that Gunther was retiring John Cena, they posted a tweet alluding to it.

• Roman Reigns was not at John Cena's final match.

Select Answers: Papa Shango 97, If Everyone over 35 retired, NXT ACL injuries, Steel chair sponsors

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

***

Why doesn’t WWE have a sponsor for steel chairs yet?

This was actually discussed once upon a time, and nothing came of it. I am pretty sure they'd be able to find one, but they want to make sure they have one up to their financial standards. I don't know that it's being actively pursued right now, but it was something that was being considered.

Hey SRS - question incorporating football and wrestling. The 49ers get injured often and various sports outlets (sorry don’t have a link) have said “that’s the way the 9ers do strength training.” Women in NXT seem to suffer a big number of knee injuries over the years - Dakota, Nixon Newell, etc,. Just throwing it out there but think there could be a link between how these two totally separate sports train their staff and a big number of injuries?

The reality is, there are a lot more non contact knee injuries in women than men, especially in sports. Women are much more susceptible to that. I have a friend who tore her ACL three times, and took every precaution after number 2 in order to prevent it, and there wasn't much could be done. Wrestling is especially physically demanding, and injuries will never be eliminated. That being said, it's something that was looked into years ago at the Performance Center.

hey Sean, I remember hearing the Godfather say on a podcast once that back around 99 or 2000, there were plans for him to go back to the Papa Shango character. do you know anything about what that may have looked like and why it never happened?

As best I recall, they were going to bring it back and add more of an Attitude era element to it. It was way more menacing than cartoonish. He got in good shape for it, Jerry Lawler did the face paint for it, and did promo photos. Vince McMahon spoke with him after doing the promo photos, and told him he'd be in the Nation of Domination and was going to do that moving forward. From that, he became the Godfather. It all came down to Vince McMahon changing his mind late.

Let's say everyone over 35 retired tomorrow: who do you see stepping up to fill the top of the card in WWE, AEW and TNA?

Well, over 35 means MJF, Hangman and Swerve would all still be there in AEW, so that is ideal. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Bandido, Kevin Knight, Will Ospreay are all very easy bets and you'd still have a great main event scene. Gabe Kidd would be signed for AEW as well.

Oba Femi, Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, Je'Von Evans, Dominik Mysterio, Logan Paul in WWE. Solo Sikoa would probably be booked higher, Ilja Dragunov would get more opportunities as well.

In TNA, it'd be Leon Slater above all. Myron Reed would be a great one to push. Mike Santana would still qualify, which is good for the sake of this argument. However, if I were them, I'd be signing Adam Priest, Jordan Oliver, Titus Alexander, and some more fresh blood.

SRS Q&A Podcast 12/14: John Cena and much more!

Sean Ross Sapp gives you a Q&A podcast for December 14!

• John Cena

• NJPW US shows

• WWE production

• Otunga/Cena

• Becky Lynch's trump character

• Danhausen

• Nyla Rose

• Chris Jericho

• TNA TV deal

• Piper Niven

• Jacob Fatu

• LA Knight BURIAL?

• Kenny Omega & Bucks contracts

• Leon Slater

• Juice Robinson

• Marty The Moth

• MLW & NWA business model

• Brie Bella run

• RJ City

FREE POST: No VKM at SNME

Vince McMahon, nor Donald Trump were at tonight's WWE Saturday Night Main Event. Robert F Kennedy was at the show

A number of wrestlers were brought in specifically to see the final match. Randy Orton was not, as he's overseas promoting the Royal Rumble.

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Saturday Night's Main Event 12/13 | Time's Up

Watch on YouTube HERE: https://youtu.be/N5R6T0HGmOY

John Cena is retiring. The only question left to answer is whether he's going out on his back, or whether he's a fraud.

There were three exhibition "NXT vs Main Roster" matches on the show as well.

Oba Femi dominated Cody Rhodes for most of their match, and then WWE couldn't resist adding some shenanigans to the festivities.

Sol Ruca announced herself with alacrity, pinning Bayley.

Jevon & Leon came up short against Dragon Styles in a fantastic sprint.

And The Miz showed up uninvited to do a terrible comedy bit with R Truth and Joe Hendry that made all of us just a little dumber.

But with Cena's retirement tour having finally come to a close, we can accurately assess: Was it a success or a failure?

It was a failure, of course.

But how MUCH of a failure was it?

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event SCOOPS THREAD

Welcome to the Fightful WWE Saturday Night's Main Event SCOOPS THREAD covering John Cena's final match! We will update this as we get more information.

• Gunther facing John Cena was internally the direction going back months. Even when Gunther was sidelined with an injury, the company was pretty sure that it would be him facing Cena in his last match.

• John Cena was the driving force behind suggesting NXT talent compete against WWE talent on the event. However, it was claimed to us by WWE sources that he didn't pick the talent that would be appearing from NXT.

• It was reported by Wrestling Observer Live earlier this week that there were no strict time limit on the event. We haven't outright confirmed that, but it hasn't been countered by anyone within WWE that we spoke to.

• There was a discussion about this event airing on NBC when WWE was negotiating their exit of WWE PLE events from Peacock. However, ultimately that didn't come to fruition.

• Many in the company found out about Jesse Ventura's involvement this week. Ventura was originally slated to appear on more of the Saturday Night Main Event shows in 2025. However, after being highly critical of a cage match finish, and the possibility of Hulk Hogan appearing on one of the shows, he wasn't brought back until December.

• WXW had originally booked Leon Slater for this evening, and found out within the week prior that he was working the WWE event.

• As of now, nobody has been briefed or prepared for Vince McMahon or Donald Trump appearing at the show. Nobody that we've spoken to in WWE has been informed they would be attending. Vince McMahon would certainly be able to slip in easier than Trump.

• Nothing related to this show is on Donald Trump's schedule of events for today.

• In case you missed, John Cena confirmed that they're closing the show.

• I can't believe we have to report this, but Adam Copeland was never considered for the retirement tour, the retirement match, or to do anything on screen with Cena. He's still under AEW contract.

• There are a number of additional wrestlers at the show. As of this week, it was expected there would be dark matches.

• This is expected to be among the largest gates for this arena size in WWE history.

• Chad Patton is expected to referee John Cena's final match.

• As John Cena has also said, WWE has adamantly stated that John Cena has no plans to wrestle again after tonight.

• Call time for talent was 2 PM ET, but numerous were there well earlier. There are also a number of talent present who were not booked for the show, just to enjoy the evening.

• A number of WWE Superstars are overseas in Saudi Arabia doing promotional work for the Royal Rumble.

• There was a fake rumor (from a "parody" account) claiming PWInsider reported that Gunther was out of tonight's match. PWInsider never reported that.

Betting odds

• Right now, Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Sol Ruca, AJ Styles & Dragon Lee are favorites at My Bookie. We can not name Gunther as a personal favorite, the result of tonight's match with John Cena and Gunther is too close to call.

• There are also prop bets -- Cena the over under for Attitude Adjustments is 3.5.

• Gunther is favored to get the first near fall.

• The method of victory between John Cena and Gunther is favored to be a submission.

• Gunther's Gojira Clutch is favored to be the first finisher hit in the match compared to Cena's STFU.

• "Any other competitor to enter the ring during the match" is favored at yes. We would hammer this bet, as we don't expect that to happen.

• "Referee to be Knocked Down/Taken out During the Match" is favored as yes. We would lean no on this one.

• Get your picks and bets in at our My Bookie link here!

Select Answers: Rumble participants, Rey Mysterio retirement, Oba and Je'Von

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

***

With a month and some change away, if you could bring back one legend for each Rumble, along with one talent from NXT for each, who would be the names you have in them? I’m curious who would truly mesh well with the current main roster from those two avenues!

Oba Femi and Wendy Choo from NXT. I think that Wendy Choo would fit in on the main roster, can work, can play characters, and is versatile. She's also been in NXT or Evolve forever, and it's time to make a move to the main roster. Oba Femi is pretty self explanatory. He should immediately be a top guy.

For legends, selfishly, I'd love to see Hakushi aka Jinsei Shinzaki show up. He was only in WWF for about 15 months, but was a workhorse and a bright spot of my childhood. On the women's side of things, Paige/Saraya is one that I would like for them to see what the reaction is like. A Royal Rumble match is pretty low risk.

There’s a lot of retirements or talks about retirement going on in WWE, like Cena currently. But also wrestlers like AJ Styles and Jericho in 2026. Is there any news on Rey Mysterio? I know he resigned with the WWE on a 3yr deal back in 2023 so I’m wondering if there’s any discussion on when he will retire. Maybe a Dom v Rey retirement match at mania since I don’t see him resigning at 50+.

The discussion of Rey Mysterio retiring seems to be more fan driven than anything else. I've never heard any real indication, hint or plan that a Rey Mysterio retirement is imminent. They've been very happy with him from a wrestler and ambassador standpoint and he still has quite a lot of time left on his deal including possible injury time.

If you could take Oba Femi, Trick Williams & JeVon Evans and put them individually in any era of wrestling that isn’t the current one, which one would you put them in and why

If we're throwing all stupid ass politics aside (like Evans being "too skinny") I'd have loved Evans being in either the mid 90s or mid 2000s. Those eras would have really benefited from having him in a major promotion getting a push because then things wouldn't be so boring.

Trick Williams, attitude era. He would have done some great stuff with DX, The Rock, Stone Cold, Mick Foley, and people like that. He would have fit right in with everyone.

Oba Femi I think is in the perfect period, but if I had to, probably early 90s so he could work Undertaker, Yokozuna, Vader. There were guys bigger than him that he could pose a threat to.

DEBUNKATHON Update: John Cena, Okada, Sarah Stock, Jordynne Grace, Fightful Speaks to Sol Ruca, More!

Welcome to the Friday Fightful tradition, the DEBUNKATHON. In addition to debunking (and shaming) internet lies, we also provide a robust news update, including:

• Okada

• Sarah Stock tweets

• Cena's dates

• Cena album

• Andersons

• Jordynne Grace

• Je'Von Evans & Leon Slater

• Jack Perry

• Joe Alonzo

• Sol Ruca

• Jon Moxley

• Kazuchika Okada was seen at a New York Knicks game this week. He actually lives in New York City now.

• The Sarah Stock tweets were a significant point of conversation at AEW over the last week or so. There were some elements of her tweets that were claimed to be true. As far as talent getting picked up from airports and the like, some talent have that worked into their deal, and all of the travel is supposed to be reimbursed regardless. We'd rather not get into the more personal posts, but the posts were a subject of behind the scenes conversation.

• WWE sources that we spoke to said they aren't sure where John Cena's 220 dates idea came from. One also followed up after we spoke about it on our post show and said he could have been referring to travel dates, in addition to every Raw, Smackdown and PLE.

• There was an influx of fans asking for John Cena to put out the unreleased "You Can't See Me" tracks. We're told that was also brought up in years past.

• MLW actually expected to use Brock Anderson and CW Anderson moving forward until they appeared at TNA, which MLW didn't know was happening until the day of.

• No, the Je'Von Evans & Leon Slater vs. AJ Styles & Dragon Lee match was not planned back at Bound For Glory when their match got ruined.

• CM Punk, among others, are planned to be in the house at Saturday Night's Main Event.

• AEW sources claimed that Jack Perry did think he was hurt on AEW Dynamite, but worked through it and felt better after. Bryan Alvarez also mentioned this on Wrestling Observer Live.

• While Austin Theory was under the mask at Survivor Series, it was confirmed to us that it wasn't on Monday Night Raw, which many suspected.

• It was claimed that LA Knight battled through an unspecified sickness on WWE Raw. He ended up performing, so he was not put down with the sickness.

• Nattie Neidhart and Kevin Owens will be mentors/coaches on season 3 of WWE LFG

• Nobody that we've spoken to has been briefed for a Vince McMahon appearance this weekend.

Elsewhere

• Wrestling Observer Live reported that they'd heard Montez Ford was not under the mask on Monday.

• Wrestling Observer reported that Penta was touch and go for next week's Mexico live event.

Joe Alonzo

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp spoke to Joe Alonzo for a new interview.

SRS revealed that he didn't actually film the BDE/Alonzo confrontation, and Alonzo said that he actually doesn't mind BDE as a person, but wants people to earn their spots in pro wrestling.

Alonzo said that he got heat from the NWA because of his last interview with SRS, but doesn't particularly care about that. He once got heat in AEW, but was able to overcome it and was booked as recently as this year.

Matt Cardona showed up and claimed Joe Alonzo didn't take his social media advice.

See the full interview at this link.

Sol Ruca

Sean Ross Sapp spoke to Sol Ruca ahead of her match with Bayley at Saturday Night's Main Event.

She said that she found out that she was needed for the backstage segment with Bayley not long before it happened, and found out that she would be facing Bayley the day that it was announced. She said that she was hoping to have an interaction with John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event, but noted she had met him before because he comes by the WWE Performance Center quite often.

She told us that she wanted to use her gymnastics background when developing the Sol Snatcher and wanted something that not everyone could do. She said that the Lola Vice Sol Snatcher was her favorite, even though it hurt. Sol said that sometimes Shawn Michaels will pitch her things and they have to make sure it's even plausible from a physical standpoint.

Sol Ruca was the Cinnemoji at WrestleMania 39. She happened to be in town, and fit the requirements that WWE was looking for. She said that she was embarrassed because she was blocking people's views and they were tapping on the back of the suit.

She's gained good feedback from her main roster appearances so far.

You can see the full interview at this link.

Debunkathon

• Just so you all know, I've never personally spoken to a wrestler that is super pumped about you AI'ing them.

• King of Wrestling is hitting "worst dumbass pages on the internet" territory.

• WWE sources do not believe that Nikki Bella has had her last match. She's just expressed willingness to manage in the future, too.

• No, John Cena's last match will not be at WrestleMania.

• I am progressively embarrassed at the things people fall for. This is the 5th straight week we've said Jon Moxley is not coming back to WWE any time soon.

• This account just outright lied. There are no reports of Jordynne Grace's name changing to "Sarah Matrix"

• At this point, there are pages that exist solely on capitalizing on AI images to fool very stupid people. This is one of those.

BETTING ODDS

• Right now, Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Sol Ruca, AJ Styles & Dragon Lee are favorites at My Bookie. We can not name Gunther as a personal favorite, the result of tonight's match with John Cena and Gunther is too close to call.

• There are also prop bets -- Cena the over under for Attitude Adjustments is 3.5.

• Gunther is favored to get the first near fall.

• The method of victory between John Cena and Gunther is favored to be a submission.

• Gunther's Gojira Clutch is favored to be the first finisher hit in the match compared to Cena's STFU.

• "Any other competitor to enter the ring during the match" is favored at yes. We would hammer this bet, as we don't expect that to happen.

• "Referee to be Knocked Down/Taken out During the Match" is favored as yes. We would lean no on this one.

• Get your picks and bets in at our My Bookie link here!

Wrestlevotes Radio BONUS SHOW: The Career of John Cena

Wrestlevotes Radio brings you an extra show, looking at the career, highlights, and moments of John Cena. Subscribe for this, and many other shows this weekend!

SRS Q&A Questions

Hey guys! Get those questions in for SRS!

Backstage Reaction To Bayley's Lodestone Camp

Bayley is held in very high regard within WWE.

Fresh off of Bayley’s Lodestone camp, WrestleVotes Radio spoke to WWE sources about Bayley and her position within WWE, reporting that she gained heavy praise for the new camp.

“It’s incredible to see what impact someone has when they pour their heart into it, and that’s what she did,” said one staff member of WWE

Sean Ross Sapp spoke to a number of talent from the Lodestone camp who spoke glowingly about Bayley and the team that worked the camp with them. WWE sources told Sapp that they were all on board with WWE wrestlers helping out with the camp.

When aggregating this news, please credit "Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select."

WWE SNME Presentation Could Change

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event looks to be getting an updated look.

When WWE SNME returned earlier this year, it came back with a retro look and feel as an homage to the original specials from the 1980s. On Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select, they indicated that was to be updated.

Wrestlevotes noted that WWE has been discussing the change since August. It’s unclear if the presentation change will be permanent or temporary just for the John Cena retirement special. It was also mentioned that the January Montreal Saturday Night’s Main Event show is being advertised with the retro branding. 

When aggregating this news, please credit "Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select."

Next international WWE PLE is confirmed

Benvenuto! We have major news on upcoming WWE PLEs.

WWE have been taking their PLE shows abroad much more, and that won’t be stopping. Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select confirmed that WWE is heading to Italy in 2026 for a WWE PLE. Nick Khan noted that a deal was close recently.

As of now, the planned date for the PLE is May 31, which is scheduled to be the first PLE after WrestleMania. Typically, WWE runs the Backlash show after WrestleMania, but the name was up for debate with Backlash used as the internal placeholder. 

A venue is not confirmed as of yet. 

When aggregating this show, please credit "Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select."

Details on John Cena's SNME Placement

John Cena’s career is coming to a close, and we have more details on how Saturday Night’s Main Event will go.

This week, John Cena had indicated that the was hopeful he would be able to kick off the show for Saturday Night’s Main Event, and Bryan Alvarez reported that he was slated to.

Wrestlevotes Radio asked within WWE and said that the majority of people within WWE want John Cena to close the show, but that both ideas have been floated. There were numerous within power that want John Cena to close the show. There are not firm details on the placement, but that Cena opening the show is "on the table."

When aggregating this show, please credit "Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select."

WrestleVotes Radio! John Cena, SNME, WWE PLE, Bayley news!

Joey Votes and TC are back to talk about this week in wrestling.

• John Cena's retirement and placement on the card.

• Internal reaction to Bayley

• Big WWE PLE news!

• Saturday Night's Main Event presentation.

When aggregating this show, please credit "Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select." We ask that aggregators hold off until Fightful Select posts stories from this show before aggregating them.

Free post: Steve Borden Jr's next match

It's STEEEEEEEEEEEVE!

Sting's son, Steven Borden Jr., made his AEW debut this week, taking on Kiran Grey. If you missed that, they're running it back in a couple of weeks.

Fightful Select has confirmed with DEFY that Steven Borden Jr will take on Kiran Grey, December 28 at DEFY Ender. The event takes place at The Lodge Room at Highland Park in Los Angeles.

Tickets are available now at DEFYwrestling.com

Select Answers: Subculture, Santos Escobar, ROH TV

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

***

Whenever I see Jamie Hayter in her Mod-style outfits, always makes me think of Flash Morgan Webster. What is he/Subculture up to nowadays? Any chance AEW would bring them in to pair with Jamie, at least on their UK tour coming up?? Thanks.

They were backstage at TNA in May, but I haven't heard anything about TNA bringing them in since then. They haven't wrestled as much as I expected them to this year. About a year ago they were in the process of getting their visas, which I believe they ended up getting

What’s the deal with Santos Escobar. Did they just sign him to keep him from signing elsewhere? It’s been like seven months.

He's just on ice for the time being. They let his deal lapse, then re-signed him to what sounded like big money. At least big enough to imminently do something with him. Then he's just been at home. I know he was backstage at least one time for Raw, but I don't know beyond that. Most people thought he'd be right back into the fold when I talked to them.

Where could u see ROH going to if they manage to get a tv deal?

I don't think they will get a television deal unless one or two things happen -- they give way more care to the booking of the show and the importance around it. Or if they bring their money requirement way down. TruTV offered them Friday night at 10 pm after the Smackdown slot is usually done. They didn't like the money, but ended up giving TruTV an AEW Dynamite replay instead. With the WBD acquisition, I don't see that getting fired back up any time soon.

LA Knight-WWE Update

LA Knight isn’t going anywhere. Contractually, that is.

On the December 8 episode of WWE Raw, LA Knight was defeated by Logan Paul, and effectively beaten up by four men. Then after the match, he was attacked backstage to close the show. Fans were asking for an update on Knight – everything from him being written off TV to leaving WWE.

Knight is not leaving WWE. He re-signed with WWE in 2024, and has years left on his deal. When we reached out to people in the company, they were confused as the outrage of the situation, and said it was a standard story beat that will be revisited.

There were also unusual conspiracy theories regarding LA Knight holding up a “we want LA Knight, not Jey Uso” sign over a month ago and being punished for that. It was repeatedly claimed to Fightful that wasn’t the case, with one source in creative saying that being booked to beat Jey Uso would be a “weird punishment.”

We're working to find out what is in LA Knight's immediate future and will update this when we find out.

FREE POST: DEFY World Championship Match set

A DEFY World Championship match has been confirmed

Fightful Select has confirmed that AEW star Bryan Keith will defend his DEFY Championship against Timothy Thatcher on Sunday, December 28th, at the Lodge Room in Highland Park at DEFY ENDER.

Tickets are available now at DEFYwrestling.com

Steven Borden Jr is also expected for the card.

FREE POST: Jesse Ventura-WWE Update

Wrestlevotes posted the following:

"After not appearing at the last Saturday Night’s Main Event, Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura is set for Washington, D.C. this weekend as the big John Cena send-off show approaches."

Paid subscribers to Fighful Select get access to Wrestlevotes' Live show every Monday at 3 PM ET, in a live Q&A format. In addition, their breaking news WrestleVotes Radio every Thursday.

Free Post: Interesting Match Added To GCW/JCW Jersey J-Cup

GCW/JCW Jersey J-Cup is running a unique match after an announcement of a legend in Tiger Mask IV.

Fightful Select confirmed with GCW that Tiger Mask will be facing "Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington at their Jersey J-Cup show in a special attraction match.

Billington is the nephew of the late Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington. The original Dynamite Kid and original Tiger Mask had some of the most influential matches in wrestling history together.

Tiger Mask IV plans on retiring in July 2026.

The event takes place February 6 & 7 in Jersey City, New Jersey, with this match happening on February 6. Tiger Mask IV will be on both shows.

You can purchase tickets at this link: wl.eventim.us/event/the-2026-jersey-j-cup-night-1/671989?afflky=WhiteEagleHall

Subscribe to Fightful Select's paid tier for the most interacting exclusive wrestling news service of all-time, daily news, discord access and more!

Select Answers: Wrestling footwear, MJF to WWE? Logan Paul Contract

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

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How does Logan Paul's contract work? Does he have a set number of appearances in PPVs or weekly shows? Because he shows up for a few days in a row during a part of the year and then disappears for months. Is there any intention of making him a mid-card champion or world champion?

Those that I spoke to in the company consider him primarily a WWE Superstar. We're told that he doesn't really say no to much, and that they're planning on him being in WWE for years to come. His schedule doesn't call for as many dates as many other wrestlers, and I believe he flies in private as well.

I know it’s still a far ways off but could you see MJF jumping ship to WWE when his current contract is up?

MJF has been very loyal to AEW for almost seven years. But he's ultimately loyal to himself and his family. If WWE comes along and makes an insane offer, and allows him to continue his movie career, there's always an option there.

Speaking of, I don't know that his contract is a "far ways off." One of two things likely happened. When the Double or Nothing 2022 thing happened, MJF legitimately wanted more money. Either they tore up his current contract at the time and gave him a new one, or they signed some sort of multi-year extension based on his deal being up originally at the start of 2024.

By the time 2024 started, he already had plenty of time left on his deal. But we're two years past that now. I don't know if he signed a three or five year contract, but it was for big money when he did.

I noticed recently that Claudio has been wearing boots that lace up on the back along the heel instead of up the front like most boots and that made me curious if you know what sort of thought process goes into wrestlers selecting their boots?

There are a few different methods. You can go barefoot. I liked wrestling barefoot because I trained barefoot. But you open yourself up to a lot of injuries, infection, and just a lot of risk in general without the protection. Wrestling shoes themselves have become more common. I liked those a lot too, because again, it's what you often train in. I never saw people training in full on boots. The wrestling shoes have really good grip. Sneakers have become common, but it was almost unheard of when I started training that people would wrestle in them. Other than surprise spots, I've never trained or wrestled in sneakers. I found that I was susceptible to rolling my ankles in them because of the padding on top of the ring made things more unpredictable. However, a lot of people like shoes and sneakers because they can use their kick pads. I actually switched to boots for my last few matches because I didn't feel like wearing kick pads and liked the look of them. Wrestling boots have a lot more give than you would expect, but the bottoms leave a lot to be desired usually.

TNA Wrestler officially gone from the company

Masha Slamovich is officially done with TNA Wrestling.

Many noticed that Masha's profile was removed from TNA's website on December 9. Fightful Select confirmed with TNA sources that she's done with the company as her contract has expired quite some time ago, believed to be late October.

Masha was pulled from TNA creative plans after details of what she called a "mutually destructive relationship" emerged. Her ex said he hoped she would continue in wrestling, but she's disappeared completely from the public eye.

Reaction to Leon Slater Working WWE SNME

Over the weekend, both wXw and RevPro would announce Leon Slater’s withdrawal from the promotions bouts on their shows.

On December 8th’s edition of WWE Monday Night RAW, Leon would be announced to be teaming with Je’Von Evans against WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee.

Prior to the announcement on Monday, Fightful Select asked around with wXw sources about the withdrawal, with sources noting that Leon’s withdrawal cited ‘scheduling’ issues leading to the withdrawal. It was said to Fightful Select that while the promotion is fully aware of Slater’s busy schedule, this weekend’s show appearance was agreed between wXw and Slater as far back as March, with the promotion working around Slater’s TNA dates to book him for shows. It was noted Slater was as ‘positive and helpful as usual’ during his last appearance with wXw.

Following the announcement on Monday evening, we asked the same sources about Slater’s WWE appearance, with it noted to us that it’s ‘kind of what the promotion expected’, but would have preferred to have WWE give them a heads up about the appearance rather than putting Slater in an unfortunate situation, as the promotion viewed this coming weekend as one of their biggest shows of the year. 

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp spoke with TNA sources who spoke positively of the spot for Slater and said that it was another example of the WWE/TNA partnership continuing.

We also reached out to RevPro for comment, but did not hear back.

As we reported earlier this year, Slater is about to enter a contract year, as his deal with TNA expires in late 2026.

Select Answers: Iron Man Matches, Darby Allin, Damian Priest/Main Event

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

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What’s up with Darby Allin? We were watching his match with Kevin Knight and we noticed it clipped his leg weirdly in a spot earlier in the match.

He was legitimately hospitalized after his match with Kevin Knight. It wasn't as bad as they played it up to be on television, but he was legit in the hospital. However, he was released before that angle even aired on TV. He's out of the tournament, but I don't know how extensive the injury itself is.

Thoughts on Damian Priest working Main Event. Is this a sign WWE have cooled off on him?

As the only person on earth that still watches Main Event, I'll tell you why it bothers me. Despite it being researchable, WWE Main Event is so far off the map, that people will work it regularly, and our own audience will be like "where are they? are they hurt?" It's so far off the radar it's insane, and it's WWE's fault. Main Event could be an easy show to minimally mention. Ivy Nile wants an IC Title shot? Great, mention that she beat Thea Hail on Main Event. Bet you probably didn't know that match even happened.

Priest was an overachiever in WWE. When he got signed, there was not World Title talk for him. But he capitalized on every opportunity, and had a good attitude about the ones that didn't happen. He's the kind of guy you want in your locker room and you want happy. I think before long he'll be back in the mix.

Has there ever been traditional a iron man match with only 1 fall

Yes, probably the most famous Iron Man Match ever. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12. They went the full hour with no falls, then the match was continued and Shawn Michaels won the sudden death. Other than that, I don't think there's been one in mainstream wrestling at less than three falls, as long as they're 30 minutes or longer. That's a well that hasn't been went to much.

Also, I want to see an Iron Man Tables match!!

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 12/8 | Conspicuous By His Absence

This is going to be the shortest episode of Sour Graps EVER.
(EDIT: Turned out to be over 45 minutes, go figure.)

Raw was dumb and bad, and I have to be up super early tomorrow.

So let's get this over with.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

Watch Video Here: https://youtu.be/tn6ZdGe6xq0

Update on WWE library content after Peacock deal.

WWE's current deal with Peacock for their library ends at the close of 2026, leading many to wonder where that footage will go.

Fightful has asked WWE in an official capacity a number of times about the status of the library, and weren't given an answer. However, we spoke to a number of sources around the company about what they expect.

Those that we heard from expect the content to be slowly rolled out on to Youtube and the various Vault channels that WWE owns. It is believed that because of the size of WWEs footprint on Youtube that they likely have a favorable deal with Google. It is not expected that WWE will just upload the entire library. They've long been happy with the buzz that their vault channels get, and the return they receive financially. It's also internally viewed as a way to cultivate fans. We weren't told of any real change to Vault, just that there will be the possibility of more content appearing on those channels.

WWE Network was able to spin off NXT, documentaries, and PLE events into individual rights fees that have been very valuable to the WWE. The library ended up getting packaged with PLEs and Saturday Night's Main Event for the Peacock deal, and that element of the agreement is expiring soon.

When speaking to people who have been around the company for years, they said that the library just wasn't the specific draw that many fans thought it was. It was a big drawing point initially, and something great to include in the Peacock deal, but on its own wasn't likely to fetch a high rights fee deal. Another WWE source said that if they get an offer for the library that makes sense, they'll reserve the right to take it with the Youtube method in effect.