Daily Update: Linda McMahon, Toni Storm, Bloodsport

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Wednesday Update

WWE

  • President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement last night officially announcing that he will nominate Linda McMahon to his cabinet as secretary of the Department of Education.
  • Glenn Jacobs (Kane) congratulated Linda on her nomination: “Congrats to @Linda_McMahon, our new Secretary of Education! Honored to call you a friend and can’t wait to see all you accomplish with @realDonaldTrump over the next four years.”
  • The Washington Post published a story about Linda once incorrectly claiming to have a degree in education on a questionnaire for the Connecticut Board of Education.
  • The first-ever “WWE ID Showcase match” will take place at WWN Battle for the Belts in Clearwater, Florida on Sunday, December 15. It will feature two WWE ID prospects facing each other, with WWE saying that more information will be revealed soon.
  • While speaking with the New York Post, Kofi Kingston was asked about Odyssey Jones briefly being added to New Day’s storyline before Jones was let go by WWE due to domestic violence allegations. Kingston said:
    • One of the main lessons that I’ve learned is that you never know what tomorrow is going to bring with WWE. You always have to be ready to adjust at the drop of a hat. There have been times where we have known what’s going to happen at a Monday Night Raw for weeks and we work towards that, and then we get into the building, and then all of a sudden, we’re doing the exact opposite. And it’s your ability to adjust and roll with the punches that pulls you up. Nothing ever goes as planned.
    • So all that to say, you know, once Odyssey was out of the mix, we just had to figure out a way to pivot and keep the story going and keep on moving forward, because, as they say, the show must go on. And you figure out the best ways to adjust.
  • Vulture published Becky Lynch’s full quote from when she addressed her WWE future at Vulture Festival this past weekend:
    • If you think the way I’m gonna go out after the career I’ve had is with Dominik Mysterio slamming a door in my face – that’s probably not gonna happen.
    • But when will [I] come back? I don’t know, I don’t know, I’ve really been enjoying myself and working on some projects that I’m very excited about, whenever I get to share them with you, I think they’re pretty awesome. I think you’re gonna think they’re pretty awesome.
  • Bully Ray spoke with Giulia on Busted Open Radio After Dark.
  • Cathy Kelley was a guest on the B4 The Bell podcast.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Likely furthering the angle for her imminent return, Toni Storm announced to SB Nation that she is “retired” from pro wrestling and will never be heard from again. Storm apologized for being “such a failure,” saying that AEW will be fine without her: “AEW is just fine without me. Everything is going well for AEW. They don’t need Toni Storm.”
  • Storm was asked if there’s anything she would change about her career: “When I met Mariah May. I’d been on the top of the world for many, many years. I delivered. Then Mariah came onto the scene and everything went tits up.”
  • Adam Cole spoke to Asbury Park Press about how he’s helping some of the other talent in AEW:
    • We have a young roster of hungry talented wrestlers who do whatever they can to get better. A lot of them are so, so good. A lot of it is a learning process. I did the same thing, I asked veterans to watch my match and it helped me. Now I’m in a position to do this, and I can help our young roster, I want to do it.
    • Lots of time I’ll give advice or watch them do what they do, I’m learning as well.
  • NJPW star Shingo Takagi will be in action on ROH TV this Thursday night in a match against Ariya Daivari. Among the other matches set for the episode is an ROH TV title bout with Brian Cage defending against AR Fox. Plus, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena faces Leila Grey in a Proving Ground match.
  • The Lame Guys Podcast interviewed Bobby Lashley.
  • Masha Slamovich told The Takedown that she wants to face Meiko Satomura before Satomura retires from the ring next April: “I want Meiko Satomura sometime in 2025. Somehow, some way, the gods have to make it happen.”
  • Calvin Tankman vs. Lou Nixon is the latest addition to the card for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XII in Jersey City, New Jersey this Sunday.
  • At Eric Bischoff’s MLW One-Shot event, Brock Anderson & CW Anderson will face Matthew Justice and a mystery partner in a Roulette tag match – where a roulette wheel will be spun to determine the stipulation. The show is taking place in Queens, New York on Thursday, December 5.
  • Mascara Dorada has been announced for MLW Kings of Colosseum in North Richland Hills, Texas on Saturday, January 11.
  • Former WWE wrestler Gable Steveson was a guest on The Ariel Helwani Show today.