Author: Ian Carey

Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.

New match added to NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 lineup

Posted on by Ian Carey

A new match has been announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20.

El Phantasmo will defend his NJPW World Television title against DDT’s Chris Brookes on the show. The match was set up on today’s NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome show at Korakuen Hall. Following ELP’s successful title defense against Ryusuke Taguchi, he put out an open challenge for the Tokyo Dome and Brookes came out to answer the call.

“New Japan World TV Championship open challenge Tokyo Dome, Wrestle Kingdom!” ELP said on the show.

This led to Tatsuya Matsumoto in a Santa costume coming out with a present for ELP. As ELP was opening the gift, Brookes attacked him from behind and revealed he would be his challenger at Wrestle Kingdom. Brookes then gave ELP a Praying Mantis bomb.

The updated lineup for the show is below:

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 (Sunday, January 4, 2026 on NJPW World) —

  • Hiroshi Tanahash’s retirement match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
  • Winner-take-all match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
  • NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Aaron Wolf
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight title number one contender’s match: El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishiimori
  • David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare, Andrade El Idolo & A Mystery Partner
  • Winner-take-all match: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano defend in a multi-team ranbo
  • NJPW World TV Champion El Phantasmo defends against Chris Brookes

Triple H featured in official White House video as part of president’s council

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Triple H offered physical fitness tips in an official video posted to social media by The White House on Monday.

WWE’s Chief Content Officer serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition and, according to his comments, was waiting outside the White House to meet with the president in the Oval Office. Triple H and chair of the council, pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau, then offered advice on what Americans can do over the holidays to stay in shape.

Triple H says in the video:

“We are outside of the White House, waiting just to go into the Oval Office to meet with the president. People asking ‘What do you do during the holidays to stay in shape? To get stronger, to be healthy?’ The thing is, I think if you are just trying to figure that out, enjoy your holidays, enjoy the holiday season, take time, spend it with your families, do whatever it is to make you have a good time, but do something active.”

“Just do something, get moving. If America just gets moving, we’re all going to be stronger, we’re all going to be healthier, we’re all going to be in way better shape next year.“

Triple H was announced as joining the council in August, calling it “an honor” to do so. The council’s goal as announced this summer is to encourage healthy eating and exercise to the American public.

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently announced that he was “parting ways” with WWE until Donald Trump is no longer president of the United States, stating that he no longer wishes to “represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy.“

The White House’s post is below:

Matt Hardy reveals contract status with TNA Wrestling

Posted on by Ian Carey

Matt and Jeff Hardy have re-signed with TNA Wrestling.

Fightful Select reported on Saturday that while they had not heard that the Hardys had signed long-term deals with TNA Wrestling, the belief was they would do so shortly. According to a social media post from Matt Hardy on Monday, the brothers have been re-signed “for a while.”

“BTW, we’ve been re-signed for a while. Merry Christmas, guys!” Hardy wrote.

Matt Hardy’s comments were in response to an episode of the Mike & JD podcast where they discussed the Hardys’ impact on TNA Wrestling.

“The Hardy Boys have been great for TNA. Everybody wants to point to WWE as being the sole reason for TNA’s upswing in business but the Hardy Boys are very much a part of that,” Mike Gilbert said on the show.

The Hardys are coming off having successfully defended the TNA Tag Team titles against High Ryze at TNA Final Resolution on December 5. They also defended their House of Glory tag titles this weekend with a win over Lance Anoa’i and Zilla Fatu on Friday, in a match that saw Anoa’i turn on Fatu.

Hardy’s social media post is below.

Dominik Mysterio update following injury at AAA Guerra de Titanes

Posted on by Ian Carey

Dominik Mysterio will be getting his shoulder injury evaluated soon.

Dominik was injured in the main event of Saturday’s AAA Guerra de Titanes show in Guadalajara. He began favoring his arm shortly after taking a DDT from his father Rey Mysterio. Our own Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the latest on Dominik’s injury on Sunday evening’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer said:

“He was hurting today and he’s going to get examined. Normally, you would go to TV and get examined but there’s no TV until a week from Monday. So, I was told he’s getting examined at some point this week, probably by a doctor there, to see what’s wrong with his shoulder. So, it’s premature to say anything as far as the severity of it but shoulder injuries are very, very common and it’s probably not a good thing.”

“Hopefully, he doesn’t need surgery right now, that would put him out for months if he did that, but right now we don’t know. But the injury is legit.”

Dominik and El Grande Americano, wrestling as Los Gringos Locos 2.0, lost to Rey Mysterio and Rey Fenix in Saturday’s main event. After the match, Dominik shoved Americano away and left the ring area without him.

The full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio is available for subscribers here.

Update on Trick Williams’ WWE main roster status

Posted on by Ian Carey

Trick Williams is now part of the WWE main roster.

Last week, Bodyslam.net’s Cory Hays noted that Williams is now listed internally on the SmackDown roster. Our own Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the news on Sunday evening’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, and noted the possibility of Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans, and others being called up to the main roster.

Meltzer said on the show, “He’s on the main roster now. They are doing an angle where I guess both general managers are trying to sign him and he’s the hottest free agent, which, haven’t they done that angle a lot?”

Williams and Lash Legend announced their engagement last month. Alvarez says he knew they’d both been called up when that happened.

Alvarez said, “As soon as I saw that, I thought he’s been called up. This is a big celebration. They are both going to the main roster and away we go. It was time. It’s past time for a lot of those guys.”

Meltzer continued, “As far as Trick goes, personality wise, obviously, he’s ready. Personality wise he should be a giant, giant star.”

“I don’t think it will be that long before Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans, and Oba Femi are up as well. Everybody was pretty much raving about those guys, and Leon Slater, from the show last week.”

The full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio is available for subscribers here.

Former AEW & WWE wrestler set for NJPW return at Wrestle Kingdom 20

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Andrade El Idolo is returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

He appeared via video on Monday’s Road to Tokyo Dome show at Korakuen Hall, revealing himself as the “business backer” of the United Empire. Andrade will also be one of the mystery members on the United Empire side of a 10-man tag at Wrestle Kingdom 20 against David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, Hiromu Takahashi, and Shingo Takagi.

“My name is Andrade El Idolo. La Sombra is back in Japan,” Andrade said in the video. “I have business all over the world, but in Japan I have a very good business with my friends.”

Andrade has not wrestled for NJPW since the promotion’s Fantasticamania tour with CMLL in January 2015. He previously held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in the company, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura for the title at Arena Mexico in 2013 before losing it back to him at NJPW Kizuna Road 2013 less than two months later.

Andrade is believed to be under a 12-month no-compete clause with WWE stemming from his release from the company in September. He announced recently that WWE granted him permission to appear on a WWC show in Puerto Rico, and he also recently appeared at a House of Glory event earlier this month.

The updated Wrestle Kingdom 20 lineup is below:

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 (Sunday, January 4, 2026 on NJPW World) —

  • Hiroshi Tanahash’s retirement match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
  • Winner-take-all match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
  • NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Aaron Wolf
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight title number one contender’s match: El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishiimori
  • David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare, Andrade El Idolo & A Mystery Partner
  • Winner-take-all match: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano defend in a multi-team ranbo

AEW’s Chuck Taylor undergoes neck surgery

Posted on by Ian Carey

Chuck Taylor has gone under the knife.

The 39-year-old was forced into retirement last year due to osteonecrosis of the bone in his ankle stemming from a previous fracture. However, his most recent surgery appears to have been related to his neck.

On Saturday, Taylor revealed on Instagram that he recently underwent surgery, captioning his post, “Got my neck cut off.”

Taylor’s final match was a Parking Lot Brawl against longtime Best Friends teammate Trent Beretta on the April 25, 2024 episode of AEW Rampage. Since retiring, he has been working backstage as a coach and producer in AEW.

Dave Meltzer previously addressed Taylor’s ankle injury in a May 2024 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, noting that “Superstar” Billy Graham was forced to retire due to similar issues.

“They said that even with surgery (Taylor) may not be able to (wrestle again) and more than likely won’t be able to come back. Billy Graham’s career ended due to the same issues with the death of the bone in his ankle and hip.”

Taylor’s social media post about his neck surgery is below:

WWE ranks its top 25 moments of 2025

Posted on by Ian Carey

According to WWE’s YouTube channel, John Cena’s heel turn was the top moment of 2025.

WWE posted a video counting down the top 25 moments of the year, with Cena’s heel turn topping a list that also included AJ Lee’s return, Paul Heyman aligning with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, and Jey Uso winning his first world championship at WrestleMania.

The complete list is below.

WWE’s Top-25 Moments of 2025 via WWE’s YouTube channel

  1. John Cena turns heel at WWE Elimination Chamber, aligns with The Rock and Travis Scott
  2. Seth Rollins returns and cashes in Money in the Bank briefcase at SummerSlam, defeats CM Punk for World Heavyweight Championship
  3. John Cena wins his 17th World Championship at WrestleMania
  4. Jey Uso beats Gunther to win World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania
  5. AJ Lee returns to WWE on September 5 episode of SmackDown
  6. Paul Heyman aligns with Seth Rollins against CM Punk and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania
  7. Rhea Ripley wins Women’s World Championship from Liv Morgan on WWE Raw on Netflix debut
  8. John Cena taps out to Gunther at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
  9. Damian Priest gives Finn Balor a Falcon Arrow through a table on Raw
  10. The Rock gives Roman Reigns the Ula Fala after Reigns defeated Solo Sikoa at WWE Raw on Netflix debut
  11. Liv Morgan returns to WWE, helps Dominik Mysterio beat John Cena at WWE Survivor Series
  12. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens unsanctioned match at WWE Elimination Chamber
  13. Naomi cashes in Money in the Bank briefcase to win Women’s World Championship at WWE Evolution
  14. Masked man interferes in men’s War Games match at WWE Survivor Series
  15. Tiffany Stratton cashes in Money in the Bank briefcase to win WWE Women’s Championship on SmackDown
  16. The Vision turn on Seth Rollins on Raw after WWE Crown Jewel
  17. Brock Lesnar returns to WWE at SummerSlam
  18. Maxxine Dupri wins Intercontinental title from Becky Lynch thanks to AJ Lee distraction on November 17 Raw
  19. Iyo Sky jumps off War Games cage with trash can on her head at WWE Survivor Series
  20. Ishowspeed enters the Royal Rumble, gets speared by Bron Breakker
  21. Matt and Jeff Hardy win the NXT Tag Team Championships at NXT vs. TNA Showdown
  22. Becky Lynch returns as Lyra Valkyrie’s partner at WrestleMania
  23. Gunther retires Goldberg at Saturday Night’s Main Event
  24. Jacob Fatu does moonsault off steel cage at SummerSlam
  25. Omos eliminates Microman from Cibernetico at AAA TripleMania XXXIII

Nikki Bella responds after WNBA star talks WWE ambitions

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Nikki Bella says she’ll wrestle one-on-one with the WNBA’s Sophie Cunningham.

On a recent episode of her Show Me Something podcast, the Indiana Fever guard said she grew up watching WWE and called John Cena “the absolute best.” Cunningham also said WWE has contacted her in the past about a possible career in professional wrestling.

Following her comments, Cunningham was asked by Bryanna Sompayrac about what her wrestling name would be and who her dream match would be.

“I don’t know what my name would be. I know it would be something spicy and feisty,” Cunningham responded.

When asked about a potential dream match, Cunningham mentioned The Bella Twins.

“I think it would be fun to either partner with them or go against them, so that’s what I would choose.”

After Sompayrac commented that The Bellas are “the best,” Cunningham responded, “Well, I’m hopefully going to take away their shine someday.”

Nikki Bella then responded in the comments, writing:

“I’ll take her on one on one… 💋🙌🏼”

Cunningham has often been described as an “enforcer” for the Fever, frequently stepping in to protect the team’s star player, Caitlin Clark. WWE isn’t the only wrestling company to express interest in Cunningham either, as WOW – Women Of Wrestling also contacted her earlier this year about a potential role.

Tessa Blanchard shares PMs with La Rosa Negra, comments on past allegations

Posted on by Ian Carey

Tessa Blanchard has shared private messages with La Rosa Negra on social media.

In early 2020, several female wrestlers accused Blanchard of bullying and other backstage behaviours, including an incident where she is alleged to have used a racial slur during an argument with La Rosa Negra in 2017.

On Saturday, Blanchard wrote that she and La Rosa Negra are on good terms and shared private messages the two have exchanged.

Blanchard captioned her post with:

“La Rosa and I are on very good terms and talk every now and then, usually about wrestling! Would love to get her in TNA one day.”

The private messages exchanged in the photo Blanchard attached read:

Blanchard: “Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth rehashing. It’s in the past, and we’ve both moved forward. At this point, it’s really no one else’s business. I’m just glad we’re in a better place now, and I’d rather focus on that.

We remember things differently, and that’s okay. However, we both know race had nothing to do with what happened that night. At the end of the day, what matters is where we are now, not what’s behind us. I hope you keep succeeding & doing your best because I love to see it!!! ❤️“

La Rosa Negra replied: “Hahahaha let me defend you in TNA!!!!
Jajajaja i was talking with Moody Jack about story lines and the reel of the (in ring) came out!!!
We start laughing in good way and well…… just hoping u are well!! ✌️”

Blanchard and La Rosa Negra also released a joint Instagram post in 2023 that Blanchard captioned with, “Time, growth, and healing. A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Blanchard’s social media posts are available below:

ROH spoilers from the Hammerstein Ballroom

Posted on by Ian Carey

Spoilers are available for the Ring of Honor matches taped on Saturday.

Four matches took place for future episodes of ROH TV on HonorClub at the Hammerstein Ballroom on the same night AEW taped this Wednesday’s Christmas on 34th Street edition of Dynamite.

The Boom and Doom team of Big Boom AJ and QT Marshall appeared on the show, defeating The Frat House’s Cole Karter & Griff Garrison in tag team action. It was their first match as a team since the AEW Full Gear Tailgate Brawl on November 22 in New Jersey when they defeated The Don Callis Family’s Roppongi Vice team of Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta.

The spoilers below are courtesy of Cagematch.net.

Ring of Honor spoilers from Saturday, December 20 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York

  • Eddie Kingston defeated James Drake
  • Hook defeated Ortiz
  • Bryan Keith defeated Serpentico
  • Big Boom AJ & QT Marshall defeated The Frat House (Cole Karter & Griff Garrison) w/Jacked Jameson & Preston Vance

Alex Windsor defeats Mercedes Mone for RevPro Women’s title on AEW Collision

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Alex Windsor is the new RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Champion after defeating Mercedes Mone for the title on Saturday’s Holiday Bash edition of AEW Collision.

Mone’s reign with the title ends just under a year after she won it from Mina Shirakawa at January’s Wrestle Dynasty at the Tokyo Dome. She successfully defended the championship four times during her reign against Kanji, Safire Reed, Emersyn Jayne, and Rhio.

She is also coming off dropping the Ring of Honor Women’s Television title back to former champion Red Velvet at this month’s ROH Final Battle.

Windsor begins her second reign with the championship. Her first reign lasted 769 days, beginning when she defeated Gisele Shaw for the title on November 7, 2021, and ending when she lost it to Dani Luna on December 16, 2023. According to Cagematch, Windsor successfully defended the title 13 times during that reign.

Mone has expressed her frustrations online following the loss: