Tag: world cup

Mistico appears in Mexico World Cup squad announcement video

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Mistico, the top star in CMLL, helped play a part in announcing Mexico’s team for the 2026 World Cup.

The official 26-man squad for Mexico has now been unveiled ahead of the World Cup kicking off on June 11. In one of the two announcement videos released, a variety of athletes and celebrities made appearances and listed off the names of the players included in the squad. Mistico and boxer Canelo Alvarez were among those to appear. Fullback Mateo Chavez was the name unveiled by Mistico.

Mexico’s Group A match against South Africa is the opening game of the World Cup. South Korea and Czech Republic are the other teams in the group.

Mistico’s participation in this video comes just a few weeks after CMLL and its wrestlers Mascara Dorada & Soberano Jr. collaborated with the NFL to announce a San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings game that’s taking place in Mexico City this November.

CMLL is currently on a hot streak that saw it voted Promotion of the Year and Mistico named Wrestler of the Year in the 2025 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards. With Arena Mexico becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, we’ve seen celebrities show up to events and CMLL even put on a Pokemon-themed show last year.

Mistico’s injury status —

A knee injury has kept Mistico out of action since the middle of May, but he’s hoping to make his CMLL return later this week. He is under a dual contract with CMLL/AEW and also competes for NJPW in Japan, where he currently holds the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles with El Desperado.

England World Cup game could cause WWE SmackDown taping headache

Posted on by Jake Skudder

WWE recently announced a SmackDown taping at the O2 Arena in London on Tuesday, June 23rd. RAW will be taking place in the same venue the day prior, so from a logistical standpoint having the SmackDown taping the next day makes sense….right?

Unfortunately, the taping will happen around the time of the World Cup game between England and Ghana. The taping is expected to start at around 7pm, so likely ending around 9pm-9:30pm. The kickoff time for the England game is 9pm BST, so there will be a lot of fans who would have gone to the O2 that night with no questions asked having to make a decision that night.

There’s still a good chance that the show will sell well, but you can’t understate the importance of international football/soccer for fans in Europe, especially when England are up there as potential favorites to win the tournament just behind Spain and France. The Ghana game is the second in the group for Thomas Tuchel’s side, and whether or not England beat Croatia in their opener a few days prior, this will still be a crucial game that England fans can’t miss. Had this taping been at the same time as the England vs Panama game it would be a completely different story.

WWE SmackDown or England at the World Cup?

England haven’t won the World Cup since 1966, but that doesn’t stop the country getting full on World Cup fever every four years (and Euros fever in-between). Although it’s technically a school night, there are usually a big portion of families who go to WWE events like these live tapings…but it’s going to be a tough sell for fans who are also planning to watch the Three Lions.

The company will be heading to Sheffield the next night for a WWE Live Event. The exclusive presale for these shows starts on May 12 and General Sale starts May 14 at 10am BST.

WWE SmackDown World Cup semifinals set

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The WWE SmackDown World Cup semifinals are set following Friday’s show. 

Ricochet and Butch won their quarterfinal bouts on Friday’s SmackDown episode to advance to the semifinals of the World Cup tournament. 

Ricochet defeated Mustafa Ali on Friday’s show to advance and will take on Braun Strowman in a semifinal bout on next week’s SmackDown. 

In Friday’s main event, Butch defeated Sami Zayn to move on and will face Santos Escobar next week in the other semifinal matchup. 

Escobar and Strowman punched their tickets to the semifinals with wins on last Friday’s SmackDown. 

Strowman and Ricochet had a backstage faceoff on SmackDown this week, where Ricochet referenced a tweet from Strowman mocking “flippy flipper” wrestlers. 

In addition to the World Cup matchups, a tag bout for the WarGames advantage, plus a Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi and Raquel Rodriguez tag team bout have been announced for next week’s SmackDown, the Survivor Series go-home show.

Next week’s lineup: 

  • SmackDown World Cup semifinals: Braun Strowman vs. Ricochet
  • SmackDown World Cup semifinals: Santos Escobar vs. Butch
  • WarGames advantage match: Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Usos
  • Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi & Raquel Rodriguez

WWE reveals bracket for Crown Jewel World Cup tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With the lineup for the tournament set after Bobby Lashley replaced John Cena, WWE has revealed the bracket for Friday’s World Cup tournament.

Seth Rollins vs. Lashley and Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler will be taking place on the Raw side of the bracket. On the SmackDown side, Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz and Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton are set for the first round of the one-night tournament.

WWE officially announced last Thursday that they were going ahead with Crown Jewel taking place in Saudi Arabia as scheduled. The show is being held at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, with an hour-long pre-show starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time prior to the main card beginning at noon.

In addition to the World Cup, Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker & Kane, Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the vacant Universal Championship, WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Daniel Bryan (if Bryan appears on the show), and The New Day challenging for Cesaro & Sheamus’ SmackDown Tag Team titles are currently advertised for Crown Jewel.

John Cena off WWE Crown Jewel, replaced by Lashley

Posted on by Bryan Rose

John Cena is officially off WWE Crown Jewel.

It was announced during Raw tonight that Cena is out of of Crown Jewel’s World Cup tournament. In storyline, acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin gave the spot to Lashley, who left Finn Balor laying after their match ended in a disqualification. Corbin said that Cena never qualified for the tournament to begin with, so he was taking him out.

Robbie Fox of Barstool.com originally reported last week that both Cena and Daniel Bryan were refusing to do the show. Bryan’s status for the show remains to be seen. WWE is advertising a segment for tomorrow’s SmackDown where AJ Styles and Bryan will be in the same ring ahead of their WWE Championship match at Crown Jewel.

WWE has garnered significant controversy about the upcoming show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They announced last week that they would continue on with their show after Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post who lived in Virginia, was murdered inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey by perpetrators who allegedly have ties to the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

Rey Mysterio, The Miz round out WWE World Cup lineup

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The lineup for WWE’s World Cup tournament is now officially set.

Rey Mysterio and The Miz were confirmed for the World Cup on tonight’s SmackDown. The eight wrestlers for the tournament are: John Cena, Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Mysterio, and The Miz.

In his first match for WWE since signing a deal to return to the promotion, Mysterio qualified by defeating Shinsuke Nakamura at SmackDown 1000. The finish was Mysterio avoiding the Kinshasa, putting Nakamura in position for the 619, and hitting the 619 and a springboard frog splash.

Miz defeated Rusev in his qualifying match. It was a quick match, with Aiden English interfering and distracting Rusev. That led to Miz rolling up Rusev and pinning him while holding onto his tights. In a post-match angle, Lana low blowed English and Rusev attacked him.

The World Cup tournament will be held at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2.

Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler added to WWE World Cup tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

All four Raw wrestlers have been confirmed for WWE’s World Cup tournament.

Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler won their qualifying matches on tonight’s episode of Raw, with them joining John Cena, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton in the lineup for the tournament.

As the storyline of dissension between Dean Ambrose and The Shield continued, Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre by countout and Ambrose lost to Ziggler in their qualifying matches on tonight’s Raw. Cena was announced for the tournament last week, Angle dressed up as “The Conquistador” and won a battle royal, Hardy defeated Samoa Joe, and Orton defeated Big Show.

The remaining two spots on the SmackDown side will be filled tomorrow. Two qualifying matches are set for the episode, with Rey Mysterio facing Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev taking on The Miz.

The World Cup tournament will be held at WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2.

Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton added to WWE World Cup tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following this week’s television, half of the lineup for WWE’s World Cup tournament has been announced.

Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton both won World Cup qualifiers on tonight’s SmackDown. The tournament is being held at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2. There will be eight entrants (four from Raw and four from SmackDown) in the World Cup, and John Cena and Kurt Angle were the first two wrestlers to be confirmed for it.

Hardy defeated Samoa Joe to qualify for the tournament, with Joe still selling the storyline knee injury from his match against AJ Styles at Super Show-Down. Hardy won by referee stoppage when Joe wasn’t able to stand at the end of the match.

Orton faced Big Show in his qualifier and won by hitting a thumb to the eye an an RKO.

Rey Mysterio will face Shinsuke Nakamura in a World Cup qualifying match on SmackDown 1000 next Tuesday.

John Cena and Kurt Angle set for WWE World Cup tournament

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena and Kurt Angle are the first two wrestlers confirmed for WWE’s World Cup tournament.

The tournament will take place at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2, and WWE provided more details about it on tonight’s Raw. There will be eight wrestlers in WWE’s World Cup, with four of them coming from Raw and four coming from SmackDown. WWE announced that Cena will be in the tournament on the Raw side.

The story for Cena being announced for the tournament was that he doesn’t have to qualify due to his accomplishments.

Angle returned to Raw tonight for the first time since the storyline where he was sent “on vacation” by Stephanie McMahon and Baron Corbin was named acting general manager. Angle qualified for the World Cup by winning a “Global Battle Royal.” The entrants in the battle royal were Corbin and enhancement wrestlers, with Angle dressed as “The Conquistador.” Angle waited outside the ring until only Corbin was left, then gave him German suplexes and an Angle Slam before eliminating Corbin and revealing his identity.

Angle last wrestled during April’s Greatest Royal Rumble. He was one of the 50 participants in the Royal Rumble match.

Two World Cup qualifiers are set for tomorrow’s SmackDown. Big Show will face Randy Orton on the episode, and Jeff Hardy will take on Samoa Joe.