Ilja Dragunov Stretchered Out During NXT Taping; December 14th Live Wrestling News Round-Up

A classic stipulation tied to the late Bray Wyatt could return thanks to a recent pitch from Shotzi!

During a fan Q&A on Die Woche through WWE Deutschland, Shotzi revealed that she has pitched bringing back the House of Horrors stipulation to settle her rivalry with Damage CTRL’s Bayley. The first and only House of Horrors match took place back at WWE Payback 2017 where Bray Wyatt took on Randy Orton.

“I have been trying to pitch this. Yes. Me and Bayley in a House of Horrors [match], yeah! Plus, that would be my playing field. She wouldn’t know what to do in House of Horrors. I’d be like, ohhhhhh, this is my field.”

“Zombies, ghosts, I would call out all of my dead friends to help me beat Bayley […] She cut my hair so she deserves it!”

h/t to WrestlingInc

Jim Ross has revealed the date he hopes to return to AEW from his ongoing medical hiatus.

Speaking on Grilling JR, Ross claimed that he is hoping to return to the promotion at AEW Worlds End later this month, which would end his ongoing hiatus after just under two months. However, he noted he is not focusing on that date too hard as he doesn’t want to set himself up for disappointment if he cannot commit to it.

“I have the corner of my eye thought about the pay-per-view coming up that you just mentioned on Long Island. But that’s a hope that I would be healthy enough and able to work and work to the level that I need to work.

I don’t have a date. It’s just hard to plan. I don’t want to set myself up for dissapointment. If I’m going to do something and I say I’m going to do it then it’s going to get done but I can’t commit to that right now because I still got some ongoing health issues that need to be addressed and they are being addressed.”

h/t to F4WOnline

Chris Jericho has opened up about how those backstage at AEW reacted when CM Punk returned to WWE.

In a new interview with WFAA, Jericho claimed that it was “business as usual” behind the scenes at AEW when Punk made his surprise return to WWE. He went on to admit that the same likely occurred when the likes of Adam Copeland, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole came to AEW from WWE.

“It’s business as usual. It happens. It’s the same reason why I’m sure there wasn’t a big reaction when Adam Copeland came to AEW or when Will Ospreay signed with AEW or when Danielson, Moxley, and Adam Cole came to AEW. It’s good for the business that guys have the ability to go between companies. It’s great for the fans and it’s great for the talent overall. It just makes the business stronger and that’s the most important thing.”

h/t to Fightful

In order to allow talent and crew some time off over the festive period, WWE taped the next two weeks of NXT programming last night. Full spoilers for both editions of the black and gold brand can be found below, courtesy of PWInsider:

December 19th:

• Fallon Henley defeated Tiffany Stratton. Stratton attacked after the match and dumped the contents of a trash can onto Henley.
• Ilja Dragunov cuts a promo on all his accomplishments this year before Ridge Holland interrupts. The two set up a match for later tonight. Trick Williams confronts Ilja about giving Holland a match before their scheduled match at NXT New Year’s Evil, but Ilja brushes him off.
• Lexis King defeated Dion Lennox in a Men’s Breakout Tournament First Round match. Trey Bearhill comes out to confront Lexis after but Lexis runs away.
• Izzi Dame and Kiana James defeated Jacey Jane and Thea Hail. Riley Osborne watched the match from ringside. Roxanne Perez comments on the match backstage, which leads to a confrontation from Arianna Grace, who slaps Perez.
• Dragon Lee defeats Charlie Dempsey and Joe Coffey to retain the NXT North American Championship. As the match was about to start between Lee and Dempsey, Gallus made their way to the ring and Coffey added himself to the match. As Lee pinned Dempsey, however, Coffey was pulled under the ring by an unknown figure. No Quarter Catch Crew attacked Lee after the match, leading Joaquin Wilde and Cruz del Toro to make the save.
• Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes had a short segment in the men’s locker room.
• Cora Jade enters the women’s locker room and declares herself as back. She retakes her old locker which is being used by Karmen Petrovic and throws Petrovic’s belongings onto the floor. Petrovic returns and wonders what happened to her gear and Gigi Dolin tells her Jade was responsible.
• Tavlon Heights defeated Luca Crusifino in a Men’s Breakout Tournament First Round match.
• Nikkita Lyons defeated Tatum Paxley.
• Gallus defeated Hank Walker and Tank Ledger.
• Ilja Dragunov vs Ridge Holland ended in a no-contest after Dragunov suffered an injury. Ilja was put into a neck brace and stretchered out of the venue as Holland looked on with concern.

December 26th:

• Lucien Price and Bronco Nima defeat Duke Hudson and Andre Chase in an All or Nothing match. NXT Champions The Family watched the match from the balcony.
• Noam Dar defeated Josh Briggs to retain the NXT Heritage Cup. Briggs was disqualified in the fourth round after hitting Dar with a spit bucket, moments after Lash Legend hit Briggs with it behind the referee’s back.
• Cora Jade defeated Karmen Petrovic.
• Bron Breakker defeated Nathan Frazer.
• Joe Gacy defeated Joe Coffey. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger stopped Gallus from interfering.
• Riley Osborne defeated Lexis King in a Men’s Breakout Tournament Semifinal match. Trey Bearhill distracted King from ringside, allowing Osborne to get the win.
• Oba Femi defeated Tavlon Heights in a Men’s Breakout Tournament Semifinal match.
• Eddie Thorpe defeated Dijak in an NXT Underground match.

WWE has released a new compilation video featuring every superstar debut and return to take place in 2023!

What’s your favorite WWE debut and return to take place this year? Let us know using the link at the top of the page!

Following last night’s edition of AEW Dynamite, a taping took place for this Friday’s edition of AEW Rampage. Below are the spoilers of every match that took place on the taping, courtesy of PWInsider.

• Orange Cassidy, Ross Von Erich, and Marshall Von Erich defeated Jake Hager, Angelo Parker, and Matt Menard. Hager, Parker, and Menard attacked after the bell. Danhausen attempted to make the save but was taken down and eventually, Kevin Von Erich got in the ring and locked in The Iron Claw on Hager.
• Kyle Fletcher and Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Hunter Grey and Paul Titan. Don Callis cut a promo on Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho afterward.
• Anna Jay defeated Red Velvet. Matt Menard distracted Velvet, which led to Jay getting a win via submission.
• Top Flight & Action Andretti defeated Komander, Hijo del Vikingo, and Penta El Zero Miedo.

CM Punk is said to be playing a significant role in the upcoming media rights negotiations for WWE Raw.

Speaking on today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer attempted to clarify a social media post in which he claimed the situation regarding Raw’s future has changed greatly and that Punk is now a focal selling point of the red brand.

Meltzer claims that Warner Brothers Discovery, the current TV partner of AEW, is one of several interested parties in Raw and while it was previously believed the door was closed on WBD’s interest a few weeks ago, Punk being one of the show’s biggest stars has renewed interest.

I mean, here’s the basic gist. WWE is trying to shop around. And one of the people that they were trying to shop to, obviously, we know it’s Amazon Prime, and WBD and Disney, most likely FX, and those are some of the key people that they were trying to shop to, perhaps USA [as well], going for Raw. They would like to get close to $400 million, I don’t think they’re gonna get 400 million for it, but they’re shopping it around. And WBD obviously being one of them and WBD seemed to be dead and it’s not dead. That’s just the basic thing with Punk there and everything like that. It’s not dead.

And it’s not like people should go in there. Oh, my God, you know, this and that with AEW, there’s no way of knowing anything more other than they did have a meeting and it’s not dead. That’s all. As far as the Raw deal. I mean that the talk is that they’re finalising. The belief is they’re finalising pretty soon. I mean, Levesque was at Raw on Monday, missed the one Raw, you remember, because of whatever they were doing, they’re trying to close that deal. So, you know, that’s pretty much it. But Punk opened up what may have been a shut door, how open that door is or what’s going to transpire? I don’t know.

But Punk, he’s a significant player. And that’s one of the reasons he’s going to be at the house show in Los Angeles, because I’m sure that the people who they are courting they’re going to bring up, everyone’s headquarters is in LA. And I’m sure that they’re going to invite everyone that they’re courting there and figuring that they’re going to see Punk and Dom, right? They pick the right opponent for just a great reaction and go like, look, this is what you’re getting. And this is the show we’re selling. So, the belief is, that it’s coming down relatively soon.

You can read more about the current TV rights negotiations for Raw here.

NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov is the latest WWE star to suffer an injury scare after being stretchered out during an NXT taping!

Dragunov headlined the taping for next week’s episode of NXT where he took on Ridge Holland. Unfortunately, their match came to a sudden end after Holland dropped Dragunov on his head after lifting him in a front face-lock, leading the champion to be stretchered out of the venue in a neck brace.

Thankfully, however, Fightful’s Corey Brennan has since reported that the injury isn’t legitimate and is part of a wider storyline going forward. Holland being involved in the injury angle has been criticised by some online as being in poor taste, given his accidental involvement in Big E’s major neck injury last year.

Welcome back to the ITRWrestling live blog! I’ll be with you from 12pm to 6pm BST (7am – 1pm ET) covering all the biggest stories from WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT, and more.

Today’s top stories are:

• Ilja Dragunov Stretchered Out During NXT Taping
• CM Punk “Significant Player” In Raw Negotiations
• Full Spoilers For December 15th AEW Rampage