Browsing: hed

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Good to bad, bad to good. “Busted Open” hosts Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray have seen the WWE formula play out time and time again, with a bad guy (the heel) eventually flipping allegiances to become good (the babyface). As someone who has played his fair share of roles as a heel, Ray prefers an indestructible, bloodthirsty monster of a man or woman to remain that way with no good turn in sight. When asked who he could see filling that position now, Ray immediately said this former WWE NXT North American Men’s Champion.

“Bronson Reed,” the Hall of Famer chose before explaining his reasoning with a hypothetical scenario where Reed’s heel turn could fully apply and work effectively. “Now, if you take Cody Rhodes…you have Bronson Reed punch -just a straight punch to the base of Cody Rhodes’ skull – where his entire body shuts off, and he cradles to the ground as if his central nervous system just failed on him…And then, Bronson Reed picks him up, and Paul Heyman picks him up, and they’re holding Cody Rhodes up with his arms stretched out. And now, you see Bronson Reed start to run for the spear, and they’ll [the fans] start booing him…That’s how you get heat on that move. You take helpless people and you throw them on the train tracks, and then you watch them get run over.”

“Big” Reed and the “Big Dog” Bron Breakker took matters into their own hands earlier this month when they unexpectedly vanquished their Vision leader, Seth Rollins, relieving him of his World Heavyweight Championship duties and his position within the company for the next six months. While there’s speculation Breakker is next in line to become the World Heavyweight Champion in due time, that’s not to say that Reed might go after his own singles gold, such as Rhodes or Drew McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Championship, after the winner of that match is determined at Saturday Night’s Main Event this weekend.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source link

There are not many former players better qualified to judge a good midfielder than Paul Scholes.

The former Manchester United and England star spent the best part of two decades at the heart of the Red Devils’ midfield, making more than 700 appearances and winning 11 Premier League titles.

It earned Scholes the No.4 spot in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, while Barcelona legend Xavi called him ‘the best central midfielder I’ve seen’.

You may like

Paul Scholes: ‘I’d probably choose him as the Premier League’s best midfielder’

Scholes is a big fan of Declan Rice – but wouldn’t pick him as the Premier League’s best midfielder (Image credit: Alamy)

Although the standard of Man United’s midfielders has dipped since Scholes’ heyday under Sir Alex Ferguson, there are plenty of outstanding candidates across the rest of the Premier League.

The Old Trafford legend name-checked Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool and Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes in the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, but it was another Magpies star who pips England and Arsenal star Declan Rice, according to Scholes.

Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo scored against Liverpool on Saturday (Image credit: Getty Images)

Scholes said: “I still don’t class Moises Caicedo as an all-round midfield player. He scored a great goal, and he was brilliant against Liverpool, and he got a little bit of stick for his performances last year – but in the Club World Cup he was brilliant.

“I just prefer those controlling type midfielders, who play with a bit more style and can score goals a little bit more often than Caicedo does. It was a brilliant goal, but you wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t do it for another 18 months. He’s one of the very best at what he does which is breaking the play up – he’s brilliant at that.

The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

“Alexis Mac Allister was brilliant last year – he controlled a lot of what Liverpool did and they’re missing that this year.

“Bruno Guimaraes is brilliant, and I love Sandro Tonali at Newcastle as well – Tonali especially, he can run – he’s been brilliant. I’d probably choose Tonali as the Premier League’s best midfielder over Declan Rice. Tonali is better than Rice.

‘Brilliant’ Sandro Tonali is the best midfielder in the Premier League, according to Scholes (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I really like Rice, don’t get me wrong, he’s got everything but there’s too many times where he takes too many touches of the ball. He tries to look a little bit more stylish than he needs to do. He’s got physical attributes, great at being box-to-box, and score goals – but he just doesn’t do it enough.”

Italian midfielder Tonali, ranked at no.7 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best defensive midfielders in the world right now, joined Newcastle from AC Milan for £55m in the summer of 2023 and helped the Magpies end their 70-year wait for domestic silverware with last season’s Carabao Cup triumph.

Paul Scholes was speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you bySky Bet.

Source link

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

This past Saturday at NXT No Mercy, Ricky Saints put an end to Oba Femi’s 263-day NXT Championship reign in the main event of the show, becoming the 34th star to win the title in the history of the brand. Since losing the championship, many fans have questioned if Femi could be main roster bound in the near future, but according to ECW legend Tommy Dreamer, it’s still too soon to call up the 27-year-old.

Speaking on “Busted Open Radio,” Dreamer explained that he questions Femi’s ability to perform at the main roster level at the moment, stating that he wishes WWE had more live events so he could be better prepared.

“I wish they had live events. I think he had a great match with Ricky Saints and there’s a big difference when you start to go as we always say ‘deep in the water,’ and deep in the water is time. When you start hitting that past 10 minutes or then into 15 where you’re able to pull those moments out and if you’re looking at a lot of segments on both ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown’ and they’re wrestling in commercial break. You have to really look at like hey can you go at that high level? And continue to keep up that pace, that’s a key thing. I would say question mark right now … tempted? Yes. Would I? No.”

Since No Mercy, there’s been an update regarding Femi’s status going forward, with the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s” Dave Meltzer reporting that “The Ruler” is expected to remain with “WWE NXT” for the time being instead of heading to the main roster.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source link

WWE

CM Punk has conceded that quitting WWE in 2014 was hard on his relationship with his wife, AJ Lee, who was still with the company at the time.

Punk walked out of WWE in 2014 after being disgruntled with his standing in the promotion, but Lee continued on, eventually leaving WWE — and pro wrestling — in March 2015. In his recent appearance on Kevin Hart’s “Cold As Balls” show, Punk admitted that 2014–15 was a difficult year for him and Lee, but they eventually found a way to keep their relationship intact.

“It was difficult because when I left, she was still with the company for a year. That was a hard year for us, relationship-wise. But it made everything after that so much easier,” he said. “Her understanding the business now that I’m back in it, and when she has important stuff to do — like she had a short film debut at Tribeca Film Festival — she can go do that, I can watch our dog, Larry, and when I’m here with you, freezing my nuts off, she’s at home watching Larry. I found my person. She is 100% my partner.”

The show was seemingly filmed before Lee’s return to WWE, which happened on the September 5 edition of “WWE SmackDown,” in Chicago. Ever since he returned to WWE, Punk has been asked numerous times whether Lee would rejoin the promotion, denying each time that she has any interest in getting back in the ring.Â

Punk even claimed that he and Lee would never work together even in movie or television projects. However, when Lee finally returned to WWE, she came to her husband’s aid in his feud with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, sharing the ring with Punk at Wrestlepalooza in her return match.Â

Source link

CM Punk is the latest wrestler to be asked to name their industry Mount Rushmore, with the WWE star citing his “Six Grandfathers” instead, in honor of the monument’s original name. Punk didn’t list himself among his top six, leading to the interviewer on “Pardon My Take” asking why that’s the case. Punk then explained that he’d have a hard time putting himself on such a pedestal.

“Am I better than Steve Austin or Eddie Guerrero?” Punk asked rhetorically. “I’ll never think that. I think I’m more apt to put myself ahead of my contemporaries, right? But the legends that I grew up watching, that I studied, that I learned from? No, I’m not better than those guys.”

Punk also noted that it’s hard to narrow it down to the top six of all time, as he’d missed names like Austin. The wrestlers that did make the cut were: Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, Eddie Guerrero, Harley Race, and Dusty Rhodes.

The interview took place ahead of Punk’s match at WWE Wrestlepalooza this past weekend, which saw him team up with his wife, AJ Lee, for her first match in over a decade. She and Punk defeated fellow husband-and-wife duo Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins, with Lee locking Lynch into a submission to close it out.

While Punk may not have put himself on his own Mount Rushmore (or Six Grandfathers), he did make the cut for Hart, who previously named Punk among his four favorite technical wrestlers in the industry. Similarly, Punk’s former AEW adversary MJF named Punk among his favorite wrestlers to watch growing up, though he didn’t make it onto MJF’s all-time top five list.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Pardon My Take” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source link

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll understands why the team’s fans were exasperated during Sunday night’s 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

New York finished with 281 total yards, while starting quarterback Russell Wilson threw two interceptions. Those inside MetLife Stadium let their voices be heard and were at one point calling for rookie Jaxson Dart to come on in relief of Wilson.

“I’d be booing too, to be honest with you, in terms of not being good enough,” Daboll told reporters after the game. “Not scoring, not finishing. I understand that. That’s the nature of it.”

Wilson torched the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 to the tune of 450 yards and three touchdowns through the air. But three games into the 2025 season, he has had two games with fewer than 200 passing yards. He’s also completing 59.1 percent of his passes, which is on pace to be a career low

The idea behind signing the 10-time Pro Bowler was clear. He’d ideally provide a steady baseline for the offense this season before the Giants pivot toward a longer-term solution.

With Dart, the franchise doesn’t want to rush him onto the field before he’s ready, either. That’s a recipe for a young quarterback to lose confidence or develop bad habits as he tries working through his struggles.

Daboll may not have the luxury of waiting at the rate things are going, though.

Beyond the fanbase’s reaction, the fourth-year head coach is squarely on the hot seat. If New York isn’t going to make the playoffs, then Daboll has an incentive to play Dart and show the first-round pick is improving under his watch.

There’s nothing to indicate a QB change is imminent in the Big Apple, but it certainly feels inevitable.

Source link

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he has broad powers that could be wielded to punish the Los Angeles Clippers and…