Browsing: moment

Randy Orton decided to break character after being spotted recently with one of his fiercest rivals, who happened to be this top WWE villain.

Orton and Drew McIntyre have no love lost between each other, and they’ve been going at it over the past few years, whether it’s for the WWE Championship or just a heated battle. Their last encounter was on the September 12 episode of SmackDown, where The Scottish Warrior nailed The Viper with his Claymore Kick. Fast forward, and the two have apparently called for a ceasefire and decided to spend some time together outside the ring. Orton, McIntyre, and another former WWE Champion, Sheamus, recently attended an event organized by popular YouTuber and influencer, IShowSpeed.

During Speed’s event, The Viper was seen having a good time with The Celtic Warrior and The Scottish Warrior, which was really interesting considering that they had just feuded with each other this past month. IShowSpeed (real name: Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) launched his new series Speed Goes Pro!,which tackled his sporting and athletic activities, including his WWE appearances at WrestleMania XL and the 2025 Royal Rumble.

The premier happened at the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 30th.

Check out the photo below:

Drew Mcintyre, Randy Orton and Sheamus were all at IShowSpeed’s Speed Goes Pro event 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NILTuZCYgG

— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) October 1, 2025

Orton was featured in the trailer and one of the episodes itself alongside other sports and entertainment giants such as NFL legend Tom Brady, 2020 Gold Medalist for gymnastics Suni Lee, competitive eater Joey Chestnut, and former NBA MVP Kevin Durant.

IShowSpeed Tried To Sneak In on WWE Legend Randy Orton

During the Speed Goes Pro!launch, IShowSpeed slowly approached Randy Orton by attempting his RKO. The Viper’s wife, Kim Orton, then warned her husband, but the 20-year-old decided not to pull the trigger, in a funny and light-spirited manner, as the former WWE Champion turned around to meet him.

The two talked with one another and discussed doing something in the next few weeks, seemingly pertaining to Speed’s upcoming series.

iShowSpeed attempts to RKO Randy Orton.

pic.twitter.com/kKq3vbfskD

— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) October 1, 2025

It can be remembered that IShowSpeed got involved in Randy Orton’s WrestleMania XL match against Logan Paul by pushing him, while disguised as a Prime Bottle mascot. However, things didn’t end well for Speed when he fell victim to The Viper’s brutal RKO on the announce table.

Source link

Finn Balor is often regarded as one of the most underutilized talents in WWE by both fans and pundits. After making a huge impact in NXT and becoming the inaugural Universal Champion, an untimely injury derailed his momentum. Since then, many believe he has never truly regained the top spot he once held.

While Balor has captured secondary titles and is currently a Tag Team Champion alongside JD McDonagh, the general sentiment is that he deserves far more. Yet with WWEâ€s current booking direction, it appears that Balor is firmly entrenched in the midcard for the foreseeable future. This raises the question: when exactly did this shift happen?

[Before we proceed, we would like to inform you that this is an opinion piece with no implications on ongoing storylines.]

Finn Balor: From Main Eventer To Midcarder

Pinpointing when that shift happened isnâ€t just about a single match loss or a stalled storyline; itâ€s about a series of booking decisions that quietly redefined his role in the company.

After his 2017 return, WWE failed to capitalize on his star power. Though he competed in high-profile matches, these rarely translated into long-term momentum. His excellent second run in NXT, which carried the brand through the pandemic era, gave him a darker edge, but this evolution wasnâ€t translated effectively when he returned to the main roster.

A major turning point came during his much-hyped match with Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules 2021. While anticipation was high, the bizarre booking of “The Demon†character against Reigns left fans frustrated. The backlash further cemented the notion that Balor was no longer a serious world title contender.

The Rise Of The Judgment Day And The Fall Of Finn Balor

Ironically, Balorâ€s position slipped further just as he joined one of WWEâ€s hottest factions, The Judgment Day. After ousting Edge (aka Adam Copeland) from the stable he created, many assumed Balor would become its de facto leader. For a brief period, it seemed his career trajectory might change.

While the group always maintained that they had no leader, fans automatically assumed The Demon to be the de facto head, and for a while, it looked like things were about to change for Balor. However, as fate would have it, the inclusion of Dominik Mysterio and his consequent storyline with Rhea Ripley shifted the focus from him completely, as WWE saw Dirty Dom as the breakout star from the group.

Even when Ripley left, the void was filled by Liv Morgan, and though these days Balor is seen scheming to get Dom out of the stable, his place within the World Wrestling Entertainment’s hierarchy is cemented. Even if he ends up taking over the group and having a feud with Mysterio, it’ll be to put the latter over and won’t really elevate him up the ranks.

So What Can Finn Balor Do?

At 44 years old, Balor still looks and performs at a world-class level, but WWE clearly views him differently from a business perspective. Instead of building him as a future world champion, the company positions him as a veteran presence; someone who can elevate younger stars like JD McDonagh while adding credibility to midcard titles.

The silver lining is that whenever Balor holds a secondary championship, it carries added prestige. His consistent in-ring excellence and loyal fan following ensure that his matches remain highlights, regardless of card placement.

Still, fans cling to wrestlingâ€s golden rule: “Never say never.†While it seems unlikely that WWE will crown Balor as a world champion again, the possibility of a short, feel-good title reign canâ€t be dismissed entirely.

For now, Finn Balorâ€s role is clear; he is the seasoned veteran who enhances everyone around him. Yet, for many fans, the hope remains that one last main event push could give The Prince the recognition he has long deserved.

What are your thoughts on the same? Share them with us on our Facebook or X/Twitter.

Source link

Gloucestershire Cricket says the club is now debt-free after receiving money from the sale of teams in The Hundred from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

All 18 first-class county teams were due more than £400,000 from the sale of the franchises, which raised around £520m to be split across the game.

A Gloucestershire statement said the proceeds had enabled them to “clear all borrowings, other than debentures, resetting its finances and providing a clean slate for the future”.

“This is a seminal moment for the club, bringing to an end more than 20 years of carrying borrowings,” said Nick Bryan, Gloucestershire treasurer.

“Savings on interest will now be reinvested into cricket operations and improving the club’s commercial performance.”

Chair Peter Matthews previously said the money would help the club become a “very financially sustainable, profitable business”.

“It saves us a ton of money on interest payments, which can now go into other things that are probably better than paying banks interest,” he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

“The business this year, like it was last year, will be trading profitably. The problem last year was you traded profitably and lost money on interest payments.”

Source link

Harris English was 32 when he made his first Ryder Cup team; that was four years ago at Whistling Straits, where English, as the second-oldest player on the team, went 1-2-0 as a captain’s pick, and the Americans steamrolled the Europeans, 19-9. English’s second Ryder Cup appearance came last week at Bethpage Black. He soaked up every minute, because, well…who knows if he’ll be back for a third go? As English said Thursday, “Ultimately, this might be my last Ryder Cup.”

During practice rounds, English reveled in picking the brains of his fellow players, who most weeks on Tour guard their game-improvement knowledge as if they’re state secrets. (“Everybody is very open,” English said.) At the Opening Ceremony, he palled around with Bryson DeChambeau, who explained to English the finer points of social media. (“A different world that I’m not used to seeing,” English said.) English also got to reunite with Russell Henley, with whom English played junior golf and roomed at the University of Georgia — and now here they were playing on a U.S. Ryder Cup team together. (If you would have told us that when we were 14 years old,” English said, “we wouldn’t have believed it.”)

It’s dream-week stuff for these guys: the insights, the bonding and, of course, the promise of putting points on the board for your flag, especially in Sunday singles, when the contest is in the balance and players have nothing to fall back on other than their own skill, nerve and mettle. For the world’s best sticks, Ryder Cup singles matches rank right up there with the sport’s ultimate gut checks; they’re also the only format in which every player is guaranteed a match. When you earn your place on a Ryder Cup team, you’ve earned a Sunday tee time you’ll remember for the rest of your days.

ENGLISH DIDN’T NEED TO WAIT LONG last week to see how his game would hold up in the supercharged arena that was Bethpage Black. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley tapped English and Collin Morikawa to play in the event’s first session: Friday foursomes. The Americans couldn’t have loved their draw — the juggernaut Euro squad of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood — and the match played out as most predicted, with McIlroy and Fleetwood cruising to a 5-and-4 victory. Still, Bradley (and his quant geeks) had faith in the English-Morikawa duo, so much so that they trotted them back out on Saturday. Same format, same opponents (by chance), same result: this time a 3-and-2 defeat.

At day’s end, the U.S. team was in a historically deep hole, needing to win 10 of the 12 available points in Sunday singles to prevent Europe from becoming the first road team to win a Ryder Cup in 13 years. A herculean task? Most assuredly. But the U.S. did have something going for it: historically it has outplayed the Europeans in this format. If each player dug in and did his job, a comeback was improbable but not impossible.

Among the European point-earners Saturday was Viktor Hovland of Norway, who teamed with Scotland Bob MacIntyre, to deliver a 1-up foursomes win over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and English’s old college teammate, Russell Henley. Hovland would have gone out again in the afternoon if not for a nagging neck injury he’d been dealing with since the Travelers Championship in June. On Saturday morning, Hovland had received mid-match treatment from team doctors, and soon after the contest concluded, he withdrew himself from his afternoon four-ball date with Matt Fitzpatrick.

Hovland’s questionable status immediately led to speculation about whether the Ryder Cup’s fabled “envelope rule” might need to be enacted. Under that agreement, each captain submits, in concealed fashion, the name of one player from his team who, should an injury on the opposing side prevent a player from suiting up, would also be benched. It’s a cruel assignment for the captains. Put bluntly, they’re identifying the players on their teams in whom they have the least confidence in delivering a singles point. Only twice in the rule’s 46-year existence had it come into play and not since 1993.

‘Has to change’: 1 rule slammed by Keegan Bradley after Ryder Cup loss

By:

Nick Piastowski

On Saturday night, Hovland was transported to a local hospital where he had an MRI scan that later showed he had a bulging disc. On Sunday morning, he woke up unable to turn his neck. Still, he burned to play. He put on his team colors and headed to the range for a practice session that did not go well. His decision was made. Sometime after noon, he informed his captain, Luke Donald, that he would have to withdraw from his bout against English, which was the last of 12 matches on the tee sheet. In Ryder Cup Europe’s 318-word statement explaining the situation, two words, from Hovland, stood out: “Pretty heartbreaking.”

Hovland was speaking only for himself, but he may as well also have been speaking for his opponent.

***

HARRIS ENGLISH GOT THE NEWS at about 1:15 p.m., or roughly 45 minutes before his scheduled 2:03 starting time. He was in the practice area, on the verge of warming up for what was either the first- or second-biggest match of his life. That, Harris later said, was when “they told me that I’m not playing today.”

He knew this outcome was a possibility, of course. But still, hearing the words — that one of the great privileges and opportunities of his golfing career had been stripped from him by way of another player’s status — had to feel like a Canelo Álvarez-grade blow to the gut. When asked about his poor luck Sunday evening, English oozed class, saying it was more stressful watching the matches than playing in one and how proud he was of his teammates for “gutting it out” and making the Europeans sweat by claiming 8 of the 12 points. But English also revealed what else was churning inside.

“It was tough,” he said. “I know Viktor is hurt. He sent me a text. He came up to me, and I know he’s hurt. The rule is what it is; hopefully they’ll look at it at some point. But it sucked not going out there and playing today.”

It did suck.

For English, for Hovland, for the teams, for the captains, for the fans, for the event.

But rules are rules.

“We have contracts for a reason, a captains’ agreement for a reason, for situations that occur,” Donald said at the winnner’s press conference Sunday night. “I want to center it back to Viktor; I would have had absolute faith in him to deliver a point today. He couldn’t play. He was gutted.”

Bradley was less diplomatic.

“The rule has to change,” he said sternly, without saying how he’d like to see it changed. “I think it’s obvious to everybody in the sports world, in this room. Nothing against Viktor. But that rule needs to change by the next Ryder Cup.”

That edition will be decided two years from now at Adare Manor in Ireland. Only time will tell if Harris English will be there.

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar believes the upcoming ODI World Cup in India, starting Tuesday, will be a defining moment for women’s cricket in the country.The Indian women’s team’s journey to the 2017 World Cup final in England significantly boosted the sport’s popularity. India is still pursuing its first global trophy, which Tendulkar believes could be achieved by Harmanpreet Kaur’s team on home soil.”I sense that women’s cricket in India stands on the cusp of its own watershed moment. The upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup will not just be about chasing a trophy; it will be about igniting countless dreams,” Tendulkar wrote in an ICC column. “Somewhere in Moga, a teenage girl might be clutching her bat tighter, hoping to emulate her idol Harmanpreet Kaur. In Sangli, another girl might be practising her drives, daring to dream like Smriti Mandhana.” Harmanpreet Kaur captured national attention with her remarkable 171-run innings against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semifinal, which left a lasting impression on Tendulkar.”I still remember vividly Harmanpreet’s magnificent 171 against Australia in the 2017 World Cup. It was not just an innings; it was a statement. The sheer audacity of her strokeplay, the clarity of her mind, and the courage in her heart took women’s cricket in India into a new orbit,” he further noted.”I believe that was the moment when many stopped seeing women’s cricket as a sideshow—it became centre stage.”Tendulkar also expressed admiration for Smriti Mandhana’s batting style, continuing, “There is a silken grace to her batting, a natural rhythm in the way she times the ball. Her ability to find gaps with such elegance reminds me of the finest in the game.”The cricket icon sees the home World Cup as a crucial platform for women’s cricket development.”Now, the sport has the opportunity to transcend barriers—of gender, of perception, of accessibility. The little girl with a plastic bat in a small town must feel that the world is open to her, just as I felt after watching a triumphant Team India in 1983,” he added.Tendulkar acknowledged ICC chairman Jay Shah’s contributions to women’s cricket in India.”A lot of credit must go to Jay Shah, who, during his time as BCCI secretary, pushed for equal match fees for men and women and laid the foundation for the Women’s Premier League,” he concluded.

Source link

If you want to believe the fates are somehow conspiring against the Mets as their wild card berth slips away, Jacob Young’s two spectacular catches at the center field wall in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals, one that included kicking the ball skyward to keep it from hitting the ground, played into that narrative.

As Carlos Mendoza said in amazement, “I’ve never seen that before.”

But if you’ve been watching these Mets play some dreadful baseball in recent days, weeks, even months, from their bad defense to boneheaded baserunning to the bats going silent far too often, you know that’s the furthest thing from the truth.

It’s not fate. The Mets have played poorly for much of the last three months — 17 games under .500 since June 13. And now it appears they’re also collapsing under the weight of trying desperately to avoid the embarrassment of missing the postseason with their star-studded roster and their gazillion-dollar payroll.

In short, there’s really no other way to put it: They’re giving it away.

How else to explain losing two of three games to the lowly Nationals at such a crucial point in the season, and playing raggedy defense when their focus should be as heightened as possible.

How else to explain failing to muster any real offense against Jake Irvin, one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors for the last several weeks, as evidenced by his 9.36 ERA over his last seven starts. Or the inability to score against the Nationals’ bullpen, whose 5.60 ERA coming into Sunday ranked dead last in MLB.

How else to explain all the defensive and baserunning miscues lately, to the point where a week ago Mendoza admitted, “We’re not playing good fundamentally right now.”

All of it only happens to a team as talented as these Mets when they’re playing tight, squeezing the sawdust out of the bat, trying not to make mistakes rather than playing freely.

And now the prospect of a full-blown collapse is more real than ever, after the Cincinnati Reds won their fifth straight game on Sunday to pull even with the Mets for the third wild card spot — but not really even, since they own the tiebreaker should the teams finish with the same record.

So in truth the Mets are suddenly behind, to the point where even winning their final six games, three in Chicago against the Cubs, and three in Miami against the Marlins, wouldn’t get them in unless the Reds cooperate.

In the Mets’ clubhouse on Sunday, Brandon Nimmo was doing a group interview when the Reds’ score went final, and he was asked if he could believe the Mets were now out of playoff position.

“Yeah, I can definitely believe it,’’ he said. “It’s been happening right in front of our eyes.”

Yes, the Mets have been sliding for weeks, letting teams like the Reds, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the San Francisco Giants back into the race. And the closer those teams have gotten, the worse the Mets have been playing.

On Sunday, in fact, in what the Mets had to feel was a must-win game, they met the moment with a litany of mistakes early that contributed to a 3-0 deficit by the second inning.

There was Juan Soto getting picked off first base. There was a throwing error by Francisco Lindor that helped fuel the Nationals’ three-run rally. There was a fumble of a routine ground ball by Pete Alonso for another error.

There was also Sean Manaea giving up a two-run home run to a light-hitting backup shortstop named Nasim Nuñez on a flat fastball, which led reporters to ask him why, as Mendoza said, he again wasn’t able to elevate his fastball.

Said Manaea, after several seconds of thought: “I don’t know.”

Even with all of that, the Mets’ worst mistake in some ways, and one that epitomized their  play of late, was Cedric Mullins’ lack of awareness on the bases that proved costly.

It happened on a weird play in the fourth inning: with Luis Torrens on second base, Mullins’ fly ball down the left field line at first appeared to be caught by a diving Daylen Lile. But as he hit the ground, the ball came out of his glove, and according to Mendoza, third base umpire Jeremie Rehak made a safe sign, indicating the ball was in play.

With the ball in plain sight on the ground, and Lile writhing in pain, Torrens took no chances and went back to tag up, then ran all the way to score as the ball still stayed untouched on the ground. Mullins, meanwhile, said he saw no signal from the umpires (nor did first base coach Antoan Richardson), and because he saw Torrens tag up, “my assumption is that it was an out.”

So he lingered around first base, watching Torrens run. Meanwhile, Mendoza said, “We were all screaming from the dugout” to go to second. Mullins didn’t hear them, and only noticed when he finally started to go back to the dugout himself. At that point, umpires had called timeout, and though Mullins did go to second (he was tagged out, though Mendoza said they would have challenged), the play was ruled dead and Mullins was awarded first base.

Clearly Mullins should not have assumed, since he didn’t see a signal, and instead kept running. And it mattered when he was immediately doubled off first on Lindor’s line drive to Josh Bell. When Soto followed with a double to the right field corner, Mullins’ mistake loomed even larger.

Had the Mets’ offense come to life at some point, of course, the play would have been a footnote. Instead, it potentially had a major impact on the outcome. Another blunder that has become far too common for this ballclub.

And so now the Mets are up against it. In their quiet clubhouse the players insisted they still believe. But the tone of their comments shifted as the chasers now.

“We put ourselves in this position, we’ve got to find a way out of it,” said Lindor. “If we want to be where we want to be, we have to play better.”

“We can turn it on in an instant,” added Nimmo.

At this point, though, it’s hard to believe they can merely flip a switch. They’ve been a mediocre-to-bad team longer than they were a good one on this long and winding road of a season.

And most significantly, no matter what they do, they now need help.

Source link

Clayton Kershaw blew a kiss to his family, pounded a fist in his glove, then made the familiar trot from…

Former marathon world record holder Steve Jones MBE had his statue unveiled in his home town of Ebbw Vale this…

In partnership with Rolex, members of Team USA and Team Europe reflect on their heated moment as well as the…

Ethan Miller/Getty Images Brock Lesnar is one of the last…