Browsing: partnership

WWE

WWE and AEW have been locked in heated competition, starting even before the days of “AEW Dynamite” going head-to-head against “WWE NXT” before the developmental brand moved to Tuesday nights. Despite the change, WWE continues to schedule shows on important dates for AEW, including the recent “NXT” versus TNA “Showdown” special that went head-to-head with AEW’s “Title Tuesday” special, when “Dynamite” had to switch up nights due to the MLB playoffs.

AEW President Tony Khan recently sat down on “The Ariel Helwani Show” and spoke with the host about all things wrestling, and addressed former AEW star Matt Hardy’s previous comments on the show. Hardy said that he believed the WWE and TNA partnership might have been created to hurt AEW. Khan said that he loves both Matt and Jeff Hardy despite their AEW departures, and said he didn’t find the comments to be malicious.

“I respect that opinion a lot,” he said. “I think it’s probably true, and I respect that Matt said it, honestly, that’s really cool… I think it’s a very interesting collaboration. I think Matt hit the nail on the head that it makes sense, and AEW is a very strong challenger brand, and it’s not that unusual.”

Khan said he takes it as a compliment, and compared it to back when WCW was starting to take off, and Smokey Mountain Wrestling was running shows to compete with the promotion. He explained that Vince McMahon sent WWF wrestlers to the promotion to compete with WCW, and it’s not uncommon to see WWE collaborate with another company when there’s a challenger brand.

“So, it’s not that unusual, and again, I don’t take it personally at all,” Khan said. “It makes sense, looking at the wrestling playbook of the WWF.”

Khan Address Viral Championship Photo

Helwani then asked Khan about the viral photo former AEW World Champion CM Punk posted to Instagram following the most recent Saturday Night’s Main Event. Punk shared an image of himself posing with fellow former AEW stars, Jade Cargill, Ricky Saints, and Cody Rhodes, all wearing their WWE championships. Khan started off his comment talking about how great he believes AEW is doing right now, and how he thinks his roster is delivering great shows, but said Punk’s photo did make him smile, as he thought of a photo Rhodes and Jon Moxley took after an AEW show with their titles.

“It reminded me of Double or Nothing 2020, the first pandemic pay-per-view, we put on this great pay-per-view, and Cody won the TNT title and Mox retained the AEW World title versus the late, great Mr. Brody Lee, may he rest in peace,” Khan said. “After Double or Nothing 2020, Cody and Mox took a photo, and I thought it was interesting.”

Khan said he has relationships with all four of the stars in the photo and said they’re very different. He said he could talk for hours about all four of them and why he likes them and why he thought they were great in AEW.

“But, they’re all not wrestling in AEW anymore,” he said. “But to be completely honest, I just thought that photo, it made me think of Double or Nothing in 2020 and being there in Jacksonville and taking that photo on my phone and remembering that night, and thinking man, ‘It’s crazy how five and a half years have flown by.'”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Helwani Show” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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After 12 years, Stephen Curry and Under Armour have mutually agreed to end their partnership, making Curry a shoe free agent after the end of this season.

Under Armour will release the Curry 13 in February 2026, then they will part ways. Curry has been with UA since 2013, when the company signed him away from Mike.

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Curry will retain sole ownership of the Curry Brand (which had been a subdivision of the Under Armour brand) and will seek a new retail partner.

“Under Armour believed in me early in my career and gave me the space to build something much bigger and more impactful than a shoe. I’ll always be grateful for that.” Curry said in a statement announcing the split. “Curry Brand was created to change the game for good and over the past five years, we successfully changed the game for kids, for communities, and for basketball. What Curry Brand stands for, what I stand for and my commitment to that mission will never change, it’s only growing stronger. I’m excited for a future that’s focused on aggressive growth with a continued commitment to keep showing up for the next generation.”

“It’s been an incredible privilege to work with Stephen, who as President of Curry Brand has been much more than an ambassador – he’s become a thoughtful and strategic business leader,” said Kevin Plank, Founder and CEO of Under Armour, in a statement. “Together with our teammates, he helped build something rare: a brand with credibility, community impact, and product that performs at the highest level. For Under Armour, this moment is about discipline and focus on the core UA brand during a critical stage of our turnaround. And for Stephen, it’s the right moment to let what we created evolve on his terms. We’ll always be grateful for what he’s brought to the UA team.”

Curry’s signing with Under Armour was a massive win for the company. They released a series of shoes over the years, then in 2020 launched the Curry Brand (think of it like the Jordan Brand with Nike, a separate company under the umbrella of a larger one).

Now, that brand is going to be a free agent and it will be in demand.

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After more than a decade, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Under Armour are parting ways, the company announced on Thursday. The Golden State Warriors guard has been one of the brand’s signature faces since switching over from Nike in 2013.

In a statement, Under Armour said that the point guard’s Curry Brand will be separated from the company, and that Curry himself will also be independent from the company. Under Armour says that it will continue to develop new basketball-related products “with a disciplined focus on its namesake brand.”

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Curry and Under Armour launched Curry Brand in 2020, with Curry eventually taking over as president of the brand. Curry also received significant Under Armour stock as part of a long-term deal in 2023.

Under Armour, which is set to release the Curry 13 in February 2026, says that it will be releasing the sneaker as planned, though it will be the final Curry Brand release under the Under Armour brand. Additional colorways and apparel collections will be available through next October, per the company.

Under Armour’s founder and CEO Kevin Plank wrote in the statement that it was “an incredible privilege” to work with Curry, but that it was “the right moment” to split the partnership.

“Together with our teammates, he helped build something rare: a brand with credibility, community impact, and product that performs at the highest level,” Plank wrote. “For Under Armour, this moment is about discipline and focus on the core UA brand during a critical stage of our turnaround. And for Stephen, it’s the right moment to let what we created evolve on his terms. We’ll always be grateful for what he’s brought to the UA team.”

Curry added that he was “grateful” for the company’s belief in him early in his career.

“Under Armour believed in me early in my career and gave me the space to build something much bigger and more impactful than a shoe. I’ll always be grateful for that,” Curry said. “What Curry Brand stands for, what I stand for and my commitment to that mission will never change, it’s only growing stronger. I’m excited for a future that’s focused on aggressive growth with a continued commitment to keep showing up for the next generation.”

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Prior to the separation, Curry was one of few NBA players with lifetime deals, with LeBron James and Kevin Durant holding lifetime contracts with Nike and Damian Lillard signing a lifetime deal with Adidas last winter.

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WWE and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) have announced a long-term strategic partnership that will bring together two of the world’s premier sports and entertainment companies.

The partnership will feature exclusive merchandise collaborations, original content development, community programs, and cross-brand appearances between WWE Superstars and Toronto sports personalities.

As part of the collaboration, Monday Night Raw will return to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on January 26, 2026, airing live on Netflix worldwide.

“Collaborating with an iconic organization like MLSE is a natural extension of WWE’s deep and growing connection with Toronto, which has included recent major events like Money in the Bank in 2024 and Elimination Chamber in 2025,” said Alex Varga, Co-Head of Revenue at WWE.

WWE Superstars will make special appearances at Toronto Maple Leafs games on January 25 and January 27, while Toronto sports personalities will attend Monday Night Raw. The partnership builds upon existing WWE Legacy Title Belts featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors branding.

Tickets and Pre-Sale Code

Tickets for Monday Night Raw in Toronto go on sale Friday, November 14 at 10am ET exclusively through Ticketmaster.com, where fans can secure the best seats for all WWE events. An exclusive presale begins tomorrow at 10am ET using code WWEVIP on Ticketmaster.com.

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History has had some great supporting characters.

Not sidekicks. That would be disrespectful. The number twos – those who make the stars shine that little bit brighter.

Brian Clough had Peter Taylor. Elton John had Bernie Taupin. Elsa had Anna.

Mitchell Johnson, the moustachioed menace who destroyed England at the speed of light, had Ryan Harris.

The 2013-14 Ashes, when England were humiliated 5-0, will forever belong to Johnson. The left-armer was pure pyrotechnics, battering stumps, pads and helmets, for his 37 wickets. At the other end, new-ball partner Harris was every inch his ‘Rhino’ nickname – rampaging and relentless.

It was Johnson who walked away as an Ashes legend, but Harris who produced ESPN Cricinfo’s ‘ball of the century’, external, a physics-defying in-outer to bowl England captain Alastair Cook. Kevin Pietersen called Harris the best Australian seamer he ever faced, and KP took on Johnson, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.

There were plenty of reasons why Harris might never have pulled on a baggy green cap.

His father was born in Leicester, meaning Harris could have played for England. An attempt to spend time with Sussex as a local player in 2008 was aborted. Before then, a younger Harris who liked “drinking beers” was let go by South Australia, only to regain his state contract as a first reserve when another player rejected theirs.

With a second chance, Harris realised he could add some pace to his bowling, and a move to Queensland helped fulfil his potential. Still, a troublesome right knee, a hangover of schoolboy injuries sustained fielding and playing Aussie rules, would plague and ultimately end his career.

He did not make his Test debut until the age of 31 – just before an Australia side in transition was famously humbled 3-1 on home soil in 2010-11 by Andrew Strauss’ team. It remains the last time England won down under.

“They were just relentless,” Harris tells BBC Sport. “I just remember walking into changing rooms at breaks thinking ‘what do we have to do to get these blokes out’.”

As his team suffered, so too did Harris, breaking his ankle in the fourth Test. Nothing compared to the misery of Johnson, whose game fell apart to a soundtrack of taunts from the Barmy Army. He bowls to the left, he bowls to the right. You know the rest.

“For the first time in his career he was challenged and the ball wasn’t coming out anywhere near what we would have liked,” says Harris. “Mentally, he started second guessing himself.

“That happens when there is so much pressure on. He was there to intimidate and bowl fast, but he couldn’t quite get that.”

Harris’ next crack at the English, in 2013, was just as problematic for Australia.

A chaotic build-up, including controversy over homework and David Warner punching Joe Root in a Birmingham bar, culminated in Mickey Arthur being replaced as head coach by Darren Lehmann.

“Boof had a massive meeting about how we all have to be in it together,” says Harris. “We had team values Mickey had drawn up – starting with ‘I will do this, I will do that’. Boof flipped that. He changed the ‘I’ to ‘We’. It was all about us being together.”

Australia found themselves 2-0 down, but could have won all the last three Tests before ultimately losing the series 3-0. There was a return series in Australia straight away, and Harris sensed the shift in momentum.

“You look at it on paper and it’s one of the worst results, but we thought it was way closer than that,” he says.

“When we got back on the plane, we left really hungry, and knowing it was going straight back, we saw it as a great opportunity.”

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October 29, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

Mark Bates Ltd have extended their sponsorship of the National Championships for another year, continuing a partnership with Table Tennis England which began in 2020.

The partnership will see the Mark Bates Ltd name continue to be associated with every age group of the Nationals.

To celebrate the news, Mark Bates Ltd are giving away two fabulous prizes in a draw which is open for the next two weeks.

The first two names drawn at random will each win a pair of SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2 Bone Conduction Sports Headphones – and the first name drawn will also win a pair of tickets to Finals Day (Sunday 22 March 2026) at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships.

More about the sponsorship extension

The announcement follows the news that the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships will feature a refreshed format for 2025/26, with qualifying and the main draw brought together under one roof.

This seasonâ€s competitions under the Nationals umbrella are:

• 7-8 March: Mark Bates Ltd Cadet & U17 Nationals
• 20-22 March: Mark Bates Ltd Senior Nationals
• 19-20 April: Mark Bates Ltd U10-13 Nationals
• 16-17 May: Mark Bates Ltd Junior & U21 Nationals

As well as sponsoring the Nationals since 2020, the Lincolnshire-based family-run insurer has put in additional investment to increase prize money at the flagship Senior Nationals, resulting in a 25% increase in 2020 and a doubling in 2023, with prize money maintained since then.

In a statement, Mark Bates said: “Weâ€re delighted to be continuing our partnership with Table Tennis England for another year.

“Supporting the sport at every level, from grassroots to elite, is something weâ€re proud of, and itâ€s inspiring to see the passion and dedication of everyone involved. We look forward to another exciting year working together.â€

Table Tennis England CEO Sally Lockyer said: “Itâ€s great news that Mark Bates Ltd are continuing to support and invest in our flagship event, the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships.

“Mark shares our passion for the sport and together we are determined to elevate the sport to new heights and to create an unrivalled experience for athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and spectators at the Nationals.â€

Find out more about Mark Bates Ltd and the companyâ€s support for the Nationals in this video:

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CMLL is continuing to expand its international ties by announcing an official partnership with Japanese women’s wrestling promotion Stardom.

The business relationship was announced on Wednesday night during CMLL’s weekly Informa talk show. CMLL boss Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli and Stardom president Taro Okada both appeared for the announcement. Kounosuke Izui of Japanese wrestling magazine Lady’s Ring — who helped bring the two promotions together — also appeared.

Joining the show now are Kounosuke Izui of Lady’s Ring and Taro Okada of Stardom.

Salvador Lutteroth and Taro Okada officially announced a partnership between CMLL and Stardom. They’ll interchange wrestlers in hopes of aiding the development of talent in both promotions. pic.twitter.com/hwoYq4FFPv

— luchablog (@luchablog) October 23, 2025

In the partnership, CMLL and Stardom will exchange talent with the goal of benefitting both promotions and advancing women’s wrestling worldwide.

“This partnership was made possible through the efforts of LADYSRING’s Kounosuke Izui who has long served as a bridge between CMLL and the Japanese women’s professional wrestling world,” Stardom wrote.

“In addition, Stardom’s sister organization, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, also has a partnership with CMLL, and Stardom’s entry into the organization will further expand their ties.”

CMLL now has official working relationships with AEW, NJPW, Stardom, and MLW.

This Friday, CMLL is presenting its annual Womenâ€s International Grand Prix at Arena Mexico. Stardom’s Hazuki and Koguma are two of the participants. There will also be representatives from AEW/ROH (Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart, Thekla, and Diamante), MLW (Shoko Nakajima), and Revolution Pro Wrestling (Kanji).

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Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated’s wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.

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Jack Draper will no longer work with the man who coached him to the Indian Wells title as James Trotman wants to prioritise time with his family.

The British number one has already hired Jamie Delgado as his head coach for next season but had been hoping there would also be a role for the man with whom he has enjoyed much success over the past four years.

Trotman says it has become increasingly difficult to “juggle” Draper’s career with his own family life.

“I’ve made the decision that four years has been a great run,” Trotman told BBC Sport.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was getting increasingly difficult for me juggling the demands Jack deserves as the player that he is – and also being a father and a husband.

“I need to start to get those energy levels back up and have a little bit more normality – watch my son play football on a Sunday, go on some family holidays, have a bit more of a normal life.”

Trotman says he first spoke to Draper about his future after Wimbledon, having felt mentally and physically tired over the previous year.

The pair have been working together this week, with 23-year-old Draper returning to the practice court after resting the left arm injury that ended his season early.

If the bruising in his arm heals as expected, Trotman will head to San Diego for some warm weather training with Draper and Delgado at the end of November.

But after that, he will return to his job as an LTA men’s national coach.

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Having Paul Heyman as his WWE manager is a dream come true for Bronson Reed.

Reed and Heyman linked up on screen this May when Reed was added to The Vision, a faction that also includes Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker. The pairing of Reed and Heyman already existed behind the scenes before it was brought to TV, though, with Reed telling the Battleground Podcast that Heyman would help him with promos and his character.

“Honestly, for me, you know, I was a huge wrestling fan and specifically ECW. So it’s a bit of a dream come true for me,” Reed said about working with Heyman. “If I could have asked myself five years ago: ‘Who would you want to be managing you as a pro wrestler?’ I would pick Paul Heyman. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to this business. So I feel like, if anything, I sort of make sure to pick his brain as much as possible because that just helps me with my career.”

Reed has a big homecoming ahead at WWE Crown Jewel this Saturday, where he will take on Roman Reigns in an Australian Street Fight. It’s a rematch from when they faced off at Clash in Paris. Though Reigns won that matchup, he was stretchered out after in an angle where he was attacked by Reed and Breakker. Reigns is looking for revenge in this second meeting.

Crown Jewel is being held in Perth, Western Australia and has a start time of 8 a.m. Eastern on Saturday (October 11). The PLE will air live on the ESPN streaming service in the United States and Netflix elsewhere.

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TNA Wrestling and WWEâ€s partnership has led to all sorts of crossover matches that fans never thought were possible. However, one name thatâ€s yet to crossover to TNA is Penta and now he has addressed possibly making his way to TNA.

While speaking on the Battleground podcast, Penta was asked about the possibility of crossover matches now that the door is wide open for talent exchanges. He was specifically asked if there was any chance fans might see him step into a TNA ring.

Penta responded by saying he is open to everything and made it clear that before coming to WWE, his goal is to conquer everything in front of him. Whether itâ€s the NXT Championship, AAA, or going to TNA, he wants to face it all without hesitation.

“Why not, man? Iâ€m open for everything. I say very soon before I come to WWE to conquer everything no matter what. No matter if itâ€s NXT Championship, sorry. No matter in AAA, no matter TNA, no matter nothing.â€

We will have to wait and see when Penta will make his way to TNA Wrestling and compete in a TNA ring again, since itâ€s clear there will be plenty of opportunities for him to make that happen in the future.

Do you want to see Penta wrestle in TNA before going to WWE, and who would you like to see him face first? Share your thoughts below!

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.

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