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AEW has revealed the tournament brackets for crowing of Inaugural AEW Womenâ€s Tag Team Champions, with a couple of interesting names in the mix.

This week’s episode of Dynamite featured the return of Athena, who confronted Mercedes Mone in a backstage segment. The ROH Women’s Champion had been off TV since the Death Before Dishonor PPV in August.

Mercedes was still reeling from her 12 belts celebration being ruined earlier by Kris Statlander, who also accepted Mone’s challenge for a Full Gear match.

Athena proposed an alliance with the TBS Champion so the two of them can go after the Women’s Tag titles. The allure of another belt was too much for Último Moné, and she accepted the proposal.

The company later revealed the full brackets for the tournament, which will see the newly formed team of Mone and Athena going against Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron in a first-round matchup.

Other first-round matches include Queen Aminata & Jamie Hayter vs. Sisters of Sin, Alex Windsor & Riho vs. Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa, and Top Gods vs. TayJay.

The tournament will officially kick off at next week’s episode of the Wednesday night show. While additional dates have not been confirmed for it, it’s likely that the finals will take place at the Full Gear PPV on November 22.

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  Ohm YoungmisukOct 22, 2025, 03:59 PM ET

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  Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
  
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Back by popular demand, the NBA Finals will have the large Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy logo return to center court as well the Finals script logo on the floor, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday.

The logos will be painted on the court instead of appearing digitally or via a decal, sources told ESPN.

Fans on social media complained during and after Game 1 of the past Finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana when they saw there were no Finals logo decals on the court.

The Larry O’Brien Trophy logo, shown here in 2007, hasn’t been painted on a court for the NBA Finals since 2009. It will be back this postseason, sources told ESPN, after an outcry on social media during last year’s Finals for it to return. AP Photo/Eric Gay

NBA commissioner Adam Silver noticed the discussions during the Finals and said the league would look into potentially bringing back the distinctive logos that came only on the NBA’s biggest stage.

“I’ve seen some of the chatter on social media around on-court decals,” Silver said on ESPN during the Finals. “People don’t realize they went away a decade ago because there were claims that some of the players [were saying] they were slippery when we had the decals on the floor.”

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The last time the large trophy was painted on an NBA Finals court was in 2009.

“Maybe there’s a way around it,” Silver told reporters during the Finals. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought all that much about it until I [saw] it [on social media].

“I’m nostalgic, as well, for certain things. And also, I think for a media-driven culture, whether it’s people watching live or seeing those images on social media, it’s nice when you’re looking back on highlights and they stand out because you see that trophy logo or some other indication that it’s a special event.”

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MFT unleashed another demolition again, this time towards a returning star, and Solo Sikoa issued a stern warning on SmackDown.

Earlier on the show, Sikoa and his “Family Tree” attacked Rey Fenix backstage during a photoshoot. The MFT leader subsequently appeared during the United States Championship match between Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov.

Then, after Dragunov surprisingly won the title from Zayn, the villainous faction attacked both men to further send a message to the whole SmackDown locker room.

Solo Sikoa and the MFTs interrupt a moment of respect between Sami Zayn and new United States Champion Ilja Dragunovpic.twitter.com/uMaf9kErZ0

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) October 18, 2025

Fenix tried to get back at the MFTs but got quickly decimated, with Talla Tonga taking him down with a Chokeslam.

Solo Sikoa Emphasizes Nothing Will Stop MFTs From Taking Over SmackDown

After the MFTs’ beatdown on Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix, and new US Champion Ilja Dragunov, Solo Sikoa reminded everyone in San Jose, California, that MFTs run SmackDown. The faction leader also expounded that his disciples will bring back everything that his family lost over the past couple of years.

Sikoa then guaranteed that he would make them champions again. It can be remembered that the group (then known as the revamped version of The Bloodline), which consisted of Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu, held the WWE Tag Team Championships under the Freebird Rule.

Dos pueden jugar a ese juego, Solo Sikoa.

Los Wyatt Sicks tienen su propio mensaje… 👀#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/cYMDwYnH5r

— WWE Criollo🇻🇪 (@WWECriollo) October 18, 2025

After the former US Champion’s declaration, the reigning tag team champions, The Wyatt Sicks, appeared following a vignette from their leader, Uncle Howdy.

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Stone Cold Steve Austin might not be done with Broken Skull Sessions just yet. After hinting at the return of his hit interview series during a recent fan interaction, a new report suggests the show could soon be back — though nothing is officially confirmed.

According to Fightful Select, thereâ€s been talk behind the scenes about the series making a comeback through WWEâ€s digital channels. While the news isnâ€t locked in, the report noted:

“In regards to Steve Austinâ€s podcast coming back, weâ€re told it is more than likely happening on a WWE digital platform.â€

Austin recently stirred things up on Instagram when a fan asked if the series was coming back. His response? A casual “couple of weeks†— just enough to light a fire under longtime fans of the show.

Broken Skull Sessions originally ran from 2019 to 2022 and featured Austin in long-form sit-down interviews with some of wrestlingâ€s biggest names. The show quietly vanished without explanation, leaving many wondering if it was shelved for good.

Since then, Austin has remained a consistent presence around WWE, even returning to the ring for one night only against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. That performance reignited interest in both his wrestling future and his podcast series.

Now, with speculation picking up and digital platforms playing a bigger role in WWEâ€s content strategy, it wouldnâ€t be a shock to see the Broken Skull Sessions return in some form — but fans shouldnâ€t get ahead of themselves just yet.

Would you rather see Stone Cold bring back Broken Skull Sessions or return for one last match? Drop your answer in the comments and let us know what youâ€d want from the Rattlesnake next.

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Jerod Harris/Getty Images

The voice synonymous with the WWE’s main roster for over two decades, Lillian Garcia, will return to her formative role, as she is set to appear as the ring announcer for Monday’s upcoming episode of “WWE Raw.” She will be filling in for full-time announcer, Alicia Taylor.Â

In a post on Instagram, Garcia confirmed the news by sharing a photo of herself sitting on the ring apron with the “Raw” logo skirt draped across the bottom part of the ring, along with the following statement: “Back in my playground in 3 days as I sub in for the awesome @aliciataylorwwe on @wwe Monday Night Raw! [smiley and rock on symbol emojis] Can’t wait to be reunited with all of you again! [red heart emoji]”Â

The iconic voice of WWE programming began her career there as a ring announcer in 1999. After taking some time away, Garcia returned to the company last fall to fill the void by the departure of Samantha Irvin. While there, she served as the announcer for both “Raw” and “WWE SmackDown” before stepping back from her full-time role in March. Since then, Garcia continues to appear as a special guest announcer for major events, including for WWE and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide’s co-promotional events, Worlds Collide, and recent episodes of the returning Saturday Night’s Main Event.

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It’s still up in the air as to whether Being The Elite will be making a full-fledged return.

After a long period of dormancy, the Being The Elite YouTube channel was revived at the end of August. The Young Bucks have continued to post regular content since then but have not made any official announcement as to what their plans for the channel are. Thus far, they have uploaded shorter-form content rather than full episodes.

“Weâ€re playing it by ear,†Matt Jackson told Undisputed in a new interview. “Weâ€ve been very careful not to publicly say itâ€s back officially or even call what weâ€ve aired as episodes. Weâ€re referring to it all as BTE content.

“Itâ€s getting a positive reaction, for sure. We donâ€t want to overpromise, but weâ€re definitely having a lot of fun with it.â€

The channel has nearly 500,000 subscribers on YouTube but has not uploaded a full BTE episode in more than two years. Dating back to the pre-AEW days, the vlog series played an important role in helping The Young Bucks connect with fans and grow their popularity.

AEW’s WrestleDream pay-per-view this Saturday will feature a tag match between The Young Bucks and the newly reunited Jurassic Express. Both teams are AEW originals and former tag champions.

“Itâ€s kind of crazy that AEW has now been around long enough to already have a rich history with acts that feel, in a way, nostalgic,†Matt Jackson said about the matchup. “Jurassic Express just feels warm, fun, and familiar. When their music hits, it just brings out the kid in everyone.â€

Jackson added that the match is happening at a time when he and his brother Nick feel like they’ve found their spark again.

“We have really found that spark again, that love of the game,†he said. “Itâ€s been a year where weâ€ve really dug into our old bag of tricks and gone all out, so it only makes sense to go out there and kill it with two AEW originals. We all take great pride in our matches together.â€

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A former WWE Superstar will return to the company for their first match in four years.

Ever since WWE (through NXT) partnered with TNA, a lot of names from the Nashville-based promotion have made their way back to the sports entertainment giant for a couple of matches. Best examples are The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy), Mustafa Ali, Santino Marella, Mara Sade (fka Jakara Jackson), and The Iinspiration’s Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee, who were also known as The Iiconics. This week, a women’s battle royal will take place to determine the number one contender for Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s Championship. The match occurred after an agreement between NXT General Manager Ava and Marella, the TNA’s Director of Authority, following the NXT vs. TNA ShowDown last week.

Advertised participants will include NXT’s Jordynne Grace, Izzi Dame, Jaida Parker, Tatum Paxley, Lash Legend, Lola Vice, Karmen Petrovic, Sol Ruca, Thea Hail, Arianna Grace, and Wren Sinclair. Representing TNA are Sade, Lee, McKay, TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan, Xia Brookside, Heather by Elegance, Kendal Grey, Lei Ying Lee, and Victoria Crawford (fka Alicia Fox).

In the process, this will be Crawford’s first WWE match since appearing at the Royal Rumble back on January 29, 2022. The premium live event happened to be her last with the company prior to the upcoming NXT women’s battle royal tomorrow.

🚨 THE TNA KNOCKOUTS THAT WILL BE ON THE BATTLE ROYAL TOMORROW NIGHT ON #WWENXT

• Lei Ying Lee
• Mara Sadé
• Xia Brookside
• Heather by Elegance
• Victoria Crawford
• Cassie Lee
• Jessie McKay pic.twitter.com/WEJten2GnK

— ðƒð«ðšð•ðžð§ (@WrestlingCovers) October 13, 2025

The 39-year-old had a 17-year career (from 2006 to 2023) with the Stamford-based promotion. She was a former Divas Champion and a 24/7 Champion as well.

Matt Cardona Will Also Have His First WWE Match in Years on NXT

After apologizing to NXT General Manager Ava, which she rejected, former WWE star Matt Cardona initially expressed his desire to be part of Team TNA.

Then, Josh Briggs went to the general manager’s office, and Cardona quickly hid as the two have bad blood with each other currently. The 32-year-old requested that he wrestle the former Zack Ryder, who cost him on September 30th in his Team NXT qualifying match against Myles Borne.

THIS IS REAL.

Next week on @WWENXT!

Iâ€m ALWAYZ READY! pic.twitter.com/8nLiYQxie7

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) October 8, 2025

Ava made the match official and allowed Cardona to come out of hiding. The latter’s upcoming scuffle with Briggs will be his first WWE match since March 9, 2020, when he lost to Bobby Lashley on RAW

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Phillies manager Rob Thomson will be back in 2026, multiple sources confirmed on Monday.

There had been speculation about a managerial change since last week, when the Phillies lost to the Dodgers in the best-of-five NL Division Series. Instead, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and Thomson will address the future of the franchise — including potential changes to the roster and coaching staff — during a press conference on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

A change felt a little like a long shot, but the Phillies have invested hundreds of millions into the payroll and key cogs like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Zack Wheeler arenâ€t getting younger. So it wouldnâ€t have been a stunner if it had happened, either. The Phillies want to win.

Thomson, 62, has made the postseason in each of his first four years, including 2022, when he replaced Joe Girardi in June and led the Phillies to their first postseason berth since 2011 and their first NL pennant since 2009. He is one of only four managers in baseball history to make the postseason in each of his first four full seasons as manager.

Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone and Mike Matheny are the others.

But the Phillies†postseason has ended in enormous disappointment in the three years since, despite a talented roster and a top-five payroll.

The Phillies got bounced in seven games by Arizona in the 2023 NL Championship Series, losing the final two games at Citizens Bank Park. They lost in four games to the rival Mets in the 2024 NLDS and again to the Dodgers this year. And this year, Thomson took heat for in-game decisions that backfired, including a decision to play for the tie in Game 2 and have Bryson Stott bunt with a runner on second and no outs in the ninth inning.

The Phillies are 3-10 in the postseason since they took a 2-0 lead over the Diamondbacks in the ‘23 NLCS. They are 1-5 at Citizens Bank Park.

But how much of that is on the manager? The Phillies†offense has hit a combined .199 with a .626 OPS and has averaged only 3.2 runs per game since Game 2 of the â€23 NLCS.

Phillies relievers have a 5.58 ERA in that span.

“I love Topper, man,†Harper said. “Heâ€s done a great job for us. I donâ€t know what the future holds. I have no idea. I think thatâ€s a Dombrowski question. But obviously, you know we love Topper in here. Heâ€s been great for us.â€

Thomsonâ€s contract runs through next season, but he knows anybody in baseball can be fired at any time for any reason.

“It’s out of my control,†he said after Game 4 last week. “I’m not even thinking about it. I’ve got 60 people in there that are brokenhearted right now. So I’m thinking about that more so than my job right now.â€

By bringing back Thomson, the Phillies are saying the teamâ€s shortcomings lie beyond the manager. Thatâ€s why changes are expected elsewhere.

The Phillies have a host of free agents, including Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suárez, Harrison Bader (mutual option), José Alvarado (club option), Max Kepler, David Robertson and Jordan Romano. They tried to trade Alec Bohm last offseason. They tried to trade Nick Castellanos each of the past two offseasons, which might be easier this winter because he is entering the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract.

They have Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller waiting in the wings in Triple-A.

It isnâ€t easy to win, regardless of the talent on the roster. For argumentâ€s sake, letâ€s remove the Dodgers†2020 pandemic-shortened World Series championship from Roberts†résumé. He finally won a full-season World Series title last year in his eighth full season.

Thatâ€s seven NL West titles in eight years (again, excluding 2020) but only one World Series title to show for it.

What happened those other years?

Braves manager Bobby Cox led the Braves to 14 consecutive NL East titles from 1991-2005, excluding the strike-shortened ‘94 season. The Braves won only one World Series in that run.

What happened those other 13 years?

Bad managing? Or maybe other forces were at play.

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With the NHL’s salary cap hitting a new high this year, and set to make a series of jumps over the next few seasons, players are earning more than ever before. We’re seeing that with the latest wave of contracts coming in.

But according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, players can expect more good news on the financial front when it comes to escrow, too.

“I’m under the understanding that the players have been told that there’s money coming back to them,” Friedman explained during Monday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.

According to Friedman, players “have been informed that this year, none of their paycheque is being withheld.”

“The predictions are strong enough, and the revenues are strong enough, that zero is being taken off their cheques,” he said.

• 
• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

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Escrow isn’t exactly a thrilling subject, but it tells us a lot about where the league is. And according to projections, the NHL is in a very good place these days. Here’s how Friedman explained it:

“Every year, a percentage of the players’ salaries are held back in an escrow account, just to make sure that at the end of the year the revenues end up 50-50,” he said. “And if they end up too much on the players’ side, then that money goes back towards the league and the owners. If they end up too much on the league’s side, then that money goes back towards the players.”

Revenue growth took a hit in 2020, and with that came an increase in escrow to even things out. To lessen the burden on the players, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a plan that smoothed out those payments over a longer period of time.

“One of the reasons the cap never went up in the last few years, was because the players owed money to the league and the owners for all those games that were played with no fans,” said Friedman. “They’d reached a deal where the debt couldn’t be paid off that quickly. But now the debt’s paid off.”

As a result, the salary cap ceiling has gone up — way up. It’s projected to hit $104 million next season, though as Friedman wrote on his latest edition of the 32 Thoughts blog, and spoke about again on the podcast, that number could be even higher. We could see the 2026-27 ceiling come in closer to $107 million.

In addition to positive projections to come, Friedman also spoke about players seeing escrow paid over the last few years returned to them.

“I understand the players have been told that they’ll be getting money back from 2022-23, they’ll be getting money back from 2023-24, a full refund of what was held,” he said, adding, “I think they’ve been told they’re getting a little bit more.”

Not since the beginning of the salary cap era has that happened, noted Friedman.

“All the accounting for the past three seasons is now getting done, and the players will at least be made whole 100 per cent — and in some cases, they’re getting more,” he said.

While cap ceilings and future escrow numbers are still projections, there’s a chance we get some clarity soon as the topic could be on the table when the league host Board of Governors meetings in New York this week.

“That’s why there’s talk about the number going up — because the question is gonna be, ‘would you rather the cap go up, or would you want to give the players extra money in the future?— explained Friedman. “That’s why this conversation is out there. And we’ll see what Bettman says to the Board of Governors this week.”

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John Cena’s WWE Farewell Tour was about pulling off the Never Seen 17th World Title win, a heel turn fans salivated over during his career peak, and most importantly, a love letter to his wrestling career.

He squared off with some of his iconic past rivals, like Randy Orton, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and AJ Styles. One name that did not make the list was Rob Van Dam.

At ECW One Night Stand 2006, John Cena likely experienced, for the first time, a completely one-sided hostile reaction from the fans, with signs that read “If Cena wins, we riot” displayed in the crowd. That match against Van Dam in New York City was one of Cena’s career highlights, as he fell to RVD following too many shenanigans, much to the delight of the people.

Rob Van Dam Details The Conversation He Had With WWE Regarding A Match Against John Cena

Rob Van Dam had recently claimed that he was considered for John Cena’s WWE Farewell Tour in 2025 until his injury rendered it impossible.

Now, on WrestleBinge, Van Dam gave in to renowned journalist Bill Apter’s question about whether he was actually in talks with WWE’s higher-ups regarding a match as part of Cena’s Farewell Tour.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did,” Van Dam said. “At first, I didn’t think [WWE] would be as interested as they apparently were, and so, I started to get a little excited about it. I don’t know if they actually talked to John [Cena] about it, you know? But one of the times, when I was talking to someone about it, they–I don’t remember if it was Paul [Levesque] or Paul [Heyman] in this conversation, but either way, they were like, ‘If John wants to do it, Boom! It’s a shoo-in; for sure. We just need to sell it to him,’ and I was like, ‘All right.’”

The ECW legend noted that WWE was interested in booking their match in Philadelphia, the home of Extreme Championship Wrestling. However, the double heel fracture he suffered in April changed everything.

And so, I don’t know if John was actually aware of it or not, but I was talking to the office about doing it, and was told, ‘If we’re in Philly, it’s a shoo-in.’ Easy. If we’re not doing a show in Philly, well, that doesn’t mean we can’t do it, but we’ll have to think about it; figure it out.’

I was feeling pretty good about the direction it was going, and then, I’m off my feet for most of the year with two broken heels,” RVD concluded.

John Cena’s last match against AJ Styles this past Saturday saw him and Styles pay tribute to many of their past rivals. The Phenomenal One is also in the twilight of his wrestling career, as he confirmed retirement in 2026.

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