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Browsing: World
TORONTO — The magic ran out for the Mariners in this 2025 season, one that will go down as one of the most memorable in franchise history, but with an ending whose sting will stand the test of time.
Seattle was in the driverâ€s seat all night Monday in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, but it blew a two-run lead when Eduard Bazardo surrendered a back-breaking, go-ahead, three-run homer to Toronto’s George Springer in the seventh inning that wound up being the decisive moment.
With it, the Mariners were stunned in a 4-3 loss — and now, they face an abrupt entry into the offseason, one that they believed wouldâ€ve instead begun with a parade.
“It just sucks,†said Cal Raleigh, who was in tears at one point outside the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre. “It hurts.â€
Still the only franchise that has never reached the World Series — but were eight outs away on Monday night — this one will hurt for an eternity.
For being on the precipice of the pinnacle. For Mondayâ€s stupefying swing of events. For having it ripped away from their grasp by a nemesis in Springer that they know too well. For the same familiar feeling, even if they had never been this close to the Fall Classic in their 49 seasons of existence.
“I hate to use the word failure, but it’s a failure,†Raleigh said. “That’s what we expected, was to get to the World Series and win the World Series, and that’s what the bar is and the standard is. And that’s what we want to hold ourselves accountable to.â€
Bazardo was on the mound for the soul-sucking moment, but the chaos truly began in the sequences just prior, via their All-Star ace.
Bryan Woo issued a leadoff walk to Addison Barger to begin the seventh, then a single immediately after that brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Andrés Giménez moved the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, at which point Mariners manager Dan Wilson turned to Bazardo to face Springer and the top of Torontoâ€s loaded lineup, despite Andrés Muñoz also being available.
Bazardo has been the bullpenâ€s catalyst all season, and especially in October. But Muñoz is their two-time All-Star closer, and he did wind up pitching a scoreless eighth — essentially, an inning too late.
Because there was no bottom of the ninth. No lead left to protect. Nothing that Muñoz could do other than limit the damage and hope that the Mariners conjured more of the magic thatâ€s defined this season.
“Bazardo has been the guy that’s gotten us through those situations, those tight ones, especially in the pivot role,†Wilson said. “And that’s where we were going at that point.â€
Added Muñoz: “Everybody was ready. But in that moment, they thought that was the best decision, and we all support that, because we’ve been doing that through the whole season. So today it didn’t work. It doesn’t mean that they made a wrong call. It was just that today wasn’t the day. That’s it.â€
And Bazardo: “It’s a little bit amazing for me, because I didn’t lose one game all year. That is the most important, and they got me. That is baseball. That can happen.â€
Indeed, Bazardo was never on the hook for a loss as a pitcher of record in the regular season, and Monday was just his second blown save. And indeed, heâ€s been their pivot pitcher all season.
But this was Game 7, and Wilson managed like it for much of the night until that fateful moment. He relieved George Kirby after just four strong innings of one-run ball because Kirby was slated to face Toronto a third time through. And he then turned to Woo, who before this ALCS had never pitched in relief, for the fifth and sixth then the start of the seventh.
“You make your decisions, and sometimes you have to live and die with it,†Wilson said. “I think, again, the way Bazardo has thrown the ball all season long, we were comfortable with where we were and it just, again, didn’t go our way.â€
This one will be dissected all winter, and for a starved fanbase, maybe even longer.
Seattle jumped to separate leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1 on Monday, thanks to an RBI single from Josh Naylor in the first inning then solo homers from Julio RodrÃguez and Cal Raleigh in the third and fifth, respectively.
But as has been the case throughout this series, while the Mariners were able to create traffic on Monday, much of it was squandered. Seattle stranded seven runners and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position in Game 7. Overall, they hit .195 with men on base over these seven games, and their Nos. 7-9 hitters — who were at the plate for three of Mondayâ€s stranded baserunners — hit .071 in those instances.
“There were plenty of shoulda-woulda-coulda’s that you think about,†said J.P. Crawford, who was in the No. 7 spot and laid down a sacrifice bunt with no outs that moved two runners into scoring position in a scoreless second. Crawford also had a one-out double in the fourth but was stranded.
Beyond Monday, the Mariners had series leads of 2-0 and 3-2, becoming just the fourth team to win the first two games of a best-of-seven playoff series but ultimately not advance. Teams with that much of a cushion had moved on in 25 of the previous 28 instances.
“This stings and there’s no question that it’s going to sting,†Wilson said. “But the kind of season they had, doing things that no team in this organization has ever done, and knocking on the door of a World Series — all that, it’s due to how hard they’ve worked, how hard they’ve played all season long.â€
Wilson is right about that reality, and that the Mariners are built to get back to this point long term — even if itâ€s a truth that wonâ€t resonate in the immediate, given its timing.
Seattle has a core of foundational players that will all be back in 2025, and in many cases, well beyond. RodrÃguez (through 2029) and Raleigh (through 2030) are both locked up to mega contract extensions, while their entire homegrown rotation of Woo (free agent after 2029), Kirby (2028), Bryce Miller (2029) and Logan Gilbert (2027) are all in their pre-arbitration or arbitration years.
Muñoz has three club options beginning in 2026, the first of which the club will certainly exercise. Crawford has one year left on his extension, same with Victor Robles. Randy Arozarena has one year of arbitration-eligibility remaining.
There will be notable voids — Trade Deadline acquisitions Naylor and Eugenio Suárez will be free agents, and Jorge Polanco will likely test the open market for a more lucrative deal than the one-year, $6 million vesting player option he achieved in a turnaround season.
Thereâ€s still a lot to work with in 2026. The sad part for the Mariners — which was evident in a somber clubhouse in Toronto — is that they believed they still had more magic to conjure in 2025.
Oct 20, 2025, 11:00 PM ET
TORONTO — George Springer put his club ahead with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1993 by beating the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.
It was the first go-ahead homer in Game 7 history when a team trailed by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later. And the Blue Jays’ bullpen took over from there, registering the final six outs, including the last three from closer Jeff Hoffman.
“Just pound the zone, and don’t get to [Cal] Raleigh. That was honestly my goal,” Hoffman said on Fox after the game. “Get strike one, put them away, do it quickly, and let the guys behind me work.”
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The Blue Jays will host Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 on Friday night when the World Series comes to Canada for the third time. The defending champion Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS.
“The at-bats before me. If it’s not for those guys, that at-bat doesn’t happen,” Springer said on Fox, referring to his two teammates who were on base in time for his homer. “I’m just so happy for our team, out fans, our city, our country. I’m so happy right now.”
Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez each hit a solo home run for the Mariners in the team’s first Game 7, but Seattle failed to reach its first World Series, leaving the heartbroken Mariners as the only major league team without a pennant. Raleigh, who led the majors with 60 homers in the regular season, made it 3-1 with a leadoff homer against Louis Varland in the fifth inning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Seth Rollins has officially been stripped of his WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and a new champion will be crowned soon.
During Mondayâ€s episode of WWE RAW, the trio of Bron Breakker, Paul Heyman, and Bronson Reed came out. Before much could be done, out came Adam Pearce. The RAW GM was quick to chastise Breakker and the group for their actions against Rollins. Pearce said that, as a result of the attack, Rollins had to have “major surgery,†and would be “on the shelf for a while.â€
BREAKING NEWS: Seth Rollins has been stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury.
There will be a Battle Royal TONIGHT to determine who will face CM Punk for the title at Saturday Night’s Main Event! ? pic.twitter.com/mFy2dkE5gk
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2025
As for Rollins†title, Pearce said that heâ€d have to strip Seth of it. As a result, a new champion will need to be crowned, and one will be soon. Pearce said that a battle royal tonight would determine an opponent for CM Punk. Those two will wrestle at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event to crown the new champion.
Pearce and Breakker then had a stare down with one another. Pearce demanded the title Breakker had stolen back, and Breakker eventually acquiesced. With that done, it looks like we now have our eyes set on the future of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Update:Jey Uso won the battle royal, and he will now face CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event on November 1.
READ MORE: WWE Raw Results: Review, Grades, Card For Oct 20
WWE Raw Highlights:After a successful Australian tour, WWE Raw returned to the United States, and this week’s episode of Raw took place from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. The scheme of this episode of Monday Night Raw was entirely based on Bron Breakker and Bronson Reedâ€s attack on Seth Rollins in last weekâ€s episode of Raw.
This episode of Monday Night Raw saw many great matches, shocking moments. It was already advertised that the team of AJ Styles and Dragon Lee will be facing Finn Balor and JD McDonagh for the WWE World Tag Team Championships, and we also saw an Intercontinental Championship match between Rusev and Dirty Dominik Mysterio. The main event of this Raw was a 30-man Number One Contendership Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE Raw Highlights: Adam Pearce announces Seth Rollins is injured
This weekâ€s episode of Monday Night Raw was kicked off by Adam Pearce, and as he was about to deliver an update about Seth Rollins, he was interrupted by the Vision. Pearce said that because of what Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed did to Seth Rollins last week, Rollins had to go through a major surgery and will be out of action for several months. As a result, Pearce announced that the World Heavyweight Championship is now vacant and tonight there will be a 30-man Number One Contendership Battle Royal. The winner of this Battle Royal will face CM Punk at the Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE Raw Highlights: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs Finn Balor and JD McDonagh
As it was already advertised, we saw AJ Styles and Dragon Lee facing Finn Balor and JD McDonagh for the World Tag Team Championship. This match was highly praised by the fans in attendance and online as well, with some calling it the Tag Team match of the year. This match went on for 20+ minutes and received multiple “This is Awesome†chants from the audience. At the end of the match, AJ Styles delivered a Styles Clash to Finn Balor to secure the win and became the new WWE World Tag Team Champions via pinfall.
WWE Raw Highlights: Dirty Dominik Mysterio vs Rusev
In a rematch, Dirty Dominik Mysterio defended his Intercontinental Championship in a one-on-one match against Rusev. During the middle of the match, we saw Penta distracting Rusev, which allowed Dominik to hit a low-blow followed by 619 to retain his Championship via pinfall.
WWE Raw Highlights: Becky Lynch vs Maxxine Dupri
After defeating Becky Lynch a few weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, Maxxine Dupri faced Becky Lynch once again, but this time it was for Becky Lynchâ€s Intercontinental Championship. During this match, once again, Maxxine Dupri impressed everyone with her improved wrestling. At the end of the match, Becky Lynch attacked Dupri with her title, resulting in a disqualification. After the match ended in a disqualification, Lynch continued her attack on Dupri, and this segment ended with Becky Lynch standing tall over a knocked-out Maxxine Dupri.
WWE Raw Highlights: Stephanie Vaquer vs Rxanne Perez
In a non-title one-on-one match, Roxanne Perez faced Stephaine Vaquer in a 15+ minutes match on this episode of Raw. At the end of the match, Vaquer delivered Angel Wings to Perez to secure the victory via pinfall. After the match, we saw Raquel Rodriguez and Raxxane Perez attacking Vaquer. As they were attacking, we saw the return of Nikki Bella, who came out to save Vaquer and took out both Perez and Rodriguez.
WWE Raw Highlights: 30-man Number One Contendership Battle Royal
As announced, a 30-man Number One Contendership Battle Royal took place as the main event of this Raw to determine who CM Punk will face at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight championship. Before the match started, it was announced that Adam Pearce had removed Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed from this match, and they were replaced by AJ Styles and Dominik Mysterio.
This match went on for 35+ minutes, and at the end of the match, we saw Jey Uso eliminating his brother, Jimmy Uso, and LA Knight, and then eliminating Dominik to win this match. With this win, Jey Uso became the Number One Contender and will face CM Punk at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event on November 2, 2025.Â
FAQs.
Q. Who is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion?
A. After Seth Rollinsâ€s injury, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is currently vacant.
Q. Is Seth Rollins really injured?
A. Seth Rollins got injured during his match against Cody Rhodes at the 2025 Crown Jewel. Rollins has reportedly gone through shoulder surgery, which will result in him being out of the action for several months.
Q. Who will CM Punk face for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion?
A. CM Punk was supposed to face Seth Rollins, but as Rollins is now injured, Punk will face Jey Uso for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at SNME.
Q. How can I watch Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event in India?
A. In India, Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event can be watched live via Netflix on November 2, 2025.
Get the Latest WWE News at IceCric.News and Follow for Live Updates – Facebook &  Instagram.
A new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on November 1.
Jey Uso won a number one contender’s battle royal on Monday’s WWE Raw to advance to the title match at SNME on Saturday, November 1. Uso will take on CM Punk, who won the number one contendership on last week’s Raw, for the vacant World Heavyweight title.
Raw GM Adam Pearce announced on Monday’s show that Seth Rollins would be out of action due to a shoulder injury and had been stripped of the World title. With Punk already in line for a title shot, he then announced a battle royal for Raw to determine Punk’s opponent.
Jey, brother Jimmy Uso, LA Knight, and Dominik Mysterio were the final four competitors in the battle royal on Raw, with Jey dumping both his brother and Knight out of the ring for a double elimination. Jey then avoided a 619 attempt from Mysterio to win the match. A staredown with Punk closed Raw.
Salt Lake City will host the next episode of SNME on November 1, the second of two consecutive nights in the city, as Delta Center will also host the Halloween SmackDown the day before.
Our full report from Monday’s Raw which also featured a World Tag Team title change is available here.
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The World Heavyweight title is vacant.
On Raw, Adam Pearce told Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed that due to their actions last week, Seth Rollins has undergone ‘major surgery†and as a result, Rollins has been stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship. A new champion will be crowned at Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event on November 1 when CM Punk will face the winner of a battle royal taking place on Raw.
BREAKING NEWS: Seth Rollins has been stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship due to injury.
There will be a Battle Royal TONIGHT to determine who will face CM Punk for the title at Saturday Night’s Main Event! 🆠pic.twitter.com/mFy2dkE5gk
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2025
After the announcement, Pearce asked Breakker to give him the title belt. Breakker intimidated Pearce into asking nicely before handing it to Paul Heyman, who then handed it to Pearce.
Rollins was injured during his match against Cody Rhodes at WWE Crown Jewel last weekend, injuring his shoulder to the point it will require surgery. The following Monday on Raw, a shock angle took place where Breakker speared Rollins, telling Reed and Heyman that they were either with him or against him. Both quickly jumped ship, leaving Rollins laying.
Following Pearceâ€s announcement, Heyman hinted at Rollins†injury, saying that Rollins couldnâ€t shoulder the responsibility of leading The Vision into the future.
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On a night that saw the World Heavyweight Championship vacated due to injury, a championship change also took place on the October 20 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw. The new team of AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeated The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh to capture the World Tag Team Championships.
The victory marks a significant milestone for both men. For Styles, it is his second tag team championship reign in WWE, while for Dragon Lee, it is his first taste of championship gold on the main roster. The title change brings an end to the reign of Balor and McDonagh, which began in June.
The championship match was only the second title defense for The Judgment Day members in over three months. Their previous defense was a successful one against the LWO’s Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro back in July. Tonight in Sacramento, their reign came to an end at the hands of the veteran Styles, who is in the midst of his retirement tour, and the rising star Dragon Lee.
This championship win is a big moment for Styles as he winds down his legendary in-ring career, which he has stated will conclude in 2026. For Dragon Lee, this is his first title win on the main roster and his first-ever tag team championship in WWE.
Elsa/Getty Images
“WWE Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce opened Monday night’s show with the news that had been rumored throughout the day, Seth Rollins is no longer World Heavyweight Champion following the injury he sustained at Crown Jewel, and in storyline reasons, because of the attack by the former Vision last week.
After a video package of The Vision imploding on last week’s “Raw,” Pearce opened up the show in the ring. As he was speaking, a black SUV rolled up to the arena with Bronson Reed, Paul Heyman, and Bron Breakker, who was carrying the World Heavyweight Championship. The men walked out to the ring and Pearce said he was glad they were there to hear the news themselves.
Pearce said he knew Rollins was banged up from his match against Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel, but said they’ll never know how badly because of what Breakker and Reed did last week. He said Rollins was at home after having major surgery and he had the unfortunate responsibility of announcing that as of right now, because of what Breakker and Reed did, Rollins was stripped of the title.
He explained that Punk had already earned the right to fight for the title with his victory over LA Knight and Jey Uso last Monday, and to figure out his challenger, they’d be doing things the “old school” way with an over-the-top battle royal Monday night. The winner will face Punk at Saturday Night’s Main Event and the winner of that match will take home the World Heavyweight Championship. Pearce asked Breakker to hand over the title, and after a bit of back-and-forth, Breakker handed the belt to Heyman to pass off to Pearce.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Last Monday on “Raw,” WWE’s future plans seemed to go up in smoke after news emerged that WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins had suffered a shoulder injury and would need surgery, leaving him out of action for the foreseeable future. While WWE moved quickly to explain his absence by having The Vision turn on Rollins, it did little to explain future plans for the World Heavyweight Title, which Rollins was scheduled to defend against CM Punk at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” on November 1.
Whatever idea WWE has should be revealed tonight, however, as Bodyslam+ reports that Punk’s opponent for “SNME” will be determined on this evening’s edition of “Raw.” But it won’t be decided in a regular singles match or even a three-way or four-way bout, with WWE instead expected to hold a battle royal, with the winner earning a title shot.
No names, nor number of participants, were confirmed for this battle royal, leaving it impossible to predict at the moment. Some fans will surely speculate that The Vision’s Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed will be among the favorites, should they participate. Breakker was the one who led the attack on Rollins just one week ago, and photos from after the show showed the former NXT Champion posing with the World Heavyweight title.
Meanwhile, Reed just recently picked up the biggest win of his career, defeating Roman Reigns in an Australian Street Fight at Crown Jewel. Other potential contenders could be former champion Jey Uso and LA Knight, who both came up short against Punk last week on “Raw” in the match to determine Rollins’ challenger.
The former Gunners attacker is a unique voice when it comes to breaking into the first-team picture at an early age, having signed for Arsenal from Southampton at the age of 16.
Walcott was named in the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, just months after his Highbury move and on reflection believes everything was thrust upon him at once.
Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo ahead of punditry duties on Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of the UEFA Champions League this week, Walcott says the current crop of young players coming through at the Emirates Stadium is ‘exciting’.
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Theo Walcott: ‘It’s important not to give them everything too soon’
Theo Walcott on punditry duty (Image credit: Getty Images)
“I look at it really differently as well, because when I came to the club, I couldn’t relate to any of the players because of my age gap. And I look at Max [Dowman] coming through, and you see Ethan [Nwaneri], a couple years older, and maybe not even that, Myles [Lewis-Skelly] again, [can] all relate, probably doing the same things together away from the game.”
Walcott’s Arsenal arrival came after the youngster had impressed during the first half of the season at Championship side Southampton, where he had become the Saints’ youngest-ever player at 16 years and 143 days old.
Theo Walcott broke through initially at Southampton
Nwaneri and Dowman, both aged 15 at the time of their Arsenal debuts, are the Gunners’ two youngest-ever appearance-makers.
“I think it’s important to just to bring them back down to earth at times, and not to give them everything too soon. I’m not saying I had it too soon. However, it was very different for me coming through and that patient side of it, keeping the guys away from the media at times, protecting them.
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“I was thrown straight into it with that World Cup. ‘Go, bang.’ And so it was a different dynamic for me to deal with. I turned out okay, it could’ve gone a different way, it really could.”
Walcott didn’t play a minute of football at the tournament in Germany that summer, despite England’s lack of fit and available attackers; Sven Goran Eriksson subsequently drew criticism for his decision to select the teenager in the first place.
Theo Walcott on England duty whilst still a teenager
Arsenal’s youngsters will face challenges and media scrutiny of their own in the years to come but Walcott believes keeping them grounded is the first step towards helping them fulfil their potential.
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“I think it’s important, even like Max has not played for a while now, just being around the squad, it was like me when I went with the England team, being around the squad, knowing in time I will be there at this level, but not ready.
“He’s not quite ready, because he’s got quite a lot of guys ahead of him. However, he’s an option, and he’s someone that is the unknown. And when I was the unknown, no one really knew what I was going to do.”
Walcott’s speed and unpredictability made him a difficult customer for defences, particularly when given space to run in behind. He still regards his assist for Emmanuel Adebayor in a 2008 Champions League tie versus Liverpool as ‘my goal’ having dribbled almost the length of the pitch and past several Reds players before laying it on a plate for the Togolese striker.
Theo Walcott skips past Xabi Alonso (Image credit: Getty Images)
“That’s an assist,” Walcott tells FFT. “You know, when you see players, like Reece James touched it to [Neto] the other day, and that’s an assist. Okay, I suppose it touched you last but when I look at assists, that goal, dribbling past those players – and when you see Saka, and he goes past you and he cuts it back to someone or whatever – they’re the real assists for me.
“That goal I can still re-live it constantly in my mind. I can just picture all the players that are running after me, the players that missed the ball, and [Steven] Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Mascherano, and Adebayor’s dance, the slap I got from Cesc Fabregas still hurts to this day, but it was great.
“A lot of people are, ‘Oh, Theo Walcott’s decision-making at times’, but those people may not be able to run as fast as that. Everyone has different attributes, and they make decisions their own way. And I don’t think there would have been any other player to do [that].”
Arsenal host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night with Walcott featuring pitchside alongside presenter Alex Aljoe and comedian Jack Whitehall.
Prime Video’s coverage of Arsenal vs Atlético Madrid is available at no additional cost for Prime members.