NBC's Young Rock returns this Friday at 8:30pm eastern, and it will feature a familiar face for WWE fans. Becky Lynch, billed under her real name, Rebecca Quinn, will be portraying music legend Cyndi Lauper.
The series follows the Rock during a failed presidential bid in the future, as well as three timelines from his past: being a kid in Hawaii, a teenager traveling all over the country with his dad, and in his mid-twenties making it in the WWE. The season premiere will primarily focus on the time around the inaugural WrestleMania in 1985.
The premiere episode, which is titled The People Need You, features this description of the plot - "After losing the election, Dwayne Johnson is ready to withdraw from politics. In 1985, Rocky Johnson learns there's consequences to crossing Vince McMahon." Last season ended with the Rock's dad, Rocky Johnson, going behind Vince McMahon's back to take a big booking in Saudi Arabia after being left off WrestleMania. This episode will likely deal with the fallout.
PWInsider reports the first episode is centered around a party Lauper throws around the first WrestleMania, and will feature portrayals of Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, Vince McMahon, Lou Albano and Liberace. The original casting call listed Lauper as a possibly recurring character so this might not be the last time we see Lynch on the show.
It's perplexing that NBC would place the show head-to-head with WWE's Smackdown, but I will be checking the show out on DVR. I very much enjoy the type of nostalgia the show produces.
What happened on Raw this week?
The biggest story is that Alexa Bliss and Asuka beat Io Skye and Dakota Kai for the women's tag team titles.
Also, Riddle took on Otiz is a pretty fun Halloween street fight:
Also, Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley had a fun pull apart ahead of their big PPV match this weekend.
But the best segment of the week happened last Friday on WWE Smackdown. If you haven't seen this incredible segment with the Bloodline, do yourself a favor and watch it:
What's on TV this week?
NXT is tonight on USA at 8pm and here's the card:
- Mandy Rose one-year NXT Women’s Championship celebration
- NXT Champion Bron Breakker appears
- R-Truth vs. Grayson Waller
- Sit-down interview with Schism
- Thea Hail vs. Kiana James
- Odyssey Jones makes his in-ring return
AEW has a loaded Dynamite tomorrow at 8pm on TBS:
- ROH Champion Chris Jericho defends against a former ROH champion of any kind
- AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Rey Fenix and Luchasaurus
- TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Marina Shafir
- ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against Brian Cage
- Jon Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty AEW World title eliminator match
- Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal
- Saraya/Britt Baker interview with Renee Paquette
- The Acclaimed's Daddy Ass Birthday Bash
Officially announced for Smackdown this Friday:
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
- No DQ match: Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville
Since WWE is in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, they pre-taped Smackdown last week. You can read spoilers here.
Here is the scheduled card for WWE Crown Jewel:
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Logan Paul
- Last Woman Standing match for the Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: The Usos vs. Ridge Holland & Butch
- Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
- Steel Cage match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
- Braun Strowman vs. Omos
- The OC (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) vs. The Judgement Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
- Bray Wyatt to appear
Also, if you want to get into New Japan, this weekend is a great time to start on NJPWworld. Here's the card for their big show this weekend:
- IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
- IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (c) vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
- Kazuchika Okada & Tama Tonga vs. Jay White & KENTA
- Parejas Increibles: Master Wato, Taiji Ishimori, El Desperado & Hiromu Takahashi (pairings TBA)
- IWGP World Television Championship tournament semifinals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. EVIL
- IWGP World Television Championship tournament semifinals: SANADA vs. Ren Narita
- Hikuleo vs. Yujiro Takahashi
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, David Finlay & Alex Zayne vs. United Empire (Aaron Henare, Gideon Gray, Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: TJP & Francesco Akira (c) vs. BUSHI & Titan
News and Gossip from Around the Internet
WrestlingINC reporter Nick Hudson reported in speaking with friends of CM Punk that most don't think he's ever going to wrestle again. "He’s got in-roads in Hollywood going on right now. Stephen Amell certainly shining him up with what they’re trying to do over on Heels right now. I have a lot of people that have known Punk that say to me, ‘This guy’s never gonna wrestle again.’” Hudson said on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
In what seems like a pretty big deal, WWE has granted permission to Shinsuke Nakamura to travel to Japan and face the legendary Great Muta as part of his retirement tour. Nak will face Muta on the January 1st show. Muta is a huge influence on Nakamura. Nakamura said in a Tokyo Sports article that it was difficult to gain permission but once Vince retired, he persisted and it paid off. "It's nothing but a miracle," Nakamura said. "Of course, I wanted to do it. I opened a door that no one could break in. Hahaha...it's a real 'Forbidden Door'."
Game Changer Wrestling, aka GCW, arguably the number three US promotion, has announced all future events will be streaming on Fite+, which has a monthly charge of $4.99. All previous GCW events will be available to stream on the service as well. Other indies like House of Glory and Black Label Pro will also be on the service. This could be a huge boon to indie promoters and help in getting these wrestlers paid better.
T-Bar will be returning to NXT under his original indie moniker, Dominick Dijak.
WWE's Carmella recently went public with the news that she suffered a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy. She wrote on Instagram: "I’ve gone back and forth with myself about posting this because I’m not looking for any sort of sympathy, but since today is the last day of Infant Loss Awareness month, I wanted to share my story. Today, I was treated for an ectopic pregnancy. I never thought something like this would happen to me, especially after suffering from an early miscarriage in September. Nothing can prepare you for this news after getting a positive pregnancy test. I was cautiously optimistic this time around after the early loss I had already experienced, but was hoping for the best. I spent 12 hours in the ER on Saturday when I started experiencing some sharp pains on my left side. After several tests and ultrasounds, I was given the devastating news that this was, in fact, an abnormal pregnancy. The reason I’m sharing all of this is because in the moment it feels so isolating. Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about this? My husband and I watched
Watch Rhea Ripley have some fun with a fan at a weekend event:
Don’t forget, Wednesday night after Dynamite, Knotfest Wrestling will go live on the Knotfest Youtube with hosts Alicia Atout, Colin Young, and Jordan Olds. So make sure to tune in!
Do you enjoy pro wrestling? Knotfest Wrestling has a bi-weekly column filled with wrestling news. Read previous editions of this column here. You can always follow me @robinjection on Instagram and Twitter and @Squaredcirclpit.
