Who Won The Ring Of Honor World Title At ROH Final Battle 2022?

Claudio Castagnoli restored honor to the Ring of Honor World Championship Saturday, defeating Chris Jericho at Final Battle to recapture the title.

The match carried the extra stipulation that Claudio would have have to join the Jericho Appreciation Society if he lost, with the group threatening to turn him into a yodeler as part of becoming a sports entertainer. Thankfully, that won’t come to pass.

Since beating Castagnoli for the ROH Title at AEW Grand Slam in September, Jericho has made it his mission to humble every former Ring of Honor champion, defeating the likes of Colt Cabana, Bandido, Tomohiro Ishii, Bryan Danielson and Dalton Castle. He also attacked ROH personnel such as ring announcer Bobby Cruise and commentator Ian Riccaboni.

Claudio ended the reign of terror at Final Battle, forcing a tap-out from Jericho after a Giant Swing that lasted more than a half-minute.

.@ClaudioCSRO takes the Champ for a ride!!!

Order #ROHFinalBattle on PPV now!@BRWrestling: https://t.co/EdGVni5sMA
Available on all major providers pic.twitter.com/3Gez0zW9Ca

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) December 10, 2022

The win gives Castagnoli his second World title reign and leaves Jericho searching for a new gimmick with the end of “The Ocho”.

Wheeler Yuta Regains ROH Pure Title At Final Battle 2022

Wheeler Yuta makes history at ROH Final Battle 2022.

For the first time ever there is a two-time Ring of Honor Pure Champion and that distinction is held by Wheeler Yuta who defeated Daniel Garcia for the championship at ROH Final Battle.

An uphill battle all night for Yuta, Garcia was able to utilize Pure rules in order to force his opponent to exhaust all of his rope break options. However, in the end, Yuta mustered up the strength and learn from his lessons in the Blackpool Combat Club, knocking out Garcia with Hammer Elbows as Garcia was trapped in a crucifix position.

After the match, Wheeler tried to adhere to the code of honor but Garcia kicked his hand away, dropping the championship belt in the process. In the end, Garcia did pick up the championship belt and award it to his opponent before leaving, seemingly disgusted at himself.

Athena Wins ROH Women’s Title At ROH Final Battle 2022

Athena conquers Mercedes Martinez.

Athena is the new ROH Women’s Champion, defeating Mercedes Martinez at ROH Final Battle.

The finish to the hard-hitting bout saw Athena hit the O-Face for the victory. Athena set up the move by hitting a shotgun dropkick to Martinez, sending her into a corner with an exposed turnbuckle as Athena had ripped off the padding moments earlier.

This marks the first reign as ROH Women’s Champion for Athena.

Martinez became the Undisputed ROH Women’s Champion on the May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite when she defeated Deonna Purrazzo. She made five successful title defenses of the belt. Her reign included an injury that sidelined her from July to November.

XFL Finalizes 2023 Season Kickoff Plans, Which Don’t Include L.A. Or New York

The XFL, the spring pro football league fronted by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, took a big step toward finalizing its plans Sunday with a press conference that revealed the cities, venues and head coaches for its upcoming 2023 season.

The regular season is set to kick off February 18, 2023 with eight teams. Those include in newly announced cities — Las Vegas, Orlando and San Antonio — which are replacing existing teams in Los Angeles, New York and Tampa, FL. ESPN says those were the three cities with the lowest turnout in 2020, the league’s most recent season, which was halted midway through because of the Covid pandemic.

Two other XFL teams on the 2023 slate reside in Texas (Arlington and Houston), with other franchises in Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.

All 43 XFL games will air on Disney platforms in a carriage deal announced in May by Garcia, the league’s chairwoman and owner, and her movie and TV producing partner Johnson, after the duo with RedBird Capitol Partners acquired the league for $15 million from Vince McMahon in 2020 after it had started bankruptcy proceedings.

McMahon originally bankrolled the return of the league, which he resurrected after a 20-year absence. It had played just one season previously, in 2001, as joint venture between McMahon’s WWF (now the WWE) and NBC.

This year’s games will air on Disney platforms ABC, ESPN and FX.

“We’ve had a clear vision for the XFL – the values to instill, the diversity of our leaders, the innovation of the game and how we want to deeply engage with our communities so they can help bring this vision to life. Today, our league takes another step closer to 2023 kickoff as we officially announce where our teams will play,” Garcia said today during a press conference livestreamed on the XFL’s YouTube channel. “What brings a league to life is the passion of the fandom behind it. In each of these cities we will co-create with our fans and build these teams from the ground up so that they represent the unique fabric of our communities. We welcome all football fans to join us as we get ready for kickoff in February.”

Along with the cities, the league revealed its head coaching assignments with most names familiar to football fans: former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops (Arlington), Wade Phillips (Houston), Terrell Buckley (Orlando), Rod Woodson (Las Vegas), Hines Ward (San Antonio), Jim Haslett (Seattle), Anthony Becht (St. Louis) and Reggie Barlow (Washington, DC).

Said Johnson, who was coming off his appearance at Warner Bros’ Black Adam panel at Comic-Con in San Diego, added: “I’m psyched to reveal the cities that our players will have the chance to represent and compete in. This is another massive moment for the XFL, and I’m ready to feel the electricity our dedicated fans will bring to these iconic venues.

“There is great energy building within our league and there is still much more to come… and I can promise it’s going to be worth the wait. We have been working on fresh, new logos and uniforms – even working with some of the team names you already know – that will match the dynamic and innovative vision of our league. We see you, we hear you and your excitement fuels us to continue to bring you the absolute best. We have just under seven months until kickoff and the countdown is officially on.”

WWE WrestleMania 37, 38 & 39 Dates & Locations Confirmed

WrestleMania 37, 38 & 39’s locations and dates have all been revealed by WWE.

During a creative (if surreal) promotional video, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, and John Cena all helped announce the news regrading where and when the next three ‘Manias will be going down.

This year’s ‘Mania 37 has been moved from the original date of March 28 and is set to be yet another two-night affair, airing on April 10 & 11, with WWE seemingly doubling down on last year’s pirate-themed Show of Shows. Also, the comapny will finally be bringing their showpiece event to Tampa, Florida’s Raymond James Stadium after pulling the show due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

WrestleMania 38 will then arrive in Arlington, Texas’ AT&T Stadium on April 3, 2022. This stadium is obviously famous for being the location where WWE reportedly broke their attendance record at WrestleMania 32, with a whopping 101,000 fans in attendance.

And finally, ‘Mania 39 will take place inside of Los Angels’ SoFi Stadium on April 2, 2023. As you’ll likely remember, this ‘WrestleMania Goes Hollywood’ event was initially set to go down at ‘Mania 37. However, it’s clear that those plans have been seriously effected by the current global situation and WWE’s reaction to it.

On top of all this, it appears that the company will be trying to reintroduce fans to their arenas at this year’s event, with WWE’s official press release on the news stating that they “will announce ticket availability and safety protocols for WrestleMania 37 in the coming weeks.”

For now, though, let’s all just celebrate the fact that we won’t have to endure 9 hours of ‘Mania content in one single sitting…in 2021, at least.

Report: Rangers to announce plans for retractable-roof stadium

The Texas Rangers and the city of Arlington are set to announce plans for a new retractable-roof stadium, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, citing two major-league sources.

City sources tell Gordon Dickson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a press conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday to make an “important economic development announcement.”

Construction of the potential new stadium would require approval from Arlington voters if tax dollars were used for the ballpark.

The stadium would reportedly cost $900 million to build and the bill would be split between the city and the Rangers.

A location for the new stadium hasn’t been revealed, nor has a target construction date.

The Rangers’ lease with the city for their current home at Globe Life Park in Arlington, which was built in 1994, is set to expire before the 2024 season. It’s uncertain how far ahead of ’24 the new stadium could open.