WWE: Shawn Michaels on Dominik Mysterio being WWE’s MVP for 2023, Official Royal Rumble 2024 Poster Released, More News

Shawn Michaels Comments on Dominik Mysterio Being the “MVP” of WWE for 2023

A recent episode of the Cheap Heat podcast featured WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. One of the topics discussed included Michaels thoughts about his belief that Dominik Mysterio is the MVP of WWE for 2023.

“Well, of course, I can remember the first time and just so early on, thinking to myself like, ‘Rey, he’s already taller than you are [laughs], such a young age. But Dom has, to me, Dominik Mysterio, MVP of the WWE this year. Every time he comes here, I look at him as the hardest-working man in the show business. He has just been an ironman for us. I can’t speak to what he does on the main roster, but he has done just everything we have asked of him. He’s done it professionally, he’s done it admirably, done it to the best of his ability. Yes, do I think it’s been to his advantage because a lot was put on him early, and he probably didn’t get the opportunity to develop behind the scenes as much as other people have, and he had to do it out there in front of the world and probably got judged harshly for it, but I’m telling you, I have nothing but admiration for that man. He has been a stud for us. I think from a company standpoint, everybody would agree with me. He got a lot put on him early, and I think he has grown a lot in this last year. I think he’s become a hell of a performer as well, when everything is said and done. But it’s hard for me not to admire the young man who’s worked so hard for us.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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WWE Releases Official Poster for Royal Rumble 2024

WWE recently released the official poster for next year’s Royal Rumble event, which takes place on January 24, 2024 at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Among those featured on the poster included CM Punk and Logan Paul.

WWE have dropped the official poster for the 2024 #RoyalRumble: pic.twitter.com/r3X6mk0meS

— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) December 1, 2023

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WWE News & Notes

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Drew Gulak was one of the people who had helped train R-Truth and Randy Orton back into shape for their returns from injuries at this past Saturday’s Survivor Series WarGames 2023 event.

WWE recently announced that Roman Reigns will be making several appearances for the SmackDown brand for their December 15th show in Green Bay, Wisconsin, their January 5, 2024 show in Vancouver, Canada, and January 19, 2024 show in Atlanta, Georgia.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources within WWE stated that sales of CM Punk’s first shirt following his return to WWE was easily the hottest selling shirt for the company this past week. Johnson reported that these sales had astonished everyone within WWE over hot the shirts moved very quickly.

This past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Nashville, Tennessee featured a show closing promo segment by CM Punk. During his segment, Punk was seen giving a victory lap in the ring that many speculated was meant to be a dig at the Young Bucks doing a similar victory lap following Punk’s firing from AEW. Haus of Wrestling’s Nick Hausman reported that his sources close to Punk stated that Punk’s actions was not meant to be a dig at AEW or the Young Bucks but instead just him being caught up in the heat of the moment over his appearance on RAW. Hausman reported that those spoken to stated that Punk’s lap could not be viewed as an insult due to him doing it differently than the Young Bucks. Hausman also reported that those spoken to also stated that Punk wants to put all his past drama in AEW behind him.

As noted before, this past Monday’s WWE RAW show drew 1,884,000 viewers and a 0.65 rating. Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main event quarter hour featuring CM Punk’s promo was the third least watched quarter of the show. Meltzer reported that WWE’s viewership during that quarter grew greatly following the Randy Orton vs. Dominik Mysterio match but was not enough to push it higher up for quarters ranking.

In a recent video on YouTube, NXT talent Ghi Eburneo, real name Giovanna Eburneo, confirmed that she is no longer working in WWE. In her video, Eburneo stated in Portuguese that the reasons why she left WWE was due to issues over how she was treated by others in the company and suffering a serious health-related incident. during her time there. Among the issues included the lack of help and care she received from others adjusting to a new life in the United States after moving from her home in Brazil. Eburneo also stated that she started to deal with several health-related issues that the company did not properly help her and tried to downplay her concerns. Eburneo also stated that she was initially not allowed to travel back to Brazil to visit her family and undergo treatment there before WWE officials changed their minds. Eburneo stated that when she went back home, she found a tracker in her bag that she believes might have been planted by someone to keep track of her while she was away. This eventually led to Eburneo informing the company that she would not be returning and turned down their offers for her return since she does not want to risk her life nor her family’s life. (English translation via Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with Q1057, Nia Jax gave her thoughts about her upcoming match against Shayna Bazler at next week’s RAW show. Jax stated “She is a great expert at her Judo moves, she is a former UFC fighter. She did take out Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey just got sent to a whole other company lesser than us. Shayna does get credit for that. Being so close to her and knowing her every move, I definitely have some good counters. I’m a lot stronger than her. A lot more powerful. I think I’ll be okay.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)