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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

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The cover art for the standard and deluxe editions of EA UFC 5 has been revealed.

Israel Adesayna is the cover athlete for the deluxe edition of EA UFC 5, which is set for feature release on next gen XBox and PS5 consoles. The primary edition of EA UFC 5 will feature featherweight champion Alexander Volanovski and former women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Adesanya is making his second appearance on the cover of a EA UFC game after appearing with Jorge Masvidal on the cover of EA UFC 4. This is Volanovski’s first apperance on the cover of an EA UFC game. Shevchencok is also making her debut as a cover athlete and his the first woman to be on the cover of an EA UFC Ronda Rousey graced the cover of EA UFC 2.

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WWE continues its amazing string of partnership deals.

 

Earlier in the year, the company partnered with the NFL to release commemorative championship belts of all 32 NFL football teams. Now, WWE is planning to do the same thing with the NHL according to WrestleVotes. Fans can “expect NHL championships titles to be available thru Fanatics sometime in the new year.”

On the heels of major success with the NFL in releasing commemorative championship titles of each team, I’m told the WWE & NHL have a deal in place for the same. Expect NHL championships titles to be available thru Fanatics sometime in the new year.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) December 19, 2023

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If you missed what the NFL titles looked like you can check that out below.

Cela faisait 16 ans que le cerf majestueux, baptisé Éole, se promenait dans la forêt de Mormal dans le Nord. Mercredi 13 décembre, le plus vieux cerf de cette forêt a été abattu par un chasseur. “Ceux qui s’intéressent à la nature connaissaient Éole, ce n’est quand même pas un cerf lambda”, regrette un habitant. Le tir qui l’a tué n’est pas illégal mais d’après Jean-François Hogne, président de l’association Mormal Patrimoine, les chasseurs locaux avaient la consigne de ne pas toucher au cerf emblématique de cette forêt. 

La consigne était claire

L’Office national des forêts aurait dû le protéger, selon le défenseur des cervidés. “Toutes les sociétés de chasse baissaient les carabines devant Éole, parce qu’il était bien convenu qu’on n’allait pas le tuer”, explique-t-il. France 2 s’est procuré un courrier, datant de deux mois, envoyé par une association de défense de l’environnement aux chasseurs de Mormal. “Il nous parait pertinent (…) d’épargner cet animal au cours de la saison de chasse en cours“, pouvait-on lire.

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In his latest “8e Weeks” podcast with host Conrad Thompson, former top WCW executive and WWE personality Eric Bischoff explored the notion of CM Punk joining WWE.

“Yeah, it could be good,” he said. “And look, again, this falls into the category of fantasy booking, but let’s just entertain ourselves for a minute. What if WWE, for whatever reason, Paul [Levesque] decided, you know what, I’m going to bring him in and give it a shot. Historically, WWE has done that type of thing. You just covered it.”

Although Bischoff had been critical of Punk’s conduct in AEW and advocated Tony Khan firing Punk even before his match at All In against Samoa Joe, he indicate WWE’s more structured environment with more established chains of locker room authority and leadership could make a difference.

“Punk is not going to bully his way around a WWE locker room,” he said. “He’ll find himself stuffed in a garbage can. That won’t be tolerated. And he knows that. It’s one thing to get physical and call out Jack Perry. It’s quite another thing to try to throw your weight around in a WWE locker room. It’s not the same thing.

He speculated that Punk would handle the WWE situation differently than AEW because it could be his “last shot” at adding to his legacy and his bank account. “I don’t know him at all,” Bischoff said. “I’ve never had a direct conversation with him. I’ve never had a syllable of conversation with him face to face. But Punk would also know that this is like a big opportunity. And probably my last shot, right? So he’d probably go in with a much different attitude than he had in, and who knows, maybe when he got to AEW. He may have had a good attitude, and maybe it would [work out].”

[h/t to Wrestling Headlines for transcript of Bischoff’s comments]

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“The Rock” Dwayne Johnson made an unadvertised surprised appearance on WWE Smackdown on Fox tonight. He interrupted a back-and-forth with sports talk host and part-time WWE personality Pat McAfee and WWE wrestler Austin Theory.

Rock and Theory went back and forth verbally. Theory eventually punched Rock as Rock was threatening to attack him. Rock fired back with a spinebuster and a People’s Elbow. Rock then invited McAfee to land a People’s Elbow. McAfee landed it on Theory also.

Rock appeared on Pat McAfee’s talk show earlier in the day and talked about how at one point he believed he was locked in to be Roman Reigns’s opponent at WrestleMania 39. PWTorch sources indicate Cody Rhodes was actually the only person ever locked in as Reigns’s opponent, although it’s possible Vince McMahon and Rock had a talk at an earlier time that gave Rock the impression that was the plan.

The Rock last wrestled at WrestleMania 32, beating Erick Rowan in an unadvertised match that only lasted a few seconds. His last advertised match was ten years ago at WrestleMania 29 in 2013 when he lost the WWE Title to John Cena.

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OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: The Rock was “locked” to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, open to having the match at WrestleMania 40 (video included)

THE MOST ELECTRIFYING MOVE IN ALL OF ENTERTAINMENT

A People's Elbow from @TheRock AND @PatMcAfeeShow!!!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/5mOQPETZrF

— WWE (@WWE) September 16, 2023

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Une experte de l’ONU en matière de droits de l’homme s’est inquiétée, lundi 18 décembre, de la “disparition forcée” d’Alexeï Navalny. Les avocats de l’opposant russe, qui a été emprisonné en 2021 après avoir survécu à une tentative d’assassinat par empoisonnement, n’ont pas pu le rencontrer depuis le 6 décembre et sont sans nouvelles de lui. Cela pourrait s’expliquer par son transfert vers une autre prison au régime plus strict, une procédure qui prend souvent des semaines en Russie, territoire immense maillé d’établissements pénitentiaires hérités de l’époque soviétique et qui se trouvent pour beaucoup dans des régions recluses du pays.

La porte-parole d’Alexeï Navalny a précisé que les avocats de sa Fondation anticorruption (FBK) ont contacté “plus de 200 centres de détention provisoire” pour tenter de le localiser. Ils n’ont pas obtenu de réponse à ce stade. De son côté, le tribunal de la région de Vladimir, où Alexeï Navalny était incarcéré jusque-là, a déclaré que “deux audiences (…) ont été reportées” du fait de “l’impossibilité” du militant anticorruption “d’assurer sa participation”, selon l’agence Ria Novosti.

“Cela m’inquiète beaucoup que les autorités russes ne révèlent pas où se trouve [Alexeï] Navalny et quel est son état de santé pendant une période aussi prolongée, ce qui équivaut à une disparition forcée”, a déploré Mariana Katzarova, rapporteuse spéciale des Nations unies sur la situation des droits de l’homme en Russie. Elle a précisé avoir fait part de ses inquiétudes aux autorités russes.

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When Adam Cole ran to ringside late in the MJF vs. Samoa Joe match on AEW Dynamite, he leaped off the ramp and landed on the ringside mat. The camera angle missed his landing, but he immediately started limping.

He didn’t appear to be in pain as he stood at ringside and yelled encouragement to MJF and pounded the mat. He then entered the ring after the ref called for the bell. He also rolled into the ring and hugged MJF after the match, putting weight on his leg, but he was limping whenever he walked. Joe shoved him against the ropes, but he otherwise didn’t do anything physical. He held onto the top rope as he walked inside the ring some of the time, then kneeled next to MJF as MJF sold his injured neck as the show ended.

There’s no word yet on whether anything was damaged in his knee or ankle that could require time off. He did go to a local hospital for tests, so he wasn’t able to just “shake it off.”

RECOMMENDED NEXT: Jon Moxley called audible after suffering concussion in pre-match brawl, finish was changed mid-match

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OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Dynamite results (9/20): Powell’s live review of MJF vs. Samoa Joe for the AEW World Title, Saraya vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s Title, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston in a title vs. title match

(Wade Keller is the editor, publisher, and founder of Pro Wrestling Torch and PWTorch.com. He has covered pro wrestling since 1987. He studied journalism and economics in college, interned at a major market broadcast news station (KMSP in Minneapolis/St. Paul), worked at KFAN radio for two years in the 1990s, hosted the “Ultimate Insiders” DVD series with international distribution, hosted the “Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast” on Podcast One and now on Spreaker, and has been a guest on the Steve Austin Podcast dozens of times as an analyst (nobody has been a guest with Austin more times). He has broken major pro wrestling stories in five separate decades and has interviewed some of pro wrestling’s most influential names in their longest insider interviews including Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Lou Thesz, Jesse Ventura, Jon Moxley, Jim Ross, Eric Bischoff, Bill Watts, Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette, Goldberg, Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, The Rock, Kevin Nash, and over 100 others including more than a dozen ex-WWE creative team members. He was inducted into the Tragos/Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 for “Excellence in Wresting on Professional Wrestling” in a class with Beth Phoenix, B.Brian Blair, Greg Wojciechowski, Jim Londos, and Matt Lindland. He continues to cover pro wrestling here at PWTorch.com and on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast.)

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WWE Monday Night Raw last night on USA Network (9/25) drew an average of 1.465 million viewers, up from 1.331 and 1.353 million the prior two weeks up against NFL Monday Night Football.

Raw’s average viewership all summer before the NFL season started (June 5-Sept. 4) was 1.779 million viewers, so this week’s viewership is still down substantially, but not as much as the prior two weeks.

Up against the first three weeks of the NFL season last year averaged 1.659 million. This year it’s averaging 1.383 million, sharply down. Two years ago it averaged 1.724 million the first three weeks against the NFL.

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The 18-49 demo rating was 0.43, actually down from 0.44 last week but above 0.40 the week before. The summer average was 0.54.

One year ago this week, Raw drew a similar 0.45 rating. the first three weeks against NFL last year averaged 0.44. This year the same three weeks has averaged 0.42.

The overall cable rating last night was 0.98, down from 1.11 last year and 1.22 the year before.

The following are September cable rating averages for the last six years:

• 2023: 0.98
• 2022: 1.22
• 2021: 1.28
• 2020: 1.70
• 2019: 1.81
• 2018: 1.99
• 2017: 1.93

A cable rating is the percentage of homes with cable watching a particular program. This year it was roughly half of 2017.

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“Ici Moscou, les Français parlent aux Français”… Sur RT en français, une nouvelle émission a fait son apparition le 26 novembre dernier. Si la chaîne gouvernementale russe est aujourd’hui interdite en Europe, que ses studios à Paris ont fermé, elle produit toujours des programmes en Français, depuis Moscou. Visible sur le web, ce talk-show est calqué sur ceux des propagandistes de la télévision gouvernementale russe. Aux manettes, Xavier Moreau n’est pas un inconnu. Cet ancien officier de l’armée française, installé à Moscou depuis plus de 20 ans a d’abord relayé le message du Kremlin sur les réseaux sociaux avant d’atterrir sur la chaîne financée par le pourvoir russe.

à lire aussi “On sacrifie notre jeunesse pour d’autres qui se gavent à l’arrière” : dans la ville fortifiée d’Avdiïvka, le quotidien épuisant des combattants ukrainiensClick Here:

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When: Saturday, October 7, 2023

Where: Indianapolis, Ind. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

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Attendance: WrestleTix reports today that 12,281 tickets were sold so far; arena set up for 12,293.

How To Watch: Live on Peacock and WWE Network

Advertised Matches

• Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Last Man Standing Match for World Heavyweight Championship
• John Cena & LA Knight vs. The Bloodline – Tag Team Match
• Iyo Sky vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair – WWE Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match
• Latino World Order vs. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits – Six-Man Tag Team Match
• The Judgment Day vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso – Tag Team Match for Undisputed Tag Team Championship

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