SNME News, Cody/KO, Liv Morgan, NXT news, Euro Roundup, More

Saturday Night's Main Event close created some buzz, but also helped out WWE on TV this week as well, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has learned.

WWE talent are about to head off on their holiday break following WWE Raw, which led to the company doing a double taping of Smackdown this past week. This created a natural conflict, as Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes couldn't film anything in front of the crowd to give away the result of their match that would happen the next night.

We're told the post-show attack from Kevin Owens was done to help bridge the gap next week. The Smackdown crowd got to see Cody Rhodes and Owens in front of the live audience, so getting creative with their segments for next week's show doesn't leave the audience out in the cold. As of this weekend, the plan was to air the attack on Smackdown, and have Kevin Owens in a backstage segment.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has learned the following details from inside WWE this week. 

•  PWInsider reported that Liv Morgan did not suffer a broken nose at Saturday Night’s Main Event. We were told that the belief immediately following the match was that a piercing was the cause of the blood Morgan drew following IYO Sky’s brutal knee.

• A spot during Trick Williams and Ridge Holland at NXT Deadline that was said to draw memories of Big E’s neck injury was toned down significantly between rehearsals and the match occurring on the show.

• Debbie Keitel finished up with Fight Factory in Ireland on December 7th, and is expected to make an announcement on her future soon. Several Fight Factory talent we spoke to put over Keitel, with those we spoke to being upset to see her go.

• Contrary to social media panic on December 13th, Oro Mensah has not been released by WWE. We have not heard of Keanu Carver exiting the company either as of this writing.

• Gunther received a lot of praise backstage for saving the ending spot of the triple threat world title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

• On December 17th, NXT will be heading to Boston for a live taping of the brand in Lowell, however this will not be the final taping date for the brand.

  Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has learned that the brand will host its final taping of 2024 on Thursday, December 19th. It is believed that the final taping will take place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

  The brand will tape content not only for the Christmas edition of NXT, but also for the New Year's edition, allowing talent to spend the holidays with their family. On December 13th, WWE taped a second episode of Friday Night SmackDown, which is set to air on December 20th.

  
  

European News

• We have heard of multiple OTT talent pushing to wrestle multiple times at their Loco Rumble show. There are also some surprise names who are open to appearances during the match.

• Due to issues surrounding its distribution in the UK, the Extreme Channel is currently working on a new time slot to air Burning Heart’s Wolverhampton event

• We are told that wrestling in PROGRESS during her retirement tour was ‘incredibly important’ to Meiko Satomura.

• In France, MBM and Sombra are set to leave Europe starting January. 

• BZW will host a show the day before Raw in Brussels next year.

• RCW Spain’s next event is said to feature a major surprise ‘that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago’.

Aonghus McAnally Interview Notes

Fightful’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with Irish announcer Aonghus McAnally for a recent interview about all things Irish wrestling. You can check out early notes from the interview below.

Corey kicked off the interview by asking Aonghus about how he came to do announcing with OTT, explaining that he pitched the idea to Joe Carbray with two matches that he did commentary over along with Don Marnell. This would pick up quickly, with Aonghus going on to become the voice of Irish wrestling. Aonghas also shared a story of his last full time match in the ring where Finn Balor left a handprint on his chest. Speaking more on Joe, Aonghus praised him as a leader, and discussed how a lot of people would take a bullet for him in OTT.

Aonghus spoke about the boom in Irish wrestling, pointing out the difference between now and 20 years ago as more Irish stars are in top promotions such as WWE. Aonghus also spoke about his commentary partnership with Simon Hill, comparing it to ballroom dancing and conceding that he feels like he plays the role of a commentator as an actor. On kicking off each OTT show, he noted that he doesn’t intend to get himself over, and just looks to get the crowd hyped up, despite having a catchphrase or two.

Corey would then ask about several big moments so far this year in OTT, with Aonghus praising B Cool’s natural charisma shining through at ScrapperMania, and calling OTT’s Tenth Anniversary an easy night due to the returning JD McDonagh and Finn Balor. Aonghus also spoke about the difficulty of managing a live injury on the broadcast with Session Moth Martina’s injury at the same event.

When asked about possibly getting back in the ring, Aonghus lamented that he would get back in the ring for a Loco Rumble spot, but doesn’t see himself wrestling a full match. Aonghus also predicted that Jay would go wire to wire in the 2025 edition of the match.

To close out the interview, Aonghus spoke about the upcoming OTT Christmas shows in Dublin and Belfast that will feature Debbie Keitel vs Lyra Valkyria. Earlier in the interview, Aonghus had spoken about being intertwined with The Woke Queens’ early work in OTT.