SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath-the-surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.
Blood & Guts comes to Boston
Wrestling will return to its roots on Wednesday night.
Though All Elite Wrestling was founded just four years ago, the company takes pride in honoring the industry’s past. Of course, it aims to do so in a spectacular fashion, which is the origin of its Blood & Guts match.
Blood & Guts pays tribute to the WarGames matches, a concept created by the late Dusty Rhodes in 1987.
Author: Michael
Saquon Barkley missed 18 games over the course of the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Going into the 2022 campaign, some fantasy managers pegged him as a late first-round draft pick – but there was certainly no guarantee he would return to the form that made him a fantasy star as a rookie in 2018. Barkley had over 2,000 scrimmage yards and 15 total touchdowns that season.
Sure enough, Barkley produced 1,650 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns last season, helping the Giants return to the postseason. It also earned Barkley Comeback Player of the Year in Michael Fabiano’s Fabby Awards.
Nearly three weeks after ESPN laid off Monday Night Countdown host Suzy Kolber, among others, the network has reportedly found its new host.
Longtime anchor Scott Van Pelt has been tabbed as Kolber’s successor, according to The Athletic‘s Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. The decision reportedly came down to Van Pelt and Laura Rutledge, and has been communicated to all parties involved.
Deitsch later reported that while Van Pelt has not yet accepted the position, the situation is “heading that way.
Leonard Fournette is working out for the Patriots on Wednesday as the free agent running back seeks to find his next NFL home, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Fournette spent the last three of his six NFL seasons with the Buccaneers, helping Tampa Bay defeat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV to end the 2020 season and earning the monikers “Playoff Lenny” and “Lombardi Lenny” in his first postseason run with the franchise thanks to his strong performance. However, the Buccaneers released Fournette in February ahead of the new league year.
Longtime sportscaster and radio host Dan Patrick announced on The Dan Patrick Show Wednesday his plan to retire in four years, telling listeners he plans to do the show through the end of 2027 before concluding his career.
Patrick, an icon in the sports talk space who spent 18 years at ESPN and has been a radio host for more than two decades, made the announcement fairly off-handedly during a segment discussing what staffers on the show would do if they won the lottery. Patrick was asked how long he planned on continuing with the show and proclaimed he plans on working four more years.
U.S. soccer fans should prepare for late nights, early mornings and lots of coffee for the next four weeks, as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is set to begin on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Fox Sports executive producer David Neal told SI that the biggest challenge for his network during this World Cup will be the time difference, given the tournament is hosting 64 games across 10 stadiums in nine cities in the two countries.
A feud between tech titans, each famous and rich and full of earned hubris bordering on delusion, elevated toward absurdity in recent weeks. Yes, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would start a Twitter rival called Threads. And, yes, Twitter owner Elon Musk—apparently aware of Zuckerberg’s amateur foray into mixed martial arts—tweeted “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol.” And, naturally, Zuckerberg took to Instagram, part of the Meta family, to fire back, via the catchphrase of a UFC icon. Send me the location.
It was reported by ESPN on Wednesday morning that Cowboys guard Zack Martin is considering not reporting to training camp. The potential move is reportedly on the table because Martin believes he is “woefully underpaid relative to the market” and is unhappy with the team’s unwillingness to restructure his contract. Approximately 31 minutes after the report, Martin changed his Twitter profile picture to send a message.
The All-Pro changed his picture to his coveted 99 rating on Madden 24 and made sure the internet knew it.
Front offices have been briefed on James Harden’s unwavering focus on the Clippers, which puts Philadelphia in a tough spot. And you know Joel Embiid is paying attention.
This is sorcery.
I’ve watched this catch 100 times and still cannot fathom how impossible it was.
This is pure sorcery. ft Abdullah Shafique. pic.twitter.com/LRTn987DXr
— Shafqat Shabbir (@Chefkat23) July 19, 2023
Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique pulled off a catch that’s not just legendary when it comes to cricket, it might be one of the greatest catches of all time regardless of sport. Seriously.
I know it’s not the flashiest thing in the world, but think for a second about everything that’s happening in this moment.