WWE’s main event scene has long been comprised of gigantic professional wrestlers whose size gave them a leg up on the competition. But over the years, some of the more undersized competitors like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels have all ascended to the top of the company in spite of a smaller stature.

Those sorts of wrestlers served as the blueprint for someone like Carmelo Hayes, the current NXT Champion, to rise into the main event scene. His debut in NXT came with a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship, a logical conclusion for a rising star billed at his size and stature. But 21 days later, he was back in the ring with Adam Cole, someone else considered undersized, but also a former NXT champion in his own right.

Hayes has refused to get boxed into only competing against guys his size. He credits conversations with his coaches to having the proper mindset.

“One time one of my coaches here, he said when you watch Shawn Michaels versus the Undertaker, you’re not looking at big guy, little guy. If you really think back on it, you’re just looking at an icon, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker,” Hayes tells Uproxx Sports ahead of Saturday’s No Mercy live event. “So, it’s the same energy. I don’t try and carry myself like a cruiserweight. On paper, yeah, I’m a cruiserweight. But in the ring, you’re not going to get that type of energy from me at all. I’m just as big as whoever my opponent is. And that’s kind of the mindset that I walk into every match with.”

Hayes has done just that, carrying himself with the authoritative presence of a bonafide star whenever he’s given an opportunity, whether that comes on the mic, in a backstage segment, or in the ring.

The man he idolizes comes from outside the world of professional wrestling, and knows a thing or two about being the sort of magnetic, larger than life presence that he replicates. Hayes won the NXT title over Bron Breakker at Stand and Deliver, which took place at the Crypto Center in Los Angeles. Despite being a New England guy, Hayes was draped in the unmistakable purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers as a way to pay homage to the late Kobe Bryant. Shortly after the match, he posted a side-by-side photo of Bryant’s first NBA title win.

“I think my biggest thing is music, pop culture, and sports because it’s relatable,” Hayes says. “I do these things for the people that are at home and kids or whoever that are looking for that inspiration the same way I’m inspired by others.”

Like Kobe after that first title, Hayes knows he’s barely scraping the surface of what he will go on to achieve.

He credits Michaels, Matt Bloom, Terry Taylor, and Booker T as those who have been instrumental in helping him along the way. Hayes calls himself a student of the game, and uses any opportunity he’s had around Raw or Smackdown superstars to learn and continue to grow. He makes a point to call out working with guys like Baron Corbin, who is back in NXT after experiencing the early days of the promotion before joining the main roster.

Hayes takes pride in being the bridge between the Black and Gold era of NXT and ushering in NXT 2.0 alongside the likes of Breakker, Tiffany Stratton, Roxanne Perez, and others, but admits he’s in what he calls his senior year of the brand. What began in the breakout tournament evolved into his North American Championship reigns, and now, holding onto the NXT title signifies his time in the promotion could wrap up sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, Hayes is cherishing every opportunity to continue developing before he’s thrown to the wolves on the main roster. He’s also learning on the fly how to continue living up to sky-high expectations, whether he’s set them for himself or they’ve naturally come because of his championship reign. That’s relevant in his upcoming sequel showdown with the fiery Ilja Dragunov at next Saturday’s No Mercy.

“I think we try to just give the fans something that they’re going to enjoy,” Hayes says. “Knowing what to expect, I think in that first match, it was a lot of feeling each other out. We’d never been in the ring before, not training or anything, and we had good chemistry at that point. This time there’s a lot more on the line. I think a lot of people were questioning that first win that I had. So I think I have a lot to prove, even as champion.”

Dragunov is a “different type of guy,” Hayes says, and admits he had to shift his style more to his opponent to get past him in their last tilt. This time, Hayes says he’s entering with more confidence that he can get the job done again.

“If you watch that last match, I wasn’t doing really too much high flying,” Hayes says. “I wasn’t doing the kind of stuff that people are known for me doing. So I had to fight. He met his match because I came and I brought the fight to him. I feel a lot more confident than I did the first time around because now I think I know what to expect with Ilja.”

Hayes and Dragunov will face off in the main event of NXT No Mercy on Saturday, September 30 at 8 p.m. ET.

The Kansas City Chiefs embarrassed the Chicago Bears, 41-10, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Sunday, September 24. Nobody cares, because Taylor Swift was in attendance to support Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, whom she might or might not be dating but is at least casually seeing.

Swift had already visited Arrowhead on July 7 and 8 for The Eras Tour — celebrating the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) during her July 7 show — and Kelce shared he felt “butthurt” about failing to deliver his phone number to Swift via friendship bracelet. Well, somehow, she got the message, and here we are. (God help us all.)

Kelce and Swift were seen leaving Arrowhead together in a video from Jarrett Payton, which was followed by several blurry photos of them in Kelce’s convertible.

According to Entertainment Tonight, Kelce and Swift spent the rest of the night at Prime Social Rooftop in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

“Travis bought out the restaurant for his family and team,” an unnamed eyewitness told ET. “Taylor arrived, wearing a denim dress, and was seen snacking, having some cocktails and dancing alongside Travis. The two were very affectionate with one another but kept things fun and lighthearted. Travis’ teammates also showed up to the after-party, as well as his mom and dad, Donna and Ed. The party lasted until 2 a.m.”

Madeline Hill, a journalist and self-described sports gossip enthusiast, also interviewed Ethan Lestrud for her Impersonal Foul newsletter. Lestrud, who posted a TikTok about the ordeal, confirmed that he was at Prime Social for a friend’s 22nd birthday party. It was a prescheduled reservation, but Prime Social staff informed his party that the last call for food and drink would be 7:45 p.m.

“As we were upstairs, that’s when we found out Taylor was coming from some of the staff,” Lestrud told Hill. “Then, we went to the restaurant downstairs, and that’s when we found out it was Taylor who paid [our bill].”

Last week, Kelce joined ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show to finally comment on his rumored romance with the most famous pop star on the planet.

“I threw it out there,” the two-time Super Bowl champion said. “I threw the ball in her court, and you know, I told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead, you might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead, and see which one’s a little more lit,’ so we’ll see what happens in the near future.”

Swifties were already enthralled by Swift’s New Y0rk dinner date with Sophie Turner before Kelce (reportedly) took her to Prime Social. Worlds will continue to collide when the Chiefs play the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — another venue Swift is very familiar with — for Sunday Night Football on Sunday, October 1.

Cleveland rapper Krayzie Bone, one of the members of the pioneering Ohio rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, has reportedly been hospitalized and is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair internal bleeding in his lung. According to TMZ, the 50-year-old rap veteran began coughing up blood on Friday and checked himself into an LA hospital. Doctors found a bleeding artery in one of his lungs and operated, placing him in an induced coma to aid his recovery. However, the artery has continued to bleed, and as of press time, they’ve scheduled a second surgery, hoping to fix the problem for good.

Due to Krayzie Bone’s, whose real name is Anthony Henderson, status as a giant in the hip-hop world, his bandmate Bizzy Bone’s plea for prayers on his behalf was met with an enthusiastic response from stars throughout the genre on social media, including NBA stars such as LeBron James (also an Ohio native). Krayzie Bone’s family asks for privacy as they determine next steps for his care and is at the hospital now awaiting updates.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, after their trailblazing start in hip-hop in the ’90s, have seen renewed interest from the community after participating in a truly chaotic Verzuz hits battle in 2021. Since then, contemporary artists like Logic and Saba have either covered or collaborated with members of the band while Fat Joe recently recalled a behind-the-scenes story from the creation of one of the group’s most iconic records.

For any Oppenheimer fans hoping to one day stare into the mesmerizing blues of star Cillian Murphy from the comfort of your own couch, we’ve got some bad news.

Christopher Nolan’s near-billion-dollar biopic — a movie described as “nature’s way of healing” by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson and “too talky” by Youtuber-turned-wrestler Logan Paul — won’t be dropping on digital anytime soon. The World War II flick helped Greta Gerwig’s Barbie save movie theaters this summer, delivering the most bizarre double-feature movie fans didn’t know they needed. But, while Gerwig’s blockbuster has been available to stream for a few weeks now, Oppenheimer won’t be ending its cinematic run until … well, we’re still not sure.

Here’s what we do know: When Nolan jumped ship from Warner Bros. to Universal Pictures with was under the condition that any future films he helmed would receive an exclusive theatrical window of 100 days. That means Oppenheimer won’t be leaving the big screen until the last week of October. Unfortunately, it sounds like we’ll have to wait even longer to stream it on our small screens as producer Emma Thomas recently told the Associated Press the film won’t be available to watch at home until the end of November.

That’s certainly a longer wait than we may have hoped for, but considering Nolan likes to load his home releases with extra features like commentaries, interviews, and making-of clips, there’s a good chance the director needs that time to package the film for its digital debut.

(Via Digital Spy)

Heading into the Rick and Morty Season 7 premiere, Adult Swim confirmed that the title characters would be recast after original voice actor Justin Roiland was fired from the show following a series of disturbing allegations. With only a few weeks go until the new episodes drop, Adult Swim has kept the new voices under wraps — until now.

Thanks to the release of the new Season 7 trailer, Rick and Morty fans can finally hear how the characters sound without Roiland, and it’s pretty darn close. In fact, we had trouble noticing any changes at all. As for who’s behind the new Rick and Morty voices, Adult Swim still isn’t saying. However, an insider has confirmed that the two characters are now voiced by separate actors instead of one, which was the case with Roiland.

“We want the show to speak for itself,” an Adult Swim source told The Hollywood Reporter. “We believe in the strength of the season and our new voices and we want to preserve the viewing experience for fans.”

Here’s the official synopsis for the new season:

Rick and Morty are back and sounding more like themselves than ever! It’s season seven, and the possibilities are endless: what’s up with Jerry? EVIL Summer?! And will they ever go back to the high school?! Maybe not! But let’s find out! There’s probably less piss than last season. Rick and Morty, 100 years! Or at least until season 10!

Rick and Morty Season 7 premieres October 10 on Adult Swim.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Oneohtrix Point Never (real name Daniel Lopatin) will soon release Again, his first Oneohtrix album since 2020, and has already shared the lead single, “A Barely Lit Path.” On Monday morning, September 25, Lopatin laid out the path he’ll travel for his Again live shows in 2024.

Lopatin broke the news with an Instagram video, displaying the dates on a scroll.

The eight-show run will begin on February 28, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan and wrap at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York on April 26, 2024. Prior to staging his Again live shows, Lopatin will serve as a headliner at the Levitation festival on October 26 in Austin, Texas.

Per press release, tickets for the 2024 Again shows will go on sale on Thursday, September 28, beginning at 10 a.m. local time. Additionally, the press release relays, “For fans purchasing the album ahead of release by Tuesday, [September] 26 in the UK and US, there will be an opportunity to secure pre-sale tickets to the New York, London and Manchester concerts via the Oneohtrix Point Never store, Bleep and Rough Trade. Please check store mailing lists and socials for more information.”

Watch the Again trailer above, and check out OPN’s 2024 live dates below.

02/28/2024 — Tokyo, Japan @ EXTheatre
02/29/2024 — Osaka, Japan @ Quattro
03/02/2024 — Seoul, South Korea @ Musinsa Garage
03/21/2024 — Berlin, Germany @ Theater Des Westens
04/04/2024 — Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall
04/05/2024 — London, UK @ Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
04/09/2024 — Paris, France @ Cent Quatre
04/26/2024 — Brooklyn, NY @ Paramount Theatre Brooklyn

Again is out 9/29 via Warp Records. Find out more information here.

Drake and Charlamagne Tha God are at it again. After a week in which Cardi B and Joe Budden traded back-and-forth comments over her second album’s first single, another rapper and media personality are apparently “beefing” over comments the latter made on his show. Tension between performers and the media pundits who cover them is nothing new; there was once a time these feuds even escalated to physical violence.

But these days, they usually just result in hilarious tit-for-tats on Twitter and Instagram and in this case, that’s exactly what happened. So…

What Happened Between Drake And Charlamagne Tha God?

Just a few days after Drake released his new single, “Slime You Out” featuring SZA, Charlamagne addressed the song on his podcast The Brilliant Idiots, making it clear that he wasn’t impressed. Noting that the album’s title would seemingly suggest “something a little bit more aggressive,” Charlamagne wondered whether the song wasn’t resonating with fans because of its focus on melody over rapping.

Drake caught wind of Charlamagne’s comments and responded on Instagram, writing in his Story: “Are you ok Lenard [Charlamagne’s real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey]?? You kinda weirding me out g. Like you really obsessed with me or something for years like you look in the mirror and wish you saw my reflection type shit. Whatever you gotta do to let it out I’m sure your 435 loyal fans will stand by you ya f*cking goof.” He then followed up with a press photo of Charlamagne apparently going for “pensive” and joked, “In deep thought about how you the off brand Morris Chestnut.”

If it seems like Drake might be overreacting to Charlamagne’s opinion, that’s only because CTG has a long history of provocations against the superstar, many pertaining to Drake’s sexuality. Fans on Twitter even collected a supercut of years of Charlamagne’s comments dating back to a beardless Drake.

It doesn’t see like Charlamagne is sweating the clapbacks though. On his other show, The Breakfast Club, he floated the unlikely explanation that he and Drake have been doing this dance as promotion for the album, which is due next month. “Back in the day, I can honestly say I was hating on Drake for fun… But after ‘Back To Back’ and he sent the bottle with the note, we came to an understanding and we agreed whenever he drops certain songs, I will hate on them and bring more attention to the record. I don’t think he needs it.” Of course, Charlamagne also said he was lying and no one would believe him, so who’s to say?

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Until Bill Maher weighs in, it’s Clay Travis who has the weirdest take about whatever is happening between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

After Swift was spotted at a Kansas City Chiefs game eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and “seemingly ranch” (and also to cheer on Kelce), right-wing provocateur Travis wrote on X, “Travis Kelce is doing Bud Light and covid shot commercials. He needs to fire all his marketing agents. Or he needs to just go ahead and cut his dick off, become a chick, and endorse Joe Biden.”

Kelce, who won the Super Bowl seven months ago and would be a first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer if he retired today, rode off into the sunset with the biggest pop star in the world after catching a touchdown. He doesn’t need advice from a guy who once went on a weird rant about boobs on Fox News.

Travis was instantly quote-tweeted into oblivion (Swifites + NFL fans is a perilous combination), but he later double downed on his ramblings. “The Taylor Swift fans & the covid shot fans are now all in my mentions going crazy and it is a glorious medley of woke insanity. Things haven’t been this wild on here for me since I called for canceling all halftime band performances in college. Which should still 100% happen,” he wrote.

To quote Taylor Alison Swift, you need to calm down.

(Via X/Clay Travis)

Can rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert possibly live down her Beetlejuice vaping and groping drama before she’s up for reelection in 2024? It’s too soon to know the answer to that question. It’s only been two weeks, so near-constant talk of a scandal of this magnitude is to be expected. That fire is fueled by Boebert’s past statements about drag shows because she was groping a Democrat Bar Guy whose establishment participates in Aspen Gay Week each year, so it doesn’t seem likely that her opponents will let her forget the mess that went down in a crowded Denver theater with families present.

Additionally, Boebert herself cannot stop inadvertently reminding everyone about the incident. Even one word from her, including “joy,” has been enough to set people off. When she mentioned “encounters at the Southern border,” social media collectively tittered. Over the weekend, it somehow kept going.

Boebert spoke with Steve Bannon for his War Room program on Real America’s Network. In the process, Boebert promised that she will be all business while also insisting she’d rather be hanging with her kids and grandkid. At the end, she declared, “I’m not here for the political show, the political theater.”

Bannon, for his part, is a Boebert fan and even referred to her as “a hammer when it comes to policy.” Still, the word “theater” was simply too much for people to handle, so Beavis And Butt-Head may have entered the chat.

This incident happened two weeks ago, and yet, it continues to fuel chaos.

In an age where technology and fashion intertwine, our pets deserve accessories that echo the times. Many pet owners grapple with the need for innovative solutions that also embrace sustainability. Enter Nina Woof, seamlessly marrying the appeal of modern design with a groundbreaking addition: the Cupertino Dog Collar, compatible with Apple AirTag.

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