Category Archives: Wrestling

Netflix places $5bn bet on live streaming with WWE Raw deal

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Entertainment giant has dabbled with live events in bid to shore up its dominant position as world’s largest streaming platform

Netflix has unveiled a $5bn push into live television after striking a decade-long deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to broadcast the hit wrestling show Raw.

The entertainment giant, which led the on-demand streaming revolution, has dabbled with live events in recent years in a bid to shore up its dominant position as the world’s largest streaming platform.

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Indian wrestling federation chief charged with sexual harassment

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Charges follow months of complaints against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by country’s top wrestlers

Police in India have filed charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation against the chief of the country’s wrestling federation, a member of parliament with Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), following complaints by female wrestlers.

The public prosecutor Atul Srivastav read out the charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at a court hearing in Delhi. If convicted he faces up to three years in jail.

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India’s female wrestlers threaten to hand back Olympic medals in harassment row

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President of Wrestling Federation of India accused of sexually harassing seven young female wrestlers

They were the first women to bring Olympic glory in the wrestling ring to India. But last week several of India’s top female wrestlers threatened to hand back their medals, accusing the authorities of ignoring their allegations of sexual harassment against the sport’s top official.

For the past 15 days, top wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have staged a protest in the centre of Delhi, sacrificing their rigorous training schedules, sleeping in the rain and facing beatings by police.

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Head of Indian wrestling federation accused of sexual harassment

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Wrestlers including Olympic medallists stage sit-in demanding federation is disbanded

Two Olympic medal-winning wrestlers in India have accused the head of their sport’s governing body and its coaches of sexually harassing female players and have vowed to protest until the federation is disbanded and its leader investigated.

Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who have Olympic bronzes, Vinesh Phogat, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and other athletes began a sit-in protest in the capital, Delhi, on Wednesday.

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John Cena sets ‘herculean’ record for most wishes granted to children

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US pro-wrestler fulfilled 650 wishes through non-profit that helps children who are gravely sick or dying

After vanquishing seemingly countless foes in the ring as well as on the screen, the US pro-wrestler and actor John Cena has notched one more mark on his body count.

He has set the new record for the most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the non-profit that helps fulfil the wishes of children who are gravely sick or dying, according to a recent press release from Guinness World Records.

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Vince McMahon retiring from WWE amid sexual misconduct inquiry

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Reports earlier this month said McMahon agreed to pay $12m to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity

The World Wrestling Entertainment impresario Vince McMahon has said he is retiring. The announcement comes amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.

In a brief statement issued by WWE, McMahon said he is retiring as the company’s chair and CEO. He remains its majority shareholder.

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Lucha libre wrestlers enforce wearing of Covid masks at Mexican market – video

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Mexico's famed masked wrestlers take the fight to Covid-19 at a wholesale market, the Central de Abastos in Mexico City. Stallholders and customers were encouraged to wear face masks and use sanitiser. Mexico has recorded more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths, the fourth country to do so. It was the first country in Latin America to begin vaccinating its population

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Idi Amin challenged my father to a wrestling match – then chickened out

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Uganda has never acknowledged the sporting legacy of athlete ‘Sunlight’ Okiror. Almost 30 years after his death, his son hopes this might change

My father, Samson “Sunlight” Okiror, lived an extraordinary life. He was a soldier, a rebel and one of Uganda’s most famous sportsmen.

A wrestler and heavyweight lifter, he could lift a car off the ground. He could tie a rope to a Land Rover and stop it from moving when the engine was turned on. He could stretch steel chains and springs. He travelled across east Africa and to Europe to train and perform.

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Iranian champion wrestler Navid Afkari executed despite global outcry

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Afkari had been convicted of killing security guard during anti-government protests in 2018

Iran has executed a champion wrestler convicted of murdering a security guard during anti-regime protests in 2018, state media said on Saturday, despite an international campaign to spare his life.

Navid Afkari, 27, was executed “this morning after legal procedures were carried out at the insistence of the parents and the family of the victim”, the Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the head of the justice department in the southern Fars province as saying.

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‘I always knew I was wired differently’: why David Arquette went from Hollywood to wrestling

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He was the star of the Scream films, became a heavyweight world champion – and, with the deaths of his sister Alexis and best friend Luke Perry, still has demons to grapple with

I always had a soft spot for David Arquette. From the first time I spotted him, in a bit part in Beverly Hills 90210, and ever after, whether he was playing the dorky policeman in the Scream films, carrying offbeat indie films such as Dream with the Fishes, or playing a Jewish rebel in the Holocaust film The Grey Zone, he radiated a sweet likeability you just can’t fake. It was cheering to spot his goofily handsome face onscreen, like finding your brother’s funny friend hanging out in your kitchen when you got home from school.

The baby brother of acclaimed actors Rosanna, Patricia and Alexis, his talent was obvious; he was on the cover of Vanity Fair’s 1996 Hollywood issue alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith and Benicio del Toro. He was so watchable that, even though his character was supposed to die in the first Scream, Wes Craven rejigged the script so that he became the backbone of the franchise.

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Silver King: wrestler and Nacho Libre star dies at London show

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Cesar Barron had a heart attack during performance at the Roundhouse in Camden, according to industry reports

A former World Championship Wrestling star wrestler has died after collapsing during a show in London, it is reported.

Silver King – who played a villain called Ramses in the film Nacho Libre alongside Jack Black – was performing at the Roundhouse in Camden at the time.

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Spandex snobbery smackdown: why the liberal elite snubs wrestling

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The sport has drama, showmanship, and gender equality – as the film Fighting With My Family proves. Yet, because it’s working class, it’s marginalised, writes director Stephen Merchant

In 2014, after years of struggle, a working-class British woman, aged just 21, was awarded the highest honour her profession can bestow, live, in front of 20,000 people and a television audience of millions.

The Guardian didn’t report it. In the days following, there were no laudatory profiles, no in-depth interviews, no op-eds about her stratospheric success in a male-dominated world.

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