TNA World Champion, Nic Nemeth, has signed a contract extension with TNA.
PWInsider is reporting that Nemeth's original deal was set to expire at the start of this year, but that the two sides were able to come to an agreement and keep the former WWE star with the company longer. The report does not indicate how long Nemeth extended for.
Nemeth made his TNA debut nearly a year ago at the Hard to Kill PPV event in 2024. Nemeth won the TNA World Championship at Slammiversary in 2024 and has held that title ever since. During his time with the promotion, Nemeth has also wrestled Steve Maclin and feuded with The System.
Nemeth was released from WWE in September of 2023 after a nearly 20-year run with the company. He is a former WWE World Champion, Intercontinental Champion, US Champion, and Tag Team Champion.
In TNA, he's successfully defended the world championship against Mustafa Ali, Josh Alexander, Moose, and Joe Hendry. At the upcoming Genesis PPV next week, he'll once again defend the title against Hendry.
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Cody Rhodes has clawed his way to the top of the wrestling mountain. He's been cut. He's been at the bottom of a card. And, he's been around the block a few times, with stops at Ring of Honor, TNA, AEW (which he helped found), New Japan Pro Wrestling and, of course, WWE. So, when you see Rhodes at the top of the industry and as the face of the biggest wrestling brand on the planet, you know it was a long time coming. WWE, however, doesn't always reward that type of wrestling grind. You only need to look at Logan Paul and the push he's receiving from the company to understand that to them, being a wrestling lifer is far from a top priority. Paul is a YouTuber. He made his WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38. While his brother, Jake Paul, has played a role in the decline of boxing, Logan has decided to tarnish the wrestling profession instead. Yet, Rhodes believes that Logan Paul's ability to draw fans, impress with his athleticism and create an emotional response from the audience will likely mean that sooner or later, he'll be crowned a WWE world champion. “If he had just stepped in and was immediately as good as he was, I’d be furious," Rhodes said during a recent appearance on "The Bill Simmons Show" podcast. "One of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. If you consider him a heel, that’s okay, he is as prickly as it gets...He took it as seriously as anybody ever. I have a feeling he is going to end up being World Champion or WWE Champion as some point. The internet will explode and we’ll be fine. He is very special.” There's no denying that Logan Paul is a talented in-ring performer. He's a natural athlete with great timing and a clear understanding of WWE's show production. However, he is not a wrestler. He hasn't been part of the indie scene or earned his stripes by doing guest spots at smaller, more localized promotions. Logan Paul is an influencer who can wrestle a little bit. He'd never be able to cut it in more wrestling-focused promotions such as AEW, New Japan or even one of WWE's recently acquired entities: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. Making him a champion would be spitting in the face of all the wrestlers who have fought tooth and nail to be part of the industry. To the talents who have given their lives to perfecting the art form. Logan Paul would be the final nail in the coffin of WWE as a wrestling company, rather than being a show about wrestlers. Logan Paul is a good talent, so putting the United States Championship on him made sense. It's a mid-card belt for a mid-card wrestler. But, asking him to be one of the top faces in the company is a step too far, and one many wrestling fans should hope never happens.
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio was tearing it up in July before he strained his hamstring legging out a triple. He was placed on the injured list, and it only got worse from there. Less than 24 hours later, manager Pat Murphy said Chourio would be out beyond the 10-day minimum and possibly at least a month. On Saturday, beat reporter Curt Hogg shed another tidbit of light on the slugger’s timetable. It’s not necessarily worse news, but Hogg’s update probably does not illuminate much. Fans already knew Chourio was going to be out a while after Friday’s report, so this latest info isn’t surprising. It isn’t all that encouraging, either. It certainly suggests no expedited return schedule. Not to make assumptions, but the emphasis on the location of the damage versus evaluating its severity seems to indicate the Brewers are just hoping Chourio avoided a worse-case scenario. In that case, caution would indeed be first in the order of operations. Only after ascertaining clarity would it make sense to seriously estimate a recovery timetable. That he won’t be ready to immediately resume baseball workouts further points to a slow, methodical recovery process. For however long he remains out, the lineup will miss him badly. Chourio’s 17 home runs rank second on the team behind Christian Yelich, as do his 67 RBI. His .786 OPS leads the offense among qualified hitters. In 90 at-bats in July, he hit .367/.408/.600. The Brewers are resilient everywhere, but without one of their few genuine power threats and hottest bats, plus an everyday outfielder, they are courting a potential offensive slump. The most fans can hope for from Chourio is that he returns fully healthy by the first week of September. Until then, Blake Perkins and trade pickup Brandon Lockridge should see plenty of playing time while Yelich takes more reps in the outfield after getting most of his at-bats this season as the designated hitter.
The Miami Marlins turned to good ol’ Neil Diamond to clown on the New York Yankees during their impressive weekend triumph. Miami pulled off an improbable three-game series sweep of the Yankees on Sunday with a 7-3 win at LoanDepot Park in Miami. It marked the sixth consecutive series victory for the Marlins as well as their first-ever three-game sweep of the Yankees in franchise history. As Sunday’s game was nearing the end, the Marlins decided to have some fun. With the Yankees down to their last three outs entering the top of the ninth inning, “Sweet Caroline” began loudly playing inside the ballpark. Here is a video: Of course, “Sweet Caroline” is an anthem of the Boston Red Sox, the hated rivals of the Yankees. The song plays in the eighth inning of every game at Fenway Park. Fittingly enough, the 62-51 Red Sox are officially now ahead of the Yankees in the AL East standings (thanks to the Yankees’ brutal weekend against the Marlins putting them at 60-52). The Yankees only had themselves to blame for their poor weekend showing, piling on several more embarrassing mental mistakes during the series. As for the Marlins though, they are quickly looking like one of the best stories of the second half. After sitting at a dismal 25-41 in mid-June, Miami is suddenly a .500 team again at 55-55 and it has clawed to within 5.5 games back of a wild-card spot in the NL.
In a season full of hard luck for the Atlanta Braves, Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds brought more. Star third baseman Austin Riley exited the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway after tagging out Elly De La Cruz at home plate and saving a run in the bottom of the first inning. Riley fielded a ball that was smoked to third base off the bat of Miguel Andujar and chased Cruz down at the plate to keep Cincinnati's lead at one run. The next time Riley came up in the batting order, however, it was 28-year-old Luke Williams who stepped into the batter's box. The official reason given for Riley's departure from the contest was lower abdominal pain. Riley struck out in his lone plate appearance on Sunday. Riley, 28, is hitting .260 for Atlanta in 415 at-bats this season. He's hit 16 home runs with a .309 on-base percentage in 101 games. Riley strained an abdominal muscle on July 11 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, which led to the Memphis, Tenn., native being on the injured list until July 25. Atlanta is hoping that the pain he suffered on Sunday doesn't lead to a long-term injury.
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