BNT MISC

WWE Superstar Kevin Owens has reportedly pitched having a match against retired Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Owens and Michaels had a discussion about it and Michaels told KO he would be "lying if he didn't think about doing another match." At the same time, Michaels reportedly told Owens he "doesn't think he should" wrestle again.

Owens drew one of the biggest stars in wrestling history out of retirement earlier this year when Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin faced him in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 38.

Before that, Austin had not had a match in 19 years, as his retirement match came against The Rock at WrestleMania 19.

Owens and Austin had a highly entertaining brawl that ended with an Austin win, and the live crowd in Arlington, Texas, went crazy for The Texas Rattlesnake.

Michaels witnessing Owens vs. Austin reportedly got him thinking about the possibility of having another match, but it doesn't appear as though anything is imminent on that front.

The Heartbreak Kid had his retirement match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, and while he remained retired for quite some time, he did come out of retirement for a tag team match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in 2018.

Michaels teamed with Triple H against The Undertaker and Kane, but it was largely a disaster, as Kane's mask fell off at one point and Triple H suffered a torn pectoral muscle.

Per Fightful, Michaels has told people that the Crown Jewel match was the single biggest payday of his entire career.

Michaels is still very much around WWE and the product since he serves as the head of NXT, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he could wrestle again.

Owens would be an excellent opponent based on how well he handled Austin's return, but it is fair to wonder if the poor reception for his Crown Jewel match might prevent Michaels from making a second comeback.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

On Thursday, U.S. Soccer announced the candidates for its Player of the Year award.

For the women, the finalists are forwards Alex Morgan, Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith and midfielders Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle. For the men, the finalists are forward Christian Pulisic, midfielder Tyler Adams, goalkeeper Matt Turner and defenders Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream.

Morgan, 33, has been nominated for the award seven times. Her past season was highlighted by an NWSL-leading 15 goals for the San Diego Wave.

Pugh, 24, is one of the USWNT's brightest young stars. She posted seven goals and seven assists for the team in the past year, to go along with 11 goals and six assists for the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars.

Smith, 22, led the USWNT this past season with 11 goals and was named the NWSL MVP after notching 14 goals. She was the youngest MVP in league history and helped lead Portland Thorns to a title.

Horan, 28, is the defending U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award winner. She made 14 starts for the USWNT in the midfield and won the UEFA Women's Champions League with Olympique Lyon in club play.

Lavelle, 27, made 15 starts and 16 total appearances for the USWNT this past season, notching four goals and six assists. She also recorded five goals and an assist for the NWSL's Reign.

Pulisic, 24, has fallen in and out of favor at Chelsea but remains arguably the USMNT's most important and dynamic player. The three-time U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award winner tied for a team-high five goals and had a team-high three assists this past year, which included a goal and and two assists at the World Cup.

Adams, 23, is the keystone of the USMNT and was named captain for this year's World Cup. The steady midfielder earned two Man of the Match distinctions in Qatar and has been a regular fixture on the club level for Leeds in the Premier League.

Turner, 28, ascended to the first-choice goalkeeper at this year's World Cup and finished the year with seven clean sheets. He serves as Aaron Ramsdale's backup at Arsenal on the club side.

Ream, 35, serves as the captain for club side Fulham and played every minute for the USMNT in Qatar as one of the team's most reliable players.

Robinson, 25, is Ream's teammate at Fulham and has staked his claim as the USMNT's first-choice left-back. He made 13 total appearances in World Cup qualifying and started all four matches in Qatar.

The holiday season is upon us, with college football giving its fans a special gift when early national signing day begins on Dec. 21.

The three-day signing period gives schools an opportunity to start solidifying their 2023 recruiting class, as well as hope their pitches to players who are either on the fence or decommitted from another program pay off.

A number of the best players in the 2023 class are already off the board. Fourteen of the top 15 players in 247Sports' composite rankings have committed, led by Texas landing Arch Manning.

2022 Early National Signing Day Announcement Schedule

Damon Wilson (5-star Edge): Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. ET

James Smith (5-star DL): Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. ET

Anthony Hill (5-star LB): Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. ET

Qua Russaw (5-star Edge): Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. ET

Jordan Hall (5-star DL): Dec. 22 at 2:30 p.m. ET

Desmond Ricks (5-star CB): Dec. 22 at 5:30 p.m. ET

Announcement schedule and recruit rankings via 247Sports.com.

Preview

What once seemed like a fairly standard recruiting season was shaken up on Dec. 4 when Deion Sanders was named head coach at the University of Colorado.

Even though a two-week timeframe would seem too short in recruiting, the Buffaloes seem poised to make a lot of noise.

Dylan Edwards, a 4-star running back who verbally committed to Notre Dame in August, opened up his recruiting on Dec. 8. He gave Sanders and Colorado a commitment two days later.

Sanders hasn't been shy about using social media in an attempt to land recruits, both those committing out of high school and anyone entering the transfer portal:

Malachi Coleman, a 4-star athlete and No. 63 overall prospect on 247Sports' rankings, has long been regarded as a safe bet to end up at Nebraska. He is from Lincoln and attends high school at Lincoln East.

On Dec. 1, Coleman announced he was decommitting from the Cornhuskers and opening up his recruiting. He tweeted on Tuesday he was taking an official visit to Colorado this weekend after previously scheduling a trip to Michigan.

While it remains to be seen just how much of an impact Sanders can make right out of the gate at Colorado, the top of the recruiting rankings are once again shaping to be a battle of SEC superpowers.

Per 247Sports' composite rankings, Alabama has the No. 1 class with 25 total commits. Safety Caleb Downs and edge Keon Keeley are the prize players, ranking in the top 10 among all players in the 2023 class.

Georgia is running second in the class rankings with 20 commits from players rated as 4-star recruits or better.

Despite losing Edwards to Colorado, Marcus Freeman is off to an excellent start in his first full recruiting cycle as Notre Dame's head coach. The Fighting Irish have 26 total commits, including 5-star safety Peyton Bowen and 21 4-star players.

A lot of things can—and probably will—change because high-school athletes can be difficult to read, but it's going to make for an interesting recruiting period.

There is an apparent belief within WWE that the door is open for Mandy Rose to return at some point following her reported release from the company on Wednesday.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), there is a "possibility down the road" that Rose could be welcomed back to WWE, although she is done with the promotion for now.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported Wednesday that WWE released Rose due to content on her FanTime page believed to be "outside of the parameters" of her contract with the company.

Although Rose's content was behind a paywall, explicit photos and videos that she posted on FanTime had leaked on social media.

Rose's reported release came the day after she surprisingly dropped the NXT Women's Championship to 21-year-old Roxanne Perez on Tuesday night's episode of NXT.

Perez won the women's Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline last weekend to become No. 1 contender, but rather than waiting to have the match until the Vengeance Day premium live event in February, the title bout was held on regular television.

With the loss, Rose's 413-day title reign ended, meaning she has the third-longest NXT Women's Championship reign in history behind only Asuka and Shayna Baszler.

After getting sent back to NXT from the main roster in the summer of 2021, Rose re-invented herself and became the leader of a stable known as Toxic Attraction, alongside Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne.

Rose went on to become one of the faces of NXT and one of the most successful female wrestlers in the world in 2022, and she seemed poised to have a better run than ever before on the main roster in the near future.

Instead, Rose was reportedly jettisoned from the company, although a return seemingly isn't out of the question if the two sides can get on the same page again.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Outfielder Bryan Reynolds requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this offseason. The winter meeting came and went without a deal, but that doesn't mean that Reynolds will still be a Pirate when spring training begins.

For the Boston Red Sox—a team looking to climb out of the AL East basement—Reynolds would make a lot of sense.

Boston is open to working the trade market, especially after losing top free agent Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres in free agency.

"I actually think the trade market could be a really good route to adding impact to our club," chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said, per The Athletic's Chad Jennings. "We are looking (into) a lot of significant moves there as long as we can do it in a way that isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul, that's actually moving us forward in 2023 and giving us a chance to make a significant step forward from where we sit today."

A player who can help in 2023 and beyond? That's Reynolds. A 2021 All-Star, Reynolds will only turn 28 next month. He's also a financial fit for rebuilding Boston, as he'll remain arbitration-eligible through the 2025 season.

In 2023, Reynolds will carry a salary of only $6.8 million, according to Spotrac.

Naturally, Reynolds will want an extension at some point, but he would nevertheless come with three more years of team control.

Then, there's the fact that—according to Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal—the Red Sox have already looked into adding outfield and offensive help.

"In need of offensive help, the Red Sox have, according to a source familiar with the talks, made inquires about first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper," McAdam wrote. "The Sox have an opening in the outfield, with Alex Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez set to cover two of the three outfield spots."

Reynolds could help round out the outfield group while providing a boost at the plate. He has hit 74 home runs and 239 RBI over the last four seasons. He finished 2022 with a .262 batting average, 27 home runs and 62 RBI.

While Reynolds was more impressive during his 2021 All-Star campaign (90 RBI, .302 average), these were still strong numbers for a player just entering his prime.

In a vacuum, Reynolds appears to be a perfect fit for Boston. The question, of course, is how much a trade will cost. This is where the idea of trading for the 27-year-old becomes a bit less desirable.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, a bargain trade package won't get a deal done:

"One rival official, in what surely was an exaggeration, said the Pirates want a '[Juan] Soto-type package' for Reynolds. Another said Reynolds is 'super expensive.' A third described him as 'unlikely to move.'"

Soto, for the record, was dealt along with Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals to the Padres in exchange for C. J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit.

While the Soto trade is an extreme comparison, the message is clear. Pittsburgh won't move Reynolds for a couple of draft picks and/or low-end prospects. The good news is that Boston has a farm system loaded with high-end talent.

Players like Ceddanne Rafaela, Nick Yorke and Bryan Mata could entice Pittsburgh—especially if Boston is willing to include a blue-chip prospect like Miguel Bleis or Marcelo Mayer.

The Red Sox would have to weigh the long-term potential of said prospects against their desire to turn things around this season. Ultimately, they might decide that Reynolds simply isn't worth what it would take to force Pittsburgh's hand.

However, Boston should at least inquire about Reynolds and come at the Pirates with serious intentions. The 2016 second-rounder has emerged as a bona fide rising star, and he checks just about every box Boston could hope to address in this offseason's trade market.