Latest news with #Rumble
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NXT's Jordynne Grace has the strength and desire to put the team on her back
The date is January 27, 2024. WWE's Royal Rumble PLE is in motion, with the women's Rumble having introduced its first four entrants. The surprise to this point has been entrant No. 3, Naomi, former multi-time WWE Women's Champion and most recently a member of the TNA roster. She's a welcome, familiar surprise as a fan-favorite who has history with so many of the participants. When the Rumble clock buzzer hits for the fifth entrance, a Scott Steiner-inspired emergency siren hits, and those in the know tense up and look toward the entrance, knowing another surprise is on its way. Advertisement Jordynne Grace, the bruising boulder of a woman and then-TNA Knockouts Champion, immediately shows her mettle, tossing, slamming and spiking everyone in sight. She briefly shows solidarity with Naomi, the woman she defeated for the Knockouts Title, then the two mutually come to blows. While winning the Rumble — and in turn getting a World Championship match at WrestleMania — is the ultimate goal, Grace was more focused on making sure her first appearance in WWE wouldn't be her last. "I was definitely more nervous before the Rumble because I was terrified to mess anything up — and I didn't mess anything up," Grace told Uncrowned. "Just thankful that nothing went wrong." She parlayed that successful cameo into a Wolverine-like role between companies. She was one of TNA's primary gifted children, but still found time to serve alongside the superteam that is NXT. Four months after her surprise Royal Rumble appearance, Gracie popped out on NXT television as the next challenger to Roxanne Perez's NXT Women's Championship at the 2024 Battleground PLE. Advertisement While talents from both NXT and TNA appear on the other brand's programming, Grace was the most consistent, challenging for titles while also defending her Knockouts Championship against TNA and NXT talent alike. It wasn't something she planned, or even aspired to do, but when called upon, she proved to be the perfect catalyst to create ongoing synergy between the two companies. She'd been a solid contributor in TNA, but focused in on her craft after what she deemed to be a lackluster first title run. "I've been lifting for years, since I was 15 years old, but I never dieted and I never really did cardio at all," Grace said. "Honestly, those are two of the main things that you have to do, unfortunately, to get your body to look in any type of way you want it to look like. "I had just won the Knockouts Championship for the first time, and Deonna Perrazzo had come over to TNA, and she won the title from me her very first weekend there. And I remember feeling so expendable and so just off-put by that, I just thought to myself, 'Well, something has to change, because if someone can just come in here and just take my spot, I have to do something. I have to change something in order for that not to happen ever again.' ... I actually got my first [fitness] coach that following week." With her improved physique and electric offense, Grace dominated TNA's Knockouts division through its deepest and most consistent period to date. And even with that dominance, she's quick to point out that she may have stabilized the division, but it was already buzzing before she arrived. Advertisement "I was in TNA for so long that the Knockouts Division, I didn't really help build it per se, but I think the division was built around me," Grace said. "I had my hand in everything. I was always doing a story with one of the girls or two of the girls at the same time, because it was in flux constantly. Trinity came in — she was there for a time, but she wasn't there for very long. Deonna [Purrazzo] came in — she was there for a few years, but I was there for a very long time. I feel like I was the biggest constant in the Knockouts Division. The person they could always trust … to just go out there and have — or try to have — the best match on the card, no matter who I was wrestling.' Her nearly 300-day Knockouts Title reign came to an end at TNA's Bound For Glory pay-per-view event this past October, when she lost to her closest friend/coldest rival in the company, the roughhousing Russian Masha Slamovich. Grace's ability to not only sit atop the Knockouts Division, but to leave it better than she found it, speaks volumes about her appreciation for her peers, but also why WWE would want someone like that as a focal point of its own thriving women's division. In truth, Grace's foresight might out-lift her forearms, as she saw Slamovich as the perfect heir to keep the division thriving in her absence. Jordynne Grace and Stephanie Vaquer have already made magic in NXT. (Photo via WWE) 'I remember having the conversation about who I thought would be next," Grace said. "Honestly, they didn't have Masha's name in their head at all, which surprised me, but I really [feel] that Masha was the one. … I don't know any of the people that are really in charge, I don't have a relationship with them. But at the time, I don't think that her independent work and GCW work was translating over to TNA in the Knockouts Division. They didn't get it. It didn't click for them. Advertisement "But I knew how good she was, and I knew how important it was for her to be the one to be the next … leader of that locker room.' Grace officially joined WWE in January 2025, solidifying her new venture by entering her second consecutive Royal Rumble. She played coy on social media, claiming she was in Central Texas for her mother's birthday party. She eliminated NXT's Jaida Parker, then got tossed over the top rope by NXT Women's Champion Giulia, establishing herself as a perennial challenger for the brand's top women's title, parallel to the NXT Championship. As a full-time member of the NXT roster, she got her first crack at championship gold at NXT Stand Deliver, the brand's early morning PLE the day of WrestleMania 41, Night 1. Grace, Jaida Parker and Giulia all challenged Stephanie Vaquer in a Fatal 4-Way Match for the NXT Women's Championship. While not involved in the finish, she failed to secure the championship, as Stephanie Vaquer retained by pinning Jaida Parker. Grace once more earned a title shot at NXT Battleground this past weekend, this time in a singles match with Vaquer, but again fell short in her efforts to claim her first title in WWE. Advertisement While she sings the praises of the TNA Knockouts Division, a humbled, well-traveled Grace has no problem admitting that what she's faced in the WWE might be something she needs a bit more time to prepare for. And in some cases, it might be on a level she may not reach. Jordynne Grace has her eyes on NXT gold. (Photo via WWE) "The insecurity that I have with being placed at the front now is that the talent pool is so deep and diverse," Grace said. "I can work as hard as I want and be the best wrestler that I want to be. I feel like some of these NIL athletes were born with something that maybe I wasn't. … Someone like Bayley Humphrey, I can lift my heart out, and I probably will never be as strong as someone like that. She is an absolute monster. "I just feel like there's just more competition, there's more opportunity, and I feel comfortable with being where I am right now, but I always feel a little on guard because there's always someone they could move up next.' Advertisement An NXT Women's Championship may not have been in the cards for Grace, as the May 27 edition of NXT seemed to shake up not only the title landscape, but also the overall trajectory of the roster. Ricky Saints lost his NXT North American Championship to Ethan Paige, New TNA Champion Trick Williams looked down the barrel of the shotgun that is Mike Santana, and the untouchable Stephanie Vaquer found herself tagged by NXT veteran and new Women's Champion Jacy Jane. The big shift seems to be setting in motion a new time for WWE's main roster, where a revolution finds its new television station, folks get whooped via streaming service, and a certain juggernaut runs through a brand new set of unwilling opponents. But for Grace, this was always the goal, and she's never been closer to getting what she's been working for. She knows that to get there, it's a team effort, every single time. "It's what I've been working toward, I feel like, the past 15 years. Every sacrifice I've made, every win, every loss, every title I won at TNA has come down to finally being able to live [my] dream as a WWE champion," she said. "I want to be the one to give whoever comes in front of me their best match, no matter what. … I always ask the person I'm wrestling with, 'What was your favorite match?' They would tell me, I'd be like, 'We're going to have a better match than that. We're going to say it right now and we're going to speak it into existence.' That's what I always want to be for that person."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
QAnon follower gets 3 years for threatening to ‘execute' Katie Hobbs
Teak Brockbank was sentenced to three years in federal prison for threatening to kill then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022. Photo via FBI/Justice Department A Colorado man who wrote online about how he had the right to execute then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and made similar threats against Jena Griswold, the Colorado secretary of state, was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. Teak Ty Brockbank blamed being exposed to far-right extremism content online, including the QAnon conspiracy theory, for motivating him to make online threats. In the criminal complaint for the case, FBI agents included posts from Brockbank that included the common QAnon catchphrase 'WWG1WGA' and references to other QAnon beliefs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Acronyms are popular among the QAnon community, and the most well known is WWG1WGA, meaning 'Where We Go One, We Go All,' a phrase used as a rallying cry among the 'digital soldiers' of the QAnon community. Brockbank's online avatar was a version of a cartoon frog that has become popular in antisemitic, conspiracy theory and racist online circles. In August 2022, Brockbank posted on the video service Rumble, which has become a favorite platform for misinformation, that people like Hobbs and Griswold were committing treason for alleged election fraud. There is no evidence of widespread election fraud or election fraud perpetrated by Hobbs or Griswold. 'Once these people start getting put to death then the rest will melt like snowflakes and turn on each other and we will sit back why (sic) the worst of them get pointed against the wall as well,' Brockbank wrote in a comment on a Rumble video. 'This is the only way. So those of us that have the stomach for what has to be done should prepare our minds for what we All are going to do!!!!!!' Brockbank, who used to live in Cave Creek, also claimed that he had a right to 'execute' Hobbs in public. '[W]e the people have every right to walk up to one of them and execute them for their actions,' Brockbank wrote in another comment on Rumble. FBI agents also discovered posts Brockbank made stating that, if federal agents came to his residence, he would murder them. 'ATF CIA FBI show up to my house I am shooting them peace's (sic) of shit first No Warning!!' Brockbank wrote in response to a post about the arrest of an ATF agent. 'Then I will call the sheriff!!! With everything that these piece of shit agencies have done I am completely justified to just start dropping them as soon as they step on my property!' While Brockbank said in court that he regrets his decisions and has blamed drinking for his behavior, the U.S. Department of Justice in a recent filing pointed to threatening remarks he aimed at federal officials as recently as 2024 and the discovery he was possessing firearms, when he is a prohibited felony possessor, as indicators of his insincerity. 'There was so much ammunition in the residence that agents elected not to count it,' the DOJ wrote. 'The firearm near the front door, moreover, was loaded and cocked.' Hobbs declined to comment on the sentencing. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Man who says far-right content led him to threaten election officials is sentenced to 3 years
DENVER (AP) — A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for his online threats to kill Democratic election officials in Colorado and Arizona was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday. U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews said the penalty for such 'keyboard terrorism' needed to be serious enough to deter others, particularly because threats against public officials are on the rise. People need to work out differences through the democratic process, not violence, Crews said. 'The public must not accept this as the norm,' he said in handing down the sentence for Teak Ty Brockbank. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Brockbank, 45, pleaded guilty in October to making threats between September 2021 and August 2022 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now governor. He also threatened a Colorado judge overseeing his DUI case and threatened to kill any federal agents who came to his house. In a statement, Griswold said conspiracy theories spread by the far right have incited threats and violence against election officials. 'I will not be intimidated,' she said. Brockbank, dressed in a khaki jail uniform, apologized for his 'ugly posts' and said he has turned away from the fear, hate and anger he found online. He asked Crews to sentence him to home detention instead of more time behind bars. Federal prosecutors sought three years in prison for Brockbank, the maximum recommended under sentencing guidelines. He asked for leniency, saying he made the posts when he was drinking heavily, socially isolated and spending his evenings consuming conspiracy theories online. Jonathan Jacobson, a Washington-based attorney for the Justice Department, pointed out that the threats continued during a period when Brockbank wasn't drinking. Brockbank's attorney referred to his client — who has been in jail since he was arrested in August — as a 'keyboard warrior,' pointing out there was no evidence that he planned to carry out the threats. Brockbank spent time on social media sites such as Gab and Rumble, the alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing and promoting far-right extremism. The sites delivered 'the message that the country was under attack and that patriotic Americans had a duty to rise up and act,' attorney Tom Ward said in a court filing. He told Crews that Brockbank was drawn to QAnon conspiracy theories and that he regularly consumed online content from Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Ward noted that the Trump administration's Justice Department was seeking a tough sentence for someone who was influenced by some of the same extremist content that motivated people to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6 and were later pardoned by Trump. But Crews, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, dismissed that as argument, saying the Jan. 6 pardons were granted by a different branch of the government based on separate interests. Before announcing the sentence, Crews read some of Brockbank's threats, including descriptions of how officials should be killed, starting with one in which Brockbank said Griswold should 'hang by the neck.' Crews said he believed Brockbank's remorse was genuine and urged him to follow through with his decision to turn away from hate even though he was going to prison. Brockbank was prosecuted by a task force started under the Biden administration in 2021 to combat the rise of threats targeting election officials. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the task force was still operating. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The unit has been led by the Justice Department's public integrity section in Washington, which has dwindled from more than two dozen lawyers to just a handful as the Trump administration has shifted resources to priorities like immigration and other matters. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report. Read more on the U.S. Election at
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Jr. Reveals How Getting 'De-Banked,' 'De-Insured' Led Him And Eric Trump To 'Orange Pill' Their Father On Crypto
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, disclosed how he and his brother, Eric Trump, influenced their father's views on Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and cryptocurrency. What Happened: Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Trump Jr. revealed that the Trump family's experience with widespread de-banking during Trump's first presidential term led them to explore blockchain technology. 'We were real estate guys, we were hard assets, we built buildings — [bitcoin] was a bit nebulous,' Trump Jr. said. 'But once we got into that political were getting de-banked, we were getting de-insured, we were getting de-everything. It was brutal.' Trending: — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different being asked by Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski during the conference, 'Did you Orange-Pill your dad?', Trump Jr. replied. that he and Eric '..did some of that'. He explained how both of them were instrumental in helping their father—who had once called Bitcoin a scam—recognize the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. 'We probably, maybe got there a little bit before him. Once we started explaining the potential, he's a quick study ... he got there pretty quickly,' Trump Jr. said. Trump Jr. also mentioned his father's commitment to the democratization of finance, stating that it is a fundamental goal of the Trump It Matters: Trump Jr.'s revelation comes after he announced that the Trump Organization is 'seriously long' on Bitcoin following the Trump Media & Technology Group's (NASDAQ:DJT) decision to raise $2.5 billion to invest in the leading cryptocurrency. This shift in the Trump family's stance on Bitcoin is a significant development in the cryptocurrency space. Trump's return to office has sparked renewed efforts to advance crypto legislation and shift away from the 'regulation-by-enforcement' approach. President Trump's crypto and AI advisor, David Sacks, revealed that the path to acquiring Bitcoin for the strategic reserve is ready and it's just a matter of getting the relevant executive departments 'excited.' Meanwhile, the Trump family's crypto projects, such as the Official TRUMP memecoin (CRYPTO: TRUMP) and World Liberty Financial, have faced criticism for a lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interest. Economist Peter Schiff criticized the President's recent exclusive dinner with holders of his meme coin, stating that it should be 'illegal' for a U.S. president to charge people to dine with him. Read Next: New to crypto? Get up to $400 in rewards for successfully completing short educational courses and making your first qualifying trade on Coinbase. A must-have for all crypto enthusiasts: Sign up for the Gemini Credit Card today and earn rewards on Bitcoin Ether, or 60+ other tokens, with every purchase. Image via ShutterstockSend To MSN: Send to MSN This article Donald Trump Jr. Reveals How Getting 'De-Banked,' 'De-Insured' Led Him And Eric Trump To 'Orange Pill' Their Father On Crypto originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Man who blamed exposure to far-right content gets 3 years for threatening election officials
Published May 29, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold speaks in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Feb. 8, 2024, in Washington. Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP DENVER (AP) — A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for motivating his online threats to kill Democratic election officials Colorado and Arizona was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Teak Ty Brockbank pleaded guilty in October to making threats between September 2021 and August 2022 against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now governor. He also threatened a Colorado judge and federal agents. Federal prosecutors sought three years in prison for Brockbank. He asked for leniency, saying he made the posts when he was drinking heavily, socially isolated and spending his evenings consuming conspiracy theories online. His attorney described Brockbank as a 'keyboard warrior' with no intent to carry out the threats. Brockbank spent time on social media sites like Gab and Rumble, the alternative video-sharing platform that has been criticized for allowing and promoting far-right extremism. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The sites delivered 'the message that the country was under attack and that patriotic Americans had a duty to rise up and act,' said Brockbank attorney Tom Ward. Ward said Brockbank was drawn to the QAnon conspiracy theory and noted in a court filing that Michael Flynn and Roger Stone were prominent on Rumble. Brockbank posted online that Colorado's top election official should 'Hang by the neck' and her former counterpart in Arizona should also be put to death. Prosecutors said in a court filing that a prison sentence was warranted in part to deter others from threatening election officials. 'Threats to elections workers across the country are an ongoing and very serious problem,' wrote Jonathan Jacobsen, a Washington-based trial attorney for the Justice Department's public integrity section. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Under the Biden administration, the department launched a task force in 2021 to combat the rise of threats targeting election officials. Brockbank's conviction in the fall was one of over a dozen convictions won by the unit. At the time, the longest sentences handed down was 3.5 years in prison in two separate cases involving election officials in Arizona. In one case, a man who advocated for 'a mass shooting of poll workers,' posted threatening statements in November 2022 about two Maricopa County officials and their children, prosecutors said. In the other, a Massachusetts man pleaded guilty to sending a bomb threat in February 2021 to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State's office. Brockbank, who has been in custody since his arrest in August 2024, asked to be sentenced to time served plus three years supervised release and possibly six months in home detention or a halfway house. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue charges against Brockbank for having firearms he was barred from possessing because of a previous conviction or for online threats he made later. One such threat was against Griswold last year for her role in helping the prosecution of former Colorado clerk, Tina Peters. Prosecutors say he also threatened judges on the Colorado Supreme Court after they removed Donald Trump from the state's ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court later restored Trump's name to the ballot. Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists World
