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The wrestling community can breathe again at last. Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith IS AWAKE, HE’S TALKING, and breaking out of recovery following last Saturday’s frightening in-ring assault. That nightmare finale has reversed into one of the best news fans might have hoped for.

From Scary Silence to Sweet Relief

Saturday’s violent altercation left Syko Stu out cold, freezing the arena with fear and causing pandemonium throughout the community. But now? He’s awake, remembering the day, and on the mend. Fans glued to news of his status received the best possible news: the man everyone likes to cheer for is still battling, and this time it’s for real.

Douglas Malo, wrestling teammate and in-real-life guardian angel, jumped at the opportunity during the melee. Not only did he intervene and stop the violent assault, but he also didn’t let the situation turn deadly. Malo recalled that he personally incurred some bruises, but none of it truly matters beyond Stu’s recovery.

When he opened up and began talking, I knew that my friend would be fine,” Malo said of TMZ Sports.

The Wrestling Community Opens Its Heart

If pro wrestling thrives on rivalries, it also thrives on loyalty. Within days of the incident, a GoFundMe campaign soared to nearly $150,000. And it’s not just fans donating their paychecks. YouTube superstar MrBeast dropped $10,000, while wrestling icon Chris Jericho contributed $2,500 to help cover Stu’s medical costs.

From legends to new donors, the message comes loud and clear: Syko Stu isn’t doing this fight on his own.

Yes, there are legal investigations in progress, and yes, there is controversy stirring in the wrestling world about how the events unfolded.But for the very first time, the focus isn’t on controversy.It’s on joy.Fans are celebrating Stu’s awakening as if he won the championship belt.Wrestling Twitter has been flooded with heart emojis, “Stu Strong” hashtags, and individuals swearing they will attend his return match.

A New Chapter Begins

This chapter could have ended in heartbreak. It’s instead becoming one of hope, of fellowship, and of unbridled joy at the sight of someone you love improving. Stu has a long recovery ahead of him, but the end of that tunnel has never looked brighter than it did just days ago.

Next time Syko Stu enters an arena, the reception will rattle the walls. He is no longer merely a wrestler. He is a testament that, however tough the fight gets, there will always be room for a triumphant return.

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Cracker Barrel quickly learned that messing with nostalgia, even nostalgia rooted in a certain kind of country whiteness, comes with consequences.

After unveiling a sleek, minimalist logo that ditched its signature barrel and “old-timer” character, the restaurant chain faced days of outrage from conservatives who accused it of abandoning its “roots.” The pushback even reached President Trump, who has made political hay out of railing against any whiff of “wokeness.”

“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain,” the company said in a statement, per CNN. 

The Tennessee-based chain doubled down on its identity, adding: “At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been – and always will be – about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family. As a proud American institution, our 70,000 hardworking employees look forward to welcoming you to our table soon.”

But this whole controversy felt like it was about more than just branding. Loyalists were furious the logo no longer mirrored the chain’s country roots. So much so that shares of the company reportedly dipped more than 12% days after the rollout, and have risen roughly 7% after reinstating the original logo, CNBC reports. 

Even Trump applauded the reversal: “All of your fans very much appreciate it. Good luck into the future. Make lots of money and, most importantly, make your customers happy again!” he wrote on Truth Social.

When the new logo first dropped, comedian KevOnStage’s satire summed up how many of us already viewed the brand: “Put the racism back in the logo!” he joked. “Y’all messing up Cracker Barrel? Nobody asked for this, man. That’s one place you could leave it just like it is.”

Ultimately, the chain admitted, “We could’ve done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be.” 

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Hollywood personalities get heard, but Sophie Rain just dropped one huge news that caught David Dobrik off guard, like he saw a ghost. In videotapes, the young online mogul openly flashed payment receipts of her close to $83 million in earnings last year that equal NBA behemoth LeBron James’ 2024 salary figures.

Yes, you did read that correctly. The internet’s new go-to finance flexer is raking in sports-god cash, and she won’t think twice about shouting that from the rooftops.

The $82 Million Mic Drop

While Dobrik nervously giggled, Sophie tactfully shut down the viral rumor-spreading that had been circulating on Twitter for weeks:

“Good gossip on Twitter about how much money you make that indeed was all true. Nobody believes I’m telling the truth. But it very much is.”

And so it was. Sophie Rain confessed to having cached $82 million in 18 months. That’s a staggering $28,000 an hour. Don’t talk of a side hustle, the subject of the issue is a cash machine and your CEO looks broke.

Even her slow months are beyond the reach of everyone else. “In July, I only earned $3.4 million,” she complained, half-jocularly implying that perhaps she might need a holiday.

The LeBron James Flex

The gag in real life was when she gave the LeBron line. While the NBA legend raked in $56 million last year, Sophie matter-of-factly said that she had made $43 million in the same period.

“I almost made more than LeBron last year,” she said, smiling. Dobrik, not being able to calculate, almost choked on air.

This was not influencer hype. This was a young woman announcing herself in the sports-star salary range while lounging in a chair and not on any court.

The Paranoid Millionaire

However, despite all the work, Sophie admitted living with constant paranoia. “I’m so stressed. I’m paranoid as much because anything here can vanish tomorrow.”

Even Dobrik, however, would not allow her to get away with this nervousness:

“Eighty-two million dollars doesn’t vanish overnight.”

Perhaps not, but with the bank account being as large as the GDP of a small nation, one can’t help but wonder when the dream might end.

The Fame Problem

For all her money, Sophie also showed her largest issue: someone not afraid of it.

“Still looking for somebody who makes more than you, then?” Dobrik joked.

“I want someone who never heard of me at all,” she said with a sly grin. “Which is hard.”

Queen of the web might have spent more from LeBron’s war chest, but at the conclusion of the matter, she’s still searching for something dollars will never quite achieve: anonymity and authenticity.

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Coco Gauff’s first match since enlisting someone to help with her shaky serving got off to a rocky start at the U.S. Open on Tuesday night. She double-faulted in the very first game — and a total of 10 times. She got broken in that game, too — and a total of six times.

The only numbers that truly counted in the end, of course, were the ones on the Arthur Ashe Stadium scoreboard, and those showed that the No. 3-seeded Gauff held on for a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows.

“It wasn’t the best,” Gauff said, “but I’m happy to get through.”

Nothing came easily. Gauff twice led by a break in the second set but couldn’t end things. She went up 5-3 in the third and served for the victory at 5-4, but double-faulted twice in a row and missed a pair of forehands to make it 5-all.

“Staying close also puts her under pressure to serve it out,” Tomljanovic said. “In the first round, even if you’re Coco, it’s never easy.”

That slip-up could have been too much to take for Gauff. Instead, she steadied herself, broke right back, then was able to serve it out on her second chance to do so, nearly three full hours after the contest began.

“I had so many chances. … I was just like, ‘Eventually, one of these is going to go my way,’” she said.

Gauff, who won the first of her two Grand Slam titles at the 2023 U.S. Open as a teenager, added Gavin MacMillan to her coaching team shortly before the start of this tournament. MacMillan is a biomechanics expert who helped current No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka retool her serve a few years ago, and he was in the first row of Gauff’s guest box, seated right in front of her mother.

After beating Tomljanovic, Gauff called her practices with MacMillan “really tough” and “mentally exhausting.”

“I was spending a lot of time on court, literally serving until, like, my shoulder was hurting,” Gauff said. “I feel like it’s (going) in the right direction, and I think for me, it’s trying not to go back to old habits in those tighter moments, and I think I did that today, especially in the third set.”

The problem for Gauff, in a nutshell, has been a propensity to accumulate double-faults. Her 320 entering the U.S. Open were the most on the women’s tour this season — and more than 100 more than anyone else. That included 23 in one match earlier this month, then 14 the next time out.

On Tuesday, as she dealt with the work-in-progress of a tweaked service motion, Gauff began with much slower offerings than she’s capable of striking. As the match progressed, and the tension rose, the 21-year-old from Florida reverted to her customary pace, going from averaging just 88 mph on first serves in the first set, to 97 mph in the second and 101 in the third, when Ashe’s retractable roof was closed. She cranked one in at 117 mph and even produced one second-serve ace.

What won this one against the 79th-ranked Tomljanovic, an Australian best known for defeating Serena Williams at the 2022 U.S. Open in the 23-time major champion’s final match of her career, was Gauff’s exemplary court coverage and terrific backhand. Appropriately, a down-the-line backhand converted match point, and Gauff waved her arms overhead to rile up the crowd.

Even as Tomljanovic swung away on her big forehand, it was Gauff who got the best of their lengthy exchanges from the baseline.

She also fared well when she pressed forward, winning 12 of the 15 points she ended at the net, including one with a leaping, over-the-shoulder, back-to-the-net volley winner in the third set

This was Gauff’s first match at a Slam since stumbling to a first-round exit at Wimbledon in July, a setback that followed her championship at the French Open in June.

As Gauff moves forward at Flushing Meadows, there is a chance she can overtake Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the rankings and rise to No. 1 for the first time.

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Rappers Lil Baby and Lil Yachty are the newest ones embroiled in a crazy social media tempest, courtesy of OnlyFans model Woesenpai. In a now viral video, there was Woesenpai claiming the two rappers banged her, and as for Lil Baby, he supposedly purchased her car just so he might have her by his side.

The 35-second video is a conversation animated with compulsive alleged messages, FaceTime screen shots, and eye-opening commitments, showing a photograph of obsession, secrecy, and libido driven by money.

Lil Baby’s “Car Note Obsession”

Most shocking of all the accusations? That Lil Baby allegedly financed Woesenpai’s costly car payments, which he allegedly showed off as collateral for the alleged affair.

In the leaked DMs, the rapper is seen repeatedly again and again with her Porsche:

“What kind of car is that [.]. That’s the best thing you could of [.}. Porsche [.]. The Porsche is a better investment [.]. I got the down payment part.”

He captions the video with hints that indeed Baby followed up, asserting that his money was not money of speech but of action.

Text Hunger and Midnight Pull

They’re like the man is slowly losing his hold on himself before our very eyes in real-time. The transcript has him saying he’s “25 min from your house,” he’s a “grown ass man” not playin’ games twice, and really that he might wanna ask “Boat” (Lil Yachty’s nickname) over through group message so he can “confess my love.”

Other messages include announcements such as:

“Def too late my soul already attached.” “We can be friends if that’s what gotta be, but I’m telling you I’m not trying to be [just friends].”

The mix of fixation, evening pop-ups and the attraction of high payments makes the switch a Netflix thriller rather than a text message.

Lil Yachty Joins the Fray

And then there’s Lil Yachty. While Baby steals the show with these DMs, there’s also video from Woesenpai that features the “One Night” rapper as another guy who supposedly spent the night with her. The scandal is not as obvious, but as part of her teases him so heavily, everyone’s jaw will hit the floor.

This group-chat thread, “You wanna put boat in a group message so I can confess my love?” has memes on social media now, with fans joking on how Yachty unwittingly brought strays with Baby’s supposed obsession.

The FaceTime Receipts

It concludes with screenshots of the FaceTime calls, which from the context Woesenpai seems to have been with Baby himself. There isn’t any audio, but the screenshots themselves sufficed for creating the hype.

Standards for Ethics

As predicted, the response has been enormous. There are some who believe the receipts are real among his fans, while others call cap and accuse him of seeking clout. But as one of his fans posted on X:

“Even if it isn’t true, Baby must be worried that so many people actually do believe it.”

While Yachty’s fans are rallying around him in jest, with one of them stating:

“Bro just keeping his pizza rolls and rapping on Minnesota, why he in this situation?”

As of now, Lil Yachty and Lil Baby have not made any comments on the allegations. But if there is anything history has taught us, it’s that the memes will precede the comments.

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During a three-hour-long Cabinet meeting before the White House press pool on Tuesday, President Donald Trump gabbed about a flurry of topics, railing against Democrats about crime in inner cities, among other policy issues.

Touting his declared crime emergency response in Washington, D.C., and his threat to send the National Guard to majority-Black cities, Trump again called out Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who in recent days has sharply criticized Trump’s signaling that he would send troops on the ground in Baltimore. Moore also invited Trump to join him on a walking tour of the Maryland city, to which the president scoffed.

“First, you’ve got to clean up your crime. I’m not walking in Baltimore right now. Baltimore is a hellhole,” Trump said at the White House as he sat along the roundtable with cabinet members.

Baltimore recently touted a 50-year low in homicides and sharp declines in various categories of crime, including non-fatal shootings and theft.

Trump repeats false story about meeting with Wes Moore

Trump also repeated a false, yet revised version, of a story he told reporters on Monday about an encounter with Moore at last year’s Army-Navy football game.

“I met this gentleman. I never met him before. [He said], ‘Sir, you’re doing a great job. You’re doing an unbelievable job. Thank you very much,” Trump claimed.

The day before, Trump said of his brief meeting with Governor Moore: “He came over to me, hugged me, shook my hand. You were there. He said, So you’re the greatest president of my lifetime. I said, but it’s really nice that you say that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that, so it’s OK.”

When asked to respond to Trump’s claim on Monday, David Turner, communications director to Governor Wes Moore, told theGrio, “There’s video of this, so we have no idea what he is talking about.”

Moore later told WBAL Radio that Trump described an “imaginary conversation” that “never happened.” As it turns out, the Maryland governor was right.

According to footage of the brief 2024 encounter re-aired by Fox News, Moore warmly welcomed Trump to Maryland and said he was “very anxious to be able to work closely with you,” highlighting the importance of ensuring federal cost share for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge. There was no mention of Moore calling Trump “the greatest president of my lifetime” or “you’re doing an unbelievable job” (it’s also worth noting that Trump was not yet inaugurated as president at the time of the encounter).

“That is unhinged, deranged behavior. We need a cognitive exam on the president, because he is clearly not all there,” political analyst Reecie Colbert said of Trump’s lies about Moore.

Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said it would not be the first time that Trump has “lied on or attempted to have a public attention moment, if you will, about a Black man.” He told theGrio, “He started his career with the same sentiment around President [Barack] Obama.”

When referring to Moore, Trump has repeatedly mentioned that Maryland’s first Black governor is a rumored 2028 presidential candidate, and has argued Moore isn’t presidential material.

Colbert said, “It shows that Governor Moore is getting under [Trump’s] skin,” adding, “nobody triggers Trump more than powerful Black people.”

Trump makes bizarre statements about being a dictator

President Trump somehow pivoted his critiques about Moore and other Democratic leaders he thinks are mishandling crime in America’s urban cities to bizarre comments about being a dictator.

“But then he goes on television and says, ‘Oh, Trump is a dictator. He’s a dictator,’” Trump said of Wes Moore. Referring to his military occupation of D.C. and commandeering D.C.’s local police, he continued, “So the line is that I’m a dictator, but I stop crime. So a lot of people say…’If that’s the case, I’d rather have a dictator.’”

Though Trump clarified, “I’m not a dictator,” and wants to “stop crime,” Colbert said Trump’s “story about crime” allows him to fulfill his “authoritarian impulses.”

Seawright, who advises national Democrats and campaigns, said it’s no coincidence that Trump is seemingly making a case for dictatorship as he talked about the issue of crime. He told theGrio, “Dictator-like behavior comes with this idea of governing from a perspective of fear, dysfunction, frustration, and uncertainty.”

The Democratic strategist explained that Trump has a pattern when he is politically vulnerable, telling theGrio, “Donald Trump has a few legs to the stool that he sits on in times of crisis for him.” He suggested that Trump is trying to distract from the controversy he faced from his base of supporters about the release of the FBI files related to Jeffrey Epstein and his “piss poor effort to deliver on the promises” to bring down the cost of living.

Seawright said that “stool” includes three legs: crime/law enforcement, immigration, and racism.

“Not only is it a form of retribution to some degree, to those who hold him accountable, but it’s also political rehab,” he told theGrio. “He knows if he leans in, then it’s going to give him political rehabilitation with his base.”