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Chris Jericho is set to defend his Ring of Honor World Championship Friday in NYC ... and the self-proclaimed "King of New York" tells TMZ Sports he is prepared to go all out in his main event match against Matt Cardona!!

Babcock caught up with the legendary wrestler ahead of the ROH Final Battle PPV -- a showdown Jericho believes is the biggest opportunity his opponent has ever had in his career.

"Win, lose, or draw, this is the biggest stage he has been on in a long time," he said. "I'm expecting a great match from him. But he knows what to expect from me, which is one of the greatest of all time as the world champion in the main event."

John Mayer has officially purchased the Jim Henson studio lot ... and he appears to have a clear vision on how he wants the studio to look in the future ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Mayer and producer/director McG have finalized their deal to buy the iconic Jim Henson Studio. Despite previous reports claiming the deal was in the $60 million range, our sources say it closed for around $45 million.

We're told Mayer will oversee the recording studio, and McG will manage the other facilities on the lot.

Over the years, the Henson recording studio has been home to music's biggest acts including Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne, The Supremes and more. It's also where "We Are The World" was recorded.

We're told a name change for the studio is coming ... though an exact name has not been decided on yet.

However, renaming the Jim Henson studio may be the biggest change coming under new ownership. We're told Mayer and McG are set on keeping the studio running with no major changes — including keeping the same staff.

We're told preserving the history of the building means everything to the duo -- and so does making sure it stays the premier recording studio on the West Coast for years to come.

As we reported ... last month, Mayer and McG went under contract the buy the historic Hollywood property. Mayer already has a connection to the property -- holding offices in the building.

Robert Vito will not face criminal charges after his arrest last month ... though he will speak to the city attorney about alternative conflict resolution in the future.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... Vito has an upcoming hearing with the city attorney where they’ll talk to him and go over ways to avoid situations like this in the future.

After that, the case will be put on ice ... and, as long as he doesn't get in trouble in the next year, he won't ever face charges because of it.

Kyle Richards says she's planning to spend time with her family during the holidays ... and, that means her girls and estranged husband Mauricio Umansky, if he wants.

We caught up with the reality television star in Los Angeles Thursday ... and, with Christmas fast approaching, we had to ask her all about her holiday plans -- including whether those plans include her real estate mogul ex.

Richards says she's going to Aspen to spend time with her family -- her four daughters -- who she calls her home ... and, that won't change just 'cause MU's in Aspen.

A TikTok account that potentially belonged to the Wisconsin school shooter is now deleted on the heels of complaints about racist comments on the page ... TMZ has learned.

The account possibly belonging to 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow was first highlighted by the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism -- and when we checked it out, we found it only had 2 posts, both related to the movie "Fight Club" ... but they were flooded with comments that were clearly left after the tragedy in Madison, WI.

We confirmed with the ADL the username its people observed was @targetedbloodsport -- and according to them, the account featured the phrase, "Totally nice day," similar to "Totally normal day" ... which the ADL claims is used by racists or white supremacists.

Martin Katz -- a famous jewelry designer who has made pieces for some of the biggest names in Hollywood -- was burglarized ... with thieves taking millions of dollars' worth of handbags.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Katz returned to his home just after 10:30 PM Tuesday to find his window smashed -- noting numerous items were taken.

We're told the thieves grabbed a ton of high-end bags ... including collector's items from Hermès -- some of which were worth a few hundred thousand dollars each.

The star of "Mufasa: The Lion King" says he didn't know who most of his other costars were until earlier this year ... though he always figured the script would attract massive stars.

Braelyn Rankins -- voice of young Mufasa in the upcoming Disney "The Lion King" prequel -- was on "TMZ Live" for an interview Thursday ... and, he tells us he only knew limited information about the movie when he was filming his part.

Rankins tells us that -- outside of the actors he personally worked with -- he had no idea who would be in the film ... so no indication he would star alongside Beyoncé, her daughter Blue Ivy, Thandiwe Newton or the like.

An ex-neighbor of the California man accused of plotting a local mass shooting in a coordinated attack with the Wisconsin school shooter is speaking out ... telling TMZ about the chilling, ominous energy he always carried.

The woman, choosing to remain anonymous, talked to us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, revealing that during the 5 to 6 years she lived near 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf, he exhibited seriously creepy behavior -- never talking, avoiding eye contact, always wearing his hood up, and other unsettling anti-social habits.

Catch the video, because she dives into the specific moments when Paffendorf made her feel super uncomfortable around their apartment complex -- and it’s spine-chilling.

'90 Day Fiancé' star David Murphey passed away last week ... and now we've learned more details about his death.

A Clark County, Nevada spokesperson tells TMZ ... the reality TV star, who was best known for appearing on "90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days," died from heart-related problems -- including cardiac arrhythmia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

We're told David also had a history of pulmonary embolism -- which occurs when a blood clot in a lung creates a blockage. Following these findings, David's death has been ruled as a natural one.

Whitney Cummings says the support for Luigi Mangione makes a ton of sense ... because Americans love a good murderer.

We got Whitney in New York City and our photog asked her if it was too soon to make jokes about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in which Luigi is accused of pulling the trigger.

Whitney says it's never too soon to joke about anything, especially murderers in America ... because our country makes celebrities out of killers.

Tee Higgins says he's hasn't seen a change in Joe Burrow's demeanor despite the scary break-in at his place earlier this month ... telling TMZ Sports the QB "is handling it really well."

Burrow's Cincinnati pad, of course, was burglarized back on Dec. 9 -- while he was in Texas playing in a "Monday Night Football" game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The situation was disturbing -- as one of his windows was found smashed ... while one of his bedrooms was discovered ransacked. To make matters worse, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Olivia Ponton was on the scene -- creating more worries and questions for Burrow.

Cheryl Hines has thoughts about that pic of her famously health-conscious husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., digging into some McDonald's with President-elect Donald Trump.

We caught up with Cheryl Wednesday in Bev Hills, and asked her about a potential move to Washington, D.C. ... now that Trump's made RFK Jr. his nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Our photog brought up the elephant in the room, wondering if CH is at all worried Trump's eating habits -- a passion for fast food and well-done steaks with ketchup -- will rub off on Robert.

Tory Lanez is firing back at Megan Thee Stallion as she seeks a restraining order against him ... and his legal team says she's not to be believed.

The rapper's legal team tells TMZ ... "Megan's claim that Tory filed legal docs to undermine her new Amazon Prime documentary is 'ridiculous.'"

Instead, Tory's legal team says the timing of the legal filing Meg is referencing had nothing to do with the release of her documentary and was filed simply to comply with legal deadlines.

Luigi Mangione mentioned the big bucks he had in the bank on a trip to Thailand ... and also, repeatedly brought up a couple of revealing books -- TMZ has learned.

A source -- who doesn't want to be identified by name, but who spent significant time with Luigi back in April -- tells TMZ ... the two went to the popular tourism destination together, hitting up bars and visiting a weed shop, and cracking inside jokes over a period of two days.

According to his friend, Luigi was "making lawyer money" coding for TrueCar ... a telling statement because Mangione reportedly stopped working for them months before going to Thailand.

Mod Sun is head over heels for "Love Is Blind" star Brittany Wisniewski -- he made that crystal clear as he spilled the tea about their relationship to us.

Catch this video of the smitten couple hitting up West Hollywood’s Craig’s on Tuesday, where we asked how things were going between them -- and when Mod Sun turned the question to Brittany, her look said it all.

We also asked if they were official -- and while we didn’t get a straight answer, Mod Sun’s response was all we needed to hear ... "Life is better when we’re together."